abc7 news reporter katie utehs is in the newsroom with how the bay area is paying tribute to her. >> dan, reynolds surviving son todd fisher said here final words were that she wanted to be with carrie. ♪ >> reporter: the stars shine less bright tonight. >> shock. i couldn't believe it. i felt so awful for the family. >> reporter: hollywood legend debbie reynolds died today at 84. heather kitchen explains the magnitude of the loss. >> we always stand on the shoulders of those who come before us, and i feel like we all do with debbie reynolds and with carrie. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: reynolds shot to

abc7 news reporter katie utehs is in the newsroom with how the bay area is paying tribute to her. >> dan, reynolds surviving son todd fisher said here final words were that she wanted to be with carrie. ♪ >> reporter: the stars shine less bright tonight. >> shock. i couldn't believe it. i felt so awful for the family. >> reporter: hollywood legend debbie reynolds died today at 84. heather kitchen explains the magnitude of the loss. >> we always stand on the shoulders of those who come before us, and i feel like we all do with debbie reynolds and with carrie. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: reynolds shot to stardom in "singing in the rain" at age 19. and went gold with a song from can the tammy and the bachelor." her personal life, often as dramatic as her role. husband eddie fisher left her for elizabeth taylor. and two other husbands plundered her riches. >> the husbands leave, the children stay. >> reporter: she joked about her personal life in 2007. >> i do a fun act, a variety act. crazy. i'm just so delighted that i'm still alive. >> reporter: reoccurring tv roles kept her in the limelight wel

abc7 news reporter katie utehs is in the newsroom with how the bay area is paying tribute to her. >> dan, reynolds surviving son todd fisher said here final words were that she wanted to be with carrie. ♪ >> reporter: the stars shine less bright tonight. >> shock. i couldn't believe it. i felt so awful for the family. >> reporter: hollywood legend debbie reynolds died today at 84. heather kitchen explains the magnitude of the loss. >> we always stand on the shoulders of those who come before us, and i feel like we all do with debbie reynolds and with carrie. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: reynolds shot to stardom in "singing in the rain" at age 19. and went gold with a song from can the tammy and the bachelor." her personal life, often as dramatic as her role. husband eddie fisher left her for elizabeth taylor. and two other husbands plundered her riches. >> the husbands leave, the children stay. >> reporter: she joked about her personal life in 2007. >> i do a fun act, a variety act. crazy. i'm just so delighted that i'm still alive. >> reporter: reoccurring tv roles kept her in the limelight wel

katie utehs is live. >> reporter: a witness told police the woman said something along the lines is, she is mine, and grabbed the young girl and took off to the parking lot. santa rosa police arrested 41-year-old tina szczepanek on a kidnapping charge. around 10:45 this morning she entered the trader joe's on santa rosa avenue. a 4-year-old shopping with her mother went to return a kid's shopping cart while her mother checked out. that's when police say szczepanek grabbed the child saying "she is mine" and walked out of the store. the mother chased aftr her. >> so i'm glad somebody was there to stop her. i just couldn't imagine how that feel if that happened. >> especially because of the neighborhood. i feel like, i mean, like, there's so many people around and it's so busy, like, i mean, dominic, i mean, for instance, every single weekend we go in there and shop and, like, i'm okay with him going, you know, at least a little bit in front of me, not really thinking anything's going to happen. and, i mean, even though the carts are by the door, you don't really think anything like tha

katie utehs is live. >> reporter: a witness told police the woman said something along the lines is, she is mine, and grabbed the young girl and took off to the parking lot. santa rosa police arrested 41-year-old tina szczepanek on a kidnapping charge. around 10:45 this morning she entered the trader joe's on santa rosa avenue. a 4-year-old shopping with her mother went to return a kid's shopping cart while her mother checked out. that's when police say szczepanek grabbed the child saying "she is mine" and walked out of the store. the mother chased aftr her. >> so i'm glad somebody was there to stop her. i just couldn't imagine how that feel if that happened. >> especially because of the neighborhood. i feel like, i mean, like, there's so many people around and it's so busy, like, i mean, dominic, i mean, for instance, every single weekend we go in there and shop and, like, i'm okay with him going, you know, at least a little bit in front of me, not really thinking anything's going to happen. and, i mean, even though the carts are by the door, you don't really think anything like tha

