in front of a local school, a crossing guard killed after seeing -- saving a child. the growing memorial and what police have said about the investigation. >> president biden, grading -- getting ready to lay a new plan to fight covid with a six step strategy. >> a mandatory water conservation effort falling short. we will talk about a warning from a valley water official. good morning. it is thursday, september 9. you are watching abc seven mornings live on abc seven, hulu live in wherever you stream. >> we want to start with the forecast withdrew. -- with drew. >> tonight, we will be on the watch with -- for the threat of thunderstorms. outside we go, a live look, a different picture this morning

than yesterday. fog over the city, an indication of some cooler changes already here. anywhere from four to eight degrees cooler compared to yesterday morning. 58 in the city. good morning, san francisco. 58 in napa. hour-by-hour, future weather, temperatures are slow to warm with the marine layer influencing and the onshore breeze. later on this afternoon, warm spots going into the upper 80's to lower 90's. a fire and weather watch at 5:00 p.m.. more on that in a few mitts. >-- minutes. >> we are hearing from the parents of a crossing guard who died after saving a child. there is a growing memorial outside of stanley middle school for 45-year-old ashley deas. -- dias. police say a driver in an suv hit him and a child after school got out. the child has minor injuries. kate larsen spoke with people in lafayette about this tragedy.

>> tuesday took a tragic turn when an suv had a crossing guard in front of the school. >> she was getting pulled out -- he was getting pulled out by the paramedics and getting cpr. >> stella said the street was crowded with students. >> i think there was a kid injured but the crossing guard saved the kid. >> the crossing guard, 45-year-old ashley dias was volunteering at stanley, the same middle school he attended while growing up at lafayette. >> it is unbelievable. this morning, we spoke to him. in the afternoon, we spoke to him before he went for the crossing. >>'s parents live nearby. they say ashley lived in san francisco and worked in i.t.. when he visited them, he would help out at the school since they were short on guard. >> he was a great son. it is devastating. >> an unthinkable task for any parent. they went to the hospital to

identify their son's body. >> a doctor said if it wasn't for your son, my daughter would be dead. he died a hero. he will never come back to us. >> in lafayette, i am kate larsen. abc 7 news. >> lafayette police are investigating the crash. the driver is the grandmother of a student who was in the car at the time. they are both home and physically ok. police say she is cooperating with the investigation. >> happening today, president biden is expected to lay out a plan to fight the pandemic. >> the white house press secretary says president biden's new strategy has six steps and will focus on getting the deck to -- delta variant under control and keeping kids in school safe. biden's plan is expected to pressure more companies to add vaccine mandates. data shows that getting vaccinated is key to beating covid-19.

right now, hospitals across the u.s. are treating more than 100,000 covid patients, four times the number at this time last year. many of those patients are not vaccinated. >> we hit another high mark of 115 patients in our hospitals. 40 of those are in critical care. 20 of those are on ventilators. >> you can help by getting yourself vaccinated to protect that child who can't be vaccinated. >> about one fourth of new covid cases in the u.s. involve kids. 2200 of them are in the hospital. the l.a. school board is expected to vote today on a vaccine mandate in schools. if it passes, it will become the first major school district in the country to make students ages 12 and up get vaccinated. >> we will have to watch it closely. one bay area county is seeing an alarming spike in covid cases, the heels of the summer search. 20 deaths were recorded. deaths increased despite the

fact that the seven day average of new cases has dropped from more than 400 in late august to just 153 yesterday. overall, more than 96% of recent deaths have been among the unvaccinated. of the 56 patients hospitalized in two medical centers, 15 are vaccinated. >> some are partially vaccinated or have one or -- one does. one person got vaccinated a few days prior to getting sick. >> the doctor believes the vaccines have printed patients from getting gravely ill. we have an entire teddy -- team dedicated to getting you information about covid. to ask them questions, go to abc 7.com/vaccine. >> we have learned a mandatory water conservation effort in santa clara county is falling short. the climate and environment is an issue we are focusing on in our efforts to build a better bay area. amy hollyfield's life at

stanford with a dire warning for residents. -- is live at stanford with a dire warning for residents. >> stamper is getting high marks for its water conservation efforts and so is palo alto. the rest of the county, not so much. the rest of the county is falling short. santa clara had been ordered by water officials to cut their water use this summer by 15%. now, the county has cut it down by 6%. the worst offender for water use is the theresa may hills water district. they have increased their water usage there. officials say people are going to have to change their behavior or, one day, you could turn on the tap and no water would come out. >> if there is one thing i have learned after studying environmental behavior, it is hard to break habits. people are used to taking long showers, and those are things that some people may or may not be willing to give up.

