next at 5:00. cleaning up from a natural disaster few farmers saw coming. marijuana growers dealing with a new normal of wildfire smoke and ash. plus, scary moments in sunnyvale. two women out walking when a man knocks one to the ground and rips off her necklace. what police are telling women to do. >> during a training accident, one expert says there is always a margin of risk, no matter how routine. and if not now, when? there is a growing call for the oakland school district to start negotiations with teachers for in-person learning. >> building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc 7 news. all right. watch this now. this is frightening moment two

women in sunnyvale faced were ought for a walk. in a region home to some of the safest cities anywhere in the country, and tonight, neighbors, understandably, are on alert. good evening, thank you for joining us. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm ama dates. abc 7 news anchor, dion lim, brings us the story from sunnyvale. >> she got attacked. literally, like, she got attacked. i mean, you don't know. you're not prepared for something like that. >> reporter: the video shows two women on a walk in sunnyvale midday wednesday. whether a man runs by, pretends to trip. one of the women pauses and her gold neck llace is ripped from r neck. many online and in person describe their neighbor as multicultural and say they're south asian. but say they feel they are being targeted for their gold jewelry

and warning each other not to wear it out. >> please, honor your cultures but when you are walking around, maybe it's a good idea to cover it. wear a scarf. cover up the bracelets. >> reporter: just an hour before this incident, they helped mounta mountain view police arrest a suspect on the city's north side. while both investigations continue, authorities don't believe one race, in particular, was targeted. but these were crimes of opportunity. resident katy says she refuses to let this disrupt her life. >> things happen all the time. right? but you can't live in fear. >> in sunnyvale, dion lim, abc 7 news. >> the san francisco man charged with two violent attacks on women in their 70s is still being held in jail pending trial. district attorney made that announcement today at an event condemning attacks on members of the asian-american community. 34-year-old michael turner has been charged with attacking a 71-year-old woman and 78-year-old woman last month in

the tenderloin. >> i'm really upsettle a and apd by the incident of the attack. i have lived and worked in this neighborhood for 40 years, sqani have never seen this increase in violence. >> there is nothing that should be protected any stronger than the right of a person to walk safely down the street in their community. >> abc 7 news anchor dion lim interviewed the son of one of the victims earlier this week. city and community leaders are calling for increased support and protection to prevent future, targeted acts of violence. we are learning more, tonight, about what could have happened leading up to the death of jason cortez. a beloved, 13-year veteran of the san francisco fire department. cortez was killed in a fire training accident yesterday at the corner of 19th and shotwell. abc 7 news reporter has the story. >> a 13-year veteran of the san francisco fire department. a loving father. a dedicated husband. and a fearless firefighter.

that's just a few details we know about the beloved jason cortez. what remains in question is what led up to his accident, where he fell three stories from this high rise during a training accident at 19th and shotwell. >> the risk is always there and is always evident. and unfortunately, accidents do happen. >> reporter: justin moore is a california firefighter and sfou founder of first in safety. an organization that studies safety protocols for first responders. he consults with fire agencies across the country. >> instructor cadres and training facilities are very well designed and engineered with engineered safety precautions and barriers. there is always going to be a certain margin of error or a certain margin of risk. >> moore explains the two most common exercises that result in firefighter injuries or deaths are live firraining or escape route drills. >> those training evolutions involve them coming out of a

window, head first a lot of times, coming onto a ladder and escaping through a window on a ladder. >> reporter: according to the national fire protection association, 48 firefighters have died so far, this year. three of those deaths were due to falls. as a preventative measure, cal osha requires a safety officer should be assigned, in certain cases, involving dangerous hazards. >> what hazards would have to be present in order to require having a safety officer be in a reasonable proximity to the scene of the accident? >> if we're producing an -- due to smoke and fire that meets that requirement, then we are, at that time, required to have a safety officer on scene. >> it's unclear if a safety officer was required or present during cortez's accident. abc 7 asked cal osha but could only confirm a comprehensive investigation is underway. >> you can see the american flag at half staff today as our community continues to mourn this tragic loss. i also wanted to point out, under statutory guidelines, cal

