abc seven mornings live now at six. >> we're getting a live look at a brush fire in southern california. we know it exploded in size in the last 48 hours. sky seven is flying over those flames in malibu right now. firefighters are working around the clock amid dangerous fire conditions, when they could start to see some relief and

propose school mergers and other budget cuts. >> the key meeting for oakland unified today. plus. >> all aboard the treasure. a look inside disney's newest cruise line fleet and the classic films featured on the ship. >> it's coco classic. i still think of coco as being new. >> it is pretty new. >> like, how old am i? >> well, maybe they were referring to like, aladdin. okay, okay. and some of those. and the lion king mansion and all of those little fixtures. >> well, good morning to all the oldies on this wednesday, december 11th. >> we're going to start with a look at the weather. yeah. >> this morning we are tracking a cold start out there. also air quality not great out there right now. moderate to poor. and a lot of this is associated with wood burning in the overnight hours. and the fireplace to stay warm because it is cold out there. so we'll have that moderate to poor air quality all morning long. better air quality

arrives tomorrow as rain moves through. right now, temperatures look at some of these numbers well into the low 30s and a lot of neighborhoods. just like yesterday. you do want to have all the layers this morning to keep you warm. that frost advisory does continue through 9 a.m. this morning for those areas shaded in blue for those very cold temperatures. first thing we're seeing some patchy fog out there. santa rosa. a problem spot right now less than a mile. we're also watching some of the fog moving through the sacramento valley into the carquinez strait in delta. if you're traveling highway four this morning, be aware we have some low visibility as you travel from brentwood, discovery bay into pittsburg, those areas dealing with low visibility. so here's future weather during the daylight hours today we are dry. will cloud back up here later on this evening. and then rain is back here late tonight into early tomorrow morning. it is a level one on the storm impact scale. a closer look at this rain and a stronger storm this weekend. coming up in eight minutes. let's check in with sue. see our traffic. >> thank you. good morning everyone. it's wednesday and we've got some road work in san francisco that is now stacking

things up onto the bay bridge upper deck so you can see high volume, slow speeds on the upper deck coming into san francisco. it's also backed up behind the toll plaza. so once you get onto the span, there's no relief even from the toll plaza. here's what's going on, and hopefully they'll get this. they were supposed to get it picked up by now. it is southbound 101 just coming off westbound 80. in san francisco. two lanes were blocked, two lanes were getting by and scheduled pickup time, as i mentioned, is 6:00. so we'll check back in just a few. >> all right, sue, thank you. and as you're waking up this morning, we want to get you updated on the franklin fire. it continues to burn in malibu and southern california. the fire is now about 3900 acres with no containment. so far, the fire has also destroyed at least seven homes and damaged another eight, according to the l.a. county fire department. no injuries have been reported. more than 1500 firefighters have been assigned to the franklin

fire. >> the safety of residents and first responders remains our top priority. the entire fire area remains under threat as long as the current red flag conditions persist. strong winds and low humidities will continue to challenge firefighters on the line and in the air as they struggle to contain the stubborn fire. >> those dangerous fire conditions are expected to remain today before the weather starts to improve. we may start seeing that once the sun comes up later this morning. we do want to take a live look at the area right now. evacuation orders are in effect for thousands of people. students at pepperdine university. they're still being told to shelter in place, though the fire has mostly burned past the campus. the cause of the fire is still unknown. >> fire officials say the wildfires we've seen in southern california recently have marked a noticeable shift in fire

activity across the state, so from 2017 to 2020, many of the worst wildfires happened here in the northern part of the state, including sonoma county. paul lowenthal represents the santa rosa fire department. he's seen the changes in the weather pattern firsthand and says the risk of a big wildfire in our area this winter is pretty low. >> i mean, yes, the chances of a large, devastating fire like what we're seeing to the south, happening in the north with the rains that we're having, the fuel moisture levels that they're at now is just not very likely. >> the franklin fire in malibu has been driven by strong winds. the same winds were present here this week, and they were blamed for knocking down this tree in berkeley today in the east bay, oakland unified school board is set to make a final decision on a plan to merge nearly a dozen schools. >> district leaders say the change is needed to address a growing budget crisis, but of course, many are upset. abc seven news reporter gloria rodriguez joins us with that impact. and gloria, this is an

idea that has already caused some major disruption in the district. >> it has. amanda, many parents simply do not want these mergers. they warn the mergers are a short term fix to growing budget problems. the oakland unified school district is facing a projected $95 million budget deficit in the next school year, and it needs to cut costs. the district says that part of the problem is declining enrollment, and that it is operating too many schools, especially compared to districts of similar size. usc also blames increased salaries and the cost of repairs at schools. a plan being considered is merging ten schools already sharing campuses into five to save up to $3 million. the district says that dual language and special education programing would still be offered in shared school sites that are already offering them. a final vote is expected today. school board meeting in oakland. it starts at 4 p.m. it will also be accessible via zoom. live in the newsroom gloria rodriguez, abc seven news. >> all right, gloria, thank you.

