san francisco, lyanne melendez. abc7 news. >>> just ahead on abc7 news at 5:00, race to replace the late ed lee as mayor of san francisco is shaping up. one prominent local politician is in, two others say no thanks. >> billionaire tom steyer's political future. >>> self-driving cars, will the change cost jobs? 7 on your side's michael finney on the future of cars in america. >> cars are in bad situation now. wet commute home. traffic on san mateo bridge, backed up. big stretch of red because of accident near the high rise. >> tough out there. live picture from cal trans camera. two eastbound lanes closed because of car fir sorry. i can't make it. it's just my eczema again, but it's fine. yeah, it's fine. you ok? eczema. it's fine. hey! hi! aren't you hot? eczema again? it's fine. i saw something the other day. eczema exposed. your eczema could be something called atopic dermatitis, which can be caused by inflammation under your skin. maybe you should ask your doctor? go to eczemaexposed.com to learn more. >>> race

abc7 reporter lyanne melendez reports. >> reporter: brown has allocated only a 3% increase for the ucs in his proposed state budget. >> may have to increase tuition. but sacramento is not being responsible. >> reporter: this boils down to a $342 a year jump in tuition and student fees. student's tuition would go up 12,972 for the 2018/2019 year. >> there needs to be a compelling case that we exhausted all other solutions. >> reporter: most students wouldn't be affected because financial aid covers the full tuition bill for 60% students. out of state tuition would be hit harder. they will see a 3.5% increase which amounts to $978 more a year. they could be paying $28,900 in school year. >> they are spending money in tons of ways unner. >> reporter: last year they saw -- in san francisco lyanne melendez abc7 news. >>> united front today at the state capitol. today's hearing focused on reforming the state's policies for handling claims of sexual harassment. until now, the two chambers have worked spately. >> the senators understand that we need to have one process. we can't have two diffe

lyanne melendez abc7 news. >> perseverance. >>> if we persevere, maybe we can get more rain in the forecast. >> we may have to hang on for a while. rain not showing up in the next seven days. we have clouds right now. and our clouds are getting clearer as we get later into the evening hours. live view from our rooftop camera looking out over the bay. 51 in san francisco right now 50 in oakland. 51 in mountain view. san jose and gilroy 52 and 53. this is the view, clear one from emeryville. 49 in stroezanta rosa. view from pier 15. these are our forecast features. partly cloudy to chilly. we will see high temperatures near 70 degrees inland by early next week. starting 7:00 tomorrow at which point showers in the northern most viewing areas. but those showers will lift out of here as will showers giving way to mainly sunny clouds. and we have quite a warmup coming our way. take a look at what is to follow. during the overnight hours, a few clouds lingering. mainly clear up north. low temperatures in the upper 30s in our inland valleys and low 40s near the coast and bay. farther south milder,

abc 7's lyanne melendez was in court today. the jury in the kate steinle murder trial seemed to believe surat awhen he said he found it under a chair at pier 14 and it went off accidently. his attorney will now claim double jeopardy if he can prove there was collusion between the feds and local authorities to hurt his case. >> revenge. >> reporter: and that will be the second motion to try to get him off. it's called vindictive prosecution, when there is proven retaliation against the defendant. professor of law rory little said the judge will certainly listen to his claims. >> and the only reason you're prosecuting him is because you're angry about the acquittal. you shouldn't be allowed to do that. >> reporter: today in federal court he surprised everyone by saying his name was -- not host soarte. >> he'sulatealized approximately five different names. we call that aka's. >> from texas he was brought to san francisco on a pending drug case. but that case was dismissed and he was released. because he never reported to the texas

many believed that it was a done deal and going to abc7 reporter lyanne melendez lz reports. >> reportercated only a 3% increase for the ucs in his proposed state budget. >> may have to increase tuition. but sacramento is not being responsible. >> reporter: this boils down to a $342 a year jump in tuition and student fees. student's tuition would go up 12,972 for the 2018/2019 year. >> there needs to be a compelling case that we exhausted all other solutions. >> reporter: most students wouldn't be affected because financial aid covers the full tuition bill for 60% students. out of state tuition would be hit harder. they will see a 3.5% increase which amounts to $978 more a year. they could be paying school year. >> they are spending money in tons of ways unner. >> reporter: last year they saw -- in san francisco lyanne melendez abc7 news. >>> united front today state capitol. today's hearing focused on reforming the state's policies for handling claims of sexual harassment. until now, the two chambers have worked spately. >> the senators understand that we need to have one process. we ca

