with speeds up to a gig in millions of locations. and right now, xfinity internet customers can buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. get the fastest connection to paris with xfinity. when did i call leaffilter? when i saw my gutters overflowing onto my porch. leaffilter is a permanent gutter solution, so, you never have to worry about costly damage from clogged gutters again. it's the easiest call you can make. call 833.leaf.filter today, or visit leaffilter.com. we look at issues in richmond to find a find a solution that benefits the community that benefits, you know, not only chevron, but the community. and we think we that that that was achieved today. >> late this afternoon, the city

of richmond agreed to a settlement with chevron for more than half $1 billion. it's coming after years of concerns about pollution in the east bay. good evening. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us as part of the settlement, the city will remove a measure from the november ballot that would have added a refinery tax on the company if it was approved by voters. >> so how will this deal impact richmond residents? abc seven news reporter tim johns has been following this story and has the details. yes >> so this is at a special meeting on wednesday. the richmond city council voted unanimously to approve a $550 million settlement agreement with chevron. the company has been the largest employer and source of tax revenue in the city for years, but has received scrutiny for the pollution it causes. >> i don't know that there's an amount of money that's enough money, you know, because i think that we're talking about generations of harm, of death, of sickness, of pollution. >> as a part of the settlement, richmond has agreed to pull a measure that was set to appear on the november ballot. that

measure would have asked voters to approve a refinery tax on chevron. >> we were talking to hundreds of voters, a day, and they were excited to vote in november, and they were excited to hold big polluters accountable. >> the city council expressed their support for the refinery tax on wednesday. however, mayor eduardo martinez believes the settlement is an easier, gauaranteed way to get the money from chevron. >> carson city had had passed a similar measure in 2017, and they still don't. they still haven't seen the money because it's been tied up in litigation. >> mayor martinez says it was fear of losing at the ballot box that pushed chevron to approach the city with the proposal, but the company says it views the offer as a way of being a responsible member of the richmond community. >> i think we always maintain a good dialog with the city. we're always looking at ways to collaborate. like i said, we've had a long history with richmond. >> many environmental activists here say despite the city council accepting the settlement with chevron, they will continue to apply pressure to the fossil fuel giant. they say their attention will now turn on making sure the money addresses

the needs of the east bay city, as well as planning for a green future. >> the long term investments in a just transition away from fossil fuel refining that our community has been demanding all along. >> both the mayor and the city council say none of this would have been possible without the local environmental groups in richmond. tim johns, abc seven news. >> it's back to school in berkeley, but for some students, the year begins in an unfamiliar place. classes at longfellow middle school moved to berkeley adult school after a summer renovation project turned up a big problem. abc seven news reporter lena howland on what they found and why some teachers think it's working out for the better anyway. >> wednesday marks the start of a new chapter for 450 students at longfellow middle school. after a bit of a manic summer, vacations were canceled. >> plans were put on hold. but this is what we do. >> instead of returning to their usual campus in berkeley, they're starting the school year about a mile and a half away at berkeley adult school, construction workers discovered dry rot at longfellow over the

summer. >> everyone was really surprised because it was supposed to just sort of a remodel that was going to be done in time for today, superintendent annika ford martell says the building had to be redtagged during that modernization process. >> they broke into one of the walls and discovered something, and then looked even closer and said, it's not just in this one section. it's actually throughout. wasn't anything that we could have foresaw, but in just two months, the district quickly pivoted, moving everything into the adult school campus and moving more than a thousand adult school students to other sites in the district. luckily, we had and have this site and all the programing things that were happening at the original longfellow campus will continue here. >> from there, gated parking lot to hallways filled with natural light and no more shared classrooms. teachers say this has actually been an upgrade all teachers have their own classroom, which is huge for teachers, and the classrooms are bigger. >> the space is enormous. i

never knew that that the berkeley adult school had this much to offer. i'm actually really impressed. >> gretchen montoya has taught at longfellow for the past 17 years. she says crews packed up each classroom over the summer and hand delivered the boxes to the adult school. >> what we know about schools is that the building is not the school. it's the people that make up the school that actually make the school and the community. >> the district says they're not expecting to be back here at the original longfellow middle school site for at least the next two years. in berkeley. lena howland abc seven news. >> new developments in the shooting death of oakland police officer dwayne lay. three people charged with his murder were ordered today to stand trial, but a judge dropped the murder charge against the fourth defendant, who was the alleged lookout. lay was shot in the head last december when he and his partner were in an unmarked vehicle following a burglary. suspects from a cannabis facility on the oakland embarcadero. now this comes as the city of oakland faces scrutiny for trying to recoup

