had some of the worst air quality in the country. worse than l.a. in one spot. the report is not good, there is a catch to this data. here is nbc's ian cull. >> reporter: the bay area ranks fifth in the nation for the dirtiest air in front of l.a. when it comes to particles in the air each year. that's according to the american lung association's annual state of the air report out today, but there is a caveat. the data used was from 2020 to 2022, which is important because wildfires were especially bad during that time, and are largely to blame. >> those were some of the key years for wildfires and had a major, major impact on air- quality progress and exposures to harmful particle solutions in the bay area. >> reporter: it can increase the risk of strokes and heart disease now. when it comes to smoggy days, los angeles still tops the list. the bay area was 12 worst in the nation with contra costa, alameda, and santa clara counties all getting a grade of

f in that category. >> the dominant source in the california and bay area tends to be the transportation sector, so everything from cars and trucks to buses to the -- these are major areas where we need to be really focusing on zero emission technology. >> there is some good news. the overall trend shows improvement since the first reports 25 years ago. but the data is clear. there still more work to do, along with making personal changes like using public transit, working remotely, or riding a bike to work. bay area air officials believe that lawmakers should continue financially motivating people to get greener. >> make it easier to keep the air clean, whether that be funding to provide incentives for clean heating options, other incentives for switching out to an electric vehicle, for example. >> reporter: in the american lung association believes that funding should be prioritized in sacramento. >> there's a real threat to cuts for clean air programs. we want to make sure we are protecting clean-air programs.

>> reporter: ian cull, nbc bay area. >> also tonight, honoring the memory of those killed in the armenian genocide. governor newsom proclaiming today a day of remembrance. hundreds of people were out in la's little armenia neighborhood to mark april 24th, 1915, the beginning of the armenian genocide , by the ottoman empire, one and a half million people died. schools in l.a. and glendale unified districts were also closed l.a. county is home to the largest population of armenians in the world outside of armenia. some call it the bay area's lost city, russell city . what happened to the town remains an ugly chapter in alameda county's history. education, reparations, it's something that residents are still fighting for, and in the first of a two-part series on our ongoing series, race in america, jodi hernandez shows us the history that is really rarely known or talked about.

>> yes. we are in russell city right now. >> reporter: james shows us what's left of the community he was to live in. russell city. a place once known as the shame of alameda county. >> was hard for me to come back here. the railroad tracks were the main thing that remain in russell city. >> reporter: his daughter, aisha, has been on a journey to learn about her family's past. >> we are not to come out somewhere in the south were on the east coast, we'll talk about somewhere that's in the heart of alameda county. >> reporter: russell city, a predominantly black and latino county in alameda county was bulldozed and sold off to developers in the 1960s. a neighborhood of about 1400 people were forced out of their homes . businesses were lost. today, russell city is unincorporated alameda county in hayward. it starts and -- just down from

hayward regional shoreline park. >> the city is gone, but their memories remain. >> james grew up in russell city with his three siblings. >> just trying to stay out of trouble, having fun, seeing my cousins and relatives and friends. not having a care in the world. >> reporter: his family was one of many that were broken up when alameda county in hayward wanted to build an industrial park. they declared russell city a blight. >> my father lost his business and lost all sense of hope. and he wasn't the only one. there was a game they had and they fulfilled it. because they had, the eminent domain card. >> eminent domain allows local and federal government to require private property for public use or economic development. they forced residents to sell, giving them next to nothing in exchange. >> elected officials did this,

over a dollar, in a picture of an area that was run down, not worth investing any money in, in terms of building it up. >> yet, if you needed help from the fire department or the police. >> they never came out there. never. >> reporter: do you think this was done because you are black and brown? >> absolutely. no doubt in my mind. >> but this is one of the communities in the bay area that black and brown people could own homes in. >> they were redlined and targeted in certain areas. >> reporter: redlining maps rated neighborhoods based on the racial makeup of the area. >> the government broke the law. >> reporter: leo rothstein is -- leah -- under the color of law. redlining maps were produced by the home ownership loan incorporation in the 1930s.

