there are still serious flood concerns in north bay, there is a flood warning in effect for the russia river an a good portion until 1:30 a.m. tomorrow. andsonoma county, flood warnings. and the approaching storm is strong. three on the storm impact scale. highest impact from the storm will be in the north bay at santa cruise mountains, but heavy rain and gusty wind will be seen all across the bay area. flooding low lying areas is likely especially at high tide 9:43 a.m. at the golden gate. we have storm concerns in the north bay mountains and second column high to very he high concern for stream and creek flooding, downed trees and hydroplane he going and high concern for power outages and river flooding.

it is so intense out there. take a look at this video. this is the traffic backup this morning from a huge pothole that opened up on 580 near livermore. it's still backed up right now. elissa harrington is live at the scene. i understand that road won't be clear for hours understandably. >> reporter: problems started around 3:00 a.m. repairs are taking a lot longer than expected. caltrans crews will be out here until 9:00 or 10:00 tonight. this pothole opened up right at the edge of the overcrossing where you can see traffic is still crawling. this hazard is causing headaches for drivers including one man i talked to who missed his early morning flight. how long were in you traffic? >> i'd say about 2 1/2 hours. >> reporter: it was a rough morning for thousands of drivers like terrence carter stuck for hours along interstate 580 near livermore. video from sky 7 shows the line of cars moving at washington speed stretched all the way to

tracy. >> i was more than stressed out. i had anxiety, fear of missing my flight this it did happen. had to use the restroom. >> reporter: highway patrol closed two of the four westbound lanes because of this, a giants pothole that exposed rebar in the concrete. caltrans crews with jackhammers, hoses and shovels worked nonstop to fix it. a spokesman says a few things caused this pothole to open up. >> potholes always crop up when you have weather like this. we've had a lot of rain for a long time. and that is just when they happen. also 580, the pavement hasn't been in good shape for a while because that is a major east/west route. >> reporter: nobody was hurt will, but the chp got the 15 calls for flat tires. ray louie us a one of the unlucky ones. >> it was bad.

it was a big bump. luckily i didn't lose control of my xcar. >> reporter: he did have to wait five hours for a tow truck which was stuck in this traffic. pair rely to the freeway is old al tatamont pass road. it was backed up earlier, but now one of the faster ways to travel. reporting live in livermore, elissa harrington, abc 7 news. with much of the bay area commute crippled by potholes, many are asking how do they form and can i get compensated for damage to my car. >> great questions. kristen seay is here with the information. >> driving over a pothole can do a lot of damage to your car. not to mention your wallet. but why do they form? let's take a look, shall we? here is a slice of a road. you have the top layer, that's the pavement you drive on. and underneath it, you have the rock base and the soil. now, during the heat of the summer, that causes tiny cracks

to form in the pavement. so when it rain, water seeps in and the tires actually squeeze the water into the pavement that causes air gaps and washes on the base layer. so the softened asphalt or concrete begins to break up under the weight of passing cars and as they drive over the weakened spot again and again, a pothole is born. so the situation is even worse in the sierra and other places where it snows because the water that seeps under the pavement will freeze and expand and then thaw out and contract. a sure way to weaken the road quickly. so what can you do if you hit a pothole? if it's a road maintained by caltrans, you can file a damage claim. the form is on its website. and remember, most claims need to be made within six months of the incident. we do have a link to the caltrans claim on our website, abc7news.com. a man with a pick ax came to the rescue after a crash on a

rain slicked road in the east bay. take a look at the victim's car. the driver lost control and landed upside down in a creek. water was filling the car quickly, but a passing driver grabbed a pick ax, smashed the rear window and pulled the victim to safety. fortunately the driver wasn't seriously hurt. more mudslides today in the santa cruz mountains, this one in the southbound lanes on highway 17 just south of lexington reservoir. this as crews are still trying to clear yesterday's slide near scott the's v ee scott's valley. here is matt keller. >> reporter: this is an improvement. southbound lanes of highway 17 just north of scott's valley are now split in two, one going northbound, one southbound until this mess can be cleaned up. this mud slide came down yesterday morning crushing a truck and forcing the chp to shut down all of highway 17 until late last night. >> i'd say 35 would be a good