>> officials say they are aware that cutting back 15% for a household is tough. and the place where you can do it is outside. if the 15% reduction is not reached, that could lead to a top -- a 20 or 22% reduction order later down the road. it is essential that this happens. stanford and palo alto are pulling their weight. stanford managed to cut their usage by 15%. palo alto, 13%. they are the stars in the county. reporting live instant -- in stamford, amy hollyfield. >> on our streaming app, we have a complete collection of stories about our changing climate and environment. you can download the app wherever you stream by searching abc 7 news bay area. >> pg&e has developed a wildfire mitigation plan. officials with the california public utilities commission are expected to ratify it. the plan includes vegetation

management and thorough equipment inspection and community engagement among other strategies to reduce the risk of wildfires. >> dangerous weather is on the wafer northern california. that includes dry lightning. it is not expected to be as severe as what we saw last august when the dry lightning storms ignited more than 500 wildfires across northern california. the scu lightning complex and lnu complex burned more than 1300 square miles in the greater bear area -- greater bay area. >> firefighters fighting the caldor fire are preparing for dry lightning. containment is up to 50% spite the challenging conditions in the eastern zone of the fire. calfire talked about how the incoming weather will impact firefighting efforts. >> we can have fire going in different directions, going really fast. these areas are still red and have a high potential for when we get the winds coming through here, that could push our lines and we could have some issues

contributed by the weather. >> the caldor fire has burned more than 340 square miles and destroyed nearly 1000 structures since it started burning last month. drew tuma is here with more on when the fire weather watch will take effect. drew: later on today, locally in the bay area, it begins at 5:00 p.m. it is not atypical for us to have these lightning events in september. what is the game changer is how dry or landscape is. a hoop -- huge portion of california is in exceptional drought. any thunderstorms we see that could contain lightning could easily spark new fires. here is the fire weather warning starting later today, it comes over a large area of northern california, including tahoe and parts of the bay area. this begins at 5:00 p.m. later on today. for much of the north bay, solano county as well as the inland east bay.

we have a chance of seeing lightning moving in, especially in the overnight hours. the reason why, we are watching some moisture off the coast of southern california. that will try and move in here later on tonight. here is our lightning strike risk. this is 10:00 p.m. there is that chance, especially in the east. i think that early friday morning, this is 1:00 a.m., that would have the highest threat for lightning. a closer look at highs, 65 in the city. 72 in oakland. 84 in san jose. we will track a chance of lightning later on tonight. >> no major blocking issues to report. the map is mostly green. we have a red patch coming out of tracy. here is the drive time. 37 mitts from tracy to evelyn this morning. -- minutes from tracy to devlin this morning. in oakland, this is our 880 at

the coliseum camera. i will let you know if things change but so far it is a great time to head out the door. julian: a concert that will be very popular with kids, we will tell you about the virtual show you can see from home. >> a big show of support for the asian community in san francisco. the event that brought hundreds of people together. julian: the race to finish lunch. the reason one school district is giving students exactly 14 minutes to eat a meal. >>

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julian: u.s. capitol police are concerned about possible violence at a rally set for next saturday. a memo says they have decided to reinstall a layer of protective fencing that is around the capit ol building months after the riots in january. nancy pelosi announced there will be extra safety measures ahead of the rally. the justice for jay six rally --

j6 rally supports people who were charged in the capitol riots. kumasi: hundreds of people packed the square for this event with a goal of better connecting the community with the police to parma. my outcomes as the city has seen a rash of attacks against asian americans. police about advice and food. those who attended said the night out was what was needed. >> there is a lot of fear in the community. a lot of seniors are afraid to get out of their house. that is why it is more important. >> their visibility and presence is welcome and it is evidently making an impact on the community -- definitely making an impact on the community. kumasi: the latest crime numbers from the end of july show homicides and robberies are down but aggravated assaults are up. bill scott says extra officers are patrolling time -- chinatown. julian: san francisco city

leaders are encouraging you to get back on buses and trains. the mayor joined elected leaders and transportation officials and community members to kickoff transit month. townhall members are brainstorming ideas on how to make public transit more efficient. the mayor says she knows there is room for improvement. >> we know it has been challenging to deliver to san franciscans the service the city deserves. we are saying take public transit and use public transit but we have to make sure it is reliable, safe, clean. julian: transportation officials expect community service to return to 85% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year. -- is trying to cut covid-19 risk for students by having them do power lunches. starting this week, from the time students sit down until they leave, they get a grand total of exactly 14 minutes to remove their mask and eat their lunch. 15 minutes, stricter state light

