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and smothered with ican c e w eese steak melt, pledging to bury 10,000 miles of power lines. it an extraordinary promise by pg&e in an effort to prevent future wildfires. changing mask guidance is creating confusion. one bay area doctor tries to clear it up by breaking down what he thinks about masking indoors. and has been described as a shakedown in chinatown businesses, and some san francisco higher-ups say no more. turning up the heat this week . i will show you how much warmer it is coming up. building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7 news. developing news tonight, new evacuations have been ordered as a wildfire burning in the sierra nevada explodes in size. the dixie fire has scorched

what the 91,000 acres and is just 15% contained. the fire has destroyed eight structures and is threatening significant native american archaeology goal cites. tonight, there are nearly 4000 people fighting the flames. that means newly distract. thank you, good evening for joining us. i am dan ashley. pg&e equipment maybe responsible for starting the fire. more on the utility's plan to bury 10,000 miles of power lines underground in areas of high risk for fires. >> reporter: pg&e wednesday, pledging to make it system, quote, safer than it was yesterday with monumental promise to bury 10,000 miles of power lines underground. the extensive effort, meant to protect high risk communities from future wildfires. >> 10,000 miles of line is a trip halfway around the planet. 10,000 miles of line is a trip

from chico to l.a. 11 times and back. >> reporter: without disclosing a timeline or price tag, pg&e's ceo patti poppe said the make the announcement in the coming months >> but they could not wait , given the proximity to the dixie fire and emotional toll it has on all of us. enter former state senator jerry hill , a vocal critic of pg&e, called the timing of the news suspicious, especially, he says, considering the fire may have been sparked by equipment pg&e manages. >> they have shown over and over again historically they cannot do it right, they have not done it right, and they have been penalized for not doing it right. >> reporter: pg&e equipment has been blamed for a number of wildfires in the state, including the deadly camp fire in 2018. >> much of it has been and the largest buyers have been, and this will not solve that problem.

>> reporter: hill remains critical, calling wednesday's announcement away for the utility pass on the cost to ratepayers . >> we work every day to reduce the cost to contribute to our customers' bills, and we will keep doing that. >> reporter: we know pg&e is requesting a series of rate increases starting 2023, saying it needs the money to safeguard the power grid from wildfires. service and file kiron continue to contain the tamarac fire which has reached almost 44 acres in size. the fire running across the border into nevada late last night. the douglas county sheriff has issued evacuation orders. the california secretary of state has certified the list of candidates running to replace governor newsom in the recall election. there are 46 candidates total . conservative radio host larry elder is on the ballot and former san diego maker kevin faulconer is listed as a businessman, not as a

mayor as he had hoped. the recall election will be held september 14th. president biden tonight and said americans' questions at a town hall at ohio hosted by cnn. the pat forde it was a big topic, as people asked about unemployment and kids returning to school. >> it's real simple. we have a pandemic for those who have not gotten the vaccination. >> president biden began the night's event talking vaccines, but among those unvaccinated our children under 12. the president had this prediction about when the vaccine may be authorized for them. >> soon in the sense that i do not tell any scientist what they should do. >> the president also predicted the cdc will issue guidance encouraging unvaccinated kids to mask up in schools, but he admitted this may be easier said than done. >> it's going to get a little bit tight in terms ofd being ho fieldequtions abbs. et esent bil

he says he does not think this has influenced people not going back to work. >> i see no evidence it had any serious impact. >> he did say some business owners may have to raise their wages. >> i think it really is a matter of people deciding nowthat they have opportunities to do other things. >> president biden also reiterated an infrastructure bill remains a top priority, which he says will increase job opportunities. >> i don't know if we should be panicked, but we should be deeply concerned certainly. tonight, covid is tearing through communities driven by the dominant delta variants. cases nationwide have tripled in the past month for more than ere is somuch rehealth ficials

least until more people get vaccinated. right now, nearly all bay counties recommend that you mask up indoors, regardless of whether you are vaccinated. abc7 news reporter kate larson spoke to an expert who thinks people will be required to mask indoors in the next few weeks. >> reporter: california now has the 17th highest covid case rate in the country, and 2 weeks after the state reopened in june, the rolling average of new cases in the bay area went up. many california counties have recommended or even mandated people, even if they are fully vaccinated, wear a mask indoors. >> i think it can be a little bit confusing. >> reporter: she's not alone. two months ago, the cdc said vaccinated people can drop their mask in most situations. >> i think it's kind of confusing and contradiction. i keep mine on because my workplace requires me too. >> the way they lay it out is kind of confusing. >> it feels confusing because it is confusing. the rules are changing even as we speak. >> reporter: dr. bob walker says it makes sense for everyone to wear a mask inside for reasons.

