tape how it could make a big difference for small businesses. >> and new fallout from tightening budgets. the sports programs now getting slashed. good afternoon. thanks for joining us. i'm linda beil. >> and i'm kristen z. roughly 200 unhoused people die outdoors each year in santa clara county. yet on average, 1 in 3 homeless residents still refuse interim housing. >> but that option is about to change in san jose. a controversial new proposal would require, yes, require the unhoused to accept help or face arrest. abc seven news south bay reporter dustin dorsey looks at the plan that city officials hope will help build a better bay area. >> when it comes to shelter for the unhoused in san jose. leaders believe if you build it, they must come. 1000 new and managed placements will open this year, and mayor matt mehan is proposing a plan to make people take advantage of them. >> homelessness can't be a choice in our community when we're offering dignified alternatives. the best path forward is not the status quo.

homelessness is a crisis, but if we don't get serious about accountability, it will become a constant. >> it's called the responsibility to shelter initiative. it is similar to a policy in place in san mateo county when a new managed site opens. like the three story tiny home community off of brannan and monterey. people are offered residency, but if they refuse the services three times and continue to live in an encampment, they will be arrested. >> on a third refusal, we press charges for trespassing with the intention of getting the person into the county behavioral health court to figure out if there's some other set of services or accountability mechanism we can use to get people to make the choice. that has to be the choice. >> jodi botkin lives in this new community. she told me it changed her life, but she doesn't agree with the proposed policy. botkin says being indoors is not for everybody. >> for those for whom it's, as you say, a lifestyle issue. what what do we do to help them choose a different life? >> there should be, you know, like you have camping grounds

for families during the summer, maybe get a camping ground going. most of the people that want to stay out here, i think it's more or less they're scared. lousy service. but the city cycle. >> the press conference was met with frustration from unhoused advocates. sean cartwright maintains this is not the way. >> this is 100% criminalizing homelessness. this is if you do not do what i want you to do, i will criminal, i will put you in jail. and threats never work on unhoused people who already have a fear of legal issues, who already have a fear of arrest. they've already been traumatized. >> the city council will hear the proposal at their next meeting in san jose. dustin dorsey, abc seven news. >> marin county is seeing positive results from a pilot program that gives gift cards to meth users who become clean. now, the county is one of several around the state participating in this program. abc seven news reporter tim johns now with a closer look. >> almost two years after it started, officials in marin county say it's pilot program that gives gift cards to meth users is a massive success.

>> honestly, we don't have a lot of alternatives for stimulant use. so for opioid use disorder or for alcohol use disorder or even nicotine addiction, we have medications for addiction treatment. but for stimulants, we don't have something like that that's fda approved. >> the idea behind the program is that at least once a week, participants with a history of drug use get tested. if their test results come back clean. they're then rewarded a gift card to one of dozens of retailers of their choice, with options including walmart, safeway, or even apple. so far, 94 people have taken part in marin's program, earning thousands of dollars in gift cards. one of the organizations participating in the gift card program is the ritter center. their ceo tells me they're currently working with 19 individuals as a part of it, and that the progress has been overwhelmingly positive. ritter center ceo mark shotwell says the program has been an effective way of helping treat people in ways beyond just their substance abuse. he says once someone is introduced to their staff, it's easier to connect them with other wraparound services they may need.

>> if we think about what happens with stimulants or other drugs that people use, they are a very positively reinforcing substance, right? so if you can replace that reinforcement with a positive reinforcement that is healthy, then people are able to utilize that to be able to let go of the substance. >> marin is one of several counties around the state participating in the pilot program, which is run through medi-cal. given the results, officials hope that once it's over, a permanent replacement will take over. >> anything that we can do when people want to quit to support them in that journey is has so many ripple positive ripple effects. >> last year, several thousand people died from a stimulant overdose in california. in marin county. tim johns abc seven news. >> in san francisco a crackdown on a corridor that some say is the new sixth street. >> residents are saying 16th and mission street is increasingly becoming a hotspot for open drug trade and usage. >> abc seven news political reporter monica madden spoke with neighbors about what

