breaking news, now at 11:00. eastbound lanes closed on the richmond bridge after a semi truck goes up in flames. easing restrictions as the bay area sees a slight decline in covid-

19 cases. could other counties follow suit. there will be no shortage of watch parties this sunday. how restaurants are preparing and the concerns over the spread of covid-19. a look at what is next after supreme court justice and san francisco native stephen breyer heads towards retirement. we start with the breaking news on the richmond bridge. thank you for joining us. a person is dead after this fiery crash. it happened just before 7:00. social media video showing flames shooting out of a semi truck. the truck collided with the car and the driver of the car died. the truck driver escaped. it is unclear when the bridge will reopen. crews have inspected the bridge and say it was not damaged. on to the coronavirus, california test positivity rate dropping to 18.7%. but as the omicron surge peaks

in many areas, counties like marin easing back on some restrictions. kpix5 reports, there is a divide between those who are ready and those who believe it is too soon. >> reporter: here, students and staff no longer have to wear masks outside at school and there is no cap on the number of people allowed to attend outdoor and indoor events. these are slight changes but it is a sign that marin is changing its approach to covid-19. >> as a principal, at every stage, we are trying to be as least restrictive as possible. >> reporter: public health county officer says so much was learned from the initial lockdown phase of the pandemic. >> it is important for us to take into account a understanding of the harm of covid-19, balanced with the harms of some of the policies we had to put in place to prevent transmission. >> reporter: marin county is not in endemic phase but he is seeing parallels

with other respiratory illnesses such as a flu, for the county with the highest vaccination rate in california with more than 94% of those 5 and older fully vaccinated, the risk of severe disease and death has dropped significantly. >> reporter: we ow terbgs to ourselves and our communities to recognize while we continue to face this and this will be with us for weeks longer, potential surge in the future that we are integrating a view on what our policy should be so that we are protecting our mental, social and physical health at the same time. >> reporter: residents would like to see the shift in policy. >> we can not live like there for years and years, right? we have been far too long, all closed inside and, you know, scared. >> reporter: others feel loosening restrictions, especially masking mandates, will be harmful. >> even though things are better we are not out of the boads yet, i believe masking is one of the ways to get through it together. i think it is important that we

keep vigilant through all of this. >> reporter: kpix5. >> while there is no longer a limit on the number of people to attend indoor events masks are still required. we are just days away from this weekend's big nfc championship game when the 49ers fight to make it to the super bowl. there is a warning tonight to football fans from health experts. kpix5 is in san carlos to explain it all. >> reporter: right now in santa clara county covid-19 cases are declining, holiday gatherings have a lot to do with the recent surge. this week, millions of football fans across the nation are expected to gather once again. >> the 49ers, one step away from heading to the super bowl once again. >> reporter: the team's wins could mean losses among fans in the fight against covid-19 if they are not careful. >> we are still in the surge. >> reporter: santa clara

county's positive cases are trending downward. they at a record high with 3700 cases. just one week ago they stood at 4700 cases. >> people were really getting together a lot over the holidays, naturally. so, the conditions now are back in place for that spread to happen if people start getting together indoors again. >> that is our biggest fear that it would happen. >> reporter: megan, the owner of the patio in palo alto is revving up for a packed house during sunday's game. she says it is important to make sure her restaurant and bar doesn't bottom a super spreader. >> all of our seating, as you can see, it is sat, every table sat, not just stand at the bar. we walk people and sit them at the tables. >> reporter: windows will be open indoors, the filter will be on and the outdoor patio will not have more than 8 to a table. >> customers a lot of them are family, we worry about them.

>> reporter: she believes football fans can still gather this weekend and be safe while having fun. dr. lou agrees. >> make plans, be together, do thing that will lower the risk of transmission and then hopefully we will not see a bump in cases. >> reporter: after the omicron surge brought down sales at the patio by 20%, megan says she is ready to welcome fans on sunday. >> we are going to win. we are going to win. and don't tell my dad, he is a rams fan. [ laughter ] >> reporter: and dr. lou says we should be aware the newest variant, ba.2, has discovered here in the bay area. back to you. while 49er fans will watch the game at the viewing parties others will travel to sofi stadium. among them, fans that call los angeles their home. the san francisco saloon squad is a l.a.

based 49er squad. many raised in southern california. one of the reasons there is a finer fan base has to do with los angeles not having a consistent football team. >> fans just wanted to support a team. it is easy to support a team. a lot of us fans for example, myself, and a lot of the fans that i know our parents were 49er fans since the '80s. >> the l.a. rams moved from cleveland to los angeles over 70 years ago then moved to saint lou nice 1994 before returning to l.a. in 2016. since then the number of l.a. area 49er fans have grown. supreme court justice and san francisco native stephen breyer is set to retire at the end of the current term. we have answers now on what is next. >> reporter: 83-year-old justice stephen breyer plans to meet with president joe biden tomorrow and white house staffers will start the process of vetting

