>> and i'm dan ashley. as coronavirus activity surges throughout the state the reality of resuming in person classes drops with each passing day. california's averaging about 8,000 new cases per day. hospitalizations are near record high levels. nearly 7,000 patients are in the hospital at last check. the state's death rate set another new record with an average of 84 deaths per day over the past two weeks. in the bay more than 38,000 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus. the rolling average of new cases represented by the yellow line on this graph continues to set record highs. against this grim backdrop we are still working to build a better bay area. balancing the needs of our physical health with our economic health and other factors like education of course. and on that topic school starts in a matter of weeks. for some students, and it's becoming increasingly unlikely that they will take classes on campus. abc 7 news has learned that governor newsom will force all schools to remain closed in

counties that are on the watch list for increased coronavirus activity. abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez has local reaction. >> reporter: school districts in the buy area had every intention of welcoming back students in the fall. until covid-19 numbers recently forced the state to roll back business reopenings in several counties. marin county, for example, is one of the districts on the state's watch list because of its rising numbers. yet this morning some parents came out to support in-person learning. >> already children who have not schooled since march 16th and 17 whoth need to get back in front of the eyes of our teachers. we believe it can safely be done. >> reporter: the white house has threatened to cut funding if schools don't fully reopen. >> when he says open he means open in full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. >> reporter: therefore continuing with the distance learning model has not been an easy decision for many school districts. here's the state superintendent of public instruction addressing the issue during a town hall

conversation this morning. >> when the president says that he might cut funding for school districts, you know, because they don't open, i'm sorry. i just have to call it what it is. i's dangerous. it's reckless. and it's immoral. >> reporter: state senator steve glazer represents parts of contra costa and alameda counties. he invited three local superintendents to weigh in. pittsburg announced it will begin with distance learning on august 12th. the lafayette school district voted last night to do the same. >> it was a difficult decision. it was not unanimous. >> reporter: so far livermore valley joint unified is one of the few that remains undecided and is preparing for hybrid learning. even though the county, alameda, is on the governor's covid watch list. schools there start in 40 days. >> challenge our community to ghettos numbers down. to wear your masks, socially distance, do all of those things because we got it down once. >> reporter: one thing superintendents agree is that distance learning, while deemed

necessary today, is not ideal. one thing superintendents agree is that distance learning, while deemed necessary today, is not ideal. lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. salon owners want to get back to work. now along with state lawmakers they're asking governor newsom to allow beauty industry professionals to perform their services outside. abc 7 news reporter melanie woodrow has the story. >> reporter: outdoor dining has taken on a new meaning during the coronavirus pandemic. here in california we've even seen relaxed restrictions around serving and drinking alcohol outdoors. now beauty professionals want the same allowances made for them. >> none of the people that are on that list of recent closures have been licensed by the state in sanitation. we are. >> reporter: california assemblyman jim patterson is joining salon owners in calling on governor newsom to temporarily waive a state law. it prevents hairdressers, barbers, manicureists and koz

metologists from providing services outside of a licensed establishment. >> governor, you have to pay attention to this and fix it. >> reporter: patterson cites that the california department of alcohol i can beverage control was allowed to waive regulations in order to serve outdoors. salon owners say in the absence of this option they are struggling. >> we are not able to pay our bills. >> reporter: the professional beauty foundation of california says the request would not be limited to haircuts and could include manicures, pedicures and waxing services. >> allow the beauty professional to get creative on the best ways that they can perform their services. >> reporter: bay area residents seem to think it's a good idea within reason. >> the way the wind's been blowing there could be quite a hair storm. >> we have to do it responsibly if we ever want to get ak to some kind of normalcy. >> reporter: in an e-mailed statement to abc 7 news a spokesperson with the california business consumer services and housing agency writes, "the administration understands and is very sympathetic to the possible economic hardships on

salons. for now the law does not allow salon services to be performed outside. however, we are actively looking at this issue and exploring options to lessen the economic harm on these businesses." salon owners say without the exception they could be forced to shut down permanently. melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. as courts grapple with conducting trials in a coronavirus reality a new ruling could set a precedent for the rest of the state and country. a san francisco judge today ordered witnesses will wear transparent face masks. lawyers argued that a covered-up face could result in unfair testimony. here's nbc news reporter kris reyes. >> i'm hoping that jurors, witnesses, myself and my client can wear those transparent masks in an effective way. >> reporter: at a pretrial hearing in san francisco's superior court a judge ruled that witnesses wear clear face masks instead of cloth masks. deputy public defender sierra delaran says she's satisfied with the compromise even though

