Three boats tied together anchored outside of Oyster Cove Marina caught fire Wednesday morning and were quickly extinguished.

Shortly after 8 a.m., the South San Francisco Fire Department reported on the fires, which started in a boat that was tied to two others. During the fire, whatever was holding them together failed, Deputy Fire Chief Matt Samson said.

Through interviews, fire officials are trying to determine the number of occupants but several jumped into the water and one was taken to the hospital with a minor injury. The cause of the fire is under investigation. There have been two boat fires off the South City Bayfront in the last two to three years, Samson said, and they were determined to be accidental.

The fire was extinguished by 9:20 a.m. and crews remained on scene until after noon to place oil booms and other environmental protections around the damaged boats so contaminants on board wouldn’t spread before a salvage company removes them from the water, he said.

Multiple fire agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the incident.

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Decades after officials banned lead in gasoline for new cars and stopped the sale of lead paint — huge steps toward eliminating lead exposure to the public — there are still an estimated 500,000 U.S. children with levels of lead in their blood that are considered high, and experts say lead in drinking water is one important reason.

Now, the Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to further reduce lead levels in drinking water and tighten a rule that failed to prevent drinking water crises in cities like Flint, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey. Although the specifics aren’t public, the agency says it will propose requiring that utilities actively replace harmful lead pipes.

President Joe Biden has already called for eliminating the country’s estimated 9.2 million lead pipes, lines that connect water mains under the street to homes and businesses and are responsible for most of the lead that gets into drinking water.

But it’s costly to send out workers to dig up the pipe, lay new ones and replant damaged landscaping. In many cities, homeowners are expected to pay to deal with the pipe on their property.

“Across the population, this has huge effects,” said Ronnie Levin, a former EPA researcher who now teaches at Harvard University’s school of public health.

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Kids are especially sensitive to lead exposure and high doses significantly reduce intelligence, impair coordination and disrupt a student’s ability to focus and learn. Behavior can deteriorate. Federal officials say there is no safe level of lead for children — even small amounts can reduce IQ scores.

The updated rules will arrive as the federal government attacks lead on several fronts, with announcements about the dangers in aviation fuel and proposed stricter limits on dust from lead-based paint in older homes and child-care facilities.

Some officials remain more focused on the danger from sources like paint dust, but attention to the danger in water grew after Flint.

Decades of work have drastically reduced childhood blood lead levels in the U.S., but many kids are still being exposed to the toxic metal “and the expectation is that a fair amount of that is from lead in water,” said Dr. Aaron Bernstein, a Boston-based pediatrician who this year became the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s environmental health programs.

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Bernstein said he is hopeful “that as we remove lead pipes, we’re going to see the numbers continue to fall. And that will be really wonderful.”

Lead is a nightmare to regulate because unlike other water contaminants it enters drinking water through pipes and plumbing fixtures after the water has already come out of the treatment plant. It also can vary widely – a family consuming dangerous amounts of lead may live next door to a house with no lead at all.

Levin was part of a contingent known as the “lead mafia.” The group pushed for strong lead regulations, arguing that many people would benefit, so even small health improvements were worthwhile.

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Others at EPA believed Levin’s analysis exaggerated the benefits of new regulations and some CDC officials argued that focusing on drinking water would take away from the fight against lead paint, according to a book about the science at EPA by Mark Powell.

But finally in 1991, EPA completed its lead rule.

“It was a tough fight within EPA,” Levin remembered.

The agency did not force utilities to eliminate lead in drinking water, but instead required them to test for lead in homes and add anti-corrosive chemicals.

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The EPA set an action level of 15 parts of lead per billion parts water, but allowed 10% of samples to be above that threshold. Utilities that tested above that could be forced to replace their pipes.

The rules have significantly reduced lead in drinking water, contributing to the nation’s 95% decline in young children’s blood lead levels over roughly the last half-century.

The CDC’s Bernstein said, “Our own lead program at CDC lost funding before Flint, as if we had finished the lead problem in this country.” But Flint brought renewed attention to the problem, and new investment in lead poisoning prevention, he said.

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Other crises erupted in 2016 in Newark, New Jersey, and in 2018 in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Joe Cotruvo, a former director of the Drinking Water Standards Division at EPA, said the existing regulations do work, they just aren’t properly enforced.

Others disagree. Current rules do a bad job of monitoring for lead and cities haven’t done enough to push lead levels as far down as possible, said Michael Schock, a recently retired EPA chemist who worked on lead for decades.

“The public health implication is that there was a lot of lead exposures that would have been somewhat preventable” if utilities had been forced to do more, Schock said. Too many people at EPA still don’t want to significantly tighten standards, Schock said.

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Take the crisis that unfolded in Newark. Because it had a history of low lead levels, only small numbers of tests were required every three years. Officials would have been more likely to catch rising lead levels sooner if they had sampled more sites, more often, according to a 2022 journal article.

The crises in Newark and in Benton Harbor eventually received a more energetic official response. Lead pipes in both cities were rapidly removed and lead levels dropped.

Levin said removing pipes now and beginning to address lead-leaching plumbing in homes will cost money.

