headlines this afternoon after a a.agreeing to pay more than $2.2 million to settle a consumer protection action. among other things fines for false advertising, pricing discrepancies, failing to honor discount coupons and making statement that's some products were lobing wrlly grown when they're in the z customers say they are always very vigilant. >> they honor coupons but i check receipts when i leave the store f there is something incorrect i go in there ask tell them. i, you know, it's resolved because i make sure that i get what i paid for. >> now, one filing a claim was the district attorney's office >> the fbi launched a task force

to investigate five murders in san mateo. they think it may be connected to a sixth murder, that same year in reno. >> cheryl, this operation is called gypsy hill task force. named after a road in pacifica where one body was found. there is fbi, four police agencies and the county sheriff's department beginning on monday, they'll be knocking on doors and canvassing the neighborhoods asking people if they can remember anything that will help them solve the cases. all killed between january and april, 1976. 18-year-old ser ronnica cas tichlt llo. she was stabbed 32 times and raped. 14-year-old tonya blackwell. last seen january 24th, her body

found in gypsy hills area. she was also stabbed to death. her wounds almost identical to casillo's. 17-year-old paula baxter left seen as she left cappucino high school. her body found behind a church. 26-year-old carol booth seen march 15th last, her body discovered in a shallow grave near kaiser hospital. 19-year-old denise lampy. stabbed to death april 1st in her car at a parking lot in daily city. doug mccool is his partner are former detectives from south san francisco. they investigated one of the murders. >> one of the things that i wasn't satisfied with is not solving this case >> but now there is a chance of bringing closure to the unsolved murders the fbi believes were committed by the same person. >> evidence between a number of

cases. time frame and message to commit the crimes. >> fbi won't go into details but they say an unsolved murder of university of nevada student michelle mitchell in reno have give them new evidence the 19-year-old killed in february, 1976. >> the reno murder occurred in between the time frame of our five murders and recent evidence leads us to believe the reno murder is linked to several of our murders. >> now, here is a bizarre twist. we're told that in 1979 in reno, a woman by the name of kathy woods confessed to the murder of college student michelle michelle and woods was convicted and sentenced to life. so many questions concerning that conviction. a law enforcement source tells abc7 news investigators believe woods may have had a male

accomplice who may committed the other murders. >> thank you. >> police aested tw men they say are responsible for a series of armed robberies in convenience stores. this is security video. you can see one of the men firing a gun into the air. police say the two men committed 20 armed robberies since december. friday an officer spotted the men robbing a store, police chased them down. and the rest of them are identified as a 25-year-old and a 22 year old. >> investigators and a suspect for a surveillance camera. the 21-year-old is being being charged with intent to commit a

sex crime. >> a tree residents begged a city to cut down. the tree took down a power line. work cruise fired up the chain saws on iris street the tree was huge. google maps shows what the tree looked like. there you go. the noise of it coming down woke up the neighbors. >> i was just asleep. i heard a crash. it woke me up. i discovered electricity out. i went to look and investigate. i saw a massive tree in front of the house. >> they're going to have to replace three poles, i guess. we won't have power probably until at least tonight. >> pg&e says all power should be restored by 7:00. >> it looks as though el neeno is coming back. forecasters say if the pacific

ocean warms it could produce warm weather across the state. >> yes. so the prediction center issued this. it's just watching for the possibility of development of el nino. still stray showers showing up. so we'll keep this in the forecast right now. here is the deal. el nino is a warming of the water near pacific and affects weather patterns there is no el nino developing at this time. there is only a possibility within six months. it will depend on whether it develops and the intensity, and last 60 years there have been 16 el ninos half resulted in above-normal rainfall. half, below.

so i'll be back to let you know when you'll need to pull umbrellas out this weekend. thank you. >> that is fascinating. google barge that got so much attention is firmly anchored in the port of stockton the barge floated up the delta. officials told the barge to move after it was discovered that google did not have proper permits. the barge pulled into the port. >> got word after 2:00 in the morning that barge was finally on its way. and it made it here in seven and a half hours. just bringing it up the river. moving pretty fast. all of a sudden they put brakes on parking it there. >> the hope is that it will become a tourist attraction. as to what is inside, rumors range from a data center to a party boat.

