go private after nearly eight years as a publicly traded company. the announcement was originally met with skepticism with many people wondering if it was actually legit. in unorthodox fashion, elon musk is proposing one of the biggest buyouts in u.s. history, three hours into the trading day he tweeted am considering taking tesla private at $420. funding secured. some wondered if it was a joke. at one point the confusion prompted regulators of the nasdaq stock market to suspend trading until musk released a memo clarifying his tweet. in it, he wrote this proposal to go private would ultimately be finalized through a vote of our shareholders. if the process ends the way i expect it will, a private tesla would ultimately be an enormous opportunity for all of us. he wants the company to operate at its best free from as much distraction and short-term

thinking as possible. dr. fred perez at san jose state university says it makes sense. >> if you're a private company, you're not going to be scrutinized by the public or the analysts on a daily basis, or the weekly basis or monthly basis, or quarterly basis. >> however, experts say the buyout could lead to questions about whether or not tesla is truthful in the long run. the director of the corporations an society initiative at stanford university -- >> if he was comfortable answering all the questions and if people didn't have all these doubts about what's going on there and he can deliver what he said he would deliver, why would he need to do this exactly? >> reporter: keep in mind that elon musk currently owns about 20% of the company. those who currently own stock in the company would be given the option to retain the stock. through a special fund. now, at a cost of $420 per share that equates to roughly $70 billion. we're live in fremont this

evening, i'm chris nguyen, abc 7 news. the mendocino complex is now the largest fire incident in our state's history. >> here's a look at a map showing where the ranch and river fires are burning. the river fire has burned 48,000 acres, the ranch fire more than 240,000 acres. combined, that's more than 450 square miles. >> despite the size, some people have been allowed to return home. wayne freedman is live in ukiah with the latest. >> reporter: it is massive. so is the effort to fight this fire. behind me, some of the crews fighting this fire, there are 4,000 of them, these are the men on a break. yes, it is true, some people return to their homes today, but not nearly enough. in the mendocino complex fire zone there were three kinds of people, those who have lost homes and others who remain exiled due to mandatory evacuations. where you been? >> everywhere. waiting for lake county to open. >> reporter: and today those who finally received the all clear.

they include valerie green who manages the blue lakes village rv park. when you drove away where did you think you'd come back to? >> a burnt down park. >> reporter: such is the state of being in lake county, the burned land of smoke and money spent fighting what's become the largest single incident in california history, at least according to some. >> technically there are two separate fires. so as to whether it's the single largest fire in california history is up for debate. >> reporter: but the impact, clear and still present. 300,000 acres burned, 100 structures destroyed, 4,000 firefighters strained to the max. and a region transformed almost beyond recognition. >> this is clear, but not clear today, is it? >> reporter: it's not the same ghost town we saw last week. and up the road on highway 20, at least a blue lakes village rv park is no longer an inferno encircled by these flames. >> it was loud. i mean, it was roaring. and you could hear trees explode. pow, pow, pow.

>> reporter: today michael morgan returned with no damage worse than the bumper he bent while escaping. it's a small price he says compared with what he thought he would lose. >> grateful. i'm in a grateful place. we feel blessed. >> reporter: he is, but it's also still a smokey place. specifically, some of the areas that have opened, highway 20, west of upper lake, and south of pine avenue in potter valley, west of the mendocino lake county line. those that opened as of this morning, but this is a situation influx. cal fire is being very careful about readmitting people in their homes. live in mendocino county, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> there will be a spare the air alert tomorrow because of smog and wildfire smoke. let's turn now to our weather as we take a live look outside. you can see all that thick haze. let's get to spencer christian for more. as you can see, this live camera view from walnut creek, thick haze and smoke through the

air, in the air, all around the area, and across much of central california. as ama pointed out, we have a spare the air alert. some regions will have moderate air quality, but it will be poor in the inland east bay and in the santa clara valley. another look at how the air quality breaks down. in the bay area, the yellows and greens indicate good air quality. but red and orange indicate poor and unhealthful air quality. but again, tomorrow, here in the bay area we'll have fairly decent air quality despite the spare the air alert. you can see on the satellite image the accumulation of smoke in the atmosphere, all the way down through the central valley and over into the sierra. i'll give you a closer look in a few minutes. the ferguson fire reached a troubling milestone today, becoming the largest fire in the history of the sierra national forest. it has now burned more than 94,000 acres and it's just 43%

