the city is known as the most populus in the country with no building taller than 300 feet. but not anymore. the building in yellow will alter the face of the city forever. > here at abc 7 news we're focussed on building a better bay area by examining issues like livability and ways to make things better. >> if the mayor of san jose says that's what's going to happen with what he says is the coming of age of downtown san jose. >> reporter: in the bay area's largest city, a major ground breaking that's been a long time coming. at 300 feet and 19 stories, 200 park will become san jose's tallest building. an iconic high rise will be downtown's first office tower to be built on a spec basis in nearly a decade. >> the rents were much higher to the north of us and the constructions costs were the same wherever you build in the bay area, so builders the ended

to go where they could get higher rends. >> reporter: opponents cited safety concerns as well as financial viability for long haul flights that could choose to lighten their passenger load to ensure planes are light enough. but they say the change now gives the city a better chance of landing larger scale projects like 200 park in the future. >> if you are allowed to go taller, you can do different things with your architecture, you can have a denser building. you can go up instead of pushing down and out. >> reporter: this veteran developer behind the striking tower, which is expected to total 875,000 square feet with room for more than 4,000 employees. multiple terraces and bridges as seen here in this rendering will provide natural lighting on every floor. >> a lot of young people want to

have the excitement of the city with the housing and the business and all the entertainment and restaurants right by where they were. so that's i think the component that's going to make san jose a really great success. >> a calculated risk that could forever change the city's downtown core. >> we struggled through a lot of recessions but now we're starting to really catch fire. >> reporter: in san jose abc 7 news. >> all right. so let's put this new office tower in perspective. it will be 300 feet tall, the tallest building in san jose. the tallest skyscraper in oakland is the 404 foot tall kizer headquarters at lake merit. that's in the middle. in san francisco on the right there is the sales force tower at 1,070 feet, taller than the two others put together. at the same time, san jose leaders are preserving open

space in the far southern end of the city where housing was once envisioned. despite a desperate need for more housing, city leaders say that open space is also important in building a better bay area. >> reporter: a dozen years ago there were visions of this valley, 20,000 acres might be developed for 25,000 homes. then came the recession. san jose ran into budget problems and environmental groups argued the land should be preserved of open space. the city council voted on spending to acquire 936 acres in the vicinity. >> today we turn the page on the long-standing debate about north coyote valley and start a new chapter, a chapter that recognizes the inherent value of our land and the importance of protecting it. >> reporter: the land is being sold by a private land developer.

a third partner. the total deal is worth $93 million. >> reporter: as you can see from this no tressing sign, the land still is in private ownership. but the goal some day, the land could be preserved as agricultural land. it could be used for hiking for the public or used for flood control. wildlife will also benefit. bob cats, coyotes and deer cross this habitat. development would have put them at risk. >> you can see the green on either side of it. those are protected lands. we hope to now take this incredible block of land and connect it all the way through. >> reporter: while critics argue the land is needed to ease the housing crisis. san jose leaders say they are trying to locate sprawl to ease traffic congestion and deliver the open space that residents funded by a 71% vote. abc 7 news. developing news in san francisco where several races

still too close to call as ballots are still being counted after yesterday's election. one of those tight races is for san francisco da. the register put down new numbers an hour ago. and suzie loftis has expanded her lead there. there were four candidates to start. but it's down to loftis and the public defender. loftis has 51% of the vote. more than 2,200 votes separate the two. earlier today the margin was just 240 votes. mayor breed was successful if her run for mayor, but the fate of another of her appointees still too close to call. now ahead in the district five supervisor race. that's a change from earlier today. she was just over 50.3% of the vote compared with dean preston's 49.7%. a judge has been removed

from office over allegations he sexually harassed women in the courtroom and abused his authority. the state commission on judicial performance says judge john even ganled with women in a way that was unwelcome, undignified, discourteous and offensive and his actions constituted gender bias. the commissioner says he was not credible or truthful in his testimony and that he did not agree his behavior was improper. in the north bay a car crash killed a bicyclist who officers say may have lived if he had been wearing a helmet. the crash shut down highway 12 near a drone road for about two hours this morning. the driver is cooperating with the investigation. this is the second fatale bicycle accident in the county in two days. both the sies clis and the driver were heading in the same direction. >> for a reason we just don't know yet, the two collided and the impact of the cyclist

hitting the asphalt roadway is what caused his fatale injuries. >> a new study by the national transportation board says it is the biggest cause of death among sigh clis. the new star energy plant has resumed partial energy operations following a storage fire. a committee of the bay area air quality met today and discussed the fire. it said high levels of smoke particles into the air. county health officials said it did not contain unusually high levels of toxins. the incident is an opportunity to review the group's role and response during emergencies. >> during this event, i get a lot of e-mails from the board on our -- why aren't you out there, you know? and, so, we were too busy trying to communicate to the public and coordinate our activities to really explain roles.

