that breaking news is happening in walnut creek. a major traffic accident is blocking several lanes along northbound interstate 680 just north of ignacio valley road. according to the chp, ten vehicles collided just before 3:00 this afternoon. that accident has blocked four of the five lanes on 680. the highway patrol says five people were hurt and taken to the hospital. weather is being blamed for that accident. so the best advice is to avoid the area if you can. delays are expected to last at least two hours and we will keep you posted throughout this newscast. good afternoon. i'm larry beil. >> i'm ama daetz. the first of three storms has hit the bay area. there were plenty of seats available at this sidewalk cafe if you didn't mind a little rain

during lunchtime in san francisco's north beach. other folks took cover under umbrellas as they went about their day. lots of wipers and headlights turned on during the morning commute. the highway patrol tells us there has been a slight increase in the number of accidents along bay area freeways and here's a live look at our emeryville camera. hopefully we can get that for you. let's go outside to spencer christian with more on today's rain totals and what's to come. >> we still have some wet spots out there and slippery roadways. exercise caution if you're driving. as you can see, we still have areas of light rain and showers. here's live doppler 7 hd. the heaviest of the rain activity has ended pretty much and moved out of the bay area but we still have areas of light spotty shower activity and some light rainfall, mainly pushing through areas south of the golden gate right now into the peninsula and over to the east and south bay. but again, it is winding down. rainfall totals, for most of the bay area, not much. just trace amounts of it with

san jose one hundredth of an inch but we got 13/100 in san francisco, 12/100 in oakland. nearly an inch and a half up in kentfield. you can see that generally the north bay was the wettest region. this is all we are going to get out of this storm but there is more to come. i will have that for you in a few minutes in the accuweather seven day forecast. >> thank you, spencer. you can see what's showing up on live doppler 7 hd any time you want with the abc 7 news weather app. it's free on apple's app store or google play. we also have more information at abc7news.com/apps. to help with california's draught, san diego gave the green light to spend more than $2 billion to turn waste water into drinking water. >> a purification plant in san jose is proving that concept works. abc 7 news reporter david louie is there to show us how it's done. david? >> reporter: well, the valley water district along with the cities of santa clara and san

jose purify eight million gallons of water a day from this plant. that's water that originated in your kitchen sink, in your washer and even your bathroom and you are going to see me drink it. this $72 million advance water purification plant went online eight months ago. it takes in waste water that has already gone through two steps of treatment at another facility. here it goes through three more steps. microfiltration that removes particles 1/300th the size of a strand of hair. it then undergoes reverse osmosis and the final step is exposure to ultraviolet light for disinfection. >> the water is already drinkable. however, there is no regulation to drink it right from the treatment plant here. >> reporter: this demonstration project like ones in san diego and orange county hope to lead to widespread use of purified waste water some day for drinking. >> it takes getting over hurdles

in your mind to feel comfortable that this water is pure or maybe purer than the water we drink from the tap today. >> reporter: customers confirm they are not ready to drink purified waste water. >> yes, i have a problem with that. the lack of confidence on how pure it would be. >> reporter: it might be ten to 15 years before we see widespread purified waste water in the drinking supply system. the people in the plant are so confident about the progress they made, they say the water coming out today is drinkable. for now, the eight million gallons purchaified are pumped through separate pipes to irrigate turf at levi's stadium and landscaping at office parks. the hope is that once state standards are set later this decade, purified waste water can help to make up for draught. >> because it's drought-proof it will be here for us in the driest periods. other water supplies may be more expensive or not available in the drought years. >> reporter: david louie, abc 7 news.