and families in san francisco gave their opinions about the school district's proposal to balance the budget there. the district paused closing schools in october after outrage from parents and students, but it still needs to find a way to balance its books. it needs to cut next year's spending by $113 million. if school closures are off the table, then the district says it needs to eliminate 535 positions. one idea it has floated is offering early retirement packages. the district is also looking to save money by reducing the number of contracts it has with outside parties. parents are fearful their kids will suffer in the classroom. >> we don't need more cuts. please, no more cuts. our students and staff are paying the price for the district's budget mismanagement. go after the district, not our schools. how do you expect a school to function with a skeletal staff? >> a final plan must be presented in four days to keep

the state from taking over. >> the district leaders in san francisco are backtracking on a plan to limit rv parking. yesterday, the san francisco board of supervisors sided with homeless advocates who appealed the sfmta's new rules. it means the city cannot tow rvs and trailers parked overnight if people living in them turn down shelter. in nevada, the city council just approved a sweeping new ordinance banning camping on the streets. the change led protesters at last night's council meeting. they say the new ordinance could have serious ramifications for the well-being of the unhoused. one protester has filed a lawsuit against the city for passing the new ordinance. the new ordinance. >> we have a right to be a degree of safety that the government can't deprive us of the things that we need to survive and put us in increased risk of harm. >> the state of nevada sent abc seven news a statement regarding the ordinances passing. it reads in part novato's municipal code already prohibited unlawful camping, with limited exceptions and councils. approved changes are similar to those being approved or considered in other

jurisdictions. >> this morning, the man accused of killing the ceo of united health care is fighting an extradition order for him to be taken back to new york. we're also learning more about luigi mangione's ties to the bay area. we told you yesterday mangione worked at stanford briefly back in 2019. now we're learning. he may have been in the bay area more recently. abc news has confirmed with police sources his mother filed a missing persons report with san francisco police only weeks before the shooting. we asked police chief bill scott about that and whether sfpd is working with new york police on the investigation. >> and i know there's a whole lot of interest in this. we're getting a ton of inquiries. i'm going to have to defer answering any questions. refer you to nypd. >> mangione is being held in a pennsylvania jail without bail. his attorney says he has seen no evidence linking mangione to the shooting. we do continue to follow the case and the

suspect's bay area ties. find the latest on abc seven news.com and our abc seven bay area app. >> 609 this morning in the accuweather forecast. we're looking at your morning planner and what you'll notice. it is quite cold early on this morning. we'll find temperatures in the 30s and in the 40s. so you need all that winter gear to keep you warm this morning. temperatures start to get into the 60s again by noon. we are looking at rain returning later on tonight. so our dry stretch that has lasted more than two weeks ends late tonight. you notice during the daylight hours. here's the time stamps up above. while the sun is up here we are dry. no threat of any rain. it's late tonight for a lot of us. the steadiest rain will occur around midnight later on this evening. so it's a level one tonight through thursday. a light storm for showers. back in the forecast. a few downpours here and there, some slick and slower travel and it does become breezy in spots. rainfall totals with this fast moving system for most of us, anywhere from about

a 2:45 quarters of an inch of rain, maybe a little bit higher in the north bay. but again, the biggest issue would be some standing water on our roadways. a winter weather advisory kicks in here at 10 p.m. tonight. not a lot of snow, but enough to make travel a little more slick. 3 to 9in of snow coming our way now. saturday another storm is set to bring us heavier rain and some stronger winds. look at these winds to kick off the weekend 30 to 50mph. so look at rainfall totals coming up with this storm in about eight minutes. all right. >> thank you. coming up, a controversial fence at point reyes will stay up for now. the new ruling siding with ranchers in marin county. but first, bird flu concerns, prompting closures at the san francisco zoo. and a holiday tradition in the south bay is expanding the event, not only making sure people are fed, but also making

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in the fillmore safeway in san francisco will close. safeway released a statement saying the store on webster street will shut its doors around february 7th. it was originally going to close earlier this year, but public pressure kept the doors open for 11 more months. all employees will be reassigned to other safeway locations in the san francisco area. pharmacy customers can have their files moved to another safeway of their choice. two human cases of bird flu are currently under investigation here in the bay area. we'll start in marin county, where a child came down with suspected bird flu after drinking raw or unpasteurized milk. that child has since

