i'm raj mathai and i'm jessica aguirre, sounding the alarm on an ambulance shortage, the contra costa county fire chief says it has gotten so bad. sometimes there's no ambulance available to respond to an emergency. but as nbc bay area's jodi hernandez tells us, just buying more ambulances may not actually help. ever since covid, the ems system has been in a state of crisis. that's how contra costa county fire chief louis burchard describes what emergency workers are faced with too many calls for ambulance service, not enough resources to get patients into the e.r. in a timely fashion. i suppose you could say that more ambulances would help. however it doesn't really solve the problem. the department added 18 ambulances in september, but burchard says the real issue isn't just an increased demand. he says there's a severe shortage of paramedics and hospital ers are so swamped they often can't offload patients right away, forcing ambulances to sit

outside the hospital and wait. we had an ambulance that responded and was at scene within three minutes for a fall victim. an elderly fall victim. they transported the patient and arrived at the hospital rather quickly, and then sat at the hospital with the patient for over an hour, burchard says. the county's standard for offboarding is 20 minutes. john muir health acknowledges they're experiencing unprecedented patient volume and offloading challenges. but in a statement, they said john muir health must be able to continue to use a clinically driven triage process to treat those with the most urgent needs first, rather than being pressured to meet an off load standard. but as ambulances wait to offload, they can't respond to other calls for several hours on thursday and friday, the system reached level zero zero available ambulances. it's a systems issue we're having, people over utilizing the ambulance services, contra

costa supervisor diane burgess says. too many people are calling 911 when they can go to urgent care. instead, both she and the chief are urging people only call for an ambulance if absolutely needed. 911 should be used for those life threatening emergencies involving heart or trauma. significant bleeding. strokes and so forth. in contra costa county. jodi hernandez, nbc, bay area news. new details tonight on that driver accused of opening fire at other cars on the freeway. it happened yesterday evening in san ramon on 680. police say a man named lee brandon o'connor began firing the gun, his gun, out of his window. he had at least one car. no one was hurt. luckily, police arrested o'connor moments later. investigators say they did find a gun in his car. o'connor is now facing a list of charges, including attempted murder. there are new abuse allegations against an east bay priest. this time, the alleged

victim is an adult, the diocese announced. father sunil orthel can no longer work as a priest in oakland while it investigates these claims. orthel, a salesian priest most recently worked at saint joseph's basilica in alameda. not many details yet, but the priest is accused of violating the personal boundaries of an adult. this comes on the heels of our investigative units deep dive into a new wave of child sex abuse allegations against the church. you can find our 30 minute documentary called reckoning on. nbc. bay area.com/reckoning a surprising new twist tonight. investigation into a fire at the home depot in san jose. tonight, we're learning the store is being punished for its part in that destructive fire. it's been more than two years since an arsonist burned down the home depot in south san jose. but now home depot is being ordered to pay more than $1 million for code violations that hampered firefighters efforts to put the blaze out. the santa clara district attorney says an investigation discovered that home depot knew its sprinkler

system was disabled at the time of the fire, but failed to fix it. piles of pallets were also blocking the fire lane. the arsonist, dylan j. cruz gaugh, is scheduled for a plea hearing next month. quick work by officers may have prevented a mass killing. that's what the san jose police department is saying about a police shooting over the weekend. sapd releasing photos to back up this claim, here's nbc's marianne favro. police say when they responded to a call that a man in a van was firing a gun on colmar drive yesterday. this is what they encountered. they say the suspect started shooting and then took off. officers say they later caught up to him and he pointed a gun at them, which was shown here on body worn camera footage. the suspect then pointed his firearm at one of the at one of the responding officers, while aggressively advancing towards him. this prompted a separate officer to discharge his firearm, striking the suspect. police say a total of three officers fired at the

suspect, 41 year old ricardo villarreal of san jose, is now hospitalized in critical condition. police say he's a convicted felon who served a ten year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. investigators say they recovered a loaded, unregistered firearm. the swift response to the call for help by our officers likely saved the lives of many families in the apartment complex and surrounding neighborhood. the motivation and circumstances surrounding how and why a felon prohibited from possessing firearms obtained a weapon and went on a shooting spree will take some time to understand and investigate. no officers were hurt. this man who asked us not to show his face on camera, told us the suspect threatened to kill his friends who were hanging out in a nearby parking lot just minutes before police arrived. san jose mayor matt mahan commended officers for risking their lives to protect the community. in this case, they kept an entire apartment complex safe from a suspect with