“But, you know, we’ve been diddling around for 30 years.”

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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Chatbots are not only suitable for writing essays and emails. Those designed to show empathy and preserve memories of their users already act as personal guides. A man who recently tried using a chatbot called Pi realized that using it every time he felt cravings could help him quit smoking. Whenever he did, it reminded him of all the reasons why quitting was a good idea, including the fact that he should be there for his child going forward.

Pi’s creator is a Silicon Valley startup called Inflection, which last week raised a whopping $1.3 billion to build “personal AI for everyone,” a chatbot that can act as a confidante for personal matters. The funding round made Inflection the second-highest funded generative AI startup after OpenAI, having raised more than $11 billion to date. But the company behind ChatGPT has a different vision and is reportedly working on a personal assistant that will be much more functional and work-oriented than the original ChatGPT or Pi, which are more digital companions.

A debate rages among industry executives as to whether it makes more business sense to humanize artificial intelligence, as OpenAI did with ChatGPT, or to make it as neutral and functional as possible, like the operating system you use on your phone. If we settle into a reality where we regularly talk to computers, will we be more likely to interact with something more akin to Microsoft’s discontinued virtual assistant Clippy, or more akin to Microsoft Excel? It seems most likely that in the future we will use both types of AI to become more productive on the one hand and to navigate our personal lives on the other.

While it takes a bit of getting used to the latter usage, for the most part we’ll see the companion-style AI manifest itself in services aimed at regular people rather than businesses. Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Inflection, who also co-founded Google DeepMind, says Pi is ultimately a consumer product. He envisions it acting like a chief of staff who can advise people on planning their weekend or shopping for clothes and can chat with customer service representatives on their behalf.

“It will be tailored to your interests,” he says. “It will give you feedback and advice, and it will see what you see and it will go with you wherever you go.” Pi has a memory and is infinitely patient and supportive.” But Pi is also meant to remind people that it has no feelings and is not human. In other words, says Suleyman, there are also clear boundaries.

It might seem odd at first to get involved with software on a personal level, but Suleyman and his co-founder, famed venture capitalist and PayPal Mafia member Reid Hoffman, and many other AI developers say we’re headed in this direction.

Part of the appeal of companion-style AI may be that many people remain more isolated than at any time prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. A survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in March 2022 found that 59% of respondents had not returned to their pre-pandemic activities and many office workers continue to work remotely. And while chatbots like ChatGPT often make factual errors, their abilities to show empathy are far more reliable. It’s no wonder around 5 million people have signed up to use an app called Replica, which offers AI-powered companions that many consider friends or even love partners.

Adept, a San Francisco-based generative AI startup funded by Hoffman’s venture capital firm Greylock Partners, looks at the interaction between humans and AI in a much more functional way, even if you’re essentially talking to it. The company was founded by a former leader of Google’s major language model projects and two scientists who co-authored a groundbreaking paper on “Transformers,” a key technology that enabled the development of ChatGPT. Instead of building a standalone chatbot, Adept builds a system that can process conversational commands from a human and use software.

“We want to create a natural language interface to your computers,” said David Luan, CEO of Adept. “We don’t want it to be a separate agent.”

The idea behind this is that, in the long run, enterprise software users will no longer have to scroll a webpage and click on seemingly endless menu options to complete a task – they simply ask the website to do the work for them in a text dialog box. For example, you could ask the system to populate a batch of LinkedIn profiles into Salesforce or create a CAD model. If successful, this approach to navigating software could potentially eliminate the need for certain user interfaces, a kind of “behind-the-scenes installation” that no longer needs human control. Why design a bunch of colorful menus and web pages when AI services will do most of the browsing of those menus anyway?

OpenAI seems to be working on both approaches; It built ChatGPT as an entity that people can talk to, but it is also designing a more functional system that integrates into everyday business life as a kind of work tool, similar to what Adept is developing and also comparable to Microsoft Copilot, a product According to a recent report in The Information, Microsoft is rolling out OpenAI technology. That could put OpenAI in a tight spot vis-à-vis Microsoft, its main investor.

The push into functional AI – and at the risk of angering Microsoft – says a lot about how Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, sees so-called conversational AI in the future: as a separate entity that we converse with, and as something built into our infrastructure. And it seems that we’re definitely going to be talking to computers a lot more than we’ve been up to now.

More from the Bloomberg Opinion:

• Big Tech has a worrying stranglehold on AI: Parmy Olson

• Forget AI. Dumbing Down Markets Is Risk: Aaron Brown

• In “The Material World” the elements are the tenderness of life: Paul J. Davies

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editors or of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Parmy Olson is a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion covering technology. A former reporter for The Wall Street Journal and Forbes, she is the author of We Are Anonymous.

For more stories like this, visit Bloomberg.com/opinion

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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — An extremely dangerous atmospheric river continues to move through the San Francisco Bay Area and has caused flooding on roadways and highways around the region, as well as significant storm damage.

Thursday’s storm is ranking a strong level 3 on the exclusive ABC7 Storm Impact Scale. This is compared to the level 5 storm on Wednesday, the first level 5 in the history of the scale.

