>> good morning. a live shot of the construction going on on the upper deck of the bay bridge. i'll show i some ways to get around the closer >> a newborn baby taken by his teenage father from an east bay hospital yesterday returned safely last night. and cadaver dogs on lone of santa clara county will be lack for the remains of the victims of the so-called speed freak killers. >> good morning, everyone. plenty clouds. temperatures in the 40s and 50s with reduced visibility on our coast. and the north bay valleys have some drizzle, as well. >> good morning, everyone. i'm terry mcsweeney. you are looking at the top story of the morning. no, not me, the bay bridge behind me. no traffic on the upper deck come into san francisco. let's talk about the closer which happened at 8:00 last night. for the latest here's francis in the traffic center. >> take a look at this live shot. it's kind of unusual just to see that whole incline section

filled with construction crews and trucks out there. now of course the eastbound direction will remain open. i want to show you another live shot. this is from san francisco so it does look eerie. you might see some cars once in a while coming from pressure island into san francisco. traffic is flowing well east from oakland. to get around the closer, right now traffic is light around the bay area. there is a great abc7s exclusive traffic tool that will help you get around it. it's something that you can download for free and i'm going to show what you it does. by turning on the app you basically share your speeds with other compute commuters. here we have touch less car wash moving along actually a little slowly but they were heading down the richmond-san rafael bridge. they are heading down 101 right now. you can track traffic wherever others have turned on the app. you can go to abc7news.com to download it. >> touch less car wash, thanks

for helping out with the waze. we will have a progress report about 9:00. they tell us the closer went very well. it was no easy that is to be stop traffic at five different points. we have more from the now desserted follow plaza. >> access was blocked off to the bridge around 7:30. the chp and motorists who listened to the warnings helped make it a smooth and quick operation. >> there are no many different feeders coming into the bay bridge it can take up to an hour to completely clear it to take it to closer. we had so little traffic we were able to cut the time down to twelve minutes. >> the first work being done is to the existing roadway. dozens of workers are tearing up old asphalt to make the new approach. the roadway will be moved lightly to the south. >> i think a lot of people won't even notice the difference because they don't have to make a decision. they will just follow the lines.

>> the toll plaza is completely dark and there are no passenger vehicles anywhere to be seen. caltrans has complete control of the approach. there are now more than 100 caltrans and contract workers making the necessary changes to the roadway. he said the bridge will open again tuesday morning at 5:00 a.m. if all goes well. >> if we have challenge with the weather, it's potential that we can push even beyond the tuesday time frame. >> he said this closure also helps with routine maintenance like painting and cleaning the bridge. they don't have to worry about traffic while that work is being done. >> this is the last planned closer we have for the bay bridge until we open the new structure labor day weekend 2013. >> caltrans said the crews will work 24 hours a day to get the work done. they want to get the bridge open as soon as possible, perhaps earlier than tuesday morning. at the bay bridge, abc7 news. >> when we talk about the bay bridge the numbers are always staggering. the three day closer will cost the toll authority more than 1.$5 million in uncollected

tolls but the bigger impact is on people trying to get back and forth across the bay. the golden gate bridge will be kept open and fully staffed during the bay bridge closer. you see it there. not a lot of traffic out there. kind of interesting. people not headed this way, at least not right now or maybe they are taking bart because bart is running trains hourly during the overnight hours all weekend long. abc7 reports from emeryville for champ edges facings drivers this weekend. >> when it came time to close the westbound lanes to the bay bridge, the caltrans caravan was all over it. flashing arrows and barricades to divert traffic away from the bridge. if you didn't make the deadline, you had to find another way into the city, which brought many people to the west oakland bart station. >> i totally forgotten and saw the signs. i was supposed to meet some friends for dinner and it was like, oh, man, you have to bag it and, then, no, take bart, it's easy, fast. >> he is in good spirits despite forgetting about the closure. >> i hadn't taken bart for a while. i was look forward to it to see

