the heart of sonoma. i'm surrounded by busine. city hall is just behind me. this area lost power for about two days last week, creating a large economic dent felt by residents as well. the resounding sentiment around sonoma plaza today, here we go again. >> exhaustion. >> as word spread of another possible pg&e public safety power shutoff. sonoma county first district supervisor susan goring. >> they should have been on this from decades ago, undergrounding lines, segments the transmission grid, as they have been doing in southern california. where have they been? >> instead, pg&e says its meteorologists are monitoring weather conditions 24/7, their eyes fixed on this wednesday and thursday in particular. >> it's expected to have dry, hot and windy weather. >> businesses and residents are still recovering from last week's shf. the historic swissotel had to throw out meat, fish, and poultry. >> we're talking about thousands

of dollars. >> he lost his home. he says he gets it but questions why pg&e officials shut off power as broadly as they did. >> i don't really have a problem shutting down in the hills whether the winds are 40, 50 miles an hour. but in town i don't believe there is a lot that can burn. >> the utility company announcing today this round of potential shutoffs would be significantly smaller. pg&e hasn't called for the shutoff yet, but officials say they want to make sure customers are as prepared as possible. still, we found residents who had no idea. >> i can't believe it. not again. >> don del carlo describes last week's shutoff as radical i. did it feel warranted? >> no, i didn't feel so. >> supervisor gore rn is one of two supervisors asking why. she is holding more than just pg&e accountable. >> i put the blame where the blame is due, and that is the

california public utilities commission for not demanding excellence fro the one utility that covers most of northern california. >> supervisor goren also lost her home in the fire two years ago. so she also says that she gets it, but she says that pg&e should have fixed this problem decades ago. now for its part, pg&e has said one of the reasons they have to shut off power to such a broad area is because their transmission grid is so very complicated, they're not able to isolate smaller areas. live in sonoma, melanie woodrow, abc7 news. >> so melanie, the businesses and residents you're talking to, what are they doing to prepare this time around? >> well, the swiss hotel says they'll be preparing less food this week in anticipation of losing power and potentially have to toss all of that food. that one resident that we spoke to said he'll be buying a generator.

>> all right, melanie woodrow, thank you. as we mentioned, participants of napa, san mateo and sonoma counties could lose power this week. people in those counties were also affected during the last shutoff two weeks ago. this potential outage would affect a smaller number of customers than the last outage, and you can see on this map the parts in orange are where power was turned off on october 9th. people in every bay area county except san francisco were affected. you of course can stay with abc7 news to get the latest on the power outages. be sure to enable push alerts on the abc7 news app to get breaking news as it happens. >> let's check with spencer christian to see what we are expecting in the forecast. >> spencer, looks like heating up for sure. >> that's for sure, dion. we're going have dry, windy warm conditions. of course that's going to elevate concerns for fire. here is a look at live doppler 7. we have large ridge of high pressure dominating our weather picture right now. it's centered offshore, but it's basically blanketing all of california. and the clockwise circulation

around that center of high pressure is going to bring us an offshore flow by midweek. we're talking about dry, warm gusty wind, rushing down the hill slopes. you can see right now the temperature change over the last 24 hours. it's 7 to about 15 degrees warmer right now in most bay area locations than it was at this time yesterday. so the warming has begun. at the moment, though, the wind is not a big factor, although it was pretty gusty at fairfield with surface gusts to 25 miles per hour and at livermore, 18 miles per hour. but with the warming, the drying, and the increase in wind we're going to see over the next few days, you're going to see why we have high fire danger by midweek. in fact, by wednesday, look for high temperatures in our inland areas right around or just above 90 degrees. we're going to see 80s around the bay and 70s on the coast. i'll give you a closer look at the forecast in just a few minutes. ama? >> thank you. we'll check back with you. the contra costa fire prevention district isn't taking chances with the risk of higher fire danger looming this week. it's been granted permission by the state to assemble a task

force of firefighting resources. this is the third time the agency has taken this type of action, most recently during the last power shutoff. >> the combination of those prepositioned resources ten days ago, here and around the county in solano and alameda counties in particular were instrumental in us keeping two major wildfires from becoming disastrous wildfires. >> the task force consists of a file bulldozer, a water tender and four wildfire engines. they'll be posted at six separate fire prevention district contra costa county. happening right now, firefighters plan to work into the evening fighting flames burning near homes in los angeles. that fire is burning in pacific palisades, and that's where some residents have been evacuated from their homes overlooking the ocean that fire broke out at about 10:30 this morning and firefighters have since faced many challenges. the flames have burned up t side of a steep canyon towards homes. >> so this is extremely challenging fire for hand crews.

