in oakland, andrea nakano, kpix 5. >>> tonight we're hearing from a woman accused of attacking a san francisco uber driver. she says things escalated when the driver told them to get out in an unfamiliar neighborhood. >> defending somebody kicking girls out on the freeway. no matter what the situation is. i don't give a [ bleep ] what the situation is. >> now, this is the video the driver shared with us. you can see the woman grab his cellphone and rip off his mask. the driver says the passengers began calling him names and using racial slurs when he told one of them to put on a mask. he says he decided to end their ride, but they would not leave. >> you are not letting us out in the middle of the freeway. you are not letting us out on the middle of the freeway. >> the driver says as he was taking the group back to their pickup location, one woman opened the car door on the freeway, and he says he pulled over and then things got heated. >> what you going to do? what you going to do? >> i'm going to talk to my company. >> well, that woman is now banned from both uber and lyft. san fra

in antioch, andrea nakano, kpix 5. >>> well still ahead tonight, the debate over dr. seuss. strong reaction tonight after the family of the beloved children a some of his books from store shelves. >> we should have been doing better long, long ago. >>> tonight the niners are revealing their plan to welcome fans back to levi stadium. >>> and it sounds like science fiction. how a secret space plane could help create i'm made to move. but these days, i'm not getting out as much as i'd like to. that's why i take osteo bi-flex. it helps with occasional joint stiffness, while it nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. osteo bi-flex. because i'm made to move. >>> lots of debate tonight over one of the most famous authors on the planet, dr. seuss. half a dozen of his children's books will no longer be published. reporter stacey butler on the decision and the reaction. >> i feel like them doing this is kind of like a wake-up call to everybody that this is not like appropriate anymore. like racism, like, has to end right now. >> reporter: strong reaction from those who

andrea nakano joins us with their story of perseverance and hope. >> reporter: i talked with the coach and he says it's a miracle that the team played football tonight. the pandemic took a real toll on his players and he was left wondering whether his kids would be able to play ball. >> honestly it was pretty hard. it was pretty hard. a lot of kids started picking up jobs. a lot of kids was really dealing with financial problems at home. >> reporter: the pandemic hasn't been easy for some of the players, especially for the seniors with dreams of a better life playing football at the next level. >> my heart goes out to a lot of seniors because i know this year right here a lot of kids don't have scholarships. a lot of kids, this is their way out. >> reporter: david clark is a senior and he couldn't be more grateful to be back on the gridiron. >> three months ago i thought i was never going to play football. >> reporter: clark is a lucky one. he is the first player from mt. diablo to earn a scholarship to play football in college. >> now it's big for him. this is big, you know, making a

andrea nakano talked with a local infectious disease doctor for some perspective on all this, andrea? >> reporter: here in the bay area, most counties are seeing a downward trend in covid-19 cases. alameda county is expected to move into the orange tier and infectious disease dr. monica gandhi telling me tonight that downward trend should continue as more people get vaccinated. >> what is really making me optimistic is watching the vaccines playthe world stage. >> reporter: dr. monica gandhi with ucsf sees signs of hope. she says the data shows thevaist on lessening the severity of covid-19. >> one death in l.a. county today from covid-19. that is a big deal. zero deaths from covid-19 in the city of london today. that is a big deal. that is how vaccines work. >> reporter: this as swift easing of restrictions and rising cases in some parts of the country have top health officials concerned. >> i'm going to reflect on the recurring feeling i have of impending doom. >> reporter: dr. gandhi, though, says even with spring break around the corner, she's not sensing the same level of concern

kpix5's andrea nakano is live outside oracle park for us tonight. hi, andrea. >> reporter: hey, ken. to say it's been quiet in this oracle park area would be an understatement. foot traffic has come to a crawl since the pandemic has begun and businesses have been really impacted in this area, but things are starting to look up. >> it's like it's christmas come early. you know what i mean? we've just been waiting so long for some sort of good news. >> reporter: scott morton, owner of momo's bar and grill in san francisco, is ready for business to pick up again. he's managed to stay open through the pandemic unlike many of his neighbors. >> man, this is a shot in the arm that i think the whole city needs, but this area in particular, you know, being so close to the ballpark. we're really excited for the future. >> reporter: today both the giants and the athletics making the big announcement through social media, the a's already swinging for the fences with a tweet welcoming fans back to the coliseum and putting tickets up for sale for opening day on a

