battle over e-bike batteries as san francisco signs off on new restrictions. bike shop owners fear it could put them out of business. our media partner, the

san francisco standard, joins us with their report. disneyland is planning its future expansion. the happiest place on earth. now one step closer to bringing new rides, entertainment, hotels and more to anaheim and scott peterson's bid for a new trial. the convicted murderer appearing in court virtually today as the los angeles innocence project takes up his case. you're watching, getting answers. i'm kristen sze. thanks for joining us. we'll get to all those stories in just a moment. but first, let's talk about this weather. after a few light showers this morning, there are dry days ahead. clouds are hanging around this afternoon, but the sunshine is breaking through. a live look here from our east bay hills camera. the rain has pretty much moved out and dry weather is in store and you might like the sound of how long it's going to last. let's check in with abc seven news. weather anchor spencer christian. hey, spencer. hey, kristen. >> with the weather changes coming our way, the bay area might be just the happiest place outside disneyland. here's a look at live doppler seven. there's moisture in the atmosphere being picked up by

the radar, but the rain essentially is over except for a few spotty sprinkles here and there. i mean really spotty because as you can see on the animation here, the system is moving out of the bay area. we've got a few clouds hanging around, but breaks of sunshine as well as you just saw. so here's our forecast animation starting at 5 p.m. notice whatever sprinkles are with us now will be pretty much out of here by 5 p.m. we'll get a lot of clearing going into the nighttime hours. nine 10:00 however, a few more clouds will sweep through during the overnight hours, giving way to more clearing tomorrow. it was pretty breezy out there. right now is a look at current conditions. we have gusts up to 2020 one miles per hour near the coastline, and it's going to get even breezier. even gustier i should say. over the next couple of days. a wind advisory will be in effect from 5 p.m. tomorrow to 11 a.m. friday. winds will generally be out of the northeast at 20 to 30mph, with gusts up to 50mph at times. those strongest gusts will be mainly near the coastline. so tomorrow, 5 p.m, we'll have gusts up to about 37mph at point reyes. then going into thursday morning, 4 a.m. up to 40 mile

per hour gusts at half moon bay and pretty breezy and gusty just about everywhere else. and it will remain that way through thursday night into friday morning. and finally, we'll see the winds easing up a bit on friday, and then we can enjoy that sunny and warmer weather coming our way. right now, though, we're looking at temperatures of 58 degrees here at san francisco, low 60s at oakland, hayward, san jose, san mateo, 57 at half moon bay, a few clouds over the golden gate. but some clearing is developing there as well. temperatures up north 61. santa rosa, petaluma 5960 at napa. low 60s. fairfield and concord. concord 58 at livermore. and these are our forecast headlines. excuse me. breezy partial clearing tonight, tomorrow and thursday. gusty offshore winds, but skies will be clear and sunny. and then friday into next week. sunny and much warmer weather tonight. low temperatures generally in the low to mid 40s. a little chillier in some of our inland valleys. some upper 30s in the north bay. upper 30s over in the inland east bay around livermore. then tomorrow sunny and bright and breezy, with high temperatures ranging from near 60 at the coast to mid 60s

around the bay. shoreline and mid or even mid to upper 60s in some of our inland areas. now let's skip ahead a little bit. take a look at our forecast uh- high temperature trend over the next several days. thursday we'll see highs reaching into the low 70s in the warmest locations friday mid 70s low to mid 70s near the bay and inland. similar range on saturday. so here's a look at the accuweather seven day forecast to give you an idea of just how long this this trend may last. we're talking about sunny and beautiful weather all the way through the weekend into early next week. even on sunday, saint patrick's day. the luck of the irish will be with us. weather wise and we see no rain in sight or even a hint of rain beginning tomorrow for about the next 6 or 7 days, perhaps even beyond great weather ahead. kristin. >> all right, we'll take that. thank you. spencer big story today. convicted murderer scott peterson faced a judge once again, this after the los angeles innocence project took up his case in an attempt to exonerate him. peterson was convicted in 2004 for the murder

