many fees for new business owners. abc seven news reporter luz pena spoke with business owners about this program and its impact. she's here with the story, luis. >> yeah, the city's first year free program started in 2021. since then, san francisco says it's waived almost $2.6 million in fees. a huge help for many, but also not enough to keep some businesses open during the pandemic. andrea becerra found refuge in her kitchen as she grieved the passing of her dad. >> the first is kind in my hometown, mexico city, all recipes are from my grandma's recipe as andrea fell in love with cooking, she began to sell her meals to close friends. >> in april of 2023, her catering business outgrew her home, kitchen, leading her to take a major step. the opening of. amoore's restaurant in the mission district that i have never opened a restaurant i was cooking from home and it was very different.

>> i talked to the office of small business. they helped me a lot and they told me that this was going to be possible. >> andrea is one of at least 6000 businesses who benefited from the city's first year free program, set to expire june of this year. until today, we are extending first year free for another year. supervisor hillary ronen first introduced this legislation in 2021, as an influx of businesses began to close during the pandemic, the more we have a vibrant, robust, small business community, no vacant businesses, everyone benefits from it. the executive director of the city's office of small business says the fees have helped close to 4000 new businesses open in the city. >> any permit fees that are associated with opening the business, those are waived as well as the first year of the business registration fee. >> but even after waiving permit fees, there are still businesses

across the city struggling. one of them is the scarlet sage herb co, a business that has been around for 28 years. >> we're closing because we don't have enough foot traffic. we just don't have enough business. laura moved her business from the mission district to the fillmore seven months ago, qualifying her for the first year free program because as she relocated, we moved here to save the business. essentially >> laura says many around her are holding on, but she can't any longer. despite looking. for ways for the city to help. >> i think the biggest thing is the loss of foot traffic and the crime has increased so much that it's just really hard for people to keep shopping locally. >> we followed up with the city's small business program and asked, what are some of the resources business owners can have access to if they're struggling? they said the city offers one on one business counseling, referrals to advisors for financial management, and connections to grants. laura said she tried to get a loan, but was denied. luz

pena abc seven news lucy, thank you. >> in the east bay, oakland is moving forward with improving the railroad tracks and increasing safety in the jack london square area. tonight announced it has awarded a contract for the $25 million project. it will include putting in new barriers and fences and adding connections to transit stations for bicyclists and pedestrians. new traffic signals will be installed and existing crossings are going to be reconstructed and upgraded. no word on when the construction will begin. businesses in oakland's chinatown hope to have the good fortune of more customers during this weekend's lunar new year parade today. business owners got to voice their concerns about crime and safety to top law enforcement officials and a state lawmaker. abc seven news reporter anser hassan was there. >> a dragon procession guided california state assembly member mia bonta through chinatown on her visit ahead of sunday's lunar new year parade. >> it's important for everybody to know that the state is

pulling for them, pulling for oakland and for the aapi community to know that we're standing with them. >> bonta represents oakland and knows the challenges chinatown has faced. thursday's visit was a chance to meet directly with those who work and live in the community. >> that way, we feel that they care about the community. you know, they uh uh, you know, they have to come in to, uh, see what's going on and find solutions to help solve the problem. >> my business is done almost 20% for this year, so i notice it's very serious. i want to survive my business. >> oakland has seen a spike in crime, but gigi mas says the perception that oakland is violent is also hurting business. she believes bonta's visit can help change that, especially ahead of sunday's parade. >> a lot of people, when they heard about oakland, they kind of scared to come by. so that's why we need the police support and the mayor's support and all the, uh, representatives support. happy lunar new year,

gong. >> hey, fat choi. >> bonta was joined by oakland police, including chinatown liaison officer wesley heun and representatives from the alameda county district attorney and sheriff's office. community leaders hope the interaction with small businesses will highlight first hand the needs on the ground and hopefully direct more resources toward solutions. >> business reimbursement for crime stricken business owners who got their business broken into, uh, glasses, shattered reimbursement for costs that they lost from all this, uh, crime that happened around them, and encourage people to come celebrate at sunday's parade in oakland, anser hassan. >> abc seven news. the parade starts at wilma chan park. >> that's near the lake merritt bart station at madison and ninth streets. parade runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on sunday. >> a beloved water park in san jose is getting a second life. last september, the operators of raging waters announced it was closing forever. but san jose

