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tv   ABC7 News 500PM  ABC  April 22, 2016 5:00pm-5:31pm PDT

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now, we can show you this team of works, an army of men, that moved in to try to dig this car out of the dirt. that's what's been happening for the past couple of hours. we saw probably at least a dozen, maybe closer to two dozen, men in yellow vests up there with their shovels trying to dig this car out. that they did successfully just a few minutes ago, and they started to back it out of this location. they spent some time examining the front of the car. it appeared to see if there was any damage. all we could see from our vantage point was a lot of dirt. now, let's show you what this car looked like. it's number 3001 when it was unveiled on april 6th with much fanfare by b.a.r.t., including general manager grace gron akon. this is the first car to be delivered of 775 over the next five years. it was immediately brought down here to the hayward area to undergo this testing.
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now, i just took a look at b.a.r.t.'s website to see what that testing involved. 29 different tests it was undergoing here on this test track. we understand the first phase of that was involving propulsion and brakes. we don't know if exactly that's what was happening today when the car apparently ran off the tracks. we're told there were no injuries, that there was a single operator inside the car testing it at the time at a very slow speed, 5 to 10 miles per hour, and at this point we don't know if it was operator error or some sort of mechanical difficulty that caused this incident. i do understand from again looking at the b.a.r.t. website that the hope was that this testing would continue and that these cars would be used on the passenger tracks as soon as the end of this year. live in hayward, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> laura, thank you. at least nobody hurt. the renowned uc berkeley men's crew coach is fighting back. might tatty is denying
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allegations that he failed to report a sexual assault claim against one of his rowers. melanie woodrow is live with reaction from the latest such incident at cal, reaction you'll see only on abc 7 news. >> reporter: coach mike tatty tells me that these allegations are completely false and that any investigation will prove that. i also spoke to the victim on the phone as well as uc's president and students here on berkeley's campus. when i asked them about the latest sexual assault allegations, several students responded, which one? a former female uc berkeley crew member said she was sexually assaulted by other crew members on two occasions in 2013 and 2014. she tells abc 7 news coach mike tatty said he was aware of one of the sexual assaults through his own sources, then said she was no angel. abc 7 news asked uc president janet na pal tan know about the latest allegation. >> we're goidoing a lot of acti at berkeley to make sure that
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the issues surrounding sexual harassment are dealt with promptly and effectively and that sanctions are commensurate with the substantiated claims. >> reporter: an e-mail statement says, once the investigation into the merits of the allegations has concluded, the university will determine what, if any, action will be taken based on its findings. recent sexual harassment allegations on campus have included the university's basketball coach and dean of the law school. >> it's been a topic of conversation because there's so many. >> reporter: some students feel uc berkeley is under a spotlight. >> i feel like it's prevalent all over the nation. >> everybody is getting training. everybody is getting education. >> reporter: grad student stephanie chu says the dean of the optometry school spoke with students. >> make sure we knew what to do if we felt like we were a victim. >> accountability is important, as is transparency. >> reporter: the former crew member tells abc 7 news she
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hopes other victims will feel safe to report sexual assaults on campus and that the university will handle them appropriately. in berkeley, mele woanie woodro a famed attorney well-known for addressing sexual assault issues did just that at tennyson high school in hayward today. gloria allred visited the campus to counter a recent visit by ex-49er and accused raper ray mcdonald. allred represents mcdonald's accuser. laura anthony has the story. >> i think under the circumstances there are better messengers for high-risk students in a public high school than someone who is charged with a felony of rape of an intoxicated woman. >> reporter: noted women's rights attorney gloria allred says this shufrnever should hav happened, a february visit by ray mcdonald to tennyson high school. >> i understand that some parents in the community were very upset about the choice of mr. mcdonald, and i think they had a right to be upset. i'm very proud of them that they
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spoke out. >> reporter: today allred vis visited the same school talking to many of the same kids about making good choices. allred represents the mcdonald -- the ex-football player has had several other arrests for domestic violence and child endangerment among other charges. after mcdonald's february visit to tennyson, the superintendent of the hayward school district sent this letter to parents, expressing regret for mcdonald's visit. >> i think that it's definitely not a right time that we brought in ray mcdonald, but we hope that our students will learn from ms. allred here today. >> reporter: sophomore devin jackson heard both mcdonald and allred speak. which talk did you get more out of? >> to be honest, since he as an athlete, i got more from him since i'm an athlete, you know. because i understand. but she still like gave us a different point of view. >> reporter: mcdonald's felony rape trial set to begin next
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month. in september, he entered a plea of not guilty. in hayward, laura anthony, abc 7 news. a soggy morning and afternoon transitioning into a mild, dry evening around the bay area. a live picture for you from our camera in emeryville. that's a beautiful shot there. still a few clouds, but things are starting to clear out nicely. this is how it looked earlier today in downtown san jose. better start running, it's raining. off and on into the morning and afternoon, just like much of the bay area. the system brought snow showers to the sierra. look at that. that's how it looked on interstate 80 near soda springs where chains were required. meteorologist sandhya patel joining us with a look at live doppler 7 hd. we have a giants game tonight. a lot of those heading to the game want to know if they'll be dry. >> they should be just fine. but we do have just a few more showers to go before we dry it out for the giants game. as we take a look at our radar, we do have some spotty showers around the north bay.
