he used to patrol here. ♪ a stars and striped draped casket took center stage on friday morning. 1,000 uniformed officers from all across the country converged here to honor fallen alameda county sheriff's deputy mike foley. >> he worked 21 years on patrol, 4 years as a motor officer, 3 years as a school resource officer, and spent 10 years on the s.w.a.t. team. >> reporter: his 38 years of service ended tragically last week following a bus accident at the santa rita jail. >> it was a lose for our family and for the driver of the bus. >> reporter: his dad was in the oakland police department and now his 18-year-old son says he wants to follow in his dad's footsteps. >> i don't think my dad ever realized how many lives he touched and how many people

he -- and how many people he helped feel safe. >> reporter: deputy foley leaves behind his son, daughter and wife, tammy. following the service, law enforcement helicopters flew above mt. diablo in a missing man formation. >> not only mike was a hero in law enforcement, he's now a hero with the lives of people that he saved through being an organ donor. >> reporter: in concord, i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. in other news, it snarled the morning commute and is still a problem tonight. it's all because of an overnight accident involving a dump truck on 101. kate larson is live along the freeway in palo alto to explain how long the lane closure will affect the commute. >> reporter: ama, traffic is really starting to slow down, although it's still moving here on southbound 101. caltrans hopes to ease the con

just should kn gestion. workers are hoping this black plastic keeps debris from calling on cars. they have to keep one lane close because it's simply not safe to drive over right now. caltrans workers spent the day chipping away at the concrete embarcadero road overpass in palo alto. this after the driver of this dump truck drove straight into the overpass around 11:00 last night with its bed still raised. >> it seriously damaged that overpass to the point we had to close the two lanes beneath. the damaged section is a little over 45 feet long. >> reporter: caltrans opened up one of the two lanes around 2:00 this afternoon, but the number one lane will remain closed while repairs are made. engineers determined the dump truck badly damaged a steel girder which needs to be replaced, along with the surrounding concrete. >> we want to make sure we don't have any more loose concrete that could fall and damage a car

and injure somebody. >> reporter: chp is still investigate -- investigating why the dump truck driver drove into it with his bed raised. we'll find out whethe he'll be allowed to return to a caltrans project that he was working on nearby. kate larson, abc 7 news. back to you. let's check the traffic on our map. it is moving very slowly through the area. you can see that arrow pointing to the area that's affected. you see the red there, as kate mentioned. all lanes are expected to be opened in the next few hours but it's really going to impact traffic. sky 7 was over a san jose neighborhood where several homes were evacuated after a gas line ruptured. you can see the asphalt cracked and broken. this happened near allen rock park. residents in ten homes were also told to shelter in place. that was as a precaution. pg&e blames the rupture on the recent rains and fault movement in the area. 20 customers remain without gas

service tonight. repairs are expected to be finished this evening. the family of a boy rocked at an east bay b.a.r.t. station is now suing the transit agents. a gunman stole the 12-year-old's wallet last april. reports say the robber put a gun to the boy's back and demanded he walk to an area not covered by surveillance cameras. according to "the east bay times" the boy's family claims the robber took advantage of gaps in the station's security. the robber hasn't been found. contra costa county has restored water to 90 homes in clayton. they are able to use the water for bathing, flushing the toilet and for animals to drink. residents had been asked to keep drinking bottled water until further tests are actually done. there's no word on when the main road will be repaired because the hillside is still moving.

and it could be a touchy situation because we do have a storm coming in this weekend. let me show you live doppler 7 right now. you'll notice the clouds are definitely on the increase. it hasn't impacted the temperatures much. it's still pretty mild across the bay area. we have upper 60s in our warmest inland valleys right now, 50s at the coast. on our storm impact scale, your weekend system is a light storm, it's a 1. expect cold showers, snow level 3,000 feet, locally a little bit lower, and there's a chance of thunder and hail. so here's a preview. as you start off your weekend tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m., you'll see damp roadways. showers will already be moving through. very spotty in nature at 8:00 a.m. notice they're not real steady. by noon time you start to notice some pockets of light-to-moderate rain going into 2:00 p.m. and it doesn't end there. we will see more than just showers and snow here in the bay area. i'll be back with a closer look coming right up. ama. a bay area state assemblyman