they're seeing. >> hey. hey. okay. i'll see you later. thank you. bye bye. >> on any given day at the sandwich place in the mission district. >> what's it going to be today? >> juan, better known as the sandwich guy, serves up food with a friendly chat. >> across from my condo on mission. it's. it's like a jungle. >> the conversations, sometimes filled with complaints about the neighborhood. >> nobody cleans the street. >> he and other business owners on the corner of 16th and mission say the street conditions are a persistent problem. >> for us to get better business, they got to clean everything up. if you're going to clean it up, do it right. >> it's why the administration says it's cracking down on enforcement announcing an overnight drug raid in the area. >> we are going to be relentless in our focus on cleaning these areas up. >> we asked leaders about the open drug markets. moving to other areas. isn't there concern that these pockets are just going to appear in other neighborhoods? >> if they go to other neighborhoods, we have to go there as well. >> it follows last week's narcotics raid at jefferson

square park, which resulted in 84 arrests. wednesday night's operation only resulted in four narcotic related arrests. leaders say that doesn't mean it was a failure. we asked if any of the four arrests were of drug dealers, and while we did not get any specifics, the mayor's office says that law enforcement were able to get important intel that they hope will lead to the arrest of more dealers in the future. one unhoused person we spoke to who didn't want to show his face, says the crackdowns are creating fear. >> are we just attacking the lowest hanging fruit? i think that's what's happening here. >> thursday's street conditions not appearing immediately different. >> you start arresting, you start doing this. you start doing all kinds of commotion. you show a bunch of cops, and then you know what? forget about it. it's still the same thing. >> leaving some in the neighborhood skeptical. >> you dump them someplace else, and that's what they're doing. okay, so i don't see no change on anything. you know, i still see them, that they're hungry and i still see them, that they

have no help. >> in san francisco, monica madden, abc seven news. >> san francisco leaders are inviting the community to discuss public safety at a town hall that is taking place tonight. it will focus on issues like open air drug markets, property crime and traffic safety, as well as what police are trying to do to tackle these problems. that town hall starts at 530 at the marina middle school auditorium. >> the road leading up to mount hamilton is temporarily closed because of snow on the summit. the p blocked this road at joseph d grant county park today. it's expected to remain closed until at least 8 a.m. tomorrow. so, you know you don't see the snow there. but going up to the top if you can get there. yes, we have that dusting because it was so cold. >> if you can get there. a little teeny bit of snow. so we don't have to worry so much about that. but our concern here would be rain. >> right. it's coming back before long. abc seven news meteorologist andy patel has a look at our forecast. hey, sandhya. >> hi, there. yeah, kristen and

larry. it is coming back, but not until next week. so you have time to enjoy this from our golden gate bridge camera. a lot of sun out there. we did have those snow showers over mount hamilton earlier this morning. you can see that some showers across the rest of the bay area as we widen the picture here, focused primarily from san francisco down towards the south bay, the santa cruz mountains and parts of the east bay. as we look at the wider picture here, a lot of lingering clouds right now, but we do have a chill that's going to settle in overnight tonight, and a frost advisory will be going up tomorrow morning. i'll be back to tell you how cold it's going to get and the milder weather that's ahead for the weekend coming up, larry. >> all right, sandy, we'll see you in a few minutes with the seven day. happening now, a special meg of the alameda county board of supervisors. all about the sale of the oakland coliseum in january. the board voted unanimously to sell the county's ownership share of the coliseum to the african american sportsm and entertainment group. that group is proposing a $5 billion project for the coliseum site, expected to include some affordable housing, restaurants,

museums and much more. abc seven news reporter anser hassan. tracking the meeting as we speak, and we'll have an update coming up at 5:00. new developments with the california state university budget cuts. san francisco state announcing today it is going to eliminate three athletics teams. the school president says men's soccer, baseball and women's indoor track and field will be dropped in july. there are 44 students who were affected by this decision. csu schools, as you know, grappling with big budget deficits and funding for the system, is being slashed by nearly 8%. >> the white house says president trump will not sign an executive order today to dismantle the department of education. sources tell abc news that a draft executive order directs the secretary of education to facilitate a department closure. president trump says he wants to give education back to the states, though educational curriculum is pretty much handled locally, district by district. abc news has learned behind the scenes, there was concern among administration officials about

the blowback the order would receive and the lack of messaging in place ahead of the rollout. california's attorney general announced today another lawsuit against the trump administration. it's over the termination of grant funding for k through 12 teacher preparation programs. >> these are grants that our states counting on to train and prepare qualified educators. funds that are critical to addressing our state and nation's teacher shortage crisis. >> at least $148 million is at stake for california. it's used for programs that create a pipeline for teachers serving rural and urban communities, and those teaching harder to fill positions like math and science. rob bonta says attorneys or programs have been shown to increase teacher retention rates. keeping them in the profession beyond the crucial first five years. the money has already been allocated by congress. seven other democratic led states join the lawsuit. >> president trump now delaying the tariffs on canada and mexico

