abc7's karina rusk has been following the morning's court hearing and is in the newsroom with more. >> a hearing to determine if giovanni ramirez violated his parole and got underway at 9:30 this morning, it could last for hours. prosecutors have not charged ramirez in the attack on bryan stow and it's possible they could be forced to take action rather than see ramirez set free on the unrelated charge. court observers said several witnesses are scheduled to testify at the hearing, including some who do not speak english and will need a spanish translator. police says ramirez violated parole because they found gun in a laundry basket where he was arrested. he's the primary suspect in the attack at dodger stadium that put giants fan bryan stow in a coma. if a judge rules that parole violation did not take place, ramirez will be released and likery rearrested on charges related to the beating and formally charged in 48 hours. an attorney for ramirez insists his client was not

karina rusk, "abc 7 news." >> eric: an innovative program at ucsf is using music to treat patients. carolyn johnson tells us how it works and effort to bring it to other hospitals and schools as well. ♪ >> reporter: childhood stroke has interrupted his speech but not his ability to express himself. ♪ >> he is starting the beat with the help a therapist at the children's hospital. the program introduces music to young patients helping them cope with the stress and discomfort of being hospitalized. >> so the way i was working but he was fully engaged in the drumming and nothing else matter hat at that point is a truly a therapeutic moment. >> reporter: foster for several hours, the sessions are a break from ongoing treatment. in steven's case, it's cystic fibrosis. >> one of your favorites? >> yes. ♪ ♪ >> it doesn't have to be intimidating. music can be a supportive vehicle to express emotions the story. >> music therapy program is cooperation between the ucsf and a nonprofit to get it in public service. it was started by a musician kip gallagher. the group now places what it calls mu

abc7's karina rusk is live at the scene. karina? >> there is a lot of activity here. police are looking in the possibility that the crime started at the post office a half a block from here. there is a trail of blood that goes through the intersection at buchanan and marina bvmd and ends in the fort mason parking lot. the person who discovered the body called police at 6:36 this morning. three hours later they confirmed that the victim was a young man. >>. a 19-year-old white male, fully clothed and found in the water. identification has not been made. it's being investigated as a homicide. >> police say at 10:30 last night, they did get a call about a fresh trail of blood. state-of-the-arted in front of the post office at bucannon and beach and made its way to the pier area. at that time, the officers from the northern nation responded. >> the marina green area is a big parking lot area. they searched from one end to the other looking in vehicles and looking for people. they did not find any victims. >> a team from the medical examiner's office has been on scene much

abc7's karina rusk is live at the scene. karina? >> there is a lot of activity here. police are looking in the possibility that the crime started at the post office a half a block from here. there is a trail of blood that goes through the intersection at buchanan and marina bvmd and ends in the fort mason parking lot. the person who discovered the body called police at 6:36 this morning. three hours later they confirmed that the victim was a young man. >>. a 19-year-old white male, fully clothed and found in the water. identification has not been made. it's being investigated as a homicide. >> police say at 10:30 last night, they did get a call about a fresh trail of blood. state-of-the-arted in front of the post office at bucannon and beach and made its way to the pier area. at that time, the officers from the northern nation responded. >> the marina green area is a big parking lot area. they searched from one end to the other looking in vehicles and looking for people. they did not find any victims. >> a team from the medical examiner's office has been on scene much

karina rusk is live at the san jose courthouse. you talked to her attorney. >> yes, i did and she is going to return to court here in san jose on july 8 to enter a plea. she is arrested two weeks ago and now on out of custody. she appeared with her attorney to hear the charges against her. she is accused of two counts of lewd acts with a child. the d.a.'s office says the victim is a 14-year-old boy who attended school in san jose where she is a teacher. she says that she was involved with the private school for about five years. she lived in los gatos. she did not want to talk to the media but her attorney made brief comments. >> i will say she is deeply embarrassed to put in this situation and respect of privacy she does not want to comment on that. >> reporter: the judge ironed the standard order not to have any contact with a minor child involved. an attorney says he needs to review all the information and also will talk with the district attorney before deciding how his client will plead. she has no criminal history and she has

