next at 5:00, governor newsom unveils sweeping new reopening rules for businesses. the watch list is out and color-coded tiers are in. we'll explain. those rules are prompting frustration in san francisco. they seem to be causing confusion instead of clarity. meanwhile, haircuts are back in alameda county. to say people there are excited is certainly an understatement. also ahead, taking a stand against injustice. new rallies and reflection today over race. plus out of the ashes. one man's love letter amidst the fires. and petite portraits. how one man's masterpieces are changing lives. >> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc7 news. good evening, everybody. i'm dion lim. >> and i'm dan ashley.

thank you for joining us today. changes to how the state of california deals with covid-19 are coming. today governor newsom unveiled a four tier approach using the colors purple, red, orange, and yellow to determine how counties can move toward reopening. purple means most nonessential businesses can operate outdoors, but some like hair salons and malls can open indoors at limited capacity. red means more indoor businesses like museums and movie theaters can reopen with restrictions. orange means places like indoor wineries and bowling alleys, for example, can open. and at the yellow level, all indoor businesses can reopen with modifications, physical distancing is still required. so are masks and health screenings. the state is also making this change. >> we also have a criteria not just 21 days on moves between tiers but also two weeks of steadiness before you move into those tiers.

>> every county in the bay area is purple except san francisco and napa, which are red. the new framework is up to the discretion of each county, meaning they can be more rigid but not less. now, the governor's new guidelines were announced after san francisco mayor london breed loosened the city's own rules. small business owners immediately cried foul that san francisco is being too restrictive and threatening their survival. here's abc7 news reporter david louie. >> there's so much uncertainty, and i know there's so much frustration. >> reporter: the level of frustration and uncertainty is only growing after governor newsom laid out a reopening plan. but city and county rules prevail. >> we hear from the state one thing, we hear from the city another thing. it's just this ping upon back and forth. you know, that's not how you run a business. >> reporter: under the state plan, a long list of businesses can reopen with limited capacity. gyms at 10% for example, but

hair salons don't list a capacity limit. retailers and shopping malls can open indoors at 50% capacity. by contrast, mayor breed says starting tuesday, hair salons and gyms can open outdoors only. gym owners say it's difficult to find the space to secure equipment outdoors. >> our industry is literally collapsing, and it is all based on the fact that san francisco department of health is not making a rational decision about what's open and what is not able to open right now. >> reporter: late today the mayor's office issued this statement. san francisco is currently reviewing the state's new tiered system for reopening. nothing has changed today in san francisco. the owner of two salons said wind and smoke make it difficult to do hair outdoors but she's grateful for the city's revised rules. >> i don't know that i'll be able to operate in a way that's really profitable or beneficial to the business, but at this point we're so behind on paying our bills that anything is better than nothing.

>> reporter: the mayor did make clear why it's imposing tighter restrictions. >> ultimately what we don't want to do is open up these places and then all of a sudden see a spike and then have to go backwards. >> reporter: in san francisco, david louie, abc7 news. now to the major fires burning in northern california. i'm sorry, dion. >> no, no problem, dan. on to our next story where alameda county loosened its health restrictions today, allowing salons to offer haircuts outdoors. abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield went to one barbershop that opened for the first time since march. >> reporter: robert marcella hasn't had a haircut since february. it's not a look he has been proud of. >> i rarely wear hats except for the past six or seven months. >> reporter: he was one of the first customers here this morning at the temescal alley barbershop in oakland now that alameda county is allowing outdoor haircuts. it's a day even the mayor of oakland has been waiting for.

>> i've already made my appointment to get this rapunzel trimmed a bit. >> reporter: not all salons have the space, and the city of oakland is trying to help accommodate that with flexible permits. >> for example, rock ridge and more and more every day have actually applied to get full or partial street closure. >> we're able to build right off of the shop. we're super fortunate for that. >> reporter: owner brad roberts worked hard to create this outdoor salon. he built this porch and bought new chairs. his traditional chairs weigh about 300 pounds and couldn'ting moved outdoors. he now only has room for threerf still,es excited to be open. >> it was very challenging when everyone -- all the counties around us were opening up and we weren't allowed to. that was very hard to deal with, you know. it's like you want to do the right thing but it's just like, wait a second. covid doesn't stop at county lines. >> reporter: they won't make as much money out here, but there

