tv ABC 7 News Sunday ABC September 19, 2010 5:00am-6:00am PST
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♪ in the news this sunday morning, september 19th, just released from an iranian prison, sarah shourd returns to the u.s. this morning with plans to speak publicly about her ordeal. and federal investigators determine that pg&e was running the san bruno gas pipeline at pressure higher than the maximum
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limit. good morning, everyone. thanks for joining us. i'm carolyn tyler. let's get started going to lisa argen because we had a little unsettled weather, a chance of rain. >> good morning, everyone. it is raining in the north bay and it has been as a cold front slides to the south and east. live doppler 7 hd shows the return, some of them anyway. some are just the radar beam is hitting above the rays. that's why we're not picking up everything. wet into novato over to walnut creek. the roadways are slick. we're looking at a couple cells here ready to move into san francisco. once these areas of rain move on through, we still have a lot of clouds but we also have a nice looking seven-day outlook. the details a bit later. >> thank you, lisa. some san jose police officers and city council members will gather at the scene of a crime today. protesting changes in the city's
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police department. they'll be at the shopping center on story road where a 12-year-old boy was shot and a 13-year-old stabbed while trick or treating last year. it was a mistaken gang attack. starting today san jose is eliminating the violent crime enforcement team. that's the police department's gang task force. the police union protests. details are sketchy. neighbors say there was an argument and a man was asking someone to leave the area when he was shot. two other people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. no word from police yet on the suspects. a 20-year-old woman who was killed in the explosion and fire in san bruno will be laid to rest tomorrow. a memorial service was held yesterday. abc 7's amy hollyfield reports
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on the emotional good-bye to jessica morales. ♪ amazing grace, how sweet the sound.♪ >> 20-year-old jessica morales was remembered as someone who was easy to love. her mother was the first to speak at her funeral mass. renee morales says she wrote 20 versions of her speech yet it was still tough to say the words. >> where do i start? how do i begin to say farewell when i can't even believe you're gone. how do i say good-bye to my heart and soul. >> her mother said she wanted everyone to know that jessica was an incredible daughter. >> from the time you were born, i felt this indescribable feeling of love. i remember bringing you home from the hospital the first
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time. you were sitting next to junior and it felt like our family was complete. >> jessica was killed last thursday in the explosion and fire in san bruno. she was at her boyfriend's house when the fire happened trapping her inside. her boyfriend joseph gomez is in the hospital with second and third degree burns. >> san bruno firefighters offered the morales family their condolences, including jessica's eight-year-old brother who bravely spoke about his sister. >> i wish she can come back. she was a great sister. she supported me and did everything for me to make me happy. >> jessica will be buried on monday. san bruno officials say four people are confirmed dead from this tragedy and three others are missing. four are in the hospital suffering from severe burns. abc 7 news.
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>> three members of the bowllist family are being mourned by family and friends this weekend even though they are officially considered missing from that explosion. 82-year-old levon, her 50-year-old son greg and his 16-year-old son william are believed to have been inside their home at the time of the blast. remains have been collected from the property and sent to a richmond lab for identification. the san mateo county coroner's office hopes to learn tomorrow whether those remains are human or animal. and they are cautiousing it might be impossible to extract dna from them because of the intense heat from the fire. in that case family members may have to get a court order to officially declare their loved once deceased. that natural gas in the pipeline that exploded in san bruno was running at a higher pressure than pg&e has said. according to our media partner, the san jose mercury news, federal investigators are found
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gas was flowing at at least 386 pounds per square inch. that's the time of the explosion. the line was operated at a maximum of 375 pounds per square inch but rated to go up to 400 pounds. that steel pipeline was built more than 50 years ago. u.c. berkeley grad student sarah shourd is said to be back on american soil this morning planning to hold a news conference in new york at noon following her release from iran. earlier in hamann, she thanked that country's leaders who helped release her from an iranian prison last week. she had been held more than a year after being arrested hiking along the border. >> i will always associate your country with the first breath of my freedom. the sweet smell of sandalwood, and the chance to stand by the ocean listening to the waves. >> in her statement she called
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for the release of the two men she was hiking with, josh fattal and her fiancee shane bauer. >> i think the good hospitable people for your support and ask you to please, please extend your prayers to my fiancee shane and my friend josh. they will soon be free. >> her new york arrival coincides with a visit by iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad. he's attending the u.n. general assembly. in an interview to air this morning on abc this week, secretary of state hillary clinton urges the people of iran to reject what she calls an expansion of the iranian military role and power. the u.s. is increasingly concerned about that. you can see the interview this morning at 8:00 here on abc 7. up next, police in southern california fear the worst as they search for missing members
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when it comes to veterans, no one fights harder than jerry mcnerney. when some vets were forced to travel hours for care, mcnerney fought for a new v.a. medical facility, and won. mcnerney took on washington gridlock, to improve care for vets with traumatic brain injuries. his plan became law. that's why vfw state commander dave norris endorsed mcnerney.