recovered and no one else got sick. health officials are puzzled over how a different child in alameda county got infected. the centers for disease control ruled out raw milk, but so far they've been unable to determine how that child got exposed. concern about bird flu is prompting action at the san francisco zoo. the zoo has closed its walk through aviaries to the public out of an abundance of caution. officials say they're following biosecurity protocols to minimize the risk of transmission and monitoring for ill wild birds. to protect the zoo's animals, staff and guests. >> a fence separating tule elk from ranches at point reyes will stay up, at least for now. a u.s. district court judge granted a preliminary injunction. her ruling orders the national park service to stop removing the fence while the case plays out in court. ranchers want the fence to stay up to keep elk away from the grass their cattle graze on. animal rights activists want the fence removed to allow the elk to roam freely. monarch

butterflies are going to be listed as an endangered species. there's also a proposal to protect thousands of acres of their habitat in california, which includes parts of alameda and marin counties. monarchs often spend their winters in those locations. early counts this winter show the lowest population in years. factors in that decline include the loss of habitat and pesticide use. well, disney's newest cruise ship has set sail on the high seas. >> it's called the treasure and has experiences based on disney parks and attractions. the ship embraces the theme of adventure. they have the skipper society, which is inspired by the jungle cruise and the first ever haunted mansion parlor. you can enjoy craft cocktails in the lounge while being immersed in a spooky atmosphere. elena gomez from our sister station in philly went on board. >> this is called sympathetic libations. it has a little bit of a kick to it. okay. shall we? cheers. cheers. oh, you never know what will happen in here.

>> did we awaken the spirits? >> is this woman drinking? >> that's why there was thunder. >> they were like. what? >> and that's why they don't invite us. another eatery you can expect is plaza de coco, based on the 2017 film coco. they'll have live music and performances featuring mariachi music. the disney treasure also offers luxury suites, which. why are we even talking about this? because you'll never see them. one of them is based on aladdin. the other one, the one you see here is based on epcot. disney is a parent company of abc seven. >> i mean, listen, don't we have the highest concentration of billionaires here? well. that's true. somebody. >> you're right. someone within the sound of my voice will be staying in that epcot suite. >> and, you know, you can see them if you go online and just browse. >> sure. >> you'll never see them otherwise. >> not in real life or youtube. >> you know, somebody's going to vlog it. i'll see it. oh, yeah. >> i've already seen the vlog. yeah. >> for sure. now question every time you. cheers. does that happen in the bar? >> could you imagine a little like cheers. da da da da da da da. >> i'm not sure. but i do know

that they have like different shows that happen in there. and they got an illusionist to help them create the effects that occur. and we didn't mention it. but moana is the new show on board, which i think would be very cool. and apparently it's great. >> right on. let us know if you stay in that suite. >> yeah, i know. call us before you stay in that suite and invite us. >> there's room for four more, for sure. >> listen, i can sleep on a couch. >> no kidding. fine. >> this morning, we do want to talk about air quality. a lot of you have been noticing, especially this morning. there's a lot of haze out there. not great air quality. it's moderate to poor across most of the region. it's a combination. a lot of folks using their fireplaces in the overnight hours to stay warm. we have light winds and cold air is very dense. it keeps everything trapped at the surface and that is why we have such terrible air quality this morning. you look at numbers and it is cold frost advisories are posted at 33 in fairfield, 39 in palo alto. the freezing mark for santa rosa and ukiah, upper 40s for oakland and san francisco, even the south bay, san jose. it is chilly at

41 degrees. you do need those layers this morning, just like yesterday morning sunrise here at 715 we have that hazy sunshine. better air quality will be found tomorrow thanks to rain moving through. that rain does not move in until late tonight. first around 8 p.m. in the north bay. and for a lot of us, that rain doesn't occur until about midnight tonight. so on the abc seven storm impact scale, level one here through thursday for those showers. some slick roads and it is breezy. so here's the timeline. by 9 p.m. it's just beginning to enter the north bay and areas. and there you can see early tomorrow morning. that's when the steadiest rain is falling for the thursday morning commute. the heaviest rain is out of here. will likely just see an isolated shower while you're getting up here on thursday and then into the afternoon. we do have to include more light rain in the forecast, which does mean for the niners game at levi's tomorrow. you do want the poncho. we have to include some scattered showers that kick off at 515. by the fourth quarter we should be dry, but pretty cloudy

out there. and then over the weekend, another storm, a stronger one, is set to arrive here. a stronger area of low pressure is going to bring us some strong winds. will likely have a wind advisory posted here starting on saturday and some heavy rain. just anticipate that saturday is pretty much going to be a washout. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. dry today during the day, but rain returns here at night. scattered showers here on thursday. then we're watching the weekend very closely. it's a level two moderate storm for those heavy rains, gusty winds and more rain coming our way early next week guys. >> thanks. now we're going to bring in ginger zee with a look at what's happening on gma today. >> yeah good morning ginger reggie aqui amanda great to be with you. >> coming up here on gma. we'll start with the latest on the suspect and the health care ceo killing. he is fighting extradition to new york and being held without bail in pennsylvania. his lawyer joins us this morning. and the fast spreading wildfire that's caused evacuations i know you guys have been all over this, and we've got trevor ault there in malibu. so we'll have updates on that. and i'll have the forecast if

