it was one week ago. we saw an oakland church go up in flames as the congregation was preparing for services. tonight we are hearing from the pastor and his mother as the investigation takes a turn. good evening. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us. this is a story abc seven news reporter tara campbell has been following. she was out there last friday. the church is on 27th and west streets in oakland and sustained heavy damage. tonight. we're being told by investigators this fire is suspicious. >> both the pastor and his

mother reached out to us about what happened. and tonight we're getting their side of the story inside the remainder of the church. >> it's all it's just smoke damage. >> pastor robert lacey is talking about the devastating damage to saint andrew missionary baptist church in west oakland. this was the scene one week ago. a fire started outside on the property spreading to the church where the pastor and parishioners were inside rehearsing for services. >> myself and one of the other parishioners thought it was small enough for us to fight it, and at that point, windows started exploding inside and we it was time to leave. it's time to go. >> the oakland fire department telling us they believe the start of the fire is suspicious and that they are still investigating. >> we're just at a point now where, you know, we're still numb to the fact that the fire was set. it wasn't because of any structural errors or whatever. >> and now they're trying to salvage what they can of the designated landmark. >> it was nominated, i believe,

in 2007. okay to be a historic landmark because of the significance of the building. >> the church was built in 1910 to house african american oaklanders displaced by the 1906 earthquake, later becoming a home to the black panther movement and more recently serving as a school which did encounter some scandal. it now serves a small congregation. do you have any reason to believe anybody, like why anybody would want to do this? >> no, i'm just this, this, this is a this is an area prone to, you know, this kind of activity. >> it was just a total shock, i couldn't believe that this was really taking place. >> elizabeth curry is the mother of pastor lacey and has a long history with the church. so you don't you don't see anybody who would want to do this or have a reason to do this on purpose. >> no, not at all. i never even dreamed of such a thing. >> the pastor turning his focus to restoring what they can as

fast as they can. >> but there are seniors that take advantage of the computer lab, community members that fill out applications. they come here for support and now we can't provide that support because of what has happened. so we're moving as fast as we can to at least get ourselves back. >> tara campbell, abc seven news the man who attacked paul pelosi with a hammer will spend decades in prison today, a federal judge sentenced david depape to 30 years over the assault on then house speaker nancy pelosi's husband at the couple's home in san francisco in 2022. >> today's sentence reflects david depapes lack of remorse and contrition for violently assaulting mr. pelosi, a jury convicted to pat back in november of the assault on paul pelosi and attempting to kidnap nancy pelosi, though she ended up not being home. >> prosecutors wanted a 40 year sentence for the crime. the defense argued for 14 years. today in court, pelosi's daughter read letters from her parents saying her father still suffers from dizziness and headaches. depapes ex-wife says

they plan to appeal with his son, describing it as a death sentence for the 44 year old. >> i think that's a really long time because if you think about it right, he's already nearly 50. he's he's basically it's just a death sentence. >> depape is still facing state charges over the attack. he's pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted murder. his trial in state court is set for next week. >> new at 11. being a mail carrier in the bay area is becoming an increasingly dangerous job. they're becoming targets for people looking to steal their keys and swipe the mail, which can lead to all sorts of financial crimes. abc seven news reporter lauren martinez with a look at what's happening. >> thieves are targeting letter carriers for their mailbox keys. palo alto police and the u.s. postal service are investigating a strong armed robbery that happened at this apartment complex off middlefield road on thursday, police said. the carrier was approached by two men who demanded his postal keys. when they then asked for his wallet and cell phone, a fight ensued and then the suspects fled towards the

parking garage. >> these incidents do turn really needlessly violent, so this is not something that carriers should have to be worried about. their job is already physically and mentally demanding. >> u.s. postal inspector matthew norfleet said. this is not the most recent incident. over the weekend, two arrests were made after mail carriers were robbed in belmont and palo alto. >> and in these cases, we're seeing the robbers are also traveling across the bay area using cars that were stolen in the sacramento area, according to the analysis by the abc7 data journalism team. >> in 2023, there were 145 postal robberies in california. approximately 61% occurred in the bay area. >> the people who steal mail are criminals. they are dangerous. when we catch up with them, they are often armed. >> back at the apartment complex in palo alto, residents had no idea a mail carrier had been robbed. on thursday, we spoke with one man who walks regularly to a nearby park.

