♪

most ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] every day, there's a new reason not to make a home-cooked meal.

work, errands, a greasy bag of deep-fried easy. ♪ fortunately with hamburger helper's 40 varieties a home-cooked meal is never out of reach. hamburger helper. help is on the way. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

you lose control of functioning properly. >> well, i don't know. >> abc7 news april april of -- catches up with the driver who crashes into a fuel pump at a martinez gas station tonight. good evening. i'm dan ashley. carolyn johnson has the night off. two cars were torched in that blaze. you can see the aftermath and all of the damage just moments after it happened from sky 7hd. abc7 news reporter alan wang is live at the gas station in martinez tonight. alan, this could have been a

disaster. >> yes, it was very scary for a moment there. it happened around 5:30 this evening. th is the gas pom -- this is the gas pump that was knocked off its foundation. it was all captured on surveillance video from across the street. watch the car across the street as it backs up toward the gas pump and then suddenly accelerates, smashing into the pump and igniting a fire. gas station attendant paul berge realized his worst fear. >> the whole place going up. there are only 4,000 gallons of gasoline under there. >> berge says this man who would not identify himself is the driver who got out before the flames engulfed his car and another one next to the pump. >> saw the black smoke and ran out front and hit the emergency shut off switch and ran to the back and hit the main power breaker fuse box and then high taled it out of here. >> he was sitting on his porch just a few blocks away. >> then started hearing explosions.

we heard seven or eight explosions. >> i started yelling at everybody to get the hell out of here. it was a big hazard. >> this man, the owner of the ford suv that was also destroyed was inside the gas station paying when it happened. >> the flames erupted and tires popped and gas tanks popped and the flames went -- they were coming out over the edge a little bit. >> no one was injured, and no charges are being filed. they are still trying to figure o driverthe driver suddenly backed into the gas pump. but no one seems to know, not even the man behind the wheel. >> can you tell us what happened? >> accident, i don't know. >> did you lose control of the car functioning properly? >> i don't know what happened. >> and because of that gas station attendant's quick thinking, firefighters were able to get it all under control within about 20 minutes. reporting live in -- reporting

live, alan wang. tonight police are looking for a man who groping groping women mere the stanford campus. the latest victim, a woman out for a run on the trails. this is at least the fourth time a woman was attacked in palo alto in the past month. authorities were worried the attacker might be getting more bold and more violent. ama dates is live in palo alto to explain why. ama? >> dan, palo alto police are extremely concerned. three of those four attacks are likely the result of one man who struck this morning again here at palo alto park. >> these police fliers line the path across from the stanford shopping center. they warn of recent sexual assault, including one that happened just before 7:00 this morning as a young woman was jogging. >> she was approached from behind by an unknown male who bear hugged her from behind and grabbing her breast in the

process. she felt as though he was able to pull her to the ground. she was able to writing gel free. the police were unable to track him down. emily saw the search for the suspect. >> i was walking on the trail with my dog and i saw a lot of police knocking on car dwoor -- car door windows. >> she doesn't wore we -- worry about walking on the path because she walks with her dog. >> she has killed a cat before. she is not one to be messed with. >> police are concerned because they believe this is the third time in a month the man has struck. >> the first two cases which occurred four and then three weeks ago were sexual batteries where the suspect approached women who were in very public places, unlike this. grabbed their but to -- buttocks or breast and then fled. >> it took place on fulton street and the second was at the stanford shopping center. these are the sketches from

those incidents. the victim this morning described the man as possibly middle eastern or hispanic.rs o, about 40 years old, 5 foot 9 with a medium build and thin black hair. she said he was dressed like any other jogger with long gray shirt or dark gray or black running pants. >> and police are telling people who used the trail to not go out alone and to be in the daytime with a jogging partner or a group of people. and they say especially don't have both headphones in your ears so that you can hear what is going on around you. now, police have stepped up patrols in the area. in fact, they have detectives in plain clothes and unmarked cars going around and trying to find this suspect. in palo alto, ama dates, abc news. >> thank you. the vallejo mayor wants the state attorney general to investigate the death of a parolee shot by police. on september 2nd officers fired 30 shots killing 23-year-old mario romero and wounding his friend as they sat in a car outside romero's

