Stop recent burglaries. Ahead, the increase in cases and the pushback from Business Owners on potential tax rate hikes. And cutting the cord. At t wants off the hook for californias land line service. The way you can weigh in on the proposal and the alternative service you can already switch to. Plus, bases are loaded with two weeks until the first pitch of the season. The star pitcher being added to the giants roster. This is today in the bay. Good tuesday morning. Thank you so much for joining us. 5 00 right now. Im laura garcia. Im marcus washington. Well get a look at the forecast in just a bit. First day of spring. First, we want to start with mike because you are dealing with a deadly crash out there. Yeah, we just learned this minutes ago, actually seconds ago, chp alerted us this crash, you see at the top of the screen flashing lights, that is westbound 580 coming into the maze out of the oakland area. Were looking at flashing lights and a deadly crash is whats reported now. Weve been tracking this for some time as the backup has continued to build. They had at least a couple lanes blocked. Now we know this is a deadly crash, there may be more crews and more investigation that continues. So this will be here for a while. This is off of 580 and 24 and approaching the maze. This will not affect the eastshore freeway where the bulk of the commute will be. Were tracking that again. Two lanes blocked westbound 580 as you approach the maze. The arrow shows you 24 and 13 coming into the area. Right now light traffic, but we will track this deadly crash over in oakland. Thanks, mike. Were starting out with a live look in walnut creek as we get the day going. Its the last day of winter, last few hours of winter. Spring begins at 8 06 and its going to continue to be mild through the week. For the weekend, rain chances coming in. Take a look at our highs and what were expecting. Up to 70 in santa rosa, usually up to about 65 degrees. Were still seeing 70s today, but each day it comes down a couple of degrees. So well talk more about that and when the rain comes back in the full microclimate forecast. Well, developing this morning in the south bay, san jose leaders will debate new cannabis regulations, and it all comes as dispensaries there say that the city is failing to protect them from crime. Today in the bays kris sanchez joins us from our newsroom. This is a really Sticking Point for cannabis providers. Reporter right. So the citys licensed cannabis businesses are frustrated. They say they have gone through the protocol and they are being targeted by criminals and theyre not getting the protection that they should get as legitimate businesses. They say theyre paying the fees that should provide that protection. I want to show you this video, one glaring example. If you have a moment, the burglars in the suv are loading stolen goods from the exotic dispensary. You see patrol cars drive by the scene, the thieves just drive away and the officers remain at the scene. The san jose spotlight reporter who broke this story talked with us about the impact these kinds of crimes are having. Some say they are getting close to closing. Weve seen two dispensaries close their doors. Thats 2 out of 16, and a lot of them are struggling. Reporter as she said, san jose only permits 16 businesses, which pay more than 139,000 per year in fees. Oaklands more than 200 businesses pay between 500 and 17,000 a year. San franciscos 100 businesses pay 5,000 per activity or permit. Now, because of the cost, dispensaries say their prices are higher, which drives customers back into the illegal pot market, defeating the purpose of having legitimate businesses in the first place. Part of the discussion is whether to align san joses policies with the states, which could change things for the legitimate businesses and make things more tough. Really interesting to follow. Thank you very much. At t land lines could soon become a thing of the past. The company is considering removing its land line service. The California PublicUtilities Commission is Holding Public meetings to get Customer Feedback on the plan. There will be two additional virtual hearings happening today. The first is at 2 00 this afternoon, the second is at 6 00 at night. While some customers have already gotten rid of their land lines, others are still attached. Companies are offering internetbased land lines as an alternative and say its seeing a boost in interest. The people who still have home phones really value something that concept of a home phone, even though most families at this point, most households no longer have land lines. Ooma offers business and home phone systems. Turning now to decision 2024, President Joe Biden starts his threeday Campaign Swing through nevada today. He plans to deliver a speech focused on landlords, rent gouging ren ents. It comes as president ial primaries take place across several other states. Both President Biden and former President Trump have already secured enough delegates to become each of their respective parties presumptive nominee. As brie jackson explains, the contest could gauge where voters stand on key issues ahead of november. Reporter president ial primaries are taking place in five states today. I register republican, but overall i want the best for the country, no matter who the person is overall. You know what i mean . Reporter President Biden and former President Trump already won enough delegates to clinch their partys nominations. In states like ohio, voters will also weigh in on competitive downballot races and issues that are top of mind. I think Border Security probably is the most important issue for me. The families that are coming across, im worried about the other people that might be up to no good coming across. Reporter tuesdays results could shed light on where voters stand on a biden trump rematch. At a Campaign Rally over the weekend, trump claimed bidens policies would