if you look at the firefighters, they're essentially clawing their way up this hillside with rocks coming down on them. they will not sleep. they will not rest until they get this fire out. >> aerial crews have played a key role in saving homes so far. helicopters have dropped water along the edge of the canyon just a few feet from homes. so far no homes have been damaged. today is the deadline for thousands of people affected by the two 2017 wildfires to file a claim with pg&e. up to two-thirds of the estimated 100,000 eligible people have yet to submit a claim. the money would help cover their losses. pg&e has set aside billions of dollars for fire victims as part of the utility's bankruptcy plan. we posted a link to the three-page claim form on our website, abc7news.com. the deadli is 5:00 p.m. new details. we're learning last week's fire at the nustar energy facility in crockett did not release any unusually high levels of toxins into the air.

but realtime monitoring of the air by the fire shows nearby residents were exposed to high level of smoke particles. contra costa health officials believe weather conditions and the fire's extreme heat minimized the impact of the smoke. investigators are still working to determine what sparked the fire in the two ethanol tanks. federal prosecutors may file additional charges against some people who plead not guilty in the college admissions cheating scandal. the charges, which sources say include bribery could be filed as early as tomorrow. four parents who initially fought charges have now agreed to plead guilty, including atherton residents manuel and elizabeth enriquez. abc7 news is committed to building a better bay area. and in the south bay, officials in santa clara county say they are making major progress towards building thousands of affordable housing units. >> the projects are backed with funding from a measure, a $950 million voter approved bond. abc7 news chris nguyen joins us live now in san jose with more on this story.

chris? >> as silicon valley deals with an unprecedented housing crisis, santa clara county is moving forward with plans to make an immediate impact. >> we're finding a umain evidence-based way to make sure that people in our community who are high need are housed. >> this week county supervisors are expected to approve another wave of affordable housing projects, including this one on azaray avenue. the development will consist of 128 apartments, half of which will be set aside as permanent supportive housing for the formally homeless. >> we're going to have an opportunity to get homeless people off the street who are in very high need who cost the county and our communities lots of money and lots of resources. >> in 2016, voters in santa clara county passed a $950 million bond known as measure a. it is projected to fund 120 new

housing developments through 2026, including 4800 new affordable housing units. two years in, the county is already on track to hit 1/3 of its goal. >> the homeless people need a place to live and low income need a place to live. and we don't want to keep pricing everybody out of the market. >> critics typically worry about the projects resulting in higher crime. but sarah springer, president of the delmas park neighborhood association says residents near the site are supportive. >> what we want to see is a building going up and feet on the ground so that there isn't a criminal element that might want to come into the property that's vacant right now, but did have dilapidated buildings on it. >> urban planning experts say there is a lot of economic evidence that supports investing in affordable housing. >> most of the residents and neighbors around a new affordable housing project in santa clara county, which is what measure a supports, are going to see their prope lues go up. >> the board of supervisors will vote on this project tomorrow.

assuming that it passes, the goal would be for people to move in by 2022. we're live in san jose. i'm chris nguyen, abc7 news. >> all right, chris. thanks. we do want to hear your ideas about building a better bay area. you can share them by joining our better bay area group on facebook. bart is reportedly once again considering extending service into san francisco's richmond district. a line down geary boulevard has been discussed for decades but has neveecome a reality. bart's general manager tells the san francisco examiner an extension will be examined when the agency studies adding a second bay crossing. the lines transport 56,000 passengers a day, the most of any muni bus corridor. a fire hydrant burst open in san francisco today, shooting water four stories high and flooding a street. look at all that water. it happened at new montgomery and natoma streets just after

noon. a lot of people gathered, as you saw, taking pictures and video. firefighters later arrived a the scen turn off that hydrant. no word on what caused it to burst. billboard controversy. is it racist or politics? the new billboard stirring up controversy in the san francisco mayor's race. plus ronan farrow, the pulitzer prize winning investigative reporter talks with abc7 news about harvey weinstein, nbc and his new book. and doctor come try my really big chicken two patties for $4.99, or three for $5.99, or four for $6.99. that's an amazing deal, jack! hey, thanks, stanley. ow. ...wait, what's happening? stanley! you're deflating! hold me, jack! only at jack in the box.

