were napa and livermore. both had .01. just drizzle reported in san francisco, oakland, mt. tam and santa clara. a bit more than drizzle is developing right now. a storm ranks 1. for tonight and tomorrow, we expect light showers there could be brief downpours from time to time. let's than a quarter inch is expected in most areas. it will be breezy at times. here is the forecast animation starting at 5:00 p.m. you'll see areas of light showers moving through earlier in the evening. we'll get steadier rain between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. and then it will break up again. during the overnight hours, we'll see pockets of showers continuing to move through. so there will be be wet spots for the morning commute. we there will be scattered showers and they'll continue throughout the day before winding down late tomorrow. i'll give you a closer look at this storm and the rain ahead this week in just a few minutes. ama? >> thank you so much. tahoe is dealing with the rain and snow. look at this. a snow slide has closed highway

50 at the summit. a vehicle actually got trapped in the snow. crews were able to free it fortunately, and no one was hurt. the el dorado sheriff's office says highway 89 at emerald bay ises are closed because of avalanche danger. here is a live look from lake tahoe's tv, heavenly mountain camera. now tomorrow state water officials will conduct the fourth snow survey of the season. earlier surveys showed the sierra snowpack was in good shape. firefighters still on the scene in oakland after a huge fire destroyed a warehouse. smoke and flames could be seen all around the bay area as this morning's fire engulfed the building on east 12th street. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony has the latest now live from oakland. laura? >> hi, dan. a much different scene from what we saw a few hours ago. but this building is a total loss. this is the american emperor. it's a building that was a warehouse basically for electrical, plumbing and the like. at this point, fire crews still on the scene. they're mopping up.

and investigators are looking at an area the behind. that's where it appears this fire started in a debris pile. as shown from sky 7, the flames shot high into the air, and the thick black smoke could be seen for miles around the american emperor warehouse on east 12th street in oakland. the electrical and plumbing supply business was open, and the fire forced about 20 workers out into the street. it took more than 60 oakland firefighters several hours to knock down the three-alarm blaze that left the warehouse totally gutted, the roof collapsed inward. >> it's an incredibly heavy fire load. as you can imagine a lot of rubber, electrical materials, hvac materials. it was not only a lot in there, but what was in there is going to burn for quite some time. >> the fire started on the back side of the building. >> jesus perez is part of a crew remodelling the building next door. perez took these photos of the fire just after it started,

apparently in the area where a homeless man had been camping in the alley behind his building and the american emperor. >> the homeless people living on the back side for a long time. so we begging them to leave because we knew that was going to happen any time. >> once the fire was out, city of oakland crews moved in to clear debris, while engineers examined the decimated american emperor to determine if the walls are in danger of collapse. >> this is one of the best places to come for metal and for piping. this is one of the best places in the bay area. so, you know. >> now the american emperor lyle is an institution in this neighborhood. it's been here for more than 35 years. you saw the workers about 20 of them. they got out of the building safely. the rookies was here trying to offer them assistance, but no injuries to report. and at this point in terms of

the investigation, they think they have located perhaps the area of origin, but at this point we don't know whether the fire was an accident or whether it was intentionally set. dan, ama? >> it was ferocious either way, laura. obviously urban fires are always scary because of the proximity of other buildings. did any of the surrounding buildings suffer damage? water, smoke, fire? >> dan, considering the intensity of the fire and the flames we saw earlier this morning, it's really remarkable that firefighters were able to contain the fire to the american emperor. there are a couple of buildings that are attached. one of them under construction. a lot of plywood and wood pallets. neither of those sustained major damage. there was some smoke and water damage. the big concern right now are the walls of the american emperor, those ones on the upper level. there are concerns they might collapse. so folks are not being allowed into the buildings next door until engineers determine that this building is safe or if they can shore up the walls as

they're standing right now. >> okay. laura, thanks very much. laura anthony reporting. >> and drives along 880, they got a clear view of the fire. look at it. the cell phone video shows the cloud of thick black smoke rising shortly after the fire broke out. the oakland fire department have been tweeting from the scene. check out this video on photo from this morning showing us the situation first responders faced when the fire first started. the trial of the two men in the ghost ship fire begins tomorrow. derrick almena and max harris are charged with 35 counts each of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths at the warehouse on december 2nd, 2016. tomorrow, judge trina thompson will hear two final motions before beginning jury selection. the trial is expected to include at least 12 to 18 weeks of evidence from both the prosecution and the defense. it's a very complex and involved case. >> it is. in sausalito, progress today where a mudslide took out homes and raised havoc on valentine's

