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i am young lynn, and my absolute favorite story of the entire year has to do with fourth graders who were surprised with the ultimate trip after three long years of the pandemic. i think after covering so much crime, being in this environment where the world is filled with division and hate, sometimes it feels like there is no hope in sight. nothing is quite as heartwarming as being able to give a smile to a young person who has lost all hope, and that is what happened in nevada. this fourth grade class were told they were not able to go on the field trip they really wanted to, a field trip they had missed out on for three long years, and we were able to pull some strings at abc 7 and make the magic happen. the students gathering outside all of elementary school have no idea why they are being taken out of class.

>> hi, fourth graders. >> or what is in store for them later this week. >> surprise, you guys are going on your field trip. >> up until fourth-graders plant a visit to the sf moma. it was canceled because of a nationwide school bus driver shortage. >> i wanted to go really badly. it was canceled, i got so bummed. >> i could not get a bus for these kids for a month. >> two previous trips also had to be canceled too. >> i started crying, i was shaking mostly because i did not want another disappointment with these kids. >> that is when this parent reached out to abc 7. when we made calls gary bauer had a personal reason to give back. >> i was born and raised in nevada. i have an eight-year-old myself.

i realize how important these events are for these kids. >>'s company has been in operation for more than 30 years but never offered school bus service. when the routes were cut during the pandemic and it started affecting kids they added to their fleet. >> it is a tough market out there, and some of these companies are really stressed. we want to be there and do our part. >> as for these resilient students who have been so much already learning virtually for two years during the pandemic, it is the little things that matter. >> i look forward to going on the bus. >> this is my first field trip in three years. i am so excited. >> the students leave on thursday. >> i want to say thank you because this is really big for us. it is exciting. >> thank you, you guys, a lot for doing this. >> in nevada, dion

abc7news. anchor: so sweet, those kids. there was one other show of generosity and support. the city stepped up to donate helium for the festive balloons for the kids despite facing a helium shortage. >> i am zach fuentes, o south bay reporters at abc 7. one of the most memorable stories for me was the story of the kidnapping of baby brandon, the three month old baby kidnapped from his family's apartment when his grandmother was unloading groceries. a was seen with home surveillance walking in and out of the apartment. the story went national, and for 20 hours the baby's whereabouts was not known. it was beautiful to see the community come together and sharing those news of the images. one of the most beautiful parts of the story was that baby brandon was you -- reunited with

his family. a little older now and such a sweet baby. his kidnappers needed guilty to several charges related to the kidnapping. they had made several attempts to kidnap him before. there were a lot of developments that made for shocking headlines in the south bay. right now we will show you one of the earlier stories, the best one, the news that baby brandon was found. >> it was just after 1:00 monday afternoon when the baby was the grandmother told police she was unloading groceries. the baby was taken from the san jose apartment by a man seen walking with the baby carrier. that led to a massive search for the baby that involve the fbi. three suspects are in custody thanks to the employee of a nursing home whose facility is across the street from the home

where the baby was found. >> one of my employees felt suspicious. >> what she saw was this van. california highway patrol tweeted out a picture, description and license plate of the van. the tweet was later deleted. it is unknown why the two agencies why the agencies had a breakdown in communication, but the tweet was up long enough for that information to come out and let the employee to notice the van. her boss was there speaking on her behalf. >> she saw that something was a little out of place, so the vehicle and made a call to san jose pd. the police department showed up and they went over and blocked the vehicle, both the front and back, and they went to alleged suspect's house, and at that point they invaded the home. >> maria alvarado says she lives

just under the home police invaded. she said she was shocked to hear so much commotion outside of her home and police officers. >> [speaking spanish] >> she said they had the boy there all this time and she did not know it. five officers of the gang unit were seen carrying evidence from that home. police did not elaborate on why they were there. they say that three suspects include the man seen in the surveillance video, a woman is also detained. the initial investigation shows a link between the family and the suspects. an investigation that is far from over. reporter: i am a reporter in the south bay, i love to cover sports, and thankfully our area teams have given us plenty to talk about this past year. for my most memorable story of 2022 i have got to go with the 49ers memory keeper, the story within a story about the team photographer.

playoff runo the captureis faithful could remember forever. as the 49ers battled into the nfc championship game iconic moments are captured each week that will live on in team history. moments captured by the 49ers photography team and their lead photography team, the man behind the lens. >> who would've thought a guy that used to cut pictures down would make the books. i had a love of photos and photography, and then to be the director of photography for the 49ers and the organization, i do not take it for granted. reporter: lloyd has been part of the organization for 25 years and witnessed some of the biggest wins. he said it takes a lot of preparation to create a shot that fans will remember forever. >> it is about capturing the essence of the game.

