like, stay calm. and i, you know, i used my right hand because this is my strong hand to seal the wound. me i know you don't know me, but please trust me. god is with us. it's not your time, okay? it's not your time. i want you to continue to breathe, okay? just breathe. i go, you hear that siren? that's the ambulance. it's coming for you. it's almost here. >> what an incredible job by that police officer. as we learn more about the union square shooting that injured 49 ers, wide receiver ricky pearsall from the first officer on the scene. >> you know it's nervous that happens to someone like that here in union square. >> people were saying hey you know crime is crazy. you know a lot of the stores are gone. union square is not safe anymore. you know, i think it's like any big city. i mean, i think it just happens in any city. >> just days later, tourists who are there say it's not keeping them away from union square. good afternoon, i'm kristen z. >> and i'm larry beil. thanks for joining us. after the

shooting of san francisco 49 ers rookie ricky pearsall. many are breathing a sigh of relief. just the 23 year old is going to be recovering at home. he'll miss at least the first four games of the nfl season. >> abc seven news reporter tim johns spoke with a witness today who saw the shooting. and tim, just an incredible story. >> yeah, larry. kristen, the witness saw everything. the scuffle, the gunshots and ricky pearsall on the police. but eveh a front row seat to the shooting, his to questions over san francisco's safety may surprise you. john wendell says he was leaving his offices on san francisco's geary street saturday afternoon, when he witnessed something he'd never seen before. >> i saw two guys fighting about 20 yards away, 30 yards at the most. i thought, oh, great, you know, another punch up on the street and then bang, bang, bang. >> that scuffle and shooting wendell witnessed involved 40 niners, rookie and first round draft pick ricky pearsall. pearsall was shot through the chest after a 17 year old attempted to rob him while he was walking down the street near

union square. the incident happening just hours after he appeared at an autograph signing event just miles away. >> it was at the moment, just simply shocking. it wasn't until later that i began to shake. >> wendell tells me the entire encounter happened rapidly and was over within a minute or so. >> he says shortly after the gunshots rang out, he saw police who were stationed nearby running towards the scene. >> the police response was fantastic. they had that place swarmed. >> the first officer to arrive was sergeant harrell. sergeant harrell is being described as a hero who may have saved pearson's life. our colleagues at abc news spoke with her on monday. harrell describing hearing the gunshots and then running to find pearsall on the ground in a pool of blood. to abc news reporter melissa arden. >> i used my right hand because this is my strong hand to seal the wound. sorry. and then i put it up here to hold that. >> the sergeant says while they waited for paramedics to arrive. she knew keeping pearsall conscious and calm was paramount. she detailed some of

their conversation during those critical minutes. >> i know you don't know me, but please trust me. god is with us. it's not your time, okay? it's not your time. i want you to continue to breathe. okay? >> thanks to pearsall's description, sfpd was able to identify and arrest the suspect. the nfl rookie is now out of the hospital and recovering at home. but the reputational hit the incident has on san francisco may be harder to recover from. on monday morning, we went back to union square to talk to tourists about their perception of the city following the shooting. almost all of them told us they had heard that the city was unsafe ahead of their visits. that included billy seba and his family, who were visiting from texas. it was dirty, >> a lot of i mean, like you hear about crime and stuff like that. >> seba says despite what he had heard, he's been pleasantly surprised by san francisco. he tells us he and his family have enjoyed their time in the city by the bay, and would be interested in returning. he also says, while unfortunate, he thinks the pearsall incident could happen in any major city.

>> i work in downtown houston and it's a lot worse than downtown houston. >> that opinion is also backed to a large degree by statistics, according to the abc7 news neighborhood safety tracker. the robbery rate for the entire city of san francisco over the last 12 months is down 4% from the previous four year average. and in the central district, which includes union square, it drops even further to 6% less than the previous average. despite that data, though, there is no question that san francisco is still dealing with a perception problem. now, whether it's true or not is one thing, but the shooting definitely does not help in the studio. tim johns, abc seven news. >> all right, tim, thank you so much. and joining us live now for more context by zoom is abc seven insider phil matier. phil, look, how does this play out for this city and for the mayor coming at this particular time? right now? >> well, at no time would it have been good news, but right now, the mayor is going into the final stretch of a possible reelection bid. she's getting fierce competition from a number

of people. and the candidates are all stressing one thing public safety or the lack of it in the city. now, as you saw in the recent crime statistics, it has gone down from the four year average. and so there is less crime on the streets of san francisco. but, you know, as the mayor said, that data goes out the window when you have an incident like this. now, i will say that for the there is if there is a silver lining in this, it is the police response and the city's response to the situation. the fact that the sergeant was on hand saved the life. the fact that the bullet went through the victim with the rookie without hitting any major organs or causing any paralysis. in other words, people are going to be walking away from this and that's a good sign. so what we have now is the mayor and everybody trying to turn this situation and say, this is not reflective of the overall point of san francisco. this is uh, i guess i would say, say like an unfortunate aberration. whether or not that sells out there remains to be seen. >> you know the problem, the problem, phil, is that we can