says action needs to be taken now to fix california's housing crisis. abc 7 was in san francisco as david chu and fellow democrats held the latest in a series of meetings on the crisis. chu says california has a million and a half families without access to affordable housing and a staggering homeless population. >> we have 12% of our country's population but 20% of our country's homeless, 25% of our country's homeless vets, 33% of our chronically homeless individuals here in california. >> chiu says lawmakers need to assure more affordable housing is made available and find ways to hold cities and counties accountable to enforce housing laws. san francisco's transit authority is closing part of octavia boulevard in the first week of april. the half block between lindon and hayes street has been closed

many times for events. now they want to see how a longer closure impacts traffic. if it's a success, the pedestrian area could become permanent. drivers would have to find alternate routes like franklin, laguna or buchanan streets. a "new york times" investigation focused on a secret program by uber that let it skirt local laws and even operate in cities where it was banned. the program was called gray ball. it tracked police and city officials to prevent them from hailing rides in case they were part of a sting operation. it was used in portland, boston, las vegas, paris and other foreign cities. uber went as far as tracking phones bought at electronics stores in case they were used during police stings. today uber acknowledged using that gray ball program. coming up next at 4:00, in the east bay, a fixture of the oakland skyline is slowly vanishing. a check on the demolition of the old bay bridge. i'm wayne freedman at sonoma

raceway where if you don't look fast, you'll miss -- the speedy prius. that's coming up. and finding steph's shoes. the special scavenger hunt for autographed shoes. and let's take you outside for a look at traffic on this friday. as you can see on 880 -- i'm sorry, san jose 101, forgive me, san jose 101, it is moving pretty slowly heading south. 880 on the top there moving along pretty well in both directions. stay with us, more to come.

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in the east bay you may have noticed a piece of the oakland skyline is slowly vanishing. >> demolition is ahead of schedule. cornell bernard is live in oakland with what's next for the project. >> reporter: yeah, in fact this mass ive demolition project on track to be done early by the end of the year. now you see it, now you don't. three segments all that's left of 19 span pieces which have been demolished over the past four years. all the steel will be recycled from the old bay bridge but many locals say they are sorry to see it go. take a drive on the eastern span of the bay bridge and you may notice something is missing. >> every time i come across, there's a new chunk missing. it's slowly disappearing. >> reporter: he's not imagining things. the old span of the bay bridge is going away. one truss span is still visible from the new bridge, but two more span segments out of view are set to be demolished, and that will happen fast.

>> the end of march, early april, we will bring down our last truss span. it is a very sentimental time for us. >> reporter: she's not the only one that gets a little misty thinking about the old bridge that started coming down in 2013. >> i grew up here, so it's something i always remember. but i like the new bridge here. >> reporter: here's time lapse video of the process. nothing less than a dramatic feat of engineering. lowering the old truss by crane onto a barge. caltrans says the concrete marine foundations will be demolished this fall, like this implosion that took place last october. fish and wildlife protected by an underwater net to catch the debris. >> with each passing day, with each truss span coming down, there are even more phenomenal vistas to behold. >> reporter: sky 7 overhead with a preview of what will be left behind. beautiful vistas of oakland and the east bay. a new perspective for the future. in oakland, cornell bernard, abc

7 news. silicon valley and bay area leaders are gathering today to figure out how to keep our economic engine going strong. >> despite high job growth right now, we are starting to see signs of a slowdown. abc 7 news anchor kristen sze is here with more on that. >> the who's who of silicon valley gathered today to brainstorm how the region can keep its status as the center of innovation and wealth. tech executives and political leaders met all day in san jose to talk partnerships, trends and concerns. snap's wildly successful ipo yesterday may have boosted confidence in the valley's outlook, but speakers warn we need better training of future tech workers. >> i recognize more than ever it's lifelong learning, it's forever learning in an on-demand economy. you better have on-demandedcation. >> we've got our work cut out for us. in addition to that work, we have the traditional challenges of silicon valley around housing costs, around transportation and