The entire region remains under a Flood Watch, and winds will continue to be an issue until 10 a.m. Thursday.

Jan. 5, 2023

5 a.m.
19-year-old killed in Fairfield crash Wednesday

ABC7 News is learning about a deadly accident that happened Wednesday morning. Police say that a 19-year-old woman was driving on Vanden Road at One Lake, which was partially flooded, when she hydroplaned and lost control. She then collided into a utility pole and did not survive the crash.

Police say she was likely going at speeds unsafe for the conditions.

The woman’s name is not being released by police.

4 a.m.
Tree falls on Oakland apartment building

A large eucalyptus tree fell on a three-story apartment building at 3293 Lynde St. in Oakland.

Jan. 4, 2023

10:46 p.m.
Evacuation warnings in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County has issued evacuation warnings to community members residing in the watershed areas of the Uvas Reservoir and Pacheco Pass River Basin due to weather conditions and risks to the general public and property. For more details, visit the county website here.

10:35 p.m.
Toddler dies in Sonoma County home hit by falling tree

A Toddler has died after a tree fell onto a home in Occidental Wednesday night, fire officials said. The toddler aged 2.5 was home with their mom and dad when it happened.

Firefighters performed CPR while waiting for medics to arrive but the infant did not make it.

9:00 p.m.
Dam failure prompts Flash Flood Warning in San Benito Co.

The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning for a dam floodgate release in northwestern San Benito County.

Dam operators reported the spillway of the North Fork Dam being compromised just after 6 p.m. and predict that water will overtop the spillway by tomorrow morning. This will impact areas, including Lovers Lane, Pacheco Creek and Santa Ana Creek.

Flooding is already being reported along the Pacheco Pass Reservoir.

NWS says residents who are in low lying areas below the North Fork Dam are urged to move to higher ground immediately.

7:25 p.m.
Wind gusts knock over gas station canopy in Daly City

This video of wind gusts so strong they knocked over the canopy of a gas station came in just minutes ago. This happened a short time ago in Daly City. At this time, we’re not hearing of any reports of injuries, but you can see the gas pump was crushed by the fallen canopy.

7:10 p.m.
Shelter-in-place in order lifted in San Rafael

The earlier Shelter in Place from Canal to mid-block Novato St due to multiple blown transformers and downed live wires has been lifted, according to San Rafael officials. Roadways have re-opened, however the power line had to be cut by PG&E and power is now out in the area, possibly expected to be out until tomorrow.

6:04 p.m.
Shelter-in-place in order in San Rafael

Officials issued a shelter-in-place order from Canal to mid-block Novato Street in San Rafael due to multiple blown transformers and live high voltage wires down. No vehicle or pedestrian traffic is allowed. For more information, visit here.

5:56 p.m.
Lanes blocked on I-280 in San Bruno

The southbound lanes of I-280 just north of Skyline Blvd in San Bruno is blocked due to multiple downed trees, CHP said.

Only one of the far left lane is open. CHP are asking drivers to avoid the area.

5:40 p.m.
Evacuation warnings for Russian River area

Officials issued an evacuation warning for residents living near the Russian River and its surrounding areas from Healdsburg to Jenner amid flooding threat. For the full list of evacuation warning zones, visit here.

Oakland, Milpitas declare State of Emergencies

The cities of Oakland and Milpitas declared local state of emergencies amid the powerful Level 5 storm. The declaration of the emergencies will enable cities to utilize all resources necessary to prepare and respond to the storm.

5:15 p.m.
San Francisco officials urge residents to stay off roads, limit 911 calls

Mayor London Breed joined city leaders to urge residents to stay off the roads as the storm intensifies Wednesday night. Officials are asking residents to limit 911 calls except for in emergency situations, as all crews are on hands-on-deck responding to weather-related incidents. For all non-emergency calls, you can dial 311.

4:30 p.m.
Mandatory evacuations ordered for multiple areas in Santa Cruz County

Evacuation orders for multiple areas of Santa Cruz County were issued Wednesday afternoon as more rainfall hit the county, bringing higher flood risks.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation orders for unincorporated areas including the Paradise Park area in zone CRZ-E081 and the Felton Grove neighborhood in zones FEL-E008 and FEL-E012.

The following evacuation zones are also under an immediate evacuation order: CTL-E010, CTL-E014, CTL-E015, CTL-E018, and CTL-E019 zones in the Soquel area north of state Highway 1, the CTL-E050, CTL-E051 zones in the La Selva Beach area, PAJ-E015, PAJ-E024, PAJ-E026, PAJ-E027, PAJ-E028, PAJ-E029 zones near Pajaro, and WTS-E017, WTS-E018, WTS-E019 zones in Watsonville.

Evacuation zone CRZ-E001-C near Whitehouse Canyon Road has also been ordered to evacuate.

Evacuation orders in those areas are mandatory and the areas are closed to public access.

