with the japantown task force. i'm also on the land use committee, and i'm currently on the peace plaza committee, as well. and i just wanted to come to -- you know, thank you for listening to our presentation. i know you're not going to be voting on anything, but i wanted to kind of remind you that this place that i live and many people visit is a place of history. it's a place where people will come to not only shop and eat there and dine there and visit but most importantly to feel the heart of the community, you know, the pagoda and the peace plaza is the heartbeat of our community. this is where a lot of the festivals are presented. we have interfaith festivals with the clergy. when things are happening in our world, we join together there. this is also a place where people gather, they meet people, and they sit and they talk and they discuss. it's called the peace plaza because we hope when people come to our peace plaza, they feel peaceful, but they remember the history of our people and our culture. i come

we would head over to japantown and hangout at japantown bowl.k then, things were a lot different. we had fun as kids, but we got into trouble probably some here and there by crossing the streets where we shouldn't have, and we really want to focus on trying to make san francisco a better, more safe place, and make our public transportation system a lot more reliable than it had been in the past. i think about, you know, just what we've been able to accomplish in this community. you know, a lot of great improvements in our public transportation system. in fact, when i served on the board of supervisors, because there was a geary limited, which is now the geary rapid. i didn't understand why the fulton and the 510 and all these buses that came between the west side and the east side transportation, why we weren't thinking more about our transportation systems and thinking more about the 510-r. thank you to the sfmta because it's been a great addition to our public transportation system. but i also think about the past. if we had built all of our t

i'll just recognize a few, ben horn, richard hashimoto from japantown. i'm sorry if i missed a few others. we welcome the community effort from the members, the merchants, the riders, and you're seeing the fruit of that collaboration in the designs that are kicking off today. of course, this is an essential transit safe reliability and travel time improvements, as supervisor brown mentioned in fantastic fashion with the 75 days a year of travel savings when you add it all up, but it's a significant safety project and a way to knit the community together. i just want to thank all the hard work that my team and many others across the city family have devoted in all the hours and the outreach and the funding phase, and working with groups like the japantown task force and fillmore communities and the merchants such as everything from the cpmc which just very happily opens at the intersection of vanness and geary to the smaller businesses and the medium sized businesses in the japantown area, the fillmore, all those folks who will be able to be confident tha

i'm resident of san francisco japantown for over five decade. it is my privilege, my duty and my responsibility to appear before you to speak to benkyodo's application to this small business commission. i had a very distinguished delegation representing the japan town community. benkyodo has been mainstay in the fixture of the japantown area for 113 years. planted by the grandfather and to his sons rick and bob who carry the third generation and last remaining business in san francisco that still makes japanese handmade and pastries. generations of japanese americans passed through benkyodo to provide traditional delicacies which over 1000 pieces are made daily by hand. japanese-american family menu and lifestyle a dish. it is a must. in recent years, the customer-base has changed. shoppers includes multiple asians and others including overseas visitors, europe, asia coming to benkyodo, clutching their travel guides, happily asking further information. no other businesses in japantown or if the city truly deserves the honored status of small bus

it is a huge community cultural celebration spanning two weekends in san francisco's japantown. and to talk about the cultural connection the cherry blossom festival cultivates between united states and japan, the consul general of japan is here to join us. and one of our favorite culinary connections, the hawaii food and wine festival, put on by the ka'anapali beach resort association and the westin maui resort and spa. we'll talk about the food, fun, and how you might be able to attend thanks to the cherry blossom festival and nbc bay area. all on our show today. well, my family has been going to the northern california cherry blossom festival since i was a kid and i bring my own kids now. it is truly one of the biggest cultural events anywhere. joining me now is the festival co-chair, our old friend greg viloria, who has been the chair of the marketing committee since 2013, and he also works for a bay area market research firm and is a self-described part-time media maker. welcome to the show. greg viloria: thanks for having me. robert: part-time, right? greg: part-time. robe

