cornel? >> reporter: that rally ended just a short time ago here at albany high school, a chance for solidarity after the discovery after a racist instagram page. ♪ lean on me when you're not strong ♪ >> reporter: a song of unity and hope at a time when this high school could use it. >> we are here, we are here to heal albany. >> reporter: about 100 students and teachers gathered for an afternoon high school. >> unfortunately, we have had a really significant event to unite us, our students are here and our teachers are here and family and friends are here today. >> it's terrible, horrible, i'm depressed. it was hard to get up, but you

have to go on. >> reporter: a student created a racist instagram account which focused on -- hundreds of students staged a sit in and rally on thursday. those who liked and -- this parent said she was denied police protection leaving the meeting. >> once we exited the building, then fights broke out everywhere. student next to me had his nose broken. >> reporter: the students who created the instagram account have been suspended. school district officials would ochbt say the matter is confidential but hope the incident can be a teachable moment for all. . in san jose, a 10-year-old girl survived an accident this morning that killed her father. sky 7 shows the car they were in

wedged in -- the truck driver was turning when the car slam into it. the victim is a 41-year-old man from san jose, it happened in front of a construction site. witnesses ran in to help the young girl. >> she was flung over the seat saying my daddy's dead, my daddy's dead and i calmed her county saying breathe deeply, breathe slowly. i'm calling it? >> the girl managed to survive without any injury. witnesses say flaggers were actually on park avenue, they were directing traffic around that construction site. the sun was also shining towards the eyes of the victim at the time of that crash. they knew it was a problem, they did not do enough about it. and pardon me, we got ahead of ourselves, today the california congressman leading the investigation into president trump's ties to russia, refused

to step down. about 300 angry protesters rallied outside an agricultural lending event in san antonio where devin nunes held a rally. he's been criticized for being too close to the president to conduct a proper investigation, especially after receiving secret materials from the white house and not sharing them with other committee members. white house critics want devin nunes to recuse himself. >> there's not a better person in the house of representatives to do this investigation than me because i've been the one who's been warning about russia for a long, long time. >> you're not going to reduce yourself? >> tonight the intelligence committee's top democrats received the same materials nunes received last week. tonight the chief justice called outs the -- the chief justice accused i.c.e agents of

stalking courthouses and arresting undocumented immigrants. disputed the claims. he went on to say because of some sanctuary cities lawings, quote, i.c.e. officers and algs are required to locate and arrest these aliens in public places. >> it sends a healing effect to many victims and witnesses that go into a courthouse is not safe. and that has a direct impact in our ability to administer justice and provide for the safety of our community. >> gasgon said the information is based on concern about foreigners and not about public safety. newly released emails about the fire investigation in this building. it caught fire on monday killing four people.

well, these emails, straight out say this building is dangerous. fire officials call it a known fire hazard. >> firefighters had been inside that building on san pablo avenue several times before monday's fire and knew that there were problems as early as january. the city released the emails just hours ago along with details to overhaul their fire inspection process. >> abc7 news reporter leslie brinkley just spoke to the mayor. >> reporter: as you can understand, she said she is deeply disturbed by reading these i mails today, i just had a sit down operation with him. as you said, oakland released these emails about fire dating back several months. let's take a look at the first email, it dates back to january the 8th, after a medical call and a fire captain noted nonworking alarms and a padlocked fire escape.

the captain says i reck mechbd we consider shutting down this building immediately due to danger to safety. and on january 25, calls this building is dangerous, please let station 15 know what we can do to get this place shut down and repaired. and yet another email just three days before the deadly blaze killed four residents. the acting snichbt fire marshall we presented him with a list of deficiencies to correct. >> seeing these emails today was incredibly disturbing. we are rectifying many of these issues today as we are doubling our fire inspectors, we are giving them the training and the tools and we are excel rating the process of bringing in a

strong leader. >> reporter: oakland mayor libby schaft also talked about the similarities with the ghost ship fire and some of the differences. we'll have a lot more on our sit down conversations with oakland's mayor tonight at 11:00. i'm leslie brinkley, abc7 news. >> all right, leslie, thank you, you can read the emails the city has posted on their website, we have released the details about this fire since it broke out thursday morning, and those changes to oakland's -- another wrongful death lawsuit has now been filed in connection with this fire. 34-year-old edmond la pine was attending a dance party at the warehouse last december when that fire broke out. the building manager and owner knew about fire hazards inside the building and did nothing about them. 36 people died in the fire.

