you're watching kpix 5 news at 5:30. >> right now on kpix 5, streaming on "cbs news bay area," contagious omicron subvariant now dominant in the u.s. ucsf's chief of medicine tells us why he calls this one a whole different beast. and parking headaches at sfo. the new warning from the airport. but first, independent truckers bracing for a new state law that could put them out of business and make the supply chain problems even worse. good evening. i'm sara donchey. >> and i'm ryan yamamoto. the u.s. supreme court declined to hear a challenge to the state's gig worker bill, throwing a wrench in the trucking industry that increasingly relies on independent truckers. ab-5 known as the gig worker bill was passed back in 2019. the state law reclassifies independent contractors as employees. but until now, a lawsuit presented any impact on the trucking industry. >> so that suit claimed that the law would devastate the industry.

john ramos talked to independent truckers and business owners who say the impact could be disastrous. >> reporter: ab 5 was intended to give transport workers more protections. but for truckers who own and operate their own rigs, it may be the end of the road, and that's going to affect all of us. on thursday, the u.s. supreme court made news again, this time by refusing to hear a challenge by california truckers to the new law that requires truck drivers to be employees of the trucking companies they do business with. >> this ruling really took everybody offguard, especially the way they -- at the speed that they kicked this back. essentially made it law. >> reporter: the problem is nearly all of the state's goods are transported by truck, many of which are owned and operated by individual drivers. that's especially the case at the port of oakland. >> there is 9,000 trucks that serve the ported on a daily basis, and 90% of them are independent contractors. so this is a big, big impact.

>> reporter: bill abuti owns trucking. he employees his own drivers but also uses independent contractors to handle overflow business, which just became illegal. abouti says he won't be able to use trucks owned by the drivers anymore. >> it doesn't work. you own your own truck, it's your truck. i can't take possession of it and start youth use:00 it. in a truck like my company, we eliminate owner operators and reduce the work load. >> reporter: that's a disaster for this man who just bought his own truck a month ago. he, like other owner/operators spent tens of thousands of dollars to not be someone's employee. do you feel a sense of pride in owning your own truck? >> oh, yeah, why not? that's my own truck. you know, working for myself. >> reporter: now his truck will be useless unless he wants to become his own trucking company, booking his own loads and dealing with the port

bureaucracy. are those all the things that the trucking company does for you now? >> yes, please, yeah. they arrange everything and they talk to the big companies, to the port, everything. and they take all the loads for us. >> reporter: so you don't have to do any of the paperwork yourself? >> no, no, no. not the paperwork. >> reporter: his dream of being a truck driver just got a lot more complicated. but industry experts predict many won't stay in california. which will only make the supply chain problems worse and the cost of everything in the state even more expensive. >> it's going to adversely affect everybody. and with inflation being as high as it is, this is going to put inflationary pressure on consumer. >> reporter: in oakland, john ramos, kpix 5. >> no one seems to know how the new law will be enforce order who will enforce it. legally, it is supposed to go into effect in just a few days. >> so a little more background now. ride share companies uber and lyft won an exemption from ab-5. it allows uber and lyft drivers

to be classified as contractors. but problem 22 is in limbo after an alameda county judge struck it down last year, claiming it violates the state constitution. the case will be reviewed bay state appellate court. in the next hour, the san leandro city council will meet to vote on a pay incentive program to retain the city's police officers. the first of its kind proposal will provide a $20,000 bonus for current officers. right now the department's staffing level is below 60%. if the city approves the program, eligible staff will get $10,000. then two more payments of $7500 and 2500 over the following year. a sad story now. a child who was hospitalized after his family's car was hit by an amtrak train in brentwood has died. that crash happened at an unmarked railroad crossing in brentwood. there were five people in the car. three died at the scene. two others were sent to the hospital. "the mercury news" is reporting

9-year-old julian nieves died from his injuries. at this point we don't know the condition of the second person who was injured. well, a new study is linking covid reinfections to an increased likelihood of getting other serious health conditions. >> it comes as the omicron subvariant ba.5 that's better at reinfecting people is now becoming the dominant strain in the u.s. the study looked at more than 5 million peoples treated in the v.a. health system and found people with two or more documented infections had more than twice the risk of dying compared to those with just one covid-19 reinfection. reinfection increased the likelihood of getting lung and heart problems, diabetes, digestive and kidney disorders as well as neurological problems. meantime, california's covid positivity rate is now 14.8%. about 2/3 of the state right now in the high community transmission level. and joining us live now, ucsf's

