>> good afternoon, everybody. >> a policeman hunt is underway in petaluma for a man who raped a woman this morning in her own home. it happened around 8:00 in the west ridge neighborhood which is in the southern part of the city. janet? >> reporter: alma, a police officer was standing guard at the victim's home all morning as officers continued to search for the alleged rapist. the victim's relative tells me she left the home to drop the kids off at school. when she returned, she was attacked and assaulted. it happened in the west ridge subdivision, a quite suburban neighborhood in petaluma. sky 7 hd shows police cars

lining the streets as officers searched on foot with k-9 to track down the attacker. officers say the victim came home to find the intruder in her house. she says he was wearing a black beanie over his face. he restrained and then raped her before he took off. >> i got out and knocked on the door and the police officer was there. that was around 9:30 or so. quarter to ten. they told me the second house down there had been robbed. >> bob stepnola's heart had dropped when he learned the victim was a relative. >> yeah, the children weren't home or anything else. and it happened after she had left to take them to school. >> i just couldn't believe it. just couldn't believe it. >> the spagnolas lived on this blook for 40 years. they used to live on this block

twenty years ago. neighbors say this incident is shocking, but it's not representative of their community as a whole. >> oh, it's sad. it doesn't make me lose faith, though, in the petaluma neighborhood. >> police say they'll continue to pull together their resources to find the rapist. janet o, abc 7 news. >> four 49ers fans are under arrest for assault in levi's stadium. both from hollister and 30-year-old eric martinez from san jose are all akuszed of beating a viking's fan on sunday night. a group of niner's fans surrounding and then assaulting the vikings fan. >> a judge has set bail for three santa clara county correctional facilities for

beating an inmate to death last month. they are charged with homicide. they'll be back in court september 28th. >> now, to the latest on the valley fire. this afternoon, lake county emergency services gave the first of what will be daily afternoon updates in lakeport for evacuees who live in the fire area. cal fire told anxious residents that they have to make sure that the fire is completely out w before they can even dwin to discuss letting people back in. >> everybody wants to get in. we understand that. we're working with various agencies from across the county and the state to ensure that that happens as wickly and as safely as possible. and safely is the keyword there. >> there's no schedule yet for people getting back into their homes. police are trolling the area for looters. they arrested he's accused of entering a closed disaster area

and burglary during a state emergency sill. >> school administrators believe they may be able to open schools by next week. classes will be relow kated while it's rebuilt. coming up at five, abc news reporter takes you inside the hallways of middle town high school for a look at the enormous clean up job ahead. >> the blazes scorched 85 homes and hundreds of other buildings. three people have died which started saturday afternoon. more than 4,000 fire fighters are battling the flames. >> news reporter as is live in midded town today where as residents are desperate to check on their home. >> that's right. the heartbreak doesn't do justice to what's happened here. so many are waiting to come back home. and too many people are going to come back home to this.

but there are so many survivors and some of them, really little ones. today, we found what rez dentsi are calling a miracle. >> oh, god. hey, baby. >> imagine coming home and finding the burn line right behind your house. >> i don't see any cats. >> a substitute teacher who rescues cats. she left her home six days ago and returned to what she calls a mere kal. >> i was in shock that our homes are here. >> in the rush, she couldn't find her cat. so she left the door open and hoped for the best. the flames stopped just in time. and all the cats are alive, even the kitten. 00 drepds of residents like christine are desperate to check on their homes. but many of the roads are still closed. cal fire says they will not likely be lifting evacuations for some time.

>> there's still crews out there. they're still doing that. trying to get all the infrastructure back in so we can get home as soon as possible. >> a lot of work left to be done? >> absolutely. >> the home itself is ravaged by raccoons. >> christine is a resident of cobb. she says she's looking for anyone who wants to adopt this little guy or any of the cats here. meanwhile, cal fire tells us it will be some time until they're ready to let people back in. it's just too dangerous. >> thank you, natascha. now, to an update on a cat we told you about earlier this week. take a look, this is a picture of the cat nicknamed mr. burns. he was seriously injured in the fire. now, his eyes have opened and his vision has improved. mr. burns is going to be okay. >> yes, mr. burns is a cuteie, that's for sure. why country animal lovers is

picking up the tab for some pets that were injured. it will pay the bills for fire victims who are seen by a vet in lake county. they say many survivors have nothing left but their animals. >> well,the group thavnks the skate shoop. the store donated shoes and cloeting. thank you for sharing your photo with us. so much support for all of those people there. it's wonderful. >> krarks al fire is working on as many as eight major fires. there are several others on federal lands, as well. the largest outside of the valley fire. that's a huge fire. that fire is now 60% contained. it has claimed two lives and charred more than 70,0 0 acres. it's destroyed 365 homes and nearly 300 other structures.

