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tv   ABC7 News 500PM  ABC  November 21, 2014 5:00pm-5:31pm PST

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inspected was august 2013. this toyota camry is where the window washer landed after falling from the roof of this building at 400 montgomery street. he was taken to sf general. the driver of that car narrowly escaped being critically injured as he was turning left on to california street. >> i made my left turn, and then i see something hit my car very hard and the impact was really hard. i didn't know what it is. >> reporter: after landing on the car, the window washer fell on to the street. witnesses ran to help. >> he was aware and as we spoke to him, explained to him help's on the way. >> i'm a premed student so i said go get him towels right now, he's definitely unconscious, we need -- and he's bleeding from the ears. >> i walked up next to him, i said you're going to be okay, just keep breathing because he was, he was breathing.
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he couldn't respond. >> reporter: the man worked for century window cleaning in concord. >> working on the 11th floor setting up the apparatus and there was some type of accident and one individual fell off the window washing apparatus. >> reporter: the victim may have slipped as he was adjusting the cables of this rig. he apparently had not clipped himself on to the safety line. >> we figured out who he was by the equipment he was wearing. he had a safety harness and whatnot on. >> reporter: he had the harness on? >> yeah. he was wearing a harness. >> reporter: the window washer was taken to the hospital. meanwhile, the driver's wife came to pick him up. they both can't believe he was not hurt. >> i couldn't believe he wasn't hurt. because i saw the picture he texted me the car. i honestly think he wasn't okay until i got here. >> i'm happy that i didn't get hurt and i'm happy that he is okay, hopefully he can make it. i pray for him that he can make it. >> reporter: in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> a lot of people wish him
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well. san francisco transit police and fire crews are investigating a small fire that caused a 20 minute delay on cal train this afternoon. it happened around 3:30 in the afternoon near 18th street inside one of four tunnels used to transport commuters into the city. officers say homeless encampments in the area may be responsible for that fire. right now investigators are trying to figure out what caused a truck trailer to catch fire on interstate 80 in berkeley this afternoon. three lanes of 80 westbound and the gillman street on-ramp were closed for more than two hours as firefighters worked to put that blaze out. the truck driver didn't even know his big rig was on fire until other drivers honked at him to pull over. amazingly with all of that, nobody was hurt. a little boy is awake from a coma after surviving a 225 foot fall from a cliff in the north bay 11 days ago. 4-year-old sebastian johnson was at bodega bay with his family earlier this month, got too close to the age while throwing rocks and fell nearly 23 stories
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to the ground. he suffered head injuries and multiple broken bones but his dad says to abc 7 news that sebastian is slowly improving. that's some good news. >> very much so. san mateo police have arrested a man now accused of driving under the influence and swerving on to a sidewalk, hitting three special needs students and their teacher. officers arrested the 53-year-old on a $350,000 warrant. this happened back on september 10th. this is video of police questioning him after his car crashed into those boys. ages 15, 16 and 18, and their 28-year-old teacher near hillsdale high school. the victims were part of a special education class, taking a walking field trip to learn about life skills. police waited to arrest him until after they fesinished the investigation. none of the injuries was critical. we want to show you something that sort of looks like a curb. this is one of several barriers being added to the middle of some north bay streets. abc 7 news reporter wayne freedman tweeted out these
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pictures today. the barriers are being constructed in preparation for the new rapid transit train to protect people who might want to cross lanes to cross the tracks. take a look at this damage it has caused. these are drivers who don't see it coming. wayne joins us now with the story you will see only on abc 7 news. >> reporter: behind me is the latest b.a.r.t. train construction project in sonoma county. you can take a look at it. it is a concrete median on corona road, one of several in the county designed as a safety measure to keep drivers from jumping around railroad gates. it's described as safety. critics say these safety measures are creating a new hazard because most of those medians are not as well marked as this one. it is three weeks old and already battered. this traffic median on railroad avenue in sonoma county, pretty much unmarked except by the cars that in the last three weeks have hit it. >> number one, you can't see them.
