santa cruz mountains, starting to pick up that moisture and the winds are howling, gusting to 45 miles per hour. we've had gusts as high as 59 at los gatos. we rank the storms on our storm impact scale. this one is a moderate strength storm. main impacts this evening, windy, half an inch to inch of rain for most areas. as you look at the forecast, the heavier rain is still coming over the next few hours. a detailed look at your timeline going into tomorrow coming up. >> thank you very much, sandhya. looking live at sfo, the high winds have caused travel problems. some are trying to take the delays in stride and their sense of humor in check. >> well, modern inconvenience. >> got to work for an extra

hour. >> around 70 flights have been canceled. most of the travel trouble has come with short-haul routes. track today's storms with the "abc7 news" app, just download for free and enable push alerts. a high school student is facing charges after video of a campus fight went viral on social media. millions have viewed this video of a girl taking down a boy with a knee to the face. this happened at sonoma high school. leanne melendez has new developments. leeanne? >> reporter: students telling me the girl in question was targeting a male students when his best friend tried to defend him. he was the one who ended up getting attacked. facebook still refuses to take the post down, and this doesn't end here. it's not surprise thing video

has gone viral. it was shot on a cell phone and shows a teenage girl taking down another student and twice kneeing him in the face, then landing on him. the 17-year-old girl does not attend the high school. a teacher ran after her. just as alarming is no one tried to put an end to the fight. instead focusing on recording it and later posting it. the county sheriff's department was at the school today filling out a report. we now know she will be charged with one count of battery. she will be referred to the sonoma valley youth and family services program. if she refuses, she'll go before the juvenile court. parents were notified by phone and e-mailed this letter, stating the district takes all matters involving student safety very seriously.

but the incident has outraged some parts who say the school can do more to address the issues of bullying and social media. the school district has acknowledged the fight began when a student posted something online, which irked the teenage girl. >> assess the problem and find out what is troubling the kids and the bullying and stuff and the teasing. >> reporter: the district tells us they're satisfied with what they have in place and will not make any changes to the school's anti-bullying policies. leeann melendez, "abc7 news." two different sexual assaults near the berkeley campus may be related. both were likely random attacks. the first one happened last thursday. the second one happened last night on beneview and dwight way. both victims are women. at least one is a student. an emotional day as a man

accused of murdering police officer gus vegas appeared in court. the suspect, robert vega, surprised everyone when he asked something of the judge. melanie woodrow has the latest. >> reporter: the judge wasn't too keen on letting him speak. it's not unusual to see a suspect family and victim's family in court. but in this case, both told me they were here not only to support their loved ones, but also to support each other. robert viga in prison stripes seeing his sister and a woman he called his sister for the first time since his arrest. he's accused of murdering police officer gus vegas inside his home last thursday. >> he did not deserve this at all. it's extremely emotional, and that is why there's a handful of us here to support the family and to support the criminal

justice system. >> reporter: police officers escorted vegas' daughter, bianca, who was in court today. yesterday, she told abc 7 news she was braying for vega, a man who she considers her brother. while at the same time grieving her dad's loss. >> that's what brings me peace is knowing where my dad is. and knowing that he'll never leave. >> reporter: officers arrested vega at his apartment after his sho shooting. the d.a.'s office says his murder charge has an enhancement to it. >> he personally and intentionally fired the gun that resulted in the victim dying. >> at the end of the day, everybody wants to know why. >> reporter: questions only robert vega may be able to answer. as she stood up to leave court, vega asked the court if he could

say something. the judge said no. in fairfield, melanie woodrow, "abc7 news." the go fund me for officer vegas has almost reached its goal, as you can see. nearly $19,000 has been raised so far. the chp says an illegal u-turn in the east bay caused a deadly accident. officer say that charred car right there made the u-turn stanley boulevard and k4r50coll with a jetta. a 12-year-old dublin boy is recovering after being run of by a car. he was hit by a 72-year-old grandfather who had just dropped off his granddaughter at the high school.

police say the boy is so lucky and expected to survive his injuries. a nappy family is outrained and demandi ining answers after their jack russell terrier died at a grooming session. >> reporter: joe and cynthia t eaton told me they had never had their dog professionally groomed before but decided to take advantage of the petco here. joe and cynthia had two jack russell terriers for 14 years, since they were puppies. >> he was a fit and happy dog. >> reporter: on december 30, they dropped their dog off for a grooming session and got a call an hour later.

