. >> yeah, and the play-in tournament starts a week from tuesday. so we're right there in the thick of it. it's happening, warriors could still face one of like 4 or 5 teams, no matter you're in, so just go win. wouldn't want to face the warriors. no not right now. >> all right jason thank you, thank you. >> next at 11, the state must lead in partnership with our cities. a california will struggle if our downtowns are struggling. >> cities across the state are facing the same problem. a sluggish recovery to their downtown corridors. mayors taking their concerns to the state capitol. >> the 11:00 news on ktvu, fox two starts now, and many cities, large and small, struggling with office vacancies, empty storefronts and diminished foot traffic. >> hello again everyone. i'm heather holmes and i'm mike mibach. >> a new legislative committee is now trying to identify some solutions, and it's drawing on ideas from some mayors, including san francisco's ktvu. jana katsuyama has the story.

>> downtown san francisco has become a different city from its pre-pandemic self. >> it's very empty. i was at bloomingdale's. nothing was going on. >> the challenge of how to change and improve downtowns, such as san francisco is the focus of a new state assembly downtown recovery select committee. the first meeting was held in sacramento monday, chaired by assemblyman matt haney of san francisco. >> they develop policies that can truly support the recovery of our downtowns. >> the committee's goal is to create a statewide downtown recovery plan, four mayors testified monday from long beach , riverside, sacramento and san francisco. mayor london breed gave some sobering data. >> office attendance is at 40, 46% of pre-pandemic levels as of march. we can no longer rely on five days a week and 9 to 5 employment, she said. >> remote work has impacted foot traffic, a ripple effect hurting small businesses and restaurants. >> remote work has led to a historic office vacancy rate of

over 36% in our downtown. >> the mayor also talked about how state lawmakers can help by supporting efforts to streamline the transition of downtown office space into housing. >> my 30 by 30 plan is to bring 30,000 residents to the downtown neighborhood by 2030. >> the mayor also testified about the goals of creating a 24 over seven atmosphere in downtowns by bringing more entertainment venues and academic institutions. >> i'm doing my mba here in hult international business school. yeah so this is why i'm here. and i love the financial district generally. >> san francisco is great. i moved here because the spirit, the energy. >> still, some people say their concerns about crime persist. >> usually i'm not outside at 7 p.m. alone, so i think like the government should do something. >> the downtown recovery committee plans to focus on future topics of crime, homelessness, the fentanyl crisis and tourism. the next meeting is scheduled for the

second week of may in sacramento in the newsroom jana katsuyama, ktvu, fox two news new at 11 tonight. >> authorities in the north bay targeted a chop shop, arresting two people. the chp, working alongside the sonoma county auto theft task force and the sonoma county sheriff's office, uncovered the unlicensed vehicle repair shop in santa rosa. detectives say when they served a search warrant back in march, they found dozens of cars in various states of repair or destruction, including seven stolen vehicles, 21 year old pablo gonzalez and 33 year old leonardo sanchez roman are facing various charges, including operating a chop shop and possession of stolen property, the chp said. those seven stolen vehicles had parts and components removed, and that the vehicle identification numbers were altered or were in the process of being destroyed to hide their true identity. >> also new at 11 tonight, the posey tube connecting oakland to alameda has reopened after

firefighters responded to a report of a truck fire inside the tunnel. video shows smoke coming out from the top of the posey to maintenance building. firefighters say a pickup truck caught fire as it was passing through the tube. as of 8:00 tonight, that fire was out. no injuries reported. drivers were safely evacuated out of the tunnel to the alameda side, and traffic control was in effect until about 9:00 this evening. >> well, a rise in assaults on bus drivers is prompting one transit agency on the peninsula to take some action. sam tran says there were 14 cases of assaults against bus operators last year, compared to 18 in the four previous years combined. the district is now installing protective barriers around the driver's compartment. the samtrans board also approved a new code of conduct and enforcement policy that allows violators to be removed and banned from future use. >> this mirrors a national trend that's really concerning, and so

it's our mission to prevent as many of these assaults as we possibly can, sam trans, union president, said the district's 320 drivers routinely face verbal and physical assaults. >> those partitions will be installed in busses over the next three months. >> in monterey county, caltrans is taking the first big steps toward repairing a crumbling stretch of highway one that was damaged by the recent rain. the prep work to install anchors to stabilize the cliff got underway today, with the actual job starting tomorrow. a 40 mile stretch of the highway has been closed since the end of last month, when a landslide took out part of the road. daily convoys have been taking people in and out of the closure area twice a day. caltrans says it's unclear how long the repairs will take. >> a new tonight growing frustration among bay area homeowners state farm, california's largest insurance provider, just released a list of dozens of thousands excuse me, tens of thousands of future policies that will soon be dropped. more than 1900

