lyanne melendez is live from the administration building. >> reporter: well, you know, dan, old pipes and, of course, plumbingare responsible for the lead in the water. at the beginning of the year california told schools, listen, if your lead levels exceed -- if they are higher than 15 parts per billion, you've got to do something about it. all 136 san francisco public schools have now been tested for lead. the colored dots on the map represents each school and their lead levels. if you go by 15 parts per billion, most schools passed. only six exceeded the standards. they're the ones in red. >> they were set decades ago. >> reporter: they say the standards are outdated. >> the american academy of pediatrics has recommended that we really limit lead levels to no more than one part per billion. >> reporter: when you take that recommendation and apply it to san francisco's schools, only 65 of the 136 have lead levels in their drinking water of less than one part per billion. san francisco unified quickly expanded its water testing, flushed all their pipes and installed filters in most s

i'm live in san francisco, lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >> thank you, lyanne. interesting to hear that perspective. if you have ideas about how to impact the drug crisis in san francisco or how it is impacting you, we want to hear from you. reach out on twitter using the #abc 7 now. >>> we are still on storm watch because we are expecting more rain tomorrow. this is a live look from mount tam in mayor an showing a mix of blue skies and clouds. nice evening out there. this is what the morning commute looked like for a lot of drivers, raindrops and windshield, wipers. it came down for a time. "abc 7 news" anchor christian spencer is tracking the storm. >> there is more coming. this morning will look a lot like tomorrow afternoon. here is a look at live doppler 7. we have lingering clouds and kind of humid and muggy. the approaching storm ranks one on the storm impact scale as did today's. storm of light intensity. here is forecast animation taking us into the early morning hours. you see as the morning commute gets under way there may be a spot or two of sprinkle

lyanne melendez has the story. >> reporter: she was scheduled to walk away a free man.is murder charges were dropped after he agreed to testify begins tiffany lee and her boyfriend at the time. both lee and the boyfriend are being charged with the shooting death of keith green, the father of lee's two children. adela had pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact. >> in this case not the killing of the victim, but instead of taking the body afterward, taking it up to sonoma county and attempting to dump it there. >> reporter: green's body was found off the side of the road in sonoma county in may 2016. under california law, adela has served his time, a year and a half of a maximum three-year sentence. >> and he has done that. he has been in custody of this jail for over a year and a half, and, therefore, we arrived at the conclusion that he would be released from custody. >> reporter: under the conditions of his release, he must stay in contact with the court and must be available to the d.a.'s office at any time. adela is expected to testify some time in august of

i'm live in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> okay, thanks very much. >>> the crew of a coast guard cutter is back home in alameda after seizing illegal drugs on the high seas. the cutter stratton approached the dock. family and friends waved from the banks of the oakland estuary to loved ones aboard the stratton. stratton's crew worked on missions like to one to stop suspected drug smugglers from reaching the u.s. a group of three coast guard cutters seized 11 tons of cocaine off the coast of mexico and central america. >>> whales have started migrating southward along our coast, and a group of whale watchers happened to be in the right place at the right time to see them. >> oh! >> he did they for us. >> a humpback displaying some acrobatics in monterey bay. whale watchers saw even more yesterday. a pod of orcas, at least five killer whales put on their aquatic show as well. they got their money's worth. >> spectacular. >>> now your accuweather forecast with sandhya patel. >> always great to see them if you go whale watching this time of year. good evening. take a look

lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> lyanne, thank you. the city keeps spending more and more money on services and supportive housing. this fiscal year the number tops $325 million. san francisco spends roughly $43,000 per person. if proposition c is approved, that number could nearly double. >>> well, what do you think would help with the homeless problem the most? we want to know what you think. go to abc7news.com/vote to share your thoughts. is it money, perhaps, housin, mental health help, drug abuse treatmenter or do you have some other idea that might make a difference? cast your vote or share your ideas on social media using the #betterbay. we'll take your votes up until 7:00 tonight. we look forward to hearing from you. >> yeah. well, clean streets is certainly an issue as well. more and more regular people are using technology and social tools to do something about san francisco's dirty streets. the latest is an ios app mod elds after snapchat called snap crap. basically you snap a picture when you see, you know what, in this cas