home on pepper drive. police say romero reached for a weapon. the seventh police shooting since may sparked several angry protests. davis says he hopes an independent investigation will help restore confidence in mexico from mexicopartment. where a bay area man drowned when he and his wife are hit by a giant wave. it happened in loss cab goes. sh -- los cab boughs. his wife was injured.> a san fro a san francisco woman is suing the government for putting her dna into a database even though she was never charged with a crime. it is a story you will see only on abc7 news. lily pascal was arrested in 2009, and the d.a. never filed charges. but she claims police forced her to give a sample -- a swabbed sample of her dna. the state argued that the swab is like a fingerprint, and not

invasive in anyway. but one judge did not agree to that. >> it is information obtained by the state when it develops a dna profile versus when it collects a fingerprint. >> now when i am arrested leaving behind in the custody of the government the intimate details of my medical condition, my heritage. >> lawyers from both sides feel the case will ultimately go to the u.s. supreme court. a few hours ago the incident with the pepper spray that made news, they do not plan to file criminal charges against uc davis police officers who doused students with pepper spray during an occupy protest last november. the yolo county district attorney's office says there was insufficient evidence to prove the use of force was illegal. a los angeles judge ruled today that california's ban on

flaw graw is to remain in place. they say the law banning the pours feeding of ducks and geese to enlarge is too vague and interferes with interstate commerce. a series of abc7 news i-team investigations lead to the ban that went into affect on july 1st. well, after nearly four hours hanging 300 feet in the air, stranded riders are free and back on the ground tonight. it happened at knot berry farm in orange county on a ride called the wind seeker. for the second time in 12 days by the way the ride malfunctioned and they dangled there hundreds of feet in the air. engineers lowered the ride and got the 20 people off safely. no harm, no foul. now, let's go over to meteorologist sandhya patel for a first check on weather and the conditions outside right now, sandhya. >> let's check out live doppler 7hd, and there is

limited cloud cover for a change. the clouds are slow to return, so just a few patches out there. as we check out those temperatures, you can see they are falling. no cloud cover to keep you insulated. mostly 50s at this hour. bundle up when you head out the door. it is going to be chilly. we have been in this cooler than normal summertime pattern for a couple days. we'll let chan if the change of seasons will bring some warmth. i will be back in a few minutes. >> thanks very much. fogging for the west nile virus is wrapping up in the east bay. contra costa county vector control trucks are spraying areas near highway 4. they are fogging a neighborhood bounded by wilbur avenue, hillcrest avenue and miniker drive. highway 4 and a street. the fogging process started about 7:00 tonight and was expected to wrap up even as we speak. well, still to come tonight on abc7 news at 11:00, big changes for bart. the plans for the new east bay expansion and why the new plan is a little different.

and an unforgettable day for petaluma's little league allstars. their time on the field with the san francisco giants. >> and it claimed that it could follow your voice and feed you popcorn with a single word. tonight, why it is not quite what you think. >> coming up on "nightline" she took the stand only to be cross-examine minuted by her stalker. it is a story of obsession and confrontation. and we will take you in the deadly west nile virus outbreak.

bart wants to expands in the east bay and a public meeting was held to discuss those plans. abc7 news reporter leslie brinkley is live in livermore with the story. leslie? >> that's right. people in livermore have paid taxes to bart for 49 years now. it is about time they had a station here, but there is a lot of debate over that station, what it would look like and even how to pay for it. this is envisioned by bart. a new station in livermore, and in the center, east of the end of the line station now in dublin. >> the proposal is you will go down580. it is short of 5 mile. so there is 4.8 miles. >> it can be agonizing to drive this stretch of road at rush hour, and officials estimate the extension could get 20,000 commuters off the road and on to bart. but residents differ on how to do it. >> i do support the idea of the bart. i think you are making a huge

mistake by putting this next stop where i think it should go all the way to vasco road. >> others are concerned about this being a transit hub where riders connect to buss buss and shuttles rather than a station with a parking lot. >> we need parking. everything i have seen talks about off site parking. they don't talk about parking at the site. >> but as the details are debated, so is the cost. $1.2 billion, and voters have a chance to boost the odds of the extension staying on track. >> it is an extensive project. if measure b1 is approved by alameda county voters this november, that would program $400 million to the project. >> to me this is solving a public health issue. this is getting people out of single occupancy vehicles out of san juaquin county. they are stuck in traffic. we are breathing that.