in upstate new york at least seven deaths are now being blamed on the major storm that is buried the city of buffalo and surrounding communities in more than six feet of snow. a state of emergency has been declared in buffalo and the governor of new york has deployed the national guard to help residents who are threatened by all of this bad weather. take a look at the video captured by a drone flying over a neighborhood in west seneca, new york, not far from niagara falls. that's about the only way you want to go outside there right now. the homeowner flew the drone right down his street showing whiteout conditions. >> this is how heavy the snow can get. one homeowner sent this picture from new york of the snow burst the through the doors. the second round of snow is on the way. marcy gonzalez has more from new york. >> reporter: buried under more than five feet of snow and it isn't over yet. >> it's going to get in some ways worse before it gets better. >> reporter: this record-breaking winter storm is expected to bring as much as two more feet of snow to upstate new

york over the next few days. >> it's pretty incredible. >> reporter: it's already claimed six lives and caused scare after scare. in buffalo, this ambulance transporting a woman in labor was stuck in the snow. ems workers had to carry her six blocks to the hospital just in time for her to give birth. the brutal storm leaving others stranded on streets and highways through the night. the niagara university women's basketball team on their way home from a game were stuck on their bus for 30 hours, surviving on granola bars and melted snow. >> we're trapped in the snow. >> where are you? >> i'm not quite sure. >> reporter: these guys in oregon were trapped in their suv when their gps got them lost in the storm. >> we basically just hunkered down because we figured sleep would be the best thing for us instead of being panicky. >> reporter: snow now covering more than half the country, causing power outages, closing

schools and causing so many to put their shovels to use. >> horrible. back-breaking. >> reporter: so much earlier than they had hoped. so many places where it isn't snowing, it is still incredibly cold, with people from florida through new england dealing with record low temperatures. marcy gonzalez, abc news, new york. tensions running very high today as protesters gathered against a 5% tuition increase at university of california schools that was approved by a committee of uc regents. students blocked the entrance to the regents meeting at uc mission bay and actually shattered a glass door as well. governor brown is on the committee and voted against the increase. >> i don't think you considered alternatives to the structure over time that can actually lower your cost while increasing access and improving quality.

>> that proposal would raise tuition by 5% in each of the next five years. the full board is set to consider this proposal tomorrow. uc president janet napolitano says the increases are needed to protect the quality of education in the face of insufficient state funding. there is still no word if santa cruz high school will reopen after a threatening e-mail forced classes to be canceled today. police want to find the person that e-mailed the principal detailing plans for a mass shooting. the e-mail mentioned where and when the attack would take place. santa cruz high will hold a parents' meeting at kaiser permanente arena tonight beginning at 7:00. sports news. mild panic went through the bay area this morning with an online report indicating there was a 90% chance pablo sandoval would sign with the red sox. hang on. before you burn your panda hat, as of 1:30 pacific time, sandoval's agent told me he had not yet received a formal

offering from the red sox. however, an offer is expected later today or tomorrow. i also spoke with a high-ranking giants executive who said he remains optimistic but all of this is really up to pablo. the fear is that the red sox are going to come in with some blockbuster long term offer, something in excess of $100 million. the giants do not want to go that high but i have repeatedly asked pablo's agent if the giants are still in the hunt and they insist they are. they will have the opportunity to match any offer that comes in. stay tuned. tomorrow could be a big day for the giants and the panda. president obama will speak to the nation in a prime time address tomorrow night to lay out long-awaited plans for immigration reform. >> the president is expected to take executive action to provide legal status for up to five million undocumented immigrants. for many, the plan would remove the threat of deportation for parents of children who are citizens or are legal permanent residents of the united states. republicans are already mounting

a campaign to fight that order. from the oval office today, the president says he is acting because congress has failed to. >> unfortunately, washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long, and so what i'm going to be laying out is the things that i can do with my lawful authority as president to make the system work better. >> the president's order would also provide new guidance for the nation's immigration enforcement agencies but also revamp the h1-b visa process to provide more opportunities for high tech workers from other countries, a move many in silicon valley are looking for. the president will travel to a las vegas high school on friday for a rally to promote this plan. many in the bay area are watching all this very closely, from families caught up in the immigration process to the tech businesses we just mentioned. >> abc 7 news reporter vic lee joins us live with more reaction. >> well, the reactions of course to what president obama is expected to say tomorrow depends on who you are talking with.