In addition, areas around Capitola Village and Felton are under evacuation warnings, as are areas of Boulder Creek, the area around Last Chance Trail and the Lompico and Zayante areas. Those who require additional time to evacuate and people who have pets and livestock should evacuate now, per the Capitola Police Department and Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

For a complete list of evacuation zones, visit https://aware.zonehaven.com/search.

3:30 p.m.
Evacuations urged for parts of Alameda County

Residents of Kilkare, Palomares and Niles Canyon roads in Alameda County are urged to evacuate because of the storm, saturated soils and runoff, county officials said on Twitter at 2:31 p.m. Wednesday.

Rain is expected to become heavy Wednesday afternoon and stretch into Thursday. A wind warning is in effect until 10 a.m. Thursday.

3 p.m.
NOAA sending hurricane hunters into storm

ABC7 Meteorologist Drew Tuma says NOAA is sending their hurricane hunters into our atmospheric river right now to gather data on the storm’s strength.

2:30 p.m.
Departure, Arrival flights grounded at SFO

Departures and arrivals at San Francisco International Airport are grounded due to wind until at least 3 p.m., according to a representative.

2:15 p.m.
Several Bay Area counties under State of Emergency due to storm

Sonoma, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties have all declared an emergency. In Contra Costa County, the city of Danville is under a state of emergency. The city of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County has also declared a state of emergency.

11:15 a.m.
Newsom declares State of Emergency to support storm response, recovery efforts

Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued a State of Emergency for California to help with the response and recovery efforts to the large winter storm moving through the state. This will allow California to respond quickly to support local governments, authorities in their ongoing response.

11:10 a.m.
CHP issues high wind advisory for Golden Gate Bridge

The California Highway Patrol has issued a High Wind Advisory for the Golden Gate Bridge.

10:55 a.m.
CA officials give update on Level 5 storm

State officials will provide update on the state’s response to the impacts to California communities following a strong winter storm. Officials will also discuss the continued efforts the state is making to keep Californians safe.

10 a.m.
Several Bay Area schools announce closures for Wednesday, Thursday

Several schools across the Bay Area have announced they will be closed either Wednesday or Thursday due to the severe storm moving through the area. Here’s a look at the closures so far:

• Horicon School in Annapolis in Sonoma county – closed today Wednesday 1/4
• The South San Francisco Unified School District – closed Thursday 1/5 – (Classes will resume on Friday, Jan. 6)
• San Mateo Foster City School District – closed Thursday 1/5 – (Classes will resume on Friday, January 6)
• Pacifica School District closed Thursday 1/5 (Classes will resume on Friday, Jan. 6)
• Portola Valley School District – all schools will be closed Thursday 1/5 – (Classes will resume on Friday, Jan. 6)

9:45 a.m.
Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon closed, open to residents only, police say

San Ramon police say Crow Canyon Road is closed to traffic in both directions between San Ramon and Castro Valley. There is limited access for residents only.

9:30 a.m.
CHP issues High wind advisories for Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge and Dumbarton Bridge

The California Highway Patrol has issued high wind advisories issued for three Bay Area bridges: Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge and Dumbarton Bridge.

8:50 a.m.
BART warns up to 20-minute systemwide delay due to wet weather

BART is warning riders there may be up to 20-minute delays systemwide due to wet weather conditions.

8:30 a.m.
East Bay Regional Parks District closed through Thursday

The largest regional park system in the country is closing down because of the strong storm hitting the Bay Area. East Bay Regional Parks District has closed down all parks from today through tomorrow. Residents are advised by the park district to not enter the parks.

Parks are expected to reopen on Friday after officials asses the weather conditions. For reopenings and more information on east bay regional parks you can head to their website.

8 a.m.
SF out of sandbags, hope to have more later Wednesday

The San Francisco Department of Public Works said Wednesday morning that no more sandbags are currently available for residents and businesses seeking them to prevent flooding from an atmospheric river hitting the city this week.

Public Works officials said more sandbags are expected to be available at the operations yard later Wednesday, but the exact time was to be determined.

7 a.m.
Marin County activates emergency shelter for unhoused residents

Marin County activated its severe weather emergency shelter starting Wednesday for people experiencing homelessness in anticipation of more heavy rain hitting the Bay Area this week.

The overnight warming shelter is located at the Marin County Health and Wellness campus located at 3240 Kerner Blvd., in San Rafael. It will be open from 5 p.m. Wednesday to 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Individuals are encouraged to sign in by 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The nearest public transportation to the campus, according to Google Maps, is the bus stop at Bellam Boulevard and Lisbon Street, which is served by Marin Transit’s 580 and 23 routes. It is also near the stop at Kerner Boulevard and Larkspur Street served by Marin’s 23, 29, 35, 36 and 645 routes.

VIDEO: Marin Co. announces emergency shelter for unhoused community

6:30 a.m.
Danville declares local emergency through Jan. 10

The Town of Danville has proclaimed a local emergency in response to the ugly storms expected to start Wednesday, while the city is still cleaning up after last weekend’s wet weather that included flooding and mudslides.

Acting as the city’s director of emergency services, Town Manager Joe Calabrigo signed the proclamation just before noon Tuesday, according to a statement from city officials. The proclamation will remain in effect until noon on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

The declaration allows Danville greater flexibility to contract for and obtain supplies for more expedient disaster response.