pg and e believes that fire started when one of its own power lines karm 34 don takt with a tree. >> if rough fire continues to burn. it's more than 220 square miles and it's just 68% contained. >> and there is some bad news for firefighters. that's the weekend weather. it's really going to get very hot. >> yes, the meteor olsz is here with our accu weather up dait. >> we're not tracking wet weather the next seven days. bum what are tracking shifting winds. right now, the winds out of the west. they're on shore. keeping temperatures relatively cool right now. the wind, right and 13 miles an hour. but over the next 24 hours, they're going to be switching. the wind will turn northwest and then northeast. as those winds do turn, it's going to help the heat. the next three days, they will be in the 90s and then we gradually cool off into early next week.

man, look at this shot. soaked in sunshine. not a cloud to be seen out on the town this evening. it's going to be a really nice night. that sun going down at 7:13. now, that last fell week is gingrich to be here. sole judge ords on sunday when i see you. >> all right, thanks very much. we'll see you in just a few. mpx the napa plit departments are asking people to be on alert. it's happened at least 1 times between ugh 25th. he's in his 30s or 40s with a dark connell plebs and having a skinny orr medium build. hep's been seen driving an older model tan, brown or gold sedan. >> investigators are working on tracing an e-mail to see who

sent out a bomb threat. police say the threat came in just before 7:00 a.m. >> a dramatic day in the courtroom in a kidnapping case. what happened that had paramedics rushing into the court to help. >> plus, a couple hires a house sitter to take care of their home while on vacation. but it's what happened once they got home that has them filing a lawsuit. >> and then new at 4:30, the big bucks behind next wooeek's visi by the pope. >> and we'll take a look at your friday afternoon travelic. this is internet 80 in berkley. the traffic is going towards berkley and it doesn't matter whether it's right or left. it is bumper-to-bumper in both

directions at this hou

following today's development, muller will face charges in the vallejo kidnapping. his plea will be different than today's. a no contest plea for the suspect at the center of at least two home invasions and a kidnapping. invets gaitors say matthew muller entered this house in june. the home's owner says he scared off muller by calling to his wife to get the gun. the case might have remained unsolved had it not been for his cell phone muller left behind. evidence his attorney had wanted dismissed until now. instead, muller entered a no contest plea to charges in the dub plin home invasion robbery. >> no contest plea is treated by the court as a guilty plea. >> a strategic move.

vallejo police called the well. the strategic move, overlapping sentences. if he's found guilty in the vallejo kidnapping case. >> it's a binding agreement that he'll receive concurrent time for whatever time he gets in sacramento in the federal case. >> at most, it carries 11 years. but the kidnapping would carry a much longer sentence. >> it's decades, as in plurl. >> johnson says muller will plead not guilty in heyward. >> the man was formally charged with murder this morning. one sanchez admitted in an interview that he fired the gun

at pier 14 on july 1st. his attorneys believe he shouldn't face murder challenges because police say he found the weapon and it fired accidentally. that shot hit and killed the woman. >> a couple recently learned if house sitter they hired through trust trustedhousesitters.com actually post today make money while they were away. one of their friends actually rented the place. the couple reported the case to the san francisco police but they were unable to help because police say they had willingly handed over their keys. >> volkswagen is facing some big fines for violating clean air laws. volkswagen has been ordered to fix half a million vw and audi cars. according to the epa, full emissions control are only

turned on during emissions testing. california haz is issued a sepae compliance order. california is at the top of the list for at least text-friendly state in the country. the report says many taxpayers can save thousands of dollars a year by moving to a different state. the most tax friendly state is delaware. >> government scientists estimate that 2015 will almost certainly be the hottest year in recorded history. this map from noah shows the average temperature from june and july this year. overall, the average temp was.09 degrees celsius above every other full year record. but 2014 eclipsed 2010 by an

even smaller margin, .04 degrees. either way, it's getting hotter steadily. >> extreme heat coming. >> yeah, larry and alma. we're going to continue that trend. mother nature certainly gave us one last laugh of summer as we ran out the summer season. trying to find any sort of moisture around the bay area coming up empty handed. it's going to be quiet tonight and quiet over the weekend. now, a live look from our exploratorium. a light chop on the waters, nothing but baby blue skies up there. 76 in oakland. 80 in mountain view. we'll take you live at the beautiful golden gate bridge. good air quality. great visibility. temperature wise, we're in the

