abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley is live tonight with a look at a bill that would let bart override local zoning standards. leslie? >> reporter: that's right, dan and kristen, this bart parking lot, any land that bart owns within a half-mile radius of its stations could be turned into affordable housing. it's a contentious debate. affordable housing or allowing cities to retain their power to control their zoning? ab-2923 would empower the bart board to adopt new transit oriented zoning standards for each of their stations. parcels owned by bart within a half-mile radius of stations could be developed for housing, and local jurisdictions would have to conform to new bart zoning standards. tim grayson co-authored the bill. >> it's past time for our cities to come to the table with real solutions for housing, whether they consider -- transit -- affordable housing development. >> i don't think bart is in that business at all. >> reporter: you get a tidal wave of opposition if you talk to neighbors. >> i have some grave concerns that with the power, they're an agency that can't handle t

abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley live in berkeley with both sides of this debate. >> reporter: yeah, this intersection, as you can see, has a large tree in the middle of it in the traffic circle. it was around three years ago that a driver claims that tree obstructed their vision, a woman was struck, and seriously injured in a crosswalk here. she sued the city. now the city is going to analyze all 60 traffic circles and the vegetation growing in them. driving through many berkeley neighborhoods is an odyssey of sorts. every block or two, cars have to navigate around traffic circles in the intersections, some with two-way stops, some with four-way stops. it can get confusing. among the 60 traffic circles here, half have trees, palm trees, oak trees and red woods as you can see. some have full on gardens lavished with attention by volunteer neighborhood care taikers. >> i love the trees and plants. we have people in every corner who take care of it and water it. >> other traffic circles look abandoned with weeds and what the city thinks could potentially be trees that block line of si

>> abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley talked to some people that know exactly what they need to do. fire victims from santa rosa's deadly fire storm that took place ten months ago. >> lots of us are now reexperiencing our sense of loss. >> but for the grace of god we survived a devastating fire. almost a year ago. >> when it happens to you, it becomes more than real. >> reporter: those who lost everything here in fountaingrove and other parts of santa rosa know what it's like to survive a fire one week, one month, ten months down the road. today they shared the life lessons they'd like to pass on. >> well, you do make it. you do manage to figure it out. you know, the insurance maze. >> reporter: richard allen took action on day two after his house burned down. he ordered a computer overnight, and called his insurance company. >> i called an attorney, and had an attorney help me and coach me. an insurance attorney. people that didn't do that, some of them did okay, and some of them are still floundering nine months later. >> say yes to those that are willing to help you. and you may

leslie brinkley went there to check it out. >> reporter: there are baby mures in pools and more in intensive care indoors. these little guys were likely born on the fair lawn islands. at this age they should be learning to fish with their fathers. 100 chicks have mysteriously washed ashore from monterey to marin over the last month. >> starving, emaciated, anemic. >> have you ever seen anything like this before? >> not this many babies. we have babies everywhere. >> the international bird rescue center in fairfield has a theory. >> warming waters on our coasts means the fish that normally live there are going to cooler waters, they're going further away. babies can't dive. they can't hunt properly. probably what's happening, the adults are following the fish, and they're not able to take the babies with them. >> the expensive around the fo stabilizing the birds here, making sure they're waterproofed, getting food and medicine. it's being called an emergency as the center is reaching out to the public for financial aide to help these baby birds. the challenge in releasing these chicks in anot

live in walnut creek, i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. >> leslie, thank you. we used the abc 7 news app to send out this push alert, golden state killer case will be tried in sacramento county. download the abc 7 news app so you can be the first to know when news breaks. >>> a man is charged with trying to pay someone to murder the children he's accused of molesting. after rodney thomas jr. was arrested, he allegedly asked several inmates to kill the victims. based on an undercover operation, the d.a. is adding five charges of solicitation to commit murder. >>> a man who is in the country illegally has been charged with killing mollie tibbetts. police say he led them to a body believed to be hers in an iowa corn field. within the last hour president trump commented on the case at a rally in west virginia. >> you heard about today with the illegal alien coming in, very sadly, from mexico, and you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman. should have never happened. >> authorities say they zeroed in on 24-year-old cristhian rivera after his ca

abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley is live with details tonight. b. >> reporter: classes start tomorrow here at cal. there are 42,000 students settling into their often expensive crowded hard to find apartments and housing units. but the good news this year is a brand new dorm for 750 lucky students. >> all of the facilities are really great. it almost feels like a hotel. >> it's blackwell hall. a new residence hall getting rave reviews for the ping-pong and pool tables. add to that, long-term lease apartments and uc berkeley added 836 beds on a campus long known for housing shortages. >> i'm committed to doubling the number of beds that we offer our students in the next ten years. >> the new chancellor is prioritizing new housing construction on land the university owns from adding apartments at albany village to the north to building dorms at sites adjacent to the heart of campus. first up for construction is people's park. famous for 1960s activism now known as a haven for many homeless. this vacant field will make way for the biggest project, 3

abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley is live in lafayette where residents are upset over this bill, leslie, and fighting back. >> that's right, dan. in fact, bart officially says they're taking a neutral stance on this bill that is this week before the assembly, and likely to be voted on by the end of the week. it's a bill, as you said, that would allow bart to build housing, affordable housing near their stations, but override local building ordinances, and it's not that popular among some people at least out here in the burbs. >> a quaint neighborhood. we'd like to keep it that way. >> you'll get fierce opposition from those neighboring the lafayette bart station, and at least eight other stays long the bart lines. a b-2923 would empower the bart board to adopt zoning standards for each of their station. parcels of land owned by bart within a half a mile radius of stations could be developed for housing, and local jurisdictions would have to conform to the new bart zoning standards. assembly man tim grayson out of concord co-authored the bill. >> i think it's past time for cities to come

abc news reporter leslie brinkley joining us live now to explain the controversy. leslie? >> that's right, larry. three years ago a woman was seriously injured in the crosswalk behind me. the tree you see in the middle of the traffic circle is what the driver claimed obstructed their line of sight. the city, as you said, reportedly has settled that lawsuit and is now embashing on a campaign to analyze what's growing in all 60 traffic circles. driving through many berkeley neighborhoods is an odyssey of sorts. every block or two, cars have to navigate around traffic circles in the intersections, some with two-way stop, some with four-way stops. it can get confusing. among the 60 traffic circles here, half have trees. palm tree, oak trees and redwoods, as you can see from droneview7. some have full-on gardens lavished with attention by neighborhood volunteer caretakers. >> it seems like a badge of pride to have their traffic circle looking that cool. >> but others look abandoned with weeds and what the city thinks potentially could block line of sight. some may need to come

. >> leslie brinkley is live with a look at what she said today. slie. >> reporter: dion, there are he settling into crowded, what are often times crowded expensive, hard to find living units. one bright spot, though, a brand new dorm just opened up. some nice new digs for over 750 incoming fresh american at cal. >> a luxury hotel, something like the hilton. incredible. >> reporter: it's blackwell hall, a new residence getting rave reviews for its ping-pong and pool tables. add to that long term lease apartments and uc berkeley added 836 beds this year on a campus long known for housing shortages. >> i'm committed to doubling the number of beds that we offer our students in the next 10 years. >> reporter: just one year into her tenure here, the new chancellor has successfully slashed the budget deficit and now prioritizing new housing construction on land the university owns, from adding apartments at albany village to people's park. >> we're in the process of looking for a master developer to help us develop specific plans for all eight of these si

. >> let's begin with abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley, checking on our air quality tonight. leslie? >> well, dan, a little glimmer of good news here from along the front lines of the smoke this afternoon. right now we have a little bit of blue sky and the air is clearing. it's a lot better than it was a little while ago. behind me, mt. diablo literally two hours ago you could not see mt. diablo if you were driving on highway 24. to the right you see some of the smoky haze in the distance. it's all matter of the shifting winds. the best air quality monitor on mt. diablo might just be this cyclist who rides these slopes every day. >> well, when you start down in walnut creek, you can see the smoke up at the top of the mountain. and then about two-thirds of the way up, you start smelling it. so i can smell it copping down as well. so it's obvious that the smoke is coming in from the north. >> riding up and down the mountain, you know, you can kind of sense that there is a little thicker quality to the air. >> the winds are shifting and smoke is blowing in from a distant fire, sp