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pulitzer prize winning journalist ronan farrow shows the cover-ups at the highest levels of hollywood and the nbc twork. >> it was an amazon top seller last week, and ronan farrow sat down with kristen sze and reggie aqui today. >> the reporting in the book is all meticulously fact-checked. it is very careful and measured in how everything is laid out. so, you know you don't see mustache twirling back room deals signed in blood. what it look likes is a swath of secret emails and calls, at least 15 calls between harvey weinstein and nbc executives which they h previously concealed and are now admitting to in which some pretty shocking assurances that the story will be killed are made. and this matches up with harvey weinstein's claim and his legal threat letters to me and to "the new yorker" and others where he said i had a deal with nbc. they gave me written assurances that this story would be killed, and if you take this story elsewhere, they're going to assert a copyright claim on the

materi lay o in full and very fairly nb denial that they ever cut a deal like that. but the records and transcripts of calls suggest that there were promises made on those calls. >> i mean, you had tons of evidence. it was enough for "the new yorker" to run with it. you won a pulitzer prize. nonetheless, nbc is disputing a lot of your accounts. but if they are all true factually, do you think that nbc president andy lach and news chief noah oppenheim need to be fired? and what does this say to america, people watching nbc news if they're not fired? >> obviously, there are a lot of calls for that right now, especially inside of nbc where there are wonderful journalists who deserve the space to pursue tough stories like this. and also people working there who deserve the protection that you get when serial predators are removed from their jobs and there is accountability. and what you see in this company and so many companies i've reported on is instead a pattern of corporate and legal cover-ups, where they are paying women over and over again to make this problem go away and

keep people who are allegedly committing crimes in their jobs. that risks getting people hurt. i lay out those fax. my job as a reporter is to do so carefully and fairly, and i've done that and i'm gratified to see there is a conversation about it. what should happen, what companies should do in response to revelations like, this it's not my job to say. >> one thing i thought was really interesting is we often want to see angels and devils in the narrative, but toward the end of the book, you actually give the president of nbc news oppenheim a moment of grace because you have a phone conversation with him in the book, and you say that he asks some time down the line, ronan, i would love it if you made it so that i wasn't the enemy here. and you give him that. you say that he wasn't the enemy. why did you do that? >> well, so that's an important passage on multiple levels. he says i'm not the villain. i had bosses who made these decisions. he passes blame to andy lach, his boss, the head of news group at nbc, and his boss' boss,

steve berke, the head of nbcuniversal. and throughout the book what you see is in situations where if one person had taken responsibility and corporate leadership and said you know what? this is important, and we've heard audio of a guy confessing to serial sexual assault. we literally had harvey weinstein on tape confessing, and people might get hurt if we don't report this, let's seriously if we don't feel like there is enough right now, make sure this reporter is empowered to go o and get more. instead, there was this order to stop all calls, to cancel interviews. and that is a direct result of that kind of attitude that noah oppenheim voiced of people in leadership rules passing the buck. he says over and over again, these people don't work for me. my bosses are making decisions. when he says i'm not the villain, that is true in a particularly sinister sense. nobody thinks they're the villain and everybody thinks it's not their responsibility to do the right thing. and i would just quickly point out, on the other hand, this

book is full of characters who do stand up and do the right thing. my working producer refuses to shut it down, refuses to cancel introduce, loses his job after all of this. there are brave people in these pages too. so i hope you see both the cautionary tale and the inspiring one. >> all right. ronan farrow will be at calvary presbyterian church at 7:00 to talk more about his book. >> at 5:00, what ronan frrow said after that interview today to abs reporter liz kreutz. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg is in the bay area, talking to uc berkeley law students. this is a live picture of the event, which is being live-streamed by the university. ginsburg will be talking with berkeley law professional amanda tyler, who once clerked for justice. after the talk, law students will get to ask questions. the supreme court just began its new session earlier this month. all right. take a look up, because shooting stars from haley's comet will soon light up the bay area sky. one of the midwest meteor shower of the year will be visible from

the bay area tonight. the orionid will produce between ten and 20 shooting stars every hour and you don't need a telescope or binoculars to see it. look towards the southeastern horizon and try to move away from the bright lights. according to nasa, the event is considered to be one of the most beautiful showers of the year. >> that's neat. so we will be able to see it? cloud cover? >> clear skies all around the bay area. no fog is rolling up to the coast. we should be fine. here is a look at live doppler 7. we have sunny skies all across the region right now, and the main reason for this weather and the weather to come later this week is this big ridge of high pressure centered just offshore. that's going to be the dominant feature in our weather for several days, the clockwise circulation around that high is going to give us an offshore flow that's beginning to develop now. but it will be more pronounced over the next couple of days. and that's going bring warm, dry gusty wind out to sea. and of course that is going to