what it's like again. >> he normally drives to san francisco for work. >> the only way to get to my job today, i have to take the bart. >> but he's been on bart a time or two before. >> you know, i kind of like it. sometimes when i -- my car is not working or something i just jump on the bus and my job is not far from the station as well. >> someone who isn't looking forward to bart is this young woman. >> it's very big of an inconvenience, one, because of the time, and, two, because it's late at night and i don't like the idea of having to travel on bart by myself you will a the way from the airport to oakland. i have to switch somewhere because they aren't doing direct transit to the airport either. >> before you start feeling too sorry for her, listen how the other bridge closers have affected her. >> i have been out of town before. this is my first time. >> most people are taking it in stride. there are people who live on treasure island. the folks said they pretty much planned for it, to stay on the island or go to san francisco

because they can still use the bridge to get into the city. the problem comes when they try to get into the east bay or oakland which is normally a ten minute drive home turns into something more like an hour and a half. abc7 news. for complete coverage of the weekend bay bridge closer, stay with abc7 news and you can go to abc7news.com or check abc7 news bay area on twitter anytime for the very latest information. authorities at eden valley medical center in castro valley are reviewing security procedures after a newborn was taken from the hospital yesterday. three day old sariah miller is back with her 21-year-old mother this morning after being returned last night. 18-year-old father left the hospital with the baby without anyone knowing. sheriff's deputies discovered he removed the electronic security bracelet from her wrist and left with her in a car seat. they tried to get a hold of him through friends and family but nobody new where he was. finally about 8:30 last night the baby's grandmother brought her back. >> the baby is back, the baby is

fine. they just checked the baby and everything is good. so whatever the situation he was having is all settled and the baby is back. >> and where is the baby's father? >> i have no idea. >> authorities tell us no crime was actually committed, but it was against medical advice to take the infant from her mother because she needs the health benefits received from mother's mick. -- milk. today in san joaquin families, they will sift through the mud and debris dredged thursday from the bottom of a well. they are looking for the long lost remains of the victims of the so-called speed freak killers. they murdered as many as 20 people during the '80s and '90s. so far 1,000 bones have been recovered. cadaver dogs are looking for more remains. another well may be searched depending on what the dogs find. the union city woman indicted in the murder of nursing student michelle li is due to stand trial.

the examiner points out a strange twist, that will be the one-year anniversary of the discovery of li's body in a remote area by volunteer searchers. li vanished from the parking garage of the kaiser permanente medical center on may 27th. prosecutors used dna evidence and cell phone records to convince a grand jury the 28-year-old esteban stalked and murdered li. the grand jury indict men allows the case to go straight to trial without presenting evidence at a public hearing. coming up next a terror suspect plotting to attack the capitol arrested in washington d.c. >> today here in new jersey whitney houston's friends and family gather to remember the talented but troubled entertainer. i'm tj winnik and i'll have the very latest straight ahead.

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>> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >> whitney houston fans are focused on a small church in new jersey where whitney sang has a child. let's take a live look at the church in newark, new jersey. today is an invitation only funeral for the star. you can see what her fans have put out in advance ever the

invitational-only funeral. she was found dead in her beverly hills hotel room friday, just days before the grammy awards. the cause of her death remains under investigation. tj winnik reports on what her family calls her going home. >> this was the neighborhood whitney houston called home and here at the new hope baptist church is where she learned to sing as a member of the choir. today at new hope the singer's life will be remembered at a star-studded funeral ceremony set to begin at noon. the invite, obtained by tmz, reads with heartfelt gratitude the houston family requests the honor of your presence at the home-going service for elizabeth whitney houston. >> there will be no admission for anyone who is not invited to the service. >> unlike the commercial send-off given to the likes of michael jackson, the houston family opted for a closed, private service a disappointment to thousands of her fans. >> i was planning on taking off work to go, but i respect her family's wishes. >> pastor and gospel singer,