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i'm jerry mcnerney, and i'm honored to approve this message. thanks, dad. >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. authorities in southern california are searching for five missing adults and eight children who belong to a cult-like group. they left behind letters i saying they were awaiting the end of the world. they're from the palmdale area. the husbands of two of the women reported them missing early yesterday. one was asked to hold a purse that had i.d. cards, deeds to property and letters saying they were awaiting the rapture or
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some other catastrophic event. police and f.b.i. have been alerted to a burned quran discovered in san francisco. the muslim civil rights group care reports the holy book was found september 12th in a trash can at the islamic society of san francisco. this is the first reported incident of a quran burning in the bay area. >> you know, we have a habit of thinking of the bay area as an open and diverse area and these things don't happen. we want to make sure people know they are happening so they are extra cautious and vigilant. >> care says the incident is especially troubling because it follows a threat to burn qurans and efforts to stop a mosque from being built near new york's ground zero. pope benedict on the final leg of his visit to britain this weekend. a massive turnout in london last night for an evening vigil with benedict.
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about 80,000 people poured into london's hyde park to hear the pontiff's sermon. he proclaimed christ and his gospel as the foundation of a just and humane society. and he urged the faithful to focus on the many problems facing their religion. >> our word today to think that christians can afford to go on with business as usual ignoring the profound practice of faith which is overtaken our society -- >> earlier thousands of people protested the vatican's response to the priest abuse scandal. the pontiff met in person with five victims who were molested by priests and he apologized to them. he expressed a deep sorrow and shame over what they and their families have suffered. well, fall officially arrives on wednesday. but we already have some fall-like weather. >> we have a cold front pushing through the north bay bringing
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twenty minutes later, all our hot dogs were gone. and so was most of the car. my mercury agent, steve, told me the car was covered. i switched to mercury because i saved hundreds of dollars on my car insurance, but it was the service that really made me a happy camper... er...ex-camper. call 888-4-mercury or visit mercuryinsurance.com to get a fast, free quote and start saving today. the riveras are taking their first family vacation. [ dad ] hey, do you guys want to see the largest artichoke ever grown? [ kids ] artichoke! artichoke! they needed some tools to help them keep track of their spending along the way. wells fargo checking with mobile banking lets them check their balance wherever they happen to be. the widest one or the tallest one? the closest. the closest. well, if you got the 4-wheel drive, you could go down this road here.
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[ mom ] i think we're lost. [ dad ] it's ok. we'll find some other big vegetable. [ male announcer ] wells fargo. with you when life is mobile. ♪ welcome back, everyone. thanks for joining us. it is 6:16 on this sunday morning. this is a live look at san francisco, of course. you see the transamerica pyramid in the background there. well, rain is going to start hitting some of those windows soon. first we had no summer, now we have an early fall. rain is probably spreading somewhere where you are right now. lisa argen will be along with a full accu-weather forecast. in bermuda, residents and tourists alike are bracing themselves for a direct hit from hurricane igor. but the storm is weakening. it's now been downgraded to a category 1 hurricane. it should pass directly over
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late today, perhaps early tomorrow. that's where abc's david curly reports on preparations. >> bermuda is starting to feel the effects of hurricane igor, even though the storm is still about 30 hours away. you see the surf has kicked up a little and the wind is definitely kicking up. a little moisture as well. folks looking at this surf because they know they will not be out here tomorrow. this island has started to shut down. the last flight going out this afternoon. already boarding up expecting 4 inches of rain and water inside the terminal building when igor actually hits with all its fury. they are taking this very seriously. several years ago it didn't hit them dead on and it looks like igor could be a direct hit on bermuda. the residents, 65,000, are taking it very seriously. most of the tourists are getting off the island.
