scandal code named operation varsi varsity blues. this sacramento man master mind the largest scam. >> through the use of bribes and fake academic and athletic credentials. >> 50 people including a dozen in the bay area charged. >> take the exam for their child or correct their child's answers afterwards. >> and the parents paid big bucks i am dan ashley. >> and i am kristen sze. >> 13 of the 33 parents charged in the scheme live in the bay area. some paid half a million dollars and in one case nearly a million. >> one of the nine college

coaches accused of accepting bribes is john vandemoer. the university fired him today. >> vic lee is live at stanford tonight with the store. >> reporter: john vandemoer is a nationally recognized coach. we are at the stanford the boats were tied up at the dock today. no one answered the docks of the boat house. far away in a boston federal courthouse, the university sailing coach john vandemoer pleaded guilty. charges that he was designating applicants as purported recruits in exchange for bribes.

in the summer of 2017 william singer founder of a company that helped parents get their students into elite colleges. the charging papers say singer paid $110,000 to the stanford sailing team account. later that summer singer reportedly paid $500,000 to the program for another sailing team recruit to attend stanford. both those boys decided to attend other schools. a stanford freshman. >> there are victims. if there are any students who worked hard. >> reporter: getting into stanford the hard way, the right way. >> a lot of work. did my best. >> reporter: gina wants more

transparency. >> i would like to see more fairness with the processes as a whole. >> apologizes to his family, stanford university staff, alumni. i would like it note he is the only coach in the country who did not accept bribes for himself. >> reporter: stanford issued a written statement that says the university is cooperating with the doj investigation and the university is deeply concerned about the allegations and that it fired >> >> reporter: all charged conspiracy to commit mail fraud. several parents were worried

they would be exposed in the news. they paid hundreds of thousands of dollars. to gain admission to top tier universities. this photo is supposed to be napa vineyard owner's daughter. accept it is not his daughter and according to a criminal complaint, he told a confidential witness, you understand that my daughter is not worthy to be on that team. paid for an s.a.t. proctor to correct her answer. the money also went to have his daughter recruited to usc as a water polo player which she is not. he was concerned telling

confidential witness saying quote, my daughter's score could have been 1550, right? and said is there any risk that this thing is blown in my face. often students don't know. but manuel enriquez's did. he quote gloated with elizabeth and his daughter about the fact that they cheated and gotten away with it. marsy say her and her spouse laugh every day about how grateful we were for the services telling him we were like it was worth every cent.

marjorie packard and peter sar torria. >> thanks so much. two people who work for college master mind had a court hearing today in sacramento. accused of collecting money from parents and using it as bribes. helping to fabricate athletic profiles. the man authorities say is the ringleader from this alleged scam is from sacramento. >> said nothing to reporters as

he left the federal courthouse in boston. >> the 59-year-old was the foum founder of a college preparatory business called the edge. and in 2014 singer wrote a book called getting in. >> the sacramento bee reports that singer was in consumer finance. the alleged conspiracy involves coaches and administrators from eight elite colleges and universities. senior associate athletic team -- vav ek led his water

polo team to 15 national championships. among the parents facing charges are actress lori loughlin and felicity huffman. officers arrested huffman in her home ten minutes ago. a judge ruled she could be released on $250,000 bond. there is a warrant out for loughlin. she and her husband are accused of paying bribes totally half a million dollars. now we have more on this story on our website abc7news.com including the full indictment. in other news in the south bay, a violent felon with a long rap sheet has been in the

country illegally arrested for the murder of a woman in her home. a self-admitted gang member with a long history of arrest. the suspect is accused of killing 59-year-old bambi larson. police say dna evidence linked him to the crime. >> we are here to ensure that regardless of anyone's status, public safety is our number one priority. >> i.c.e. had previously issued detainers for him asking for him to be turned over for likely deportation six times. santa clara county which runs the jails has a policy of not cooperating with i.c.e. late today, mayor sam liccardo called on the county to

revisit the policy. abc7 news reporter david louie will have more on the story coming up at 6:00. crews have banned parking as part of a safety improvement plan after a bicyclist was killed. luz peña spoke with the driver involved. >> reporter: the driver was adamant about not revealing her identity. she explained that everything happened very fast. did you see her? >> no i didn't see her. >> reporter: this is the first time that we heard from the driver who opened a car door

that caused the bicyclist to swerve into traffic. >> i am dying. she came to change my life. >> reporter: leaving flowers for her friend. >> tess was full of life. she was really adventurist and kind and generous. and she had strong convictions about things. and like for someone with that much life and then to get killed for no good reason is awful. >> reporter: the death of the 30-year-old cyclist has prompted grief. >> the lady tried to avoid

hitting the car door and fell in the street. that has been stuck in my head. >> reporter: he records video of his commute. it is all so frustrating because howard just got protected bike lanes literally one block. and the city did not put bike lanes on the block where she was killed because it would remove parking. >> reporter: a plan to protect cyclist. we will give you the details 6:00. pg&e will not face criminal charges with the connection of the 2017 wildfies. today the counties said they

will not prosecute. not enough evidence to prove pg&e acted recklessly. pg&e still faces numerous civil lawsuits. >> she says he was her best friend. an oakland city council woman talks about her son. defunding performing arts. the cameras in the crowds were out in berkeley as the city says goodbye to nukes and hello to