marvin, are eulogize houston. kevin costner, her co-star in "the bodyguard" will speak. stevie wonder will perform and so will her godmother, aretha franklin. any look back at whitney houston's life must include her decades-long battle with addiction. it ravaged what many called the greatest voice every. a voice coach recently working with her was appalled at her limited abilities. >> gone, gone. she said i want my voice back. i have to get it back. it appeared to be so damaged, when i first began work with her i was not sure what i could do. >> today in new jersey flags will fly at half staff in memory of whitney houston. a gesture of the governor which has drawn criticism from some military families. abc news, newark. >> a terrorism suspect in washington d.c. may have been caught just in time. police took a 29-year-old

moroccan man from virginia into court yesterday shortly after his arrest near the capitol building. he was planning to detonate what he thought was a suicide vest given to him by undercover agents. the suicide vest trial contained an inoperable gun and explosives. he had been around the clock surveillance for more than a year. a busy highway in yosemite national park will be closed for weeks for repairs. highway 120, big old flat road will be shut down for a portion starting february 29th. crews will be rebuilding the road damaged in a rockslide last month. park officials they hope to reopen the road by easter. >> they are hoping for good weather ask will we have any this weekend. >> no significant rain coming our way, but a little drizzle in the north bay and that's due to a dry cold front. temperatures are mild in the 50s. we have some fog, just a bit of

drizzle and temperatures are a bit cooler this weekend. i'll explain next. >> also next the warriors get lit up by kevin durant and the okay law homa city thunde

lisa argen joins us now. we are talking a nice dry, and the folks working on the bay bridge are glad we have a nice, dry forecast. >> it will be a little cooler. upper 60s yesterday around gilroy and today we will see more of the 50s and the winds blowing as well. gusty, northwest winds. that's behind passage of a dry cold front although we may see a few pockets of kriz e here's a look outside. they tell me this is emeryville. we will look at numbers. much warmer this morning. in fact, 12 to 14 degrees warmer than we were yesterday at this time. look at all the 50s. 53 antioch, 51 livermore with 48 napa, down to 41 santa rosa. so chilly here, and we do have fog from half moon bay to napa to santa rosa with visibility sometimes reduced to a quarter of a mile. so do be careful. you may run into a little bit of drizzle, mainly in the north bay. overcall we will see the clouds

after the cold front and the northwesterly winds follow. that's going to bring small craft advisory and breezy conditions with the warming trend head our way after the holiday weekend. so in terms of what to expect right now, you will notice that we are look at around santa rosa, petaluma, highway 101, a few areas of light returns being picked up on live doppler 7 hd. also out towards well north of fairfield maybe an isolated rain drop or two. butover all we are looking for the clouds to really be the only significant weather maker with this system as it continues to slide through the bay area today. but we are going to look at some snow showers in the sierra nevada. it is a weak front. and with it it's going to keep the clouds around throughout the morning hours and then by the afternoon those northwesterly winds will keep it quite cool around here. so there you see the few snow showers in the mountains and with the holiday weekend, yeah, it would be nice to get a little

bit more snow. the next system runs parallel to the coast but once again maybe some spotty light drizzle into monday morning as this passes by parallel to -- yeah, tomorrow afternoon. 49 today in yosemite with low 60s in fresno and the high surf into southern california. 60 in chico. we will be looking for conditions to really turn around and feel much more like spring so that the shot at winter not really happening. in fact just more clouds around today. the breezy northwest winds, 60 oakland, 62 concord. that's about two to four degrees cooler than we were yesterday. santa rosa coming up into the low 60s. and with the fog this morning, it is kind of cool and at times hard to navigate, especially along the shoreline. so be careful there, 56 in monterey today. 60 in hollister. so here's our look ahead. you notice the temperatures don't change too much between today, tomorrow and the holiday with partly to mostly cloudy

skies. then we are looking at warmer and sunnier through next week. good morning, francis. >> good morning, lisa. good morning, everyone. we are keeping an eye on the bay bridge westbound closer. construction equipment right there approaching the incline section. you will notice the eastbound direction cars are getting through. that will be open all weekend. and i also want to take you to another live shot, a lot of folks have been heading over to the golden gate bridge as an alternate. especially on monday we will probably start to see some extra traffic on 101. even through san rafael. some folks use highway 37 as all matt. san mateo bridge traffic is fine. westbound is look good here from 880 to 101 and 101 is fine as well. now bart will be running limited overnight service for the closer. no transbay service for ac transit but they will be stopping at a bart station so you can get across the bay that way. there is extra ferry office out of the east bay and vallejo. terry. >> thanks very much. and right now joining us live from new york is dan harris to tell us what is coming up at 7