officials cut a deal with a new operator to keep it open. here's abc seven news south bay reporter dustin dorsey. >> like a scene from an apocalypse movie, an east san jose gem sits empty with green water and drained pools. a sad sight to see at raging waters after the owners of northern california's largest water park announced their sudden and surprising close at the end of last season. but soon enough. the park will look like this once again. >> raging waters will be open in this summer, providing. the fun experience we all know and love. >> this is exciting to our residents in district eight, in east san jose, raging waters is back. >> back like it never left. only better this time with food trucks and a wine garden to go along with. the family fun, the city hopes to finding long time partner to keep the park open permanently. but for now, a short time agreement will keep it open and maintained. california dreamin entertainment will operate the park until at least september 2025.

>> you're going to invest about $6 million of capital and operational investments to ensure that the community has a great experience this summer. the increased rent payment that we're receiving, we've working out with them. 6% of their gross revenue is going to go back to the city. >> oh, it's a big economic and lifestyle boost, especially for east side residents. seemingly everyone in san jose, myself included, has memories of raging waters council member domingo candelas. even applied to work there as a teenager, keeping the water park open brings jobs and business to east san jose, while also providing safe, equitable and affordable family fun for all. >> i had my eighth grade trip there, so i resonated 100. so this is a commitment from the city to make sure that we are doing everything we can for the community. and i'm excited to be able to enjoy the wave pool. this summer. so this is an exciting opportunity for, for not just residents of district eight, but the entire the entire valley, the council will vote to approve the deal on february

27th. >> if passed, the best spot in the bay area to beat the heat since 1985 will reopen again this summer in east san jose. dustin dawsey abc seven news was such a fun time. >> that's great to see it is all right. >> well, we are expecting more rain tomorrow as well as through the weekend. yeah. >> meteorologist sandyha patel is tracking that for us. sandy. yeah, i think you still have one more day to enjoy the dry skies. >> and then things are going to be changing. dan and anna, let's take a look at live doppler seven. good evening to all of you. the storm is getting wound up. this is due in here on saturday, but ahead of it tomorrow night at 1130, we will see some showers developing in the north bay. you'll have to wait until saturday for the rest of the area to get rain. it is going to provide a good drenching across the region. stronger storm than yesterday's heavy rain at times. at 3:00 in the afternoon. so it is a level two on our exclusive abc seven news storm impact scale for saturday. moderate in strength wind gusts 20 to 40 plus miles an hour. rough and dangerous surf coming with it. that's not the only storm that is

developing. there is another one out here and this is due in late sunday night into monday. so really we're looking at rain chances through the middle of next week. and as we go and show you our li and right on through next wednesday, how much rain we're expecting, try 5 to 6 inch plus for the wettest north bay locations. yountville, santa cruz mountains as well everywhere else you're looking at anywhere between about an inch and a half to about three and a half, almost four inches. so some of the concerns coming up for the holiday weekend, especially on the second half road and stream, flooding trees down, power outages, shallow landslides are possible. river flooding by early middle of next week. it is the san lorenzo river at big trees and also the russian river at guerneville. that may be concerning. we'll be back with a full look at your holiday weekend timeline coming up. >> all right, we'll check back. thanks, sandhya. and you can track the storm with the same live doppler seven that sandhya uses. just search abc seven bay area in your device's app store to download it. now >> all right, coming up, play

ball a new baseball team gets a new home in oakland at a place with a lot of history. >> and still to come, the updated plans to create a new city in california next to but not too close to travis air force base

