>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7news. ama: the travel rushes on. labor day weekend is upon us and it will be as busy as ever this year. one section of the bay area has the chance to be an absolute nightmare starting tonight. good evening. dan: thanks for joining us. it's on everyone's mind this weekend so we want to give you a head start. we are making it tonight's abc 7 deep dive at 11:00 to help you with those labor day travel

plans. gas prices are not helping. it's the most expensive in the country at five hole -- 5.30 per gallon. >> let's get you a live look at how things look on the road from some of our typical hotspots around the bay. emeryville along 83 walnut creek. that 680 core door and the san mateo bridge. like we said, a major chunk in particular will be quite the problem this weekend. thwebound direction of 80 coming south from vallejo. caltra is shutting it down entirely until early tuesday morning. reporter: j.r. stone -- dan: j.r. stone is there to help us start off our holiday break down. reporter: westbound lanes along i-80 are now closed. this is what it looks like. in fact, it will look like this friday, saturday, sunday, and monday before reopening tuesday. >> that's too much.

reporter: some aren't happy about it. >> absolutely crazy. >> i'm thinking public transit tomorrow. >> it makes things more difficult. reporter: those with caltrans say this is no small project. >> we will be pouring 9000 cubic yards of concrete this weekend and completely refacing four lanes of traffic heading westbound coming off the bridge. reporter: some are upset that this is not happening just at night. >> i feel like they should do it overnight and by morning they should open the lanes up so nobody has to suffer. >> they should do it in the middle of the night like they usually do, between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.. reporter: barton a, who recorded this informational video about the project from the top of the alfred sample memorial bridge, says it would take nine months of overnight closures to do the same amount of work that is being done this labor day

weekend. when the interstate is not as busy. >> 104 hours of closure, 200,000 vehicle trips that will be detoured out of the area. reporter: to some, the idea of a massive closure like this is no big deal. >> it's about time. the roadways are terrible. the suspense and on your car is getting torn up. i think it's worth it. >> they need improvement there. there are big holes. reporter: we've seen three eastbound closures in this section of i-80. this westbound closure will be the fourth and final closure. j.r. stone, abc7news. dan: let's get an early sneak peek how travel conditions will be out there. sandhya patel is here with your accuweather alert. sandhya: if you are traveling as far as statewide goes, showers expected around reading. tahoe area, 63. it will be wet with thunderstorms in palm springs.

101. los angeles at 81 degrees. let's check our local 20 for our planner. tomorrow morning, clouds, spotty drizzle, temperatures in the 60's. the possibility of sprinkles tomorrow afternoon. it will be cooler than today and it will be a gusty one with below average temperatures. low 60's to mid 70's as we head towards the evening. numbers will fall. how the rest of your holiday weekend is shaping up, when i come back. ama: let's check on our airports. the oakland airport camera is giving you this live check in tonight. nearly accord or million passengers are expected to travel through their this weekend. that's below pre-pandemic levels. sfo expecting to be below pre-pandemic levels but not by much. about 93% of 2019 numbers. now to a live look in san jose. tomorrow is going to be the busiest day of the weekend and it expects it will be the best of the past three years.

dan: nationally, this is the busiest summer for air travel on record. the tsa expects it will screen 14 million passengers over this holiday weekend. international bookings are up 44% compared to last year. there's good reason why more people are traveling overseas. >> this is the first summer that they felt comfortable doing so and we have essentially three years of pent-up demand for international travel. reporter: tomorrow -- dan: tomorrow is expected to be the busiest day. ama: caltrans is going high-tech in an effort to make the drive to tahoe smoother. dozens of signs installed to alert drivers to the conditions and other issues they may run into on the roadway. these are high visibility and pin beat -- can be changed when needed. they should be ready to go in a couple of weeks. dan: a neighborhood vigil is calling for more help after a local merchant died from a

violent beating at his store. ama: the man was trying to stop a robbery and just passed away from his injuries. dan: tim johns was there at the vigil tonight. he's in the newsroom to give you a sense of the emotions the neighbors are dealing with tonight. reporter: by all accounts, that man whose name was john was a beloved member of not just the store but the entire neighborhood. i talked to several folks this evening who told me john was a kind man who greeted everyone with a smile and a wave. neighbors say his presence is a huge loss for everyone in the community. >> we are all grieving right now. the community is grieving. reporter: disbelief and heartbreak in one neighborhood. many gathered outside the richmond market for a vigil in honor of one of the corner store employees. the man was known as john. ♪ reporter: being beaten by a baseball bat last week.