>> banks and the federal government to the federal housing administration decided that they would use those maps to determine who could get a loan to buy a house. >> reporter: this color-coded map is of alameda county in the 1900s. >> the red shaded areas were two high risk of areas to give loans. the green areas, where the whites live, they could get federally backed mortgages to buy homes. >> people of color were limited to living in those redlined areas. >> today, families like the knowles are fighting for reparations and retribution. alameda county supervisors in the hayward city council have each passed resolutions, apologizing for their role in the destruction of russell city. >> it doesn't do anything for me. absolutely nothing, especially considering all the families of the destroyed. it could have been different. >> reporter: he -- and is now

retired. >> everything that i knew about russell city, i heard about during that, during the weekend of the picnic, and that's it. >> reporter: the picnic that's in for more than 40 years is a reunion for russell city residents , where neighbors share stories and pictures. >> what is the significance of an apology? is it a piece of paper or is it something that people are going to commit to really doing the work to change this cycle of disinvestment? i'd like to see justice for those who are surviving. >> the history, the history is -- people in power. and our history matters. >> does. >> reporter: even if it means we have to do our own research on what the history is. >> however long it takes, i'm going to do it.

if i do nothing else, you know, in this life . >> reporter: learning that history has been personal for me. i never knew about russell city. recently, i found out my father lived there until the age of nine. >> you never told me about russell city. >> i never told anybody about russell city because there was some shame there. it's a dark secret for me. >> reporter: tomorrow night, i interviewed my father, joe hernandez, about that dark secret. it's the first time he's opening up about our family's past and i get to see, for the first time, where my family lived in russell city. jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news . you might be able to cut the -- org charging up your car with some new driving habits. i am chris chmura. i will show you up, next.

we continue our coverage of earth week, and tonight, we are going to highlight how you and your car can do more for our planet. >> you can use less gas, maybe don't charge as much if you have an ev, but how do we do all that, because we needed our cars. here's our consumer investigator, chris camara. >> i'm going to sound like a back seat driver, but it's going to be worth it. first, it doesn't matter whether your car is powered by gasoline. the blue floor it and break cars waste 15 to 40% of their gas or ev juice. >> it's best to try to not drive like me when i was 16. >> reporter: joseph is an car expert at the automotive

website. he says taking it easy on the road will go easy on your wallet. >> driving smoothly will help you the most. >> reporter: even tesla, which made headlines rolling out its lurching , roller coaster style ludicrous and insane mode, agrees on taking it easy. if you read the model y manual, well, of course i read the manual. it tells owners to achieve maximum range, slow down your driving and avoid frequent and rapid acceleration. that goes for city streets and highways. in fact, uncle sam recommends a magic speed limit for maximum highway mileage, 50 miles per hour. the energy department says for every five miles an hour above 50-mile-per-hour, it's like paying an additional $.22 a gallon for gasoline. i get it. 50 miles per hour is not always practical for highways. we are going faster than that, experts recommend using crews control if it is safe to. you can really improve efficiency. >> when we press on the pedal with our feet, it's definitely less consistent than what a computer is doing

electronically. >> reporter: switching off on nice days. just think twice about rolling die -- down the windows. >> effects the aerodynamics. not in a good way. >> speaking of ira dynamics. >> reporter: let's talk about those rooftop cargo boxes. they create major drag, so when you're not using a cargo box, uncle sam's removes it. because it cuts your fuel economy as much as 25%. that is quite a drag. >> always him to think about. jeff ranieri is here with the weather. and as expected, this is just kind of peer. are we ready for sunshine to return? it's going to be a different time for the weekend forecast on saturday and sunday, up until then, we have a few bumps in the road here with a cooler temperature, the clouds, even

the chance here of some showers. let's take it right into tomorrow morning's forecast. we will have overcast skies to begin here down to 53 in the peninsula, low 50s throughout the bay area tomorrow morning. that fog in the chance to drizzle right here across san francisco. daytime highs for tomorrow, still going to have a hard time warming up because of the cloud cover. that's going to linger right through the afternoon. just 67 in santa rosa, 65 in oakland, down to santa cruz, 63, and we are coming in with those upper 50s. and when you begin to pick up tomorrow, coming on the west, i don't see any damage from that wind tomorrow, but once we get to about friday's forecast, that's when things are going to go even higher. let's take you into that wind forecast here tomorrow. for most of us, it's five to about -- santa rosa, so getting up to about 25. we will see that wind and the mountains get to about 30, 35 by tomorrow afternoon.