you are traveling east. we've got a lot going on today, so i'll get into all of it. and gma's early access to a fun new apple feature that could change the way you use your phone. it is expected to launch later today, but you'll see it here first. and robin goes one on one with sir elton john, the pop icon more open than ever, talking about his troubled childhood, substance abuse struggles and of course, his music and life after retiring from touring. we'll have all of that and so much more on gma. >> have you ever seen elton john live? i have not, no, and that would be one of my top picks. >> like i'm not. we've talked about this. who would you wait in line for. he's one of them okay. >> that's john who was the best person you've seen live then since you haven't seen him? >> oh. oh. >> bruno mars like next level performance. yeah, i can see that. >> and it was pharrell, too. so it was pharrell and bruno mars, like, come on. >> okay, that's a good one. was that in a big stadium or in a smaller venue, madison square garden? >> yeah. okay.

>> yeah, yeah, that'd be a good one. >> amanda, you honestly, you have not been out to concerts, so you can't. >> blippi was the last concert i went out to blippi. >> yeah. how was. yeah. >> fantastic. >> i feel that that was like. >> that was more than a decade ago. that. that's where i had to pull that bruno mars thing from, just to let you know. so i feel you on the not a lot of experiences to go off of here. >> i'm going to have to say the beyonce renaissance tour is going to top it. i really thought, i mean, i loved all the madonna shows i've seen, but come on. yeah, come on, we saw you too. >> come on. still childless. so i'm out here in these streets occasionally. >> ginger, it's so nice to see you and enjoy, blippi. and we'll be right in as little as 2 weeks. so this is better. that too. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. it works with your asthma medicine to help improve lung function. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems

and doesn't replace a rescue inhaler. it's proven to help prevent asthma attacks. severe allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for face, mouth, tongue or throat swelling, wheezing or trouble breathing. tell your doctor right away of signs of inflamed blood vessels like rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in limbs. tell your doctor of new or worsening joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop steroid, asthma, or other treatments without talking to your doctor. when you can get more out of your lungs, you can du more with less asthma. and isn't that better? ask your doctor about dupixent, the most prescribed biologic in asthma. and now approved as an add-on treatment for adults with copd that is not well controlled, and with a specific marker of inflammation.

organization that's helping to build a better bay area. this holiday season. the grace art and wellness program in san jose serves adults with mental illness and other cognitive disabilities. each year, with the help of student volunteers and with items donated by the national alliance on mental illness, they hand out gift bags to spark joy in people who may need it the most. >> christmas is kind of, you know, the day where we're, you know, alone. when we moved down

here, we were actually lost. we had no friends or. people here are our friends and family. >> the grace art and wellness program is a city run nonprofit. you can find out more at the friends of grace.org. also in the south bay, a program to bring holiday magic to children is taking over the santa clara county fairgrounds. 5200 kids are registered for the annual san jose toy drive this weekend. the organization martha's kitchen, hands out hundreds of meals to people in san jose every day, and this year, it's partnering with the toy drive to collect items for the kids. >> well, it's a huge honor. i mean, i always tell people, you know, if you want this world to be better, you got to get involved and make a difference. and making a difference means getting involved in whatever moves you. >> another organization making the magic happen this year is

the popular instagram account san jose foods. the founder tells abc seven he has a shed full of gifts to donate from their amazon wish list. if you'd like to donate, head to san jose toy drive.com for more information. next at 630. new data shows a drop in crime in one major bay area city. but first, here's drew. >> hey, amanda, let's take you to live doppler seven along with satellite. still have that red flag warning around the franklin fire in malibu. winds are calming down, but the humidity is dangerously low this morning. our next rain maker is approaching. rain is back in the forecast here late tonight. so you look at the daylight hours. we are dry. for most of us, the steadiest rain occurring

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abc seven mornings live now at 630. >> the man accused of killing the unitedhealthcare ceo fighting extradition. what luigi mangione's lawyer had to say this morning. >> and today we could get the final vote in proposed school mergers within oakland unified, the key meeting as it faces a massive budget deficit. >> plus general motors dumps cruise what the company blames for ending the controversial robotaxi program. >> a lot to get to. good morning everyone. it is wednesday,

december 11th. >> but first, another chilly morning. >> it is frosty this morning and then rain back here tonight. air quality is an issue this morning. i'm hearing from a lot of you about the haze early on this morning. it's moderate to poor across the region, and a big reason why a lot of people using their fireplaces in the overnight hours to stay warm. we have light winds out there. and cold air. cold air is very dense. it just sits at the surface, trapping all of the smoke and particulate matter. and that's why we have that poor air quality in spots this morning. better air quality coming tomorrow as rain moves through. temperatures right now 30s and low 40s. we have frost advisories in effect until 9 a.m, just like yesterday. how many layers you needed yesterday to stay warm? do it again this morning because temperatures are frigid. first thing here's future weather. we see some sunshine throughout the morning and early afternoon. then later on this evening we'll find clouds building back in. we're still dry by 630, but then late tonight, early tomorrow morning that rain moves through. it will be a level one on the abc seven