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speaking for the first time today about the murder of her son over the weekend. passionately remembering her son victor. victor was a drummer, a passion his mom said began when he was just a little boy. >> he believed that music could heal the world of violence, sickness and addiction. and his desire to bring music medicine, that's what he called it to the world brought him to los angeles, the city of angels. >> victor mche will from campus. no arrests have been made so far >> there was so much love for victor. victor was my sunshine.

and i pray like every mama, every day, please don't take my sunshine away. >> heart broken, obviously and understandably. victor would have turned 22 in april. in san francisco there is a measure before the school board tonight to defund the popular arts programs. >> it is not going to sit well with many educators and parents. lyanne melendez is live outside. >> reporter: well, in 2004 again 2014, people in san francisco voted to fund arts education. this proposal goes against the wishes of san franciscans.

two weeks ago the board told these two administrators their contracts would not be viewed. a third man, the executive director for creativity suddenly announced he was retiring. why is this significant? because last night three board members proposed eliminating $2.3 million for funding vappa which one way or another all thr three men oversee. >> vapa is the central tent. >> reporter: today the school district confirmed the actions with the intention of repurposing this funding to

create more full time pe teachers. we reached out to the board members but they did not respond. vapa is supposed to receive $15 million. a level playing field. jerel chavez is a vocal teacher that benefits from the program. >> we have people coming in from the opera. we don't have the time to do. that we teach all day. >> reporter: these cuts are being proposed just as the newly revised arts education master plan was about to be presented by vapa. >> how do you run a cadillac with no gas. how do you have a great instrument that you cannot implement because you don't have the people. >> reporter: the arts festival may also go away.

the festival show cases the work of all students district. this meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. i am live in san lyanne melendez abc7 news. okay. thank you very much. >> time to get to the accuweath accuweather forecast and it is a nice one out there. >> don't get blown away by the wind. it is gusty outside. people have been talking about it. you feel the wind. blustery conditions. san francisco 47 miles per hour. 32 in the kind of wind we are experiencing is enough, this is a trash can meter, enough to

blow debris around. we are going to continue to see the blustery conditions later on as well. grab a jacket if you have to go utili out the door. as the temperatures fall, it is going to feel colder. tomorrow morning 5:00 a.m., the winds are starting to relax. get ready for changes ahead as the wind continues to deal back. it is a little bit breezy right now from that vantage point. no rain here on our radar but tracking snow showers in the sierra nevada. san jose camera seeing a few clouds. mid to upper 50s from san francisco to oakland. hard to miss that wind blowing those trees around. 62 in concord. cooler than we expected because

of the passage of the front. showing you a beautiful view with sunshine over the bridge. gusty winds tonight. chilly tomorrow. so first thing tomorrow morning, yes, going to be breezy in spots. but chilly as those winds dial back, those temperatures will drop. low 30s to the mid 40s. you will need to bundle up. these temperatures will come up for most of you, plenty of sun out there. 62 oakland. palo alto 64 and 65 in san jose. people have been waiting for this. people have been waiting for this. expecting a 60% chance of above average temperatures. so warmer than average for a change. we will send the cold, the chill midwest and the east coast. here, as far as the rainfall is

concerned, same time period, expecting precipitation. by the weekend inland. take advantage of the sunshine. bask in the sun and enjoy the dry weather. that is an accuweather forecast that has a

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may spt a sea creature you have never seen before. animals have been spotted in bodega bay.

a giant patch of warm water coined the warm water blob. it is linked to changes in climate and ocean ecosystems. 37 warm water species that have never been seen so far north before. take a look at the welcome sign in berkeley. you will see ohlone they are a native-american tribes that lived in east bay and the peninsula. >> theis is a recognition that our people have been here and continue to be here and have a resiliency. >> one city sign will go up near this parking lot. developers are suing to build

houses on this land that is said once sacred. >> first, we want to thank david for this lovely pictures of one of the mustard blooms b

minute by minute forecast plus real time radar and alerts. keeping you safe. search kwetszaccuweather in you store. >> i am ama daetz, we just how hard is it getting into

elite colleges. most americans struggle just to pay for college. and a step parents can take. >> bay area mountain lion researchers have released video of adorable cubs. >> helping people live safely with mountain lions nearby. >> the ten was in state park. but lions move their cubs regularly. >> living with lions research is run by the audubon canyon ranch. >> world news tonight is next. appreciate your time. i am dan ashley. >> and i am kristen sze. for all of us here thanks for joining us. >> see you again at 6:00.

tonight, as we come on the air in the west. the breaking news. the scene in los angeles. the growing outrage. the two well-known actresses among 50 people charged tonight in a nationwide bribery scheme. felicity huffman of "desperate housewives," lori loughlin of "full house," among the parents that prosecutors say paid to get their children into elite universities. millions spent. prosecutors claim changes to s.a.t.s and some allegedly paying for their children to be recruited for sports they never even played. also tonight, the deadly plane crash right into a home. emergency crews on the scene tonight. this evening, the growing pressure. the uk, france, germany among the countries now grounding the new boeing max 8. tonight, why they're still flying here in the u.s. what boeing and the faa are now saying. the major storm hitting the