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they need to be taller or they need to be wider. >> i have counted at least five serious impacts, hard enough to break concrete and more tire scuffs, i can't tell you how many of those there might have been. >> reporter: greg makes no excuses for the fact he's critical of the upcoming commuter smart trains, saying the new medians have made his job easy. even sonoma county's supervisor and smart board member david rabbid admits there is a gap between theory and execution. >> it's a new thing. it's not perfect. we will adjust a variety of them for neighbors that have concerns but we could adjust them but we just don't want to compromise safety. >> reporter: this median in penn grove is particularly controversial. smart views this as a potentially dangerous intersection. not one blind turn, but two, and trains will be coming through here at 50 miles an hour. when these barriers drop, smart train doesn't want anyone trying to get around them.
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>> this is the best they came up with after three years? >> reporter: that's matt stevens from smart, who notes that the california public utilities commission, the federal railroad administration and the sonoma county public works signed off on these medians. problem is, they remain unmarked in places. why isn't smart out there every day putting up new cones? >> you know, i talked to the contractors this morning and i think they did do that, and i suspect they were stolen. >> reporter: critics meantime note reflectors broken off and lying in the road. penn grove fire chief frank trainer skeptical. >> who gets hurt in the meantime? that's my concern. >> we didn't leave a median unprotected. >> reporter: maybe not but that's how we found it today. wayne freedman, abc 7 news. student protesters at uc berkeley say they will not end their occupation of wheeler hall any time soon. dozens of students have been sleeping and eating in the lobby of the school building since
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wednesday night. they say they will not leave until the uc regents revoke a tuition increase that was approved yesterday and show more transparency in their budget. the protesters vow to continue their takeover through the thanksgiving holiday break. >> they certainly can dismiss us to the extent that sitting in wheeler isn't directly interfering with their daily lives. but it is -- i think it is a growing movement. >> student protesters have also taken over a four story building at uc santa cruz. the university of california has not made any attempt to remove the students by force. san jose could become the next city to legalize short term home rental services such as those provided through air b & b but what would this mean for residents and would visitors have to pay more out of pocket? abc 7 news reporter chris winn has more details. >> reporter: it's the so-called phenomenon sweeping across the country. more people turning to short term housing like air b & b. for keith washo, a silicon
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valley tech executive and air b & b host, a chance to meet new people while making some cash along the way. >> almost every other day someone is requesting to stay here. i actually sometimes turn down more than i'm willing to accept based on my schedule so it's pretty impressive, actually, the demand. >> reporter: if the city of san jose has its say, air b & b users will have to pay a 10% tax on stays under 30 days. >> we don't think this tax is going to make a difference. it will provide a level playing field between hotels and air b & b hosts and we think that's fair. >> reporter: under the pilot program proposal, hosts could rent out their homes for up to 180 days per year. any stays where the host is also present would not be subject to that rule. >> i think it's clear there needs to be some limit so that we are not displacing a supply of rental housing that we critically need right now in our city as we are seeing rents s i skyrocket. >> reporter: taxes would go
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toward the city's general fund. it's key for san jose to put rules in place while stressing the importance of getting it right. >> i want to make sure we have the appropriate outreach and are hearing all the concerns of the community because it's a pretty important step. >> reporter: for washo, a waiting game. >> people wanted to use the service and if people are getting less inquiries because of it, that would be concerning for everyone involved. >> reporter: the city's economic development team has been working on this proposal with input from the planning commission i will go before the city council on december 9th. chris winn, abc 7 news. now that it's been pitched, the president goes on the road to sell it. >> i'm not giving up. i will never give up. i will never give up. >> in just a moment, president obama's immigration plan and the push to silicon valley. >> the eight and a half minute ride that is four years in the making. coming up, the new people mover to the oakland airport and when the rest of us can go along for the ride. i'm laura anthony. above 9,000 feet, the snow is
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flying. i will show you in a live report from heavenly mountain resort coming up. take a look at this. the internet sensation that has hundreds of people lining up right now to see a cat? >> we are not kidding. this is a live picture. the unveiling of grumpy cat. 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, including the new tempur-choice, with head-to-toe customization. plus, get 36 months interest-free financing, two free pillows, and free same-day delivery. are you next? but don't wait!