nine other family members of the victims filed lawsuits. the man who created the iconic rainbow flag has passed away. >> that flag became known as a gay rights flag all around the globe. >> during the abc miniseries event "when we rise" which chronicled the lgbt rights movement across several decades. >> here's a look at the impact he's had on the community he now leaves behind. >> reporter: and so people who knew him are heart broken tonight, saddened and surprised. gilbert baker died in his apartment in new york city, and tonight in less than an hour, there is a vigil planned for him at castro and market under his flag. >> flags are about power.

flags say something, you put a rainbow flag on your windshield, you're saying something. >> reporter: gilbert baker created what may be the largest symbol of tolerance. baker came one a flag with the colors of the rainbow, spending months dying the fabric and sewing. those who knew him say he always pushed for what he believed in. >> when i started the aids memorial quilt, everybody said it was a stupid idea, but -- >> he embraced the federal when he came out as a gay man. >> there were all sorts of rainbow symbols for the community and for many of us, that's part of our coming into the community and gilbert created that. >> reporter: the rain bow flag was on the cover of life magazine after creating a mile

long flag carried by 5,000 people in new york city. one of his greatest accomplishments. another memorable moment was being recognized by president obama. baker never stopped working as an advocate for change, carrying the flag as a tool of tolerance and love. >> that moment when you see it in the sky, hope. >> reporter: in san francisco, abc7 news. while traffic in the bay area has gone from bad to worse and some say we're now in a crisis. >> that people have reached a point of frustration that kind of reflects a breaking point. >> at 6:30 tonight, hear what some of your fellow commuters are willing to do to pay to get it moving again. i'm abc7 news meteorologist sandra patel, we're going to get rid of the wind and bring on some warmth. i'll have your weekend temperatures coming up. and next, see what it takes to build a ship like this from scratch. [ bleep ].

>> i got him! >> oh, wow, and in less than three minutes

[ bleep ] i got him. >> oh! >> [ bleep ]. >> stunned onlookers watched helplessly as a sailboat capsized in choppy waters on the coast. the sailboat went slamming into the rodondo beach pier. four survivors were plucked from the ocean.

now a story abc7 news has been covering for weeks, mail thefts and as a result, broken mailboxes are on the rise across the bay area, often it takes weeks to get the boxes fixed. today a viewer told us her mailbox was fixed this week after it was broken into in january. nbc news reporter kate larsen spoke to a postal inspector today about what they're doing to crack down. >> reporter: these bags and boxes are full of stolen mail that's been recovered bring postal inspectors in contra costa town for the last to years. >> we're seeing more individuals engaged in mail theft. >> reporter: the postal inspector says many thieves use counterfeit keys to break into cluster boxes in housing complexes. for several months, residents in martinez have been stuck waiting in line at the post office, to pick up their mail in person, while they also wait for the post office to fix their broken

mailboxes. >> the use of a nonpopostal key nonpostal employee is 10 years in prison. >> reporter: in the past six months, dozens more mail thieves have been arrested all over the bay area. inspector fitch says they're also trying to make stealing mail more difficult in the first place. >> there are meyy higher securi boxes that are being installed and there are also newer locks that are being installed. >> reporter: thieves hit a cluster box with brand-new post office locks right out of the ground. >> we're updating parts of the technology, and they're probably fry trying to figure out what we have done. >> reporter: the inspector says the key to solvining these is early reporting.

