to talk to the man in the car. and then just moments later, the woman ran up the street yelling that he had attacked and chased her. >> the incident happened august 16 at 2:00 in the morning. the suspect, 53-year-old veteran patrol officer gregory thompson. >> according to police, thompson was arrested for attacking the woman as she walked down clinton avenue. near where thompson's late father once lived. an empty house that's now for sale. >> this is a seemingly random attack. we don't know if this was a person he was looking for or if he was a mistaken identity. >> police say the victim had run out of gas and was walking down the sidewalk. wearing a mask, the suspect smashed the car and hit the woman with the bat. >> a witness described a male with a mask and a baseball bat walking to that vehicle. and they later discovered the mask on the floor board of the vehicle and the bat in the trunk of the car. >> there was no answer at thompson's home, and his attorney had no comment.

the rich monday neighbor says she has police officers in her family. >> and i would say, you know, 90% of all police officers out there are wonderful, amazing men and women that are trying to protect and do what's right. >> while police investigate, the da is deciding whether to fres charges. walnut creek can put thompson on paid administrative leave. the nfl has suspended 49ers linebacker aldon smith for the first nine games of this season. the league says smith violated substance abuse and personal conduct policies. this is a huge blow to the niners because smith is the team's top pass rusher. he's been a force in the preseason. abc 7 news reporter david louis joins us lye now from police headquarters with more. david? >> well, larry, from all indicati indications, the niners were prepared to lose aldon smith, possibly for as many as eight games or as few as four.

but this nine-game suspension, a big surprise for everyone. but it will take a toll, of course, as you mentioned on the defense. but it will also hit aldon smith in the wallet to the tune of $1.25 million. he's being suspended without pay. nfl commissioner roger good dws ell is suspending smith for violation of the league's personal conduct and substance abuse policies. you might recall that smith was arrested for drunk driving after smashing his car into a tree in san jose. he was charged with possession of assault weapons after sheriff's deputies were called to his san jose house after some uninvited guests stabbed smith and another person. then in april, he was arrested for allegedly making a false bomb report at los angeles international airport. but that charge was dropped. now, 49ers general manager issued this at the same time. aldon has taken responsibility for his actions and continued to show growth personally and professionally. we will continue to support him. it's time to put this matter behind us and focus on the season ahead. >> nine games is pretty --

that's a lot of gapes. that's going to hurt us. >> how do you think the team is going to handle it? >> i think they're prepared for it. you know? but i don't think it's going to be an easy -- it's going to hurt. >> i don't know. i guess everybody is going to have to step up. >> do you think it will be demoralizing? >> no, no. they just need to focus and move forward. >> this is video of smith when he appeared in superior court in san jose six weeks ago on the drunk driving and assault weapons charges. he was put on three years' probation and told to do 11 days of community service, such as picking up litter along a highway. neither the team nor the nfl has indicated what smith can or cannot do during his nine-game suspension. but one source tells us it may be possible, may be possible for smith to work out with the team so when his suspension is over, he'll be able to rejoin the team

for the november 9 game against new orleans. abc 7 news. all right, dave, thank you. the state assembly has passed a passage of water bill designed to regulate ground water use. it would be the first time the state's ground waterñr supply would be regulated. right now, the state only regulates water pumped from reservoirs and rivers. the bill requires local governments to take steps to sustain aquifer levels by 2040. democrats and republicans from the central valley oppose the bill. they think the sound of rushing water would be a good thing in the middle of a drought, but there was a concern it might signal a crack in a da after the napa earthquake. the dam had been checked and given the all-clear. the green valley and wild forest creeks are normally dry. the creeks are down street from dams that hold back water for two reservoirs. lillian kim is live in green valley with more.

>> reporter: cheryl, there's been a consistent flow since sunday, not a huge rush of water by any means, but it's enough for residents to ask, where is the water coming from? is when water started appearing in green valley creek immediately after sun's 6.0 earthquakes, residents started e-mails each other. they said there's water flowing in the creek right after the earthqua earthquake. what's going on? the fears are there's fish sures in the dam or there's a pipe broken. >> there's two dams upstream. the city of vallejo managing the water system and today, an inspector confirmed none of the dams sustained earthqua earthquake-related damage. instead, the water is coming from the ground. two fish sures in the rock caused by the earthquake. >> our suspicion is this phenomenon will, as these pockets of water drain down, that it will return to a normal

