balanced. today we're going to go bankrupt. >> a dire situation in oakland as the city council works to

balance the budget, but one of the most crucial elements hinges on a deal constructed by embattled mayor qingtao involving the future of that coliseum complex. good evening. thanks for being here. i'm julian glover and i'm ama daetz. >> oakland faces a historic budget deficit and the deadline to balance it is just five days away. >> all of this coming as the city's mayor continues to keep a low profile. just days after her home was raided by the fbi. >> abc seven news reporter anser hassan is at city hall and joins us with the latest on how the mayor's personal turmoil is impacting the city. unser >> amen, julian. good evening. oakland city council is set to begin budget debates starting tomorrow. and talking to some city council members and community activists. they're raising concerns about discrepancies in the actual budget numbers. and oakland city council member noel gayo with the stark warning saying if city council can't balance this budget, oakland could be bankrupt as early as next year. >> the budget right now we're at i mean, oakland city council

president nikki fortunato basse wouldn't answer questions about the budget following a finance meeting one day before budget talks are set to begin. >> freedom. balance. today, we're going to go bankrupt, oakland city council member noel gayo says the city is facing a historic deficit, which oakland mayor shengtao estimates at close to $200 million for this year and next year, with less than a week left to pass the budget, gayo says one of the biggest challenges is the accuracy of the data. it's the actual numbers that i have available. the numbers keep changing from one meeting to another, and at the same time, how much money will the city be able to generate tax wise? >> almost 80% of oakland's revenue comes from taxes, property tax, a huge portion of that. the city says property tax has grown steadily around 8.5% for the past few years. however, a may 2024 report noted, with the current macro environment, the federal reserve's efforts to fight inflation with rising interest is shifting the growth pattern to stable and is

teetering into declining, gallo says. cuts are inevitable, but the reality is, is if i make reductions, where do i reduce the budget? >> what positions do i eliminate or reduce? and certainly the public, my neighbors say they want public service, where the public safety to increase. >> brooke levin with the oakland parks and recreation foundation spoke at the finance meeting. she says measure q passed to fund parks and tackle homelessness with $500 million over the next 20 years. she says this budget shifts a lot of the new expenses from the general fund into measure. >> q we have a letter to the council with a list of questions, which was dated june fifth, and we have not gotten answers yet to those questions. so we don't know which category they have put these new expenses into. >> i will remain focused on supporting the city council as they vote to pass a balanced budget. this week we will complete the transaction for the sale of the coliseum property to the african american sports entertainment group. >> that commitment from mayor

tao, who's involved in a current fbi investigation into possible campaign finance irregularities, may prove important. critics argue. a big part of balancing this current budget hinges on that sale. the african american sports and entertainment group's ray babbitt says despite the turmoil tao is experiencing, they remain committed. >> we're from oakland, so we're used to navigating, difficulties and changes, but ultimately, at the end of the day, we love our city, we love our community, and we're really excited about this project. >> tomorrow at 130, there's a special city council meeting to look at the budget deficit. the sale of the coliseum will be one of the talking points. and then on friday at 130, debate on the actual budget begins. reporting live anser hassan abc seven news. >> all right. unser. thank you. so much. as mayor, tao works to try to clear her name following the fbi raid and fight the recall against her. her chief of communications has now resigned. francis zamora began working for the mayor back in october. his exit comes after the mayor

parted ways with her personal attorney, tony brass. stay with abc seven news as we follow the latest on the fbi investigation and its impact on mayor shengtao and the city of oakland. we'll continue to update abc seven news.com and the abc seven bay area app. >> some businesses in san francisco's tenderloin neighborhood will soon be forced to close at midnight because of a newly passed curfew. today, the board of supervisors gave the final approval to an ordinance that requires markets selling retail items, prepackaged goods or tobacco to close from midnight to 5 a.m. think corner stores and liquor stores. san francisco mayor london breed says these stores are magnets for people selling drugs and also stolen goods. some businesses will be allowed to stay open until 2 a.m. the city will try out this curfew for two years in just over an hour. >> the san francisco unified school board is scheduled to discuss the criteria it will use to decide which schools to close. the district is grappling with a budget deficit and low enrollment. factors being

considered are equity, excellence and effective use of resources. after tonight, the board will make a list of proposed campus closures. that list is due by september, and a vote on the closures could happen in december. >> today, governor gavin newsom delivered his annual state of the state address. he touched on several really hot button issues. one is the effort to secure the southern border. california has sent the national guard to border crossings to help stop the flow of fentanyl into the u.s. from mexico. governor newsom touted those results. >> these operations have resulted in the seizure of over 62,000 pounds of fentanyl in 2023, a 1,066% increase since 2021. >> governor newsom also spoke about california's effort to tackle the homeless problem, saying no other state has done more. the governor says since he took office in 2019, california agents have cleared 9300 dangerous encampments and have helped move people into shelters or permitted housing. >> cruise just towed a garbage truck that caught fire on 680