osha has up to six months to complete this investigation. in san francisco, stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. now, to a milestone and the fallout in the fight against the glass fire in sonoma and napa. now, cal fire officials now say have grown and, quote, the forward spread has been stopped. the fire has burned more than 100 square miles and is now 66% contained. despite the progress, we are seeing a ripple effect on one of the state's biggest prcrops. marijuana. the fire and smoke have destroyed farms up and down the bay area and across california. some owners have essentially lost an entire year's crop, right along with their livelihood. abc 7 news, one farmer dealing with what's called smoke taint. a residue left behind that can pose big problems. >> reporter: harvest time in sonoma county. we've already heard about the grapes and concerns about how smoke taint from fires will eliminate some vintages. but here is something new. >> that's ash right here. >> reporter: a great concern to

eric pierson, who is part biologist, part grower, and a full-time ceo at spark. right now, his crop is coming in. >> this is not broccoli. >> no. >> reporter: doctor order. wedding crasher. or san fernando valley. >> cannabis. >> towering, flowering cannabis. acres of it. and in sonoma county, growers have concern about smoke taint as well. smoke taint from cannabis is different than grapes. with cannabis, it's a matter of esthetics. people don't want ash on their pot. and if those ashes happen to be polluted, they don't want that pot at all. >> there is organic smoke from a forest, which is what's on these plants because there's no structures nearby. but if you have a structure fire nearby, you could have all kinds of chemicals on your plant that you want to make sure you test for to make sure it's not con tam contaminating the product. >> after the fire, that process continued today.

it's necessary, considering the cannabis is easily a $100 million a year, taxable product in sonoma county. and growing, both, figuratively and literally. >> wine industry is sort of flattening off. sonoma county can use all the tourism dollars it can get right now because of the fires, and we hope that this industry can add to that. >> reporter: the ash this year will not be a game breaker for eric, especially considering how several other legal growers lost their entire crops to the glass fire. but even as those flames fade, it is clear their consequences continue. in sonoma county, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. and then, there's this. california destroyed more than a million marijuana plants in this year's annual campaign to stop illegal grows. attorney general says the campaign against marijuana planting targeted 455 grow sites. now, he says competition from illicit operators is hurting california's legal marijuana business, which the state started regulating in 2018.

the attorney general is vowing to prosecute growers who are poisoning our water and damaging public land. >> they hurt the farmers who rely on having healthy soil and access to safe water. and certainly, they hurt responsible californians, including legal, commercial cannabis business operators, who play by our state's rules when it comes to cannabis. >> officials arrested 140 people during the 13-week operation. the biggest haul, more than 293,000 plants and that happened in riverside county. new developments in the debate over bringing safe drug use sites to san francisco and oakland. state senator announced today he is reintroducing legislation to legalize sites, possibly similar to this one. san francisco and oakland mayors both support the plan. they say safe infection sites help reduce overdose deaths, help connect people to services, and reduce crime. it was passed by lawmakers in

2018 but vetoed by then-governor jerry brown. cautiously optimistic about reopening schools as the number of covid-19 cases continues to drop in alameda county, especially in communities of color. but the school district and teachers union have yet to negotiate a memorandum of understanding required to safely begin in-person learning. abc 7 news reporter explains what that process would entail. >> reporter: technically, open public schools could begin to reopen as early as october 13th, according to the alameda county health department, because covid cases have dropped. for example, testing for the virus in the fruitvale district, which is predominantly latino, found the number of cases declining. >> it is encouraging to see numbers going down, especially in some of our hardest-hit communities, like the latinx community. but we have got to make sure it's safe, not just for children but, for the incredible teachers. >> reporter: there are several factors standing in the way of reopening schools there. one of them is that there is no

