behind every second of game-changing performance there's a lifetime of dedication. states and a different journey home for people living on the streets in san francisco. >> the big change in priority and where they go from here, and wildfires continue to rage with growing concern that dry lightning may spark more fires. >> i'll have the accuweather forecast. abc seven news at 10:00 starts right now.

>> from abc seven live breaking news. >> and that breaking news, the final step of today's historic prisoner exchange. look at this. americans held for years are back in the u.s, and the reunions just couldn't wait. families running to each other. good evening. i'm ama daetz, and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us. it was remarkable, poignant moments. just over an hour ago, emotional reunions as three americans, including wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich and former marine paul whelan, are back on american soil, the trio arrived just about 90 minutes ago at joint base andrews, just outside washington. they were greeted by their families and loved ones on the tarmac, along with president biden and vice president harris. whelan was the first one off the plane. he is a former marine, had been held since 2018 by russia. >> gershkovich was next to get off the plane he had been held since early 2023 and was recently sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.

he was based out of the wall street journal's moscow bureau. it kept a counter up on its website that tracked the days, hours and seconds he was held in russia. >> also, kumasi was the last one off the plane. she too is a journalist and is originally from russia and holds dual citizenship. she was sentenced to six years in prison for spreading false information about the russian army. the president held an impromptu news conference. >> anyone who has lost family or worried about whether family would come home, whatever the circumstance was, has to understand that extreme. and you've heard me say it before. my dad used to say family is the beginning and the end, and it really is. it's not who we are, but who we are as a country. >> the former prisoners and their families will now have the opportunity to head to texas to receive support at an army medical center. >> the white house flew the hostage and wrongful detainee flag today to celebrate the release of the american

prisoners. it is the black flag below the stars and stripes. the flag was raised for the first time this past march. for the first ever hostage and wrongful detainee day. >> a total of 24 prisoners were involved in this complex, multi-country swap. it's the largest exchange since the cold war. 15 of them were held in russia and one in belarus, which is an ally. russia is getting eight people in return. reports say a total of nine countries were involved in the high level negotiations that went on for several months, and germany was a crucial player in this. its willingness to release a convicted assassin was the key to the deal. paul whelan's brother david spoke exclusively with abc news about the swap. >> i think it would be hard not to be satisfied once your loved one is free. i think all of us who have been through this experience would give almost anything for our loved one to be released from being held hostage or a wrongful detention. i think the difficulty it poses probably is for the next family, the next american who is detained by

russia. >> but not everyone is coming home. at least three american citizens, including schoolteacher marc fogel, are still being held by russia >> that was the reaction inside the wall street journal's newsroom, as it learned about the release of evan gershkovich. >> imagine the relief. yes, all his colleagues. well, today's prisoner swap is sparking a strong reaction from a marin county woman who was held in solitary confinement in iran for more than a year. >> sarah shourd shared her story with abc seven news reporter cornell barnard, as well as the hope she's holding for others who are still imprisoned. >> i mean, i'm incredibly happy for them. i've always it always feels like i relive my own freedom in a small way. >> sarah shourd, sharing her joy about the release of journalist evan gershkovich and former us marine paul whelan in a historic us russia prisoner swap. >> it's definitely something to

celebrate, it's also it's a mixed feeling, shourd now lives in marin county, but in 2009, she and two companions, shane bauer and josh fattal, were hiking on vacation in the mountains of iraq when they unknowingly crossed the border into iran. >> the trio were arrested and sent to the infamous evin prison in tehran. >> i was being detained illegally without any charges, charged with espionage, and was clearly a political pawn. >> shourd would spend 410 days in solitary confinement, like being just dropped off the planet. >> i felt so far away from everything that i loved, everything that had meaning for me, that gave me a sense of who i am in the world. >> and she was released in 2010. bauer and fatal release negotiated in 2011. >> we are so happy. we are free and so relieved we are free. >> it's a long journey. it's a long journey to actually heal from that experience. >> today, shourd's website says she is a journalist and activist

working to end the widespread use of solitary confinement in the u.s. she applauds the biden administration for helping free gershkovich and whelan from russia, and hopes it means freedom for other political prisoners to the u.s. >> taking a stand is an example to other countries around the world. what the u.s. does has a tremendous weight and that does make me really hopeful. >> in marin county, cornell barnard, abc seven news. >> now to a developing news. the park fire, the largest active wildfire in the country it sparked eight days ago, and flames have now scorched nearly 400,000 acres north of chico. containment, though, is up to 22%. more than 530 buildings have been destroyed, plus another 47 damaged. let's bring in abc seven news weather anchor spencer christian. >> he is tracking the conditions for firefighters right now. spencer, you know the containment is improving. any changes on the conditions? >> dan sadly, the change the weather conditions have not changed much. it's encouraging

