john? >> alan, we learned tonight mec ru rini is scheduled to testify on june 28th and his adversary is set to take the stand the next day. what is not known is whether or not the eliana lopez will testify live here in person or

perhaps via skype via venezuela. the suspended sheriff entered the hearing room amid cheers from his supporters. more than six months after the new year's eve fight with his wife had brought him to this point he says he was undermining the will of the voters by trying to throw him out of office. >> he is resorting to it since day one. they are doing whatever they can . >> one thing they are trying to get into evidence is the cell phone video taken by ivory madison. she is seen and heard describing a bruise inflicted by her husband. he says she was trying to calm her down during a verbal fight. but lawyers fought over a written statement from madison which came under attack by one member of the commission. >> clearly hear say. clearly appear to have solely

the purpose of poisoning the well. >> they are trying to admit testimony from his exgirl friend. >> that makes her testimony relevant because it shows that this is occurring within a domestic violence -- within basically a batterer mentality. there is a batterer mentality. >> the small hearing room contained a number of supporters including the former supervisor carol ruth silver. >> i think the courts have been really wrong in breaking up this family. >> lopez is scheduled to provide written tempt within the week. the commission has not decided whether to subpoena the neighbor ivory madison while attorneys go back and forth on objections to her written testimony. in san francisco, john alston, abc7 news. >> thank you, john. metal thieves are costing taxpayers millions of dollars. it is a growing trend that is attracting criminals because it is a relatively low risk. until now. a special sting operation lead

several arrests today. the raids happened at seven different recycling yards at contra costa county. nick smith joins us from concord. nick? >> alan, good evening. pleasant hillary cycling center is -- pleasant hill recycling center was served with a warrant, and they are required to do due diligence to ensure the metal they receive is not stolen. an undercover multi task agency operation says that did not happen. today law enforcement agencies from contra costa county served search warrants on facilities suspected it of moving stolen metal. among them, three enrichment. action recycling on pittsburgh avenue and sims recycling on fourth street. and in pittsburgh, christianson recycling seen here from sky 7hd. >> copper theft is not a victimless crime. it is ripping off taxpayers. >> he is the communications officer for bart.

he says the copper thefts have delayed projects and cost the agency hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> there has to be a point where we stop the chain of theft from ripping off the taxpayers to the thieves getting paid. >> and they aren't the only ones to suffer a financial hit. pg&e says there have been more than 2500 copper wire thefts since 2005 costing the utility more than $5.2 million in losses. >> we are not just taking it anymore. we are actively working against the copper thieves. >> bart and other agencies have worked to have assembly bill 1508 passed. it closes the loophole in an existing law and focused on the resale of copper and those who profit from it. >> if they have copper that they are bringing to a recycling center they have to come back three days later to get paid. this helps to separate legitimate sellers from those who are moving stolen goods. we are expected to learn more about the undercover operation and its scope tomorrow when we

speak with the contra costa county district attorney. nick smith, abc7 news. >> thank you, nick. earlier this year abc7's vic lee showed us how brazen copper thieves can be. this exclusive security video shows them in a stolen truck crashing through the gates of a pg&e yard. it took just 13 minutes to crash through the gates, load up a 10,000-pound spool of copper cable and drive away. their take for the night? an easy $40,000 this copper. fire gutted a vacant home on the southern slope of mount diablo this afternoon. this is video from sky 7hd. it shows the flames threatening a home right next door. nobody was hurt. the flames also burned about three nearby acres of grass including some land inside mount diablo state park. firefighters point out today's fire serves as a reminder of how important it is to clear brush away from homes located in wildland areas. >> we have been very

aggressive in our district with getting people to clear properties, have defensible space and set up fuel breaks and some of the neighbors received those letters and received those inflections and they can see the importance. >> investigators have not determined what sparked the fire, and so far they don't know if it started inside the house or if it was a wildfire that spread to the home. firefighters contained a seven acre grass fire that threatened some 30 homes in the city of napa. the blaze broke out just before 2:00 on koonsville road. it took an hour to contain and no evacuations were necessary. the cause of the fiery mains under investigation. tomorrow federal investigators will begin their probe into the cause of the massive fire in west oakland last week that caused a nightmare for commuters. today investigators from the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms were out at the site of a construction fire searching for clues. then entire national response

team that has access to specialized tools and high-tech labs is scheduled to arrive on scene at 9:00 tomorrow. the predawn fire damaged the bart tracks near the west oakland station shutting down service until late afternoon. a boat explosion near the antioch bridge forced everybody to jump off and swim to safety. you can see the boat was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived on the scene. the owner of the boat says he was taking a couple of people out for a ride on the san juaquin river when it caught fire. the flames also torched a nearby pier. nobody was hurt and the boat eventually sank. a standoff at an east bay motel ended peacefully, but not before giving guests a big scare. it happened at a day's inn when police approached a man wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant. he dodged officers and barricaded himself in a motel room. police evacuated the motel and waited for the man to come