near concord this morning. all northbound lanes plus three southbound lanes were closed by the highway 242 junction. look at it. there now. it reduced to three lanes as they work to clear the scene for several hours. compressed natural gas is used in the truck's hydraulic system, so when contra costa fire arrived, they had to let that gas burn off the truck before approaching it. crews took precautions to ensure it didn't explode. all lanes have reopened, but the ordeal caused major traffic delays. >> we want to get you to some breaking news right now. sky seven over a fire burning in fremont. this is happening in marshland in the area of eureka drive and stevenson boulevard. obviously, stevenson is a major road there in fremont. it's on the other side of train tracks across from a business complex. the concern here are the overhead power lines above. those flames will keep you posted as we learn more about this breaking story. now to another fire happening tonight, right now, cal fire and local fire crews, they're battling a brush fire near cloverdale in

sonoma county off the east side of geysers road near preston drive. you can see all of that smoke kicked up there in this time lapse video. fire crews say the flames are spreading at a rapid rate at this point. the fire approximately two acres. we are also keeping a close eye on that story. we'll bring you more as they work with the progress there on abc seven news at six. and of course, these fires are a reminder of how dry the conditions are right now. one of the big concerns earlier today was the dry lightning, which already sparked several fires in other parts of the state. we want to check in now with abc seven news weather anchor spencer christian uh- really concerning to see these lightning strikes starting these fires here. spencer that's true. >> julian. we have a rather unusual and fairly complicated pattern right now. as you can see on the satellite radar composite image, the surge of subtropical moisture moving into the bay area, mainly in the north bay right now, and the effect of the afternoon sun on this mass of moisture is it destabilizes the atmosphere, which allows thunderstorms to develop or lightning strikes.

and right now, if a lightning strikes develop, they're developing over dry fuels, which of course can trigger fires. so the risk of lightning strikes this evening will diminish as we get later into the evening hours. but it hasn't gone completely away. and any a lightning strike on these dry fuels, of course, can trigger a fire very quickly. the most at risk fuels right now are the grasses. those those finer fuels we call them. so i'll keep watching this pattern for you because it's warm but not hot at the moment in these areas where these two recent fires have developed, the winds are fairly light. that's encouraging. but relative humidity is also dangerously low, which is of great concern. so i'll have more a little bit later. julian and ama. >> all right, spencer, we will check back with you. and just a short time ago it was even raining in the east bay. this video was taken around 3:00 this afternoon in the berkeley hills. there you see those raindrops? that's where we find abc7 news reporter leslie brinkley, who was with fire crews as they kept an eye out for that threat of lightning strikes. leslie

>> well, yeah, they were on high alert up here, but they also had some regular ongoing training planned. so we talked to them about both. no issues with dry lightning up here in the berkeley hills today. but boy, did it ever pose a problem over in the central valley, fresno county fire reported more than 1000 lightning strikes in a matter of hours monday night. five fires ignited, burning hundreds of acres. flames threaten the community of palermo close to oroville monday night, burning one square mile and prompting evacuations. it was dubbed the apache fire and tore through two structures, injuring a firefighter. >> we're on alert 24 hours. we don't. we don't stop. dry lightning can cause fires to spread extremely fast, especially if you have weather conditions. that's going to support that up in the berkeley hills, multi-agency training is underway this week. >> given the early start to fire season, the berkeley fire department is working closely

with the el cerrito and kensington fire department, as well as the albany fire department, to coordinate a drill, a multi-agency drill for wildland response. >> we don't want any gaps in our response that may have happened in the 91 tunnel fire, where there were some hydrants that were different threads, and fire agencies had a hard time talking with each other. >> we've we've covered all of that. we've closed all those gaps. the agencies are familiarizing each other with neighborhoods in the hills, coordinating the use of low pressure hydrants and different equipment from each department. >> so there's a better, faster response. if an urban wildfire erupted in these densely populated hills, we're constantly trying to collaborate with our neighboring fire departments so that if we do have a major incident, we can develop a quick incident action plan. as for the dry lightning potential, it is something that scares us, but we do have a response model ready for it here in the east bay over the next few days, folks may notice more fire engines out and about. as part of this training, i'm told