-- guidelines for quarantines kick in. the adaptation was prompted by a day last month when two covert exposures focused -- forced them to close down an entire grade level. >> by doing this in 14 minutes, we can say we know our student have not been unmasked and within six feet,", for more than team minutes. -- within six contact for more than 16 minutes. julian: 14 minutes. minutes. mim kumasi: next week, 21 pilots has a treat. one of the most popular apps your kids might be using. >> i'm taking my time on my ride. kumasi: 21 pilots is going to do a virtual concert on the san

mateo based gaming platform, roblox. lil nas x was the first to have a roblox concert. they can virtuous -- purchase virtual merchandise. the 21 pilots concert is premiering next friday. >> my nieces are obsessed with this game. you know what they wanted for their birthdays? gift for the game. all summer, that is all they ever wanted to play. >> i just don't get it. [laughter] drew: they are obsessed. they try to tell me, look what they got. a bracelet for my i'm like that cost me five bucks. >> what? a virtual bracelet for a character? drew: yes. let's talk about what's going

on. some good news, more tracking. later on tonight, we have the threat of some lightning. change is out there. we have a little bit of fog on the coast line. helping to influence our temperatures. most of us will have that fresh air in the next 24 hours. right now, it is cooler, compared to yesterday. upper 50's to lower 60's. 55 in -- 60 in palo alto. 84 in san jose. today, 82 in santa clara. 77 in palo alto. downtown, cooler today compared to yesterday. 65. 63 in daly city. 85 in sonoma. 66 in sausalito. 72 in oakland. 78 in fremont. inland, we are backing off the triple digits.

92 in antioch. later on, we will find increasing clouds and a threat for lightning. let's go hour-by-hour and show you that threat. threats around redding. by 10:00 p.m. tonight, and i think especially early tomorrow morning, the threat is highest here in the bay area. this is 1:00 a.m. on your friday morning. there is the seven day forecast. lightning threat late tonight. into early friday morning. much of friday is lots of sunshine during the day. cooler temperatures and the weekend is shaping up to be nice. julian: thank you. the actor who played the overprotective windex loving father in my big fat greek wedding has died. the family of michael constantine told the reading eagle he passed away of natural causes. the actress who played his daughter called him the dad to our cast family and always a

friend. constantine was 94 years old. kumasi: are you ready for more wheel of fortune? pat sajak and vanna white will continue through 2024. pat sajak will serve as consulting producer. last week, mike richards stepped down after his previous offensive comments were surfaced. you will notice new things on the show. pat sajak will no longer do the final spin. instead, the contestant in control of the wheel at the time will spin to determine the amount each consonant is worth during the speed up around. you can watch wheel of fortune right here on abc 7. coming up the seven things to know this morning. julian: an expert reveals when to expect the best deals on travel. we take a live look outside, traffic moving nicely.

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>> here are the seven things to know. the taliban will reportedly allow 200 u.s. citizens and

afghan refugees to leave afghanistan. according to reuters, the charter flights are expected to depart today. julian: president biden is expected to give a speech today, laying out his six step plan to be covid-19. it pushes for more vaccinations and safety kumasi: practices in schools. kumasi:mandatory -- kumasi: mandatory water conservation efforts are falling short in santa clara county. they ordered residents to cut water usage by 15%. county has cut it down by 6%. julian: they are preparing for a dry lightning current. the fire is 50% contained. drew: because of the lightning threat, you have a fire weather watch that will begin at 5:00 p.m. the highest threat for lightning between 10:00 p.m. tonight and 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. w ae crash in oakland that is blocking one lane and injuries have been reported. according to the chp. you can see a slight dough down