some are hoping that he's going to take a bold and inclusive step on immigration. others believe it's congress and not the president that ought to legislate immigration issues. but it's safe to say all eyes are going to be on what he's going to do tomorrow. when president obama came to chinatown in may to talk about immigration reform, the unexpected happened. >> i need your help. >> that's exactly what we're talking about. >> reporter: he was heckled by an undocumented korean graduate student disappointed that mr. obama did not talk about immigration reform. hong is one of the so-called dreamers, young undocumented immigrants who are temporarily protected from deportation and can work illegally in the u.s. the president issued that directive two years ago. hong is hoping that the president will take another bold step and extend the same protection to members of his family. >> my mom or my sister do not

have any protection and i hope the obama administration will include my mom and older sister. >> reporter: leo is a veteran immigration consultant and also a proud republican who is active in his party's politics. he supports what the president is expected to do, protect millions of unauthorized immigrants from deportation and provide work permits. >> i think he can expand those limits and bring more people into the umbrellas where they are temporarily protected until congress does its job, which is to finish immigration reform. >> he got his tail handed to him in the last election and he is acting like a spoiled brat. >> reporter: conservative republicans like steve kemp say mr. obama is overstepping his boundaries. >> to say you are not going to deport anybody, they ought to be at the border and not letting them in to begin with. if they are here, they ought to be looking to get rid of them. >> senate republican leaders are calling the president's action unconstitutional and illegal.

the white house won't go into details, but mr. obama is also expected to broaden the visa programs for highly skilled tech workers. very important for this region and that's something of course silicon valley has been lobbying for. vic lee, abc 7 news. just ahead on abc 7 news at 4:00, caught in the act. south bay police hope this video evidence leads them to a pair of home burglars. see why they thought they could get away with the crime. plus security video of another burglary targeting a prestigious music program in the bay area, and why the school believes this was an inside job. new at 4:30, cosby fallout. what his attorney is saying after another woman has come forward claiming the comic raped her. 7 on your side's michael finney taking your questions on twitter and facebook. he will answer them here live in a few minutes. with the rain comes heavy, heavy traffic. this is a live look at 101 in

san rafael. jammed up in both directions. oncoming traffic heading into san rafael. that is just a sea of headlights and going back the other way towards the golden gate bridge and san francisco, it is going to be a long, slow crawl for commuters. let's get to spencer. >> while today's wave of rain is winding down we have two more storms coming our way. i will have a look at the accuweather wet seven-day forecast coming up in just a moment as abc 7 news at 4:00 continues.

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crowbar wielding burglars and a pair of cats caught by a security camera during a break-in. >> the thieves hit in palo alto and police are on the case. so is abc 7 news reporter wayne freedman who joins us live. wayne? >> reporter: home burglaries are down in palo alto this year but there have still been more than 100. the last was last night and police are asking for your help. it turns out the owner of that home had a security camera installed. they allowed the police to see pretty much everything, including a couple of house cats. this was the scene less than 24 hours ago in an apartment on tanland avenue in palo alto. those are the sounds of two intruders taking a crowbar to the door of a home, one of two curious cats looks on. then decides that's definitely not mom coming through the door, and disappears.

here is palo alto police lieutenant zach parone. >> i think any time someone is victimized in their home, even if they're not home, it's a very distressing event. >> reporter: also quite rare when police have video to hear the intruders' voices and see their faces. while one man goes upstairs, a second guards the door, unaware of the camera apparently until this moment. that's when the video stops. not only did the suspects cover the camera, they ripped it out of the wall and took it with them. but too late. >> i'm sure that camera got thrown away somewhere but the good thing is that it transmitted the images before it was disabled. >> reporter: now police have put out the video hoping for clues to the identities of these two men who made off with jewelry and a computer. take a good look. call if you know anything. as for the cats, they returned later. >> i would not call the cat a hero. however, i'm not sure what word

would best be used to describe either of the cats other than i'm glad they're okay. >> reporter: still enjoying those nine lives, apparently. unharmed and un-chagrined. wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> kitty lives. take a good look at the man wearing the red snow cap in this security video. police say he walked into the san francisco conservetory of music and minutes later walked out with two of their most valuable guitars. they say the man knew how to get around that building. >> they came in at a time when they actually let the public into the upper floors. it's very rare that that happens. but there was a library event and they seemed to have taken a route that avoided security cameras. >> the conservatory of music has one of the top guitar programs in the world. the thief took a guitar worth $25,000 along with an eight string classic guitar worth $5,000. time for a check on the

