>> next 4:30, we are live at the chase center where the warriors open up for the first time in a long time. also, a beautiful reprieve from the rain but do not put away those umbrellas yet. spencer christian is tracking another storm. this holiday weekend is giving families a chance to catch up on traditions caused by the pandemic. we are live in san francisco with how small businesses are getting a helping hand. abc7news starts right now. >> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7news. >> the countdown is on, we are less than 60 minutes away from the golden state warriors playoff basketball which will be

shown here on abc7news. tonight is game one in the first round of the playoffs. thank you for joining us. abc7news is on early because of tonight's playoff matchup. it is the warriors' first in two years and all the talk is about stephen curry who has been out for the last month. abc7news export anchors here to break it all down. that is the question of the night, have you seen stephen curry practicing? >> you know what, how about some time, stephen curry is behind me, i'm going to get out of the way as he takes the floor. he is trying to splash him -- splash some shots. here is the deal, he has been out a bout a month. steve kerr said he will play

tonight but did not disclose if he will start and he will be on restriction, so steve playing mysterious. we will wait and see what happens here tonight. it is a cold-blooded black out here, all of the black uniforms. by all accounts, he looked good in practice, had a good scrimmage, and that has led him to this moment as he gets ready for tonight's game on abc seven, he will play, we will see how much he does play and when he starts but that is something we will have to find out when they came tips off just after 5:30. a lot of mystery and that is why you need to watch abc seven and not change the channel. we will also have after the game after this game. j.r.: i love it, hyping it up for the entire evening. i do not see many fans right now. we have a that all time. do you think tonight they come with that playoff atmosphere? reporter: you definitely felt

that here at chase center as the regular season wind down -- winded down. there are fans trickling in but those cold-blooded shirts, everyone will have one, it is going to be intense and the warriors fans will be proud. we will have more any little bit. i don't know if i can hype this came up anymore. stephen curry will play. j.r.: thank you. if you are not going to chase center, you can watch it here on abc seven, coverage begins at 5:00, tip-off is at 5:30 here on abc seven, followed by toyota after the game with chris and mary beale. weaving along to the talk of the weekend, the been wet at times. spencer christian joins us now with more. spencer: it is easter weekend, a lot of people looking forward to outdoor activities, maybe going to services in the morning. it is going to be chilly

the upper 30's arur as you watch the animation, overnight, it remains clear so we start the day tomorrow with sunny skies. high temperatures will range from 55 at half moon bay to 58 in san francisco. breezy at the coast. further inland, it gets milder, highs in the mid 60's along the bay shoreline. 67 in san jose. upper 60's to 70 in the inland east bay. it is going to be a dry, sunny, mild easter sunny -- easter sunday. i will give you a look at that wet week ahead. j.r.: a reminder that you can get weather, our live newscast, breaking news, and more with our abc 7 bay area news app on apple tv, enjoy tv, fire tv, and roku. just search abc 7 bay area. the weather hats allowed for families to enjoy the holiday

weekend for the first time since the pandemic began, there are events happening across the bay area. cornell barnard is live in san francisco where there is an easter block party. what is it looking like? reporter: it is looking festive, nice turnout for this block party here. it is giving families a chance to get out, have some fun, help small businesses. in the east bay, it was all about the hunt. no easter egg was safe in beelard park where hundreds of kids were on the hunt with their baskets. how many did you get? >> three. reporter: angela's daughters were in it to win it. >> is good to get them out early in the morning, get them tired. they are having a good time. reporter: games, bubbles, and a

petting zoo are part of the spring big extravaganza -- spring egg hunt extravaganza. a lot of families are happy to have it back. >> we had 400 p registrants, four times the amount in previous years, so people are excited to get out. reporter: track performance entertained the crowd at the easter block party. there was an egg hunt here too. >> we need bunny pictures. reporter: sancho waited in line for the bonnie with her family. >> it is something to do to celebrate easter. i wanted to bring the kids down to explore a little bit. reporter: that is what the merchants association was hoping for. this block party designed to give love to small businesses which have had a tough go. >> the castro has been one of the hardest hit districts in the city because of the pandemic. we are losing businesses and we