friends say it while trying -- while trying to stop a thief. >> i've been here the last couple days. people have just been streaming by constantly all day long, bringing flowers and telling stories about how special john was. reporter: heather lives above richmond market. she's a local and says john one -- was one of the kindest people she knew. he was a staple of the community, someone who treated everyone with a smile and a wave. >> when he asked you how you were doing, he really wanted to know. reporter: dunces! ---- dozens of people have dropped off notes and flowers. others just wanted to stop by the store to remember. >> i was very shocked when i found out he was attacked. reporter: this man has lived nearby for 12 years and frequently shops here. he wants city leaders to stop violent crimes and help people like john. >> my bubble is bursting more. it's been quiet out here.

reporter: those who knew john say his presence will carry on. both through the store that he cared for anze community he loved. >> maybe johns laughed -- last gift to us all, when he was trying to connect with us, now he's having us all connect with each other. reporter: sfpd says no arrests have been made in connection to his case. this remains an open and active investigation. tim johns, abc7news. dan: anti-lgbtq+ bills are exploding across the united states and now the battle is in california. three initiatives aimed at curtailing the rights of ltd pete -- lb gt use could end up on the november valid. the effort is being made by several anti-lgbtq groups. these initiative needs 550,000 signatures. one would require schools to notify parents if their child is transgender or gender

nonconforming. another would ban trans students from participating on sports teams. a third would ban gender affirming medical care for minors. evan low says these proposals attack the most vulnerable in the community. >> no wonder why so many individuals are closeted and fearful about being out, because of this hostile environment. that's why we want to make it very clear that we correct this course of action and we ensure that all members of our community are kept safe. dan: more than 500 bills have been introduced in state legislatures this year. if you are looking to become an ally in your community, you can get started by going to our website. we have local resources specifically for the lgbtq+ community. ama: the rising covid-19 cases has many families searching for covert home test kits. they have been hard-to-find with

many stores sold out. the states positivity rate has climbed from 3.5% to nearly 13%. that bump along with kids returning back to school is fueling the demand for more tests. we found local stores are simply out of stock. >> i went to cosco this morning hoping to get some and i came down here to the cvs hoping to get some pigot they haven't had any since early august. ama: california's hospitalizations are at more than 80% in the last month. that rate is higher nationwide. health experts say if you need to get tested right away, go directly to your health care provider. covid tests are passed their expiration date, they can still be used. check the manufacturer's website for specifics on how long the test is viable for. dan: the new head of the cdc appears confident the u.s. is prepared with his latest bump in cases. >> are tests can pick up this new lineage.

our treatments will work against this new lineage. what we still are needing to learn more about is exactly how a vaccine that is coming out might perform in terms of effectiveness at preventing severe illness. dan: during today's white house briefing, dr. cohen was asked about the return of pandemic measures like mass mandate but there was no clear answer. she pointed to the new vaccine coming out in a couple weeks as well as increased immunity among adults. ama: illegally imported fruit found here in the bay area and badly infested with fruit flies. the danger of the potential spread tonight. san jose's new trick to slide down -- shut down slideshows. what did ancient egyptians smell like? scientists may have just discovered the scent of eternity.