a long record and a history of substance abuse and drug sales. this is the third officer involved shooting in san jose so far this year. moving forward, the chief says he plans to form a task force to look specifically at why officers are being targeted and how felons are able to obtain guns. in san jose, marianne favro. nbc bay area news. okay, thank you, marianne. a strike underway for uc academic workers all across the state. first up, workers at uc santa cruz. come on. the union represents academic student employees, postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers. they say they're striking because of the way universities crack down on pro-palestinian protest. union members are demanding, among other things, amnesty for students and faculty who are arrested or who are facing disciplinary action. these workers, standing up and demanding changes in their

workplaces, were brutally suppressed by the uc. so we're here on strike, protesting that, asserting that we have protections and rights as workers. we have the right to demand changes in our workplaces . santa cruz strike will be the first of several across the campuses. university leaders have filed an unfair labor practice charge. they're hoping the state will issue a cease and desist order to stop the strikes. a north bay police department is marking a milestone. there are more women on the force than ever before. right now, 25 female officers work at the santa rosa police department. that's the highest number in its 150 year history. the number of female cops is double from what it was just four years ago. in 2021, the santa rosa pd joined a nationwide law enforcement initiative called 30 by 30. the goal is to boost the number of women in recruiting classes to 30% by the year 2030. now, san jose's fire department is taking heat over a lack of women in its ranks. advocates and former female firefighters say cultural

issues within the department have fueled recent scandals and made life on the job tough for women in the service. our investigative unit found fewer than 4% of the women firefighters in san jose that were that are women. watch our full report on our website nbcbayarea.com. former house speaker nancy pelosi reacting to the helicopter crash that killed iran's president. the crash happened yesterday in a mountainous area of northwest iran. the president, the country's foreign minister and six others were killed. iran's state media says president ebrahim raisi and the group were returning from an event at the country's border with azerbaijan when a helicopter experienced technical failures in thick, foggy conditions here in the bay area. pelosi weighed in. i join our president and state department extending condolences to the families and those affected by the crash. it's it makes you be cautious about how

we proceed in the weather and that. but in addition to that, our, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of iran. bad weather, rough terrain, delayed search and rescue operations for several hours. turkey and russia also sent aircraft to help with that search. there's a new family of covid variants raising concerns across the country. it's being nicknamed flirt. the new family of variants comes as vaccination rates remain low, while symptoms and severity seem to be about the same as the previous covid strains, the new flirt variants appear to be more transmissible. even though we have the lowest number of cases we've had since the beginning of the pandemic, but they're also rising up the charts very quickly, and i think that rate of increase is why we're a little bit worried about what it might mean for the summer. health experts across the country are urging people to get vaccinated, especially those at higher risk for severe complications. aviation safety improvements are in the works.

the house has passed the faa reauthorization act. expect congressman mark desaulnier is behind the proposal. he took action after a near miss incident at sfo back in 2017. i talked to the congressman earlier today about key changes that are expected to come out of the bill. he says some big changes aim to enhance the passenger experience. it's comprehensive to make sure that the public is not being misused. and a lot of what's happened is there's more and more pressure for profits, like in a lot of industries, but if management pushes that too much at the expense of the traveling safety, the safety of the traveling public and the comfort and reliability of the system, then we have these other consequences . so the bill addresses that, not just with the rebates, but much more reporting and accountability. other notable changes include the creation of a task force on human factors in aviation safety, as well as cockpit voice recorders extending their data flight storage. retiring congresswoman ana eshoo is ending her career

on a high note. literally today, she had a rescue helicopter named in her honor. it's called the honorable anna. the announcement came just a few hours ago at the reception at the 129th rescue wing base. that rescue wing has saved countless lives in shu's district, which is there on the peninsula and parts of the south bay. she celebrated the 15 students that she nominated who were just appointed to the us military, naval and air force academies. one of the highest privileges i have as a member of congress is to nominate outstanding young women and men, and i'm so proud. i am so proud of the number of women that have gone to the military academies. very nice. she's done a lot of work for that rescue wing. of the 15 nominees, by the way, six were appointed to west point, four to the naval academy and five to the air force academy. time is ticking. the deadline for restaurants in one bay area city looking to keep those parklets.