elevate concerns of fire. right now here is a nic clear view from sutro tower overlook where it is 76. 76 in oakland. redwood city 80. 83 at san jose and gilroy. 72 at half moon bay. and this is the view looking westward from emeryville. you see a little hint of some moisture in the air there, but no marine layer is forming right now. it's 89 degrees at santa rosa. san rafael 84. 83 at napa. 88 apiece at fairfield and concord. and 85 at livermore. and a clear view from mount tam looking down on to the bay. these are our forecast features. a warming drying trend is developing this week and will dominate the weather picture the entire week. wind will become gusty wednesday afternoon into thursday morning, and high fire danger will exist, especially in the higher elevations. overnight tonight, look for clear skies and low temperatures will be on the mild side. mainly mid 50, even a few upper 50s in the inland east bay. the cooler will be the north

valleys lows in the upper 40s to low 50s. the forecast animation shows you how far offshore the low clouds will remain as the offshore flow develops over the next couple of days. we'll have breezy conditions, but that breeze is going to be coming from land to sea over the next few days, and that will increase the warm-up but will make for dryer air. highs tomorrow will range from mid-70s at the coast to low and mid-80s a around the bay shoreline to 90 in the warm espinosa inland conditions, and that warm pattern is going to be with us all the way through the week. wednesday look for the warmest of the highs. inland to be around 90, 91 degrees. same thing on thursday. right around the bay shoreline, mid and upper 80s. we'll see upper 70s in some coastal areas by thursday. friday not much change there. maybe some minor cooling at the coast. but no significant cooling will begin until the weekend. here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. so there you go. sunny days, dry, warm, gusty conditions through most of this week. the wind will probably taper off a bit on friday.

but the cooling begins on saturday. we'll see higher humidity developing over the weekend. the risk of fire will diminish over the weekend, and we'll get a much cooler pattern going into early next week. >> nice. thank you, spencer. >> okay. just ahead, is this creepy or cool? a phone case that feels like real skin. what it can do, coming up. plus, what's happening in this classroom? the reason why these students

marty, you've got to come back with me. >> where? >> back to the future! >> that's classic. today is back to the future day. in the franchise's sequel, marty mcfly and doc brown time travel to october 21st, 2015. even though the date is four years in past now, can you believe it? people still mark the day as fawn way to celebrate their past and get excited about the future. >> has it been that long since

the movie came out? >> i know. >>noo something that certainly sounds futuriic. phone covers are usually designed to protect your device. but one is now being developed in a totally different form. it's made of artificial skin. ew. >> okay. >> the idea is to give the user some life-like sensations. i don't need life like sensations when i text. you can pinch it. it will display emojis that correspond to how it is touching. if it is laughing emoji, you can tickle it. is made from silicone and sensors that give it that real life look and feel. the researchers behind it are also working on an artificial skin watch band. no word yet on when it will go on sale. >> your skin is right under your watch band. >> that's all i need, right? now to an unusual new effort to prevent cheating. a university in india got creative by covering students ahead with cardboard boxes. look at this. so the front of the boxes are

cut out, allowing students to see their desks and exam sheets, but restricts their peripheral side vision. a staff member took the photos and posted them on facebook. they quickly went viral. this year marks the 50th birthday of "sesame street," and seaworld announced a park showcasing big bird and friends in san diego. says sesame place will open in 21. you're looking at video provided by the original sesame place. it's been open for nearly 40 years near philadelphia. today's announcement marks the latest move by seaworld to pivot away from holding live animal shows. a several billboard is heating up the san francisco mayoral race. the reaction from mayor london breed and why the campaign behind the billboard says it's not racist. plus, facebook says it has a plan for the 202010 election, but will they be able to stay ahead of the tro

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aaddiction. how juuline hooked kids and ignited an public health crisis." other news outlets report- juul took $12.8 billion from big tobacco. markets e-cigarettes with kid friendly flavors and uses nicotine to addict them. 5 million kids use e-cigarettes. juul is "following big tobacco's playbook." and now, juul is pushing prop c to overturn e-cigarette protections. vote no on juul. no on big tobacco. no on prop c. so that early retirement we planned. it's going ok?