for one month. >> he says they will now go into effect april 2nd. abc news reporter perry russom has the latest. >> president trump's chaotic rollout of his tariff war taking another turn, temporarily delaying his 25% tariff on goods coming from both canada and mexico until april 2nd. >> long term, the united states will be very strong with what's happening here. >> trump making the decision after speaking on the phone with mexican president claudia sheinbaum this morning. sheinbaum says their call was respectful. it's the second time trump has delayed implementing tariffs. tariffs remain on china. trump blaming all three countries for the fentanyl crisis in the u.s. sheinbaum says her government's efforts to reduce fentanyl traffic into the u.s. have been working with fentanyl seizures down more than 41% in february. trump thanking sheinbaum for her hard work. the chinese minister of commerce today says the u.s. should take proactive measures of its own to combat the fentanyl crisis, rather than blame china. canada, responding to trump's 25% tariff

with tariffs of their own, leaving american business owners like jeff quint stuck in the middle. >> i would anticipate probably no more sales to canada for the foreseeable future. >> and again, this is only a delay in tariffs for mexico and canada. trump says they will still go into effect april 2nd. perry russom, abc news, washington. >> coming up on abc seven news at four, the big changes for small businesses in san francisco. a waterfront park sounds good, but is it worth the $35 million price tag? and an inclusive locker room? is it simply

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because waterfront is set to undergo a $35 million facelift. >> now, in about an hour, a community meeting kicks off to get input from residents for the redesign of the plaza. and abc seven news reporter suzanne fawn in the newsroom with reaction about the plaza and specifically the cost. suzanne. >> so, larry kristen sze supporters say this effort will pump new energy into a space that badly needs it. they say now is the time to transform the embarcadero plaza into a world class plaza that will connect the ferry building to downtown. but others question the cost and the timing. >> it's dilapidated. it has sunken brick. it has a fountain that hasn't worked in a decade. >> the embarcadero plaza at the foot of market street by the

ferry building. it's seen much better days. >> yeah, the fountain used to be on. used to be much, much more lively out here. >> it is in such poor condition that we really can't do that much out there. >> and that's why there's a big push by city leaders to renovate the plaza. >> so it's not a welcoming space right now. and this project is going to change that. >> san francisco supervisors unanimously voted tuesday to greenlight a $35 million plan to renovate the downtown park. >> it's going to have beautiful new green space. it's going to have kiosks for retail. it's going to have a new stage for musicians. it's going to have public art. >> while some people would love to see a new and improved park. >> i would spend the money to make it, to make the fountain run again. >> some people wonder if that's the best use of funds right now. city museums like the deyoung and the legion of honor have to scale back their hours because of the city budget deficit. national parks are cutting staff and services. >> i'd like to see them use the money to clean up the city, and i'd like to see that first

before i see the money go into a new park or any new fountains or anything. >> supervisor danny sartor explains where the money is coming from for the project. >> 10 million from private donors, 15 to 20 from public sources. and this is most of this money will be coming from a public bond last year. prop b, so it was a bond that the voters passed in the fall. and there's money specifically in that bond for downtown parks and plazas. >> it will be a public private partnership with funds donated by real estate developer bxp and others. the downtown s.f. partnership and bxp also plan to raise millions of dollars. the general manager of sf recreation and parks emphasizes that the money won't come from city funds. >> this project has the benefit of a pledge of 15 at least $15 million in philanthropy, and that's why this project is such a good opportunity for us, because we get to leverage the public money that we are investing and make it go so much

further, because we are in difficult times. >> and supporters tell me this is a cost effective win win approach for renovating a public space. live in the newsroom. suzanne vaughn, abc seven news. >> all right, suzanne, thank you. we'll see if they can get off the ground. san francisco's front street entertainment zone is hosting a saint patrick's day celebration for the first time this year. the block party will feature a parade, irish themed food, drinks and live performances from bands as well as irish dancers. this happens march 17th from 2 to 10 p.m. >> silicon valley remains the hub of innovation in the bay area, but it's also one of the most difficult places to live, according to a new study. the study looked at everything from the population to income, to how much venture capital is coming in. joint venture silicon valley says the median income is around $157,000, but the annual gains are lagging behind inflation. >> so in silicon valley, the feeling out there, i think i think we all feel this is that we're staying in place and that it's actually a difficult place