a look ahead at the festivities going on in japantown this weekend.the rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way." "i've seen a cat without a gri, but a grin without a cat." hey, mercedes, end audio. change lighting to soft blue. the completely reimagined 2020 gle. with intelligent voice control and available third row. your adventure awaits at the mercedes-benz spring event but hurry the event ends april 30th. >>> here are the winning numbers from the $175 million mega millions drawing. >> no one hit the jackpot so it will go up to $192 million on tuesday. good luck. >>> happening today, the northern california cherry blossom festival continues this weekend, in san francisco. this marks the 52nd year for the springtime tradition. the festival features food and artwork, celebrating centuries of japanese culture. it runs from 11:00 until 6:00 tonight in japantown. tomorrow is the grand parade. with mayor london breed as a co martial. >>> next on abc 7 mornings at 6:00, it is the day pot smokers have been waiting for. thousands have been e

it runs from 11:00 to 6:00 tonight in japantown.london brooeed as a marshal. >> good thing tomorrow is the parade because it will be much warmer and sunnier. >> a deep marine layer today. mist and drizzle. delays at sfo. highs today with partly cloudy skies throughout the afternoon. 65 in san rafael. 70 in napa. it is going to take some time to scour out the clouds on the peninsula. upper 50s, gusty winds half moon bay. 67 for livermore. and the accu-weather seven-day forecast, today, cool, breezy and blustery in spots, partly cloudy late in the day. sunny, warmer tomorrow. but boy, look at the warming trend getting under way for earth day on monday. it lasts through the middle of the week. with mid to upper 80s. even around the bay. the coast even warms up. the winds are going to back off as soon as tomorrow along the shoreline. so today is the coolest out there. >> the micro climate forecast can change so fast. >> yes, especially in spring. you got it. >> thank you. >>> thank you for joining us on abc 7 mornings. "good morning ame

japantown, temperatures will start out in the upper 50s, reaching lower 60s throughout the rest of the day. on sunday, i'll be emceeing the autism speaks walk. it's going to be beautiful out there. temperatures in the low 60s at the time that the walk starts. and warming up into the upper 60s going throughout the day. so we have nice weather weekend ahead. hopefully you'll join me out there at the walk. i've been posting about it. a slight chance of rain. not seeing anything heavy here. it warms up going through the middle of next week. mike, you've been looking at one blip in the tri-valley. >> i have been looking at those posts. thank you for sharing all of those bits of information about autism. it shed a lot of light on folks that i work with as well. over here, a smooth drive. gr e-84, i've seen it move, push down. i think there is a creweth iny from c road work. the dublin interchange, just fine. crass troe valley just fine as well. we have one minor crash reported eastbound 37 coming away from th novato. partially blocking the slow lane. no blockages for transit lines. parking l

. ♪ >> abc news was in japantown while drummers played during the northern california cherry blossomtival. this marks the 52nd year for the springtime tradition. the festival features food and artwork marking the japanese culture. in case you missed it, the cherry blossom festival continues next saturday and sunday, but not tomorrow when we may see some rain. >> next weekend should be great for easter as well. >> all right. francis, thank you very much. that's it for abc 7 news at 5:00. we thank you for your time. i'm eric thomas. for the entire abc 7 news team, thank you for joining us. we'll see right back here at 6:00. tonight the come back. one of the greatest in sports history, tiger woods is the masters champion his first major come back. and the one moment evoking a memory from decades ago. >>> also tonight the devastation after almost 15 reported tornados, at least eight people killed, including two children, the tornado watch stretching all the way up to ohio. now the new severe weather threat for millions this week. >>> sanctuary city threat, the white house says the presid

it runs from 11:00 to 6:00 tonight in japantown.s a co-marshal. >>> final weather check with lisa argen. >> it is going to get brighter and breezy out there but much cooler today. mid 60s in oakland. 64 in san mateo. barely 70 in the warmest locations with the sun sooner. but the northwest winds making it feel pretty blustery. tomorrow, that all goes away, we're sunny from the beginning of the day, towards the end, where temperatures will climb into the 70s inland. and then by monday, tuesday, wednesday, it's warmer for everyone with an offshore flow. and then cooler by the end of the week. so that's a springtime forecast with those wild swings. >> can't wait for the warmth. >> yes. >> it will be good. >> lisa, thank you. >>> thanks for joining us on abc 7 mornings. i'm chris nguyen, alongside lisa argen. we will leave you with a live look outside. the abc 7 bay area spotlight is coming up. abc 7 news returns at 5:00 p.m. until then, make it a great day, everybody. >> this is the abc7 "bay area spotlight." this week's advertisement