Residents can contact the police department for safety concerns at (925) 820-2144. To request non-urgent assistance for clean-up or other concerns, call Danville Maintenance Services at (925) 314-3450 or go to www.danville.ca.gov/danvilleconnect.

For assistance with county-maintained or privately-maintained creeks, call county public works at (925) 313-7000 or email admin@pw.ccounty.us. For power outage information, go to www.pge.com/outagealerts. Weather can be monitored at www.weather.gov/mtr.

Jan. 3, 2023

7:18 p.m.
Evacuation orders for unhoused living near creeks

San Jose has issued a mandatory evacuation order for unhoused people living in creek areas, police tweeted. SJPD says officers are responding to creek areas and making announcements to evacuate. Shelters will be provided.

7 p.m.
An area of Santa Cruz Co. being evacuated ahead of storm

An area near Whitehouse Canyon Road in Santa Cruz County is being evacuated due to concerns with a culvert, the sheriff’s office announced on Tuesday evening.

A culvert under Whitehouse Canyon Road became undermined during the last storm and that caused a part of the roadway to fail. The sheriff’s office anticipates that the upcoming rains pose a “significant concern” that the entire culvert could completely fail, making the roadway impassable for medical and law enforcement resources.

The zone being evacuated is CRZ-E001-C. To pinpoint its location, go to https://aware.zonehaven.com/search.

Road closures can be monitored at https://sccroadclosure.org.

6:50 p.m.
San Jose announces State of Emergency before historic storm

On Tuesday, the City of San Jose proclaimed a State of Emergency ahead of the atmospheric river weather event. The proclamation provides emergency powers to the city needed to respond to the storm events, and simultaneously issues an evacuation order to people living within or along waterways for their safety.

“We want to make sure all residents are informed and prepared to stay safe, and that city staff has the ability to move quickly to relocate encampments that are in harm’s way,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said.

5:50 p.m.
Mandatory evacuation orders issued for parts of Watsonville in Santa Cruz Co. at high risk of flooding

The City of Watsonville issued mandatory evacuation orders Tuesday evening for neighborhoods with a high risk of flooding ahead of Wednesday’s storm.

The city tweeted a map highlighting the areas ordered to evacuate in Santa Cruz County.

“If your residence is located within this map’s blue-shaded area, you’re asked to evacuate NOW or as soon as possible to safely get ahead of the storm’s flooding,” the tweet wrote.

An overnight shelter opened at Cesar Chavez Middle School (440 Arthur Rd.). This site will serve as the central location to accommodate residents. Shelter space will be limited, so pets must be dropped off at the Animal Shelter (580 Airport Blvd.) before the storm or make arrangements with friends or family.

Ramsay Park (1301 Main St.) is also now open and serves as a place for residents to meet up with family members and get information on available services. There will be limited onsite services.

For those who need transportation services, Lift Line will be available to assist. Please call 831-688-9663.

5:10 p.m.
SF Bay Ferry suspending service for 2 routes affecting Alameda, Oakland on Wednesday, agency says

The San Francisco Bay Ferry will be suspending service to two routes affecting Alameda and Oakland on Wednesday due to the storm forecast, the agency said on Tuesday.

The Harbor Bay and South San Francisco routes will not be sailing in either direction.

“Big southerly winds have outsized impacts at Harbor Bay and SSF terminals,” said the agency on Twitter.

All other routes will operate as scheduled, the agency said.

RELATED: Here’s how Bay Area is preparing for dangerous Level 5 storm taking aim at region

5 p.m.
Flood Warning issued for the Russian River in the North Bay

A Flood Warning has been issued on the Russian River near Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, according to Meteorologist Drew Tuma. River forecast to crest at 35.4 feet Thursday evening causing moderate flooding.

4 p.m.
Pleasant Hill announces several sandbag locations ahead of storm

Pleasant Hill officials said Tuesday that city sandbag locations have been refilled and asked residents to respect the city’s 10-bag limit per household ahead of Wednesday’s storm.

Sandbags are located at City Hall at 100 Gregory Lane, the community center at 320 Civic Drive, and on Hawthorne Drive near Pleasant Oaks Park.

Pleasant Hill experienced flooding during last weekend’s storm and is expected to have similar issues once the next storm hits Wednesday. City officials asked people to not drive through flooded areas and around roadway closure signs and barricades.

3 p.m.
Orinda residents can fill sandbags at 2 locations

The city of Orinda has sand and empty sandbags available Tuesday at Moraga-Orinda Fire District Fire Station No. 43 at 20 Via Las Cruces, and at Fire Station No. 44 at 295 Orchard Road ahead of Wednesday’s storm.

Residents should bring their own shovels.

2:30 p.m.
Sandbags available at 2 San Ramon locations for residents

San Ramon police said sandbags are available Tuesday at two locations in the city ahead of another large storm forecast in the area.

The sandbags are available at Central Park at 12501 Alcosta Blvd. and at Athan Downs Park at 2975 Montevideo Drive.