for a big segment of our population to get ahead. and it's getting and it's getting more difficult. >> $69 billion in venture capital poured in last year which is double from 2023. roughly 22 billion went to artificial intelligence startups. silicon valley also leads the way in remote work, with employees spending 37% of their days at home. >> california's high speed rail authority is optimistic about the future of that project. this after the trump administration raised red flags about the cost. the ceo, ian chaudhry, says the project needs a new financialhe strategy, which includes long term sustained investment, innovative financing and public private partnerships to leverage state funds. >> we are very optimistic that we will have a solution working with the state and with private sector that we can stabilize the funding of this program this year. at some point. >> the trump administration

asked for a compliance review of the project, which is way over budget and behind schedule. the investigation will determine whether billions in federal taxpayer money should be committed to the project. bart wants your input on proposed fare increases. they're talking about a 6.2% increase, which is scheduled for january 1st. bart says the proposed hike will help minimize the risk of service cuts. while the transit system explores a long-term funding solution. you can fill out the survey if you go to bart's website or in person at various station survey locations. >> just ahead. p-g-and-e's turns to ai for their forecasting what it means for the storm moving in next week. >> and a walk down the street turns into a very dramatic close call. look out!

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around the bay. it does. enjoy it while you can. well, yes. we got a little time. don't get stressed yet, larry. right, julia? >> i'm ready for the weekend. >> no need to stress when you've got sunshine. come on now. larry and kristen, let's take a look at a live picture. it's not sunny everywhere. winter is still hanging on. hard to make out. zephyr cove right now. this is up in the sierra. it is snowing right now in tahoe, blue canyon, truckee. visibility is low. take a look at live doppler seven. you can see those snow showers continuing to move through that area. south lake

tahoe is still under a winter weather advisory. looking at the wider picture here, southern california is getting in on the rain. there has been some active weather, as you will notice down south. now we look at our picture here and it's just really beginning to clear out. out ahead of behind. excuse me. this system we do have still some cloud cover though. now let's take a look at some of the rainfall. sfo four hundredths of an inch. ben loman picked up a third mountain view 2000/100, as you will notice. a little bit less than that in los gatos. sfo camera seen a few puffy cumulus 54. in san francisco. it's in the upper 50s oakland, hayward, san jose and redwood city. still a little bit of a chill in the air from our east bay hills. camera. look at it. it's so nice to see all the green hills, 60 in santa rosa and concord. and from our kgo roof camera all is quiet overnight. cold areas of frost friday through the weekend, sunny and warmer weather heading your way and rain is back next week with the strongest storm expected on wednesday. a frost advisory is going to go up for the inland valleys and

hills 1 to 9 a.m. tomorrow. temperatures down to the low 30s may drop to the upper 20s in our higher elevations. so yeah, we'll see some frost to start the day. so keep that in mind this evening. 50s and 60s. by 715 you start to notice some 40s popping up, and then tomorrow morning it will be down in the 30s for our coldest locations before a nice recovery. most areas will be noticeably warmer tomorrow. your morning temperatures will range from the low 30s to the mid 40s cold, so definitely grab those winter jackets before you go and you can pretty much shed them in the afternoon. nice looking weather is expected. upper 50s coast side to the upper 60s inland a lot of sun. and then on saturday we're going to hang on to the sunshine. you will notice most areas will be in the 60s getting up into the upper 60s. sunday still pretty nice with sunshine to start the day and then later on we will have some cloud cover. the accuweather seven day forecast. this is your opportunity to dry out. soak up the sun. don't forget to spring forward one hour.