>> so public chenet was collected here tonight. this is a very long-term project. if that livermore bart station is built, it wouldn't be open until 2020. president aring live in livermore, leslie brinkley, abc7 news. >> thanks. from traveling by rail to traveling by air. if you are flying american airlines anytime soon, heads up. it is cutting hundreds of flights. american and american eagle are can selling 300 flights this week to cope with a high number of sick calls from pilots. it is happening because american imposed pay restrictions on pilots as part of the bankruptcy process. earlier this week the company said it would cut its schedule by 2%. another shout out for the petaluma little leaguers. but this time it happened a giants ball, pa. >> they are being celebrated. lucille jumping in with the petaluma little leaguers. >> they got to meet the players and for some it is a

field of dreams. >> to be able to walk on it, it is amazing. >> i think it is incredible. they are the definition of baseball. this is where it all starts. you know they had some great games that were fun to watch. >> the team came in second in the country in last month's little league world series. how much fun for those young people. good for them. >> the space shuttle endeavor is expected to fly over on friday on route to its final stop in los angeles. tonight it is in houston, texas. it took off from the kennedy space center this morning. it is always a dramatic image as it piggybacks its way to its destination. bay area viewing parties are being held at the berkeley lawrence halve science and the explore for yum and moffet field. we have specifics on when you can see it. we expect it to pass over at

8:30 on friday morning. the question is will the weather cooperate? sandhya patel is back with the full forecast. >> to see or not to see, dan. that is the question. and as shuttle endeavor makes its way up to the state capital first from edwards air force base and then veers out to the bay area, you will run into low clouds on friday morning near the golden gate bridge and around the oakland area. by the time it makes its way toward moffet field, thas saw aimes research center, the clouds will be parting and the marine layer is expected to be shallow by friday morning. i am keeping my fingers crossed. we would love to see your pictures so don't forget to tweet them to me. and we will want you to follow endeavor hash tag stop the shuttle is what you want to do if you are on twitter. it is a quick word about the shuttle. here are your high temperatures for today. it was cooler than average. no doubt about it. look at san jose. it was 68 today and 69 in oakland and 62 san francisco. where is the heat? not here.

77 santa rosa and napa, 81 in antioch. a mild afternoon, but a good 10 to 15 dries -- 15 degrees below where you should be for this time of year. now we will check out live doppler 7hd, and we will show you what it looks like. low clouds will be returning, but right now just one little patch to show you. and some well off the coastline. by morning we will see sun returning. the temperatures in the 50s. 61 in antioch. you will feel the coolness in the air. the clouds keep us insulated. you don't get as much radiational cooling taking place, but the lack of the cloud cover is certainly helping to allow the temperatures to drop. chilly tomorrow morning. low clouds below average. high temperatures again tomorrow with a brief warm upcoming on friday. tomorrow make sure you have a coat or jacket. it will be chilly. 46 napa and 46 santa rosa. we will see the low clouds filling into some areas. 53 san jose and 52 san francisco and certainly cool around the coast and the bay.

