just back from a rescue mission in ukraine. why for him this emergency call was personal. and new ways for voters to make their voices heard. the bay area counties offering more flexibility and choice ahead of the june primary. good evening, everyone. i'm sara donchey. >> and i'm ryan yamamoto. first at 5:30, we're less than a month away from a june 7th primary. right now seven bay area counties are covered by something called the voters' choice act. kpix 5's wilson walker and the change designed to modernize elections. >> reporter: the next election is upon us. the june 7th direct statewide primary is under way. and if it feels like the elections never stop, just ask your county's registrar of voters. >> we did have a smaller election in windsor earlier this year where we did this model, and things went really well. >> reporter: after rolling with pandemic changes for two years, sonoma county is now rolling out voters' choice. and for starters, that means a

focus on voting by mail, since every california voter receives a vote by mail ballot. >> so they can return their ballot to one of our ballot drop boxes, to any of our vote centers or return it in the mail. >> reporter: but for plenty of people, there are those circumstances that can make even a simple vote by mail a little difficult. >> yes, i'm leaving for armenia on the 18th. so i want to be sure to vote. >> reporter: molly freeman dropped by the alameda county registrar of voters office today. she is about to leave town and has not received her mail-in ballot. >> i'm here to vote. >> reporter: instead, she was handed a mail-in ballot, but that does not mean she couldn't have voted in person if she wasn't leaving town. voters choice means a choice of regional voting centers that opens in stages. >> so we have seven locations across the county that are opening on may 28th. and then starting on june 4th, we'll have 24 additional

locations. so 31 total vote centers open through election day. >> reporter: so it's the mail-in ballot or the voting center. and that probably means goodbye to your old neighborhood polling place. >> i just enjoy coming down and voting in person. but i'm going go home and put this in the mail. >> reporter: so when it comes to the when and where of voting, it is important now maybe more than ever to check with your county to see how things are going to be done this time around. we are here in santa rosa, wilson walker, kpix 5. u.s. senator alex padilla, who is seeking reelection released a new campaign leading up to the june 7th primary. >> i'm alex padilla, and i approve this message. every day i go to work -- >> it's called defending the dream. it's aimed at reminding voters he is the son of immigrants and is working for families. padilla's name will appear twice on the june ballot. the separate but related u.s. senate races will ask voters to allow him to finish his current and shortened senate term after

governor newsom appoint him to replace kamala harris. a second term would allow him to begin a new term in office. we'll keep you informed on all the big issues leading up to the june primary. san francisco unified school district is close to naming its new superintendent. hayward schools chief matt wayne has been named as the sole finalist for the job, and he is no stranger to the district. wayne has served for the last six years as the superintendent of hayward schools. prior to that, he was an executive director at sfusd elementary schools, a teacher in new york city and a principal in san pablo. sf schools superintendent vincent matthews, who has been in that role since 2017 announced that he would step down in june of 2021, but he agreed to an additional year after discussions with the board. and it's been a rocky school year for sfusd. the district saw three school board members removed by recall, protest by teachers who went unpaid for months due to errors

with the new payroll system, and ongoing budget issues following the pandemic. an effort to recall antioch's mayor has failed, and now the group behind the campaign is accusing a professional signature company of fraud. last night was the deadline to turn over signatures to recall mayor thorpe. they cited their belief that the mayor was not supportive of small business oz or the police. but they say their signatures were never return and it seems the country left the state with their $23,000 payment. for his participate, mayor thorpe says he is ready to move on. >> i'm so excited that the recall effort is finally over. we can move forward on continuing to be an inclusive community, a community where everybody is welcome and we stop shutting out different perspectives just simply because of who people are. >> well, the recall leaders say they plan to file a police report. as the fighting in ukraine continues, russia threatening to