homeowners in santa rosa will not have their policies renewed, followed by about 1700. in orinda, more than 950 in lafayette and 525 in oakland, ktvu zac sos spoke with some homeowners who are worried about their options. >> it doesn't sit well. angela hsu, ai new data from the state's department of insurance putting her orinda zip code at the top of the list in terms of insured households scheduled to be dropped by state farm this summer in the bay area, there's an increased risk. >> you pay more for it and i'm happy to pay more for it, but it's like we're not even given an option. >> the illinois based company, california's largest insurer, citing soaring costs, the increasing risk of natural disasters like wildfires and outdated regulations as reasons it won't renew the policies of some 30,000 homes statewide. the highest concentration of them listed on this map by zip code. >> what you're seeing is what we were expecting is they're going

and non renewing properties that are of the highest risk area insurance broker carl sussman says. >> those include areas in the hills closest to brush like santa rosa, the oakland hills and this neighborhood in orinda. >> we tried to go with state farm and they said, no, unfortunately we can't cover you. >> among the residents here forced to seek home insurance elsewhere, people are just having a hard time getting home coverage in our area. >> if there are fewer, insurers to choose from, then it gives us you know, less pricing power. >> a few streets over the christiansen say they recently had their policy dropped by triple a, their message to lawmakers, it just seems unreasonable for folks in california. >> it feels as though we're kind of keep getting these huge corporations that make the decisions and like the community has very little decision making. there are a lot of things that the city is doing for fire prevention. of course, there's always more to do, but it feels as though those proactive measures aren't being taken into consideration and reforms are actually currently underway to address that very issue.

>> as far as when state farm is planning to notify customers impacted by all of this, that insurance agent you heard from earlier in the story, he says the vast majority of customers impacted have already been notified in orinda, zac sos, ktvu, fox two news. >> santa clara valley water district says it's going to file a lawsuit against one of its board of directors, just weeks after it censured her for alleged misconduct. the board revealed its plan to file the lawsuit against director rebecca eisenberg during a recent meeting, but did not provide details on the lawsuit. the board censured her last month and accused her of removing documents tied to an investigation. the water district was looking into the claims that she created a hostile work environment and made sexist remarks. eisenberg has repeatedly denied those claims. >> new at 11 tonight, fire crews in el sobrante helped rescue a horse that somehow got stuck in the mud on a steep slope. the rough terrain made it really difficult for crews to get to

the animal. after about four hours, firefighters were able to remove all of the mud and branches and get that horse named magic ben to safety, and then reunite the animal with his owner. >> hundreds of guinea pigs found living in dire condition in tonight's west coast raft, the one shelter that came to the rescue but is now asking for help. >> plus, this certainly is distressing about the reality of it, but it's very important that somebody else be able to acknowledge that. >> a new study reveals a major disparity in businesses receiving grants in the south bay. advocates tonight weigh in on the changes they want to see, and reconnecting families with loved ones who were once incarcerated. >> the new program in marin county, that's helping the former inmates repair family relations

federal child charges. >> this story begins tonights west coast wrap. according to court documents, between august of 2020 and february of 2022, 41 year old olive bartley used social media to talk with a woman in michigan about sexual interest in children. investigators say the woman then sent him images. documents say bartley used a fake name but did identify himself as a police officer. bartley has been placed on administrative leave in washington state. >> now a van belonging to a dog breeder has been found, but the three french bulldogs that were inside the vehicle, they are

still missing. the van was stolen on friday while the owner was inside a gas station in kirkland. surveillance video caught a man casing the van before getting inside and then driving off. the van was found at an apartment complex, but no sign of those dogs. the breeder says the animals need medication after recent surgery and adds that they are microchipped. >> and in colorado, more than 500 guinea pigs were rescued by an animal shelter in fort collins. the animal rescue group posted this video to its facebook page. the guinea pigs were found living in deplorable, overcrowded conditions and in small plastic containers. they were also lacking essential necessities, including food and hay and water. many of the guinea pigs, also pregnant and suffering some major health issues. now the shelter says it appears a colorado breeder became just overwhelmed trying to care for the animals. the shelter is now looking for donations from the community to help with the care, and you can hear about the west coast top

stories every weekday right here on ktvu. west coast rap with alex savage airs 7:00 monday through friday, or you can find around the clock coverage. west coast rap.com okay. >> actor jonathan majors has avoided jail time after being convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. >> a judge did sentence the 34 year old actor to probation and a year long counseling program. the conviction stemmed from an altercation last year in which his ex-girlfriend accuses him of attacking her in the back seat of a vehicle. majors has lost movie roles over the incident, but tmz told us he is preparing for at least one film. >> he's got to wait and see just how welcoming hollywood is after. even though was the lesser charges, he still was convicted. of an assault, third degree reckless assault here. and whether or not that's something that folks are saying will be willing to overlook and give him another shot in hollywood. >> the victim has also filed a civil lawsuit against majors.

