>> his family says that they were surrounded by his children and grandchildren during the time of transition. his family asks that you respect their wishes for privacy and grace. >> reports circulated that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and in hospice care as he underwent chemotherapy. he denied that he was in hospice and the video he posted did not address whether he had been diagnosed with cancer. >> before the trial that forever changed his reputation, he was a sports hero and football star from right here in the bay area. the news of his death bringing out a lot of mixed emotions. >> nbc bay area spoke with those who knew him before he was famous and infamous. >> driving a white or light colored ford bronco. >> reporter: driving down the freeways of los angeles in june 1984. disturbing images of the double murder scene of nicole brown simpson and her friend in brentwood, then an acquittal

after what became known as the trial of the century. >> if it doesn't fit, he must equip. >> reporter: they left on the entire generation. >> it is really difficult in a 2024 context to explain to people how big of a deal it was 30 years ago. >> reporter: before he became infamous, he was a world-famous athlete. people who knew him when he was growing up in san francisco remember him as a breakout star. >> we were very proud about what he accomplished as a kid out of san francisco. >> reporter: family friend timothy allen remembered him as a multi talented athlete at galileo high school, then later at san francisco city college. >> my mother called me and said, you need to get on and come over, because he is playing basketball here. he was a city college student at the time, but he was so famous. >> reporter: from city college, he was recruited he won the heisman trophy. as a buffalo

bill, he was a star running back and nfl mvp. since the return to his hometown to round out his career with a san francisco 49ers and he became one of the first pro athletes to move into media and becoming a sports analyst, and starring in movies. >> nobody does it better. >> he was a really popular, well-known and well-liked figure for a lot of americans prior to the trial. i think that is why the murder trial caught people so offguard. >> reporter: after his acquittal in criminal court, he was found liable in civil court for singh to turn over most of his earnings to the victims families. he was tried and convicted in las vegas of armed robbery and serving nine years in prison. in today's announcement, family revealed that he was battling cancer. he was 76. nbc bay area news. follow-up in the case of a

vandalized mosque in san francisco. surveillance video captured 35- year-old robert gray using a skateboard to smash the windows of it last week. then, he went on tuesday they say causing more damage, then again on last night. that is when they arrested him. they have no idea why he was doing it, but he faces vandalism and other property crime charges. janitors saying that they are overworked and abused. more than 200 janitors wearing purple t-shirts and carrying signs are straightening -- threatening to strike. they say that it is played by economic exploitation, sexual violence and intrusive workloads. >> we are saying that there needs to be government intervention to calvert janitorial contractors and building owners that they cannot work immigrant workers to the bone to the point of debilitating their body and exploiting them and abusing them because they are immigrants and

just because they work on the night shift. >> state legislature is considering a newly introduced bill. it is the first bill that would limit workloads in the janitorial industry. being called one of the biggest eyesores in san jose. there are lots of abandoned cars and the city admits that the complaint slipped through the tracks -- cracks. streamlining the process to make sure that every case is looked at. here is nbc bay area's . >> reporter: the neighborhood was one of them and now the city says that things are about to change. this one has been sitting in the weeds for some time and was there eight months ago when they moved into the neighborhood. >> it can be frustrating, especially when i do reports to , so i do use the app and have reported some stuff. >> reporter: says that he used the 311 app twice to report this car and it has not moved. >> when people report a problem

and the city can't give them a clear answer or closes the request and says, that something we can handle. >> reporter: now, the city has updated the 311 app, so the abandoned cars go to the right department. before then, it only went to the department of transportation. >> it now goes to multiple departments. as a result, it was a conversation between d.o.t. and other departments. >> reporter: more than 6000 reports for abandoned cars in the first three months of the year. the upgrade will allow residents to track complaints, so that they will know the end results and depending on the circumstance, they will tag the car or alert the owner if there is one before telling it away. >> sometimes it is truly

abandoned. sometimes it was stolen and abandoned. sometimes it is a neighbor who is storing their vehicle on the street and their neighbors are getting annoyed, but it is owned by the person who lives down the street. >> reporter: connor says that he will try again to report this abandoned car. >> i have kids and it's not great to have an abandoned vehicle. sometimes the doors are propped open, so who knows? >> reporter: an eyesore that he says he has seen all too often in his neighborhood. in san jose, damian trujillo, nbc bay area news. crash created rush-hour gridlock that happened in san lorenzo at 1:30 and the truck crashed near 238 and connects with 880 this video from our sky ranger and it was fully loaded with thousands of pounds of frozen chinese food. the driver told the chp that he fell asleep while driving and it flipped. they moved it around 10:00 and cleaned up the fuel that's built. we just learned that all lanes are now open to traffic.