extra money it accidentally paid officer lay. his widow claims the city even threatened to take the money out of the pension she received after her husband's murder. abc seven news reporter ryan curry spoke with the police union, which says this demand from the city is absurd. >> this is an invoice mailed to made to the widow of twan lay. it's asking her to pay the city $461 to make up for an overpayment sent to lay during a ransomware attack last year. but the invoice came seven months after lay was shot and killed while trying to stop a robbery. the oakland police union says lay his wife, is still grieving. >> realistically, the letter that we saw that was sent to her, we were in furious with it because of how devastating it is for her to go through the experience that she's going through. >> lay's widow alerted the police union, which sent a letter to city hall asking them to leave her alone. we win called it inhumane bureaucracy and mistreatment of lay's widow. he claims the city was trying to

use her death benefits from his passing as a way to get the money back. >> city attorney's office reaching out to our executive director, asking about insurance policies and other benefits to pay $461. like, do you really want to waste this much effort and energy into this? >> we reached out to the city and they said the ransomware attack in february of last year caused an issue to their payroll system. they said more than 120 city employees were overpaid during the attack, and that officer lay was one of them. the city worked to get some of that money back when wrote a check from the union to the city to cover the expense. >> i don't think anybody in our in our society would go after a victim of a murder. uh- family member for $461 uh. to me, that's just not right in any shape or form. >> now, oakland is forgiving the debt. in a statement, they said the authority to waive the city's process and waive an overpayment of this nature rests with the city administrator. now that this matter has been brought to his attention, city administrator johnson has directed staff to waive this

debt going forward. wynne wants the city to respect the family of officers killed on the job of anything. >> if your husband or your wife died in the line of duty, that you would feel that some sense of support from the city. >> the city statement also said they apologized for any distress or inconvenience this caused. in oakland, ryan curry abc seven news. >> two san jose police officers are on the other side of the law tonight. officer timothy hackney of morgan hill, is charged in a series of assaults on his now pregnant girlfriend. investigators say he threw her on into a bedroom, covered her mouth so she couldn't scream and prevented her from calling 911. in another incident, he's accused of firing his on duty weapon at the ceiling. hackney was arraigned yesterday on felony domestic violence charges. he's on administrative leave from his job, and another officer may soon be barred from serving in california law enforcement altogether. anthony peraza's police credentials were suspended after he was charged

with child sex crimes. perez was charged this summer with the sexual assault of a minor in san benito county, a decade ago. authorities say the victim only reported it to police earlier this year. the alleged assault happened at least three years before perez joined the san jose police academy. >> encouraging news today from san francisco public health officials on the fight to reduce opioid overdoses. the city says accidental drug overdoses are down 50% when compared month to month. with last year, there were 79 reported deaths in july of 2023, just 39 last month. sf public health officials say increasing access to medications that counteract overdoses like methadone is critical to further reducing drug deaths. they're calling for a change in state laws that would allow easier access. >> the stigma and barriers caused by this overregulation prevent people from entering and staying in treatment. can you imagine requiring a person who

has heart disease to be physically present at a special cardiac clinic every day to take their medication? that's what new methadone patients need to do to get their daily medication. >> july's total also marks the single fewest overdose deaths in san francisco for any month this year so far. >> the world health organization is once again sounding the alarm about the mpox virus. today, the agency declared africa's outbreak a global health emergency. officials say a deadlier strain of the virus has spread to four african provinces that before were unaffected. mpox, previously known as monkeypox, can be transferred from infected animals to humans through close contact. the u.s. currently has one fda approved mpox vaccine on the market. >> coming up, a california city breaks another housing market record, and there's no surprise that it's right here in the bay area. we'll tell you which city now has a median home price of

