and may have exposed countless people. good evening, i'm kristen sze. >> and i'm dan ashley. thanks for joining us. we now know the name of the marin county man who died from meningitis. 48-year-old sevin philips leaves behind a wife and 8-year-old son. the department of health and human services says it is an isolated case, but the agency is reaching out to people who may have come into close contact with philips at the fitness center in larkspur. he was a well-known counselor in san francisco. he will surely be missed. melanie woodrow is live with more on this man. melanie? >> reporter: we're here on union street and this is where sevin philips had his practice. friends and colleagues tell me they are shocked and devastated. family members say 48-year-old sevin philips passed away this past saturday morning from meningitis. he's being described as a loving father, devoted husband and gifted counselor. philips was a licensed marriage and family therapist in san

francisco. jeff wright was a colleague and friend. >> it's a really big loss, but my heart is so full. >> reporter: it's unclear how philips contracted meningitis. wright says his wife shared he was being treated for flu-like symptoms. marin health and human services was notified tuesday. philips' autopsy revealed he had meningitis. >> most of the time it's an isolated incident like this. our goal tois to make sure this remains at one case. >> reporter: health and human services sent letters like this one to approximately 250 people that may have had close contact with philips. >> you hear meningitis and you're like, uh-oh. so everybody googles it to see if something possibly could be spread to you. >> reporter: in an e-mailed statement a spokesperson says we are deeply saddened by the passing of one of our riders. while the rider did not contract our infection at our studio, we have nonetheless been in constant communication with the

department of health. >> the risk of transmission in a setting like that is very low. >> i think they have kind of assured us that we're not necessarily in danger. >> reporter: those who knew philips best say they are focused on his legacy. >> you know, he would want everybody to live more life, pay closer attention to the ones that they love. >> reporter: in san francisco, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. >> marin county health officials say symptoms of meningitis include but are not limited to fever, headache, stiff neck, a rash and confusion. newborns and infants may also vomit or seem tired or fussy. if you or your child experience any of these signs or symptom its, contact your health care provider right away. an amtrak train is finally moving again following a mechanical issue that stranded passengers for almost eight hours. the coast starlight bound for emeryville and oakland stopped on the tracks outside of benicia because of a mechanical issue around 8:00 this morning. this is video from a short time

ago when it started rolling again. one passenger said they got so fed up and called family members to pick them up. the train should be arriving in emeryville shortly, almost nine hours late. two musicians are in stable but critical condition after being struck by an amtrak train last night on their way to play at yoshi's at jack london square. that's where leslie brinkley is live with more on the accounted a. leslie? >> reporter: i'm here standing at a train crossing along the embarcadero at jack london square. there are a lot of them down here. behind me you can see a pedestrian bridge that goes over the train tracks as well. but amtrak says those two musicians were actually crossing in between all those on an area that was not a legitimate crossing when that amtrak train came through at 25 miles an hour and hit them. ♪ tower of power played ten shows in oakland last week, but last night their final two

performances were cancelled as two band members left their hotel just before the start of the 8:00 show and essentially tried to jaywalk across the train tracks over to the jazz club. a freight train passed. they dashed out along with several others and were struck by an oncoming amtrak train. the drummer was rushed to highland hospital with face and head injuries, according to a facebook post by the tower of power band leader, who also said a fill-in bassist made it through surgery for internal bleeding. both are in critical condition. >> i grew up listening to them. and just listening to them even on the way in this morning, you know, they have had great music for decades. >> so hearing this accident -- >> it's very sad. >> reporter: there are two train crossings by yoshi's jazz club at jack london square for pedestrians and for cars. and even a pedestrian bridge over the tracks. >> at every crossing, there's

the bars that come down, the lights start to flash and then as the trains approach, they blow the horns. >> reporter: those who live and work down here say it's hard to imagine not noticing the warnings of an oncoming train. tower of power's merchandise manager drove off with the band's equipment this morning, saying they have not yet decided if they will cancel shows in san diego next week. in oakland, i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. peninsula commuters began facing delays right at rush hour started because of a burning motor home near sfo. you're looking at cell phone video shot from a passing vehicle along southbound 101. the highway patrol tells us that no one was hurt when the motor home burst into flames about 2:45 this afternoon. you can see it utterly burned. sky 7 flew over the backup which has stretched into south san francisco. a real mess on this friday. in antioch, a kitchen fire forced the evacuation of patients from a dialysis clinic. it happened this morning on