also, you got a vacation home in the tahoe area. the decision that could add an extra tax if you don't spend enough time there. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. sunshine in napa right now and temperatures dropping to 67. we're in for a hotter day tomorrow. and the weather change. moving in for the upcoming weekend. i'll explain it all in just a few minutes. right now, the investigation into the deadly crash that took the life of iran's president. what he told me in an interview in tehran last fall also test strips designed to alert to the presence of fentanyl what they may be missing ahead on nightly

are disappearing, this time in berkeley. restaurant owners are going to have to make some tough decisions. here's nbc's velena jones. it's my parisian cafe. when i can't be in paris. cafe

culture in berkeley. now comes with a potential cost to keep tables and chairs, taking over parking spaces, part of dining culture. the virtue of the pandemic was that restaurants were allowed to move their restaurants out onto the sidewalk, as in europe, and it's like, really? that's the plus of covid. it's a fantastic food and this is an addition. it's a service. john harris and friend shelly keller come to sal's in berkeley every day. the weather allows for years after the pandemic, what was once offered for free now comes with a potential fee, a price, co-owner sam tobias says he's willing to pay. for us, it's like a great opportunity to be able to use some of the public space. the city's giving berkeley businesses three options pay an annual fee to keep their parklet for private use only, pay nothing and turn their parklet into a public space for everyone to use or take down their

outdoor dining seating altogether. part of sal's parklet has been open to the public for ten years. sam says charging to keep the other part private makes sense. i do think it's reasonable for some rent to be charged for a private business to use public space, and i think that the city should, you know, we've been appreciative that the city has allowed us to do pay monthly for that. which makes it more accessible. the outdoor fee is based on each parking space used and the hourly rate the city would be getting, costing thousands of dollars. ajo izakaya next door, plans to take their space down, saying the fee is too high. owners at creepvine say they're also concerned about the cost. both restaurants declined to speak on camera. the city did not respond to our request for comment. meanwhile sam hopes other restaurants join in to keep parklets in place permanently. we hope that other businesses in the community invest in making outdoor dining,

an attractive feature for the berkeley community in berkeley. velena jones, nbc bay area news people who live in south lake tahoe will vote on a so-called vacancy tax come november. if given the green light, it would require residents to report that they are indeed living in the home and they would be subjected to a tax if they live there. less than half the year, it would cost $3,000 for the first year, and the house sits empty and $6,000 for each year after that. some complain that it's just another tax for property owners, but the proposal supporters say it's a way to boost the economy. according to the 2022 census, 44% of homes in south lake tahoe sit vacant the majority of the year. many students graduating high school in the coming weeks might be asking themselves now what? luna duran of san francisco says she asked herself that very question several years ago, when going to college wasn't an option for her because of the finances. she works for bright horizons. that's a preschool and early child care center in south san

francisco, which fully paid for her associate's degree in early childhood education. luna has been able to move up the ranks from teacher to instructional coach who oversees a team of educators starting a job in early childhood education. you're constantly caring for children and constantly caring for others, and i think with this degree program was a good opportunity to give something back to myself. bright horizons asks graduates to stay on with the company for a couple of years afterwards, but there's no written agreement requiring them to do so. all right, let's bring in jeff. let's talk about the bright horizon in our future, which is a little more sunshine. yeah. tomorrow. and we're going to go warmer. some 80s coming on in. and yes, get outside and enjoy it now. because by this weekend we are looking at a 15 to 20 degree temperature drop. i know huge, huge switch here from what we'll be seeing as we head through the workweek. let me show you all those details right now in your microclimate forecast. and let's take a look at today's see where those

numbers reached. and then we're going to of course, look into the future, santa rosa today up to 77 degrees, right near average. and really for a lot of the bay area near average to even slightly above, in some cases 81 in concord average, 78, also up to 78 in san jose. and the average 74. i definitely think we're in for hotter weather through tomorrow because this area of high pressure, it's going to get just a little bit stronger, move closer to california and that's going to help to bring the heat here. the storm track is just off to the north though, so we do have some unusual rainfall. that's hitting washington and oregon that will eventually lead us to some colder weather, which i'll have those details on here in a little bit. but let's go ahead and roll it right into tomorrow morning. and as you get up early, get through all the stuff we need to in the morning and try to get yourself out the door, just know the weather is not going to cause you any problems here. mostly sunny skies. we're going to start off with 50 in the tri valley. also doing you right here in san francisco at 51 and for the east

