tv ABC7 News 500PM ABC June 17, 2020 5:00pm-5:29pm PDT
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next at 5:00 pandemic pushback. people living in santa clara county say enough is enough and they want to reopen. the frustration now boiling over as the sheriff's office investigating threats against the county's health officer. families of wildfire victims in paradise slammed pg&e and l breaking. a santa cruz county sheriff is remembered and honored. colleagues call him a hero. his wife says he is too beautiful to describe. also this evening naming names in an ebay cyber stalking case, former employees accused of mailing a pig mask and live cockroaches. if you need a hair cut head to contra costa county.
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abc 7 news anchor eric thomas tries out the one thing the barber could not do. the santa clara county sheriff's office right now is investigating threats again ofc face mounting pressure to relax restrictions related to covid-19. good evening and thank you for joining us. >> we'll start off tonight with the pandemic pushback in san jose. >> reporter: as the architect of one of the first shelter in place orders in america, the santa clara county health officer has been criticized for taking a cautious approach to reopening the economy but now the sheriff's office is investigating a series of threats made against her in recent weeks. the county released a statement saying in part, we condemn any effort to harm or intimidate our public health officer, an individual who deserves our respect and appreciation for having the bravery to make the
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tough calls needed to protect the health and well being of all our residents including the most vulnerable members of our community. cindy chavez president of the santa clara county board of supervisors recognizes the hardship placed on residents. >> what we ask of medical professionals and scientists is to follow the facts and give us their best judgment. we want to encourage scientists to continue to do that. >>reporter: statewide seven public health officers have quit since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, including the top health official in orange county who received death threats for requiring face covering is to be worn in plic. all of this counts decide how and society. >> there are aspects involved and the complex its keep growing and growing. >> reporter: dr. george hahn slark county's number two health official says they'll continue to look at the impact of
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reopening activities every three weeks to check for increases in virus transmission once the incubation period has lapsed. >> we have looked at the case counts and hospitalizations and other indicators, testing. so we can slowly reopen. >> the county which has nearly 2 million residents is the largest in the bay area and was the original hot spot for covid-19 cases. alameda county now has the highest total across the region. meanwhile on the peninsula a short time ago san mateo county announced their reopening plan is now in line with the state's. it comes after the state approved a variance for the county earlier this week. now several businesses can reopen as soon as they file a safety plan that includes dine-in restaurants, gyms, and hair salons. on friday personal services like nail salons and tatoo parlors can reopen. personal care businesses in solano county can reopen friday including nail and skin care
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salons, spas including massage therapy, and tatoo parlors. the county public health officer says before the businesses can reopen they need a safety plan in place and to follow social distancing guidelines. to the north bay sonoma county will reopen to tourists on friday. hotels will be operating. and camp grounds will be available for overnight stays. the sonoma county tourism agency says the industry is already prepared to safely reopen and has details about health protocols in place. as the bay area starts to open for business we are here to navigate the new rules and realities for business owners, workers, and you. it's been nearly four months since abc 7 news anchor eric thomas saw his barber so on the first day salons and barber shops in contra costa county could reopen he got a trim and a look at how things have changed. >> it has been a very, very long time since i had as much hair to chop down as this young man. now when i go to the main event
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barber shop it is for what i call the middle aged trim. >> you okay? >> i'm fine, man. >> reporter: the owner has been calling me mr. "e" in the soft louisiana drawl for more than a decade now cut mooig hair and my two sons. it is the first day back since mid march and jeremy has mixed emotions. barber shops, nail salons, you know, we feel like we've been forgotten about through whole pandemic. but definitely today is the first day back. we're nervous. we're excited, anxious. >> anxious to see regular customers like yours truly and to have an income again since many of his barbers have families. i was anxious to see what was different. >> take one side off at a time and then you'll hold this to your face. okay? >> first cnd barbe have to wear masks. a strap on one side when it gets in the way but use your hand to hold it in place over nose and mouth. no magazines on the tables anymore. they've been replaced by hand
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sanitizer. the barber chairs are 6 feet apart. benches.ncehe crdingnse.r gloves. others don't. >> i think it is a lot easier to wash your hands before and after every client. >> after about 15 minutes of trimming and talking it's done. >> boy, did i need this. >> jeremy is hitting the ground running today and will probably give 30 or more hair cuts. >> there is one thing jeremy couldn't take care of today that he normally does for me. that's because of the mask requirements he couldn't trim my mustache. eric thomas, abc 7 news. three salvation army stores in the east bay are reopening friday for shopping and donations. the stores are webster street in ri sthe. berkeley officials announced today the fall semester will include limited in
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person classes but most online because of the pandemic. athletes have returned to campus to get ready for voluntary workouts outdoors. to keep track of all the changes go to abc7news.com/coronavirus. happening now we are keeping an eye on what is a smoldering fire burning near the port of oakland. sky 7 was up right away to give you a look at the large, billowing smoke from overhead all breaking within the past couple of hours or so. this is at the steel recycling plant off embarcadero west just a handful of blocks from the 880 freeway and jack london square. so far, firefighters tell us, there are no injuries. they are making progres and we'll let you know as soon as we learn more. we are staying on top of it of course. very emotional testimony today from the victims' families of the 2018 camp fire indi aer e involuntary manslaughter as we reported to you.