. >> lyanne melendez with the story. >> those in favor say people in bay area will continue to be displaced. landlords or developers say that had it passed, private investments into rental housing would have come to screeching halt. proposal to repeal the current rent control law died in housing committee. supporters who went to sacramento expressed outrage after it was clear there would be no changes to the act. >> no rent -- high. >> doesn't apply to new construction. supervisors support making city 100% rent control. >> if you wanted to rent single family home right now it's not under rent control. but got rid of kosta hawkins, it would be. >> those in favor of the act say had it been repealed would have meant a loss of private investment. >> why would a developer build more or homeowner decide to rent out if don't have control over private property? >> but said getting rid of it would have kept people getting displaced. >> would mean a lot more people could live here. >> disagrees. >> new developments, not going to help the landscape for our city. >> anything built before 1979 in san fr

lyanne melendez abc7 news. >> perseverance. >>> if we persevere, maybe we can get more rain in the forecast. >> we may have to hang on for a while. rain not showing up in the next seven days. we have clouds right now. and our clouds are getting clearer as we get later into the evening hours. live view from our rooftop camera looking out over the bay. 51 in san francisco right now 50 in oakland. 51 in mountain view. san jose and gilroy 52 and 53. this is the view, clear one from emeryville. 49 in view from pier 15. these are our forecast features. partly cloudy to chilly. we will see high temperatures near 70 degrees inland by early next week. starting 7:00 tomorrow at which point showers in the northern most viewing areas. but those showers will lift out of here as will showers giving way to mainly sunny clouds. and we have quite a warmup coming our way. take a look at what is to follow. during the overnight hours, a few clouds lingering. mainly clear up north. low temperatures in the upper 30s in our inland valleys and low 40s near the coast and farther south milder, 60 in fremont. and 61

lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >>> there is rain in the forecast. not said that in a long time. >> hello rain and good-bye to spare the air. >> i'm getting excited, actually. we need that rain. it's not wet yet, but it will be in about 36 hours, and we've got haze e hazy conditions over the bay area. the air is not good. we have another one coming tomorrow. this is a view of the super moon over the bay looking from sue troe tower. 53 oakland, mountain view, 55. 59 at san jose and gilroy. and here's a view from emeryville looking west ward across the bay under partly cloudy skies. 49 at napa. 45 in fairfield, concord. and one more live view from the exploratory camera. these are forecast futures. rain will be moving in on wednesday, possibly even isolated thunderstorms and this wet pattern will continue through friday. overnight, look for continued hazy conditions. low temperatures will be in the upper 30s to low 40s in the inland valleys. mid to upper 40s as you get closer to the coastline. tomorrow, almost a duplicate of today. perhaps even milder.

. >> lyanne melendez with the story. >> those in favor say people in bay area will continue to be displaced. landlords or developers say that had it passed, private investments into rental housing would have come to screeching halt. proposal to repeal the current rent control law died in housing committee. supporters who went to sacramento expressed outrage after it was clear there would be no changes to the act. >> no rent -- high. >> doesn't apply to new construction. supervisors support making city 100% rent control. >> if you wanted to rent single family home right now it's not under rent control. but got rid of kosta hawkins, it would be. >> those in favor of the act say had it been repealed would have meant a loss of private investment. >> why would a developer build more or homeowner decide to rent out if don't have control over private property? >> but said getting rid of it would have kept people getting displaced. >> would mean a could live here. >> disagrees. >> new developments, not going to help the landscape for our city. >> anything built before 1979 in san francisco must com

abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez has the story. >> reporter: scientific studies have suggested that young people should wait until their mid-20s to start using marijuana. during this period of neurodevelopment, a younger brain is more sensitive to damage from drug exposure. >> you're more likely to have problems with memory, attention, affecting your school. >> reporter: the risks are higher for those with a family history of mental illness. >> they're more likely to develop psychosis or schizophrenia. >> reporter: it's okay to have edblings, it won't hit me that hard, fact or fiction? those began appearing on social media. those ads also highlight the fact that youth consumption of cannabis here in san francisco is lower than the national average. a 2015 study on cannabis found that 71% of all of san francisco high school students reported never trying marijuana. compared to 59% nationwide. the san francisco unified school district has been tracking its students for years. from 2009 to 2015, 83% of high school students said they were not users of cannabis, 93% of middle school stud

lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >>> there is rain in the forecast.have not said that in a long time. >> hello rain and good-bye to spare the air. >> i'm getting excited, actually. we need that rain. it's not wet yet, but it will be in about 36 hours, and we've got haze e hazy conditions over the bay area. the air is not good. we have another one coming tomorrow. this is a view of the super moon over the bay looking from sue troe tower. 53 oakland, mountain view, 55. 59 at san jose and gilroy. and here's a view from emeryville looking west ward across the bay under partly cloudy skies. 49 at napa. 45 in fairfield, concord. and one more live view from the exploratory camera. these are forecast futures. rain will be moving in on wednesday, possibly even isolated thunderstorms and this wet pattern will continue through friday. overnight, look for continued hazy conditions. low temperatures will be in the upper 30s to low 40s in the inland valleys. mid to upper 40s as you get closer to the coastline. tomorrow, almost a duplicate of today. perhaps even mil

in concord, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> vir inspiring for the young people today. this is something we don't see everyday da in cal are california. while getting rain in the bay area there was wild weather to the north. surveillance cameras caught a waterspout over humboldt bay. moving through the marina before breaking up after a mint or so. you can see the mist rise from the water and move across the screen. there are no reports of any damage from that storm. but certainly a fascinating glimpse into what happened. we had strange weather all day all around the bay area but things calmed down consider by. the weekend is here. sandhya patel has the forecast. >>> we're not seeing the cold unstable air that caused the waterspout return in the bay area. that caused the hail yesterday. snow from the higher efrlgss and showers along with thunder. i want to show you the time laps worth just watching over and over again. so what was left of yesterday's storm along with the heating from the sun created these reheated left overs if you will over mount diebold o this afternoo

abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez was at the adult health education fair in concord where they are pushing the flu vaccine. >> the mount diablo yearly health fair is an event offering flu vac vaccines to the contra costa community. >> it's been a difficult flu season. >> so far they've seen seven people die from the flu virus. the state number is 74. beth pierce zeeded not to wait longer to get the vaccine. >> it's free. and as bad as it's been i don't want to catch it. >> now the contra costa and san francisco health departments say new cases have slightly tapered off. but that comes with a big warning. because the flu virus is so unpredictable there could be another surge. >> it's hard to know what the trend is until we have at least a few weeks of data. >> flu viruses are constantly changing. health departments are recommending a flu shot because it can still protect you even if it's not perfect. >> it's not too late to get the vaccine. good hand washing, frequently covering your sneezes and coughs, staying home if you're sick and staying away from sick people as much as possibl

abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez has the story. >> reporter: scientific studies have suggested that young people should wait until their mid-20s to start using marijuana. during this period of neurodevelopment, a younger brain is more sensitive to damage from drug exposure. >> you're more likely to have problems with memory, attention, affecting your school. >> reporter: the risks are higher for those with a family history of mental illness. >> they're more likely to develop psychosis or schizophrenia. >> reporter: it's okay to have edblings, it won't hit me that hard, fact or fiction? those began appearing on social media. those ads also highlight the fact that youth consumption of cannabis here in san francisco is lower than the national average. a 2015 study on cannabis found that 71% of all of san francisco high school students reported never trying marijuana. compared to 59% nationwide. the san francisco unified school district has been tracking its students for years. from 2009 to 2015, 83% of high school students said they were not users of cannabis, 93% of middle school stud

abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez has more. >> reporter: the flu season in the bay area started earlier than usual. that's had an impact on the number of potential blood donors. according to the blood centers of the pacific, donations are down 13% since the beginning of the year. >> if you're not feeling healthy, you're not a prime candidate to donate blood. >> that's one of the questions they asked online when you donate. caitlin arnett discovered there was a need for blood and platelet donors and quickly made an appointment. >> doing my research for where to go in san francisco and in the bay area. i realized that there was a need. it said it on the website. >> the american red cross is also desperate for donations. >> your help is needed to ensure patients continue to receive life-saving treatments all winter long. >> the red cross reports because of the recent storms back east, there were 28,000 fewer donations than what was needed in november and december. and the bay area can send blood there -- can't send blood there if we have a shortfall. >> we have to have a strong local blood

lyanne melendez has the story. >> reporter: it's no secret that california public schools see a lot ofo waste. school districts weren't allowed to donate unopened food because of the liability issues. until today. >> in my opinion, just like if doctor is about to save a patient and something happens, don't penalize that doctor for trying to save lives. >> reporter: gives schools authority to donate unopened food to local food banks and other charities. >> want if there's any leftover food, get it to people who need it. wonderful that the law provides the opportunity to do it. >> reporter: comes at time when more families are signing up at food pantry and food kitchens in san francisco overflowing with homeless people. another new law affecting students, schools must provide every student with lunch, even if parents behind in fees. some school districts have denied lunch to students if parents not paid lunch fees, giving them snack instead. sb-250 says regardless of parents' debt, all will be fed. >> strapped for resources but end of the day, can't penalize people not being able to affo

here is lyanne melendez. >> reporter: 18 schools have a good number of students of salvadoran decent.r parents were allowed to move and work here following the 2001 earthquakes that destroyed thousands of homes and devastated that country. most of these children were of course born here in the united states and their parents were here legally after president bush granted them temporary protection status. homeland security now says el salvador has sufficiently recovered from the natural disaster, the original conditions caused by the 2001 earthquakes no longer exist. >> the trump administration really is attacking people of color. >> reporter: this woman's mother arrived in oakland seeking political asylum and eventually became a legal resident. but many of their family members are here because of the temporary protection status program. >> so many of our family members don't have anybody in our countries, so they will be going to nothing. >> reporter: the board of education student director supports the efforts to work with families to get the proper legal screenings they need. that i

abc 7 news' lyanne melendez has more.getting released right away. >> reporter: it was the maximum sentence for his begun possession conviction, three years. jose ines garcia zarate served beyond that. >> he's actually spent around 400 days longer than the maximum sentence. >> reporter: technically he should have been released. instead he was turned over to the u.s. marshal. garcia zarate was recently indicted by a federal grand jury for violating state immigration and gun laws for possessing the gun used to shoot steinle. >> this is a vindictive prosecution. >> reporter: his attorneys tried to delay this action and had requested a new trial. >> and essentially he was convicted for possession of a weapon based on the brief and momentary holding of a gun and throwing it into the water after it accidentally discharged. >> reporter: it will now be up to civil rights attorney tony sera to argue that in federal court. >> we can bring a motion to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds. >> reporter: garcia zarate was found not guilty

lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> the stalemate that shutdown the government has ended. the house then gave its approval a few hours ago. the president has just signed it moments ago. part of the deal includes a promise to address daca in the senate. 700,000 so-called d.r.e.a.m.ers in the u.s. the white house has been standing firm but there are indications the president is working behind the scenes to get a deal done. >> once we start talking about immigration and voting on immigration, we will find 60 votes to make shower these daca recipient lives are not ruined. >> feinstein and harris both voted no. >>> here in the bay area. >> cornel bernard shows many are anxious to get back to work. >> reporter: planning to welcome dozen of furloughed civilian employees back to work. officials say monday was a tough one without those employees to manage the workload. >> we are already seeing the impact of not having all of our civilian force on base today. >> are youack to work? >> no. >> reporter: no word on the national park service. a park employee we spotted inside says every

in the news room, lyanne melendez. >> showing the slow progression through the fall. in december, the colors getting brighter showing high activity. now today we also learned 32 people died of the flu just last week in the state. all were under the age of 65. now previously, the state's flu death total for the season was 42. so doubled bringing the state to a near total of 42 deaths. not too late to get vaccinated. basic precautions like washing your hands, cough into your elbow and stay home if you are sick. >>> the potential impact on our potential national parks. here in the bay area is big business. here is reporter wayne >> muir woods in marin county may shut down if the federal government. >> what if it closes? >> boo. >> reporter: the national park said little today both officially and unofficially. just some of the people caught in the middle. >> it has been here for how long? and it is going to be closed down. the trees are going to be closed because of some political gamemanship. >> reporter: muir wood is not the only one, alcatraz could be closed too. this

lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> the stalemate that shutdown the government has ended. the house then gave its approval a few hours ago. the president has just signed it moments ago. part of the deal includes a promise to address daca in the senate. 700,000 so-called d.r.e.a.m.ers in the u.s. the white house has been standing firm but there are indications the president is working behind the scenes to get a deal done. >> once we start talking about immigration and voting on immigration, we will find 60 votes to make shower these daca recipient lives are not ruined. >> feinstein and harris both voted no. >>> here in the bay >> cornel bernard shows many are anxious to get back to work. >> reporter: planning to welcome dozen of furloughed civilian employees back to work. officials say monday was a tough one without those employees to manage the workload. >> we are already seeing the impact of not having all of our civilian force on base today. >> are you back to work? >> no. >> reporter: no word on the national park service. a park employee we spotted inside says everyone

in the news room, lyanne melendez. >> showing the slow progression through the fall. in december, the colors getting brighter showing high activity. now today we also learned 32 people died of the flu just last week in the state. all were under the age of 65. now previously, the state's flu death total for the season was 42. so doubled bringing the state to a near total of 42 deaths. not too late to get vaccinated. basic precautions like washing your hands, cough into your elbow and stay home if you are sick. >>> the potential impact on our potential national parks. here in the bay area is big business. here is reporter wayne freedman. >> muir woods in marin county may shut down if the federal government. >> what if it closes? >> boo. >> reporter: the national park said little today both officially and unofficially. just some of the people caught in the middle. >> it has been here for how long? and it is going to be closed down. the trees are going to be closed because of som political gamemanship. >> reporter: muir wood is not the only one, alcatraz could be closed t

lyanne melendez has more. >> when 34 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2013, san francisco knew it had to do something. enter vision zero, a strategy to reduce fatalities on our streets. >> we're not just going to accept that people are going to die trying to get around san francisco. every one of those is preventable. >> reporter: the city has been busy resigning streets, restriping crosswalks, painting red zones at corners so there's a better sight line between driver and pedestrian. strategy is paying off. 2017, 20 fatalities in san francisco, down 41% from 2013. increasing enforcement is big part of the strategy. police from tare adevelop station used pedestrian decoy to make sure drivers stopped before reaching crosswalk. sometimes don't. >> we have motorcycle officers ready to stop motorists failing to yield to pedestrians. >> reporter: another busy intersection. this sting operation is meant to remind drivers they have to follow the speed limit. today city officials renewed commitment to having safer streets, reminding everyone that most schools start wednesday. alv alvin

. >> lyanne melendez with the story. >> those in favor say people in bay area will continue to be displacedlords or developers say that had it passed, private investments into rental housing would have come to screeching halt. proposal to repeal the current rent control law died in housing committee. supporters who went to sacramento expressed outrage after it was clear there would be no changes to the act. >> no rent -- high.

lyanne melendez has more. >> when 34 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2013, san francisco knew it had to do something. enter vision zero, a strategy to reduce fatalities on our streets. >> we're not just going to accept that people are going to die trying to get around san francisco. every one of those is preventable. >> reporter: the city has been busy resigning streets, restriping crosswalks, painting red zones at corners so there's a better sight line between driver and pedestrian. strategy is paying off. 2017, 20 fatalities in san francisco, down 41% from 2013. increasing enforcement is big part of the strategy. police from tare adevelop station used pedestrian decoy to make sure drivers stopped before reaching crosswalk. sometimes don't. >> we have motorcycle officers ready to stop motorists failing to yield to pedestrians. >> reporter: another busy intersection. this sting operation is meant to remind drivers they have to follow the speed limit. today city officials renewed commitment to having safer streets, reminding everyone that most schools start wednesday. alv alvin

lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >>> hungarian police had open arrest warrant for sebastian gorka during entire eight months he spent as national security aide to president trump. warrant issued september of last year for firearm or ammunition abuse. remains posted on the hungary's site. gorka told the "times" it was fake news. >>> efforts to divide california into two states are heating up tonight. advocates announce first formal grievance against the state. new california made up of rural areas. old california sacramento and coastal areas including the bay. although contra costa county is shown in new california on this map. says don't reflect rural values but analysts say it's long shot. >> legal and constitutional problems are so insurmountable, will never succeed. but it's a cry for representation from various parts of the state that feel ignored. sacramento can't ignore that. >> filed on tuesday. >>> tense moments on american airlines flight. passengers warned to brace for emergency landing. >> brace. >> brace. >> brace. >> happened after smoke spotted coming from cockpit on yesterday's f

lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >>> police chief announced new initiative to curb epidemic of car burglies and other property crimes. >> whopping jump up from 2014 to 2017. kristen with the details. >> sight of broken glass all too common in san francisco. that's why police department is creating dedicated teams at each district station to focus exclusively on property crimes. teams will identify and monitor serial offenders, work with general crimes unit from last november and work on prevention strategies. first at orville and damascus. two areas hard hit. >> making a living breaking into cars, not working alone, but in crews. we've been effective identifying the crews but feel we can do better there. >> recorded 30,000 car break-ins and arrest rates dropped below 2%. introduced legislation requiring each station to devote a unit to property times. tailor to the police chief asked to be given time to roll out program. this is it. up and running before the end of the year. will be more visible, available and hopefully more able to reverse this disturbing trend. >> boy do we hope. kristen,

lean lyanne melendez was in concord where they are really pushing the flu vaccine. >> reporter: the mtlo adult health education health fair is a yearly event offering flu vaccines. >> it's been a very difficult flu season. >> reporter: so far they have seen seven people die from the influenza virus. the state number is 74. beth decided not to wait any longer to get the vaccine. >> it's free. as bad as the flu's been, i don't really want to catch it. >> reporter: now the contra costa health department says new cases have slightly tapered of o. that comes with a big warning. because the flu virus is so unpredictable, there could be another surge. >> it's hard to know what the trend is until we have a few weeks of data. >> reporter: influenza viruses are skon tantsly changing. the flu shot can still protect you even if it's not perfect. >> it's not too late to get a vaccine. good hand washing, covering your sneezes and coughs, staying home if you're sick and staying away from sick people as much as possible. >> reporter: and so far, the centers for disease control and prevention described

lean lyanne melendez was in concord where they are really pushing the flu vaccine. >> reporter: the mtlo adult health education health fair is a yearly event offering flu vaccines. >> it's been a very difficult flu season. >> reporter: so far they have seen seven people die from the influenza virus. the state number is 74. beth decided not to wait any longer to get the vaccine. >> it's free. as bad as the flu's been, i don't really want to catch it. >> reporter: now the contra costa health department says new cases have slightly tapered of o. that comes with a big warning. because the flu virus is so unpredictable, there could be another surge. >> it's hard to know what the trend is until we have a few weeks of data. >> reporter: influenza viruses are skon tantsly changing. the flu shot can still protect you even if it's not perfect. >> it's not too late to get a vaccine. good hand washing, covering your sneezes and coughs, staying home if you're sick and staying away from sick people as much as possible. >> reporter: and so far, the centers for disease control and prevention described

. >> reporter: in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> zarate is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court monday morning at 9:30. >>> the owner and founder of coffee roaster is being sued for he was accused of sexually sexually assaulting multiple women and creating a toxic workplace culture. the store has explicit sexual references on items such as coffee mugs. >>> former linebacker ackman brooks will not have to register as a sex offender after prosecutors agreed to a plea deal under which brooks only needs to perform 100 hours of community service and pay re restitution to the victim. according to the "mercury news," the district attorney's office said there were legal and factual challenges to the case. >>> someone from florida is $450,000 richer. while there were no jackpot winners in california, somebody in daly city matched five of the six numbers. the semi winning ticket was sold. one employee told us people were buying tickets by the bucket load. >> people were buying $40 worth and higher, just lottery tickets. i've never seen anybody spend that much on tickets.