but then as we had through friday, really getting to the afternoon, two, three, four, 5:00, unit early evening, six, seven. we could be getting it to cost about 50 miles per hour, especially right near the coastline. we are not expecting widespread damage, but into the coastal areas, we may get a few trees that do come down with some of this wind coming in on fridays forecast. now beyond the wind, there will be the chance of some rainfall. this does not look very great because this storm system is going to be developing over the land. it's just not going to be ale to pull in the moisture from the pacific. only if you shower chances along with that wind picking up and those temperatures staying on the cool side. when it comes to the rain overall, really the best possibility will still be to the north and the east of us but there is that chance we

will get into a few spotty showers as we head throughout your friday forecast. overall, the totals on the trace amounts, about a quarter of an inch and that is it. now up towards the sierra, we will get in on some snowfall which i will have here for a second, but i did want to show you without getting a whole lot of rain on fridays forecast, we are still doing excellent on the rain season. four inches for the rain surplus in santa rosa, 3.04 inch surplus in san francisco and up over 3 1/2 inches in san jose. we still have a deficit in concord and oakland, we like we are going to make up for that once the rainy season finishes out but it's nothing that's going to put us back into the drought for any part of the bay area. again, we are sitting pretty good on our numbers here for the rain season all across the reservoirs. if you are going at the sierra on friday, a little bit of a dusting but be ready for those winter conditions. one inch, three down towards kirkwood. let's take it to that forecast. we will clear it out. conditions will calm down. we have that sunshine. we will get up to 66 in san francisco on sunday, and low to mid 70s are back and looking really nice for the beginning part of next week's forecast. >> that's great. >> weekend, hurry up. >> i have a buddy that's going

skiing this weekend. wow. >> only a couple of weeks left in this season. >> and it will be nice. a little dusting friday, some sun, saturday, sunday. >> let's get his name. >> all right. >> up next, we are on the eve of the nfl draft. of the 49ers going to do? anthony torres has the latest buzz coming from the headquarters.

it's hear it. tomorrow, big day for the nfl. no game, it's draft day. >> no games. we are just watching the draft. >> dreams coming true. >> it's a great night. they might even make a major trade. we shall see. here is nbc's anthony torres. >> reporter: after losing in overtime to the chiefs in super bowl lviii, the 49ers are determined to bounce back and take that final step this season. >> i think we are in a real good place as a football team, as an organization and we have to find a way to get a little bit better. that's the focus of this whole off-season. this is an awesome opportunity to do just that. >> the niners are scheduled to have 10 pics in the nfl draft, starting with number 31 near the end of the first round. >> reporter: no dire need.

has been covering the team for three decades. although he says the team has no real needs, he does believe there is opportunity for a rookie to earn playing time and a few positions like defensive back and at the offensive and defensive lines. >> it would not surprise me at all if the defense in this draft because that has been where their track record is. >> he says the niners could use depth at tight end and wide receiver, especially with all the trade rumors surrounding brandon aiyuk. he's in the final year of his contract but wants a new deal with a big race. >> reporter: what does your gut tell you? do you believe he will still be part of the steam after this weekend? >> my gut tells me yes. so much into getting him to become the player that they wanted him to become, so i don't see how the 49ers could take away brock purdy's favorite target. >> reporter: he believes they may use their first round pick on an offensive lineman from arizona. they will likely not make 10

selections. they could package some of their picks to move up or down through the seven rounds of the draft. they are counting on a handful of players they draft to make an impact on this franchise. >> i think it's going be hard for young kids to come in and make a mark, but there's good players and that's our job to find that because you have to have that. >> reporter: anthony florez , nbc bay area. blake snell was pulled from today's scheduled start and placed on the injured list with a left abductor strain. lisa struggled since joining the team. he's 0-3 with an e.r.a. near 12. without blake snell at china basin, the giants are looking to sweep the mets but it did not happen. he is just kind of checking it out.

