happened that january day on the playground. he knows how it started, with a shoving match. >> i got back up, pushed me to the ground. hit the back of my head got up halfway, kneed me straight in the head. and i fell on the side of my head. i remember then black and waking up sitting up. >> the boy held my son by his hair, kneed him repeatedly in the forehead. even after knowing he was unconscious, he held him up and continued to strike him. >> reporter: his parents say nathan was you unconscious for sick minutes and had a severe concussion. he hasn't been back to elementary school since because his alleged bill, another fifth grader is still there. >> we were told that the boy would be removed. and somehow he wasn't. >> when i showed up the principal told me they had had a meeting the week before, that they didn't inform us about, and decided that the other child would stay at the school. >> reporter: a school district spokesman cited privacy concerns about told abc7 news "the in

situations such as this there say process that must be followed. the district is still working through that process and believes that a solution will be found." >> both kids have a right to a free and appropriate education. >> reporter: todd groves is the president of the west contra costa unified school board. >> it's a chance to reflect on our policies, to make sure they're working for all -- in favor of all students. >> reporter: how do we fix it? >> by being a buddy and not a bully. >> reporter: nation an hasn't been to class in five week. his parent don't want to move him to another school because he has friends there along with two younger siblings. in san pablo, laura anthony, abc7 news. now to the latest in an alleged rape and kidnapping in santa rosa. three men accused of a crime against a 22-year-old woman in santa rosa pleaded not guilty. they are accused of holding the woman captive for weeks. the victim told police she escaped from a santa rosa compound where she was

repeatedly raped and held captive. since the start of the year, one person has been killed in oakland roughly every three days. today was one of those days. a young man, marcus west gunned down as he was leaving for work. happened on scotia avenue near the oakland zoo. abc 7's wayne friedman is live with the story. wayne secret that. >> reporter: good evening, dan. it's become almost automatic especially in oakland. if there's a murder, people assign a number to it. this one today in this neighborhood, 18 for the year. in oakland this evening, friendsand a grandmother are remembering the city's 18th homicide victim of the year not for his number but his name. >> marcus nathaniel west jr. >> reporter: marcus west was 21 the father of a 2 month old boy. this morning, he died outside the house he grew up in. the victim of an apparent drive-by shooting. >> one boom. that's it. my daughter says it was four gunshots. but the policeman said it was many more.

>> sounded like little pop, pop pop, pop, pop shots, but seven of them. then the young man was laying out there in the street and he bled out on the street. shot in the head. just bled out. >> reporter: in a neighborhood of nice homes with bride of ownership, now pain. grass valley is near noland park above highway 580. it is not immune to crime. >> no crime fits the neighborhood. no crime. >> reporter: since the first of the year this part of oakland has had seven car thefs ten burglaries, two armed robberies and one assault. many homes have cameras pointed outside their doors. police hope one of the cameras may have caught something this morning. not even family members would say what might have been a motive in this murder. >> why secret that why they keep killing each other secret that why secret that you know secret that who suffers at the end secret that the family. >> i saw the body. i covered him with a blanket and put a towel over his head. and i saw him take his last breath. i prayed with him. >> reporter: the murder even

brought oakland city councilman reed to the scene. his sconce was citizens with -- his son was friends with the victim. >> to me as an african-american i take it real serious. and i don't have an answer for stopping it. >> reporter: for now all we do is count marcus west jr. as number 18. >> to me number one. >> reporter: from oakland, abc7 news. a deadly shooting in antioch may be the final straw for residents considering a move. that happened last night in front of the home on hudson court. officers found a man lying in the mid of the street. a car driving away from that scene went crashing into a woman's garage about 11:30 last night. two of her cars were djd. thankfully she was okay, but understandably shaken up. residents who live nearby are not happy about the latest incident. >> crazy because i'd be trying to have my son here and can't really have him over here. >> too much violence here in our

community. you know we don't know how to come together and work as one. it's going to continue to go on. >> police questioned the three men inside the car. police found a shotgun two blocks from the murder. jahi mcmath's family is suing ucsf's children's hospital in oakland and the doctor who treated her more than a year ago. that's when the then-13-year-old girl was pronounced brain-dead after bleeding in throat and suffering cardiac arrest following surgery to treat her sleep apnea. the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. specifically naming dr. frederick rosens for lagging when jahi started bleeding in her throat and going into cardiac arrest following the operation. her parents refused to take her off life support and ultimately move her to a facility in new jersey. the hospital says their hearts go out to the mcmath family, but they cannot comment on pending litigation. a prominent silicon valley venture capitalist faced an

employee in a late. the mentor and boss of the plaintiff,ish len powell. she claim -- plaintiff, ellen powell. she claimed she was ending an affair and deny a promotion and was forced out because of her discrimination complaint. the firm is not run by men. in his testimony, they praised the work but said she had conflicts with other partners including another female partner. powell currently the interim ceo is asking for $16 million. chp officers have used jack hammers to break up a protest by u.c. santa cruz students that blocked highway 1 for hours. this is a public of officers holding a blanket over one protester as they used a yellow jackhammer to break up bins of cement. the video shows protesters sitting in the middle of highway 1. they chain themselves to these cans filled with cement. it took officers five hours to remove them. six students were arrested.