day. >> the street directly beneath that slide has reopened. but wayne freedman explains some residents are still, wayne, in limbo. >> good afternoon, dan. no one died of that mudslide. the survivors feel very lucky, and yet residents of the only surviving, only remaining red tagged building are frustrated. they think this recovery should have been moving a little bit faster. it's a nice view, but brian wilson, formally of sausalito still misses his former home. you think about it much? >> oh, yeah, all the time. every day. >> reporter: when the valentine's day mudslide took out his home it essentially cut the family off from everything else inside. 412 and 414 sausalito boulevard might as well be an island now. karen sacks lived in the top unit. >> whatever is left of my belongings is all in there. this is all borrowed furniture. >> five days after the slide karen and his wife did gain

brief entry to the house. they carried out whatever they could fit through a window and carry up a gang plank. the rest still inside. they're waiting for guidance from the city. >> we're being deliberate in the manner as we can be because we're seeking to get as much reimbursement from the federal government as we. >> we're the only house red tagged in the city of sausalito. we can't get any of our stuff until rebuilding of the hill happens and rebuilding of a carport. >> there has been a sort of lack of coordinated communication. >> sausalito estimates the debris field will remain until at least eight summer. it includes eight cars. one of them belongs to brian williams, who did manage to get the personalized plates back. it's a small victory. what is the significance of 22? >> 22 is my lucky enough. >> still? >> debatable. >> so you must be wondering. it is the question. how did brian get that license plate from the debris field? he is not telling.

live in sausalito, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> now, wayne, does the national park service actually own the land that slid? any response from them today? >> the national park service does own that land. they have put some stuff on there to keep it from sliding. they shored it up a little bit. we called the national park service numerous times. not just today, but this the past. no answer, no response. >> all right, wayne, thank you so much. the orrville dam spillway is now ready for operation. the $1.1 billion repair job took two years to complete, and will undergo its first repair test tomorrow. the butte county dam had a catastrophic failure. during heavy rains in 2017, it caused flooding and evacuations downstream. the department of water resources says it is confident in its fix and expects no further problems with the spillway. more california bridges are considered to be in poor shape. the federal highway administration says there are 1800 bridges in poor condition

in the state right now. that's up from 1200 just three years ago. critics are raising a red flag. they say california has stockpiled more than $3 billion in gas tax revenue, but has only spent $121 million on bridge repairs and other projects so far. >> if california continues to see roads in disrepair, bridges not being fixed, they're going rightfully question why am i continuing to pay more money to act sacramento if they're not going fix the problems and improve my daily life? >> officials with caltrans say bridge repair projects take time, pointing to, quote, gradual and methodical inspection procedures. ride share realities. coming up, today's new commuter challenge. >> three, two, one, order your rides. here we go. let's do this thing. >> our community journalists put rideshare versus taxis to the test. >> plus, the challenges of ride share for customers and other commuters. what can be done to make it easier for everyone.

and we're going to take you live to dodger stadium where the giants are set to take on the dodgers after that frightening fight on friday night. and as we approach 4:10 on this monday, ooh, this is not looking good that skyway in san francisco, it is stop and go in both directions. on the left-hand side, that's your traffic trying to get to the lower deck of the bay bridge over to the east bay. on the right-hand side, that's traffi

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this week as part of abc 7's commitment to building a better bay area, we're looking at how ride share services like uber and lyft have transformed how we get around. we started off this morning with

a commute challenge, rideshare versus taxi. our community gist dustin dorsey and journalist traveled to vista point on the marin county side of the golden gate bridge. melissa took an uber while dustin used the flywheel app to order a taxi. melissa was the winner a 21-minute time with order to arrival. dustin arrived ten minutes after she did on midday live. >> i see a taxi pulling up there. is dustin now! >> hey, you made it! >> perfect timing. >> when it comes to cost, it was a difference of just $2.11, with the taxi being slightly more expensive. dustin and melissa are going to give it another go during real commute hours. that's coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00. and the two major rideshare companies, uber and lyft were both founded in san francisco just a couple of years apart. last year's city attorney estimated there were 45,000 ride sharing vehicles operation. they account for 45,000 miles