>> i'm very surprised. i would say i never heard about in all my all my time that i'm here in palo alto. i never heard about any of this type of thing. >> in light of these robberies, police are asking the public to keep a watchful eye out for carriers and their postal service vehicles. >> we usually do see the cars the robbers are using follow the carriers for a ways before they get ready to do the robbery. looking looking for that opportunity, the postal inspection service offers a significant reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects in palo alto. >> lauren martinez abc seven news. >> new developments with the campus protests one day before graduation ceremonies at sonoma state university, the school's president has announced he's retiring. mike lee was put on administrative leave wednesday for insubordination. lee reached a controversial agreement with pro-palestinian student protesters without proper

approval. he apologized, but in his original message, he endorsed student activism, protest and dissent. today, csu chancellor mildred garcia issued a statement saying president mingtang mike lee has informed me of his decision to retire from his role at sonoma state university. i thank president lee for his years of service to the california state university. in the meantime, the university of california system is trying to get the state to stop what it claims is an illegal strike. a union for uc workers authorized the strike earlier this week over how the university system has handled pro-palestinian protests on campus. the uc system says the strike would be in violation of the united auto workers contract. uaw does represent uc employees. the college system is asking a state board to issue a cease and desist. uc santa cruz workers are set to be the first to walk off the job come monday. do stay with us for continuing coverage of the college campus protests in the bay area and nationwide. get the latest anytime at abc7 news.com. all right.

>> this just in. it's the weekend and i want to look ahead to the weather. yes >> meteorologist sandhya patel has your 24 hour accuweather forecast. >> sandhya yeah and dan and ummah the forecast looks fabulous for any outdoor activities this weekend. let me show you a live picture. this is how you're going to start off your weekend. gray skies over san francisco. like many of the last several days, here's a look at the forecast. clouds and drizzle. temperatures in the 50s mostly sunny by noon, and we are looking at bright, breezy conditions upper 50s to upper 70s at 4 p.m. and turning partly cloudy later in the evening. the winds have backed off a little bit right now, but they'll pick right back up again tomorrow afternoon, 25 to about almost 30 miles an hour at times, particularly near the coast. i'll be back with a full look at the forecast, which does include bay to breakers and all the other graduations that are taking place. the weather forecast is coming right up. dan. ama okay, sandy, thanks a lot. >> houston's mayor says it could be weeks before power is fully restored to all homes and

businesses left in the dark by storm related outages. thunderstorms with hurricane force winds tore through the texas city last night and knocking out electricity to nearly 1 million people. at least seven people died in the storms, and widespread destruction has brought much of houston to a standstill. happening now if you're heading to wine country this weekend, you may want to plan to allow some extra time eastbound highway 37 from sears point in sonoma county to highway 29 in vallejo is closed right now for repaving work. the detour you can see on the map is the green line. it is scheduled to reopen at 5 a.m. monday morning in time for the morning commute. this is the last scheduled closure of that highway down in big sur. >> highway one is open for the first time in about six weeks. caltrans posted this video showing traffic today on a section of highway one that was closed after a partial collapse. it's going to be one way traffic because the southbound lane still isn't fixed. this reopening comes eight days ahead

of schedule. a permanent repair is in the design phase. the highway is still closed at paul's slide on the south end of big sur. a big birthday celebration is planned for this weekend on the santa cruz beach boardwalk. today marks 100 years of ups and downs, twists and turns for the giant dipper. the iconic wooden roller coaster opened to guests on may 17th, 1924, cost just $0.15 for a ride back then. tomorrow, the boardwalk will celebrate the giant dipper with special events and a fireworks show. a century in the making, it's now the fourth oldest roller coaster in the united states. >> it's one of the 10th oldest roller coasters in the world, so it's really one of the last of its kind. >> it's a really special treasure. >> i've been coming here since i was little. >> this is my first time. >> this first time. so just sharing a little piece of history and my family with him, you know, ride it. how many times? >> ten times as many as we can. we can. >> the giant dipper helped santa cruz county see a 135% tourism spike in 2023, with more than $1 billion flowing in. that's remarkable.