congestion. >> one example cited, the average silicon valley worker spends 70 minutes per day commuting, second only to new york city. another concern, a drop in new entrepreneurs and venture capital the last few years. today's speakers and participants agree the keys for businesses and policy makers to work together on these challenges to ensure silicon valley keeps its competitive advantage and job opportunities. a high-speed chase of two bank robbery suspects in houston reached speeds above 100 miles an hour and damaged at least five cars. it was just crazy. the driver tried eluding police at all costs. he even rammed a truck from behind to push it out of the way as he tried to exit the freeway. look at him burning rubber doing that. at least one of the car's tires blew out causing the white smoke as the rims scraped the asphalt. the chase ended. the driver got out of the car and a spectator tackled him before police arrested him. a second robbery suspect was chased down as well. as we said, just wild. there was a different kind

of police chase, this one in kansas. those are cows running on the freeway. it all began when a big rig rolled over and the cows made a run for it. police had a hard time tracking them down. one was spotted on a nearby road showing no sign of slowing down. the cow was eventually herded to a debated pasture. others were a little smarter and headed for the hills where it got harder to track them down. a pretty cool opportunity tomorrow for fans of warriors superstar steph curry. >> the reigning two-time mvp sent out this tweet saying under armour will drop 30 pairs of new limited gold high tops. >> curry is under armour's top client. he's under contract through 2024 for an estimated $4 million. the deal also includes an equity stake in the company. well, the warriors will take on the knicks sunday in new york. you can catch all the action

right here on abc 7. our coverage begins at noon. then stay tuned after the game with larry beil and adonal foyle and mike shumann with live reports from madison square garden. >> you know that old saying it's good work if you can get it. how would you like $415,000 for two hours on the guard. earlier they agreed to sign calderon but then they decided to sign matt barnes instead. now the ws could have gone back on their agreement and not signed calderon but they didn't, they honored the deal and agreed to pay him his $415,000 even though he was technically only on the squad for two hours. you talk about your word being your bond. good for them. well, the weekend is upon us so we want to find out about the weather. >> yeah, some rain is coming. meteorologist sandhya patel is here. >> we might even see some thunder and hail. how about some snowflakes while we're at it over our highest peaks.

we'll be talking about a couple of inches of snow. this is one of those storms, well, you'll feel it. let me show you live doppler 7. i'll show you those changes. those temperatures are going to take a nosedive. right now live doppler 7 showing you the cloud cover. as we look toward ocean beach you can see the clouds stacked up. we have low clouds and mid and high level clouds. temperatures right now still comfortable, upper 50s to the upper 60s. the highs have primarily been in the mid-60s to upper 60s so far. kgo roof camera, filtered sunshine as we look towards the bay and the temperatures right now 60 degrees in santa rosa. it is 66 in concord. here's a look at your evening planner. if you're stepping out tonight, sunset 6:06. temperatures in the 50s, still comfortable. if you're going out to catch a movie or out to dinner, you're looking at clouds rolling in, temperatures falling to the 40s by 10:00 and milder overnight tonight. from our abc 7 news exploratorium camera, just a beautiful view. you see a con trail here, the

high clouds. those temperatures will continue to drop as this cold storm arrives this weekend. for the afternoons you're going to feel the difference. snow over the highest peaks and thunderstorms are possible, particularly on sunday. here's a look at our storm impact scale. for saturday and sunday we have a light system, it's a 1. cold showers expected. the snow level will be down to 3,000 feet and it could even drop a little lower than that. chance of thunder and hail. so watch out for that. psaturday morning if you're an early riser, looking at scattered light showers. this trend continues into 10:00 a.m. by noon time we're seeing steadier rain moving across the central bay. notice what happens at 3:00 p.m., some pops of yellow showing up so moderate rain will move in. 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. just along that front and going into 7:00 p.m. still looking at downpours there. these are going to be showery in nature. the bands of showers that come through, it's not going to be steady, widespread rain. 11:00 p.m., the snow levels

starting to lower, so lake county, you're looking at some snow over the hills. by sunday morning, mt. hamilton, that bluish white there, that's snow. the pink is a rain-snow mix. that trend continues into 7:00 p.m. it's even colder sunday morning. sunday afternoon those showers will continue into the evening hours. in terms of your rainfall totals, this is not the type of storm to bring us a ton of rain. it will bring a quarter to 0.6 of an inch at most. temperatures tomorrow morning being held up by the cloud cover. temperatures in the low to upper 40s. and then for the afternoon make sure you have your rain gear with you. temperatures in the 50s and 60s. cooler than today with those showers around. you can download the abc abc 7 news app and track this storm over the weekend to plan your weekend activities. breezy and wet on saturday, 1 on our storm impact scale. sound only low to mid-50s. snow and showers with potential thunder. monday a few showers will continue before we start to see