they face several charges including one for felony conspiracy. the contra costa county board of supervisors approved a 7% pay raise for themselves. a lot smaller than a 33% raise they approved and then repealed after a public outcry. the board had argued the 33% salary increase was necessary because the supervisors had not received a raise since 2006. the city of palo alto is hoping to solve a long-running mystery. officials want to know exactly how many people work there in the industry and how they get to their jobs every day. abc 7 now with more from california avenue in palo alto with the new research project just getting underway. chris secret that. >> reporter: good afternoon. the city just launched a new registry program that all businesses in palo alto will have to sign up for. and moving forward, city officials hope to use the information that is collected to their advantage. for fourth generation owner jessica ross doing business in

palo alto is a very personal thing. >> i grew up here behind the counter. >> reporter: her family's store cobblery has been on california avenue since 1940. >> need to protect palo alto and it's -- before it gets too crazy. >> reporter: roth is among those who support the city's new business registry program. any company that operates if a fixed place of business in palo alto such as an office or retail space is now required to register on line, pay a $50 administrative fee and provide information such as the number of workers and their commute patterns. >> the business registry is going to give all of us a better window on the economy in palo alto. give us real data about the business community what kinds of businesses, how large they are, what they do here. >> reporter: officials say the data will also help the city measure employment and economic activity in a more comprehensive way. and as more people travel through the city, an opportunity to develop effective programs to reduce traffic congestion. >> we walked probably three blocks to get to the restaurant

because we needed to find a spot where we could because we knew it was going to be a headache trying to find it. >> maybe if they have data they can form late solutions that make sense. >> reporter: businesses have until the end of april to comply or face penalty. while not every business owner is keen many are taking it in stride. >> there's been a lot of changes. i think the more knowledge the city has the better they're able to predict and improve future development in the city. >> saying it's another chance to be part of the city's growth. in palo alto, chris winn abc7 news. a popular corridor on the road to being transformed. the plant has something for everybody to hate. >> reporter: the bikes are on the sidewalk, run the lights. they're dangerous. >> the battle between bikers pedestrians, merchants and shoppers, and tonight, we might just have a winner. also ahead, new indicators about our drought and it has

everything to do with today's springlike day in the sierra. plus one of the most beautiful reservoirs in the state could soon be more than a little puddle. and the bay area's jeremy lynn is off doing good deeds. the challenging question he just could not turn down.

after two years and more than 50 meetings, the san francisco agency is poised to vote on a plan to improve safety on polk street. it's a plan with something for everyone to dislike. we have more on the story. >> reporter: the project would start cities from city hall at polk and mcallister and stretch about a mile or so all the way

to union street. polk street is a vibrant corridor, but it's also one of the most dangerous in the city. over a five-year period there were 122 collisions between cars and pedestrians or bicyclists. one of the most memorable was new year's eve 2013 when 6-year-old sophia liu was killed at polk and ellis. the municipal transportation agency has a plan to make a 20-block stretch of the street safer. >> we've come up with a plan that involves protecting pedestrians through new design of sidewalks and crosswalks, protecting cyclists with a raised cycle track as well as bike lanes as well as improving traffic circulation by changing signals and design of the roadways. >> reporter: why is there opposition secret that for merchants like this owner of smoke signals magazine show, the loss of parking is huge. 110 spots along polk will be

eliminated. >> people come from marin, from the valley, from everywhere to shop here. if they -- if it's not convenient, they condition find parking, and they won't bother. royal the bicycle coalition likes half the plan. the part that runs between pine and mcallister through the tenderloin has a raised bike path and dedicated lanes. the portion stretching north to union street has lanes shared with cars and a few blocks of bike-only lanes just during the morning rush. >> what we're hoping is to see the strong part of the plan move forward, and for mta smart staff to strengthen the pars of the plan this don't have strong safety improvements. >> reporter: the owner of this pet store on polk says he thinks the existing proposal is a balanced approach. >> there are, you know aspects of it that certainly we would prefer not be there. you but understanding the compromise is part of the