sunday we go to daylight saving time and then next week look monday and tuesday don't look that impressive. a level one will have some showers around, but wednesday we do have wet, windy weather with a level two. an atmospheric river is potentially heading our way with a one for thursday. kristen sze. larry. >> all right. all right. thank you. sandhya. >> uh- p-g-and-e's doesn't have sand yet, so it's usini to predict where and when storms will be most severe. it's actually really interesting. the utility says the system uses a mix of real time and historical weather forecasts. it allows p-g-and-e's to work ahead of storms and position crews to minimize outages and mitigate wildfire risk. >> 1400 of our almost 1600 weather stations that we have across the service territory, and so we're able to see over a five day period what the wind speeds are doing and that those are those forecasts are enhanced with the machine learning. >> p-g-and-e's spokesperson confirmed that the model is being used for next week's storm. >> take a look at some dramatic

video of a near miss in brooklyn. three people were walking along a sidewalk when suddenly a tree started falling over, just missing them. one of them said, you can see us just standing in complete and utter shock about what happened. they said it was a miracle they weren't hurt. i have to suspect that they could hear the before the tree came crashing down, but at least they were alert and on the lookout and got out of the way. all right. coming up, wading through san francisco's bureaucratic red tape. >> they put this obstacle on another obstacle. so make you do life impossible. >> and it's not a nuclear waste site. it's a wine bar. >> the changes that could make things easier for small businesses. >> and a warning if you're feeling the

lining seems to be the in word at city hall. >> as you may have heard. san francisco mayor daniel lurie wants to make it easier for small businesses to go through the permitting process. >> abc7 building a better bay area reporter, lee ann lund, is here to tell us what that might look like. >> well, this may not come as a surprise to you, but san francisco has a lot of restrictions. we know that. and now the city is saying, hey, you know, san francisco would like to have the permitting experience equivalent to, say, buying a pair of shoes online. you place the order, you pay for the shoes, or in this case, the permits. you submit your address, and then you track your application fast, predictable and transparent. that's what the city is selling. but right now it's anything but. on the day of his inauguration, mayor daniel lurie mentioned several changes coming to san francisco,

including this one. >> the era of a new restaurant going through 40 inspections and receiving 50 different answers is over. >> i lost almost my identity. who i am. i'm not there. what? how am i going to get out of here? >> if anyone had a reason to complain about government bureaucracy, it's jose castillo, owner of cielito lindo taqueria. there was nothing lindo or pretty about the restaurant's permitting process, which took nearly four years and thousands of dollars in fees while trying to meet the required building and planning codes. >> they put this obstacle on. another obstacle, so make you do life impossible. >> when it came to upgrading the electrical system, he was forced to add two meters, one for his business and another for the entire building. so once you have this in place, right, which cost you a fortune, they asked

you to build this wall as well. >> exactly. so i had to do a new modification. >> and each time he had to modify the plans, it cost him more money. all along he continued to pay for rent while he was still closed. mayor lurie wants residents and business owners to navigate the permitting process more easily by having most of it accessible online. katie tang of the office of small business is part of the permit s.f. reform team. >> we want to be able to have that kind of a process for anyone who's applying for any type of permit to be able to see that journey, the status, and also have timelines. >> but this is another reason why the process is so complicated. this is the planning code. three binders with 2500 pages. these are layers and layers and layers of codes added through the years, mainly by san francisco supervisors. so let's take someone currently going through the permitting process just to

get a license to serve wine at the store, where bottles of wine are already sold. how could that be complicated? >> it's not a nuclear waste site, it's a wine bar. so we're thinking about subdividing, about right here, moving the retail items towards the front of the store, maybe moving some of the wine back here. and what you see is being occupied by various things would basically become a little bistro. >> bastian schell owns the spanish table. he thought it would be an easy process because of proposition h, which is meant to streamline the approval process for small business permits, some taking only 30 days. >> we went through a permitting application process with the city, thinking we could get it done quickly, and then and then sort of hit this wall of like, this is going to take six months and i can't figure out all these forms. i think we're going to have to hire somebody. >> right off the bat, he was met with 11 steps just to apply for a conditional use permit, including providing architectural plans, submitting

the plans, reviewing the plans and a public hearing where anyone can weigh in. then there are these next steps. he already has a type 20 license to sell wines at the store, but to serve a glass of wine with, let's say, a little bit of cheese on the side, he needs a type 42 license mandated by the state. but wait, there's more. >> when that conditional use permit is granted, the issuance of the alcohol license, then is subject to board of supervisory approval and mayoral sign off. like, get that for a minute. >> it's been six months already, and scholl has decided to hire a consultant who knows the permitting process inside and out. how much is that going to cost you to hire that consultant? >> i think it'll cost us between the consultant and an architect, it's probably going to be somewhere close to $10,000. >> meanwhile, remember castillo,