nominees for the court. san francisco's native son, supreme court justice, stephen breyer will step down from the highest court in the land. president joe biden will nominate his replacement. biden made this promise while campaigning in 2020 my will appoint the first black woman to the court. required they have representation now t is long overdue. white house president secretary affirmed that commitment today. >> the president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a black woman to the supreme court. and certainly stands by that. >> reporter: breyer a moderate liberal was nominated by president clinton in 1994. justice breyer has wrote key opinions, affordable care act and women's right to choose. college of the law says the

confirmation battle over his replacement may not be as kavanaugh. >> it is not a big change. >> reporter: breyer is one of three liberals split 6-3. his replacement will not change that balance of power. harris now holds the tie breaking vote in a 50/50 split senate. as for the two senators that hit the brakes on biden's domestic agenda, profess over levine says don't be surprise if they fall in line with their democratic colleagues. >> they have gone along with the president judges that biden has nominated. >> reporter: chuck schumer says he will move swiftly to confirm whoever biden's nominee is. in san francisco, kpix5. >> bryer is 83 years old and the oldest

justice. he was nominate inside 1994 by former president bill clinton. in san jose, hours after passing the first law requiring gun owners to purchase liability insurance and pay a $25 fee, the city was slapped with a lawsuit. the national association for gun rights filed that lawsuit first thing this morning. the group wants to block the law from taking effect while legal challenges play out in court. the suit claims the annual fee is a tax on the second amendment. they argue that is unconstitutional. the united states supreme court ruled that the power to tax is the power to effectively destroy a given activity. that is why the courts are highly skeptical on taxes of constitutional rights. >> that law will take effect six months from now. they will not take fees until it is resolved. a heated fight over cutting

incentives for roof top solar. >> plus, how basketball legend kobe bryant are honored on the two year anniversary of their deadly helicopter crash. it is farming of the future, major deal the one bay area start up just made to bring friendly produce to customers all over california.

energy regulators were expected to vote on revamping california's roof top solar rules tomorrow. it has been pushed from the agenda leaving a fight over the solarincentive program. solar advocates saying homeowner incentives created one of the

most successful in the country. those pushing saying it is shifting more and more of the costs on to people who do not own solar. >> those who are left behind are low income people and renters. so, that is who is going to end up paying for the grid. >> just taken together it makes s so, lar unaffordable for pretty much everybody and it would be like the highest solartax in the u.s. only we'll be right back. charges a higher solartax. the wrong direction for california. >> there is no word on when the solarreforms will be introduced for a vote. kobe bryant and his daughter are being honored at the helicopter site where they died two years ago today. the statue of the father and daughter was unveiled at the crash site today featuring a plaque with a name ofof the crash victims, bryant, his daughter, two of her teammates and their families were heading to a youth basketball game when the chopper went down in

thick fog. we have video tonight of a woman trapped along a steep mountain side in marin county. she is okay after the successful mission, thank goodness, the hiker may of mistaken a game trail for a hiking trail when she realized she could not get off of the trail on her own she called for help. the sheriff's department sent a helicopter to help park rangers with the rescue. a crewmember repelled down using a rope to bring the hiker to safety. the sheriff department says she was uninjured and in good spirits. >> glad she is okay. big changes coming to the kpix5 weather department. paul joins us now to explain. >> guys, starting today, kpix5 is launching what you see behind me. first alert weather. our revamped approach that puts more focus on when and how changes in the bay area's weather will impact you. >> it is climate change in action, look at this. there is wild. >> we have already seen this winter how severe weather can impact the

bay area. >> reporter: weather conditions putting lives and property at risk. it is one ever the reasons why kpix5 is introducing first alert weather. it is our renewed commitment to serve our viewers. a promise to be first to alert you to changing weather so you can better plan your life. it goes deeper than just at every day. we promise to be transparent about how the forecast is evolving. and when conditions take a turn, our team will declare first alert weather days when bay area weather will be severe or disruptive. on first alert weather days, we will help you plan, prepare, stay safe. it is not just winter storms. look for first alert weather days for extreme cold, dangerous heat, poor air quality plus something we come to know all too well, fire weather and wildfire smoke. first alert weather not just a slogan it is sour pledge to keep you

informed across all kpix5 platforms. it is our promise to clearly communicate weather changes before they impact the bay area. >> i know it is important to note first alert is not just about severe weather. >> right, severe weather is not something we deal with often in the bay area. but this is also about making you aware ahead of time of disruptive and inconvenient weather. i know we like to think everybody is at home taking notes on the forecast but we have a lot of distractions, we want to make sure we are clearly communicating changes coming as the forecast evolves. we are always looking at new data and things are always changing. let's get to the changes in store in a short term, you will not notice a lot of change. light wind, continuing tomorrow, still going to be dry, still mild, there are a couple systems in the pacific that will alter the weather patterns for the bay area. we will get an onshore breeze, developing on saturday, sending more

clouds towards the bay area. the next system, way out in the pacific, at least has the potential to bring moisture in the bay area. however, the potential has been dwindling with the new data we have been evaluating. showing you the forecast models, this is the one that earlier today was showing a good chance of showers moving into the bay area. late on sunday night into early monday morning. that is the early run from the forecast model. we will zoom through it next week. you will see it now, all of the rain is missing us. so, this one now also trending in drier direction. not saying 0% rain, timing for things to swing in the other direction, but it looks like we will be rain free, wefpb cloud cover, we need the rain to wash the pollution out of the atmosphere. it is mainly just that trapped ground level pollution. this is the orange category that we saw across the bay area today.