to see the improvement in the containment, but the temperature right now near the fire in chico is 89 degrees. so it's still very warm at this hour of the night. relative humidity dangerously low as it has been 23%. the wind is light. that's encouraging. only three miles per hour out of the south southwest, with gusts under ten miles per hour. as we move along, you can see that it's hot up and down the central valley of california. even at this hour. and there is concern about more fires breaking out. in fact, a red flag warning is in effect until 8:00 tomorrow night for this area in red, reaching from just south of yosemite, down into the bakersfield area in the southern in the central valley and down into the los angeles and kern county areas. and up in the north. there is concern about dry lightning in the south and the north. on friday and saturday. now, the reason for this is that it's going to be very dry, the air at the surface, but there's some monsoonal moisture that will be flowing in from the interior southwestern states into california, southern california and northern california on friday and saturday. the heating

of the daytime sun may destabilize the atmosphere enough that with that moisture there and the dry air at the at the surface, it could trigger some thunderstorms and some dry lightning, which of course could trigger more fires. so we'll keep monitoring that situation for you. and i'll have the accuweather seven day forecast for the bay area coming up a little later ama. >> all right. we'll check back. thank you. spencer. the park fire is thought to be caused by arson suspect ronnie dean stout of chico was in court today but still hasn't entered a plea. his arraignment is being continued for another three weeks to give his public defender an opportunity to review the case reports and determine a plea. stout is charged with felony pun a hill last wednesday. he's being held without bail. >> a woman who ran a community nonprofit group that partnered with san francisco police was in court today facing 34 felony charges. kyra worthy is the former executive director of sf safe. she's accused of misusing

money on luxury gifts, trips and lavish parties. sf safe, organized neighborhood watch groups and provided safety training. her mismanagement allegedly caused the group to run out of money and shut down in january. happening tomorrow. arraignment for three police officers accused of killing a man in alameda. james fisher, eric mckinley and cameron leahy will be arraigned for involuntary manslaughter in the death of mario gonzalez. gonzalez died after being restrained by the officers in april of 2021. earlier this year, alameda county district attorney pamela price decided to charge the officers, reversing a decision by her predecessor. >> a young woman died in a single car crash in walnut creek. the impact was so

tremendous i valley road. the street was closed for most of the day. abc seven news reporter ryan curry spoke to a man who tried to help the victim. >> it was a loud bang. it was just a loud, just big, solid thud against when it hit the pole. and then it ended up cracking and falling over a scene. >> joseph jarosz won't forget this honda civic hit a power line just after 1 a.m. thursday morning and flipped upside down. the driver, an 18 year-old woman, was ejected from the car and died at the scene. josh was working at the and oil gas station and tried to help. >> ione out there, and then we had other others that had driven up and were already calling 911. so i ran back in to hopefully get the first aid kit that we had. >> first responders told him to stay away. they took a passenger to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. when asked about if speed played a factor, walnut creek police say they are looking into it based on the damage to the collision. >> i would say that that is accurate, but i cannot say since we're still investigating any data if there's any traffic

camera footage. >> the road remained closed in the early hours following the crash. p-g-and-e's began working to restore power. josh's manager, jim mccracken, says they were without power after the crash. he said we lost power. >> there was a big, huge accident. >> he says the power came back over an hour later, but he says p-g-and-e's could cut his power again while they make repairs. if that happens, he will have to close early. we're in a holding pattern and we're pretty much going to get shut down again for loss of business. but when the crash happened, both he and his employee knew something terrible had happened. >> it's not easy. i've. i've. i've been through a crash almost exactly like that on the highway before. so it's like, i think it's like i could have ended up like that. i came out mostly unscathed when it happened to me. i've had other people i know get into wrecks. it's just it's terrible thing to ever happen to anyone. >> tom happened. there's a tragedy and all we can have to do is pray for the family. >> ryan curry, abc seven news. >> still to come, the confusion at a sunnyvale shelter. is there

an outbreak? well, it depends on who you ask. >> plus, time is up for people living in rvs along one san francisco street. but a heatwave, it's kinda chilly in here. oh, that's because i'm pre-cooling the house with the ac before 4 pm. then i'll turn our thermostat to a comfortable 78 or higher

that way i could stay cool later. ooh, what about me? you're never cool. oh.