storm impact scale. a closer look at this storm and a stronger one coming this weekend. we'll see that in eight minutes. let's check in with sue. see the commute this morning. >> all right. thank you drew. and we've got some fog encroaching on the bay area. so heads up if you're in it. obviously it is limiting visibility. very heavy traffic on the western portion. in fact, all across the bay bridge this morning, we had earlier road work on the san francisco side. and that is the reason. here's the toll plaza metering lights were on at 530. that's stacking up now onto westbound 80. all very slow, which makes for very slow drive time. so you can take a look at our map here. you can see 80 westbound slowing which is typically slow. but now it's funneling into and across the whole bay bridge. we had that road work that was southbound 101, westbound 80 coming off of the span that was picked up about 20 minutes ago. so we're still seeing recovery or lack of recovery due to that road work.

and that picked up at 6:00. >> thanks so much, sue. the man charged with murdering the ceo of united health care in new york city last week is being held in a pennsylvania jail without bond this morning. luigi mangione was seen struggling with officers as he was being led into the courthouse yesterday. he is fighting extradition to new york, where he is facing a second degree murder charge in the shooting death of brian thompson, mangione's attorney thomas dickey told gma this morning. there is no physical evidence linking his client to the crime. >> we had a brief hearing yesterday and there was one document that an arrest warrant from the state of new york which merely referenced the statute. we've seen no evidence. that's one of the many reasons why we're challenging the extradition at this point. >> dickey says mangione will likely plead not guilty to charges filed against him in pennsylvania, including possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false id to police.

>> san francisco city leaders are touting new crime data showing the lowest number of homicides in more than 60 years. >> so far this year, there have been 33 homicides in the city. that's down 34% year to date from 2023. police attributed the lower numbers to new technology like drones, public safety cameras, and license plate readers. city leaders hope the new data will help the san francisco with san francisco's image of being a dangerous city. >> if you look at other cities around this country, they pale in comparison. i think what we want to be able to do is send a strong message, and i think that the data is helping us to send that message. >> compared to other cities, san francisco has one of the lowest homicide rates per capita, but they still rank in the top three of property crimes when compared to some of those other cities as well. you can get detailed information about what crime is like where you live with our abc7 news neighborhood safety tracker. it includes information and trends for san francisco,

oakland and san jose. you can find it at abc7 news.com or on our app. >> happening today a final decision expected on merging schools in oakland unified as the district tries to close a multi-million dollar budget gap. abc seven news reporter gloria rodriguez is here to break down the plan. why? some people are pushing for other options. gloria. >> good morning reggie. the plan is to merge ten schools that already share campuses into five, and that would save them up to $3 million. the oakland unified school district is facing a projected $95 million budget deficit in the next school year, and it needs to cut costs. the district says that part of the problem is declining enrollment, and that it is operating too many schools, especially compared to districts of similar sizes. usc also blames increased salaries and the cost of repairs at schools. many parents simply do not want these mergers. they warn that the mergers are just a short term fix to growing budget problems. the district says that dual language and special education programing would still

be offered in shared school sites that are currently offering them. a hiring freeze, the elimination of positions and the restructuring of some departments is also being considered. if approved, the mergers could take effect in the 2025 2026 school year. as far as that meeting today, a final vote is expected. it's going on in oakland. it starts at 4 p.m. it will also be accessible via zoom. live in the newsroom gloria rodriguez, abc seven news. >> thank you. gloria. the alameda county board of supervisors approved a process for selecting a new district attorney. this after voters in november approved a recall of district attorney pamela price. the board agreed to slow down their proposed process by one week. after much public comment. >> we're going to change the timeline so applications would be due on monday, january 6th by 5 p.m. and then everything else is adjusted by one week.

>> accordingly, family members. the board will select at least three candidates to interview during the week of january 13th. the interviews will take place the week of january 20th, with an appointment made in early february. these steps will take place in public meetings, and the community will be able to weigh in. >> general motors has decided to put an end to its cruise robotaxi service. gm spent billions developing autonomous vehicles and rolled them out in san francisco before expanding to arizona and texas. but crews quickly ran into problems. vehicles would stall, and there was an incident in san francisco where one dragged a pedestrian after the person was hit by another vehicle. gm cited high competition and cost as part of why they're ending the robotaxi program. the dmv suspended cruise's permit in october of last year. >> a menlo park company being sued by the parents of a child over its ai chat bot. they claim the app made by character. i told their child it was okay to

