down the sidewalk. >> she was saved by a good samaritan. >> i just ran and i got them loose and made sure she was free and okay. >> the driver sped away in his car, described as a 2014 nissan sentra sr edition. this is a police sketch of the suspect, an african-american with a goatee and glasses, about 5'10". a second woman told police after she saw media reports that she too was approached by a man with the same description. she said it happened here on east 14th street and juana avenue. >> he tried to engage here in a conversation. she was a little bit freaked out because she didn't know the man and was startled and quickly turned and went the other way to avoid any other contact and get to a point of safety. >> what is unique about the nissan is that it has after-market wheels like this image, dark gray or gun metal in color and the car has tinted windows all around. the fact that no one has reported seeing the car from the

early media reports may be that it belongs to a friend or a family member. vic lee, abc 7 news. firefighters have made some progress on the fire burning in lake county. though many people still cannot return home. abc 7 news toured lower lake with a cal fire lieutenant today. for a first-land look at the damage, after at least 170 homes and businesses and other structures were destroyed by the fire that started on saturday. 1500 more remain threatened right now. today cal fire lifted the evacuation order for neighborhoods east of highway 53 from polk avenue to cash creek. many people in other neighborhoods still can't get back to their houses. >> not as if we could just open the door and allow people to come home. there are a lot of people and organizations who have a voice in when it would be safe for people to re-enter the home. >> the fire has burned 4,000 acres. it is now 20% contained. meantime, the man accused of setting the fire is preparing to

make his first court appearance tomorrow. >> he has been booked on multiple counts of arson for the clayton fire and other previous fires in the area as well. >> melanie woodrow is live in lower lake with the latest. melanie? >> reporter: well, at least one of his family members who we spoke with said it is hard to imagine that anyone would intentionally create devastation like this for others. meantime, the person that fire investigators say is responsible for this fire will be making his first court appearance tomorrow. gayman pash ilk is expected to appear in court on 17 counts of arson over the past year. officials say the 40-year-old is also implicated in the clayton fire, started days ago which destroyed homes and businesses. >> it is hard to even think about. like, even as a person, like someone could even do that. >> alex young is his cousin. while surprised anyone would

intentionally cause devastation for others, he has a different reaction to the arrest. >> it doesn't really surprise me because i know from what family members have said, that he does have like a history. >> reporter: a source gave the i-team a list of his prior charges between 1996 and 2015. of the 55 crimes, six were felonies. the crimes range from dui to drugs, to carrying a concealed weapon. investigators aren't saying what evidence they have linking him to the fires, by phone his court appointed attorney cautioned, he is innocent until proven guilty. and his cousin feels for the people of lake county. >> something that is unnecessary. set a fire and then bring trouble to all of these innocent people. probably hundreds of them are out of homes now and don't even have a place to live. >> reporter: in lake county, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. now this is interesting. we are learning that he actually had training as a firefighter.

>> i team reporter dan noyes is digging into that part of the story. >> reporter: after obtaining the wrap sheet with dozens of charges, i spoke with a source at the state department of corrections and provided this mug shot of the man from may of 2010 as he processed out of san questin state -- san quentin. he was convicted of drug possession and violated his parole six times in the years that followed so he was in and out of san quentin. and he learned how to be a firefighter at the california correctional center in susanville and worked as an inmate firefighter at trinity county fire camp from april to july of 2007 and actually worked there. you could see the inmates in the orange jump suit provided by corrections so he had experience as a firefighter years being accused of setting the devastating fires in lake county. >> dan, thank you. a lawnmower sparked a large

grass fire only about a 30 minute drive from the clayton fire today. abc 7 news was in lake port as a propane tank exploded on this rural property. the fire burned ten acres off of hill road near highway 29 before firefighters could get it under control. the main house did not burn thankfully. a smaller secondary house was destroyed. a landscape contractor said he was cutting the grass when one of the blades hit a rock. no one was hurt. get up dates on california wildfire situation by downloading the abc 7 news app and enable push alerts to get news updates sent right to your mobile device. meantime, san francisco police have reclassified the death investigation into a line cook who was found dead last week at the westfield san francisco shopping center. the case involving the 28-year-old is a suspicious death investigation. inspectors said he was a victim of a homicide. police say autopsy results

performed by the medical examiner led to this change. his body was found last wednesday morning in a mall stairwell. a pleasant hill man received a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges of running a brothel inside of his home. the 54-year-old could leave prison within 18 months with good behavior. salazar owned a business called the mad girls fitness club. undercover police officers arrested him after visiting the brothel on mesa verde place in june. they found the interior of the home was outfitted with a strippers pole and massage tables. i popular creek in fremont is safe again for the public after a reptile visitor was shot and killed. sky 7 was there when fish and game wardens brought in the 4 foot alligator earlier today. it had been lingering by alameda creek in niles canyon. sergio kwints anna joins us live from the scene. >> reporter: that gator was