80s. this is the place you're going to want to be over the weekend. a live look from the santa cruz cam. i think you'll be happy when we show you the weekend temperatures in just a moment. the best chances to break or tie any of these will really be on sunday. and then we cool off on tuesday as fall begins midweek. ocean tempature right now either at average or slooigtly above. water temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60. here we goo again. hot days through the weekend. we're in the 80s and the 90s across much of the bay area. look even around the immediate bay. we'll be into the 80s and into the 90s. very warm to round out the weekend. and the heat eases ever so slightly on monday.

but, still, it's going to be rather warm to start the new work and school week. overnight tonight, upper 40s to mid 50s. a little bit of fog. otherwise, highs for yur saturday, 90 sunny vale, 72 in half-moon bay. that's mild. downtown san francisco tomorrow sets it at 80, 76 city. oakland tomorrow, 86 plentiful sunshine. 90s when it's hot. so the accuweather seven-day forecast. the peak is on sunday that. 's when the heat may fall. but, really tuesday and especially into wednesday, as fall begins, it will feel much more comfortable. so one last wooek end of summer well, make it as hoot as we can

around the day. >> that's one way to look at it, right? >> all right, thank you, drew. up next, art and the city. the art is covering the mission district in a three-day painting frenzy. >> spying on students. the teachers are catching cheaters. >>ened taking a live look at our traffic, this is san ho sai where you're awl backed up

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and rest even better with sleep train's risk-free 100-day money back guarantee. get your best rest ever from sleep train. ...guaranteed! ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ . anyone who brings in a clock can get 20% of their pie purchase. they said today their son is switching to a different school. on monday, the teen was pulled out of class by his principal and five police officers and questioned for an hour and a

half. he says he wasn't allowed to call his parents. since then, he's received thousands of tweets and facebook posts. country star tim mcgrau cancelled his show for tonight and tomorrow's show will automatically be cancelled. he said on facebook that he's disappointed adding the word can't. it's just not in my dna. if there's any way i could sing, i would do it. more than 15,000 people are expected to participate. the mission predominantly used

to get a lot. we come in and we work with the building owners and we put up murals. >> abc 7 news at 4:00 continues. we'll talk about why they blind sided a referee. plus -- >> we have a problem in this country. >> donald trump under fire. the comments he didn't make that has white house officials angry. >> and it's back to school for

. taking a look now at the headlines where you live as we approach 4:30. matthew muller, the suspect in a kidnapping case, entered a no contest plea today in a separate home invasion case. he will be moved to a federal jail by monday. next week, he'll be arraigned on a federal complaint. the valley fire in lake napa and sonoma counties has burned nearly 74,000 acres. natascha tweeted this photo, a photo of the scorched earth, the blackened trees and homes destroyed in middle town.

laura anthony took this video of all of the tree cleaning up along highway 175. a school that serves an area devastated by the fire reopened today for the first time since the evacuations. middle town school officials say schools there may all reopen by the end of next week. abc 7 news reports. >> reporter: it is a good morning here as a carload of kids showed for class. today is the first day of school since the valley fire evacuation. >> i think it's great. i'm glad the school is safe. >> her daughter, riley, is in the second grade. >> reporter: after a week of couch surfing, mom jamie evans is happy to be home. >> it's nice to be home. >> reporter: that's why the school was so happy to open, even on a friday. >> he says teachers will spend a

good portion of the day talking to students about their experience during the evacuation. >> it got really smoky and really dark. and then they told us to evacuate. so we did. >> not everyone returned though. only 10 of the original 29 students made it to the bus. >> the ones that were there seemed really pleased to get on the bus and get back to living their life. >> attendance was voluntary today and only about half showed up to class. in pope valley, tiffany wilson, abc 7 news. >> and a reminder. you can give where you live to help out those affected by the valley fire. there are several ways you can contribute. you can sitly text red cross to 90999 to instantly give $10. >> the two texas teenagerers who attacked a referee during a game are speaking publicly for the first time.

in an exclusive interview, the two players said they were just following a coach's instructions. >> he pushed me and another player, told us, you need to hit the ref. the referee denied the allegations and is considering legal actions against the players. the teens say they deeply regret the hit. they've both been suspended from school and the team. in stockton, there will be an internal investigation into cell phone video. it appears to show an officer hitting 16-year-old amelia make field with a baton. coming up on abc world news at 5:30, the key evidence that

could reveal what actually happened. >> following wednesday's explosive republican debate, donald trump is back on the campaign trail. as the billionaire business mogul, famous for not taking anything back is now taking some heat for what he didn't say. >> reporter: today, a more strong reaction about donald trump's lak of ck of reaction a new hampshire town hall. >> we have a problem in this country called muslims. we know our current president is one. you know he's not even an american. >> trump stayed quite on the inflammatory remarks about the president and the muslim. >> well, i was appalled. >> trump's rival pounced. >> he knew or he should have known that what that man was asking was not only way out of bounds, it was untrue. >> reporter: john kasich's