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sleep train's ticket to tempur-pedic is ending soon. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ we should be adding visas for the high tech sector. we should be creating a pathway to citizenship. you look at silicon valley, 30%, 40% of the companies that we now take for granted that have changed our lives, they were started by immigrants. so that's what this issue is all about. >> president obama today highlighting the contributions of highly skilled immigrants to america's high tech economy during a campaign style rally in las vegas. he is trying to drum up support
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for his executive order to prototect as many as five milli undocumented immigrants from deportation. republicans in congress charge the president with overstepping his presidential powers and have promised to fight the order. immigrant families in the south bay are expressing a new level of optimism following the president's announcement. many from san jose's asian immigrant community gathered to watch the president's las vegas speech today. the presidential order will affect an estimated 400,000 or more asian ns california and more than a million asians across the united states. >> they came here of course for greener pasture but because of this licensing requirement, social security, they are not able to, you know, use their educations. >> immigration reform advocates say they are holding on to hope more changes can be made to include more undocumented immigrants. vindication for the obama administration over the u.s. embassy attack in benghazi, libya. a two-year investigation by the republican controlled house
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intelligence committee concludes that there was no intelligence failure, no delay in sending a cia rescue team, no missed opportunity for military rescue and no evidence the cia was covertly shipping arms from libya to syria. the report does blame the obama administration's inaccurate portrayal of the attack has having evolved from a protest on fragmentary and contradictory intelligence from the cia. it finds no intent to mislead the american public. the european parliament is reportedly preparing to call for a breakup of google. according to the financial times, the eu wants google to keep data on what you search for separate from all of the other services it offers such as gmail and google maps. google could also be prohibited from giving favorable treatment in search results to its own services. it's not clear how this could happen. the european parliament doesn't have any formal power to enact this but it does have influence on the european commission which could do so. no comment tonight from google.
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the new b.a.r.t. connector between oakland coliseum station and the city's airport starts its first run at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. today, the new line was open for a couple hours, taking its first passengers on the automated ride. it's been four years since b.a.r.t. broke ground on this project. officials say they have been pressuring contractors and testing the line in the overnight hours to make sure the service was available in time for the busy holiday season. >> we were running trains in a loop for 30 straight hours. we were testing the escalators, elevators. so much more goes into it than just the train service. >> about time. long overdue. no more traffic jams or waiting in line. >> a one-way ride on the new connector will cost $6, twice as much as taking the bus. officials say they don't think that will keep travelers from climbing aboard. >> so convenient. ski season officially under way in lake tahoe. let's take a look now at the lake. oh, that is gorgeous. crisp and clear. abc 7 news reporter laura
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anthony, somebody has to do this tough job, is at south lake tahoe. how is it there? >> reporter: oh, actually, it's quite nice. i must tell you, on the drive up we were a little nervous because we didn't see a whole lot of snow even as high as echo summit. at the top of the mountain up here at heavenly, there is actually pretty much snow. though not quite mid-winter conditions, these skiers and boarders found great joy in the first day of a new season at heavenly mountain resort. >> loving it. going to be a great year. waiting for the weather to come up. so far, so good. just excited to be here. >> reporter: some even played hookie from jobs and school to make the first turns of a fresh season. >> it's a way to ease into the season. i didn't get to ride at all last season so i was kind of looking to have a day that was, you know, not like -- not like full effort.
