. state regulators make it official. they will investigate the power shutoffs that plunged millions of people into the dark. one mayor says her town is still feeling the effects. it's been a couple wiex since we lost our power. everyone i know are still trying to make up for the lost three weeks of time. also tonight, the new plan to fight illegal dumping in two bay area counties. plus, the new effort to make the buses run on time in san francisco. new surveillance video released. will it lead to whoever kidnapped and killed a tech ceo. parents are opposing school closures. free housing for san jose state college students. a new partnership is formed. an investigation is one

thing. but we want some solutions to the problems. solution and answers. that's a county supervisor talking about state regulators today opening an investigation into the recent pg&e power shutoffs. blackouts that pg&e insists were necessary to prevent its lines from sparking wildfires. good evening. i'm dan ashley. i'm kristen sze. thanks for joining us. more than a million customers were impacted. we went through four rounds last month adding up to ten days total. that's about a third of october. >> abc 7 news reporter melanie woodrow was at the cpcu meeting. she's in the newsroom with the latest. >> dan and kristen, the vote followed a series of public comments in which residents and local leaders conveyed the challenges they're facing in the wake of the shutoffs. they may consider taking action if they find pg&e committed violations. >> commissioner cher ohm a -- >> the california public utilities commission voting to

formally investigating the pg&e power shutoffs. the the investigation will assess whether pg&e properly balanced the need to provide safe and reliable services when planning and executig the shutoffs. something residents impacted want to know as well. >> many californians are debating whether california is still safe. >> the first phase of the investigation will evaluate the internal coordination, external communication and execution of the shutoffs. >> this will serve as a forum for taking evidence. >> the supervisor, moke simon. >> hopefully we come up with suggestions and solution toss help folks move forward. >> the city mayor says her community plans to contribute. >> basically, we're asking to put sensors on the lines to be more tafrgted and not do this broad shutoff for days on end. >> in an e-mailed statement to abc 7 news, a pg&e spokesperson

writes, quote, while we recognize that the scope of events is unsustainable in the long-term, it was the correct -- given the large scale weather event and ensuing equipment damage that unfolded across our service area. >> an investigates is one thing. when we investigate, we want some solutions to the problem. >> the cpuc says an enforcement phase could be opened if the commission find noncompliance with rules and regulations. >> the california public utilities commission has ordered pg&e to demonstrate why it shouldn't be sanctioned for the safety power shutoff event. abc 7 news. melanie, thank you. in the east bay, two counties are cracking down on illegal dumping. the state is giving contra costa and alameda counties $750,000. the money will pay for three shiefr's deputies dedicate today target people who dispose of the trash illegally. it's a one-year pilot program. a task force is cleaning up

target areas. they hope it serves as a model for the rest of the state. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony will have much more at 6:00 on this. the protest signs are back out. demonstrators may try for a fourth time to disrupt a meeting of the oakland unified school board. the one protest escalated into a clash with police. the issue is -- has plans to close a number of schools to save money. it's causing controversy. thomas is -- he's live at the meeg. eric, that's quite a crowd behind you. >> it is quite a crowd behind me, dan. they're upset over a lot of things. as you mentioned, school closures, the fact that the district has 11,000 more seats than it does students. but also, the police and the schools, after that clash you mentioned with police at the last school board meeting, well, they'd rather not have them around. they're going to go in and try to disrupt this meeting tonight. >> teachers from several

different schools gathered after class at oakland high to gear up for tonight's protest. oakland unified spokesman told me the meeting will be open to the public initially at least. >> there's a contingency in place in case protesters try to take over the meeting as they've done the past meetings. >> at the october 23rd meeting, they clashed with police after a protester jumped over a barricade separating them from the school board. several arrests were made. >> there was no threat to the board. but there is a threat to their business because we don't want them to be closing down these schools. >> last meeting the board moved to an upstairs room for security. it left the public in the meeting hall to watch them on closed circuit tv. they're angry that the district is closing schools like kaiser elementary due to declining enroll am. some believe the district wants to -- >> they tend to cherry pick the kids. we don't. we accept everyone. >> saah saki says the district

would be shooting itself in the foot by favoring charter schools. >> that means they -- they get the money from the state. bypasses the district. >> reporter: no. that upstairs room doesn't have enough room for any of protesters, basically. the district has taken care of that by providing closed circuit tv and microphones so they can ask questions or make public comments in that downstairs room that the board of education will hear in the upstairs room. that has not been decided on yet initially. they're supposed to start the public hearing in a half hour or so. we'll see what happens then. yes, there will be police on hand tonight. reporting live in oakland, eric thomas, abc 7 news. we'll keep following it. thank you. new developments in the murder of a tech millionaire. we're getting a first look at the suspects. the santa cruz county sheriff's office released this security video today showing three suspects in the murder of the

