passerby saw a naked body of a woman floating in the water. >> yes, i would say i am surprised to find that kind of thing here. it's very sad, terrible, to have that happen anywhere. >> reporter: the santa clara county sheriff's dive team recovered the body of 23-year-old chuchu ma, the same day her boyfriend filed a missing persons report with mountain view police. it's unclear how ma's body ended up in the water. list are trying to determine if foul play was involved. >> so far we don't know if anyboy pns witnessed it or not or what occurred. when we do an investigation like this, we look at all possibilities. >> reporter: police are waiting for the medical examiner to determine a cause of death. ma worked as a software engineer at google for the past year and a half. prior to that, she was at the university of texas at austin where she received her degree. google released a statement saying, "chuchu was an excellent software engineer in our developer product team. we are devastated to learn of her passing and our deepest

condolences are with her family and friends." >> we're talking to family, we're talking to friends. we're talking to acquaintances. we're trying to get a picture of what was occurring up to that point and beforehand. >> reporter: ma's death remains a mystery for now. the coroner's office says result from the autopsy and toxicology reports could take several weeks. in sunnyvale, abc 7 news. 41-year-old bin luk was found guilty of five counts of murder today in a brutal crime that stunned san francisco. five family members were found beaten to death with a hammer in their ingleside home in 2012. prosecutors say luke killed the family during a robbery after losing money at a casino that night. he was a family friend and prosecutors say he came into some money after the murders. luke's lawyer admits his client was at the house but says there's no proof he's the killer. >> there were four fingerprints that were located in the house that did not match either mr.

luke or any of the decedents and some of the points we raised, whose fingerprints are those? >> we know unquestionably that the defendant committed murder, that he was there. the jury was presented with evidence to find him guilty of that and they did. >> luke was in the country illegally at the time of the murders. his attorney is examining the trial record for grounds to appeal. the district attorney says no charges will be filed against a san francisco sergeant who shot and killed a man two years ago. 27-year-old benetez died at 8th and market streets. police say he managed to grab a gun belonging to another sergeant. the two were struggi ingling ove weapon. the sergeant was looking down the barrel of his own gun and yelling to his partner, he's got my gun, shoot him. that d.a. says the partner had no choice but to kill benetez. today is day three of the preliminary hearing in the criminal ghostship trial. founder derek almena and

associate max harris face 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony is live at the speak your court oakland with the latest. >> reporter: we heard emotional testimony from the ghostship survivor who called the warehouse beautiful, another man, a visitor, called it a death trap. earlier today we heard from a young man who signed the original lease but had a much different vision than derek almena. >> we're showing that at that point there wasn't genuine concern. >> reporter: the attorney for ghost ship founder derek almena says there were many people who knew the warehouse wasn't up to health and safety codes. yet not one of them reported it to oakland city officials. >> reported it, hey, look, there's a bunch of people in there, plan to be in there, they don't have any license, don't have any permits, there's been no inspections. none of them did that. >> reporter: nicholas testified he co-signed the original 2013 lease for the empty warehouse

but almost immediately trying to get his name after it after it became clear he had no intention of getting proper permits or following building codes. in creating the live/work space that became the ghostship. >> if they had such a strong concern there, why didn't they express those concerns then, why didn't they contact the proper authorities then? >> reporter: describe as a father figure and, quote, extremely emotionally manipulative. quote, i want every aspect of derek being in my life to be many my rear view mirror. mother, kathleen, described a meter in november 2013 when she met with almena and others wanting to turn it into an artists collective. she explained how the building could be renovated to comply with oakland city codes. quote, he laughed at me and said that's not how he goes about things, it was way too