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>> reporter: thanks to their abundant snow-making operation and a small assist from mother nature, heavenly has several feet of coverage on some of its runs. >> we are currently running the gondola in tamarack express. that's 14 acres and 1.5 miles of skiable terrain. >> reporter: with more snow making and another system approaching, heavenly hopes to have more terrain open by thanksgiving. it may not be perfect but still a good start to a season that brings a new round of hope. >> so many hopes for this season. mostly just good days and a lot of snow. california needs water. i really hope the state sees a lot of moisture. >> reporter: some moisture expected tonight although i understood from listening to spencer that the snow levels are going to stay pretty high, above 8500 feet. as for the other ski areas, north star also opened today.
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kirkwood is putting it off until they get a bit more snow and squaw valley will open next wednesday, the day before thanksgiving. live at south lake tahoe, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> the skiers and snowboarders are so excited. thank you so much. >> that is great for the skiers, the boarders and we want a huge snowpack not just for them but to alleviate the drought. meteorologist sandhya patel is here with the forecast. >> yeah, snow levels with this next system pretty high because of the warm nature of this storm coming in. right now out here, it is crisp. there is some cloud cover. let me show you live doppler 7 hd. we will talk about that next system that will affect part of your weekend plans, especially if they are early on tomorrow morning. right now, the moisture has pretty much been up in the clouds except around ukiah, "los angeles times" -- light showers reported. we have been watching showers
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which is the start of our rain which will get down here later tonight. since wednesday, here's how much rain we have received. impressive, over two and a half inches of rain. about three quarters of an inch in san francisco. look at oakland. over an inch. concord, 59/100. san jose, redwood city, not a whole lot. over a tenth of an inch. 61 in half moon bay. beautiful view from the emeryville camera. quite a bit of cloud cover right now. temperatures are in the upper 50s to low 60s from san francisco to oakland to san jose. a live look from the lake tahoe camera. some resorts reporting five to six inches of snow in the last 24 hours. mid to upper 50s from santa rosa to concord, livermore currently 61 degrees. the golden gate bridge camera showing you just some clouds, dry roadways. rain develops overnight tonight. partly sunny tomorrow afternoon.
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we are looking at sunny and milder weather early next week. here's a look at the satellite and radar. this is the third system in the series. this one is going to bring us more rain later tonight but not a whole lot except for the mountains. 7:00 p.m. tonight, a few sprinkles, little drizzle not out of the question. we have to wait until the wee hours of the morning to see rain developing. 6:00 a.m., the north bay is getting wet, scattered showers south of there. by 10:00 a.m., most of the moisture is in the east bay, the south bay, then really by 1:00 p.m., north bay is already seeing the sun. around the south bay we may see an isolated shower or two but it wounds down pretty quickly. rainfall estimates, about half an inch to an inch in the north bay mountains. most lower elevations, a tenth to a third. just over that in the santa cruz mountains. we will take any rain we can get right now. it is going to be mostly rain up in the high country. little or no accumulation expected below 8500 foot elevation but if you are heading to the sierra, tahoe goes under
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a wind advisory from 10:00 p.m. tonight until 4:00 p.m. saturday. do expect gusty winds. tomorrow morning for your early plans, carry the umbrellas with you. temperatures start out in the 50s. you will see some wet roadways. then for the afternoon, you will need the shades. sun breaks through, temperatures are in the 60s across the region and speaking of the sun breaking through, we will brighten it up for the big game when stanford and cal play at memorial stadium. low 60s. it will be dry for the big game. accuweather seven-day forecast, morning rain giving way to afternoon sun tomorrow. then on sunday it's mostly sunny but check out the temperatures inching up. as we head towards tuesday and wednesday, we see low 70s around the bay and inland. mid 60s coast. thanksgiving is partly cloudy and dry, a little cooler. cooling continues on friday and there's a slight chance of some rain for you black friday shoppers. dan, cheryl? >> thanks, sandhya. still ahead, from comedy to
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i know you don't need us to tell you it's friday. that means it is the best part of the week for a variety of reasons. >> why is that? michael finney is here with friday free stuff. >> we are here to show you a good time. >> we like it. >> i bet. actually show you a good time. this is mainly stuff that comes in right after thanksgiving and actually thanksgiving week. let's start with cobbs comedy club. we will give you four free tickets to see lori kilmartin and ida rodriguez. lori, you may have seen her on jimmy kimmel live, the "today" show, comedy central, it's a familiar name. you would know her if you saw her. ida rodriguez was a finalist in the last comic standing. these tickets are worth up to $94. of course, you won't pay a dime for them. okay. oh, these are good for thanksgiving -- i almost said halloween.