>> reporter: the cause of the fire on october 15th is still not known. the kinkaid fire in sonoma county is now 88% contained. that's 4% more than yesterday. it's burned nearly 78,000 acres and destroyed 374 structures. full containment is expected tomorrow. and as the kinkaid fire dwindles, thankfully, stories continue coming out about small and not so small acts of heroism. >> the story of how a three-minute effort saved a lifetime of memories. >> reporter: with every burned house in the kinkaid fire, a story of what is, what was and how it came to ashes. these from a dream home in the vineyards off highway 128 where jeff thompson spent 35 years of his life. >> i felt stupid for not grabbing stuff, but i figured i'd be back. >> i'm going to try to flag down another rig. >> reporter: it didn't work out

that way. this video showed what firefighters faced. and, yet, out of this, jeff thompson's small miracle from the fire began. by the time fire igters arrived, this house was well ablaze. there was no saving it. but they did look inside. they saw pictures on the wall, family items. they gave themselves three minutes to save what they could. the captain and his crew from the fire department near grass valley told us by phone how and why they took the calculated risk in a burning home. >> i kind of thought about it as if it was my house. i would want pictures that were still on the walls. >> reporter: and keepsakes including a 200-year-old bible from the old country. the firefighters left what they saved in a pump house. now jeff has them in the backseat of his pickup truck. >> it's just -- it was above and beyond. >> reporter: not just that they did this, but also that they took items as if guided by an

unseen force. >> this is the box that was up on a shelf. >> reporter: the box contains recipes that belonged to his wife lori. she passed away ten years ago. >> my son said, it is just stuff, dad. but this is important. >> reporter: so said the man who thought that stuff filled with memories had gone forever, just like so much else. in sonoma country, abc 7 news. a possible break-through in the fight over the coliseum. what the a's are now proposing that could be a big win for the team. abc 7 contributor is here to weigh in. plus -- ♪ >> from truth hurts to youth first. a local teacher tweaks a hit song and ends up inspiring both her students and the community they live in. temperatures down today. expect a

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oakland is facing new pressure to let the athletics build a new stadium. the morning a group of business leaders marched into the city council's office to drop off a letter asking the city to drop the lawsuit blocking the a's from buying the county's portion of the coliseum site. so the plot thickens once again on this. abc 7 news contributor. >> they lost the warriors. they lost the raiders. this is it. >> it could be it. it could be it. now, that group that walked into city hall this morning and delivered that letter is not just made up out of thin air. it as done at the support of the a's. they are trying to generate their own community support to get the ball rolling because quite frankly they have yet to get to first base on the idea of building a new waterfront

ballpark in downtown oakland along the port. in part because they say that in order to privately finance that deal, which is going to cost, what, about a billion dollars. >> at least. >> they need a private development to go in at the old coliseum site. they need to build there. and that's what community leaders did. these business leaders have three stipulations for the city, drop the lawsuit no conditions and negotiate. here is what they had to say. >> the a's offered a very attractive deal to either buy or lease the land. the plan is very specific, includes a commitment not to relocate. >> interesting. so where does this go? >> well, major league baseball says if you don't drop this lawsuit that's preventing them from getting that deal going, there is a good chance not only will the raiders will playing in las vegas but the a's will be playing there, too. they had a meeting this afternoon. okay? and everybody was thinking they were going to go in, shake hands, work out something and

the lawsuit would be dropped in return for the a's buying out the city, giving them $85 million or maybe a long-term lease or maybe having a community benefits part of the deal that made everything a little more politically easy. instead, they left that meeting it appears as far apart as ever. >> you know, it occurs to me. cities are not always great at negotiating these complicated business deals. i have heard from people saying the city did not do a good job with the warriors or the raiders. what is the disconnect, do you think? why is it so challenging to get a deal done in oakland? >> it is tough because you are trying to get a deal with a major league sports team. like it or not when you are dealing with major league sports, whether nfl or nba, it requires major money. you have to justif that to the voters. so you are always trying to get something out of the deal. in this case it would be a new neighborhood, a jewel of a ballpark. but there is all a take. and the take on this is they

want the coliseum site to develop and the politicians are hinky about that because they said is this the best deal for the city. the city wants a guarantee that let's say they don't build over here at howard terminal or the coliseum site, that the coliseum site would come back to the city. another problem is the city says we're willing to drop the we we right possibly to bring it back. >> to reinstate it, right. >> the a's are going, that's not the way you negotiate that. we can't get out of the exhibition season to get into the real ball game, which is trying to build something like this, which by the way will take an incredible effort. >> of course. >> this will not be easy. >> no. it will be a crown jewel if they can pull it off. >> if they can't get to first, the question is how do they get around the rest of the time to get to that jewel. >> great baseball metaphor, phil. let's check it out. the weather is turning pretty nice if you like it warm. >> absolutely.

