Transcripts For KTVU KTVU 20240703

Legacy of the longtime leader of San Franciscos glide Memorial Church. For the sake of my life, cecil has established for all of us what Community Service really means, how reverend Cecil Williams was the Guiding Force behind glide for more than five decades. As many remember his legacy of compassion and service to others. Then a new phase starts today in the push to house low income families in oakland. What were learning about a new Affordable Housing project thats breaking ground near lake merritt. Live from jack london square. This is morning time two the night. Today is tuesday, april 23rd. Were looking live at part of San Francisco show, and i do see some ships there. And the San Francisco bay. It is a cloudy start. Steve will talk about the cloudy and cooler temperatures. We have also a little bit of wind mixed in there. Well get a details in just a bit. People nationwide reportedly spent more than 450 a year on tipping, more than they would like to. Researchers surveyed 2000 people and found that the average person, reluctant tips close to 38 a month due to the pressure or awkwardness of the options theyre given. In fact, 1 in 4 say they always or often feel forced to tip more than they want to. Oftentimes, this happens in a coffee shop on tablets, or a waiter hands you one of those machines. More than half say this pressure them to tip more than just in a regular situation, and we want some viewer reaction. This morning were asking, do you feel pressured to tip more than you want to . Your options are yes, deflation is real. No, i have self control or sometimes it gets me scan that qr code or go to ktvu. Com vote. Welcome to the nine. You know a lot of people have said when weve talked about this before, theyve said, you know, if someone is just handing me my food at a pick up, im just not im going to say no because it didnt serve me. But if theyre serving me, then i do tip and i dont mind. I have to tell you, my thinking on this has changed in a big way. I think those screens started popping up. Was it before the pandemic . Right. It was. It was. Was it there . I think we saw a lot more of it after the panic. There is like weird pressure, like the screens, sort of like you feel like a real jerk. Tipping note to, you know, hitting the note tip button. However, i think especially since the pandemic, i my appreciation has only grown for people who, you know, make our burgers and, and get our coffee together and do all that like they feed us, they, you know, allow us to do. You know, if my family has a bunch of sports things, its thanks to you that i can have them fed. So ive loosened up a lot and i dont feel as as resentful as i think i used to when i was faced with that tip. Screen. Etiquette experts say you dont have to tip counter workers unless youre talking about like, i know, but you still feel like a jerk. Well, thats the thats. But but if you go back to the etiquette expert, theyre, you know, theyre the ones that call it if you if you get a salary of any sort, then you dont. But someone that comes to your table, that type of thing. Those people you definitely are tip because they they depend on the tip. Yes. Right. Right. But not everyone on the counter depends on the tip. I think some of them make salary. Im not really sure. Right. Thats why i dont know. Well, if i knew, maybe that would make the difference. Social media for some people dont care about hitting no tip. They just dont care if theyre not served. I mean, if its going to put me in the poorhouse by tipping, then. But thats what have fewer coffees or whatever. What this is saying, youre going youre spending more than you than you really want to. And right now things, everything is so expensive. The tipping is the one thing you can really control. You cant really control the price of eggs or milk, but you can, right . Not at the grocery store. I mean, i dont tip the guy at safeway, but like if i think like, hey, if im like, hey, lets mean you go out to coffee, i know im in for at least 15 bucks and i sort of automatically factor that tip in. Yeah. So lets have the newsroom coffee after the nine. Its free. Yeah, thats thats free coffee. You dont have to tip the machine. Yeah. Its no good. Exactly. Its not. Its not. Yeah. Are we going to turn now to a story that weve been following for you. And thats all the a protest going on on College Campuses around the us. Overnight, dozens of protesters were arrested on the campus of new york university. And as the police moved in, some protesters took to the streets of manhattan demanding a ceasefire in the war between israel and hamas. Now, more than 30,000 gaza residents have been killed in 200 days of war. Activists in Columbia University continue demanding the school divest from Companies Selling weapons to israel. The University Climate has changed, and now were more and more confident that we will be able to achieve our demands. Most classes at columbia will be hybrid for the rest of the Spring Semester because of the tensions on campus, and there is also protests at uc berkeley. Students have pitched tents at the sproul steps near the schools sather gate. Ktvu james torres at the cal campus this morning with the latest developments there. Good morning, james andre. Good morning to you. Well, weve seen students for the last about an hour or two hours at this point. Now Walking Around campus, its fully awake at this point. All headed to classes this morning, all walking right next to the demonstration you see behind me here. Its kind of out of most peoples way. The tents are all pitched right in front of this building here. Its not totally blocking access to the building. You can still walk in if you need it to, but as you can see, many students walking by not causing them any problems. Not nearly as intense as weve seen the demonstrations at several other schools. But the message very much still the same. Like many other campuses, students here say the uc system invests billions of dollars on Companies Offering military aid to israel. And they say the tents here will stay until that changes. A uc berkeley spokesperson tells me the school has no plans to change its investment policies, and the demonstrations will not affect the rest of the semester. Protests this week started yesterday with a rally in the same area, and thats where students, faculty and staff all spread