of his pregnant wife, laci peterson, and their unborn son, connor, and he was sentenced to death. now. he was later resentenced to life in prison without parole, but now the la innocence project says there is new evidence that supports his claims of innocence. abc's melissa don has the details. >> serving more than 20 years in prison, convicted murderer scott peterson attending a status court hearing today via live stream that could possibly lead him to a new trial. today, a judge in san mateo county, california, scheduling more hearings in april, may and july over dna testing. >> there are three motions pending before the court. this after peterson's trial, captivated the nation. >> peterson was arrested and charged with first degree murder in the death of his wife, laci peterson, and second degree murder in the death of their unborn son. laci was 27 years old and eight months pregnant when she disappeared on christmas eve in 2002. >> we'll be giving birth real

soon. we need to bring him home, and i think that's the best way that we can do it all. >> laci's body, later discovered in san francisco bay four months later, peterson has long maintained his innocence, but now the los angeles innocence project is claiming there is actual innocence supported by newly discovered evidence. >> mr. peterson has been waiting 20 years to find some of these police reports and audio recordings. >> the evidence focused on a house burglary across the street from the peterson's home, and this burned-out van found on christmas day near the peterson's home the morning after laci disappeared, a sample from a mattress in the van tested presumptive positive for blood. the fire investigator at the time says he believes the evidence should be reassessed, and it made it like this was much more important than just a burned vehicle that somebody was just wanting to get rid of or cover up a simple crime. four years ago, the california supreme court overturned peterson's death sentence, citing in court documents that

his jury was improperly screened for bias against the death penalty. well, now the judge has set up a new court date for next month. melissa o'donnell, abc news, los angeles. >> i-team reporter dan noyes broke the story when the l.a. innocence project took up peterson's case, and you were in the courtroom, of course, today in redwood city as that hearing took place. so, dan, what were your first impressions? i mean, he came in by video, but you could see him clearly. what struck you about how he appeared? >> you know, he seemed confident. he seemed very much at ease. he has a new ponytail, which which surprised a lot of people in the in the courtroom. but you know that i expected this to be much more crowded, more of a packed courtroom, because, as you remember, that case was so it had a lot of attention, a lot of people were just court watchers who would show up. exactly. but but just average citizens were just fascinated by this. and they would show up and crowd the courtroom. i got there at 7:00 this morning to make sure i had a place in line, and the court wasn't packed that much, just mainly media watching what was

happening. >> who showed up for him? >> for him? yeah. on his behalf. yeah. there were several attorneys from the la innocence project. the main one is paula mitchell, who's the executive director. now. that's a chapter of the innocence project. they are approved by the national innocence network. but it's really important to say that this is not the national innocence project. who's taking on this case? it's the la innocence project. and i've got to say that there are some chapters. it's not really quite happy with this. i mean, they question whether scott peterson has already had his day in court right, peterson did look pretty happy, almost upbeat, a little bit. >> yeah. you know. yes, exactly. i mean, he he's been coming at this again and again, i mean, and expressing his innocence. i mean, he was happy to be there. there was a technical problem with the zoom call that took almost 15 minutes to fix, but he was happy to be there, happy to answer the judge's questions. just a couple of basically saying, will you appear again by zoom in future hearings? he said, yes, of course, your honor.

>> so this is to set daetz. they didn't dive into all the evidence, but explain to our viewers, right, what was it that the la innocence project thinks? we've got something here. this van, even though we had, you know, been part of the case before, something new is there that you got to look at. >> they're focusing on the van. that van was seen across the street from laci peterson's house. there was a burglary in the house across the street. there are some declarations from witnesses who claim they saw laci talking to three occupants of that van around the time of the burglary. there were other witnesses that the innocence project, the la innocence project, says that saw laci in the hours after scott left for that fishing trip on december. on christmas eve of december of 2002, therefore saying he couldn't have done it, that she was alive, right. and other witnesses who saw we saw her and then later we saw the dog wandering, just dragging its leash in a nearby park. so again. but i have to say that i talked to the stanislaus county da's office that is that is prosecuted. the case back in