. >> tough to miss japantown and other enclafs around the is it he. >> you don't have to leave the countryyou could get everything you want worldwide here. >> professional sports at the sap center which ironically named the top concert arena in the bay area. >> the sharks made a big difference moving the seem downtown. >> more is expected in the heart of the city soon. >> google is having a new headquarters here they are doing a lot for -- its own publicity. >> publicly even san jose state named the most underrated college in the state. visit san jose says it isn't a insult but a testament to the city humility. >> we are humble mind our own business and just do our thing. >> wong says changing culture, changing tech changing the way the world thinks. in san jose amanda del castillo, abc 7. >> san jose getting its props anew. >> absolutely. >>> we need to to check the weather for the weekend. >> our meteorologist sandhya patel is mere. >>> i have encouraging news. storm after storm we have seen all winter and part of spring. it has paid off. look at our season to date. everybody above 100%.

our largest challenges in creating this cultural district when we compare ourselves to chinatown, japantownttle saigon, there's little communities there that act as place makers. when you enter into little philippines, you're like where are the businesses, and that's one of the challenges we're trying to solve. >> undercover love wouldn't be possible without the help of the mayor and all of our community partnerships out there. it costs approximately $60,000 for every event. undiscovered is a great tool for the cultural district to bring awareness by bringing the best parts of our culture which is food, music, the arts and being ativism all under one roof, and by seeing it all in this way, what it allows san franciscans to see is the dynamics of the filipino-american culture. i think in san francisco, we've kind of lost track of one of our values that makes san francisco unique with just empathy, love, of being acceptable of different people, the out liers, the crazy ones. we've become so focused onic maing money that we forgot about those that make our city and community unique. when peopl

. >> abc7 news was in japantown while drummers played during the northern california cherry blossom festivaladition. it features food and artwork celebrating superintendents of japanese culture. this weekend, the cherry blossom festival continues next saturday and sunday. when it comes to monday, well, i'll let frances tell you. >> increasing clouds tonight on live doppler 7. that's just ahead of a front and a storm moving our way. on our storm impact scale, it's one out of five. there will be moderate rain at times as the front sweeps through. anywhere from a quarter to half inch of rain for most areas. occasionally breezy conditions, as well. by lunchtime it hits parts of the north bay. heaviest throughout the afternoon hours and into the evening commute. areas of yellow. then it tapers off by the evening. spring skiing in the siera. winter weather advisory with up to a foot of snow tomorrow through tuesday morning. the seven-day forecast, rainy and cool tomorrow. drying out on tuesday with isolated early morning hours. a warming trend and it looks very warm and sunny thursday and friday.

sunday, the big cherry blossom festival sunday in japantown. nice and clear. staying comfortable and cool throughout the day. pause it is earth day and we're celebrating john muir. we have free admission into muir woods. it will be 61 on saturday for the high. and slightly warmer on sunday as we keep that sunshine. if you're going to the sierra, squaw valley is looking nice. it will be warm. expect more snow to be melting. upper 50s on friday. lower 50s on saturday. so we'll talk about what's going on today. a look at our temperature trend is coming up in three minutes >>> sounds good. we'll look forward to it, kari. >>> all new for you this morning, a plan to make mass transit cheaper. the agency making the proposal and how it will work. >>> revealing new information in the jussie smollett case. the text messages we're now seeing about the bay area actor's alleged hoax attack. plus -- ♪ >> all right. wake up beehive. beyonce dropped a brand-new album in the middle of the night. the reaction to the music. what we are learning from the now documentary about the