spotted half a mile up the creek here in an area that is off limited to the public but there is a secret popular swimming hole out there and so game wa wardens figured the alligator was too much of a public safety risk. from sky 7 hd you could see one of the men sent in to find the gator, holding a covered cage and it was put in there after it was shot. >> it was our department issued rifle and he was shot in the head and died immediately. >> this is a picture of the animal just before it was killed. game wardens tell us the american alligator was on a rock sunning when dthey arrived. >> we have the resources and all of these people down here to take care of it, i think they are just taking the easy wau out instead of catching it. >> they opted to shoot it because it posed a safety risk for people and pets and other animals here. >> it is difficult to tranquilize an alligator from a distance and they are spooky around people so if we tried to

get close to it, we would lose it and we couldn't take that chance. >> reporter: it is not clear how long the gator was in this creek. one local said he spotted it months ago. >> i saw it on a rock when i was hanging out with some buddys back here and scared it off by making loud noises because he is excited and swam in the water before i could get a picture of it. >> how long ago was that? >> six months ago. >> to give you an idea how long it was, this is my friend donovan, how tall are you. >> i'm 4'8". >> so it measured four feet long. california game wardens figure someone left it here after it became too difficult to keep as a pet. they could have worked with the owner to ship it to a different state instead of having to kill it in the wild. abc 7 news. well, it started, the building of a new shopping center in concord. it first means tearing down 795 trees on the report. the trees are located in the area of diamond boulevard and

680 between willow and galaxy way, the site of the plans 375,000 square foovt foot veranda shopping center. we were flying overhead as crews chopped down and removed 93 of the trees. city gave permission for 61 protected trees to be taken down as long as east is replaced with three trees n. all, 700 trees are expected to be placed on the property. we have much more ahead this tuesday evening. coming up, a popular tourist ship catches fire in lake tahoe. >> a firefighter catches a rare fire tornado and we'll tell you where. and harvey milk had to hide his sexual orientation to enlist in the navy and now he is being honored with his own ship. and michael finney on whether to lease or buy your solar panels. and why diapers could soon be effectively cheaper in california. california. >> stay here with us. ♪ ♪

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a special ceremony wrapped up this afternoon. the navy making history by naming a ship after harvey milk. he was a gay rights activist but also a navy diver early in his career. chris nguyen is live on treasure island with more on today's event. chris? >> reporter: dan, a number of people made their way out to treasure island for today's ceremony. we saw some members of the lgbt-q community as well as elected officials. also here, the family of harvey milk. with the san francisco skyline in the distance, naval officials announce that a soon to be built oiler will be named after former supervisor milk. >> and even after death, his voice still spoke. his struggles continued. and his calls taken up by

countless others. >> reporter: the us harvey milk will be the first named for a gay rights leader and one of six replenishment ships in its class all named after those who fought for civil rights. stewart milk was just 17 when his uncle was assassinated. >> my uncle had the courage to go in with the hate mile and the death threat -- mail and death threats because he dreamed and saw this type of day so i don't think he would be surprised. >> earlier today they stopped by his old apartment on castro street to pay respects. >> the reason i could feel comfortable now walking down the street with my boyfriend is because of what he fought for. so -- it is important to me. my safe place. >> reporter: visitors from out of town came by to soak it all in. >> he was a brave person and he died a martyr, really. he could have done so much more in life but his life was cut short. >> stewart said naming a ship

after his uncle will show we are strengthened by our diversity. >> the world's largest military can embrace everyone and certainly the rest of the world could come along. >> the construction will begin in 2019 and expected to go into the service in the year 2021. on treasure island, chris nguyen, abc 7 news. and a historic paddle wheeler that is an iconic site on south lake tahoe was damaged by fire this morning. these are photos firefighters took of the tahoe queen. vessel was undergoing ven ovations and they believe the fire was called by construction work on the boat. one person suffered smoke inhalation and another strained his back. the queen is operated by a cruise company and provides tours of lake tahoe. and this will come as relief. we have enough water. that is the message from communities around california to the people who manage our state water supply tonight. 80% of the california urban water districts believe they have adequate water supplies to endure three more years of drought. let's hope we don't have to.