>> it is. all right. find out what has triggered a new warning tonight from the centers for disease control about mpox. >> a couple of them made some jokes, i think, when they figured out, you know who i was and what happened. >> a wild day for golfers, scottie scheffler that saw him getting arrested as he went to play in a tournament. you're going to hear from him later in sports. >> plus, why mayor london breeds plan to bring pandas to the san francisco zoo is suddenly in serious jeopardy. >> first, a look at what's coming up tonight on jimmy kimmel live! right after abc seven news at 11. jimmy >> let's stay up and braid each other's hair. oh. you're leaving? >> oh

this graphic footage was exclusively obtained by cnn. they say it shows combs and a towel chasing cassie ventura down a los angeles hotel hallway. back in 2016. ventura is grabbed by her neck, thrown to the floor, kicked twice, then dragged. now we are not showing the entire video because it is disturbing. ventura's lawyer says this video collaborates allegations made in a. since settled lawsuit that combs physically abused her for years. combs has previously denied the allegations. abc news has not independently verified the video and has reached out to combs representatives for comment. following the release of the diddy video, the national domestic violence hotline saw a spike in calls and chat requests. it posted a message on its website saying people should expect longer than usual wait times to talk to someone. >> the cdc is warning about a resurgence of m-pox, the infectious disease formerly

known as monkeypox. this alert comes ahead of a pride events around the world, which start on june 1st. m-pox spread to thousands of people, disproportionately affecting gay and bisexual men around the world in 2022. the cdc says there's currently an epidemic of an even deadlier version of this disease in the democratic republic of congo. so far, no new cases have been identified outside africa, but anyone at risk is being urged to get vaccinated just as soon as possible. the california fish and game commission voted this week to ban in river salmon fishing. the ban will affect sacramento area rivers and klamath basin. this comes after the amount of chinook number of chinook salmon returning to spawn sharply dropped by 40% over the last year or so. the state has banned in river salmon fishing. the salmon fishing ban is expected to go into effect before july 1st. >> mayor london breed's plans to bring pandas to san francisco have hit a roadblock. she

thought she had sealed the deal during a trip to china last month, but a board of supervisors committee has rejected her fundraising plans. abc7 news reporter tim johns has been following this story and has a look at the political fight over a pair of pandas. >> the push to make two pandas, san francisco's newest residents has officially stalled. on thursday, a committee of the board of supervisors rejected the fundraising proposal put forward by mayor london breed supervisor dean preston, who chairs that committee, says amendments need to be made to the proposal before he would support it. we do need to make sure we have the information to prevent actual conflicts of interest here and make sure that this is all being done transparently. preston isn't the only one criticizing the mayor's plan. supervisor asha sapphire, who is running against breed in november's election, tells us he thinks the mayor's fundraising plans are a distraction from the cuts the city is making amid a budget crisis. >> in the same week you're announcing all these cuts to major programs that have been a vital, vital delivery of services in our city. you're

announcing those cuts while at the same time you're like, look over here. >> on friday, breed, responding to some of the pushback her office sending a statement to abc seven news, which reads in part, postponements of a vote or requests for amendments are not uncommon, and the mayor's office will work on amendments based on the feedback from supervisors. but concerns are being raised about more than just the fundraising effort. some are also worried about whether the san francisco zoo can actually accommodate the pandas. that includes justin barker, the head of a watchdog group called sf zoo watch. >> there's animal neglect, animals escaping their cages, and this is a decades long issues, barker says. >> the zoo has been mismanaged for years and is in desperate need of repairs. he tells us that even if the city can get funding, he doesn't think the zoo will be able to actually take care of the pandas at this point, that this zoo is not meeting the needs of its animals and bringing pandas here is a terrible decision. in response, the san francisco zoo sent abc7 news a statement which reads in