on "good morning america" and good morning dan. great to see you. >> likewise. good morning to you. come up on gma, abc news learning new details about the man trying to blow up the u.s. capitol building. how did the fbi bust this man and how really was the net in the thirst place? we are hours away from what is being could whitney houston's home-going service. stevie wonder, kevin kostner and a lot of other big names will be at her childhood church this morning. we will be live from newark, new jersey with the latest on the story. and in this country desperate to lose weight, this delet ma. would you take a drug that helps this woman go from this to this if it also carried the risk of memory loss and possibly also suicidal thoughts? we will talk to some doctors and also some people taking the so-called miracle drug this morning. and have you ever wondered, terry, where butterflies go in the winter? we have the answer courtesy of meteorologist ginger. she's on the trail of millions, tens of millions, really, of

monarch butterflies this morning and the mystery of the eternal gps system that guides a massive migration. it's all coming up on gma this saturday morning. hope to see you then. >> the monarchs were just here in the bay area a short time ago. i did a story on them. >> they are really, really beautiful. i have to say i'm not just saying this because i want everyone to come watch our show, that story is worth staying tuned for. >> but that is why you are saying it, right? >> well, in part. [laughter] >> thanks a lot. have a great show. >> see you, terry. >> in sports this afternoon, 16th-ranked saint mary's is looking toe radio bound at murray state. last night the years were in oklahoma stay facing kevin durant and the thunder. here's larry beil with the highlights of this morning's sports. good morning, everybody. oklahoma city, they are what the warriors hoped to be. they were bad, they drafted

perfectly, and now they are one of the best in the league, as golden state saw firsthand last night. monte ellis visiting oklahoma city. russell is one of the draft picks i'm talking about. with authority. he had 18 points. tweaked his ankle and left later in the game. and monte, who had 38 the last time out against the thunder, only 11. warriors up 7. they played tough, but not stopping kevin durant. come get some. anybody? david lee playing well, 19 of 23 came in the first half. pretty move in the lane. got the roll, but the warriors were down 10 at the break and no hope after that. the durantula is lethal. durant, 28 points, 10 boards, 6 assists, warriors fall, 110-87. linsanity continuing in new york. spike lee pairing his palo alto high jersey. the hornets come in with a record of 6-23. the knicks were flat and sloppy with the ball. lin had 9 turnovers. trying to get them going through traffic. finishing with the left hand. the west coast connection.

lin is stanford's landry field for the jam. five assists for lin knicks down 4 at the break. to third. another ex-warrior, marco belinelli. marco with 17 points. knicks were only 4 of 24 from downtown. li had a couple of those. finished with 26 points, not enough. hornets win, ending the knicks win streak at seven. linsanity is coming to abc7. we have the knicks and the mavericks tomorrow. sunday, sunday morning at 9:30 here on abc7. giants pitchers and catchers will work out for the first time in spring training tomorrow. buster posey will be there. the giants catcher is coming back from the nasty ankle injury last season. after the surgery and months of rehab, posey is ready to go. how will his ankle handle the stress. catching everyday? we are about to find out. >> i think that throughout the recovery process we've met all the goals and exceeded some of them, and now being here in scottsdale, a couple days from pitchers and catchers opening up and getting some good work in here and i'm happy.