is a fun payoff. watching seven inches of hair fall away from a customer. >> it feels great. it's a nice to feel a little bit of air back on the head. >> reporter: creating the space wasn't easy, but you can't argue that the demand is definitely there. this shop is booked solid for the next week. in oakland, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. now to the major fires burning in northern california, the scu lightning complex is the second largest fire in state history at nearly 373,000 acres. it is 35 percent contained. the lnu lightning complex in the north bay is also 35% contained. and the czu lightning complex in santa cruz and san mateo counties is at 26% containment tonight. the mceent released this video today of what it saw fighting the czu lightning complex fire. so much is destroyed in this fire sadly, and today abc7 news reporter chris reyes talked with a resident who wrote a love letter to all that his family

lost. >> reporter: that's wallace j. nichols walking through the wreckage that was the home he built with his family from the ground up. but if you can believe it, there was one other thing harder than seeing the ruins in person, and that is putting these words to paper. >> my dearest wallace grace. >> it's a letter to his daughter, who had just left for college, telling her that the home she grew up in was gone. >> it felt like a 20-year walk that i was trying to portray. >> reporter: the house that stood here was nestled in the redwoods just north of davenport. it burned at the height of the czu lightning complex fire last week. but to listen to nichols' words is to imagine the home rising from the ashes. i'll let him take it from here. >> we built your home around you when you were still inside your mother. i thought a lot about every piece of wood and stone. people who visited always asked about the overbuilt stoutness and soulfulness of our home.

i always said that i built the house around my baby girl to protect her and raise her and her sister. you're housed in the redwoods by the creek and ocean lasted nearly 19 years. it held thousands of visitors, beautiful music, salmon dinners and rich, deep conversations. i had hoped that it would be yours someday, and i was working hard to keep it. it burned to the ground in a wildfire caused by lightning in the most beautiful storm i've ever seen. i believe it served its original purpose fully and completely. you are strong thanks to this home. you are made of mill creek water, the fruit from our trees. i wish i could have protected our home. please carry the sweet memories with you wherever you go. >> reporter: jay nichols signed his letter simply "dad," just one more example that fighters didn't destroy mere structures but homes fully loved. from santa cruz county, chris >>opoweul abc7 news nice him to share that with

us and you. meanwhile, a vacaville animal rescue is thanking neighbors and firefighters for helping protect their ranch during the lnu lightning complex. zinger ranch has over 100 rescued farm animals. the owner, missy benz inger and her family were told the safest option might be to leave the animals at the property. but days after the lightning strikes, the flames got close, and the ben zingers and neighbors began to frantically get most of the animals out and to safe places. they came back to the property working together with firefighters to put out spot fires, learning how to fight fire as they worked. >> we've kind of become this in-house firefighting team of people that are just too stubborn and a little too defiant. >> defiant and determined. they worked hard. missy says there's a lot of wor. >> nice to see her smile as well. warriors coach steve kerr is criticizing jared kushner for comments he made about the nba

protest of the shooting of jacob blake by a kenosha, wisconsin, police officer. during a cnbc interview, kushner implied the players' strike was just a night off from work with no real action. kushner is married to first daughter ivanka trump. kerr tweeted, jared, your father-in-law spreads hatred and division daily. spare us your confused lecture and try to teach the president to not be racist. meantime, san francisco giants skipper gabe kapler tweeted his support of the players' alliance by donating his salary today. the players' alliance was formed by a group of black major league baseball players as a platform for positive change. the alliance announced they would be donating their salaries from the games on august 27th and august 28th in honor of jackie robinson day. today, the nba announced all basketball arenas will turn into voting locations for the 2020 elections. all of this part of the deal to

resume playoffs tomorrow. it is still not clear, though, if that will include the warriors' home, chase center in san francisco. well, it has certainly been a very tumultuous week regarding racial issues. large protests over the police shooting of jacob blake in wisconsin sparked a temporary boycott of professional athletes. violence against african-americans was a key topic in today's march on washington, of course. exactly 57 years after dr. martin luther king jr. led the 1963 civil rights march on washington. abc7 news anchor eric thomas has the story. >> no justice,>>ceep i tstiny place in the nation's capital. >> people are dying on the streets and people are getting away with it. >> reporter: a small group of about 20 protesters moved by anger and fear after police in kenosha, wisconsin, shot jacob