-- slowdown. this is a 80. -- 880. >> today is california's 171st admission day. president fillmore made california the nation's 31st state. san jose was briefly the capital before being moved to vallejo and then sacramento. julian: airlines are offering deals on flights to keep everyone traveling through the fall season. here is geo bonita has. -- benitez. >> nationwide airfares are expected to drop 10% in september. international fares are hitting record lows. >> we are seeing great prices to europe, historically low. as we approach thanksgiving, we are expecting prices to not only be lower than pre-pandemic 2019 but also lower than 2020. >> domestic tickets in september

are expected to average $260 round-trip. for those looking ahead, analysts say the best deals are coming soon. >> we found the absolute cheapest prices will start appearing around mid september or next week. >> coming up at 7:00, we will have the tips you need to score the best deals. plus, what experts are saying about car rental costs this morning. with your gma first look, i am geo benitez. >> more bragging rights for the city by the bay. san francisco is ranked as the world's best city by timeout. timeout credits san francisco for its unbeatable combination of progressiveness, acceptance and sustainability. it received praise for its food scene and response to the pandemic. amsterdam, manchester, copenhagen and new york rounded out the top five. julian: ok. something to brag about this

morning. we will take it. >> coming up at downsizing. the san francisco tech company that is moving to a smaller space. julian: we are looking ahead at what is next for elizabeth holmes as a case moves through court. kumasi: let's look outside as people make their way across the bay bridge. it is 5:26. we will be back.

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moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. julian: developing news out of afghanistan. the evacuation effort, following efforts -- the taliban will allow hundreds more citizens and refugees to leave the country. >> the fate and future is -- of the future is in your hands. kumasi: the final campaign stops and last-minute messages to voters. julian: stanford and palo alto getting high marks for water conservation but the rest of the county is lagging big-time. good morning. it is thursday, september 9. thank you for being here. abc 7 mornings is live on abc 7, who live in wherever you stream. kumasi: we want to go to drew. drew: we are tracking fog, an indication the marine layer is growing and cooler weather is on the way. here is the skyline of san francisco. some of the buildings are

obscured by the marine layer. we are anywhere from four to eight degrees cooler. -- cooler than we were last time -- this time yesterday. 60 and palo alto. later on today, hour-by-hour, warming is a much slower process compared to yesterday, thanks to the fog. later on this afternoon, we are getting into the 80's in our warmest spots. by 2:00 to 3:00, we will likely be in the 90's. increasing cloud cover later on this evening could bring the threat of lightning. we will detail that in the fall accuweather forecast -- full accuweather forecast. kumasi: reuters is reporting the taliban will allow hundreds more u.s. citizens and afghan refugees to leave the country read jobina fortson is live -- leave the country. albina fortson is live. jobina: 200 americans and afghans who want to evacuate afghanistan will be allowed to leave on charter flights that are the parting today. that is according to a u.s.

official who spoke with reuters. the taliban has agreed to let evacuees leave through kabul airport. this is video from last month of flights taking off. the taliban leaders said they would allow people with proper documents to leave afghanistan. on tuesday, antony blinken said the u.s. was in talks with the taliban. julian: as the drought worsens, folks in the bay area are being asked to double down on cutting back on water use. in santa clara county, the mandatory water conservation efforts are falling short. amy hollyfield is live in one of the only places pulling their weight. stanford university, meeting the water production goal. amy: they did a good job. it is report card time and stamper gets a gold star for its water conservation efforts. the rest of the county felt pretty short. but stanford did the best job in

the entire county. santa clara county was ordered to cut its water usage by 15% this summer. the county has only cut down by 6%, falling short. water officials say the situation is dire. if the cuts are made, -- are not made, it up or order could be issued, requiring a 20% to 20 per two -- 22% cut. >> 15% can be hard for a household to cut back on. the only place where we can do it is outside. >> there can come a day where no water comes out of the tap. we have seen it in cities all over the world. amy: the worst offender in santa clara county is the los altos hills. los altos hills has increased id water usage this summer, going in the wrong direction. stanford is leading the way with palo alto post behind. the city of palo alto cut water

usage by 13%. officials say everyone needs to look at their plumbing and come up with a plan and everyone will need to do their part in this dire situation. live in stamford, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. julian: we all have to step up and chip in. on our streaming app, we have a complete collection of stories about our changing climate and environment. just search abc 7 news bay area. kumasi: president biden will address the nation today and talk about the next steps in the fight against covid-19. this six prong strategy will be focused on stopping the spread of the delta variant read here are some of the latest covid-19 headlines. -- delta variant. here are some of the latest headlines. nora vax is testing a vaccine in australia. -- staff who have been granted medical exemptions will be placed on temporary medical leave.