here is the area of low pressure. the persistent low with little movement. i know i sound like a broken record. tomorrow we are going with cooler than average conditions again. this low will shift northward willriday we will bump up the temperatures. by the weekend they are going down especially as the low tracks right over northern california and then east to the sierra nevada. cooler than average again. the sierra may see a slight chance of showers beginning on saturday night and continuing right on through t tuesday or so. the highs for your thursday in the south bay. 71 san jose and 61 in sunnyvale. a pleasant day on the peninsula. 69 in palo alto. 50s and 60s coast side. cool with a little cloud cover. downtown san francisco 63 degrees and gets you into the north bay. 74 in santa rosa. nice day in the east bay. not where you should be. 67 oakland. head inland, and it is up t in r 79 in livermore and 78 in concord and around the monterey bay, 61 degrees in monterey. accu-weather seven-day forecast a mild pattern and a

little warmer for the last full day of summer which is friday. autumn arrives at 7:49 and it will remain mild. mid80s inland 1k3* midsiblghts coast. dropping to 78 in the warmest inland valleys the second half of the weekend. upper 50s coast side. mike will be here, dan, from 4:30 to 7:00 a.m. complete weather updates and gets you out the door. >> thank you very much. just ahead here tonight, it is an internet sensation. @

[ female announcer ] every day, there's a new reason not to make a home-cooked meal. work, errands, a greasy bag of deep-fried easy. ♪ fortunately with hamburger helper's 40 varieties a home-cooked meal is never out of reach. hamburger helper. help is on the way. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. and it took the internet by

storm. >> the poponator is a fully automated, voice activated popcorn launching machine that is triggered by the word pop. >> pop. >> well, it turns out that's not quite true. it is a gorilla marketing campaign for a popcorn company that did exactly what its re80ers -- what its creators hoped. they dreamed up the gadget that sphiers popcorn, yes -- that fires popcorn, yes, and catching the popcorn took repeated takes. >> this thing could have been the greatest advancement in human kind since like the wheel. this is a big deal. >> you are going to catch one of 25. >> there is a future here. here is a guy who is grabbing

a lot of poponator products. the giants take a couple of notches off their magic [ male announcer ] this is the opposite of subliminal advertising...

there's no subtext... just tacos. yeah, it's our job to make you want it. but honestly... it's not that hard. old el paso. when you gotta have mexican. i pledge because i want to be the world's fastest swimmer! [ female announcer ] take one giant pledge with your family to eat one more veggie a day. together we can make healthy fun. join green giant on facebook. ho ho ho ♪ green giant

giants are making progress day by day and closing in on the nl west title. giants and rockies high fiveing the petaluma little leaguers. thisy were honored pre game. matt cane on the hill and dealing. carlos gonzalez and you will get nothing and like it. sandoval somehow hit that pitch and down the line and off the foul pole. a three-run shot. the first homer since july 8th. the first in 162 at bats. and the ladies have a message for sandoval. they will be naming their babies panda apparently. cane in the fifth and just a bit outside. a wild pitch loaded the bases with two down and then gets gonzalez on the routine grounder. improves to 15 and 5 and career best 15 wins. giants cruising and buster posey, mvp, mvp. he scores pagan. their magic number is now down to five. >> dodgers and nationals

played a pair today. washington game one. that's thanks to matt kemp with a solo homer in the 9th. 7-6 the final. but they were delaying the inevitable. bad news for brett anderson. bottom of 3 and anderson with a fast ball down the line and past a diving donaldson and two runs score. later in the third and anderson in pain after this pitch strained his right oblique. and then two pitches later, anderson just falls off the mound entirely. he will have an mri tomorrow. really frustrated after the game and poor timing. miguel cabrera and another one tonight. 6-2 the final and a's have lost three in a row. they are now in a second wild card spot half a game behind baltimore. the nfl infood smith $15,000 and his offense was wearing a san francisco giants cap in post game news conferences last season. you are not allowed to wear

nonnfl-sponsored apparel of a competing league in the immediate 90 minutes after a game. it is forbidden or you will pay. now the raiders. rather than get into the intricacies of their blocking scheme with five men moving in unison, it doesn't work, or it is not right now. darren mcfaden has 54 yards through two games rushing. his his fantasy owners are in mild panic. ii -- >> i don't play fantasy football. i play real football. everybody has bad games, so you have to keep pushing for it and get better. >> the quakes and portland play to a 2-2 tie. abc7 sports brought to you by river rock casino. >> thank you. that is this edition of abc news. "nightline" is next.