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 by 4:00, the

warmest spot in the 90's. it comes with the threat of dry lightning tonight. julian: thank you. we start with the heartbreaking story, hearing from the parents of a hero crossing guard who died after saving the life of a child crossing the street. there is a growing memorial outside of stanley school. he was volunteering as a crossing guard on a driver hit dias and a child after school yesterday. the child has minor injuries. >> the kids who came to the doctor said if it wasn't for your son, my daughter would be dead. he died a hero and he will never come back to us. julian: his parents lived nearby and they say ashley lived in san francisco but was visiting them

and decided to help at the school since they were short on guards. lafayette police are investigating the crash. the driver is the grandmother of a student in the car at the time. they are both home and physically ok, and she is cooperating. kumasi: today, president biden is expected to lay out a plan to fight the pandemic. jobina is that the live desk. jobina:na:na:na:na:na: steps and will focus on getting the delta variant under control and keeping students safe, as well as pressuring companies to add vaccine mandates. getting vaccinated is the key to beating covid-19, and right hospitals across the u.s. are treating more than 100,000 covid patients, four times the number last year. many patients are unvaccinated. >> we hit a high mark of 115 patients in our hospital, 40 and

critical care and 20 on ventilators. >> you can help by getting yourself vaccinated to protect that child who cannot be vaccinated. jobina: about one quarter quarta cases involve the children and 20% are in the hospital. the l.a. school board is expected to vote on a vaccine mandate in schools and if it passes, it will become the first major school district to make children ages 12 and up get vaccinated. julian: a bay area county saying an alarming spike in covid deaths. deaths increased income costataa contra county due to the fact that case numbers have dropped. overall, more than 96% of recent deaths have been among the unvaccinated. of the 56 patients currently

hospitalized, 15 r vaccinated. >> some are partially vaccinated but they only got one dose. one person just got the vaccine a few days prior to getting sick. julian: the doctor you just heard from believes the vaccines have kept patients from getting gravely ill. kumasi: we've learned a mandatory water conservation effort in santa clara county is falling short. the climate is what we are focusing on to build a better area. amy hollyfield is at stanford with the dire warning for residents. amy: stanford is getting high marks for its water conservation this summer, so is palo alto. the rest of the county, not so much, did not do that great. santa clara officials ordered the county to cut its water use by 15% this summer. right now, the county has cut

down by 6%. the worst offender for water use is the paris summa -- they have increased water usage. officials say people will have to change their behavior or one day we could turn on the top and no water will come out. >> if there's one thing i've learned after 30 years of studying environmental behavior, it is hard to break habits. people are used to taking long showers and those are things i think some people may or may not be willing to give up. amy: and officials are o that per household is tough. the place you can really do it is outside. if the 15% reduction is not reached, that could lead to a tougher 20% or 22% reduction order. sanford and palo alto are pulling their weight, the best in the county.

stanford has cut its usage 15%, and palo alto 13%. live in stanford, amy hollyfield. kumasi: on our app, we have a complete collection of stories about our changing climate and environment, and you can download this wherever you stream. julian: to the california recall election closing in on five days, candidates trying to get last-minute support from undecided voters. if more than 50% of voters vote to recall governor newsom, he will be out and the opponent with the most votes will be the winner. dorian shaw is breaking high the stakes are. zoh have been recalled in history and gavin newsom could be the third.

kamala harris campaigned in the bay area and barack obama taped an ad for him. alexandria ocasio-cortez posted to vote no on the recall. the high. if a republican governor were to lead in california, they would likely repeal mask and vaccine mandates, and if there was a vacancy in the senate, it would likely put in a republican, which would tip the scale in the senate. the leading contender is larry elder with 26% of the vote. he does not have the widespread support. in touring a homeless encampment, he was chased by several people and one person through an egg in his direction. dorian shaw -- julian: you want to join us saturday for the special recall program.

we will break down the current recall race and present our documentary, "total recall." it documents the recall election where arnold schwarzenegger replaced gray davis. it airs this saturday at 10:00 p.m. kumasi: a new capitol threat putting police on alert, causing fencing to go back up. julian: big support for the asian community in california, the new plan from state leaders starting today to put them to an end. drew: and i am meteorologist drew tuma. a fire weather watch will begin at 5:00 for the north bay and inland east bay for the threat of dry lightni [ sfx: bzzz bzzz bzzz ] [ sfx: ping ping beep beep bloop bloop ] [ sfx: honk ] [ sfx: pop pop pop pop ]