speed to drive on 17 in the current conditions watching out for slides and the rain. >> reporter: caltrans is in charge of getting this mud and debris cleaned up an stabilizing the hillside. >> this is the biggest mud slide i've ever been involved with and have seen on this highway. >> reporter: caltrans will be using special equipment called a spider to get up the hill to start removing unstable debris. if all this seems like deja vu to you, it did happen before in this exact same location. mud, rocks, trees and debris hit our abc 7 news van on january 9th sending a photographer to the hospital. caltrans engineers say they thought they did their job, but there are some things you just can't stop from happening. >> there was no way to prevent this is what you're saying? >> no, this is definitely close to one of those act of god type of slide areas. >> reporter: chp told me there were a lot of mudslides and trees down overnight here in the santa cruz mountains, most of those messes have been cleaned up, but a lot of the back roads in the mountains are closed down. so you have to be careful when heading out on the roads. and they say because of the rain

coming in tomorrow, if you can avoid driving, to do that, stay home and be safe. matt keller, abc 7 news. crews are working to remove a large eucalyptus tree that is blocking diablo road. it came down taking down a power pole. the road is closed and isn't expected to reopen until later this evening. reservoirs are spilling over in marin county. the municipal water district shared this amazing video with us. today the district is 121% above average with nearly 26 inches of rain last month, the district says it was the wettest january since 1995. compare that to 2014 when made marin severed just 0.1 inches. to changing conditions on live doppler 7, track it all with the abc 7 news app.

you can get the forecast anytime in your neighborhood. new at 4:00, several robbery suspects are in custody following a wild police chase down the embarcadero in san francisco. the pursuit came to an end when the suspect he's car crashed head-on into a police vap right o van right oside our studios. the four men were quickly captured. officers had received a report of a violent purse snatching at pier 33. >> it wasn't just your average percent sthach. there was a fight over the purse, victim didn't want to give the purse up, so there was a fight and the victim lost. suspects grabbed the purse and away they went. >> the victim was not hurt, necessary was the officer in the police van hit head-on. officers also found open containers of alcohol in that vehicle. we're learning the 58-year-old man accused of killing his live-in girlfriend has been found dead. a source close to the

investigation says digrazia was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. the woman he's accused of killing was found dead yesterday inside a home on san marcos court. officers initially went to the house for report of a stolen car. when they got the there, neighbors told them about a file inside the house and that's when they found the woman's body, she had been shot. a car hit and killed a bicyclist in north berkeley this morning. an accident investigation team spent most of the day on sacramento street just off hopkins. the man who was kill has not been identified. the driver of the prius that hit him stopped at the scene and is cooperating with investigators. today the president took aim at the federal judges who will decide the fate of his travel ban accusing them of playing politics. his remarks come one day after the ninth circuit court of appeals in san francisco heard a challenge to the president's policy. a ruling is likely later this week. could come at any time in fact. the president's ordering temporarily bans travel for

citizens of seven mostly muslim countries and limits the nation's refugee program. an interpreter who helped u.s. soldiers in afghanistan is now safely in the bay area. he's pictured here. he arrived at san francisco international airport today. matthew ball led the effort to get him into the united states raising $26,000 in a gofundme campaign. ball took action amid concerns that afghanistan might be added to the trump administration's travel ban list. he had lived in hiding from the taliban for nearly four years as he waited for his special immigrant visa. >> the fbi is now involved in the investigation into violence protests at uc berkeley. fbi agents say they have been in contact with uc berkeley over the squint that led to president trump tweeting a threat to full federal funds from the school. black block is a group not students. demonstrators in san

francisco took part in a nationwide last stand today against the dakota access pipeline. abc 7 news was in front of the federal building on 7th street this morning. several protestors were arrested for blocking public access to the building. the demonstrations come as the u.s. army corps of engineers plans on moving forward with the final phase of the pipeline immediately. the standing rock sioux tribe says it will sue the federal government because of it. we're learning new details today about the deadly ghost ship fire in oakland. it turns out police had been there multiple times in the past few year. use more have been done to prevent the fire? plus -- >> tell from the wire and were injured. >> horror after a high wire act involving a world famous tight rope walker comes tumbling down. and taking a live look at our traffic through san jose, this is 101 southbound where the backup is. northbound looking good. and 880 flowing this both directions over the top.