show all the stats and crime down the numbers. but when you see that video, it's frightening. i just want to ask your opinion because i'm sure you saw the clip london breed actually posted a video of you here on channel seven on a post on on twitter x, to show that union square was safe. were you surprised that she used that? >> yeah, i was, and i asked him why they did it and they said they were watching channel seven while they were cutting the video and said, hey, this would fit right in just fine. what i was saying was that, if you take into account the number of police that are on patrol in the union square area, plus the number of police that are working off duty for the various stores there as security, and then add in the regular cops that are been added to the special details act that they have there. and then the retired cops that are working as ambassadors in that area. you have more cops per square inch than anywhere else in the city. but the flip side to that is even with that, an incident like

this can happen. and that's why that they're emphasizing that the robber was not the alleged robber was not from san francisco. that is an aberration. and that that sergeant is the real hero in this. so they're moving. they're trying to move the narrative as we do in politics, from a ugly scene to a heroic scene, and we'll see how it goes. >> yeah. so last december, buster posey and the giants expressed concerns about the city's reputation, thinking that it was making it difficult for them to land stars like shohei ohtani. he wanted to be a dodger anyway, but how much concern? not just about athletes, but businesses in general when they see this kind of thing are going to say, no, not san francisco. >> yeah, it could. it does. it has an effect. it has effect on tourism also on business and conventions. remember that san francisco, when aipac was here, basically sealed off the downtown of san francisco in order to keep it safe and keep it clean? it is a lot safer and a lot cleaner than it has been in the past. and other cities are experiencing much the same thing, but this is sort of ground zero. and it became

ground 0 in 2021 when we had the massive robbery of the neiman marcus there, when we had things out of control and just smash and grab robberies all over the place. we're not seeing that these days, but it only takes one incident to sort of counteract everything that everybody's been working for. but it's interesting in this case, the mayor, the police, everybody is saying, okay, this happened, but we're going to get past it. and by the way, we're going to even increase the police presence more. so rather than backing off, they're doubling down and saying, we are going to make this the safest place in san francisco. >> yep. except still her rivals in the mayoral race is going to have a lot of material to work with because of this one incident in the coming months. all right. >> they already do some are actively saying it calls them a former acting mayor, mark farrell is saying that this is reflective of in need of change in in san francisco city hall. he's being sort of slammed by the other candidates for taking a political advantage of this, but they're all saying it reflects the problem that is still there and top in people's. about one third of the voters in line. and that's public safety.

so yes, that is still the ongoing challenge facing the mayor. and it's got to be more than just feel good. it's got to actually feel safe. >> all right, phil, thank you. >> oakland police are investigating a deadly early morning shooting. the mercury news reports officers are trying to identify the victim. the man's body was found in the area of 74th avenue and hillside street, near macarthur boulevard, at about 4.30 this morning. no arrest has been made. find the full picture on public safety where you live with our abc seven neighborhood safety tracker. the interactive tool has historical data and trends for san francisco, oakland and san jose. it's available for you right now on abc7 news.com. >> a berkeley native who was one of six hostages found murdered in gaza over the weekend was laid to rest today. a procession took place to honor hersh goldberg-polin before his funeral. the 23 year old israeli american was taken hostage when hamas attacked a music festival on october 7th. goldberg,

poland's family became international champions in the struggle to free hostages, and today his mother bid an emotional farewell to her son. >> finally, my sweet boy. finally, finally, finally, finally. you're free. i will love you. and i will miss you every single day. for the rest of my life. >> has to be so hard for the family. the bay area community is invited to a candlelight vigil tonight to honor goldberg. poland begins at 6 p.m. at the russian speaking jewish community center in san francisco's richmond district. >> fire investigators in the north bay are trying to determine the cause of a house fire that killed a woman and her dog overnight. crews responded to the home on alta vista avenue in mill valley just before 1 a.m. the woman and several dogs were trapped in the house. a neighbor says the victim would often be seen in the neighborhood walking her dogs. >> seen her quite a bit. she was a regular fisher. she lived here for, for years. i've been here