i'm happy with the way it feels. >> to the ice. sharks and carolina. just acquired dominic. his debut. thomas greiss in net for san jose. anti niemmi got chewed out by the coach and jeff skinner bangs it in off the skate of dan boyle. 1-0, canes. the first point as a shark. tied at 2. 8 minutes left, jamie from the blueline, deflected past greiss. you see jokinen credited for the game-winning goal. sharks lose 3-2. they have dropped five of their last seven. tennis, andy roderick in the quarterfinals. roderick did not have it at all in this match. he's been battling ankle and knee injuries. slammed his racket down at one point and lost every point in the first service game and never recovered. he is eliminated, 6-2 and 6-4. that's a wrap on morning sports. mike shumann will be here at five, six and eleven.

have a great weekend, everybody. i'm larry beil. >> coming up next at 6:30, the skyrocketing prices bay area drivers are paying at the pumps. >> i'm so afraid after february i'm not going to have the chance. >> plus the plea for help from a local cancer patient looking for her perfect match. [ female announcer ] you do so much...

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>> good morning, i'm terry mcsweeney and the big story this morning is right behind me, the closer of the bay bridge. we just had some emergency vehicles on the bridge but as far as traffic you can't get from the east bay to san francisco on the upper deck. isn't that right, francis? she's here on a special saturday morning appearance here on the abc7 saturday morning news. >> thanks, terry. that is right. and here's why. of course, we have construction crews on the incline section of the bay bridge, westbound just past the toll plaza. they have shut the freeway entrances lead to go the plaza last night. it's been closed since this morning. and i want to show you the shot again. the eastbound direction will be open all weekend heading toward oakland. and you see it is pretty empty but once in a while we could see some vehicles coming out of treasure island heading toward san francisco. to get around the closer you can go to abc7's exclusive waze traffic app that will help you

with your commute. what you do is you turn the free app on and by doing so you are sharing your speeds with other computers. so you see a lot of folks heading across the san mateo bridge, traffic is light around the bay area. and you can get more of this by going to our website, abc7news.com/waze and join the abc7 traffic spotter community. terry. >> francis, thanks very much. if you plan on heading out on the road this holiday weekend, in addition to the bay bridge closer, you should be prepared too pay. gas prices are skyrocketing. average price of a gallon of gas has seen hits highest daily increase in a year. it went up five cents just yesterday. the state average is now $3.95 a gallon. it's worse in the bay area as you might expect and in san francisco the average price has now hit four dollars a gallon. experts blame the higher prices on reduced supply. several california refineries are shutting down for annual

winter maintenance as the state switches from its winter to summer blend of fuel. crude oil prices have also soared because of concerns about iran. and the cost of a postal stamp could be going up again. the postal service wants to raise the price of first class postage to 50-cent. right now a first class stamp is 40 cents. it's part of an effort to raise revenue and to cut costs. they are facing an annual shortfall of more than $18 billion. president obama is back in the nation's capitol after departing a bay area fundraising visit. he jetted up to the assembly plant in washington state. he points to boeing in his weekly address as an example of an american company creating u.s. jobs by being a world leader in manufacturing and he's calling for congress to offer new tax incentives to help other companies do just that. >> last year orders for

commercial aircraft rose by more than 50%. to meet that rising demand they put thousands of folks to work all over the country. we want to see more of this. we need to make it as easy as we can for our companies to create more jobs in america, not overseas. and that starts with our tax code. the president's pacific northwest visit wasn't just about jobs, he admitted he wanted to see boeing plane of the future, the 787 dream liner. he wanted to eit up-close, and he did. friends of a 25-year-old woman battling leukemia are organizing a bone marrow drive to save her life. >> students of this high school are too young to sign up for the bone marrow registry. they have to be at least 18 years old. they are holding two drives. one tomorrow and one next saturday to find an asian donor.

this video was updated to youtube asking for help. >> i'm so afraid after february i won't have the chance. >> it's extremely hard to watch someone who is just such an amazing person have to struggle. so we are just trying the best that we can to spread the word and to continue fighting for her. >> if you would like to help janet, the times and locations of the donation drives are on abc7news.com under see it on tv. hopefully they will find a match for her. lisa joins us now to talk about the forecast. we have no rain in the forecast wishes is a good thing for the folks working on that bay bridge. >> but we do have weak weather systems that are providing limited cloud cover, maybe some drizzle up in the north bay, but from this shot here you can see not bad. it's quiet. we do have delays at sfo up to 42 minutes pause ever the low ceilings. we will talk about the rest of the weekend and the warmup coming up in a anybody.