five people were seriously hurt practicing a high wire act involving nik wallenda. the accident happened in florida and involved several members of the wallenda family. authorities say wallenda was not injured. the group was practicing inside the big top when an eight man pyramid came tumbling down. >> members of that act fell from the wire and were injured. >> extremely lucky given the height of the fall that they survived. >> officials say wallenda managed to stay in the air, but

five other performers fell 25 feet to the ground. despite the accident, the circus will open as planned on friday. this afternoon we have new details on the ghost ship fire investigation. >> the city of oakland released hundreds of pages of documents revealing just how many times officials were inside the warehouse long before the fire that killed 36 people in december. laura anthony pored over those documents and is live at oakland city hall with the story. >> reporter: the city released today 300 pages of documents perhaps the most revealing aspect the number of times the police visited the ghost ship, including to investigate an illegal party much like the one that happened on the night of the deadly fire. newly released documents from the city of oakland show several city agencies including the police department visited the ghost ship warehouse dozenses of times in the months and years leading up to last december's

deadly fire. between 2007 and december 2016, oped officers responded to 35 calls for service to the tli addresses directly associated with the warehouse. on about a dozen occasions, officers went inside the building which was being used illegally for housing. among the crimes, opd investigated, a stabbing, assaults, burglaries, thefts and narcotics. in march of 2015, officers even responded to a report of a rave, an illegal party at the ghost ship where drugs were are reportedly being sold. but there were no arrests or citations. >> there were many calls, many responses. >> reporter: a city council men needs city agencies need to communicate better with one another going forward. >> the communication, the cooperation sometimes is not there like it should be. and this is an example as to what happens. >> reporter: in a statement with the document release, the mayor says i strongly believe that sunshine helps light the path

forward, our impacted community deserves to know all the facts about this tragedy. in the meantime the small business administration has opened an office across from the ghost ship offering low interest loans to residents and businesses impacted by the tragedy. >> the residents we will offer renting loans up to $40,000 at a 1.5% rate for the business owner, at a 3 abo.125 rate to h them repair and recover. >> reporter: all this comes as it's been revealed that fire chief reed is on leave. it's not clear if by her own choice. reed was under fire in the weeks after the tragedy because some thought that inspection protocols by her department were lax. in oakland, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> it sounds like the police were actually there a lot, but is it normal practice for a police officer to call say the building department if they see

a code violation at a particular location? >> reporter: that is an interesting point, dan. the way it's been explained to me is that police at least in oak rapped until now deal with crime, they don't necessarily go to a location and then try to look for code violations for instance. that their first priority, their job is to deal with whatever criminal activity might be going on. and that they're just not trained and not in the business of looking for other types of violations for instance code enforcement. so if there was an effort to expand their duties going forward, that would have to be something that is discussed s l certainly at the top levels of the city. >> thanks, laura. new details on the reports that some gas bills have doubled or tripled. jerry hill says his office has launched an investigation. some customers in the bay area and sacramento valley say their gas and electric bills went up significantly. pg and e says it's likely because of last year's rate

hikes plus increased use in the winter. coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00, michael finney talks to home openers who were outraged about those spikes in their gas bills and he found out those rate hikes aren't over yet. southern california utility company will pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over a four month long gas leak that sickened thousands near los angeles. so cal gas discovered the methane leak in october of 2015, but it was not capped until february of last year. the local air quality regulators sued the utility, they claim the leak was the largest known release of climate changing carbon in u.s. history. all right. it's time to take a look at our weather and another three coming our way? >> second one within a week. i hate to be the bearer of gloomy news, but likely to see more flooding along with mud slide, power outages. we have calm conditions