a drying trend. warming it up, 70s come back into the picture. spring-like warmth thursday and friday. until we get to that point, we do have basically winter-like weather for the weekend. >> sand hya, thanks. work is progressing to repair the oroville dam. the man who believes the erosion represents a golden opportunity. unlocking the mystery of climate change. scientists hope this giant crater will give them some important answers. and checking our traffic through walnut creek. this is 680 moving in both directions. a little lighter on the right-hand side, your

work is progressing to repair the damaged ochl ed orov spillway but a man wants them to stop that work. >> he believes it presents a golden opportunity.

>> look at all this beautiful exposed brand new bedrock. >> reporter: you're listening to a grown man salivate. >> there are nuggets embedded in that bedrock. >> reporter: bob van camp has been prospecting for gold for 20 years. he's certain that the erosion caused by the damaged oroville dam spillway is creating a golden opportunity. now, when you look at what's happened with the oroville spillway, what do you see? >> i see a lot of gold potential there. >> reporter: but how much? >> how much gold? pounds. pounds and pounds. >> reporter: van camp knows his trade. he goes out at least once per week and usually finds what he's looking for. >> about an ounce and a half. >> so right now you're holding about $1500 at least. >> at least, oh, yeah. >> reporter: for serious gold pra prospectors like digger bob, secrecy is of the utmost importance. before i came on i said i would not say where it was he was searching for gold.

they don't want others to find out a good place like on this day this location. >> you got it? >> reporter: not long ago an undisclosed prospector found this atanndisclosedocation. it sold for $350,000. more recently, this 14-ounce piece was found. is there anything like that down here? no telling, but digger bob would love to find out. >> because gold is so heavy, it always seeks the lowest area. it it constantly wants to go down. >> reporter: down where crews are currently cleaning up debris and perhaps a whole lot more. >> all this dirt, all this came off that hillside, and this is full of gold. >> according to the reporter department of water resources officials say they're unaware of any gold being find but are studying the protocol if any gold is found there in the future. scientists hope this giant crater in eastern siberia will help them unlock the mysteries

of climate change. the giant hole is the largest of its kind in the world. it's more than half a mile long and 282 feet deep and still growing about 33 feet per year thanks to water from melting, frozen soil. scientists believe the crater will allow them to view more than 200,000 years of climate change in siberia. they plan to collect sediment to analyze how the landscape changed as climate warmed and cooled during the last ice age. this could provide insight for today's climate change issues we are facing. cell phone danger just revealed. why the state refused to release a report about the health risks of using your phone. democrats and republicans are battling it out this afternoon over russia after reports of more meetings between trump campaign advisers and the russian ambassador. and terminating it on his own terms. why arnold says tomorrow's the day we'll play something besides video games. every day is a gift. especially for people with heart failure.

but today there's entresto... a breakthrough medicine that can help make more tomorrows possible. tomorrow, i want to see teddy bait his first hook. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. tomorrow, i'm gonna step out with my favorite girl. ask your doctor about entresto. and help make the gift of tomorrow possible.

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and here are the stories making headlines at 4:30. sky 7 will show us law enforcement officers in procession paying tribute to a fallen brother. you see it there. 2,000 people turned out in concord today to honor sheriff's deputy michael foley. a co-worker driving an inmate bus accidentally struck and killed deputy foley last week as he was walking across the

parking lot at the santa rita jail. he leaves behind a wife, a daughter and son who told the crowd he wants to become a police officer just like his dad. leslie brinkley tweeted this picture showing bay area law enforcement helicopters in the missing man formation over mt. diablo to honor deputy foley. coming up today at 5:00, abc 7 news reporter jonathan bloom is in berkeley with how the city is getting ready for a pro president trump event that's happening tomorrow. and we've heard it before, claims that cell phones cause cancer. now a new report says the state of california may have kept information about the cancer risk secret. lyanne melendez has been digging into that report and is live with what she found. >> reporter: well, this is significant because it comes from a government agency and it mentions radiation, its harmful effects, and something that they don't always mention, and that is that children are more susceptible to the effects of radiation. people have long suspected that