the same message and goals they hope to achieve by being heard. As a palestinian, as a human being, i feel like standing in the face of one of the most welldocumented genocides, one of the most welldocumented mass killings of people because of their identity, its essential that we stand up. I would like the United States to stop funding weapons for israel. If we cut off the funding for weapons, then the conflict will have to stop. The group, known as the uc berkeley divest spelled out their demands in an instagram post. They say theyre asking for an end to the war. Financial divestment, severing academic ties with israeli universities, as well as enacting policies to protect propalestinian and muslim students. Its not the only campus in the state where were seeing some demonstrations. The administration at Cal Poly Humboldt is moving to Remote Learning until at least wednesday. They say thats after a group of students locked themselves into a school building. And that has been leading to a lot of tension between those students and Police Officers in the area. Theyve been calling the situation on campus violent and volatile. But here at uc berkeley, a much different story, much more peaceful, much more quiet. We have asked some of these protesters who are sitting in these tents, sleeping in these tents overnight as well, to kind of give us some conversation about what their message will be. They say thats something theyre not willing to do right now, that if you want to learn their message, the tents and the banner above it make it very clear. Were live this morning from uc berkeley. Im james torres, ktvu, fox two news. James, thank you. More employees of google cloud have been fired for protesting inside the companys offices. 28 google employees were fired last week after a sit in and protest at google offices in sunnyvale, seattle and new york. They oppose the companys 1. 2 billion contract with the israeli government, called project nimbus. There are now reports that more than 50 google workers have been fired. They accuse google of quashing dissent. Google, in a statement, said it took time to identify some workers who were wearing masks. The company also said every single one of those whose employment was terminated was personally and definitively involved in disruptive activity inside our buildings. We carefully confirmed and reconfirmed this. Former President Donald Trump is back in the new york city courtroom this morning. His criminal trial is continuing with a gag order hearing and more witness testimony. Eric shawn is outside the manhattan courthouse with the latest developments. Were coming on november 5th. Were coming big. It is day six of former President Donald Trumps hush money trial in new york. Before bringing back the jury, judge juan merchan held a hearing to determine whether or not trump repeatedly violated his gag order by publicly attacking witnesses and posting on truth social. Trumps team denies he broke the order, but prosecutors are asking court to find the former president and hold him in contempt. Meanwhile the prosecutions first witness, david pecker, the former publisher of the national enquirer, is returning to the stand on tuesday. Attorneys argue that pecker, trump and the former president s then lawyer, michael cohen, conspired to influence the 2016 president ial election by buying negative stories about trump and suppressing them on monday, pecker confirmed the tabloid used checkbook journalism and often paid for stories. He said he would keep his ears open for bad stories, potentially about him, and then help to kill them, which is not illegal. Theyre using him to paint a picture of trumps general mindset, but its actually not specific to the case before them. Trump is facing charges he falsified Business Records to cover up the illegal payments, but experts say prosecutors have a challenging task ahead of them. They are going to have to prove not just that there was a records violation, but also that the purpose of the records violation was to violate federal election law. Pecker will likely be on the stand for a few days. Court is wrapping up early today for the passover holiday at manhattan criminal court. Im eric shawn, ktvu fox two news following outcry by frustrated pga customers who have been paying record breaking bills this year, the utilitys chief executive officer says customers monthly bills will level off or even fall below their current levels. Ceo Patricia Popp says pga is looking at ways to reduce its operating costs and pass those savings along to its customers. Critics point out she did not provide specifics on her cost saving plan. The average pga bill for residential customers is more than 22 higher than last year. I was loving the past few days. I was like, no ac, no heat required. Steve paulson i dont know if the heat is on at the house, but i will turn it off as soon as i get home. Id rather have no heat than have to use the ac. I mean, you can always get warm, right guys . You can put on a sweater, wear a sweater, wear a sweater, cool. Mother nature will provide all the natural air conditioning we need, probably for a couple of days. And the way things are looking may be well into the first week of may, Mother Nature might be saying, you know what . Im going to give you cool conditions. Look at that fog bank. My goodness, it is large and in charge. We like to say, and theres plenty to go around, maybe slow to burn off, if at all, for some today. And in the northern Sacramento Valley along i5, some activity coming around this low is lit up around williams, chico, up to corning, colusa. A little bit of thunderstorm activity. I would not be surprised if we see that off and on throughout the day. That low to the west is the key. Thats responsible. That will be with us until thursday. The big message is cooler. Cooler . I mean, dramatic drop on the temps. We had some 80s inland yesterday. Dont see any 80s returning for a while. In fact temperatures will be in the mid 60s. Maybe even for inland areas by the time we get to wednesday thursday 50s on the temps except brentwood. Thats one of the only ones there. Pretty good onshore breeze or wind. Travis was up to 36. Now its 2530 miles an hour. Even a south wind or a southwest wind all the way out to livermore. So thats south wind and that west southwest wind and that fog bank will make for a cool day. A lot of activity, though, continues to fire up. You can see that activity moving up. So i would mention mendocino county, lake county, maybe northern sonoma county. The upper low will be with us today. Tomorrow it will move in around central and southern california. Then another system will come down from the northwest, and those two will merge and give us a cool pattern, probably well into the weekend. Some activity over the mountains looks to be big time here by the time we get to maybe thursday night and also friday. So travel plans to lake tahoe, the sierra, northeast california, northern Sacramento Valley, shasta, lassen. Keep an eye on the sky here over the next few days here. Much cooler today. Big fog bank drizzle, fog along the coast, some sun, but theres also some partly cloudy skies well inland. 