the owner of cielito lindo? he's still paying off his debt. but now that he has a business to run, castillo admits he's a much happier man. >> i did it, so that's what i felt, you know, at that time. i said to the city, you know, i did it no matter what. see. >> you did it. now, we all know that codes are there for a reason. they're important, but some of them just don't make sense anymore. or they are old. and to undo them takes will basically an act of god. let me give you an example. >> so that's all we have to wait for an act of god. >> god 1987 noe valley. they decide that there are too many restaurants and they want to ban new restaurants on 24th street, right? so they go ahead. and that's a code. they banned it, but then decades later, they realize that they the storefronts are empty and they need the restaurants. so now they go to city hall to undo the

ban the merchants. and to do that, they had to go through a process. they had to propose it. they had to have hearings. a supervisor had to introduce legislation. they had to go through the planning department, the planning commission, the full board of supervisors. >> and getting tired. >> one, that's one code. imagine all of the codes. >> oh my gosh. >> i have a headache. >> yeah, i know exactly. i think i grew five gray hairs just going through that process with you. all right. thanks, liane. san francisco is making progress installing speed cameras all around the city. 11 are now up at various intersections, with 22 more to go. once all 33 cameras are up, sfmta will turn them on, which is expected to happen later this month. warnings will be issued for the first 60 days after that. drivers will be cited if they go 11mph over the speed limit. >> coming up, backlash over an all inclusive locker room and gen x, gen z. now the newest

generation is not so happy

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it'll turn off so that there's not a risk that it's gonna fall to the ground and start a fire. okay. and i want you to be able to feel the improvements. we've been able to reduce wildfire risk from our equipment by over 90%. that's something i want to believe. [skateboard sounds] uc davis, facing backlash for replacing its traditional men and women's locker rooms with all gender spaces. the $5 million project is expected to be completed in september. in a statement, the university said

the universal locker rooms are inclusive of members with disabilities and all genender identities. obviously, you want those with disabilities to be accommodated, but i don't understand who would want guys dressing, undressing next to females who are dressing and undressing. i don't know what the architecture looks like, what the parameters are there, but i mean, why. >> i mean, this is a hot debate right now on so many levels, but i mean, it is worth remembering that in a lot of colleges there are coed floors with coed bathrooms now. and that's been the case like since i was in college. and that's a long time ago. but they have separation in which, like they have the floor to ceiling dividers where you're actually changing or undressing and but yeah, i mean, you know, i mean, at this time especially, i'm sure a lot of people are wondering. i also think it depends how the bathrooms are set up. i mean, if you're all sharing the same sink, i think

it's fine. but, you know, like in the bathroom, the bathroom, when it comes to the toilet area. right? so that's my take, right? >> it's like there are individual stalls, like in those dorm coed bathrooms, but you don't have urinals. >> yeah. like, why is this needed? i guess would be my question. you could just refurbish the locker rooms as they are, but i don't know. >> yeah. >> but hey, if it's making people feel more, you know, comfortable, i think it's good. >> i would think it would make them more uncomfortable. but i guess we'll see what happens when they get it done in september. >> yeah, a new generation is here and some people are already taking issue with its name. generation beta officially arrived on january 1st. the term will apply to anyone born between this year and 2039. the name follows the greek alphabet coming after gen alpha, but beta has a connotation of being less scholarly and is commonly used as slang for weak and passive. like, you know, i'm the alpha, you're the beta kind of thing. >> wow. >> you talking to me? >> oh. >> of course, larry, are you

talking to me? are you? >> when i hear beta, i think, oh, this is going to date me. betamax. >> oh my gosh, do you even know what that is? she doesn't even know. >> i'm sorry. is what? what did you just say? >> yeah. >> so there used to be, like, a video recording device. and anyway, it was. >> from sony a. >> long time ago. >> well, yes. yeah. >> you know what i think is super crazy about this is that this will be the first generation that will grow up not knowing what it is to not have social media. like they will grow up knowing what social media is. i think that's insane to me. >> for kids. >> yeah, they probably don't. >> even call it a social media. it's just it's just communication. it's just. >> yeah, it's just life. live life. >> yeah. >> all right. >> so. so you're the alpha here. >> sorry. i didn't say. >> i think i think you did. i think you did. >> a cheeto. >> shaped like. >> a pokemon character. just sold. you're not going to believe the amount of money here. you're looking at an