has been on improving the issue of homelessness. we've seen sweeps in san francisco and now a new approach. san francisco mayor london breed issued an executive directive today offer the unhoused, who aren't from the city, a bus ticket out of town before offering shelter or housing. here's abc seven news reporter tara campbell with the city's journey home plan. >> the push to get people off the streets of san francisco is intensifying. mayor london breed issuing a directive thursday to all city departments working with homeless people, ordering them to offer relocation assistance before providing any other services, including housing and shelter. the goal is

to reunite people with family and supports in other communities. >> i supported as long as we verify that those people will actually have a place. >> dell seymour is the founder of code tenderloin, a nonprofit working with people on the streets for decades. and he says the city's relocation efforts often fall short. >> you know, a lot of people get on the phone very emotional and says, yeah, send them back. i'll take care of it. but by the time they get there, we're not sure if they really have a place. >> as for the reasoning behind the directive, the mayor's office points to the most recent point in time count, the last tally showing 40% of unhoused individuals came to san francisco from another county, or from out of state. >> there's a lot of people who come out here thinking that san francisco is going to be this wonderful state for them to live and thrive, and actually, they're leaving home because they think they're going to find something else here, donna hilliard says, offering people a way home is key. they need to be able to go back home. i think offering them that chance to reunite with their family, with their support system is

everything. >> while others warn the journey home program only goes so far in solving the homelessness crisis, it does serve a small population of people who do have communities outside of san francisco that they can reconnect with and be housed, but any attempts in the past to expand it have been unsuccessful, because there's just not that many people who benefit from the program. the mayor's office saying the plan is to track the numbers, to monitor whether the program is working. but exactly how they'll do that is still unclear. tara campbell, abc seven news. >> today is the day san francisco started to enforce parking limits along winston drive near sf state. this impacts rv dwellers who have lined this neighborhood for years. abc seven news reporter luz pena found those residents are one step ahead. >> it's the day many rv residents along winston drive in san francisco have been dreading. angela, when did you move here? >> i este lugar hace dos

two days ago. >> so instead of moving their vehicles every four hours to avoid getting a ticket, we found many of them spread out throughout the area on lake merced boulevard and skyline boulevard. one of them is angela, a mother of two. we haven't gotten tickets because we moved before they started ticketing. angela did not want to show her face because she works at a nearby school. she said her husband bought the rv to go camping as a family three years ago. but after losing his job during the pandemic, they moved out of their apartment in daly city and this became their home. recently, she was offered shelter in la ciudad, the person from the city who came here to speak to us did ask me, what is holding you back? why are you here in san francisco? angela said. many here were given three choices a shelter, one month of free rent from the city, and a third option to leave san francisco when they came here is that they said that if i have a family member somewhere else in another state, that the city

would pay for us to fly there and leave it. so you want to do that? >> la verdad? qué no tengo ninguna familia. pero tampoco lo quiero hacer otra cosa dijeron ellos i don't have a family member anywhere else. >> and i also wouldn't want to do that. a couple rvs down from angela. we met carla. she moved from winston drive to with her husband and two daughters. only my husband is working right now and we just don't have enough money to be able to move somewhere else, the coalition on homelessness said the city had enough time to find solutions for these families. >> i mean, it's been four years of winston drive residence, the vehicle housed immigrant families down there who have trusted the city to find it, a safe parking site. in a statement, sfmta said in part city streets are public space where the curb is designed for public parking use, and we need to manage the sharing of the curb space as more rvs continue to park near a community center, residents here are beginning to notice the very sympathetic to these people.

>> luz pena, abc seven news. >> okay, let's turn to our weather now. things are starting to heat up a little bit. >> they are. as spencer said they would. spencer is here with the full forecast and the heat goes on for quite a while. >> here's a look at our satellite radar composite image. you can see what's bringing us this new wave of heat. that high pressure area down there in the southwest is going to nudge westward a bit. and that will be the controlling factor in our weather picture over the next several days, keeping our weather, our weather pretty warm to hot. and notice the circulation around that high is bringing some monsoonal moisture from the desert southwest up into california. and that may become problematic as we get into the weekend, friday and saturday. with that moisture aloft and the dry air below and the action of the daytime heating, it could destabilize the atmosphere and trigger some dry lightning strikes. so we'll be on the lookout for that. meanwhile, right now back here in the bay area, things are relatively calm, breezy near the coast and bay, but we don't have any really strong gusts in the 24 hour temperature changes. moderate only 2 to 4 degrees

