a countdown to the new year and the rush for covid-19 testing. a live report from the testing site open now ahead of the celebrations and the return to school. and work. thank you for joining us for our midday newscast. schools are encouraging students to make sure they don't have covid before returning from the winter break monday. bob redell joins us live from canyon middle school in castro valley where parents are picking

up the free tests. >> we've seen a steady line of cars coming through here at can job middle school in castro valley since around 9:30. parents are stopping and receiving a test kit. two students per test. these are being handed out by free. just spoke to the alameda county school district and they are telling us, office of education say that they expect to hand out 9,000 tests here and at creekside middle, which is another school here in castro valley. you might recall last week that governor newsom announced the stayed would provide 6 million tests for students k through 12 in both public and charter schools. the alameda county of office of education was supposed to receive about 1 50,000 of those test kits. so far they've only received 9,000. the other around 135,000, they got stuck on a truck that was stuck in the snow on 80 because of that snowstorm. so they're not expected to get in until monday and that's when

they'll hand out those tests to other districts here in alameda county. so again, it's two free tests per student. the idea is that the child tests negative today and then again on sunday before returning to class on monday. >> we all try and just to keep her safe basically. i work as a dental assistant, so i, myself, have to get tested every week just to make sure that everyone in the home is safe. i'm also asthmatic so we're keeping it safe. >> also for taking care of the world. taking care that there's no type of contamination more and more. >> infectious disease expert with stanford university tells us despite all of these precautions next week, we still expect to see covid cases increase because of the gatherings tonight for new year's and gatherings last week for christmas. most of the cases are mild if you're vaccinated and boosted. the state's superintendent of

schools look with the alameda county superintendent, they are going to be here at canyon middle school in castro valley. they'll hold a news conference at 11:30 to reiterate the importance of having your student tested, tested negatively before returning them to school from the winter break. reporting live, bob redell, nbc bay area news. the fda is planning to allow some school-aged kids to get the pfizer covid-19 booster shot. a person with knowledge of the plan tells nbc news the agency will expand eligibility to children ages 12 to 15 in the coming days. currently that age group can get the first two doses, but not the booster. news of the pending approval was first reported in "the new york times." meantime, there are parties ahead tonight help hopefully your guests will do the right thing and get themselves tested before showing up. some people canceling their party plans or opting for smaller gatherings at homes to

stay safe. an infectious disease expert says despite all the precautions, next week we do expect to see covid cases increase. >> cases will start to go up after gatherings, after big holidays. we've seen it for the last two years. we know if you're fully vaccinated and boosted, most of those cases, we are hoping, will be mild. >> if you still plan to have a party, experts say you should make sure everyone is vaccinated and boosted and ideally tested for covid before and after the celebration. it's the last day of 2021. there are new laws going into effect tomorrow. 2022. nbc bay area's kris sanchez joins us now, moving us forward with what we need to know to not break the law. >> and we don't want to break the bank either. some of those new laws will impact people's wallets. tomorrow, the minimum wage will be increased to $15 an hour for employers who have 26 or more

workers. it will be $14 an hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees. this is part of the statewide raise that started back in 2016. also a new law aims to help people who need unemployment benefits. as you likely know the employment development department was slammed during the pandemic. governor newsom signed a reform bill to force the edd to give people notice if the department plans to refuse a plan ahead of time. it also gives applicants a chance to correct any mistakes on their applications before they are disqualified. and our neighborhoods could start looking a little different. senate bill 9 makes it easier for property owners to divide their properties. that means it will be easier to add an additional unit or convert an existing unit into a duplex. this is an effort to increase housing supply for people trying to make it in the bay. 2022 also brings some police reform. law enforcement agencies have to get approval from their local governments before buying what

can be considered military equipment like armored vehicles. another law specifies that officers can only use rubber bullets and/or tear gas if the situation is life threatening. and bad cops will be banned for life in the state. officers convicted of offenses like sexual assault or excessive force while employed at one agency won't be able to get hired by another department. as you go out with the old and in with the new, make sure you don't throw this year's leftovers into tomorrow's garbage because from now on, they need to go into a bin for composting. >> good to know. a live look at bay area bridges. starting tomorrow, the toll on all the bay area bridges, except the golden gate, will go up by $1. effective january 1st, tolls rise from $6 to $7. tolls will increase to $17 to $37 for vehicles with 3 or more axles. it includes the bridges antioch,