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kumasi: dangerous weather on the way for northern california, including dry lightning. meteorologist drew tuma tells us it is not expected to be as severe as last august, where it ignited more than 1000 wildfires. the ccu complex and ellen you lightning complex burned -- drew is with us following the fire watch. drew: it is not atypical ineptee game changer is the exceptional drought, including parts of the get -- the bay area. here is the fire weather watch, all the way from tahoe to sacramento, through reading, and in parts of the bay area. inland and the east bay has the highest threat -- have the

highest threat for lightning. hour-by-hourhour-by-hourhour-byr after the sun goes down, 10:00 p.m., the risk increases mostly in the east bay, but any threat of lightning is early friday morning. after 4:00 a.m., the threat is out of here, but we have about a four hour window watching for the lightning. good news today, it is cooler than yesterday, 65 in the city, going to 80 in napa, 91 the high in concord. >> we are following a sig alert underway in oakland, a motorcycle crash. according to the chp, the roadway is open but they are still dealing with issues on northbound 880. speeds are down to about seven miles an hour. our camera showing 880 at the

coliseum, you can see the right lane on the side. the brake lights as they travel further north, the backup from the crash goes back 40 2nd avenue. -- 40 2nd avenue. -- 42nd avenue. the chp is reporting a hazard around treasure island with their average speed around 30 miles an hour westbound into san francisco. kumasi: an oakland a's pitcher saying his wife and young daughter were victims of a horrifying break-in, tweeting about it before he took the field. julian: why the star of block -- marvel's new blockbuster is getting high praise. kumasi: watch where you walk, a grizzly bear going on the attack. julian: we wi

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julian: welcome back. some developing news, as we take a live look at washington, d.c., capitol police are concerned about violence at a rally next saturday and have decided to reinstall a layer of protective fencing. house speaker nancy pelosi announced there would be extra safety measures. the so-called justice for jay six rally supports the people charged in the capitol riots. an oakland a's relief pitcher and his wife are posting their frustration over a scary incident. the wife of jake diekman tweeted a 23-year-old neighbor tried to break into their home and threatened to shoot her and their dues go -- and their two-year-old daughter. the man was arrested later that

day. a restraining order was filed but law enforcement told them it could not be served because of the man's mental health status. they say they feel helpless, calling the system backwards. kumasi: the state attorney general and other local leaders will be in san francisco to kickoff an anti-hate crime push in california, after we saw a big show of support for the asian community after last night's chinatown night out. many packed in with the goal being with the police department. police gave out advice, rises, and food, and people who attended say it was what was needed. >> there is a lot of fear in the community, worries, seniors who are afraid to get out of their house. that is why it is more important. >> their visibility and presence

is very welcome and makes an impact on the community. the latest -- kumasi: the lat crime numbers show that the end of july, homicides, rapes, and robberies are down but -- are up . extra officers are patrolling chinatown. julian: critics are hailing the fight scenes in the new marvel film. andy teaching appeared -- andy ching appeared on our show and kristin z asked him about comparisons between the film star and jackie chan. andy: you have the action and comedy, the first person is jackie chan. we don't have the attention to try to make them like jackie chan, we tried to avoid it, because we want its own style.

julian: he coordinated several of jackie chan's fight scenes. the movie is a marvel production, a disney subsidiary that owns abc news. have you seen the movie? drew: i am so excited. this is one i want to try to see in the theater because it would be so awesome. julian: really blew past the labor day records. drew: talking about cooler weather, but the threat of dry lightning. there is about a four hour window tonight that we will detail for that dry lightning to possibly move through. a live look from our suture coward -- tower camera -- sutra tower camera, the marine layer typical for this time of year, but you go up in altitude and we have mid to high level clouds moving in.

some moisture in the upper levels of our atmosphere will get a kick later on today to bring the threat of dry lightning. air quality tomorrow and today, good. starting off a little cooler than yesterday. 55 in novato and 61 in palo alto. a lot of mid 70's to 70's to 7'o downtown today, 65, 63 in daly city. the north city, the worm -- the cooling trend into news. 72 in oakland, 73 in fremont. 89 in san ramon. 92 in anje. we will continue to see the high clouds stream in, increasing

overnight, mid to upper 50's, but the chance of lightning is introduced. later on this evening, i want to stop at 10:00 p.m., we will see a low chance of lightning, but it is early friday morning when we have the highest chance. by 4:00 a.m., the threat is out of here. i want to focus on the 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. window tonight . lightning threat late tonight into early friday, otherwise it is out of here and the weekend looking nice with morning fog and afternoon sunshine. julian: "good morning america" is coming up. ginger: coming up on a thursday addition of gma, we start with the battle against covid and all of the code -- concern around the surge as children are heading back to the classroom. president biden's six part strategy to tackle the pandemic.