campaign when this woman made a similar inflammatory statement. >> no, ma'am. no, ma'am. he said -- he's a decent, family man, citizen, that i just happen to have disgreemts with. >> reporter: trump has a history of krit sicriticizing the presi background. in 2011, he led a berther campaign questioning will the president was born in the u.s. >> this is a cynical strategy that too many republican politicians have dabbled in. there are consequences for it. >> reporter: the billionaire's campaign says he'll be back on the trail saturday in iowa. kenneth moton, abc news, washington. >> kentucky county clerk kim davis was jailed for refusing to

issue same-sex marriage licenses is in front of a judge again. this week, davis altered marriage license forms for same-sex couples. davis has been ordered by the judge not to interfere with her deputy who is now issuing marriage licenses. >> one day and counting untill pope francis makes his historic visit to cuba. the pope will spend three days in the cuban capitol before he heads to the united states. pope francis is being credited for helping to end friction between the u.s. and cuba. his next challenge will be to to try to fully open up cuba to the roman kattic church. in new york city, crews are finishing touches on the $177 million of st. patrick's cathedral. the when the vatican confirmed

the pope would be stopping by, they put it in high gear. in addition, there are rows and rows of refurbished pews and/or kneelers. >> the work included the discovery of a bit of a hidden treasure. workers found a bottle of champagne in a box tucked away in the ceiling. and i'll be live in washington, d.c., the first of three cities the pope will visit when he arrives in the u.s. tuesday. watch for my reports next weeng and join me as pope francis is on his historic trip. >> the one thing you need to improve more at the workplace. >> i'm michael finney.

i'm still asking your questions. . >> i'm abc 7 meteorologist. a live look from our east bay hills camera. a lovely view of the golden gate getting used to that sky. we're heating up over the weekend. >> and not so lovely blue. traffic trying to get to the east bay. if riegd side, noeks trying to me ander down towards 101 south and nobody's going anywhere fast. back

a crack down on sugary sweets at schools. new guidelines discouraging students from bringing sugary snacks. the parents are upset that they didn't get a say. they've launched a change.org petition. it's gotten nearly 200 signatures in less than 24 hours. >> could free snacks be the key to happiness? >> yes. a new survey finds that they jumped when companies offered free food. the number of employees that say they're happy with their job jumped by more than 10%. 48% of millenials say they took company perks, including indoor food, on a new job.

>> leb when we got the free coffee? >> yeah, that was great. >> i'm still beaming over that. i'm still excited. >> it's a huge day. >> it was. it was. >> they will evening, it's going to be very comfortedble out there. so enjoy. ifs a perfect night to take in a ball game over at at&t park. tonight, 7:15, temperatures mainly in the 60s. temperatures falling throughout the 60s by the ninth inning. it's a rather kwooit app. otherwise, high pressure really in control over much of the u.s. sunshine from minneapolis to denver to salt lake city.

we'll zoom in to the golden state. plenty of sunshine, 95 in sacramento. here, local lir, in the bay area, i want to call it warm to hot out there. i think records are safe on saturday. but sunday is the day when we could see them broken. san jose up to 90. coming up at 5:00, we'll see what the rest of the weekend holds. but i think ice coffee. that's a good variety. >> i think he's right. >> alma has people that do that for her. >> we'll get her people. >> thanks, drew. >> still ahead on abc 7 news at 4:00.

keeping students honest. the new technology that's focusing an eye on you. >> from how to get your mail to insurance. i'm taking questions today from fire survivors.

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>> returning to a new technology to keep students honest. it used to be a proctor when students were peeking at other people eets answers during exams. now, it's computers doing the monitoring. >> if you cheat, we'll catch it. >> reporter: it's the new technology. >> a room scan is conducted. >> into catching cheating cyber students. >> to demonstrate the student starting the exam through the rules. >> click here to start your exam. >> looking for signs of cheating. no one is actually watching. but an al go rirt m looks for red flags, like a student opening a web browser or everyone walking away and having a friend step in.