bay 53 temperatures as we move through tomorrow. going to go up anywhere from two to about six degrees. so that's going to put us back to 82 in san jose, 80 right here in cupertino. so we'll follow with that trend through the inland valleys, but a little bit warmer out towards the east bay. 87 in antioch, livermore 84 danville to blackhawk. we're in the low 80 out to hayward, 77 up at the coastline, a chilly 62.5 moon bay. then you get down to palo alto. we'll be at a warm 80. san francisco 63, in the marina, then towards downtown in the mission upper 60s and low 70s, and right here for the north bay 84 in sonoma. so tomorrow, looking a okay then as we head through later this week and into this weekend. not one, but two different cold fronts dropping on down to give us some rain and forcing shots of some chilly air. look at this ten day forecast. we'll go from 80 on wednesday. here it is. start off your weekend on saturday down to 68 degrees. go up a little bit

on sunday to 73. here in napa and lots of 70 next week. right now it looks like a dry forecast for us. we're watching the rain line there on saturday. it's going to be up towards washington and oregon. anything gets close. of course we'll we'll continue to watch that and bring it to you. but through the midwest tomorrow that's where we are looking for severe weather, especially in cedar rapids. we could have some large tornadoes develop. so any travel plans through the midwest do expect some delays. it's going to get pretty bumpy here on the 7-day forecast for your memorial day weekend. looks like memorial day on monday would be the warmest of that three day stretch will be going from 67 on saturday, chilly to 77 on monday, which is almost the perfect. your perfect temperature you love 78. almost there. i didn't know that was going to get so much press, but 78 it is. so it's almost i know, i know, thanks, jeff. up next, a new playground at an elementary school in the east bay. we'll explain how steph curry is involved. stay with us

of its headquarters, a student from the academy of art painted the mural. it tells the story of one of the city's oldest standing stations in the city, engine company number five. it opened in the late 1800s and it closed in the early 1900s. although its out of service, it still stands as a historical landmark. organizers say the mural helps honor the resilience

on the strength of those who came before. i think it's super important to remember our history, to remember where we came from, what we did right, what we did wrong, the challenges that folks had back then in terms of the equipment that we had and how they had to run things. so it's incredibly important for us to know and honor our history, whatever it may be. the mural stands 12ft tall and has been in the works since march. well the warriors and steph curry still have an active presence in oakland today. steph and ayesha curry's foundation unveiled an upgraded playground. it's at piedmont avenue elementary school and was paid for by the curry's foundation called eat, learn, play. a lot of kids there, you see from the student council actually helped design this structure. this was the ribbon cutting ceremony today with the chance to try out all the good stuff, all those new features. the principal says the new structure will allow more kids to play at recess. there's something for everyone on this playground, whether it is

basketball, foursquare, the play structures, or reading a book in our new nature center. this playground is great for kids to just engage and enjoy the recess. very cool so far, the eat, learn play foundation and its partners have invested $50 million into the oakland unified school district. in total, that foundation will help remodel six new playgrounds across the schools in addition to athletic centers and cafeterias. up next, a cool new way to feed the world's tallest animals. the new feeding system at the oakland zoo. and let's take a look inside 30 rock lester holt preparing for nightly news. one of the top stories test strips designed to alert the presence of fentanyl what they may be missing. lester joins us in about 3.5 minutes. a slow network is no network for business. that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet.

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check it out. it's a pulley, so the feeder can now be raised up. a tree, allowing the giraffes to eat their treats and meals at their natural height. they don't have to bend over anymore. zoo says several donors paid for the feeder, which costs ten grand. tonight at seven, a court error in a high profile case. this is for the man convicted of attacking nancy pelosi's husband. that story and more coming up on our 7:00 news. up next on nightly news. remembering an injustice inside the country's newest national historic site, where japanese

americans were wrongly incarcerated during world war two. lester holt joins us from new york, right now tonight, donald trump's defense team calling its first witness after the prosecution rested in his hush money trial. the drama in the courtroom. the judge clashing with one of the defense witnesses, warning not to give him, quote, side eye. it came after michael cohen's final day on the stand and what he admitted to stealing from the trump organization. our team at the courthouse. also tonight, iran's president confirmed dead in a helicopter crash along with eight others. what caused it and how will it impact middle east tensions? plus his defiant words to me in his last u.s. network interview inside iran before his death. the international criminal court seeking arrest warrants for israeli prime minister netanyahu and hamas leaders, accusing them of war crimes. how netanyahu and the u.s. are firing back