they can't comment on a personnel matter still under investigation, but do say the alleged misconduct occurred more than six months ago. this disclosure comes on the heels of a san jose officer dying from a fentanyl overdose. another allegedly showing up at a kidnapping case intoxicated. a third officer accused of sexual misconduct on the job, and another being investigated for alleged drunk driving offduty. another top story, nearly a year ago san jose experienced terror and heartache after a mass shooting at the vta railyard. armed police officers as you see there descended on to that yard after shots rang out on may 26th of last year. in all, nine people were shot and killed, and the gunman took his own life. police body camera video revealed the moments as officers attempted to enter the building where the shooter was located. and it wasn't until another employee came out of the building and handed officers his badge that they were able to get

inside. >> in the days that followed, friends, family, and the community remembered the victims who lost their lives that day. today the building where the tragedy unfolded was demolished. >> nbc bay area's marianne favro is live in san jose. marianne, for some, this is a major step in closing a tragic chapter, and attempting, attempting to move forward. >> reporter: a very difficult thing to do. crews began demolishing building b this afternoon. that is where six of the victims lost their lives. the goal is to remove a constant reminder of the tragic shooting. walls associated with terror coming down today at the vta yard in san jose. on may 26th of last year, maintenance worker samuel cassidy shot and killed nine coworkers before killing himself. today santa clara county supervisor and vta board member cindy chavez explained that many

felt keeping the building up was too painful. >> many employees wanted that hole to look and feel differently. they wanted to come back to something fresh. building b is a building we lost six lives in that building. and this is really in response to a majority of our employees saying it's time. and they wanted to see that building gone. >> reporter: several vta employees who survived tapped singh as saving their lives because he called and warned them there was an active shooter in building b and to get out immediately before being killed himself. now as building b is torn down, there are also plans to build something to remember. singh and the eight others who went to work here and never came home. >> very long-term, i'm hoping that the redesign of that facility will both include a monument, but also make it more functional for the work and safer for the work that happen there's now. >> reporter: vta says the

overall goal is to help employees heal. for some, this demolition will accomplish that. for others, the grief runs deeper than the rubble. county leaders are planning a public remembrance for the victims. later this month on the one-year anniversary of the shooting. reporting live in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> that is going to be a very difficult day for so many people. thank you, marianne. now we continue to follow this tragedy as it unfolded, and we told you the stories of victims who lost their lives. be sure to go to nbcbayarea.com/vtayardshooting where you'll find complete coverage of the tragedy. how the community continues to heal, and what lawmakers are doing now to make sure this never happens again. well, a helicopter crashed today during a training exercise at a pg&e facility in livermore. the two people on board are recovering tonight, this as the ntsb and faa have been called in to investigate. nbc bay area's alyssa goard

explains what we know so far about the investigation. >> reporter: pg&e says it was this contractor's chopper that landed hard at their livermore electric safety academy just before 10:00 this morning. those poles you see around the helicopter, those are part of the training. >> today they were doing operations with the helicopter during the helicopter operations, some event occurred. >> reporter: livermore-pleasanton fire department said arrived to find the pilot trapped inside the chopper. >> there was no fire involved, so it was a relatively easy operation for us to get the pilot out and get him to the ambulance. and get him to the hospital. >> reporter: another person was taken to the hospital too. the ntsb says when the crash happened, that second person was suspended from a cable outside of the helicopter. in a statement, pg&e said neither had life-threatening gentlemen, and that no additional people were injured on the ground, and no property was damaged.

they also identified the helicopter involved as a bell 407. >> it's a very good, very reliable helicopter. >> reporter: aviation expert mike mccarron says it's common for utilities to hire contractors to perform aerial maintenance and surveys around power lines. in the case of this crash, he says it's a relief to hear there was no fire. >> the fuel tank wasn't breached, which probably indicates there wasn't a great deal of speed involved. >> reporter: now it's up to the faa and the national transportation safety board to investigate and figure out why a helicopter doing training work ended up partially mangled in a parking lot. in livermore, alyssa goard, nbc bay area news. all right. it doesn't discriminate rich or poor, young or cold. covid seems to impact everyone. billionaire bill gates the latest to test positive for covid. microsoft co-founder and fourth richest person in the world made that announcement today. gates is experiencing mild symptoms and he is in isolation. he is vaccinated and boosted.