the world health organization is calling on rich countries to hold off on offering booster shots until the end of the year to make more maxine's -- vaccines available for poor countries. julian: all nine bay area counties are getting ready to roll out covid-19 boosters. the fda could authorize the pfizer shot as soon as september 20. plans are underway to reopen mass vaccination sites around the bay area. >> we are planning to be able to deliver between 100000 and 120,000 vaccinations at that site over the course of several months. >> i can imagine that ucsf and kaiser will set up large vaccination sites. julian: planes are also -- plans are underway to reopen the san mateo medical center. we have an entire vaccine team dedicated to getting you the latest information about vaccinations. if you have a question, go to

abc 7 news/-- abc7news.com/vaccine. kumasi: lisbeth holmes became elizabeth holmes became a billionaire and now is accused of fraud. rebecca jarvis is in san jose this morning with the key takeaways from the opening statements. >> it started with a line over a block long, coming out of these courthouse. media and spectators from all over the world, showing up just to get a look at the infamous dropout, elizabeth holmes. the government laid out in clear and simple terms how they plan to make their case, showing elizabeth holmes misled and lied to investors, patients and doctors along the way. the defense laid out a different strategy in their opening statements, talking about elizabeth holmes, the person. this ambitious, hard-working young woman who they say made mistakes along the way but did not commit fraud. they also, in the opening

statements, alluded to the abuse allegations, but did not go into any depth around them. there was one picture that captured a lot of attention online. it was this picture of three young women, very much resembling elizabeth holmes. i sat across from those women in the courtroom and it turns out they were part of the friends and family entourage to elizabeth holmes. during a break, i shall them -- saw them joking with billy evans and other members of her family. it is only a matter of time before elizabeth holmes takes the stand and testifies at her own trial. in san jose, rebecca jarvis, abc news. kumasi: gma will have more coming up at 7:00. for in-depth coverage, you can listen to rebecca jarvis's podcast. this week, we are getting a look inside the courtroom and getting details about the jurors. new episodes are released every tuesday. julian: now to the california

recall, coming up on tuesday. governor newsom and several of his opponents have been hitting the campaign trail. polls open on tuesday morning. five days, one hour and 23 minutes away. kamala harris is back in d.c. after a visit to the bay area. she was strong support for governor newsom. >> you have to understand what is happening right now. what is happening in texas, georgia, what is happening around our country with these policies that are about attacking women's rights. reproductive rights, voting rights, workers rights. they think if they can win in california, they can do this anywhere. we will show them you will not get this done. not here, never. julian: the vice president appeared with the governor at a union training center. this coincides with a new poll from suffolk university that says 41% favor the recall and

58% want the governor to stay in the office. kumasi: larry elder will be in fresno. that stopped coming a day after he was egged in venice. he encountered an angry crowd. people living there started shouting and a woman in a gorilla mask through the egg. it did not hit him but the tour ended up being cut short and elder was moved to a waiting vehicle. >> people are angry, furious and mentally ill. this problem needs to be fixed. gavin newsom has made it worse. kumasi: others said if he does not win as a replacement candidate, he will likely be running for governor in 2022. julian: join us for abc 7's california recall program. we will break down the current recall race and present our documentary, total recalled. it chronicles the the the the te

election where arnold schwarzenegger replaced gray davis. kumasi: rising prices at the supermarket. the white house has promised to do something about the cost of meat. julian: finding people with similar interests on twitter. the san francisco tech company is rolling out a new feature. we will check in with drew tuma for a look at the bay area forecast. drew: good morning. we are tracking cooler weather this afternoon. also, the threat for lightning. a fire weather watch for a large portion of northern california. we have a chance of seeing lightning later on today. a closer look at home, the fire weather watch against at 5:00 p.m. today and it comes as much as -- as much of the north bay has a chance for lightning. we are in an exceptional drought across the region. the highest drought category, everything is extremely dry. the chance of having lightning now forecast does mean the