andrea nakano talked with a local infectious disease doctor for some perspective on all this, andrea? >> reporter: here in the bay area, most counties are seeing a downward trend in covid-19 cases. alameda county is expected to move into the orange tier and infectious disease dr. monica gandhi telling me tonight that downward trend should continue as more people get vaccinated. >> what is really making me optimistic is watching the vaccines play out on the world stage. >> reporter: dr. monica gandhi with ucsf sees signs of hope. she says the data shows the vaccine is having a huge impact on lessening the severity of covid-19. >> one death in l.a. county today from covid-19. that is a big deal. zero deaths from covid-19 in the city of london today. that is a big deal. that is how vaccines work. >> reporter: this as swift easing of restrictions and rising cases in some parts of the country have top health officials concerned. >> i'm going to reflect on the recurring feeling i have of impending doom. >> reporter: dr. gandhi, though, says even with spring break around the corner, she's no

andrea nakano joins us with their story of perseverance and hope. >> reporter: i talked with the coach and he says it's a miracle that the team played football tonight. the pandemic took a real toll on his players and he was left wondering whether his kids would be able to play ball. >> honestly it was pretty hard. it was pretty hard. a lot of kids started picking up jobs. a lot of kids was really dealing with financial problems at home. >> reporter: the pandemic hasn't been easy for some of the players, especially for the seniors with dreams of a better life playing football at the next level. >> my heart goes out to a lot of seniors because i know this year right here a lot of kids don't have scholarships. a lot of kids, this is their way out. >> reporter: david clark is a senior and he couldn't be more grateful to be back on the gridiron. >> three months ago i thought i was never going to play football. >> reporter: clark islucky one. he is the first player from mt. diablo to earn a scholarship to play football in college. >> now it's big for him. this is big, you know, making a dre

andrea nakano joins us with their story of perseverance and hope. >> reporter: i talked with the coach and he said it is a miracle that the team played football tonight. the pandemic took a real toll on his players and he was left wondering whether his kids would be able to play ball. >> it was pretty hard. a lot of kids started deal picking up jobs, dealing with financial problems at home. >> reporter: the pandemic has not been easy for some of the players, especially the seniors with dreams of a better life playing football at the next level. >> my heart goes out to a lot of seniors, a lot of kids don't have scholarships. this is their way out. >> reporter: david clark is a senior and he couldn't be more grateful to be back on the gridiron. >> three months ago, i thought i was never going to play football. >> reporter: clark is the lucky one. the first player from mount diablo to earn a scholarship to play football in college. >> this is big for him. making the dream become a reality. >> senior year, i didn't want to go out without a season. i'm glad we are playing. >> reporter: also

here's more on the friday night light story from a andrea nakano. >> reporter: eye donor member the last time that i stood on the sidelines. this is quite a treat. it's an amazing sight to see. as you can see the freedom falcons are facing off in oakley. this feels a little different than any other football game that i have covered. normally students gather early and parents are staking out their fees. there are no fans allowed. but each student did receive tour tickets to give to their parent or guardian. and they will be in the stands and they are being referred to as observers. while the atmosphere is different, the teams are excited to get back to playing football >> their great group of kids and they are excited about it, we're going play hard. like to talk about winning and losing. >> we want to stay positive and work hard. we are excited and we cannot wait to see the ball kicked off. took the varsity game starts at 7:00 p.m. there will be some time between the jv game and the varsity game. while they are playing football , right across the way they are playing baseball at the same

andrea nakano has more on how the vote went. >> reporter: it got quite heated during a discussion on this agenda item because this is an urgent ordinance that needed five votes, and he got exactly that. the ordinance will not take effect immediately. >> this is baasrrem. singsome p being for these bills that will help protect tenants frombeing evicted from their homes. >> we know there will be hundreds of families that are going to be evicted, and we are trying to avoid that. >> reporter: a city council member who co-authored the bill says that richmond has suffered a high number of evictions compared to neighboring cities. >> contra costa has 15 times more evictions during the pandemic than alameda county. >> reporter: mclaughlin says thornae llcle eviction moratoriums, but some say landlords need protections as well. >> are we prepared to go beyond that state and county and placed our city in a liable situation? we already have two laws on the vote. >> reporter: this ordinance will remain in effect until the local ordinates ends, and the s concerns. >>> meanwhile contra costa count