solution. >> reporter: now nearly 100 people have signed up to speak at this meeting at city hall. so it promises to be a long, long night. we'll be here until the vote is taken. live at san francisco city hall, carolyn tyler abc 7 news. >> all right. thank you. the latest snow pack survey in the sierra shows california's drought is reaching historic proportions. look at what surveyors found today, just 16% of normal in the northern sierra, 20% in the lake tahoe region and 22% in the southern sierra. the water contend at a depressing 5% of normal. less than one inch of snow pack. this could be the lowest snow pack in a quarter century. state officials are worried california residents have stopped conserving. bay area residents cut back 4% in january. then this, by this summer a popular central valley reservoir use as a getaway may be little more than a puddle. managers are discussing a plan

to drain the lake to save water farther upstream. those who live along the lake shore are fighting the plan saying if the lake goes dry, well, so will the local economy. officials in the area say the reservoir was built for times of water scarcity, and the drain is necessary as they fish and preserve the watershed. a hollywood actress joined state lawmakers in sacramento to push for a new research animal adoption bill. supporters including "twilight" star nikki reed say there is no current policy covering the adoption of research animals. they support a bill requiring laboratories to first contact animal rescue groups that can arrange adoptions. many research animals are euthanized even if they are healthy at the end of testing. >> the biggest issue here today is that people don't know that this is happening. human beings are compassionate by nature and i have -- there's no doubt in my mind that once people find out about this and understand what's going on behind the scenes, they'll put an end to it.

>> the bill will mandate that all taxpayer-funded research labs must offer the animals for public adoption through registered rescue organization. santa cruz county animal control officers hope an increased reward will help find a person who threw two dogs out of a moving vehicle. we reported this at the time. the reward is now $25,000. a mother dog and its puppy were stuffed into a sandbag and tossed on to the side of minto road near watsonville last month. the puppy died. the mother dog chewed its way out of the bag and refused to leave her puppy. a large contribution from an anonymous donor is funding this reward. a former general's scandalous admission is raising serious questions this evening. i talked with "world news now" anchor david muir. >> great to see you. a lot coming up. he kept guard ov america's top secrets, has eight black books. the former general who admits to letting his mistress read them and his conversation with the president. stunning findings about the ferguson police department

that's out. the famous sports star protecting his daughter from police revealed their identities. the new fallout coming up. >> and a big medical study tonight. >> yeah. a little of a quiz for you and everyone watching. who do you inherit more of your genetic make-up from, your mom or dad? we'll get into it coming up. >> "world news now" coming up after this newscast at 5:30 here on abc 7. former warriors and currently laker player jeremy lynne spent part of the all-star break cooking for homeless people. he made a video to challenge perceptions about the homeless and accepted a foot race challenge from a 55-year-old man who said he's pretty quick for his age. you know what, that guy wasn't kidding. still, he did not show mercy. >> that's right. that event was sponsored by unitedway.org. jeremy linn, as you may know, grew up in palo alto. the as and giants squared off in the first spring training game of the year for both teams. marcus simeon made himself welcome in a hurry, blasting a

two-run homer off world series mvps madison baumgardner. he went to cal and is the as new shortstop. they won easily 9-4. larry will have highlights at 6:00. meantime the as competesed thought photo of the coliseum being kpraeped for turf. now scoreboards about to be installed. our meteorologist in tonight -- >> baseball spring training weather. awfully nice outside. >> they didn't have to leave to go to arizona. they could stay here. the weather's equally as nice and as warm as arizona over the next couple of days. mother nature turning on the heat pump. talking 70s by the end. live doppler 7 h.d., going to show you we had tracked sunshine earlier this afternoon. some high clouds are streaming in. but the clouds not going to bring us any rainfall unfortunately. we'll take you live outside, east bay hills camera showing the high cirrus clouds up above. and the forecast does call for the clouds to move out.

clear and cool conditions overnight tonight. then high pressure moves in bringing sunshine and then mile to warm days ahead. then on sunday, yes, we spring our clocks ahead one hour as daylight saving begins. future tower cam, downtown san francisco, with all the warmth and the dry weather pattern we have been in it's enhancing allergies. and really the tree pollen is the biggest culprit. high levels right now. and the main ofernandez -- offenders are pine and juniper and oak. downtown san francisco 60. napa, 57. antioch now at 65 degrees. satellite and radar will show you the area of low pressure that brought us afternoon showers yesterday. now it's diving well to the south. two areas of high pressure are double barrel bring month some dry and mild pattern this week. and also the jet stream well to the north. up into alaska sending storms well north of the bay area. so the forecast features do call