millionaire. one of men is carrying a duffel bag. the other a rifle. they're seen walking near his house in santa cruz. he was kidnapped and killed last month. a reward was increased from $25,000 to $150,000. a high-speed chase ended in an arrest at gunpoint in downtown healdsburg today. this was a video from the helicopter today. the chase reached 90 miles per hour at one.. santa rosa police rammed the vehicle as the suspect slowed to navigate a roundabout. the police took a passenger and driver out of vehicle at gunpoint. san francisco has a new transit chief and he's making new promises. first to fix the mechanical problems. a deal with a shortage of drivers. to basically fix a system overloaded and notorious for chaos. muni is one of the busiest in the country. agency head jeffrey tum lynn will have -- it's a major issue when it comes to building a

better bay area. abc 7 news reporter vic lee is live in san francisco with more on the plans to -- vic? >> reporter: that's right, dan. jeffrey tum lynn's vision is to build a better transit system for san francisco and he's got a lot of experience to back him up. in fact, more than 20 years experience in transportation planning and management. mayor london breed introduced him today at city hall with some words of advice. >> we need to do better. >> the reality of public transportation in the city and the challenge facing the new transportation director. but jeffrey tumlin says he's ready. >> i've long been an outspoken proponent of changing core practices in my industry. >> his first task is to listen. he doesn't know all the answers yet. he should get an earful. e-scooters and bike shares are

proliferating as are ride shares. infrastructure repairs overdue. even the new railcars have design issues. there's a lack of parking. nowhere more evident than van ness avenue. traffic lanes is years behind schedule. the construction has driven small business owners out of business. this man may lose his market as well. >> almost 60% of the businesses are dpon. >> all these issues facing the new transportation czar, not to mention a labor shortage of muni operators. last year alone 400 vacant positions. tumlin says that's a critical problem. >> i want to have conversations about how do we make sure that we are paying every employee a living wage. >> we asked muni riders what message they'd like to send to him. >> i would like the bus toss come at regular intervals rather

than have it chaotic timing. >> they're always breaking down, that's one thing. >> the quality of service overall. >> reporter: the board of directors of sfmta will formally appoint him at its meeting on monday. vic lee, abc 7 news. thank you very much. a different kind of airbnb option. this one is the first of its kind and it's happening in san jose. google gets into the banking business. there's one big reason why. mural in the mission. a house gets a new addition as a tribute to latin music honors a new legend. i'm meteorologist sandhya patel. it's going to be it takes a village to raise a child. to build a bridge. to throw a baseball... to throw yourself into the unknown. to lose fear, to create hope.

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students. one in four of the homeless in santa clara county is a college student. now, airbnb is teaming up with civic and educational leaders to change that. abc 7 news reporter chris nguyen has the story. >> reporter: homelessness or housing insecurity can be huge barriers to higher education. >> we've got hundreds of homeless students who should be thinking about their exams and classes rather than where are they going to sleep each night. >> reporter: that's why the mayor's office is teaming up with airbnb to launch a first of its kind pilot program to offer temporary short-term housing to homeless students who attend sjsu or local community college. >> we have hosts who are incredibly interested in playing this role and opening up their homes and engaging with student who is may need housing. >> the bill wilson center, a nonprofit who works with homeless youth will have access to the booking platform typically used by businesses to reserve rooms for employees. the rooms we covered using a

$250,000 state grant that was previously awarded to the center. >> if you're already struggling with the cost of how you afford housing, how do you do that during the period when college dorms are closed. this really solves a problem in a very specific issue. >> airbnb will waive host and booking fees as the bill wilson center hose -- using technology for good. >> see how we can leverage everyone's good resources to tackle homelessness. >> a recent study found more than 4,000 sjsu students experienced some form of homelessness during their college career. >> it's a complex problem. we need to start somewhere and temporary emergency housing, i think, is a good place for that. >> a pilot program with the potential to expand beyond san jose. chris nguyen, abc 7 news. and we are just days away from our building a better bay

area fremont week. we'll be holding a town hall and looking at issues that impact the bay area fourth large he's city, including housing, job creation, diversity and much more. it's going to be an interesting conversation. we hope you'll join us. today governor newsom held a roundtable discussion in mountain view with top executives from 15 different businesses. the focus was housing. the businesses on your screen were all represented. you can see the company's spanned the tech, travel, health care and finance industries. the governor's says says newsom called on businesses to follow the lead of apping, facebook and google by making investments to build more affordable housing. several community-based organizations also took partisue >>glnowti io the world of financial services. >> 7 on your side's michael finney is here to explain why. >> everybody is jumping in now. google announced it will be launching consumer checking accounts next year.

they're working with citi group and the stanford credit union. google will gain a gold mine of financial data on consumer spending. it will not sell financial data to advertisers. if you want to shop on thanksgiving, you will have a bunch of stores to choose from. a lot long list of national retailers are sharing the holiday spending spirit with black friday specials on thanksgiving. 58% of shoppers say they plan to hit the stores on thanksgiving day. that according to a survey from marketing firm niq. here are some of the places you can go. walmart, target, best buy, j.c. penney, macy's, kohl's, game stop, bed, bath and beyond. stores opening on thanksgiving is a very divisive issue with opponents saying workers should have the day off to spend with their family.

