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>> residents of a milpitas apartment building reacting to a disturbing discovery. four members of a family found dead inside a first floor unit. good evening. thank you for joining us. >> i'm dan ashley and i'm dion lim. police officers made that discovery last night inside of what's known as the turing at the fields luxury apartment complex on mccandless drive, just across the street from the great mall of milpitas. >> here's abc seven news reporter dustin dorsey with what police know so far, and the effect it's having on people living in that building. >> a single bouquet of flowers sat outside the door of apartment 102, in the turing at the fields complex in milpitas. a small sign of respect from a grieving neighbor after a family of four was found dead in the household tuesday evening. community members who work and live in this building were shocked and heartbroken. >> i'm very shocked considering it happened in milpitas like nothing really ever happens in milpitas. >> it's scary. you know, i'm we have a children ourselves. and to think that, you know, we're just right

above, you know, the unit that it happened in and not knowing any information it you know it's a it's concerning. >> milpitas police say family members said they had not heard from the family who lived here for several days. a man, woman and two pre-teen children were found by officers with what police are calling obvious signs of death with no further details. one neighbor told us a strong odor came from the apartment tuesday night. jerry saldana noticed the active scene wednesday morning when i came down. >> i mean, literally, if the door was here, there's tape here, there's tape there. then there was some some, you know, furniture, like an office chair, some other just random house items out and one officer out when i walked by. >> m-p-d says there have been no other calls to this apartment in the past. they could not confirm if a weapon was found or how the family died. >> at this time, all the evidence suggests it was an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to public safety. this investigation is

ongoing. >> neighbors say this is a new luxury apartment complex in a safe, quiet area. the person who left the flowers said he would see the children playing in this courtyard frequently, their soccer ball still sitting on the ground. saldana lives right upstairs, and as a father himself, he can't believe this tragedy happened so close to the holidays. >> got to appreciate everyone and make sure you stay safe, even, you know, in your own home, i guess. i mean, it's sad to think something like that is so close, you know, just it breaks my heart. >> in milpitas, dustin dorsey, abc seven news. >> all right. we do want to get to some breaking news now coming out of fremont. take a look at your screen. this is where sky seven is overhead. a huge traffic headache. traffic in the northbound direction of interstate 680 is backed up for at least ten miles. this is from fremont all the way to milpitas. the culprit? a huge pothole on the right lanes of 680 past the mission boulevard exit. now, caltrans says the repairs won't be done until 1:00 in the morning. fremont police say city

streets are also impacted. keep that in mind. drivers are exiting the freeway and using surface streets to get around that long backup. we will continue following this situation. >> major step today by governor newsom. he declared a state of emergency in california over the bird flu. that's the first such declaration anywhere in the country. this move gives government agencies extra resources and flexibility to respond to the virus, which has been detected in 16 states, including here in california. it spiked last month, forcing ranchers across three western states to cull nearly 3 million egg laying birds. there have been 61 confirmed cases of bird flu in the u.s. since last april. most of the cases have been mild. there are no known cases of person to person spread. >> after winning widespread support in the november election, california's proposition 36 takes effect today, increasing penalties for certain theft and drug crimes. abc seven news reporter monica madden joins us now. and,

monica, these california voters, they have been fed up about crime and public safety. and it really all just culminated and came to a head here. >> absolutely, diane. this has been building up for years, especially after retail theft and burglary spiked during the pandemic. reported shoplifting, shoplifting of merchandise valued up to $950. that rose 28% over the past five years, according to the public policy institute of california. but law enforcement leaders are cautioning prop 36 this new law, it's not going to be a magic solution. overnight in 2014, california voters approved prop 47, reclassifying theft up to $950 and certain drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. the hope was to reduce overcrowding in prisons. ten years later and voters reversed course, approving increases on those criminal penalties. >> it's voters saying we're fed up with the current state of affairs. >> now, district attorneys like san francisco's brooke jenkins can pursue felony charges for repeat offenders of theft and drug related crimes. opponents say this will be a return to

mass incarceration and the war on drugs era. >> the more people we put in cages, the safer our communities will be. and it's simply not true. >> i want to really make clear that we will still be thoughtful about what sentence we impose. >> a treatment mandated felony now will offer alternatives for those charged with drug possession, offering rehab instead of prison. time for repeat offenders. by completing the treatment, charges will be dropped, but if they don't, they could serve up to three years behind bars. >> now, with misdemeanors, there's very little teeth for us to really kind of urge somebody to get treatment. unlike if a felony is sort of hanging over your head, you're more likely to engage in the treatment offer that is being made. and so that's the thought process. >> jenkins warns californians shouldn't expect immediate change. >> this is not a magic wand. it could take some time. it could take a year or more because you're talking about somebody having to be caught and rearrested for the same behavior more than once, and then prosecuted in the system and receive a conviction, especially