2002 and is now back again to answer this appeal. and they say this is all been addressed before. there are 800,000 pages of evidence and testimony in this case. and that the innocence project is just kind of just going after dead ends. okay. >> so what happens now then? right. are there new dna tests? are there new interviews with witnesses? >> well, that's going to be the big decision by the judge. will she allow new dna tests? will she allow more witnesses? you know, the other thing was, was that the la innocence project gave these declarations in which the witnesses names were blacked out. so it's making it hard for the da's office to say, okay, who are these people? we we'll we'll answer you. but you have to tell us who these people are. the innocence project actually answered back that they say that they fear for retaliation by the modesto police, and they don't want their names out there, but it makes it hard for the da's office to check it out. if you won't tell us who their names

are. right? >> so given all that, dan, how likely do you think it might be that he would get this new trial that he's after? >> it is all up to that judge, and it's really too hard to say if you talk. if you talk to someone like paula canny, who's an attorney in the area, a criminal defense attorney who was a commentator on the original trial back in 2002. she says that this should get a new trial. but, you know, i'm not the expert. i just report what the experts say. okay? but it's possible. it's possible that he could, after all these years, get a new trial once. the next thing next thing is in may, then april, and then july. several hearings on three different issues. >> wow. great reporting on this. thank you for keeping us posted, dan. >> thank you christine. >> all right. coming up next, the battle over e-bike batteries as san francisco poses new restrictions. bike shop owners are sounding the alarm. our media partner, the san francisco

or skateboard in san francisco the way you charge or store those devices is changing. the city's board of supervisors voted in february to create safety standards for some of those popular products powered by lithium ion batteries. now some bike shop owners are pushing back, fearing they could lose everything. and our media partner, the san francisco standard, digs into the issue in this new article on their website. joining us live now to talk about the story. astra kane, senior editor at the standard. astra, thanks for coming on the show. >> always a pleasure. >> all right, so what new regulations did san francisco introduce regarding e-bike batteries? >> yeah. so it's a complicated piece of legislation, but for the most part it governs how bike shops can charge lithium ion batteries. uh, a shop that charges more than five at once, needs to install a sprinkler system, and there's a minimum

distance between charging stations. >> so before we get into, i guess, the impact on the bike shops, tell us what is the rationale behind this? >> so lithium ion batteries, the city right now responds to about 30 such fires every year. and that could be e-bikes or hoverboards, pretty much any kind of electric mobility device . most of these fires are very minor, you know, no damage to property or injuries. but once in a while there is something serious. a few years ago, there was one fire at a mid-rise apartment complex downtown that injured five people and displaced 15. >> got it. so i assume the fire department and the fire marshal are behind this. they support this. >> they were the driver. they were the driving force behind this. yeah. okay >> okay. so now let's talk about how the bike shop owners are responding. i know you focused on a few in your article. what is their belief about these rules? >> yeah, they have a wide range of opinions because for different shops it's going to mean different things. right. some of the smaller shops didn't

think it was going to be that dangerous. but for larger shops or places in formerly industrial buildings that, you know, don't have their own plumbing, the idea of installing a sprinkler system could cost as much as 50 or $60,000, and that might put them out of business. >> is that something most small businesses cannot afford? because i know for a while, right during the pandemic, certainly everybody wanted a bike and you couldn't get enough bikes. and bike business was huge. have things changed? >> yeah, things have changed a lot, actually. the pandemic was, you know, perversely, maybe a boom time for bike manufacturers and local e-bike retailers. but, you know, with gyms being reopened and less fear about catching covid on public transit, those boom times have long gone away. >> okay, so let's talk though about the very real but maybe small fire risk. how are these lithium ion batteries for e-bikes different from the ones, let's say, for your macbook pros that you know, also people have at home and also in the shops, right. >> this is something that almost every bike shop owner i spoke with said the same thing. they're fundamentally identical to the battery that powers your