she originally proposed a face shield. her main point, that faces of witnesses cannot be covered. >> we judge facial expressions and microexpressions in milliseconds. and that's a big part -- these non-verbal cues are what we use to determine credibility, trustworthiness. >> reporter: the judge did not specify what kind of clear face masks will be used, but this is what's available for purchase online. it's yet another new rule as trials evolve in a coronavirus reality. a long list of other recent considerations include whether witnesses and jurors should appear via zoom. law professor hadar aviram agrees there are no good answers right now. >> on the one hand you have the problem with putting together social distancing and masking and dealing with public buy-in or lack thereof. on the other hand we have all the data that we know about how the zoom discourages productivity and puts people to sleep. >> reporter: for villaran's trial jurors are expected to appear in person. however, with seating capacity limited inside the courtroom because of social distancing,

another challenge is that the trial may have to be streamed intoanother room inside the same building. >> of course i think it's very important that my client's family be able to attend. we just have to be extra aware in this current pandemic situation that we are dealing with novel issues and that we need to take it slowly and reconsider it. >> reporter: in san jose kris reyes for abc 7 news. target is the latest corporation to require customers to wear masks at all stores. cvs health, which has many pharmacies inside target stores, is also making masks mandatory. the new policy takes effect on monday at cvs stores and on august 1st at all target stores. the nation's largest retailer, walmart-l make masks mandatory inside all stores on monday. starbucks, best buy, kohl's and kroger, which runs foodsco stores here in the bay area-v also put mandatory face shield rules in place. masks, super spreaders, the surge, all topics facebook founder mark zuckerberg and dr.

anthony fauci discussed in an hour-long facebook live today. abc 7 news reporter stephanie sierra is breaking down the highlights. it sounds like zuckerberg showed his cards a bit today. >> that's right. mark zuckerberg found a polite way to criticize the government's response to the pandemic admitting this crisis was avoidable. but much of the conversation gave clarity to why we're seeing this major resurge of cases across the country. >> i also have to say i think you might be quite generous in your description of the government's response here. >> reporter: before a long list of questions on an hour-long facebook live mark zuckerberg didn't hide his opinion when assessing the u.s. response to the pandemic. >> i just think that it was avoidable and it's really disappointing that we still don't have adequate testing, that the credibility of our top scientists like yourself and the cdc are being undermined. >> reporter: dr. fauci made it clear part of why we're seeing this falls to failures in reopening. >> the citizenry of the state or

the city had the impression that you went either from lockdown to put caution to the wind. and what we saw were clips of people at bars congregating without masks, not staying distant, in crowds, and that's what i believe is at least part of the explanation. >> reporter: but the other factor, what did other countries do that we didn't? >> when you look at what happened in the european countries, when they had their peak and they locked down, they locked down to the tune of about 90% to 95% of the country truly locked down. >> reporter: analysis showed a stricter lockdown in europe resulted in fewer new cases. is another lockdown the answer? fauci says no. more of a reset. >> when i say a reset button, i say okay, time out. let's everybody regroup. because if you're in a situation where you should not have jumped over one of the checkpoints you've got to think about

pulling back, starting all over again, and doing the gradual entry into, quote, normality. >> reporter: dr. fauci said it's possible we may have a safe and effective covid vaccine in six months, by the beginning of 2021. and one of the many promising options is entering a phase 3 clinical trial by the end of this month. that particular trial will have a testing pool of 30,000 people. stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. >> interesting. stephanie, thank you. today california's second in command, lieutenant governor eleni kuehl nack kuehl nackis s about how simple steps could make a difference. >> we have to take it seriously because it does appear that that's the culprit for the prer. resurgence, is people aren't taking the precautions seriously enough. >> even with precautions any activity represents some level of risk of contracting coronavirus.