warmer in some inland areas than at this time last night. so let's take a look at current conditions. the view from mount tam is a little bit dark, but you can see the outline of parts of san francisco right now and current temperature readings are 56in the city right now. low 60s at oakland and hayward, upper 60s at san jose and redwood city, and 55 at half moon bay. nice view in emeryville, calm conditions, although we expect to see a little bit of a marine layer developing during the overnight hours, no evidence of that right now. temperatures are in the mid to upper 50s at petaluma and santa rosa, 63 at napa and low 70s at fairfield, concord and livermore. let's check out our forecast headlines as we look across the embarcadero from our rooftop camera. it will be warm to hot through next week. high temperatures inland will range from upper 90s to near 100 on the warmest areas. on the warmest days, and the heat reaches its peak next tuesday and wednesday. those will be the hottest days, especially in our inland areas. forecast animation overnight shows not only drizzle at the coast and moving onshore, as it has done the last several nights, but high clouds moving

by as well, so it'll be a little cloudy and dreary in the early morning hours. overnight, low temperatures will be mainly in the upper 50s to low 60s, so it will be mild in most locations overnight. tomorrow a warm to hot day with a little bit of haze. high temperatures in the low 60s at the coast. we'll see mid to upper 70s, maybe even a couple of low 80s around the bay shoreline tomorrow. inland areas mid 90s to upper 90s. not expecting triple digits tomorrow, but they may mix into the forecast in a few days. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. so up to about 96 degrees in the warmest spots inland. tomorrow and saturday there will be a just a minor drop in temperatures on sunday. but monday temperatures start to warm up again, and on tuesday and wednesday we expect highs around 100 in the hottest inland spots, low 80s around the bay shoreline. and then there will be a sharper drop in temperatures on thursday as the heat begins to ease a bit. but until then, it's going to be pretty toasty. >> oh goodness, it's swimming weather. not really football weather.

>> that's true, that's true. >> although a weather delay and everything, it wasn't even a delay. >> it was the end of the game. lightning. we'll tell you all about that. hard to believe the football season is here. august 1st, right? first game every year is the hall of fame preseason game. and we will hear from 40 niners linebacker patrick willis, who is going into the hall in canton this weekend. that is next in sports (woman) oh, come on! come on! (vo) fargo lets you do this: (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card. i found it! i found my card! (vo) and also, this: (woman) fargo, turn on my debit card! (vo) do you fargo? you can, with wells fargo.

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to do to win that, it'd have been nice to hear. super bowl champion, hall of famer, you know. but i'm grateful grateful for this day. grateful for this time. >> hall of fame game in kent. dan, how did they get you to your closet to get those masks? how did they do? uh- davis mills stanford man leads a long drive that results in a nine yard touchdown pass to teagan toriano. texans lead ten. nothing. no. caleb williams for chicago is backup brett rypien with a nine yard touchdown pass to colin johnson. then came the weather. we were talking about rain, lightning and they just shut it down. stopped. bears 21, texans 17. is your final brock purdy we know he is locked in as the 40 niners starter at quarterback, but the battle is on to be his backup. josh dobbs versus brandon allen abc seven's chris alvarez reports. >> 40 niners quarterback josh dobbs has his sights set on winning the backup quarterback position. it was a wild season for him last year. in 2023, he began in cleveland's camp was the eventual week one starter for arizona, and then had a

midseason trade to minnesota. >> it was definitely was a crazy experience, but i enjoyed every aspect of it. like i enjoyed the opportunity to go out, compete, put my best foot forward every single week and get that opportunity to lead from the front. ideally, don't want to go through another crazy season such as that in less than a full calendar year. >> josh is learning his fourth nfl playbook here in san francisco. play calls can get long, but thanks to his interest in aerospace engineering and a nasa internship, he's taking it in stride. >> there's actually a lot of crossover that talk to faa. they say a call, you got to repeat it back to them very specifically. got a lot of stuff going on. it's just like you're saying the pocket you got to call out one of coach, coach, coach shanahan's plays. they get real wordy in there. so it's been good crossover between the two. >> dobbs says he's currently working on his private pilot's license and has about 35 of his 40 hours complete. but for now, his main focus is on football and rocketing to the top of the quarterback depth chart to be brock purdy's backup qb. with the 40 niners here in santa clara. chris alvarez, abc seven

sports chris thank you. >> think about how many nfl quarterbacks have nasa intern on their resume. not a lot, right? >> not not impressive. >> i mean, he could be an air traffic controller. he could be a lot of different things. he's got a lot of skills. well, you know being a quarterback is a tough job. >> and you got to have you got to process. >> you got to process information. all right. >> thanks larry. yeah. all right. >> well it's been more than a month since the fbi raided the home of oakland mayor xiang tao and other locations. next. why? oakland police overtime is now in the spotlight. plus parenthood and non parenthood are both choices that should be made thoughtfully. >> it's a controversial topic, and it's one we are exploring on international child free day

may have been looking into overtime spending by a task force that worked in chinatown.