a chicago woman who had an altercation with a police officer while walking her dog is speaking out. airfare alert. rice is expected to drop, and expert advice -- prices expected to drop, and expert advice when to buy your ticket. steals and deals from made in america. i had a lot of questions about covid and bus safety. covid and bus safety. dear ms, from day one you've tried to define me. but i never invited you in. it's my life and this is my journey. i've found a way to do things differently with ocrevus, an infusion treatment that's 2-times-a-year. for adults with relapsing or primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, ocrevus is proven effective in reducing relapses in rms and slowing disability progression in rms and ppms. don't take ocrevus if you've had a life-threatening allergic reaction to it, or have hepatitis b. tell your doctor about vaccinations or if you've had hep b, as it could come back.

a common side effect of ocrevus is infusion reactions, and some may require hospitalization. it can increase your risk of infections, which can be serious, and may decrease certain types of immunoglobulins. while pml was not reported in clinical trials, it could happen. an increased risk of cancer, including breast cancer, may exist. sorry, ms. you don't get to control every part of me ms can't own us. ask your doctor about two-times-a-year ocrevus. i may not be as pretty. ms can't own us. i'm not a cable tv personality or an entertainer like larry. i'm the businessman, the only cpa running for gov ernor. california is a mismanaged mess. taxes, cost of living, water, wildfires, homelessness. these aren't political issues;

they're readily fixable management issues. career politicians? celebrities? i've solved problems all my life. let's fix this great state! drew: good thursday morning, 6:24 a.m., and our air quality does not get better than this, green across the board. maybe the moderate writ -- moderate category later today. 60's and 70's by 10:00 a.m. later this afternoon, you will feel a cooler day than yesterday, but increasing clouds bring the threat of dry lightning. julian: in the north bay, pg&e

has extended the deadline for home owners to file paperwork for moving would -- wood. residents have until september 14 to send in forms. it burned more than 141,000 acres of land last year. kumasi: another example of why you should pay attention to your surroundings. a man in british columbia was walking home when he heard something. jeremy gerard looked up and saw a grizzly bear, and had time to record and share the video with us. it shows the bear running toward him but it darts to the side at the last minute.

this behavior is known as bluff charging, to intimidate you a little bit. i think it worked. i also feel like he is still, i don't know, it is easy to say what you would have done, but -- julian: run. kumasi: i think the phone might have been thrown across the street. julian: not record video, brave. several zebras that escaped from a farm in maryland are still on the loose. video of the zebras wandering in a field, they broke free from a private farm more than a week ago and animal control has set up feeding stations to persuade them to come home. they are too fast to corral and their legs are really powerful. a kick can sever a lien's -- lion's jaw. i am free now, a whole world to explore.

next up, the taliban making a brand-new announcement this morning, now warning u.s. citizens and refugees of a big admission. kumasi: water cutbacks failing drastically in santa clara county. why it may be too much to ask. julian: as we had to break, we take a live look outside, it gorgeous start to the morning. look at that sunrise.

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least water, and why it is easier said than done. kumasi: the woman who claimed to be the next in silicon valley is standing trial. the viral image being shared of people showing up to court. julian: happy halloween from disneyland. the park transforming for the fall season and you will find out pluto is pretty excited. we thank you so much for joining us on this thursday, september 9. you are watching abc seven mornings on abc live, hulu plus and wherever you are streaming. drew: we are tracking a cooler afternoon, but i fire weather watch continues -- a fire weather watch begins at 5:00 for the threat of lightning. warm spot in the low 90's from concorde to antioch. five to 10 degrees cooler than yesterday, but the fire weather watch begins for the n

bay and inland east bay for the chance of dry lightning. we will tell you when the highest threat occurs in about six minutes. kumasi: developing out of afghanistan, reuters is reporting that taliban will let hundreds of more u.s. citizens and afghan refugees to leave the country. jobina: 200 americans and afghans who want to evacuate will be allowed to leave on charter flights expected to depart today, according to a u.s. official who spoke with reuters. taliban has agreed to let evacuees leave through kabul airport. this is video of last month of flights taking off. taliban leaders said they will allow people with proper documents to leave. secretary of state antony blinken said the u.s. was in talks with the taliban to resolve the standoff over charter flights. julian: as the drought worsens, parts of the bay area are being