and as you well know, bill gates has strongly supported measures to fight the pandemic, especially trying to get vaccines and medication to poorer countries. now nationwide, covid cases are rising. the chart shows where the u.s. stands with both cases and hospitalizations. over the last 2 1/2 months, the red line represents cases, the yellow hospitalizations. cases dipped in april but are now steadily climbing. as for hospitalizations, they remain steadily low. let's take a look at some bay area counties. in contra costa there have been almost 2,000 new cases added just in the last 24 hours. only 60 patients are hospitalized with covid in that county. alameda county, more than 2700 new cases added within the last day. hospitalizations there at 50 patients. >> go ahead and take you to marin county now. it's seeing a surge in covid-19 cases fueled by the highly contagious omicron ba.2 variant. that's according to the county's health officials. as we told you yesterday, 20 schools in marin county are experiencing outbreaks.

since the first week of april, case rates have tripled. however, officials say there has not been a rise in hospitalizations. schools across the bay area are reporting a covid surge. that includes k through 12 and universities like stanford where the seven-day positivity rate has reached more than 9%. nbc bay area's stephanie magallon joins us live now near the stanford campus. stephanie, i know you got to speak with some students out there. what are they seeing? >> reporter: so one student i spoke with who didn't want to be on camera tells me she just came out of isolation and her roommate, as well as several others in the same student living facility as she were in the same situation just days ago. and stanford does confirm that the majority of the cases are reporting are coming out of this student living facility. 328 stanford students are isolating at this very moment after testing positive for covid-19. that's up from 239 students last

week. >> probably the dining hall spaces are going to be like a key place where you don't see as much masking indoors, and there is more people take a little more relaxed. >> reporter: this is stanford's positivity rate. the rates on this campus are a reflection of what's going on in palo alto and everywhere else in the nation. >> waste water levels at most of the places that we're monitoring are increasing. and what that means is that there is also an increase in cases in those areas. >> reporter: marlene wolf is a part of the program tracking covid inner waste water. she says in some areas, covid levels have doubled or more than doubles in the past two weeks. and in certain communities like palo alto, there has been a slight decrease. >> although we have had a few days of decreasing concentrations, those levels are still higher than what they were doing the delta surge. so the overall picture, the overall message that we're seeing here is that there are high levels of covid in the region. >> reporter: the santa clara health department says they're tracking several outbreaks

associated with large indoor social events, including school dances, proms, and even a sing competition. we looked at several district dashboards, and did notice an increase in cases in several schools, including carolyn clark elementary in san jose. they now have a 3.4 positivity rate, and according to their website, masks will be required indoors until it drops back to 1%. >> the thing i keep my eye on most appropriately is not necessarily whether or not case counts by themselves are increasing, but is that translating into severe disease and death. and the way we look at that is looking at hospitalization rates, icu admission, and of course death rates. >> reporter: health experts say as of now, we are not seeing those high hospitalization rates or death rates. and what's happening right now is expected. in palo alto, stephanie magallon, nbc bay area news. >> stephanie, thank you.

and we've made it easy for you to see how many covid cases are in your school district. we put all the information in one spot. just head to nbcbayarea.com/covid19dashboards . san jose state rallying against sexual abuse and what they say are continued failures by the university to protect student athletes. the group students against sexual assault says it's been eight months since the department of justice found sjsu botched an investigation into a sports trainer, scott shaw. the group says the university has still not fully staffed its title ix office on campus which would give victims a safe place to report allegations of abuse. >> we think there is a lot of trauma in that and there is a lot of healing that needs to be done. and we feel that over the past eight months, sjsu has failed to engage with the campus community. and make amends with the campus community. >> we share the same goal. we want those individuals here. we want them part of our

community. we want them to be accessible to anyone here on campus, and we're going to do it as soon as we possibly can. >> reporter: that's steve perez, the interim president. you just heard from him. he says the plan is to have six people working on campus in the title ix office. he says right now some of those positions are being contracted out. students against sexual assault also asking for more transparency and accountability from the administration. well, california's primary election is weeks away on june 7th, but the south bay is ready. mail-in ballots were sent out monday, dropped off locations opened at yesterday on may 28th. 24 voting centers will open more than a week before election day. santa clara county's registrar's office assures the public that ballots are safe and protected. >> every ballot in this office has to be with two people at all times, no matter what. the path of the ballot is two staff members at all times. whether they're picking them off or dropping them off or they're getting processed or they're getting adjudicated, every