>> a tactical gear expert invented something he leslie brinkley today. >> you take your backpack andk, you slide it into the back, your z up your b you're good to go. >> he's the founder of a company that creates protective gear for law enforcement and the military. after the parkland, florida shooting last year, he kicked into dad mode and talked to his teenage son and daughter about using their backpack as a shield. >> the idea of having to put a product like this in my kids' backpack, it's very difficult for me. but it got to the point where given the environment that we're in, i felt like it was necessary. >> reporter: this summer he had this pak protect plate manufactured, he's selling them for $129. it weighs 18 ounces, and is made with special polyethylene, he says, teel. >>s plate would protect a student against handgun, shotgun rounds and knives, a thicker heavier plate to protect against assault rifles will be coming out this fall. if there's an incident at school the backpack could potentially protect a student's back if running from a shooter, if hiding in the classroom i

abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley checked out the efforts to save them in fairfield today.guin-like baby murres are recovering in outdoor pools there are more indoors in intensive care at the international bird rescue center in fairfield. the chicks were likely born on the farallon islands. at this age they should be learning to fish with their fathers. so far 100 chicks separated from their parents have been recovered on the northern california coast from monterey to marin. >> a lot of these little guys are coming in cold, emaciated. a lot of them are contaminated by the time they get to us. >> have you ever seen anything like this before? >> not this many babies. we have babies everywhere. >> why just babies and not adults? >> warming waters on our coasts means the fish that normally live there are going to cooler waters. they're going further away. babies can't dive. they can't hunt properly. probably what's happening, the adults are following the fish, and they're not able to take the babies with them. >> the expense of around-the-clock care is focused on stabilizing th

in walnut creek, i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. >> and check out this new video we're seeing from when the carr fire exploded in size last week. justin sanchez was recording from the back of a pickup truck as his family evacuated. flames could be seen burning near homes with the firenado looming in the background. sanchez's home was destroyed. and we put all of our wildfire information online on abc7news.com. the abc 7 news app is how we send out updates about the wildfires. download it now and enable push alerts so you'll have the newest information. >>> new at 6:00, angie's list is responding to a false advertising claim filed by the san francisco district attorney. the d.a. accuses the online home services directory company of making false and misleading statements to deceive consumers into believing it conducts background checks on the people coming into their homes. the complaint states that's not the case, and that angie's list only checks the principle owner or relevant manager of some businesses. angie's list released this statement tonight. this legal matter is solely about ho

this is the time to say, you know, i need help. >> in santa rosa, i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. >>> famed attorney erin brockovich spoke to north bay fire survivors today in santa rosa. brockovich whose legendary battle against pg&e was made into a very successful movie has ben hired to urge fire victims to take legal action against her old adversary. >> i never thought i'd be at another fire that pg&e was in and started, but i am. and i'm going to keep coming back the way i always do. i will have that stick-to-itiveness. i'm going to stand my ground. i know what i see. >> brockovich's clients were awarded $333 million in a settlement over contaminated water in hinckley, california. in june, cal fire officially blamed pg&e for multiple north bay fires. the power company expects to pay more than $2 billion in costs relateded to those fires. >>> only abc 7 news captured this video of a runaway horse on monday near the carr fire. construction workers tried to corral the frightened mustang, but she got away. the owner saw this video on our abc 7 news facebook page which helped them tra