contained. >> natalie granda has the story. >> a the lo of fire activity in this area. >> reporter: it's a day by day fieg. the ferguson fire is spreading, it's even prompted historic closures of areas inside yosemite. park rangers still aren't sure when they'll be able to reopen areas of the national park to visitors. >> i've seen fires that have impacted the yosemite valley over the years, but i've never seen not only the level of smoke, but the sustained, poor air quality. >> firefighters are targeting their efforts on active fire near the yosemite west areas with steep terrain still posing a challenge. crews a trying to make sure the fire stays between wowona road and highway 120 in hopes of preventing flames from spreading further into the park. >> we can hold it here, this gives the firefighters a lot more time to be able to snag this. >> there's some improvement. on tuesday, highway 140 from mariposa reopened. highway 120 also opened, but roads into yosemite valley remain closed. they need to make sure the road

is free from fire as well as other hazards before they reopen. >> you've got trees that would fall and go across the road. so it's all safety issues. and so once we can get the fire activity subsided, and we feel that we can allow safe travels for vehicles on the road at that point we'll endeavor to open the yosemite valley. >> every day is a new challenge from thousands of firefighters. they're taking advantage of the moderate weather, conducting firing operations to gain control of the fire. based on where the fire is burning, yosemite fire officials say it's likely highway 41 into the park will be one of the last roads to reopen. abc 7 news. meantime, crews in southern california are battling a fast-moving brush fire burning out of control in the cleveland national forest. the holy fire broke out yesterday afternoon near the orange and riverside county line and quickly exploded to more than 4,000 acres, destroying at

least one cabin. it is just 2% contained. >> we have an order for 600 total person el. we're at 300 right now. we are so drawn down in the state that our resources will be coming from further and further. ordinarily if this was the only fire we'd have 600 people in here yesterday. >> mandatory evacuation orders are in place for trubuco and holy jim canyons. no homes are threatened in lake elsinore, which is the closest city to the fire. be sure to stay with abc 7 news as we continue tracking these wildfires. you can find the most up to date fire maps on our website, abc7news.com. the manhunt is still going for the person responsible for a deadly shooting monday morning on the bay bridge. the one man killed has been identified as 31-year-old

jr. two others hurt were a colleague and a camera man. his father first found out through social media and called the medical examiner's office to see if it was true. >> he say, yeah, i can say his height, gave me some stuff, markings on his body. and i knew right then that was my son. >> he leaves behind two boys, including a newborn. investigators do have a description of the vehicle where the gunshots came from. a local family, meantime, is demanding answers following the death of this 26-year-old woman. >> jess is a st. louis was found outside a bart station dying from a drug overdose hours after she was released from santa rita jail. >> her family is placing blame on the jail. abc 7 news reporter vic lee is live to explain why. vic? >> reporter: well, this protest rally just ended a little while ago here at the alameda county admin building.

which is where the board of supervisors has its officers. the family and the protesters say that jessica was a vulnerable young woman who never should have been released late at night. >> why did they send her on her way? >> reporter: those at the rally say her early release was a death sentence. jessica is with a young women's freedom center. >> we are demanding that this practice of releasing people in the middle of the night with no support, with no resources, with no transportation, is a harmful practice. >> reporter: 1:25 early saturday morning, july 28th, the 28-year-old woman walked out the doors of santa rita jail. she'd spent almost two weeks here for grand theft and several minor crimes. st. louis walked more than a mile down this road to the dublin pleasanton bard station. her body was found around 5:30 a.m., dead from a drug overdose.

her family issued a statement which reads in part there is no reason why jessica should have been released in the middle of the night, alone and without any supportive services. st. louis's foster mother was at the rally. she said her daughter had no cell phone. >> well, i'm sorry, jessica did not have a cell phone because had she had a cell phone at 1:30 a.m. in the morning she would have called her parents. >> santa rita jail is a revolving door with prisoners coming in and out. the jail books about 100 people a day. the sheriff's office says st. louis's death was an isolated case, and that stopping releases for part of the day would be against the law. >> if we shut down release operations for continuous periods of time, we would be holding people over incarceration times. and then we would get sued because it would be illegal detentions of people. >> reporter: well, abc 7 news has learned tonight that east

bay state senator nancy skinner is considering proposing legislation that would stop the late-night releases at santa rita jail. vic lee, abc 7 news. still ahead on abc 7 news, did weed killer give a bay area man cancer? that's the question a jury will now decide. fixing the long wait times at the dmv, the step the agency is taking in an effort to try to help you out a bit. virtual opportunities with amazon, the wor

the ads are everywhere back at taco bell. with mexican spices and warm nacho cheese sauce. one things for sure. the future is nacho fries! nacho fries are back. [bong!] now serving at taco bell. the case against weed killer manufacturer monsanto is now in the hands of a jury. they're alleging it caused cancer. >> this trial is the first of thousands of similar lawsuits. abc 7 news reporter melanie woodrow followed today's closing arguments. she's live outside san francisco superior court on mccallster