memorandum of understanding with the teachers union for in-person learning. some parents wonder why not start now? >> if the district really knows that's what they want this to do, start negotiating now, before we get to that point so you already have something in writing to say, okay, it's time. we have this in writing. let's get started. >> reporter: the head negotiator of the oakland education association told us teachers want to see two safety components met before negotiations begin. >> one is that we look at the data for the city of oakland. and in all zip codes. and that we have near-zero rates. the second piece is the appropriate ppe and all the safety precautions. >> reporter: oakland unified has been working on a reopening plan since last spring. the district maintains it will follow the science but worries that the outcomes are sconcecony changing. >> we have no plans to go back, in any kind of large-scale format before the end of

december. so, it will be at least january before something happens. but i can't tell you even if it's going to be january. >> reporter: the question remains, will they be able to reopen at all this school year? in oakland, leigh anne, abc 7 news. >> more to come here. two companies now rushing for emergency-use authorization for their covid antibody treatment. and now, researchers at stanford are weighing in on this same experimental therapy that president trump credits with helping him fight off the virus. that's ahead. plus, the reunion helping one bay-area man look forward after he lost they do one of the most difficult jobs there is, even in normal times. our frontline health care workers. and when these heroes lack the resources they need, that risky job gets ten times harder. prop fifteen makes corporations pay their fair share. to invest in our communities, in our clinics, in the essential workers who treat everyone- rich, poor, and in-between. whether it's this pandemic or the next health crisis,

vote yes on prop fifteen. for all of us.

the covid research effort known as operation warp speed may be kicking into an even higher gear. two drug companies are now asking the government to make their treatments available, even though they're still finishing clinical trial. and bay-area researchers say it's all promising but with some

limitations. >> president trump's treatment for covid-19 may be touching off a race to get similar medications to market. regeneron, the company that makes a monocolonial antibody giv monoclonal antibody. that comes just days after eli lily said it would make the same eau request. coincidence? >> that may have had something to do with it. but they would have been doing this soon, anyway. and i think it's a matter of the two companies trying to decide who is going to get the leg up. >> dr. yvonne is involved in the clinical trial of regeneron at stanford. first, it's important to understand that monoclonal antibodies are basically an engineered version of the covid-fighting apt bodi covid-fighting antibodies produced by our immune systems. but still require testing. >> we know they work well and are pretty safe. but we just have to make sure with this new pathogen.

>> with strong support from the trump administration, the fda has already issued several eaus, including one for the drug hydroxychloroquine, that was later reversed. still, there is interest in the antibodies as more than just treatment but possibly as a short-term substitute for a vaccine. >> scenarios where it might be very dangerous for someone to get coronavirus and having some kind of time-limited protection might be quite useful. >> dr. amy is a researcher conducting trials on the competing ee competing eli lilly drug. >> we just need to make sure we -- we complete the work that we've set out to do. >> the ultimate authority to grant emergency-use authorizations rests with alex azar, head of health and human services, and a former executive at eli lilly. both area researchers say transparency is critical. >> i would say that if there were some interest in there, that other people need to weigh in as well, besides he.

although, he is going to be the ultimate decision maker. >> for his part, azar has promised to ignore politics and base all decisions on the science. and meantime, just a short time ago, the president's physician says that president trump will resume public activities on saturday, as that will be day ten since his diagnosis. oakland's fire department has been awarded a fema grant. the department is one of nearly 2,100 recipients getting a cut of the $700 million assistance to firefighters grant. oakland plans to use the money to buy self-contained breathing devices and face pieces for firefighters. meanwhile, we told you at the top of the newscast about the progress in the glass fire. one sonoma county man lost his home and everything he worked for in that fire. but he has just found something. >> reporter: this is the moment mango walked back to dan, after running away. dan tried to feed him by hand

but it was clear mango was scarred from his days lost amid the charred landscape. >> he's really shellshocked. >> uh-huh. >> he's a mama's boy, though. he's always been right next to his mother, his whole life. >> his mother is still missing. she and mango and two other donkeys ran off when the fire hit. dan tried to protect his home but he says he was forced to jump into a pond, when flames overtook him. he stayed there for hours and by the time he could look for his animals, they were gone. he asked the sonoma county animal rescue team to help find them and then it happened. mango came running up the hill. >> we've lost millions of dollars worth of stuff here. but the life of the donkeys is what we're focusing on now and it just goes to show how vaableif is. it's not about money, materialism. it's about things that still possibly alithem. >> kumasi aaron, abc 7 news.