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right after thanksgiving, that weekend. pick a date, call in and we will take care of that for you. now we have the san jose harvest festival. we give out these tickets every year and we receive a ton of notes saying thank you so much. people have a great time with this. the harvest festival is the largest indoor arts and crafts show of their kind on the west coast. 24,000 different items, many of them handmade, jewelry, art, specialty food items, clothing, toys. they actually have a kid zone, too. it's a lot of cool stuff to do with kids. that costs $9 to get in. again, why would you pay that? that would be foolish, wouldn't it? >> no one would do that. >> how can we get this? >> she always has a question. dial 800-546-7177 or log on to abc7news.com. >> that's fun stuff. >> he did show us a good time. thank you. want to turn my attention to some health information.
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there is a devastating disease families don't like to talk about, alzheimer's disease. five million people in america are living with it right now according to the alzheimer's association. most of them are women, including peg gleason. she and her husband ed are very open about what she's going through and how they are coping thanks to support groups. >> i said you know, this is something i'm going to have to live with so i did a lot of crying and then i decided now i've got that out, i'm going to have to just face it. >> the support groups, memory cafe is where we get together, the caregiveres and their partners get together. we give each other support. and you see how other people are handling it or mishandling it. >> they are just the cutest couple, married 60 years next year. you will learn about the stages of alzheimer's and how diet and exercise can help slow it down. this sunday on beyond the headlines at 10:00 in the morning here on abc 7.
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>> excellent program. 55 feet of holiday spirit. >> oh, boy. a christmas tree rises in the bay area. majestic sight against the blue sky. >> find out where when we continue.
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plus, free same day delivery, set-up, and removal of your old set. when brands compete, you save! mattress price wars ends soon at sleep train. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ i'm ama daetz in the abc 7 newsroom. new at 6:00, the operation today to slow speeders on a busy peninsula boulevard. police were after one group in particular. a warning from 7 on your side's michael finney. children seriously hurt by recalled products still being sold. and the drought's impact on california's winter citrus crop. you probably won't like what you see, coming up in half an hour on abc 7 news at 6:00. new video at 5:00, that big crowd we showed you live earlier gathered outside macy's in union square all to see a famous cat. >> none other than grumpy cat just unveiled this year's holiday windows display.
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grumpy's special appearance is to bring attention to animals needing to be adopted. >> every year, macy's fills its holiday window with animals looking for a home. meet grumpy inside macy's at union square at 6:00. >> hope she's nice. moving on, a lot of effort is required to put a good christmas tree together. >> especially when it's 55 feet tall. workers anchored in the gigantic mt. shasta fir tree this morning. >> a specific numbers of hours that we have to have below 40 degree temperature before it becomes dormant and the sap sets. it begins its journey on a specialized trailer where the tree never touches the ground once it's harvested. it weighs 11,000, 12,000 pounds approximately so y can imagine that if you just lay it on the bed of a truck, there wouldn't be any length left. >> that's a big job. the tree will be decorated with more than 5,000 lights and 600 ornaments. >> the tree lighting is december
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5th. thanks for joining us. >> we appreciate your time. welcome to "world news tonight." breaking news, the grand jury decision in ferguson. what the president just said about it. our exclusive interview. as some schools close already. the death toll growing. the monster storm. the major new concern, the silent killer. and the rescues. and now possible tornadoes across the south on the way. and tough questions for craig from craigslist. are families buying dangerous items without knowing it? and finding your roots. ever wonder about your family history? tonight, tina fey, derek jeter, sally field, all stunned. >> oh, dear. >> and the surprise for me. i had no idea. wow.

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