when you look at the celebration that they have after battling the whole game, and when you capture that moment is surreal. reporter: lloyd has photoofes ao r bowl appearancehe remai fthl e ay be on a super run. >> you have got to believe. my mindset is i always take a positive attitude about everything. it is like if you stay positive good things are going to happen. reporter: so far, so good as the 49ers prepare for the rams. lloyd's team are loading up the gear to capture another historic moment for the franchise. >> it is about the journey, about having fun, and having the memories of what you get to do as a professional. i will take it all in is exciting though and a great

opportunity. reporter: and may be an opportunity to capture more moments like this. ♪ >> michael finney the most important stories i've covered this year is the zelle scheme. usually a condiment convinces the consumer to send the money, but there was one story that was interesting because it pitted two san francisco institutions against each other, bank of america and the wok shop. >> the owner of a san francisco treasure falls victim to a scam it we have been reporting on for months. this one has it all with fraud, a fake name and a big-time ripoff. michael finney is here with his report. >> this involves two francisco institutions.

what is going on here? >> we have a zelle app chinatown favorite that involves a bank servicing that community for decades. >> my mother has been banking with bank of america for decades. she had a store, a small business in chinatown. >> here it is, a san francisco treasure. if you have not shopped here if have probably heard about it. lisa's mother has run the place for more than 50 years. we are talking to lisa because her mother's account seems to of been hacked. >> she called bank of america and filed a fraudulent claim. it was four transactions on the same day that totaled $3500 by a whale and marlin -- waylon marlon. >> the bank put a hold of the

account and investigated. lisa and her mom and they heard back. >> we will not refund her money. they could not prove it was not my mother who facilitated the transactions. >> lisa contacted me, and that is why the three of us are talking and i had to ask this question. >> did you make those transactions? >> no, absolutely the name of the person is on my statement. >> i reached out to bank of america and made a case that two san francisco institutions should be able to work this out, and bank of america came through telling me based on additional information provided by the client's daughter and further research on our part, we suspect

the client's device may have been compromised. bank of america returned the stolen amount. when i heard the good news i headed over to the shop. look at was here today, how are you doing? >> oh my god, how are you? >> how are you? >> better now. >> i want to think bank of america for all of its artwork on this. there are details i will not get into, but the bank had to dig in and investigate, and i appreciate that they did that. >> i am leslie brinkley in the east bay. my favorite story of 2022 is the wildflower guy, a 94-year-old richmond whose mission was to make his neighborhood a more beautiful place, super inspirational. >> these are wildflowers, they plant themselves. >> 94-year-old gil patchett

known as the wildflower guy. >> [indiscernible] >> is brilliant blooms have taken over an abandoned strip of dead grass in the center of the street starting in 1998. >> i got rid of the weeds and planted seeds. i bought a package of wildflower seeds, and that is how i started. every year it grew bigger and bigger. i started witha and ba and it was like my private island. i paid no taxes and rent in the city gave me water. >> using only handles and hours of labor he created this neighborhood garden and another along this stretch of land along the popular trail. >> when i discover wildflowers, guess what? they live and die and are composted and returned to the earth.

i do not need any storage space. that appeal to me. if everybody did it we would not have any pollution, would we? >> gil does not just grow flowers, he grows food, tomatoes and squash he delivers to neighbors. >> he is one-of-a-kind, he is a good guy. and what he does for the neighborhood and everything that grows here is great. >> this is a major street. people passed by the street, they see this wonderful wildflower garden and they see gil out here working at all times of the day, and it is an uplifting great story. this really shows the power that one person can have in making their community a better place. >> neighbors are starting to take on the work load as the 94-year-old hopes to spread the magic. >> i would like to save the earth, and i would like everybody to think that way.