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david curly, abc news, bermuda. >> taking the pictures first, then flee. >> keep you posted on that but we have our own wet weather here. spreading rain and also the east bay. san francisco getting wet. this morning cloudy skies. we'll be looking at a cool day today around the bay. cooler. even if you don't see the rain in the south bay, the temperatures will be held down due to the cloud cover. here's a look what's going on. i want to show you a couple areas of our radar right now. right here is east bay from martinez, 580, highway 24, concord looking at a little shower activity. and also just north of walnut creek. into the north bay you'll notice sausalito, mill valley looking at some showers and a few areas will be getting wet in san francisco.
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280, highway 101, and the reason being that the cold front is pushing through the north bay right now. and until 11:00, it will stay sort of together as it slides to the south it falls apart. the green represents the rain this morning, north bay, marin county, san francisco, into the east bay. peninsula by the noon hour not much left of it. a lot of cloud cover in the early afternoon. the late afternoon those ceilings begin to left and we should get hazy sunshine. as the front moves through, cloudier skies, a better chance of rain through the noon hour. a bigger perspective right now, not a whole lot to it but at least for september, definitely something to talk about. in fact, a couple hundredths was reported yesterday in our rain gauges due to the heavy mist and drizzle. we begin to dry it out later on today and rainfall totals, the most in the north bay, up to a quarter of an inch. a couple hundredths to the peninsula and the east bay. you probably won't see any at all in the south bay.
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with the cloud cover left over, we'll look for a mostly cloudy afternoon and cooler conditions. it was a nice day yesterday in the south bay. san jose today, 73. 72 cupertino. and we'll look for numbers here in the peninsula to be in the upper 60s. still feeling kind of muggy out there with 64 half moon bay, 71 redwood city. san francisco getting wet now through the next couple hours. a slight chance of showers. main activity before noon, 67 for you. it's been wet, wipers needed here and the roadways definitely on the wet side. 73 santa rosa, vallejo. more showers in the east bay for berkeley and oakland. by the noon hour we'll see a mostly cloudy sky. and the clouds should filter out. low 70s there. mid-70s antioch and brentwood with a few areas of mist and drizzle. maybe a light shower. 73 for pleasanton and down by the monterey bay cloudy skies and we'll see a partly cloudy
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late afternoon in watsonville at 72. the accu-weather seven-day forecast. a few light showers this morning and the look ahead really looks terrific with lots of 70s. by the first day of fall we're gonna warm it up. by the end of the work week, very little fog and much, much warmer weather. >> is this rain unusual? >> it's a little unusual. yeah, not unheard of but since we've been going with that the last five months, it's cooler than normal weather. it doesn't seem all that unusual. >> i bet we're in store for a strange fall and winter. i don't know. >> could be. >> thanks, lisa. coming up at 7:00 is "good morning america." joining us now live from new york to tell us what's on tap. good morning. >> good morning, carolyn. we're going to continue your coverage of hurricane igor and check back in with david curly as the hurricane is headed directly for bermuda. the storm's expected to hit tonight with winds at 90 mph. we'll have a report on that. california police expect 14
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missing people, including 8 children may be part of a french cult with a suicide pact. the latest on that developing story. plus this holiday travel season is expected to be pricier than last year. say it isn't so. but we'll tell you if you should book those tickets now or if you should wait it out. our weekend window opens to hawaii's only privately owned island. it's nicknamed the forbidden island because so few people have visited. we'll give you a tour of this unspoiled paradise. breathtakingly beautiful. a little closer to you. it is stunning. >> thank you, beianna. >> that's coming up at 7:00. for now let's check out sports. the giants started out the weekend in first place in the national league west. but no longer the case this morning. and mike shumann starts us out with stanford football. the cardinals going for three wins in a row. >> good morning. kick off with a little college
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football. stanford looking to go 3-1 with wake forest in town. with andrew lutz, it is hard. they do come out at night. first quarter. eight-yard touchdown from andrew lutz. lutz drops back. finds him again this time over the top. great catch. 35 yards, 14-7 stanford. lutz threw four touchdown passes. second quarter. gaffe makes it 21-7. he can do it all with his arm but also did it with his legs. wake forest defense. great field vision. follows his blocking. they go on it win it 68-24. they travel to notre dame facing the fighting irish next saturday. after two road trips against alabama and wisconsin, san jose state returns for their home opener against southern utah.