$2 million, and an effort to address affordable housing across the entire bay area with a $20 billion fund has now been pulled from the november ballot. >> we'll explain and we'll tell you what happen

price of $2 million. this data comes from the national association of realtors, which has tracked prices since 1979. san francisco is the second most expensive region on the list at $1.5 million. california metros represent seven of the ten most expensive regions. the national median price for a single family home. get this is $422,000. >> this comes as california's largest ever affordable housing bond was taken off the november ballot. today, it would have provided $20 billion in funding

to address the bay area's lack of affordable housing options. abc7 news south bay reporter dustin dorsey explains today's decision and talks about what comes next. >> this is one of the most difficult votes that i will be taking. >> not often does a unanimous decision have such hesitation, but that was the case when the bay area housing finance authority voted to pull an affordable housing bond from the november ballot, meaning $20 billion for housing projects is now off the table. santa clara county supervisor cindy chavez was among the reluctant yes votes. >> we know that we need the best shot at communicating with the voters in a way that helps people understand how important this opportunity is to getting housing built in our community, and that the timing was off. >> the bond would have raised funds through a surcharge on property tax bills and distributed those significant dollars to bay area counties based on their contributions, including big dollars to big cities. with 2 billion coming to san jose alone in the north bay, 2 billion would have been spread

out among the four counties, and the other five counties would have gotten around 2 billion each, including 2.5 billion for santa clara county money. supervisor chavez says, could have gone a long way. we have 12,000 homes somewhere in the pipeline that are affordable, that just need a little bit more money to get over the finish line and get built. >> 12,000. so for us, this is a significant loss when the need for housing is top of mind as the state continues to clean up encampments and move homeless off the streets. >> why this vote? the commissioners say there is not enough support for the measure at this time. only 55% approval in recent polls. disappointing, but there's hope for a future ballot. >> i would call for and ask that we all take that energy of disappointment to ensure that prop five passes, to ensure that that very first step takes place, so that we can move forward with this when it comes through again. >> prop five would lower voter approval thresholds from 67% to 55. if this passes in november, an effort to get the bay area

affordable housing bond approved could come in 2026, finally providing the money bay area residents desperately need. dustin dorsey, abc seven news. >> san mateo and three other bay area cities are about to get some much needed money to help create affordable housing. today governor newsom awarded $130 million in project homekey grants to fund new housing projects in nine communities. the local cities include san francisco, richmond and sebastopol. the governor says the grants will create 533 permanent supportive homes for an estimated 4800 californians at risk of, or experiencing right now, homelessness. >> east palo alto mayor antonio lopez is calling for action against encampments in his city. today, he announced he'll be issuing an ordinance to direct clearing of encampments after at least two written warnings and two offers of shelter. >> i want to be clear this isn't about criminalizing people. >> it's about helping people, empowering people and

encouraging them to get the help they need. and they deserve. this is a win win for our county and our community. in my city, the unhoused population is actually down in east palo alto from 169. >> in 2022 to 81. last year. >> coming up, keeping tahoe blue. we'll tell you what democratic and republican politicians discussed on the annual lake tahoe summit today, and the plans to honor late senator dianne feinstein, who helped

projects at lake tahoe. buttigieg was the keynote speaker at the lake tahoe summit today. his announcement also included a fascinating tale about how a childhood trip to his father's home country of malta taught him about tahoe. >> in that country, houses often go by a name rather than a numbered address, and the address, so to speak, the name

of the place we stayed at was was called lake tahoe. i had no idea what that meant, but i learned that the maltese family, we were renting from had once visited this place and were so enchanted with it that they named their home after it. >> it was also announced today a trail will be named after dianne feinstein, the senator who died last year, helped start the summit in 1997. >> that's a nice honor for her to approve and be pleased, i know. all right. let's talk about the weather since we're getting close to the weekend. >> yes. abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel is here. we are always looking to the weekend, even on wednesday. sandhya. >> why not? you know what? everybody's got plans for the weekend, right? ama and dan, let me show you what you're going to see this weekend. breezy to gusty conditions. we've got it now. san francisco, sutro tower showing you kind of a shaky view there. we have a combination of fog and sunshine. the winds are getting gusty 35 miles an hour sustained in san francisco, but 33 at sfo even out towards

concord you're getting that onshore breeze gusting to 22 miles an hour. so if you are stepping out tonight, be prepared for the winds. they will remain gusty through the next couple of hours, tapering and then picking back up heading into tomorrow afternoon and evening. we're in that gusty pattern right now. high pressure has nudged in a little bit, but we still have this trough to our north, so we'll keep the winds going. now it was a warmer one for some of our inland communities. we got up into the 90s. that's where we are right now. 60s coast side. one of our hot spots at this hour is 94, in santa rosa. live views from our tower cameras, and it really just features a nice combination of our summertime pattern, which is our microclimates. golden gate bridge showing you blue skies through this evening. gusty pattern continues overnight tonight. fog near the coast and bay and the next few days we are expecting mild to warm afternoons. so tonight if you're stepping out, fog along the coastline at 620, you'll be noticing that it's still pretty warm inland in the 80s. as we head into the later latter part