tomorrow is april fool's day, but the tax increases taking effect, they're no joke. the sales tax is going up in several cities and counties, the results of voter approved initiatives to raise money for inf infrastructure and city services. there will also be county wide hikes in santa clara and santa cruz counties. it's also going to cost smokers a lot more to lights up. a standard pack of cigarettes will cost between $8 and $9. a four-year nautical dream is a bit closer to setting sail tonight. the ship matthew turner made its -- young people will ultimately benefit. >> reporter: a couple of hundred people were on hand for the first journey of the matthew turner, pulled by trucks to a nearby boat ramp. >> we felt like building a boat,

we would also build a community. >> reporter: allan olson was there when it was just a drirm fiver knave years ago. he said that when the 100-foot boat is finished, young people will benefit. >> we want to get them out into nature, particularly into the water and the sea, we think that's a wonderful place for them to learn and commune with their basic nature. >> reporter: the ship features 250 wooden planks cut from in >> there's a lot of love and 200,000 man hours. >> reporter: most of that is provide by volunteers like dan higgins, a veteran boat builder who splits his year between miranda and marin county.

>> you tell them your expertise, then they mold you into that department. >> we would like the ship to be here for the next 100 years. >> reporter: moving the ship is not the last step. it will probably take into late summer or early fall. now your accu-weather forecast. >> hi, there, everyone, it was a warmer afternoon today, but it has been gusty, and i do want to show you the wind trend over the next few hours, you'll notice that the wind definitely drops off and then it picks back up a little bit. but tomorrow, you will have lighter wind, so definitely going to warm up even more. let's check out live doppler 7 now, which really we have a few high clouds around, and we are watching those clouds just passing by along the coastline there, they'll continue to move, they're harmless. we don't have any rain in the forecast. right now the breezy conditions continue across the bay area,

the strongest winds gusting to 30 miles an hour and that has prompted a wind advisory all afternoon and will remain in effect until 9:00 tonight. you just want to watch out if you're driving, watch out for blowing debris and definitely keep two hands on the wheel. we're looking at sunshine out in the bay. 62 in san francisco, oakland, san jose you're in the low to mid 70s. gill roy, 77 degrees. from our emeryville camera camea warmer temperatures today, warming continues tomorrow. winds will begin to ease overnight, sunny and warmer tomorrow afternoon. hour by hour forecast, it will still be breezy around 7:00 and then some spots like fairfield

will get gusty around 7:00 p.m., but for the rest of you, the wind will drop off, we're headed into tomorrow morning and it's not going to be as windy as it has been. those winds will ease even more and that will allow the warmth to really peak tomorrow afternoon. tomorrow morning mid 40s to low 50s, it is going to be a clear start, if you have early plans, a good morning to go for a run or a walk, afternoon high also come up, mid 60s to the low 80s, breeziest location will be right around the delta and that's it. everyone else will be enjoying sunshine and comfortable weather. if you're going to the holi festival tomorrow, it's the indian festival of colors, 62 at 11:00 a.m. mild readings in the afternoon, middle 50s to low 60s. it's a great weekend to do outdoor activities. notice those temperatures, low 60s to low 80s. a little bit of fog showing up, but it's still comfortable, warm

weather, mild to warm weather continuing into early next week, and then the middle of next week, we get a little spike, low 80s inland, mid 60s coast, enjoy it because temperatures are going down by friday. noticeably cooler and we could even be tracking some showers. that's why you need to download the abc7 news app. california's great america has a new ride and it's just the start of some big expansion plans, we'll have that story next at 6:00. and it's caesar chaves day in california, we're

great america announced plans to expand today, including this new ride. right now the highest ride is the tower. the city just approved rides that would be 30 feet taller than that. ride is the park's new floorless roller coaster. >> in the loop, it was pretty crazy, they hit us with fireworks as soon as we came around, so it was quite an experience. >> great america says this is just the beginning, santa clara just announced expansion efforts, there will be a commercial and entertainment center close to the park, similar to downtown disney. well, you can now say

goodbye to the egg on twitter. for the last seven years you got an egg profile when you first joined the site. today they changed to it the silhouette of a gender neutral person. goodbye dandelion, hello blue. crayola announced it is replacing the color dandelion, in it's 24-pack, with a crayon in the blue pack. they did not share the name. instead fans will come up with the name of the new blue color. it is the first time in history they have actually retired a color. we may live in different places, drive different cars and have different jobs, but there's one thing we can agree on. >> there's too much traffic out

there, although we can't agree on how to fix it. virtual technology is creating jobs in the real world. the irs keeps saying only scammers call to demand payments, but now the irs will start calling you too. i'