driven in san francisco on a typical weekday. more than 20% of all vehicles what traveled in city. >> the explosive growth of companies like uber and lyft have changed the way transit in the bay area happens and all across the world for that matter. joining me today is jim ratu with civic makers, a group focused on helping cities find solutions for common problems. thank you for coming out. >> you bet. >> common problems is the congestion on city streets because of so many uber and lyft drivers. how big a problem is that? what are you doing to deal with it? >> the promise of these companies was they were going to take cars off the streets. we're not really seeing that. studies out of davis, uc berkeley and stanford find ride hailing companies are taking rides from transit, bikes and peds, not necessarily people who would have gotten in their car anyway. we are seeing additional congestion that leads to additional greenhouse gases. >> how are we going to mitigate that? how do you deal with it?

>> it's interesting. different municipalities are having different ways. new york has a cap on the number of uber and lyft drivers. they also put in a minimum wage of $17. vancouver trying to address issues of safety is now requiring the drivers have a class 4 driver's license, which is like a limo, professional driver's license. and san francisco is looking at possible congestion pricing in downtown, and also adding a fee to your ride that would pay for all those 1800 bridges you just reported that are in dire need of help. >> i want to ask about safety in a moment. but i want to touch back on what you said about new york and creating a system to limit the number of ubers and lyfts in a zone. how do you police that? is it through the app that uber and lyft can only allow so many drivers in those areas? how do you quantify that? >> i don't know exactly how uber would do it internally, but basically they're putting a set amount of uber and lyft drivers in that area. there will be hefty fines if

they break them, and there is also gps. >> so the penalty would go to uber or lyft, not the uber or lyft driver necessarily? they're targeting the company? >> yeah, they're targeting the company. >> okay. safety is something. look, i use these services a lot. they are very convenient. but you often wonder about safety, because you really don't know necessarily who is driving your uber or your lyft and what kind of driver they are and what kind of a track record they have. >> yeah, both companies say they have background checks, and they do. we just don't know the extent of those. they're probably not as deep as professional drivers licenses, limos and taxi cabs. and there is a whole another safety risk, which is we have distracted driving sort of baked into the business model of these two. you're always checking phones and rides. that's always another safety precaution that i worry about. >> that's a good point. because the drivers are obviously looking for the next ride. they're using their gps as they're trying to get you to your destination. city streets are more crowded with all of these cars. it is an interesting challenge. >> it is an interesting

challenge. i don't know off the top of my head if their crash record is worse or better than the average driver. but certainly that's something to look at. >> but none of this is going away. this is the future probably, i would think, ridesharing or ride hailing companies. as younger people. so many young people these days, 25 and younger in urban areas, they don't want the own a car. they just uber or lyft every place. >> i think that's the promise. the promise is the costs go down so much and the convenience is up that we don't need to own cars ourselves. and if it can actually take cars off the street, reducing congestion, reducing greenhouse emissions, that's a great public benefit. >> but that hasn't happened yet. there any reason to believe that will happen? that was the promise, but that has not panned out? any reason to believe that will become something as a reality? >> i hope so there are some public policy tweaks from new york and san francisco they're thinking about. but it is still relatively new. i mean, it's only been in

existence five, seven years. so i would hope that in the next five, seven years, we can tweak those costs and convenience factors to get more people out of their cars into common ride sharing autos. >> all right. jim, thanks. we'll have you back in five to seven years. thank you, sir. appreciate your coming in. ama? >> thank you. well, some ride share drivers for lyft and uber come from as far away as los angeles to work in san francisco, and you won't just find them driving the streets. you'll also find them sleeping in their cars overnight. we caught up with one driver. his story is coming up later this hour. and new york city is poised to become the first city in the country to implement congestion pricing to fight traffic gridlock in manhattan. drivers would be charged to enter lower and midtown manhattan. the price hasn't been determined yet, but earlier plans pegged prices at $12 for cars and $25 for trucks. the fees could go into effect some time next year. proponents say that fees could

raise $12 billion annually for the city's ailing subway and bus systems. opponents say congestion pricing penalizes low income drivers. >> i'm proposing a rain tax on meteorologists. >> i know. >> who will not allow the rain to leave the forecast. >> well, now i feel your rain. for most of the day, not much was hitting the surface, just evaporating in the atmosphere. but now it's becoming more widespread. the pay. is wet. here is look at live doper 7. you can see how widespread the moisture is. it's only been in the last hour that we've had widespread rain actually hitting the ground. let's close in on the north bay. parts of sonoma and napa county getting rainfall. now the roadways are wet. highways 116 and 121 over the lakeville highway in sonoma. and over in the east bay, we see lots of rainfall, now near concord. 680, highway 4 from pittsburg, farther moving eastward. and we've got rain. all over the area now, the rain is becoming a more developed. but what's been going on with