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dan: two san jose women are facing serious charges, accused of importing nonnative fruit, dangerous infestations of fruit flies. prosecutors ran a serious game -- say they ran a serious game across different locations. lauren martinez walks you through the case. reporter: two women are facing felony charges for illegally importing tropical fruit. >> the evidence shows that these women were shipping these fruits

from vietnam fairly regularly. that they were sophisticated at doing it. when the shipments occurred, there were hundreds of pounds of fruit in each particular shipment. reporter: the district attorney said some of the fruit contained eggs of an invasive fruit fly. at least one of the women was warned twice before charges were filed in this case. >> on some occasions, she was storing it at her home in san jose and was using facebook marketplace to make the sales. she wasn't shy about listing what it was to her customers. reporter: one of the women had around 200 pounds of an illegal fruit addressed to her business at the shopping center. the package was labeled as dried fish, coffee, and tea. >> when the shipments come in on a plane from a foreign country,

i've seen everything from presentation materials or lemons . the inspectors aren't clued in to look at it. that's a smuggling technique. reporter: should the oriental fruit fly sped, the ramifications of an infestation would be huge. >> more and more pesticides trying to get more spraying. and then another thing that's even worse is, if we were to become invested -- infested, we wouldn't be able to ship are free to other countries. reporter: buying extremely expensive fruit should be assigned. >> if you are paying $25 per pound, that should raise some questions for yourself. is this legal? reporter: lauren martinez, abc7news. ama: new details on a story are abc7news i-team has been covering extensively. the massive land purchases around travis air force base.

a powerful group is behind it. now we have a better idea on what they are looking to build. the new website posted these images of the vision with more than 50,000 acres to work. they want to create a utopia and local jobs and preserve all the open space. the plan is detailed on the website. they say they will ask solano county residents for approval before any shovels going the ground. dan: city leaders think they have the right idea to put the brakes on sideshows. the mayor is calling on social media platforms to work with san jose's police department and come up with harsher penalties for those who post sideshow related content. oppose can attract hundreds of people in a matter of minutes. >> these dangerous and illegal events are fueled by social media. they are increasingly spread, consumed, and attended primarily for the purpose of generating

content to get likes and build a social media following. dan: he's calling on platforms to suspend the accounts of the people who post sideshow material for 30 days and suspend them indefinitely if they continue to promote it. ama: senate minority leader mitch mcconnell got the go-ahead to go back to work. the physician to congress cleared him to resume his schedule. yesterday, he froze while speaking to reporters. his second son to -- that shouldn't -- such inciden president biden says he's confident the senator will be ok. >> i spoke to mitch. he's a friend. i spoke to him you know, he was his old self on the telephone. ama: senator mcconnell also suffered a concussion back in march. dan: scientists have resurrected and ancient aroma that could unlock what we know about the

egyptians. ama: researchers are calling it the scent of eternal life. they re-created the scent of the balm that would be used in the mummification process to preserve noble women after their death. dan: the aroma is a mix of beeswax, plant oils, and tree resin. if you want to take a whiff of the fragrance, it will be part of a nut -- an upcoming exhibit in denmark. that's interesting. ama: i'll take a quick flight. dan: bottle it and resell it. [laughter] let's get a check on the weekend forecast. ama: sandhya patel is here. sandhya: we will be talking about a changing forecast. let me show you a time lapse. the sun was setting at 7:40. you probably noticed there was more blue sky and less smoke in the air. certainly heading in that direction. most areas reporting good air quality. parts of the bay area are still moderate but not as bad as it has been in terms of the smoke.

hour-by-hour. the trough that has just dived down towards us is going to continue to push the smoke out of here. tomorrow afternoon and evening, things are looking good. it's looking beautiful. this looks almost fake. it's a life picture. marine layer down below. higher clouds up above. here's a look at the air quality for the next three days. good to moderate air quality. any outdoor plans, you're are good to go. we are seeing the combination of fog and higher clouds. a cold front came through earlier but it didn't produce any rain for us. it did drive the wind-up, drop the temperatures. that low distilled of the north. -- is still to the north. we will continue without cooling trend. 10 degrees cooler in concord. 11 degrees cooler in san jose. we saw a double-digit drop in temperatures for most areas today. low 90's for the warmest spots