karina rusk is live at the san jose courthouse. you talked to her attorney. >> yes, i did and she is going to return to court here in san jose on july 8 to enter a plea. she is arrested two weeks ago and now on out of custody. she appeared with her attorney to hear the charges against her. she is accused of two counts of lewd acts with a child. the d.a.'s office says the victim is a 14-year-old boy who attended school in san jose where she is a teacher. she says that she was involved with the private school for about five years. she lived in los gatos. she did not want to talk to the media but her attorney made brief comments. >> i will say she is deeply embarrassed to put in this situation and respect of privacy she does not want to comment on that. >> reporter: the judge ironed the standard order not to have any contact with a minor child involved. an attorney says he needs to review all the information and also will talk with the district attorney before deciding how his client will plead. she has no criminal history and she has

as karina rusk reports, the budget crisis is not helping police solve the problem. >> you know what, get it done. >> reporter: east palo alto police served search warrants at 13 locations, looking for known gang members on probation and parole. at one address, they questioned and photographed jose. he is on probation but says he is not part of a gang. the gang operations are specifically intended to put the pressure on two gangs. a fourth sweep since gang violence earlier this month killed a three month old baby who died in a hail of bullets when his family was mistakenly targeted by gang members as they were leaving a baby shower. >> families, people in general, anybody who lives in the city downd be able to drive town the the street and not have to worry about gun fire. >> in 2005, 15 murders and more than 150 shootings in east palo alto. in the past five years with help from the state department of law enforcement murders have dropped by 70%. now, baby isaac's death once again called attention to the senseless violence. >> justice needs to be done for the baby. >> reporter: the re

karina rusk explains why police are so concerned. >> because this is information right here, this ishere he actually lives. this is a photo of him. >> reporter: about 40 officers spent the day going door to door in west san jose handing out flyers and telling people about a registered sex offender living in the area. >> if he had done the crimes that he was convicted for today he would be serving multiple life sentences in state prison and never get out. >> wayne page has been out of prison for about a year and living in a condo complex. neighbors say he has an edge engaging personality. >> you think he is a friend and then this hits you in the face and you are saying what, this person is that? >> the 61-year-old page was convicted in 1977 on kidnapping and rape charges stemming from assault in the south bay. his parole super vision ended in february and law enforcement is concerned he could reoffend. >> there is certain factors that we had to take into consideration and i can't disclose all of those that makes us believe that he might be a threat to the community. >> reporter: three

i'm karina rusk. >> i'm eric thomas. topping the news this morning, firefighters in sunnyvale are still putting out hot spots from a big stubborn apartment house fire. the blaze sent one person to the hospital. abc7's nick smith is live at the scene. do they know what started it yet? >> eric, we don't know what started the fire. but we do have good news. we know that the fire is completely out now. chief pick told me moments ago that one of the issues that they had concerns around was the location of the building. in fact, i'll play some sound for you. >> yeah, because of the roof -- [ no audio ] >> cause of the location of the building, eric, we understand that they had difficulty reaching some of the hot spots. now, what had happened here, earlier this morning, right around 2:00 a.m. the call came in for a fire here at 639 caliente. four units were engulfed in flames. that caused them to ask for a little bit of help. four different agency responded. one person was taken to the hospital, like you said. earlier. one pers

i'm karina rusk. >> i'm eric thomas. in the news this morning, home run king barry bonds will be in federal court in san francisco today demanding to know if prosecutors will retry him for perjury. a jury convicted him of obstruction of justice and deadlocked on other charges stemming from the alleged steroid use. abc7's amy hollyfield is live in san francisco with more on the story. amy? >> that first year he couldn't make up his mind. so should the prosecutors take the case to another jury or let it die? the government has said it needs more time to figure out what to do. but barry bonds' attorneys say they are going to force their hand. they say the trial needs to start 70 days after the mistrial. so they say it's time to decide and move on. the mistrial was in april and they deadlocked whether bonds died about taking steroids. the jury did convict him of obstruction of justice. he has one hearing ahead of him on that issue. today, a status hearing on whether he will be retried. that could mean we will hit reset on th