flow pattern. that's our expectations. >> residents are hoping the water is indeed coming from the ground and not because of any structural damage. the green valley homeowners association is in the middle of a lawsuit with the city other cost of water. so any earthquake damage would add another variable to the legal battle. >> we have 800 families in this area that are paying a huge municipal water system, which vallejo used to use. the costs are already high. >> the possible silver lining in all of this, tests confirm the ground water is safe. the city of vallejo will begin treating it to be used as drinking water. people in the south bay may have felt a couple of earthquakes this afternoon. two of them hit in the very same spot between ridgemark and holster. the strongest one, a magnitude 3.5 just after 4:30. the other one, 3.0, hit around 2:45. we have not had any reports of damage or injuries we will keep you posted. federal assistance is not yet available for victims of sunday's 6.0 napa earthquake,

but today, the first step was taken in the process to free up that money. federal emergency management agency crews arrived in napa and teamed up with local and state inspectors. they're looking for four things in each building they inspect. the extent of damage, the number of people displaced, the health and safety problems and the total cost of the damage. >> we're going to gather that informing for the state, as well as for the governor to make that decision, whether they're going to ask the federal emergency management agency for a federal request. once that federal request comes in, then we'll look at all the damages and all the assessments that we looked at and provide that to the president and the white house. if the president decides to declare a national disaster, quake victims would then be able to apply for federal aid. and city officials in napa say there should be no water line leaks left and water service should be reer toed to all customers right now. 2.6 million pounds of debris from the quacollected. more than 95% of the wineries

are now open. >> one tour fwus company says business is down following the quake, but drivers are assuring people that the vineyards and tasting rooms are not only safe, they're not to be missed. we havm lore from san francisco. . >> reporter: driver kenneth green cheerfully greets his passengers at fisherman's wharf. they're napa pound and thirsty. bennett harris is in the group. >> if i hadn't been planning to come out, i would want to choose to come now. >> he booked his nap that tour after the earthquake, for a bigger reason than just wine tasting. >> i was in new york shortly after 9/11. and i remember from that experience that the people in new york were very excited to have people still come, you know, to still have confidence in the commerce there. >> reporter: drivers with wine country shuttle tours says labor day is usually a big week for them. the last hurrah of summer, but they say business is down

because of the earth quake. >> about 10% of people who are contacting us are saying they're a little uncertain if nap that is okay to go out there and if it's safe to be in napa. >> these drivers who have been there every day since the quake say yes. you would almost never know anything had happened. almost. >> the only thing that i actually notice was a bump in the highway as we actually passed the earthquake fault. >> just a bump in the road, nothing for these tourists from new zealand. >> we're used to it. we had one a couple of months ago. that's okay. it happens .3. >> the bust drivers tell us it's harvest time. so an especially nice time to go and see the vineyards. i also talked to a representative from winecountry.com. thf a long list of events through their website. no cancellations. everything is 100% go. abc 7 news. and a reminder, there's still a very big need for aid. and here's how you can give where you live. simply text the word red cross

to 90999, a $10 do nation will appear on your next cell phone bill. >> and we have a lot more to get to. from fake shoes to fake drugs to fake football gear. custom officials have just about seen it all. but even they were surprised by what they found in san francisco. also also, harvest time in the valley. extending almond orchards right in the middle of a record drought. >> today's free stuff is all about food. hang around, it's coming up in just a few minute ps. >> if you're debating between coffee and a short nap to stay awake, perhaps ushtd try both. abc 7 news at 5:00 continu

so many of us will be on the road this labor day beekd. this is a live picture of the traffic situation. when i first saw this an hour and a half ago, i thought it was a still photo because cars weren't moving at all. it's still slow on the right hand side coming back from 580. it's a little bit better, but still pretty slow. experts expect more than 3 million -- how many caliifornians? 3 million californifornians to e to a holiday destination this weekend. jammed up in both directions. you're also seeing the off ramp there coming off of harry sop. but the traffic situation may be worse for a few reasons. in particular, we've got the joonts game tonight. also seismic work that closes the northboundç lanes on interstate 280. the impact will be felt throughout the holiday weekend. hard hat and all is live with more. alan?