but that means they won't face mandatory cuts in water usage. others will set conservation goals based on conservation calls. last year everyone was urged to cut their use by 25% and most of us did into and convicted felons still in county jail, supporters of a bill say civic parms can help reduce recidivism but those serving a sentence should not be able to cast ballots. it would not apply to anyone in federal prison. sale taxes on diapers could be eliminated through 2022. the state senate sent the bill to the governor after a unanimous vote. viagra and yoga classes and yachts are exempt so diapers should be as well. so california state association of counties and the tax reform association opposed the legislation and they say it will harm local governments by eroding the sales tax base. the tax waiver could start next year if governor brown approves.

well, should you buy or lease your solar panels. >> a lot of people are wondering about that right now. michael finney has answers for us. michael. >> it could get complicated. going solar could be fraught with pitfalls, particularly when you are deciding how to finance your system. a consumer reports have some great advice on how you could save money. michael moore has no regrets about converting to solar power. he leased the panels on his roof for month money down and saved almost $200 a month on his electric bill. but all is not well. to fix a leak on the roof the solar panels needed to be taken down and stored and later put back up. it is a fairly simple job that should cost less than a thousand dollars but he can't find a single local company to do the work. >> no one wants to work on panels leased by someone else. >> people lease because buying the system outright requires a lot of up-front money but

experts say leasing is not such a biegt idea for -- a bright idea for several reasons. >> by leasing, you miss out on any federal tax benefits and local incentives and people who lease save far less than those who buy systems outright. >> and in fact, one analysis shows buying could save you as much as $60,000 over 20 years. but lease your system and your savings could drop to just $20,000 over the same 20 years. >> also many leasing contracts contain an escalator clause which means your payments go up every year, further reducing your payments. >> reporter: if you do buy, expect to pay $15,000 to $20,000 after tax credit and save 70% to 100% off your current bill. most systems pay for themselves in five to seven years. and as michael moore found out, the real cost of leasing may be steeper than you expect. if your roof might need replacing within the next five years, consumer reports suggest

you replace it before you have panelled installed and if you don't want to pay for them out right, you are butter off financing the purchase rather than leasing. back to you. >> good information. >> thank you, michael. well check this out. it is a photo of a fire tornado courtesy of a colorado firefighter battling a firefighter for about 100 miles east of ft. collins. >> fire tornados or fire whirls happen when hot and dry air near a fire rises rapidly, forming a vortex. >> boy, they are intense and they can actually be quite dangerous as you might imagine but spectacular and rare to see. >> we're having a pretty spectacular day out there as well. kind of coolish around here, though. >> and pleasant. meteorologist sandhya patel is outside with the forecast. >> it is beautiful out here. believe it or not. a lot of sunshine. look to the north and i'm watching the fog rolling in. we have all of our summer microclimate to the south. it is sunny. let's check out live doppler 7 hd and talk about what is ahead.

so you notice it is still foggy at the coastline. thats is why temperatures at the beaches, upper 50s to low 60s. 97 in aept. pacifica, a 38 degrees spread and in sierra watching showers and isolated thunderstorms developing. obviously the showers is a good thing. keeps the fire danger down. but those thunderstorms could still trigger some fires. a live look from our lake tahoe camera and you could see the build-up there. san francisco 62. oakland 68. san jose 79. it is 81 in morgan hill. if you are heading up to tahoe, tomorrow isolated showers an thunderstorms expected in the afternoon once again. from our south beach camera, watching the very shallow marine layer rolling in over the bay, it is about a thousand feet deep and that is why today inland areas got warmer. 79 in santa rosa. 72 napa. fairfield 89, livermore 92. and warmer around the bay. emeryville camera showing you the fog there. it will be with us near the beaches and bay overnight tonight. hot inland the next few days and

a gradual cooling trend is expected through the weekend. so tomorrow morning, like this morning, you are going to start out with the fog. right around the coast and around the bay. the only difference is this morning we had a lot of mist and drizzle. tomorrow morning because of the dryer air it is not as drizzle. still mist here and there but a cool start like last night. hour-by-hour forecast showing you your morning at 5:00 a.m. and how it looks and where the fog is sitting. thaend we head -- and then we head into the afternoon and the fog hangs around at the beach and keeping you company and the rest of you, plenty of sun. there are people who enjoy the fog here in san francisco so we'll keep it there. 89 in gilroy. 90 in morgan hill. 85 in san jose. 80 degrees in sunnyvale and the south bay. 89 in los gatos. 74 in santa cruz on the peninsula, mid-70s around san mateo but up to 79 in redwood city and 80 in mountain view. pacifica, like today, upper 50s and foggy, daly city same thing and 66 downtown san francisco and in the north bay, up into the trild triple-digits around