2 p.m.
Santa Clara Co. offering free sandbags are several locations

Santa Clara County residents can get free filled sandbags from sandbag sites operated by the Santa Clara Valley Water District ahead of more heavy rainfall expected this week.

At the five Valley Water sandbag sites scattered throughout the county, residents can pick up free filled sandbags or fill their own with bags and sand the district has provided.

There are also 20 city and county public works yards with bags and sand that residents can fill themselves. A shovel and someone to help lift the sandbags is recommended since they are heavy.

Some sites may require proof of residency. More information and site locations can be found at https://www.valleywater.org/flooding-safety/flood-ready/sandbags.

12:45 p.m.
SF leaders give update on how city is preparing for storm

San Francisco leaders provided an update on how the city is preparing for the incoming atmospheric river. This comes after the city saw more than 5 inches of rainfall on New Year’s Eve causing widespread flooding making it the second wettest day in recorded history in San Francisco. Mayor London Breed says Wednesday’s storm will be significant. She is urging people to limit travel if possible. She warns of localized flooding. The mayor also says to use 911 for life-threatening emergencies, and 311 for reports of flooding in one’s home or business.

SF Department of Emergency and Management Mary Ellen Carroll says the National Weather Service has upgraded the wind gusts for Wednesday to 60 to 70 mph. There will be a Flood Watch from Wednesday at 4 a.m. to Thursday at 4 p.m. This could mean power outages and falling trees.

Officials are also recommending people to stock up on batteries and flashlights.

12:30 p.m.
SF warns sandbags are running low

SF Public Works says it is running low on sandbags. Residents asked to only get them if you really need them, limit of five per address.

“We have a limited supply of sandbags available for San Francisco residents whose properties are prone to flooding. Limit 5 per address. Pick up at our Operations Yard, Marin and Kansas streets gate. We’ll stay open until 8 p.m. Please only get sandbags if you really need them.”

Sandbags are available for residents and business owners. More details are available through “SF72” here.

8:30 a.m.
Most of Bay Area under moderate risk of flooding

The National Weather Service has placed most of the Bay Area under a moderate risk of flooding tomorrow for excessive rainfall. ABC7 Meteorologist Drew Tuma says given our wet soil conditions produced by recent heavy rains, flooding is likely.

Jan. 2, 2023

3 p.m.
NWS says powerful storm could cause ‘loss of life’

The National Weather Service said Monday that this upcoming storm will likely be “the most impactful system on a widespread scale that this meteorologist has seen in a long time.”

NWS officials say not only will this storm bring flooding, power outages and “disruption to commerce,” it will also most likely cause loss of human life. They say this system will be brutal and needs to be taken seriously.

Watch the latest AccuWeather forecast and take a look at recent weather stories and videos.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

Copyright © 2023 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.

The post San Francisco Bay Space Stage 3 storm stay updates: A number of deaths, together with toddler, blamed on Wednesday’s storm appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

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A woman accused of robbing several people of jewelry and other valuables in South San Francisco has been sentenced to one year in jail, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said.

Louise Frances Lamonte, 36, of South San Francisco, allegedly worked with Charise Marie Raunick of Dublin to rob a victim of $3,000 worth of jewelry at Embassy Suites in South San Francisco in a mock sale turned robbery, the DA’s Office said. They then allegedly robbed a 13-year-old boy on Linden Avenue of his gold necklace and a man of his backpack and wallet before the police found the suspects. Police discovered various victims’ belongings and a loaded .44 Magnum revolver after tracking them down, the DA’s Office said.

At her May 10 court date, Lamonte pleaded no contest to robbery and a separate drunk driving misdemeanor and received one year in county jail, and three years of probation, the DA’s Office said.

Her next court date is June 29 for restitution. In April, Raunick pleaded no contest to three counts of robbery and was sentenced to two years in prison, the DA’s Office said.

The post Lady sentenced for a number of South San Francisco robberies | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO – From car break-ins to shoplifting, much has been said about property crime in San Francisco. For one set of victims, theft doesn’t just come with a cost, it’s making it difficult to work.

“Remodel,” contractor Dan McCann explained as he walked through a home under renovation in Oakland. “Total interior. Addition, front and back.”

From full remodels in the Oakland Hills, to foundation replacements in San Francisco.

“One section at a time,” he said of another project in Haight-Ashbury. “So the house doesn’t fall down.”

McCann is a city native who built his contracting business from scratch, now employing teams of workers on various sites. For all of the complexities that come with running jobs around the bay, his work in San Francisco has presented one particular challenge.

Contractor Dan McCann works on a home in San Francisco. Following multiple thefts, McCann has taken on the task of finding his stolen tools.

CBS

“We usually bring the tools home, but one day we left everything here,” McCann told KPIX 5. “Maybe somebody was staking us out. They broke the lock off, let themselves in. Three jackhammers, a concrete saw. A bunch of smaller items. It came out to about $14,000 worth of equipment.”

“The ladder isn’t on it, no pipe racks,” plumber Tony Campos said of his work van.

Campos is another victim, even though he tries to keep his van as inconspicuous as possible.