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the final minute of theirs first victory. won eight of their last nine home openers. first up. down 5-3. changes that up. got the pay dirt. led at the half. under two minutes to go. spartans down 11-10. 26 yards to the 11 yard line. two points later la mon. six yards out. a minute to play. wins his first with a 16-11 comeback victory. >> west compton our young men grew up in front of my eyes and believed they could win. today we kept fightin' and finished it had in the end and never hung our heads. >> in the house for notre dame and michigan state. irish quarterback dane crist his michael floyd. 24 yard touchdown. 21-28 irish. michigan state ties it. finds b. j. washington.
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20-40 yards. ties it 28. go to overtime. the spartans line up for a field goal that will send us to double o. t. a fake, perfectly executed michigan state. 34-31 over the irish and fall 1-2 after that crushing defeat. the giants are clinging to first place and need to win over the brewers to stay there so sent tim lincecum to the mound. after a touch stretch, he has been revitalized as of late. the check swing. daily ranks him up. yovaniy. a man on third. bases loaded. brewers catcher. two-run single into right. milwaukee goes up 2-0. no dice. pat burrell blown away. falls to second place. that's because the padres took care of the cardinals. pedro police shot off the glove. tie the game.
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former cardinal ron ludwick, the three-run shot to left. padres win it. lead the national leg west by the half game over the g-men. the hottest men in baseball stayed that way. rocky short stop tattoos the dodgers. puts colorado on the board 2-0. top five, this time to deep center. rockies pound l.a. 12-2. don't look now but they are only a game out of first place. to minnesota. a's looking for their second straight win over the twins. top two. has liftoff! second home run of the year and oakland goes up 1-0. now in the sixth, gamed tied at one. danny smokes one out to left. that one leaves in a hurry. a three-run shut. 4-2 your final. the game tonight blacked out. check for all your highlights.
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i'm mike shumann. have a great day. >> up next at 6:30, a shooting in oakland's jack london square sends three people to the hospital. and why california is giving up on smaller class 3q jaguar platinum coverage is not just a warranty. it's a belief in everything we do. it's a 5 year, 50,000 mile promise. with complimentary scheduled maintenance no-cost replacement of wear and tear items and 24/7 roadside assistance. because when you create the most beautiful, fast cars on earth, you create an ownership experience to match.