retaliate after finland announced it is moving closer to nato membership. this marks a dramatic policy shift for finland, which does share a border with russia. sweden is expected to follow suit, and that historic expansion of the western alliance would be viewed by russia as an insult and a threat. meantime in mariupol, time is running out for the ukrainian soldiers living under relentless russian bombing. the fighters are close to starving, many with amputated limbs. on capitol hill, state department officials testified about u.s. efforts to support ukraine while senate minority leader mitch mcconnell urged the senate to pass ukrainian aid package. >> ukraine is not asking anybody else to do their fighting for them. they ask only for the resources they need to defend themselves against this lawless aggression. >> the number of refugees who have fled ukraine since the start of the invasion has grown to more than six million. well, contra costa county firefighters now back after a trip to ukraine.

he helped first responders there bring closure to families. >> this was a personal trip for david zalutskiy. as jocelyn moran explains, he moved from ukraine when he was 2. >> this is the worst part just being a firefighter. we all have the urge to help where help is needed. >> reporter: firefighter david zalutskiy says he was prepared for the calls to come in for search and rescue, but these images hit closer to home. >> seeing the damage and the devastation is something i've never seen before, unnatural human shouldn't are ever have to see. >> reporter: he was born in ukraine. he and his family came to the u.s. when he was 2. and since the war started, he had been wanting to help. he documented it. he says he and crews would search apartment buildings, training proving to be critical. >> helped bring some closure to families. we were able to recover a lot of paperwork, important passports

and documents for families. >> reporter: at the same time, they provided training to firefighters in ukraine. >> to be able to help and not just firefighting and rescuing people, but also trying to keep them alive and getting them to hospitals. >> reporter: he says the brotherhood among firefighters extends beyond the bay area and even the u.s. >> just being there for them i think was important for them. cooking them a hot meal when they didn't have hot water or power at their station for weeks. >> reporter: david spent about three weeks in ukraine. >> so these are patches from the soldiers that we dropped off sleeping bags and thermals for them. >> reporter: and he says he comes back feeling more grateful. >> checking out these apartments, looking for life, and you see somebody's breakfast still on the table. it's been there for a few days. it just makes you think, you got to treasure your life. >> reporter: jocelyn moran, kpix 5. >> david went out and did this on his own, separate from the contra costa fire department. but he did want to emphasize how grateful he was to the guys who .>> shead, frustrhort of by

formula. the blame game in washington, d.c. right now, and what's being done to help parents. also, it is graduation season. the celebration for the bay area grads whose special moment was spoiled by covid. also, coming up all new at 6:00 -- >> well, despite the drought, water use is up across the south bay, except for one city. we'll tell you what the city of

meet three moms who each like to bank their own way. luckily they've all got chase. smart bankers. convenient tools. one bank with the power of both. chase. make more of what's yours. five republican lawmakers have been issued subpoenas for the investigation of a january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. the house select committee has already completed about one thousand interviews in this investigation that they've now included five of their own colleagues, one of which

includes house minority leader kevin mccarthy. the committee says mccarthy spoke to donald trump before, during and after the u.s. capitol attack. the first public hearing in this investigation is set for june 9. right now the nation's shortage of baby formula has a lot of parents worrying and scrambling to get their hands on some. the biden administration says the president is working with baby formula manufacturers and retailers to find a solution. reporter lana zak has the story. >> oh, yeah. good job! what do you think? >> reporter: 11-month-old piper o'keefe is still unsure if she likes what's in her cup. a mixture of infant formula and whole cow's milk. a pediatricians say at her age, her baby formula should not be diluted, but her mom courtney says she only has six bottles of formula left. >> we are unable to find this in any store we've looked at. all of our online subscriptions have been canceled. >> reporter: o'keefe is not alone. across the country, shelves that carried baby formula are bare

due to a supply chain disruption and a safety recall. new york congresswoman elise stefanik has an 8-month-old son and is experiencing the shortage firsthand. >> this is not a third world country. this should never happen in the united states of america. >> reporter: she and other republican leaders blame the biden administration. >> but it seems while president biden's administration and the geinductas as possible.hemnermsf >> reporter: the white house says the president is talking with formula manufacturers and retailers to find solutions. >> it also includes ensuring that lower income families can access different brands of baby formula by working with the exemptions for the programs. >> reporter: on tuesday, the fda announced it is working with formula makers to increase their output and streamline paperwork to allow more imported formula from other countries. lana zak, cbs news.