great. now i'm spending more time with the kids. i'm introducing them to crab. crab!? they love it. so, you mentioned that that money we set aside. yeah. the kids and i want to build our own crab shack. ♪ ♪ ahhh, you're finally building that outdoor kitchen. yup - with room for the whole gang. ♪ ♪ see how investing with a j.p. morgan advisor can help you. visit your local chase branch. now news to build a better bay area, from abc7. >> abc7 news was first to tell you abou a controversial billboard depicting san francisco mayor london breed with her feet up, smoking and holding a stack of money. today breed and other city officials denounced the billboard paid for by the campaign of one of the year's

mayoral candidates. abc7 news reporter luz pena joins us live in san francisco with the late ohs story. luz? >> here it is in the alley of door street in san francisco. many people throughout the day have come here to take selfies with it. other neighbors tell us they want it out of here. now we spoke to the mayor of san francisco who said she was shocked when she saw it. it's the new attraction in the soma district, but the mayor of san francisco is not loving it. let's talk about the billboard. do you think the billboard is racist? >> i think that thelboard speaks for itself. >> the billboard depicts mayor breed with her feet up, thinking of the homeless, smoking and holding a stack of money. the billboard was paid candidate ellen zhou. >> it is hurtful and disrespectful and no place in san francisco for that kind of divisiveness. >> to which candidate ellen zhou

responded -- >> tell mayor london breed poohing and peeing on the street, you don't think it's disrespectful for people who pass by? for people doing drugs openly, you don't think people feel respected? >> zhou says she wants san franciscans to see there are five other candidates to vote for come november 5th and wants people to focus on her plan. what do you have to offer the people of san francisco? >> well, when i have a mayor, he will have a legal team to study all the illegal law that is unethical, it's illegal, that it's not protecting san francisco. i will be working with the federal to declare emergency to protect all the homeless people. thinking morning supervisor malia cohen along with other city leaders condemned the billboard. cohen asked for the company that owns the billboard to pull down the ad. zhou said she's not doing it. >> the question i put it up? yes, i put it up. >> you would do it all over again. >> yes. if i had more money, i would buy more billboards.

>> now according to a representative of the company who owns this billboard space right here in san francisco, the size of a billboard like this can cost anywhere between 1200 to $2400. in san francisco, luz pena, abc7 news. >> we are joined by the newest member of our abc7 news news team, long-time "san francisco chronicle" columnist phil materre. and joining us to weigh in, what do you make of this billboard? >> it's interesting. it racist? that depends i think on the eye of the beholder, who looks at it. is it sexist? again, that's a judgment call. how do you feel about it? is it offensive? yes. it is meant to be, you bet. because it might be mean. it might be disrespectful, but the point was to get attention. and that's what this accomplished. what we have is a candidate in a six-way race. mayor london breed is the incumbent. the race hasn't been covered there hasn't been a single

mayoral debate. ellen zhou last time got about 4% of the vote isn't happy with that equation. she has been talking about it on the internet. she has been talking about it with reporters, and now she took to it the billboard to get the attention. >> you couldell in the piece with luz that she was very bold, very confident. do you think this will help her campaign? >> well, it gets you noticed. >> sure. >> it is going to ultimate work or backfire? that depends. but, you know, mayor london breed, even,0 t running unopposed has an approval of 1/3. sp like, 1/3 don't. 1/3 aren't sure. more than half of the voters in san francisco feel that the city's off track because of homelessness, because of drugs, because of the ongoing auto break-ins. for a whole host of issue, including affordable housing. they don't feel city hall is responding to or the political establishment. so we have a candidate outside of that establishment deciding to play by different rules.

dion, you met her last time out at a community meeting. what was your impression of her? >> to be completely frank about the experience, we were in chinatown at an event after two elderly men were beaten up in the street, and she made her position very known in regards to our own agenda, and i think she may have even had a microphone with her. >> that comes with politics, okay. if you're going to run for office; you have to have one right here. but very passionate. >> very passionate. >> and crime and a feeling of victimization is very prevalent in the chinese american community in san francisco. they feel that they're often victims of crime and are quietly sort of half ignored. that has been an issue and now it's coming more to the fore. it's interesting what kind of effect will it whathwha have? she is a republican candidate. a healthy number. i asked the chairman of the republican party here in san francisco what he thought of the billboard. and he said he wouldn't have done it himself, but that, you know, this is something that

people are going to have to make their own judgments on, and it's going to be up to the voters to decide one way or the other. >> we do have to ask you, because we are in this day and age right now where we have president trump tweeting, and we have all these alternate ways that these candidates are getting their message across. what is it saying? >> let's also talk about the message themselves. it's not exactly what can you do for -- don't ask what you can do for your country, what your country can do for you, no. it's she's a loser. he's an idiot. so we have taken the debate into south parkland, all right? i'm sorry, but that is what america. it's not mayberry by the way anymore. it's south park. and that's where this debate is going. and what we're seeing here is well. this was a cartoon made to make a point. london breed is no stranger to this. it's not the first time she has been put up to ridicule. when she first ran, remember they said she was a puppet of billionaires downtown.