chair of medicine. thank you so much for taking the time, doctor. i know you have been tweeting this weekend about the ba.5 variant. you're calling it a different beast with a new superpower. can you explain why it seems to be so much better at evading our own immune responses? >> yeah. it's a bummer because we're all ready to be done with this thing. but this particular variant, unlike the prior subvariants of omicron, has enough alteratio in that spike protein, that's what our immunity is targeted at to make immunity from prior infection just not as reliable as it has been with prior subvariants. so the kind of superpower that we used to talk about, you had an infection, if you've also been vaccinated and you don't have to worry about it, that's no longer true. unfortunately, we're seeing a number of reinfections. >> the bay area has some of the highest case rates in the state. we'll put san francisco's rate right here. we hit a plateau for a while.

but cases are ticking up again. can you give us a sense of how we're doing as far as cases and hospitalizations and how do you see the ba.5 surge playing out over, well, the next few months? >> yeah, that curve is -- you can look at that and say oh, we're seeing a little bit of a surge now. but nothing like january. the problem is in january we didn't have a lot of home testing. so i'd take that blip that i see now and multiply it about five. if you do, we're already at a place that's not that far off from where we were in january. you probably know that as you hear about friends and family that are getting it in the last few weeks. the problem is we're now ba.5 is now entering our world now. and so we're going to start seeing another surge. hard to know how big it's going to be. but because this variant is even more infectious than the prior variants, each one seems to get a little better at infecting people. and on top of that seems to be better at evading immunity, it's likely we're going see more

cases over the next couple of months, which is rebeen talking to friends and family. it seems like some of them are getting really sick with this one, surprisingly so. but we do know other people are spreading it asymptomatically. so you have said we need to rethink how we respond. so how should things change? are we talking about going back to masking or social distancing? what do we need to do this time around? >> i don't think mask mandates are coming back any time soon, unless our hospitals get filled with covid patients. i'm at ucsf medical center right now. we've got about 50 patients with covid in a 600-bed hospital, no where near like what we had in january. it still is a milder illness than what we've had in the past. because you don't have to wear a mask doesn't mean you shouldn't. i believe there is a lot of covid around. and if you don't want to get it, then you need to be careful in crowded indoor spaces. and so i still wear a kn-95 when i'm indoors, when i'm shopping,

when i'm on an airplane. i still am not doing indoor dining. and the reason is not so much that i'm scared of dying of covid. there is no evidence that this one is any more severe than the past one. but i am scared of long covid. both prolonged symptoms. and as you said with that study, people who have a higher risk down the line of things like heart attacks and strokes based on a prior case of covid. so i do recommend that people continue to be careful. because there is a lot of covid around. and as you look at that curve, it's deceptive because it's more than that curve shows because of the number of cases diagnosed with home testing. >> okay. always good information. thank you so much. >> my pleasure. still ahead, a concerning new trend with childhood obesity and the health risk and problems later in life. a report that finds the quality of new cars is slipping. and the troubling findings about electric cars in particular. coming up all new at 6:00, steep borrowing rates and sky-high prices. experts are calling it the

perfect storm in the housing market, where it may be cheaper to rent than buy right now. plus -- >> why is the governor of california up for reelection in california running political attack ads in florida? i'm devin fehely. coming up, a look at governor gavin

a georgia grand jury has subpoenaed some key allies of former president trump. the grand jury is investigating trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election in georgia, seeking testimony for witnesses who were members of trump's inner circle. they have subpoenaed trump's former attorney rudy giuliani and south carolina senator lindsey graham. trump's other former legal advisers are also included in the group, including john eastman and kenneth chesbro. supporters of abortion rights are still mounting legal battles in states across the country. in mississippi, the abortion ban will remain in effect after a

judge rejected a request by the state's only abortion clinic. in florida, a 15-week ban is back in effect after the state challenged an earlier decision by a state judge. there are also legal challenges in oklahoma, louisiana, utah, and kentucky. new study shows childhood obesity rates are spiking in the wrong direction. researchers compare the height and weight of kids between 1998 and 2010. with that study, the kindergartners through fifth graders, the 2010 group was more obese. leading to a growing issue across the country, 14.7 million children are obese, and those habits early on usually led to a number of health concerns as adults like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. they also noticed social disparities between black children and those of any other race, spotlighting the issue of universal access to healthy grocery options and food deserts. coming up, a rough weekend for travel, and we're told it is

only the

well, a big setback for british prime minister boris johnson today. two of his top cabinet members are resigning, announcing they can't work for a government involved in so much scandal. the chancellor and health secretary are both quitting, making the announcement minutes apart. this comes after the deputy chief whip resigned after allegations he groped two dinner guests. johnsons what already been