>> all right. also ahead, a new, exciting vision with the south shore of lake tahoe.

>> looks like a nice weekend to do anything you may have in mind. >> it is a nice february. we won't see the upper 60s. 70s are in the weekly forecast. plenty of clouds from our sutro camera. you will notice looks mostly cloudy with the sun coming up at 6:56. very shortly. sun setting 5:52 and the roof camera. so the city, numbers are mild, in the 50s. and across the pay as well. but we do have cooler numbers to the north. some fog and airport delays at sfo of 42 minutes. also a little bit of bog fog half moon bay. 48 degrees mountain view. 51 in livermore. we are much warmer than we were yesterday. don't be surprised to seattle bit of drizzle out there in some spots, up by cloverdale picking up a few, but later on today the dry cold front is going to push on through and that will bring

partly cloudy skies and gusty northwest winds. a warming trend gets underway after the holiday monday. here's live doppler 7 hd. right around windsor, highway 101 up in the north bay could be running into a few patches of drizzle. north of vacaville on the way to the sierra nevada we could see not only some rain showers, but a few snow showers in the mountains today. and that's all due to this weak relatively dry cold front. a lot of clouds associated with it. it will sweep across the bay. it's going to churn up the seas and we are going to see high surf advisory. and maybe even an advisory from the national weather service for some gusty winds later on this afternoon. but as we go through the next several hours, this passes south. you know, we around out of the clear yet. there's another system that's going to move on through tomorrow. this one also was slated to bring us a little bit of precip, but now looks like it's just running parallel to the shoreline and that, too, will miss us.

so today numbers a little cooler. 61 in los angeles. 74 in palm springs with some show showers from reno, northern sierra and southern sierra, we were just talking about a tufting of snow there. 58 in big sur. 60 sacramento. for the weekend feeling a little more seasonal. we around talking about any measurable precip. in fact really going to see partly cloudy skies throughout much of the weekend. at times mostly cloudy. today the gusty win and a few 60s out there. 60 oakland, 62 in concord. breezy here the our shoreline. 57 in san francisco. and down by the monterey bay we are talking about more clouds a few peaks of sun and in the afternoon about 60 in hollister. so here's the accuweather seven-day forecast. upper 50s, low 60s through monday and much, much warmer tuesday, wednesday and thursday we are talking low and mid-70s still. nice and dry. good morning, francis. >> good morning, lisa. good morning, everyone. here's a live shot right now of

the westbound bay bridge closer. here you see some construction crews at the scene getting ready for the lane configuration change come tuesday morning. eastbound direction has been fine out of san francisco. a lot of folks have been heading to the san mateo bridge as an alternate. it's looking great right now across the span. probably a little bit busier than normal, than what you would expect for a saturday. but do look out for busy traffic especially monday, and then also traffic will be busier on 880 heading to the san mateo bridge and, of course, 101 on the peninsula. also if you aring it mass transit. bart is running limited overnight service during the closer. there's no transbay service on a. c. transit but they will stop at a better stop so you can get across the bay that way. and extra ferry out of vallejo and the east bay. there's a new juriry crash in san jose. apparently it's a rollover crash and traffic still getting by okay. terry. >> thank you, francis. major changes may be coming to the south shore of lake tahoe.

a grand plan is in the works to overhaul many of the old developments and improve the development at the same time. in this morning's assignment 7, abc7's dan ashley tells us the business community has a vision for luring investment into tahoe's future. >> reporter: lake tahoe may be rich in natural beauty, but it's economy is in trouble. >> the community here has imploded. schools have closed, the population has declined. it's really a tragic situation. >> mike bradford owns lakeside inn, a casino at lake tahoe. for 50 years casinos were the economic engines that drove the tahoe area. in fact, when the casinos were first built, the idea was to make visitors forget the lake was even here. >> everything was inside the casino building. it was undesirable to have anyone go anywhere else because that was lost revenue. >> but now indian casinos have lured away most of the gambling customers. >> they aren't coming here, nor are they going to come here.