today. cooling right now. osan temperature is 58 degrees. onshore wind gusting to 20 miles per hour in hayward. 30 in concord. that will keep the cooling going. as we look at the live picture, san francisco, the top of the transamerica pyramid -- obscured by the fog. gusty, cloudy, and cooler tomorrow. isolated showers chance tomorrow and saturday. it will be warm around labor day. we start the morning with gray skies and spotty drizzle. in the afternoon, don't be surprised if you run into a shower. perhaps you are getting away for the weekend. wipers may be needed but briefly. saturday, as the trough continues to deepen, there's potential at least for the north bay for seeing a pop up shower or two. if this amounts to anything, it will be drizzle or a shower. anywhere from nothing to a couple hundreds of an answer.

50's, 60's. mostly cloudy. drizzly. tomorrow afternoon, windy day. well below average. low 60's to mid 70's. the start of meteorological fall and it will feel like fall tomorrow. wendy. drizzle or sprinkles tomorrow. temperatures slowly recover over the holiday weekend into the 80's. upper 80's inland, mid-60's coast. we bring you back to average. low 90's next week.

ama: oh my gosh. there's not much more to say about this. the driver got pulled over in nebraska yesterday by police after officers got a call about a cow -- a car driving with a cow in it. police got quite the surprise. they gave the man a warning and asked him to take the bovine back home. i mean -- dan: it's almost a car driving a calf. huge. step out of the vehicle please. ama: please don't. stay in the vehicle. dan: that's amazing.

look at the horns on that thing. ama: it didn't seem too uncomfortable. dan: it looked pretty chill. officer, what's the problem? what has joe the 49ers super bowl hopes the season? ama: larry beil is here with sports. larry: joe cool has a of whiskey that's coming out and it promises to be just as smooth as montana rice bad -- was back in the day. what does joe think o

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i dreamt you didn't cashback this flight. oh good. you got another mask? are you the ceo of cashbacking? no, you're not. earn big with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? larry: giants fans wanted the team to do with the pot raised in. they took the field tonight 10 games under .500 compared to the giants. casey schmidt, his family on hand at petco park. jd davis grounded to manny machado. easy play. wrong. the throw gets away. joc pederson scores. 3-0 giants. the next batter is wade mackler. safety squeeze. it works. mike yastrzemski scores. 4-0 giants.

the next batter is blake sable. up the middle. hossein kim can't make the play. six run third inning for the giants. top five we go. yaz pigot opposite field. exclamation point. 12th of the season. hamstring injury and the giants win 7-2 as they continue to hold onto the wild-card spot. joe montana into the celebrity whiskey business. he partnered with gold bar whiskey to release two signature blends. he has high hopes for the niners this year. >> i think they will go to the super bowl. they definitely have the caliber team to get there. have to give them the sign. the key is, can he play like he did last year? by the looks of what i saw in the last game, he looks like he hasn't missed a thing. they will be fun to watch. they always are.

they have a lot of weapons on offense. let's get going. larry: stanford will get it going. a new season tomorrow night. troy taylor took over for david shaw and installed the offense he used with great success. there will be growing pains. a trip to the islands will be a good test. >> the guys are excited. they worked extremely hard in the off-season. they are ready to play. can't wait to get on the plane and get out to hawaii. larry: florida at utah. first offensive play. the bomb. bryson barnes to money parks. 7-0 utah. nate johnson keeping on the option here. nice cut right there. 27 yards. utah wins with the backup qb. sports on abc seven sponsored by

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>> you're watching abc7news live. >> we are -- where you are. >> never miss a moment of the news that matters to you. download our abc 7 bay area streaming app. join us and start watching. ama: you can watch live and on-demand available for apple , tv, google tv, amazon fire tv, roku. download now and start streaming. thanks for watching. dan: for all of us, we appreciate your time. >> lou: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight -- lady gaga, and jake tapper. and now, jimmy kimmel! [ cheering and applause ] >> jimmy: hi, everyone. thank you. hi. hou