depending on sentencing. people have to have two underlying convictions for the misdemeanor conduct. first, before we're eligible to consider charging them with a felony. and for so long now, it's been very difficult to get those misdemeanor convictions because oftentimes they're being granted diversion in our courts. and so diversion wipes your record clean. and so it's going to take time for us to see if we can get misdemeanor convictions in some of these cases and then build towards ultimately for repeat offenders charging that felony. and so i do want to temper people's expectations. >> jenkins says her office will not be retroactively applying prop 36. in terms of looking for people who would now qualify for more serious charges moving forward, though, if someone has two misdemeanor convictions and gets another charge, it's fair game for pursuing felony charges. dionne. dan. >> okay. monica. thanks very much. if you thought january's bridge toll increase to $8 would be the last one for a while, well, not so. the bay area toll

authority today approved a new round of toll hikes that will have most drivers paying $10.50 by the year 2030. here's when and how much you'll be paying. the bay area toll authority today approved that new round on january 1st, 2026. tolls go up to 850 for most drivers. paying with fast track tolls go up $0.50 every year until 2030, topping out at $10.50. the tolls are even higher for folks who don't use fast track 1150 by the year 2030 for drivers paying by mail, and there are also changes for carpoolers to know about starting in 2026. a year from now, the minimum number of occupants in the carpool lane at bridges goes up to three. that's the same number required on the bay bridge now. carpool drivers get half off their tolls and use of the diamond lane. the toll authority says revenue will go strictly from maintenance and repair of the seven state owned bay area bridges. >> the cost for construction

projects have outpaced inflation generally. so yes, just in the in the last five years, those costs have have increased dramatically. >> commuters we spoke with today, not surprisingly, are not happy, saying it's another financial burden of living in this area. >> well, commuters as well as air travelers faced problems this morning and well into the afternoon due to a thick blanket of fog. take a look at this. our camera on mount sutro. i mean, what can you see? right. this is how socked in it was in san francisco. that salesforce tower you see there on the left, just barely peeking through the fog, forced the faa to order ground stops at all three major airports. >> that means no planes were taking off or landing at sfo lasted more than two hours. a meteorologist, sandhya patel, is here to show us exactly what caused it. it was pretty thick, sandhya. it was indeed. >> and dan and diane, when you were. if you were with us last night at 11 p.m, you know that we were already tracking this

fog. let me show you a live view right now from our bay bridge toll plaza. it's a little hazy out there, but at least the fog has dissipated from that vantage point. not all vantage points on live doppler seven. we are tracking not just high clouds, but some patchy fog down below. visibility is down to six miles in livermore right now. it is ten miles in oakland, san jose, santa rosa, and san francisco. earlier in the day, we had some very heavy fog. visibility at times was zero miles. i mean, you really couldn't even see in front of your hand as we did have that thick tule fog coming in from the central valley and spilling over because of the offshore winds into the north and east bay and eventually into the san francisco area. tonight it is out there still. so it's going to be back, but not quite as widespread. so as we go hour by hour, you will notice the high clouds continuing to stream in and then watch that fog spilling over. at 7 a.m. east bay, north bay. it will hang around into the early afternoon before things start to improve,

but the higher clouds will come in. if you are traveling right now, no delays being repor a our local airports and statewide, so you are good to go. that may not be the case tomorrow morning. dan, we do have some rain coming and i'll be back with that. coming right up. >> all right. sounds good. looking forward to it. sandhya. thanks. in a 5 to 1 vote on tuesday, oakland passed budget cuts to close a massive deficit, and that includes layoffs and cuts to police and fire departments. also taking a hit many of oakland's community based organizations that advocate for workers and provide social services for families in need. abc seven news reporter anser hassan has more in a vote that was expected. >> oakland city council passed budget cuts to close a $100 million deficit. >> how will the city make sure it doesn't get back into the same problem five years from now? >> as of tuesday night, dan kalb is now the acting city council president. he says the budget work continues. city council is considering a ten year sales tax that could be on a special election ballot to be held on