so we are left with a product that is no longer viable. >> bradford is leading a coalition of businesses, hoping to remake the area, focusing on natural beauty and turning it into a world-class outdoor recreation center. >> transform it into a more environmentally appropriate use of the lake that's economically viable that allows the community to recover. >> the businesses have put together what they call the south shore vision plan, turning the ugly casino corridor into an up-scale walkable town with easy access to the lake. most of the money from the makeover would come from private investment. the idea goes hand-in-hand with a government play to reroute highway 50, the main road through south lake tahoe. instead of going right down the middle of town, it would be moved to run behind the casinos and farther from the lake. the estimated cost is $65 million. >> we have a choice to make. are we going to make investments in our future or are we going to sit here and watch it degrade

around us. >> he is with the transportation highway district. he is working to get federal, state and private money. road is part of an effort to him prove transportation all over the lake. another key proposal is for ferry service to take passengers between the north and south shores without their cars. and officials are working on new segments of a bike path to link up with existing paths. eventually they will ring the entire lake. >> the makeover is getting a about good reception from the tahoe regional planning agency that overseas development. the agency said the plan is critical, not just for the economy, but also for the environment. >> tahoe is tahoe. we want to maintain that character. but we need to bring our infrastructure up to 21st century standards. >> tahoe is full of aging roads and buildings, put up before there was any environmental regulation. the new vision would replace some of them with open space and greener development, concentrated in just a few areas. that would mean less sediment and pollution going into the lake. >> this is how we get water quality improvement, this is how

we get air quality improvement. >> but first they have to get the money. dan ashley, abc7 news. >> don't go away, 7 on your side is next. >> an insurance company investigated by 7 on your side is taken to court. i'm michael finney. 7 on your side is coming up.

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>> welcome back. folks, we want to showa couple of beautiful shots of the san francisco bay area. that one live from the top of mount tam. no words need to be said. another shot we have of the golden gate bridge. just a fantastic view. a little chillier than some people might like. give it a few days, we will be in the 70s. no rain in the forecast. >> 7 on your side has been investigating a long-term care insurance company. it delayed and denied benefits for an elderly couple so now the company is the target of a class action lawsuit. here's michael finney with a report.xd >> just won't believe me. >> beverly joe thought the long-term care insurance policy would bring peace of mind in her old age. instead it brought endless fights with the insurance company. >> i didn't want to deal with it anymore because they are so hard nosed and it was getting me nervous. >> it began when her husband, jack, needed a home nurse. beverly filed claims with the carrier, senior help insurance

carrier of pennsylvania, no one as ship. >> that's when they started giving me all this trouble, taking their time. they tried to put all kind of obstacles in your path. >> beverly claimed the company denied full benefits for the caregiver. later ship said she didn't provide enough data to claim nursing home benefits. >> they keep on saying they don't owe me that much, they can't pay that much. >> the couple paid over $60,000 in premiums over the years and yet she was struggling to get her benefits. she contacted 7 on your side twice for help, and after we got involved, the company did pay her an additional $11,000 for benefits she claimed. but beverly was not alone. >> they are making these people jump through hoops. >> consumer watchdog, sponsors of the initiative limiting the auto insurance rates in california just filed a class action lawsuit against ship in san bernardino county. they claim there is an unfair

and unlawful scheme perpetrated by ship for denial of coverage t it sites the case of william hall of san bernardino county saying he was forced to deplete savings and burn through earned and fixed income because of ship's denial to pay for care. >> now he's being supported by his family, his son, exactly the situation he tried to avoid when he watt the policy. >> we asked ship about the lawsuit. it said ship received a complaint filed by one policyholder who claims he wasn't treated fairly. we are in the process of reviewing his complaint, and we can assure you this will be handled appropriately. ship focuses on assuring that eligible claims are paid in accordance with the policy contracts that its customers have purchased and operates without a profit motive. ship's sole mission is to pay eligible claims accurately and timely, and has established a