coming up, one of the world's greatest natural wonders is losing its luster. how climate change is robbing the great barrier reef of its color. coming up on the cbs evening news, the desperation tonight from parents as the baby formula shortage grows. the new action from the white house to get formula back on the shelves and the important warning from doctors about what not to do when rationing your supply. when you need help it's great to be in sync with customer service. a team of reps who can anticipate the next step genesys technology is changing the way customer service teams anticipate what customers need. because happy customers are music to our ears. genesys, we're behind every customer smile.

fanduel and draftkings, two out of state corporations making big promises to californians. what's the real math behind their ballot measure for online sports betting? 90% of profits go to the out of state corporations permanently. only eight and a half cents is left for the homeless. and in virginia, arizona, and other states, fanduel and draftkings use loopholes to pay far less than was promised. sound familiar? it should. it's another bad scheme for california.

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state east bay campus and uc berkeley's memorial stadium. both schools getting set to hold commencement ceremonies this week. tonight there will be a special graduation ceremony for the 2020 and 2021 grads whose special moment was spoiled. >> how the campus is getting ready. >> what's going to be the happiest moment for me is just being able to make my family proud. >> i think my grandma and my mom are going to cry, and it's probably going to make me cry a little bit. but i'm not going to sob. >> earning a degree is a challenge for anyone at any time. but think about what these students have gone through, having to pivot, having to study at home via zoom or via remote delivery, losing their own jobs, having family members losing jobs, perhaps family members getting sick with covid or worse. >> also, the transition going

from in-person classes to online classes, it was difficult for me personally. it's hard to focus on nine classes, a lot of distractions, but we made the most and we came out and i'm here graduating. at the end of the day, it all worked out. >> there you go. i think it does mean something, especially because we weren't able to have one last year. i think it's really cool that we're able to get spring 2021 in on the graduation ceremony for '22. i think it's going to be a very special moment for everyone. >> my parents are -- they emigrated here from scotland and ireland. i'm the first kid in my family to graduate college. so i think being able to have them watch me walk across that stage is going to be like that's what's going to be the happiest moment for me. >> and we have a live look at the graduation ceremony, which is happening right now. as for the 2022 grads, cal state east bay will be holding several in-person commencement ceremonies between tomorrow and

sunday. scientists have spotted more trouble for the great barrier reef. it's the world's largest coral ecosystem in the pacific. as cbs reporter tina kraus shows us, climate change is apparently robbing the reef of its color. >> reporter: the colorful coral of australia's great barrier reef is fading fast. scientists surveying the underwater ecosystem found 91% of the areas they visited this year experienced bleaching. >> this is heartbreaking. this is deeply troubling. it shows that our barrier reef really is in very serious trouble indeed. >> reporter: scientists blame a prolonged summer heatwave and warming waters from climate change. it's the fourth mass bleaching that's hit the world's largest coral reef system in seven years. >> it's always sad because i feel like this shouldn't be happening. we should have been able to fix this. >> reporter: climate activists are calling on australia's government to act now to stop the destruction of the reef.