holding a phone too close to your head or other parts of your body may do damage to cells and tissue. >> we have evidence of brain tumors and other head and neck tumors. we also have evidence of sperm damage in males, infertility in females. >> reporter: he took the california department of health to court to force the release of this document, which says scientific studies subject long-term cell phone use may increase the risk of brain cancer and other health problems. he says there's been a lot of pressure from the wireless industry to keep any kind of negative report on cell phones hidden from the public. >> and they have done a very good job at it, just essentially following the same playbook the tobacco industry used. >> reporter: the report also suggests keeping phones away from your body. use headsets, speakerphone and text more. as we discovered, few people followed those recommendations. >> generally i don't. generally i just hold it up to

my ear and talk like that. >> reporter: ellie marks is with the california brain tumor association. we skyped with her from riverside. >> people need to know. people are unaware that cell phones as they're used now are not safe. >> reporter: most people say they would consider adopting those recommendations. >> if there's a concerted message from sources that are trusted. >> reporter: but part of the reason why the state refused to release the document was because the centers for disease control and prevention insists more research is needed before we know if using cell phones causes health effects. in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. a romance gone wrong may be behind some of the threats at jewish community centers nationwide. federal authorities arrested a man named juan thompson at his home in st. louis, missouri. he's accused of making threats against at least eight jewish community centers nationwide and the anti-defamation league's headquarters in new york city. according to a complaint, the

threats were made to harass a former girlfriend. the caller used the victim's name while making some of these threats. the fallout continues over whether attorney general jeff sessions lied about meeting with the russian ambassador during president trump's campaign. democratic calls for his resignation are getting stronger, while republicans are going on the attack. here's abc news reporter lana zak. >> reporter: here's the president meeting with students at a catholic school in orlando. >> so you're going to go into business, right? you're going to make a lot of money, right? but don't run for politics after you do. >> reporter: but when it comes to the democrats, he's not turning the other cheek, tweeting out this 14-year-old photo of senator chuck schumer sharing a coffee with russian president vladimir putin writing we should start an immediate investigation into senator schumer and his ties into russia and putin. a total hypocrite. schumer saying happily talk of my contact with mr. putin and his associates. took place in '03 in full view

of press and puck lick under oath. would you and your team? the barbs becoming heated as democrats demand the resignation of attorney general jeff sessions. some feel he sessions says he did not lie because it was not a campaign meeting. the vice president is backing him up. >> he could answer unintention a.m. >> reporter: as more revelations surface, republicans may be scrambling to figure out their next steps. >> when you talk to republicans in the course of this, they know there's a problem here. they have to figure out a way to clear it up and clear it up as fast as they can. >> reporter: the white house insists the president had zero campaign interactions with russia, and we're learning a little bit more about that photo from 2003. it seems that it was taken at a gas station before the russian president moved on to camp david

and a visit with president george w. bush. lana zak, abc news, washington. vice president pence is downplaying his use of a private e-mail account to conduct state business during his tenure as governor of indiana. pence contacted advisers on terrorism and homeland security via an aol account which was hacked last summer. during the campaign pence was a vocal critic of hillary clinton's use of a private e-mail server while she led the state department. he said there's no comparison between his situation and clinton's. >> i'm very confident that our e-mail practices were in full compliance with all of indiana's laws. and in my service as vice president we'll continue that practice. >> however, as with clinton's case, there are now concerns that pence did not rigorously comply with government archiving and open records guidelines. arnold schwarzenegger -- sorry, we'll move on to

something else. yes. the sessions recan you feusal i new scrutiny on the fbi and its ability to oversee an investigation. kenneth moton reports from new york. >> reporter: the trump campaign, the alleged russian connection and the man responsible for the federal investigation front and center again. >> we're going to need the fbi to fully cooperate. >> reporter: fbi director james comey is still dealing with scrutiny over his handling of the hillary clinton e-mail investigation. >> i'm here to give you an update. >> reporter: giving details, even delivering an october surprise democrats believe cost clinton the election. now silence, but only getting louder, the questions about comey's investigation into russia's m eceddling in the election. a probe that now includes the man that oversees the fbi, jeff sessions. >> we cannot represent to the american people that we're doing a thorough job if the department