the absence of rain hitting the ground for much of the day, well, there has been lots of moisture in the higher levels of the atmosphere above 1500 feet. but it's been very dry, the air has near the surface. and in a pattern like that, the rain evaporates before it hits the ground. that's been our pattern until now. it's finally hitting the ground. here is the view from sutro tower. cloudy skies. 59 degrees. 61 in oakland and mountain view. 63, san jose, morgan hill 65. 59 at half moon bay. and here is the view from the east bay hills camera, looking westward. just a few minutes ago we had some rain drops on this camera lens, but they have now disappear. 63 degrees to santa rosa. napa, 1. petaluma, 60. vacaville 67. and from mount tam looking down on to the bay, we offer these forecast features. showers will expand tonight and tomorrow. this unsettled pattern will continue through midweek, and we'll get a stronger storm near the end of the week on friday. overnight look for low temperatures mainly in the low to mid-50s. not a very wide range of

temperature there's. and this storm ranks 1 on the impact scale. for tonight and tomorrow, we can expect more light showers. less than a quarter inch likely in most bay area locations. forecast animation taking us through the evening hour shows a steadier wave coming in around 9:00 p.m. or so. but it will break up into scattered showers. as the morning commute begins tomorrow at 5:00 a.m., we'll see widely scattered showers, although it may not be raining heavily, or we may not have widespread rain at that time, the pavement will likely be wet. so motorists will encounter some delays probably. and then later in the afternoon, see another wave of steadier rain coming in. but that will break up quickly going into the evening hours tomorrow night. and then we have pockets of light showers that will continue into the late night hours tomorrow night. look ahead to 11:30 tomorrow night, we expect rainfall totals to be no more than just a few hundreds of an inch in most locations, although here in san francisco, we expect just over an inch, and just over an inch at santa rosa and calistoga as well. tomorrow's highs under partly showery conditions, highs will be mainly in the low to mid-60s

from coast to inland. and here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. it's going to be a week of unselfed weather. we use that word a lot. but that best describes what we're going to have. showers tomorrow. maybe a lingering shower early wednesday, and then dry for the remainder of the day. the rain returns on thursday. and a stronger, a little more vigorous tomorrw will move in on friday. each of the storms will rank only 1 on the storm impact scale. saturday morning we could have leftover showers. there is a slight, slight chance of a stray shower or two on sunday. and finally, next monday we expect sunnier and warmer weather, certainly dryer with highs next monday getting into the mid-70s again, feeling more spring-like. >> excellent. thanks, spencer. >> okay. celebrating 43 years of apple. a look back at the company that helped shape the bay area. plus, check this out. it's a new vegetable with two

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apple is celebrating its 43rd birthday today. it was on this day in 1976 that steve jobs and steve wozniak founded their company in jobs' garage in los altos. the two joined forces to sell wozniak's invention, the apple 1. but neither had any idea that the hobbyist machine would soon berth the global personal computer market. both men left the company in 1985. jobs returned, of course, in 1997 and led the company until his death in 2011. last year apple became the first publicly traded company to reac one trillion in value. well, spring is here, but winter has come to the las vegas strip. the famous fountain at bellagio now features a "game of thrones" theme. familiar elements from the hbo show are projected on to the water as the theme song plays there are dragons, of course, as well as snow and ice, and even the night king, lead over the white walkers. the free show runs at the hotel

through april 13th, the day before the first episode of the final season debuts. well, it's not exactly a beach day, but the spring season is under way at the boardwalk. this is a live picture from santa cruz. there are some people out there braving the weather. the park just opened. visitors can now enjoy the rides and games every day through next sunday, starting at 11:00. closing hours vary each night with weekend hours extending a bit longer. opening week culminates on sunday with the annual fun run there will be two races, a 1-k and a 5-k. this is the park's 112th year. summer season starts on memorial day, may 27th. >> 112 years. >> crazy. >> the giants are set to take on their archrivals the dodgers tonight at dodger stadium. >> the game, though, comes just days after another devastating fight at the stadium left a fan in critical condition. we're going have a live report coming up. and former fbi director james comey jumps into the april april fool's day fray. what he said that had a lot of