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>> reporter: in this superior courtroom one by one families of the victims of the 2018 deadly camp fire in paradise finally had a chance to articulate their loss to pg&e. susan and droty lost her mother. >> i have never been through anything like this before in my life. we lost and i lost her. i didn't realize how much she meant to me until she was gone. >> reporter: some lost family and family heirlooms. >> some things can be replaced but life's treasures we intend to pass on to our children cannot. >> reporter: joseph downer says he spoke to his brother minutes before the fire hit his house. >> i could hear the stuff exploding. i could hear the fear in his voice. >> reporter: pg&e's ceo bill johnson said yesterday he wished kns es not.ome way to take backe pg&e pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully starting
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a fire. the fire killed 85 people but prosecutors weren't certain they could prove pg&e was responsible for one of the deaths. some expressed anger at pg&e's greed. >> these exhibit pg&e's long standing company culture of profit over people. in the worst way imaginable. >> pg&e has agreed to pay a maximum fine of $3.5 million for its crimes in addition to $500,000 for the cost of the investigation. >> given pg&e's history it is pretty clear this company won't change until some pg&e executive actually goes to jail. a $3.5 million fine for killing 80 people is not justice. can you imagine what would happen if an ordinary citizen killed more than 80 people? an explosion in stinson beach that blew buildgs to bits is now linked to a propane tank. there is no definitive cause yet but the independent journal reports investigators think there is a connection to a gas
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powered stove and possibly a refrigerator. the fire started yterday ing aa re este ce. two buildings weretred eight others damaged and shut down aetch of highway aanaces charges for at least one in a series of attacks on a trail in walnut creek. a man turned himself in this morning. police say one victim has positively identified him and at least six women say they were grabbed from behind while they jogged on the iron horse trail between march and june 5th. a new twist tonight in the disturbing story of ebay executives accused of a sinister cyber stalking plot like something out of a movie. abc news confirms today ebay's former ceo and former cco allegedly exchanged texts saying, quote, we are going to crush this lady. court documents say that was in response to a massachusetts couple writing an unflattering story about the san jose based
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ebay. other ebay employees are then accused of using that as license to mail the couple things like cockroaches, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and a book on surviving the death of a spouse. the two resigned last year. neither have been officially charged. well, saying good-bye, santa cruz county says they lost a hero and a good man. the turnout and the tears. >> is it a scam?
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today for the beloved husband, father, and santa cruz county deputy kle i t line of duty. >> we all love you, damon. we all love you. you couldn't have been happier to become a father. fabian carter was the stuff dreams were made of for damon and with another one on the way he was strutting pretty proud of himself. >> i knew he would be a great father and for a short time i was able to see he wasn't just a great father he was amazing. >> abc 7 news reporter chris reyes has more on today's service. >> reporter: at the heart of a deeply emotional two-hour memorial service the testimony as she shared stories of her husband damon. >> he loved what he did. it wasn't just a job. he wanted to take care ofreote .
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>> sergeant damon gutzwiler was shot and killed while responding to a report of a suspicious van on june 6. two other officers were injured. the 38-year-old worked for the sheriff's office since 2006. at the service one friend and colleague after another describing the indelible mark he left on them. >> truly, doe't mut or 38 years. you made all of our lives so much brighter and without you it will take a little while for our eyes to adjust. >> reporter: law enforcement officers from all over california attended the ceremony held at the college football field. earlier in the day many others from the community lined the streets for the funeral procession. complete strangers showed up to pay their respects. >> i want to come out and be support and i hope other people will gain strength from what i am doing. >> perhaps the most emotional part of the service this moment wh sant
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>> i pray for the strength to raise the amazing children he would have raised. thank you to our community, the community that damon loved so much. and died defending. >> reporter: the ceremony was full of song, stories, and tears. but, also, humor. >> i'd like to hear one big one if i could. one, two, three, gutz! thank you. >> reporter: in santa cruz, abc 7 news. sergeant damon gutzwiller end of watch june 6th.
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doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. hi there everyone. it is a beautiful beach day. take a look at this live picture from our santa cruz camera where people are just soaking up the sun. a lot of blue sky there. we don't have any fog to speak of. temperatures have responded, up
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12 degrees in san francisco and livermore up 13 degrees in palo alto. here is a lovely view from the east bay hills camera toward mount diablo and the temperatures have come up. 71 in the city. 80 in oakland. mid 80s for gilroy, san jose. from our san jose camera looking at bright skies over the shark tank. 86 santa rosa. 90 fairfield. our warmest inland valleys have gotten to the low 90s but it is only going to get hotter for the inland areas tomorrow. live doppler 7 showing clear skies right now. we do have a red flag warning for solano county that remains up until 1:00 p.m. tomorrow. it is a combination of gusty north-northeasterly winds and low humidity. any fires that develop will quickly spread. be careful out there. the northeasterly wind in fairfield at 15 miles an hour. 26 hour seabreeze in san francisco. typical for this time of year. sunshine. warmer at the b inland tomorrow.
