businesses in san francisco now losing their policies. i couldn't believe this is how they decided based on a tiny drone image, that we're going to break down what's going on and what the options are for you if it happens to you. and states are on the front lines of those rights battles. governor newsom

at the forefront of a push to put same sex marriage rights on our constitution. why he and other leaders are pushing for it now. it's our last hurrah, but hopefully we go out with a bang and later, the final goodbye at golden gate fields. we're going to show you what's happening behind the scenes at the racetrack before it closes for good. good evening. this is nbc bay area news tonight, and i'm jessica aguirre. we're going to start by getting you caught up on some of the headlines that we are watching tonight. a person of interest in a hate crime investigation in san francisco. we're talking about disturbing racist mail left at a home near alamo square. tonight, police are releasing video of a person they say they'd like to find. as you see there shows that person all in black, carrying what appears to be a paper bag. the video was recorded on may 5th. that's the same day that a popular dog walker, terry williams, says he received a package with racist message. in it, the package included a doll

with a noose around its neck. williams says he also received a similar package back in april, and then a few weeks later, a fire gutted williams home while he was in san francisco at city hall. at a meeting to discuss those hate crimes. his elderly parents were at the home when that fire broke out. luckily, they got out okay, but the fire did destroy all of his possessions. another headline we're watching a wildlife alert in the south bay after a series of mountain lion sightings. the big cats have been spotted on the prowl in several san jose neighborhoods. now, the latest sighting happened yesterday at disc golf course near kelly park. warning signs are now up in that area. then on wednesday, neighbors captured video of a big cat on l.a. drive. officials tell us most of the sightings have occurred near coyote creek today. park rangers issued a warning reminding people to be aware of their surroundings. several reported sightings when they moved. act big, act loud.

call 911, in that case and back away slowly. don't make yourself small. don't crouch down. pick up your children if you need to. right now, it is not clear if all of these sightings are the same cat just wandering around places, or if it's multiple mountain lions on the prowl. also tonight, a growing problem for homeowners and business owners in san francisco, insurance companies are increasingly refusing to renew people's policies. sometimes, policyholders are getting little to no explanation as to why. now, jeremy trebek says that in march, he got a notice from safeco saying it would not be renewing his homeowner's policy. so trebek did get a limited explanation. it was a grainy drone image showing a potential problem with his roof, so he hired a private home inspector to dispute it. he says. safeco did reverse the decision, but didn't say why. insurance brokers tell us a lot of other people are getting notices and they're not as lucky. i think the hardest thing, particularly

for older homes, is meeting underwriting requirements. so, you know, if you've got knob and tube wiring or some other things that deferred maintenance on your property, that can make the placement very difficult and expensive. joining me now is consumer investigator chris chmura to hash this out. so you know, we've been seeing all this stuff about wildfire danger and a lot of the insurance companies dropping people for that. but in the city over what. well, in this case, they're using a drone. you know. so what they're doing is they're checking out their risk and it's a double edged sword because prior to this, insurance companies did a lot of guesswork. they would simply like, look at the property record and say, oh, well, your house is three bedrooms and it's 1600 square feet. now they're checking things out. so on one hand, yeah, they can make mistakes, like thinking of a roof is damaged, but it's not actually damaged. but they can also catch cheaters who drive up rates for everybody else. so a double edged sword okay. so are they required to give you a reason why they're dropping you. or it can just be like oh yeah, bye bye. technically yes. they have

to give you a reason. i was talking with the state about this earlier today. essentially, they have to give you a reason that's backed up by their underwriting standards. tell me, what are your insurers underwriting standards? i have no idea. yes. same. nobody knows. so they're going to give you a reason. but that reason we're not insurance experts. if you want to challenge it, you can obviously challenge what this guy did right. yeah. you can also call the state and say, hey, i got this non-renewal notice. they're saying it's within their their guidelines for underwriting. can you pull their underwriting guidelines. and we can figure this out might be a fool's errand ultimately might not get you anywhere, but you could at least try to figure it out. so what happens if they pull your insurance? how many options do you have left? if one insurance carrier doesn't take you? is that the likelihood that the others won't take you as well? there might be one out there. the thing is, you're going to get a notice in the mail at least 75 days in advance. if the insurer is following the law and they should be following the law. but you got to act fast that 75 days is going to go really fast. so what i recommend, jessica, is that you try to find an insurance broker. google is your

friend, google insurance brokers. they might find a company that doesn't have the fancy jingles on tv, but they might be a company that's willing to offer you insurance, and maybe they're going to give you a better rate because they're not buying all those commercials on television. no offense, nbc, but then also go back to your original insurance company. ask again and aga, because they're using these new technologies like drones, like ai. there's a lot of insurance technology now that might change the same way any kind of technology changes. if they denied you today, well, they might take you next week or next month sometime within that 75 days. ask again. and is it worth asking how we can we mitigate this? if i do x, y, and z, can i keep my insurance? we're paid to ask questions. you can do it too without getting paid. yeah, ask the question. see if there's some wiggle room there. a lot of viewers tell us no, there isn't because it's based on the computer model or whatever. and that's why i think it's important, maybe just to be the squeaky wheel. ask again and again during that 75 day period with weather, they'll take you back, but get a plan b in place, get a broker on it to see if you