possibility of new fire. he is why we are tracking that threat. you see the moisture of the southern california coast? that will move into northern california and try to bring us a threat of lightning. let's look at when we expect the highest threat. by 10:00, there is a low threat in parts of the bay area. i think it is early tomorrow morning. 1:00 a.m. on our friday that we will likely see the chance of some lightning. it is not guaranteed. what if we do, there could be new fires started because everything is so dry. it is cooler today. there is some good news there. 72 in oakland. 65 in san francisco. san jose go into a high of 84 later on today. -- going to a high of 84 later on today. jobina: two issues in oakland. a motorcycle crash where injuries have been reported. you will run into this on northbound 880 before 20 3rd avenue. speeds are down to 11 miles per hour. we do not have a slow bound --

slow down past tunnel road. they will shut down bore because that is where you will run into this crash. emeryville, showing off 80. headlights are traveling westbound. i will check in on that for you. the south is looking great. a live picture showing off san jose. a live look

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julian: fall favorites have returned to disneyland. the theme park is ready to celebrate halloween and dia de los muertos. live to discuss is david miller. you have a friend. good morning. >> oh my gosh, it is pluto. i did not know who was behind

me. thanks, julian. we are so excited. pluto is excited. he has his vampire collar going on, ready for this. we are so excited to have the fall favorites back at disneyland. it is -- the energy is electric. you can tell when you walk in. you walk right down main street and see the huge mickey mouse pumpkin that greets you. and then you make your way down to the pumpkin festival, which is on main street. it is enormous. so many pumpkins. that is just the beginning. that is when you walk in the door. we have so many great experiences to share. at night, we have this amazing fireworks spectacular that only previously you would be able to see during our special parties. anyone who comes to visit in disneyland during the halloween season will be able to see halloween screams, which is our master of scaremonies, jack's killington -- jack skelli

will present. when you go to california adventure, you are greeted by oogie boogie. it is a great opportunity to see so many halloween expenses. julian: go for it. >> we have holiday, which is over at disneyland. it is our 20th presentation of that spectacular offering. you see everyone is decked out. we have the cars and their costumes. radiator screams, because they get to go through and decorate. everything here is themed and detailed and rich with everyone celebrate the holiday season. julian: we love the sound of that and you all take care of every little detail. let's talk about ticket information. how long does this run through?

>> the halloween time runs through october 31. we also have fasil de la familia. that celebrates dia de los muertos, or you can meet miguel. we have special ticket offers. everything is at disneyland.com, where you will be able to see every nook and cranny. you can get that poison skull apple, which is where i am headed in a few minutes. julian: never too early. quickly, before i let you go, can we talk about covert safety protocols for families who are thinking about coming down to the theme parks? >> yeah. safety is our main priority. one of the ways we exhibit that is making sure everyone has a great experience and is smart and safe and approaches it the best way. indoors, we have people who are

wearing masks and are keeping the area secure and smart. so that, when people come to visit, they have a great experience and can focus on the fun that is in front of them. julian: we love the sound of that. thank you so much for joining us with pluto this morning. we are so excited for the return of fall favorites. thank you for being here. >> listen. [laughter] that made me want to go. i'm upset because that is still on my to do list. drew: i will call myself out. i'm basic and love everything fall. september and october are the best months. it is amazing. pluto was giving his all in the interview. julian: seriously. pluto needs a nap after that. drew: he has been through so much this morning. it is 5:47 a.m. we are talking about a cooler afternoon. tonight, we have some lightning to talk about. i know.

talking about the threat of dry lightning moving in. we wilshow a closer lo in one second. east bay hills camera, a little bit of fog. cooler temperatures later on today and good air quality. good to moderate across the region. a similar set up as we finish the week tomorrow. you can breathe easy in the next 48 hours. 61 in palo alto. 54 in santa rosa. later on today, highs san jose, 82 in santa clara. 79 in los altos. 82 in redwood city. 65 downtown. 63 in daly city for the afternoon hi. -- afternoon high the east bay, we are in the 70's. 72 in oakland, 78 in fremont. cooler today compared to yesterday. 89 in san ramon. later on this evening and

tonight, we will find increasing clouds moving in. as the clouds do move in, they come with the threat of some lightning. hour-by-hour we go this afternoon, the threat is around writing. late tonight, and early friday morning, 1:00 a.m. friday in parts of the bay area where we have the fire weather watch. there could be some dry lightning. the highest threat is between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. early friday morning. here is the seven day forecast. lightning threat late tonight. early into friday. much of friday is just sunshine and cooler weather. the weekend looks really nice. morning fog and afternoon sunshine and temperatures typical for this time of year. kumasi: new this morning, initial unemployment claims have once again dropped from the prior post-pandemic low. 310 unemployment -- 310 unemployment claims -- 310,000 on a plumbing claims were filed.