>> we have been following this story since the raid on mayor sheng tao's home in late june. here's abc seven news reporter anser hassan. >> the fbi raids in june of oakland mayor sheng tao's house and properties linked to the politically connected huang family expanded in july to the oakland police department. the east bay times is now reporting that the fbi may have flagged overtime spending related to an opd chinatown task force between 2021 and 2022. the newspaper found officers claimed more than 5000 hours in combined overtime over a ten month period, with some officers making hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime. sergeant huy nguyen is one of those officers. he's now president of the oakland police officers association. he declined an on camera interview, but he tells abc seven news that staffing shortages meant officers had to work overtime to address the pandemic era spike in anti-asian hate crimes. he adds ot came down as crime came down. leronne armstrong was oakland's police chief during this time period. he also

declined to be interviewed on camera, but tells abc seven news that oakland city council preferred to fund overtime instead of hiring officers because it's cheaper. he says during this time period, they had 653 officers. the staffing should have been at 792. armstrong claims the chinatown task force led to a 90% drop in crime. the east bay times also reported that the duong family donated money to buy drones for opd. it was initiated by sergeant michael chung, an unrelated internal investigation into chung for misconduct eventually led to the firing of chief armstrong by mayor tao. >> before this chinatown task force, you know, oakland police department had, you know, regularly run unauthorized or unbudgeted overtime and tens of millions of dollars. >> isaiah tony is with the community based organization ibase. he says when opd eats up ot other city services, take a hit. >> minimum wage and wage theft are really important and the city never has enough capacity

to handle all the complaints they get. >> tony's concerned more will likely emerge from the police department, which is still under federal oversight in oakland, anser hassan abc seven news. >> to the south bay now, the san jose police department is releasing new images they hope will identify suspects in two cold case murders. the first image shows two men believed to be the suspects in december of 2018, a shooting of a man in the area of east virginia and south third streets. the second image is this gold 1990s lexus sedan taken in november of 2020. police believe the suspects used that car after the fatal shooting of a man on orlando drive. both cases are highlighted on the department's most wanted social media pages. >> now we are adding the additional profiles where we may not have a actual suspect identified, but we have some type of suspect information where we're hoping we'll generate some type of lead to, again, track these people down and hopefully bring some closure to families. >> anyone with information

should call the san jose police department. >> mayor london breed says san francisco's new budget will keep the city moving forward. the deal, signed by breed today includes $15.9 billion for the 20 2425 fiscal year and 15.5 billion for 20 2526. it closes a $789 million, two year deficit. the mayor says the deal includes critical investments in core government operations, public safety, homelessness, children and families and economic revitalization. august is transgender history month in san francisco is showing its pride with the raising of the trans flag today at city hall. this is the second year san francisco has marked transgender history month, mayor london breed said today. san francisco will always be a place where diverse communities are embraced, and everyone has the freedom to be who they are. >> in the south bay, there is an outbreak of scabies at a homeless shelter in sunnyvale. so far, none of the cases is confirmed. abc7 news south bay reporter zach fuentes has the

story inside the north county shelter in sunnyvale. >> more than 100 beds are set up for people experiencing homelessness. right now, less than 50 people are currently staying there. >> there's the county owns this facility and we contract with bill wilson to run the shelter day to day operations. >> bill wilson center, took over those day to day operations four weeks ago from another nonprofi. last week, people who stayed at the shelter reported that several people had contracted scabies, according to the cdc. it's an infestation of the skin by a human itch mite that causes intense itching and a rash. this woman said she stayed at the shelter for six months and contracted scabies. >> it's just really uncomfortable, especially at night. you can't sleep, you toss and turn and you're just always itchy. >> bill wilson, center, addressing those concerns at a thursday press conference. >> according to our partners at santa clara county public health. at this time, there are no confirmed cases of scabies, only presumed cases pending the results of a skin test.