put your skills to the test with our coronavirus risk quiz, from getting a haircut to taking a bus guess the risk level, then see what the experts have to say about it. you'll find that on abc7news.com. even with the pandemic we haven't forgotten our commitment to racial and social justice. next, we'll take you to the south bay for a look at the effort to defund police at san jose state. and check out the traffic at the bay bridge toll plaza. not much right now or really just about anytime you look. so how long will it stay like this? new at 6:00 tonight we look at the long term of whether traffic will get better or worse than before. i'm spencer christian. after a bit of a cooldown today we have a nice warm-up coming our way for the weekend. our way for the weekend. i'll have the we are the thrivers. women with metastatic breast cancer. our time for more time... has come. living longer is possible - and proven in postmenopausal women taking kisqali plus fulvestrant. in a clinical trial, kisqali plus fulvestrant

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cal fire confirmed today that pg&e electrical transmission lines are to blame for last october's massive

kinkade fire in sonoma county. a transmission line failure had long been suspected. this time lapse video those how quickly it exploded during high winds at the fire's origin in geyserville. 374 structures were destroyed, nearly 78,000 acres burned. cal fire sent its investigative report to the sonoma county district attorney's office. pg&e sent this statement which says, "we are aware of cal fire's news release stating that pg&e facilities caused the fire. at this time we do not have access to cal fire's investigative report or the evidence it has collected. we look forward to reviewing both at the appropriate time." oakland will pay $32.7 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of 32 of the 36 people who were killed in the 2016 goefhost ship fire. 9.2 million of that goes o'sam maxwell, a survivor who has severe lifelong injuries. the rest goes to the families of those who died. the city says it continues to assert, as the agreement provides, that it's not liable

for the deaths. ghost ship master tenant derrick almena is set to be retried on 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. a mistrial was declared last year because of a hung jury. an update tonight to a story our iteam has been following very closely. the lawyer for a young bay area man accused of killing a police officer in rome is reacting to testimony from the officer's partner. on the stand yesterday the partner admitted he didn't have a gun on him the night of the crime. he earlier had said he was armed. the lawyer for finnegan elder says if the partner has lied about this it draws his other statements into question. elder claims he stabbed the officer in self-defense. gabriel natalie hyort is facing charges also partly for fighting one officer. another hearing is scheduled for monday. now, our dan noyes went to rome last year to cover the case in the days immediately after the stabbing. you can find his original reports online. as well as a full-length documentary that he produced. very powerful television. just go to abc7news.com/iteam.

administrators at san jose state university say they plan to reevaluate the role of policing on campus as part of their efforts to address systemic racism. ensuring racial and social justice is part building a better bay area. students and staff have signed a petition to partially defund the police department. abc 7 news reporter chris nguyen has the story. >> reporter: at silicon valley's only public university a call from students and staff to partially defund the campus police department is now opening the door for dialogue with the administration. sjsu president mary papazian now plans to create a task force that will meet this fall to reevaluate the role of policing on campus. >> the response is the first of what i think will be many steps that should unfold over many years. >> reporter: sjsu professor nicky aboa helped write the petition urging the university to redirect some of the funding from police to initiatives that support black students and staff. the demands also include disarming campus police.

>> you can imagine how long the systemic issues of racism have been on our campus. so to think that a three-month task force will address the issue, i feel like misses the mark. >> reporter: in a statement papazian said the task force will select an external reviewer to support and guide the work and offer recommendations for reform such as new models of safety and policing, new training protocols, policy revisions or redistribution of resources. sjsu professor scott meyers lipton says while it appears to be a step in the right direction more must be done to support the work of students and faculty of color. >> my african-american students have said when they run across campus they are sometimes st stopped as they run because they are seen as suspects rather than students. >> reporter: according to university data more than 80% of sjsu students are people of color, yet more than half of faculty are white. papazian also plans to add two

new roles within her office to focus on anti-racism and diversity education. some students are skeptical of the president's announcement but hopes that the university will take their concerns seriously. >> people don't have trust that the university is actually going to perform in the way they say they do, and they're nervous about what is going to happen with these new measures if the university's actually serious about reforming the police on campus. >> reporter: in san jose chris wen, abc 7 news. several groups came together to defend the painting of asada shakur on the black lives matter mural in palo alto. the national police association wants it removed. shakur and other members of the black liberation army were convicted of killing a new jersey state trooper in 1973. shakur maintains her innocence. she escaped prison in 1979. >> she went by police and court officials as blatantly racist. she was wailroaded into prison