of justice or fbi is unwilling to tell us what indeed they have looked at. >> reporter: "the wall street journal" reports u.s. investigators have examined contacts sessions had with russian officials while he was a trump campaign surrogate. t it left the agency wringing its handle on how to proceed. yes, sessions has recused himself from any investigations into the trump campaign but democrats say there are still major conflicts of interest which is why a special prosecutor is needed. kenneth moton, abc news, new york. now, arnold schwarzenegger is terminating his role as host of the "celebrity apprentice." the former california governor blamed president trump for low ratings. he said people were boycotting the show because trump was still a producer. it premiered in january to a 27% drop in ratings. that prompted trump to call it a ratings disaster and even said he would pray for arnold and better ratings. it may get more expensive for americans traveling to europe. the european parliament is

pushing a proposal that would require visas. this fwhob retaliation to a u.s. policy. bulgaria, croatia, cypress, poeland and romania. critics say suspending the visa waiver would hurt trade and tourism. breaking news in richmond where you can see thick black smoke rising over the city. this is the view from our east bay hills camera. it's burning right near the railroad tracks. we've seen it go from black smoke to white smoke in just the past few minutes. here's a live look. we're working to get more information on what is burning precisely but things seem to be improving. download our abc 7 news app and enable the push alerts for updates. next at 4:00, you can catch the ground-breaking mini series "when we rise" tonight on abc 7. next, meet a young freshman who's been able to find a home at a bay area college.

i'm abc 7 news meteorologist sandhya patel. enjoy this filtered sunshine because these clouds will be replaced by rain this weekend and snow over our local peaks. i'll have the hour-by-hour forecast coming up. let's take a live look now at the san mateo bridge. as you can see on this friday at 4:38, it's busy as you would expect, but it's moving along fairly smoothly. st

abc's powerful mini series event "when we rise" wraps up tonight. it trade the men and women who helped empower gay america as a political force. >> those struggles in this generation, of course, as you'll see when you meet a young freshman who's found a home at a bay area college. >> abc's cheryl jennings reports railroads when we first met sally ann, she was learning to fight off attackers at a college self defense class, but it turns out she's been fighting for her female identity ever since high school. >> it was from my first two years, no one knew i was trans. i kept it very hush hush. >> my name is sally. i'm a straight a honors student. >> reporter: sally started a go fund me campaign while still in high school, complete with a video of her story, and she offered to trade her own photography to raise money for the gender reassignment surgery she still hopes to undergo. she also became politically active in the fight for equal access to public bathrooms.

>> i feel like i'm part of a public movement where we're trying to show what's going on that people are trying to ignore or deny. >> reporter: but sally began to fight for access of a different kind after being turned away by an out of state university. she set her sights on a women's college with one of the most progressive admissions policies in the country. mills college in oaklanded cates more than 800 female undergraduates. more than half identify as minority. the college president, beth hillman, says the university is diverse but the students have one thing in common. >> we do also attract highly engaged students who are interested in politics, who are interested in changing the world. >> reporter: mills drafted a policy in 2014 with change in mind, that officially opened admission to students who self identify as female. it's a move that's since been followed by other major women's colleges across the country. >> this is not a single step where you make an announcement and you're done with creating an inclusive community. it requires continual acts every day to recognize the difference of others and help people

understand it. >> reporter: she said the college began developing recommendations for faculty and administrators. >> because people pass as different genders, different races, as different members of religious sects. >> and i instantly fell in love because everyone like treated me like i was basically part of a group. >> reporter: and they say it's resulted in an environment that reflects the original mission at mills, of women empowering women, whether born that way or not. cheryl jennings, abc 7 news. >> and the abc mini series event "when we rise" concludes tonight at 9:00 right here on abc 7. hi there, everyone. take a look at the storm coming in for the weekend. it is coming in from the gulf of alaska. cold storm, 1 on our storm impact scale for both saturday and sunday. expecting cold showers, snow level down to 3,000 feet and there's even the possibility of thunder and hail, particularly on sunday. hour-by-hour forecast, spotty showers tomorrow morning between