>> the county santa clara public health department sent abc seven a statement that said in part, it received a report of a suspected scabies outbreak at the north county shelter. while scabies cannot be confirmed without sample testing, doctors commonly prescribed treatment for scabies based on symptoms. the bill wilson, ceo telling us that there are seven of those presumed cases and that those people have been physically isolated off site, advocate sean cartwright says she's been helping many of the people isolated. >> i've been here at the hotel for five days. as long as people have been here, all these people are diagnosed with scabies. it says so on their records, though, bill wilson said it only knows if presumed cases. >> they say precautions include daily intensive cleaning. still, cartwright said more needs to be done. >> everyone should be put in a hotel for three days while pest inspectors can bomb the building and take care of every pest that's in there. the county's office of supportive housing said it will continue to work with the bill. >> wilson center to make sure that public health guidelines are followed in sunnyvale. zach fuentes, abc seven news. >> now to your voice, your vote a virtual voting process kicked

off today to formally designate vice president kamala harris the official presidential nominee of the democratic party. harris was already deemed the presumptive nominee by the democratic national committee this week, after she emerged as the only qualified candidate. the official results will be announced monday. the dnc opens on august 19th in chicago today, vice presidential candidate j.d. vance campaigned in arizona along the us mexico border with a focus on immigration. he also gave donald trump credit for today's prisoner swap, which president biden helped orchestrate. >> but we have to ask ourselves, why are they coming home? and i think it's because bad guys all over the world recognize donald trump's about to be back in office. so they're cleaning house. that's a good thing. and i think it's a testament to donald trump's strength. >> donald trump's campaign reports it collected nearly $139 million last month. that brings trump's cash on hand total to 327 million. there's an old soundbite from jd vance, something he said back in 2021 that is getting a lot of attention lately. >> we're effectively run in this

country via the democrats, be it via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives, and the choices that they've made. and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too childless or child free. >> it's a choice more and more people are making and for different reasons. today is international, child free day, and we spoke with the author of childfree by choice, doctor amy blackstone, a sociologist at the university of maine, about it. >> vance, i guess, isn't a real fan of fact checking, because if he was, he would find out that non-parents, including the childfree. so people who have opted out of parenthood intentionally and thoughtfully actually are are quite happy, probably not good news for parents and not good news for policy makers in the us. were actually happier than parents. and the reason i say it's not good news for policy makers is that i think the takeaway for policy makers is that there's

much more we could be doing to support families and working parents in the united states. if you compare us to other western industrialized nations, parents are much happier in countries where supports like childcare and, and good parental leave policies are provided for parents. we find happier rates among parents, and equal rates of happiness among non-parents and parents. so in the us, the childless cat ladies are actually quite well adjusted and quite happy. >> a recent pew research survey found the majority of adults under 50 who say they are unlikely to ever have kids say a major reason is they just don't want to. >> a fire over the weekend caused major problems for bart, and it revealed some major weaknesses. also ahead, i went from nobody knowing my name to tens of millions of people

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oakland. even with service restored, riders are still complaining of delays, as abc seven news reporter lena howland explains the issue is aging infrastructure. >> crews at oakland's 12th street bart station are making repairs to make sure this doesn't happen again. a fire in an electrical room forced four oakland bart stations to close over the weekend, prompting the evacuation of about 300 riders. >> yeah, there's been some pretty bad delays. >> margaret lehman says she experienced delays taking bart every day this week through wednesday. >> delays in the in the afternoon. when you're going back and then the trains just get really, really uncomfortably crowded. >> bart says service had been fully restored by tuesday, but

they were running trains slower on wednesday out of an abundance of caution, people might notice that their trains were slowing down. >> that was just to not overstrain our electrical system. >> bart board director deborah allen says this has brought to light a much larger issue. >> we have a fire like this. it brings to mind for me that we are not working fast enough. bart is not working fast enough on the replacement of these critical components. >> bart says the issue happened at a 56 year old gap breaker station of the 47 gap breaker station, system wide. they say this was one of 17 on a list slated to be replaced. >> we don't know if age is what contributed to the cause of the fire, but that's something that we're looking into. >> though they say the actual construction for that was still a few years out, but it does seem to me one of those things that it should have been taken care of urgently if it were a potential fire danger. while bart officials assure us their system is safe and they have a temporary workaround for the

damaged gap breaker station, allen is encouraging riders to plan ahead. during this time. >> they need to allow an extra 20 to 30 minutes for delays. that's what my advice is to riders in oakland. >> lena howland, abc seven news. >> and we're following the story about an oakland, bookstore's, rise from the ashes after a devastating fire that we told you about on tuesday. east bay booksellers on college avenue had been in business for 30 years. a gofundme in about 48 hours raised more than $140,000 to help the store reopen, and the bookstore is organizing a fundraising event on august 12th. we have a link to the gofundme on our website, abc seven news.com. a second fire fundraiser in the east bay. this one set up for a cancer patient who lived in his van yesterday. ryan, six, parked overnight in berkeley when a fire ignited in a vacant warehouse nearby. he lost his van to the flames. six has stage four cancer. a