>> the manager announced skip ha had an incident and died in their store. >> reporter: he told us a store employee showed him the back room where his dog was left. >> he said he was attached to a har vas, with a harness to a sink, next to the area on the floor. and he showed me a choking restraint leash. >> reporter: rob johnson has been a professional groomer. >> every groomer uses a choke collar to restrain a dog, but you can never leave them alone. >> reporter: an independent veterinarian examination suggs he may have suffered a cardiac event and confirmed there was no evidence of trauma. petco paid for the expenses related to the death and offered

them additional money. >> we need to grieve the death of our dog. we can't because there's all these unanswered questions. >> reporter: petco did confirm that the dog was left alone on a sleep lead for five minutes. in napa, laura anthony, "abc7 news." happening right now, privacy advocates are gathering at the apple store in san francisco opposing the u.s. government's demand for apple to build a back door to hack iphones. apple disclosed this morning it will fight a judge's order to build new software that would allow the fbi to bypass phone security. in a letter, tim cook says his

company will not comply, calling it a dangerous precedent. apple says the order came into the investigation of the san bernardino shootings. tonight, taking the raps off south bay soccer fields. will the skirmish of the super bowl go into overtime? also ahead, the changing face of the giant sequoias. what the trees are doing for the first time in a hundred years. and why some furs nurses a packing up and shipping out. and we're keeping a

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work began today to restore two three acre soccer fields in santa clara after they were used by media, security, and halftime performers during super bowl 50. a youth soccer league took the nfl to court, but is the battle over? league officials talked only to david louie. he's live at the soccer park. >> reporter: kristen, in court, as in sports, you win some and lose some. the santa clara youth soccer league is keeping its lawsuit in place to ensure the soccer fields are restored to presuper bowl condition or better. is there any bitterness? they say no, but hope this never happens again without advanced notice. "abc7 news" was at the park this morning as crews began scraping off the grass on one field. crews at the field closest to the stadium are removing the plastic that covered the grass. the nfl has possession of the park for another month during

which it will replant grass and restore fields used by 6,000 soccer players. >> we should be able to play on it as soon as it's put down. but we want to be cautious and make sure the grass is taken. and when we play on it, it's going to be at the level we had prior to when the nfl took over. >> reporter: soccer league leaders did a site inspection yesterday. their relationship turned icy when the soccer group went to court to stop the nfl from using it. here's how it looked. the nfl prevailed. the soccer group says it will forgive but not forget. >> we had a meeting of the minds. i think they know where we're coming from. we understand what they're up against. but if we were transparent from the beginning, we wouldn't be having this conversation today. >> reporter: silva says the league had to scramble to find alternate practice fields. the lawsuit against santa clara

is still in place, even though the super bowl has come and gone. >> i don't think anybody wanted to bring suit against the city. i don't think anybody wanted to be in this predicament. but the kids learn sometimes you have to stand up for what's right. >> reporter: david louie, "abc7 news." within the last half hour or so, we have learned that a lake county man is free after spending 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. a judge ordered the release of 71-year-old luther jones. when his user recanted her claim that jones molested her when she was 10 years old. she says her mother made her lie about it because she was battling jones over custody. jones will receive almost $1 million from the state. the mother could face criminal charges. bay area nurses are doubling down for their support of bernie sanders. they will be in nevada to

campaign for sanders. he's in a dead heat now with hillary clinton in the latest poll. >> we'll be walking door to door, talking to people, explaining why we believe in bernie. >> last august, national nurse's united surprised many by endorsing sanders. after that, the nurses head to south carolina and other states to campaign for sanders, as well. well, comcast is apologizing tonight for a nationwide outage that cut off phones, internet and tv on the president's day holiday. >> comcast is not sure how many customers were affected. but complaints lit up social media. comcast posted this apology on its website. the outage began around 7:30

a.m. pacific time. comcast will refund customers for a full day of service. it will only be about $2 per account and you have to call the number on your bill to get credit. airbus is redesigning seats that adjust to your body size. airbus previously had stacks that stacked passengers on top of each other. now it's applied for a patent for this bench-like seating. airlines could offer tickets of various prices with customized seating.