he hit two to run homers. one of them in the third and one in the ninth inning. the mets when it 8-2. the giants are now off tomorrow before hosting the pirates on friday night. you can watch the game right here on nbc bay area. up next, we have good news for air travelers. why you could be getting cash in the future if you have your flight canceled. norman, bad news... i never graduated from med school. what? but the good news is... xfinity mobile just got even better! now, you can automatically connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go. plus, buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. i gotta get this deal... that's like $20 a month per unlimited line... i don't want to miss that. that's amazing doc. mobile savings are calling. visit xfinitymobile.com to learn more. doc?

a big win today for airline travelers and it comes from the department of transportation. the department recently set out to hold your lines accountable for canceled or severely delayed flights, and today, and announced a new rule that will force airlines to automatically issue cash refunds. secretary of transportation pete buttigieg explained the real name of the rule is to reduce the number of canceled flights. >> when an airline knows that all incident just a few of the passengers on a canceled flight are likely to actually get their money back, it gives them a different set of reasons to put in the investment and the realistic scheduling that makes those cancellations less likely to happen to begin with. >> the role requires them to get cash back if the bags are lost and not returned within 12 hours. airlines have six months to comply or they will face a hefty fine. a new fight brewing over --

especially when they want to change jobs. the u.s. chamber of congress is suing the federal trade commission after voting to ban noncompete clauses. his clauses are used to stop employees from leaving to work for competitors in the same industry. california already has a law banning the practice. the chamber and other business groups argue that the ftc ban is too broad. they accuse the ftc overstepping its powers. unless the court stopped the, the banning goes to affect 120 days after it is officially published. always excitement for the olympics, but a little more excitement than usual. it is peers. of course, today, a parade in paris, athletes who serve in the french military showed off french and olympic flags, some of the maiden be competing in the games. the parade was put on by the national defense that are in the olympic committee. the opening ceremony out there in paris is july 26. also olympic organizers are preparing for millions of visitors to come to france. today, they unveiled those new

olympic rings, terminal one, and showed off a new baggage system and quicker security protocols. >> the message today, we are looking forward to welcoming you . we will be -- entrance and this team is dedicated to making sure that you will have a fantastic experience. >> i even like the accents. i can't wait. the airport also showing new bathrooms for people with disabilities, in case you didn't know. nbc bay area is your home for all things olympics. >> things kickoff in just a few months from now. audrey asistio joins us with what is coming up next. >> at 6:00, a shortage -- a sign of improvement to one city system in the bay area. the upgrades are now completed at a 911 call center in san francisco and the city's progress report on filling vacant dispatcher positions. the president has signed the bill leading to a possible

ban of tiktok, but the ceo of tiktok, that's what he says. he breaks down what happens next. >> plus all choir members both past and present to join in. special tributes honoring the late reverend cecil williams. we are live at glide tonight for the special choir rehearsal happening now. the news at six clock starts now. thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i am audrey asistio. they are calling it a big step towards a severson process go. city leaders came together to celebrate a year-long renovation of the city's 911 dispatch center. here is nbc bay area's christie smith. >> the updated 911 dispatch center in san francisco had an official ribbon-cutting today. >> reporter: it is renovated and ready. >> this really is a pivotal moment for us. this has been a long time in

the planning. >> mary allen carol is executive director -- and joined the mayor and others to highlight and remodel a 911 center that they say is now ready for the future. >> we had to get ready for our next generation 911 technology, our new computer aided dispatch system that we will be getting over the next two years, and just in general make room for more advancement and technologies so that we can expand as we grow. >> the space upstairs is fantastic. it's modern, it's new, it's ergonomic furniture. got climate control. as comfortable, and there's lots of natural light. >> that includes a new training room, revamped -- and a supervisor work space reconfigured for better oversight. five more dispatcher workstations with room to grow as needed.