relatively right now with scattered showers around the bay area. a little wetter in the north bay. and it's mild. we have temperature readings right now generally in the mid-60s across the bay area. so let's move along and take a look at current conditions from emeryville looking at cloudy skies over the bay. we'll have rainy, windy conditions. showers will linger at least through friday morning. but we have a dry and sunny string of days coming our way beginning saturday. our current storm is a light storm ranking only one on the storm impact scale. it will continue to produce light showers and it will turn breezy later tonight. but the next storm tomorrow is the big one. it's a very strong storm, ranking three on the storm impact scale. it will produce heavy rainfall, gusty wind. highest impact from the storm will be felt in the north bay, santa cruise mountains, but it will impact the entire region. so let's start at 5:00 this afternoon for the remainder of the afternoon and into the evening hour, we'll just see scattered showers. and then late tonight early

tomorrow morning, we'll see the next storm arriving by 7:00 tomorrow morning, we'll see widespread moderate to heavy rainfall across the north bay. by 10:00 tomorrow morning, moderate to heavy rain will be drenching the entire bay area. notice this line of orange and red that represents the heaviest downpours. it will reach right through the central part of the bay area by 10:00 tomorrow morning, driving conditions will be terrible throughout the day. pretty bad for pedestrian, as well. into the afternoon and evening hours, the rainfall continues. it will start to wind down in the north bay, but it will have dumped so much rain up there already that there will be wet roadways right into the evening hours in the north bay as well as across the entire bay area. now, the highest impact once again will be the north bay and santa cruz mountains. expect rapid rises of streams and rivers. we may say 4 inches or more in the areas in the red here. rock slides, mudslides, downed trees are likely.

and the same areas are covered by the flash flood watch to early friday morning. same concerns there. and potential for rainfall through thursday, 2 to 4 inches or more in the north bay and santa cruz mountains. only a quarter to three quarters in the south bay. three quarters of an inch to an inch and a half through the central part of the bay area. and on top of that, a wind advisory is in effect for most of the bay area with most winds generally out of the south at 15 to 30 miles per hour. but gusts will reach from 45 to 60 miles per hour. here is the accuweather 7 day forecast. on friday, showers will linger in the morning hours. and we rate that storm 1 on the impact scale. after that, we get a string of sunny and dry days that will take us into the middle of next week. but tomorrow will be a messy wet day for any outdoor activities. >> thank you, spencer. well, one of the best places

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are you single and having a difficult time finding love? it's not you. of course not. it's your phone. according to match.com, iphone owners are 21 times more likely to judge others negatively for having an android. and those who have an android are 15 times more likely to judge others negatively for having an iphone. and those who have older models of either smartphone are 56% less likely to get a date. researchers say android and iphone users just prefer to date someone with their taste in gadgets. >> really? wow. a new study shows what san jose residents have known for a long time. is th this is a great place to list. the latest list hassan h san jo

ranked third. they did well in job market and sai availability of educational health care. austin got the top spot. not about to throw shade on this next story. miriam webster's list of knee words and phrases. there are more than 1,000. throw shade of course is one of them. the phrase means to can express contempt for someone. and how about binge watch? that is watching multiple episodes of a show in rapid success. side eye, a side long glance expressing disapproval. and some of you might speak cong ling. and invented language. the showdown continues on capitol hill. >> i certainly hope that this anti-free speech attitue is not traveling down pennsylvania avenue. >> the contentious debate

raising concerns in the senate. >> and you can see the rain moving across the state on live doppler 7. spencer will be back with the forecast in just a few minutes. plus mudslides are still affecting people across the bay area. just ahead, a look at the north bay and preparations for the next big storm that is coming tomorrow. we're told to live large, but with princess cruises your most extraordinary moments happen when you feel small. when you're completely outnumbered, overshadowed, and outshined. so what if you dared to explore this great big beautiful pond. what if you dared to feel small. celebrate our princess anniversary sale with award winning itineraries. 7 day fares from $799. visit your travel agent or princess.com. princess cruises. come back new.