you are looking live at what the vast majority of the bay area calls a crisis that needs to be fixed immediately. talking be the traffic. the data from a newly released surveyor, proves that many of us already believe in, bay area traffic is a nightmare. >> let's take a look at the bay area bridge and san mateo bridges, which can be bottlen k bottlenecks during rush hour. >> reporter: some of us spend hours in traffic every day. >> it's a lot worse than when i was in high school. >> reporter: stuck in gridlock,

wondering when it will end. >> bumper to bumper traffic. >> a new survey released by the bay area council, 60% of drivers say it's harder to get around that were a year ago. this despite more people car pooling and ride sharing than ever before. >> they want us to fletreat it an emergency because it's really frustrating their lives. >> reporter: ceo jim wonderman says driver frustration is growing by the minute. >> we need to be innovative, we need to use technology. >> 70% of those surveyed said that the -- even if it means raising taxes. >> 100% on board with that. i mean honestly, that's the biggest problem we're facing around here, the infrastructure. >> but others say they're already struggling enough. >> people pay a lot just to live here, and that's a real

nightmare. >> reporter: state lawmakers will vote on a package next week that will raise gas taxes and vehicle fees that will raise more than $5 million each year to fix roads, bridges and to increase roads for traffic. drivers are facing detourings and delays in atlanta, for months, probably after an overpass collapsed in a fire. no one was heaurt when this happened yesterday. four people were arrested today for criminal trespass and criminal damage to property. georgia's governor has declared a state of emergency, the state's top transportation official says there's no way to tell when the highway can be safely reopened to traffic in either direction. a federal judge here in california has approved a $25 million settlement against the now defunct trump university.

customers were misled -- president trump has vowed to never settle. but after being elected, he said he didn't have time for a trial. today the president tweeted a picture from a meeting with condoleezza rice, she's currently a professor at stanford. white house press secretary sean spicer says rice and president trump discussed threats and america's efforts to defeat isis. and today hillary clinton gave her second public speech within a week, appearing at georgetown university in washington. >> studies show, here i go again, talking about research, evidence and facts. >> the former presidential candidate criticized the president's proposed budget cuts as well as diplomatic decisions. today hillary rodham clinton participated in a peace advance ceremony. after years of telling us that the irs won't call and

demand abili demand payments like those scammers do, now the irs is hiring debt collectors to call debtors for payments. >> i have said this for decades, they will never call you, they will call you, okay, that's the problem. just as we were all getting used to or wise to these impostors claiming to be from the irs, now actual irs debt collectors will be calling. some worry bad guys will start posing as those collectors and taxpayers won't know what to believe. >> the reason for this call is that the irs is filing a lawsuit against you. >> my name is rick johnson. from tax litigation department. >> sherry shoemaker -- >> call when you get this message. >> you will be in prison for two

years. >> reporter: this woman believed them, she paid the crooks $16,000, believed police were after her, even turned herself in before learning the truth. >> this is an irs scam and you fell for it. >> seeing the evolution of a phone scam, it's quite sinister and quite nasty actually. >> for years the irs has hammered home a point, if you get a call from someone saying they're from the irs, it's a scam. >> now there will be people calling on behalf of the irs. >> scammers know the names of collection agencies and might use that to fool victims. >> it opens the door to a gargantuan increase in the numbers of collectors that will be contacting the must be lick. >> fixing america's surface transportation act, requires the irs to hire debt collectors to

help pay for new roads. debt kplebut victims scam relate, how do they know it's a debt collector or a scam? >> am i going to believe it when someone says they're from x collection service? i wouldn't, but someone night. >> if you get a call before getting a notice, it's probably a scam. also a real debt collector from the irs will never demand payment by wire, a prepaid card and get this, they will never threaten to arrest you. that's what they always do right now. so don't buy off on that. i want to hear from you, the 7 on your side hot line is on your side. 415-954-8151. >> i know a lot of people are going to be taken.

high profile attorney gloria allred says reports that she's under investigation by the state bar are false. allred was responding to a state bar of california letter says it had confirmed that they are looking into possible misconduct by allred. in a statement, allred added, i have no intention of allowing anyone to harm my reputation by making allegations against me that have no merit. here's a live look outside from the abc7 camera at pier 17. we'll have the highlights from the weekend forecast in just a few minutes. 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.