gofundme for him has raised about $5,000 of its $50,000 goal. the fundraiser says the money will be used to help him get new transportation, so he can make it to his medical appointments. california shakespeare theater is making progress toward its goal to raise $350,000, so it is extending its deadline from today to monday, buying a little bit more time. cal shakes launched a gofundme campaign last week to avoid possible closure and to preserve the fall production of as you like it. the gofundme has just topped $100,000, but they've raised nearly $250,000 in total. we have the story and the gofundme on our website. just go to abc seven news.com. >> we now know who's going to take over for katy perry as judge on american idol. and it's making history. it's season four winner carrie underwood, the first time a contestant has returned as a judge. reporter joelle gargiulo from our sister station in new york has a look back. >> i remember being at home in our little house in chicota and

seeing on tv that there were auditions in saint louis. >> the year was 2005, when a wide eyed carrie underwood stepped into the idol stage. >> i went from nobody knowing my name to tens of millions of people watching the show. >> with her powerhouse performances, the small town oklahoma girl wowed the judges and won over fans. the winner is carrie underwood, becoming the fourth american idol. >> i'm proud of everything that i was able to accomplish on the show, and i'm so proud of everything that i've accomplished since. >> 85 million records sold worldwide, 28 number one singles, eight grammys, and 20 years later, she's returning to her idol roots, though this time as a judge. the country superstar replaces pop superstar katy perry and joins lionel richie and luke bryan alongside host ryan seacrest. while she's been a guest mentor in the past, underwood is making history with this news as the first american

idol alum to ever join the judging panel. dug my key into the side of a full circle moment not only for the show, but for fans who are loving the news online. >> even if i go far away, this is my home. >> well, welcome home, carrie. welcome home. i'm joel gargiulo, abc news. >> that's a great choice. you know, chemistry is so important on that show. you can tell they'll have great chemistry. they will. >> auditions kick off on august 12th in alabama. american idol returns next year. yeah. >> august is starting off warmer than july. finished. we'll have a look at spencer's seven day forecast, plus solving a 400 million year old mystery about roses and their thorns

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but it's a fire hydrant. it was gushing water this morning on berry street near fifth in san francisco's mission bay neighborhood. firefighters came

out to turn off the water and remove the hydrant. >> problem solved. >> every rose has its thorn. but why? actually, they don't have thorns. they have prickles, which, unlike thorns, are made from the skin of the plant and not wood. researchers tracked these prickles to an ancient gene family named lonely guy or log. the genes can turn on and off the prickle trait in many species, and has been doing so for nearly half a billion years. so now that we know where prickles come from, it may help scientists develop roses that do not have them save all of our fingers. >> wait a minute. we're supposed to call them prickles. now thorns? yeah. >> no, i'm still going with thorn. >> that's like trying to convert to the metric system. years ago. we're not going to go for that. >> either way, you're in a sticky situation. >> yes yes, yes. >> let's take a look at what's going on with our weather overnight. i'll give you a look at the forecast animation. you can see that we'll have low clouds and fog at the coast. lots of drizzle along the

coastline and some of it moving onshore, plus clouds overhead. so the early morning hours will not be bright. overnight, low temperatures will be mainly in the upper 50s to low 60s. now in the afternoon we'll get a bit more sunshine, especially away from the coast. highs will range from low 60s at the coast to upper 70s and even low 80s near the bay shoreline, which will be quite warm tomorrow. inland areas will warm to the mid to upper 90s, so here's a look at the accuweather seven day forecast. as you can see, that range of temperatures will be with us for almost another week. in fact, the peak of the warming will probably be around tuesday or wednesday of next week when inland highs approach. if not hit 100 degrees, we'll see some low 80s around the bay shoreline, mid 60s on the coast, and then we'll get a fairly sharp drop in temperatures next thursday down to mere low 90s inland. well all right, cool down. >> yes, we'll take anything, though. thanks, spencer. >> well, video game performers hit the picket lines today to demand protections against artificial intelligence. reporter sid garcia from our sister station in los angeles. has the story. >> hundreds of video game actors

protested outside warner brothers studios in burbank. they're one of the major producers of video game content, according to sag-aftra. after 18 months of contract talks, nothing, no deal. the strike started last week, the only issue on the table. >> i think what scares our members about ai is the possibility that their image, their voice, their likeness is going to be taken and used without their consent, without compensation, that their careers could just go away because of ai. >> they can reuse your work again and again and you don't get paid again for it. >> video game producers, who are part of what's called the interactive media agreement, or ima, released a statement saying we are disappointed that the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal, and we remain prepared to resume negotiations. our offer is directly responsive to sag-aftra's concerns and extends meaningful ai protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation to all performers. last year, film and