laptop, but with with laptop batteries, we're just plugging them into the wall. what happens is you get these cheap imports that people buy on amazon, like a $500 e-bike, and they don't charge things properly, or they use different components for different manufacturers. and that's really where you start to run the risk, i see. >> okay, so then what is the solution here? do some of the bike shop owners you talk to, have other suggestions if they believe this is a little too draconian. yeah >> they believe that their products are tested and these are reputable companies that they're working with. so they really shouldn't be covered by the legislation at all. and a lot of them point out that many of the problems stemming from lithium ion battery fires come from theft, where somebody steals an e-bike and then charges that battery in the wrong charger elsewhere. and oftentimes we've seen this, especially in new york, like in homeless encampments or where door dashers live in substandard conditions, because these are people who are just trying to survive economically. and then you run into problems there, but not with quality products sold

by san francisco bike shop retailers are so sounds like some of them believe if the city could get a handle on theft and that kind of thing, that could help with this problem too. >> is that what you're saying? it could. >> and also, many bike shop owners point out that if we really want to talk about bike safety, that would involve enforcement of when people double park in a bike lane and other things that make it much more dangerous for people riding a bike around town. >> all right. so is there still any wiggle room to get some of what they wanted, or when does this take effect? >> yeah. so the city did work with retailers to try to find areas of compromise. one important spot is and this gets into the weeds really quickly. but there are different types of certification for e-bikes. there's two prevailing standards, but the certification process can be long and complex. so sometimes products are perfectly safe, but they haven't fully reached the accreditation standard. so the city is allowing the fire department to conduct its own accreditation to find and ensure that these bikes are safe. >> all right. but when do we

expect this to be finalized? >> so the bill is already into effect, but there's a six month grace period. and all parties insisted, especially the fire marshal, that right now they're really focused on education and getting the word out. they're not looking to go house to house, confiscating illegal bikes or anything. >> astrid, you dive us into the weeds just enough. i really appreciate it. that was all great information. thanks so much. >> always a pleasure. thank you. all right. >> you can check out astrid's story and more of the san francisco standard's other original reporting on their website at sf standard.com. up next, disneyland expansion. the theme park clears a major hurdle in its plans to grow what's in store for fans and v

ward. once the city council votes next month, it should greenlight the theme park's first major expansion since the 1990s. joining us live now is

gavin doyle, founder of mickey. visit.com and best selling author of disneyland secrets. hey gavin, it's good to see you. >> kristen, it's great to be back with you. >> i know, i know, okay, by the way, i guess we should put it out there right now. disney is the parent company of abc seven, but there was a big meeting last night, and when it was all said and done, disney's expansion plan, long in the making, appears to have cleared one of the last hurdles. so what do you know about what disney wants to do? >> yes. so disney hasn't explicitly said any concept of what they're going to be building here. they have said that that $2 billion or roughly $2 billion is allotted specifically towards attractions and hotels, they have also stated i have a quote here. i'll read a disney representative specifically said they very clearly know what we want to build and where, they haven't announced that yet. we expect two announcements once this full approval comes in, but they've teased us with things like saying frozen, zootopia, black panther as potential expansions or themes for expansions. there at the resort.

>> ooh, okay. >> and i wonder about that right , before we get into details of the rides, i do wonder, you know, they said they weren't going to expand the footprint, which is at 490 acres. so how do you get more attractions and maybe even a hotel, things like that. if you have the same amount of space. >> so what they're really doing with this whole effort is, is a rezoning effort to utilize the existing space that they have at disneyland. that's some in some places is parking lots or hotel area, and just using that in a more efficient way to bring in expansion both within the disneyland resort area and then also some area parking lots that disney already owns, but may not be directly connected to the resort right now. >> got it. okay. and of course, the last big expansion, as we mentioned in the 1990s, that must have been california adventure, right? >> that's right, that's right. and it's interesting, i also have the last time that this big master plan was changed was 1993, and then it took all the way until 2001 for disney california adventure to open. now we don't expect this to take that long, though it could, and