. >> and she spoke with leslie brinkley about that case going to trial. and leslie is joining us live from walnut creek. >> reporter: her story, 13 years old when she was sexually assaulted in her walnut creek bedroom by the so-called golden state killer otherwise known as the east area rapist, her case is one of nine coun county. but not one of the fire beifof tried. >> will you be going to the trial? >> no, i don't want to be in the room with him. >> reporter: mary watched the press conference from her east bay apartment. she said she would testify in called to the stand, but otherwise will avoid the trial in sacramento. >> the contra costa a county district attorney's office is able to charge four separate cases against joseph de'angelo for the crimes in our county. >> reporter: three of the four assaults took place in concord and san ramon in october 1978. the fourth took place in danville in june of 1979 just two week before mary was gagged with her training bra and assault aed in her walnut creek bedroom by a man who held a knife at her throat. the c

. >> leslie brinkley joins us in lafayette.smokey, so hazy. >> reporter: it's been noticeable all day since this morning, that smoke hanging over this area. i'm here off of deer hill road at the 24/680 interchange you drove past this afternoon. that should be a big bold clear shot of mt. diablo. a half hour ago you could not see it. it was blotted out by all the smoke. >> well, i just rode up the way a little bit and sure enough, i could smell the smoke. >> r quality monitor on mt. diablo might just be this cyclist who rides these slopes every day. >> there's been low visibility. from a distance you can tell there's a lot of smoke in the air. and riding up and down the mountain you can kind of sense there's a little thicker quality to the air. >> reporter: the winds are shifting, the mendocino complex fires. >> issued an advisory for smoke, let people know there's a possibility that we may get some impacts from that smoke. >> reporter: the bay area air quality management distric says if you smell smoke, then you're breathing it

i'm leslie brinkley, abc7 news. >> tragic. thank you so much. >>> we're hearing from the man who captured incredible dashcam video in the east bay showing a small plane landing on the freeway. 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

for more how it's affecting more people around the bay area, here's abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley. it's just hanging in the air. >> reporter: it has been all day, dan. it is starting to clear up a bit, though, in the last couple hours. there is some limited visibility now. and i can actually see my shadow in the east bay hills. earlier today it was a total smokeout. >> there's a beautiful view of the bay, but today we can't see anything. >> we're really worried about the air quality, the effects on our health and our kids. it's really gray out and we're trying to stay inside. >> reporter: it was a quiet day up in the berkeley hills if you tried, really tried, you could manage to see the outline of san francisco beyond the campanili. >> we're seeing the fires in british colombia, oregon and california are mixing up today and making this lovely soup we're breathing today. >> reporter: he's doing research on atmospheric chemistry. for scientists, he says, the smoke in the air provides a chance to learn more. >> we have a big network that berkeley manages that makes measurements in sa

. >> let's begin with abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley, checking on our air quality tonight. , a little glimmer of good news here from along the front lines of the smoke this afternoon. right now we have a little bit of blue sky and the air is clearing. it's a lot better than it was a little while ago. behind me, mt. diablo literally two hours ago you could not see mt. diablo if you were driving on highway 24. to the right you see some of the smoky haze in the distance. it's all matter of the shifting winds. the best air quality monitor on mt. diablo might just be this cyclist who rides these slopes every day. >> well, when you start down in walnut

i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. >>> firefighters continue to make progress on the mendocino complexion fire. the ranch fires, of course, the larger of the two, burned more than 373,000 acres. >> more than a dozen members of congress from northern california asked the of data speeds of firefighters. they were on the front lines of the flames. today the company apologized and lifted all caps. state lawmakers say they could introduce legislation to outlaw this practice. >> we may need to introduce election, and i'm considering introducing legislation to make sure that data throttling of any first responder never happens again. >> they say the internet was unusable which jeopardized the lives of the public and first responders. >> there is a nationwide movement spreading tonight in the name of the slain college student molly tibbetts. >> it could have been me, it could have been anybody. >> what people are doing to encourage random acts of kindness. >> a woman poses as a sheriff's deputy to get her boyfriend out you could generate yourat home.rgy, or to save energy, unplug unused appliance