50s and 60s. And i dont think the temps are going very far. If anything, theyll cool off, maybe a little rebound as we head to the weekend. You guys all right . Tributes continue to pour in for the longtime leader of San Franciscos most charitable organizations coming up on mornings on two the nine, well look back on the life and legacy of glide Memorial Churchs reverend Cecil Williams. Also ahead, the days of scrolling tiktok could be numbered as Congress Moves to potentially ban the popular social media app. Im rebecca im jimmy dean and uh, isnt that sunrise somthin . I honestly feel that way about jimmy dean sausage. Get yourself a large chunk of that good morning feeling. Boy, that smells good. Mmm. Ugh, when is my allergy spray going to kick in . You need astepro. Astepro . Its faster, bro. 8x faster than flonase. Its faster, bro its faster, bro its faster, bro its mom to you. Astepro starts working in 30 minutes. Astepro and go 100 of dark spots are intensified by the sun. Bright reveal daily sunscreen. No whitecast. Wear spf every single day, rain or shine. Antidark spot sunscreen by loreal paris. Why do dermatologists worldwide recommend La Rocheposay . Effective skincare like La Rocheposay double repair face moisturizer delivers doubleaction to help repair skins barrier and provide 48hour hydration for healthylooking skin. La rocheposay. Church. Reverend Cecil Williams died yesterday at the age of 94. Williams was the head of San Franciscos glide memorial for more than 60 years. In addition to being the churchs spiritual leader, he took on a number of social justice issues head on. He was a civil rights pioneer and fought for equal treatment for people of color and the lgbt q community, as well as those who were homeless and left behind by society. What we see is a people that needs love, a people that need also to say to each other, i care and i will be with you. Im not going to give up on you. Under his leadership, the membership of glide memorial grew to more than 10,000. Its foundation became the largest provider of social services in San Francisco. The death of reverend williams has devastated members of the San Francisco church he founded more than 60 years ago. For the sake of my life last night, the members of glide Memorial Church held an emotional celebration of life in his honor. It was held just hours after glide members learned of the death of the groundbreaking religious and community leader. One member of glides choir says williams opened his church to members of the Lgbtq Community at a time that most organized religious groups rejected them. I found home, we sing a song called the sit at the welcome table. Theres a space, theres a place for you. Glide is still working out the details of a Public Memorial Service for the reverend williams. For more on the life and legacy of reverend Cecil Williams, you can go to our website, ktvu. Com. The socalled tiktok band that several lawmakers have been pushing for may become a reality. The senate is expected to pass the legislation as soon as today, after the house attached it to a foreign aid package. But as Rebecca Kaster reports, it could be some time before theres any action. For all the tiktokers out there, your days of scrolling on the popular social media app could be numbered. The senate is poised to pass a bill forcing tiktoks Chinese Parent Company to sell the platform or be banned in the u. S. Its not really about tiktok. Its about bytedance, the company that owns tiktok and is indisputably controlled by the Chinese Communist party. With bipartisan support. The house passed the legislation last month, but the senate didnt move on. It so whats changed over the weekend . The house attached the tiktok provisions to a major foreign aid package for israel, ukraine and taiwan. The senate could still shut it down, but thats unlikely as both sides of the aisle support more funding for those u. S. Allies and are worried about tiktoks ties to the chinese government. The idea that we would give the communist party this much of a propaganda tool as well as the ability to scrape 170 million americans, million americans personal data. It is a National Security risk. If the tiktok ban makes it out of the senate, along with the foreign aid, President Biden is expected to sign it, but the app wont go away immediately. The matter is sure to be tied up in court, as tiktok plans to claim the potential ban is a violation of free speech. It really is a way to get messaging out that can be positive, but ultimately it needs to be sold to an american company. I think so that we can at least have some regulation on it. The bill gives bytedance nine months to sell tiktok, but also gives President Biden the ability to extend that deadline. If a deal is in the works in washington. Rebecca kaster ktvu, fox two news, a coalition of 15 republican attorneys general, wrote a letter to bank of america accusing it of discriminatory banking practices targeting customers for their religious and political beliefs. Letter says that bank of americas closed the accounts of several religious groups within the past three years. B of a denies the allegations, says in a statement. Religious beliefs are not a factor in any account. Closing decision Governor Newsom celebrated earth day by showing off californias newest state park. The governor, first partner Jennifer Siebel newsom, and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta were in Stanislaus County for the new parks dedication. John dos rios ranch state park consists of 1600 acres of rehabilitated natural open space, along with the san joaquin