>> and my favorite story this year was a really fun story. i got to do a virtual reality experience at a pavilion in richmond, and it felt like you were in outer space. i had never done virtual reality before. i got to put on the headset and you feel like you are an astronaut like you are doing a spacewalk. the overview effect, which is when you get to see earth from space, and that was cool for me. i hope to do some other virtual reality experiences. it is called space explorers, the infinite. >> this is a journey into outer space. virtual reality technology makes it feel like you were actually there. eric albert is co-ceo of infinity experiences inc.

putting on the exhibit at the crane weight pavilion in richmond. she says this is been in the making for several years. >> we have been capturing this amazing virtual reality content inside and outside of the international space station, and we get these amazing views. >> i had to try it for myself. i put on a headset, a debriefing, and voila, it is like i am in space. i am told there are people all around me, but when i put on the headset i feel like i am inside the international space station like it is only me. the best part for me, a spacewalk with two astronauts. i can see astronauts in front of me, and when i looked down i can see the entire planet. that is when you get a glimpse of the overview effect, when you see earth from space. albert says this is as close to

it most of us will experience without going to space. >> is this feeling of transcendence, almost spiritual looking at her from that vantage point. there are no borders, there are no passports, we are living on this small blue dot in the middle of infinity. it makes you realize how fragile planet earth is. >> is unbelievable. -- it is unbelievable.

♪ >> i am melanie one of the most memorable stories i covered this year was the daily harvest recall of its french lentil and leak -- crumbles. some had their gallbladders removed after eating the product. carol was a loyal after she ate the crumbles she had abdominal and shoulder pain that landed her in the er. >> it was sharp right away. >> she had a ct scan, ultrasounds, blood tests and give a sample. doctors cannot find anything. she ate the crumbles a second time. by the next time her pain was back. >> it was a cute and sharp and unbearable. >> she says doctors found

high-levels of liver enzymes in her gallbladder. after four days in the hospital her primary care doctor gallbladdeacrdg the fda daily harvest voluntarily recalled all 28,000 units of the crumbles due to consumer reports of gastrointestinal illness and potential liver issues. the company received approximately 474 reports of illness or adverse reactions. >> horrible pain in my midsection. >> all of my liver enzymes were elevated. >> i ended up in the er for a day. probably the first three weeks i have ever experienced. >> this food safety attorney is representing close to 100 daily harvest customers. >> the one thing about foodborne

illness cases is a lot of times you never get to having a product that test positive, because people eat the evidence. >> daily harvest told abc 7 news it does not comment on pending or potential litigation. in its latest statement the ceo says they have spent the last pen -- 10 days working to get to the root cause. some customers are dissatisfied with how daily harvest initially handled consumer complaints, writing in an emailed the customers, a small number of customers have reported gastrointestinal discomfort. >> i did not connect the dots because the term is so general. >> it also stated to be thoroughly cooked. >> they tried to pass this off as ignorance or incompetence on the part of the consumer. >> and advise customers to

dispose of the product. >> if we were sick i would think they would want the sample of the product that we had to come back to them and to be tested or sent to the fda. >> in a statement today the ceo writes the company is confident the issue was limited to the french lentil and leek crumbles. some customers say they are done. >> i cannot stand to look at the packaging. >> she says she is focused on healing from her surgery. >> i just want to be healthy and enjoy my life again. >> facing medical bills, she said she asked daily harvest for a refund. daily harvest is everyone who is been affected deserves an answer, and the company is committed to making this right. >> one of my favorite stories from this year has to be the amazing run amy schneider had on jeopardy. she is the second best right

behind ken jennings, so pretty great to meet. also the most on the show. she was not expecting what ended up happening, she thought she was doing an interview with me about the show, but then we flipped it and reversed it on her, and i came up with a midday live jeopardy and made the questions bay area focus, and she played against my colleagues. what was so shocking is that i stumped amy schneider. she got one question wrong, and i could not believe it. she was such a good sport, and now she has since become a friend of the show. i love that she represents oakland and i live in oakland. congratulations, amy. i am a super fan, and you will be too after you watch it. >> we would like to welcome you

to the midday live non-jeopardy fill in the blanks. hello to my colleagues. please introduce yourself to amy? >> hello, amy. my name is reggie and i am a dad with no kids. >> my name is drew, i like to stare up at the sky. >> the category is all things oakland. are we ready? to take on the champ? >> no, we are not. we are going to look like complete idiots. >> blank is an oakland neighborhood named after an american novelist and social activist who was part of a radical san francisco writing group called the crowd.

any takers. ♪ tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. winter storm chaos just two days before christmas. a brutal blast of life threatening cold from the canadian border to the gulf coast now spreading to the northeast. more than 200 million americans feeling the wrath of this historic storm. blizzard conditions, coastal flooding, and shocking temperature drops. in cheyenne, wyoming, a record 43-degree plunge in just an hour. more than a million customers without power in the bone chilling cold. 5,000 flights canceled on one of the busiest travel days of the year. and deadly pile-ups on the highways nationwide. we have team coverage. trevor ault, rob marciano. the final report from the jaar