in danville, leslie brinkley, abc7 news. >>> crews have stopped the spread of a fire in healdsburg and residents are being allowed back home. the evacuation was lifted 30 minutes ago, no reports of damaged structures. >>> even with new fire fires breaking out, they are making progress with firefighters. let me show you a map showing four of california's biggest fires. the river fire is now fully contained and closer to surrounding the others, carr, ranch and ferguson fire and have charred more than 330 square miles. chevron announced they would donate 40,000 dollars to the carr fire and goes to the shasta rican red cross. >>> the end of an era. the loss of an icon. there's no way to express what the death of aretha franklin means. the singer died at age 76 of pancreatic cancer. joining us from the newsroom with a look at how the bay area will remember the queen of soul. >> it turns out we will remember her as much as the rest of the world does. her strongest concert may be one they made an album out of it and "rolling stone" voted that the 36thth best album of all time. that was a long

in walnut creek, i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. >> all right, leslie, thank you. >>> an oakland police officer is still in the hospital in critical condition following an accident early this morning near the port of oakland. the officer's patrol suv collided with both another car and a parked semitruck while responding to a report of a suspicious person around 3:00 a.m. the impact and damage was so great, the officer was trapped inside his vehicle. he was finally extricated unconscious and taken to the hot. the officer is the son of an oakland police department lieutenant. [ bell ]. >>> a ringing bell pierced the somber silence today as colleagues and loved ones remembered officer kirk grise. the tradition marks an officer's end of watch. grise died friday in fairfield when a pickup truck veered off the road hitting him and the car he pulled over. grise was 46 years old. >>> if you have the abc 7 news app, then you've got this breaking news alert today about the golden state killer suspect being charged with first-degree murder of a visalia man. this makes the 13th murder charge agains

. >>> two days after a stranger stabbed and killed nia wilson, abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley pressed the president of the bart board for answers on bart security. here is what robert rayburn told us 13 days ago. >> why not have bart put an officer on every single train? >> budget. >> how much would it cost to put an officer on every single train? >> we don't have enough officers to deploy them in every single station. >> let alone every train. >> every train. we're running about 75 trains. any one train has i hope very soon ten cars, and an officer is not ging to be effectively deployed in a morning commute hour train. they can't move from one car to another very readily. if at all. >> rayburn told leslie bart is most concerned about safety during offpeak hours. so late at night and on weekends. our website, abc7news.com is full of bart resources. one thing you'll find there is some advice on what you should do if you feel unsafe on bart. >>> in vallejo tonight, police and fire investigators say they're working on what they call a very suspicious house fire that killed three people,

. >>> leslie brinkley sent a photo of mt.'s shrouded with fire, smoke and smog, an unhealthy combo that triggered a spare the air alert today. >>> longtime arizona senator, well wishers, he announced today he's stopping his treatment for an aggressive form of brain cancer. zachary kiesch joins us with the story. >> reporter: he had a reputation for never giving up, first as a pow, and then of course for more than 30 years in washington, d.c. where he had a reputation of working across party lines to get things done. as you just mentioned off the top, his family announcing today it's time to end treatment for this aggressive form of cancer. the family of john mccain says this senator will stop treatment for his brain cancer. it's been a year since he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of gleoblastoma. >> i am not running for president to be somebody, but to do something. >> reporter: over the years mccain has become a legendary figure in washington, he's also known for being a family man. in a statement the family sayst rec

leslie brinkley will have more at 5:00 p.m. >>> a day of closing arguments in the case of paul manaforted of financial crimes, including bank fraud and failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars sheltered overseas. abc news reporter kenneth molten reports from the courthouse in alexandria, virginia. >> reporter: dion, paul manafort's fate will be in the hands of the jury starting tomorrow morning. during closing arguments inside this courthouse, defense claims manafort is the victim, while prosecutors say he was the boss, responsible for defrauding banks and the government. >> what needs to happen for you to win? >> reporter: the defense team outside the federal courthouse appearing confident the government hasn't proven its case. he's facing the possibility of life in prison. if convicted for financial crimes that allegedly supported his lavish lifestyle. during closing arguments the defense pointing the finger squarely at manafort's longtime business associate rick gates who's cooperating with special counsel robert mueller's team. after he pled guilty to lying to the feds. gates tes