>> hope they find mango's mama. well, it's definitely feeling like fall outside. and the skies are going to be and the skies are going to be pretty smoky for a while longer. taking california for a ride. companies like uber, lyft, doordash. breaking state employment laws for years. now these multi-billion-dollar companies wrote deceptive prop 22 to buy themselves a new law. to deny drivers the rights they deserve. no sick leave. no workers' comp. no unemployment benefits. vote no on the deceptive uber, lyft, doordash prop 22. one ride california doesn't want to take. doordash prop 22. when you take a it all begins to un-ravel. ann ravel's no reformer, she's backed by big corporations who've poured hundreds of thousands into her campaign. and she opposes ballot measures to make the economy more fair for working people. only dave cortese is endorsed by the california democratic party.

he's helping us battle the pandemic with a science-based approach. and expanding health services and child care to those in need. for state senate, democrat dave cortese. traffic and air pollution will be even worse after the pandemic. that's why we support measure rr to keep caltrain running. which is at risk of shutdown because of the crisis. to keep millions of cars off our roads, to reduce air pollution and fight climate change. and measure rr helps essential workers like me get to work and keep our communities healthy. relieve traffic. reduce pollution. rescue caltrain. [all] yes on measure rr. i'm voting 'yes' on prop 19. nineteen limits taxes on seniors. it limits property tax on people like me. nineteen limits taxes on wildfire victims. it says so right here. if 19 passes, seniors can move closer to family or medical care.

i looked at moving but i can't afford the taxes. will you help california's most vulnerable? vote 'yes' on prop 19. forecast with sandhya patel. >> hi there, everyone. it is feeling like late fall, here, in the bay area. sweater weather outside. take a look at those temperatures right now. anywhere from 59 to 74 degrees. today's highs really didn't make it far from those numbers there. they were in the low 60s to the mid-70s. hope you are enjoying it. the wind certainly playing a role. onshore breezes transporting the cooler air in from the ocean towards the bay and around the inland areas. here is a live look from our kgo roof camera and you can see that breeze blowing across the bay and lot of clouds from our golden gate bridge camera. live doppler 7 showing you clouds stacked up. it's not just low-level, but

high-level clouds as well. one thing we are concerned about is from our mt. tam cam, you can see how smoky skies are still around the north bay where the glass fire -- glass fire is still going. but we do have moderate air quality, even elsewhere. so, san rafael looking for poor air quality for sensitive groups. san jose, moderate. and same thing for the santa cruz mountains. the smoke impacts are going to continue for another couple of days. so we have seen the air district has changed their forecast. they are going with a spare the air for saturday. for friday and saturday, even though onshore breezes will help to blow some of the smoke out, it's not going to be a completely good forecast anymore. we are looking at moderate to poor. sunday, monday, moderate air quality. we have a beautiful view of san francisco tonight. cloudy overnight. mix of clouds and sun tomorrow. we are looking at the possibility of sprinkles on saturday. the hour-by-hour forecast will show you a little bit of drizzle tomorrow morning. widespread cloudiness, though, across the region. as we head into midnight

saturday, a second system comes through here. and that may produce just enough drizzle or a couple of sprinkles. best chance will be around the coast and the north bay going into saturday morning. and then, we go into saturday night. that cloudy pattern is with us. keeping those temperatures down. but then, as we head into the second half of the weekend, it's going to warm up. so, rainfall. it's all going into the pacific northwest. over an inch in seattle. that will help their fire situation. for us, here, in the bay area, just a couple hundredths of an inch, at most. in terms of drizzle or a few sprinkles. tomorrow morning, temperatures mid-40s to upp50s. upper 70s. hazy around the glass fire and the accuweather seven-day forecast will keep those temperatures below average for a few days. enjoy that. then, we warm it up the second half of your weekend. winds picking up sunday night into monday. offshore winds bringing us a warm pattern going into next