weather. we know it's raining but for how long? >> spencer christian, well, the umbrella is gone. >> not for much longer. here's a look at live doppler 7 hd. you can see how scattered and widespread or i should say widely scattered the showers are at the moment. we are not getting a lot of rain right now. this system has pretty much played itself out. here's how it looks at sfo. lots of low clouds, some flight days. 60 degrees in san francisco and oakland. 64, moffett field. san jose, 63. upper 50s at morgan hill and half moon bay. looking at lake tahoe, you can see there's no snow on the slopes although the ski season expected to begin this weekend. a lot will have to happen. 66 at livermore and looking westward, from emeryville, doesn't look like any rain is falling in this location this morning. we will see showers diminishing and fog developing tonight. brief heavy rain tomorrow and

rain arrives again saturday morning. here's the satellite and radar composite image. today's front passing through the bay area right now, showers diminishing behind the front. here come the next two storms. storm number two tomorrow with a burst of rain, some locally heavy downpours are likely. another storm on saturday bringing us a rainy morning. let's begin the forecast animation 5:00 tomorrow morning at which point it will be cloudy. rain will arrive in the north bay late tomorrow morning. by midday. in the afternoon we will see rain reaching virtually all parts of the bay area. then the front sweeps on through. there will be pockets of rain and showers behind the front tomorrow evening. then mainly cloudy but dry day on friday. overnight into early saturday morning, we will see some light rain developing, about 1:00 a.m. saturday up in the north bay, light to moderate rain. by late saturday morning, we will see the rain pushing at least south and east of the golden gate and right on through and winding down perhaps by early afternoon. by saturday morning, we will be looking at rainfall totals in the bay area of one to two inches, in the north bay

mountains three quarters of an inch to an inch and a half. santa cruz mountains, three quarters of an inch to an inch. in the sierra, not much expected. maybe a few inches of snow above 7,000 feet tomorrow and mostly rain on saturday. back to the bay area, foggy tonight, low temperatures mainly in the upper 40s to low 50s. tomorrow, we will see bursts of heavy rain, locally heavy at times but not heavy throughout the day. high temperatures mainly right around or just above 60 degrees tomorrow. the accuweather seven-day forecast of course shows mostly cloudy skies friday, rainy morning on saturday, becoming sunny, mostly sunny on monday. then sunny monday, tuesday and wednesday with high temperatures climbing back up to around 70 degrees inland by the middle of next week. we do have some much-needed rainfall coming our way the next few days. >> good. thank you, spencer. there is a new way to fight fat and smooth skin on a part of the body a lot of women consider a problem area. tonight at 11:00, the no surgery

solution for saddle bags. see the difference this treatment is making on abc 7 news tonight after nashville. up next, the creative ways one bay area neighborhood is using to make food without a stove. new after 4:30, a financial nightmare. how one family ended up with a nearly $1 million bill while on nearly $1 million bill while on vacation. and the doctor saw a i weblemish on my cheek.ter, he told me it was skin cancer. i was in shock. i wasn't covered with any health insurance. but once i got covered through covered california, i was able to go get the surgery that i needed. and it was a lifesaver. which means it's time for the volkswagen sign-then-drive event. for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta... and the 2015 motor trend car of the year all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season... just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. hurry in and get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit,

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to enroll, or find free in-person help, go to coveredca.com chris hemsworth just named "people" magazine's sexiest man alive for 2014. thumbs up, thumbs down? >> thumbs up. thumbs up. >> two thumbs up. okay. the announcement made last night on jimmy kimmel live. hemsworth was in australia to accept his honor. >> anything you would like to say to the men who lost, specifically matt damon? >> i learned everything there is about being sexy from matt. pursing the lips in the right

way, squeezing at the essential time. but thank you, matt and all the other previous intelligent men because this is based on an iq test, not just the physical appearance. >> that's right. you are sexy on the inside, too. >> i didn't realize it was all about the brain. the australian actor thanked his parents for what he says are for putting all of this together. you can cap jtch jimmy kimmel l after abc 7 news at 11:00. he has an ongoing comic feud with matt damon. >> hysterical, too. have you ever tried to make an omelet in a coffee cup? >> no. maybe i should. >> that's one of the unique recipes featured in a new cookbook handed out today at san francisco's civic center farmers market. the book features recipes from tenderloin residents who live at single room occupancy hotels. oftentimes sro residents don't have access to a stove so they cook meals using small electric appliances in very tight spaces.

