jeffrey brown reports from ashland, oregon, as part of our "american creators" series. >> caesar, caesar. >> brown: a production of william akespeare's "julius caesar", with a twist-- caesar was played by vilma silva, latina woman. >> i was caesar. ( laughs ) lots of explaining. >> brown: not obvious casting, yeah. >> no, it wasn't. the news spread pretty quickly in the town. and i was shopping in bi-mart, one of our local shops here, and from down the aisle, i heard someone go "hail caesar!", and i looked down the aisle, and there was this woman, and she was so excited. >> bro: it's the kind of community engagement, high- quality production, and casting decisions that the oregon shakespeare festival has become known for, all taking place in the small-town atmosphere of ashland, in a beautiful rura rt of southern oregon. >> part of why i fell in love sth this theater company its location. i think it being in a relatively isolated rural area surrounded by all this incredible natural beauty is part of what made my heart sing. >> brown: bill raucheen owtistic director here since 2007, helpi

of course the saturday evening commute through ashland was snarled as crews worked to remove the aircraft from the interstate. >> you can have all the traffic you want in the world, as long as nobody gets hurt. and, you know, that's about it. >> reporter: the investigation into exactly what forced that emergency landing is still under way. it's just a miracle that everyone walked away without a scratch. in hayward, i'm amanda del castillo, abc 7 news. >>> developing news on the theft of a plane at seattle's pareair. we're hearing for the first time from the baggage handler's family who say there is shock at what he did. investigators say richard russell is the horizon air employee who stole the aircraft and later crashed it, killing himself. one of his friends read a statement from the family. the family said beebo, russell's nickname, was warm, kind, and gentle. >> we are devastated by these events and jesus is truly the only one holding this family together right now. without him, we would be hopeless. as the voice recordings show, beebo's intent was not to harm anyone. he was right in

>> yes. >> ashland police chief jim birdsell was called to the scene. >> about 5:50 that evening i got11 advising me that there had been a domestic in town at 11 horseshoe drive, saying the husband came to pick up the daughter for visitation, forced his way into the house and knocked the elderly woman down and she was having medical problems at the time >> when he arrived, he found this was no routine domestic. >> i walk up, open the door and walk in the house. directly in front of me was an elderly lady sitting in the chair which turned out to be shirley skinner and a person kneeling beside her holding her hand. >> then a first responder motioned over to the other side of the room. >> i saw the body laying down there. >> any sign of life? >> no. >> it was stephen watkins, dead on the floor. a 9 millimeter glock handgun on a box several feet away. >> trying to get in my mind what happened, the ems personnel told me shirley made a statement to them that she had shot him. >> they reported to the chief that shirley had said a couple times is he dead? i shot him. he shouldn't have come bac

this is the emergency landing eric gear witnessed on saturday, on 580, near the 164 avenue exit in ashland. the pilot said the fuel line snapped and caused the plane to lose pressure and said he had to alert other drivers as to what is happening. >> the cessna is not flying very well. >> the traffic won't paying attention. i needed to react. turning on the flashers, honking the horn, doing weaving getting their attention. >> there was no damage and they are okay. >> a plane stolen from seattle and crashed on a nearby island, they found the remains at that crash site though the pilot's death has not yet been confirmed, the black box headed to washington for a thorough analysis. they wanted to know how a man with no flying experience, how could he hijack a passenger plane. carolyn tyler has more. >> absolutely amazing. i don't know how he did it. >> he flew planes for 35 years and he and colleagues are stunned by the seattle incident. a baggage handler they say did not have a pilot's license was able to fly a stolen passenger plane for over an hour doing incredible maneuvers. >> they are com

from moscow watching we can hear our teams and ashland i know who you are thanks for joining us this hour. first of all let's go to our breaking news story police say there have been multiple fatalities in jacksonville florida in a mass shooting this happens during a video game tournament in a local entertainment center shortly after the first reports of the attack emerged the video came online of the moment of the attack just to warn you you might find the record distressing. the attacker is now dead according to police sources no official information on any potential motive suffering released so far the american media site some witnesses who say one of the game was opened fire after he lost. now to our weekly stories facebook's upping the ante in its crusade against fake using scott on another buying spree in a bid to stop the phenomenon and thereby limit efforts to sway political opinion in a patrol car has more. thanks for joining us millie but franco with your latest news in the world of social media facebook and twitter have gotten rid of suspicious accounts schooling fakes and

the name again ashland walk-ins in south carolina. being able to dunk it at that age.oining us. our coverage continues at 7. we were worried about you. don't be melodramatic. i'm just getting on a train and leaving forever. so a few things don't go your way and your best decision is to ride the rails like a hobo? leonard, i am overwhelmed. everything is changing, and it's simply too much. i need to get away and think. sheldon... yes? i'm gonna miss you. of course you are. you just made that easier. excuse me. is it at all possible that you're knitting a pair of pants? oh, well, no, you're understandably terrified. but, you know, allow me to explain. 45 days ago, um, i embarked on a railroad journey of healing