despite evidence in her favor and she was subjected to torture while locked up. >> the city said last week the mural is temporary and there are no plans to expedite the removal sooner than planned. oakland's top cop is responding to criticism tonight that her department's release of rising violent crime statistics was politically motivated. as abc 7 news reporter laura anthony explains, those numbers came as the city council is considering deep cuts to the opd budget as part of a larger push to defund police. >> we are not trying to cause any alarm. >> reporter: with city leaders debating ways to cut our budget by nearly 1/2, interim oakland police chief susan mannheimer debated the release of statistics that show a recent surge in violent crime. >> i think it's interesting that in oakland in the bay area it's looked at as some political statement. we are extremely overburdened in terms of violence and gun crime and it is not meant to cause alarm or panic in the community. it's merely to let them know the

trends and what's going on. >> reporter: in late june opd reported seven murders in one nine-day period. but since july 2nd there have been none. still the department says assaults with firearms are up. 34% this year. >> any city is overwhelmed with violent crime during a pandemic. you have despair and unemployment and hunger. but the problem is using data to inform rather than to get a reaction. >> reporter: the oakland city council has already cut $14 million from the opd budget. and next week will consider much deeper cuts, up to 150 million. >> if we are giving you half of our general fund and you are still overwhelmed by violent crime, then clearly we need to try something else and what we're doing is not working. >> i think we're moving the conversation from the narrative, national narrative of defunding police, to that hyperlocal focus of what does reimagining police look like? >> reporter:man chaimer says opd

is already understaffed by 60 officers and struggling to answer the 2,000 calls for service that come in every day. in oakland laura anthony, abc 7 news. admit it. we're already thinking about the weekend. >> true. >> true. >> scalifornia phones offers free specialized phones... like cordless phones. - ( phone ringing ) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. visit right now or call during business hours.

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for when it matters most and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program visit right now or call during business hours. we are taking a live look at san francisco international airport where you don't see many planes moving around these days. turns outs the drop in air travel means less accurate weather forecasts. between 50% and 75% of aircraft weather observations disappeared over the last few months, which means less information about factors like wind, air temperature, humidity and more. but we still have you covered here, right, spencer? it's not necessarily like that? >> we do indeed. that report is correct.

forecasters rely heavily on data we get from pilots. but here in the bay area we're not so much affected by that as, say, the remainder of the country where they're relying on pilots traveling over the land surfaces. anyhow, it's interesting. we need to get pilots back in the air as soon as we can. speaking of the air, the air quality around the bay area has improved a bit since yesterday. we have an air quality advisory still in effect through tomorro% because of smoke and haze that have been filtering up into the bay area from fires, the mineral and coyote fires. yesterday moderate was as good as it was all across the region. right now we have good air quality in most of the bay area and it continues to improve as we have breezy conditions which no doubt with helping mix out some of that smoke and haze and bring us better air quality. it's also a bit cooler in most bay area locations right now than it was in this time yesterday. about two to five degrees cooler generally. here's a view from the exploratorium camera looking back at san francisco's skyline or at least a portion of it. it is 60 degrees in san

francisco. mountain view 71, 74 san jose. 80 gilroy and only 57 at pacifica. here's a view of low clouds and fog surging from the coast across the bay from mount tam. it is 70 in santa rosa right now, 72 in both novato and napa. upper 70s at fairfield and concord and 75 at livermore. and the view from our rooftop camera looking across the embarcadero, forecast features are these. we'll have fog and low clouds expanding overnight. it will be hot inland this weekend and a cooler pattern begins early next week. forecast animation shows that surge of fog to which i referred earlier. it will push across the bay and locally inland overnight. and 5:00 tomorrow morning as the morning commute gets under way commuters will no doubt be experiencing some reduced visibility in some spots but by noon tomorrow we'll have sunny skies over the bay and inland with some fog lingering at the coastline. mainly a sunny afternoon tomorrow. low temperatures will be generally in the mid to upper

50s. a bit mild, especially in our inland areas but a little cooler at the coast. and tomorrow's highs will range from low to mid 60s at the coast to mainly mid and upper 70s around the bay shoreline. maybe one or two bay shore location wills top out at 80 degrees. our inland areas will generally be in the upper 80s to around 90. that will be about as warm as it gets in places like livermore and antioch. on we go to the accuweather seven-day forecast. warm-up on saturday. mid 90s inland. perhaps a little higher on the bay shoreline. mid to upper 60s on the coast. not much change on sunday. still pretty warm inland with low or low to mid 90s. but a cooler pattern begins on monday and the cooling continues into the middle of the week wednesday. inland highs reach only into the mid 80s, mid 70s around the bay shoreline and upper 50s on the coast. and then temperatures start to rebound just a little bit toward the end of next week.