of the evening. still pleasant inland and the fog will spread. for those of you who like it across parts of the bay shoreline, starting off tomorrow morning, and then by the afternoon hours, we'll pop you back up into the 90s for our warm spots. tomorrow morning. you're looking at 50s and 60s, with the most fog along the coast in parts of the bay. tomorrow afternoon, a nice looking day. we'll see those 90s once again in our inland areas. 94 in fairfield, 62 in half moon bay. breezy conditions to gusty conditions. patchy fog will linger along the coast. i want to turn your attention quickly to hurricane ernesto. it has been soaking puerto rico so far. rainfall totals have been anywhere between about five to almost ten inches, and it is stronger. this is the latest update currently packing winds of 80 miles an hour. moving to the northwest. hurricane watches have already been posted for bermuda. it is expected to strengthen to a major cat three friday morning as it nears bermuda, but it is expected to

pass away from not a direct hit over bermuda. there is going to be heavy rain for that region. the accuweather seven day forecast you are looking at 90s inland 60s coast side for two days and then those of you who don't like the 90s will drop you down into the 80s over the weekend. it is going to be below average on saturday, but we'll see that recovery heading into next week with the warmth returning. dan and emma all right. >> sounds good. thank you sandhya. >> well cuban icon and the queen of salsa, celia cruz, is now the first afro-latina to appear on a u.s. quarter. on the coin, you can see cruz smiling in a rumba style dress with her signature catchphrase, azucar! cruz is the 14th woman to receive this honor as part of the american women quarters program, which launched in 2022. cruz first came to san francisco in the late 1950s to perform, and returned a number of times after that, even teaming up with pete escovedo. she was a grammy winner with over 70 albums. she passed away

in 2003 at the age of 77. >> the man behind famous amos cookies has died. wally amos was actually the first black talent agent in new york city, working with the likes of simon and garfunkel, the supremes and dionne warwick. but he turned to baking cookies after moving to los angeles, and in 1975, with a $25,000 loan from music legend marvin gaye, he started the famous amos. he died yesterday at his home in hawaii. wally amos was 88 years old. >> what a legacy he leaves behind. and great cookies. well, still ahead, creating a space symbolizing healing and comfort and hope. we'll tell you about the hummingbird project and some special awards handed out as at an east bay care facility marks

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bay area streaming tv app. just search abc seven bay area and download it. >> a first of its kind facility in the east bay is marking a milestone. george mark children's house is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. it focuses on pediatric

palliative care. the site includes an outdoor garden known as hummingbird hill, where patients and their families can enjoy nature. in honor of its 20th anniversary, george mark children's house created the first ever hummingbird awards, which were handed out today. recipients include several pixar employees who brought their creativity to hummingbird hill. >> the idea came up that maybe, maybe we should bring little hummingbirds into the space that kids could interact with and see and try to find them. >> the hummingbird awards honor organizations that help george mark children's house support young patients and their families. according to the facility's website, hummingbirds are a sign of healing, comfort and hope. disney is the parent company of pixar and abc seven. >> i can see their therapeutic value. absolutely fascinating. hummingbird hill what a nice name, too. all right. still have much more news ahead. >> yes. go to abc seven news anchor luz pena for a look at the stories coming up at 530. luis. >> thanks, ana. we have a packed show today, starting with a bay area tiny home company that has left hundreds of customers

without the houses they paid for. we'll be speaking to our i-team reporter, dan noyes about what he found. also, what's pushing wales closer to bay area shores? we'll be speaking to a whale expert about the change in behavior that is putting many whales at high risk. i hope you can join us for those stories and more. at 5.30 on abc seven, bay area streaming tv. >> dan, a really good program. all right, luce, thank you. >> and you can download the abc seven app or head. abc seven news.com and join loose in two minutes. >> and if you're watching us here on tv world news tonight with david muir is next for sandhya patel. all of us, we appreciate your time. >> i'm dan ashley and i'm ama daetz. we'll see and research on pain relief, my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas. powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪

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don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including angioedema, potential heart rhythm problems, and abnormal movements. report fevers, stiff muscles, or problems thinking as these may be life threatening. sleepiness is the most common side effect. take control by asking your doctor about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ >> david: tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. ernesto is now officially a hurricane and growing stronger at this hour. ernesto slamming puerto rico. more than 700,000 customers without power. expected to grow potentially to a category 3 hurricane. the new track at this hour. and we're tracking the storms set to move into the northeast.