bay bridge, benicia, martinez, carquinez, dumbarton, richmond, san mateo. not the golden gate because that's not state owned. another toll rate goes into effect in 2025. find all the changes for 2022 on nbcbayarea.com. head to our main page and the link is right on the trending bar. taking a live look at palisades tahoe. their live cam on top of the mountain. a lot of snow. man, a lot of snow over the past week. let's check in with meteorologist vianey arana for the very latest. >> that was a really pretty shot. but it's still unsafe to drive up there right now. hold off on that. look how beautiful it is in san francisco. i'm going to get out of the way so you can enjoy this shot of the golden gate bridge. sunshine but it has been cold all morning long. started out in the 30s. now about 48 degrees in san jose. some areas of cloud cover. walnut creek also at about 48

degrees and a live look right now, but heading into the afternoon we're going to see slight warm-up. take a look at this throughout the entire bay area. and the trending tab right now shows a mix of sun and clouds for interior valleys but, hey, at least we're not going to see rain today. and we're going to keep this dry weather pattern through saturday and sunday. also it looks like our overnight lows will be dipping down into the 30s, even around the coastline, including san francisco tonight into early saturday morning. so we'll definitely monitor that. it's going to get really cold out there. i'll talk about that and your complete new year's eve forecast, seven-day forecast and next chance of seeing rain comes into the bay area coming up. vianey, thank you. just in, we have confirmed reports that tv news anchor frank somerville was involved in this crash late last night in downtown oakland. was arrested on suspicion of dui afterwards. new video, nbc bay area has

obtained shows that actual crash. you can see what sources say was somerville's porsche crashing into another vehicle from behind pushing it off the street. somerville has been a longtime anchor at ktvu, which is now owned by fox. however, he has not appeared on air in several months. we have reached out to the station for comment on his arrest but not have heard -- have not heard back yet. developing now, strong winds of fueling devastating wildfires in colorado in the boulder area. this region is under a state of emergency. the latest estimates suggest 500 homes have burned making this fire the most destructive fire in colorado history. this is video taken by one man driving through town. the town of superior. in a separate incident, one police officer sustained a minor injury. local hospitals say they're treating six burn victims. happening now, police looking for a north bay mother who left her baby in the car as she ran from police. started right before 1:30 this

morning on madrus rose street and winterhaven avenue in santa rosa. police found the mother sleeping in a white minivan with her 18-month-old child inside. officers believe she was intoxicated. when she didn't comply with officers, she sped off. that chase ensued. she got away. shortly after, police found the car a few miles away. the woman had run off but left her child alone in the car. that child is going to be just fine. it has been quite the year. still ahead on nbc bay area, a year in review in the bay area, including some of the more memorable events. and tesla recalling thousands of cars. we'll tell you what's wrong and how tesla plans to fix it. stay with us. you're watching nbc bay area news.

welcome back. you're watching nbc bay area

news as we count down the hours until the new year in the bay area. countries on the other side of the world are already celebrating. new zealand and australia, north korea all welcomed in 2022 with fireworks shows. just turned midnight in islamabad. kabul will celebrate in an hour. moscow in two hours. you remember 2021 began with the hope we'd turn the corner on the pandemic. and, well, we did take some baby steps towards returning to normal. this year has been anything but normal. nbc bay area's joe rosato jr. has a look back at the highs and lows of 2021. >> reporter: if you were trying to come up with a metaphor for the year 2021, what might it be? something that reflects the ups and downs and twists and turns. hmm, nothing comes to mind. but 2021 was the year that at least started out with hope. >> i think we all just want the sense of normalcy that we