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fog returns friday. and cools the coast. then summer starts this upcoming weekend. tomorrow morning skies start off clear. it is going to be a mild start with 50s, 60s, a little breezy out toward the delta area. as we head into the afternoon you'll feel the heat in the south bay. mid 90s for gilroy and morgan. 91 to redwood city. 84 mill bray. 77 in half moon bay. san francisco 81 degrees well above average for this time of year. 75 in the sunset district. north bay temperatures, try 97 in santa rosa. it is going to be hot. 94 vallejo. 91 san rafael. heading into the east bay 87 oakland. 92 fremont. 93. excuse me. 90 castro valley. inland areas is where it is going to be definitely steamy. 98 antioch. 97 degrees in concord. your accu day forecast, a summer-like sizzle
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tomorrow. late tomorrow evening into friday the fog is back. that will help to drop the temperatures at our beaches but the inland areas are still going to remain hot. summer starts on saturday and temperatures will moderate a bit but only to bounce back for father's day. mild to hot for dads. we have to offer a little bit of variety for all dads out there. >> absolutely. >> all right. thanks. time for consumer news. 7 on your side's michael finney is here with a look at tonight's consumer headlines. hi, michael. >> reporter: hey, dan. there are real concerns tonight that people could be tricked out of their private, personal information. california's attorney general is taking real action regarding consumer privacy and coronavirus tracking. specifically he is concerned that app developers and oer mayrote use he is asking apple and google to
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verify contact tracing apps are affiliated with the government, health agencies, and universities. a new facebook feature, users will have the option to opt out of viewing political advertisements when using the social media networking site. some users in the u.s. will have access to the feature right t for a couple of weeks. this comes following harsh criticism of facebook for allowing all types of political ads and speech. the federal communications commission wants to know why t-mobile had a huge network outage earlier this week. the agency says cell phone companies outage is, quote, unacceptable and they'll launch an investigation. t-mobile says the disruption stemmed from a fiber circuit failure by a third party provider. the government is pointing that way. we'll see where things come out. >> all right. thank you, michael. painting with a purpose. why a young girl in south bay is
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wherever you are you can get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more with our abc 7 bay area app. just search abc 7 bay area and down load it for free. coming up tonight on abc 7 news at 6:00 we look into what is going on in oakland's lake merritt after nooses were found hanging from trees. is this a hate crime or something else? plus, a woman gets two letters from the state on the same day. one approves her unemployment claim. the other denies it. 7 on your side's michael finney helps her sort it out. and three months since weak and sounds of the past month all in half an hour on abc 7 news at 6:00. before we go, a project thanks story focusing on a little girl making a big difference. >> abc 7 news south bay
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community journalist has a look at how she is using her talent to make a difference for people in need. >> the family watches abc 7 news every night but one night the images spoke to the 11-year-old in a different way. >> on tv there was a huge line going for miles outside of food banks. it made me want to do something to help not just watch. >> reporter: so she went to what she knows best, art. she was already selling art on a website that she created to help raise money for kids without art supplies. but with her new priorities in focus she switched gears to help ease the burden on food banks. >> i was really happy to see that she transformed her hobbies and passions into something for the community. >> it is a lot of fun just to make the art in general and it is nice to see the cause that i'm supporting. >> reporter: that cause? martha's kitchen in san jose. >> my jaw dropped at first given the fact she is only1 d. reporter: after visiting the kitchen she was more inspired than ever to help a group that
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gives back so much to others. martha's kitchen produces 2800 prepared meals per day for people in need and all the donations from the art work will go to that cause. >> to see an 11-year-old girl not only want to help but to go that far with such a well thought out plan to produce the art, sell it, and donate, of pe never met and probably never will meet just blew me away. >> reporter: she has sold more than $200 of art and wants to raise $1,000 total and she hopes someone will see her story and give back as well. >> i want people to know there is so much you can do if you put your talents to a good cause and you can help so many people and they'll be grateful for it. >> reporter: if you want to purchase her art work visit abc7news.com. in san jose, abc 7 news. we invite you to join better bay area project thanks as we navigate our way through the covid-19 pandemic. use the #betterbayarea to show us how you are contributing to the good and we will share it with the community. >> an amazing young woman.
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atlanta. two police officers now charged in the deadly shooting of rayshard brooks. the d.a. before the cameras late today. rayshard brooks shot twice in the back. former officer garrett rolfe now facing 11 charges, including felony murder. officer devin brosnan charged with aggravated assault. the d.a. saying rayshard brooks never posed a threat. one officer accused of kicking him after he was down. the other standing on his body. the d.a. today saying the second officer has turned on the one charged with murder. but tonight, that officer's attorney saying that's not the case. that he has not agreed to testify, not agreed to plead guilty and he has not agreed to be a state's witness. also tonight, the abc news exclusive. martha raddatz one-on-one with
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