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live where you live, this is abc 7 news. >> here are the stories making headlines at 4:30. a warehouse sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky over east oakland the morning. the fire broke out along east 12th street and 19th avenue. the warehouse was home to american emperor, a company that deals with hvac and plumbing

supplies. everyone escaped unharmed. laura anthony tweets this video of the cleanup that was happening outside. fire investigators are honing in on a homeless encampment located beside the warehouse as the source of the fire. abc 7 reporter wayne freedman is in sausalito at the site of the devastating landslide in february. wayne tweeted the cleanup could last until the summer. now los angeles, where a father of four is in critical condition after he was beaten in the parking lot of dodger stadium friday night. his attacker is still on the loose, and this incident is similar to that attack on a giants fan eight years ago. reporter sid garcia is live for us at dodger stadium where our giants play tonight. sid? >> ama, you think dodgers/giants, it's the ravine here near downtown los angeles. that should be the topic of conversation. but to the dodger fans i had a chance to talk to today, it isn't. it's about what happened to that dodger fan friday night who is

fighting for his life. and it brought back bad memories to what happened to brian stowe as you mentioned eight years ago. rafael reina continues to fight for his life at l.a. county medical center. this photo of him was provided to us by his wife crystal. she tells us her husband was on the phone with her after friday's dodger game. he was in the parking lot when for some reason he was involved in an argument with someone, possibly a man and a woman. that's when rafael was hit and fell to the pavement, hitting his head. rafael's family says he is now on life support. >> could hear the guy swearing at him, and then the next thing i heard was that smack sound, and that is like -- we think that's probably when he hit the floor. >> the lapd says all they have for a suspect description is a young man in his 20s driving away in what witnesses say was a white toyota 4 runner. rafael reina's injuries brought back bad memories of the savage beating of giants fan brian

stowe eight years ago. the two men responsible for stowe's assault were convict and sent to prison. dodger fans i'm talking with why would anyone do something this violent to anyone. >> i think lapd, sheriff's department and all that, they do their best they can to bring security to the people of los angeles and the people enjoying the game. but then you've got some ignorant people not thinking about their actions that they're doing. they're destroying somebody's life. >> eric garcetti was asked about security at dodger stadium today after what happened friday night. >> violence in our stadium and outside our stadium is unacceptable. we saw the tragic consequences with the giants fan years ago. and lapse is on this. this was the longest game on this. and with the incident that happened in the parking lot we have some leads and we're going to be pursuing those and hopefully find the person that caused this violence as well to be brought to justice. >> reporter: lapd telling me earlier today they are still looking for the suspect that hit

mr. reina. one fan told me you know what? you're coming to a ball game. the least you can do when you leave is behave so everybody goes home safely. reporting live from dodger stadium, i'm sid garcia, abc 7 news. back to you up north. >> absolutely, sid. thank you very much. search continues for the person who shot and killed a grammy nominated wrapper nipsey hussle. hussle was gunned down outside his own clothing store over the weekend. danya bacchus has more. >> as the memorial grows outside the clothing store in los angeles. >> he was an entrepreneur. he was employing people. he love his community. >> so do the calls for justice. >> turn yourself in. turn yourself in. ♪ >> reporter: grammy nominated rapper nipsy ru ssey hussle as d with two others outside, the shooter fleeing the scene. >> we want the community to turn

his murderer in. it's about being held accountable for your actions. >> the 33-year-old father of two born hermias was known for more than his music. he was known throughout los angeles for his philanthropy. ♪ >> hussle was in a gang as a teenager, but then moved to music and became a community organizer. an l.a. police commissioner tweeting hussle requested a meeting to talk about ending gang violence. that meeting was supposed to happen today. >> why somebody that cared? >> some of hip-hop's brightest stars tweeting. pharrell saying you inspired millions who will uphold your legacy forever. police say they are continuing to work to identify the rapper's killer and anyone else who may have been involved in the shooting. law enforcement and community members have said they want no retaliation for his murder. danya bacchus, abc news, los