haven't had in sea many months. >> reporter: despite a winter covid surge in january, new vaccines were rolling out in force. we stood in lines, in cars, waiting for the jab. it became part of our identity. are you moderna, pfizer or johnson & johnson? one and done. >> the only reason i want to get that one is because it's just one. >> vaccine hope was rolling out here. >> kamala harris. >> the bay area's own kamala harris was rolling out hope in the nation's capital taking the oath of office as the first woman vice president of color. we measured our pandemic status by the states colored tier system from the most restrictive purple to least restrictive yellow. yet the frustrations over the slow pace of reopenings had many seeing red. >> we should be following the

same logic now and getting these kids back into the classroom. >> reporter: those same frustrations were felt at gyms, restaurants and other small businesses. >> i have been open two months out of this whole pandemic. >> reporter: but each jab of vaccine moved the needle closer to freedom. in march, bay area counties like san francisco began allowing customers to dine inside. >> today we can begin to reopen our doors, reopen our businesses. >> it feels really nice to be out again. >> though masks remain part of our wardrobe we got to watch movies on the big screen. >> watching indoors and surround sound. nothing beats it. >> and after a season of cardboard cutouts filling sports stadiums -- >> let's go giants! >> fans got to reclaim their seats. >> go warriors! >> the return of some normalcy brought back one thing no one missed. traffic p. hopefully i'll be home by 7:00. >> then in may as the trees filled with spring blossoms and

the promise of renewal, a different kind of plague came to the bay area. the plague of violence. >> a disgruntled vta light rail employee killed nine co-workers and himself at a san jose maintenance yard. >> wishing i could see him one last time. >> reporter: across the bay area, surveillance cameras captured ongoing attacks on the asian community. and our cameras captured the voices of outrage. >> as an immigrant, we should feel safe and welcome in america. >> reporter: some longtime stores closed. while longtime national park ranger betty reed turned 100. and just as it appeared covid was easing its grip on our lives, we learned a new name, delta variant. >> the delta variant is much more transmissible than the other variants that have come before. >> reporter: by the time fourth of july fireworks brightened the

sky, delta had exploded to become the dominant covid strain in california. >> i don't want to get delta. >> reporter: we had too much virus but not enough water. several years of drought left our hills and reservoirs parched and a flood of new water restrictions. >> tough decisions are coming for all of us. >> reporter: the end of summer saw the return of san francisco's cable cars. and other things got back on track. vaccination cards became the new entry point to bars, restaurants and even concerts like the return of napa's bottle rock festival. we saw the return of conventions like dreamforce, although somewhat pared down. and the return of outside lands music festival hit a high note with music lovers. >> back in a crowd and sharing, you know, this healing moment almost. >> reporter: as retailers looked forward to a holiday rush -- >> oh, my god. >> reporter: came a rush of smash and grab retail robberies

from san francisco to san jose to walnut creek. >> this is organized crime. >> walk around and you lit leil see an officer on every corner. >> reporter: the vaccination age dropped to 5 years old and older. and for adults, one or two shots were no longer enough as we looked to booster shots to protect this from covid. >> start something and finish it. >> reporter: just as the holidays marched in, so did warnings about another new variant with a strange name, omicron. >> we have discovered our first case. >> it could be much more transmissible than delta. >> i was really hoping we'd be done with all of this by now. >> reporter: so this year ends where it began with hopes a new year will get us back to our regular lives without the shadow of pandemics and without feeling like we're riding a -- with hopes of a 2022. joe rosato jr., nbc bay area news.

>> joe always does such a good job. you can get a free ride on various bay area transit services tonight. muni offering free service tonight from 8:00 to 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. b.a.r.t. will extend service to accommodate raid riders, but regular prices remain in place on b.a.r.t. the last east bay-bound train that goes through downtown san francisco will be at around 1:30 in the morning. the last southbound train headed towards millbrae will run through downtown san francisco at 2:10 in the morning. the market mostly unmoved on this very last day of trading. but i'll tell you what. what a year it has been. the s&p 500 is up a staggering 27% for the year. tesla recalling nearly 500,000 cars due to safety

concerns. in a letter to the ntsb, the company cites concerns over a cable. on model 3's rearview camera. the cable could be damaged by the opening and closing of the trunk. on model s, front hood latch problems could cause the trunk or frunk as they call it to open. tesla will recall the vehicles and make the necessary changes. vianey is back to tell us what's happening for the weather on our new year's eve. >> we're going to look at today's weather, tonight's weather for new year's eve but also a little review of how we're doing heading into 2022 when it comes to our reservoirs and the drought conditions. right now the beautiful shot of san jose. 48 degrees. we're seeing cloud cover through that area. but we are going to keep the sunshine around at least when it comes to dry weather for the next several days. walnut creek, 48 degrees.