abc 7 news reporter katie utehs is live in concord with the story. ? >> reporter: the fire displayed 22 people just ahead of crist place, and on top of that we're learning that thieves preyed on some of those fire victims and here tonight i'm going to tell you what you can do to help those people out. >> a fire at the condo complex in concord consumed nearly everything that jennifer ballard owns. things are things. they can be replaced but loved ones can't. >> her 5-year-old daughter suffered from smoke inhalation. >> my husband had to wrap my daughter and the puppy in a blanket and run through the flames. household belongings not destroyed by the fire also sat vulnerable and someone swiped jennifer's laptop. >> not did they just take it but then they got into it and used my account numbers and my visa online to make purchases of their own. >> the president of the homeowner's association says families like jennifer's need helps. stacks of clothing and toys have been donated. now a gofundme page is up and running. >> they have lost everything and they a

katie utehs spoke with one who said the tragedy is forcing a real discussion on serious issues. >> she makes prayer boats. >> i wanted to contribute through love and compassion. >> compassion as the community comes together. >> the way we honor each other is to reach out to each other in community. there are a lot of people who are very comfortable in their bubble. people focus on what they did with their lives in the final moments of that fire. and other folks are more complete, more aware of what they did all of those many years and days before that all the warehouse fire is forcing issues to the forefront. >> we collect money to bury our friends. we have friends who don't have a place to sleep tonight. those are some truths that some of us who have safe homes don't think about. >> people cheered to honor lives lost while many use their voices to call on community leaders to step up in the aftermath of the deadly fire. >> people who have more can do more. >> words to reflect monday on the shore of lake merritt. >> that was katie utehs reporting. another candlelight vigil held in san

abc 7 news reporter katie outies -- katie utehs is live with more. >> reporter: it's injury on top of injury, a family had things stolen moments after becoming fire victims rather. now, as the fire marshal investigates the cause, i'm here to tell you what you can do to help the fire victims. residents of the condo complex in concord sift through rubble. a fire last week displaced 22 people. >> just happy that they made it out alive. >> my husband had to actually wrap my doubtered and little puppy in a blanket and run through the flames. yeah, he's my hero. >> reporter: medics transported jennifer ballard eats 5-year-old daughter malia to be treated for smoke inhalation and while that happened someone swiped the family's remaining belongings, including a laptop. >> not did they take it and got into it and used my account numbers and my visa online to make purchases of their own. >> reporter: the president of the homeowners association says families like jennifer's need help. >> we still have four families that are living in motel rooms. >> reporter: stacks of clothing and toys have bee

katie utehs spoke to the victims's friends. >> please let their spirits live on. >> her weekly peace march baf a memorial. she lost five friends. >> johnny was quirky, kind of funny, and then donna, she was a ray of light. it was a peaceful and loving person. vic was jovial and loved to travel. barrett, a loving individual, too. >> she says the man who ran the artist collective, derek almena took ativan taej of people. >> it insults me every time he calls them his children. he would have fixed the place up. >> gallo says they need to do their part in enforcing fire code. >> they're not here, and i think the fire marshal is the most effective individual to enforce the codes. >> meanwhile, atf investigators mapped the building. they now say a refrigerator was not the cause of the fire. but they're looking at electrical sources. >> it angers me because we have a lot of fellow artists who struggle, but live and work in better environments. >> gallo says he would like to see a moratorium on evictions, while they push landlords to make safety improvements. katie utehs, abc 7 news. >>> ther

in san francisco katie utehs, abc 7 news. >>> an interesting twist tonight despite the calls for retaliation. russian president vladimir putin appears to be turning the other cheek. in a statement tonight he says, "we will not create any problems for u.s. diplomats. we will not expel anyone." he then invited all children of the u.s. diplomats "accredited in russia to a new year's and christmas show at the kremlin." >> the goal of that message was not the obama white house. it's the incoming administration and mr. trump. >> and that may have worked. donald trump praised putin today for holding off on retaliation. the president-elect tweeted, "great move on delay. i always knew putin was very smart." >>> firefighters in southern california have rescued all 21 people including seven children trapped on a ride at knott's berry farm. the sky cabin slowly takes riders up in the air for a scenic view. around 2:00 this afternoon, though, the ride got stuck 130 feet into its 180-foot ascent. firefighters used ropes to lower people down one by one because the ladders on their fire trucks weren't long