>> everything is contained within our secured servers. the only prp who i see reviewed that video is the instructor. >> so a human being dpun look at the video unless it's been flagged? >> absolutely. she says she was never flagged as a cheater. the school uses their technology in their online class. >> you can feel the pressure. anything that you do that is deemed suspicious, it will get you in trouble. >> with online education booming, projects to rake in $32 billion this year, the need for monitoring is growing, too. so we decided to give proctor track software a spin. first, identity verification with a scan of my face and

knuckles, which they say can be as unique as thumbprints. then, we intentionally violated the rules. >> there you are looking away from the screen. >> sure enough, it flagged me. at home on your laptop, with someone monitoring you, that feels pretty invasive. >> all right. time now for ask finney. >> i wish anything from that question was close to reality. we don't regulate like that in america.

each individual company will come up with a rule if they feel like it. they don't have to. the law actually says they don't have to send a bill, you just have to pay. do you though that? >> yeah. >> there's no law that says anybody has to send you a bill. bupd there is a bill that says you feel to pay. >> that's why you're supposed to saich six months and put it aside in case of an emergency. the best thing you can do is call yourself and say hey. generally, they'll help out. >> i was just there yesterday and the ones i saw was safe harm. united u.s. aa. aaa. they had vans and all kind of information. so it's a good place to go.

>> i had a guy come up to me yesterday and given me a bunch of information. but i couldn't confirm. >> there's a telephone number right there. call them up and they'll give you all of the details. now, the mail from cobb is going to go to the kelseaville post office. >> thank you, michael. appreciate it. >> thousands of people took a stroll with a very special guest.

jooint's manager raised $3 million. t the. >> people should go and get checked out. you never know. unf forchew fatly, i have great doctorings there with the giants. he's like a rock star out there. that happens to be a stroll that he does all of the time as part of his heart healthy workouts. >> well, one in three u.s. kids consumes fast food on a daily basis. jane king with today's wellness report. >> sales from organic u.s. farms reached $5.5 billion last year.

now, milk was the top-selling organic product last year. the center for disease control found that 34% of u.s. children eat fast food every day. >> now, of the children who do eat fast food daily, they get about 12% of their calories there. x press group says sometimes people scrimp on medicine to save money. but they can lead to bigger, more expensive problems. and an interesting finding, tend to hear tlesz. less. >> and drinking alcohol lowershearted attack risk. a global study found that moderate drinkers were protected, but saw a higher risk of injuries. >> abc 7 nus at 4 clork up next. we'll look back at the long

career of don francisco as reretires from spanish language television. >> thank you so much. coming up next, a rare honor for san francisco. female announcer: get sleep at the guaranteed lowest price. plus, pay no interest for three years on the best brand name mattress sets. get your best rest ever from sleep train. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

here is tonight's prime time line-up on abc 7. at 9:00, shark tank and then, of course, 2020 at 10:00. >> he's considered a giant in the entertainment world. torn, iconic latin american host will present his last show after 53 years on the air. 's if longest running television riert show in history.

>> i yiezed to work in a jewish club doing an impression of a jewish guy that couldn't speak well. the name of this guy was sdon fran sitz doe. cole. >> it's been a household name in just about every community in the united states and the rest of latin america. >> he was born in chile. his father was a concentration camp survivor who fled from germany. in 19612, he started a tv show in his native. years later, the show was moved to miami and broadcasts on the spanish language network. t's often described as an entertainment interview and human interest show three hours long.

g one of the things that was so important and the reason why people loved them so much is very, very positive. the 74-year-old has long been an icon in this community. sarah gomes says i admire him and love him. >> i recall. >> i'm very honored. i'm very proud of this 53 years. we're closing that cycle. we're opening another one. >> what a career. well, thank you so much for joining us. i'm alma dates. abc 7 news at 5:00 begins right now. >> our goal, our mission is to

get these folks back into their homes. >> and a lot of people want the know exactly when that's going to be. while schools sit idle, frustration mounts. >> plus, claiming cats and dogs. >> also. >> this is my neighborhood. i can't believe it. >> a petaluma woman reacting to the rapest caught right down the block. three men arrested for the parking lot brawl. one of them is a season ticketholder. >> as students head back to school, others are wondering whether they'll be able to return to class. >> good evening, everybody. thanks so much for joining us.

clean-up is finally underway from that deadly fire that started last saturday. abc 7 news reporter joins us from calastoga. middle town which is in the heart of the fire area. the superintendent told us today sheest maits as many as one-third of students lost their homes. still, the schools themselves, the buildings, faired pretty bell. >> the continuation high school housed in a portable. for the most part, they escaped mostly unscathed. >> there's lots and lots of really fine particlalt matter here.

>> all of our campuses are in tact. >> once the dust and smoke are cleaned up, the superintendent expects they shuld be ready to reopen thursday. it looks okay from the old x but smoke damage on the inside likely means it won't reopen for a couple of months. >> we have no idea when the displaced students will be able the return. many of those who do may have to be bussed from out lying areas such as here in calastoga. august of those plans are being worked out as we speak.