5:00 and 8:00 a.m. really light. and then we'll start to see a little bit of the activity picking up for the afternoon, some light to moderate rain expected. if you are traveling to the sierra nevada, a winter storm warning 4:00 tomorrow afternoon until 4:00 p.m. monday. expecting 8 to 14 inches down to 3,000 feet with 3 feet over the passes. dangerous travel conditions so keep that in mind. tomorrow it's mixed precipitation, gusty, snowy, windy sunday. your best bet to come back will be monday. it will be better, improving conditions with a chance of snow showers. highs for your saturday in the 50s, 60s. the accuweather seven-day forecast featuring a 1 on your storm impact scale for the weekend and into monday. really it's one system that is going to keep this unsettled pattern going. might even see snow over our local peaks with much cooler weather dried out and bump up the temperatures the middle of next week. >> thank you, sandhya. ♪

>> this afternoon a brand new look at a tale as old as time. go inside "beauty & the beast's" hollywood premiere. and a sale that seems too good to be true. yes, an american airline is really offering 99% off its flights today.

in the animation world, disney's "beauty and the beast" is a classic. >> now more than 25 years later, there is a new version and this one is live action. here's more from last night's hollywood premiere. ♪ >> reporter: emma watson plays the beauty belle in this new adaptation of "beauty & the beast." paige o'hara who voiced it in the original likes the casting. >> if i produced it, i would have cast her. my first choice. >> she's like very fiesty and also in this one you really see that she wants to spread her love of learning, her love of books. you see her teaching another school to read which is a scene i really love. >> reporter: dan stevens is the man behind the beast. filmmakers use motion technology to work their magic on his face

and his body. >> come, come, show me the smile. >> they take that away, morph it into the beast and match it onto the body we puppeteered. on the day i was there in my muscle suit on stilts sweating away. >> reporter: luke evans brings gaston to life. >> you are the most gorgeous thing i've ever seen. nobody deserves you. >> if it isn't broke, don't fix it because it really is rather special. and i loved reading the script and seeing how much of the original we kept. >> i hope that it's a wonderful addition to what everybody loved in the '91 classic and it continues to expand on that. ♪ >> they have interracial relationships in this film and you have a same-sex moment in this film as well. i think that's so important because disney is shining a light on the world that exists. >> it's really nostalgic but

it's also magical. i think it brings out that sort of inner child in everyone. >> reporter: you can see this beauty and the beast beginning in theaters march 17th. a real live disney princess was in san francisco today to support the release of mowana on blu-ray on march 7th. the 16-year-old captured the lead role in the film. she performed the oscar-nominated song "how far i'll go" from the movie at last weekend's academy awards and kept her cool when she got hit on the head with a flag onstage. >> it actually happened the day before in our dress rehearsal. >> really? >> yes, it was a double whammy. >> so you were prepared. >> sort of. >> she was the last person to audition and beat out the competition to beat the role. while disney is the parent company of abc 7. spirit airlines is running a promotion for the 99%. the low cost carrier is dropping

fares by 99%. of course there are catches. you need to buy the ticket by midnight today and you need to travel on a tuesday or a wednesday between march 14th and april 11th. but the deals are good. for example, we checked out a flight from oakland to atlanta. it would normally cost $360, but the promotion drops the price to $96 round trip. well, today it's phones down, eyes up for national unplugging day. the idea behind the day is to challenge people to keep their electronic devices unplugged and unused for an entire 24 hours. it's hoped that people will use the time to relax with family and friends or be alone. instead of texting them, you can actually sit down with people face to face and talk. nice concept, right? good luck. put it down. a navy pilot in washington state may be the father of the year. check out the backyard project he made for his 3-year-old son. >> again!