here is their story from andrea nakano. >> it was hard. pretty hard with a lot of kids picking of jobs or dealing with financial problems at home. >> reporter: the pandemic has not been easy for some of the players, especially for seniors with dreams of a better life playing football at the next level. >> my heart goes out to the seniors because this year, kids don't have scholarships. this is their way out. >> reporter: david clark is a senior and couldn't be more grateful to be back on the gridiron. >> three months ago, i thought i would never play football. >> reporter: he is lucky, the first player from mt. diablo to earn a scholarship to play college ball. >> this is big. making a dream into reality, huge. >> my senior year and i didn't want to go out without a season. >> reporter: cheerleaders are now allowed on the sidelines. california department of public health band what it called supporters from being on the sidelines. it's comparable to a moderate contact sport to be a cheerleader. >> the resilience i've seen has been amazing a

andrea nakano joins us live from dublin tonight. >> reporter: the accident happened just before noon here at the school during a food giveaway. there is a memorial set up, she is a wife, a mother of two and there are no words to express the devastating loss this community has suffered. >> she died giving back to our scols,he died vonteeng accit tragic and >> repr: duin policesay the at around 11:45. 48-year-old catherine kuo was handing out food when she was pinned between two cars. parents are in complete shock. >> just an accident that no one wanted to happen. >> reporter: kuo was first elected to the school board in 2019 and just appeared to the first in board meeting in a year on tuesday night. >> this is about protecting our frail elderly and our women. i've never been afraid to walk. >> she found herself on our school board because so many people loved her and encouraged her. gofundme account was set up to help pay for funeral expenses but eight is also hope to bring the family some comfort. >> if people can just leave a kind message, so that when he does have the time and the

andrea nakano joins us live from dublin tonight. >> reporter: the accident happened just before noon here at the school during a food giveaway. there is a memorial set up, she is a wife, a mother of two and there are no words to express the devastating loss this community has suffered. >> she died giving back to our schools, she died volunteering in it tragic and freak accident. >> reporter: dublin police say the accident happened at around 11:45. 48-year-old catherine kuo was handing out food when she was pinned between two cars. parents are in complete shock. >> just an accident that no one wanted to happen. >> reporter: kuo was first elected to the school board in 2019 and just appeared to the first in board meeting in a year on tuesday night. >> this is about protecting our frail elderly and our women. i've never been afraid to walk. >> she found herself on our school board because so many people loved her and encouraged her. >> reporter: a gofundme account was set up to help pafofurapens also hope to bring the family some comfort. >> if people can just leave a kind message, so t

andrea nakano joins us from san rafael high school with what marin county is doing to address teens mental health. >> reporter: what is unique here is that high school students have opened up the conversation about mental health, they have teamed up with the marin county office of education speakers series to help those struggling with mental health. talia is one of the organizers of the marin county virtual wellness speaker series. >> a moment when i felt like i was overwhelmed with emotion, what i needed was after my first suicide attempt. i was getting yelled at by the people who were supposed to support me. >> this particular event was called more than sad. >> i would definitely say that the depression and anxiety, especially in the wake of covid- 19 has been really difficult for a lot of teenagers. a lot of the support systems we normally would have are gone. >> reporter: nearly half of california teens between the ages of 12 and 17 have recently struggled with mental health issues and psychologists are seeing an uptick in patients. >> we are seeing tons of depression, we are seeing s

here's more on the friday night light story from a andrea nakano. >> reporter: eye donor member the last time that i stood on the sidelines. this is quite a treat. it's an amazing sight to see. as you can see the freedom falcons are facing off in oakley. this feels a little different than any other football game that i have covered. normally

andrea nakano joins us now with the exclusive interview. >> reporter: surrounded by her family today, the 76-year-old woman was quite shaken up and said this attack was completely unprovoked and her first instinct was to fight back. >> very scared, very hurt. this guy is still bleeding. >> reporter: from her retirement home she candidly talked about her attack and injuries with her daughter helping to translate. >> the red i cannot see anything, still bleeding. >> reporter: the attack happened at around 10:00 this morning, and she says that she was just waiting at the traffic light and then a suspect punched her in her left eye. >> she's talking about, why did he attack me. >> reporter: immediately her instincts kicked in to defend herself and it was her attacker that ended up on the strict stretcher. >> i fight back. >> reporter: her daughter says her mother cannot see at all out of her left eye and she has not been able to eat. the hope is time will heal the physical and emotional wounds but this incident is one that scarred her for life. >> as you can see, she is extremely terrifie