blake numerous times in the back and motivated by the anniversary of the march on washington. >> it scares me. i'm scared. i'm scared. i have two kids. i'm scared for them because i don't know -- i don't know what's going to happen to them. >> all power to the people! >> all power to the people! >> things are getting worse and worse, and we just want justice. we want peace. >> reporter: today relatives of blacks shot by police took to the national mall in washington to call for social and political change. it was an echo of the historic poor people's march on washington in 1963 led by dr. martin luther king that led to his iconic "i have a dream" speech. university of san francisco political science professor james taylor says the participants were different this time, but the historical context was much the same. >> the march on washington made sure that they commemorated the death of emmett till because that was the whole launching of the civil rights movement months before rosa parks. >> reporter: this week we saw professional athletes in the nba and major league baseball force

the cancellation of games to protest what happened to jacob blake. and future athletic hopefuls were watching. oakland's gerald nervous is a scholarship baseball player at grambling university in louisiana. like many young athletes, the outfielder is struck by what he's seeing. >> that's really brave of them. i feel like to set aside, you know, the entertainment of the sport and kind of focus on a broader spectrum of social justice. >> reporter: what the pros are doing is making an impression far beyond the hardwood or the baseball diamond. in emeryville, eric thomas, abc7 news. a lot more to come here. testing is a big part of getting schools ready to reopen. the strategy and possible solutions in the covid-19 pandemic that may s dee bay ty man is brightening the lives of others and maybe changing the way donations are done.

it's made for this guy a veteran who honorably served and it's made for her she's serving now we made it for all branches and all ranks whether they served one tour or made a career of it. we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids

usaa is easy to work with and can save you money on auto, home and renters insurance. become a member today. get an insurance quote at usaa.com/quote usaa. what you're made of we're made for get an insurance quote at usaa.com/quote and the hidden smiles.. the foggy glasses... and the muffled laughs. a simple piece of fabric makes a big statement: i care. wear a mask. let's all do our part to slow the spread.

governor newsom today announced a new eviction moratorium bill. tenants would be protected through january as long as they pay at least 25% of their rent. they also must file declarations with their landlord that they are suffering financial hardship because of the pandemic. the bill has to get a two-thirds vote in the assembly and the senate to pass and all by monday night when the legislative session ends. going back to school will be a big milestone for life after coronavirus. experts at stanford medicine are now offering to help school districts do exactly that. it has to do with screening staff for covid-19. abc7 news reporter chris nguyen has the story. >> reporter: with distance learning now the norm, parents across the state are dreaming of when they'll be able to send their kids back to school. but for that to happen, the state says teachers and staff will need to be tested for

covid-19. how it's done will ultimately be decided at the local level. in the case of the burlingame school district, a partnership with stanford health is already in the works. >> our district is being proactive about finding ways to be able to do that. thinking outside the box, it's fantastic. i'm -- i'm so happy to hear it. >> reporter: district officials are working on a plan for employees to be tested on a monthly basis starting in november when in-person learning is expected to resume. >> if the district takes on the responsibility of testing, have employees opt in, have us pay for the testing and then the results on any positivities would be sent to the district, which would then help us to reach the reporting requirement and the monitoring requirement that the governor has put out. >> reporter: the district says it could cost up to $24,000 a month if all of its nearly 300 employees opt into the program. stanford would then conduct the testing at school sites for staff. >> we can garner their expertise

about testing, and they can garner our expertise about how that could better integrate with the public school district so that we could sort of put together a plan. >> reporter: researchers would also get valuable insight into data that could help them formulate recommendations in the future. >> we're helping them as we are doing here. we're helping them to try to interpret what those test results will mean in terms of bringing teachers back, bringing students back, and how do you scale the way schools reopen. >> reporter: parents here glad to know that these two organizations are now working together for the health and safety of all. >> it's so important that we get especially these younger kids back to school in a safe manner and back on campus in some way, shape, or form. >> reporter: in burlingame, chris nguyen, abc7 news. we do have a spare the air day through sunday as you can take a live look from our tam cam. pretty murky out there. abc7 news meteorologist sandhya

pa

>> announcer: now your accuweather forecast with sandhya patel. good evening, everyone. as we look towards downtown oakland right now, do continue to expect the air quality to suffer. air quality around willetts, ukiah, unhealthy to very unheal. other parts of the bay area, it is good to moderate in the north bay. east bay, you are seeing some poor air quality. san francisco, oakland moderate. and as we look at the santa cruz mountains, that's one place where we're actually seeing good air quality right now. visibility is suffering. two miles in ukiah, down to four miles in concord and livermore because of that smoke. wind is beginning to pick up in san francisco out of the west to 20. if the sea breeze strengthens a little more, that will help to mix out some of the smoke at least temporarily, but not for the weekend, which is why a spare the air alert continues right on through sunday.