need to get people off of amazon and into their local neighborhood small businesses. reporter: everybody is getting treats. it makes a huge difference. reporter: jeffries natural pet foods was seeing a lot of new customers. >> it really does bring people in and everybody ends up in a good mood. it livens up the neighborhood, especially after years of silence. reporter: silence no more. check it out. easter bonnet contest happening on the stage, we love the competition. more events like this are planned and the next one planned for pride weekend in june. we are live in san francisco. j.r.: looks like a great time. monday will be that 116th anniversary of the 1906 great san francisco earthquake and fire, when the big one strikes again, the city wants its residents to be prepared.

>> you have to shout and say, this is a rescue team. if you can hear my voice, walked to me. j.r.: this is only a drill you are listening to. the fire department held this exercise to get its newest members of the neighborhood response team ready to convert -- to confront a disaster. these volunteers are critical for the ability to handle a quaker, fire, or other disaster. >> trained volunteers are the bread and butter of our success, they can beat other volunteers were neighbors, they have a connection to the fire department to give us information that we need, and they practice their skills so they can be ready to save lives. j.r.: the fire department says there's always a need for people to become volunteers. on the subject of keeping san francisco safe, willie brown

honored three dedicated civil servants for their roles in protecting the city. >> this is a time period in which we always, every year, pay respect and homage to those who put the fires out in 1906. there would be no san francisco without them. j.r.: the mayor bestowed a vintage survivor fire helmet at the annual 1906 quake and fire luncheon. he had to make up for the last two luncheons which were canceled because of the pandemic. recipients were guardians of the city trustee, public information officer lieutenant, and former fire chief. russia is ramping up its offensive in ukraine as well a

j.r.: oakland police are looking for a motive behind today's two shootings, two men were shot near 70 3rd avenue and san leandro street, one of the men, a 26-year-old, died at the scene. the other unidentified man died at a hospital. according to the bay area news group, authorities are trying to beke to nrby rty. oakland poli tthe war end ukrais

intensifying in the eastern part of the country where officials say russian troops are focusing their assault. marcus moore has more on the fighting and the possible max execution. reporter: carnage and destruction. officials discovering the bodies of 900 civilians. police are saying both were shot dead and likely executed. russian forces doubled down on their offensive in eastern ukraine and drone footage circulating online captures an intense battle along eastern's eastern port -- ukraine's eastern border. russia stepping up its retaliation after the sinking of its flagship cruiser. ukraine and and u.s. officials say it was hit with missiles. russia denied the claims, saying the ships sank after a fire on board. the u.s. is delivering 800 million dollars worth of weapons to ukraine, leaving russia

aggravated, the foreign minister sending a warning to the u.s., demanding them to stop sending weapons to ukraine or else there may be unpredictable consequences. russia is expected to escalate its offensive as it appears to inch closer to taking control of mariupol. the mayor says 20,000 people may have died. despite the war, the threat of airstrikes, thousands of ukrainians are returning home. we met 35 yield alexandra as she reunited with her husband. >> we want to grow our nation, our businesses, our lives. we are ukrainians. >> we cannot live in another country. j.r.: that was marcus moore reporting. attention part writers, there's important information you need to know. that closure any effect to this

holiday weekend, plus abc 7 spencer christian will lay out his accuweather forecast. >> i am live at chase center for the first playoff game, we are going to see stephen curry play here on abc 7. a pre

when kids need medical care, they face life-changing experiences. they miss out on the things that make being a kid fun. starlight children's foundation programs entertain and inspire hospitalized kids. learn more at starlight.org j.r.: bart shut down a section of track in the east bay this weekend, the first of 10 shutdowns this year. trains will not be running from