part, concerns about our zoo's conditions are unfounded as we undergo regular inspections by various regulatory bodies. these independent inspections are thorough and encompass aspects such as animal enclosures and exhibit spaces. breeds fundraising proposal will rely solely on donations to bring the pandas to the city, and not taxpayer money. in san francisco. tim johns, abc seven news. >> participants in san francisco's famed bay to breakers are gearing up for sunday's big race. expect to see those fun and wacky costumes, or perhaps none at all, as thousands of runners hit the pavement. the city is counting on the event to be a huge economic boost because it attracts a lot of out of town visitors. >> it's going to run it, but now i think i might just walk it just to like, enjoy the sights. we did it once a couple years ago and it was fun, so yeah, it's just nice to be back in san francisco. >> you can be naked in it. and, i hope to do that. >> you may notice no parking

signs and stacked up barricades already set up around the city sunday. the race will begin at howard and main streets and run down market street, starting at 8 a.m. the race continues through golden gate park before finishing up at ocean beach. the breakers part of the race, and it should be a good time. the question is what will the weather be like? >> maybe it'll be cold, so you do have to wear clothes. is that possible? >> wishful thinking. ama and dan, you know they're going to still show up without any clothes on. it's going to be cool. let's takeat the bay to breakers foreca 53 degrees at 7 a.m. when that race gets underway, there will be some fog around. the temperatures will slowly come up into the low 60s by noontime. we also have the golden state valkyries block party tomorrow at thrive city. it's going to be bright and breezy, 61 degrees coming up to about 64. and of course, as we take a look at a live picture from our pier 39 camera, you'll see how our weekend is going to begin. with overcast skies. you can see it

here on live doppler seven. it is not just near the coast, it's already pushed all the way into santa rosa, san jose, oakland. so a lot of places are reporting cloud cover right now, 50s and 60s on those numbers. let's talk mission bay school in san francisco tomorrow, 11 a.m. 59 degrees. don't be concerned about that 10% there. that's just the possibility of a little bit of drizzle. but certainly will be fog around. and then the sun will brighten things up. temperatures in the low 60s. we also have on sunday delasalle high school graduating in concord 9:00 in the morning, upper 50s with just some patches of clouds and then coming up into the low and mid 60s. congratulations to all the graduates out there. the weather looks fantastic for it. it's really golden gate bridge that's showing you what you're going to see tomorrow morning, which is a low clouds, fog and spotty drizzle tomorrow. mainly sunny and breezy and early next week. we're talking about sunshine and warmer weather coming your way. so if this isn't exactly what you like to see, then just wait

till next week. fog and low clouds 8:00 in the morning. there will be some mist and drizzle as we head into the afternoon, we're going to start to notice that cloud cover gets swept away. there will be still some patchy low clouds near the coastline, but overall sunnier skies. your morning begins with 40s 50s drizzle and gray skies. definitely need to bundle up, but later in the afternoon, nice looking weather. you'll need the shades 70s inland where the sun is shining right near the coast there will be clouds. like i said, some breezy upper 50s, so we'll call it partly cloudy. the accuweather seven day forecast does feature the morning fog and followed by the sunshine. it's going to be a little bit milder on sunday, but you really start to notice it when monday and tuesday come around almost summerlike warmth for your tuesday. close to 90 inland, low 60s coast and still above average mid to latter part of the workweek, but not not entirely. so by friday we'll drop you back down to where you should be tanenaga