>> jean kwan wants to bring 10,000 new residents to her city and build a lot of housing because the housing market there is so hot. wayne freedman joins with us the story. wayne? >> the mayor delivers that speech tonight, she will be talking about that plan and emphasizing the positives but as you know mayor kwan has a lot of critics. check out the mayor's office, today's major item, tonight's state of the city speech. >> oakland always has been picked on over the years but reality is that the facts show the city is on the rise >> the facts as she likes to read them says one critic is a council member. >> she has to be responsible. >> the mayor will announce a plan to build 10,000 new housing units. >> they're mixed income units.

you keep your work force. the people who work in the city in the city. so they can afford to live here. >> still, oakland has a quagmire of problems >> you want to evaluate it. today we have 21 plus. and you know, last year we had 16. we don't talk about the number of shootings and robberies and so forth. >> mayor kwan's biggest hurdle may be perception. >> are you misunderstood? >> depends my who. >> the city manager either quit or as fired depending on who tells the story. two police chiefs have quit the mayor has yet to hire a permanent replacement the mayor faces a tough audience tonight. >> if you want to be the mayor of a big city, have to understand that everything happens is going to be at your feet whether or not you had a

role in it. >> no one will argue with that. from oakland wayne freedman abc7 news. >> well, a lot more to bring you not everyone loves elmo. a street performer tonight defends himself against charges he has no business hanging out with kids. >> also tonight san jose steps up efforts to get the a's. >> and play stations security loophole how children are accessing inappropriate content and sony's response to that. >>

senate failed to take sexual assault investigations out of the chaven command. supporters fell short of the 60

votesnessry. pentagon leadership is against the measure saying officers should have more responsibility not less for conduct of men and women they lead. in the meantime a top prosecutor of sexual assault cases in the u.s. army has been accused of groping a female lawyer colleague. lieutenant colonel has been suspend among allegations he targeted the woman in a sexual assault legal conference in virginia. and the most senior member of the u.s. military to face sexual assault charges today pleaded guilty to three lesser charges his court marshal got underway in north carolina. jeffrey sinclaire faces charges including sexual assault. he's accused of threatening to to kill the family of a female captain if she told anyone he assaulted her. >> a street performer appearing harassing people while dressed as elmo has been in san

francisco. his past is as colorful as the costume. he was arrested in new york for going on an anti-semitic rant, harassing people he admits he once ran a pornographic web site and tried to extort $2 million from the girl scouts. merchants are uneasy and worried he attracts the wrong people. >> i do not discriminate against any person. i've done nothing wrong to anyone, here. >> he says he's not a threat to anyone. he was cited by police on sunday for aggressive pan handling. >> the city of san jose resuming a legal battle to get a's to move south. city attorneys filed papers asking an court to strike down major league baseball antitrust exemption. baseball used that exemption to block efforts by a's eenership to move the team to san jose. a lower court judge dismissed

this case last >> when talking about yien forms, beer, everything that they claim they can regulate who they do business with. >> the court re-a.fwreeed with the request to put the case on a fast track meaning it will be heard as early as may. >> a potential loophole could expose some children to inappropriate content. >> yes. the sony play station four is a htest selling gaming system. controls can restrict content that you might not want your children to see. like violent games or adult content but consumer reports says you can be surprised by what the ps

4s allow. play station four is nba game is a favorite among the teams, some are off limits. >> testers discovered there is other content you can't restrict. including adult games or mature games. kids can view live streams and they can comment and see other comments. also, the play room. it comes preloaded on the ps 4. users can use it to capture video in their own living rooms and then, share it across the play station network. >> anything goes. and those streams are available to view if your parental

controls are cranked up to maximum. >> you may feel safe if you have disabled internet browser in parental controls testers found that didn't block live stream video. sony's web site does provide instructions for blocking the live stream or user again rated content. >> it insolves setting up what sony called a subaccount. >> consumer reports says it isn't very clear. we contacted sony. a spokesperson told us the system design thoepd gamers share their game play through popular social channels it's unfortunate some individuals may abuse this and share inappropriate content. our social media partners are experienced in disabling users who violate terms of service we're working in full cooperation with them to minimize instances.

ps 4 allows owners to block subaccounts from social media. you can find instructions on how you can block live stream content including a play room on our web site. >> great service. >> yes. >> thank you. >> we've had rain but let's see what is coming up. >> santa patel keeping her eye on the sky. >> i can see build ups looking out towards east bay we'll talk about what is coming up for the weekend. there is some showers now. as we look at the sierra nevada truckee seeing light snow. no chain restrictions.