street tonight. >> reporter: those closing arguments just wrapped up, both sides thanking this jury for being so focused over the last month, listening to countless hours of scientific testimony. this attorney is telling jurors they have the chance to change the world, with a decision that would hold monsanto accountable. >> every single cancer risk that's been found had this moment. >> in 2012 plaintiff duane lee johnson worked as the integrated pest manager, a large part of his job spraying round up weed killer. after 2 1/2 years of spraying the pesticide 30 times a year, he was diagnosed with non-hodge kins liymphoma. they questioned the epa's assessment. >> this is a person in the epa, a person looking out for our health, bragging to a monsanto employee that he's going to kill

something, another person's investigation of it. >> reporter: monsanto's attorney cited 40 years of scientific evidence. >> it's that this cancer was not caused by ranger pro. >> reporter: lombardi said human studies were the most compelling. they conclude, not just that nho is not caused, not associated with -- but that mr. johnson's type of cancer is not associated with -- they're seeking $39 million in damages, and $370 million in punitive damages. >> do you want monsanto to be punished. if it requires one big case, to put a warning on the label, then absolutely. >> reporter: the jury will receive some final instructions tomorrow morning, and then deliberations are set to begin.

live in san francisco, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. okay, melanie, thanks a lot. hearings are under way over long lines at dmv offices all across california. lawmakers and the dmv agree that wait times are just unacceptable. customers have experienced longer than expected service times because of increased demand for real id driver's licenses. the dmv today said it will redirect 240 employees from its headquarters and other state agencies to help with the surge. it's a huge number of people trying to get those licenses done. well, if you've ever received a confusing medical bill in the mail, you're definitely not alone. >> no. a "7 on your side's" michael finney is here to help you understand. they are confusing. >> just what you need. you go to the hospital, get a medical procedure and you get a pile of confusing bills. especially if those bills contain unexpected charges, or incorrect fees. now, these are common, and sometimes complicated problems

that can take years to resolve. >> when bill linden's wife katie was rushed into an emergency c-section, he was only thinking about one thing. >> it's a life or death situation, baby has to come out now, period, end of story. >> he was not thinking about the anesthesiologist that was brought in or who insurance would pay for the doctor. >> i was not really think about paperwork at that point in time. >> but soon paperwork was all he'd be thinking about. bills started arriving saying he owed roughly $2,500. many phone calls later he found that it came down to a network classification. the anesthesiologist was being considered out of network, even though the hospital was in network. now, that sounds simple enough to correct. but linden says it took 14 months to determine they didn't owe the money. >> it was a lot. it was a lot. >> penelope wong of consumer reports says this is hardly

uncommon. >> there's a very good chance that your billing problem will drag on for weeks, months or even years. >> a consumer reports survey recently found two out of three people who had a major health expense in the past two years had an issue with their bill. more than a third said they paid bills they were not even sure they owed. >> they felt it was too much trouble or effort to fight. >> so what can you do to ease the pain? linden ultimately worked with a nonprofit patient advocacy group which laid out the steps he should take. >> this is the documentation you need to get. this is who you chase down. send things certified mail. >> you can also hire a medical billing advocate for a fee. if the unexpected charge is one you actually owe, wong suggests trying to negotiate with your provider. >> they may offer you a payment plan, or if you agree to pay in cash, right away, they may discount the amount. >> another tip, if possible, know exactly what's covered before you go in for a procedure. that can help avoid surprises

later. also, if you're asked to sign a document that says you accept financial responsibility, write in that you agree to pay for services as long as they're in network. that might not work. there are no guarantees, but it may help if you need to dispute a charge later on. >> i've dealt with those many a time. you need to be a cpa to figure out what's going on. now your accuweather forecast with spencer christian. the haze is building, but we still have mainly sunny skies over the inland areas and the bay. fog is building at the coastline. here's a look at live doppler 7, which tells the story. let me give you a look at our current ground wind speeds, pretty impressive right now, 20 miles per hour here in san francisco, 23 miles per hour over in fairfield, and all around the bay, it's pretty breezy, this is a pattern we've had for several weeks now. this is a pattern we're familiar with. seeing low clouds and fog pushing out over the city of san francisco. this is a view from sutro tower. currently 58 degrees at san francisco, 64 in oakland,