. >> i'm karina rusk. yes, is it going to be hot -- it is going to be hot today but not as hot as yesterday. that exceeded everyone's expectations. unless you were listening to mike nicco. >> yeah, mike. cool off ahead of us? >> i think so. some of it on the coast in san francisco, but above average with 79 and 85 in oakland. wealth of 90s for the rest of the bay inland valleys of the north bay. the 101 in concord, which tied a record. 102 in antioch. 101 in livermore. well, the sea breeze as you saw is back with the flags on the ferry building. cooler weather for all of us. check out the 24-hour temperature change. 7 degrees cooler in concord. warm at 94. eight degrees cooler in oakland, santa rosa, fremont and san jose. nine degrees cooler. 11 degrees in san francisco. this is the beginning. >>> 5:01. jewish and muslim groups are going to court today to fight a proposed ban on circumcision in san francisco, which is on the november ballot to give the voters the final say. opponents don't believe it shoul

. >> i'm karina rusk. we have breaking news in san jose where firefighters are battling to control a fire at a fraternity house. it's on the campus of san jose state university. abc7's nick smith is on the scene with the latest. i still see flames, nick. >> karina, eric, i want to get to the pictures. want you to see what i see now. flames are bursting through the roof. downtown san jose, south of the campus. that is the kappa sigma fraternity house. you see the firefighters using ladders and shooting water to the building. we understand it started in the laundry room. i want to show you video of what we saw when we first arrived on the scene. as you can see, they evacuated and they didn't think it was as serious as it's become now. initially it was only a two-alarm. it's been elevated to three-alarm. once they attack the fire and break through the roof, the flames exploded. i want you to also know we had a chance to speak to the captain on the scene and he told us how he attacked the fire. >> they get on

abc7's karina rusk is here with more. >> right, eric. 10,000 this year and 30,000 troops by the end of next year. the question is how fast the pace of the departures will be. until president obama announces his decision, all sides of the debate are making their voices heard. this morning, house speaker john boehner voiced republican concerns that president obama may choose to pull too many troops out of afghanistan too quickly. >> i am concerned with a precipitous withdrawal of the troops to jeopardize success we've made. >> there are nearly 100,000 u.s. troops currently serving in afghanistan. administration and pentagon sources say the president is expected to pull out 10,000 troops by the end of this year and bring 20,000 home by the end of next year. we heard today from afghan political leader abdullah abdullah. >> success would depend on two main factors. the ability of the afghan government, the afghan leadership and the institutions. to shoulder the responsibility. also, how to use the lerm on pakistan to stop supporting -- leverage on pakistan to stop supporting the taliban. >>

abc7's karina rusk has been following the morning's court hearing and is in the newsroom with more. >> a hearing to determine if giovanni ramirez violated his parole and got underway at 9:30 this morning, it could last for hours. prosecutors have not charged ramirez in the attack on bryan stow and it's possible they could be forced to take action rather than see ramirez set free on the unrelated charge. court observers said several witnesses are scheduled to testify at the hearing, including some who do not speak english and will need a spanish translator. police says ramirez violated parole because they found gun in a laundry basket where he was arrested. he's the primary suspect in the attack at dodger stadium that put giants fan bryan stow in a coma. if a judge rules that parole violation did not take place, ramirez will be released and likery rearrested on charges related to the beating and formally charged in 48 hours. an attorney for ramirez insists his client was not involved in the attack. and says a photo released this weekend shows ramirez with dark hair at the time, which l

abc7 karina rusk joins us to talk about the high-risk stakes involved. >> indeed, larry. there is a 122 lay offs in this. department. the question is additional 156 lay offs and with that many jobs hang nothing the balance virtually everyone is holding out hope that this deal westbound reached. >> indeed the entire city are at a cross roads when it come to police service. there are 278 lay offs in the time when the city saw 22 homicides this year compared to 20 in all of last year. >> not much else. you are looking at property crimes not seeing much attention. >> they have agreed to take a 10 percent pay cut to avoid more lay offs. negotiations fell apart in the police chief's union for the pay off plan. >> it was clear to us that the city was trying to sabotage our efforts at pension reform. >> they are willing to continue talking and offered to eliminate mention reform language to get a deal done. it would save 156 officers from being laid off. >> i have begin them another option to settle and if they are willing they will meet to find the tentative agreement to save th