can get insurance, and if they do remove you from their rolls, it's going to happen. for a lot of people starting july 1st. okay. all right. thanks, chris. welcome. if you have a consumer problem you know who you talk to here. you're going to talk to chris. so you can scan the qr code on the screen. right now you're going to talk to our consumer complaint online form. you can also find it on our website at nbcbayarea.com. okay. also tonight the governor says it is long overdue. today, he joined city and state leaders in san francisco to roll out a new push to officially make same sex marriage a constitutional right. in california. it is called the freedom to marry initiative. governor newsom announced it at manny's cafe in the mission district earlier today. now in november, voters will officially be asked to repeal prop eight, which banned same sex marriage in california. that ban was overturned in 2015, but the language banning the union still exists in our state constitution. the new ballot measure would change that and make it far more difficult for anyone to roll back the rights in the future. it's a

recognition again of the urgency of the moment, the moment we are living in, and states are on the front lines of those rights battles, and that's why it's imperative that states like california step up and assert themselves at this critical time. yeah, let's not lull ourselves to sleep that we are victims of these circumstances. we can shape the future. we're going to talk more about how that future looks like in shaping that future. when we come back up next, it's the final weekend of racing at golden gate fields. what happens after the track closes for good? we're going to get some insight from a horse trainer and owner who has been there for years. and yes, we're counting down to the start of the olympics. the torch now making its way to paris. you're watching nbc bay area news tonight

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are completely surprised and have forgotten about prop eight a little bit, or just assume that it was automatically be removed from the constitution once the us supreme court, made marriage equality the law of the land. but that language banning marriage equality is still in the california constitution. it's not enforceable right now. but first of all, it just shouldn't be in there. and second, i don't trust the supreme court to maintain marriage equality as a fundamental right. and so we need to be prepared in california to protect our rights. if the supreme court, goes south on us, is this a crucial moment because of the kind of rollbacks that we have seen, especially with roe versus wade? is there a fear that we might start to see other of these rights being eroded, since it seems like we're marching toward a much more conservative beat than we were? absolutely. it is time sensitive, and we know that the supreme court eliminated, reproductive health

rights when it overturned roe v wade. we know that there are some justices on the court who who have said they want to get rid of the marriage equality ruling, they want to get rid of the of the, right to interracial marriage, they want to get rid of the right to birth control. it's really scary what's happening at the supreme court. and frankly, potentially in the white house and in congress. and so in california, we have to shore up our fundamental rights under our own state constitution . senator wiener, you don't anticipate any pushback on this? i mean, the california climate here is it's such a part of, of acceptance and what the most part california believes in. you don't expect that there's going to be any opposition to this, do you? well, we're in a better place now. remember that. it was only 16 years ago that california voters banned marriage equality, the thing has

changed. we see much stronger support now. and there are, quite a few republicans who support marriage equality. and so we think we will get some bipartisan support, so i feel i'm optimistic that we'll be able to pass this, but we can't take it for granted. the assault on lgbtq people in this country is very intense, and so we just can't take anything for granted, what are the next steps in terms of letting people know what's actually happening? and how much do you anticipate that's going to move people to the polls as well? yeah, well, this is a presidential election in november, so there will be high voter turnout, and there will be a number of important things on the ballot, as well as a us senate race. and so people are going to have a lot of reasons to come out to vote. and this will be one of them for sure. well, we appreciate you coming out and letting us know and educating us on on where the status of things stand. thank you very much. thanks. thank you . all righty. let's switch gears here. believe it or not, seven

weeks until the opening ceremony of the 2024 paris olympics. we have been following the olympic torch as it makes its way through europe. torch departed western france for today a journey across the seas. it's going to be visiting six french territories, beginning in french guiana, which is a territory in south america right above brazil, ending its journey in the island of martinique in the caribbean. we're heading back to france to start the competitions once the torch is lit, it's game time. game time it will be. the flame will make back to paris, to france just a few weeks on june 18th for the final leg of the relay, which will end on july 26th. for the start of the games. okay, let's take you outside, give you a live look at our cameras in emeryville. jeff is with me in a moment for the weekend forecast.