poor to unhealthy air quality expected but perhaps an improvement. moderate air quality monday, tuesday. slight improvement. live doppler 7 showing you fog near the coast. sea breeze definitely cooling the coastline. upper 50s there. inland areas are in the upper 80s. we warmed up to the low 90s in our inland valleys so certainly warmer away from the coast. mountain tam cam, you can see how murky that view is because of the smoke and fog. smoke impacts and poor air quality will continue. spare the air through the weekend and the summer heat builds sunday through next week. right now near the lightning -- lnu lightning complex fire, it is 80 to 90 degrees. humidity is up there, 32% to 45%. the winds are picking up. gusts to 16. it's something to watch out for although it is coming off the ocean. it is 86% humidity. also near the czu lightning complex, it is cool, and it is moist. right now 65% humidity. the smoke forecast, we'll show you what's going to happen. the smoky skies will remain

concentrated in the north bay through tonight, then we go into tomorrow morning, same general vicinity. but perhaps a little improvement as the sea breeze kicks up tomorrow afternoon and evening. then the smoke is back again on sunday. here's a look at your temperatures in the morning. low 50s to the low 60s. fog, smoke, and haze to start off. hazy skies continuing tomorrow afternoon. low 60s to the low 90s and a look at the accuweather seven-day forecast. spare the air through sunday. second half of your weekend is warmer. that heat continues to build. we'll have the sizzle, september sizzle, on tuesday before those temperatures really just fluctuate within a few degrees going into the middle and latter part of the workweek. dion and dan. >> boy, we really do need some relief, but not coming anytime soon. sandhya, thanks. still ahead here, the bay area artist drawing

as we all fight the coronavirus pandemic, california is mandating face masks to stop the spread. that's why abc7 wants to remind you to wear a mask for you, your loved ones, and your community. please wear because you care. well, finally tonight, a castro valley artist who is using his spare time to create

unique pieces of art to raise money for animal shelters, dion, all over the world. >> yeah, dan. our east bay community journalist melissa pixcar has the story as part of our effort for building a better bay area, project thanks. >> it's original art, and that's key. i try to make them all somehow different. i have an ad agency, and i lost all my clients in april. then that's why i started looking for something to fill my time. when i first started doing my art, i thought, how can i do this t raise money? and so that gave me an idea, and i started pandemic pet project. i don't even know where people find out about me. then they send me pictures of their pet, and they get original piece of art. the idea is they pay it forward to the pet rescue of their choice. and with this pandemic, i'm starting to see it. i can detach from the world. it's just me and the art.

i have envisioned it to be maybe a couple weeks. as it grew, i was like, wow, this is great. my drawings have uk, australia, canada, mexico, and about 25 states. i've done 500, and i don't know how much we've raised. but i would guess between $25,000 and $30,000. that's the whole idea of this whole thing. raising money while making people happy. as long as people keep sending, i'm just going to keep drawing. >> how great is that? thank you, ed, for such a great effort. $30,000 or so raised. pretty impressive, dion. >> it's so impressive and all on such a tiny little square and not to mention it brings a smile to your face, so it's a double whammy of goodness all around. >> world news tonight with david muir is next. we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley good i'm dion lim. for sandhya patel and all of us here at abc7 news, thank you so

much for inviting us into your homes. stay with us. we'll be right back here tonight at 6:00.

and the hidden smiles.. the foggy glasses... and the muffled laughs. a simple piece of fabric makes a big statement: i care. wear a mask.

let's all do our part to slow the spread. tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. tens of thousands in the nation's capital for the march on washington. demonstrators from across the country flocking to the national mall, demanding justice and racial equality. the family of jacob blake, authorities say, shot seven times by police, speaking on the steps of the lincoln memorial. george floyd's brother breaking down at the microphone. dozens marching nearly 800 miles from milwaukee. the massive crowd honoring the 57th anniversary of martin luther king jr.'s i have a dream speech. his granddaughter with the powerful message all these years later. all of this as we learn more on the jacob blake case, blake asking his father in the hospital, why did they shoot me so many times?