very strong record of compliance. beverly says she's not surprised about the suit, and after pouring $60,000 into her premiums, she's glad just to get some of it back. >> something is better than nothing. get it back, forget them. i just didn't want to deal with them anymore. >> the lawsuit asks for a court order for stopping ship from unfairly denying claims for it's 10,000 california policyholders. ship said it handled all claims fairly and operates without profit motive. if you have a problem with long-term care insurance or any other consumer problem, let me know about it. go to abc7news.com. i'm michael finney, 7 on your side. >> coming up next, it was a play before becoming an oscar nominated film. a look at the remarkable effort it takes for joey the war horse to come to life.

[ sue ] wow! i've been so looking forward to this. when my asthma symptoms returned, my doctor prescribed dulera to help prevent them.

[ male announcer ] dulera is for patients 12 and older whose asthma is not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. dulera will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. dulera helps significantly improve lung function. this was shown over a 6 month clinical study. dulera contains formoterol, which increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. dulera is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled your doctor will decide if you can stop dulera and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take dulera more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if dulera can help you breathe easier. ♪

>> here are the winning numbers from last night toes 6 is million dollars mega-millions drawing. nobody got them all, folks. that means tuesday's jackpot estimated at $71 million. don't forget, the oscars one

week from tomorrow right here an abc. war horse is a best picture nominee. ite based on the award-winning play that comes to the curran theatre in august. but yesterday on a baron stage, arts and entertainment reporter don sanchez got a closeup look at the star, joey. ♪ >> war horse is the powerful story of joey, a horse enlisted to fight in world war i. it's unique and it's innovative staging. in the play joey, you see, is a puppet, but a very special puppet. this is a horse filled with emotions. there are three puppeteers that control joey, two inside and one at the head. the design and the mechanisms allow me to sort of project freely what i'm feeling into the horse. >> they are the creation of hand string puppet company from south africa. >> we made prototypes and tested them out.

we changed stuff and had physical therapists come in and talk to us about the ergonomics of the puppet and how to make it more usable and accessible. >> it's made mostly of cane that's been shaped and bent. for the puppeteers it's about strength and synchronizing. >> all of us breathe together. that helps us keep in time and know when we are going to move off. it keeps us as one, which is the most important thing. >> pretty much two hours of looking at ross' feet and make sure we stay in time with the war king. >> audiences have become so fascinated with joey, they have to make sure he doesn't upstage the story. it's not just the three performers here who make him come alive. >> it's also what we jokingly refer to as the fourth puppeteer, which is the actor working with him. >> he calls the experience totally joy. and what about war horse, the film? at abc oscar telecast on february 26th. >> i have seen the film and think it's a great film.

i'm definitely rooting for an oscar? >> san francisco, don sanchez, abc7 news. >> get ready for the academy awards, oscar sunday, february 26th on abc7. you can predict the winners and get the latest buzz now at oscar.com. you can also download the exclusive oscar app. it's for i-phones and ipads. it will give you live video from the red carpet and it will take you backstage as well on oscar sunday. >> nominated for the best forecast is lisa argen. >> you are going to make me laugh. [laughter] >> you will see -- >> i'm trying. >> there's nothing funny about that. we are looking at a cooler day today with northwesterly winds. after the passage of a dry cold front. so a lot of clouds out there and then 57 san francisco, 60 in oakland and rough seas, as well. we are talking about temperatures staying fairly seasonal through the holiday monday and back to work it's sunnier and warmer out there,

and our special guest today, francis. >> it is so fun to be here with you guys on a saturday morning. here's a live shot of the westbound bay bridge closer with construction crews you see there near the incline section. the eastbound section is open. if you want to get around it try abc7s exclusive traffic app. it shows traffic slowing around the san rafael bridge and it will be helpful especially on monday. >> francis, thanks for being here. lisa, thank you. and thank you for watching us. our next newscast at 8:00 a.m. keep track of us on twitter and abc7

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