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you don't love me anymore do you billy? what? i didn't buy this cereal to sweet talk your taste buds it's for my heart health. so i can't have any? if you can deprive me of what can help lower my cholesterol... and live with yourself. right. mmm, i wry about your mother. cry herself to sleep every night over my arteries,
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but have yourself a bowl. good speech dad. [ whimper ] male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and its whole grain oats can lp lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. ♪ the guys who drive a heavy duty truck, have some heavy duty demands. like enough horsepower and torque to get out of just about any situation. a payload that beats the other guys flat out. a frame sturdy enough to bear up a max towing capacity that's over 10 tons. and a braking system tough enough to bring it all to a stop. heavy duty demands? gentlemen, your truck is ready. ♪ welcome back, everyone. we're getting news this morning of a shooting in oakland's jack london square. police were called to broadway
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and embarcadero around 2:30 this morning where three people were shot. it happened near the home of chicken and waffles restaurant. there are not very many details. the three victims were taken to the hospital with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries. the mother of a man shot and killed by police last year has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the city of pinole. the federal suit claims police used excessive force when they fired 32 shots at levi boynton. he was one of three men who carjacked a jeep last september. pinole police chased the jeep until it crashed into a ravine in richmond then they exchanged the gunfire killing boynton. the other two were arrested unharmed. for the second time in a week a kidnapping attempt at the same park in brendwood. this weekend an 11-year-old boy told police amman approached him
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at the sun set park sports complex saying the boy's mother sent him to pick him up. he refused to go along. last saturday a man fitting the same description tried the same thing with a 12-year-old girl. he is described as 5-8 inch tall latino between 50 and 65 years old with black and gray hair. silver glasses. a tan baseball cap, blue jeans and white new balance shoes. a new study reveals that the 30 largest school districts in california have done away with a program to reduce class size for kids in kindergarten through third grade. that's coordinating to a survey done by our media partner california watch. it's a project for the center of investigative journalism. education reporter lee ann melendez takes a look at the possible impact in the classroom. >> it's the end of the week and this first grade teacher is exhausted. this year she has more students in the classroom. open schools are not the only
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ones increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade. once set at 20 students for every teacher. a new survey by california watch shows the state's largest 30 districts have classes above 20 students in those lower grades. martha helps with early reading. she says larger class sizes, now some with up to 30 kids, will have an impact on students. >> they're not getting as much attention from the teacher and kindergarten is a critical age to begin those early reading skills for awareness. so with more children they're not going to get as much small-group attention. >> according to california watch, the state has spent $23 billion in the past 14 years in the small class program. and in a matter of two years, the program has crumbled in most school districts. >> california watch reporter lewis freberg poured over the
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data. >> we are making policy based on how much money there is. not whether it's good public policy. in this case whether it's good or bad for the children. >> for most districts the chick picture worsens when the stimulus money ran out and the state budget crisis deepened. teachers were laid off. freeburg says these are challenge times for educators. >> now you have a situation where teachers are under enormous pressure to have their kids do better on the battery of tests kids get every year and sometimes more frequently with that, with more kids to handle in their classes and often with fewer resources, fewer intervention specialists, reading specialists, school counselors, all of which are being cut. >> the principal of lafayette elementary in oakland agrees. >> they basically feel unsupported because there's not clear evidence that they are being prioritized. the state, you know, they're
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wanting to be here and they're giving their all to the students here doesn't seem to be appreciated. >> many school districts don't think they'll go back to the magic 20 number anytime soon. in oakland, lee ann melendez, abc 7 news. >> you can read the entire report at californiawatch.org. we have a link at abc7news.com. click on "see it on tv." muni is on the lookout for fare cheats on light rail this weekend. station gates are designed to open automatically with a prepaid fare card. but some riders have discovered the gates open by simply reaching over and waving their hand near the exit sensor. muni says it's known about the problem for a while but there is no short-term fix. a new fare gate system is supposed to be installed next month. until then muni inspectors and police officers will be issuing citations that carry a $75 fine to fare evadeers they are able
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to catch. for the first time more than 500 people who live around the chevron refinery in richmond went ins side the refinery for a tour. chevron hosted yesterday's community tours to help educate people about the refinery's operations, safety procedures, and its environmental impact. most people were pleased to learn more about the refinery. >> growing up and being around refineries, i had a concern. but this opportunity of the neighborhood here really helps you understand, okay, what really is going on. and when you see the smoke coming out of the stack, it's not pollution, it's steam. >> a lot of intervention really about the plant and the operation of the plant. >> chevron says it opened its doors to the community to help demystify the refining process. indiana congressman mike pantz