and they've picked a new home field. the team will play at historic raymond park in west oakland as abc seven news reporter ryan curry explains, the ballers are investing more than $1.5 million to renovate the park. >> when you look at this field, it's safe to say it's seen better days. an old scoreboard, unkempt grass. but those better days might be coming fairly soon. i think it's just going to be about showing your love of oakland and showing your love of community. enter the new minor league team starting their first season. founders brian carmel and paul freeman pride themselves on keeping pro baseball in a city. feeling abandoned by the a's. >> the whole vibe of this is we want to show the world what oaklanders can do when we come together, right? we think this is one of the we definitely think this is the best baseball community in the world, but one

of the best communities in the world. >> and what better way to cement yourself as an oakland team than to play here at historic raymond park? >> and its best days are still ahead. the team posted this video to social media. >> it was established as a park in 1896. in the 1940s, a group of shipping workers, the a 26 boilermakers, called it home. in the 1960s, baseball greats rounded the diamond ballers are putting 1.6 million into this park. that money is going to be used for a new scoreboard, a new scouting system and new stands. but if you ask them, it's not just about renovating the park, it's about revitalizing this entire community. >> we want this to be kind of like a festival around a baseball field. we're going to throw 48 festivals around the baseball field next year, and we're going to provide a canvas for the oakland fans to paint on. and we think it's going to be fun, and we think we're going to win. and everybody wants to see winning baseball that investment needs to be approved by the city council. >> but council member fife is supporting this project. raymond park is on wood street in west oakland. the last few years it was next to one of the largest homeless encampments in the bay

area. the city is now building housing on the encampment and with the park being upgraded, the founders say this whole area will once again be an oakland treasure. >> these two just feel like it belongs to everybody and it needs to feel hella oakland. that's you know, part of our ethos and also embracing the space, embracing the space just like they did decades ago in oakland. >> ryan curry, abc seven news. >> three people died as a result of a predawn crash on the bay bridge. it happened around 415 on the lower deck of the bridge near treasure island. police say a mini cooper that was stopped on the bridge was hit from behind by a pickup truck. three people in the mini died. the driver of the truck was taken to the hospital. two los angeles firefighters are in critical condition after a natural gas tank exploded. take a look at the moment right there where that tank went up in flames. the tank had more than 3,000 pounds of pressure. the blast injured nine firefighters who had arrived just minutes before to extinguish a truck fire. all this happened in wilmington, an industrial area near the port of long beach. >> the ball of flame was as high

as these telephone poles, and it actually did explode. one of the transformers nearby like a bomb. >> it sound like a bomb? yeah >> a second compressed gas tank did not explode. firefighters slowly emptied it as a precaution. the driver of the truck was not injured in. >> investigators say yesterday's mass shooting during the kansas city chiefs super bowl victory celebration was not an act of extremism or homegrown terrorism. police say the gunfire instead started with a dispute among several people. two have been detained but have not yet been charged. both are minors. one woman, a local radio dj, was killed and 22 others injured. most of the victims are children. several kansas city players were still at the celebration when the shooting started. >> okay, let's check on our weather. we were in a little bit of a break right now. >> we were much needed and much enjoyed, but rain is coming back and meteorologist sandhya patel is here with that sandhya. yeah i'm going to give you one more day to get out and enjoy the

mild weather. >> it was 67 degrees today in san jose. can you believe that? dan and a good evening to all of you out there. let's talk about the active pattern ahead. so tomorrow most of the day is fine. a pair of strong storms are coming. level two storms for saturday and monday. downpours. gusty winds, rough surf, flooding on the roads is certainly possible with streams and creek flooding as well, and there's potential for trees going down and outages. these storms are not expected to be quite as intense as the storms earlier this month, but there is the possibility of river flooding early to middle part of next week. russian and san lorenzo rivers have about a 25 to 35% chance of seeing some flooding concerns, so just keep that in mind, especially if you live near a stream or creek or a river, you want to listen to your officials. if they're telling you to get out, get out. here's a look at live doppler seven. this is a level two storm that is developing in the pacific. behind it is another storm that is coming in on presidents day. beautiful view post-sunset sky from santa cruz

