abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley is live at macarthur bart station. hearing from passengers who were on board when the smoke started. leslie. sounds like it was pretty scary. >> harrowing ordeal for passengers who were in a train car that filled with smoke and found themselves having to jump out of it. let's start off, though, first by taking a look at sky seven. this incident happened around 230 today. this afternoon. bart said an eastbound train started filling with smoke just short of the macarthur station, saying there was an equipment problem on the train. oakland fire responded to a two alarm fire incident, but it ended up not being a fire. terrified passengers were evacuated, though, and bart says there were no reports of injuries. all bart lines were stopped for more than an hour, so an absolute mess for travel >> this one i lost, i failed. >> abc seven news. they smelled smoke on the train long before it was still in the transbay tube, and they heard a series of pops before the train came to an abrupt stop. >> the train, just all of a sudden s

but wear a mask for the next five days. >> in the east bay, i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news threed working moms are celebrating the gift of reliable transportation today. >> they each picked up newly refurbished vehicles in fairfield, courtesy of the national auto body council. recycled rides program. the program takes donated cars, fully restores the vehicles, then gives them to people in need of transportation help. >> i'm going through a rough time right now with my daughter. she was diagnosed with a cancer, so this will help me to take her to the doctor. appointments and anything that we need to do. >> places you wouldn't go before because you didn't think your car would make it. you could go now. we can make it now. >> look at those smiles. today's third new car recipient, jason mcgee, is an army veteran and single mom with four children who attend three different schools. she says her new suv will make getting her kids to and from school a lot easier. the recycled rides program has been around for more than a decade, and in that time, caliber collision and its partners have

i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> coming up next, a lesson in selfie control. can you believe we need it? apparently we do. when it comes to getting pict what's the definition of character to you? umm... would you be a superhero or a supervillain? if you could say one thing to big tobacco, what would it be? it's so important in this time of change that we reclaim our sacred ways. i had to open my eyes. you can't continue to do this. deep breath. i'd want to ask them “why?” (♪) i'll say what city hall insiders won't. we have a drug, homelessness, and economic recovery crisis, because the system that's supposed to fix things is the problem. record budgets. fewer officers. business killing bureaucracy. the insiders won't change a system built for their benefit. i'm daniel lurie and san francisco needs a mayor unafraid to take on the status quo, bring accountability, and stop the excuses. levels in drinking water at oakland unified schools. a virtual meeting started at 630 with the school district's board vice president. the problem was found at 22 campuses and dat

i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> no doubt. very scary. leslie, thanks so much. now to your voice, your vote and the democratic national convention underway today in chicago. >> president biden set to speak in just a few hours to pass the torch to his vice president. and presumptive nominee, kamala harris. abc seven news anchor julian glover joining us live now from chicago with the very latest. hi, julian. >> hey there. good afternoon. good evening. larry and kristen. we are live here outside of the united center, where there's a lot of excitement for the harris walsh ticket. day one here of the dnc. i want to show you what the excitement looks like. this long line of people, both protesters and delegates, trying to make their way inside of the united center. abc news now reporting that dozens of pro-palestinian protesters have somehow gotten inside of the hard perimeter outside of the united center. nothing violent at the moment, but dozens of police are standing by and watching. let's show you what we can expect for the first night of the dnc that will feature

i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> now to a story. seven news i-team has followed very closely. the former president of an east bay youth swim team was arraigned this morning in oakland after being accused of stealing from the team. 45 year-old sarah, new faces three felony counts of embezzlement for stealing more than $50,000. she refused to comment on these charges. these new charges as she left the courtroom. this morning. prosecutors say the theft happened over several months while new worked for alameda gators swim club. the money was discovered missing after new was fired. if convicted, she faces up to nine years in prison. >> new developments are rising. political star in san francisco is now charged with rape. 35 year old john jacobo surrendered to police and was arrested and booked today. he was charged with four counts, including rape and domestic violence. jacobo was the director of a powerful housing nonprofit, but resigned last year after our media partner, the san francisco standard, published a report on assault claims

i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> all right, leslie, thanks very much. more than 50,000 kids went back to school today in san francisco, and some were surprised by a special guest, former warriors player festus ezeli greeted students at tule elk school in the marina district. a kids also posed for pictures to remember their first day. how exciting that is. but behind all the hoopla is some real worry. the district is starting the year with 120 vacancies and a hiring freeze. >> we're working hard to make sure all of our classrooms have permanent classroom teachers. we're covering classrooms today where we have vacancies. we're in a better place than we were last year, but we know we still have work to do to ensure that we are fully staffed now. >> those are not the only issues affecting san francisco unified. next month, the school district will release a list of schools recommended for closure because of declining enrollment and some big education news on the other side of the bay. we're learning more tonight about the extent of lead contamination, and n