involved in a mutiny within his party. lawmakers still angry after months of reports about social gatherings at downing street that violated covid lockdown rules. air travel hit a pandemic record this fourth of july weekend. the tsa says nearly 2.5 million people passed through its airports on friday that is the highest single day total since the pandemic began as more people are traveling again this summer. airports are warning about a demand for parking. sfo's urging travelers to book airport parking online in advance. it was a tough holiday weekend as cancellations and delays piled up at u.s. and international airports. some planes were halted on the tarmac at airports like denver and miami. meantime, major delays and cancellations also took place at airports like lisbon and frankfurt. senior travel adviser peter greenberg says the problem isn't going away any time soon. >> we're just getting into the beginning of summer, and you can't train pilots fast enough to get them in the left-hand

side seat to fly the plane. we still have the staffing shortages. not just the pilots, but the people who work under the wings, the ground handlers, the baggage loaders, the counter agents. >> greenberg says with staffing shortages and overscheduled airlines, it may take a while for the demand to stabilize. he says demand will most likely balance out around labor day when newly trained employees could begin working. if you've gotten a new car and had problems with it, you are not alone. apparently there have been a lot of issues. j.d. power reports people had more problems in the first 90 days of having a new car than ever before. the consumer insight group surveyed more than 84,000 people who bought or leased a model 2022 people. 11% report in order issues. electric cars had the most complaints followed by hybrids and then gas-powered cars. big brother fans have something worth getting excited over this week. >> the hit show is coming back for its 24th season tomorrow night. we'll get a firsthand look at this summer's new houseguests.

>> 16 new guests will make themselves at home in palm springs b & b motel as they introduce themselves to the rest of the country tomorrow night with contestants ranging from hypnotists to performers on the vegas strip. it's gearing up to be a battle for the $750,000 grand prize. >> a competitive aspect, and i think i'm built for this. >> i want to get in that house and bring that $750,000 cash home. >> i have a loft energy, and i'm going to be the one twerking on tables and having a good time. >> okay. hosted by julie chen munoz, will have the competition and the energy and the twerking i guess right here on kpix 5 tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. there you go. >> didn't know that was allowed on local news. probably not, get in trouble for it later. there is no good way to toss to you after that. sorry, buddy. >> thank you for not inviting me. >> i would never. i would immediately be removed

from the building if i did that. >> i think i'd be right behind you. >> taking a look at what's happening out there. a bit muggy out there by bay area standards. but the humidity has been noticeable the past couple of days. that's going change. but the big picture weather pattern isn't going to shift much for the next couple of days. the storm system off the pacific northwest coast still anchored in place. so the onshore breeze is going to continue. we're going see the fog doing its back and forth dance with temperatures remaining a little below average, which is where they were today. there is the fog hanging out along the coast. temperatures did top 80 degreeser, or at least reach 80 degrees in concord and san jose. the upper 70s for santa rosa. san francisco briefly touched 70. above average temperatures along the bay and coast with the sunshine breaking through the low clouds. but still below average farther inland. not a huge swing between the coolest locations and the warmest spots on the map today. still 81 in fairfield. down to 77 degrees right now in san jose. 71 in sfo while the downtown temperatures in the 60s. it's still in the 60s right now for half moon bay.

similar temperatures for pretty much everybody tomorrow with the onshore breeze. dying down somewhat overnight. but in most locations, not going completely calm. that's going to inpreis the marine air. 15 to 20 miles per hour for most of the stroengsngest guests. a factor for the wednesday morning commute. widespread fog expected pushing well into the inland valleys. transitioning to low cloud cover by late morning. and then the sun is going to peak through the clouds as head with towards midday and into the afternoon. temperatures tonight dropping down to the mid- to upper 50s to around 60 degrees, which is pretty close to what's normal for this time of year. high temperature in san francisco reaching up into the mid-60s. a couple of degrees cooler than today. i think the fog is going to be a little more stubborn, and we'll have that onshore breeze to drop temperatures down back into the low 60s by this time wednesday evening. santa rosa reaches up into the mid-70s, very similar to today's