create an economic bloodbath for the Auto Industry and auto workers. If i dont get elected, its going to be a bloodbath, thats going to be the least of it. Reporter those remarks sparked controversy. President bidens campaign releasing this ad, highlighting trumps comments and scenes of political extremism and violence. Proud boys, stand back and stand by. Please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated january 6th hostages. Part of an ongoing effort to paint bidens predecessor as a threat to democracy. In washington, brie jackson, nbc news. Baseball season suddenly just got a whole lot more interesting for giants fans. The team just signed the leagues top free agent pitcher. Sources confirming to nbc sports bay area that blake snell has agreed to a twoyear 62 million deal with an optout after the season. Hes a twotime award winner who was coveted by top teams, including the dodgers and the yankees. So with less than ten days until opening day, snell suddenly becomes the top prize in the teams list of offseason acquisitions. It started with korean star lee. They grabbed Onetime World series mvp solaire. The giants open the season march 28th. Today marks the official end of winter. Lets check in with meteorologist kari hall. Were welcoming spring. Today is the official start of the vernal equinox at exactly 8 06 p. M. Why 8 06 . That will mark the time when the daytonight line called the terminator intersects both of the earths poles and the rays strike the earth perpendicular. From this point on, the tilt of the earth will allow for more sunshine in the Northern Hemisphere and moments of daylight increase from now until the first day of summer. Bring it on. Folks, we will switch gears to traffic where we do have the berkeley curve. The great news is the berkeley curve is unaffected by this crash. But this crash is a big deal. Two lanes are blocked west 580. On the human front, there is a crash that is a deadly crash resulting from three vehicles westbound 580 approaching interstate 80. We do have only two lanes blocked. Theres still traffic flowing past the scene. This investigation will have to continue. Weve seen a mild build, but a lot more slowing as crews did arrive. Folks, youre able to take 980 down or you can take some surface streets. Right now i would say just stick it out on westbound 580 heading toward the maze and berkeley curve because you can see the flow of traffic po the live camera we showed you. Everything else approaching the area has not started for volume through concord and out of vallejo. Everything seems like its still at speed. Watch west 580 at the maze. Thank you, mike. Some parents spending big bucks this College Admission season. Ahead, a look at the new industry promising to get High School Students into toptier colleges. Calm down dance with me and take the lead now beauty and brains. Entertainer and entrepreneur selena gomez looking to smell her cosmetic line. What it may signal about her future in the beauty business. And your average promise proposal, not this one. One High Schoolers unique way of asking a lucky gal to be his date. And this story will surely wheel and this story will surely wheel you away. you made a cow actually its a piggy bank. My inspiration to start saving. How about a more solid way to save . Im listening. Well, bmo helps get your savings habit into shape with a cash reward, every month you save. Both cash reward . And theres a cash bonus when you open a new Checking Account to get you started. Wow. Anything you cant do . mugs. Bmo the time is 5 13. Lets get a look at redwood city and what to expect throughout the morning. Were going to have clouds throughout the next several hours. Temperatures in the low 50s. Once it clears out around 11 00 to noon, its going to start to warm up and well have another gorgeous afternoon. We will talk about some changes heading into the weekend coming up in a few minutes. Heading into the maze, we still have this Traffic Alert with what i believe is one, possibly two lanes getting by this crash. We also have reports from chp there may be a fire in the brush nearby. Well check and see if theyre related and if theyre causing any additional slowing. Lets check in with the world of business and silvana. Thank you. Good morning. Im silvana hanao from cnbc. Wall street is set for a flat open as investors shift their focus to the start of the federal reserves policy meeting today. Now, theyre also digesting news from the bank of japan overnight which raised Interest Rates for the First Time Since 2007. Now, the fed will announce its decision tomorrow afternoon, and its not expected to make any changes at this meeting. But fed chair Jerome Powell could offer insight into when they start to cut rates following the hotter than expected reports on inflation last week. Stocks rising with the s p 500 breaking a threeday losing streak. Also in focus, we get data on Housing Starts and building permits. Selena gomez has reportedly hired advisers to look at offers for her cosmetics company. Her team launched the business in 2020 with a focus on liquid cosmetics. Its blush product became a viral it on tiktok. Rare beauty has been named one of the most soughtafter takeover targets with an estimated value of 2 billion. Bloomberg reports gomez is expected to remain involved in the business. And amazon is teaming with one of the webs most Popular Video creators. Prime video and mgm studios announcing a new reality competition series with mrbeast. Beast games will feature 1,000 competitors vying for a 5 million cash prize. It will stream exclusively on prime video. Mrbeast, whose real name is jimmy donaldson, will be the executive producer and his channel has more than 245 million subscribers and he routinely racks up 100 million views. Hes got candy bars. He has a huge following. Thank you. Good to see you. If you have any High School Seniors in your home, this is that nerveracking time of the