>> slow cooker recipes, rice cooker recipes, microwave recipes, no cook recipes. basically recipes that an individual can do even if they don't have their own kitchen or a full kitchen setup. >> the cookbook includes recipes for meatloaf, stews, salads and even pancakes. they can be made using only a rice cooker. >> remarkable. this could be the beginning of the end of bill cosby's career as an entertainer. a major network pulling the plug on a project with the comedian as more women come forward saying he sexually assaulted them. the latest accusations ahead. the tragic end to the life of a beauty queen. police call it a quote, act of passion. later, courting talent. how one bay area man is bringing communities together by showcasing neighborhood basketball players. female announcer: when you see this truck, it means another neighbor is going to sleep better tonight. because they went to sleep train's ticket to tempur-pedic event. choose from a huge selection of tempur-pedic models,

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making headlines at 4:30, at least seven deaths are blamed on a blast of winter weather that's burying buffalo, new york. nearly six feet of snow fell there. up to three more feet is expected potentially setting a record. abc news reporter gio bennitez tweets from buffalo saying just leaning against a wall of snow.

tempers ran high as students protested a proposal to raise tuition at university of california schools by 5%. a uc regents committee approved the tuition hike. it's set to go in front of the full board tomorrow. abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez will tell us why the governor is against the increase. she will have a live report on abc 7 news at 5:00. the oakland school district is reinstating a controversial curriculum, an optional lesson on convicted police killer mumia abu jamal. laura anthony is live at the high school. laura? >> reporter: hi, ama. the new superintendent did unveil his vision for the school district today and it did not include the mention of mumia. in fact, he may have reinstated the controversial web material but clearly doesn't think it deserves much attention. >> it is our responsibility to have high expectations of students.

it's our job to make sure that you believe in yourselves. >> reporter: while new school superintendent antwaan wilson is promoting his vision of a bright future for the oakland unified school district, he is quietly putting aside a controversy. >> what i won't allow is a diversion around a minor curriculum that is not our major curriculum, not our focus, to be distorted into a message that takes us away from what our primary focus is. >> reporter: that curriculum was part of a web presentation called urban dreams. it had been on the oakland school's website for ten years, a supplemental online material for high school teachers. within a unit on martin luther king there's an activity on mumia abu jamal, serving a life sentence for a 1991 murder of police officer daniel faulkner. the lesson asks students to consider a comparison between king and abu jamal as it relates to alleged oppression from the government. the section was removed from the

website in april after complaints from faulkner's widow and the fraternal order of police. >> i'm really glad that it is being reinstated. >> reporter: retired oakland teacher craig gordon wrote the section that includes the material on abu jamal. >> many believe and a lot of human rights organizations have confirmed that his trial was completely unfair, unjust, so he really hasn't been proven to be guilty of killing anybody. >> reporter: ousd plans to put the urban dreams website back online in the coming weeks. laura anthony, abc 7 news. police in honduras say a beauty queen who disappeared along with her sister last week was murdered by a jealous boyfriend. 19-year-old maria jose alvarado won her title in april. she vanished last week along with her older sister. police now believe that both were shot to death by the older sist sister's boyfriend in an act of passion. the boyfriend along with an

accomplice have both been arrested. alvarado was supposed to be in london for the miss world competition but disappeared three days before the show. their bodies were found buried in a shallow grave. more fallout today for bill cosby. we are just getting word the network tv land is pulling all cosby show reruns. earlier today, the comedian lost another project that was in the works and his standup special has also been postponed. this after yet another woman has come forward with accusations of sexual assault. >> reporter: bill cosby won't be returning to nbc television. the network announced it is pulling the plug on a project with the comedian just 24 hours after another woman has come forward accusing cosby of rape. >> i had been sexually assaulted by this man. >> reporter: in an interview with entertainment tonight, '80s super model janice dickinson claimed cosby drugged and raped

her more than 30 years ago. >> he had given me wine and a pill, and the next morning i woke up and i wasn't wearing my pajamas. >> reporter: today cosby's lawyer called the claim an outrageous lie. the model is the latest to join a firestorm of sexual assault allegations against the comedian dating back to the 1960s. >> i had one glass of wine and the next thing i knew, i was coming to. >> the next thing i remember is waking up in bed naked next to cosby. >> reporter: now netflix is also postponing the launch of a cosby comedy special that was set to premiere next week. a standup performance focused on marriage, relationships and children. despite the accusations, bill cosby has always maintained his innocence and has never been criminally charged. abc news, los angeles. a group of a-list celebrities are teaming up in a new online campaign against the deadly ebola virus.