dan and ama, looks like a pretty good seven days ahead. >> boy, it sure does, spencer. thank you so much. tomorrow is four months since we started to shelter in place, if you can believe it, and traffic has still not returned to the levels it was before. that's a good thing for a lot of people but what does the future hold? we're going to dig into that next as part of our effort to build a better bay area. there are 1,000 private security cameras funded by a tech billionaire all across san francisco. i'm dion lim in san francisco with how victims of crimes are proponents of this new techno

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privacy. abc 7 news anchor dion lim is on that story. >> she's definitely trying to move on. but of course this kind of traumatizing incident you don't just forget it. >> reporter: eva lee ong's 63-year-old mother is too shaken to return to the scene where in broad daylight multiple men knocked her to the ground and stole her handbag. >> this shouldn't happen to anyone, especially in san francisco. >> reporter: despite sfpd saying they obtained surveillance video, there have been no arrests. lyong believes if there were more security cameras she'd be able to seek justice for her mom. >> we do need to start prioritizing safety, especially among seniors. >> reporter: chris larsen, tech billionaire and executive chair of ripple, a kritocurrency technology company, wanted to do just that. frustrated with the crime he witnessed in russian hill near lombard street. >> unfortunately it's become a huge magnet for the smash and grab crimes. we saw that all the time. multiple times a day. poor tourists.

>> reporter: so three years ago larsen began funding community business districts to install and monitor a network of cameras across the city. there are just over 1,000 to date. with footage that can be requested by the police, the d.a. or victims themselves. >> the community can get this done faster than if you tried to make this a citywide, maybe a government-sponsored project which would cost a ton of money. >> reporter: at a time when lawmakers are already proposing bans on facial recognition software for law enforcement agencies and consumers are fed up with recent breaches on social media, these security cameras add an extra layer of privacy concerns. >> for instance, you might not want somebody to know that you're seeking mental health help or that you're seeing an immigration attorney because you don't know who's going to get that footage on the other end. you don't know what they're going to do with it. >> reporter: we brought these concerns to larsen, who acknowledged privacy is a real concern in the u.s. but because this network is erased every 30 days and is

monitored by non-profit community organizations decisions on how that information is used won't be sold. >> that's where these systems can be more pro privacy than, let's say, every house randomly putting up a ring camera from amazon or a nest camera from goog google. >> reporter: as for lyong's mother's case we checked and there are no cameras in the area funded by larsen yet. but other districts in the region have expressed interest in participating in the program, something lyong surnts. >> reporter: if these cameras were installed the day my mom got attacked i feel like it definitely could have helped out a lot. >> reporter: in san francisco dion lim, abc 7 news. >> the cameras have contributed to arrests in a number of high-profile cases including the woman murder of a woman in the tenderloin last year and looters. proposals to add 14 more slow streets. the board will vote on tuesday. the agency says this will make a

network of slow streets that would allow most san franciscans to access essential services and work without a car or muni. sfmta is also extending muni's 30 stockton route to chrissy field. for families wanting to get outside, this creates a path that stops by the zoo and ends up at the field. a lot of bay area commuters are noticing more cars on the road lately and even occasional traffic back-ups. so we wondered, just how close are we to the old days of commute grid sflok and who better to ask than abc 7's morning traffic anchor job nina fortson. >> reporter: it's been four months since the bay area was ordered to stay home to fight the coronavirus pandemic. now as traffic edges up a quick reminder of the scene on that very first morning of sheltering in place. >> want to take you to a live look showing you the bay bridge toll plaza where things are very white. there are no metering lights yet this morning. we will keep monitoring that for

you. >> reporter: that was march 17th and it would be mid may before the metering lights did finally come back on. take a look at the toll plaza this morning. the lights came on at 6:36. but the morning commute slowly creeping earlier, we decided to take a deeper dive into where bay area traffic stands now. >> this is not going to be an on-off switch where we're currently off and all of the sudden it's going to be on. this will be a gradual process. >> reporter: that's john goodwin with the metropolitan transportation commission, which uses data from bay area toll bridges as a barometer of what's happening to traffic around the region. we asked the commission for an hour-by-hour breakdown of traffic on tuesday july 14th, along with comparable data from a year ago to show the normal level of traffic. so what do the numbers show? overall bay area traffic is now at 80% of normal. but there's a big variation depending on where you are driving. by far the most heavily traveled bridge is the bay bridge, which is at 81% of normal.