april 15th for the new mayor. in addition, city council made an amendment to the budget. it stipulates that the next $10 million payment from the sale of the oakland coliseum, due in early 2025, would go to backfill cuts. >> the first 7 million immediately goes to restore and or prevent the closure of fire stations. the browning out of fire stations and then 3 million will go to restore to reimburse our affordable housing trust fund. >> still, big cuts are expected, which will likely have big impacts on community based organizations, many of which rely on city funding or have contracts with the city. >> these cuts for the department of violence prevention, for example, are going to affect organizations who provide direct services that actually protect and serve people in the community that are actually keeping people safe, that are actually solving conflict, that are actually preventing violence and crime from happening. >> clarissa dothard is the executive director of parents voices oakland, which advocates

for affordable child care. she's worried about the cuts to programs that impact families with young children, such as head start city run program. >> that's up for consideration. has immeasurable can do immeasurable damage to families, especially in neighborhoods that are child care deserts. >> and despite threats of layoffs across city departments, some labor unions appreciate the city's efforts to delay layoffs as a last resort. >> we still have to work on collecting revenue. we still have to work on finding cost savings, and we have to eliminate, you know, some of the wasteful spending that's going on in the city of oakland. so it was definitely reassuring kind of hearing that in oakland, anser hassan abc seven news. >> coming up next, the federal reserve cuts a key interest rate and wall street responds in a dramatic way. not good news for your 401 k. >> plus, the break that helped police arrest a suspect in the defacing of a mural treasured by many in san francisco. the news at

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the index fell for a 10th straight day. that is the longest losing streak in half a century. this despite the federal reserve cutting interest rates by a quarter of 1%. that move will lower the cost of borrowing money, but investors were not happy that the fed is anticipating fewer interest rate cuts next year. the dow lost more than 1100 points. big loss today. the nasdaq also fell more than 700 points in the s&p 500 lost 178. >> today, the epa announced that california can move forward with its ban on new gas cars in 2035. the agency says it found no evidence that the new rule would be inconsistent with the federal clean air act. going forward, though, the rule will face a tough test. president elect trump has criticized

california's emissions rules in the past, but today his transition team did not explicitly say if the new administration would challenge that rule. >> a woman accused of vandalizing a number of businesses with graffiti all around san francisco is now under arrest. as abc seven news reporter luz pena explains, one of the targets was a treasured mural in the mission district. >> around 10:30 p.m. sunday. surveillance video captured the woman accused of vandalizing several businesses in san francisco's mission district. >> it's really sad. you know, to see a lot of these arts defaced lately, it's just it's super sad. you know, all these people, they put their heart and soul into these murals for everyone to look at. that's part of the intrigue of the mission. >> in the video, the woman can be seen spray painting a beloved mural, a treasured piece for many in san francisco by local artist mario cid gonzalez, who passed away in 2021. >> this one was one of his last

pieces, so he did this one and then also down the corner right there as well. he did that mural, too. >> business owners began to distribute the face of the woman, hoping someone would identify her. in the process. they found more victims. carmen elias, the owner of la mejor bakery, found the woman painting her parklet and confronted her. >> as soon as they mentioned that if you don't answer me, i'm going to call the police, i'm not going to let you touch no more. and she left. >> the city offers to paint over graffiti only in certain commercial areas, but that doesn't include murals if not fixed within 30 days, business owners can face a fine of about $360. >> we look for patterns. if we can catch somebody, we will. we want to make sure that it's a culprits who are being punished for this, not the people whose properties are tagged. >> san francisco's public works department works with the city's police department and district attorney's office to prosecute prolific taggers. sfpd has since

arrested the woman, saying, quote, the suspect was in custody for another graffiti slash vandalism incident that occurred on december 17th to a business located on the 4300 block of mission street. a relief for many who are now working to restore the beloved mural. >> we're hoping that this weekend there is going to be, if there's no rain, that we're going to be able to be fixed, and we're going to continue to work with the owners in san francisco. >> luz pena, abc seven news. >> all right. coming up, the idea being floated by a think tank that could radically change california's approach to college education.