one the delta variant is quite says infectious. >> that makes it much more risky to do exactly the same activity that you had done a month ago. >> reporter: two, more unmasked people means there is more virus in the air. >> when i go into the place, like a supermarket, and there are people not wearing masks, i have no way of telling whether they are vaccinated are unvaccinated. >> reporter: three, there are more breakthrough infections, and while it is highly unlikely a vaccinated present will be hospitalized, the possibility of long hauler symptoms are unclear. >> i don't know for sure i may not develop persistent headaches or brain fog. >> reporter: four, stop transmission. >> i don't want to catch it and inadvertently spread it to a kid or person i run into who is on chemotherapy for cancer or someone who is unvaccinated. >> reporter: dr. walter thinks it's under safe to be indoors with a small group ofeveryone i fully vaccinated . i'm kate

larson, abc7 news. tonight, claims of shakedowns and threats in san francisco's chinatown . business owners say they received the letter threatening lawsuits threatening americans with disabilities act violations. as j.r. stone explains, the district attorney is now investigation. >> they come in, and it is just like the mob. enter penny kelly is the vice president of the california alliance for retired americans and is describing the situation of late for many chinatown businesses in san francisco . >> if you don't pay us, the mob would say, we'll break up your whole store. this is if you don't pay us and play with us. we will take your place away from you. enter far is cafe is one of the businesses that received a letter claiming that they were not in compliance with ada bity rulio. a letter, demanding money or there would be a lawsuit. chinatn say there have and san frcio district attorney

chasa boudin high. >> they are getting hit with in many cases, $75,000. >> reporter: boudin said his office opened investigations to see if ada laws are being amused to make money, many of which are in all chinatown bills this. >> many businesses are trying their best to meet the requirement, but are limited by the sizes. >> we stand with our chinese community, and disability advocates. we will not tolerate fraud or abuse of legal process. >> reporter: j.r. stone, abc7 news. it is a safe place to be, as long as you are not standing through a food truck.

>> keeping tours safe in san francisco. steps taken to regulate food carts. the governor signed a new bill to tackle organized retail theft. which bay area restaurant was just named "best best" by trip adviser? i'm meteorologist sandhya patel. temperatures, on the rise heading into the weekend. i willde srson. >> i'm anthony anderson. watch this or i will take it personally. is it the suicide quad or the suicide squad? >> it's weird. i always thought

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new at 11:00, san francisco supervisors have passed a plan to create a permit program for vendors at fisherman's wharf. this vote comes amid concerns about the growing illegal outdoor market at the wharf. new video shows the risks that come when unpermitted vendors have things two visitors were trying to buy food. no one had major injuries. the video was provided to us by the fisherman's wharf community benefit district. >> as soon as it exploded, all the other food carts left. they disappeared, so it is a big problem. >> monday, we talked with the ceo of pier 39 abt es ilnds. reraboued food and alcohol being served withoui.ks.

legislation to fight organized retail theft rings like the group seen in this viral video running out of neiman marcus with designer purses earlier this month. the bill extends and adds funding to a crime task force involving the chp and law enforcement partners. >> we want to go after those rings. we want to go after those organized, well, organized teams of folks that are connected not just within communities, but all across the state of california. >> san francisco police chief william scott was at the news conference and said the problem is not insurmountable , but the viral videos have given people perception of lawlessness, and that has to be overcome. as part of our effort to build a better bay area, we're holding authorities accountable. the san francisco police department tells us hundreds of repeat offenders are responsible much of the shoplifting in the city. abc7 reporter melanie woodrow has that part of our covert. >> reporter: videos like this are one of the ways the san francisco police department

investigates retail theft, whereas these images help investigators, they hurt the people there in real-time. >> it causes stress for the employees. it causes stress for the people that are shopping. >> reporter: ahsha safai request of the police department and district attorney provide him with information about organized retail theft. police chief william scott and attorney chasa boudin responded with letters. sfpd keeps records of repeat shoplifting offenders. into does anything, there are 208 repeat offenders, 20% of the rearrested. in 2019, 290 repeat offenders, 29% of the rearrested, and in 2020, 116 repeat offenders, 33% rearrested. >> that had everything to do with businesses being closed in covid. 2020 was more of an aberration. i think when we look at 2021, it is back here >> reporter: supervisor safai points to this video abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez took

of an alleged shoplifter on a bicycle. >> that individual had a series of prior arrests and prior offenses for the exact same type of crime. >> reporter: lieutenant tracy mcrae is vice president of the san francisco police officers association. >> right there on the spot, you're able to catch up in the spot. we have to go steps of the investigation. it may take a while. >> reporter: spokesperson for the da's office of the da was not available for an interview. in his response to supervisor safai, the standard for prosecution is much higher than the standard for arrest, rights boudin. he writes the wide variety of criminal law violations that can result in the retail theft arrest and prosecution makes it difficult to provide exact statistics for these cases. >> i had a good conversation with the district attorney before he submitted his letter, and i said to him, "we're all responsible for this. we are all accountable." san francisco, melanie woodrow, abc7 news. we did get a chance to ask

san francisco da chasa boudin about repeat offenders. >> we have more than a dozen ongoing investigations into areas of organized retail theft , and it's an area we are committed to continuing to address. >> he added last unct ve $8 million worth of stolens rinow after the oakland city council approved a nonbinding term sheet for new ballpark redevelopment project at howard terminal. >> i'm here in las vegas for two days. we have our parallel path going here in southern nevada. we have a series of meetings with different resort operators. we have our architecture looking at different sites. >> i've been working with dave kappel a very long time and have tremendous respect for him as a shrewd negotiator. i respect that they're trying to keep the heat on, and what better place to go than vegas for heat? >> mayor schaaf touted the deal this morning from the project