for clearing skies overnight tonight. as we head into wednesday midweek this week, lots of sunshine on the way. and a dry day for tomorrow. fast forward and talk about our next potential chance of rain. the long-range forecast takes us into next week. by wednesday, march 11th a weak system looks to move in. scattered showers. but a stronger cold front could be building. and by thursday of next week we could be talking about a wetter pattern moving in to the region. this week, all about the warmth and the dry conditions. we'll keep looking on the horizon. 45 in richmond dropping to 50 in downtown san francisco. 41 in san jose, falling to a cool 39 in livermore. temperatures will rebound nicely for wednesday, upper 60s in many spots. up to 68 oakland, the same in san jose. up to 66 in san francisco. 70, though in cloverdale fairfield, antioch, livermore up to about 68 degrees. the accu-weather seven-day forecast, sunshine, mild condition on the way for

wednesday. temperatures just continuing to rise as high pressure builds. 70s on the board. a steady pattern into friday. we start off the weekend mild to warm. even warmer on sunday as your sun goes down thienk the clocks springing ahead one hour at 7:10 in the evening. little change machine evening to tuesday. we are partly cloudy. the next seven days we'll stay dry, we'll stay warm. then we'll look for potentially late next week for another front to move in and change the weather pattern for the weathertter. >> maybe. ahead not all smoke detectors are created equal. 7 on your side's michael finney teams one "consumer reports" to find out which is best for keeping your home safe. and new at :a behind-the-scenes look at the raising of three penguin chicks and the effort to save the species.

female narrator: for over 60,000 california foster children a pair of shoes is a small but important gift. my shoes have a hole in them. i can barely fit in these anymore. i hope no one would notice. they hurt my feet. i never had new shoes before. to help, sleep train is collecting new shoes of all sizes. bring your gift to any sleep train, and they'll be given to a local foster child in need. not everyone can be a foster parent... but anyone can help a foster child.

as you know, home fires kill thousands every year.

smoke detectors are critical to saving lives. >> "consumer reports" partnered exclusively with 7 on your side to test new smoke detectors. they found that some are better than others. >> here's michael finney. >> reporter: cheryl's teenage nephew died in a fire last year. it's not clear whether the home had a fire alarm. >> i think they didn't wake up until the fire was really engulfing the house. >> reporter: in a home fire the risk of dying is cut in half if you have a working smoke alarm koorksding to the national fire protection association. bernie dietrich tests smoke alarm for "consumer reports. " in this -- smoke alarms for "consumer reports." in this chamber he test them. >> there are two types of fires -- smoky, smoldering fires best detected by alarms with photo electric sensors and fast fires with flames. those are best detected by alarms with ionization sensors. >> reporter: "consumer reports" says you're safest with alarms that quickly detect both types

of fire. like the dual sensor models they recommended. the pi2010 and first alert 3120b, around $30. "consumer reports" also tested an updated version of the nest protect, a $99 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. "consumer respects" tests found the new someone still slower to respond than other smoke detectors to flash flame fire. >> the nest is only equippeded with a photo electric smoke detector. for optimal safety skip the nest and buy a duo alarm and buy a separate carbon monoxide alarm. >> reporter: they recommend the first alert co615 alarm for $30. we contacted nest to get its response and it said the protect was tested by third party underwriters laboratories against rigorous and well-documented performance

tests across a wide range of fast and smoldering fires. in each case it met or exceeded any requirements for responsiveness. we stand behind our product. i'm michael finney, 7 your side. and still ahead the weasel and the wood pecker? >> coming up the story behind an extraordinary picture that is already seeing a few copycats.

coming up new at 6:00 california schoolkids take the common core test beginning next week. some students will be at a disadvantages. it's more than a game to

them. thousands attend a game developers conference in san francisco where the future is in their hand. coming up in a half-hour on abc7 news at 6:00. >> thank you. well while this remarkable picture may look cute it is actually a perilous struggle for this little woodpecker. >> a photographer photographed this remarkable shot on a london park yesterday. the weasel had jumped on to the woodpecker's back in hopes of eating it. >> one the pair spotted the photographer, the weasel appeared to be spooked and gave the woodpecker time to september. >> a lot of copies have emerged. one incorporated the picture of a picture of vladimir putin calling it the latest p. are. stunt. >> he would -- p.r. stunt. >> he would try it. another said, do you see weasel and woodpecker or white and gold secret that that's the story last week of some thought was white and gold other blue and black. the real picture is incredible. >> it is amazing. that's going to do it for us. david muir is up next. >> for all of us here, we appreciate your time. see you again at :.

tonight, the breaking news. the scathing report late today on the ferguson police department. the alleged racist e-mails revealed. the traffic stops, the use of force. our team on the report. sharing america's secrets. the former general and cia chief pleading guilty. sharing classified information, even conversations with the president with his mistress. the massive winter storm. look at this. drivers struggling to keep control behind the wheel. 30 states now, as it moves from the south and the midwest to the east tonight. hillary clinton's e-mail. using her private account, even though she was secretary of state. did she break the law? mrs. clinton's team responds tonight. and the sports star turned star dad. taking on his daughter's bullies tonight, posting their names online after what they did.