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as i take you into street level radar around santa rosa, mendocino avenue 101, it is wet. still damp around adobe road and you will notice that there is still some wet weather right around novato and sears point across 37. in the east bay, a few showers around black hawk and danville. as we take a look just offshore, still some moisture coming on board. so here is a look at the rainfall totals, about a half inch in san francisco, about an inch and a half ben lomond, oakland 0.7 inch. right now it is gusting to 31 miles per hour at sfo, 35 at fairfield. we bring in our storm impact scale. we've been rating the storms 1 to 5, 1 light, 5 severe. current system ais a 1. few showers with gusty winds tonight. i'll let you know if any more showers are in the forecast for the weekend or beyond. we are learning new it details from investigators about the death of music icon prince. police in minnesota reveal what they found at his paisley park
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estate where he was found dead yesterday. eric thomas is live with the latest. >> the sheriff's department said they wouldn't reveal much while the investigation continued, but there were a few nuggets in a news conference today. for one, police say they got a search warrant to process prince's home because they weren't sure who to ask for permission and it was just safer legally to get a search warrant. they also revealed there were no signs of trauma to his body. the local sheriff says staffers went to paisley park yesterday morning when they couldn't reach prince by phone. >> they found on unresponsive male in the elevator. cpr was initially started but was unsuccessful. >> reporter: his sudden death follows a scare last week when his private plane made an emergency landing on the way home to minnesota from a concert in atlanta. he was rushed to the hospital with what a publicist called the flu. but today authorities were asked about a rumor linking prince's death to pain medications. >> is there any sign of a drug or prescription drug overdose
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found at the studio? >> there's no information at this time in regard to exactly what you're talking about. >> medical examiners performed a four-hour autopsy on the music ledge ed today, but they're not releasing a cause of death. that information may be days or even weeks away. meantime, oakland native sheila e. who played in prince's band and was even engaged to him said he had health problems that dated back years. >> we know that he's had issues with his hips. i mean, if you look back in the days of "purple rain" when he was on top of risers and jumping down off of them in those heels, you know, it damaged parts of his body. >> the mourning for his royal badness continued overseas when the first fan said this. >> i didn't know him well. he came to perform at the white house last year and was extraordinary. >> reporter: eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> tonight a special edition of "20/20: prince death of a legend" devoted to his life and
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untimely passing at 10:00 here on abc 7. and rhymer that you can keep track of the latest developments in the prince investigation with the abc 7 news app. download it for free. we now know the identity of the convicted felon santa clara police had an explosive device in his backpack found while detained at police headquarters. >> fire in the hole! >> the santa clara county sheriff's bomb squad safely detonated the explosive device after it was taken outside. officers say 39-year-old don purdue of san jose was pulled over yesterday for having an expired registration and littering. they found he had a suspended license and drug paraphernalia and a stun gun in his car. purdue faces several charges including possession of a destructive device. a lake county sheriff's deputy who was rescued after being swept out to sea earlier this week has now been declared brain-dead. jacob steely has been in the icu since monday. his family says they'll donate his organs.
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steely's 11-year-old son was also pulled out of the waters off of point mendocino. the boy survived with only minor injuries. >>. >> san francisco's confirming its second case of the zika virusment public health officials say a pregnant woman who recently arrived from central america has tested positive. they say there's no risk to the public from the virus in the bay area. the first case was confirmed in february when a traveler returned from central america. that person has since made a full recovery. the mosquito-borne illness can cause severe birth defects including abnormally small heads. just ahead on abc 7 news at 5, an east bay school, a district desperate for help and the rare step being taken to lure talented teachers. also, the dangers of sexting. the plan in the works to get california schoolkids to put down their phones and stop it. you can't see it, smell it or taste it. 7 on your side's michael finney shows us how to determine if you have lead in your water. and how to remove it if there is any.
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>> announcer: walnut creek, bulge game, campbell and all the bay area. this is abc 7 news. some local school districts have gone from handing teachers pink slips to giving them green as in cash bonuses. teachers can get up to $5,000 if they can teach certain subjects in one district. abc 7 news reporter leanne melendez joining us from pittsburg with more. >> reporter: those subjects are math, science, language immersion, and special education, larry. now, here's an added bonus. if you teach any of those subjects and you graduated from this school district, you'll be offered a $10,000 signing bonus. now, their job fair is tomorrow here at the school, pittsburg high, from 9:00 to 11:30. >> so factors are x minus 3.