nod your headhead. that's how the campaign got launched. was that racist? was that anti-woman? and she won. chances are she is going to do the same with this one as well. in fact, she is already doing it. >> oh, the future of politics. >> yes, it's here. >> all right, thank you so much, phil. and phil matertier is in "the s francisco chronicle." you see more of his work there. >> and here. >> absolutely. we love having you. we do wanto remind you that the deadline to register to vote in california is 11:59 p.m. for the november elections. the easiest way to register is online, but paper registration forms are available. if you miss the deadline, there is the conditional voter registration process you can do all the way up to election day. we have all the links and details at our website, abc7news.com. well, facebook says it has stopped interference campaigns from russia and iran aimed at the 2020 election. the company removed four separate networks of accounts,

pages an groups for what it calls coordinated inauthentic behavior. facebook hired a social media investigations company to find the accounts. facebook is also unveiling plans to fight election interference, sying it will clearly label news from state-owned media and will give greater transparency platforms.igins of pages on its we turn now to that catastrophic damage through the southern plains in deep south after a trail of tornadoes ripped through the area. look at this, all the debris on that car. it's not over yet. more storms, they're on the way tonight. here is abc reporter marcus moore. >> overnight, wicked weather leaving a trail of destruction across six states, three tornadoes in texas tearing apart everything in their path. >> oh my god. >> this is a tornado touching down right now. >> i see upward motion, strong upward motion. >> lots of debris flying. >> uprooting trees, even flattening this home depot. >> it's really a war zone.

i don't know a better way to call it. >> one person killed in arkansas after a tree fell on to a home. 120 damaging storm reports so far. >> they got trapped people inside. >> i think they've got multiple victims here. >> this video showing the aftermath. one of the twisters on a popular highway in dallas. debris and this jackknifed truck blocking lanes. >> i froze because there was nowhere i could go. >> this morning many schools closed, residents forced on to the streets. in the middle of the destruction these storms have left behind. >> our top priority has been making sure that everyone in our city is safe. >> and today the threat still lingers. damaging winds possible from kentucky down to the gulf of mexico, stretching from louisiana all the way to the florida panhandle. and you can see what this powerful storm did. that van just behind me tossed around and trees have been snapped here. and more than 100,000 customers are still without power. marcus moore, abc news, richard son, texas. a major settlement today

involving two ohio counties hard hit by the opioid crisis. attorneys with cuyamaca and summit counties reached a $260 million today with the nation's three biggest drug distributors and a major drugmaker. the settlement came just before opening arguments were set in what would have been the first in the drug crisis. a state attorneys general is still pushing to finalize a nationwide statement potentially worth nearly $50 billion. getting ready for the holiday travel scene. 7 on your side's michael finney will have help. it's coming up already. but first, we'll take you to another hot bay area pumpkin patch. this one with so many pumpkins that. >> can't even keep track. our skies are bright and sunny right now, but we are in the middle of a drying warming trend that is going to bring strong gusty wind and high fire danger as well. i'll have the

tto harrison, the wine tcollection.. to craig, this rock. i leave these things to my heirs, all 39 million of you, on one condition. that you do everything to preserve and protect them. with love, california.

i just add a spoonful to my marinades... ...to stir frys... ...sauces. just whisk it in... ...brush it on... sauté it.

it adds a "cooked all day taste" ...that doesn't take all day. better than bouillon. don't just make it. make it better. don't just make it. and the breadwinner arrives home from a long day at work. now thfamily can sit down at the table, where everyone knows to be mindful of their manners. dinnertime has changed. our quality hasn't. reynolds wrap: foil made in the usa since 1947. if you're still looking for that perfect pumpkin for halloween, you still have some time. >> no worries. we went and searched for some of the best spots to pick up the perfect gourd. in half moon bay, we checked out the four c pumpkin patch. >> there is probably three acres right there of pumpkins. never counted them. i don't have the time to sit there and count them. there is quite a bit. the sight of all the pumpkin size of the field and then you've got countryside behind us here, i mean, it's pretty uni e

unique. we're lucky to have it. and we love seeing the public come here and enjoying it. we've had people coming here for almost 30 years. the weekend before pumpkin festival is really busy. pumpkin festival obviously is busy. and the weekend after that, that's the big push for the pumpkins. be patient. with all the screaming kids in the car, just be patient, i guess, you know. you'll get here. seems like on a nice warm day, there is a lot of people out. and just prepare for there will be some traffic to deal with on this highway. >> and we've put together a list of some of the best pumpkin patches in the bay area. you can find it on our website, abc7news.com, and then scroll down to the featured section. okay. if you're a "friends" fan, there a new costume just for you this halloween. check it out, it is a giant turkey mask like the one monica wore in season 5. now the scene where she wears