it will get warmer in the coming days. but today believe it or not some parts of the bay area were cooler than average as those temperatures dropped. you will notice that the fog has snaugle e snuggled up to the coastline. it was slow. that impacted temperatures down 11 degrees in napa compared to 24 hours ago. it is seven degrees cooler in san jose and in concord down 8 degrees. let's check out what's ahead as you plan your day for tomorrow. we are expecting some fog along the coast and around the bay. it is already making its push across the bay tonight. tomorrow morning expected a little warmer in the afternoon and sunny with above average temperatures expected for the upcoming weekend. a live look. you can see the fog just cascading over the hills there. we are looking at a pattern for next week that is going to be dry. 50% to 60% chance of below average rain fall for the california area and the bay

area. where is the wet weather? right now it is looking like the east coast will pretty much be dealing with the showers. here is a post sunset glow. we're seeing some high clouds. 52 in the city. low 60s from redwood city to san jose. a live look from our south beach camera there. fog coming in almost looks like a summer pattern here. temperatures in the low 60s from santa rosa to pet lieu ma. 68 in livermoore. first thing out the door, temperatures in the 40s, 50s, but a few spots down to 39 degrees. definitely need the layers. watch out for that fog around the coast. it will be in right over the east bay as well. then for the afternoon, i think the fog will pull back to the coast a little bit sooner, allowing the temperatures to come up a few degrees. in the south bay 79 degrees. 76 in san jose. pretty mild on the peninsula in mountain view. pacifica 61 degrees.

san francisco 66. a little bit of a breeze in the afternoon, a lot like today. in the north bay 74. 77 napa. up to 80 degrees in santa rosa. the sun will be shining in the east bay. 71 in oakland. head inland and it's in the md-70s to low 80s. 78 degrees. 80 in brentwood. seven day forecast, minor warming for your thursday. the warming trend continues with above average temperatures for saturday, sunday. low 80s inland. 60s coast side. veterans day is looking mild and sunny. those temperatures will start to come down tuesday, wednesday. 70s for the warmest inland valleys. but until then, we have dry forecast, at least in the about you weather seven day. we'll see if things change in november. >> okay. a pittsburgh elementary schoolteacher has taken a song that most parents wouldn't want

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have you heard of li strzzo? skids love her and one teacher in pits has taken one of the songs and done something incredible with it. >> getting a lot of play, too. what the teacher has done with her version of lizzo's song truth hurts ♪ just a little ♪ you supposed to hold me down but you're holding me back ♪ that's the sound of me not calling you back. >> the original hit is about a romance gone bad and features adult lyrics. >> i heard the song over the summer. loved it. it's been my jam ♪ ♪ >> each year this second grade teacher chooses a song to start each day with positive energy. she wanted truth hurts.

>> i knew when i heard the song that it's definitely not, you know, appropriate for school. >> so she re-wrote the lyrics and taught them to our students which spawned this video. ♪ >> it has since gone viral with viewers attracted to the energy and positive messages about education, learning and having each other's backs. the kids like it, too. >> it makes us feel happy in learning and makes us feel loved. ♪ ♪ >> when we sing this song, we forget about all the bad things that happened. >> sometimes personal life gets crazy and as soon as we sing that song, it is a time for us to exhale, be in that feed off each other's energy. >> so these kids will leave tonight with the energy they compiled with singing the song and they will come back tomorrow morning and do it all again. >> yeah. i love this class

♪ >> and it shows. in pittsburgh, eric thomas, abc 7 news. and just in the past few hours lizzo tweeted about this video. she wrote, this is the best thing i watched today followed by a heart emoji. she responded after a user tweeted the video at her. what a way to connect with the kids. well, making a difference by digging in the dirt. we'll explain what's going on. we want to thank pamela of this picture. she says, as it sits in both the sunrise and the fog, it is surreal. >> great shot. >> share your pictures with us with the

finally, the nfl's salute to services campaign came to san francisco. >> got their hands dirty at a

farm who provides free organic produce to people who need it. >> the volunteers planted drops and removing debris. the effort was especially meaningful to this niners offensive line man, a graduate of the air force academy who served over seas. >> i love to eat. i'm an offensive line man. being able to give the gift of food to someone who is hungry is a blessing. this food is good for you and giving up for free. maybe 20,000 pounds a year. how incredible is that? >> the nfl's salute to service is a year-round initiative that has donated more than $30 million. >> and get ready for monday night football here. the only undefeated team in the nfl this season will take on the seahawks at levi's stadium. coverage begins at 5:00 p.m. on monday. >> so exciting, right? world news tonight is next. we appreciate your time. >> from all of us here, thanks

for joining us tonight. >> we'll see you again ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ blow a kiss, into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss, into the sun ♪ all we need is somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the impeachment hearings about to go public. the first televised hearings now set. the showdown will soon play out in front of the country. the first witnesses set and, tonight, the testimony just revealed. the top u.s. diplomat, a west point grad and vietnam vet, who says he had a clear understanding this was a quid pro quo. also, news coming in tonight about the american families ambushed and killed in mexico. new images of family members returning to the horrific scene. our team there, as well. and what we did not know. the deadly commute tonight. dangerous driving with a major storm already bringing frigid temperatures and up to six inches of snow in some places, from minnesota all the way east to new york. the accidents already tonight and ginger is here to time it out. the urgent hunt right now for a dangerous fugitive. he is 13, accud