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>> reporter: math and science teachers seem to be valuable assets for many school districts. >> as many of us add cte college technology education pathways, we're really looking for math, science. >> reporter: pittsburg's two high schools are desperate to hire more of them shlg offering a $5,000 bonus to anyone in that field who wants to teach here. that would be in addition to their salaries which range from $50,000 to nearly $80,000 zpending on years of experience and level of education. >> there are some conditions we're looking at a two-year commitment and basically what you would do is give them that once they sign. >> reporter: the signing bonus would also be given to language immersion and special education teachers k-12. the district is also looking to fill other positions like bus drivers, ub constitute teachers, clerical and cafeteria workers. but they wouldn't get a bonus. during the recession, the labor department found between 2008 and 2012 california lost more than 80,000 school-related jobs.
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many college students thinking of going into education decided otherwise. >> after the recession, many teachers had decided not to go into teaching for a while so there is a shortage. >> reporter: today other school districts are providing incentives like forgiving student loans, paying for teachers to continue their education and subsidizing their housing costs. pittsburg also has inexpensive housing and a low cost of living. the district hopes those will be two selling points for any teacher. in pittsburg, leanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> as leanne mentioned, the job fair is tomorrow morning at the pittsburg high school gym at 1750 harbor street. that event runs from 9:00 to 11:30. sacramento lawmakers are looking at a new law that addresses sexting in california schools. assembly bill 2536 would give schools the authority to suspend or expel students who use sexually explicit messages to target or bully students or
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faculty. that could include photographs or visual recordings sent during school or even while a student is on the way to or from school. >> phenomenon has been getting worse and not better. in fact, 20% of our teenagers have engaged in or sent a sext message to others, and that number keeps going up. >> the bill would also require schools to include sexting lessons in sexual health classes. environmental advocates including california governor jerry brown looked on as 175 nations signed a united nations agreement to fight climate change. governor brown's office tweeted this photo of former vice president al gore chatting with the governor at the u.n. in new york city. holding his granddaughter, secretary of state john kerry signed the paris agreement on behalf of the united states. today's signing marks a key step in making the fight against carbon emissions a u.n. policy. recent news about the water crisis in flint, michigan, and
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newark, new jersey, may have you wondering about the safety of your home's tap water. >> 7 on your side's michael finney partnered with "consumer reports" for an in-depth look. >> those cities are dealing with big problems right now concerning lead in their tap water. "consumer reports" explains how you can check your water and what to do if you find lead. lead can enter drinking water supplies when older pipes corrode. it's harmful, especially for children and pregnant women. now, you can't see, taste, or smell lead so the only way to know if your water is unsafe is by testing. >> if you get your water from a public municipal water system, it's supposed to have drinking water quality standards for lead and other contaminants. you're supposed to be notified if there are problems. >> your water can also be contaminated by lead from the pipes in your home. you should have your water tested by lab if your home was built before lead-free pipes were mandated in 1986 or if you use well water. you can find a state-certified
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laboratory by calling the epa's safe drinking water hotline at 800-426-4791. >> if the lab tests find lead levels above 150 parts per billion, contact your local health department. for levels below that, a water filter can make the water safer to drink. >> "consumer reports" has tested water filters to see how well they remove lead and contaminants. "consumer reports" says some good choices are this clear 2o carafe for $30 and this culligan filter fm-15a for $20. it's easy to attach on a standard faucet. now, be aware that boiling water will not get rid of lead contamination. only use water from the cold water tap for drinking, cooking and especially for making baby formula. i'm michael finney, 7 on your side. >> i had a lot of water coming down from the sky. look at this now, larry. different picture. >> sunny, clearing in the city.
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sandhya patel back with a look at our weekend forecast. this weekend you're going to see dry conditions. right now you are getting a little bit of a preview of what's to come. the wind is coming through the bay area, and it is only going to get gustier this weekend. let's show you live doppler 7 hd. we'll talk about what is left, still some green dotting the screen there. i'll show you where we're still looking at roadways. oakmont drive toward calistoga, silverado trail. we also have a few light returns between el sobrante and vallejo and around the inland east bay, taus haur ra, we're seei ining returns there. in the sierra, chain controls on all roads leading to tahoe. it is snowing heavily in tahoe. carry chains. winter weather advisory remains until 8:00 p.m. tonight. not only the windy conditions but chain controls so just be aware of that additional snow totals between now and the next few hours we're looking at anywhere between 2 to 7 inches.