$87,840 chip. admire its beauty. it is a flamin hot cheeto. it looks like the fire breathing pokemon charizard, with whom i'm not familiar. >> oh, this. >> cheeto zade was found sometime between 2018 and 2022. >> they held it. >> for four years before auctioning it off. >> who would. >> pay that? >> i mean, that's ridiculous. i don't know. >> and you can't even. >> eat it. >> it's enclosed in the glass. >> right. >> but you wouldn't want to. you collected it for sure. >> so if you bought it for 87,000, you think you're going to find some knucklehead will pay you 100 for it? >> yeah. >> is that is that the premise. >> the fact that it still looks intact? a little concerning. i don't eat that. >> i mean, you. >> think there might be some preservatives. >> in that? the fact that it looks perfect. >> a little bit. >> just a little bit. just yes, it does. >> look super like a charizard. is that how you. >> say it? yeah. that's. >> yeah. >> that's a little uncanny. >> yeah. so it's weird.

>> if you love pokemon and you got money. okay, this is a good month to be a cheese lover. something a little more edible, you guys. the 19th annual california artisan cheese festival kicks off march 21st. the event offers not only lots of tasty cheese, but also educational events and tours of local cheese makers. >> all right, joining us this afternoon for a tasty preview is jill bash with point reyes cheese company. first of all, thanks for joining us. and kristen is already all over the cheese. what are we looking at today? what are we tasting. >> oh my goodness. you're tasting some award winning artisan cheese from northern california. in this case it's from point reyes farmstead, which is my company that i co-own with my two sisters. and we've got some toma, we have some gouda, we have our brand new fennel blue as well as truffle brie. so across all the varieties, we've got something for everyone here. a little sampling of what? of what can be enjoyed at the artisan cheese festival on the weekend of march 21st in santa rosa.

>> jill. it's very gouda. anyway. >> what makes it? >> what makes a great cheese? >> well, it starts with the milk, right? it starts with where it comes from. from happy, healthy cows raised right here in all of our backyards, here in the bay area. and we're really proud of that fact that whether you know, whether it comes from, in our case, cows or goats or sheep, that the milk, it really starts with the way, you know, the pastures are cared for and that it comes through in the great quality cheese and it tastes, you know, no matter what cheesemaker it comes from, it tastes like where it was made. >> oh my gosh, it's incredible. especially this truffle brie. that's really something. but let me okay. what is the experience like attending the artisan cheese festival. >> well it's a three day event. we are in our 19th year. we have 21 cheesemakers participating. we have over 80 artisan purveyors, you know, bakers and chocolatiers and preserve makers. and everyone will be

there. there's educational events. there's a great cheese crawl at the barlow in sebastopol on saturday night. there's farm tours on friday that people can go visit the farms and pet the baby calves and the baby goats. and i mean, there's something for everyone all weekend long. i just encourage everyone to go check out artisan cheese festival. >> com so yummy. did you say. >> there's a cheese crawl? like a bar crawl like. >> yes, cheese. >> i've never heard. >> of that before. oh. >> i like it better. >> but i promise you, there's plenty of beer and wine to drink along the way with the cheese. >> but if people want to go to the festival, what do they do? >> they go to our website, artisan cheese festival and buy tickets. i will tell you some of the events are sold out already, but there's still plenty for people to enjoy. and the and the grand event is our big marketplace on sunday where all of the cheese makers are there. you can get up close and personal, talk about how the cheeses are made, learn the histories of these family run companies, and as well as taste

lots of great beer and wine and spirits. and it's just super fun. live music. it's all afternoon on sunday the 23rd of march. >> wow. >> can i just ask you, how do you come up with these creative. is this the one, the blue one. what is that? it's amazing. >> that's that's our our brand new fennel blue. and it's. >> our with this. >> well we have a wonderful, wonderful cheesemaking team. and we get together and we, we look at what the, the marketplace is looking for is asking for. and in this case, we wanted a blue cheese that had a little extra flavor to it. so we thought we came up with the idea of adding fennel seeds. and it's really been a huge hit. shefs love it. consumers are are loving it and we're doing great with it. >> i love that you started this with your sisters. >> love it. yeah, yeah. >> we are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year in business and we're really excited. follow along on our on our social media. we've got tons of giveaways and contests and collaborations happening all

year long to celebrate. >> the california artisan cheese festival kicking off march 21st. thank you so much. really appreciate it.

the epic journey they are planning to kayak 225 miles around the san francisco bay area, across all nine counties. as abc seven news reporter lena howland explains, they are hoping to be the first duo to complete this journey.