kill them for limiting his screen time. this is the second lawsuit brought by parents against this company. the first was over a child who died by suicide. the lawsuit seeks to get the app removed until its alleged dangers can be fixed. a character ai spokesperson says the company is not commenting on the lawsuits, but its goal is to, quote, provide a space that is both engaging and safe for our community. now it's time for our abc seven mornings advancer our way of highlighting some things happening in the day ahead here in the bay area. >> first, hundreds of hotel workers are planning another rally and march through downtown san francisco. they've been on strike for nearly three months over health care benefits at marriott, hilton and hyatt hotels. workers are asking to keep their current union health care plan, but they say the hotels are threatening to eliminate it. the strike includes about 2500 housekeepers, servers, cooks, bellhops and more. >> the bay area toll authority is meeting today about a toll hike. tolls on bay area bridges would start at 850 and increase

by $0.50 every year for five years through 2030. it would also include a change to the carpool lane policy, establishing a uniform three person requirement at all seven bridges. that would be for half price tolls during weekday commute periods. if approved, the changes would start january 1st of 2026. >> san francisco will honor the victim of a deadly shooting by renaming a street after him today. a stretch of grove street will be renamed aubrey acosta junior street in a ceremony this afternoon. aubrey acosta died after being shot at grove and baker streets in the northern panhandle neighborhood. this was back in 2006. he was just 17 years old, and the case remains unsolved. >> still ahead. progress on inflation slowing down this morning. the economic report that might be disappointing to consumers. >> then southern california residents remain on high alert. you're looking live at a massive wildfire burning in malibu. abc seven news is live from the front lines. next. but first, here's drew.

>> hey, there. yeah, the winds have calmed down, but the humidity is still dangerously low there. we'll have that live report coming up in just minutes. live. look outside from our san jose camera this morning. it's hazy out there with moderate to poor air quality. 41 degrees frost advisories are up again this morning. we will have that cold morning over the next couple of hours. here's the planner, 30s and 40s, at least through 9 a.m, and then we'll start to gradually warm into the 60s by noon. live doppler seven along satellite. still have that red flag warning in effect around the franklin fire. this will last until this evening. we are tracking our next rain maker. it's been a couple of weeks since we've had rain in the forecast, and now we're tracking its return later on tonight on the abc seven storm impact scale. it is a level one. during the day, while the sun is up, it will be dry. it's late tonight and for a lot of us, it's around midnight tonight that will find the steadiest rain moving through our neighborhood. so here's the storm impact scale for those scattered showers tonight. continuing into thursday, we will have some slick roads out there. it's a

bit breezy in spots. rainfall totals with this system probably could estimate a 2:45 quarters of an inch of rain overnight. tonight, a little bit of snow coming to the sierra. we have a winter weather advisory that kicks in here at 10 p.m. tonight for 3 to 9in of snow. now, heading into the weekend, we have a stronger storm approaching with gusty winds and heavy rain. we'll show you that coming

43. new this hour, the martinez refinery company refining company will pay nearly $4.5 million to settle accusations it discharged wastewater from its contra costa county refinery. according to the san francisco bay regional water quality control board, the money will go toward environmental projects. the millions of gallons of wastewater allegedly harmed water quality and aquatic life in the marshes connected to the carquinez strait between 2022 and 2023. >> now for your morning money report. the new inflation report out this morning is giving us a good idea of where prices are going ahead of the holidays. the consumer price index rose in november by 2.7% when compared to the same time last year, and it rose slightly by 0.3% over the previous month of october. this is in line with what economists predicted. used cars,

airfare, clothing, car insurance and housing are the categories. seeing the biggest price increases. economists do not think this report will keep the fed from lowering interest rates by a quarter percentage point at its meeting next week. the parent company of safeway, albertsons, is suing another large grocery chain, kroger, over their failed effort to merge. a federal judge and a state judge overseeing two separate cases just halted the proposed $24 billion merger, claiming the deal would drive up prices for consumers. in a lawsuit just out this morning. albertsons accuses kroger of not doing enough to secure regulatory approval. the two chains claim they needed to join forces to better compete with walmart, amazon and costco. >> many of us may be familiar with our ability to order everything from gadgets to groceries on amazon, but what about a brand new car? well, amazon auto is partnering with hyundai dealers in 48 cities.

customers can browse, order and arrange delivery of their new car. trade ins will also be accepted through amazon's new service. and for a limited time, customers can even get a $2,300 gift card when they buy a car from the site. happening now firefighters in southern california are trying to get a handle on a brush fire fueled by strong santa ana winds. the franklin fire exploded in size to about 3900 acres since it started monday night. a few moments ago, cal fire announced it is now 7% contained. and joining us live now is irene cruz from our sister station in los angeles. she's live in malibu. good morning irene. >> good morning amanda. yeah, we're seeing some really good conditions out here compared to yesterday. i mean, yesterday we saw a lot of ash coming down. it was very windy. we're not seeing as much of that this morning. and also we're not seeing that orange hazy glow that was blanketing the malibu hillsides. we do have fire crews out here.

