landmark verdict in a case about a product you probably have in your garageig w. good nk jni hpening t we're go abc 7 melaniecisco with the hug verdict against monsanto. melanie >> reporter: yeah, dan, you just mentioned the punitive damages. well, when you take into account the entire verdict, we are talking about $289 million awarded to dewayne lee johnson. they didn't expect him to make it to this day. they said he was on borrowed time. now he will be able to afford cutting-edge cancer treatments. the jury deliberated for two and a half days after two months of trial proceedings. mr. johnson maintained his composure as the verdict was read. his attorney put his arm around him. they found that weed killer

roundup and ranger pro were substantial factors in causing harm to him. johnson worked for the school district in 2012 as the pest manager and a large part of his job was to spray the products in bulk 30 times a year. two and a half years into that job, he was diagnosed with nonhodgkin's lymphoma. this is the first of thousands of cases just like it against mondsant monsanto. >> i think it is exactly like it. >> no, it is not a fair analysis at all.

it does not cause cancer. it's been perfect live safe and dem stpraeutd for more thonstra decades. i don't know how they got it wrong, but they did. >> dewayne johnson is a father and husband. attorneys saying he was not expected to make it to this day, that he is on borrowed time. monsanto's vice president, that you just heard from, is said they will absolutely appeal this verdict. they've also said that they have no plans to settle those future cases, thousands of them. rather, they plan to better educate the public, according to monsan monsanto's vice president, about the safety of these products. a press conference is about to happen in just 30 minutes with dewayne johnson's attorneys. we suspect we may hear from him. we'll have the very latest new at 6:00. >> remarkable. melanie, thank you. the other big breaking story from today we are following

closely, it now looks like the suspects in the deadly "ghost ship" fire could have to stand trial after all. carlos is live in oakland with the stunning decision by the judge to reject the plea deal. carlos? >> reporter: yeah. this was a complete surprise to everyone inside that courtroom. the judge rejecting the plea deal that both sides had worked for months now. now, the judge of course saying this was not an easy decision for him, that he had wrestled with the facts of this case all week long. even as we mentioned yesterday, shedding some tears. >> what was supposed to be a sentencing outcome for a defendant derrick al mena and max harris was not so. families happy with the judge's decision to reject the plea deal after taking their comments and the defendant's into consideration. the judge kramer heard from al mena and harris as they expressed sorrow over what happened december 2nd, 2016, speaking face-to-face with victims's families. 36 lives lost in that massive

blaze. victims thought harris expressed a lot of remorse but did not think al men that accepted full responsibility for his role in the events that led to the inferno. >> definitely al mena is not remorseful. >> reporter: and the judge agreed. he was okay with the plea agreement for harris but not al mena. since this was a package deal, he had to accept for both or neither. >> you see the victims's families, very adadamant. and i empathize with their perspective even though i think it is a little bit irrational. but they want 36 years >> reporter: yeah. victims's families were told not to speak but their reaction was clear. >> are you satisfied? >> yes. >> reporter: what happens next is still unclear. they can go to trial or resubmit

a new plea deal. we'll know more next week when they meet back here friday. now, if it does go to trial, that is expected to start sometime next year. live in oak land, carlos al say dough, abc 7 news. we want to talk more about the judge's decision in this case. we are joined by professor rory we are joined by professor rory little from uc hastings. thank you for joining us is. how unusual is it for a judge to set aside a plea deal of this nature? >> well, it's unusual but it's not unheard of. and judges do this on occasion, particularly in cases where there are victims who are unhappy with the prosecutor's bargain. he had to reject both deems. he couldn't just take one and leave the other. >> the "ghost ship" fire claimed 36 lives, we remind you, fathers, daughters, artists and friends. you can read stories about each victim on abc7news.com. breaking news. sky 7 is over the keep of a brushfire in san jose that was threat epping homes near meridian avenue and 280.