25, and i think she showed up shortly after that. >> firefighters were able to rescue four dogs from the house. >> all right, let's turn to the forecast. we're wrapping up a beautiful labor day weekend and get ready for some warmer weather. or at least a couple of days. actually spare the air alerts as well. >> yes, abc seven's frances dinglasan is here with a first look at the forecast. frances. >> yeah, definitely at least a couple of days of spare the air alerts and we'll start off with current temperatures. right now we have plenty of sunshine, but temperatures were kept a little bit more moderate because of the sea breeze. so in san francisco it's 68. but we did hit some warm spots like fairfield and brentwood in the mid 80s. now current air quality right now is good to moderate, but tomorrow is the next couple of days. proceed as high pressure builds. here's a view from the east bay hills. air quality will become moderate to poor, especially for the inland east bay and the santa clara valley. so that's why spare the air alert has been

issued, with the triple digit heat continuing for several days. there is a low to moderate heat risk starting tomorrow. this will increase on tuesday with a heat advisory for solano county starting on wednesday. larry, all right, francis, we'll see you with the seven day forecast in a few minutes. >> coming up on abc seven news at four. a man loses his life savings in a scam, and now he's set to lose again. we'll tell you why he has to pay taxes on that loss. a ban on phones in the classroom. some experts say that is still not enough. and labor day is wrapping up. and now the traffic

when you have moderate to severe eczema, it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. show off to the world.

ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. the bay bridge toll plaza, san mateo bridge, san jose 101. the traffic cameras. are you surprised how light it is out there, no. >> you know why? because i feel like people now spread out their return. like it's like an all day thing. although you can see i-80 still pretty busy and rightfully so, because they say travel this labor day is up 9% from last year. >> well, so far, so good. >> governor gavin newsom is behind a new push to lower gas prices. a lot of you driving this weekend. he's called lawmakers into a special session after democrats in the assembly pushed back on his efforts to pass his latest energy package. californians pay the highest rates at the pump in the nation. that's according to triple a, the statewide average per gallon

is 4.65. that's compared to the national average of 3.33. the cheapest gas in the bay area right now is in san jose at 4.69 a gallon. >> thousands of workers from major hotel chains are on strike, saying they can no longer live paycheck to paycheck. it's all part of a major strike that's happening coast to coast and across the bay area. abc seven news reporter gloria rodriguez spoke with striking workers here in san francisco. >> where striking hotel workers are rallying outside the westin saint francis san francisco, on union square. >> this labor day, more than 2000 bay area hotel workers went on strike yesterday over wages, health care and work load. this is part of a national movement. at least 10,000 workers at hotels nationwide have walked off the job as contract talks stall between top hotel chains and the workers union. workers, from desk staff to housekeepers, are striking at hyatt, hilton,

marriott and omni hotels in eight cities from san francisco and san jose to boston, demanding a share in what they say are record profits. >> this is an industry that has been that has been coming back from the pandemic. they've been making their profits fine, but they haven't shared any of that with us. >> we have a lot of people that are just living. check to check. >> workers also want a reversal of staffing cuts made during the pandemic, including the restoration of automatic daily room cleaning, which was scaled back during covid, and better health care. >> i want to make sure our health care benefits are accessible and affordable, wait. wages increase. wage increases. we want our we want our our retirement to be a good, dignified retirement. >> in a statement, the head of labor relations for hyatt americas says we are disappointed that unite here has chosen to strike, while hyatt remains willing to negotiate. hyatt hotels have contingency plans in place to minimize

impact on hotel operations related to potential strike activity. hilton telling abc news that they are committed to reaching a deal with workers, but also committed to serving customers during any work stoppage. these workers tell me they will be on strike until 10:00 tomorrow night and oakland workers could also join in on this strike at union square. gloria rodriguez, abc seven news. >> presidential candidate kamala harris reached out to union workers in key battleground states today. >> abc news reporter perry russom has a look. >> the harris campaign on a labor day blitz with rallies in wisconsin and michigan. good afternoon. detroit. vice president kamala harris making a push in the battleground states, reaching out to union workers standing on stage in detroit with labor leaders on labor day. >> and every day we celebrate the dignity of work, the dignity of work. we celebrate unions because unions helped build

america and unions helped build america's middle class. >> harris, also in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, today campaigning with president biden. it's their first official campaign event together since biden dropped out of the race after former president trump's controversial visit to arlington national cemetery last week, where he was accused of political activities on cemetery grounds. harris writing online it is not a place for politics. >> vice president harris, i ask you, why won't you return a call today? >> trump posting this campaign video with family members of soldiers killed during the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. >> president trump has called. president trump shows up. >> it comes as a new abc news ipsos poll finds harris leads trump, 5246, among likely voters. that is outside the marg >> let's not pay too much attention to the polls. let's know, like labor always does. >> we are out here running like

we are the underdog in this race because we know what we are fighting for. >> no campaign events today for former president trump in a statement today for labor day. trump says the u.s. was an economic powerhouse when he was in office, and claims harris and biden have undone all of that. perry, russom, abc news, washington. >> it is usually a 4th of july staple, but today joey chestnut and takuro kobayashi went head to head in a labor day hot dog eating challenge. how do you think that ended? don't don't ever bet against joey, all right? that's. >> and also, we have very hot weather heading our way, starting tomorrow, temperatures are going to jump up by as much as 5 to 15 degrees. i'll let you know how hot i

and research on pain relief, my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas.

powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪ i went down on as many hot dogs as humanly possible and making it look easy. now, today, he faced his arch rival for years, takeru kobayashi, in a labor day hot dog battle. chestnut ate 83 hot dogs in ten minutes. just think about that for a moment. shattering his previous record of 76 now. he last competed against kobayashi in 2009, in the nathan's coney island hot dog eating contest and then there was a falling out after

that. but that event is every year on the 4th of july. chestnut did not compete this year after he chose to represent another hot dog brand. today's contest happened to be co-hosted by former wwe star nikki garcia. it comes less than a week after her husband, dancing with the stars pro artem chigvintsev, was arrested for felony domestic violence. >> some of the state's best cyclists took to the streets today for el giro de san francisco. it's one of the bay area's oldest cycling competitions, started in 1975. larry okay. the 17 mile course takes cyclists pedaling by us right here. abc7 near the embarcadero and all around levi's plaza. the event is part of the california cup for men and women of various age groups. so some of you might remember it as san francisco grand prix. >> oh yes, that's what it's evolved from. >> that's the same race. oh, that was the race that had all of the best cyclists in the country. yes, and it still does. >> yeah. lance armstrong at the time. >> yes, yes. just, you know, is still good fun and actually

cycling is growing as a sport here in the us. >> there were some people screaming their lungs out, cheering on the cyclists. so that was cool. and frances beautiful weather to be out on a bike. >> gorgeous weather today. in fact, it was better today because tomorrow it's just going to get a little too hot for a lot of outdoor activities. depending on where you are in the bay area. we'll show you live doppler seven. right now it is quiet out there. not a cloud in the sky, and we have a stronger sea breeze that, despite all the sunshine, is keeping our temperatures just slightly below average, gusting up to 31mph right now at sfo, 25 in san mateo. you can see that wind causing the camera to shake a bit. and in san francisco, it's currently 68 degrees. oakland and hayward at 75. san jose 78. redwood city 76, half moon bay. cooler, of course, with that sea breeze at 68 degrees and this time from mount tam, it really looks gorgeous out there. a little bit of hazy sunshine though, in santa rosa, 83 degrees, so it's one of the warmer spots like fairfield. also 85 livermore at 80 degrees

right now. so our interior areas in the low to mid 80s. it is going to be great to head to the beach. this is a live shot in santa cruz. so what you can expect for the weather headlines tonight. it will still be breezy, but mostly clear. temperatures will be on the mild side. we could get some patchy clouds developing overnight but not much. tomorrow is when the sizzling summer heat begins, and it stays with us for at least a few days. in fact, there is a moderate heat risk that starts tomorrow with the triple digits inland tuesday through thursday. so here's a look at some of those temperatures in san jose. expect a high of 94 tomorrow. even in santa cruz beach, 80 degrees on the lower part of the peninsula. we'll find low 90s to upper 80s palo alto, 90 degrees, millbrae 84. even the beaches. you'll notice daly city at 77. san francisco downtown, 82 degrees north bay. numbers will also easily hit the mid 90s for many locations like sonoma,

napa, petaluma at 95, even san rafael and then in the east bay. definitely t-shirts and shorts. weather. upper 80s to low 90s oakland at 8892, in fremont. many triple digits for our interior locations near 100. basically anywhere from walnut creek, livermore, fairfield. and it's going to stay that way for the next few days. so tonight's a great day or tonight will be a good night to open up the windows and let that cool air in, where temperatures will drop into the mid 50s to low 60s. and again, we could see some patchy low clouds develop. but we'll jump ahead to wednesday because inland areas will actually warm up even more. we'll see many areas above 100 degrees, like possibly 104 in fairfield. and notice it will be really nice in san francisco, near 80. still hanging on to that heat on thursday. really. it's not until friday. we finally get below 100 and it will be more comfortable around the bay and at the beaches. and here's the accuweather seven day forecast. so basically i just want to get

across. it is going to be hot. there's moderate heat risk. there's also that spare the air alert warning i told you about for the next few days. so just be prepared especially for inland neighborhoods. >> oh gosh. >> yeah. it's going to be hot. >> yeah. i thought, you know, summer ends with labor day, but no. all right. >> it's just getting started. thanks frances. >> all right. a man who used to work in security gets targeted by scammers after a couple of days, they have me withdraw more money. >> and this goes on about five times. >> the seven on your side investigation and the warning from police and the covid summer surge appears to be winding down. >> a look ahead to fall and what you

your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's age renew formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond.