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won the summit in washington d.c. he beat a field of other well known republicans including mike huckabee who received 22%. mitt romney 2.23%. palin ended up as the topic as pantz's vice presidential running mate. now that christine o'donnell is in the national spotlight after her upset victory in delaware's gop senate primary. her past is coming back to bite her. comedian bill marr dug up a clip from his politically incorrect show in which she says she dabbled in witchcraft, went on a date with a witch and had a picnic on a sedan nick altar. she was on two talk shows claiming she's overbooked and exhausted. michael bloomberg is heading
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west to campaign for meg whitman. bloomberg told "the new york times" he'll be out here in california sometime next month backing wittman for governor. they're both billionaires. last week she surpassed bloomberg's report of spending the most out of pocket on a campaign. she spent $119 million. that's how much she has spent so far. lisa here now with a preview of the accu-weather forecast. can you hear the raindrops? >> yeah. i can hear the clicking of the rain gauge in the weather office. but this looking nice through san francisco. the front moving through the north bay. when will it move through your neighborhood? and what about the last couple days of summer. stay tuned. >> today could be the day that
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this tastes way too good to be fiber. they're delicious crunchy clusters with sweet honey and half a day's worth of fiber. you care about my fiber? not really. i care about youfiber too. i have for while. ok, carl. why don't you care about her fiber? hey carl. [ male announcer ] fiber one. cardboard no. delicious yes. well, today could be the day everyone in the gulf region has been rating for, the day b.p.
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officially declares its blown out oil well permanently dead. last night crews finished the final test before that declaration could be made. a drilling crew pumped 74 barrels of cement into the well on friday. the test is designed to put pressure on the well to see if the cement plug holds. as you recall the disaster began in april when the explosion killed 11 workers, sank a drilling rig, and led to the worst offshore oil spill in u.s. history. in a couple hours about two dozen swimmers will dive into the bay and attempt a nine-mile relay swim. it is the first ever transbay relay and it's designed to raise money to protect the bay from pollution. it's sponsored by san francisco bay keeper. the relay teams of three swimmers will go from north of the golden gate around alcatraz all the way to the emeryville marina. two swimmers are trying to
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complete the whole nine miles on their own. good luck to all those folks today, lisa. >> yeah. kind of mild out there now. a lot of cloud cover and rain still falling not only the north bay, in the east bay and into san francisco. a live look from the sutro camera. very cloudy throughout much of the bay area. and the clouds are advancing into the south bay where it was clear this morning. so we are looking at the cold front continuing to slide south. it will fall apart and spread some rain on its way. temperatures right now are in the 60s so a mild one in oakland. san francisco 61. here's where we had a bit of clearing earlier. menlo park and mountain view upper 50s. but now the clouds are beginning to advance your way. so it is feeling more muggy out there still. light showers mainly in the north bay. now beginning to push into the east bay. san francisco, the dry weather later on tonight into next week. live doppler 7 hd shows the scattered light showers throughout novato into the east
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bay, richmond, i-80 right now getting wet. you'll notice from san rafael across the richmond san rafael bridge. here, too, across the bay bridge some wet weather up to hercules. just some very light returns. you know, the radar beam is overshooting a lot of this. it's called low level moisture. it could be more out there than what is represented right here. that will last through the noon hour taking into the east bay a little and you see towards alameda a few returns as well. so the cold front is marching southward on its way as it continues to weaken. we have picked up a couple hundreds into the north bay. san rafael and san francisco we'll see some wet weather continue through the early morning hours. that's 8:00. as we move towards the noon hour, a few areas showing up in the east bay, the peninsula, down by half moon bay and after 12:00 we begin to see the ceilings begin to lift and things try to clear out. we do have an hour 52 minute delays at sfo due to all the low
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level moisture and the cloud cover. the front continues to slide to the south and east. hopefully we get a few peeks of sun later on in the afternoon but the rain maker will be out of here but leaving from a tenth of an inch in the east bay peninsula to a quarter of the inch in the north bay. probably not wet in the south bay but due to the cloud cover, temperatures held down santa clara and sunnyvale. 69 menlo park. mild due to the moisture in the air. 67 downtown. chance of showers in the early afternoon, san francisco and in the north bay 73 sonoma. east bay you'll hold on to the risk of a shower till 1:00, 2:00. 69 san leandro and east bay valleys pretty cloudy, especially through the sacramento valley. chance of thunderstorms, too, if you're headed towards lake tahoe. down by the monterey bay, not a whole lot of activity here but cloudy skies and 66 monterey.