site, sounding optimistic and hopeful about keeping the a's in oakland, but it is still very much up in the air. >> it certainly is. let's turn our attention to the weather. a little bit of heat here, but not too much, sunday up. >> that's right. we had 90's showing up this afternoon, low 90s, but we're going to turn that heat up as we head into the weekend. i want to show you a few from the satellite perspective . this is not what we want to see, but here we are, the dixie fire, tamarac fire, satellite views showing you just how immense the smoke plumes are as they are moving towards the north east based on the wind direction. the air quality has been fluctuating in that area. it has been unhealthy to very unhealthy for parts of the sierra nevada. right now, we're in the green to yellow across the region, which is good to moderate, and same here locally. we are expecting the air quality to remain pretty good

for the most part, and if you do see hazy skies, it's going to be in the upper layers of the atmosphere based on the wind direction we're expecting. for the next four days, you're looking at good to moderate air quality. here's a look at live doppler 7. temperatures actually came up a few degrees as a result of the fog leering out today. numbers right now anywhere from the 50s to the 70s while inland in places like brentwood, and a live look at our camera, still a little bit of fog rolling in over san francisco. thought near the coast and bay in the morning, warmer weather for the end of the week, and we are talking cloudier and a bit muggy on monday. i will explain in just a moment. tomorrow morning, fog will be really locally inland between 5:00 and 8:00 a.m., and it pulls back to the coast, and it just stays there for parts of the coastline well into the afternoon. you're familiar with that scene. temperatures in the morning will be in the 50s, 60s.

visibility will be low for some areas, so be careful. in the afternoon, we will go with upper 80s to low 90s inland, so warm, but no extremes there. 62 in half moon bay, a little breezy at times. 64 in the city, 85 in santa rosa. upper 70s in places like san jose, 69 oakland, 79 degrees in vallejo. i want to show you what's going to happen as we head towards the weekend. tomorrow, the monsoon moisture associated with this area of high pressure stays over the desert southwest, but watch that monsoon moisture starting to drift to our area sunday and then monday is when the sierra nevada in southern california sees the showers, the chance of thunder, but we're going to be watching for that humidity rising and cloud cover increasing here locally, so if it is a little muggy, you will know why. right now, we're not putting thunder chances in locally, but stay tuned to accuweather 7 forecast. friday, saturday, mid-90s inland, low 60s coast, and not as hot on sunday, we lose the

heat, gain humidity, so get ready for a little

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get this. the san francisco restaurant has been named one of the trip adviser's best of the best for 2021. >> kakari ranked 10th among 25

other restaurants chosen from across the country. the restaurant at the corner of jackson mediterranean-style wood fire at history. adviser calculates the awards based on the quality and quantity of good reviews. managing partner paul said it's because they focus on the guest experience over the bottom line. >> we do get quite a good review, and our staff and our matching staff are very good about making sure people are well taken care of. >> other local restaurants recognized include valette in healdsburg, ranked 17th, the french laundry in yountville, and bistro jeanty

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sports zone abc7 is sponsored by your local toyota dealers. after taylor rogers gave a heartbreaking homer against the s chance tonight. ht last night giants fan in the front row at dodger stadium. runs were hard to come by in this game. top of the first, mike's 16th solo blast. giants up, 1-0. whatever chris taylor is eating, i want some peter taylor homers for the third straight at-bat. off of logan webb, and giants tao, 2-1. buster posey singles. giants would build a 4-2 lead, so rogers protecting a two-run

lead. bottom line, he gets the save. a.j. the final out. giants win, 2-4, and the a's have the night off. at the ripe old age 24, fred warner has established himself as the best in the businessansiness is good. the niners assigned warner to a 5-year, $95 million extension more than 40 mill guaranteed according to espn. the former third round pick in 2018 is ready to leave as he told us recently on our "with authority" prod cast. >> when are somebody everyone is looking to, need to speak up and say something, so it's a lot to leadership, and a lot of it is service, trying to serve my teammates as ways i can. earthquakes in kc christian. one name only. casey played two, 1- giannis did not get any sleep after leaving the bucks

to the nba title last night. the greek creek scored 50 points ending a 50-year championship drought. >> people watching right now. >> really? >> can i have, please, a 50 piece, exactly. not 51. not 49 chicken nuggets. 50. and let me have a large drink, no ice. half sprite, half lemonade. >> he

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talk . >> no. >> i'm ama daetz. >> unquiet. i'm dan ashley. right now, jimmy kimmel with >> dicky:: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live" with guest host anthony anderson! tonight -- from "the suicide squad," margot robbie, john cena, and director james gunn. plus metta world peace, and music from pnb rock featuring swae lee and pink sweat$. and now, anthony anderson! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> anthony: all right! i see you! i see you! i see you! okay! all right! [ cheers and applause ]