the turkey on her head to cheer up chandler is infamous, and it's now available on the gift website firebox. other popular "friends" related costumes include the holiday armadillo, and the sputnik potato suit. hmm. i'm going to pass probably. >> i think so. spencer is just in his wonderful nice classic suit today. >> i think i'll just stay this way. i'll pass on the costumes. live doppler 7, sunny skies across the bay area right now. we have a week filled with sunny days coming our way. overnight clear skies with low temperatures mainly in the mid-50s. it's going to be pretty mild overnight. we have very warm days copping our way. tomorrow is one of them. look for highs in the mid-70s on the coast tomorrow. we'll see low to mid-80s right around the bay shoreline. upper 80s to about 90 degrees inland, and here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. it looks like we've got, again, a string of warm, dry days coming our way with increasing wind around midweek, which is also going to increase fire danger. wednesday and thursday, we may

have red flag warnings issued. we're waiting to see what the weather service puts thoughthe next day or so. we won't have cooler weather until the weekend. it will start to cooldown. relative humidity will increase, and that will lower the risk of fire at the end of the week. >> good. all right, thank you, spencer. counting down, we are 64 days away from christmas. are you ready? we've got a little bit of help from parents, just ahead. i'm 7 on your side's michael finney. the holidays are just around the corner, and perhaps, just perhaps, so are some of your trav

shouldn't mean a change in standards. that's why - thanks to you - we're rated number one in customer satisfaction by j.d. power. really hard to believe this, but christmas and thanksgiving are weeks away. >> so if you plan to do some holiday traveling, 7 on your side's michael finney has tips on how to save. >> the start of holiday season is just around the corner. so if you plan on traveling, when is the best time for you to book a trip, and when is the best time to fly out? joining me now is a good friend of the program, leanna corwin. she is from hopper. you were just explaining the difference between where people go during the christmas holidays and where people go during the thanksgiving holidays. tell me about that. >> this is one of my favorite trends that comes up every year is that for thanksgiving, people really tend to go to the

hometown airport. they're not the largest airports, but over the holidays, that's the ones that start to trend. indianapolis, charlotte, those start to pop up. >> kansas city. >> exactly. >> okay. and then during the december holidays? >> and then during the december holidays, we see people maybe not going home as much. they're traveling to the more popular major airports that are popular year round. so new york, l.a., orlando, those are really the more popular airports for christmas. >> so have we missed the correct time to be booking these flights, or do we still have an opportunity? >> thankfully, no. you still have a few weeks left. so, you know, halloween is really the date that we recommend people try to book both their thanksgiving and christmas flights, if possible. october just tends to be a really good month for airfare, and this year is actually the lowest its been in six years. if you can get your plans in order, definitely recommend doing that in the next couple weeks. you know, if you miss that deadline, november 7th is really

the cutoff for thanksgiving prices. they start to rise by about $10 a day every single day that you wait. so definitely try and book by the 7th. >> okay. if you fly out on thanksgiving day itself, it's a lot cheaper, right? >> yes, that's a great tip. so you can save about 23% on your ticket if you fly on thanksgiving day. if you are worried about missing out on the celebrations, the monday prior can also save you a good chunk of money as well, although you have to take a few more days off work. >> when do you fly back? >> when you fly back is also a tough one. sunday is the most popular day to return. it's going to be the most expensive. if you can come back on the monday after, that full week back home, that's going to save you the most money. but otherwise, if you could come back on the day after thanksgiving or saturday, that can help as well. >> december holidays. what's the best time to travel? >> with christmas, it's kind of the same rule of thumb as with thanksgiving. so if you fly on the holiday itself, christmas day or

christmas eve, you can save >> that's gutsy. >> the next best is the monday. it's the earlier you can leave, the further away from christmas will save you some money. and then you know the holiday itself. especially if you're traveling somewhere where it's snowing, chicago, new york, you might be in a little bit of trouble. >> where should we travel? where is a good deal this year? >> what we're seeing if you want to travel internationally, this is a great time to go. prices around thanksgiving arer $600 round trip. and that's the average for international travel. >> like to london or paris? >> and london is down 42% right now for a number of reasons that you can think of. the climate is obviously with brexit and everything a little bit challenging. exactly. >> leanna from hopper, i appreciate all your time. check out at hopper.com. back to you guys. >> thank you, michael. with the holiday shopping season