and tuolumne rivers near modesto. The area used to be farmland. We are here today in modesto at dos rios because again, it is a wonderful, a beautiful, a magical example of the work were doing to heal our environment and ourselves through the restoration of this beautiful land and the protection of the endangered species who call it home. San joaquin valley, in fact, per capita has the Lowest Per Capita open space and parks. Any other region in the state of california. And thats why this is so profound. The park projects projects for the park projects. Rather, 45 million price tag was paid for through public and private funding. Dos rios ranch state park is due to open in june, coming up on mornings on to the nine San Francisco. Among the many big cities nationwide, watching for the Supreme Courts decision on what could be a landmark case on homelessness. What the City Attorney says about changes that could be coming as the justices seek to answer the question can local governments conduct encampment sweeps . Do exactly as i say, or you could be shot. One man says he feared for his life when he was pulled over on his way to work. How a mistake by a car eale hi le my late fatherinlaw lit up a room, but his vision dimmed with age. He had amd. I didnt know it then, but it can progress to ga, an advanced form of the disease. His struggle with vision loss from amd made me want to help you see warning signs of ga. Like Straight Lines that seem wavy, blurry, or missing visual spots that make it hard to see faces like this one, or trouble with low light that makes driving at night a real challenge. If youve been diagnosed with amd and notice vision changes, dont wait. Ga is irreversible. Its important to catch it early. Talk to your eye doctor about ga and learn more at gawontwait. Com shake up your shower with a flavor for every feeling. This dove freshens you up. This dove winds you down. This dove leaves you glowing. And this dove keeps you going. So whatever care you care about, theres a dove for every body. Times may change, but somethings remain timeless. Ive been using dove beauty bar more than 25 years. Dove is 1 4 moisturizing cream. I feel silky smooth. Yesterday. The advocates say they believe those busses are filled with women incarcerated at the prison who are being transferred to other facilities. They want the women to be released instead of being sent all over the country. The federal bureau of prisons announced last week the more than 600 incarcerated women will be moved to different federal prisons all across the country. In southern california, a man driving to work had the scare of a lifetime when he was pulled over and approached by sheriffs deputies with guns drawn. Driver, this is Orange County Sheriffs Department. Youre considered armed and dangerous. Do exactly as i say. Or you could be shot. Deputies had received reports that the car was stolen and the driver was considered armed and dangerous. As you heard there, but it was all a mistake. The car was a loaner given to the driver to use by a dealership while his car was being repaired. The dealership had misplaced the paperwork and reported the car as stolen. I dont know whats going on. My heart is pounding. My palms are just like dripping sweat. And im. Im just like, im going to die today. I dont want this to be the last time that i, you know, i dont want that morning to be the last time i see my family just by losing a piece of paper. My husbands life was put at risk. It should not be that easy. They should have a better system for filing paperwork. Jamie rogers has filed a lawsuit against the car dealership involved. One east Bay Community is mourning the death of a sheriffs deputy in idaho, who grew up here in the bay area. 27 year old deputy tobin bolger was shot and killed in idaho while making a traffic stop before joining the Sheriffs Department in january. Bolger worked several years in Pleasant Hill as a police officer. He graduated from Berean Christian high school in walnut creek. Its still a shock, you know, to learn of the news of tobin passing. We loved him. We loved his family. When you think of tobin, you think i mean, the first word that comes to mind is servant. You know, someone who wants to serve. And so to be in public service, you know, looking out for the benefit of others, you know, that made sense for him. Boulter later came back to coach the schools Cross Country team, along with his wife. His yearbook graduation page says his dream job was to be a police officer. Well, a crucial project set to bring nearly 100 Affordable Homes in the east bay. Coming up on mornings. On to the now. Well take a look at the groundbreaking Development Near oaklands lake merritt and explore how its expected to address Housing Needs in the community. Then, its a local nonprofit on a mission to combat Climate Change and promote a healthier planet. How its empowering people from all walks of life to make informed decisions and take action for a stainabl ugh, when is my allergy spray going to kick in . You need astepro. Astepro . Its faster, bro. 8x faster than flonase. Its faster, bro its faster, bro its faster, bro its mom to you. Astepro starts working in 30 minutes. Astepro and go 100 of dark spots are intensified by the sun. Bright reveal daily sunscreen. No whitecast. Wear spf every single day, rain or shine. Antidark spot sunscreen by loreal paris. And where we were this time yesterday. Maybe youre going to take your heat back on. Certainly youre going to wear a jacket out the door this morning. Things are changing. Were in a cooling trend this week. A new study says that the older people get, the later they think old age begins. Participants in the study reported their thoughts on old age for 25 years. Findings showed every few years, the participants said that old age started a year later than they previously reported, the study also suggests that our collective perception of old age is changing over time, and thank goodness for that, the lead author says. Nowadays, adults believe old age starts later than their peers did. 10 or 20 years ago. I remember thinking 35 was ancient, right . And i mean, here i am on way the other side of 35 and im like 35. Youre a baby. Have your views changed over the years . Sure, yeah. Of course. I mean, when my parents were my age, i thought they were old. Right. And now im my parents age. You know, and im like, oh, i dont think im old. You have your whole life ahead of you. I still have so much time. But. And i would bet that, you know, when im, you know, 60 or 70 years old that i and im still active in running around. I still wouldnt think that im old, you know. Right. I sputtered off when i was 16 to a coach and kind of intimated he was old at 35. Yeah, i was running laps. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Its like. And now i realize 35. Yeah. Thats young. Yeah. You know when youre 16. Yeah. Anyone over 25 is old. Yeah. Remember that show the golden girls. Yeah. Okay. So i think that the actors in that show, the women were like. They were not 50s. Yeah, they were not old when they were doing the show, which is funny, but they were portrayed as like these ancient women who only have themselves. So i just i think about how thats just true. You know, like when Jennifer Aniston hit 50, im like, okay, like that is what 50 can look like. Its not, you know, hunched over. I think things have changed. Yeah, i think yeah, yeah, things have changed. You know, over the years we were living a little bit longer. Yeah. So, you know, that might factor into it. Yeah. Yeah. Lets peek in on some results from a poll. We popped up on the screen earlier starting the nine here. We had a study that said 1 in 4 people say they sometimes or often feel forced to tip more than they really want to. So weve been asking you if you think deflation is real, or whether you have good self control and you stick to your number. And yeah, sometimes it gets me the great majority of you say you feel pressured to tip and over tip 83 say its real. 10 of you say nope, ive got self control. Im good. 7 say yeah, sometimes its it gets me. We love watching these numbers change. When you participate, you can head on over to ktvu. Com vote or scan the qr code in the top right of your screen. Well, today crews will break ground on a multistory apartment complex near lake merritt. The project is expected to bring nearly 100 new Affordable Homes to oakland. Ktvu allie rasmus joins us to show us what it will look like and explain who gets to live there. Allie yes, this project a long terme project, two buildings, but the first of which will be built by the year 2026. And that first building, that construction is supposed to start on today will have 91 new Affordable Apartment homes. Lets show you a map of where its going to be located. East 12th street and second avenue. Thats in the lake merritt. East Lake Neighborhood of oakland, on the west end of lake merritt, near the old kaiser convention center. Heres a rendering of what its supposed to look like when its done. The Apartment Homes inside will include studio one, two, and three bedroom places. 23 of the 91 apartments will be set aside for people who are formerly homeless, transitioning to permanent homes. Now, who else gets to live here . People who qualify for Affordable Housing. That means families living there must make no more than 95,000 a year per household. The east 12th project has one of the best locations in town. In my opinion. Its one of the last infill developable sites on lake merritt, and its well connected by transit, education, schools as well as, you know, Convenience Stores and other amenities of the neighborhood. Most of the money to build this project, 23 million, comes from state and local governments , private financing and the east Bay Asian Local Development corporation and the Unity Council are also contributing and leading the construction of this Affordable Housing project. There is money for it also coming from oakland taxpayers. Taxpayers who passed measure u. That was an Affordable Housing bond that was passed two years ago. This is the first Affordable Housing construction site in oakland to use some of those measure u funds. And the groundbreaking for it set to start just about 90 minutes from now. Live in oakland. Allie rasmus, ktvu, fox two news. Ali, thank you. The u. S. Supreme court expected to issue its ruling in a landmark case on homelessness in late june. The High Court Justices heard arguments yesterday they will decide whether its constitutional for cities to fine or arrest people for sleeping in public places. The case is from grants pass, oregon, where people face escalating penalties for sleeping outside. A federal Appeals Court has classified the oregon law as cruel and unusual punishment, due to the lack of homeless shelters in the u. S. Can you imagine anything more cruel and unusual than throwing somebody in jail for using a blanket in the middle of the freezing winter . However, some conservative members of the court questioned just how far those Legal Protections should extend. Those justices say city leaders across the country are currently struggling to manage homeless encampments that they say can be dangerous and unsanitary. The Supreme Courts ruling on homelessness could have a big impact in San Francisco. Yesterday dozens of homeless advocates marched and rallied in front of San Franciscos Federal Building and through city streets. They say this case gets to the very heart of the debate over whether u. S. Cities can sweep homeless encampments. The reality is, folks are out there because they have no other choice, for almost everyone. And its not okay to then cite them and arrest them because theyre destitute. That is, in essence, a paupers prison that were creating there. And i think weve moved beyond that. I mean, City Attorney david chiu says the Supreme Court ruling will have a major impact on how San Francisco responds to homelessness in the city, hopefully have a much more nuanced ruling that strikes a balance between what San Francisco has been trying to do, which is our compassionate approach to homelessness, but also giving us the ability to have some tools to ensure that our streets are clean and safe. Chiu says San Francisco already has laws designed to provide Compassionate Care for people who are unhoused. But chiu says the city must clear the streets or take other strong action when the safety of the public is threatened. Well, today, San Francisco mayor london breed will propose requiring some businesses to close overnight to try and reduce crime. The Mayors Office tells us that she wants the board of supervisors to force shops to sell tobacco, or that sell tobacco or prepackaged food to close from midnight to 5 a. M. In some parts of