in the newsroom, lyanne melendez, abc 7 new >>> you are encouraged to get your four-legged friend vaccinated for the flu. symptoms include coughing, eye discharge and fever. dogs around other dogs at kennels and day cares should be vaccinated. many have closed because of the outbreak. most dogs do recover. but in rare cases, the dog flu can lead to pneumonia and death. >>> officials want to build a $18 million pier at the span where it it would be built on the last foundation pier. it's too large and too close to the island to do safely. the idea is to create a 6,000 square foot fishing and sight-seeing pier. >>> two new bart cars went out of the service for maintenance three days after they debuted. a bart spokesperson says maintenance issues like today's are expected and normal. issues are likely because of the complex nature of the cars and the learning curve for operators. the agency says it is confident today's maintenance isn't an indicator of a larger problem. >>> school is in session. students return to a pair of schools for the first time since the devastating wildfires. >>> also, p

in oakland, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >>> former vice president joe biden is in the bay area. in less than an hour, he'll give a talk in san francisco at the jewish community center. all of this part of his american promise tour where he talks about his life and career in politics. >>> california health officials are urging you to get a flu shot right away each if you haven't gotten one yet this sooeb. it released the latest numbers and are warning it's about to get worse. abc 7 news anchor kristen sze joins us with the details. >> hey, dion, this tweet was posted today urging everyone to get vaccinated. they say 27 californians have died from the flu so far this season and there are signs that things are worsening. flu-related visits to the doctor's office and hospitalizations have surpassed some of the most severe flu seasons on record. of the 27 flu deaths in people under 65, four were in santa clara county. top state health officials held a conference call today to educate the public. >> the virus is mainly spread by tiny droplets that form when people cough, sneeze or tal

abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez has our story tonight. >> reporter: scientific studies have suggested that young people should wait until their mid-20s to start using marijuana. during this period of neural development, a younger brain is more sensitive to damage from drug exposure. >> you're more likely to have problems with learning, memory, attention, affecting your school -- >> reporter: the risks are higher for those with family history of mental illness. >> they're more likely to develop things like psychosis or schizophrenia. >> "it's okay to have ed dibbledibble edibles, they won't hit me that hard, fact or fiction?" >> reporter: did youth consumption of cannabis in san francisco is lower than the national average. a 2015 study on cannabis found that 71% of all san francisco high school students reported never trying marijuana, compared to 59% nationwide. the san francisco unified school district has been tracking its students for years. from 2009 to 2015, 83% of high school students said they were not users of cannabis. 93% of middle school students were not either. >> we wan

in oakland, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >>> former vice president joe biden is in the bay area. in less than an hour, he'll give a talk in san francisco at the jewish community center. all of this part of his american promise tour where he talks about his life and career in politics. >>> california health officials are urging you to get a flu shot right away each if you haven't gotten one yet this sooeb. it released the latest numbers and are warning it's about to get worse. abc 7 news anchor kristen sze joins us with the details. >> hey, dion, this tweet was posted today urging everyone to get vaccinated. they say 27 californians have died from the flu so far this season and there are signs that things are worsening. flu-related visits to the doctor's office and hospitalizations have surpassed some of the most severe flu seasons on record. of the 27 flu deaths in people under 65, four were in santa clara county. top state health officials held a conference call today to educate the public. >> the virus is mainly spread by tiny droplets that form when people cough, sneeze or tal

. >> reporter: in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> zarate is scheduled to be arraigned court monday morning at 9:30. >>> the owner and founder of a popular san francisco coffee roaster is being sued for harassment by several employees. according to "the chronicle," the owner was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women and creating a toxic workplace culture. the store has explicit sexual references on items such as coffee mugs. he has not responded to the lawsuit. >>> new details about former 49ers linebacker aman brooks will not have to register as a sex offender after prosecutors agreed to a plea deal under which brooks only needs to perform 100 hours of community service and pay restitution to the victim. he was facing a misdemeanor sexual battery charge for groping an unconscious woman. according to "the mercury news," th district attorney's office said there were legal and factual challenges to the case. >>> someone from florida is $450,000 richer. matching all numbers for the mega millions drawing last night. while there were no jackpot winners in california,