karina rusk reports. >> lehigh cement plant in coopertino has been testing new technology to reduce the amount of mercury emissions coming from its facility. the plant has been turning limestone to cement for decades and in recent years, people living in the area have grown more concerned about the toxic byproducts. >> we are implementing a very innovative technology, we are the first plant applying this emission reduction technology. >> the company says it deployed an activated carbon injection system last month. this chart illustrates early test results which show mercury going into the air is reduced by 90%. one neighborhood group critical of lehigh operations is applauding the company's efforts. >> they have been one of the highest mercury emitters in the cement industry. they are the first now to use this. we're looking forward to see the results. >> lehigh says it will be installing an e.p.a. approved monitoring system at the plant in october and that system should reassure everyone that there are significant mercury reductions. the entire cement industry is under orders from the

karina rusk reports. >> lehigh cement plant in coopertino has been testing new technology to reduce theof mercury emissions coming from its facility. the plant has been turning limestone to cement for decades and in recent years, people living in the area have grown more concerned about the toxic byproducts. >> we are implementing a very innovative technology, we are the first plant applying this emission reduction technology. >> the company says it deployed an activated carbon injection system last month. this chart illustrates early test results which show mercury going into the air is reduced by 90%. one neighborhood group critical of lehigh operations is applauding the company's efforts. >> they have been one of the highest mercury emiters in the cement industry. they are the first now to use this. we're looking forward to see the results. >> lehigh says it will be installing an e.p.a. approved monitoring system at the plant in october and that system should reassure everyone that there are significant mercury reductions. the entire cement industry is under orders from the federal g

i'm karina rusk. >> karina decided to get up early and join us. we thank you for that. i'm eric thomas. we begin with breaking news in sunnyvale where firefighters spent hours trying to put out a big and stubborn firefighter that sent at least one person to the hospital. these are live pictures from the apartment complex near the intersection of caliente drive and johanna avenue. firefighters from four agencies are called to fight the blaze. one person has been taken in for injuries. four apartments have been damaged. they manage to contain the blaze in the last few minutes but say it could be hours before they're done searching for hot spots. abc7's nick smith is on the scene and we'll have a live report in about a half hour. >>> firefighters are trying to determine what caused a brush fire that came close to homes in benicia that broke out near interstate 780 at the east fifth on-ramp yesterday afternoon. the flames spread across two acres of grass before firefighters had it surrounded. the fire scorched the fences of several homes but didn't damage any buildings. >>

abc7's karina rusk is here with more. >> right, eric. 10,000 this year and 30,000 troops by the end of next year. the question is how fast the pace of the departures will be. until president obama announces his decision, all sides of the debate are making their voices heard. this morning, house speaker john boehner voiced republican concerns that president obama may choose to pull too many troops out of afghanistan too quickly. >> i am concerned with a precipitous withdrawal of the troops to jeopardize success we've made. >> there are nearly 100,000 u.s. troops currently serving in afghanistan. administration and pentagon sources say the president is expected to pull out 10,000 troops by the end of this year and bring 20,000 home by the end of next year. we heard today from afghan political leader abdullah abdullah. >> success would depend on two main factors. the ability of the afghan government, the afghan leadership and the institutions. to shoulder the responsibility. also, how to use the lerm on pakistan to stop supporting -- leverage on pakistan to stop supporting the taliban. >>