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it's late in the season. i've seen snow as late as may. so this is great so get some more fresh powder up in the mountains. sutro tower camera showing showers over san francisco. low 60s from san francisco to oakland, half moon bay 59 degrees. and a beautiful view of some blue sky breaking through the clouds there. 57 in sanlt rosa, napa at 60 along with livermore. one last live picture from the mt. tam cam. you'll be starting off your weekend with colludes. showers diminish tonight, mostly sunny tomorrow and windy conditions on sunday. storm impact scale comes into play. we've been using it all season to rate your storms from 5 severe, 1 light. many of the storms have been 1s and 2s. the current system is a light system, a few showers this evening will remain until the sun sets and gusty winds. let's look at the time line here. 8:00 tonight we're looking at cloud cover. could still see an isolated shower after sunset around 9:00 p.m. in the north bay.
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then we pretty much will be dealing with clouds for tomorrow morning around 8:00 a.m. and a mix of sun and high clouds for tomorrow afternoon. so overall looking nice. don't be surprised, though, if tomorrow morning you see a little bit of drizzle. temperatures start out in the mid-40s to low 50s as we head toward the afternoon hours if you have saturday plans, it's looking pleasant, 70 degrees in livermore, antioch, 66 oakland, in san francisco.an rafael, 63 a look at the accuweather seven-day forecast, temperatures will be in the low 60s to low 70s saturday. when the winds come up, temperatures will drop a little along the coast on sunday. upper 50s to low 70s. we'll keep the breezy pattern going for monday with near average temperatures tuesday. and there's a slight chance of some showers on wednesday. really computer models are still having a hard time with this one. one is really showing wet weather, the other one not ex t exactly completely wet. so as we get closer, we'll let you know. for now, there's a slight chance
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your weekend will be dry. just hang on to your hats on sunday. >> we like the odds. thank you. just ahead, when it comes to all-day breakfast, you'll see from bank of america to buy a new gym bag. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time and 2% back at the grocery store. even before he got 3% back on gas. kenny used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card to join the wednesday night league.
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because he loves to play hoops. not jump through them. that's the excitement of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you.
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two firefighters were hurt battling a fire in the mission district this morning. a viewer showed us this video showing how intense that fire grew. it broke at around 9:30 on poplar street on 24th. the fire was brought under control within an hour. the injuries to the firefighters are considered to be minor, mostly cuts. at least 21 people have been displaced. apple says it's hoping to resume its online itunes movies and i books in china as soon as possible. this follows a shutdown less than seven months after the stores were launched. the "new york times" reports they were blocked by china's broadcast regulator, china's currently apple's second largest market with its fastest growing sales. the move by the chinese
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government could hurt the company's growth in a year where iphone sales are expected to be flat. aerospace giant lockheed martin is cutting jobs again. it's reducing its information technology workforce by about 200. lockheed couldn't say if any of the jobs would impact the silicon valley workforce. the move comes as lockheed prepares to merge its i.t. services with virginia-headquartered light toes, anoth toes. lockheed laid off 500 people six months ago. mcdonald's all-day breakfast strategy seems to be working. it reported sales and earnings easily topping forecast. profits surged 30%. overall sales, though, slid slightly mainly due to the strength of the dollar which hurt overseas business. >> apparently we love breakfast anytime. for kids, the breakfast for lunch is always the most popular seller at school. go figure. >> i know.
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what's wrong with breakfast? >> pancakes, sure. when we come back, the tiger found roaming the city streets
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. ? coming up at 6, flanked by bodyguards, a bay area tech titan was back in court today, the charges he's facing. also, we'll take you to ka cello where fans and musicians are honoring a music legend. meet the frogs and their
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owners taking a leap to get into one of the largest frog jump competitions in the world. it's all coming up in a half hour on abc 7 news at 6. a stray big cat is making headlines in texas. this is really a strange story. >> this young female tiger was captured after being spotted wandering the streets. erin poole and her boyfriend saw the animal while they were at a stop sign. jonathan got out of the car to catch the tiger. it was xroucrouch like it was g to pounce. >> it started running toward me and it jumped at me. i started playing with it and peing pe i petting it. >> they called the police. the police didn't believe them at first. but the tiger had a leash and a collar. it appears to have had her front claws removed. she's been taken to an animal shelter and authorities are trying to figure out who owns her. it sounds like -- >> yes, developing story. it came from a rescue farm in harris county. officials just said that. it had been evacuates because of
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all the severe flooding in that region. >> at least they figured it out. that will do it for us. >> thanks for joining us. we'll see you again at 6. tonight, breaking news -- the prince mystery. what happened in the pop legend's final hours? the autopsy just completed. authorities revealing two major findings. plus, new details on his mid-air health scare, as tributes pour in around the world. also breaking -- massive manhunt. a killer on the loose, residents forced to hide inside a church. already eight dead, including children. caught on tape, trump's top aide revealing the gop frontrunner has been playing a part that's about to change. ted cruz on the attack, saying the comments prove trump is a con man. mayday. the inside story of a catamaran capsizing. all of it caught on camera. the moment the ship goes under and the frantic effort by

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