delta fare boulevard in antioch. 13 patients were moved outside and their dialysis continued in the parking lot. at least no one was hurt. a young girl was hit by a car in san francisco this morning after her school was evacuated. the 5-year-old was at flynn elementary when the students were taken to the playground. that's because an earlier gas leak left a strong smell in the classrooms. some parents took their children home because of the chilly weather. the girl was at the corner of cesar chavez and harrison streets when she was struck by the car. her injuries are not considered critical. the driver was also injured. a castro valley teenager is lucky to be alive this friday night, but mourning the loss of her best friend. natalie griffin and jenna santos, a student at humbolt university, were headed to castro valley wednesday night when their car hydroplaned and ran off the highway. the car then plunged into a swollen outlet creek off highway 101 north of willits. both women were conscious but the vehicle quickly filled with

water. only griffin made it out alive. she survived by clinging to a tree 100 yards from shore for 12 hours through the entire night before swimming back to shore and flaking down a car. the chain saws were out in diablo today. abc 7 news showed you this giant oak when it came down on a home in danfield. today a crew armed with chain saws were busy slicing it up and carting it away. the homeowner tells abc 7 he lost two cars and a dune buggy but he and his wife are okay and they're going to rebuild. the chain saws have not made it to this home. a man and one of his sons were inside when this big old oak came down just slicing right through that house. they weren't hurt and this family also plans to rebuild. it could be one of the biggest and best weekends in a long time for skiing and other snow sports in the high sierra. this week's epic storms left more than 10 feet of snow in some places. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony is live tonight from the

snowy village at north star. wow, laura. >> reporter: hi, kristen. let me give you a few more numbers. 24 feet above 8,000 feet. that's how much snow has fallen here in tahoe over the past week. that is the most snow here since 2011. you can see a lot of it right here in the village at north star. a picture doesn't lie, not this one. that is snow and lots of it, the kind measured in feet, not inches. especially high in this neighborhood in the high sierra. >> when we showed up, it was probably at 11 feet. we've taken -- you can see the snow line where it was. it was pretty high and it's taken us a couple of hours to get to this point. >> and we are on day eight of school being cancelled. >> reporter: in downtown truckee, this teacher hasn't been to work in a week and a local emergency declared because

of all the snow that's landed here. >> it was very shocking to everybody. i think in the past, you know, they kind of prepare us for these big storms and they kind of wash out. and this actually happened. >> reporter: those not digging out are just digging. the ski conditions, like most tahoe resorts, north star california received more than 100 inches in the past week. >> it's more than knee deep. it's amazing. you fall down, you can't get back up because your arms are so far in the snow. >> the lack of snow is not an issue, it's the amount of snow. they want to make sure that everything is safe so groomers can get down there, ski patrol is down there. they want to make it safe for all the guests and employees. >> reporter: many decided to come up a day early to get in a few turns ahead of the crowd. >> it was really nice to be here when there weren't as many people so you kind of had the place to yourself. >> should we tell everybody else to stay home? >> yes.

>> reporter: now, i know all you skiers and borders out there are interested not just in how much snow but the quality of the snow. i'm here to tell you that the top layer is nice and light and fluffy. down below some good old-fashioned sierra cement but that's good news because that means, dan and kristen, it will last longer. live at north star, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> all right, laura, thanks so much. snow was also piling up in santa clara county. >> coming up, how folks at the observe store are taking a scientific approach to getting rid of all the flakes in the last 24 hours. storms are taking a holiday but they'll be back. i'm sandhya patel. i leave you with a stunning sunset. i'll be back to let you know how your weekend is shaping up, coming up. and what was a profit-making machine is now feeling the pinch. wells fargo's new struggle in the aftermath of a scandal. i'm michael finney live in the 7 on your side office. we're taking your questions about covered california.