we've been waking up to really cold 30s. and that's where we'll see yet again for tomorrow. beautiful shot of lake tahoe now. we are going to see better conditions up there as well but remember the roads are still slick so you may want to hold off a couple more days. satellite radar right now, things are quiet and i have been checking the grapevine and chp reports to see if there's any closure. that stretch is sunny now with the exception of through frasier park could get icy roads so continue to check it before you hit the roads. haven't seen any closures. southern california saw severe weather yesterday. right now as we see the 40s, we're eventually going to see the 50s. and let's talk about the rain season and how we've done so far. from october 1st to, you know, pretty much the earliest part of the year over -- latest part right? we're in december. we've seen over 16 inches of rain in san francisco. we still have a ways to go for the south bay, but definitely

brought a nice relief for our drought monitor. the d4 category, the exceptional category, the worst, is pretty much gone for the bay area with less than 1% statewide for california. most of the bay area has now gone from extreme drought to severe which is a 2 category here. you can see the yellow color here. we still have a ways to go but it was a significant improvement from a series of storms we've seen and folks have also been asking about our bay area reservoirs. take a look at this. lexington was 20.2% as of december 1st but we've seen a rise of nearly 25 feet for the lexington reservoir. and we could be doing better in some of our top three largest reservoirs for the state of california. current capacity right now is about 57%, which, of course, the record october 24th storm helped out and december rain and plus the sierra snowpack has also been plentiful. that will definitely bring us a nice boost as well. new year's eve outlook. san francisco, we'll top out at

52. we'll start to drop into the 40s. it's the early morning like 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, we could see temperatures drop into the low 30s. maybe even the 20s for san jose, 52 degrees and long range outlook, we keep rain at times over the next several days but looks like that system is now steering more to the north at least for monday, scott. we'll stay dry at least through the weekend. back to you. >> that's pretty good timing. vianey, thank you. we are both in the office pool for the lottery. can you have the chance to become a millionaire after no one won powerball? still ahead, how much that jackpot grew and when you'll have a chance to win. and could your new year be off to a flat start? the reason you may struggle to find bubbly to pop at midnight. many airlines have kaenlsed thousands of flights since christmas eve. today alone over 1,000 flights

have been canceled. sfo, 54 flights have been impacted. the faa said an increased number of airline employees are testing positive for covid-19. the agency also says winter weather is not helping any. we're back after this.

one lucky person could end up starting the year a few hundred million dollars richer. as we mentioned yesterday, no

ticket matched all the six numbers drawn wednesday. that means the jackpot has climbed higher. up for grabs is a cool half billion dollars on powerball. the next drawing is tomorrow. those looking to buy champagne for tonight, high-end bottles in short supply. popular brands, expensive labels are sold out in many markets due to the supply chain issues. the port batch clause and labels and boxes and corks. and miley's new year's eve party starts tonight at 10:30 only on nbc co-hosted with "saturday night live's" pete davidson. you don't want to miss that. tune in early to catch nbc bay area at 10:00 as well. and vianey has a final thought for us. >> it's going to be frosty tonight. please bring your pets indoors. 30s early tomorrow, maybe even 20s and rain heading into next monday. mainly for the north bay but temperatures in the 50s today with sunshine in the forecast.

scott? >> thank you for joining us. our next newscast is at 5:00. you can get the latest information at nbcbayarea.com. we'll talk to you next year.

♪ california california live california live ♪♪ happy almost new year's eve, everyone. hope you and your family have had a great holiday season so far. as we count down 2021, you still have some time to sneak off for a special california getaway before starting back to work in 2022. so we're going to share some of our favorite spots we found in the last year. first