camera right now in mid 50s san francisco, oakland, hayward at 58 degrees san jose a degree higher than that. and half moon bay. you're at 54 degrees. a live view from our east bay hills camera a lovely view tonight. mid 50s for napa, santa rosa, petaluma 61, fairfield and 58, in livermore, uh- as we look from our roof camera, all is quiet, but that is going to be changingng tomorrow. mostly cloy and mild. saturday level two storm arrives sunday night through wednesday. another potent storm is coming and presidents day. we have the potential of seeing thunderstorm forms as well, so saturday's system is a level two. it is moderate in strength. rain will get heavy at times. wind gusts 20 to 40 plus miles an hour and we are looking at rough and dangerous surf, which is why high surf advisory goes up this weekend. breakers 18 to 22ft. but if you're in a favored location, steeper areas, up to 28 footers expected and that's because of a combination of that intense storm with the southerly winds and the westerly swell developing. so watch those waves

from far away tomorrow night at 11 p.m, right near the north bay coast, you start to see a few showers developing. it's really saturday that this storm starts to move onshore, and we see widespread rain by 10:10 a.m. it will become a little more intense in coverage and intensity. at 4 p.m. is when we're looking at those downpours across parts of the bay area. 6:00 you will see still some heavy rain at times and then it switches over to showers. showers linger into sunday morning. you get a little bit of a breather before sunday night into monday. you get that next storm coming in saturday system. most of you will be in the quarter of an inch to about three quarters of an inch category, but the wettest north bay locations and the santa cruz mountains getting over an inch of rain. the winds will come up gusty out of the south, 31 miles an hour along the coast, picking up even higher than that along the coast and over the higher terrain. so keep that in mind over 40 mile an hour winds are expected later in the evening. afternoon and evening. winter

storm uh- winter weather advisory. excuse me for saturday morning to sunday morning. up to a foot over the peaks, 4 to 8in above 66,000ft. that becomes a winter storm. watch sunday afternoon through wednesday, up to four feet expected over the peaks. travel is going to be difficult, so i wouldn't even try. i would hold off. your morning temperature is 4050. your afternoon highs will still be mild, mostly cloudy in the 60s. and here's a look at what's coming as we head towards sunday. the sunday night storm going into monday is going to dump heavier rain, mountain snow and this just keeps going. the storm just stalls off the coast through the middle of next week, so we are expecting that potential to cause some issues. level two saturday and monday one for sunday, tuesday and wednesday. >> o ny.e. all right. thanks andrea. >> w

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democrats agree. conservative republican steve garvey is the wrong choice for the senate. ...our republican opponent here on this stage has voted for donald trump twice. mr. garvey, you voted for him twice... as your own man, what is your decision? garvey is wrong for california. but garvey's surging in the polls. fox news says garvey would be a boost to republican control of the senate. stop garvey. adam schiff for senate. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.

a rebound today on wall street and a new record close. the dow gained nearly 350 points. the nasdaq added almost 50. but it was the s&p with a 29 point gain that closed at a new record high, also going up mortgage rates for the second straight week. the average interest rate on a 30 year fixed loan is now to 6.7. that's about half a percentage point higher than a year ago. sfo is getting a financial boost from the faa. san francisco international airport is being awarded $31 million under president biden's infrastructure law, the funding will be used for upgrades to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system inside the international terminal. the money is part of a $970 million fund going to more than 100 airports around the country. >> some entertainment news if you're a marvel fan, get ready for a blast from the past. >> to me, my x-men x-men 97 revives the iconic cartoon from the 1990s. >> that show ran for five seasons from 92 to 1997. x-men