>> a new tonight only a small portion of government contracts are awarded to minority business owners. that's according to a new study that was commissioned by santa clara county ktvu la monica peters spoke with advocates in the south bay who hope the findings will bring a bigger change to bay area businesses. >> walter wilson is co-founder of the minority business consortium for silicon valley, and says the lack of business opportunity with the county for african american business owners shows stark disparities. >> black contracting in this county is dismal, and black people are leaving this county in large numbers, primarily because they don't feel home. they don't feel like this is a place that they belong. belongings is important these days. and guess what? in the last five years, some 13,000 people left this county, 10,000 of them were african african ancestry people. santa clara county's recently released disparity study shows the county spent more than $2.4 billion on contracts between july 2016 and june 2021. >> 15% of those funds went to minority owned businesses,

including non-minority women, with less than 1% going to african american, hispanic and native american business owners. >> there are many, many latinos that are very much part of the workforce force, but they're not part of the ownership and we know that in terms of wealth creation for this generation and the generations to come, you need both and clearly there's been some exclusion on that side . >> both wilson and king say now that county leaders have data to back up their claims of business discrimination and exclusion, it's time for santa clara county to make some drastic changes. >> i think we have the right people at the board of supervisors right now who are willing to say, take a look at this and say, this has to be fixed and the fact that they asked for the disparity study says that they knew something was wrong. >> we reached out to susan ellenberg, president of the santa clara county board of supervisors, and she was unavailable for comment. lamonica peters ktvu, fox two

news a new bill could introduce competition to ticketmaster. >> the debate in sacramento to try to bring prices down. >> then talented young poets from all across the country are set to take part in a competition in washington, and the bay area will be represented . >> and back here, right after the break, we'll look at the latest computer model that shows that chance for some showers on the weekend. we'll look into that right after the reak.

parents closer to their children. it is called the office of family reunification program. the sheriff's office, sharing this video on social media showing the first inmate to be chosen to participate in

the program. spending some family time with her children. the mother here in the video says she was absolutely thrilled to spend this time with her two children. one requirement for the inmates is they do have to take parenting classes to participate. the cupertino city council has extended the development timeline for two hotels by another three years. the de anza hotel and cupertino village boutique hotel have been in the planning stages for at least four years now. the developers asked for the extension, ci ring building costs and a slow recovery from the pandemic. it's estimated that the two hotels will generate more than $2 million a year to the city through hotel occupancy and property taxes. >> all right. it did warm up today. yesterday wasn't half bad either. it warmed up a few degrees yesterday over what we did see on saturday. temperatures warmer today. and that's the trend a warming trend if you will. it'll take us right through thursday. friday i think it will cool down a little bit with some clouds. it will still be nice. and then it looks like

saturday is going to be could be a little bit wet. these are the highs from today. highs tomorrow will come up another four degrees five degrees. so we'll see some potentially see some low 80s but more upper 70s than we had today. so a few degrees warmer. and then outside live beautiful shot. no coastal fog yet. fog returns probably wednesday morning along the beaches. and we'll start you off with this model. i wanted to show you this, this, this weekend thing that we're talking about here. and the model pushes forward through some nice weather. there's the ridge. if you can see where the bay area is, that spin right that that clockwise flow. and then see this counterclockwise flow right there coming down. so that's the system and see how it's already backing off a little bit. it's actually retrograde a little bit means it's gone towards the east or the west. pardon me. so it's backing away from the coast a little bit. and so it kind of it's cut off. it doesn't want to do anything saturday until saturday afternoon and then something like that. so i'm just showing it to you now. not because that's how it's going to go down because there's a lot that's going to change, because these cut off lows have a mind of their own often. and that

thing could go completely offshore. not go near us and go into southern california, or could kick through early or really anything could happen. so right now, though, saturday looks a little bit damp. and then sunday, friday, sunday not so bad or not bad at all actually. we'll see though i'd hate to dial it in. so if you have outdoor plans saturday and you, you're scrambling to get tents, you probably want to get something on order, but it could all change very quickly. these are the this is the model. and then this is tomorrow morning. and then you'll see the fog come back. there's tomorrow night and then you'll see the fog. see it there for kind of right in there. you see the fog that shows up on wednesday morning and then wednesday afternoon and then thursday. so nice pattern. the saturday thing looks like it could be a few scattered showers, but not a heck of a lot. but it's tough, heather, because this is the time of year where people have stuff, right? weddings and graduations. graduations but soccer games and such. >> yeah, and a birthday naaimur birthday. >> okay. >> all right, bill, do what you can for me, bill. okay. that's all i'm going to say. i forgot