here are the headlines at 4:30. we are tracking the latest storm set to hit the bay area. it's a strong one. you're looking at live ldoppler 7. you can see the green to the north. another major system arrives tomorrow and that will likely make driving on highway 17 problematic once again. matt keller tweeted this video this morning showing the issues he encountered on the highway. it's been a disaster. he warns drivers to slow down and be safe. in the north bay, crews have been scrambling to clean up the hillside after a big mud slide there. these are before and after photos. and lee an is at lucky drive with the story. >> reporter: at 3:30 this afternoon, marin county administrators met to have a

conference call to discuss weather conditions and also what do if they do have more mudslides. and of course flood and wind advisories. they told me that they expect between 4 and 6 inches of rain. many emergency crews are on standby. different agencies have added people on the ground because as the marin county fire department told me, as we get more rain this week, we are going to see more mudslides and other dangerous situations. >> hand crews, fire personnel, additional water rescue team to be on standby if we have any 34 mudslides or water rescues for anyone that needs it. >> reporter: and while it was raining today, it wasn't that heavy rain we saw on tuesday early morning which caused several mudslides in the north bay. yesterday and of course today crews are putting that visqueen

on hillsides along with k-rail at the bottom. this visqueen is that tarp used to keep the water off the slide and keep it from eroding more and coming down the hill. now, the marin county fire department is asking people if they can to keep off those roads that can be slippery. i know it's not always practical, but they're saying if you can, stay home. lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. and breaking news from washington, d.c., the senate has just confirmed jeff sessions president trump's nominee for attorney general. you're looking live at the senate floor. the vote a few minutes ago was 52-47. it came after democrats pulled an all nighter protesting his confirmation. janai norman is live in washington where the debate turned contentious. >> reporter: that vote on jeff sessions came after hours of democrats speaking out against the alabama senator. many of them repeating each

other, reading the very same letter from more than two decades ago go. the confirmation clash on capitol hill. democrats pulled outgo. the confirmation clash on capitol hill. democrats pulled out all the stops again after talking for 24 hours against now secretary of education betsy devos, a second all nighter, this time against jeff sessions for attorney general. >> my strong opposition to the nomination of senator jeff -- >> reporter: the debate reached a boiling point when republicans in a rare move formally silenced senator elizabeth warp as she read letters from ted kennedy and coretta scott king who opposed sessions' bid to be a federal judge in the '80s. >> she was warned, but she persisted. >> reporter: several of her colleagues coming to her defense. >> this is from coretta scott king. >> reporter: some reading the same letter from martin luther king's widow without facing the same punishment. >> mr. sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in

a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. >> reporter: democrats contend sessions is too harsh on immigration, too weak on civil rights and argue he won't do enough to protect minorities. republicans say he's honest, a man of integrity and committed to justice and the rule of law. but the contentious debate continues raising concerns. >> i certainly hope that this anti-free speech attitude is not traveling down pennsylvania avenue to our great chamber. >> reporter: and president trump tweeted, quote, it's a disgrace my full cabinet is still not in place. and even with sessions now confirmed, more than a dozen of the president trump's cabinet level nominations are still waiting confirmation. >> and we're still awaiting the appeals court ruling on the president's travel ban from seven muslim majority countries. but now his supreme court

nominee is weighing in? >> reporter: right. the president trump went after that washington state federal judge who suspended that ban. the president calling him a, quote, so-called judge in tweets adding if something happens, to blame the judge and the courts. well, a spokesman for the president trump's scotus nominee judge neil gorsuch confirms gorsuch referred to the recent criticism of judges as demoralizing and disheartening. >> thank you so much for that live report. the defense department is looking to rent space in trump tower, a move that could directly funnel government money into the president's business interests. the space is needed for personnel and equipment supporting president trump at the his tower residence where the first lady and son barron lived most of the time. if approved, it would cost $1.5 million a year. russia's military has positioned air defense missiles around moscow in a massive drill. the defense ministry says the practice maneuvers involve