happening now, the second longest run way at san francisco international airport is shut down for the weekend so it can be repaved. run ways need repaving about every 10 years, in addition to repaving, crews will also upgrade the lights, improve the taxi way and make a new one. these closures are expected to last through mid-june.

oakland international airport says it's seeing the biggest boost in international travel. the airport released new information showing passenger traffic was up 5.6% in february. airport officials credit the boost in part to the fact they added 50 new monthly international departures by southwest and norwegian air. we're learning more about a woman's survive after being strand it in the snow for five days. she found herself out of cell phone range. she retraced her steps with abc news reporter matt guthrie. >> amber is alive when many other people would be dead. she had been in the girl scouts, she had been in the junior rotc and she knew what she was doing.

when we were out in the middle of the desert, she helped teach me how to navigate bring the stars. >> she tried desperately to alert others while enduring extreme temperatures in the arizona desert. learn how she survived on "20/20

♪ ♪ it's spring, and we can't wait to open our sheds and get working on our yards. scotts and miracle-gro are here to help. we make it easy to grow thick, healthy lawns, spectacular plants, and bountiful flowers. because when spring starts right, the months that follow stay perfect. load up your shed with scotts and miracle-gro. it's time to get outside. ♪ ♪

members of the new york city fire department rang today's closing bell at the new york stock exchange. stocks took a dip on the last trading day of the week, but show strong gains since the first quarter of the year. the dow is up 4.5%, closing at 20,663, the nasdaq has gained 9.8% this year, the s&p is up more than 5% this b.a.r.t. has announced closings in july. no trains will run between oakland street and make merrick,

free busses will take passengers between these stations. virtual reality is creating jobs here in san francisco. >> reporter: in reality, he's punching thin air, but he's a contender for the world championship in virtual reality. >> all of that content needs to be created by someone. >> the exhibitors all seem to have one thing in common. >> we have been growing like crazy. >> we have doubled in the last year. >> we are looking for people with hardware experience. if you have any experience with unity and virtual reality, you combine those two things, i know 100 people that will hire you today. >> it goes beyond games. >> you're shooting with a ccd camera, but soon we're going to have cameras all the way around us.

>> reporter: every brand will need vr content. >> apple is coming out with vr technology. >> reporter: use vr to walk through a home you're thinking of buying. >> i'm a technical writer, i'm in charge of the manuals, i teach people how to use our very awesome an creative camera. >> reporter: some of the tools like this one, are actually creating jobs of >> these new vr entertainment type experiences. >> by creating you jobs around them and new industries within them. >> whatever skill set you have from whatever you did before vr, there's a way to apply that to vr. >> hoping to get a hand shake in vr, i really want to do that. >> reporter: in san jose,

jonathan bloom, abc7 news. here's a look outside from our santa cruz camera. a good weekend to hit the beach. >> it will be a beautiful weekend to go to the beech and as you take a look at lives doppler 7, no rain here on our radar, but we are seeing a few high clouds passing through the bay area, take a look at your highs for your saturday, getting up to 70 in san francisco, low 80s napa, santa rosa. it's so beautiful we have to show you this santa cruz camera again. some people are enjoying it, lots of sunshine out there. santa cruz hitting 76 degrees. 65 in half moon bay, if you're going to be in monterrey, 76 degrees. average high is 62, you're going to be well above average tomorrow, really right on through the entire workweek next week, except by friday, you're dropping closer to average, so the cooling will put us in the possibility of some rain.