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley has a look at the possible opportunities, as well as the risks for some consumers, the experience of buying or selling a home is going to be different than transactions in the past. >> a recent national association of realtors class action settlement agreement has laid out new rules that will now bring the buyer and seller into negotiations over commissions on the sale of a house, negotiating who pays commission and how much is paid. >> today is the day that in the mls any, indication of compensation commission is eliminated. it is you can't even look at historical data. >> realtors say that will make it more complicated for agents who now will have to involve potential buyers and sellers and signing new, more complicated paperwork. >> so the buyer and seller are looped into the transaction more so we're able to be more transparent with them about the compensation. there will be more forms for the for the buyer and seller to sign that will be apparent when visiting an open house. >> buyers will be asked to sign forms, and if they don't have an ag

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley has a look at the possible opportunities and risks for consumers. >> the experience of buying or selling a home is going to be different than transactions in the past. a recent national association of realtors class action settlement agreement has laid out new rules that will now bring the buyer and seller into negotiations over commissions on the sale of a house, negotiating who pays commission and how much is paid. >> today is the day that in the mls, any indication of compensati commission is eliminated. it is. you can't even look at historical data. >> realtors say that will make it more complicated for agents who now will have to involve potential buyers and sellers in signing new, more complicated paperwork. >> so the buyer and seller are looped into the transaction more so we're able to be more transparent with them about the compensation. there will be more forms for the for the buyer and seller to sign that will be apparent when visiting an open house. >> buyers will be asked to sign forms, and if they don't have an agent representing them

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley, explaining the potential as digital price tags are becomingn more political. >> food prices have shot up over 20% in recent years, something economists say was rooted in the disrupted pandemic supply chain. now there is new technology in the world of grocery shopping in the form of digital price tags replacing paper and ink tags and signs. walmart says in the coming year, they'll be rolling out the new tags in over 2300 stores. other grocery chains already have them, and others are likely to follow suit. the new price tags can be quickly updated by stores via a mobile app. vice president kamala harris voiced her concerns at a campaign stop last week over price gouging in grocery stores. >> senator warren and casey have actually sent a letter to kroger ceo with a list of questions they're very concerned about the idea of surge pricing on food, the prices could change based on availability. it could be based on, you know, it's a hot summer day. so the price of water might be increased. so there's a lot of pros to it for the store and a lot of co

as abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley did. this week. tortuously twisty road up to the mount diablo summit. >> just as you drive the road, you want to be aware that there will be tarantulas crossing. so you want to, you know, not run over or try not to run over anything. >> and why does the tarantula want to cross the road? >> he's looking for love. he's out looking for a mate. >> the male tarantulas are on an inevitably fatal mission as they follow a chemical trail. >> so they go from burrow to burrow. try to find as many females as they can to mate and that's how they spend the rest of their days. as the days get colder and it gets wetter, you know they tend to die off. >> the males do. >> the males do. yes. >> the females live a long time. >> yeah, they can live up to 20 years. >> the females live to hatch their eggs. the males die of starvation in october. or a worse fate from the sting of one of these wasps, which also hover around mount diablo. >> tarantula. hawk is a predator to the tarantula, so what it would do is lay its eggs o

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley has some help on what to avoid and how you can make sure thatyou're actually registered to vote. >> county registrar's offices do not text voters to tell them they're not registered, or they need to update their voter information. >> people are getting unsolicited text messages that say you're not registered to vote or you're inactive. and that, to me, tells that that possibly could be a scam. it's unsolicited contact. it is a sense of urgency. and there's potentially a link that is not a gov link. so we want people to be aware and be cautious of what they click on. >> the contra costa county registrar's office says they've been getting phone calls from worried voters who have gotten text messages and called the office to make sure they're registered. staff can look them up and reassure them it's happening across the bay area and across the state. >> i would say it's kind of alarming if there are scams out there trying to get people to, reregister under false pretenses to second guess everything. >> and it's a shame registrars are scrambling to

i'm leslie brinkley abc seven news. >> looks beautiful.yeah. >> and as you know housing is so hard to come by. right. and for transfer students, i mean, you want to take away that worry of looking for housing? i mean, this is a huge help. absolutely. and you're right, i wish i could have lived in that when i was a student. >> i almost want to apply to go back to college. >> take me back. >> but, spencer, we don't want to leave you alone. >> no, i appreciate that. now. i feel cared for. yeah let's take a look at what's going on with our weather. as you know, it has been hot inland all day, and we still have a heat advisory in effect for the santa clara valley until 10:00 tonight. and that's not even the only hot spot around the bay area right now. we have numerous locations in the inland east bay and far north that exceeded 100 degrees today. but tonight things will cool down a bit. we'll have partly cloudy skies overnight temperatures, low temperatures mainly in the mid to upper 50s. a few inland areas that were very hot today will drop on

i'm leslie brinkley abc seven news. >> temperatures bumped up today. downright hot in some places. sandia returns with her updated forecast. >> plus, she'll show you what's in store for people back east as tropical storm debby moves up the atlantic coast. stay z's baking the house special. arisa's styling a new look. and steve's filling his biggest order ever. with the first ever comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, these business owners get five years of value on gig speed internet and advanced security, all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. so now they can focus on doing what they do best for the next five years. that's a lot of bread. you got this. the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. switch today for a limited tim. ga, the advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration, can irreversibly damage your vision. it can progress faster than you think. when ga threatens your eyes, take a stand. slow ga with syfovre. syfovre is an eye injection that was proven to slow damaging lesion growth over 2 years with incre