on wednesday, tomorrow, and also on friday they will be out in tilden park along spruce street, and also up here along grizzly peak in the berkeley hills. i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> leslie, thank you so much. coming up here tonight, he was the nation's top public health leader during the covid 19 pandemic. what we've learned about doctor anthony fauci's new book during his stop in the bay area today, plus, just weeks after a groundbreaking ceremony for the bart extension in santa clara, there's concern about phase two of the project details when abc

with kardiamobile, the fda-cleared smart device, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds from anywhere. every morning i check, make sure i'm in good shape. and it makes me feel pretty good about my heart condition. kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation. and it's fda-cleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. i mean, you might as well be in a doctor's office. get kardiamobile today for just $79 at kardia.com or amazon. bay area today as part of his new book tour. abc seven news reporter ryan curry has the details on doctor anthony fauci. stop at manny's in the mission. it feels like yesterday, but

over four years have now passed since the covid 19 pandemic first arrived in the united states, doctor anthony fauci remembers how fast it escalated. >> the 1st of january of 2020, when a reporter called me up and said, something strange is going on in china, have you heard about it? and then all of a sudden, the phone started to ring, and cdc and hhs and everybody on the phone, the former head of the institute of infectious diseases is here in san francisco promoting his new book, on call. >> doctor fauci has spent decades advising national leaders on how to contain outbreaks, including the hiv aids epidemic. he remembers the moment he learned about it. >> a memoir landed on my desk from the cdc, which was a case of five. curiously, all otherwise previously healthy young gay men from l.a. with a very strange pneumonia pneumocystis pneumonia, for those at the event, seeing him was about honoring his years of service is to me. >> he did a good job, you know,

and i thank him for his service. you know, and i really appreciate what he did, you know, to get this country back in order again, especially honoring him during pride month for his work on hiv. >> you know, as a child, you learned about the aids crisis. you know, his impact in reading more about him, of what he's been able to bring to that community. >> doctor fauci even says the work scientists did on hiv led to the development of the covid vaccine. >> the team that was working on an hiv vaccine were the ones that developed the critical imaging for the success of the covid vaccine, doctor fauci worked under seven presidents to fight some of the deadliest diseases, a career he says he will forever be thankful for. >> in san francisco, ryan curry, abc seven news. >> coming up, this is the damage left behind by thieves in the east bay. we're going to tell you what they were

some copper cables. officers arrested two men suspected of cutting the cables that also service police phone lines. there is some damage to those cables. the severed phone lines cut off 9-1-1 service for pinole, hercules and san pablo. right now, emergency calls are going to the contra costa county sheriff's office and then being transferred to pinole communication center in the south bay. >> there's growing concern over phase two of vta's bart silicon valley project as it awaits critical federal funding. it's the largest single public infrastructure project in santa clara county, and some say delays won't just impact future passengers, but also thousands of jobs. abc seven news reporter zach fuentes has more. three. >> two one. ground was broken more than two weeks ago, officially kicking off construction on the long awaited bart extension in santa clara county. the project brings four more stations to the south bay, including downtown san jose. >> we went forward with the

groundbreaking for the tunnel boring machine because we're anticipating a partnership with the federal government. >> that partnership would be $6.2 billion in federal funding, or 49.4% of the project's cost. vta will own the facilities, and bart will operate and maintain it. >> the county of santa clara, vta and the residents here have both raised local money and gotten matches to bring us to over $6 billion. we're bringing to the project locally, and we need the federal government to do their part to make sure that these shovel ready jobs keep moving while we get this project built. >> local labor unions say thousands of workers are ready to take on those jobs. >> let me just tell you that without this funding, this project may be delayed. and delay means possible cancellation because every yr cost escalation with construction would just add more cost to this project. and so if this project doesn't get the funding now, that means those 75,000 jobs that we talked about are possibly off the table entirely. >> the vta project is competing

with other transportation projects in the country for the federal funding. the project had already seen delays and the costs go up. all of this as bart expects to run out of $1.9 billion in federal and state assistance by april of 2026. still, chavez said the project is worth the federal government's investment because of the local investment. like the unions representing workers, chavez said she's also concerned about what happens if the federal government does not grant the funding. >> we can't go back and tax our our folks again. they've given an awful lot. so we're really limited and where we can get funds. >> chavez said the federal government will let vta know sometime in the next 20 days as to what their recommended contribution will be. in santa clara county, zack fuentes, abc seven news. >> all right, interesting weather day. >> yeah. some raindrops falling. some places. lightning strikes in other places. we check in now with weather anchor spencer christian for a look at that forecast. >> okay, interesting is a good way of putting it. a little bit of an understatement, but we have had a lot going on. here's