they're dealing with hot spots, and we're really hoping they can make some good progress this morning. now, we do have some video of the latest evacuations here in southern california. this at malibu rv park around midnight, close to pch and corral canyon. 2000 structures are still under mandatory evacuation orders. roughly 6000 are under evacuation warnings. now, the fire started before 11 p.m. monday night in a malibu canyon area. the flames, driven by santa ana winds and low humidity. l.a. county fire describes the damage as minimal. seven buildings have been destroyed. eight have been damaged. the l.a. county fire chief says better conditions overnight help them in their firefighting strategy. >> we're going to take advantage of the lower temperatures, the higher humidities, to try to get more containment. some of the areas are very steep. there's no road network that we're able to access, so we're actually going to have to hike our firefighters and our wildland firefighting

hand crews in. >> now back out here live. more than 1500 firefighters are here battling those flames. they're both from local and state agencies. and this morning i've seen a number of helicopters making rounds, circling and making drops of water. the cause of this fire is still under investigation. reporting live in malibu. irene cruz, abc seven news. >> all right, irene, thank you. >> yeah, i mean, they had a lot going for them once that fire broke out. it's the only fire burning in california. so cal fire was able to take all their assets and send it to malibu. and unfortunately, you know, those folks are not immune to knowing fires around this area. so a lot of them woke up tuesday morning knocking on their neighbors doors, getting them on alert that they had this fire burning in malibu. so the winds have calmed down, but the humidity is still a major concern. look at some of these numbers. it is really rare to have numbers this low like 5%, 6%, 7% around malibu until these

levels start to increase later on this afternoon. the red flag warning will still be in effect back here at home. a live look from our tam cam this morning. you see a lot of haze in the atmosphere. air quality is moderate to poor this morning and it's a combination of a lot of us using our fireplaces, some cold, dense air. light winds. it's all a combo to trap everything at the surface. and that's what we're seeing right now. so it's a cold morning. frost advisories in effect. hazy sunshine throughout the day. rain is not in the forecast until late tonight. first in the north bay. and then everybody will see those showers right around midnight tonight on the abc seven storm impact scale is a level one tonight through thursday for those showers. it is breezy in spots with some slick roads out there, especially first thing tomorrow morning. here's future weather, 9 p.m. we'll be tracking the rain's arrival first in the north bay, and then it's 1 to 2 a.m. may wake up to the sound of a downpour hitting your window as this front moves through, but it's fast. by 5 a.m. tomorrow morning, we're just tracking an

isolated shower here or there as the heaviest rain has exited. but then we do expect more light showers in the afternoon and in the evening. and that does include some scattered showers at kickoff for the niners game at levi's tomorrow, kick off 515. we'll keep a scattered shower in the forecast by the fourth quarter. it's cloudy and cool with those showers ending, so grab the poncho. a stronger storm is set to soak us on saturday. just anticipate saturday is going to be a washout. rain all day and this area of low pressure is going to crank our winds. we will likely see some sort of wind advisory come out here to start the weekend, because saturday afternoon we're seeing winds areawide 30 to 50mph along the coast. we could see winds close to 60mph. so the accuweather seven day forecast showing you it's dry during the day today with rain returning at night. scattered showers here in the forecast for thursday, then we'll watch saturday. it is heavy rain, gusty winds at times a level two on the storm impact scale with more rain early next week guys. >> all right drew thank you. the

dates are set for the temporary closure of the rose park subway station in san francisco's chinatown. sfmta says the closure will run from february 20th 6th to march 14th, and it comes one week after the agency approved a plan to repair damage to pipes and other leaks at a cost of $6.5 million. the project will take nine months. the subway opened in january of 2023, four years behind schedule. >> it's easy to fall victim to a holiday grinch this time of year. a spokesperson with the better business bureau has some tips, particularly when it comes to trying to find a hot item you see online. >> you know, this is so common, and it's one of the things that we see 76 to 78% of our scams reported online start on social media. so these are the ads that you see on instagram or facebook with products that go viral, especially on tiktok. so you want to make sure that you understand what you're clicking on and get to know your product before you click on anything. understand how much it costs. again, we're talking about, you

know, stanley cups are $50, $60 and above. if you see one for 15, that's a red flag. >> and if you're thinking of donating money to a charity this holiday season, be careful. scammers are very active this time of year, and they use many tactics to confuse people to take their money. that includes creating fake websites or fake emails that resemble real charities. if someone calls you soliciting a donation instead of giving your credit card information over the phone, maybe think about donating through a verified website. but be careful there, because digital links to donate might not always be what you think. >> anyone can generate a qr code by a card reader, send a text message, make a graphic that doesn't, and that doesn't necessarily mean that they're legitimate. always confirm your donation is going to the real charity. >> scammers are also on social media. verify a gofundme is legitimate before donating to a cause. >> taylor swift's eras tour may be over, but ticketing complaints continue to come in to seven on your side this time.