angeles. >> in case you were wondering, nipsey hussle picked his name as a twist on nipsy russell, the late great comic to inspired him. the trump administration may realign inspector along the border to handle the surge of migrants coming across. it could threaten to slow the trucks coming into the u.s. president trump has threatened to close the southern border if mexico doesn't bring a stop to all illegal immigration. the white house is also considering the immigration of an immigration czar tasked with coordinating the president's policies. another person has joined the crowded field of 2020 presidential hope. s, kind of. former fbi director james comey tweeted this photo of himself and wrote, quote. we need someone in the middle. #2020. he then followed it up with a tweet admitting it was a joke, april fool's, of course, and saying can you imagine a president who used twitter to

make bad jokes rather than hurl insults? comey saw the beginning of the russia meddling investigation before president trump fired him in 2017. so he is not running for president. >> and that's not the only april fool's joke. we'll dive into some of the others. plus, your drivers behind your lyfts or ubers and the huge amount of miles they're logging. what it takes to be a ride share driver. i'm spencer christian. no joke

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it's been a wild ride for lyft. shares soared during the initial public offering friday, but profit takers stepped up today. lyft shares dropped nearly 12%, closing down nine points at 69 dollars. that's below the ipo price of $72 a share. lyft has consistently lost money, raising doubts about its overall evaluation. >> as part of abc's ongoing effort to billiuilding a better area, we're focusing all way about how ride share changes the economy. >> it doesn't take much to notice there are a lot of uber and lyft cars in the city. that's because fares are the highest in california. >> that's attracting drivers often from outside california who often sleep in their cars between shifts. we followed one driver who does exactly that. [ alarm ]

>> reporter: it's 4:25 in the morning, and another day begins for this uber driver. we'll only identify him as ray, because he fears unabomler kick him off the platform if he talks to us. >> i'm getting ready rp to get back up and start my day. >> even though he has a home in the sacramento area, ray slept in his car at this ride share lot in san francisco. he is one of many ride hailing drivers who travel from outside the bay area to work for lyft and uber, and who sleep in their cars to survive. >> you're looking at the map of san francisco right now. whenever it gets busy, it's like a surge. but we only get a dollar amount. >> ray got up early today, hoping the rain will increase demand, and he can make intramoney from surge pricing. >> it's real busy early in the morning. i've got early people catching flights, getting ready to go to work. once you figure out how it works, you can make some money. but you got to be ready to get out there on the hustle. >> ten minutes after he set out,

ray made his first stop in the mission district. it was woman who had to be at work at 5:00. after that he kept driving through the morning commute. >> i'll run probably now until 12:00, 1:00 this afternoon. so that will be nine straight hours. and then i'll shut down, take a break, probably around 6:00, i'll start again. and i'll probably run until 10:00 tonight. >> we caught up with ray again after his morning shift. how long have you been doing this, where you're coming in from sacramento? >> i've been doing it now about four years. everybody comes to san francisco and work because you make more money here in the bay area than you do anywhere else. >> sacramento is a hugely growing area. there is tons of traffic there too. it really makes that big of a difference? >> yeah, a lot of people drive in sacramento. we don't have a problem with parking. >> ray is a former truck driver. he says he made $105,000 last year driving for uber. but if you take away cost like new tires and brakes and $18,000 in gas, his real take-home pay is about $65,000.

>> so you have to put in 12, 13, 14 hours of a day to make real, real good money. >> what do you think uber could do to make it better for drivers? >> treat us like employees. we're not really independent contractors. my interpretation of independent contracts, i get to pick and choose what i want to do, when i want to do it and how much i can charge. >> even though he can start and end his day when he wants, he says uber penalizes those who turn down uber pool drives. at noon he took a break. that included a stop at a gym to take a shower. by mid afternoon, he was back at the airport staging lot, waiting for his turn to pick up a passenger. >> i start my afternoon at the airport. and i will just go wherever it takes me. >> ray got his first ride of the evening just after 4:00. >> the only way you'll make money is you got to keep driving. >> and i will run probably late into the night. some drivers run a whole 12 straight hours and then lay down or rest for six hours and run

another whole 12. i can't do that. >> rain had started up again by the time ray returns to the sfo lot at 10:00 to sleep. >> i lay back and sleep in my car certain nights. the hotels are so expensive, you will use your money up that you make here driving just staying in the hotel. a lot of drivers out here do it. not just only here. they sleep up there at mcdonald's, a rest area on 280. they all over the place. they're not homeless. they're just coming down here to work. i will sit back, get my blanket, my pillow, and sit in my passenger side seat and let my seat back and catch me a nap. andly get started again in the morning. >> alexis smith, abc 7 news. >> great inside look at what those drivers really deal with. can you really make a living as an uber or a lyft driver? we got insight into what the average driver really makes. what you need to know before you sign up to be a ride share driver. tonight on abc 7 news at 6:00, we look at the ride share reality and the impact they're having on our ability to