i'm karina rusk. >> i'm eric thomas. topping our news this half hour, former san francisco giants slugger bonds could learn today if federal prosecutors intend to retry him on perjury charges. he and his lawyer will be in court to demand decision from the government. amy hollyfield is live outside the federal courthouse in san francisco with more. >> barry bonds has been coming to the courthouse to face charges for 3-1/2 years. his lawyers say it's time to wrap this up and move on. prosecutors could announce today they want a new trial against bonds. if they do, bonds' lawyers say then the trial under federal law must start in less than a month. remember back in april, a jury couldn't decide whether he lied about taking steroids. bonds' attorneys say under federal law a new trial has to start within 70 days of the mistrial. the judge called for status conference today to get the date and intentions clarified. the government says it needs more time to decide whether to retry bonds. his attorneys say enough is enough. they

i'm karina rusk. >> i'm eric thomas. this is the first full day of summer. it actually started yesterday. that was a scorcher. and the day before was a scorcher. it won't be quite as hot. >> getting a cooldown of sorts. meteorologist mike nicco is here with that. >> good morning. you can see it yesterday and feel it yesterday along the coast and in san francisco. 67 at half moon bay. 79 in san francisco. 85 in oakland. look at the wealth of upper 90s. from the north bay to the south bay and 100s as we expect in east bay valley. the difference today is more of that fog and marine layer will start to move inland. temperatures today will drop from about seven degrees in concord to 11 in san francisco. many of the areas still well above average. but it's a cooling trend. we'll drop the temperatures some more throughout the forecast. i'll show you when that happens in a minute. first, karina and eric with more news. >> thank you. topping the news this half hour, a new twist this morning in the debate over a local athlete was mistreated on a u.s. airways flight. h

i'm karina rusk. >> i'm eric thomas. thank you for inviting to us your home. a fraternity house on the campus of san jose state is burning. these are live pictures you can see. that fire engulfed the roof and the attic area of the area. it started before 3:30 this morning at the kappa sigma house in the 100 block of south 11 street. it took firefighters about, well firefighters say residents were already evacuating when they arrived. there is no word yet on any injuries. again, we're on the scene of the massive fire of the fraternity on the campus of san jose state university. there were reports earlier that the fire had gotten out of control to the point where firefighters were thinking about evacuating the building. abc7's nick smith is headed to the scene. he will have more in a live report coming up at 5:00 a.m. we are right now track iing this fire. whether there are injuries. we don't believe there are but we'll let you know. >> following developing news in oakland where a massive fire gutted a victorian overnight and injured a firefighter. this fire sta

i am karina rusk. >> and i the news continues with dan and cheryl. >> i really didn't want to get offe plane. i felt like i didn't do anything wrong. >> right now at five, a man arrested for wearing saggy pants talks about the incident in an interview only seen here. >>> and new numbers rates are down and that is not good news for those looking for work. >> a group threatens to sue the state if lawmakers gets paid while they work on a budget that the governor will approve. first, the young man kicked off of the flight in san francisco international is embarrassed by the negative attention. >> he was bailed out of jail and talked with vick lee. >> he apologized but felt he was treated badly. >> that's right, cheryl. he feels sorry for all of those inconvenienced by the disruption that the incident cause trying hard to be a role model in the bay view where he grew up and he want to get his side of the story out there. >> i really want to apologize to the passengers was flight 488. you know, i never had any intentions of interrupting the flight. >> the crew on his flight he believes over

karina rusk. wonderful to be here. >> i'm eric thomas. wonderful to have you. topping the news this half hour, jewish and muslim groups in san francisco are going to court to hope to prevent a controversial ball lot -- ballot measure to get to voters. the initiative is set to appear on the ballot and it asks voters to ban circumcisions. we have more on the lawsuit that aims to keep them from deciding. >> circumcision is important in muslim and jewish faith so they will both come together to file lawsuit in superior court. it would make it a misdemeanor to circumcise males under 18. they got signatures to put it on the ballot. critics say it's a threat op religious freedoms but that is not what today's lawsuit is going after. the lawsuit shames it violates a state law to prohibit local government for enacting restriction on medical procedures. supporters think it's important to ban circumcision because they consider it painful and a cruel procedure. opponents say it's a common medical procedure and city voters should not have a say. whatever the outcome of the i