about that. that's right. okay gotcha. yeah, ticketmaster may soon have some competition if state lawmakers pass a new bill. oakland assemblymember buffy wicks today introducing the legislation to create competition in the ticket sales industry that she says has been dominated by ticketmaster for years. the bill is designed to reduce prices and increase availability of tickets. wicks says. right now, ticketmaster controls about 80% of the primary ticket sales here in the u.s. this lack of competition as i said, does hurt ultimately the consumer. >> since ticketmaster and live nation were allowed to merge in 2010, ticket prices have gone up an astronomical 140. >> ticketmaster put out a statement saying the company supports reforms to improve ticketing, but believes the bill will instead undermine the efforts of artists, sports teams and ticket masters. efforts to reduce ticket scalping. >> all right, here's a look at the stories trending tonight on ktvu .com. one of our top

stories. the san francisco city attorney is threatening legal action after the port of oakland said it wanted to rebrand the oakland airport and include san francisco in its name. also, tesla has settled a high profile lawsuit brought by the family of a silicon valley man who died in a crash. while his car's autopilot feature was engaged. and in alameda, members of the coast guard reunited with their loved ones after months long mission out at sea. you can find these stories and much more on ktvu dot com. >> i think even if you're not, a huge fan of either of the teams who make it to the championship, it's still fun to watch and, you know, see who's going to win. >> it is fun. while no bay area teams played in tonight's ncaa aa championship, a lot of fans flocked to some watch parties to enjoy the final game coming up tomorrow on mornings on two, empowering families and changing lives, we'll introduce you to the nonprofit parents helping parents, which is an organization dedicated to

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is yet again the huskies took down purdue and ktvu is amber lee spoke with some fans in san francisco who still look forward to march madness every year, even if their team does not make it to the championship game. >> i actually love coming out here because the fact that we have this is like such a big deal, because you can't find this in many places. >> a few college basketball fans braved the chill of san francisco weather at thrive city to watch the ncaa men's championship game on a huge screen, warm by the heat of

their passion for march madness. they say they have no ties to the final two teams. uconn versus purdue. >> they're really trying to, you know, play really well and have, you know, i love the intensity of the game, especially going to college. >> it makes it an even bigger deal as well to support college basketball at nearby underdogs cantina. >> both uconn and purdue fans filled the sports bar. one couple from connecticut visiting san francisco for the first time, tells me it's part of their itinerary to support the huskies by watching the championship at a sports bar. the atmosphere is fun. >> a lot of tvs for the game, which is great. >> fans are really passionate about the sport and we've got we've had good teams in the last 20 years, so it's an exciting time of year for all of us. >> but there were plenty of local sports fans here also supporting purdue's boilermakers from indiana. ncaa march madness is our favorite and we love watching basketball and i used

to play basketball in my times. >> and so the shot let me see the shot. whoosh. >> it's just two weeks of nonstop basketball. and i think it's all about great great talent that's coming into the nba. even if you're not, a huge fan of either of the teams who make it to the championship, it's still fun to watch and, you know, see who's going to win. >> uconn won it. beat purdue with a final score of 75 to 60. fans tell me part of the excitement is watching the players. they followed go on to play in the nba in san francisco . amber lee, ktvu, fox two news. >> yeah, it was a fun game to watch tonight. all right, castro valley teen is now heading to washington, d.c. in a little bit to compete in the 2024 national youth poet laureate event. zoe dorado was named the very first youth poet laureate in alameda county when the program launched back in 2021. well, now the program is accepting applications for this year's winner. the youth poet laureate

program celebrates teen creativity and civic engagement. and for more insight on the program. earlier today on the four, we spoke with deb sitka, acting librarian of alameda county. >> we really feel like the youth in our community have a lot to say, a lot to contribute, and we wanted to be able to make space for them, space to have them have a platform for the things that are in their hearts and the things that they want to share with each other. >> applications are due april 30th. poems will be judged on content, craft and voice. and if you would like more information, we put a link at ktvu.com under the web link section. >> governor newsom's office announced today 12 tv projects set to begin filming in california later this year, creating thousands of jobs and injecting more than $1 billion into the state's economy. the projects will receive more than $150 million in tax credits as part of the california jobs first initiative. among the shows coming the amazon prime series fallout. the show is set to relocate from new york to

film its second season here. >> well, today was the much anticipated total eclipse, and some visitors flocked to locations where it could be seen . the eclipse cut a path over parts of mexico. 15 us states and eastern canada, and millions of people stood outside looking skyward with their special glasses on as the moon passed right between the earth and the sun. i want to show you now some photos of the views from here in the bay area, from our crews. a 35% partial eclipse here, but still some pretty impressive images. and to see more photos of the celestial event today from people here in the bay area and those who were right under the path of totality, head to our website ktvu.com. >> all right, thanks for watching, everybody. our next welcome to like it or not. my name is garcia mikel. it's a fun show where we take on a slew of topics, and our panel weighs in on whether t