>> that is cool. >> look at that! scott brazelton was planning to build a tree house in their backyard but he decided to build this complex roller coaster instead after a trip to disn disneyland. >> he spent three months designing and building it. it cost him about $1,000 to build. the tracks are made with mostly pvp pipe and two 2 x 4s put together. forget calling or texting. very soon some select pizza hut customers will have their own special way to order a pie during the upcoming ncaa basketball tournament. the restaurant chain has produced 64 pairs of these sneakers. each will allow the wearer to order by pressing a button on the shoe's tongue. bluetooth technology and geo location will pinpoint where to deliver the food. the shoes will be handed out as part of a promotion but some may be made available to the public.

here's a treat, a solar eclipse seen from space. this video was taken from the european space agency's spacecraft that shows the moon passing over the sun. this happened back on february 26th. it wasn't a total eclipse. instead the moon was centered on the sun to create a ring of fire. the main task is to stare at the sun so we don't have to. it's off to the races in sonoma county, kind of. why these priuses are inching around the sonoma raceway. and kristen is here with a look at what's coming up at 5:00. thanks. a dramatic robbery caught on camera. the man who invaded a san francisco store with his gun blazing. and guns were also used in a series of robberies in san jose, but in this case there are arrests. and who pays if a pothole damages your car? well, it doesn't have to be you. those stories and more when i join dan for abc 7 news at 5:00.

>> it's hard to talk about and hard to remember sometimes. >> the work we did together. >> we must always be fighting back. >> this week on abc 7 news, the real stories that happened where you live, to inspire the must-see series "when we rise." stand up, stand out, rise. all this week only on abc

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it's shark tank, then at 9:00 the final part of when we rise followed by abc 7 news at 11:00. in sonoma county today, a big race. we use the word "race" loosely. all we can say is that you will relate closely if you own or drive a prius. abc 7 news reporter wayne freedman joins us from victory lane at sonoma raceway. hi, wayne. >> reporter: well, the race is over. we're standing by waiting to hear the results of what might be described as a proud nerd's equivalent of the indianapolis 500. most of the times you know the winner of a race because that's the guy who crosses the finish line first. in this case they are crunching numbers. in that hectic race otherwise known as a daily commute, we all know there are three kinds of drivers and that two of them roll in priuses. >> the slow one and the slow one. >> reporter: which leads us to sonoma raceway where today an overflow crowd craned their necks and crunched data in an effort to satisfy their need for

speed. >> don't peel rubber when you leave. >> it won't be able to. >> reporter: the prius challenge has to be one of the most quiet motor races in the world. organize ergz will tell you this is not about being fast, but -- >> efficient. >> reporter: they get nine laps, top speed limited to 60, slow speed maybe 9 or 10 miles an hour going over the hill. it kind of makes you wonder why they're even wearing protection. >> it's also fun to code with the helmet on. >> reporter: it is certainly a bit different from other fabled races. an average driver might get 45 miles per gallon. here they're expected to crack the century barrier. it's all about strategy. >> we take the comparison. >> are we allowed to ask questions? >> i'm sorry? >> reporter: to summarize, here at sonoma, there is nothing else quite as seductive as the smell of a charged battery and the roar of an electric motor.

okay, so use your imagination. in sonoma county, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> thanks for joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00, i'm ama daetz. abc 7 news at 5:00 starts now. one employee is knocked to the ground. another, others ordered down at gunpoint. the jewelry store robbie caught on surveillance video. details are still up in the air for a pro trump rally in berkeley. you'll hear what the organizer is telling abc 7 news. caltrans usually pours concrete instead of stripping it away. the dump truck accident that has part of the roadway closed. plus the effort to clear a roadway in the central valley. a dramatic robbery caught on tape. a man invades a san francisco store with his gun blazing. good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm kristen sze, thank you for joining us. a brazen robbery in chinatown caught on camera. >> it happened a month ago, but

now san francisco police say they really urgently need your help to track down the violent robber who got away before they strike again. >> melanie woodrow has the story. >> reporter: the robbery began so suddenly you could almost miss it. here, watch again as the suspect pushes a woman to the ground. police say he's armed with a gun and hammer. >> then you could see further in the video that the suspect is waving the gun around and does eventually order the other employees to the ground while he's trying to take items from the display cases. >> reporter: he smashed display cases but got away with nothing, though he certainly left his mark and picture for all to see. san francisco police are sharing these photos of the suspect without his mask on or hood up. >> in san francisco, it's very likely that you're going to be caught on camera, not just from the store you may have committed a crime in but other neighborhood stores or businesses. >> reporter: they're asking anyone who recognizes him to call police. >> the main concern for the department is to find