i'm karina rusk. >> i'm eric thomas. >> the former giants slugger barry bonds and the lawyers go to court today and demand an answer to a big question. will bonds be tried again for allegedly lying to a grand jury about whether he knowingly took steroids. abc7's amy hollyfield is live at the federal courthouse with a preview. amy? >> barry bonds has been playing to the courthouse to face charges for 3-1/2 years. it's time to wrap it up and move on. prosecutors could decide today whether they want a new trial against bonds. if they do, bonds' lawyers say if the trial under federal law must start in less than a month. in april, a jury couldn't decide whether he lied about taking steroids. bonds' attorneys say under federal law a new trial has to start within 70 days of mistrial. the judge called for a status conference today to get the date and intentions clarified. the government has said it needs more time to decide whether to retry bonds. his attorneys say enough is enough. and they want to pressure the government to make a decision. they're obviously hoping the government will decide to

i'm karina rusk. >> i'm eric thomas.begin with the latest on breaking news you saw first at 4:30 on abc7. massive fire gutted a fraternity house on the campus of san jose state university. that fire literally burned for hours. abc7's nick smith joins us live with the latest. nick, every time we check back it looks as though the firefighters have made some progress. but there is something burning still. >> eric, they have indeed made progress. captain gutierrez is here with me now. you made some progress with the fire. but the fire is still burning. more than three hours into it. is that a reflection of seriousness of the fire? >> it is reflection of the seriousness. when we go defensive, tough to get to the seat of the fire and contain it. the flames are knocked down and they're making sure they knock out the rest of the fire. we originally did aggressive interior attack on the second floor in the attic. >> what was the situation when you arrived? >> they reported heavy back smoke at the back of the building. when they w

i'm karina rusk. >> thank you for getting up early and joining us. >> my pleasure. >> i'm eric thomas. topping the news this half hour, this morning one person in is in the hospital and several more are trying to find a place to live after massive overnight fire at sunnyvale apartment complex. it was so big, it took firefighters from four agencies more than two hours to knock it down. abc7's nick smith joins us live from sunnyvale with the latest. nick? >> eric, there is some good news. the fire has been contained. there are no more hot spots. if you look over my shoulder, red cross has arrived and firefighters are about to allow residents of the building back over to the property to retrieve some things but it will be a supervised escort. i want to show you video of the blaze this morning. one person has been taken to the hospital because of injuries sustained from the early morning fire that started before 2:00 a.m. when firefighters arrived they say it was fully involved three-alarm blaze. four different agencies responded. we know that at least four apartment homes have sustained

karina rusk, abc 7 news. >> the tower will be illuminated in honor of vincent perez andanth me val ario. >> we are getting a sense of outpowering of sympathy for the firefighter. they went to the house of anthony valerio's parent's house to help mow the lawn. it has been a massive outpouring of sympathy. station 26 in san francisco reminders was loss were everywhere. the irony the best people to help them deal would be lieutenant perez and anthony valerio. >> no matter how sad you were, he would make you smile. >> no one will be smiling when the city holds a double memorial for perez and valerio in the cathedral. imagine 2500 people in one room doing the same. union president tom o' conner is working on the massive logistics. >> the families want the men remembered the men they were and heroes. >> investigators picked through the rubble for cluse today . the cause of the fire does not appear to be suspicious which made the life easier for juanita green who owns the place. the union made a clue about what made the fire so difficult. terrain and wind and house arc tecture from the front s

karina rusk reports. >> the cement plant in cupertino has been testing new technology to reduce the amountry emissions comes from ace facility. they have been turning limestone into cement for decades and people have been more concerned about the toxic byproducts. >> we are inventing a new technology. we are the first in california applying this emission reduction technology. >> they deployed an activated carbon injection system last month. this chart illustrates early test results that show mercury going into the air is reduced by 90%. one neighborhood group critical of the operation is applauding the efforts. >> they have been one of the highest mercury me mitters in the industry and they are first now to do this. >> they will be installing a monitoring system in october and that system should reassure everyone that there are significant mercury reduction. >> the entire cement industry is under orders from the federal government to comply with new standards by 2013. they praise them for making changes. >> they actually didn't have to comply until 2013 so it shows true good faith to the c