Had a couple jobs like Dan’s where we had all of our equipment, all of our plumbing gear, all of our tools stolen,” Campos said of his experience with thieves. “I’ve had one of my cars broken into, in my garage, everything taken from that.”

“This is the third time I’ve been hit pretty big,” McCann added.

The third time convinced him to take on another job, tracking down his stolen property, and he said it wasn’t that hard to find: A resale website and a seller who may not be the thief, but has thousands of items for sale.

“This is the guy who tried to sell me my stuff back,” McCann said, pointing to an online profile. “You can see here, 2,600 items sold on OfferUp. So I met up with him.”

Zeroing in on the saw he recognized, McCann set up a parking lot meeting in which he confronted the seller. They demanded proof of a serial number, which he produced the following day.

“Gave him the serial number the next day,” McCann said. “He told me I made a fake receipt and he wouldn’t meet up with me. Told me to call the cops and have them come deal with it. The cops want me to find him again before they do anything about it. So that what a frustrating thing.”

Police say they cannot comment, as they now have several ongoing investigations into the fencing of stolen property. They encourage everyone to record serial numbers, and put distinct markings on tools in case they do go up for sale. This is a frequent, and costly problem.

“Not only in money and what those tools cost us, but in time,” Campos said of his experiences.

“Missing a day at work, or missing a couple days of work because we have no tools could be a big problem for most of my workers,” McCann said for his crew.

Not one to quit on a job, McCann now has a private investigator working to build a case that he hopes to pass on to police. A mission borne out of frustration.

“These burglaries are devastating to contractors, like myself,” McCann said. “These criminals have made a business off of stealing the livelihood of honest people. Hopefully we can start catching these guys.”

Wilson Walker

Wilson Walker joined KPIX 5 in July 2007. After 10 years producing newscasts, Wilson became a Multimedia Journalist (MMJ) in 2012, meaning he shoots, writes and edits all of his own stories.

The post After a number of thefts, San Francisco contractor takes on discovering stolen instruments appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO – From car break-ins to shoplifting, much has been said about property crime in San Francisco. For one set of victims, theft doesn’t just come with a cost, it’s making it difficult to work.

“Remodel,” contractor Dan McCann explained as he walked through a home under renovation in Oakland. “Total interior. Addition, front and back.”

From full remodels in the Oakland Hills, to foundation replacements in San Francisco.

“One section at a time,” he said of another project in Haight-Ashbury. “So the house doesn’t fall down.”

McCann is a city native who built his contracting business from scratch, now employing teams of workers on various sites. For all of the complexities that come with running jobs around the bay, his work in San Francisco has presented one particular challenge.

Contractor Dan McCann works on a home in San Francisco. Following multiple thefts, McCann has taken on the task of finding his stolen tools.

CBS

“We usually bring the tools home, but one day we left everything here,” McCann told KPIX 5. “Maybe somebody was staking us out. They broke the lock off, let themselves in. Three jackhammers, a concrete saw. A bunch of smaller items. It came out to about $14,000 worth of equipment.”

“The ladder isn’t on it, no pipe racks,” plumber Tony Campos said of his work van.

Campos is another victim, even though he tries to keep his van as inconspicuous as possible.

Had a couple jobs like Dan’s where we had all of our equipment, all of our plumbing gear, all of our tools stolen,” Campos said of his experience with thieves. “I’ve had one of my cars broken into, in my garage, everything taken from that.”

“This is the third time I’ve been hit pretty big,” McCann added.

The third time convinced him to take on another job, tracking down his stolen property, and he said it wasn’t that hard to find: A resale website and a seller who may not be the thief, but has thousands of items for sale.

“This is the guy who tried to sell me my stuff back,” McCann said, pointing to an online profile. “You can see here, 2,600 items sold on OfferUp. So I met up with him.”

Zeroing in on the saw he recognized, McCann set up a parking lot meeting in which he confronted the seller. They demanded proof of a serial number, which he produced the following day.

“Gave him the serial number the next day,” McCann said. “He told me I made a fake receipt and he wouldn’t meet up with me. Told me to call the cops and have them come deal with it. The cops want me to find him again before they do anything about it. So that what a frustrating thing.”

Police say they cannot comment, as they now have several ongoing investigations into the fencing of stolen property. They encourage everyone to record serial numbers, and put distinct markings on tools in case they do go up for sale. This is a frequent, and costly problem.

“Not only in money and what those tools cost us, but in time,” Campos said of his experiences.

“Missing a day at work, or missing a couple days of work because we have no tools could be a big problem for most of my workers,” McCann said for his crew.

Not one to quit on a job, McCann now has a private investigator working to build a case that he hopes to pass on to police. A mission borne out of frustration.

“These burglaries are devastating to contractors, like myself,” McCann said. “These criminals have made a business off of stealing the livelihood of honest people. Hopefully we can start catching these guys.”

Wilson Walker

Wilson Walker joined KPIX 5 in July of 2007. His television career started at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1999. There, he covered the departure of the Charlotte Hornets, The Rae Carruth case, and the devastating East Coast Ice Storm of 2002. He also spent three years in Sacramento with KCRA, covering California politics, the Hamid & Umer Hyat terrorism trial, and the Sacramento arena debate.