you see maple flavored constructs on the market but don't have any maple in them at all. now producers are asking for a crackdown on these misleading products. industry leaders asked the food and drug administration to take action. the fda is reviewing the complaint. >> thanks, michael. our historic drought is creating drying times for the giant sequoia trees. for the first time in at least 120 years, they are showing significant loss of foliage. scientists took part in a research project examining the effects of the drought. the trees can live to be well over 3,000 years if they get

enough water and we're getting a real sea change in the weather. >> wet and lovely. >> it is still windy outside. the rain is beginning to increase in coverage and intensity. we have not seen this since early february since measurable rain is concerned. you'll notice the yellows and oranges. some moderate rein there. redwood city, heading into the

valley, and then we take you into the santa cruz mountains. in the sierra, no chain controls but it has been snowy over the higher elevations. tahoe is reporting rain right now. if you're heading up to the mountains, have your chains. winter storm warning until 4:00:tomorrow. expecting one to two feet. strong winds could make it treacherous driving up there. about 30 i have beens at kirkwood. 24 at donner. it's cool winter, no doubt about it. but still mild in places like brentwood. your evening commute could be dicey. rain and wind tonight, possible thunder. scattered showers tomorrow. this storm is a two on the impact scale.

the main impacts half an inch to an inch of rain through tomorrow. watch out for the winds and thunderstorms are certainly possible. so here's the timeline. 7:00 tonight, moderate rain in the north bay. 8:00 p.m. is starting to move in across san francisco and the peninsula. the reds there at 10:00, we may actually see some thunderstorms developing. so don't be surprised if you hear a clap or two of thunder. your commute may be a little longer going into tomorrow morning. 8:00 a.m., still a few showers lingering. at 10:00 a.m. we're seeing them redevelop continuing into noon and past that in the north bay. so rain totals, most areas see half to three quarters of an inch. and as far as tomorrow morning is concerned, a cooler one than

this morning. upper 40s to low 50s. do allow extra time for your commute. temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s. scattered showers for your thursday. and seven-day forecast. friday, we have some more rain coming in. it will be breezy on our storm impact scale. that's a one. peeks of sun for saturday. temperatures, 50s and 60s through saturday. a little bit wilder. we warm it up for next week. tuesday, there is a slight chance of showers coming in. right now it's just a slight chance we could upgrade that later on. something essential is missing in the new version of monopoly. that's next. and then at 5:30 -- >> breaking news tonight. the new poll just out. is donald trump no longer the

front-runner? also tonight, the surprise in south carolina just days before the crucial republican primary. the alleged impostor posing as a doctor for more than a month examining patients. that's right here after "abc7 news." new at 6:00, we'll check out a new minimally innovative procedure showing real promise

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champion boxer manny pacquiao is being ko'd by nike following his claims that gay couples are "worse than animals." he made the comments during an interview with a filipino teach station earlier this week. pacquiao has now apologized for the remarks. he's currently running for a senate seat in the philippines. a sacramento woman is making history. she's the first african-american

to head the head of programming at a major network. abc named her to lead the entertainment division. dungy is credited with developing many big hits, including "scandal" and "how to get away with murder." the board game monopoly is getting an upgrade. transactions will be done with the swipe of a card. it was first produced in 1935. the new version will go for and $25 and hits stores this fall. >> i always liked the stacks of money. stay with us. take two for the oscar statue. next, how the award is getting a makeover.

i'm ama daetz. coming up new at 6:00, reliving a frightening accident. >> then i heard -- it sounded like that. >> a dublin grandfather describes how he accidently ran over a 12-year-old boy on his way to school. also, a t-shirt that got a teenager sent home from school. and the number one selling car in california just got a

little smarter. it's all coming up at 6:00. it turns out the oscar statues are going old school. >> they are designed and an original oscar from 1929. >> a new york foundry is restoring features of the original designs. this is video of the foundry doing other work. >> it takes three months to make them. oscar is still plated in 24 carat gold and weighs 8 1/2 pounds. >> abc 7 is your home for the oscars. chris rock will host sunday, february 28. join us to see who wins. >> join us for "world news tonight" coming up next. i'm kristen sze.

>> for all of us, we appreciate your time. hope to see you again in half hour. breaking news tonight. the new national poll. is donald trump no longer the front-runner? also, late today, the south carolina surprise. just three days before the high stakes republican primary, the major endorsement. could it sway the race? governor haley is not for donald trump. also developing, the fbi standoff with apple. after the terror attack in san bernardino, the fbi desperate to break into the gunman's iphone. a judge now demanding apple help the fbi. apple refusing. under fire. the two officers trying to arrest this man. he pulls out a gun. their quick action in the moments that follow. the alleged imposter accused of posing as a doctor for more than a month, undetected, examining patients. the sting right here tonight. and, lucky couple. winning hundreds of mi