out. he surrendered after about 45 minutes. >> the unrest continues in egypt where the protests are growing in tau rear square. this as mubarak is near death. abc7 news reporter lisa amin gulezian joins us to explain the significance of it all. lisa? >> egypt is in a state of flux and the power struggle continues. as reports surface about the man who ruled with an iron fist and the fact that he may be dead. cairo's tau rear square is again a symbol for change. egyptians are demanding more. >> >> look at all of the people here and you will know that the egyptian revolution is it. >> they call it this month's outrageous actions by the military that currently controls egypt. the military dissolved the country's newly elected

parliament and now plans to rewrite the constitution and take control of the budget. thomas hen rick son calls it a step backwards. >> it is circumventing all of the egyptian people who wanted democracy and staged the protests in tarir square over a year ago. and consequently they are upset about it. >> and now they both claim victory in the nation's first democratic election. the instability in the middle east's most important country is osama hasani. >> it will get worst before it gets better. >> the venture capitalist thought the country was changing course. after last year's massive protest that lead to the ousting of then president mubarak. tonight mu bar rack remains on life support while the state news agency claims it was dead.

>> i feel that we will have it for example someone else who is enlightened on who weed in most. >> whatever happens the consequences are probably going to be bad for some people and a little better for others. >> official presidential results will be released on thursday. live in san jose tonight, lisa amin gulezian, abc7 news. >> thank you, lisa. up next, oakland school standoff. how members of the occupy movement have joined the fight to reopen an elementary school. also pearl jam, jammed. the bay area man accused of billing the -- bilking the band for years. and a satellite picture with a suspiciously familiar image in the craters of mercury. and then on "nightline." >> alan coming up next on "nightline" in the world of high speed car chases.

they are dangerous, destructive and police say they are deadlier than ever. and jump out of choppers, shoot and be shot at. it is the camp where people pay to sweat like a real navy seal on "ni

members of the occupy movement have now joined a group of parents who are trying to keep their children's elementary school from closing. the demonstrators rallied outside lakeview elementary school. the school closed when classes ended a victim of budget cuts. the school board believes administrators can find a way to reopen lakeview. >> including sitting down with the parents and restructuring this effort and reorganizing the efforts. >> including reopening the -- >> including saying we changed our minds and we are going to keep the school open in september. >> some local merchants and group food not bombs are camping out at the school. the school district says they will have to leave at some point, but a spokesman says right now it is not that

time. now to the child sexual abuse trial of former penn state football coach jerry sandusky. his wife dottie took the stand and she was the only other adult in the house when the alleged abuse took place. sandusky faces 10 counts of abusing boys over a 15-year period. in a firm, but soft voice she testified that she never saw inappropriate contact between her husband and his accuser. >> i saw in dottie sandusky's testimony a loyal wife, but a wife who had to concede the obvious points in the case which was that these boys were there in the home with frequency and in the basement and being tucked into bed by her husband. >> now the spotlight turns to sandusky himself. will he take the stand in his own defense? his attorney was heard telling the judge he is not sure yet. wikileaks had julian uh sang -- assange seeking asylum

in ecuador. he is taking refuge in the london embassy. he is trying to avoid extradition to sweden where he is accused of sex crimes. he says if he is sent to sweden he will be extradited to the u.s. where he has been indicted for posting some 250,000 state department cables on the internet. many of them classified. a bay area man faces up to 57 years in prison for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the rock band pearl jam. the group seen here hired ricky charles goodrich to be their chief financial officer from 2006 to 2010. during that time police say the novato man stole $380,000 by making unauthorized wire transfers. goodrich allegedly used the money to pay his credit card bills and for expensive vacations as well as wine. drama tonight off san francisco's chrissy field.

they had to rescue a wind surfer. it happened around 7:30 and the bay seemed calm, and there is no word on what kind of trouble the wind surfer was in, but authorities say he was alert when rescued and was taken to san francisco general hospital as a precaution. there is something new under the sun to nate on the planet close -- sun on the planet closest to it. there is a mickey mouse on mercury. it is a picture snapped by the messenger probe. the first satellite to orbit to the nearest neighbor and nasa says it is an accumulation of ancient craters. abc7 is owned by the disney company. all right, let's look at the weather. spencer christian is standing by. >> looking at live doppler 7hd. it is clear and calm on this last night of spring. summer arrives tomorrow. it felt like summer today. here is a sampling of some of the highest temperatures. 91 the highs at fairfield and