a north bay family says their weekend was almost ruined after a stubhub refused to give them the tickets they were promised. the tickets were purchased in february for $5,400, but when the family checked on their purchase, they found that stubhub no longer had the tickets for their original seats. they flew to vancouver with stubhub promise of providing equivalent or better tickets as a replacement. >> however, 2.5 hours before the concert, they sent me this link with the alternate tickets. they're horrible. horrible. unacceptable. tickets. >> so the family managed to grab better seats through seatgeek about half an hour before the concert started. stubhub offered a refund and a coupon for 25% off. now, if you need help, let us know. reach out to seven on your side by going to abc seven news.com/7 on your side. >> tonight, fans will get a

second night of billie eilish live in the south bay. the grammy winning singer will be back on stage at sap center after last night's sold out show. and look at this fans lining up early, in some cases camping out because they didn't have tickets yet. it's one of the bay area's most anticipated music events of the year. >> we weren't able to get tickets during presale, so we just thought we could get cheaper tickets here. >> it's been a long, a long night, morning, whatever you want to call it for sure. i'm studying for finals right now to. >> caltrain is devoting a special car to take fans to and from the venue. also, sap center is all vegan and vegetarian for these two shows at billie eilish's request, so don't expect to find any animal products on the menu at the arena. >> a famous author is giving holiday bonuses to employees of san francisco's city lights bookstore. james patterson is giving them each $500. city lights is one of 600 booksellers receiving the bonus. patterson chose the winners from thousands of applications applicants. the

best selling novelist has been awarding independent store employees since 2015. patterson said in a statement, quote, booksellers save lives, period. give it to them. all right. well, with just three weeks left in the year. yes, really? three weeks until new year's eve. >> that's how the calendar works. >> today is wednesday. >> all day, all day long. don't forget. >> but google released a list of top searches of 2024, and half of the top ten searches worldwide were about sports, which we don't care to name for some reason. >> just, oh, just sports. >> sports and athletic events. >> okay. >> very generic. love it. now the most searched person was donald trump, followed by catherine, princess of wales and kamala harris. >> i'm kind of disappointed that none of these things is surprising. >> yeah, right. >> us election the top trending news search. yeah, disney's inside out, too. the most

searched movie. disney is the parent company of abc seven. so water is wet, everybody. >> i mean, i'm sorry, there's just nothing interesting about this list. >> i wonder wha the sports a athletic events were. >> i did think that was something because i'm such a sports fan. >> i don't remember what i read. >> it was. >> it was the copa. the copa thing that. >> okay. >> and various and sundry other sports and athletic activities. >> all right. >> well, congratulations to those sports players and athletes. yeah. up next, the seven things you need to know today. >> you know the copa. >> you can watch all of our newscasts live and on demand through the abc seven bay area connected tv app. you can download the app now and start streaming. >> and as we head to break a live look outside here at 656. we'll sounds like you need to vaporize that sore throat. vapocool drops? it's sore throat relief with a rush of vicks vapors. ♪ vapocooooool ♪ whoa. vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops.

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you need to know this morning. number one, you can see hazy conditions out there this morning. we have moderate to poor air quality. the day planner will keep it cold this morning. hazy sunshine this afternoon. rain is back in the forecast late tonight. it is a

level one on the storm impact scale. >> number two firefighters have worked through the night to stop the franklin fire burning through malibu. thousands are under evacuation orders this morning. cal fire just gave an update and says the fire has grown to about 3900 acres. it is 7% contained. >> number three, oakland unified school board is set to finalize a plan to merge ten schools today as part of the district's effort to balance a projected $95 million deficit. >> number four, novato has become the latest bay area city to approve a crackdown on unhoused people. this week, the city council approved a ban on camping on the street. >> number five a live look at the bay bridge. a hearing today will consider whether or not bay area drivers will have to pay higher prices on toll bridges. if approved, the increases would begin in january of 2026. tolls would rise as high as 1150, depending on how you pay by 2030. >> and we are looking at the east shore freeway, still bumper to bumper, getting into the bay bridge, funneling in. we had

late road work on southbound 101 on the city side of things, so give yourself a little extra time. >> number seven, disney's newest cruise ship, has set sail. the treasurer has experiences based on disney park attractions and even has a haunted mansion parlor. disney is the parent company of abc seven news. >> we're going to get a lot of new disney ships soon. there's the disney treasure now. the disney destiny is next year, and then overseas in singapore they're going to have the disney adventure. oh my goodness, three new ships in just the next year i love that for us. >> michael: good morning america for our viewers in the west. the ceo murder suspect in court, dangerous wild fires and floods, and robin with the rocket man. fighting extradition. shouting before facing a judge. >> completely