. >> abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley lets us know how long this covid wave is expected to last, and she has a look at what schools are doing to prepare. >> we're all excited about the start of the new school year here at lafayette elementary school. >> today marked the kickoff to being back in the classroom. like many school districts around the bay area, new teachers have been hired. food services are ready to go, and the spread of viruses is likely inevitable, including covid. >> in california. interestingly, and unfortunately, is really a hotbed for covid. >> experts say while the rise in covid cases appears to be plateauing, the start of school could continue fueling this summer's surge. >> but with kids from preschool to school to grammar school to junior high, high school and college all going back, now that's going to exacerbate the problem somewhat. so it's impossible to predict what's going to happen, but i expect we're going to see continued respiratory activity throughout the rest of this month and september. >> we feel like we're back to normal this year. it is an o

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley has some information on what to avoid and how you can make sure that you are registered to vote. >> county registrar's offices do not text voters to tell them they're not registered, or they need to update their voter information. >> people are getting unsolicited text messages that say you're not registered to vote, or you're inactive. and that to me, tells that that possibly could be a scam. it's unsolicited contact. it is a sense of urgency and there's potentially a link that is not a gov link. so we want people to be aware and be cautious of what they click on. >> the contra costa county registrar's office says they've been getting phone calls from worried voters who have gotten text messages and called the office to make sure they're registered. staff can look them up and reassure them it's happening across the bay area and across the state. >> i would say it's kind of alarming if there are scams out there trying to get people to, reregister under false pretenses to second guess everything. >> and it's a shame registrars are scrambling to get

i'm leslie brinkley abc seven news. >> sheri. all right. here we are with the traffic alert at 547.can see. really? no backup at all. metering lights have just flipped on. it'll take you about a 34 minute drive from highway four into the city of san francisco. kumasi >> thanks, amanda. a different kind of amazon delivery to share with you this morning. yesterday, the company's workers dropped off boxes of food donations at the san francisco marin food bank along with a $50,000 donation. the food bank says it's a really challenging time right now. there's high demand and a loss of funding, so they're relying more now on donations. you can help out with that, too, and make donations online. you can also sign up to volunteer. >> taco bell could be seeing some success in luring back inflation weary customers. the ceo of their parent company, yu! brands, credits the chain's recent success to its value. menu. yum! brands brought value deals to its biggest chains, including kfc and pizza hut, but only taco bell has seen growth in the second quarter. in fact, the other two brands saw a drop

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley has a look at the possible opportunities, as well as the riskshe experience of buying or selling a home is going to be different than transactions in the past. >> a recent national association of realtors class action settlement agreement has laid out new rules that will now bring the buyer and seller into negotiations over commissions on the sale of a house, negotiating who pays commission and how much is paid. >> today is the day that in the mls any,

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley is looking into these new rules, and we'll have more on how they're likely to impact the bay area housing market coming up at four. now we want to get a check on your weather. it's been a cool way to start the workweek. abc seven spencer christian is here now with a look at the accuweather forecast. i think just the way we like it. spencer, i agree christine, i like this cool start. >> i'm tired of the very, very warm weather. here's a look at what's going on on the satellite radar composite image. you see that big warm weather, high pressure system? well, to our east right now. and that means the doors open for brisk onshore breezes, cooling breezes, bringing us the marine layer back, which is advancing and retreating and advancing and retreating and right now it's in retreat mode, but it's going to advance again during the late night and overnight hours. you can see how breezy it is around the bay area right now. we have wind speeds at the surface between 20 and 25mph in numerous locations, as that onshore cooling flow continues. it's also contribut

. >> abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley is live there with the latest on this mess and what it meanso my understanding is that this train. hello i'm sorry a little confusing here at the bart station, and there is a lot of noise in the background. so what i can tell you is that around 230 this afternoon, a passengers started evacuating. i am passengers started evacuating a bart train. uh. let me go back to the beginning. at about 230 this afternoon, this train was passing close to the macarthur station. it suddenly stopped. there were a lot of popping sounds and passengers said they were panicked. let's take a look at sky seven right

. >> abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley lets us know how long this covid wave is expected to last doing to prepare. >> we're all excited about the start of the new school year here at lafayette elementary school. >> today marked the kickoff to being back in the classroom. like many school districts around the bay area, new teachers have been hired. food services are ready to go, and the spread of viruses is likely inevitable, including covid. >> in california. interestingly, and unfortunately, is really a hotbed for covid. >> experts say while the rise in covid cases appears to be plateauing, the start of school could continue fueling this summer's surge. >> but with kids from preschool to school to grammar school to junior high, high school and college all going back,ow