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the seven-day forecast, the cold front slides through today and that's it in terms of the rain. after that we clear out, we warm up and the last couple days of summer we'll be mild and sunny and, in fact, by thursday we have very little fog and responding to that will be much, much warmer temperatures friday and saturday. doesn't that make sense, fall and much warmer weather. (laughter) >> thank you, lisa. one of the largest watershed restoration projects in the country is now underway right here in northern california. ground has been broken on the project along battle creek which is just outside of reading. it's a rare environmental success story where everybody seems to agree on what needs to happen. abc 7's dan ashley has this morning's assignment 7 report. >> for nearly a century, dams along battle creek have turned water into power. but they have also have
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endangered salmon and steel head from reaching breeding grounds. >> it existed many decades. this uses spring-fed water from volcanic rock in the southern cascade to bring this hydroelectric power. >> five dams along battle creek are being torn down or modified to make way for fish. an ambitious project headed up by the bureau of recreation. mary is the project manager. >> in its entirety, the restoration project will reach approximately 43 miles of habitat along with six miles of habitat. >> how to restore habitat. demolition began in july. >> we have three dam sites currently under construction and gearing up for construction on a fourth site. >> this shows the demolition of wildcat dam build in 1912.
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activists have pushed hard for the restoration of the watershed. >> this is an opportunity for everybody involved. for the agencies, for the people who live here to accomplish something that really does matter. >> the overall project is expected to cost almost $125 million to complete. it includes the addition of fish ladders and screens at two other dams along the creek. >> one of the reasons that the restoration project is happening is that battle creek is a fairly pristine creek. >> many of the dams are in hard to reach places. that's created challenges for contractors. >> they're highly inaccessible. the only way to get to them is walk to them down a rugged trail. >> this is a multiagency project, the state department fish and game, the california conservation board, cal tran, the u.s. fish and wildlife service and the bureau have all teamed up with pg&e to get it going. >> it could be, you know, a win/win situation for everybody.
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at this point i believe it is. >> it's a phenomenal accomplishment. and it's pretty hard to characterize it any other way. >> the coleman fish hatchery is the largest in the state. it is on the banks of battle creek near the sacramento river. the young salmon raised here will need to make their way to the river, on to the delta, and out to the pacific. everyone is hoping that they will come back to battle creek to breed. >> we have to keep our fingers crossed with respect to the time lines. it will probably take ten years to determine how well some of the restoration project is going. but there will be annual monitoring. >> the changes to battle creek, however, don't come without consequences. at a time when state is mandating utilities to produce more green power, pg&e will be reducing the amount of energy produced. right now the dams produce enough power for 21,000 homes. after they're torn down, they'll only generate energy for 15,000
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homes. >> the benefit of the project is we can still have a viable hydroelectric project and gain tremendous benefit to salmon and steel heads. >> the project is expected to be completed by 2014. dan ashley, abc 7 news. >> and dan says the bay area will play a role in fund being the project. environmental mitigation funds from repairs to the san rafael and venetia bridges will go to restore battle creek. coming up next, a new safety regulation to protect children awaits the governor's signature. it would protect children from my dentist says brushi alone isn't enough to avoid dental problems. [ male announcer ] act total care mouthwash rebuilds enamel and kills bad breath germs. [ woman ] to help avoid dental problems, act daily.