firefighters announced they are getting this under control. hraoeupt rail service is shut down for the moment in that area. there is a bridge between vta tpao fruit dale and san fernando. but crews are getting a handle on this. that is good news another big story today. two people, including a chp motorcycle officer, are dead following a crash in fairfield. >> it happened on interstate 80 in the westbound direction just after 9:00 this morning. we're told the officer was making a traffic stop when he was struck by a pickup truck. >> we have team coverage of the story. we are look at how the investigation is still impacting traffic. >> we start with eric thomas with what we've learned about the crash and the officer who was killed. eric? >> reporter: dan, we can tell you that officer here at the solano county chp wearing black bands over their badges already and the flag here is flying at half-staff in honor of officer

kirk griess, who was killed this morning doing what he did every workday, his job. a solemn procession of police motorcycles led the van carrying the body of the chp officer from the hospital to the coroner's office. kirk griess, a former marine, spent 19 years with the highway patrol, 16 working out of the fairfield office. >> today is a tough day. it's a tough day for the california highway patrol >> reporter: this morning dispatchers began getting frantic calls from motorists about an accident on the interstate 80. >> west bound 80 is a motorcycle involved, possibly a chp motor officer that was hit by a vehicle while he was on a traffic stop. >> reporter: indeed, he had pulled over the driver of a saturn. only moments later, disaster. >> for unknown reasons, the driver of a three quarter ton pickup left the main portion of the real estate, traveled onto the shoulder, and struck officer

griess. >> reporter: griess wasn't breathing and he and the driver were both rushed to north bay medical center, where both were pronounced dead. law enforcement rushed in to give condolences to grieving officers and family. >> he was the ultimate public servant. he loved what he did. he loved being a chp officer. he loved being a chp motorcycle officer. and he's going to be dearly missed. >> reporter: the driver of the saturn is described as a 49-year-old vallejo man. he was also killed in the crash. officers say the driver of the pickup truck is being talked with and has been cooperative at this point. officer g pr iess we're told was active in the community, active in schools. he leaves behind a wife and three children, two girls and a boy. live in fairfield, eric thomas,

abc 7 news. >> terrible. okay. eric, thanks very much. >> of course the crash affected traffic. this is what it looked like earlier today. i-80 is the main freeway between fairfield and the bay area. >> and with all the events going on today, it could be a long drive for some. we are live with that part of the story. cornell >> reporter: dan, we have breaking news we need to talk about. a huge grass fire has erupted just in the last 20 minutes. this is happening off of interstate 80 here just outside the fairfield city limits. this is the east side of the i-80 freeway. not far fromry glen road. we have been seeing big flames. lots of black smoke in the area. we have also seen lots of fire trucks making their way to the scene, which appears to be burning in mostly open space. but there are homes not far from here.

we are waiting to see whether any air tankers will show up to douse some of the flames, which continue to burn especially here off to the right. now, this is all happening just across the freeway from where this deadly chp accident has been under investigation all day. we're told just in the last five minutes all lanes of west bound 80 have just reopened after being shut down for really most of the day for the investigation. we do have sky 7 video of what the scene looked like. there was epic traffic backups most of the day, traffic stretching back as far as towns of dixon, davis. that's about 25 miles from where we are just outside of sacramento. we talked to a few motorists just a few moments ago. one man said he was stuck in the backup for hours. his car overheated. another person was traveling from eldorado hills to vallejo.

it took them four hours. certainly lots of traffic implications from what we saw today. now we are talking about this fire which continues to burn here just outside the city limits of fairfield. black smoke, lots of flames being seen from here. cornell bernard, abc 7 news. of course we're keeping tax on all of this. we have posted this image to our facebook beige. you will find the tribute for officer kirk griess. >> not far from the keep, crews quickly knocked down this small grass fire off westbound i-80 near red top road. it happened 3:45 today. the red top road on-ramp was closed for a short time. no one was hurt. as you see, they made fairly quick work of it. devastating wildfires all over the state. crews are making headway on the massive mendocino complex. te ranch fire burned over 250,000 acres and containment is

now at 53%. the river fire seems to be holding steady at nearly 49,000 acres. containment is now at 90%. there are still several evacuation orders in effect. you can find them on abc7news.com. cal fire expects to have the fires fully caped by september 1st. so several more weeks to go. it has been a constant problem lead to go spare the air days. it was a little better out there today. this is a view from our camera in the east bay hills looking out over the bay. >> abc 7 news meteorologist sandy patel is here. >> yeah. let's take a look at the smoke from the firings lingering. it is not surprising that you see views like this from our cameras. haze and heat. air quality today, good to moderate. so it is starting to improve. it will get better tomorrow.