but, of course, the saturday evening commute throughout ashland was snarled as crewed worked to remove the aircraft from the interstate. >> you can have all the traffic you want in the world as long as nobody gets hurt. you know? that's about it. >> reporter: the investigation into exactly what forced that emergency landing is still under way. just a miracle that everyone walked away without a kratch. amanda del castillo. >>> developing news on the fast double plane at seattle's airport. the family is in shock. investigators believe richard russell, the horizon air employee who stole the aircraft and later crasheded it is dead. one of his friends who had a statement for the family, that statement says, russell was warm, kind, and gentle. >> we are devastated by these events. and jesus is truly the only one holding this family together right now. without him, we would be hopeless. as the voice recordings show, his intent was not to harm anyone. he was right in saying that there are so many people who have loved him. >> experts say that friday's incident will likely prompt major review o

look at this plane coming down, near the 164th avenue exit in ashland. the pilot called the highway patrol the fuel line snapped and what caused the plane to lose pressure. >> it swooped down and hovered there for a little bit and found a clearing and dropped right down. he didn't hit-traffic, impressive maneuver. >> high on adrenaline at the time and hoping everybody would be okay. >> the two people inside, the pilot and passenger are both okay after this. no damage in fact was reported at all. >> that's incredible. >>> nearly two million workers in california may be impacted by a state supreme court ruling that could turn them into company employees instead of independent contractors. lobbying from employers against it and labor leaders for it. looking at the divisive >> reporter: many of these hauling trucks are independent contractors who pick the hauls and drive theirselves. ride share drivers and taxi share drivers and hairstylists and many others say the state supreme court take is a way their independence and could also hurt their income. >> i wi

showing the plane landing on 580 in ashland in unincorporated san leandro. the plane was headed from lake tahoe to the hayward executive airport when this happened. the pilot told the chp the fuel line snapped so the plane lost pressure. now listen at how calm the pilot was. >> i have an engine issue here. we're probably going to try to get on the road nearby. i'm not familiar with the roads here but i'm going to choose one and let you know. >> this person will never have to be on blood pressure medicine. was hur rr. o o t plarreay i want to find out sur somethind has nerves of steel. amazing. >>> developing news regarding the missing college student who grew up in the bay area. >> police in iowa plan to give an update on the search for mollie tibbetts. the 20-year-old last seen nearly a month ago going for a run. last night the church the family attended living in piedmont held a vigil for her. abc 7 got in touch with her mother who is thankful for the support. >> she was inclusive with everyone. one of the most kind people in the class. >> no matter how li

. >> dash cam video shows the plane landing on i-580 in ashland in unincorporate san leandro. the plane was headed from lake tahoe to the hayward executive airport when this happened. the pilot told the chp the fuel line snapped so the plane lost pressure. you can hear how calm he was from air traffic audio. >> i have aner robabloing to try to get on the road nearby. i'm not familiar with the roads here but i'm going to choose one and let you know. >> wow. that's the kind of calm i woul not have expected. no one on the plane or freeway got hurt. the plane was registered in reno. >>> it is the first day of school for thousands in the bay area. school starts today at several school districts including oakland unified, pleasanton unified, palo alto unified and rincon valley school district in sonoma. many are starting early. in previous years classes began during the third week of august. hope you have a great day. >>> a white van caught in masse sinkhole, t rescue effort involving dozens of people in china. >>> you are never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather fo

new dash cam video we obtained overnight shows the plane landing last night on interstate 580 in ashlandthe plane was originally supposed to land at the hayward executive airport. the pilot told the chp the fuel line snapped and caused the plane to lose pressure. you can hear how calm he was from air traffic audio. >> i have an engine issue here and going to try to get on to the road. i'm not familiar with the roads here. but i'm going to choose one and i'll let you know. >> wow. the pilot and his passenger walked away without any injuries. there was no damage to surrounding structures much neighbored describe the bizarre landing. >> it was like was going out of gas or something. then it hit the ground. all i could do is run and scream and say a plane is on our freeway. >> the investigation into what exactly forced the emergency landing is under way. >>> this morning we're learning more about the horizon air employee accused of stealing a plane and later crashing it near seattle. our abc news reporter has the latest. >>> oh, my god, is he okay? >> reporter: the alarming arrow -- aerobati

one person suffered minor injuries when the single engine cessna made an emergency landing in the ashland neighborhood. the plane was not damage and didn't hit any vehicles on the freeway. the pilot reported a rough engine and had to bring it down. no word yet on where the trip began. the faa said the owner is based out of reno. >> developing news about a shooting in the uk. 10 people have been hospitalized in manchester. the victims were celebrating at a caribbean carnival. injuries range from major to minor and none are life- threatening. detectives do not have a motive or suspect. violence has been on the rise in britain despite strict gun controls. >>> 7:05. family and friends mourning the death of a construction worker killed in san francisco. the sacramento area man was killed while working in the twin peaks tunnel. his friends and family are devastated. >> we are inspecting this side of the tunnel where a construction worker was killed after being hit by a steel beam. >> i started to call friends and family to get out a prayer chain. he has been my best friend 30 years. >> it is pa