97 picks up where the finale left off. it features your favorite x-men characters with all new episodes. disney released the trailer for the new series, which begins streaming on disney plus march 20th. disney is, of course, the parent company of abc seven. meantime, oakland's own zendaya will be a co-chair of this year's met gala. she'll serve with jennifer lopez, chris hemsworth, bad bunny and anna wintour. this year's theme is the garden of time. the met gala, known as the super bowl of fashion, is happening on may 6th in new york city. >> the university of san francisco celebrated the lunar new year today by hosting a traditional lion dance. the event was hosted by the university's center for asia pacific studies. the lion dance has long symbolized the exercise of the evil spirits and summoning of luck and fortune. >> the center has been around since 1988, and promoting cultural understanding of the asian pacific, and i think it's really important for people to understand all about the cultures of the asia pacific,

its history, its politics, its religion, even. and we hope that they'll come to some of our programs. we have a lot of things online and on campus for the 2024. >> lunar new year is ringing in the year of the dragon. >> coming up next, weighing the costs and benefits of standing by your values. >> i don't think we're actually advancing our social policy goals one bit. we take a close look at whether a long standing san francisco policy was worth it. >> the abc seven storm impact scale. >> it's going to be a two moderate storm from 1 to 5, light to severe. >> we know exactly how every storm will impact you. wet and windy. once again, be prepared with the abc seven storm impact scale from abc

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blah, blah. let's shake things up. with katie porter. porter refuses corporate pac money. and leads the fight to ban congressional stock trading. katie porter. taking on big banks to make housing more affordable. and drug company ceos to stop their price gouging. most politicians just fight each other. while katie porter fights for you. for senate - democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. for seven years. san francisco kept a ban in place on doing business with other states that would run counter to the values of the city. in the end, the ban hurt san franciscans really more than the other way around. so ten months ago, that ban went away. >> abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez is here to tell you how that ended up costing san

francisco dearly. leanne >> well, believe it or not, even with the ban lifted, there are even more codes and conditions bans related to doing business with san francisco. so here's what we did. we decided to print a list of all those requirements. these are only 25 pages of a very long document. now one supervisor told us this is why it takes so long to get anything done in the city. by now, you've probably heard of the infamous noe valley public toilet and how san francisco was ready to dish out $1.7 million for its construction, rather than pay for a much cheaper modular model from a company in nevada. here's why san francisco could not would not do business with any entity in that state. san francisco had a ban on doing business with 30 states that had laws that undermined lgbtq and voting rights, as well as blocking abortion access. it was those states against san

francisco, and that eventually became too costly for city government. >> the noe valley bathroom is not a one off case. that's a problem that is replicated throughout our city government. >> or we couldn't buy by toilet paper for more. we historically bought toilet paper for these market players are smart enough to know that they had a captive audience, and they could raise their prices. >> it's economics 101 competition results in lower prices. also, because of the ban, public employees were not allowed to travel to one of those 30 states to potential lure companies to bring business back to san francisco. the city tried to get around it by granting waivers, and between july 2021 and 2022, 35 city departments approved a total of 538 waivers. the problem there, even the process of granting waivers was costing the city more money in added staff and paperwork. in one case, the recreation and parks department

had to get a waiver to do business with a local lgbtq vendor who had recently been acquired. you guessed it by another company. in one of those 30 banned states. >> it's because of that, we couldn't use her services until we got a special dispensation, which took a really long time and was frustrating for us and for her. >> time is money and a report by the budget and legislative analysts found that while it is difficult to measure how the city's contracting costs have been affected by the legislation, research, others have found that full and open competition for contracts can result in savings up to 20. after that report, san francisco . finally cried uncle, and last april, the board of supervisors voted to get rid of the ban instead, san francisco government now allowed itself to do business with any individual company that aligns with its values. >> then we'll do business with that company regardless of where

it's located. and so we had to adjust the law because as san francisco was getting hurt at some point, though, the city lifted some of the restrictions on who they do business with. >> it still has a long list of conditions and requirements that companies, industries, states and even countries must follow in order to do business with san francisco. up to now, only one city department has been given a reprieve to operate outside of some of those rules. the department of homelessness and supportive housing. that's how they've been allowed to expedite the construction of shelters and housing. it saves us at least three months on every project that we open and has allowed us to be nimble and take advantage of opportunities to open new projects and spend the resources that the public has entrusted us with that department is asking for a five year extension of its streamlining process to circumvent the still lengthy list of off limit places and vendors, except that it's getting some pushback from a few