the tenderloin. It would not apply to bars and restaurants. The goal here is to limit the places that people can hang out and possibly sell drugs. The mayors proposal has the support of the Police Department from educational workshops to impactful partnerships. A local nonprofit is uniting communities and empowering individuals to create a healthier planet. On this giving day and earth month, we want to highlight the good work of acterra, which is focusing its efforts on Climate Change. With us now are Lauren Weston and ervin rivera from acterra. Welcome to you both. Thanks for having me. I did a little reading about you guys. I didnt realize its such a Broad Mission that you have. There are a lot of facets to it. The one that really got to me is electrification, because thats a big one. I think a lot of people yesterday we were talking about electric cars and how everyones going to that. So youre educating and advocating for the same thing, right . Yes, definitely. So for electric vehicles, thats mostly what we focus on with the car program. This is like reaching out to residents in the bay area who are income qualifying, and they can save thousands of dollars when wanting to purchase an electric vehicle. And we really try to make it as equitable as possible. So getting those resources in spanish, not just english, chinese, vietnamese, you know, we have a lot of diversity here in the bay area. So we want to make sure nobodys left behind. This ties into your advocacy component because you want policy to essentially give that push to people to go that way. We want to support ev charging access for all. So we have a coalition that works with cec and hud on building codes to support multifamily housing in increasing ev charging access, so it makes adoption easier. What about food . Because food is something that i think a lot of people now, its becoming on their radar that, less meat, less dairy is good for the planet. Is that message getting through . We hope so. We did two sessions yesterday for earth month with amazon all about food, teaching folks how to reduce their meat and dairy, how to shop differently for alternatives, how to even store food differently so that it lasts longer. We think about food waste a lot in this conversation too. I think that its getting more mainstream now, which is awesome. Acterra is not a vegan organization, but we do hope that people reduce meat and dairy for Climate Change, educate young people is the key, right . I saw that you start in middle school. I have a middle schooler, so thats when, you know, people start thinking about it. Theyre old enough to think about policy changes that could last a lifetime. I remember when i was in middle school, we talked a lot about the drought, here i am, way, way past that. I still think about that. So its still impactful. Yeah. And for our middle school students, send yours our way. We would love to have them go through our program. We want to make sure that they know that there are solutions so they dont feel so hopeless and that theres places for them to get involved where theres community and activism together. And thats actas mission is to bring people together to create local solutions for healthy planet. So how does this work, how do people come to you . What do they do when they come to you . Do you want to talk about your programs . Yeah. So for our program, the napa program, we have expos in public places, like we just had a couple for the earth day events all around the cities. We were in milpitas and we brought a couple evs. And so those evs, theyre actual ev owners. They volunteer their time to show, like their electric vehicle to residents who are interested in going electric, too. And they get to ask questions. So we like getting volunteers and also involving students in these planning of events, because it is a lot of like hours of, you know, being out there trying to get residents to get excited about electric vehicles. So we like the energy from students to all this takes money, right . So you accept donation . I was on your website and i was looking at it, and little bubble pops up every once in a while. So and so donated 200. Thats pretty cool. Its like, wow, okay, this is the drum beat of donation. So they can go to your website and do that. Absolutely. And you can donate stock. You can donate through your estate. You can donate via check to our office or online donation. Well take anything. All right. And the last thing is the advocacy portion. We kind of touched on that already, do you have the ear of people who make policy decisions . I think we have the ear of the people which supports making policy decisions for those that are in elected positions. We get to have meetings with staff all the time. Were very grateful to have those conversations with staff that do have the ear. Sometimes we get blessed with their presence and it makes the conversation more robust, but we try to have as many conversations about local ordinances and advocacy for food and electrification as possible. All right. Well, thank you both. Acterra is the organization. And if you would like to donate to acterra, weve made it easy for you. You can just scan the qr code on your screen right now, or head to ktvu. Com giving day. Lauren weston, ervin rivera its a pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you. Coming up on mornings on two the nine broadways Tony Award Winning musical sensation has made its way to San Francisco. Were talking live with the playwright of a strange loop, which follows a black queer writer on a mission to redefine storytelling where desires identity nd instincts collide. Stay wendys fries are always hot and crispy. Fryday so toby says everyday is now fryday. Fryday. Fryday. Tuesday. Fryday. Wednesday. Fryday. Friday . Fryday. Get the fries other fries wish they could be. Wendys hot and crispy fries, guaranteed. Were in the middle of. Livin large and having a big day the Meeting Point of humanity and history. In the middle of being the fun uncle in the middle of being a kid again beep beep theres something for everyone in illinois. The middle of everything 31st overall pick. The niners will be making that pick amid concerns about the future of one of the teams brightest stars. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has sat out of the teams offseason workouts after making it clear he wants a new contract. However, general manager john lynch is still confident aiyuk will work out a deal with the niners. Our wish is that hes here and a part of, the niners for the rest of his career. Is there any chance he is not on this roster friday . I wouldnt anticipate that. Lynch says hes received calls from other teams about the possibility of trading aiyuk, but the team is working hard on trying to reach a long terme deal. The oakland roots and soul soccer clubs are lending their expertise through a program aimed at making the game more accessible to oakland students. For the past few weeks, the teams have been training people to coach. Some experts say one of the Biggest Barriers for children in underserved communities is a lack of qualified coaches. The players also provided a free soccer clinic for girls at Highland Community elementary in east oakland, along with the nonprofit girls leading goals. At this stage, theyre looking way better than i was when i was younger. Now, the free program is partnership between both teams and the Oakland Unified School district. The goal is to bring high quality and inclusive soccer to all 51 elementary schools. By the time the fifa world cup comes to the bay area in 2026. Theyre giving me an opportunity like they give these kids that wouldnt be able to afford the, coaching clinic, but through this program, im able to go there. Nice Academy Graduates will leave with official accreditations from the us soccer federation, as well as training in first aid, Youth Mental Health and critical social and Emotional Intelligence skills. A pulitzer and Tony Award Winning musical has made its way directly from broadway to San Franciscos act theater, a strange loop is a groundbreaking tale of selfdiscovery and resilience, tells the story of usher, who is a black queer writer who is writing a musical about a black queer writer who is writing a musical about a black queer writer. Hence the loop. We welcome the playwright of a strange loop, michael r jackson, to the nine. Thanks for being with us and congratulations. Thanks for having me. Did you ever dream youd be in this position . I did, not for sure. Yeah, your musical tells a story of doubt, of hope, but also of crushing silence. I mean, kind of take me through the story and how im guessing a lot of it is pulled from your life. Well, i drew from personal experience to write the piece, of course, but i dont consider it at all autobiographical. Its more emotionally autobiographical, i guess. I felt everything that the lead character usher has felt, and its a, you know, as you mentioned, its about a black queer writer writing a musical about a black writer, etc. And hes sort of its populated by his thoughts. Theres all these characters who play sort of different people in his life or his perception of them. One character stands out as his daily selfloathing is a character thats always there to tell him how terrible he is and how ugly and fat and all these things and, and to me, these are the sort of aspects of life that everybody has these voices in their head that are sort of nagging at them and sort of being negative. And its about his sort of cutting through that and trying to figure out how to write this show, which is in a way, telling him how to live his life. What is your hope in communicating the process of writing a musical . Because people might just see you today and think, oh wow, you know, he looks great. Hes on top of the world. He won all these awards. Life is good. What do you want to say to those people . Well, i will say that i began writing this musical 20 years ago when i was 23 years old. I felt very unseen, unheard, misunderstood, and i just. And it began as this monologue that i was writing just to sort of make sense of the sort of, loneliness and, and, and sort of terrifying world around me, and so and at that time, i never imagined that the show would be on any stage, let alone on broadway, let alone win a pulitzer. Let alone win a tony or or be on television. My mom has always been like, michael, did you ever imagine that one day you would be on television . Im like, mom, no, i didnt imagine that. None of this. Yeah. So, you know, i think that its i want the audience to sort of see that, you know, art can come from kind of strange places and that, this piece in particular is really taking a deep dive into the interior and yet that interior dive is sort of looking outward as well to them, to the audience, theres a moment in the show when the audience is sort of invited to participate. I wont give away what that is. But in that moment, everyone has to sort of decide for themselves, like, how do i fit into this story that i may not have even thought had anything to do with me whatsoever . Do you think this musical would have been as well received if you were able to put it on the stage 20 years ago . And ill tell you, i am an unabashed lover of musicals. I like them big and flashy, and i like, you know, love and all kind of all the typical ones. This is a show that makes you think a little bit isnt always super comfortable, and its, its, at least to me, impressive how audiences have embraced those complicated feelings. Yeah. Because, you know, part of my Mission Statement as an artist, even beyond this piece, is i like to make work. That is as, complex as it is accessible and so i try to put in a lot of entertainment around the sort of gnarlier, and there is a lot of joy. And i want people to think its a total downer. I mean, theres a total we have a total blast. Like its about its like the piece has a lot of satirical elements to it, and the music is meant to be kind of infectious and to draw you in into the loop. Thats the point. Like, the piece doesnt work without an audience. And so i just i just want everybody, you know, whos thinking about buying a ticket or coming to the show to understand that. Like, yeah, we go to some like dark, dark places, but we sort of go there with a little bit of a. Yeah, with humor and heart humor and resilience. You leave the theater feeling good, youre going to actually see it for the first time tonight here tonight. Yeah. I just got to town. How are you feeling about it . Im excited because, again, i never expected that the piece would be anywhere, let alone in new york and in dc and then in london and then here on the west coast. And so. And every time we do it, this will be a different cat. We had a