our satellite radar composite image. and you are probably aware of the fact that we've had some lightning strikes around the bay area today. far more numerous strikes over in the sierra, as you can see, where the atmospheric conditions are much more unstable. nonetheless we've had some instability here as this surge of subtropical moisture continues to push into the bay area, mainly up in the north bay right now. now, wind speeds at the surface mainly 15 to about 25mph. a little bit stronger here in san francisco, where we have closer to 30 mile per hour winds and the 24 hour temperature change is rather uneven, which is reflective of the weather conditions around the bay area right now. some locations, especially up in the north bay and down to the golden gate, even out to the east bay, are a few degrees cooler than at this time yesterday. but san carlos is 11 degrees warmer than at this time yesterday. so on we go with the view from emeryville, looking at some clouds over the bay, but lots of blue sky as well. it's 63 in san francisco right now, upper 60s at oakland, 79 at hayward, san jose, 8380 at redwood city and 60 at half moon bay. we do have some low and mid-level clouds over the golden gate right now. up in the north bay, santa rosa

is at 77 degrees 68, in petaluma, napa 76. and we have some warmth inland. fairfield 93, concord 91 and livermore 90 degrees looking down onto the bay from mount tam. these are our forecast headlines. remainder of this week. we'll have bright skies throughout. well, every day this week into the weekend with a mild temperature range. then in the weekend we'll see sunny skies still mild through the weekend. no significant increase in temperatures. and that means great conditions for the sf pride parade here in san francisco on sunday. but early next week it will be heating up to, well, sizzling summerlike levels overnight as we see clouds continuing to push through the bay area sky. but getting thinner and thinner as sunrise approaches. overnight lows will be generally in the mid to upper 50s. highs tomorrow under sunny afternoon skies. about 58 at half moon bay, heren san francisco around the bay shoreline, mainly low to mid 70s. inland areas low to mid and a few upper 80s but not any uh.

not many 90 degree readings expected tomorrow. as again, this is just a mild pattern leading up to the weekend, so for the most part, next few days will bring us highs in our inland areas in the mid to upper 80s, maybe 90 on friday around the bay shoreline, mid 70s, then there sunday of course, as a pride parade under sunny skies and mild conditions here in san francisco. but on the 1st of july, monday, tuesday, temperatures soar. we'll have high temperatures near 100 degrees in some of the inland areas. wow. all right, get ready. >> thanks, spencer. >> a bay area restaurant that's been around for 90 years is shutting down the owners of casper's hot dogs are closing. the original hayward location. that one opened up back in 1934. but don't worry, casper's not going away entirely. another location out on foothill boulevard in hayward that will be staying open, as well as four other east bay locations. >> still ahead pride events are building ahead of sunday's parade right here on abc seven. >> and coming up, we're going to tell you about the return of a popular light feature just announced in time for the big celebration, plus a programing

note to remind you about the nba draft is tomorrow. >> you can watch round one right here on abc seven. coverage starts at 5:00, then stay with us golden 1 credit union sees, you're crushing it. you nailed that audition. you perfected that plate. your team's inspired. whether behind the scenes or center stage, you've never chosen the easy path. instead, you make your own. golden 1 checking works for you with every day simple checking. so you can keep shining, no matter what scene of life you're in. golden 1 checking, life is a journey best celebrated together.

the designation allows restaurants and bars to sell alcohol during outdoor events, usually only event vendors are allowed to sell alcohol for public consumption. the first entertainment zone will be on front street between california and sacramento streets. labor day will be the first day the city decides to try it all out. other neighborhoods are also considering giving entertainment zones a try. >> well, a unique light show is coming back for pride celebrations. they are rainbow colored lasers that will be projected over the entire four mile stretch of market street. the 20 multicolored lasers will be projected overnight starting on friday. then on saturday, there's a celebration at civic center from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. there will be food vendors and performances from a lot of people. adore delano, princess drag extravaganza legends of drag kelly and cheer sf, and of

course, sunday is the parade. if you aren't attending, just join us here on abc seven for all the fun. we are the exclusive broadcast partneof the san francisco pride parade, our live coverage begins at 10 a.m. the parade starts at 1030. wherever you watch abc7. >> always so much fun and a lot of energy out there for sure. we have a lot more news still to come at 530 on abc seven bay area streaming tv. and if you're watching us on tv, world news tonight with david muir is next for spencer christian and all of us here. >> thank you for joining us. >> i'm ama daetz and i'm julian glover. we'll see you right back here for abc seven news at six.

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