bono, matt damon, ben affleck and morgan freeman are among the stars. the celebrities ask world leaders to strengthen health care systems in developing countries hardest hit by the outbreak and they do it without saying even a word. the video captures each celebrity sitting silently as they stare into the camera. it is supposed to illustrate that the world is still waiting for leaders to take action against ebola. an arkansas man accused of sexually assaulting a pregnant walmart customer is in jail today apprehended by a fearless fellow shopper. store security cameras captured a man identified as shane owens as he followed his victim through the women's clothing section. police say owens stopped her before groping her. the victim screamed and asked fellow shoppers to catch him. shopper danielle dodd heard the screen and saw owens running toward the exit. she chased him and tackled him to the ground in the parking lot, where police arrived to assist. coming up on abc 7 news at

4:00, a car hits a moped, leaving a woman trapped underneath. she is alive because of what happens next. i'm michael finney. today's 7 on your side q & a is just ahead. i'm still taking your questions on twitter and facebook. you can contact me right now at facebook.com/michael finny abc 7 and on twitter at m. finny. . i'm spencer christian. live doppler 7 hd showing just a few pockets of light rain and showers right now. today's storm is winding down but two more are coming our way. the forecast in just a moment. a live look at walnut creek where all lanes have recently reopened along northbound interstate 680. at least ten cars were involved in a crash. the northbound is slightly heavier traffic on the left-hand side. if you still want to -- you do want to still avoid the area because look at all the red on the traffic map. stay with us.

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a wildlife photographer snapped this picture of a curious grizzly bear last month in british columbia. now we are seeing what happened before the photo was taken. the grizzly checking things out. >> just peering. >> what kind of camera you got there? he goes back a second time, let me take a closer look at this thing here. nice lens, buddy. then he leaves. the photographer said it seemed like the bear was just being

like a kid. more than a dozen good samaritans banded together to save the life of an injured woman last week. >> the deed was captured on video from eastern china. >> the woman is riding on a scooter with another man when they are suddenly hit by a vehicle. she's pinned under the wheel of the car. it looks grim. >> but watch as 20 people gather together around the sedan and pick it up with their bare hands, just brute force strength here and adrenaline. they raise it enough to allow the woman to be pulled from underneath and she's pulled out. taken to the hospital. the man was not hurt. >> incredible. the buffalo bills are snowed in and with more snow on the way, team officials say they don't know if they will be able to clear all the snow at ralph wilson stadium in time for sunday's game. they say it takes three days to clear one foot of snowfall. the team is actually offering free tickets and an hourly wage to anyone who will help shovel. the bills sent out this tweet

today. just how much snow needs to be removed? 220,000 tons. >> that's a lot of snow. i bet you they get it done. they have been through this before. they find a way to get it done. the problem is if more snow is coming in, it seems like you are just bailing away. we don't have to worry about that. just a little rain around here. >> exactly right. still a little rain around here, literally. that's why the umbrella is back up. we had rainbow sightings today. check out this picture. this is somewhere under the rainbow today. a look at live doppler 7 hd, we can see that much of the bay area now is beginning to, well, i won't say dry out because it's still wet, but the showers are winding down. they are widely scattered, very light. little bit of activity on the peninsula and santa cruz mountains and that's just about all we have at the moment. tomorrow, the national weather picture shows more brutally cold winter weather in the upper maryland west and northeast. snow will continue to blow