northern california cherry blossom festival in japantown and temperatures in the upper 60s.nd tomorrow so great to go out and enjoy that. over the next seven days, a quick look at what to expect. again staying dry and for the most part clear but increase in cloud cover will roll in sunday night and that will make wayer not trough ma moves in with the te ynd'll wake up to a couple of showers here and there. by the afternoon things will clear out and then check out wednesday, thursday and friday. san francisco will befray as th high pressure, strong ridge of high pressure begins to warm up into the 80s for inland areas. so that is a welcome sight. just a couple of showers but, chris, you will be at the cherry blossom festival so everybody head out and say hello. >> thank you for the perfect forecast. >>> still ahead on "today in the bay." serious safety violations. we investigate pg&e's transmission tower issues, including one in a dangerous location in contra costa country. each morning, people wake. and smile, not that one. this one. it makes knowing when to take your prescr

that's happening in san francisco in japantown. expect it to be right at 58 degrees at the time it starts. rising into the low 60s. now, if you're lucky enough to have tickets to the warriors game tomorrow, it is still going to be nice whether you're going to be inside or kind of hanging out for a little while outside before you go into the game. it starts at 5:00. 66 degrees and cooling off as you head out of oracle arena. and we talked about the autism speaks walk. this sunday in san jose at the football practice field. it's going to be in the low 60s at the time that the walk starts. most live sunny skies. very comfortable. i posted all the details from the autism speaks walk on my social media pages. on facebook, twitter, and instagram. heavenly is going to be beautiful. upper 40s. no issues with getting there or coming back. temperatures are warming up. there's still a lot of snow on the ground. you should probably make plans to get there soon. muir woods will have nice weather. mostly sunny skies. temperatures in the upper 60

japantown, 58 degrees. mostly clear skies. low 60s as we go throughout the day. and if you are lucky enough to have tickets to go to the warriors playoff game tomorrow, it's going to be right at about 65 degrees heading into the arena and dropping into the upper 50s. we've been talking about this, autism speaks walk, this sunday in san jose. 61 degrees. perfect weather for the walk all throughout the day. i have the details on facebook, twitter, and on instagram. going to the sierra, it will be nice and heavenly, reaching 45 today. tomorrow, 56. so it warms up with all of that sunshine. muir woods, mostly sunny skies. upper 60s. perfect hiking weather. if you're going to the beach, 62 today and 65 on saturday. a look at today's forecast and more things going on in three minutes. >>> looking forward to that, kari. >>> coming up, cities across california and here in the bay area banning pot stores even though there's more than 70% of voters approving it. up next, new requirements being drawn in sacramento to stop the pot ban. >>> plus, what are you doing this weeke

the grandpa raid is next sunday from civic center to japantown.just gorgeous, gorgeous event in terms of just cherry blossoms. but the weather is absolutely perfect today. thank mark tamayo for setting us with the perfect weather today. >> you could hear in the live report the little bit of a breeze kicking up as well. factor that in. dress in layers. it could be a little warmer in the afternoon hours. san francisco forecast high close to 60 later on today. look what has returned, low clouds and fog back at sfo this morning. solid overcast here, expanding in coverage. as you know the impact for us is cooler temperatures compared to yesterday. tomorrow we should bottom out with temperatures in addition to some rainfall for your monday forecast. and then beyond monday, we warm up steadily. right now the main focus across the country today is out in the south and east. in fact a good portion of the east coast from georgia and portions of the midwest is that well defined frontal boundary that could produce severe weather throughout the day. it is some

a grandpa raid through japantown on april 21.one of the largest celebrations of japanese culture on the west coast. >>> time is 7:56. surprising allegations coming up for you at 8:00. a new report accusing the president of trying to retaliate against some of his harshest critics that targeted sanctuary cities. plus, beating the odds, the amazing progress report about a little oakland boy who accidentally shot himself in the head. what his family is still waiting for on his road to recovery. >>> if you're getting on the road soon, you will see some commutes are better than others. san mateo bridge not too bad. bay bridge a little crowded. we'll tell you where the slow ones are straight ahead. >>> lots of sunshine today. a few high clouds, but nothing compared to yesterday. temps warming up. the winds will not be as much of a factor. nice looking friday. >>> now outside of pg&e in san francisco. later on today, directors will meet with governor gavin newsom to reveal the findings of a report on the growing cost of wild fires and wh