mountain view, 84 at morgan hill. 57 at half moon bay. this is the hazy view looking westward. 71 degrees in santa rosa. napa 72. novato 79. 88 at concord. 85 at livermore. from our roof top camera at abc 7, the sky looks bluer. these are our forecast features, fog continues to roll in tonight. we'll have a warmer pattern the next three days. the heat will taper off gradually as the weekend approaches. this is our forecast animation starting at 11:00 tonight. at that point we'll see a little fog having pushed out over the bay already and it will push farther out towards the inland areas by 5:00 a.m., the beginning of our morning commute. there may be slightly reduced visibility in some areas. the fog will quickly pull back to the coastline by midday tomorrow. afternoon hours, mainly sunny skies over the bay and inland with, of course, some lingering haze because of the smoke from those wildfires. overnight lows will be mainly in the mid-50s around the bay,

upper 50s to low 60s in the inland east bay. north bay valleys, cooler with lows in the low 50s there, and then highs tomorrow under breezy conditions once again, we'll range from mid-60s at the coast to mainly mid and upper 60s around the bay shoreline. inland east bay will see highs in the mid-90s in the south bay, mid-80s to mid-90s, 94 at morgan hill. north bay, a mixed bag, 85 an san rafael. 100 at clear lake. 101 at yukiah. on thursday, temperatures rising a bit more. inland, east bay, antioch will be at almost 100 degrees. there are friday, just about -- still above average, but still pretty warm inland. highs in the mid to upper 90s. we'll see a gradual cooldown beginning on saturday. here's the accuweather seven-day forecast, warmest day in the forecast period will be thursday, across the board that

is, with hot conditions inland, up near 100 degrees in the warmest spots there. it does hold on inland on friday, but it starts to cool down other locations, and cooling in all areas over the weekend with temperatures returning closer to an average range, still a little bit above average, but not exactly high. >> mild to warm. well take that. i guess we have to. >> i think so. thanks, reggie. coming up, the popular activity that could soon become our state's official sport. that story is next. then at 5:30 on world news. the courtroom showdown in a trial of paul manafort, rick gates secret life revealed. dangerous heat and the smoke. and an fbi agent has been shot. word on his condition. next. >> david, thank you, see you then. at 6:00, an east bay claims her online bill pay system drained her account in the blink of an eye. "7 on your side's" michael finney helped her out of th

amazon is looking for 200 people to fill work. >> the positions are in different fields, customer service, sales and human resources. >> that's right. while work from home means you don't necessarily have to go into the office, the company says opportunities are not available everywhere. at last check there were nine postings for california. you can find out more on our website. visit abc7news.com. and search amazon if you want to work at home. local macy's stores are looking to fill full and part-time positions ahead of the busy back to school position. the company is hosting hiring events at more than a dozen locations thursday. san francisco, walnut creek, san jose and san rafael. california has an official state flower, tree and a reptile. soon it could also have an official sport. the assembly just passed a measure that would make it official, two southern

california lawmakers are behind the bill. they say surfing is an iconic part of california culture. the bill heads to governor brown's office for a final vote. it certainly represents part of the california lifestyle. >> absolutely. a disney character you've loved for decades is celebrating birthday. >> yes, mickey mouse is turning 90, looks great. >> superior accuracy in the palm of your hand, the new accuweather app from abc 7 news, minute by minute forecasts, plus realtime radar and alerts keeping you safe.

coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00, the incredible size of california's wildfires, tonight, the two factors climate scientists say are making our fires bigger and more devastating every year. also, a bay area man's legal fight against the makers of roundup. he claims the weed killer gave him cancer. we'll have closing arguments,

and what could be a precedent setting case. plus -- ♪ >> it's the soft irside of crime fighting. show you how local agencies are using social media to improve allegations. finally, tonight, mickey mouse is turning 90 years old this year, and disney is going all out for his birthday. >> they're putting together a two-hour primetime special in november. it includes short films never seen before. >> there will be performers at the event in los angeles. the list will be released at a later date. mickey ahead his film debut i i steam boat willie. thank you for joining us tonight. world news tonight with david muir is next. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. for spencer christian, michael

finney, all of us, we appreciate your time. see you in half an hour. tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the courtroom showdown in the trial of paul manafort. robert mueller's star witness, rick gates, on the stand again. already asked, did he commit crimes with paul manafort? his answer, yes. well, tonight, manafort's attorneys now taking aim at rick gates' secret life. the massive disruption tonight involving flights on both coasts because of the dangerous heat and the smoke. and word from authorities today in california, the largest wildfire in state history now. the police officer responding to calls for help near an amusement park in the northeast, but what happened after he got there? tonight, that officer now charged with manslaughter. there is also word coming in tonight, an fbi agent has been shot. we have word on his condition. a major test tonight for president trump.