week as well, with 90s coming back into the picture. ama and dan. >> thanks, sandhya. >> wow. once again, it was a must win for the they do one of the most deven in normal times.s, our frontline health care workers. and when these heroes lack the resources they need, that risky job gets ten times harder. prop fifteen makes corporations pay their fair share. to invest in our communities, in our clinics, in the essential workers who treat everyone- rich, poor, and in-between. whether it's this pandemic or the next health crisis, vote yes on prop fifteen. for all of us. proposition 16 takes some women make as little as 42% of what a man makes. voting yes on prop 16

helps us fix that. it's supported by leaders like kamala harris and opposed by those who have always opposed equality. we either fall from grace or we rise. together. proposition 16 provides equal opportunities, levelling the playing field for all of us. vote yes on prop 16.

as we all fight the coronavirus pandemic, california is mandating face masks to stop the spread. that's why abc 7 wants to remind you to wear a mask for you, your loved ones, and your community. please, wear because you care. this is a look at our pier 39 camera in san francisco. i thought i only saw one out there. but nope. there are some sea lions out there in the distance. they are there. we are streaming this live. from our live cam and others from around the bay area, 24/7 on our new connected tv app on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and android tv. download the app to check it out, along with our newscast, live and on demand. >> the challenges of long-term remote working. what to do when organizations don't need office space but co-workers want chances to get together. a company has found a solution. amazon's prime day is next week and despite what you may have heard, it won't interfere with the election. 7 on your side's michael finney will join us to explain. and when you hear that

someone is corporation well, this philanthropist is a 9-year-old girl. all, coming up at 6:00. >> well, finally, tonight, it is all over for the oakland a's. their postseason dreams were crushed by the astros, who won today's game. itse it was three games to one. >> with the a's jumping out on top. blasted this massive homer giving the a's a 3-nothing led but the astros, oakland mounted a literally in the ninth but just wasn't enough. astros win 11-6. >> you have to make good pitches against them. you know it's going to be a battle to the end. we just couldn't do enough, you know, on the pitching end to hold 'em down. >> houston advances to the american league champion series against, either the new york yankees or tampa bay rays but the a's gave it a good try. >> certainly, did.

all right. world news tonight with david muir is next. i'm ama traffic and air pollution will be even worse after the pandemic. that's why we support measure rr to keep caltrain running. which is at risk of shutdown because of the crisis. to keep millions of cars off our roads, to reduce air pollution and fight climate change. and measure rr helps essential workers like me get to work and keep our communities healthy. relieve traffic. reduce pollution. rescue caltrain. [all] yes on measure rr. they do one of the most deven in normal times.s, ouon althare workers. and when these heroes lack the resources they need, that risky job gets ten times harder.

prop fifteen makes corporations pay their fair share. to invest in our communities, in our clinics, in the essential workers who treat everyone- rich, poor, and in-between. whether it's this pandemic or the next health crisis, vote yes on prop fifteen. for all of us. in the tubbs fire. the flames, the ash, it was terrifying. thousands of family homes are destroyed in wildfires. families are forced to move and higher property taxes are a huge problem. prop 19 limits taxes on wildfire victims so families can move without a tax penalty. nineteen will help rebuild lives. vote 'yes' on 19.

tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the chilling plot. the fbi stopping an alleged terror plot to kidnap an american governor. the governor of michigan. prosecutors now say governor gretchen whitmer was being targeted by violent extremists. federal agents raiding several homes, arresting 13 suspects, including seven alleged members of a right wing militia group. the messages the fbi intercepted. the suspects accused of plotting to kidnap the governor and then what they allegedly planned to do next. and governor whitmer coming before the cameras today. pierre thomas standing by tonight. the next presidential debate is off, after the debate commission telling president trump and joe biden that the next town hall debate would be virtual to protect everyone. joe biden said yes, president trump pulled out,