there's a good amount of retailers sticking with the tradition of staying closed on thanksgiving. the ones closed are nordstroms, lowe's, costco, sam's club, office depot and staples. take your pick. who do you like? >> it is a controversial issue. >> it is. >> thanks, michael, very much. let's turn our attention to the weather forecast. midweek, heading towards the weekend. you felt it cool off. >> felt the change coming sandhya. live doppler 7 showing you just a thick layer of clouds. there's a system spinning off the coast. that's sending us all the clouds that you're seeing right now. really the cloud cover has been around all afternoon and going into tonight. as we look at the temperatures right now, let's just say, they're more in line with what we expect this time of year and even cooler than average. temperatures right now in the 50s, 60s compared to 24 hours

ago. running 19 degrees lower in santa rosa. that's a dramatic drop. 8 degrees cooler in san jose. down 7 in oakland. san francisco down six degrees. here's a live look from the east bay hills camera. you will notice the fog and the layers of clouds up above. a view from the pier 39 camera. we look at ghirardelli square. a beautiful evening. need the jacket or a sweater. spotty drizzle tomorrow morning. cloudy and cooler than average. a warming trend this weekend. 1:00 tomorrow through 4:00 p.m. friday. there's a higher risk of sneaker waves. definitely watch out. look at the wave rights building into friday afternoon. they'll be between 8: and 10 feet. watch out for that. tonight, a lot of cloud cover. tomorrow morning, spotty drizzle between 5:00 and 10:00 a.m. near the coastline.

the roads will be slippery in spots and for the afternoon and evening we'll keep the clouds coming through. temperatures first thing in the morning. low 40s to the 50s. drizzle around. then for the afternoon, it's going to be cloudy and cool. pretty much all areas except for cloverdale in the 60s as you will notice. 60 in half moon bay. 62 san francisco. keep that extra layer handy. 63 san rafael. 67 in concord. 65 san jose. accuweather seven-day forecast. cooler than average tomorrow. slightly milder, brighter on friday. a warming trend for the weekend with temperatures in the low to mid-60s. mid to upper 70s inland. not much change on monday. then we'll start to notice a cooldown tuesday, wednesday with 50s to low 70s. >> mild -- >> no real sign of rain, unfortunately in the next seven

to ten days. we're waiting. thanks, sandhya very much. a spectacular spot in sonoma an

the eldorado sheriff's office arrested a man who stole one of their suvs. they noticed it was missing from the parking lot. they found it 50 miles away. that led to a chase which ended when spike strips were deployed. when the suspect was finally arrested, he was waerk a sheriff's office hat. nothing else was taken. all of it strange. california's first in the country law requiring publicly held companies have women on their board of directors is facing a second lawsuit. the new lawsuit was filed in federal court today by the pacific legal foundation. that's a libertarian group. it says the law violates the equal protection clause by taking gender into account. secretary of state, alex padilla, named in the suit, has not commented yet today. in the north bay, historic

ranch that straddles the sonoma napa county line is on the way to becoming park land. the land trust announced a deal with the owner of the mccormick ranch. the $14 million deal has been in the works more than a year. it's been owned by one family for five generations. the owner made a promise to his late wife to make sure it's preserved. it will prevent development and result in a new public open space. it includes a three-mile path completing an existing 20-mile loop. some of the best in rock 'n roll is enshrined forever. first, we want to thank andrew for this picture of sunset in san francisco. share your pictures with us at

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i'm ama daetz, at 6:00, the health crisis from vaping hits home. a bay area woman dies after vaping for only six months. tonight the alarm being sounded by local health officials. also the number of people registering at republican and democrat is declining. so where are they going? we're examining the numbers. it was a big day in her life. but the photographer hired to document the occasion didn't produce any photos or video until now. a year later. 7 on your side's michael finney foubd out why. it's coming up at 6:00. dan, kristen.

a mural that honors frt heroes of latin rock music includes the image of the genre's biggest star. >> he just finished this likeness of carlos santana gracing his home in the mission district. >> he gran this project as a way to honor latin rock born in thee mission. he got his first look at it today. he says it's quite an honor. >> what you're seeing on this house is inspiration. what do i mean by that? these people you see before me on the house inspire me to play music like richard did. >> the house located at 25th and york is amazing to look at as you can see from droneview 7 that we can show you here. we'll have more on this project at abc 7 news at 6:00. i've known him for years. wonderful guy. world news tonight with david muir is next.

appreciate your time. i'm kristen sze, for all of us here at abc

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. tonight, from washington, the new evidence revealed. the impeachment surprise on day one. tonight, history made here in washington. the televised hearings begin. the drama and the stakes inside that room. the first two witnesses. and the new evidence, the alleged phone call involving president trump we did not know about. and the person who heard that call already summoned to capitol hill. president trump's response just in tonight. our team is standing by live. the other news this wednesday night, the horror unfolding. the deadly fire in this brutal cold. a firefighter killed after saving two other firefighters. hundreds of records broken. up to two feet of snow in some places. and now, what's coming next. the american teacher killed. what authorities found in her apartment, saying her hands and feet were tied. investigators now on the scene