what would y'all name this chapter of y'all life? probably family. family, why is that? buenos dias, buenos dias. la comunidad es el corazón del barrio. pues sin ella no hay vida, no hay esperanza. everything that i'm doing is for my family. yeah. las mismas cosas que yo quiero para mi hijo las quiero para los niños de la comunidad. (♪)

became the victim of a scam himself. >> not only did he lose his life savings, he also now owes more than $30,000 in taxes. as a result of the scam. it seems unbelievable. >> just terrible. i-team reporter melanie woodrow has this special seven on your side investigation. >> kristin and larry. the perpetrators in this example took advantage of this victim's sense of right and wrong. they convinced him that he had done something illegal, and they had lots of proof. they told him that they were federal law enforcement officers and at one point even involved unsuspecting couriers who may have been rideshare drivers as part of the scam, it all fell apart when a cvs employee more than 400 miles away in huntington beach, california, had a feeling something wasn't right. >> hi. is it chester? yes. hi chester. it's officer matthews with concord police department. yes. >> on march 27th, concord police showed up at chester frelix home. >> they say you've been scammed. >> says it all began earlier

that month with someone claiming to be from xfinity, according to a police report. he later filed. freilich told investigators xfinity told him someone used his personal information to upload videos to a website, and that they were generating a report to the federal trade commission. >> and about an hour later, i get a call from this man called jason brown from the ftc, and he informs me that i'm under investigation for wire fraud, and he lists all the credit cards i've had in 40 years, freilich says. >> agent brown also told him someone rented an apartment in texas in his name, and that the ftc didn't believe he had made those transactions to help him. they would move all his money to a secure account, and the scam continues. >> after a couple of days, they have me withdraw more money and this goes on about five times. >> freilich received a letter. he believed was from the department of the treasury, confirming the plan to clear his name. he put large amounts of cash and gold in boxes picked up by couriers, who supplied a

password he'd been given. concord pd believes the couriers may have been rideshare drivers. >> it doesn't appear in most of the cases that the couriers are involved. they're somewhat unknowing participants, he continued, receiving letters confirming the transactions until one day he was told there was no courier in his area and that he'd have to mail $8,500 in cash in a box to huntington beach via u.p.s. >> so i do that, and that's when i find out somebody's knocking at my door, and it's the police department from concord. >> so i just had a couple of questions about a package situation that had everybody kind of confused and hopefully we can get it all sorted out. okay. >> it turns out u.p.s. delivered the package to a huntington beach cvs, where concord pd says two people showed up to pick it up with photos of an id rather than an actual id. >> i think it rang enough bells for the employee to deny the package. >> unfortunately, even with both huntington beach police and concord police involved, freilich didn't get the $8,500

back. that final package is now missing. >> i lost the $8,500 plus all my life savings. >> in total, nearly $200,000 they were able to get into my computer. >> they knew everything about me. >> having that information is somewhat mission critical for them to be able to convince someone that that they are legitimate. >> on top of his loss, freilich says, because he cashed out cds and an ira, he anticipates owing more than $30,000 in taxes. the irs told him if he can't pay it off, they'll put a lien on his house. >> it's frustrating for them and it's frustrating for us because it just doesn't seem to stop. it's one problem after another, after another, after another. >> the last thing in the world i want to do is be out on the street. >> freilich says he believes his biggest error was panicking. he says once he did, he was not thinking properly. concord pd says that no legitimate law enforcement agency will ever discourage someone from verifying their identity. the scammers in this case had had the victim sign a non-disclosure agreement so that he wouldn't

talk to other people about what was going on, wouldn't contact his local police department of course, they say that they will never do that. if you're in trouble with the law. and really they're focusing on educating the public so that somebody else isn't victimized like this really elaborate scam. >> yeah. and i've heard before from the b-b-b totally separate agency, of course, but say, take a beat when something doesn't seem, you know, just whatever it is that you want to jump and rush to and fix it, take a beat. yeah, i was really concerned. >> they told him he was breaking the law, or someone posing as him was breaking the law. and so they were appealing to his sense of right and wrong. we get it. >> you know, nowadays there's so much of our personal information that's available and the online that, you know, people can manipulate you. so just beware. >> thank you. thanks for the story. covid cases skyrocketed over the summer, partially due to the most recent subvariants. but there is some good news as we head into the fall. abc seven news south bay reporter dustin dorsey has a look at what to expect as labor day marks the unofficial end of summer. >> it appears we're also entering a new season with