conventional. 36 people died when a fire swept through the crowded warehouse during a music event. in oakland, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> looks like two artist spaces that the shut down after the ghostship fire will re-open soon. media partners at the "bay area times" report a space in richmond known as burnt ramen hopes to re-open in january. bridge storage also in richmond is planning an open house on wednesday factexactly one year r it shut down. owners of both operations say their spaces will be better than ever thanks to an outpouring of help from the community. president trump says today's bomb blast in manhattan highlights a need for an immigration overhaul. surveillance cameras captured the blast inside the port authority bus terminal near times square during the morning rush. the suspect, 27-year-old akayed ullah injured himself and three others when he set off a homemade pipe bomb. the bomb was fashioned from a pipe, a battery and christmas

tree lights. according to reports, ullah pledged his allegiance to isis. ullah came to the u.s. from bangladesh in 2011 and lives with his parents in brooklyn. terror incidents like this one immediately raise questions about safety measures at transit agencies in the bay area. abc 7 news reporter mill melanie woodrow has more. >> reporter: bomb-sniffing canines are patrolling b.a.r.t. stations around the bay area today following an attempted terrorist attack in new york city. >> this could happen to us. >> reporter: b.a.r.t. police deputy chief edgar alvarez says there are eight to ten k-9s trained to detect residue that could be used in explosive do devices. >> never enough. >> reporter: 30 minutes of sniffing for a dog is equivalent of a human running a marathon. special assignment personnel are also deployed throughout the b.a.r.t. system today in addition to a critical asset patrol team. >> looking for suspicious packages. suspicious people. >> reporter: still some riders say they have not seen officers.

>> if you look around, you don't really see a lot of police presence. >> offur officers are actively patrolling. >> reporter: b.a.r.t. police also encourage riders to say something if they see something. >> nobody's safe from that, of course. you can't, like, let that rule the day. >> reporter: officials say they have not received any credible threats in h the wake of this morning's incident in new york city. in oakland, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. 21 teenagers and young adults are in san francisco challenging the u.s. government over climate change. if successful, this case could force the government to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but as abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez explains, the administration is fighting hard to stop them. >> reporter: supporters cheered for 18 of the 21 young plaintiffs following today's hearing before the 9th circuit court of appeals. the main argument is and has always been that the u.s.

government has failed to protect them from climate change. >> young people are doing this because we love our world and we do everything that we can to protect it. >> reporter: julia olson is their attorney. >> so this is many administrations building of fossil fuel energy system they knew would be catastrophic for the future. >> reporter: kelsey juliana, now 21 years old, is one of the plaintiffs in the juliana versus the united states, a lawsuit filed in 2015 that was supposed to be heard by the u.s. district court in oregon. but in 2016, that court was asked by the government to dismiss the case. the court refused. the trump administration then quickly appealed to the 9th circuit. >> good morning, your honors, eric grant, u.s. department of justice. >> reporter: today, both sides were heard by the three-judge panel. the hearing was streamed live. grant argued that congress and the executive branch should be left alone to address the issue of climate change. >> the subject of this petition is litigation that is

distracting the executive branch from the discharge of its constitutional duties. >> reporter: given its past history, it's unlikely the 9th circuit will favor the trump administration's request, instead, allowing the case to be played out in the u.s. district court in oregon. in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. the fire that just won't quit. the monster in ventura county shows no real signs of slowing down. we are there live as it burns into its second week. ac transit unveils a new prototype bus and they want you to give it a test ride for free. i'm meteorologist drew tuma. starting off the week on a mild note. while i'm tracking a cold night on the way, i'm also tracking our next chance for some showers. the timing ahead in the accuweather forecast. all right. paying for college without going broke. we do have some ideas for you. >> we

firefighters rescued a dog this morning during this fire in sunnyvale. the fire started at about 2:00 a.m. at the home on pyrus way. the family inside the house made it out safely. most of the damage is to the garage as you can see in this video. the firefighters say the family couldn't stay there today. no one was hurt. the cause of the fire is under investigation. and those fire crews battling the southern california wildfires are getting some help from the state national guard. and today we're getting a unique perspective from them. look at this video now posted by the california national guard. it says it has more than 1,600 members helping cal fire crews all across the state, desperately needed help, of course. providing logistic support such as traffic control as well as aircraft for the battle. the latest on that fire fight, this shows the thomas fire's movement a short time ago. it's the largest of the current fires and has become the fifth largest wildfire in california