single step has to have two people. >> again, drop-off locations opened yesterday. if you still need to register to vote, you have until may 23rd. we have complete coverage of the primary election on nbcbayarea.com. click the decision 2022 link on the trending bar. you'll find information about local races in your county. still ahead. labor history was made today. the popular coffee shop where workers voted to unionize, next. i'm scott budman. rising interest rates again this month. coming up, how technology is helping local restaurants fight back. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. some beautiful conditions out here in san francisco. but i'm tracking some heat on the way. i've got your full forecast, coming up in about eight minutes. let's give you a live look at orange county. it went from menacing to destructive. this is a fast-moving fire in a canyon between laguna beach and

laguna niguel. it is now consuming a home. we'll take you there live when we come back. booking most cruises can be complicated. but this isn't most cruises. this is celebrity cruises. and we think cruising shouldn't be confusing. so, on our award winning vacations drinks, wi-fi and tips are always included. every sailing. every room. every guest. effortless from the start. celebrity cruises.

let's get you back out to that breaking news out of orange county where firefighters are racing to control flames. it is hard to see the flames at this point because of all the smoke hovering over. you see the neighborhoods down below. this is in aliso canyon, which is between laguna niguel and laguna beach. and these are live images from our sister station in l.a. so here's what we know right now. we know that one home has caught fire. the flames sparked at around 3:00 this afternoon, and we do know that at least three acres have burned at this point. as you can imagine, firefighters are working around the clock, trying to contain this fire at this point. you see all the neighborhoods in

that area. so we of course will stay on top of this for you out of orange county. we'll stay on top of it on air and online as well, nbcbayarea.com. okay. it is hard to escape, whether you're talking gas or groceries. we have felt the cost of record inflation. now president biden today said the sky-high prices are a result of the pandemic and what he refers to as putin's war in ukraine. today's sobering numbers showed just how hard inflation is hitting all of news the bay area. but of course the story much more than just the numbers. our business and tech reporter scott budman hit the street to show us how small businesses are buckling under price hikes, and how those increases that are being passed on to customers are hurting us too. >> reporter: they're feeling it in fremont. >> everything is really skyrocketed. >> reporter: where inflation has a seat at the table inside bronco billy's pizza place. >> and the price of wheat has gone crazy. everything is just like

dominoing. >> reporter: and that's just the crust. >> the prices of meat is going crazy and beef and chicken, which didn't used to be so expensive, is now pretty expensive. >> reporter: how about cheese? >> cheese is crazy expensive. >> reporter: consumer prices here in the bay area jumped another 5% in april. the u.s. bureau of labor says inflation here is at its highest level in 21 years. for small businesses like bronco billy's, that means higher costs and more competition for employees as companies pay more in wages too. >> there are just not enough people to actually do all of the work. and so firms are offering higher base salaries, and they are poaching experienced workers from other firms. >> reporter: the good news here, customers are still loyal, for now. >> i mean, it's ten bucks for a small pizza. and for us it's worth it to support local small businesses. >> reporter: we're also seeing technology help restaurants

around here cut back a bit. these kiosks let you order food with your credit card outside so the restaurant doesn't have any contact with the credit card or credit card fees. a way to cut back a bit on inflation and rising interest rates. in fremont, scott budman, nbc bay area. >> thank you, thank you. meanwhile, parents across the bay area and country are still scrambling to find baby formula because of supply disruptions. that has allowed the fda to be released from the abbott nutrition facility on a case-by-case basis. you might remember in february the fda warned people to not use certain baby formula products from abbott due to contamination concerns. abbott voluntarily recalled some products, and now the fda is working with the company to make sure their product is safe while providing more supply for the public. abbott has offices across the country, including one in alameda. two santa cruz coffee shops made california labor history today. they are the first baristas in

the state to unionize their starbucks location. the announcement came in a tweet proclaiming workers just won the first starbucks store in california, located in santa cruz. the vote 15-2. the ocean and water street store wins the second unionized location in the state. that vote 13-1. a third santa cruz starbucks holds a union vote next month. drought conditions forcing price hikes in the east bay. east bay mud will impose an 8% drought surcharge for customers beginning july 1. agency is also mandating a 10% reduction in water use, limiting outdoor watering to three times a week, and restaurants can only give water to customers who ask for it. east bay mud says for the average single-family home, using 200 gallons of water a day, the surcharge will amount to about 10 cents a day, which is $3.08 more a month. that surcharge will remain in