45,000 troops, 150 aircraft, and 200 missile systems. the maneuvers the latest in a round of war games that are intended to strengthen the russian military's readiness. some drug sniffing dogs are being credited for putting the squeeze on a band of smugglers. the smugglers tried to cross the border in texas with a truckload of marijuana disguised as key limes. look at this. the pot was rapped in a green coating and mixed in with some real limes. unfortunately for the smugglers, the dogs sniffed out the nearly two tons of pot valued at $800,000. agents made a similar bust at the same facility only the pot was mis-ke k masquerading as carrots. from tornados to flooding to iced over roads, severe weather all over the country. >> and more flooding likely here in the bay area tomorrow. at the moment, things look relatively calm with just cloudy skies. but heavy rain is on the way.

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and a camera in the other, aboard rocky mountaineer. canada's rocky mountains await. call your travel agent or rocky mountaineer for special offers now. fortunately there's a bedples diswhere you both get whatess? you want every night. enter sleep number and the ultimate sleep number event, going on now. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. she likes the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! only at a sleep number store. and right now save 50% on the ultimate limited edition bed. go to sleepnumber.com for a store near you. happening now, the state water resources control board has decided not to ease california's drought rules despite all this record rain. the board decided this afternoon to extend existing conservation

regulations. if the decision -- in this decision they pointed to several parts of the state that are still in severe drought. the board also says ground water supplies remain significantly decompleted in many parts of california. the drought rules were set to expire february 28th. governor brown declared a drought emergency in 2014 and ordered californians to cut water use by 25%. severe weather is ravaging much of the country. millions on the east coast are facing a crippling winter storm tonight while nine reported tornados hit the gulf coast including this one in new orleans. lana zak has a closer look. >> worse than hurricane katrina. >> reporter: the definite vision station is extensive. >> rain got a hold to it. >> reporter: a reported nine tornados sliced through the gulf coast tuesday. many of those rebuilding now have had to rebuild before. >> after katrina, we all came back. we all pitched in. >> reporter: 10,000 people were left without power. the red cross and national guard

are on the scene. >> we're without power right now. so they told us to come over here and see what assistance we can get from red cross or whatever and get cleaning supplies. >> reporter: the tornado so random in their fury. look at this house, roof gone, bed intact. >> trying to save everything i can. >> reporter: a new storm fit pitting warm air against a cold snap is prompting more tornado warnings tonight. elsewhere in the country, damage of a different sort. flooding in the west leading to mudslides. a new storm threatens the entire pacific coast. and on the other side of the country, a cold front so severe, more than 50 cars smashed together in a major pileup on this road outside of boston with the worst of it yet to come. and remarkably there were no fatalities in those storms. but take a look at this. central park in february, a new record high of 62 degrees today. tomorrow, they're expecting this spot will have 6 inches to a

full foot of snow. lana zak, abc news. we have quite a storm heading our way once again. here is live doppler 7. relatively calm conditions at the moment. just a few scattered showers. the storm that will arrive tomorrow morning is a strong storm ranking 3 on our storm impact scale. the highest impact will be felt in the north bay and santa cruz mountains, but believe me, this storm will impact everyone in a significant way with heavy rainfall and strong gusty wind. 7:00 tomorrow morning, moderate to heavy rain will already have blanketed the north bay. by 10:00, it will cover virtually all the bay area. and this line right here with the orange and read, we will see the heaviest downpours, very strong downpours right through the central part of the bay area and this steady heavy rain will continue through the afternoon hours into the evening commute and it will start to wind down in the north bay but commuting conditions up there won't be much better. in the sierra, a winter storm warning is in effect from 10:00 tomorrow morning to 1:00 a.m.