histo history. rob hayes from our sister station in los angeles is live from the fire lines in santa barbara county tonight with an update. hi, rob. >> reporter: the sun is setting here in carpenteria. the fire continues to burn in the hills high above the high school. the smoke is rising vertically, that's a good siphon no windgn . this area on high alert. thousands of firefighters battling this braise. more than 6, 00 f400 firefighte assigned to this fire. yet it to tonights to grow. the fuel on the hillsides old and hungry for flames. >> it's extremely dry. some areas haven't burned since 193, oa 2, others, 1960, 1970. it's tough to get to. >> reporter: fire officials say the thomas fire gained another 56,000 acres yesterday. today, good news. the lack of wind has stopped feeding the flames and the gentle offshore breeze actually helped push the fire away from homes. still, carpenteria residents

were stunned to see the fire rip from santa paula this far west. >> we never thought, we never considered it getting here. never in our wildest minds, just the santa ana winds that come down. >> reporter: sergio garcia has lived in this foothill community for the past 24 years. when the thomas fire burned a path all the way here, he says tensions skyrocketed. >> how tense was it earlier in the week? >> from 1 to 10, a 10 plus. >> reporter: really? >> it was that bad. the smoke, the embers, the flames were 100 foot flames, even bigger. >> reporter: evacuation orders are still in effect for parts of carpenteria, santa barbara and montecito. fire officials not taking chances after communities had to be evacuated a second time over the weekend when the fire blew up. >> i know we allowed the residents to come back in on friday, but then when the santa ana winds blew early saturday morning, they were forced back out. so we don't want that to happen again. we're asking them, be patient, we'll get you back as soon as we

can. >> reporter: we are back here live. firefighters from 11 western states are now here trying to keep this fire in check. fire officials say this area has not seen significant rainfall, in more than 250 days. the lack of wind is helping right now in this fire fight. reporting live, rob hayes, abc 7 news. >> rob, thank you. the fires are impacting schools all around southern california including several college campuses. smoke from the thomas fire forced the university of california santa barbara to cancel finals this week. they've been rescheduled for january. the same fire forced the evacuation last week of thomas college, a small private liberal arts college in h santa paula. now these are photos from the college's website. students were allowed back in over the weekend to retrieve their belongings. but the campus will remain closed through the holidays. we all know college is not cheap, but there are ways to save money. 7 on your side's michael finney tells us more. >> reporter: mary lou dekay knew

she didn't want to end up deep in debt from college loans. that's why she started to apply for scholarships and her efforts worked out. she got enough funding to take her all the way through graduate school. >> i cried. i cried so hard. i was like this is everything i ever wanted. >> reporter: how likely is it you'll end up winning scholarship cash? fairly decent, actually. though less than 1% of students get scholarships that cover the entire cost of tuition and room and board, remember, every penny counts. almost half a family use scholarships for college. with scholarships and grants covering 35% of college costs. consumer reports says you should use these smart strategies to maximize your chances of getting scholarship money. first, look to your future school. colleges are one of the largest providers of grants and scholarships. >> you can increase your chances of getting merit aid by applying to schools where your test scores and grades are in the top 10% of the class.

that will help you stand out. >> reporter: next, be strategic about what you apply for. spend your time searching for scholarships that match your experience and interests. free websites like cappex, the collegeboard, fastweb! or scholarships.com let you fill out a profile to identify what's unique about you. then matches you with potential scholarships. go big and small, apply to both national and local scholarships. >> national scholarships offer more money, but you might be better off focusing on a local scholarship. it will be easier to snag one of those because you'll have less competition. >> reporter: and of course, it pays to start early. >> i started eighth grade, most people don't start eighth grade rrm o . >> reporter: one thing to keep in mind is the application deadline. keep a list of each scholarship, the requirements and the due date. many organizations offer a lot of money. a missed deadline is definitely a missed opportunity. i'm michael finney, 7 on your side. san francisco's lefty