>> this climate change is driving the bleaching of the reef. our climate change itself being driven primarily by the burning of coal, oil and gas. >> reporter: scientists hope most of the coral can recover, but say the survival of the reef is in jeopardy. >> if we are to have any shot at a living reef in the future, we have to be bringing emissions down very quickly through the 2020s. >> reporter: one of the world's greatest underwater treasures is depending on it. tina kraus, cbs news. let's return back to that laguna niguel fire. a look at how crews went above and beyond to make a rescue. breanna got a call from her parents about a fire their neighborhood. she rushed home looking for her cat. a firefighter heard her talking, asked where the cat was and where the house was. crews went there and rescued her cat. >> i know they have huge things to deal with right now. so it was very thoughtful for them to save my animal. he is hiding. he doesn't want to be on tv. >> understandable given what just happened to him.

poor guy. breanna says she's just happy that her cat is alive. okay. let's check in with first alert meteorologist. paul heggen is here and getting ready for that warm-up. >> yeah, temperatures are going to warm up. not to record levels as we head into the weekend. we're not talking about a heatwave. but noticeably warmer after it's been cool throughout the duration of this workweek so far. breezy still this evening. the winds are going to calm down after sunset. mostly clear skies tonight. we're not going to have a whole lot of fog out there to begin the day on friday. much warmer tomorrow with the warmest day arriving on saturday when inland temperatures are going to reach the mid, even upper 80s, and temperatures go down the other side of the roller coaster. but just back to normal temperatures next week. we're not going to return to this week's substantially below average temperatures. one thing that's consistent in the forecast, there is no rain in the forecast for the next several days. the parade of storm systems is going to continue rolling in off the pacific, but they're going to be aimed to our north. passing showers for far northern california. the bulk of the rain is going to be aimed at oregon and washington. that's going to be the case into the weekend. we'll see a little back and

forth fog developing, and then backing up towards the coast as we head to saturday morning. clears out by saturday midday. same thing on sunday morning. but that's it in terms of any changes as we head into this weekend. looking outside right now, high temperatures from today. well, they made it up into the low 70s. i think this is the wrong panel. this is yesterday's high temperatures. downtown santa rosa did make it up to 73. i just clicked the wrong box. san francisco stayed in the upper 50s. temperatures right now mostly in the 60s. down to 59 in petaluma. half moon bay, you were stuck in the 50s all day. 61 at sfo, but only 57 degrees downtown. the warm spot is below 70 degrees. 69 degrees right now in fairfield. and still that noticeable breeze with us. 15 to 20 miles per hour sustained winds inland are going to die down as we head through the rest this evening. the winds are pretty close to calm tomorrow morning. a little change in the wind behavior tomorrow. it's still going to be an onshore breeze, but it's going to be lighter a little longer

into friday. that gives the atmosphere along the coast a little chance to warm up. but for the onshore breeze kicks in and starts to cool things back down tomorrow evening. it's the tug-of-war. the big picture weather pattern with the high pressure above our heads is going to try to warm temperatures up. that onshore breeze is going to be trying to keep things cool. it's kind of a tug-of-war throughout the day. it will reach equilibrium. temperatures in the 40s across the board. slightly below average. and then we end up slightly above average for high temperatures tomorrow. you can see the affect of the wind as we look at san francisco's temperatures. that's warmer than we've been in any point this week. but not much of a warm-up from there through the rest of the afternoon. and temperatures drop off pretty quickly once the wind gets stronger in the late afternoon and early evening. nothing to really slow down the warm-up for santa rosa. your temperatures will reach up to 80 degrees. that's almost a 40-degree warm-up from where you'll start off. concord likely into the low 80s for high temperatures tomorrow. that's several degrees above

normal for the middle of the may. san jose should be about 5 degrees above average as well. we'll see temperatures topping out below 80 degrees on friday. but you're likely to get into the 80s for high temperatures on saturday. we'll fill in the rest of the map. the warmest spots in the east bay into the mid-80s already tomorrow. that's the spots. fairfield, antioch, brentwood, where you have a chance to touch 90 degrees for high temperatures on saturday. that's not record-setting. you have to be into the 90s for any records to be threatened in the middle of may. and then temperatures back off quickly after that warm day on saturday. transition day on saturday and near normal temperatures on monday, tuesday and wednesday. a cooldown by thursday. more cloud cover and some of the forecast models are hinting that maybe there might kind of be a chance of a shower that sneaks down towards us. you hear all the question marks in my voice. we'll take a closer look at that coming up at 6:00. >> all right, paul, thanks. i'm allen martin. coming up all new at 6:00, san jose police doing some major damage control after multiple