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a valkyries has surpassed 10,000 deposits on season tickets. there was a big jump this week after the team revealed its name and logo. a block party will be held tomorrow, starting at 2

p.m. at thrive city, right outside chase center. the team makes its wnba debut in 2025. meanwhile, there's a wnba doubleheader tomorrow on abc seven at 10 a.m. you can watch caitlin clark and the indiana fever take on sabrina ionescu and the new york liberty. then, at noon, watch former stanford star cameron brink and the los angeles sparks as they face the defending champion las vegas aces. >> check this out. a raccoon was having a field day during a major league soccer game in philadelphia. look at this. wednesday's match was delayed as the raccoon invaded stadium workers. pretty spry, little fella. he was ultimately captured in a trash can and safely released. he's now known as rakino and has his own topps trading card. look at him. an action shot there. they're selling online for about nine bucks each, though he did not score a goal where keno did make mls history, spending 161 seconds on the field. that's the most ever for a raccoon. >> i'm going to have to say that

as my favorite story of the day, maybe even the week. >> that's a great shot. >> it is awesome. all right, well, the giants spent a fortune to sign a korean baseball star, but a season is already over. >> sadly, sports director larry beil is here. larry. >> dan, i'm of the diagnosis is in on jungwoo lee. it is not good. the center fielder needs surgery done for the year. that plus a ten runxplosion by the giants on an

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crashing into the fence on sunday. recovery time is about six months. giants. rockies. orange friday. yes, helping out the grounds crew. yeah, i got your tools right here. giants often struggling lately, to say the least. but the explosion of the fifth big blast. thairo estrada three run jack giants up six five. estrada three hits on the evening. kids coming through. luis matos drove in five, a two run double on an zero two count. he slapped it down the line. giants snapped the rockies seven game win streak ten five. a's in kansas city in the sixth. michael massey at the plate. here it comes. there it goes. two run homer as the royals score four times in the inning and coast to

a62 win. scottie scheffler shot a 66 in the second round of the pga championship. amazing given that he started the day being arrested. now a man was killed right by the golf course, hit by a bus early in the morning. short time later, scheffler tried to drive in police stopped him. the golfer said he was confused and the chaos of the moment was pitch black. it was raining hard. police came. the golfer dragged an officer who was trying to stop him and scheffler was arrested, taken to jail. released a short time later, now facing assault charges. >> i can't really explain what happened this morning, i did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. that was the first for me. i started going through my routine and i tried to get my heart rate down as much as i could today. but like i said, you know, i still feel like my head's spinning a little bit. >> scheffler made it to the course about an hour before his tee time. amazingly, he played really well starting in the back nine. here he is on 1227 footer for birdie. no problem at six birdies on the day. on for the wedge to set up a short tap in

and route to a second round 66. he's tied for fourth after being in jail. he's eight under par. amazing former cal bear collin morikawa made a big move. long birdie on six. he had five birdies in a row in one stretch. he's 11 under one back of your leader xander schauffele from the bunker on seven. second round 68. he leads at 12 under par by a stroke and tiger woods missed the cut. nba playoffs game six knicks and pacers in indy must win for indiana pascal siakam, evan turner with authority. siakam had 25 points. pacers by ten at the half. third quarter obi toppin air ball rescued by tj mcconnell. pacers 116, 103. on to game seven in new york bay fc, taking on the san diego wave. they trailed one, nothing now tied in the 87th minute. rachel kundananji racing in the ball goes off a wave player. technically that is an own goal. nonetheless, bay fc wins it two one, snapping a five game losing streak. sports on abc seven, sponsored by ri

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was a tackle. that question was answered by an indiana judge, a man is trying to open a restaurant called the famous taco in the city of fort wayne, but the location he's been eyeing has restrictions to sandwich only establishments. there was a lawsuit, and a judge today ruled that tacos and burritos are mexican style sandwiches that story is one of the top things people are clicking on right now on their website. is up for you in the top news sidebar at abc seven news.com. that's interesting. what do you think? >> uh- isn't a torta a mexican sandwich? i don't know, haha. tacos, tacos tacos. thanks for >> lou: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight -- david beckham, chris perfetti, and music from cage the elephant. with cleto and the cletones. and now, jimmy kimmel! [ cheers and applause ] ♪