>> and progress is moving along on schedule. as you can see, cal trans is almost finished cutting away the section of i-280. 56 feet across and 24 four feet wide. this four-day closure will allow cal trans to replace two hinges with larger ones, giving the span more flexibility. that means this stretch of i-280 is closed from the 101 function to king street. the southbound lanes of i-280 will stay open. let's take a look from the camera where you can see northbound traffic being diverted on to highway 101. it looks smooth right now, but we could see some gridlock when those giants fans start traveling up the peninsula for tonight's game at 7:00. as for construction, there have been no problems. >> we built in seven extra hours into the schedule because this closure, as opposed to the earlier closures, we have two hinge replacements to do. they're on schedule right now to meet that deadline tuesday

morning at 5:00 a.m. >> tuesday morning at 5:00 a.m. now, i want to show you what they're replacing. this is a hinge where two sections of the bridge interlock with a depth of about six inches. the new hinges will interlock with a depth of three feet. by the way, cal trans inspects the hinges on all portions of the bridge after the napa quake and they all passed without any problem. we'll be back at 6:00 to check on the progress here as well as the traffic. for now, i'm alan long, reporting live along i-280 in san francisco. abc 7 news. all right, thank you. and we are learning more about a fatal accident between a car and a pedestrian this afternoon. police say a man in his late 80s was standing in the median on winchester boulevard and hamilton avenue when he fell back into traffic. this is the view from sky hd. a passing car hit him. he was dead when paramedics arrived about 1:45. police say the man had just finished having lunch with his

wife at the nearby burger king. detectives say the driver is cooperating did not have drugs or alcohol in his or her system. traffic should return to normal in that area within the hour. and volunteers moved quickly to help free a humpback whale caught in a fishing line in monterey bay. a whale watching tour first spotted the distressed whale caught in a line yesterday. it recorded a team of volunteers authorized by noaa. sailed from lost landing to free the animal. lucky the humpback was able to free itself and rejoin its pod before the team arrived. but you can see all the netting around it. the team volunteers said they had to bull a crab pot buoy and 200 feet from the line from the water. about 30% to 50% of humpback whale population in the north pacific have entanglement scars. >> the journey to america stopped at sfo for a bunch of giant mill peeds being shipped to the san joaquin valley. you can see what custom and border protection agents found

when they kplaed packages at the airport postal facility. the package arrived from germany and was mislabelled toy car model. federal law requires special permits to import exotic animals. the foot-long mill peeds, all 20 of them, are now at the u.s. department of agriculture. >> harvesting is in full swing in the central valley. peanuts are the most eaten nut. they're a high cash and water intensive drought. prices rising and almond farmers have increasingly diverted water from other crops to grow the almo almond. 80% of the world's almonds are grown right here in california. and they use up to 10% of the state's water supply. more on the harvesting from fresno county. >> reporter: long before you enjoy smoked almonds or have an almond joy, the nuts must first be shaken off the tree and harvested. the activity in almond orchards is nonstop during this time of year.

the also mondays are then taken to t holler to be shelled. dennis says the almond harvest, like many other crops, came a few weeks early this year. >> we had a hot summer, a warm spring. everything came on earlier. and just kept going. >> almond growers have steadily increased their almond acreage to take advantage of high prices. this year, almonds purr chaszed grapes as fresno county's top crop. many farmers continue to pull out other crops to plant more almonds. fresno county ag commissioner les wright saw the value of almonds jump 16% last year. >> at the same time, we're losing acreage in peaches, plums, nectarines, big loss of acreage in raisin varieties. and they're being replaced by nuts, in particular almonds, pistachios. >> as worldwide demand for

almonds rises, valley growers continue to increase the supply. >> we just planted a new block last week. something else new. here we are in september, we're planting almonds. >> reporter: products like almond milk have given the industry a big boost. in carruthers, abc 7 news. all right, scientists say having coffee and then a 15 to 20 nap is actually the best combination to make you feel alert. it takes 15 to 20 minutes for the caffeine in coffee to work in the brain. this according to researchers at the university of britain. they say the cough even if and sleep interact with a molecule in the brain which makes you feel drowsy. they found that a nap that ends as the caffeine clears the brain of the molecule has most people raring to go. >> hey, larry and cheryl. i like mochas, but i can't have caffeine and then go down for a nap.

i just can't see how you could do that. just revs you up, right? if you're making plans for the weekend, clouds are around here, looking down the embarcadero. so many happening this weekend. right now on live doppler 7 hd, watching a lot of mid and high-level clouds moving in. courtesy of what was once hur taken marie. the green that you're seeing there is moisture up in the clouds. it's actually not reaching the ground, what we call virga. evaporating before it hits the ground. it's just way too dry. here's my beautiful view from the south beach camera. looking out toward the bay. temperatures, 63. san francisco, oak has had 68. 73 in san jose, 81 in gilroy. some fog over san francisco from our tower camera with the high clouds up above. santa rosa is at 79. still in the 80s around fairfield and livermore, concord. the highs so far today have been in the mid 60s to low 90s.