asked to double down on cutting water use. the climate and environmental issues we focus on. in santa clara county, the water conservation efforts are falling short. amy hollyfield is live in one of the only places pulling their weight. stanford university is meeting that water reduction goal. amy: stanford gets a gold star for its water conservation efforts. the rest of the county, not so much, but stanford is doing a great job, doing the best in the county. santa clara county was ordered to cut back water use by 15% the summer. right now, the county has cut down by 6%. water officials say the situation is dire. if these cuts are not made, it tougher order could be issued requiring a 20% or 22% cut. they know it is not easy but it must be done. >> 15% can be hard for a

household to cut back on, and the only place we can do it is really outside. >> there cannot -- there can, day when there is no water in the tap. we've seen it in cities around the world. amy: the worst offender is the los altos hills, the paris semi hills -- water usage this summer. stanford is leading the way with palo alto closely behind, who cut usage by 15%. everyone needs to to to plumbing, need to come up with a plan and do their part, or else. live at stanford, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. julian: to the north bay, where if you use too much water, you could face penalties. the marin water district board talked about setting caps on

water use in the summer and winter billing periods. customers will be charged a fee for every 748 gallons used above the cap. the board will vote on september 21. if you need ideas to conserve water, we have you covered. what conserving 15% of water looks like, find out now on abc7news.com. kumasi: president biden well talk about the next steps in fighting covid-19, focused on stopping the spread of the delta variant. your are some of the latest coed headlines. neuro-vax is testing a combined flu-covid vaccine in australia. united airlines says those granted religious unvaccinated exemptions will be placed on temporary 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 vaccines available for poorer countries. julian: all nine bay area health departments are getting ready to roll out the boosters about a week and a half from now. the cdc will determine which groups get priority. max vast sites will be opened. >> we are planning to deliver 100,000 to 120,000 vaccinations. >> i imagine pfizer and kaiser -- julian: they have set up events setter as a mass vaccination site to administer at least 3000 boosters a day. we have a team dedicated to giving you the latest

information when you ask them questions. click on the big blue box. kumasi: court will resume friday in the trial of elizabeth holmes , who became a silicon valley billionaire who is accused of fraud. correspondent rebecca jarvis is in san jose with key takeaways. rebecca: it started with a line over a block long from this courthouse, media and spectators from all over the world, showing up to get a look at the infamous drop, elizabeth holmes. the government laid out how they plan to make her case, showing that elizabeth holmes misled and lied to investors, patients, and doctors. 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 didn't commit fraud. they also in the opening statements alluded to the abuse allegations, but did not go into any depth. there was one picture that captured a lot of attention online, 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. at one point, i saw them joking with elizabeth's partner 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. rebecca jarvis, abc news. kumasi: "good morning amegood will have much more and for in-depth coverage, you can listen to rebecca jarvis' podcast. we are getting a look inside the courtroom, including details about jurors.

new episodes are released every tuesday. julian: a bay area tech company taking on the abortion ban in texas. abc news confirms a big development. kumasi: looking live at the big board at the new york stock exchange come up by about 60 points. julian: spinning again on wheel of fortune. pat sajak and vanna white are not calling it quits, but a couple of new twists you will notice. drew: a cooler afternoon on the way, but we also have a fire weather watch. encompassing much of california and the threat because of lightning. you can see the area under the threat, stretches from tahoe to redding to sacramento and parts of the bay area, mainly the north bay and inland east bay. it starts at 5:00 p.m. locally because of a chance of a thunderstorm, along with how dry our landscape is.

the drought monitor, there is no change to the drought categories across the region, but much of the bay area underneath the exceptional drought category, the worst drought category. our landscape is extremely dry, so the threat of lightning comes with an increased threat of new texas -- new fire starting. see this moisture coming off the southern california coastline? that will stream into northern california later tonight into early tomorrow morning. that area of low pressure will be the instigating factor to give martic in the atmosphere to create the threat of dry lightning. the sun goes down by about 10:00 p.m., when the threat begins locally across parts of the bay area. the thinking is early friday morning between midnight and 2:00 a.m. is the highest threat of lightning, but will quickly diminish by 3:00 and 4:00

watching about a four hour window for dry lightning to move through the region. jobina: thank you, drew. good morning -- drew: halloween came early. jobina: that was wild. northbound 880 in oakland has been our problem spot throughout the morning. 20 3rd avenue has cleared, but speeds are down to 24 miles an hour. we did have standstill traffic right in front of the coliseum on northbound 880, from a crash that happened at 60 6th avenue that has moved off to the shoulder. you are going to run into a slow spot at the bay ridge toll plaza . the lights came on at 6:11, traffic is backed onto the maze, and speeds are under the limit into san francisco.