The post After a number of thefts, San Francisco contractor takes on discovering stolen instruments appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Thomas Martin, MD, spoke about how to increase response durability with ciltacabtagene autoleucel for patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma.

Thomas Martin, MD, associate director of the myeloma program at the University of California San Francisco, spoke with CancerNetwork® about the approval of ciltacabtagene autoleucel (Carbykti; cilta-cel) and how investigators can best utilize this treatment for those with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.1 This approval comes based on the results of the phase 1b/2 CARTITUDE-1 trial (NCT03548207) in which patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma and were given cilta-cel and saw durable responses.2

Transcript:

In this patient population, we must look into how we can make it a longer remission duration for everybody. The currently approved therapeutic idecabtagene vicleucel [Abecma] has a [median] progression-free survival [PFS] of 12 months. We would love for it to be longer than that, right? Maybe we need to do maintenance therapy. Maybe we need to see if we [give] treatment after we give the CAR T-cell therapy, something that can rev up the T-cells, make them last longer, and perhaps provide more of an anti-myeloma effect.

Cilta-cel has a longer PFS [with data recently] presented at the recent [63rd Annual American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting]. The 2-year progression-free survival rate was 60.5%, so people are getting 2 years or more of remission duration. Can we even make it longer by adding? That’s one avenue as to how to make it better for the people with relapsed, triple-class refractory [disease]. The other question for us is if we move it to earlier lines of therapy, will we be able to cure some patients with multiple myeloma? Will their remission duration be longer? If we do it in less heavily pretreated patients where their T-cells are healthier and when their myeloma isn’t as resistant, can we make it last longer? That’s a huge question, and that’s where a lot of the energy is now in proving those points.

References

1. US FDA Approves CARVYKTI (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), Janssen’s first cell therapy, a BCMA-directed CAR-T immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. release. Jansen. February 28, 2022. Accessed February 28, 2022. https://prn.to/3vskiZu

2. Martin T, Usmani S, Berdeja J, et al. Updated Results from CARTITUDE-1: Phase 1b/2 study of ciltacabtagene autoleucel, a B-cell maturation antigen-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy, in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Blood. 2021;138(suppl 1):549. doi:10.1182/blood-2021-146060

The post Thomas Martin, MD, on Transferring Ahead With Cilta-Cel Therapy in A number of Myeloma appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A female suspect slammed into several cars including a California Highway Patrol vehicle while at the wheel of a stolen Toyota Camry before being arrested after a foot pursuit, authorities said.

The CHP said the incident began early Friday morning when officers were ending a pursuit of a DUI suspect on southbound Highway 101 near Cesar Chavez St.

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As CHP officers were conducting a traffic break, the Camry speeded past both the slow moving traffic and the patrol vehicles on the right shoulder.

The officers immediately initiated a pursuit after the driver failed to pull over and stop. The Camry continued south and exited at Silver Ave., where it collided with the rear of a Nissan Maxima which was stopped at the top of the off-ramp for a red light.

The driver of the Camry then threw the vehicle in reverse and struck the front of the CHP vehicle before taking off again.

The pursuit continued down Silver Ave. towards Mission St. After circling around several blocks, the Camry collided with a Jaguar near Silver Ave. and Mission St., causing the Camry to be disabled in the road.

READ MORE: Voters Rally to Oust San Francisco School Board Members in Tuesday Election

The female driver of the Camry attempted to flee on foot but was quickly detained without incident.

Once she was in custody, the officers learned soon that she recently had been released from custody for similar offenses and was out on supervised probation with an ankle monitor.

Investigators also determined the Camry was an unreported stolen vehicle.

The driver of the Nissan involved in the initial collision on the Silver Ave. off-ramp was determined to be under the influence and subsequently arrested for DUI.

The driver of the Jaguar was uninjured and there were no injuries to the CHP officers.

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The female suspect was arrested for multiple charges, including DUI, felony evading, driving a stolen vehicle, and a probation hold was also initiated to retain her in custody.

The post Wild San Francisco Pursuit Ends With Arrest; A number of Collisions – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

CARLISLE, Pennsylvania (WHTM) – A Carlisle man was arrested after multiple fraud victims came forward saying they paid him to do handyman services and did not show up, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Mike C. Kalinich was arrested for theft and contractor fraud for incidents dating back to 2019. The victims said they paid him for services including repairing roofs and tiles, mowing grass, repairing lawn mowers and cars in Cumberland County, among others. They said he never showed up to do these services.

Police: Man killed father with crossbow before taking his own life in Mount Joy

The police mentioned that Kalinich had been sued by people in a civil court and sentenced to pay, but refused to do so.

According to police, Kalinich did not have a contractor license and operated small businesses in the area, including RCK Enterprise and K&M.

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Kalinich was arrested and left $ 15,000 on bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 6th.

Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of this scam should call PSP Carlisle at (717) 249-2121.

The post PSP warns residents of handyman scams after a number of victims assist arrest Carlisle scammer appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.