saturday. we expect a foot and a half to two feet of snow above 6,000 feet and winds gusting 50 to 70 miles per hour over the crest. here is the accuweather 7 day forecast after tomorrow's storm ranking three, the second three of the week i might add, showers and light rain on friday. the system ranking one. and saturday will be the first of a string of sunny and dry weather. check out this guy, a high scoring high school basketball player. 92 points in one game alone. the criticism though he's now facing from a coach. and i'm michael finney. should you take out a loan to send your kid to college? why you need to think about it before you cokcome do that comi up next. and we're using our abc 7 news bay area instragram feed to celebrate the people making a difference where you live. today we recognize the oakland

education fund and its african-american literature read-in. spencer christian participated reading his children's book can it really rain frogs at oakland's kaiser elementary school. more information on our abc 7 news bay area i

a federal judge is urging all former nfl players to register for a concussion settlement that could cost the league more than a billion dollars. the judge announced today that retirees have until august to receive baseline newer ronlg ur testing. the nfl expects at least 6,000 former play hers to eventually be diagnosed with dementia or alzheimer's. those with the most severe damage could receive millions. a high school basketball player is running circles around his opponents. he scored 92 points in one game, 41 of those were in the last quarter alone. and marci gonzalez complains he's not the only star player in the family. >> reporter: making shot after shot -- this california high school sophomore scoring an

incredible 92 points in a single game tuesday night. >> it's a big deal because 100 points has always been the high mark in basketball ever since wilt chamberlain did it years and years ago. so anytime anyone approaches that number, people get excited. >> reporter: with a few years left before college, the 6'2" standout is already committed to ucla where his brother is a star freshman point guard expected to be a top nba draft pick this year. some saying a winning game like this could be a sign the younger brother may follow in the family foot steps. >> he could turn out to be a very special player. >> reporter: but not everyone is praising his performance. >> he was doing that kind of cherry picking. >> reporter: some including charles barkley criticized the strategy that set ball up to repeatedly score. >> waiting at half court most of the game. never went back on defense.

so i had a problem with it. >> reporter: the "los angeles times" reporting the coach of the opposing team said it's embarrassing to high school athletics. i've been coaching for 35 years we've turned high school athletics in to individualism. but ball says he was inspired by a classmate who is in the hospital and dedicated the game to her. marci gonzalez, abc news, los angeles. well, we are turning now to 7 on your side and time to ask finney. he's answering questions september to him via facebook, twitter and e-mail and first comes from wall nut creek. is there a cheap way to get a copy of my i.d. from the dmv? >> possibly. you may be able to get a's duesed fee i.d. card if you meet low income requirements. the rules are really specific. and there are a ton of them. but they're generally tied to food assistance programs. you can get fors at the dmv office or go online. but if you quality, here is the

deal. your i.d. will only cost you eight bucks instead of the usual $29. so it's worth looking in to. >> and tom from walnut creek asks a major department store sent me alert stating if i didn't buy anything, they would drop mine credit line by $2,000. can they do that? >> isn't that amazing. get this, totally legal. in fact credit card companies can even give you notice after they have already lowered your credit limit. now, if i were you, i wouldn't go buy something just to keep the higher spending limit. instead you might want to call credit department and ask them to keep it at the current limit. and here is the deal. just hearing from you is an in-september difference for t e store to go along with your question. >> and terry wants to know as a parent what should i consider when trying to decide on taking out loans to help my child through college? >> here is the number one thing. i really need to drive this home. they give out student loans,

they they don't give out retirement loans. so here is the michael finney order of financing a college education. first look for low cost institutions. then scholarships and grants. after that, consider self financing whatever part of the schooling you can afford. and then student loans in the student's name. only after you've gdone all of that should a path take out a loan in their name. that should be absolutely your last option. i'm going to be inside serramonte center near the food court friday 4:00 to 7:00. i want it meet byou. bring your questions and paperwork. you can also ask on social media #ask finney. we'll have a good time. >> definitely. >> so many great questions. thanks. well, if you're looking to drop a few pounds and improve your heart health, consider