in city government. if the extension is not granted, projects like the proposed 60 tiny home cabins on gerald avenue and a youth supportive housing building at 42 otis will be delayed. >> i am comfortable with the legislation as supervisor rafael mandelman calls it, the molasses of city government. >> i don't think we're actually advancing our social policy goals one bit, and in fact, we're holding them back to the extent that we make san francisco this great blue progressive city, look like a basket case that can't get anything done. so just this week , the health department became the second city department allowed to circumvent the lengthy contracting process. so that it can purchase get this beds for those with mental health and substance use disorders. now, because the city had to do all the though, all those checks and balances, san francisco was losing out to other cities and counties when it came to purchasing beds. mayor breed had to introduce

that legislation, and the board of supervisors had to approve it. on tuesday. wow. i love cumbersome molasses. yeah, yeah, certainly. yeah, he's used that navigate. >> all right. well, six months until major changes at san jose's regional medical center. why it will close its trauma center. and what will patients do millions of hard working families. they're working harder than ever and they still can't make enough to get by to afford food and medicine to even keep a roof over their heads. we need to build more housing that's truly affordable. we need to address this terrible epidemic of homelessness. we need to invest in good paying jobs, union jobs and investments in our future. this, this is why i'm running for the us senate.

i'm adam schiff and i approve this message.

side. they say anand henry shot his wife alice benzinger several times, then shot himself once their boys, twin four year olds were also found dead. it is not clear how the boys died. police say they were not shot and don't

have signs of trauma. their bodies were discovered monday morning when police did a welfare check at the home on alameda de las pulgas. police believe the deaths happened saturday afternoon. the only level two trauma center in east san jose has announced plans to close in six months. abc seven news south bay reporter zach fuentes looks at the reasons why disappointment this week from residents in east san jose. >> after finding out that the nearest hospital is closing its trauma center august 12th. >> not beneficial for the community because even though i don't know anyone who has gone there or has used it, i think a resource like that is very beneficial. >> in a statement tuesday, regional medical center cited a decline in the use of its level two trauma center services over the last several years for the same reasons, they also plan to close its stemi program, which addresses emergencies like heart attacks. >> that's disappointing because it's i mean, it's supposed to be for the people, but they're closing it down because of the business. >> in its statement, the hospital said, quote, we will continue to provide emergency care services to all patients. these changes will affect a small number of our colleagues. we are working with each

impacted individual to support next steps for their careers based on their skills, training and experience. the regional medical center said that they have seen a decline in services. county officials, who operate one of the two remaining trauma centers in the south bay are concerned for east san jose. >> we are anticipating as a health system, county health system is for that burden to fall upon us because we are the only other level one trauma hospital or trauma hospital at adjacent to that community in santa clara county. >> at the city level. san jose mayor matt mehan said that he's glad that regional medical center has also announced plans to expand emergency room beds, but is disappointed that the trauma center is closing. >> we don't ever want to see life saving medical services cut, particularly in our lower income neighborhoods. the fact that east side san jose will have to travel farther to get to a trauma center is concerning. >> right now, county officials say the focus is on solutions and how to utilize other county run hospitals. >> we have o'connor hospital, um, and as a system, we will be

looking at ways in which we can leverage the system to ensure that critical services for the community, primarily in that area, can be sustained at some level. but there is a lot more to be understood as we move forward in the coming months in san jose. >> zach fuentes abc seven news we want to update you now on a story. >> the i-team has followed very closely, plans to build a new city in solano county. there are concerns it could jeopardize security at travis air force base. the california forever project is expected to bring more than 20,000 new homes and apartments to the area between rio vista and the base today, travis air force base released a statement saying developers have made changes to their plan that won't interfere with operations and exercises at the base. earlier, congressman john garamendi and mike thompson, who both represent that area, called for more transparency from the project's developers. >> this company has come in and, uh, purchased, um, about a

billion dollars worth of property, did it under a veil of secrecy. uh, they were not, uh, willing to be open about what they were doing or even who they were. >> our distrust of this organization goes back to the very beginning. >> the project still has to be approved by solano county voters in november. >> we have a rainy weekend ahead of us.ana takes a look at wh politicians... "he's bad. i'm good."

blah, blah. let's shake things up. with katie porter. porter refuses corporate pac money. and leads the fight to ban congressional stock trading. katie porter. taking on big banks to make housing more affordable. and drug company ceos to stop their price gouging. most politicians just fight each other. while katie porter fights for you. for senate - democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. you want to see who we are as americans? i'm peter dixon and in kenya...