covid. after a busy summer due to flirt subvariants, a covid lull is setting in. >> there are more transmissible. we ended up having high surges. so how do we monitor how people are doing? we can see in the wastewater the degree of covid that's circulating and it's gone way down. this summer was one of the periods of highest transmission yet, according to wastewater data and santa clara county, the peaks were dramatically higher than last summer, rivaling even surpassing numbers from 2022, when the highly contagious omicron variant surfaced. >> now, as the summer wraps up, we are seeing steep declines in wastewater numbers. >> the summer was driven by these particular flirt variants, those. now we have a lot of immunity to it. a lot of people got covid. a lot of people got the old booster before these new boosters came back, came out about a week ago, and people are getting the new booster. >> ucsf infectious diseases expert doctor monica gandhi says that will make a major difference heading into the cold and flu season due to the amount of immunity from infection and

vaccines. along with the new boosters, the cdc recently predicted the covid outlook this winter may be better than last, and doctor gandhi thinks it may not even be as bad as this summer. >> all that immunity hopefully means that we'll have a better winter than we did last summer, with lower rates of cases, we're going to have the other viruses flu and rsv, but hopefully covid will have done its work. unfortunately during the summer, she says, it's important for people to get the new booster, especially the elderly, the immunocompromised and those with comorbidities, because the reality is covid is still unpredictable and immunity is our best defense. >> the variants really arise very quickly with covid, so we may not, with covid, end up seeing the same respiratory virus pattern of just fallen winter. >> if we get new variants, say next spring or next summer. >> but for now it appears we have a period of covid calm in the community. dustin dorsey, abc seven news covid. >> com. all right. at the end of this month, you'll be able to get covid tests for free from

the government. you can get four per household from covid tests.gov. we checked today for you. they are not yet available but we'll keep you posted. >> all right. coming up why keeping smartphones out of the classroom may not be enough. and a permanent change to

i had a serious fall. i called the barnes firm. they got me the injured on a job site? call the barnes firm now. ♪ the barnes firm, injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call 1-800 eight million ♪ ♪ when you have moderate to severe eczema, it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes

including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. show off to the world. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent.

the moving has reached its lowest rate in decades. census bureau statistics show that fewer than 9% of americans moved when they were last surveyed back in 2022. analysts blame several factors, including young people living at home, longer and remote work that means fewer people have to move for a new job. and dan, this dovetails into one of my favorite topics working from home. because if you can work from home, you don't have to relocate, right? >> dan, you are a big proponent. i know the bosses love it when i talk about this every single time on television. they really appreciate it. oh no. you know, i think i think as big a factor, i think is the work from home phenomenon where you can take a job in dallas but still live here, or vice versa. i also think high interest rates, high home prices are just a barrier for a lot of people moving around easily. and a lot of companies with work from home and the way the economy has changed aren't moving people like they used to relocating people like they used to. right.

>> another factor is interest rates have been high. so people aren't exactly buying up and moving right now. when it comes down again, maybe they'll be a little more movement. but yeah, you're right. a lot has changed between work from home and just kids staying at home or boomeranging back, right? >> but you keep pitching, larry. >> yeah, they keep pretending they can't. i'm pitching. >> and every, every pitch is outside. >> i'll support larry on that. >> nowhere near the strike zone. >> all right, you guys, research shows your children's smartphones are not making them smarter. and that is some people saying cell phone bans should extend beyond the classroom. they don't want kids to bring their phones to school at all. experts say even if students are only checking their phones between classes or at lunch, they're preoccupied. can't learn as well, and don't develop as many social skills. francis, what do you think about that? >> oh gosh, i have two kind of trains of thought. so for my son, who's adhd, i would say yes, it's probably a good idea for him to not have any cell phones at all in school. but for my daughter, who can really moderate herself and her cell

phone usage, i feel like for her it's helpful to have that with her, especially when after school plans change and carpooling things change. it's nice to be able to touch base with her during lunchtime, so it depends. i feel like on each specific child. >> yeah, i think that's a good point. i think that's hard to administer from a school administrator standpoint or educator standpoint. but you know, it's technology that's not going anywhere. i know a lot of parents like the idea that their kids are available to them on the cell phone. i remember when i my teen age, my kids are now grown, but when they when they didn't answer the phone, i went, you know what? you don't answer the phone when i call. you don't have a phone, so you better pick up. >> oh, i'm paying for it. you pick up. oh yeah. >> i wasn't going to back off of that, but i think it's. i think i have mixed feelings. i know it can be a distraction, but i also think it can be an asset. it can can they can access the world to it in a certain way. maybe it's a it's kind of like, you know, these days you go to a comedy show and you have to check your