antioch. we had numerous upper 80s in the other inland locations. right now it is still mild in antioch. 77 degrees and we have mainly 60s in the other inland locations. these are our highlights. we will have another warm day tomorrow as the summer solstice occurs. much cooler weather settles in on thursday which is the first full day of summer. this is a little loop of our close up satellite imagery this afternoon showing what was a batch of coastal clouds being swept away by the breeze along the coast. we will have clear skies holding on through the forecast area through tomorrow with the very warm weather and hot conditions inland tomorrow. overnight into thursday morning coastal clouds will redevelop and return vigorously to the coast. there may be even spotty drizzle into early thursday morning. we will start on thursday with a much cooler pattern that will continue through the weekend and into next week. clear skies and mild

conditions and lows mainly in the low to mid50s, and then tomorrow sunny skies and the high temperatures are hetting up. heating up. look for 89 at los gatos. we will see highs of 79 in san mateo and 84 in mountain view. low to mid60s on the coast and half moon bay. downtown san francisco is sunny and mild with a high of 70 degrees. 64 in the sunset district. it will be warming to 90 in calistoga and 95 in ukiah and 86 in santa rosa and 87 in napa. east bay highs 73 berkeley and 75 oakland, 78 union city and newark and 81 at fremont. the east bay will sizzle with 92 at concord and 93 at livermore and 95 at antioch and 96 at brentwood. look for highs in the mid to low 70s in watsonville and santa cruz. we will see 90 in morgan hill. here is the accu-weather seven-day forecast. look at the cool pattern

developing on thursday. temperatures will drop sharply from tomorrow's highs. we will have highs in land only in the 70s thursday through monday. upper 60s for the most part around the bay and upper 50s on the coast. we won't see 80 degrees after tomorrow until tuesday of next week. so summer arrives with a little sizzle tomorrow and then it fizzles. >> you might want to put on a jk cet. >> why not? >> up next, how one of the things we use to protect our kids may be putting them at risk.h@

using an anti-bacteria soap will fight germs, but there is a link between some personal care products and allergies. researchers are focused on preservatives and found in soap, toothpaste, mouth wash and similar products. children with the highest exposure to the substances had elevated levels with a certain antibody. higher levels of the antibody are found in people who suffer from allergies. korea is joining next year's america's cup yachting challenge in san francisco. it is the first time the country has been represented in sailing's biggest event.

team korea joins challengers from new zealand, sweden and italy. the u.s. oracle racing team is defending the cup. the deadline for challengers to sign up for the race has been exend ited by two months to august 1st ssments -- august 1st. larry beil is here, and if you haven't been watching the game it was a pretty good one. >> no doubt about it, for miami fans especially. could the heat win an nba finals contest with lebron james on the bench in crunch time? have no fear. supermario is here. sports is next.

good evening. the miami heat is one win away trt nba title. they had an unexpected hero with lebron james injured and on the bench it was mario to the rescue in game four. miami came in leading two games to one. kevin dure rapt and company --

kevin durant and company trying to even things out. they built a lead in the first half. russell westbrook started four for four in the contest. west bract driving hard and slam itself off the rim. wade to lebron and had 26 points. westbrook had 18 in the first half. with authority. lebron just missed a triple double. 12 assists and the sweet dish right there. to wade who had 25 points. durant would answer though. gliding around and lebron double clutch and scores 28. mario won an ncaa title for kansas. no fear. stepping up with 25 points and westbrook scoring machine the left down the lane. the former ucla brew win with nine consecutive points and finished with 43. lebron left with leg cramps and then came back and brings the house down with a big three. under a minute left and he seals the deal. the heat win it 104-98 with lebron looking on. miami takes a 3-1 series

lead. >> we want our leaders to step up and help them out the best we could. we put the dagger in him. i was able to get to the hole. >> that's the main thing about the team. we all have high hopes and we play this game. >> game five thursday night right here on abc7. >> the giants continued their series in anaheim where the angels have been waiting for the real albert pujols to show up. he showed up against barry zito. pujols has struggled in his first couple months as an angel, but instant impact in the first inning. a three-run homer off swrea toe. 11th of the year. it got worse for barry. zito gave up 8 runs and shelled for his third consecutive start. cantos gave up a triple to trun del and everybody scores. angels with 15 hits and they crush the giants 12-5. a's and dodgers at the coliseum.

the rematch of the 88 world series. remember kurt gibson? he drills one to center. tony gwen, junior forgot one thing, the ball. two of the fastest a's cocoa crisp and weeks around to score 2-0a's. petaluma pride tacks on another run and base hit to score smith. no sign of a sore shoulder. aj ellis and you rebay and you will both get nothing and like it. mccarthy seven score less. a's shut out the dodgers 3-0. abc7 sports is brought to you by river rock casino. >> thank you, larry. and thank you for watching. "nightline" is next. thanks for watching. abc7 news continues tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. we are always on at abc7news.com and facebook and twitter at abc7 news bay area. good night, everyone.