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liver problems can occur. entyvio. relief. remission. for real. ♪entyvio, entyvio, entyvio♪ a college education and the state. the proposal would combine the university of california system, the california state university system, and community colleges into one unified institution. according to edsource.com, the

idea comes from the california completes project and the civil rights project at ucla. the proposal suggests merging uc berkeley with local, state, university and community colleges to create a regional campus at multiple sites that would offer a range of programs, from professional certificates to doctorates. interesting. >> all right, well, word of wisdom here. enjoy the break in the rain while it lasts. yes. >> sandhya is watching it all. hi, sandhya. hi, there. >> yeah, diane and dan. let me show you some live pictures right now. a post-sunset beauty. 453 the sun went down here in the city. and look at how gorgeous it looks from our various tower cameras. right now. we do have a lot of high clouds just kind of passing through. and we do have some patchy fog out there. uh- live doppler seven is showing you a very active pattern that is beginning to set up across the pacific, but don't worry, it doesn't get here until this weekend and it's much needed rain as you all know. so as we look at live doppler seven right now, we do have some passing

high clouds, a little bit of fog down below. visibility has improved dramatically from this morning. right now it is ten miles in oakland, san francisco, san jose, concord, santa rosa, six miles in livermore. we do have a beach hazard statement that starts at 6 p.m. tonight until 6 p.m. thursday. watch out. the wave heights are coming out. there is a risk of sneaker waves and rip currents. temperatures at this hour in the 40s and the 50s. cloverdale. you're at 60 degrees. a lovely view from our mount tam cam. overnight tonight. some dense fog. again. not quite as widespread as we had this morning. the next two days. mild, mainly sunny for most of you. and this weekend we're looking at winter's arrival and the wet pattern starts. so we go hour by hour. this evening the high clouds will continue to filter through our skies. we go into tomorrow morning and at 5:00, notice that fog moving in from the central valley across antioch, concord, fairfield, out towards napa, santa rosa, petaluma. and that fog will sit around for early afternoon hours in those areas. the rest of you,

you see a mix of sun and high clouds. and then in the evening, kind of a combination of the two as well. your morning temperatures will range from the 30s to the 40s. yeah. you'll need to bundle up. and you might want to give yourself a little extra time for the morning commute tomorrow afternoon. highs will range from the mid 50s well inland in places like antioch and fairfield, but low 70s santa cruz, morgan hill, 69, and san jose. looking ahead to our rain, it all begins this weekend on saturday, when our first system comes in with some quick moving rain. another one comes in sunday night, early monday, and then we have another system that will be due in here monday night into tuesday. that christmas eve storm looks to be the strongest of the series. wet and windy weather headed our way and then on christmas day, another storm is getting ready to approach. not necessarily move in right away. all right, so through the weekend we are looking at anywhere from about a 10th of an inch in livermore to just over an inch in novato. you add on the other systems, and we

will be looking at rain ranging from a half an inch to almost three inches in some of our wetter locations. accuweather seven day forecast. watch out for the fog tomorrow morning, increasing clouds friday and winter saturday 120 in the morning we have our level one storm coming in. we do have one sunday, monday, tuesday off and on. it's not going to be a complete washout for those days. and then cool and cloudy on christmas day. >> i'm going for a highlighter so that way people can see me through that fog. >> i think they could see you just fine. >> yeah, no need to squint. sandhya. >> thank you. all right. when we come back, one local airports effort to get travelers to just relax and feel the spirit

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they've got this calculator thing that shows how much you'll pay. - for real? - yeah! what are you doing not having health insurance, man? - hey, i know, i know... - here, let me show you... - we all have questions. covered california has answers and can find a health plan that's right for you. covered california. this way to health insurance. mineta international airport. >> and heaven and nature sing. and heaven and nature sing. >> that's so festive. a victorian carolers entertain travelers today, and they'll be performing at various locations around the airport through monday. >> so nice. all right. we still have much more news ahead.

>> we do. let's go to abc seven news anchor karina nova for a look at what's coming up today at 5.30. karina. >> thanks, dan and dion. tonight we're going to have a deeper look at the san francisco murder case that captured national attention. a jury found him guilty of second degree murder in the stabbing death of tech executive bob lee last april. abc seven reporter melanie woodrow will join us with more details about the case and what will happen moving forward. join us for those stories and more. at 5.30 on abc seven bay area streaming. tv. dan dion. >> karina. >> thank you. all right. and don't forget you can download the abc7 news app or head to abc7 news.com to join karina in just two minutes. >> and if you're watching us here on tv. world news tonight with david muir is next for sandhya patel all of us. we appreciate your time. they will grow up. (♪) discover who they are (♪) what they want from this world. and how they will make it better. and while parenting has changed,

how much you care has not. that's why instagram is introducing teen accounts. automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see. (♪)

>> david: tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. the two major storms moving in, just as millions now begin their holiday travel. also tonight, the plane crash, the pilot saying, "we are out of control here." and the major news tonight