cell phone at the door. maybe you show up at school and check your phone, and at recess you get it for an hour and then you check it again, put it, put it in a pouch. >> reasonable compromise. i think. yeah. >> the most shocking thing of this whole conversation. dan, you used to be such a nice man. i don't know what happened. >> i don't know, you answer the phone, things change. all right? >> struck me as ridiculous. i'm going to pay for the phone. you better pick it up. >> good point. all right. a seattle based company is entering the space race with a plane instead of a rocket. radian one is a space plane that launches on top of a rocket powered sled. it looks very cool here. in the animation, the sled gains speed before releasing the plane into orbit, and then it's able to fly with its own engines. developers say radian one can carry a crew of five astronauts and would be reusable up to 100 times. interesting francis, why is everybody trying to escape earth? >> it just feels like every billionaire's got a plan to get out of here. >> i know i was asking myself the same thing, yet another one.

i have no inclination or urge to go on. any one of those. >> you know, i would try if i was guaranteed safety, which you can't do. of course. you know, i'm fascinated by this. as you guys know, for a long time i often wondered why you can't just fly it. well, you can't, because there's no lift as the atmosphere gets thinner. so you have to blast through that. but they found like this may have found a way to kind of be the best of both worlds. interesting and the reusable component is critical. yeah. because it's so darn expensive. >> yeah. i mean, the new design, you know, the idea that you take off horizontally instead of vertically and allowing for the lighter vehicles or less fuel, maybe. i mean, maybe it's, you know, more environmentally sound. >> maybe they'll let you work from space. >> that's a concept i think. >> kristen would be a big proponent of that plan. >> she wants to be the one that presses go on the rocket. >> yeah, it's a test flight, larry. >> the test? yeah. go ahead. yeah, a lot like the international space station. >> yeah. you'll be up there a week or six months later now. >> yeah. >> flight extension. all right.

the iconic eiffel tower may be getting a new look permanently. the mayor of paris says the olympic rings that have been on the tower since june will remain a set of new, lighter rings will be installed, since the ones in place for the olympics are just too heavy for long term use. the mayor says her plan has been approved by the international olympic committee. how do you guys feel about that? i'm not so sure. >> you know, i have mixed feelings. although i saw it. i was in paris. i don't know, 2 or 3 weeks before the olympics and saw the rings and thought, wow, that's really cool. i mean, because it was so much, so much excitement about the olympics permanently seems a little weird, but but remember when they first built the eiffel tower? nobody liked it for the fair. they hated the eiffel tower. parisians couldn't stand it when they first put the lights, the sparkling lights. people didn't like it. now they love them. can't imagine without them. so maybe this will be the same thing. >> you know, the whole french experience of watching the games

and the opening ceremonies where they lifted up these gigantic rings. i'm thinking, how is this going to work? i mean, these things have to be heavy. i guess to me it looks like a positive, like it's just a reminder of something that was fun and good and the whole world enjoyed. >> francis, what do you think? keep them or lose them? i kind of like them. >> it is a reminder of what has happened over the summer and paris is just so beautiful. i think it would be fun to go back to the eiffel tower and then see those rings, and you kind of have a before and after and the olympic rings also not only the game, but they sort of celebrate international cooperation. >> they're sort of that. >> all right, you guys, the only way i would accept them is if they weren't in the rainbow colors, but just the same color as the rest of the tower. >> that's not a bad compromise, kristen. maybe that who knows what they're going to do, but that would be an interesting choice. >> yeah, all i know is when dan calls, i better answer that phone. >> otherwise it's going to be trouble pushing you into space. well, i'm going to take that

i only meant to order five. there's not enough money in my account for these. i'm gonna get charged. two things i just can't deal with. overdraft charges. and garden gnomes. but your bmo smart advantage checking account gives you an extra day to avoid an overdraft fee. nice to see a bank cutting people some slack. mistakes happen. and we give you time to correct them. so, you don't like gnomes huh? what about that one? that one i like. a lot. ♪ bmo ♪ drawings in the most random of places. abc's danny new has a closer look. >> if you're walking around ann arbor, michigan, you might stumble upon an elaborate chalk doodle like this. >> i just wanted any excuse to

go outside for a while on a beautiful day. >> well, now millions of people on social media are quite grateful for that cabin fever felt by artist david zinn. a few days a week, he posts videos as he leaves these colorful characters around town with a combination of chalk, pastels, charcoal and really, any random mark that sparks his imaginatio. that's cool. yeah. david had already been working for years as a freelance commercial artist when he started taking these little walk in chalk breaks during the work day and then a few years ago, his 13 year old neighbor was like, hey, you should probably put these on tiktok. >> if a 13 year old tells you what to do about social media, you listen. >> this is what makes them look real. >> three years later, and many folks outside of the mitten state have expressed their appreciation. one commenter writing, you just make the world a better place. thank you. >> it has no usefulness of any kind except to cheer me up, which strangely seems to have cheered other people up too, which is a nice surprise. of course, while david does have plenty of natural ability, he does have a specific method with