the south hayward and union city stations today and tomorrow as crews replace parts of the track. bart will offer free bus service between the stations, ridership planned to -- riders should plan to add 25 minutes to their trip. we are doing now by spencer christian. i woke up, there were wet conditions, but you look at the actors from lake tahoe -- pictures from lake tahoe, looked like a mess up there. spencer: some places got a six to 12 inches of snow. it is winding down now. let's look at our weather. we have gusty conditions in the bay area. the skies are clearing a look at san francisco, a 40 more apply our surface winds -- 40 mile-per-hour surface winds. it is currently 54 degrees in the city. 57 in oakland. farther away from the coast, it

gets milder. 54 at half moon bay. here is a view at the bay bridge. 66 degrees in santa rosa. 64 in napa. 71 at fairfield. concord, 67. livermore, 63. we see clear skies. it is going to be chilly overnight with the clear skies in absence of clouds. sunny for tomorrow. next storm arrives late monday into tuesday. we can expect a rainy pattern throughout most of the repaired -- most of the week. overnight lows into the mid to upper 30's and parts of the north bay. 36 in napa. south bay, upper 30's to low 40's. highs tomorrow will be milder inland. not so much along the coast, only mid-50's along the bay shoreline.

heise another to mid 60's. low 70's and lend. it will be a mild easter sunday. rain is coming next week. starting tonight monday, we see a vein sweeping through monday into early tuesday. a fake late tuesday. wednesday, steadier vein comes in wednesday morning. continues to thursday and into early friday. it looks like a wet unsettled week. here is the seven-day forecast. let's start with easter sunday. fairly mild conditions through early monday. clouds thickened monday. we get storms tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. lingering rain on friday morning, trying off next weekend. >> now abc 7 sports with chris alvarez. >> we are about 40 minutes until tip-off of the first ever

playoff game at chase center, the headliner, stephen curry will play. steve kerr seemed mysterious as to how long he will play and if he will start. where are you going to find that answer? here on abc 7. let's run through pecan video of stephen curry warming up here in what i saw, that injured foot looked good. there he is. started his routine. he was ready to go. wearing those black oakland shoes tonight. he has looked good in practice, looked good here in the pregame, has not played in a month. he will be on restriction. you see him doing the lateral movement, the classic triples, the shots, it all looks good. he did get hurt last month. but it's good to happen this game? we will see. steve kerr was not giving us a lot of information. here is what he did say. >> steph will play.

i will not tell you how many minutes he is playing. you can move on to question number three. he felt good. the only question was how he would feel the next day. felt good yesterday. he felt good about it yesterday as we talked about it. he is good to go. there is not really a challenge. we just listen to the training staff. there are different phases of a player returning from injury. we will attach according the as we go. when the training staff says, cannot play him beyond x, then we do not play him beyond x, even though we will be upset. chris: anthony slater tweeting out that stefan will start at

the conclusion of game one. we will have the highlights and put skin reaction here on abc 7. the playoffs are underway. don behrendt and the grizzlies hosting minnesota in game one. carl anthony towns spending and winning the monster slam. 29 points and 13 rebounds, get out of the way. morant is so smooth and he blasts off. get out of his way. anthony edwards had a game-high 36 in his playoff debut, eight for eight from deep. also baseball, a's in toronto, matt chapman at mark kotsay hanging it out. that probably is absolutely gone.

452 feet, way deep center. 5-1 green and gold. here comes the whole team -- home team. a 2-1 shot. this game would be tied at five going into the nines. -- the ninth. christian hits his first home run of the season. the a's beaten the blue jays 7-5. draymond green is warming up behind me. he is taking the floor, he is the last warrior to take the four. dray getting some final shots. steph and klay only played 11 minutes all season long and now they are back. it should be fun for the first playoff game here at chase. j.r.: looking forward to it, can never get enough warriors. at 100 years old, she called it

quits, the retirement celebration for the woman went down in history as the oldest

j.r.: a milestone for an american pioneer, betty reid soskin at 100 years old was honored at a retirement ceremony. it was a full house. the director of the national park service honored her with her own arrowhead to commemorate a trailblazing career. she officially retired two weeks

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the nba's biggest star is on our stage tonight.est star is on steph is back, first game since march 16th because after all, these are the playoffs. he's got two mvps and this guy might too, nikola might, too. we're starting "nba countdown" now. >> drives, put it