mixing a few more whole grains into your diet. researchers at tufts university found those who ate a diet rich in whole grains absorbed fewer calories than those who ate refined grains. they credit the hire fiber content. and the study also suggests whole grains may be a good choice in a healthy balanced diet. >> are there whole grains in cookies? >> i don't know. a royal honor for high school student. >> they said nicolette's name and the place was on fire. >> the high school sophomore named to her school's homecoming court and now she's taking the internet by storm. >> and crihristian has a look a what is coming up. >> i'll bake you some local grain cookies. coming up next, a south bay woman walks outside to see how mud has washed away everything in sight. the local tech company that helped get her to safety. safe streets, the new tool to keep drivers, pedestrians and

bicyclists out of harm's way. intel at the white house. the company's $7 billion announcement from the oval office. those stories and more when i join dan for the news at 5:00.

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let's take a look at tonight's prime time lineup. at 8:00, the goldberg's followed by speechless, then modern family and blackish. then match game and the news at 11:00. the story of a homecoming queen is taking the internet by storm. nicolette morrison is a girl with down syndrome and a lot of friends. christina salvo has her story. >> reporter: it's quite an honor for any student to be nominated by your peers for homecoming court. but it was extra special for nicolet morrison who was chosen as the winter homecoming duchess of north ridge academy high school. >> when they said anything company let's name, the place

just was on fire. they were cheering and they were stomping. the walls were shaking. it was amazing. >> reporter: nicolette has down syndrome and autism and that didn't matter saturday night. >> when we were counting ballots, we noticed that she had almost all of the votes. >> reporter: she's known for her big heart and big smile. >> she's just so kind and people know it. you talk to her and she's super sweet. how would you not vote for someone like that? >> reporter: and on saturday, that kind spirit returned to her while her mom watched. >> you're excited. you just can't get anymore happy. and then of course you want to cry because you're so happy. >> reporter: so overcome with pride and gratitude, she shared the story using the #abc 7 eyewitness. but to make the student even sweeter, he gave up his crown to her date and best friend. >> i thought that it would be

12k350 exciting for them to share the moment together. >> reporter: the stroet says a lot about nicolette, but even more about the student body. >> that night i think they sent a message to her that you are one of us. and that we will always be there for you. >> this is an honor. >> reporter: in north ridge, christina salvo, abc 7 news. >> thank you. that is sweet. and if you would like to see the story again, we do have it posted on our facebook page and on abc7news.com. it's a day to celebrate being prepared an serving oi others. today is national boy scouts today. the boy scouts of america is also undergoing historic change. this week a new jersey boy became the first ever openly transgender member of the boy scouts after a historic policy change. joe attended his first meet being last night. in 2013, gay boys were allowed membership. and in 2015, openly gayed a did

you tells weadults were allowedo serve. abc 7 news at 5:00 starts now. >> everything just got washed >> south bay woman can't believe what she sees. her quick thinking may have saved her pregnant sister. and a good samaritan saved a driver whose car flipped over in a creek. . >> the car was filling up very quickly with water. >> how do you fix a pothole the size of a small car? the race to make sure the next commute doesn't look like the one from this morning. and crashing down on speersd. why families of accident victims say cameras like this will keep us all safe. went outside, we saw everything and it just kept coming and coming and coming. >> south bay father describes the wall of mud that swept away nearly everything in sight. he and his family can thank social media for getting help.

good evening. >> a large mud slide damaged a house and vehicles were family members were still in bed. and there is no cell service in the area, but they got word out about their emergency via a satellite internet connection. david louie is live near the slide. >> reporter: now, imagine this. it's early in the morning, you hear a sound of thunder, so you look out the window and you see a house moving, you see your kid's playground being washed away and vehicles are moving in the mud. how do you call for help when there is no cell service and when your land line isn't working? >> some of the cars are getting be washed away. >> reporter: a desperate cry for help. >> if someone can call cal train or whoever. >> reporter: it was 6:45 and a mud slide just knocked a house off the foundation and threatening two others. the area so