view 7 shows the afternoon backup in san francisco as cars slowly make their way onto the eastbound lanes. it's bad, but still not where we were before the pandemic. >> the backup no longer begins in the 1:00 hour. it begins in the 3:00 hour. and it no longer extends into the 8:00 or 9:00 hour. it's pretty much done by 6:30, 7:00. >> reporter: traffic on the antioch bridge is at 85% of normal. the benicia martinez bridge at 77%. the carquinez bridge 86%. and the richmond san rafael bridge 77%. but head down to silicon valley and the southern part of the bay and it's a completely different story. >> so that is where traffic volumes slid first, slid farthest, and have stayed down. >> reporter: check this out. the san mateo hayward bridge is at just 61% of normal traffic

and the dumbarton bridge all the way down to 54%. so where did everybody go? >> i think in particular the large employers in silicon valley and along the peninsula have created an environment for their workers to work from home as the pandemic was growing in seriousness and growing in public awareness. >> reporter: and based on traffic trends it looks like a lot of those tech employees are still working from home. goodwin says another factor may be that the san mateo and dumbarton bridges are primarily commute corridors while the rest of the bridges tend to have both commuters and a lot of vehicles going to places other than work. the golden gate bridge has had its own unique traffic pattern. on july 14g9 traffic was at about 59% of normal. but that doesn't tell the whole story. >> we're seeing a trend where our weekday which is typically commute traffic has declined dramatically has stayed fairly low and some of our weekend traffic has increased. perhaps the shelter in place orders have had people moving

about more on the weekends. they're not commuting in to work. >> reporter: the golden gate bridge saw its lowest traffic in april, just 30% of normal. the bay bridge also hit its low then, about 50% of normal, with a slow steady rise ever since. but the future is uncertain, with transit ridership still a big wild card. on july 14th bart only had 11% of its normal level of riders, and if they don't come back as businesses reopen some experts predict the bay area could be heading for the worst traffic in its history. jobina fortson, abc 7 news. >> we shall see. alex trebek is about to turn 80 years old. next an update on his cancer treatment and what he's looking forward to the day before his birthday. plus job openings available for people with patience and compassion. stay with us. and our one-hour special, give where you live food drive, will air saturday at 7:00 p.m. this hour-long program goes

behind the scenes of food banks to discover how they're meeting the growing demands of feeding families and children. learn how to make a difference by tuning in abc 7

today a special message from "jeopardy" host alex trebek about his health as he battles pancreatic cancer. >> i'm doing well. i've been continuing my treatment. and it is paying off, though it does fatigue me a great deal. my numbers are good. i'm feeling great. in fact, during the break from the studio i even wrote a book that will be coming out july 21st. once again, i can't wait to -- >> good to know he's feeling

pretty well. that book is a memoir titled "the answer is reflections on my life." it comes out aday before trebek turns 80. monday kicks off a special four-week retrospective of america's favorite quiz show. you can watch "jeopardy" weeknights at 7:00 right here on abc 7. >> so great to see him continuing to do well. a new study finds representation of lgbtq characters in movies is rising but the racial diversity has waned. in 2019, 34% of lgbtq characters were people of color. that's down from 42% in 2018 and 57% in 2017. the advocacy group glaad found that for the third year in a row transgender characters were absent from major studio releases. in politics there are a record number of lgbtq candidates running for office. 850 nationwide. according to a group called the lgbtq victory institute. the number of openly lgbtq elected officials in the united states has more than doubled in