you will notice good air quality across the entire bay area as the wind is going to get stronger coming off the ocean, blowing that smoke away. i'll be back with a complete look at the weekend forecast coming up. good news for anyone hoping to visit yosemite next week. yosemite valley will reopen as firefighters start to gain control of the wildfire there. ferguson fire has burned nearly 100,000 acres. it is now 80% contained. the grove of kwraoeupbt sa kwoeu yas will reopen. you can enter the park by highway 140. it is now open again. the national park closed july 25th because of the fire >> take a look at this view from yosemite or lack thereof as the case may be. rereported web cameras from the conserve's. half dome and el capitan. the heavy smoke from the ferguson fire is one of the reasons visitors have not been

allowed into the park. >> the big wildfire in the red redding area. the fire scorched 180,000 acres, destroying homes as well. cal fire is worried because there is a red flag warning for the fire zone until 11:00 p.m. tomorrow. firefighters have launched an all-out assault on the holy fire, which is burning in orange and riverside counties. it's charred 18,000 acres and is threat epping thousands of homes. containment is at 5%. today's rainment for the man accused of setting the fire was postponed >> scandal at a south bay high school. serious allegations and a lawsuit just filed today. it's finally here. we're going to take you inside the transit center as it is about to open >> and outside lands is open. and there is a little twist this year. find out what grasslands is

sexual abuse lawsuit against san jose's presentation high school and its principal today. the lawsuit alleges the school's principal covered up sexual abuse between a teacher and student at an all-girls high school in 2003 and 2004. the teacher, jeffrey hicks, continued to teach at the school for a year before leaving and finding employment at another school where he was later found guilty of sexual abuse. the plaintiff's attorney said there's several more conduct like this. >> they must report. it is not at discretion. they must report. >> the school said as educators and fierce advocates of women's rights, presentation takes any allegation of abuse extremely seriously. events are celebrating this

weekend's opening of the sayles force transit center in san francisco. it will become a worldwide destination. >> this represents san francisco at our best. it reflects our commitment to innovation, to transportation, environmental sustainability, and community development. it also shows what we can accomplish when we work collaboratively together. >> the transit center opens with a bloc party tomorrow with the first buses rollin through on sunday. well, the in flux has begun in san francisco's gold especially gate park as outside lands takes up residence this weekend. >> if you've tpwpb and it's been more than about music, this year they have added elements no one could have imagined a few years ago. >> that's so true. wayne has been there all day. take a look at what he found >> reporter: let's begin our foray out of the polo grounds with a history lesson. why is it called outside lands?

>> i don't really know. >> reporter: have you ever heard about the treaty of it gave it to san francisco which created golden gate park nope as outside lands. who could have imagined this back then. ♪ where did you come from? >> houston. >> did they have anything like this in houston? >> no. >> what are you going to tell houston about what you're seeing here? >> come here. it's amazing. >> for the record, she was not talking outside lands the park as much as grasslands within the park. that is grass as in cannabis. and the exhibition for someone from just about anywhere else. >> they can get started with a product format that is not intimidating. >> you're in a good mood today. >> i am. >> did you have some? >> not yet. >> there is none sold for

consumption but there are other options. with no complaints. is this your first rock concert? >> hardly. i used to come here when it was free. >> and the weather looks fantastic for the upcoming weekend. for outside lands, saturday or sunday, 61 degrees in the morning. partly cloudy. 52. it is going to get cooler and breezier on sunday. 58 degrees. but you have to expect silt at golden gate park this time of year. so definitely pack an extra layer. a look at live doppler 7. the fog has peeled away from participants of the coast, not the entire area. winds certainly picking up. right now gusting northwest to 25 miles per hour in san francisco. and wind is a concern. check out the red flag warning that remains in effect for lake county and the surrounding areas until 11:00 p.m. tomorrow. gusty winds, along with low

humidity, will pose challenges for the firefighters, unform. pier 39, some people really enjoying the weather here. and the sea lions, as you can see. in the 70s from oakland the mountain view. 8, san jose. by the way, the temperatures managed to get up into the upper 90s today. beautiful day in santa cruz. people are enjoying it. 90, santa rosa. 96, fairfield. 97 in concord. and 94 in livermore. you want cooler weather? it's coming. i want to show you the temperature trend for concord. 93 tomorrow afternoon. but notice the 80s. will then we'll bump it back up end of next week to the 90s again. here's a live picture right now from our east bay hills camera. not just fog and high clouds but layers of smoke there. fog expands during the overnight hours. cooler this weekend with better air quality. hour by hour we go. you'll notice the fog starts to push over the bay. high clouds come in tomorrow morning. we'll continue to see. clouds in