lake port and ukiah, not a good thing for the firefighters with the hot conditions again near the clayton fire. 85 santa rosa. 81 in napa. 77 vallejo and the east bay, low 70s, berkeley and oakland and 80 in castro valley and inland and this is where it is holter than today. ate in livermore and 98 antioch and 91 in san ramon and 92 in walnut creek. temperature trend for livermore showing you above average highs. about 88 degrees and we fall down where you need to be, friday through early next week. so temperatures will drop but not immediately. so if you don't like the hot weather, just hang in there and if you do like it, you have another day of it -- or two. upper 90s inland tomorrow. low 60s coast. the cooling begins on thursday. a wide range of conditions on friday and saturday, by sunday you are partly cloudy, upper 80s inland, low 60s coast and really we'll hold you within a few degrees monday and tuesday. obviously with dry conditions around this time of the year, it

is always good to get a nice cooldown, especially with the fires burning out there. kristen and zan. >> thank you. when students return to cal this month, there will be a famous face among the new enrollees. that is next. and then at 5:30 on world news with david muir. >> bracing for severe storms right now, it could bring travel headaches coast to coast and the deadly floods and now the rescues, the wildfires there in the west and word tonight of an arrest and new reporting. and remembering a famous tv host and his one loud word -- right after abc 7 news. and the bay area man whose cable kept dropping out even though his set was just fine. new at 6:00, see how michael finney got the problem fixed with just one phone call. that is coming up at 6:00 and a lot more then as well.

us marine recruiters are targeting high school girls, sports teams to find candidates who could meet the corp's tough physical standards after the pentagon decision to allow women to serve in combat. the corp has the smallest percentage of women among all military services and it wants to increase that number from 7 to 10%. that means 3400 female recruits each year. recruiters are also traveling to meet female high school athletes and their coaches. and hillary clinton's white house transition team should she be elected will include berkeley law professor and former michigan governor jennifer granholm. the 57-year-old is one of four on the clinton team. she grew up in san carlos and graduated from berkeley and served as michigan governor from 2003 to 2011. new jersey governor chris christie chairs donald trump's transition team. ashley judd has announced on facebook live come fall she will

become a cal bear. >> i am now officially a resident at the university of californiaal berkeley. >> and we welcome you. she will pursue a hpd and she made the announcement from a coffee house in franklin tennessee near her home and she earned a master of public administration degree from harvard and was recently appointed a united nations population fund good will ambassador. >> very impressive. researchers at us san diego say humans developed schizophrenia after splitting off from neanderthals. it suggests the condition may be a by product of creative thinking and language. for the first time scientists have analyzed the dna of the one of the most elussive critters. researchers say finding the small african squirrel is the ultimate pokemon go game. it came from three dead squirrels. scientists have known about it

since 1889 but it has never been seen alive. so it is pretty exciting. >> real world pokemon go. >> that is right. what do you get for the man or the woman who has everything? >> we might have ♪ ♪

california's clean air laws we've cut toxic pollution. we're seeing fewing cases of asthma in kids. and the new clean energy economy has created more than half a million jobs. i'm tom steyer. just when we're making progress, the oil companies are trying to weaken our clean air laws. but we can stop them. send them a message. we're going to protect our kids - not their profits. ♪

>> when it happens where you live -- the abc 7 news team covers your neighborhood. your story -- choose the news that matters where you live. choose the team that works for you. choose abc 7 news. i'm ama daetz. coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00, ford it about to shift the silicon valley operations in high gear. it wants to make a car but without one thing all of them have. also, he's on the road to

recovery. but this little guy didn't always look this good. we'll see his amazing transformation after being found in dumpster. and they could soon be on everything from wine bottles to bike helmets, the high-tech giant betting on a big future with something so small. it is all coming up in half an hour on abc 7 news at 6:00. >> thanks. see you then. this one here is for history lovers. >> that is right. you could now buy and own a prehistoric artifact for a hefty price. >> hefty. auction house posted a rex skull online for a pleasely $1.8 million. >> it is one of the most complete t rex skulls ever found. and it was discovered last summer in montana by a private dawno saur fossil exploration firm. >> and it was from 70 million years ago and i hate to sound like indiana jones, but it belongs in a museum. >> or maybe in your entryway.

it would be lovely. >> if you buy it, open your home for everybody to see. world news is david muir breaking news tonight. bracing for severe storms in several major cities in the east. the system already bringing at least seven tornadoes and dangerous driving. while in the south tonight, the death toll rises, and so do the waters. a state of emergency. we're there. the wildfires tonight. a new fire outside l.a. on the way to vegas. roaring to life. and the other fire, more than 100 homes and businesses lost. tonight, word of an arrest. donald trump defiant this evening, saying, why change what got him this far? and hillary clinton, the fbi turning over e-mail evidence to members of congress who demanded it. the controversial video tonight. pinned by police. the mother dangling, held against a patrol car. and the new warning for homeowners tonight. what this woman is doing inside