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the majority voting in the affirmative. the concurrent resolution is agreed to. >> with that, congress took the first step toward undoing president obama's health care law. the republican-led house voted for a full repeal of the affordable care act against the objections of the democrats. obamacare remains in effect as republicans decide on how to replace it. well, today abc 7 news is helping you as the deadline to enroll in covered california, the state's health insurance exchange, is quickly approaching. >> yeah, you have to be enrolled by the end of the month to be covered for a year. 7 on your side's michael finney is here answering some of the many questions we're getting about this. michael? >> yeah, the 7 on your side health insurance hotline is open

for business. boy, are you guys calling. you can give us a call right now, 415-954-7621. there's the number right there. or go onto facebook or tweet me. we've got people answering your questions. we'll show you that in just a couple of moments. right now i want to go talk to susan, with the national coalition of 100 black women. you're here every year helping us. >> we love coming here, michael, and thank you for doing this every year. >> we're happy to be here. what are you hearing from people? what are the concerns? >> a lot of concerns about enrollment deadlines and if it's too late to get in. we're also reassuring everyone that all of the covered california plans are good through all of 2017. >> so let's talk about the coverage dates, though, because it gets confusing. it was the 15th, now it's the 12th. >> they just extended the deadline from january 15th to january 20th to get coverage starting february 1st. part of that is the holiday weekend and there's been a big rush of people wanting to get enrolled. >> okay. susan, you're here every year

doing the lord's work. thanks a lot for hanging out with us. let me show you where we're taking your questions on twitter and facebook. we've got a crew down here at a conference room set up. we have so many people in the 7 on your side office, we had to move them over here. by the way #askfinney, you can answer any question you want. this is marshawn harris. you're with health and human services, is that right? >> yes. well, that's the nonprofit that i volunteer with and work with as a program manager. >> thanks for being here. so what are you hearing from people? what are their concerns? what are their questions? >> a lot of people want to know whether or not they're actually enrolled and confirm that they actually are going to be renewed next year, so we're just telling them that nothing has changed and to continue with the enrollment process. >> so they're hearing the noise in washington and they're becoming concerned. so they're just calling to go how do i make sure i'm still enrolled, is that what it is? >> yes, they are. >> that's understandable. >> yes. we're just trying to -- taking

names and information and will confirm that for them if that needs to be confirmed. but definitely people are still being enrolled and definitely we want you to enroll if you haven't already. >> all right, hey, thank you very much for all your good work. let me show you these guys over here. they're online right now taking your questions. hey there, you guys, good work. you can see we've got all of our facebook page up there, we have our twitter pages up online. so you can send us any question up until 8:00 we're going to be here. so you can telephone us or you can use #askfinney. reporting live from somewhere at the abc 7 building, i'm michael finney. >> all right, michael, thanks very much. terrific work. one of the most popular restaurants in alameda may be closed for quite a while. it has been red tagged after an early morning fire. it's been a fixture on santa clara street almost 35 years and customers say they'll miss the sushi and the restaurant's owner. she posted this picture on the

website saying due to the major fire, we will be closed indefinitely. so sorry. love faith. >> gorgeous woman, 93 years old. you'll catch her here every morning. you know, she's here during lunchtime and dinner hours. if you're lucky and if it's your birthday, she'll sing you a beautiful happy birthday song. just amazing from a beautiful woman. >> the cause of the fire is under investigation. but it appears to be accidental. the man who transformed the city of alameda has died. this is video of ron cowen from several years back. he was the mastermind behind the harbor bay isle development. some of you may drive on the parkway that wears his name. he was a high school dropout and rose to become one of the bay area's most influential developers. he was also known for an elaborate lifestyle. ron cowan was 82 years old.