unhealthy for sensitive groups, it will drift farther tomorrow. we will have elevated pollen count. breathing difficulties in the moderate category. high for the middle of january, end of january, technically. cedar and pollen. you will be sniffling and sneezing. if you want to escape that and get into the mountains no rain for us means no snow. they have a good base at heavenly. 25 of the 28 lifts are open and they will be out grooming the snow every day and of course making more snow to go on top of what mother nature has provided. looking outside, clear skies tonight, not seeing much fog out there. oakland, technically, reporting fog at the airport where it is 48 degrees, 52 in downtown san francisco, already down to 39 degrees in santa rosa. 40 in livermore. those numbers are not going to drop a lot. ending up to 40 degrees inland with lower to middle 40s along the bay and 40s on the coast. we have an adoptable dog here.

duncan looks like he wants a hug. you can be the one to do that. looking for his hoefr home. i will put a hrufrpbg as soon as the forecast is over if you are interest inside adopting duncan. while he is waiting, nice weather, sunshine, temperatures running about five degrees above average across the bay area. lower to middle 60s. similar temperatures on friday, we start to see the transition on saturday. more cloud cover, still mild, temperatures are going to be dropping even before the sun goes down on saturday afternoon. near normal temperatures in the forecast on sunday and monday. more cloud cover on sunday and monday. you notice there is still no raindrops in the entire seven-day forecast. back to above average temperatures by the middle of next week. vern? straight ahead in sports, this is the brian stikes show. 49ers drop in sweat as the game

plan for the rams, championship sunday was hatched does your vitamin c last twenty-four hours? only nature's bounty does. immune twenty-four hour plus has longer lasting vitamin c.

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covered california. this way to health insurance. enrollment ends january 31st. >>hall of fame defensive back darrell green. >>hi, i'm here with a winning play for your home team. keep your playing field safe by removing any old, unwanted, and unneeded opioid medication. the best defensive strategy is to remove the risk. >>learn more at fda.gov/healthplaybook. nhl up top. you thought i was leading with the 49ers. not when you have tough guys on skates and sticks. how to the sharks stop a two game skid in they went on the road. silenced tonight, the first period, sharks in white, hand today to them. here is noah, close range, first goal in a couple of months, open the scoring. sharks were aggressive and kept attacking. nicholas mulosh. the first goal of his nhl career. the game was over, sharks won

it 4-1 and still had enough plan strength to drop the gloves and haymakers. that is enough, fellas. on to the nfl and the 49ers, full go at practice to translate the nfc championship plan from film room to -- anybody see this coming? the team was 3-5? one theory, team bonding. the bonding traced back to the 2020 season when the team played the final seven weeks of the season away from home in santa clara county. they had to move the facility and played home games in arizona. a negative now a positive, and the coach is buying it. >> i do think it has effects on us this year. at the time i didn't, i did not think it was the best bonding experience. i was afraid we would hate each other more because we were stuck in a hotel and could not get away from each other and things

were not going well with the season. it allows you to be more battle tested. >> playing in the first nfc championship, he and jimmy garoppolo played in playoff games. that is where the similarities end. >> they are both rock stars, jimmy g. say little more super star-ish. the playboy out the bunch, matthew stafford is a family man. that would be my comparison. local junior college bragging rights here. ending the conference winning streak, not tonight. here is 7 footer inside and one, city, the state's number one ranked team came from behind and led by five. four city guys in double figures. now, sam put it away with this strong move. scoring 13 to lead the team to

an 89-79 win. winning 16 in a row in city, has not lost a conference game until 2017. a special shout out to brian stikes. hi him as an intern at another station, tonight he ends 16 year run at kpix sports producer. there is his last show

a bay area start up is teaming up with walmart to bring gardening of the tpaout our to southern california. >> the company plenty has a similar indoor gard nen san in san francisco. they are about to break ground

in compton. it will have robotic arms, the company says the process is environmental friendly and creates better tasting fruits and vegetables. >> depending on the crop, packing between 150 to 300 acres of production or land equivalent into a single acre indoors. >> not to displace agcultural labor it is to up scale the individuals so they can operate in the farm of the future. >> plenty says the new facility is expected to be up and running towards the end of this year. i don't know about you i have a fake tree in my house. >> no green thumb. >> i

the late show with stephen colbert is next. thank you for watching. the news continues streaming on cbsnewsbayarea. good night. >> see you tomorrow. - [announcer] the following program is sponsored by mercy ships. (dramatic music) they're desperate. children and parents line up by the thousands for a chance to get the surgery that will save them. many have suffered for most of their lives, living in the shadows.

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