just around the corner, we're seeing new toys stocked on store shelves. good housekeeping unveiled the winners of the best toys today. kids testing them out. the winner in under $20 was crayola's spin and spiral art station. the go glam nail stamper was the top toy for under $50, while melissa and doug's doctor activity set was the number one big ticket item. the magazine says it looks for toys that are safe, durable, and of course fun. another fast food chain is expanding its venture into the meatless movement. dunkin' donuts announced it will soon sell plant-based sausage brexit sandwich nationwide. the pattys are made by beyond meat. the chain began selling the sandwiches in its new york locations in july. sales were twice as high as expected. so now dunkin' will be rolling them out nationwide starting november 6. burger king is introducing a new whopper just in time for

halloween. it's called the ghost whopper. it's much like the original one, but one features a white cheddar cheese flavored bun. it's available only for a limited time starting thursday at the burger king on powell street in san francisco as well as nine other restaurants nationwide. all right. most dog lovers, they know how amazing man's best friend can be. now a bay area author is shining the light on how special dogs are. a look at some of their life-saving skills, coming up. and kristen joins us now with what's coming up on abc7 news at 5:00. hey, kristen. >> thanks, dion and ama. new at 5:00, facing issues and meeting the challenge. >> do you have hope now? >> tremendous hope. >> a ribbon cutting and the new future for women in the east bay. plus -- >> the devastating impact is on how we serve the community. >> a bike store burglarized again in san jose. the owner answers the question was this an inside job. those stories and more when dion hey there, california residents on medicare.

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coming up tonight on abc7 news at 8:00, it's "dancing with the stars." at 10:00, it's "the good doctor." then stay with us for abc7 news at 11:00. a bay area author is shining a spotlight on the incredible capabilities of man's best friend, but in this case, the life-saving skills are something you might normally associate with doctors. abc7 news anchor dan ashley has the story. >> he is sniffing out cancer.

he's looking for prostate cancer. >> maria is hot on the scent of what she calls a life-saving medical trend, the diagnosing and treating of disease not by doctors in white coats, but by canines in collars. >> dogs are being used in so many different ways. they're really on the cutting edge of medicine right now. >> she tracks their growing contributions in her new book doctor dogs. starting with the uncanny ability of trained dogs to sniff out cancer cells. this demonstration was photographed at a center in england where the test animal is able to locate the sample containing cancer cells in just a matter of moments. >> good boy! >> i heard about some dogs that were detecting ovarian cancer at stage 1, which is unheard of with whatever is available at our doctor's offices. so i got really intrigued of how is this happening. >> she began following dogs in two settings, research and practical therapy. the second group includes trained animals like those provided by dogs for diabetics in the bay area, which can

detect when their owners are running low on blood sugar and warn them. and they're not alone. >> alert. down. >> leslie fong suffers from grand mall seizures and relies on her service dog bud. >> will put his whole body if i'm on the floor underneath my head so i don't hit myself. this dog is a life-saver. >> some dogs are detecting parkinson's disease. they're trying to see how early they can detect it. >> others are training the animals to detect superbugs in hospital settings and even malaria. ultimately she believes scientists will learn to emulate some of the dogs' skills creating new ways of detecting and perhaps treating disease earlier. in san francisco, dan ashley, abc7 news. >> isn't that just amazing what they can do? she is no stranger to extraordinary canines. she is also the author of best-selling books on secret service as well as military dogs. all right that is going to do it

for this edition of abc7 news at 4:00. we thank you so much for joining us today. i'm ama daetz. abc7 news at 5:00 starts now. >> where have they been? they should be much better prepared. >> frustration boils over as pg&e says it may once again shut off power. north bay residents say there must be a better way. that explosion so strong it blew the lid from one tank high into the air. now a new report to the impact to air quality. a bicycle thief in san jose. one store owner says he'll keep pedaling, no matter what it takes. and a home turns into a turning point in oakland. hope becomes reality. an alleged campaign of silence, and the author who toll the world all about it. >> now from abc7 news, live breaking news. >> you are looking live at that breaking news in eastern contra costa county. sky 7 is above a grass fire burning out of control in brentwood. it broke out off orwood rn

the delta ase push in, you can see some ofheflames. and certainly that hugeolumn of. flames have burned about 40 acres so far we are told in this marshy area. you can see it's right next to the detail that and the water. the fire's location is making it hard for crews to get to the the flames are getting very close to a nearby cannabis farm so, they are watching that. and firefighters want to stop the flames before they reach the crop. we'll continue to bring you updates as we get more information. and with that, good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm dion lim. >> and i'm kristen sze. now to our other top story today. wednesday'str are coming m force it to shut power off to 15 county, including sonoma, napa and san mateo. owners, residents and business owners are furious. >> melanie woodrow joins us live at sonoma plaza with more on this story. melanie? >> kristen andy on, this area really is the heart of sonoma.