>> up against gusty winds, strong currents and some low tides, dallas smith and his wife, liz wilhelm are taking off on one epic adventure thursday morning. >> i was like, continuously circumnavigating it by kayak, you know, we haven't been able to find many people that have actually or really anyone that's actually done this before. >> starting and ending in pittsburg. they're taking 12 to 15 days to kayak a whopping 225 miles across all nine bay area counties. and to make it happen, the team is partnering with the san francisco bay water trail. >> which is a series of launch locations all around san francisco, san pablo and suisun bay. and we're like, hey, we can just like, connect these dots. and there's actually some camping along the way and some really cool stuff to see along the shoreline. >> smith and wilhelm have a combined 35 years of professional kayak guide experience, and they just opened a joint venture company together last year. for now, they're planning to camp about eight of the nights. the other nights

they plan to stay at hostels or more affordable hotels along the way. >> we're hoping to try to, like, create this route that will be recreated for folks if they ever want to do this again. >> and this experienced duo isn't launching their trek empty handed. >> you know, splash pans, muck boots, splash jacket, life jacket, monocular. >> you know, a lot of extra layers for at nighttime for when we get to where our camp is. >> but get this, they're making the entire expedition on a tandem kayak. >> luckily, we've been paddling together, you know, for 15 years, you know, so we know each other's our cadence and, you know, the double kayaks, they have the nickname of relationship accelerators. but, you know, we're married, so we're we're excited for that. >> feeling pretty confident. >> you can follow along on their journey on instagram at point reyes adventure co in pittsburg. lena howland, abc seven news. >> good luck to them. privately owned lunar lander has touched down on the moon. intuitive machines athena lander dropped out of orbit as planned, but so

far, flight controllers have not been able to confirm its condition. it will join firefly's blue ghost lunar lander, which touched down sunday. athena is searching for confirmation that water ice is stored on that part of the moon. you can get a special view of the moon next week for the first time in nearly three years. a total lunar eclipse will be visible across the country. the eclipse starts next friday, march 14th, around one in the morning. nasa estimates the greatest eclipse will be at 259. >> abc's new hit series doctor odyssey returns to prime time tonight. >> and the special two part midseason premiere features a very toothy guest star. we'll catch up with the c

9-1-1, followed by doctor odyssey, then attend gray's anatomy and then stay with us for abc seven news at 11. doctor odyssey is back with its midseason premiere tonight. it is not going to be smooth sailing reporter george pennacchio caught up with the cast. >> it's always going to shock. hopefully. >> spence charmed. >> life through. >> doctor odyssey sails back to prime time with the two part shark storyline. >> we come back with this kind of insane episode. there's been a shark attack. we bring the we bring the victims back to the boat. everything kicks off. then next week, which i can't tell you what that is. it actually gets worse for our group of characters. >> mayday mayday mayday. our

boat is going under and there are sharks in the water. >> we're on our way. >> also on the way. the show's on board. for more involving the throuple with the doctor and his medical team. >> it's not over yet. and it's not this thing where this. what the heck that happened? and then we move on. it's going to fester in a new way. it's going to show someone else is going to come on the boat, and it's going to shine a light on our situation in a different way and give us a new perspective. and we keep on keep on deepening our problems. >> look for an upcoming episode about his character's past. i'm told you can't see coming. don johnson says his character has quite the episode on the way as well. he credits creator ryan murphy for making the show fun to work on and fun to watch. >> i defer to your judgment, doctor, and he put together this chemistry with this cast, and basically he went out and picked each person and all of us said, yes, that tells you something about ryan murphy, and it tells you something about the nature and the joyfulness of this show.

>> what is that noise? >> that noise? well, that's the sound of danger. it's part of what you get when you tune in for this odyssey. >> and it's beautiful and it's pretty and it's incredible and it's crazy and it's high stakes and it's bloody and it's gory. and then you go home, doctor. >> odyssey returns tonight at nine on abc in los angeles. george pennacchio for abc news. >> don johnson has had a pretty incredible career. it's going to do it for this edition of abc seven news at four. i'm larry beil. abc seven news at five is coming up next.

your eye symptoms could mean something more. that gritty feeling can't be brushed away. even a little blurry vision can distort things. and something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. up to 50% of people with graves' could develop a different condition called thyroid eye disease,

which should be treated by a different doctor. see an expert. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com seven. news starts right now. >> i was horrified. i mean, he was one of the last people i thought that would be anti-trans. you know, he was