the afternoon hours just filtering the sun at times. it might be a little humid this weekend. keep that in mind as we see leftover tropical moisture from a former tropical storm. morning, low 50s to mid-6 0s. fog at the coast and parts of the bay. tomorrow afternoon in the south bay it is going to be a little bit cooler than today. 94 in san jose. 92, morgan hill. a mix of sun and high clouds in san jose. 6 is in half moon bay. breezy, foggy, daly city. downtown san francisco, 65. a mix of sun and clouds in the north bay. still a little bit hazy because of the clouds. 88 napa. 73 in oak land. up to 76 in castro valley. head inland and it will still be warm but not as hot as today. 92 in livermore, con sord. your seven-day forecast, a little bit cooler this weekend. low 90s inland. upper 50s near the coast. about where you should be this

time of year. slightly more humid between sunday and monday as we do see a little more moisture coming in. mid-50s to upper 80s. temperatures do go down through the middle of the week. you get the break from the heat which of course we need around this time of year since we talk about fire danger. and then as we head towards the end of the workweek, we start to cee lo to mid-90s again for those of you who love the heat. down load the app and check out the temperatures any time you want. but it's a win-win for the the waoebg weekend. >> definitely good weather, sandy. >> it's friday. you know what that means. >> i'm michael finney. cupcakes and museum tickets. that's coming up. and new at 6:00, abc 7 cheryl jennings takes you to a special camp where having a health condition is something that brings kids together instead (sound of footsteps) (sound of car door opening) (car door closes)

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it's friday at abc 7 which means only one thing. friday free stuff. >> he is super coming through today. >> check this out. here's the deal. normally you would think we were going to give you one free membership cher cupcakes. no. we're giving you six of them. you have to take a look at this. susie cakes has just opened its second and newest sf location, 50 fremont street. that would be in the financial district. you can check them out. they're all over the bay area. you have to literally go in and get them yourself. they made this for us today. this is remarkable. we're not giving this away. you've got to see the top of this. >> i want to tilt it. >> take a look at that. absolutely amazing. all hand dup. >> san francisco oakland, san jose on the bottom. >> we should put that on tv. oh, we are.

>> isn't that cool? >> susie cakes. get in on this. they do a lot for the season and that kind of stuff too. now, we have pacific grove museum of natural history. pacific grove museum of natural history has been around for 135 years i think it is. yeah. 1883 it opened. one of the very first natural museums to open in the united states. you'll get a free ticket. $9 value. probably worth two or three times that much. that's what it takes. why pay for that when you can go for free. >> absolutely. what do we need to do? >> this is easy. glad you asked. go to abc7news.com and we'll hook you up with the museum of natural history and susie cakes. >> i hope you brought a knife. >> who needs a knife, dan. >> all right. stay with us. we'll have an update on the fire burning in

>> back to breaking news. live pictures from above a grass fire that's next to interstate 80 at cherry glen road. >> this is the fire cornell bernard showed you earlier. it is now burning dangerously close to homes, as you can see. we have been watching police officers evacuate this neighborhood. interstate 80 is still open. >> that's right. we will bring you updates as they become available on air and online at abc7news.com. >> we will update sat 6:00. breaking developments in the monsanto jury verdict as well. plaintiff dewayne johnson is set to address reporters. we will bring you that. also -- >> the climate just got very, very bad. we're following up on the story abc 7 news broke yesterday. lewd and inappropriate conduct within the state lottery, including what lottery officials are now saying about those claims all coming up on abc 7

news at 6:00. >> world news tonight with david muir is next. tonight, as we come on the air, the explosive allegations. the white house hits back at one of its most outspoken former advisers, omarosa. she is now claiming she has heard a recording of the president using the "n" word. the white house calling her disgruntled, blasting her new book as riddled with lies. state of emergency. destruction mounting from the massive holy fire. >> backyard's on fire! >> the arson suspect blamed for the inferno. his bizarre behavior in court today. the highway shootout. newly released video. the suspect fighting with two troopers, a taser having no effect. the suspect breaking loose, then grabbing his weapon. plus, the road rage brawl

bringing new york city traffic to a halt. a cab driver allegedly ramming a