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julian: the first trial operation varsity blues college bribery scandal is underway in boston. jury selection started yesterday in federal court. john wilson, a former official at gap, and his wife paid thousands of dollars to get his children into usc. the scandal involves names like felicity huffman and lori loughlin. the actor who played the windex loving father in "my big fat greek wedding," has died. his family told us he passed away of natural causes. the daughter in the movie called

him "the dad to our cast family, a gift to the written word, and always a friend." kumasi: rising meat prices are prompting the white house to take action. grocery prices are up nearly 3% in the last year, but beef and pork are up more than 10%. yesterday, white house officials took aim at four big meat companies -- jbs, tyson foods, cargo meat solutions, and national beef backing company. they control most of the market and data shows they've been raising prices during a pandemic while generating 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've seen a disproportionate increase in prices in those segments. kumasi: to protect against krait -- price gouging, the whi

house is moving to strengthen regulations, expand processing, and promote american-made labels. tyson foods was the only to respond and disputes the claims and says market conditions caused by the pandemic and weather are to blame for the high prices. the initial unemployment claims have once again dropped from the prior week to another post-pandemic low. the labor department released its jobless claims report. we hundred 10,000 unemployment claims -- 310,000 and unemployment claims were filed last week, york stock exchange as trading gets underway, we are up by about 60 points. julian: it might get easier to cold act -- connect with people more similar to you and twitter, able to join groups based on

interests and tweet to those groups. similar services are offered on facebook and read it. kumasi: arial and pokémon are teaming up on the classic chocolate cream cookies. just like the game, some of thée more difficult to find than others. julian: go, bears. uc berkeley unseated harvard for the list of top u.s. colleges, the first college -- public university to top the list. forbes places more weight on accessibility and affordability and considers alumni sallies and post-graduation debt among other factors. kumasi: a bill that would require california high school students to take an ethnic

studies class has reached the governor's desk. ethnic studies would cover the contributions and pressure and of people of color in the united states. governor newsom vetoed a similar bill last year after critics argued the curriculum was biased. julian: fall favorites have returned to disneyland in anaheim, ready to celebrate halloween and dia de los muertos. i got to speak with the director of services, david miller, who gave us a peek. >> you can see pluto is excited and has his vampire collar going. we are excited to have the fall favorites back. you walk down main street and see the huge mickey mouse pumpkin, and then you make your way down to the pumpkin festival on main strait, it is enormous. we will be able to see halloween

screens which is our master of ceremonies will present this. it is one ofgreat things to see at disneyland. julian: and you can book your tickets at disneyland.com. disney is the parent company of abc 7. we know one person who's excited to go. kumasi: pluto. julian: drew tuma. [laughter] kumasi: can we talk about how pluto was giving us all that life? drew: listening to it. kumasi: i know this is great information, but pluto is dancing. drew: can you believe it is almost halloween? julian: can't believe it is september. drew: we are tracking what our temperatures will be closer to what they should be. we track the chance of dry lightning. from our citro sky camera, we

have the fog traditional moving in from the coastline, so we start out with morning cloud cover, but you look above the fog and we have a canopy of clouds upstairs. this cloud cover later on tonight could try to instigate a thunderstorm across northern california. the air quality good to moderate. we are in the upper 50's to low 60's low 60's around the bay shoreline, inland warmer in the 60's. today is a cooler start than yesterday, and also a cooler afternoon. 84 in san jose, 89 in d 82 redwood city. downtown 65, 63 in daly city. in the north bay, 83 petaluma. the east bay mainly in the 70's. 89 in san ramon, 91 in pittsburgh. overnight, increased cloud cover

mainly falling into the -- increased cloud cover, mainly falling into the 50's, but the cloud cover could spark lightning. for that east bay and chance of dry lightning from 10:00 a.m. tonight until 2:00 -- 10:00 p.m. tonight until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow. our landscape is so dry, we could potentially spark new fires. lightning threat late tonight into very early tomorrow morning . as the sun goes up, the threat is over and we are tracking cooler weather. saturday and sunday, close to average with lots of sunshine. julian: abc news is reporting the justice department is expected to file a lawsuit against texas as soon as today over its restrictive abortion band. san francisco-based pr firmrm offering to relocate employees in austin.