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jewelry. a lot of that tainted jewelry comes from china. abc 7's capital reporter nanette miranda has the story from sacramento. >> that's pretty, huh! >> kids will be kids. while jewelry is supposed to accessorize their outfits, the young ones think they're also toys. we found little olivia making a meal out of her beaded necklace. >> she's two and a half. she puts everything in her mouth, toys, clothing, what have you. how do i know it's safe. >> led the charge in 2006 to ban hazardous levels of lead in children's jewelry. but the santa monica democrats discovered a little dirty industry secret, that the replaced metal isn't safer. >> the one they substituted in many cases, the use of lead, cadmium. cadmium is equally toxic. >> ranked 7 on the cdc's list of
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most hazardous substances in the environment, linked to cancers and problems in young children. >> all we have to do for the test is hit start. >> the center of environmental health allowed parents to test children's jewelry with the x-ray machine and the cadmium levels were shocking. these samples are from a variety of retailers, household names and the jewelry is tested whether it's the latch or the charm. >> this was purchased at wal-mart, miley cyrus's line of jewelry. we found quite a bit of cadmium in her line. >> olivia's blue beads were put to the test. it had lead, lots of it, probably because it was made before the lead ban. >> i thought i was being a good dad by paying attention to the food she eats but now i have to pay attention to the minerals in the toys she plays with, too. >> the senator urged governor
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schwarzenegger to sign her bill so parents wouldn't have to worry about it. the toy association has backed off its opposition and is now neutral. nanette miranda, abc 7 news. >> a bay area restaurant that could be voted best in the nation. we'll show you what makes sweet fingers so special. and letetetetetetetetetetetetett
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our real national pastime? saving money. and like baseball people love their stats. i started bringing my lunch to work -- 50 bucks a week in my pocket. here's a good one: state farm insures 40 million drivers. more than geico and progressive combined. i saved because i'm accident-free. of course, with so many ways to save including discounts of up to 40%, having that many customers shouldn't be a surprise. so ask a neighbor about state farm, then call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. then call an agent at 1-800-state-farm you know, i just got this new chase checking account. really? yea, check this out. there's no deposit slips or envelopes. you just take the check and--psshht--right in there. now chase atms take the worry out of making a deposit. so that's it? they got it? duh. oh it's on the receipt. it also works with cash. really? do you have a 20, or... yea! psshht! voila. that's cool. ok let's go. hey, wait. where's my 20? hey, what's up, dude? chase checking. welcome to banking with chase.
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he's nominated in a contest of top chefs created by abc's night line. we'll tell you how to vote for him in just a moment. he is chef clive of sweet fingers in san leandro. here's arts and entertainment reporter don sanchez. ♪ >> it's like being in jamaica without the airfare. the food. >> the atmosphere and the music. >> marinated. you have a wonderful day! >> meet chef clive barnes, owner of sweet fingers where the jamaica experience is authentic. >> yeah! we have oxtail. i start my day like 7:00 in the morning going to the market. and i get back and start my routine prep. >> spices and herbs come from jamaica. chef clive was born there and age 20 he moved to new york and learned cooking in the world trade center. after 9/11, he moved to
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california. it's here that people discovered his unique food, filled with love, he says. >> i come here all the time! >> chef clive is very talented. >> a customer sent in an essay for abc news nightline for the plate list contest. he's one of 20 selected for the national competition. voting is online. >> i love what is -- what you have to do about, you know, the food and the people. and i love to feed people. >> for me it's orange ginger chicken. yum! voting will continue through september 26 and the winner announced later that week. if chef clive wins, there could be two new words on the menu: reservations advised. to vote go to the nightline website. this could just be the start. >> all over california, all over
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america and jamaica, too. >> don sanchez, abc 7 news. >> if you want to help chef clive get to the top, we have a link to the nightline contest or you can go to our website and click on "see it on tv." a real quick check on the weather. >> rain moving through. partly cloudy skies later. upper 60s to mid-70s. a dry week ahead. >> all right. that will do it for us. thanks for joining us. mmmm. you don't love me anymore do you billy? what? i didn't buy this cereal to sweet talk your taste buds it's for my heart health. so i can't have any? if you can deprive me of what can help lower my cholesterol... and live with yourself. right. mmm, i wry about your mother. cry herself to sleep every night over my arteries, but have yourself a bowl. good speech dad. [ whimper ] male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and its whole grain oats can lp lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. ♪
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