san francisco based wells fargo said it will shut down over 400 bank branches in the next two years. wells fargo says it reflects their customers' growing preference for online and mobile banking. they closed 84 branches last year. also they reported its profits fell 5% in the first quarter. wells fargo says new account openings plummetted this month. regulators fined wells fargo $185 million for opening more than 2 million fake accounts. let's go back to the snow, but this time we don't have to go far. we're talking mt. hamilton in santa clara county and how folks have come up with a unique way to get rid of it. abc 7 news reporter lonnie rivera is live on the mountain with more. >> reporter: we are 4200 feet up. you can see the snow up here and below the hill, the highway is finally clear. we talked to some staff up here earlier and they spent much of the day clearing the snow from the highway as well as caltrans.

and this is good news for visitors and also good news for scientists who work up here because for the past couple of days, they haven't been able to get anything done. so today we did see a number of cars coming up here with some flks who are looking to just frolic a bit in the snow. also on facebook, the observatory posted this photo showing the dome, which they had rotating on all sides to help melt the snow so that tonight they can return to work and begin their science. so definitely good news. the storm and the snow fogged up many of the telescopes up here and of course the road was backed up and very slippery, so they're hoping that it will be a very busy weekend as visitors return and scientists can get back to work. we're live here at mt. hamilton, lonni rivera, abc 7 news. >> incredible sight. >> really beautiful. sparkling day today, so the

question is will it continue? what kind of weather will be see this holiday weekend? >> meteorologist sandhya patel is here with more on that. >> do i ever let you guys down? >> no. >> don't answer that. good evening, everyone. let's take a look at the three-day forecast. as you'll see here, it is just going to be beautiful this weekend if you have plans. clouds late on saturday, a few morning sprinkles sunday not out of the question. i wouldn't change up your plans. and on monday it is going to be a bright holiday. temperatures will be in the 50s and the 60s. so yes, it's going to be a nice weekend. live doppler 7 showing you a few clouds to our north. we still have one concern which is a flood warning that is up. it covers parts of contra costa county and also parts of the delta, solano county. it is until 11:30 tomorrow morning. even though the sun is out, one thing you have to consider is the storm water runoff, high tide also playing a role and the delta flooding is possible. these are the areas where you need to watch out, martinez, bay point, antioch.

bethel island, rio vista, you know those spots. it's a beautiful sunset after glow right now. and here are your temperatures. you're all in the 50s, san francisco, san jose, a pretty nice bounce in the temperatures after temperatures dropped near freezing this morning. sutro tower camera seeing nice color as clouds are passing through. 56 in santa rosa, 55 in livermore. and one other picture from our emeryville camera as the sun has set. cold morning with patchy fog and frost. we're looking at mainly dry conditions through the weekend and storms will return the middle of the next week so the computer models are trending wetter. temperatures first thing in the morning will start out about freezing or slightly above. we are expecting some patchy dense fog again like we saw this morning and then tomorrow afternoon it's bright, it's sunny. temperatures in the 50s for your outdoor plans. as we bring in our storm impact scale, this is going to cover wednesday through friday. 2 on our storm impact scale all three days. right now models are bringing in

heavy rain at times, strong, gusty winds. so there will be a flooding threat. power outages, trees down, especially thursday going into friday. so just be aware of the fact that storms will be returning. it's a series of them. the first one wednesday, thursday, another one friday and another one follows on sunday. so here's the hour-by-hour timeline of wednesday. it's a rough idea, still pretty far out there. 1:00 in the afternoon you see the rain. it intensifies in the nighttime hours and there's more rain coming after that. the winds will kick up, gusting to 43 at point reyes. 7:00 you'll notice over 50-mile-an-hour wind gusts and the winds will carry over on friday as another storm comes through. rainfall totals look pretty healthy, although not as intense as the last storms that came through the bay area. these are wednesday through friday totals. most areas could pick up between 2 to 3 inches, although some spots could get only about an inch and a half. accuweather seven-day forecast, you have a mainly dry holiday weekend. the only little spot you might see a little damp pavement is

sunday morning with a few sprinkles or drizzle. tuesday clouds increase, we bring in a 2 on our storm impact scale, a moderate strength storm for wednesday. another one on friday. so wednesday, thursday we're both going to be 2s there and you can always download the abc 7 news app. you know you can keep track of all the storms, the changes as you make your weekend plans or are out and about, take a look at it. >> thank you, sandhya. well, lady liberty gets cast in over 1,000,000 californians have gotten something that's been out of reach for far too long: health insurance. how? they enrolled through covered california. it's the health insurance marketplace where you'll find a range of plans from leading health insurance companies that offer you the best combination of quality, rates, and benefits. and, through covered california, you may get financial help to pay for coverage. to get covered, you've got to get going. open enrollment ends january 31st. visit covereca.com today.