building a better bay area. >> a fascinating look. we want to get back to our weather, because we had sun, which of coue means we're going get more rain. >> exactly right. spencer back with the forecast. >> here is the view on live doppler 7. you can see a live mass of moisture that is pushing east of the bay area. so we had little bit of wet weather. there is more on the way. this storm ranks 1 on the impact scale. tonight and tomorrow, we expect more light showers, less than a quarter inch of rain total, likely for the entire region. forecast animation taking us through the evening hours shows a few little waves of showers moving through from time to time. that pattern will continue overnight. the showers will become more widespread overnight, but there will be some showers greeting early morning riders along with slippery roadway and probably a slow morning commute. and we'llee the scattered showers continuing through the day and into the evening tomorrow. highs tomorrow generally in the low to mid-60s. and here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. it looks like wednesday may be the only dry day of the week. and even on wednesday, we may have a lingering morning shower left over from tuesday's rain.

thursday, more rain. friday, a little stronger storm. saturday, morning showers. finally, sunday, we start to dry out a bit, and yay, next monday. mild and sunny and dry, and high temperatures in the low to mid 70s. we have a few showers to work our way through before that happens. >> mild and sunny and dry. and that's here. how unusual. >> checking. >> thanks, spencer. well, the world wildlife foundation is sounding the alarm over plastics in the mediterranean sea. this is just sad. this comes after a pregnant sperm whale was found dead after sardinia with 48 1/2 pounds of plastic in its belly. this was a pregnant whale. the organization says the items discovered in the 26-foot-long whale's stomach included a corrugated tube for electrical works, plastic plates and tangles fishing lines. the official cause of the whale's death hasn't been determined. last month a whale with 88 pounds of plastic bags in its stomach washed ashore in the philippines. >> it's terrible. remember that impossible burger that is made from

veggies, but it bleeds like beef? now a popular burger chain could soon be offering you the patty invented here in the bay area. 7 on your side's michael finney. worried about g

all right. get ready to pay more to shop online. out of state online retailers are required to collect california sales tax. it applies to businesses that make more than $100,000 in annual sales from californians or from companies that conduct at least 200 transaction as year. but that could change. state lawmakers are fast tracking a bill that would raise the sales threshold to $500,000 so that smaller retailers would not be hit quite as hard. >> starting today, sales tax is going up in 51 cities across the state. in the bay area, alameda, antioch, martinez, redwood city and los gatos will see an increase, as well as santa rosa and all unincorporated areas of of sonoma county. we have more on abc7news.com. >> anyone of course can be a victim of a scam. so what scams should you look out for this year? >> 7 on your side's michael finney is here with the warning. >> they're always coming and going. it helps to know who you're

watching out for. now more than ever you should take action to protect your identity and avoid getting defrauded or scammed or both. let's take a closer look at this year's popular scams and important steps to avoid becoming a victim. take action to protect yourself. the most recent data from 2017 shows scammers stole nearly 17 billion from u.s. consumers. >> people still need to be on their toes. online fraud in particular has increased. >> expert says there are three major scams to watch out for this year. the first, phony phone calls from the social security administration. caller id will show you're getting a call from the government demanding you validate your social security number. >> this is the kind of fraud that would work easily on someone elsely who is depending on that money. >> second, a netflix-themed fishing scam. scammers impersonating the online streaming site, then asking for your payment

information. but don't take the bait. >> malware will download your personal information and then they've got you. they can use that to steal money from you or open new accounts in your name. >> and third, tax refund theft. fraudsters file taxes pretending to be you and steal your tax refund. to avoid becoming a victim, experts say check your online accounts daily, review your credit score every four months, and look for any red flags. >> it helps you spread out the view of your credit life throughout the entire year. so it might give you a better opportunity to catch something. >> and finally, shred documents containing your personal information. if your account appears to be compromised, report it to the three credit reporting agencies. then place a security freeze on all three of your accounts. you can do all of that online. the big one right now is the irs because everybody is filling out their tax forms. be careful for those. >> thanks, michael. looks like the bay area has set another trend. burger king says it's testing