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unemployment data and record low mortgage rates helped end the dow's four-day winning streak today. it lost 135 points, about half a percent. the nasdaq dropped by 76. and the s&p went down by 10. first-time unemployment claims fell to 1.3 million last week. but that's still a historically high level. at abc 7 we are committed to helping build a better bay area, which includes looking out for our economic interests affected by the pandemic. in our segment job hunting with jobina we're looking at ways to help get our community back to work. today abc 7 mornings anchor jobina fortson features a

company that's hiring right now and specifically looking for people with compassion and patience. >> reporter: it takes a special kind of person to be a caregiver. which is why they're almost always in demand. but with coronavirus cases continuing to rise, visiting angels needs more help with in-home senior care right now. >> nobody wants to be in a facility because they've been shown starting in washington state to here it's just too high density. so it's much safer to be at home. >> reporter: tony willstead wheaton and her husband chris run the sunnyvale and willow glen visiting ablgz offices but caregivers are needed in location all around the bay area. >> we hire all level of caregivers from what we call our companionship clients all the way up to fully bedridden situations. we do offer a training program too. >> reporter: that training covers state and company requirements and now new guidelines for covid-19. >> everybody gets a mask.

we live together. so we don't have to have the mask. but it is required that everybody is wearing a mask. >> reporter: sanitizing and other protocols are also in place to protect their vulnerable clients. shifts are available 24/7. and health benefits have been extended to part-time employees and their families. the wheatens hope that will attract more applicants, specifically people with patience and commitment. two characteristics they say are must-haves for potential caregivers. >> the basic front line of taking care of our elderly population in this pandemic. they're heroes. >> reporter: jobina fortson, abc 7 news. >> you can make such a difference in this position. here are the job details for a caregiver with visiting angels. the role includes providing companionship to seniors in need, assisting with errands, shopping, hygiene, and other

duties as assigned. some experience in care giving is required but that could include something like taking care of a family member. definitely something to consider. and like i said, doing such a good thing for the community and our community members as well. all right, darngs let's get one last check on our weather. >> we should, ama. and the weather word for today is lovely. that's not just for the forecast but the forecaster. >> thank you, sir. i appreciate that. and the air quality is getting lovelier as well. certainly a bit of an improvement over yesterday. we still, though, have air quality advisory tomorrow. as a bit of smoke continues to move up into our area from the fires, the mineral and coyote fires. on we go. overnight lots of low clouds and fog reaching across the bay and locally inland overnight lows will be in the mid to upper 50s. tomorrow after some lingering morning fog we'll have mainly sunny skies, certainly over the bay and inland, with high temperatures ranging from mid 60s at the coast to mid and upper 70s around the bay to upper 80s and one or two low 90s

inland. here's the -- it will be even warmer on saturday. 2346k in fact, it will be hot inland. those communities in the mid 90s. perhaps even a little bit higher. up to 80 or above around the bay shoreline. there will be a tiny bit of a cooldown on sunday. further cooling through next week. by mid-week next week we'll have temperatures below average for this time of the year. lovely forecast. little bit of something for everyone. dan and ama? >> yeah, i think we like it too. thanks, spencer. on to sports. sports director larry beil is here with baseball news tonight, larry. >> yeah, we're a week away from opening day. injury woes already for the giants. plus the a's looking for a fast start and perhaps a dj. why they're calling the oakland

great day on the lake! it is. lunch is cookin'! and i saved a bunch of money on my boat insurance with geico. fellas, can it get any better than this? whoa! my old hairstyle grew back. so did mine. [80's music] what? i was an 80's kid. it only gets better when you switch and save with geico. >> announcer: now abc 7 sports with larry beil. good evening. the san francisco giants working on their immediate as well as their long-term future.

they signed de la salle high school star pitcher kyle harrison. they took him with the 85th pick in the recent draft. they gave him a $2.5 millio signing bonus, which is more than you would expect for that pick. but they wanted to make sure they could lure him away from ucla where he had planned to go. giants have yet to play a single game that counts but already injury concerns. first baseman brandon beltran had come back from a heel injury, might not be ready for opening day a week away in l.a. and third baseman evan longoria has a mild oblique strain. he has participated in the scrimmages the past couple of days. but officially listed day to day. you start a short season without your two corner infielders and that is not ideal for new skipper gabe kapler. >> so evan has a mild right side oblique strain. and we're just kind of taking it slow with him as well the last couple of days. and yeah, that's where we are with it. >> got to be careful. so how much is too much? with no fans in the stands the

a's are trying to figure out how much music and crowd noise to pipe into the coliseum to create the proper baseball ambience. now, there's also a practical reason for this. because if the park is silent players on both sides can easily hear opponent chirping and trash talking. that can lead to confrontations. so the coliseum will be transformed into club cali. and now the debate is over exactly what music to play. >> it gets your attention. i think you want something that doesn't get your attention. i don't know. i think we're going back and forth with maybe even music. you know, maybe not music with words. just kind of some instrumentals. maybe something like the three tenors or something like that. i'm guessing probably won't go over. but i wouldn't mind hearing that. >> oh, yeah. three tenors for sure. round 1 of the memorial. jack's tournament, dublin, ohio. tiger woods in his first pga tour event since the pandemic. third hole par 4, second shot.