different cast in london. We had a different cast here. And so the piece refracts through the all of the, the characters playing the thoughts and through the different ushers in different ways. And so you get and for me, because ive seen all of them so far, i see the different ways the piece still resonates on all these years later. Again, sort of originating from me just being in my room. I used to live in this little old ladys bungalow style apartment on the second floor in the middle of nowhere, jamaica, queens, writing this monologue, just not thinking anyone would ever see it. And so then to see that then blow up to these Different Companies doing the show, its so its sort of impossible to describe, like how good that feels. Whats the best part of this success . The audience getting to talk to people, people telling me that the show means something to them or it made them think or it or it challenged them, or that they like, they bought the cast album and they listen to it every day, or they go for walks. And just knowing that like its this, that the piece is looping beyond any one singular performance. I love it, and who knows how youre going to be inspiring when you take your seat today. Yeah, because thats what inspired me to write it. I grew up listening to musical theater and to music that i loved, and it it inspired me to want to be an artist and to be a composer and to be a lyricist and a book writer and playwright. And so i hope maybe thatll happen for someone else who will see the show. And, and, you know, a lot of people dont know it took me 16 years of working on this piece to get it to offbroadway and then, almost 20 to get it to broadway. So, like, i wish that for a another young artist out there or Young Artists out there to, like, take their time working on their craft, figure out what it is they really want to say and how they want to communicate with the audience. It doesnt have to happen overnight. It does not have to continue that loop. Michael jackson, congratulations again. Enjoy your time in the city. If you would like to see a strange loop, and i hope you do, it runs through may 12th. We have a link to tickets on our website ktvu. Com. Click that web link section at the top of the page coming up. Do you like chipotle . Oh, i love it. Oh good. Okay stay tuned then because we have a story for you a Napa High School alum heading for the nfl dra i ge you know those mornings when it takes just a little bit extra to get you out of bed . This might be it. Wake up to the goodness of jimmy dean. Spurred hatch just a short time ago, a day after two other chicks made their arrival. Theres a good chance the last of these four falcons could arrive before tomorrows hatch Day Celebration on the cal campus. The chicks are all the offspring of uc berkeleys famous Peregrine Falcon named annie. Transportation Officials Say Ferry Service between sausalito and San Francisco will likely resume sometime this week. Service was paused after crews discovered damage to the sausalito pier. Several ferry lines were affected by the closure, forcing commuters to find other ways to get there. While service is expected to start sometime soon. A project to fully replace the dock and damaged terminal is also underway. Construction is expected to begin next year. Happening today, longtime san jose restaurant the burger pit is closing its doors for good. The restaurant chain has served up burgers in the bay area for more than 70 years at 26 different locations. The one on blossom hill road is the only one left. Yesterday hundreds of dedicated customers stood in line for last meal and share some memories. People have been coming here forever, the neighborhoods and all that since 1953. I think they started. Thats why were here. My parents brought me here in the 60s, and i was in elementary school, and i have fond memories of those years and i love this place. Well, im 75, so its time for me to retire. But yeah, im going to miss all these people. Store owner says the crowd at the sendoff was so big they ran out of supplies an hour before closing. Chipotle is teaming up with napa high alum brock bowers as he prepares for the nfl draft. Fast food chain invited the tight end to join its unwrapped series. Bowers got to go behind the counter, made some burritos on his own leading up to draft day. Chipotle is debuting a brock bowers bowl with double steak, brown rice, tomato, salsa, and lettuce. Bowers says thats his go to order. Sounds delish. All right, here are the results from our poll so far that we mentioned earlier this hour. This morning were asking, do you feel pressure to tip more than you want to . Yes. Here are the results. Yes. Tip inflation is real 81. No i have self control 12. And sometimes it gets me just 7 of you voted for that. And you can still vote. Just scan the qr code on your screen. You just saw right there. You can just go to ktvu. Com viewer poll, and the poll will be up there. So you can go ahead and click and choose and see what you like about that. But you know, i know how you feel. They flipped that monitor around and you see, you know, 15, 20, 25 or custom or no tip when you look at that monitor and youre like, oh, what should i do . But as i said earlier, the people that get a salary counter, workers that get salary, the etiquette experts say no tip. Those who work without a salary, you tip them. Thats what you should ever be shamed into doing something you dont want to do right . No you shouldnt. But no one and four people say they are. Yeah thats what they think. But but for sure like what i mentioned earlier i factor in if its a 20 a plate place and the four of us are going out to dinner, i add a fifth 20. You know, for the tip. Its part of the meal. Part of the meal goes, yeah, you dont want to stiff your waiter. Thats like the end. Yeah, well, thats how they get paid. Thats different. Yeah. Thats different. Yeah. We appreciate your joining this conversation and the fact that youre streaming ktvu news on your smart tv when you can see our live newscast, get stories on demand on amazon fire, roku, apple and android tvs. Scan the qr code or search fox local and choose ktv ll were gonna have a real good time feel good time spreading love and joy and laughter all over the place were gonna have a good time were gonna have a good time it will be so legendary sherris got you feeling good announcer and now your host,