tv actors went out on strike for some four months. these actors are hoping the strike won't last that long. >> they want to have a fair deal. they want to keep their jobs. they want to keep working. >> and as of this afternoon, no new talks are scheduled. reporting from burbank. i'm sid garcia, abc seven news. >> coming up next, bad news for intel. big layoffs to help the company save billions of dollars. >> and speaking of numbers, how do you turn a 17 unit building into 49 units? it's happened in san francisco, and it's something the city is trying to stop. we'll explain (woman) oh, come on! come on! (vo) fargo lets you do this: (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card. i found it! i found my card! (vo) and also, this: (woman) fargo, turn on my debit card! (vo) do you fargo? you can, with wells fargo.

(vo) with wells fargo premier, a team can help you plan for your dreams. so your dream car, and vacation home, may be closer than you think. ready to meet the dream team? you can with wells fargo. the news of rising unemployment numbers, the country is counting on a stronger job market in order to cool down inflation and avoid a recession. here are today's numbers. the dow tanked

about 495 points. the nasdaq dropped 405 points. the s&p 500 lost more than 75 points. intel stock dropped about 5% during the trading day, but 19% after hours when news broke. it will be laying off 15% of its staff. it's about 15,000 jobs. the chip maker is based in santa clara and trying to better compete with companies like nvidia, intel says the layoffs are part of a plan to save $10 billion next year. intel could lose roughly $24 billion of its market value when the stock market opens tomorrow. >> also happening tomorrow, the popular japanese casual wear retailer uniqlo is opening a new location in san jose. the new store is at the west oak ridge mall. it is part of uniqlo's broader expansion in california. there are already nine stores in the bay area. for the first time ever, the city of oakland is announcing a comprehensive plan for downtown. it was adopted by the city council a couple of weeks ago, and lays out a vision for the next 20 years. now, this

plan for oakland includes and focuses on achieving several key objectives building more affordable housing, stimulating job growth near transit hubs, maintaining and developing public service programs. revitalizing local businesses, enhancing public safety, modernizing climate resilience, preserving culture by uplifting the arts and reconnecting the community, particularly west oakland, to downtown. now across the bay in san francisco, mayor london breed announced the launch of a series of free events in downtown bricks at embarcadero plaza, begins a next week on august 7th, and runs as a pilot program through october. the plaza will be used tuesday through saturday, with a cafe and a beer garden, rotating art and daily music. it will light up the weekends with friday dance parties featuring local bands and saturday family days with kid friendly events. >> a crackdown is underway against landlords in san francisco who are dividing residential buildings into additional and illegal units.

our media partner, the san francisco standard, has a new article out detailing how landlords illegally chopped up 17 apartments into 49 units. reporter kevin truong shared with us what he learned when researching the story. >> they were turning essentially basement units, storage units, into places where people actually lived. and that means there was no fire escape. that means in some cases, there were no windows and in some cases that means that there were issues with leaks and rodents and pest infestations. >> just last month, the city won $2.5 million in three separate judgments against property owners accused of creating unregulated units and exploiting tenants. that is it for this edition of abc seven news at ten. abc seven news at 11 is coming up next. >> and just ahead. suspicion in the santa cruz mountains. neighbors uneasy over what they've seen in their neck of the woods. and now firefighters are taking notice. >> plus, a big win for the nfl.

but this one in a courtroom. why countless fans and a small san francisco sports bar are the ones losing out >> this is abc 724 >> in san francisco, live at levi's stadium in san jose. >> live in oakland. >> yeah, you're watching abc seven news live anytime, anywhere. >> we are, we are, we are, we are, we are, we are where you are. >> never miss a

a heatwave, it's kinda chilly in here. oh, that's because i'm pre-cooling the house with the ac before 4 pm. then i'll turn our thermostat to a comfortable 78 or higher that way i could stay cool later. ooh, what about me? you're never cool. oh. introducing togo's new barbecue beef sandwich. it's piled high with tender beef that's slow cooked and smothered in tangy memphis style barbecue sauce. it's no fuss, no muss. just tons of flavor. the best barbecue beef is only a togo's. try one today.

san francisco's unhoused population out of town. mayor breed putting out an executive order to buy a bus tickets for the homeless population as the city's shelters are near full.