katie utehs, abc 7 news. >>> antioch police are talking to several people of interest following a double shooting. officers found a woman in a silver jeep with a gunshot wound to her head near east 18th street and carlo road and found a man nearby with gunshot wounds to his chest and arms. mblg crews took both victims to the hospital. no other details have been released. >>> flames forced 22 people to find a new place to stay today when fire ripped through their apartment complex on laguna street in concord this is video, a witness, steve mays shared with us. firefighters rescued two people. sky 7 was over the scene as crews worked the fire from the roof. fire and water damaged six units, two of them severely. crews are now checking for hot spots and mopping up as investigators work to determine what cause that had fire. >>> flaring from an east bay refinery prompted a public health advisory at about is 30 this afternoon. it was lifted an hour ago. sky 7 was over the martinez shell refinery where a spokesperson tells abc 7 news the refinery activated flaring due to a partial power outage

in san francisco katie utehs, abc 7 news. >>> an interesting twist tonight despite the calls for retaliation. russian president vladimir putin appears to be turning the other cheek. in a statement tonight he says, "we will not create any problems for u.s. diplomats. we will not expel anyone." he then invited all children of the u.s. diplomats "accredited in russia to a new year's and christmas show at the kremlin." >> the goal of that message was not the obama white house. it's the incoming administration and mr. trump. >> and that may have worked. donald trump praised putin today for holding off on retaliation. the president-elect tweeted, "great move on delay. i always knew putin was very smart." >>> firefighters in southern california have rescued all 21 people including seven children trapped on a ride at knott's berry farm. the sky cabin slowly takes riders up in the air for a scenic view. around 2:00 this afternoon, though, the ride got stuck 130 feet into its 180-foot ascent. firefighters used ropes to lower people down one by one because the ladders on their fire trucks weren't long

katie utehs has that. >> reporter: flames, shooting out of the window of a highrise caught the attention of matthew mill. he drove headed towards 19th avenue, and recorded this video. san francisco state university students who live in the building didn't realize the severity of the situation at first. >> we had a lot of false alarms, but never the real thing. >> reporter: the 12 story a apartment building is on cambom and the fire broke out on the 19th avenue side. they left the apartment without jackets, thinking they would be let right back in. >> it smells like smoke, we got outside and there was smoke coming out of the door. >> reporter: firefighters say they distinguished the flames in less than 30 minutes. the call for backup, just in case. >> we struck a second alarm fire, as a precautionary measure, because it is a highrise, we were able to put it out quickly with two hose lines. >> reporter: firefighters dumped burned debris, while investigators work to determine the cause. the red cross is helping two displaced residents. in san francisco, katie you 'ti'ti utehs news. >>> san

. >> katie utehs reports they have only hours to leave the country. >> as i said, it is only a [ inaudible ] >> a man stepping into the vehicle with consulate plates called the actions unfriendly step. some 35 russian diplomats have been ordered to eleven the country within 72 hours. it is unclear how many of the people work out of the san francisco consulate on green street. every day business occurred as usual. [ inaudible ] >> the diplomatic expulsion is in response to allegations of mistreatment of united states diplomats in russia. russians we spoke with are upis the about the developments. >> i feel sad about that. it is a misunderstanding between our nations. >> in response to russian hacking, the state department is shutting down two russian come ponds used for intelligence gathering. two hackers warned by the f.b.i. are being targeted. >> mostly concerned how the next president will handle this. it needs to be investigated. >> president-elect donald trump released a statement saying it's time fur or country to move on to bigger and better things. >> people at russian cobs lot appe

katie utehs has the story. >> what started as an assault into the napa high school football team may have actually uncovered several hazing incidents related to the rivalry game. this is video of this year's big game. >> if you look at an assault compared to being engaged in hazing the intent is different so that is the an emthe investigation is going. all the initial allegation surfaced on november 19. all the district staff became aware and they alerted police. >> after interviewing players, 140 students are in the football program, it appears hazing took place dug the 2015 and 2016 seasons. >> we are looking at a couple of weeks before big game napa versus vintage high school. few details are being released citing the need to protect minors, with only a small group involved. the district is simultaneously investigating and sent home a letter to parents. >> we ask our students, parents, community to let the investigation happen and to try to keep specific -- speculation to a minimum. >> detectives are asking anyone with information to come forward. >> the increase in san jose's min