bridge is closed for rehab. locked it in the upright position to start repairing aging steel parts. the work is expected to take 18 months and the bridge will be closed during some of that time. this first closure lasts until january 26th. the bridge is on third street. one of the main routes into china basin and mission bay. officials recommend using 4th of 7th streets instead. we have more detour information at abc7news.com. commuters who ride ac transit across the bay bridge are getting a chance to weigh in on the future. the agency unveiled a new state of the art trans-bay bus today. they say it features easier access for disabled riders, more comfortable seating and cleaner diesel technology. once on board, riders will notice a survey where they can give ac transit their feedback before the agency makes a final decision on purchasing the new models. >> we're asking riders to fill out a short survey on board,

tell us, soup to nuts, what do you like about the bus, what do you dislike about the bus? then we'll take that information back and make a decision as to whether this bus meets what our needs are. >> the marked pilot buses will be rolling across the bay bridge through the 29th of this month and best of all, if you do happen to catch one with this sign on the outside, the ride is free. now your accuweather forecast with drew tuma. >> and an accuweather today, wrapping up what was a mild monday. a lot of spots in the 60s. a few in the 70s. with clear skies tonight, we are in store for a chilly night. live doppler 7 along with satellite, we'd love to see some green on the screen, but tonight in what has been a very dry month, we are dry at least the next 12 to 24 hours. the picture outside, a live look from our east bay hills camera. the sun going down. we're actually live streaming this on our abc 7 facebook page. you want to share it with your friends and family. look at the horizon, see a little bit of the smoke in our atmosphere. that's going to hang with us

especially along the coast tomorrow. we have another issue with our air quality on tuesday. so another spare the air day has been called on tuesday. once again, the poorest air quality along our coast and in the north bay and this is still smoke coming from those fires burning in southern california. they're traveling several hundred miles up the coast. and affecting our air quality here. take a look at satellite in southern california especially. see those fires burning just to the north and to the west of los angeles. all of that smoke that is pouring off the coast, and with our current atmospheric setup, all that smoke that's coming from southern california, you can see it trailing right up the coastline. that's that kind of brownish color you see over the pacific ocean. we zoom in much closer into the bay area. see that smoke in our sky really heavy along the coast and spilling into our atmosphere. and that's going to stay the same the next 24 hours and that's why another spare the air day is in effect. during the winter, that means it's illegal to burn wood. today we were in the 60s and 70s in the afternoon. tonight, this evening, we're

falling back into the 50s and 60s. still at this hour, it's not too bad as you step outside. give it a few hours under those clear skies. we had the good radiational cooling setting up where the air can cool quickly under clear skies and light winds. 30s on the board away from the coast like napa, santa rosa, fairfield and antioch. 44 in oakland. 48 in san francisco. we'll fall to 40 in the south bay around san jose. the 12-hour planner, let's break down tuesday once again. jackets necessarily especially inland. the winter coat. we're starting out in the 30s. once the sun gets up, once again after the cold really a mild afternoon with 60s and low 70s for tuesday. highs for san jose, 70 degrees. 66 in san francisco. that's 9 degrees above where we should be for this time of the year. 65 in oakland. 65 in fairfield. and santa rosa up to about 68 degrees. december is one of our wettest months here in the bay area. by the 11th of december, areas should be anywhere from an inch to over an inch of rainfall, but take a look at where we are

month to date. we are barely picking up a couple hundredths of an inch of rain. now, the next seven days, the expected rainfall we're tracking a drop, but as future weather gets you into later next week, we could see a pattern changing. this is next wednesday, december 20th. the lunchtime hour. you do notice, this is our next best chance of showers moving into the region. mind you, it's still more than sefb day seven days away. we'll keep you updated. next week the pattern could change. the accuweather seven-day forecast. spare the air day in effect tomorrow. the pattern stays steady through friday, into the weekend. there's little change. so all eyes are on the middle part of next week that we could see our pattern finally change and get some showers. >> interesting. okay. thanks, drew. >> sure. the government targets a food review startup in the bay area. we'll explain why, next. and first comfort, now criticism. now at 6:00, the sudden dilemma

for people who want to show their support for pan 11-year-old bullying victim, keaton jones. (hard exhalation) honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort)

can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever, 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, tomorrow... ♪ when can we do this again, grandpa? well, how about tomorrow? ask your doctor about entresto and help make tomorrow possible.