andrea nakano is in larkspur with more on this first of its kind study in the u.s. >> reporter: here in larkspur landing, adults that are eligible are coming here to get their vaccines but by the summer, when dr. tells me that kids as young as 13 years old could be next in line to get their shots. >> we have to find out if the vaccines work the same way. will they stop infection? will they stop transmission? will they stop symptoms? >> reporter: dr. maldonado from the university school of medicine says that the high level of efficacy in adults, the outlook is promising for children. >> children make up 25% of the population. there are 80 billion people under 18. if we really want to reach herd immunity we have to make sure kids are vaccinated as well. >> reporter: the first phase focused on formulating the correct doses and now in the next year it will look at how vaccinated children do compared to those given siebel. dr. maldonado has just been given approval to hold the clinical trial for children as young as six months old. parents we spoke with say they want the data in need more

andrea nakano joins us from pleasanton where middle and high schoolers will be back in class and just a matter of hours. >> reporter: the superintendent of pleasanton unified said that the 5% of the students will be coming back to a campus like this tomorrow. but an infectious disease doctor says a full return to school is long overdue. >> online learning is not for every kid and yet every kid was forced to do it. >> reporter: after roughly a year, students will be back on campus tomorrow. >> it's not a panacea to go back in person. >> reporter: this is alameda county hit the red tier metrics for the last two weeks. >> once we started to realize that these cohort sizes were really doable, it was really showing us that we need to do this. >> reporter: infectious disease dr. monica gandhi recently addressed the struggles and the safe return to school in usa today. >> there is not room for fear anymore, to dictate is going back to things like school. >> reporter: dr. gandhi shows research stating that transmission is minimal between children and there is no mandating of six feet of dista

andrea nakano on the conclusion to a four-year legal battle. >> reporter: derick almena pleaded guilty to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in exchange for a 12 year sentence. the judge had to stop the court proceedings at one point as derick almena showed signs of dozing off and exhibiting jerky movements inside the courtroom. >> in court, he was a disaster today. listening to all of the victim impact, psychologically he will never recover from it. >> reporter: derick almena's attorney describes hiite omplbroken over his e ath 36le is were haert nt up flam in er 16.thecutiocited the pandemic as one of the reasons for offering a plea deal, he does not buy it. >> from our perspective, that is a phony rationale. they knew we could well hang this case again and that would be a disgrace in their office. >> reporter: family members issued their family impact statements be a video asking the court to reject the deal. on family says in part, this lenient slap on the wrist en annor all of the victims legacies by ethically holding criminality to account. the accused the district attorney of

andrea nakano reports that some people were having trouble just making an appointment. >> reporter: that's right, the contra costa county health services open this vaccination site at the former waterworld in concord today. but, getting an appointment was the hard part as the online system crashed and people were told to try again tomorrow. >> if you are 16 and over it is you're turning contra costa county. >> reporter: the call came out for all adults to get vaccinated as contra costa county tries to reach its goal of 1 million vaccinations by the end of may. but those who have tried to get an appointment say it's a frustrating process. >> i'm kind of a little irritated to have such a hard time getting the vaccine through them. even when i'm an essential worker i could not get the vaccine. >> reporter: since december 15th contra costa county has given out within 630,000 shots, which is about 85% of the population. but the demand is still high as the newly opened waterworld vaccination site had a line snaked around the parking lot. the county's health director is pleading with residents to

as kpix 5's andrea nakano reports, the county says it's all thanks to extra supply from the federal government. andrea? >> reporter: yeah, liz, here at the contra costa county medical center, a yellow light was shining earlier tonight to honor the lives lost in this covid pandemic. in all, 734 people died in this pandemic so far in contra costa county. in a sign of hope tonight, as it moves rapidly to vaccinate its residents. the lights went dark at the contra costa county medical center right at 8:00 tonight. >> on this day one year ago, our county lost its first two residents. >> reporter: now county officials say they've received a boost in the vaccination effort with the federal government delivering a supply of vaccines on top of what the county gets from the state. contra costa is home to 11 federally qualified health centers. >> it's true that not every federally qualified health center has come online yet, but like the state vaccines, they're moving in waves. we're in one of the earlier waves for that. >> reporter: in santa clara county the frustration is growing over the lack of appoi

andrea nakano has more on how the vote went. >> reporter: it got quite heated during a discussion on this agenda item because this is an urgent ordinance that needed five votes, and he got exactly that. the ordinance will not take effect immediately. >> this is embarrassing. you're lucky i'm done. >> reporter: some passionately being for these bills that will help protect tenants from being evicted from their homes. >> we know there will be hundreds of families that are going to be evicted, and we are trying to avoid that. >> reporter: a city council member who co-authored the bill says that richmond has suffered a high number of evictions compared to neighboring cities. >> contra costa has 15 times more evictions during the pandemic than alameda county. >> reporter: mclaughlin says this ordinance will close the loopholes in the eviction moratoriums, but some say landlords need protections as well. >> are we prepared to go beyond that state and county and placed our city in a liable situation? we already have two laws on the vote. >> reporter: this ordinance will remain in effect unt