misconduct allegations against its officers. what the mayor is now demanding. plus a south bay city is standing out for saving water. we'll show you what residents are doing to conserve. and long-time candy and ice cream shop in jeopardy of shutting down. how the community is helping to save it. the news at 6:00 coming up in about five minutes. sara, ryan? >> all right, allen, thank you. still ahead here at 5:00 -- >> an unprecedented look at the mystery of our for state controller, only yiu will save taxpayers money. wait, who, me? me? no, not you. yvonne yiu. yvonne yiu. not me. good choice. for 25 years, yiu worked as an executive at top financial firms. managed hundreds of audits. as mayor, she saved taxpayers over $55 million. finding waste.

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an amazing picture from our

universe. astronomers captured images of massive black hole. >> a new planetarium in the south bay about that epic discovery. >> reporter: this is the world's first imagery of a super massive black hole at the center of our milky way galaxy. >> very massive stars when they collapse, we kind of say they collapse out of existence. they become infinitely small and dense. they emit no light. they're very places in space. >> reporter: eight synchronized tell scopes around the world captured the cleanest image yet after previous attempts failed because of what astronomers called a jumpy black hole. >> because that's how we cali calibrate. >> reporter: benjamin mendelssohn teaches astronomy and jumped at a chance to tell students about this latest find. >> if our sun turned into the black hole, the earth would still orbit the sun. it would not be pulled into the

sun. but material that gets too close to a black hole could get caught in its gravitational pull and be pulled in, unable to escape. >> reporter: dozens of these mini projectors will reproduce the night sky, showing about 10,000 stars whereas the previous one would only display about a thousand. >> it's a much -- a much more accurate sky, much more representative of what you see when you go outside. >> reporter: this is the newest planetarium in the bay area thanks in part to a $3.5 million donation by jean and floyd quame. showcasing a majestic night sky inspiring future stargazers and astronomers searching for the next big discovery. >> we hope to have shows for school groups, for the community and for the public start manage the fall. we have a couple more moving pieces to work together and work out. but it will be a very wonderful place for everybody to come and learn. >> reporter: for educators like mendelssohn, the new planetarium could act like black hole, drawing in with its strong

gravitational pull an even bigger group of enthusiasts like him. in saratoga, kenny choi, kpix 5. >> that's it for news at 5:00. >> kpix 5 at 6:00 begin news with allen martin. right now on kpix 5 streaming on cbs news bay area, san jose police doing major damage control as the department suffers another black eye. the latest scandal involving its officers. >> we have a serious problem at sjpd that requires remedial action immediately. and a wind-fueled fire destroys multimillion-dollar homes, forces evacuations in southern california. families now returning to see what's left. >> it looks like a war zone. i can't even believe it. i heard it was bad, but this is so devastating. >> and later, how a community is stepping up to help save a long-time candy and ice cream shop from closing for good. >> i was looking in a matter of

months. i owe a lot of money. >> irene and i have both sat here and cried more than once at the level of support we've seen. >> good evening. i'm allen martin. >> and i'm elizabeth cook. we start on the fire watch. here is a live look at the upscale coastal neighborhood of laguna niguel in orange county where a fast-moving fire destroyed at least 20 homes. this evening we're getting a closer look at the extent of the damage. chopper video shows just home after home damaged or destroyed by this blaze while some neighboring homes were spared. it all started as a small brushfire yesterday evening and erupted into an inferno within two hours. crews are still out there putting out hot spots. flames scorched about 200 acres and forced hundreds of families to evacuate. cbs reporter jeff nguyen caught up with some of those evacuees. >> my husband just brought me this photo. that was just so oh, my gosh, i'm just so touched. >> reporter: it's easy to

understand why