right now, commissioners are set to vote on a controversial change for the oakland airport. they are currently in a meeting on the input from a community. they want to change the name to san francisco bay oakland international airport. they say that it will bring more travelers and realize the airports close proximity to san francisco, but they have already announced that they attend -- intend to sue due to. sfo was located also approved a resolution proposing the plan for commissioners that are expected to vote tonight. how often do sexual assault cases and with a conviction? how many of those charges are put to nonsex crime and the defendant doesn't have to register with the state. our investigative unit follows the case of a san mateo county woman who says that her alleged was let off too easy taking a plea deal for false imprisonment and serving no additional jail time. according to a sheriff support,

her case included a taped confession and apology note from the defendant. the defender was originally charged with four related crimes, but accepted a plea down to a lesser offense of false imprisonment. the victim wonders why prosecutors offered him a deal that leaves him with no crime on his record. >> i begged her to please not do this, but i was ready and i said that i would rather lose on the stand then let him get away with false imprisonment, which meant nothing. >> reporter: the d.a.s office says that they sometimes enter these negotiations if the case is weaker than originally assessed. in this case, they say that there were issues with that confession. the victim says that prosecutors reassured her that they had a strong case. our investigative unit found plea agreements in sexual assault cases are more common than you might expect. you can find the findings and full report tonight at 11:00 on

nbc bay area news. depends per minister took center stage on capitol hill addressing a joint meeting of congress. this is just before president biden sat down with the prime minister and president of the philippines. alice barber reports and the meeting comes at a tense time. or too a call to action on the house floor, but not from a little -- u.s. lawmaker. >> you are not alone. we are with you. >> reporter: japan's prime minister urging a joint meeting of congress to resist retreating from global leadership. >> undercurrent self-doubt among some americans about what your role in the world should be. >> reporter: linking the threat of north korea and highlighting the urgent needs in ukraine. >> the leadership of the u.s.

is indispensable. >> reporter: house republican fighting is holding up a long- sought foreign aid bill for ukraine, israel and taiwan countering china. >> the clock is ticking and everyone feels the urgency. >> reporter: bring foreign aid for a vote despite far right threats that doing so could cost him his job and he said to me tomorrow with former president trump in florida as president biden fresh all of the state dinner for japan hosts the first ever trilateral summit between the u.s., japan and philippines. the leaders spoke on strengthening joint security in the indo pacific as china steps up its military assertiveness in the region. japan's prime minister directly addressed americans who feel exhausted by upholding the international order all single- handedly pledging japan stands side-by-side with the u.s.

after the biden administration, announced deals to strengthen military capabilities in japan and partner on ai research. in washington, alice barr, nbc news. up next, we catch up with the racer who bowed to complete 10 acts of kindness to submit his 10th birthday. new video into the newsroom and we will show you a dramatic air rescue of a driver that fell hundreds of feet towards the county. another beautiful day across the bay. 65 degrees in oakland, but how are we ending the work week? changes ahead into the weekend. i wi help you plllan

this is mesmerizing. watch this. video of a dramatic rescue that happened last night around 6:00. got a call about a car 200 feet down a ravine that flew over, then the cruise lowered down to the woman. they pulled her back up into the helicopter and brought her

to a road where the ambulance was waiting. we don't know how she is doing or how she fell off. it's not clear how she ended up there. there are three undeniable things i have learned about the 10-year-old at the center of tonight's area proud. the first is that he has to coolest name. max racer. his middle name is speed. he is kind. third, he keeps his promises. >> reporter: now, the promise that he made that we care about is the one that we shared with you last november. after seeing a bay area proud story about 30 acts of kindness to celebrate his 30th birthday, he vowed to do 10 to submit his 10th birthday. our story focused on his first act, making and donating sandwiches to a san francisco shelter. >> i'm stoked to see myself on tv. >> reporter: he was clearly stoked to continue his mission.

collecting hundreds of coats and donating them to three nprofits, then it was 200 valentine kits for the ronald mcdonald house in stamford, then working with kids against hunger for a remarkable donation of food packages. >> we packaged 7000 baggies and they were shipped off to ukraine. >> reporter: finally, a donation of new clothing to the va hospital. that is five down and five to go. he promises that it's not the enfor him. >> i want to keep doing them even after my 10 acts. i want to keep doing these acts of kindness and never stop. >> he told me about all of the things and the details about each one. the thing he was most excited about how they were doing bingo at the va and he got to call the numbers. >> those aren't small acts of kindness, but giant. >> exactly.

what surprised you about the process over and he said, how much work it takes to pull off one. it is a lot of work and he relies on family, friends and members of his hockey team at school to help him do a lot. >> very impressed. >> that's beautiful. he said he wants to continue those forever i wish the sunshine could last forever. it will briefly make its exit and is always there. it isn't going anywhere. it was still there and it just had its passing. let's talk about the temperatures, because heading into friday, we will see a cooldown. look at the camera in san francisco. 63 degrees and the high temperatures this afternoon were 71, but noticeably, the wind with 24-mile-per-hour wind . it is comfortable, cool and currently we have upper 80s. look at this down in san martin.