107 yards to the pin. nice backspin right there. setting up a tap-in birdie. now for some raw power. bryson dechambeau on the 10th hole. he's been crushing everything in sight. this is a 423-yard drive to set up a birdie. actually muscled up for two 400-yard drives today. he's one over, tied for 42nd. that is ridiculous power. back to tiger we go on the 15th hole and then excellent approach shot next to the pin. easily tapped in for birdie. said he felt rusty but you wouldn't know it from the start. tied for 19th at one under 71. five strokes behind the leader tony finance awe. huge controversy involving the washington redskins and this has nothing to do with changing the name. 15 women who previously worked for the team have alleged sexual harassment and verbal abuse by members of owner daniel snyder's organization. those allegations came in a scathing report in the "washington post." all right.

time for abc 7 call my play. you know the drill. you send me the video i call the action. let's kick it. >> how do you keep your soccer skills sharp during a pandemic? esteban verumen is from pittsburg. hey, if you can find a wall you can practice. behind the back with ease. out on the field there's the three-cone drill for ball handling. esteban practically has this ball on a string. and do not forget your cardio. up those steps! hey, esteban. we just called your play. on abc 7. >> just watching him run up the steps is making me tired. send me your video. be sure to use th the #abc7callmyplay so we can put you on tv. and dan as the resident golfer amongst us here, when was the last time you ever saw somebody hit a 420-yard drive -- well, actually two 420-yard drives. that's ridiculous. >> i don't think i ever have in a golf tournament. maybe a long drive contest.

but that's crazy. i mean, that's bizarre. unless the wind is howling and pushing it. i don't know how he can do it. it's the golf ball that does it these days, you know. >> yeah. even long drive contests some guys don't hit 420. amazing power from bryson dechambeau. >> thanks, larry. >> be sure to join us tonight for abc 7 news at 11:00. i'm annette hill in san jose. anger and social media backlash over parties being thrown at a south bay lounge. this despite the current pandemic. that story at 11:00. and a new health order will make things a little easier for some south bay wineries during the pandemic. coming up tonight on abc 7 at 8:00 it's "holy moley" followed by dumped and to tell the truth. stay with us for abc 7 news at 11:00. "jimmy kimmel live" comes on at 11:35. finally a few thoughts about what really matters. with coronavirus numbers rising to alarming levels in dozens of states, the governor of georgia,

brian kemp, is taking a bold bold stand that we can all find inspiring. even as the head of the centers tore disease control in atlanta says that if we all wore masks we might have coronavirus under control in a matter of weeks, the governor of georgia is suing the mayor of atlanta over the city's mask mandate. what do the scientists really know anyway? in fact, by executive order governor kemp is also banning mandatory mask requirements by local governments across the peach state. never mind that other governors including fellow republicans are now requiring face coverings in public. alabama, arkansas, and texas to name a few. so gullible, aren't they? buying into the science. suckers. i'm being facetious, obviously. face masks are not about politics, not about individual liberty. they're about common sense and public health. what really matters is that all of us stand together with our leaders lighting the way and do what we need to do to beat this thing for good. i always love to hear from you.

let me know what you think. follow me on twitter and facebook@danashleyabc7. all right. that is going to do it for this edition of abc 7 news. look for the news anytime on the abc 7 news app. thanks for joining us tonight. i'm aama daetz. >> i'm dan ashley. for spencer christian, larry be beil, all of us here, enjoy the rest of your evening and tune in again. we'll be back with you at 11:00. an army family who is always at the ready. so when they got a little surprise... two!? ...they didn't panic. they got a bigger car for their soon-to-be-bigger family. after shopping around for insurance, they called usaa - who helped find the right coverage for them and even some much-needed savings. that was the easy part. usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it- easy.

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