if staff members choose to leave texas, the employee -- the company will cover moving expenses. six members currently live in austin and workers should not choose keeping their job or control over their reproductive health. other states are looking to implement similar abortion bans. kumasi: new data presented to san francisco supervisors show fewer than 20 tech companies moved in or out of the city during the pandemic, however they are hiring more remote workers. 17% of jobs are remote, just 3% before the pandemic. while many tech workers have left the city, they are staying in the bay area. this is as eventbrite will be moving into a smaller office. they will not renew their lease at 150 5/5 street.

-- 155 5th street. they laid off 40% o 40% o 40% o last year when live events were canceled because of the pandemic. julian: san francisco city leaders are encouraging you to get back on buses and trains. the mayor joined community members to kickoff transit month. town hall meetings are scheduled for the next few weeks to brainstorm ideas on making public transit more efficient, and the mayor knows there is room for improvement. >> it has been challenging to deliver to san francisco's the service the city deserves because we've been saying use public transit, but we have to make sure it is reliable, safe, and clean. julian: san francisco -- community officials expect travel to turn -- return to 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

the windsor school district is having students do what they call power lunches. starting this week, from the time students sit down to the time they leave, they get 14 minutes to remove their mask and eat their lunch. at 15 minutes, stricter state guidelines for quarantine kick in. 14 minutes gives them one minute to spare. the adaptation was prompted by a day last month where covid exposures forced them to close down an entire grade. >> we can accurately say, we know our students have not been unmasked and within six feet close contact for more than 15 minutes. julian: every child has an assigned seat, as noted either pieces of tape, so they know who to sit next to. since doing that alone, quarantine rates have dropped from 317 kids to just seven as of yesterday. kumasi: i'm happy it seems to be

working and the numbers reflect it has been effective. i just hope it is not like, five minutes, three minutes, because that can be stressful. julian: kumasi: kumasi: for sure. enjoy your time and it is over. julian: you know at a lunch break, the time flies by and 14 minutes is so short. kumasi: you've got to think of innovative ways to keep people safe, but it is calming. it is a break that you look forward to. julian: that recess. kumasi: up next, seven things you need to know. julian: you can watch our newscast live or on-demand on the abc 7 bay area connected app on amazon tv, apple tv, and tv,d roku. kumasi: if you are not by the tv, can you look? this is a good way to start your day on thursday. julian: beautiful kumasi:.

kumasi: looking at the clouds is 6:54.

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expected to give a speech laying out his six step plan to meet covid-19. kumasi: mandatory water conservation efforts are falling short in santa clara county. officials ordered residents to cut their water usage this summer by 15%. the county has cut down by 6%. julian: a race against time for crews fighting the caldor fire. they are preparing for a dry lightning threat, the fire 50% contained. drew: in accuweather, we are tracking the lightning threat. a fire weather watch will begin at 5:00 p.m. for the inland, east bay, and north bay. the window of timing for the highest threat, 10:00 p.m. tonight through 2:00 a.m. tomorrow. jobina: issues on 880 in oakland have cleared up, so now our focus is on the bay bridge toll plaza which is backed up as always.

the lights came on at 6:11, and speeds are under the limit westbound into san francisco. kumasi: pat sajak and vanna white are staying on "wheel of fortune" until 2024 and the contact -- contract is coming with changes. pat sajak will no longer post the final spin. right here on abc 7. jobina: didn't you meet them? kumasi: i first met them in 2019 when they were filming special episodes. you know how they have different weeks for different places? it was bay area week and i got to interview them. they were cool. julian: nice. drew: i wonder if the contestant spinning will make the chances higher. julian: after 40 years, they are still tweaking the special sauce. kumasi: i love that they just do

not leave. they have fans. drew: we love them. kumasi: good morning, america. as we start this thursday with you, the concerning covid surge among children as president biden prepares to address the nation with his new pandemic plan. this morning, a record number of infections among children with los angeles on the verge of becoming the first major school district to mandate vaccines in children over the age of 12. icu hospitalizations on the rise in the northwest and upper midwest as president biden prepares to lay out a new six-part strategy to tackle the delta variant. overnight, mindy on the move. the new tropical storm slamming into the florida panhandle, fierce winds toppling semi trucks, fallen power lines sparking fires. we're tracking the latest this morning.