across the great lakes into new england. high temperatures tomorrow at 18 in fargo, 17 in minneapolis, 24 in chicago, 37 st. louis. it will be rain over much of northern california tomorrow as well. that includes the bay area. we will see periods of heavy rain, locally heavy tomorrow as this system blows through. high temperatures tomorrow only the upper 50s to low 60s. saturday, the big game, stanford at cal at 1:00 p.m. game time, look for mostly cloudy conditions, chance of showers. as the game goes on, later into the afternoon, the chance of showers will diminish. good luck to both teams. maybe the game will end in a tie. still ahead on abc 7 news at 4:00, a followup to the backlash from a new barbie book, the fixes being made online to give it a different message. plus the dream vacation that turned into a financial nightmare. why a couple was hit with a nearly $1 million medical bill. i'm michael finney from 7 on your side. can a company ask for a 50%

deposit on a big item purchase? that answer next in my q & a

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7 news at 11:00 about the controversial barbie book that's drawing fire for its negative portrayal of women working in the tech world. the book shows barbie venturing into computer engineering. just a few pages in she needs tech support from her male friends to accomplish tasks. the book has elicited an angry response and some people have taken it upon themselves to rewrite passages entirely, uploading their versions online. here's an original passage from the book. her friend steven says to barbie it will go faster if brian and i help. barbie says great. one person rewrote it to have barbie say programming is not a team sport. the book's publisher mattel has not responded to requests for comment. check out the doll known as the normal barbie, with the typical proportions of 99-year-old wom9a 19-year-old woman. it also has scars, stretch marks and cellulite.

the doll creator wanted young women to know average is beautiful. a cautionary story about a $1 million baby and a canadian couple now facing bankruptcy. meet baby reese. adorable. her early arrival came with a hefty price tag. jennifer was six months pregnant when she traveled to hawaii last year. she got blue cross travel insurance and her doctor did clear her to fly. but just two days into her vacation, her water broke and she spent six weeks on bed rest in a hawaii hospital. reese arrived nine weeks early and spent two months in intensive care. the treatment cost $950,000. blue cross is refusing to pay, citing a high risk pregnancy. >> it's a very sad situation to be in and people need to be aware that insurance companies will deny you if they have anything they can go on. >> jennifer says she had been treated for a bladder infection. her doctor wrote to blue cross saying that infection did not lead to early labor but her

coverage was still denied. 7 on your side's michael finney is here answering questions sent to him by facebook, twitter and e-mail. debbie e-mailed when buying a hot tub and the company says it will take four weeks the arrive, but they require a 50% deposit, can they ask for that big of a deposit? >> yeah, they sure can. there are no rules on deposit when buying an item like that but you have to be very very careful. especially with hot tubs and items that cost that much money. giving that much up front, you have to make sure you totally trust these people. are they a big corporation, have your friends used them, did you go online and look at reviews? i would be very very careful. you can't expect them to order an item and show up at your house and install it and then you pay them. that's true. but be very very careful. >> this is a question a lot of people will be wondering about. i'm having a holiday party and i want to provide my guests access to ride services so they don't have to worry about driving home if necessary. got any ideas? >> yeah. got a lot of grade ideas for

this. they have taxi and uber and all that but there are these services that are absolutely fabulous. what they do is come up with a car and an additional driver and that way they hop in your driver's seat and you and your car get home. let me name you three of them right now. we drive, my red cap which i get a lot of good reports on, and be my designated driver. none of this is cheap. the majority of them charge an up-front fee like $25 and then a couple bucks a mile, maybe even three bucks a mile. it's a lot cheaper than a dui and a lot safer. >> nice that that person's even concerned. what is the base rate of yearly income for seniors to file income tax returns? >> if you are over 65, it is $11,500, normally, usually, generally, notice how careful i'm being here, taxes are very very difficult. it's normally about $11,500.

you really need to talk to a tax professional or call the irs and ask for help. they are pretty helpful. great website now. irs.gov is fabulous. ready to get hyped up for saturday's big game between stanford and cal? check this out. ♪ >> the cal band played the university fight song at the start of the annual big game luncheon in san francisco today. >> the event organized by the guardsmen to benefit at-risk kids. this year's luncheon did not have the good-natured rivalry of the past. the stanford band did not show up. stanford football coach david shaw skipped the event for a second straight year. come on, you got to show up to the guardsmen luncheon. coming up, changing the rules. the san francisco investor trying to pump up basketball by taking players off neighborhood courts and putting them center court. i'm cheryl jennings. coming up, the largest outdoor bar in north america is coming to the bay area. it's part of a new sports

stadium packed with technology for fans. we will take you inside for a sneak peek. and san francisco based company accused of discrimination brought on by its asian customers.