good news for the city college of san francisco. the school's accreditation has been extended for another seven years. the 19-member commission overseeing the college's status had threatened to shut the school down. they had pointed to persistent problems with the college's governance and fiscal management. >> these past five years have been challenging for everyone and definitely i want to commend

all the faculty member who work so hard. >> last year city college cut 113 classes due to falling enrollment. school officials say the uncertainty over its accreditation status scared some students away. well, for the first time in american history, the u.s. mint coin will feature an african-american woman as lady liberty. take a look at this. the new commemorative coin shows lady liberty with a crown of stars in her hair. the back depicts an eagle in flight. the new 24-karat gold coin will be released this april as part of the treasury's 225th anniversary. there will also be future coins showing lady liberty as hispanic, asian and indian american. president-elect donald trump will officially take office january 20th, one week from today. there will be an inauguration ceremony next friday at the capitol building, of course, in washington, d.c. i will be in washington next thursday and friday with live reports on president-elect trump's inauguration. there are a lot of bay area residents traveling to the city and we will be there telling

their stories. i hope you will join us for our coverage. >> i definitely look forward to your reports. do you know what today is? millions are afraid of it. >> but others getting inked because of it. that story is coming up next. and we want to thank abc 7 news viewer tomo for this instagram picture he entitled good night moon. >> you can share your pictures about us on social media using #abc7now. that's a great shot. you

rex tillerson put exxon's interests before america's.. i'm not here to represent the us government's interest. instead, tillerson sided with putin. with billions in russian oil deals... he opposed us sanctions on russia... ...for war crimes forced to pay hundreds of millions for toxic pollution... ...putting profits ahead of our kid's health. tell your senators to reject rex tillerson. and protect american interests not corporate interests.

i'm ama daetz. coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00, life's a beach. tonight the staggering amount of sand on the move in santa cruz county because of the storms. experts say they haven't seen anything like it in years. also, some people thought this video of a woman kayaking inside a flooded house was fake because the lights were on. but we have the proof that it was very real. and an act of kindness for a homeless man by employees at an east bay store.

they pooled their money for something he desperately needed. that's all coming up in just half an hour at 6:00. dan, kristen. >> thanks, ama. see you then. finally tonight, friday the 13th. yes, it's friday the 13th. the superstitions are giving way to friday the 13th rituals. >> getting a tattoo is one of them. abc 7 news visited tiger's blood social club in alameda. they usually do three tattoos on a regular friday. >> last year they inked 300 on friday the 13th. the tattoos usually include a 13 on the design. >> black cat, the bat, don't walk under a ladder. so a lot of them are sort of superstition-based in the first place. >> this is my fourth one. i've only gotten friday the 13th tattoos. >> four different years? >> yes. >> tattoos typically cost $80. today they're only $13. tiger's blood will be doing tattoos until midnight. wow. what do you think? maybe a big circle 7 we should go get? >> yeah, matching. you go first.

>> world news tonight is coming up next. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm dan ashley. we appreciate your time. see you again at 6:00. tonight, the state of emergency. the deadly ice storm hitting right now. treacherous driving across several states. authorities warning families to stay off the roads. also breaking, the president-elect, and his pick for national security adviser. tonight, word that retired general michael flynn was on the phone with the russians, the same day president obama sanctioned them for the hacking. tonight, the explanation for that call. jon karl standing by. and breaking now, congressman john lewis, saying mr. trump is not a legitimate president. found alive. the baby stolen 18 years ago. tonight, the young woman discovered. the blistering federal report on the chicago police department tonight. the feds now reporting excessive force and racial bias.