california's forests are seeing a continued die-off of trees even a year after heavy rains ended our drought. the forest service today said 27 million trees died over the past 13 months. that brings the total number of trees that have died from drought and bark beatles to 129 million, if you can believe it. that's a record. the forest service says most of their budget is being spent on battling wildfires. there's just not enough left over to thin and remove these dead trees. the s.e.c. shut down plans by food review startup to raise money by selling digital tokens like bitcoins. the startup plan, what's known as an initial coin offering, munchie is based in san francisco. trying to raise $15 million to improve its app. the s.e.c. says that would have been similar to issuing

securities without properly registering with regulators. federal authorities have been ramping up scrutiny of initial coin offerings which function in a similar way to initial public offerings of stock. coin offerings often receive investments in the form of cryptocurrency like bitcoin. bitcoin was trading as well above $17,000 today. it is now dipping just a little below that. more than $50 billion worth of bitcoin futures has traded on the first day in financial markets. bitcoin futures opened yesterday at the chicago board options exchange. futures allow investors to essentially bet on whether something's price is going up or down. bay area-based visa is now the only major credit card company without plans to stop requiring customers to sign their rereceipts. american express said it will end the practice next april. mastercard and discover already did so. with a rise of online shopping and new technology, like chips and credit cards, signatures have actually become less necessary as safety precautions.

san francisco international airport is taking steps to reduce congestion for people picking up or maybe dropping off friends and family over the holidays. tomorrow through january 8th, short-term parking in both the domestic and international parking garages will be free for stays of 30 minutes or less. in addition, sfo will offer an express drop-off and pickup zone on the fifth floor of the domestic garage. trying to make it a little bit easier for holiday travel. >> a holiday gift, right? an amazing marathon moment. a high school runner helps someone with a race. >> but there's controversy over who

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it feels good to be back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm dion lim. coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00, the oakland city worker' strike is about to enter week two. where negotiations stand and the tough spot many strikers find themselves in right now. also it's the calm after the firestorm. one sign that north bay fire victims are taking the necessary

steps to begin putting the disaster behind them. and hanukkah is the festival of lights and a celebration of food, of course, as well. stay with us and check out the treats local experts call irresistib irresistible. coming up in half an hour on abc 7 news at 6:00. dan, kristen, back to you. >> see you then. those treats do look good. an amazing finish to this year's dallas marathon, one runner helped another runner who collapsed finish the race. >> the woman who collapsed was on her way to victory when she fell during the final half mile. another runner taking part in a separate relay race helped her cross the finish line in first place. >> there are questions as to whether she should be declared the winner after getting that help. organizers get together and after reviewing the race decided she deserves that award. >> they say she was so far ahead of the competition she would have won even without the other runners' help. >> that was really a touching gesture. very kind. "world news tonight with david muir" is coming up next.

i'm kristen sze. >> i'm dan ashley. for drew tonight, the attempted terror attack here in new york city. the subway bomb explosion that detonated right during rush hour, caught on surveillance. the bomb going off early than planned. abc news now learning officials say the suspect had been wearing it the whole time. as he changed trains. tonight, he's alive. how he built the bomb using christmas lights. president trump's accusers speak out. pressing congress to act. accused by at least 16 women, tonight some of them before the cameras. saying that as the country holds men accountable for sexual misconduct, they say the president should not be immune. tonight, how the white house responds. less than 24 hours now until voters go to the polls in the alabama senate race. roy moore tonight sitting down for an interview with a 12-year-old girl. the other republican senator from alabama saying he did not vote for moore.