andrea nakano on the conclusion to a four-year legal battle. >> reporter: derick almena pleaded guilty to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in exchange for a 12 year sentence. the judge had to stop the court proceedings at one point as derick almena showed signs of dozing off and exhibiting jerky movements inside the courtroom. >> in court, he was a disaster today. listening to all of the victim impact, psychologically he will never recover from it. >> reporter: derick almena's attorney describes his quit as completbr le inthe death e has hosting a went up in flames in december 2016. the prosecution cited the pandemic as one of the reasons for offering a plea deal, he does not buy it. >> from our perspective, that is a phony rationale. they knew we could well hang this case again and that would be a disgrace in their office. >> reporter: family members issued their family impact statements be a video asking the court to reject the deal. on family says in part, this lenient slap on e wrist sentence is vastly inappropriate for the crimes derick almena committed. we recommend you reje

kpix 5's andrea nakano is in oakley where there is a glimpse of about during the pandemic. >> this is the first friday night football game in about a year, while everything on the field is fairly normal, take a look at the stands. it is practically empty, it except for a few people that got special tickets to the game. friday night lights were shining bright once again. >> i've been waiting almost two years to play. to get this opportunity to play again is exciting and fun. >> reporter: tonight, freedom high hosted cap oakley and it is not just about the football. the cheer team tried to rally a subdued crowd according to public health guidelines, no fans are allowed. >> what we are allowing tonight is two observers. an observer is a parent or guardian from your household. >> reporter: while friday night football may not feel quite the same, the kids finally have a sense of normalcy, despite this not being the first game of the season. >> i think it is good for the kids. they needed this. >> a lot of people are hurting. this is the chance tonight to kind of start dusting ourselves off

reporting in oakland, andrea nakano, kpix5. >>> a live look at the richmond san rafael bridge, contra costa county could soon be moving into the red tier. they are seeing fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people a day and health officials say the goal is to get down to seven cases per day before moving into the next tier. five bay area counties are currently in the read. tomorrow, alameda and solano counties could join that list. >> reporter: a group of vaccines vigilantes are trying to help people but how people book appointments. has become an expert in navigating the appointment site. he says he has helped more than two dozen people find open appointments. in fremont, a group called bay area vaccine hunters also aims to help. >> it is frustrating that this is underground knowledge but the knowledge is out there to certain extent and it is a matter of getting to it. >> we said hey, let's create a group and we were wondering who would even join. >> those helping search for open appointments say they award the situation could amplify once more people become eligible in the coming weeks.

in antioch, andrea nakano, kpix 5. >>> well still ahead tonight, the debate over dr. seuss. strong reaction tonight after the family of the beloved children's author pulls some of his books from store shelves. >> we should have been doing better long, long ago. >>> tonight the niners are revealing their plan to welcome fans back to levi stadium. >>> and it sounds like science fiction. how a secret space plane could help create emergency planning for kids. we can't predict when an emergency will happen. so that's why it's important to make a plan with your parents. here are a few tips to stay safe. know how to get in touch with your family. write down phone numbers for your parents, siblings and neighbors. pick a place to meet your family if you are not together and can't go home. remind your parents to pack an emergency supply kit. making a plan might feel like homework, but it will help you and your family stay safe during an emergency. >>> lots of debate tonight over one of the most famous authors on the planet, dr. seuss. half a dozen of his children's books will no longe

kpix 5's andrea nakano is in oakley where there is a glimpse of about during the pandemic. >> this is the first friday night football game in about a year, while everything on the field is fairly normal, take a look at the stands. it is practically empty, it except for a few people that got special tickets to the game. friday night lights were shining bright once again. >> i've been waiting almost two years to play. to get this opportunity to play again is exciting and fun. >> reporter: tonight, freedom the chee to subdued crowd according to public health guidelines, no fans are allowed. >> what we are allowing tonight is two observers. an observer is a parent or guardian from your household. >> reporter: while friday night football may not feel quite the same, the kids finally have a sense of normalcy, despite this not being the first game of the season. >> i think it is good for the kids. they needed this. >> a lot of people are hurting. this is the chance tonight to kind of start dusting ourselves off and getting back to normal. >> reporter: while football has started, freedom high