place until the drought emergency declaration is lifted. we want the take you back to orange county now where not one but two homes have now burned by the flames of this brushfire. take a look here. you can see all that smoke. now you can see all the flames as well. according to our sister station in los angeles, knbc, evacuations have now been ordered in some of the neighbors, including laguna niguel. voluntary evacuation orders have been issued for other neighborhoods in that area. >> let's bring in chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. jeff, a couple of questions right off the bat. wind conditions and temperatures. since we've been really cool here, what's the situation there? >> well, they did see temperatures warm up a little bit. we're not talking about extreme heat in the location of that fire. bury we are currently dealing with temperatures in the upper 60s. winds, though, gusting from 15 to 25. later tonight we could see them go above 30 miles per hour. we've been showing you that aerial footage. you can see laguna beach right here. here is laguna niguel. the way the wind is blowing

coming from the west, it is pushing any kind of embers, smoke and of course those flames right toward laguna niguel. so those evacuations in order for a good cause here because there is a lot of homes situated right back in this vicinity. so if you have family members in and around this, you definitely want to give them a call to make sure they are aware of what is happening. sometimes we all get caught up in everything, and you're just not really in tune with what's going on. call your family members down here, let them know they've got this fire. we'll of course continue to give you updates on this as well. let's bring it right back here to the bay area, and we are looking at some dry conditions today. the thunderstorms we had yesterday moved off towards the east, but check it out. another system is lining up off to the north. now all of the rain chances are going to go to the north, north of the bay area. but i do see some clouds coming out of this, maybe even some spotty drizzle as we roll through tomorrow morning. let's bring it into that thursday morning forecast. and you'll see as we start it off 7:00 in the morning, i've got fog down here towards san

jose in gilroy. some of those high clouds pushing up into the north bay. and as we roll through the day, it will feel a little different for us with some of the high clouds streaming across throughout the day. but i am expecting dry weather to return. and not quite as cold to start off tomorrow morning. that may make it a little easier for you to step out the door. we've got 45 in the tri-valley. south bay at 47. we're bringing it down to 46 in the east bay and the north bay coming in at 44. daytime highs tomorrow also not adjusting a whole lot. it's a really nice, beautiful day to be outside as we head into your thursday. 68 in san jose. 71 down to gilroy. we've got low 70s back here towards concord, antioch and walnut creek. pleasanton, 68. fremont, 66. the peninsula cold, especially at the coast with 50s. daly city to half moon bay. we get out to redwood city where we're at 65. san francisco 60 in downtown and for the north bay, 65 in ukiah. 70 in santa rosa. so if this isn't hot enough,

we're looking at a surge of heat friday, saturday and sunday for this area of high pressure. thankfully, it's going to keep 100s away. so we're going to get warm, but we'll stay out of the extreme heat levels. in san francisco, it will push up to 69 friday. 72, nice day on saturday in san francisco. inland valleys also a big surge on friday. up to 80. warmest day 86 on saturday. and i've got 80 on sunday. forecast dry over the next seven days. right now i'm not seeing any big wind events for this weekend. so we should be able to enjoy some of that warm weather. but down in southern california, i'll continue the watch that weather map and those winds as well. >> okay. we'll continue to cover that as well. thank you, jeff. coming up, al fresco dining is here to stay in another bay area city. how fremont is helping business owners with their outdoor patios.

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welcome back. in the east bay, the city of fremont is joining several of its bay area neighbors in embracing outdoor dining permanently. it's one of the pandemic's few pleasant side effects. san francisco called the improvised dining spots parklets and found ways to keep them going from emeryville, los gatos, al fresco meals have proven popular enough to keep, and now fremontcouncil has voted to keep them operating and is even paying the permit fees for restaurants through rest of the year. still ahead, a bay area university getting some olympic flair. cal state east bay will honor in its upcoming ceremony.

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for the first time since 2019, cal state east bay is preparing for traditional graduation ceremonies. >> yes. this time they're going to have a little gold flair to them. olympic gold medalist kristi yamaguchi will be honored for a doctorate. she'll be honored for the teacher education department. commencement ceremonies take place at school starting tomorrow, and they run through sunday. and you know, kristi is super

big on literacy and education. and on top of, that we just love her. >> we love her. how fantastic that traditional ceremonies are back on. >> do we have to call her dr. yamaguchi? >> we may have to. >> the doctor is in the house. >> may you, but not me. just kidding. what's going on? is it a political ploy or something more? the senate voting now on a national abortion rights bill. the reason this legislation appeared doomed from the start. >> as americans make their decisions in this year's election, this question will not go away. >> democrats could not have written a more extreme