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has a look at the upcoming season. >> it's one of the great moments that every contestant wants to hear, and it is. you're going to hollywood. oh my god. on cue, we're geared up for that. >> i say that in my sleep now you're going to hollywood. >> you're going to hollywood. >> lionel richie, katy perry and luke bryan are back for their seventh season as judges on american idol. >> ryan seacrest has been at the helm as host since. beginning of the competition series. do they have fun? no doubt. >> look, that literally is my guitar. >> but they also know that for many of these contestants, there's something much deeper.

going on here. >> sometimes we're kind of investing in the future to these kids come from these backgrounds that nobody ever helped them in their music journey. so we always like in life, you know, or in life. so we like to sometimes times roll the dice on somebody to see how they grow. it's just magic. they create magic and you can't take your eyes off of them. if you didn't know, baby, i'm crazy about you. >> we want the best for them. and you know we're going to put them through their paces because we want them to win. >> but yeah, i know, like, i can read the room anywhere i go. that's like my little special intuitive skill. and she can in and spin and where i'm going, even when i didn't know it. >> i know that they don't understand the journey that we have the ability to take them on. and so i'm sitting there holding in our collective hands

here an opportunity for them to go forward, tell me why we will want to get to know the contestants this season. >> great stories, great voices. we think every time i know you guys talk about it, what's going to be out there? >> what's left to find? what can we mine from this great nation? well, a lot. and they did it in los angeles. >> george pennacchio, abc seven news and the season premiere of american idol is sunday night at eight, right here on abc seven. >> be sure to tune in. >> a lot of great talent out there. all right, let's get to our weather and how soon that rain is rolling in. >> meteorologist sandhya patel is back. sandra. yeah, it's going to be this weekend when we start to see this. >> dan. and let's take a look at the tahoe forecast. mostly cloudy skies tomorrow. a chance of some rain and snow saturday, but sunday is okay. still heavy snow and rain is expected on presidents day. that's probably not a good time to travel, but tomorrow you're good to go and i think there will be some snow showers by sunday night, so you might want to hold off. look at

the snow. it adds up by next wednesday. we're talking about 36in at donner for 35in of snow at kirkwood level two storm comes in saturday. rain will be heavy at times. those wind gusts 20 to 40 plus miles an hour. rough and dangerous surf coming. this is the storm that is going to bring the higher surf and the heavier rain. we're going to go hour by hour. time this out for you friday night, which is tomorrow night. a few showers may develop, but it's really saturday morning. the rain starts to move in. there will be some pockets of heavier rain in the afternoon, noon and evening, and then the rain turns over to scattered showers for late saturday night. going into sunday morning. so for tomorrow afternoon, still mild, mostly cloudy, 60s. and if you're looking for statewide conditions by next wednesday, we are talking about over a half a foot of rain for parts of northern and central california, which includes our coastal hills, santa cruz mountains, and the north bay. it's a two for saturday, a one sunday, a two monday, and then ones for tuesday and wednesday. so ama and dan, we're going to be on

this stretch of wet weather coming up. >> okay. thank for it. all right. let's get some sports from casey pratt. >> yeah, some oaktown sports. >> yeah. i feel like things are hitting an inflection point with oakland sports. yeah. and who said sports are dead in oakland? because town biz is picking up the a's back at the negotiating table in oakland. what i'll explain what it all means next in sports