most areas, cooler than yesterday, thanks to the extra cloud cover. from our east bay hills camera, a beautiful view from those clouds moving in. and here's at look at the forecast. high clouds and coastal fog tonight. mild to warm weather, right on through monday, which is your labor day holiday. if you have the day off, weather is going to look nice here. remnants of marie heading in our direction. that's why we've been seeing all the cloud cover today. and we'll continue to see harmless high clouds going into your saturday morning. but saturday afternoon, evening, things will start to improve. so tonight, we have the fog around, clouds around up on top. and tomorrow we you'll start to notice it brightens up. it's going to be a sunny, holiday weekend. pleasant weather, a wide range of temperatures. so let's talk about what's happening. temperatures in the mid 60s to mid 70s. clouds will clear for sunshine. it will be a beautiful day. if you're going to basically the

art and wine festival, that usually draws thousands of people. clouds mid 60s and low 70s later in the day with plenty of sunshine. and if you're going to the oakland pride parade and festival, the weather couldn't be better. mostly sunny afternoon. tomorrow morning, it's going to be a cloudy one. fog down below. temperatures, upper 50s to low 60s. a mild morning tomorrow afternoon. 82 san jose. a warm one on the peninsula at 80 in redwood city. 68 in half moon bay. downtown san francisco, 70 degrees. we'll hold on to a little bit of fog and daily city. in north bay, 87, napa, a bright day on the east bay, a mild one, 75 oak inland. 89 livermore, 92 in antioch. we'll bump up the temperatures for labor day. low 70s to mid 90s beach weather. then cool it down next week. middle of the week we'll drop you down to the 80s.

cheryl, larry? >> finney's friday free stuff next. >> and at 6:00, the inspiring solution by some bay area students on a humanitarian mission to h

>> my favorite time of the week. finney has food. i'm starving. >> all food, all the time. >> bring it on. >> a local product. let's start with that right there. >> you trust me? >> whipped cream cheese from challenge dairy. this stuff would be great as a dish or frosting bagels for sure. crackles. >> what's a crackle? >> they're good on crackers, too. not only crackles, but crackers. >> pork riends, you know. >> this thing would taste good on my scripts. >> $2.49 value.

now check this out. i just ate one of those actually. >> the whole thing? >> i know. is that incredible? >> my goodness. that may be the best asian noodle salad i've ever had. i'm not kidding you. this is from ross valley kitchen. the red hills shopping center. it's an ingredient driven casual eatery. family-friendly place. $9.50 value. it is definitely worth that. i never eat a full thing here. i take a bite, make sure i know what it tastes like. i powered through that. >> so good. >> it is the exact right of mix. it's really, really good. check it out. get one of those for free. >> going to tell us how to get them? >> i'm going all right. >> everyone else here, you need to dial this number. 800-546-7177 or log on to abc7news.com. >> and you make a great dinner, right? >> thank you.

still ahead, manny pacquiao in the house. coming up, we'll explain why the boxer is at giants ballpark.

coming up new at 6:00, earthquake recovery. now in full swing in napa. but why was the city's emergency alert system never activated? also, rounding after getting red tagged. 7 on your side michael finney on what it takes to get back on your feet. and the disturbing number of unwanted horses in california and the tireless effort by local volunteers to keep them from being sent off to slaughter. that's all coming up in half an hour on abc 7 news at 6:00. all right, see you then. >> well, the dream of winning the u.s. open is on hold for the moment for a 15-year-old. >> a defeat certainly did not stop the capture of tennis fans in new york.

>> wow. usually you hear chanting like that at tennis matches. the 15-year-old saw her run at the open end last night in three sets. ellis came in a match ranked 1208 in the world. and dias ranked 48th. >> first 15-year-old to win an open match since 1996 since anna kournikova. >> wow. the giants will have a real heavy hitter at the park when they take on the milwaukee brewers tonight. >> boxing legend manny pacquiao is not play pg he did put on a giants uniform today. he stops at the at&t park, part of a worldwide tour promoting his nextfight. both fighters will throw out ceremonial first pitches this evening. facemask ow plays basketball for a team he owns in the philippines. he's going to put that on hold as he preparis for his championship fight.

>> still exciting, though. this is "world news tonight." terror threats. isis on the march. a major american ally saying an attack is highly likely. and news that teenage girls from the u.s. are being recruited to join the terror group. wicked weather. tornadoes, flash floods and severe storms on the way. ginger zee is here. and, fighting for her life. comic legend joan rivers, what her family is saying tonight. good evening on this friday night. david muir will be here anchoring "world news" starting monday.