year. College acceptance season. Some companies are now charging top dollar to help get them there. An entire industry of consultants is actually popping up to help students get into the top schools. Some cost up to 200 an hour. Now, there is one company, command education, that will cost you 120,000. That is something very few families can afford. One spokesman calls the help invaluable. Families are paying you 120,000 a year to work with their child. Youre not guaranteeing that the student gets into harvard . Correct, were optimizing the students chances for success. Wow. So ahead for you on the today show this morning, a deep dive into the exploding industry and its success rates. Thats at 7 00 right after us here on today in the bay. Its 5 17 right now. And trending this morning, the prom season is around the corner and one ditched cup cakes and flowers for a prom proposal. Brett is number one tractor driver in the state of kentucky. So to ask the big question, he did what he does best, he got on a tractor and spelled out prom with a question mark on his grandfathers field. Luckily, his date said yes. My anxiety was through the roof when i was doing it, if it was going to look good or if she was even going to say yes. I did not expect all that. I was expecting a poster. When i seen that, i was almost cried. If she would have said no, i would have been out there plowing until midnight to get it covered up. [ laughter ] the prom proposal is getting thousands of shares on social media. Thats creativity. Yeah. How did she get up there to see it . Why are you showing me this dirt . Is there a corn maze . Hes, like, come take a ride in my plane. The crop duster, yeah. [ laughter ] all right, its that time of year, were thinking about prom, spring, all of those things that come with the season. Were having kind of a cool start. Our temperatures in the low to mid50s around the bay area. It is now 50 in sonoma, San Francisco 51, also 51 in dublin and 51 in morgan hill. But take a look at where were headed today. Another beautiful day. So yesterday wasnt the end of it, but it was the warmest day of the week, and each day our temperatures come down a degree or two. But its still going to be pretty nice out there, reaching up to 75 in san martin, were up to 73 in concord, and 71 in napa. Oakland today, 66 degrees, and low 60s for San Francisco. As youre taking a look at the sevenday forecast at the bottom of the screen, eventually well work our way toward Cool Temperatures and rain. Well see that for the weekend. Were enjoying what we have now. Tomorrow the first full day of spring, and well see temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s. Then well also see more of that as we head toward thursday. So lets talk about when that rain comes in. Here is a storm system now really starting to get its act together, and as of now it is blocked by High Pressure, but once that High Pressure breaks down, moves out of the way, that will make room for this storm system to come right into the west coast. And its going to bring us some scattered showers as well as some sierra snow for the weekend, as we get rounds of some rain off and on from friday through sunday, but then it looks like it tapers off. Lets check in with our sierra snowpack. Were approaching that april 1st allimportant measurement of how were doing. As of now we are right at that normal level for the central sierra, very close to 100 . The northern sierra is doing the best at 115 of normal. Of course we always watch these numbers very closely because this is how we get our water source during the dry summer months as the snowmelt flows into the reservoirs. Were going to see some additional snow for the weekend, another 9 to possibly 25 inches of snow. Were going to see some rain here, and it looks like it could be a decent amount, with scattered showers. Not a total washout, but there will be some waves of rain coming in, and temperatures only up to about 60 degrees on saturday and sunday, and also about the same in San Francisco on this first day of spring, as we mentioned, that begins tonight. Mike, youve been watching that crash. Whats the update . We have a camera, and you can see one lane gets by. But one lane gets by. This is westbound 580. Over here on this side of the screen, the right side, that traffic is flowing off the berkeley curve. Here you can see the tow truck, three vehicles, i think they removed one already. This is a deadly crash that has occurred as youre approaching the maze for west 580. That makes the view from our other camera so tough. The flashing lights, we just take a look at the curve right about here and you see the backup streaming through the area. There are a couple of other vehicles on the approach. Lots of distraction from highway 24, westbound 580 does show the slow drive, and continuing past the scene where they regain speed heading toward powell. Coming down westbound 80, thats okay. Thats a better flow of traffic off the berkeley curve. In contra costa county, it looks great. Everything else south of there has no problems. Just typical slowing out of the altamont pass. Again, this Traffic Alert for westbound 580 approaching the maze will affect folks from highway 13 over toward the bay bridge toll plaza. Back to you. Thank you, mike. 5 22 this morning. Next on today in the bay, nbc bay area responds. She paid the ambulance bill, her insurance did, too. So why is she struggling to get her money back . Im consumer investigator chris chmura. Nbc bay area responds next. And a reminder, starting today, you can apply for nbcuniversals local impact grants. The program is entering its seventh year and will award more than 227,000 to eligible nonprofits that are local. The Application Window runs through friday, april 19th. For more details, scan nbc bay area responds to a south bay woman who needed assistance settling an ambulance bill. Because the bill was mistakenly paid twice. She aske