out impossible whoppers. they're made with plant-based pattys from redwood based impossible foods. they'll be offering the whoppers in 59 locations in and around st. louis. if all goes well, burger king will roll out the impossible whopper nationally. all right. don't be fooled today. companies and organizations are piling on the jokes this april 1. like the san francisco zoo's fictitious plans to welcome a gender neutral unicorn to the new biodiversity hot spot. that's a good one. the name of the unicorn, frisky. then there is tender's new height verification. a new technology the company says verifies how tall love seekers are based on profile photos. it's a joke. and how about this scrumptious new addition to the mcdonald's menu. the mcpickle. an assortment of picks, melted cheese, sesame bun. we have a full list on abc7news.com. >> what if you really like

pickles? >> that doesn't sound bad. >> it could be worse. how about two popular veggies joined together? up next, a look at the brand-new hybrid veggie, and why it's expected to be so popular. and kristen is here withes what coming up at 5:00. >> no joke, new at 5:00, 20 niam a hot air balloon when it suddenly hit a power line. plus, the potential avocado shortage. why we could run out in less than one month. and tom brady finally joins twitter, only to send the perfect tweet for april fool's day. those stories and more when i join dan for abc 7 news at 5:00.

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years ago. a field near salinas. >> it has been under wraps for two years, a new variety of cauliflower that looks different arranged to most tastes sweet and not at all like cauliflower. >> it's an amazing variety that is loose, a little off color, but what caught my interest was the green stems. and i found that by enhancing the greenness, i enhanced sweetness. >> rick harris says he started working with 12 varieties of seeds. a similar vegetable is available at farmers markets and asian stores. but the goal was to be able to cultivate a variety that is grow yearlong in the valley alongside lettuce, berries and other vegetables. >> out of the 12, only three really worked. this particular variety works year round in salinas. and the other two are only seasonal. >> it's challenging to explain the taste of caulilini.

does it taste like cauliflower? >> no, it doesn't. >> that's the whole thing. it's not a cauliflower. it's a caulilini. >> chefs at the table in san jose have been trying out caulilini. it's getting good reviews. >> anything that's new in the culinary scene is always exciting for us at chefs because we get to work with something that's different out of the box that we've never really had our hands on. >> whether it's served raw, sauteed or stir-fried, caulilini seems adaptable. >> there are so many different ways to work with it. i think consumers are going to catch on quickly. >> it's terrible to tease you as to how soon you'll see caulilini in the stores. they're going to start harvesting this field tomorrow. in salinas, david louie, abc 7 news. >> might be worth trying. and david tells us you can find caulilini in the hot foods section. you can get the news any time with the abc 7 news app. it has more customization and personalized push alerts to get more of the news you want delivered to your phone in

realtime. that will do it for abc 7 news at 4:00. thanks for joining us. i'm ama daetz. abc 7 news at 5:00 starts now. >> giving us a chance to see if it works. it could be a compromise. >> talk of compromise after a community backlash over a homeless shelter. a war on the waterfront sees some retreat. >> an oakland warehouse goes up in flames. one witness says he knows exactly how it started. and the case of the stolen backpack. why police told the owner to track down the culprit in the alleyway. ride share versus taxi. which one is faster, cheaper? a new challenge is about to get under way. >> live where you live, this is abc 7 news. >> we all know that san francisco has a big homeless problem. just today the mayor said it is her number one challenge. but tonight she tells abc 7 news to get a big shelter built in a high-rise high profile location, he is may have to make compromises. good evening.

i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm kristen sze. the mayor wants to build a homeless shelter a few blocks from oracle park and not far from the new chase center. >> neighbors hoping to block this shelter. er are raising money on a crowd funding site. but there is a counter campaign also raising funds. >> abc 7 news reporter luz pena spoke with the mayor today. luz, the mayor acknowledged the critics and that she may be ready to make some changes, right? >> that's right, kristen. this is a parking lot that mayor london breed wants to use for this navigation center, and a vacation center is a little different than a shelter. she wants this place to have more professional help for the community. but she did mention facing this backlash, she is willing to reconsider. money speaks volumes, and these two gofundme accounts caught the attention of mayor london breed, who for the first time says she is willing to reconsider her navigation center proposal. >> i think listening to the community like one of the conversations that's being had now is they feel like okay,