i just use that as time as an illustration to say that this approval is a first step or a final step in this zoning phase, to then let them get to a place where they can really dream and start construction. >> right. the imagineers can get to work. okay, but you hinted at maybe zootopia, maybe frozen, talk to us about what other kinds of themes or stories might get treatment, or what kind of rides, and what might those experiences be like based on what you're seeing. because i know you're plugged in at all the disney parks. >> sure. so there's a ton of exciting expansion happening around the world. and disney specifically. this isn't happening at disneyland, specifically in california. in a vacuum. disney parks has said that they're investing billions of dollars over the next decade at parks and resorts across the world, and now we also know that that walt, the walt disney company and bob iger has said that avatar and a pandora experience or pandora land, as he said recently, will be coming to the disneyland resort. >> so, oh my gosh, that's so exciting because i went to the one at animal kingdom and that is so good. and i want that here

because, you know, i love the california parks better, but i want that. >> it's amazing. so the flight of passage attraction is beautiful. and at night the bioluminescence of that land is just incredible. so that could be one thing destined here, and then internationally, we just saw in hong kong or frozen land to open zootopia in shanghai. both those things, again are just concepts, teases of the scale that potentially could come. but we're not necessarily we again, don't know specifically what could be built. >> look, can i just ask you, if you think adding attractions is a good idea in terms of kind of matching the growth in capacity and visitors because you in the past few years, we have heard people say, oh gosh, the lines are getting longer, blah, blah blah. do you think they need more rides? >> i mean, i think capacity is a kind of key solution for that. so they've played with ticket pricing and pointed to that as something as a way to control demand and allow, you know, they're able to increase prices and still have more people interested. a key way to influence this and move forward is just to build more attractions and let more people

come into the parks kind of via this. and at the same time, they're matching this investment in a new attractions and new hotels with improved infrastructure or additional parking structures and, you know, expansions of surface surface area roads. working with anaheim to work on that part. so this is trying to be just increase. we'll start with a good attraction. but then they know they have to do a lot more all the way around the resort to make to accommodate that. yeah. >> and i did read that. they're part of it. they're going to make street improvements in anaheim and affordable housing are part of the deal too. so yeah, there's a lot more to it than just rides. okay. in the one minute we have left gavin, for those who are planning to go in the more immediate future, like maybe for spring break, what tips and what cool things can you offer up people and let them know about three really exciting things coming up. >> the disney california metro food and wine festival, which has great foods, demonstrations. soarin over california that classic version returns. then right after that, we have season this a season of the force, which is a star wars celebration which is bringing new scenes to star tours. the attraction a

space mountain star wars version, and a new way to see the fireworks, as well as pixar fest, which will be a big celebration kicking off into this summer, which has, you know, returning favorite fireworks and a brand new parade. and you can read all about that more over at mickey. visit.com. and i'll also say for top tips, you can save big on tickets at mickey, visit.com/tickets where you'll get the lowest prices on two through five day tickets. you can see the site up there on the screen right now. >> yeah, and i have to say, i think you have great information for first timers, especially who want to know how to do disney right to get as many rides in as possible. like the most efficient way to cram it in and get a good experience. so thank you so much gavin doyle. always appreciate talking to you christine. >> great to see you. >> all right. take care. remember abc seven news is streaming 24 seven. get the abc7 bay area app

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before taxes are due. united way bay area is sponsoring this helpful opportunity, so get your questions answered by tax professionals by sending them in. now go to abc7 news.com. click on seven on your side and you'll find the form right there. then watch us friday here on abc seven. thanks for watching. getting answers. have a great rest of the day. we'll see you back here at four. tonight, the fireworks on capitol hill. the special counsel in the biden documents investigation grilled by both parties. also, the images just in tonight. the deadly house explosion. neighbors say they could feel it in their chest. first, democrats and republicans going after