temperatures. the fog should dissipate a bit more quickly there. same thing for concord. fog should be gone by late morning. upper 70s into tomorrow afternoon. same thing for san jose. but getting close to 80 degrees. it's only a couple of degrees below normal for the santa clara valley. temperatures almost identical on thursday. highs across the board running below average inland. only low 80s for the warmest spots for fairfield, antioch and brentwood. close to average around the bay and along the coast. a warming trend does kick in for everybody as we head into the weekend. it's a modest warming trend around the bay. not more than a 2 or 3-degree warm-up for san francisco. maybe 6 or 7 for oakland. temperatures reached the upper half by the 80s. still running in the 80s monday and tuesday. the warmest spots inland in the north bay close to 90 degrees by sunday. into the low 90s inland in the east bay for the second half of the weekend. and still around 90 degrees on monday before we drop back to basically average temperatures by tuesday of next week. we'll have tomorrow's dog

walking forecast coming up at 6:00. >> all right, paul, thanks. i'm elizabeth cook. coming up all new at 6:00 as well, governor newsom takes aim at the republican party by launching a new political ad. could this be a strategy for a potential presidential run? plus -- >> i'm max darrow in san francisco. coming up in the crazy world that is bay area real estate, the million dollar question. should you rent or should you buy? it's not a simple answer. we'll break it down. and you have probably seen them driving around san francisco. double-decker buses packed with visitors. a look at just how tourism is making a big comeback. the news at 6:00 is coming up in about five minutes. s sara, ryan? >> still ahead here at 5:00, a passion project turns into a popular first fridays business. >> how

an oakland mom is a driving force behind a first friday's mainstay. you may have heard of the lemonade park. behind the scenes, how she is spreading positivity through her business. >> one, two, three, let's do it! >> reporter: that's imani m. glover, founder of the lemonade bar. typically on thursdays, she and her kids go to a local kitchen to make their famous lemonade. every person has a role. each is essential. >> i want them to have a really good feeling that they can taste each and every sip.

>> reporter: and that requires fresh ingredients. grown at local farms. >> oh my goodness, you guys. oh, i make a goodness lemonade. and that one is a lot of labor of love too. that's organic mint and watermelon. >> reporter: you heard her day it there, a labor of love. how she describes the process of making it all. >> you know you've got a good one. >> reporter: she says entrepreneurship is in her dna. when she was in high school, she would sub popcorn balls at school so she could help her mom out and pay for extracurriculars. fast forward now, and she has turned her hobby into a business. you'll see her at oakland's first friday and other local events. it want easy getting here. but she tells others, if you have a passion, go for it. >> just do you and do the best that you can do.

because nobody can make lemonade like imani, right? nobody can make lemonade like the next person. >> words that she's also passing on to her children. >> helping out with the business has taught me the importance of entrepreneurship and the importance of being your own boss. >> reporter: when it comes time to finishing up here, imani and her kids pack everything up and head to their headquarters. it's a place where they plan out an event and also where her other passion lie, writing. her most recent book is called "fostering foster." the inspiration? her own life. >> we were in the position to foster a little guy. >> reporter: so behind all the hard work, the books, the lemonade, the motivation, her family. >> i'm trying to leave a legacy for my boys so then they can leave it generationally for their children and their children. >> 16 ounce strawberry.

>> jocelyn moran, kpix 5. >> that's it for the news at 5:00. kpix 5 at 6:00 begins now with ryan yamamoto and elizabeth cook. right now at 6:00 and streaming on cbsew a new sign a crazy the housing market is here in the bay area. where it may be cheaper to rent than buy right now. i urge all of you living in florida to join the fight, or join us in california, where we still believe in freedom. >> governor newsom takes aim at florida in his new political ad. could this be a strategy for a potential presidential run? and later, we hop on board a double-decker bus to see how tourism is making a big comeback in the bay area. >> it's a beautiful city. a little bit cold. >> we are really busy, very, very busy. we had a really god weekend. >> well, good evening. i'm elizabeth cook. >> and i'm ryan yamamoto. buying a home can be frustrating, especially in the bay area's tough housing market. >> with steeper borrowing rates

and high prices, there are experts who say in some scenarios, renting may be a better option than buying if you want to save some money. >> kpix 5's max darrow joins us from san francisco and breaks down those numbers. >> reporter: whether you're rent organize buying here in the bay area, it's going to be expensive. yes, there are advantages and disadvantages to both strategies. but right now at least, according to one senior economist with zillow, there is an enormous gap between the monthly costs to rent and the monthly cost to buy. emory barnes has rented in the bay area for about four years. >> we started in daly city for the first nine months and then moved here. >> reporter: in san francisco with a growing family, he'd like to buy, but at this moment, walking down that road might not make sense. >> so right now it seems like renting is just more affordable than buying a house. >> reporter: with mortgage interest rates rising and record high home prices, jeff tucker, senior economist with zillow says -- >> in the bay area, the odds are really sed