-- on employment claims were filed. -- unem filed. julian: eventbrite will not be renewing its lease at 155th -- 155 5th street. it will move to a smaller office space. eventbrite laid off 45% of its staff in april of 2020, went live events were canceled because of the pandemic. -- when live events were canceled because of the pandemic. kumasi: it might be easier to connect with people with similar interests on twitter. you will be able to tweet directly to people in those groups instead of your regular group of followers. communities operates like similar services that are offered on facebook and read it -- reddit. rising meat prices are forcing -- to take action. beef and pork are up more than

10%. white house officials took aim at four big meat companies, tyson foods, jvs, and meatpacking company. data shows they have been raising prices during the pandemic and generating big profit. -- big profits. >> those companies have seen record or near record profits in the first half of this year. that has coincided with a period where we have seen disproportionate increases in prices in those segments. kumasi: to protect against price gouging, the white house is moving to strengthen current regulations and expand processing capacity and promote american-made labels. tyson foods was the only meat company to respond to abc news. they dispute the white house's claims and says market conditions caused by the pandemic and weather are to blame for the higher prices. julian: oreo and pokemon are teaming up. the classic chocolate and cream

cookies. the limited addition packages are in stores on monday. some oreo cookies will be more difficult to find than others, just like pokemon. a huge grizzly bear gets way too close to comfort. -- too close for comfort. kumasi: the local college that is the first on a prestigious forbes list.

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sign up today. julian: the first trial in the operation varsity blues bribery scandal is underway in boston. jury selection started yesterday in federal court. the first case involves two parents including john wilson, a former executive at cap. -- gap. they are accused of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars

to get their kids into usc. the trial does not name huffman or lori loughman. they have already pled guilty. kumasi: a bill that would require all california high school students to take ethnic studies courses has reached the governor's desk. it is up to him to decide whether it will become law. it would -- governor newsom vetoed a similar bill last year after critics argued the proposed curriculum was biased. julian: -- it is the first public university to top the forbes list, if you don't count west point military academy. stanford ranks fourth. lastr, tac more weight on accessibility and affordability. it considers alumni salaries and post-graduation debt among other factors. drew: later on today, your highs

will be cooler today compared to yesterday. ithcity. 84 in san jose. 91 in concord. we have a higher weather watch -- fire weather watch that will begin in the north bay and inland east bay. we are tracking a chance for lightning and the highest threat of dry lightning is between 10:00 p.m. tonight and 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. julian: thank you. all new at 6:00, a san francisco tech company is stepping in over the abortion ban in texas. the domino effect they hope it creates. kumasi: as bay area covid trends see down ticks, one area is bucking the trend in a bad way. julian: and oakland a's player tweeting about a scary night off the field. the horror story of an intruder break-in at home. kumasi: taking a live

the x-rays from your urgent care visit look good. just stay off that leg, okay? what about my rec team? i'm all they got. next season. thanks doc. wow, he already scheduled my pt. i love doctors who work with athletes. does he know you tripped over a basketball? that's a sports injury. at kaiser permanente, we make getting care easy so you can get back on the court quicker.

>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc news. >> if it wasn't for your son, my daughter would be dead. he died a hero. julian: absolute heartbreak on a crosswalk, remembering the crossing guard who gave his life to save students in the street. julian: campaign countdown,

democrats putting their full force behind governor gavin newsom. the balance of power as the recall explodes into high gear. kumasi: a lightning threat moving over parts of the bay area tonight. drew tuma is here with everything we need to know. julian: a lot to get to. you are watching abc seven mornings live on abc seven, hulu live, and everywhere you stream. we will check in with drew tuma to get everything we need to know about the increased lightning threat. drew: cooler temperatures this afternoon, so there is good news coming our way, but tonight we have a chance of dry lightning. here is a picture from our east bay hills camera, the marine layer. upper 50's and low 60's. haywood at 60, 64 in concord. later today, we are in the 60's and 70's by 10:00.

by 1:00, 80's, and