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happened sunday, original renaissance pleasure faire ted chen. golden gate fields is located along the bay between berkeley and albany, and it's been hosting horse races since the 1940s. but in recent years the appeal of racing has dimmed. animal rights advocates have been pushing for the closure for years. they say horse racing is a form of animal cruelty. the company that now owns the racetrack says the closure is a result of ongoing economic hardships in this industry.

owners and trainers say the closure will uproot an entire community. great horses have raced here, great jockeys have raced here. so it's truly the end of a racing era in northern california. joining me now is howie rubin. he's a horse owner and trainer who spent years at golden gate fields. thank you for being with us. i know this probably has to be a very difficult and bittersweet moment for you because you have dedicated your life to this craft. yes, absolutely, it's very difficult to put into words how many people's lives have been upset, uprooted and the notion that we are disposing entity is a very distressing one to me. yes. thank you. the perceptions of horse racing have really changed from those, especially here. i think on the west coast, from those mint julep and beautiful hat days, does that does that, what kind

of impact does that have on you as a person who works with horses? the notion that, we don't care about our horses is one of the biggest, one of the worst misnomers that could be out there. we care tremendously. i know personally that it's all about the horse that i won't do anything to hurt my horses. they come first. without them, there is no industry without them. all the people that work around the horses don't have jobs. it starts with the trainers and the owners and the grooms and the hot walkers. but then you have the veterinarians and you have the dentists and you have the farriers, and then you have all the ancillary services that are surrounded and, with the feed and the tack and then the people that work so diligently at the racetrack and the security to keep everything safe. so what will happen without the horse? nothing. where are you going now? what will happen now? when

this when this field closes? well we've we've been given an option. primarily. we'll be moving to pleasanton. and, if there is an overflow of horses that can't be stabled at pleasanton, then they'll be allowed to, stable over in sacramento. and this is going to put a burden on everybody, no question. and when you say pleasanton, we see the alameda county fairgrounds where they still do have horse track racing. is that correct? that's correct. and i don't know if many people know this, but the alameda county fairgrounds has the oldest racetrack in the state of california, and it is quite popular that people go out, which is the alameda county fair is coming up. well, we wish you the best luck over there as well. and as well as the personnel and the horses. well, i thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to express the sentiments of the people here at golden gate. thank you. thank you. all righty. let's toss things over to jeff. jeff, we are at the weekend. it is friday night, my friend. oh, and that weather forecast, looking really good, considering all the

hot weather we had this week. i wanted to show you this comparison. on wednesday, the hottest day we had, we got up to 102 in concord today down to 83 in oakland from 83 down to 70, in san jose from 92 to 83. so certainly some substantial cooling. and that continues tonight. we're seeing temperatures down anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees cooler from this time yesterday, leaving us with a chilly 61 in santa rosa and currently 68, in livermore. so as we roll through this weekend, we are actually tracking a storm system just off to the north. now. there's no rainfall from this for us, but it is going to keep that fall going at the coastline and most importantly, keep any hot 100 away. thankfully. now, here's the interesting thing about it this system is actually going to break away from the storm track. it's called a cut off low pressure or system and set up shop in southern california. the way that it's setting up, it actually would bring us the possibility of thunderstorms over the sierra. so watch out for that. if you're headed to the mountains this weekend.

otherwise, for us, we got that foggy breeze and some very comfortable temperatures. we're going to start it off here with 50s and fog widespread for the morning. and then check this out through the afternoon. up to 77 napa looking pretty perfect there. 81 in concord, 80 in livermore. upper 70s low 80s morgan hill to san jose, 76 palo alto and chilly 50s and 60s. half moon bay to san francisco. okay, looking for something to do this weekend? maybe it is nascar racing. huge event up in sonoma this weekend. toyota save mart 350 at sonoma raceway 78 on saturday. and then for the big race on sunday. we're going to be at 81 and partly cloudy skies . we're getting so lucky. in years past, we've been up into the triple digits, so this is right where we want to be, you know, so to speak, here, getting the checkered flag when it comes to weather coming in first place. all right, let's take it into that inland forecast here. we're going to hang on to low to mid 80s as we head through this weekend. and then by next week we start to warm it up into some

90s tuesday and wednesday, but does not look like a heat wave. those numbers would drop after that. the other thing here tomorrow, while those numbers will be in the low 80s, we'll see some high clouds filter across jessica, but i still think there's going to be plenty of sunshine kind of filtered in there. looking good on saturday and sunday. that sounds fantastic. jeff, a dolly parton fan, of course, who isn't right. exactly. all right. well, turns out that the country music legend is writing a broadway musical about herself inspired by her life. she shared the plans yesterday while at the country music awards. it's called hello, i'm dolly. parton says she's been working on the project longer than a decade. dolly is going to write new music just for the show. of course she's going to include some of her classic songs. i hope she does. working 9 to 5, because we're all doing that. the musical will showcase her life before nashville, her career after she became world famous. broadway will say, hello, i'm dolly in 2026, then we can all go to dollywood to celebrate. all right, let's look at what's happening in nbc prime time tonight at 8:00 and 830.

it's back to back episodes of night court. then you can stay tuned for an episode of dateline at nine. and then, of course, we are back here at 11:00 with the latest on your weekend forecast and what it's going to be like and all the updated news. and we'll tell you if we see any more of those mountain lion sightings. i hope you will join me. go have dinner. i'll have dinner. jeff's have dinner and then we'll all come back here and we'll do it again.

tonight on "access hollywood" -- >> getting back into making music. >> what is rihanna changing her tune on whether she'll ever make new music after rocking this t-shirt? >> it's like somebody's strangling you. >> people -- >> the struggle to return to what she loves,