we can see clouds out there. 61 in oakland. now a few is on the cloudy side. santa rosa, napa. from our camera more cloud cover around the financial district. fog develops and we're looking at sunny, warmer weather f you're making plans for weekend saturday is a warmest. mount st. helena picked unan inch of rain. high pressure rebuilding meaning temperatures will be rising over the next few days so we'll get nice weather here before our next opportunity for rain, which

we need. some left over clouds tonight. warmer friday afternoon and we'll see plenty of sunshine out there. fast forwarding to sunday sunday morning rain still up in northern california by afternoon ask evening we'll see lines shifting into the north bay. and a tenth to quarter inch is not a big storm. visibility could be a problem sou might want to leave early for work. low 60s to low 70s a sign of spring for friday afternoon. and it only gets warmer for saturday. low 60s to mid-70s on the accu-weather forecast.

we go to daylight savings time. sunday afternoon evening is our next opportunity for rain but then, temperatures coming right back up again during middle to latter part of the week. temperatures into the 70s. i'm bringing you a little bit of everything. i'm sant sandhya patel. back to you. >> and what struck gold thanks to an influence. >> surprising number and types of people getting tattoos these days. there is one thing anyone getting ink

>> speak with a pure mind. and happiness will follow you. >> the dalai lama delivered opening prayer in the senate today. the spiritual leader is a nobel laurit and spoke in his native tongue. >> pope francis is popular. a survey says catholics are favoring the new pope and he's making them excited about their faith. over the last year, four in ten say they're praying more, among other findings, 71% say pope francis represents a major change for the better. >> we're learning about bat kid's near appearance at the coulds scars on sunday miles scott supposed to appear with actor andrew garfield. well, abc 7 obtained these pictures of hills and his family at the hotel.

the appearance cancelled on the day of the show academy issued a statement saying due to nature of a live show, hard decisions you be made which require academy to cut segments due to logistics of production. and andrew garfield understood and he drove to disneyland on monday to spend time with the 5-year-old and his family. bat kidd stole hearts in november after make a wish granted his wish to become a super hero for a day. >> you may remember when ellen degeneres was collecting money for a tip for the pizza delivery man on sunday. >> what is that? >> lupita's lip balm. that is worth something. >> turns out she was right it became a viral hit. in case you're wondering it's made by a french company clarins. >> well, you know how little

kids can pick up a device and know how it works? >> coming up, gadget gurus. [dad] [lau [boy] mom!ughs] [mom] yes? [boy] whoa,whoa,whoa... [mom and dad] [laughing] [boy] whoa,whoa,whoa... [mom] you've got two left feet,boo.

and the first thing that came to mind is, "can i afford to go to the hospital?" now that i've got covered california, i know that if something happens to me that i'm covered. i'm in. [ female announcer ] everyone deserves health insurance. are you in? visit coveredca.com and get covered today. coming up, california lawmakers under the microscope, tonight the sweeping new proposal to bring better accountability to lawmakers in sacramento. >> also, remembering a hero of the united flight 936789 a new film about mark bingham from his rugby days to his harrowing final moments. >> and we're going to take a look at the impact of social media on astronauts in space

aboard international space station. that and more coming up at 6:00 >> did you know preschoolers are smarter than college kids? >> they're quick. a study found 4 and 5-year-olds can outsmart adults when it comes to how gadgets works. >> researchers say they think in more ab tract ways. >> the study they were less biassed when it came to figuring out cause and affect. >> adults tended to revert to preconceived notions researchers hope to use findings to teach machines to learn oochl they grow up instinctively. >> now for us it's world and new technology. >> years ago i had a flip phone. it was new. i was walking into church and thought i should put it on

silent. two girls maybe ten walked by i said do you have an idea how to do it? they grabbed it, hit three buttons and handed it back to me. >> we want to show you bay bridge tonight and he remind you lights goring to be going out ten minutes. >> tonight all 25,000 of the bulbs on the bridge will go out, part of a one-year anniversary event. it's a reminder try to raise awareness to keep lights on longer than

welcome to "world news." tonight, tightening the grip. the dangerous showdown with russia. america sending fighter jets to the region. and martha raddatz has the news about what is next, tonight. body blow. a defeat for the people challenging military commanders on their authority over sexual assault in their ranks. >> this problem isn't even close to being solved. and desperate to stop her. >> she's talking about jesus. and that there's demons in my house. and that i'm trying to control her but i'm trying to keep them safe. >> tonight, the story behind those pictures. the people who tried to keep that mother from putting her children at risk. and a good evening to you on this thursday night.