accu-weather seven day forecast, it's warmer tomorrow, and those temperatures will be cooling and then a warmup next week. all right, the warriors in action with all that great new food tonight. >> go for the food, stay for the game. >> exactly right. >> coming up in sports, the warriors are back home tonight to take on the rockets. and at the women's final four the dallas, stanford was trying to earn a spot on the

we're following breaking news in the east bay, skies can 7 is over an apartment complex. look closely, you can see there, there's a car that actually just a few moments ago was actually inside the apartment. the crash happened just after 6:00. one person was hurt, it's not clear if they were in the car or the apartment and it's not clear what led up to this crash. city building inspectors have been called in to check the building for structural stability. people in the apartment building, they have of course been displaced. we're going to continue to follow this breaking story and bring you updates as they become

available. with a spot in the national championship game on the line, the stanford women took on south carolina tonight in dallas. the cardinals dominated the second quarter, a long pass to brittany mcphee who pops to the corner. stanford was also looking good early. but late in the second, senior carly samuelsson has to be carried off the court with an ankle injury. stanford led by 9 at the half, but south carolina led by 4 after three. the gamecocks never let up. alicia gray with the drive, gets it to go off the glass, despite being fouled. with t this is mcphee with the miss, gray comes up with the loose

ball and will find moore all by herself with a basket. that would do it. south carolina beat stanford, 62-53, so the game cook also play either connecticut or the warriors for their national title. this will be the second meeting with houston in four days. while the rockets just set an nba report for most three-pointers in a season, they haven't done so well against golden state. during tuesday's law, houston made only five of its three-point attempts. with six of their final games at home, steph curry says it's important to take advantage of the schedule. >> how you finish the area, for us these last seven games are important. you hear them all at home, you want to leave every night feeling good about your team. we'll be tested. but it will be good for us to

just continue that tunnel vision, not getting too excited about round one of the playoffs. the spurs are taking on russell westbrook. leonard tries to keep san antonio close, he'll get this shot to fall. with the defense keen on westbrook, he kicks the ball out to ennis cantor who knocks down the jumper, now late in the third quarter, the thunder leads 70-60. the warriors began the dare with a 3 1/2 game lead over the spurs. despite a rough spring, bruce bow chi has officially named matt cain as his starter. the series continues tonight with game two at at&t park. shut out loek land for five

minutes. new giants close you are pitched a 1-2-3 ninth as san francisco blanked oakland 3-0. these games don't count, but a's manager bob melvin would love to -- >> our position plays went a little bit longer in the game today. used the bullpen intensively. getting out of spring training mode more than anything else. >> we need to have an upper deck and bright lights and your fans and, you know, it just, i think brought a lot of life to them. and tiger woods has announced he will not play in next week's masters. he says his back is just not ready. tiger played augusta national. back to you, dan. thank you so much. >> join us tonight at 9:00 on kofi, could have happened to anybody even the president. why a white house signing ceremony went wrong.

and oakland city officials knew this building that went up in flames was a danger. at 11:00, the mayor sits down with abc7 news to talk about the action is city is now taking. final thoughts about what really matters. we all complain about roads around the area and the state. this year's rainy season did a lot of damage, but so did the great recession. governor brown just proposed a 12 cent a gallon increase to the gas tax and an average $48 increase to the annual vehicle registration fee that we all pay. for a lot of people that's a lot of money and it will hurt those who can least afford it. also in the proposal for the first time, those who drive zero emission vehicles will pay a $100 registration each year. should the growing number of people who use bicycles to get

around on city streets be asked to contribute? after all, cities like san francisco spend a lot of money on maintaining special lanes for them. our roads are a mess and we need to get busy fixing them. and everybody who puts rubber on the road has some skin in the game. and that is it for this edition of abc7 news, look for breaking news on quitter. abc7 news bay area.

this is "jeopardy!" introducing today's contestants -- an online sales director from rutherford, new jersey... a strategic data analyst from woodinville, washington... and our returning champion, a retired government relations specialist from ottawa, ontario, canada... ...whose 1-day cash winnings total... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!" -- alex trebek! thank you, johnny gilbert. [ cheers and applause ] thank you, ladies and gentlemen. to get started today, two important numbers that i would like to bring to your attention.

first, this is "jeopardy!'s" 7,500th episode. [ applause ] now in television history, that's not a record, but very, very impressive when you think that we've been on for 33 years. now the second number that is also very impressive -- the average win in every game this week is a shade over $25,000. so, aaron, andrea, and eric, don't let me down today. [ laughter ] good luck. here we go. let's find out about the categories. that narrows it down. [ chuckles ] oh! and finally... eric, off you go. special double k for $200, please, alex. eric.