it is 88 degrees and nearing the 90s at about 90 degrees, then 80 in morgan hill. like livermore, 81. down to san jose, 75. around the coast, we have 60s. we are already noticing some cooling start to take effect, especially for areas like san francisco, hayward and oakland compared to the last 24 hours. satellite radar, things are, and we will stay dry for most of the friday, so don't worry about the rain tomorrow. the timing will center around the system developing, how quickly it moves in and out and i want to take you through those runs now that we are seeing them approach closer to the weekend. you will notice a cooldown by friday. at 7:30, 40s and 50s. not a cold night, but by the afternoon, slightly cooler in some spots and greater into the interior. look at this. brentwood, 68. those will be long gone and we will be maxing out for most part of the interior.

upper 70s for san francisco. you will notice the wind from the south picking up and i took this friday night overnight saturday and you will notice 20 to 20-mile-per-hour winds. when does the remove in? this is a big component. at about 11:00 and 12:00, and all the way to friday, it isn't until 12:00 at night on friday. overnight, the rain moves into parts of santa rosa, san rafael, oakland and the showers pick up moderate pockets at times and heavier into the early morning commute for saturday, so the impacts for saturday morning where a lot of the heavy pockets have made their move into the interior, then santa rosa and san rafael get activity. it does look like once the bulk of the rain moves overnight and into early saturday for the rest of the saturday will be periods of on and off rainfall,

then enough instability out of the coastline where we could see a thunderstorm or two. it will be mainly down to monterey and out in the water. the highest totals will be further north at some point, but also look at this. the coastal mountain areas, we are talking ben loman and a little over an inch. this is through saturday. once the system makes an exit, by sunday into monday, the highest totals will be through the ben loman area and for the rest of us across the bay area, less than that. less snow. we have numbers in 10 inches earlier this week and that has started to back up a little bit now and we are talking 4 to 5 inches of snow. conditions will be one day, but it does look like it will be a quick moving system and not a huge rainmaker. the biggest headline will be the cooldown and pockets of heavy rain. and that to get some stuff went

out there. by sunday afternoon, we should be okay and it will be comfortable and not a complete washout. looking into tuesday, wednesday and thursday, a new warming trend with springlike temperatures returning. >> thank you very much. coming up, a new laker -- layer of protection on self chkout left.ec

a massive fire tore through a recycling plant leaving ashes where pellets were once stacked high. firefighters are still working to knock it down. earlier this morning, a pellet recycling corporation in tracy.

check out the flames. firefighters say that the wooden pallets provided lots of fuel for the fire. you can see it. no water supply in the area, so they had to shuttle water to the site making it very hard to knock down the flames. firefighters evacuated 19 homes and in elementary school across the street and closed for the day. neighbors are happy to be safe, but they say that the fire was a rude awakening. >> it's kind of scary waking up at 2:00 in the morning and having firefighters knock on the door saying that there is a big fire. >> look at the fire. firefighters cleared the evacuations around 10:30 and luckily no one was hurt. they are trying to figure out what caused the fire. >> reporter: target rolling out new technology to crack down theft on self checkout registers. it can track people who have been flagged for not skimming an item before they leave the store. the new technology will be reduced -- introduced to shoppers at the end of the year. the checkout lanes will be 10

items or fewer. investors poured monty into tech stocks and rebounding from an earlier pullback over inflation concerns. lost two and the smp added 38. nasdaq gained 272. a sign made from sailors who were stranded on a tiny location. there it is. the coast guard spotted them in and it started on easter sunday when three sailors decided to head to the tiny island. that is in micronesia and 450 miles from guam. days later, they got a distressed call saying that her three uncles were missing. they launched a search and rescue helicopter, which spotted the sign. they dropped food and brought me to pick them up. the coast guard credits that signed for being the one to be able to rescue them. up next, big star stepping

behind the camera to direct tonight's new law and order episode. we are back in a moment.

the promo that just aired told you about the law and order on nbc. >> nbc star is stepping behind the camera to direct the episode for the ninth time. >> how was it to be on the first one she directed? >> this will be my ninth. >> i have watched her growth and she is so comfortable. when directors get better, they get faster. >> i love her luck as a director. it begins tonight on prime time at 8:00. it is directed by mariska hargitay at 9:00, then the law and order organized crime is at 10:00. you can watch our newscast 24/7 on every streaming platform. here is what's coming up at 5:30. the death of o.j. simpson rekindles a lot of emotion for a lot of people

and we just -- rediscover. a tow truck trying to latch onto an occupied vehicle at a red light. the tow truck company now under investigation. failing to address anti- semitism on campus. there is a new report card rating universities for the way they deal with the issue. the alarming grades for the bay area colleges. and alliance in ai. japanese company setting up shop in silicon valley as the prime minister looks to strengthen partnership in a meeting with president biden. the news at 5:30 starts now. good evening and thank you for being with us. tow truck driver attempting to attach to a car while the owner is driving it. it happened in san francisco and the video is raising a lot of questions. nbc bay area's christie smith explains.