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well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions. the a's returned to the negotiating table in oakland. the table they unceremoniously walked away from when announcing their move to las vegas, and they came back to the table hoping the city of oakland would just bail them out. i spoke with sources inside the meeting. i heard it was a cordial and a quick convo in the a's best case scenario, they have a ballpark

ready to go in las vegas by 2028. their lease in oakland expires after this season. what that means is the a's will need somewhere to play in 2025, 2026 and 2027. and if they leave the bay area, they walk away from $70 million a year in tv revenue . so they obviously want to stay . so what does the city want in return? the asking price is going to be astronomical. they don't need the a's as much as the a's need them. and that tv money. so one the city will want the a's and colors name to stay in oakland. two they want mlb to promise an expansion team if the a's leave three. they want half of the coliseum land the land owned by john fisher, which is holding up redevelopment of the whole 100 plus acre site. and four. they want lots and lots and lots of money. otherwise, why even bother bailing them out? right? i reached out to the a's and team spokesperson told me we had a positive meeting with the city and the county. we look forward to further

discussions regarding a lease extension at the coliseum for the interim period before the vegas ballpark opens. now it's amazing how quickly you can get something done in oakland when you're not asking for the city and county to pay for it. the oakland ballers have announced their new home and a $1.6 million investment in raymond park. they told me their goal from the start was to find a park in oakland. they could revitalize and enhance as a community space. in addition to a baseball home, the ballers will play 48 nights there. it will be available to the community. you guys get this for 317 nights. another chapter in oakland baseball history. if you follow baseball history, you like we do. uh- raymond park is probably the most rich in history. >> city park in the world. the oakland tribune once said that more professional baseball players came from this park than any other park. >> people talk about, you know, the legacy of baseball in oakland and, you know, rickey, you know, stu, all these players that have come out of oakland, uh, you know, a lot of great players came out of right here.

>> now, the warriors playing their final game before the all star break right now in utah. but i am excited for the all star festivities where steph curry will face walnut creek native sabrina ionescu and a special three point contest. they are the two best three point shooters in their respective leagues, and sabrina actually broke steph's three point shootout record last year. klay thompson, one of the world's other best three point shooters, made his pick and it didn't surprise steph at all. >> i got the bay area's finest sabrina all day, and she set a record last year. i think she missed one better than steph. >> yeah. >> oh yeah. all day. >> this is exactly why we should do this. so he's going with the champ. i am the contender. and uh, i can't wait to walk back into the locker room. uh and prove him wrong, because abc seven sports report is sponsored by your northern california honda dealers. >> and you guys are going to love this. so they initially said, sabrina would shoot from the wnba line, which is closer than the nba line. then sabrina is like, no, forget that. i want to shoot from the nba line and

take him down for real, she said. i shoot from that range anyways. it's no big deal, love. >> it is going to be fun. >> love that. >> thanks casey very much. >> all right. tonight on abc seven, i ate its truth and lies. the doomsday prophets. and then it is will trent at 10:00. and of course always stay with us for abc seven news at 11. hey remember that we are streaming 24 seven. you can get the news anytime. just get the abc seven bay area app so you can join us whenever you want, wherever you are. all right. thank you so much for joining us tonight. that is going to do it for this edition of abc seven news. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley for sandyha patel kc pratt, our entire team. >> we appreciate your time as always. hope you have a great rest of the evening. sit back, relax some watch some of the great shows on abc tonight. and we will see you again at 11:00.

>> this is abc. 724 seven. >> in san francisco, live at levi stadium in san jose. >> live in oakland. yay you're watching abc seven news live any time, anywhere. >> we are. we are, we are, we are, we are, we are where you are. >> never miss a moment of the news that matters to you. download our abc seven bay area streaming app. join us and start

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and now here is the host of "jeopardy!!" ken jennings! thank you, johnny gilbert. you're with us for the last of our quarterfinal games in this jeopardy! champions wildcard competition. today we welcome back our last three season 39 champions buying for a spot in the semis, diandra, james, david, good luck to all three of you. let's get right into the jeopardy! round. here are your categories. from left to right, we have... then... followed by... and... these are eight-letter words beginning with the letter f. diandra, you begin. let's do around the world $800, please. the answer there, it's the daily double in the round. it's a video clue for you alone, diandra. you can wager up to a thousand. a thousand it is. here's your clue in around the world. once you come ashore from this gulf,