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go to coveredca.com coming up tonight on abc 7, the middle airs at 8:00 followed by the goldbergs, modern family and blackish. after that, nashville 10:00, then join dan and me for abc 7 news at 11:00. a san francisco man is a unique philanthropist trying to combine his love for basketball into a new concept he believes benefits the game and the players. >> abc 7 news reporter carolyn tyler has a story you will see only on 7. >> reporter: jake anderson left a job as a venture capitalist in silicon valley to pursue a passion. he wants to change the game of basketball and change lives.

he founded the run and only. he finds the best players in neighborhood gyms and on the courts in san francisco and invites them to compete. the games are free to the public. >> it's meant to be an effort to give terrific basketball players a chance to showcase their talent. it's meant to bring the community together in something that's truly exciting and different and it's meant to be a form where we can adjust the rules of basketball to usher it into the modern era. we got rid of halftime, free throw, all those things considered sacred. >> reporter: they showed us some of what takes place. a 20 minute full throttle high octane four-on-four game and the players are paid. a minimum $75 if they are on a losing team, up to $300 if they are winners. >> it's more about competing than money but the money is nice. it does help. >> like a lot of us can play basketball real good, even at the professional level but there's a few barriers we may

not have broken to get to that next level. i think it's a good start. >> reporter: anderson and his wife deborah expect to spend about $7,000 each game for the next year. they will also send the guys to classes on financial planning and health care options. the 34-year-old who injured himself playing the game he loves hopes to turn run and only into a bona fide business, replicating his fast-paced games in cities nationwide. and his lofty goal, shaking up the nba. >> if we help improve the game of basketball, we are going to be really excited. >> reporter: the next game is saturday at gateway high. in san francisco, carolyn tyler, abc 7 news. >> pretty cool. thank you so much for joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00. i'm ama daetz. >> i'm larry beil. abc 7 news at 5:00 begins right now with dan and cheryl. [ chanting ] students in a tirade over a

tuition hike. how much they plan to raise the cost of going to class and when a decision could be made. you wouldn't drink toilet water but what if you were told the water is clean and safe? the plan to help with the drought not far from reality. this is an umbrella day in the bay area. we are tracking a wet wednesday. i'm abc 7 news meteorologist sandhya patel. one down, two more storms to go. i will let you know when the live doppler 7 hd will be tracking more rain coming up. an angry confrontation over a tuition increase at uc. the school says a hike is necessary to ensure a quality education but students -- >> i probably won't be able to go to school next year because i won't be able to afford it. >> today the university of california tentatively did approve a proposed tuition increase.

thanks for joining us. i'm cheryl jennings. >> i'm dan ashley. the final approval could come tomorrow. students are furious at being asked to pick up more of the tab as state funding continues to dwindle. abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez is live at the mission bay campus with the story. >> reporter: the planning in fa that tuition hike and let me assure you, most of the time, the full board of regents will follow a committee vote. students rallied outside, others tried to get inside, struggled with police. one glass door was broken. one student was interruptions during uc regents meetings have become all too common. so is the discussion on why the uc system doesn't seem to ever have enough money. much of the blame is put on the state and its lack of proper funding. >> we need to do what we need to do and the way to really do it is for the state to step up and give us back the money we need

to accomplish the things that clearly we are demonstrating we are on the road to accomplishing. >> reporter: uc argues what the state gives them is not enough. that's why president janet napolitano proposed a tuition hike, an additional $612 a year. over five years, tuition for a california resident would increase from $12,192 to more than $15,000. >> we need a long term financial plan that will allow us to grow california enrollment, maintain our unparalleled financial aid program and reinvest in academic programs. >> reporter: governor jerry brown promised the university of california would get four years of general funding increases as long as tuition levels remained flat. today, he voted against the fee hike. >> there is money available. we are not talking there's a scarcity here that makes it