creating his pavement pals. >> for example, you may notice that he uses a mobility cane with a piece of chalk taped to the end. there are two reasons for this one his knees, and two, to be able to create that 3d illusion from the proper perspective. >> so the stick allows me to stand in the spot and close one eye to get the point of view just right. there we go. >> but as david continues to decorate both ann arbor and the internet with his characters, he hopes you'll consider one more perspective here that being selfish can be a good thing. >> if we all just try to cheer ourselves up. it still has a positive ripple effect on the rest of the world. >> now, i did ask david what it's like to create beautiful art that immediately gets washed away by rain, and he said that it's actually quite freeing, to quote, make art that has no future. but you know, it does thankfully live on the internet for us to enjoy forever. so that's good. in new york for abc news, i'm danny, new, but the sketches make you smile. >> that's all that counts,

right? yeah. it's awesome. >> that's all it is. back to school. not just in real life, but on tv too. >> kids, this year i feel like they're less woke. did you notice that they're not into being woke? it's circled back around and circled all the way around. and now they're like, for what they say they're against. right >> behind the scenes with the cast of english teacher next. >> and a reminder, monday night football is back a week from today. the 49 ers kick off a new season against the new york jets. and aaron rodgers. that's at levi's stadium. and that will be at 5 p.m. our coverage beginning after the game will follow the contest. check it all out monday se

but his vision dimmed with age. he had amd. i didn't know it then, but it can progress to ga, an advanced form of the disease. his struggle with vision loss from amd made me want to help you see warning signs of ga, like: hazy or blurred vision, so it's hard to see fine details, colors that appear dull or washed out, or trouble with low light that makes driving at night a real challenge. if you think you have ga, don't wait. treatments are available. ask a retina specialist about fda-approved treatments for ga

and go to gawontwait.com

seven. news at 11. as students head back to school this fall, tv fans can check out a new class in the fx series. english teacher reporter george pennacchio, from our sister station in los angeles, has our preview for look, you can't call me fruit loop, markie. >> that's just the name of a cereal, buddy. then why don't you say cheerios? cause there ain't nothing gay about cheerios. >> english teacher follows the life of a gay high school teacher and his coworkers. the sitcom shows the teachers dealing with the students, the parents, and each other. >> you know, the kids. this year, i feel like they're less woke. did you notice that? they're not into being woke. it's circled back around and circled all the way around. and now they're like, for what they say, they're against, right? >> brian jordan alvarez is not only the show's star, he is also

involved as a director, executive producer and writer. his longtime friend and costar stephanie koenig is also one of the writers. they practically complete each other's sentences. what was it when you initially met that said, we're a good team? >> well, i had just been waiting to find somebody as funny as me. oh. thank god. just kidding. >> no, seriously. >> the night we met, it was. it was destiny. she. she made me laugh harder than anybody i've ever met. i literally was like, are you. were you created in a lab? you're the funniest person i can't even believe this has happened. >> i felt similarly, but i was trying to play it cool. but that was like 11 years ago. yeah, 12, i think 12. >> was it? it was. >> oh, god. oh, yeah. >> almost 12, 12 years ago. yeah. >> english teacher. definitely has an edginess to it, which brian and stephanie might give an a for awesome. >> there's so much, where the students are also teaching the teachers how to live in this modern world. it's a really cool gray area to play in.

>> yeah, there's a lot of lessons from everybody. like the parents. >> yeah, people are learning. people are learning. >> yeah. were you good students in school? >> i was, yeah, we were. yeah. i think you don't like tests. i don't like tests. but your grades were probably better than mine. i was always good on the fly. i was like, yep, didn't study that much, but i would. >> i needed to work hard. you k? i realized i needed more time on those tests. i didn't like the pressure. right, right. >> in los angeles, george pennacchio, abc seven news. >> you can see just in that clip. they have tremendous chemistry together. english teacher premieres tonight on fx. or you can stream it on hulu. all right. that's going to do it for this edition of abc seven news at four. i'm larry beil, abc seven news

to the next. did they even send my lab work...? wait, was i supposed to bring that? then there's the forms. the bills. the 'not a bills.' the.... ”press 4 to repeat these options.” [chaotic music] [inspirational music] healthcare can get a whole lot easier when your medical records, care and coverage are in one place. at kaiser permanente, all of us work together for all that is you.

is my sweet boy. finally, finally, finally, finally. he is free. >> a mother's heartbreak echoesu