lyanne melendez live with more. lyan lyanne? >> reporter: let's just say these grades wouldn't get you into college. now people are discussing this on twitter. one follower wrote, oh, where, oh, where have our taxes gone? the wait is finally over. >> now for the grades. are we ready for the grades? >> yes. >> i hear yeses. california in 2018 received the grade of "d." if you guessed "d," that was correct. >> reporter: civil engineers says it's a report card of the surface transportation was disappointing but not surprising. >> california has the largest percentage of bridges in poor condition in the nation. >> reporter: our bridges received a c-minus and our transit system scored just as poorly. of course what these experts say matters, but i wanted to hear from you, the hard working commuters who spend hours on these roads and highways. >> it's a "d." they're right on the money. bridges are bad. in town, highway roads, everything. >> there's a lot of potholes. it's a mess. >> reporter: the reason our infrastructure scored poorl

. >> we sent lyanne melendez news van. >> introduce yourself? >> tom, casual carpool. >> leonard, ac transit. >> justin, b.a.r.t. >> monitoring everybody's progress. four folks. >> i understand everybody is betting against me, i don't know why. >> 12 minutes in, lyanne has moved three feet. my money on justin, b.a.r.t. may be quickest. thomas got short straw, casual carpool, half hour since showed up and no one has stopped. leonard, ac transit. 6:01, over the bay bridge but still on 80. tomas is done. still standing in the sidewalk of speer and howard waiting for casual carpool. >> moving but have feeling not going to win the race. >> in time it took lyanne just to get on the bay bridge, had a winner.nt toot my own b.a.r.t. horn but justin in 54 minutes to berkeley, he made it. number one. other three commuters are in thick of it right now. >> we're now making great progress, about five minutes away if you will. >> thomas is still stuck in san francisco. >> not a single car came to pick up berkeley crew. >> but he made a friend. >> we made it. i

in san francisco, lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >> interesting. thanks very much. >>> all right.t is time to check on our weather today. >> we of course have been tracking hurricane michael, and our local forecast as well. spencer christian is back. >> we will start with the local forecast right now. we have mainly sunny skies still over the bay and our land areas, but fog is developing along the coastline, beginning the make a bit of a push over the bay right now. this is a spectacular view of the setting sun from our east bay his camera. a big, bright setting sun there in the western sky. 60 degrees in san francisco. oakland, 63. mid 60s, mid to upper 60s at mountain view and san jose. morgan hill, 62 degrees. 57 at pa sick au. here is a view of the setting sun from emeryville. 62 at santa rosa. 66 in novato. vacaville, 71. concord, 68. 63 in livermore. check out this view from the abc 7 exploratorium camera, looking at blue skies over the san francisco skyline. we will see low clouds expanding overnight. sunny and milder tomorrow afternoon and a warmer pattern will come in on

. >> lyanne melendez joins us to explain why. lyanne. >> reporter: well, between 300 and 400 big businesses here in san francisco would be taxed at a higher rate, and you're right. the proposition has unlikely supporters like mark benuoff of salesforce and homeless advocates say this measure they believe would pass even without the support of mayor breed. san francisco spends more than $300 million a year on services for the homeless. tracie mixon lives in a shelt h daughter, yet she hasn't been able to find a home she can afford even though she has a job. >> where does this money go because i don't see it being spent trying to help people? >> reporter: today she joined a few tech workers who stand behind the measure which would tax big corporations. the money would go to build more public housing for people like mixon. it would also pay for temporary housing, shelter beds and more mental health services. >> these companies are receiving more money from these tax breaks, and to be able to allocate a very tiny portion of this to do

>> i'm lyanne. >> you have that many questions. >> lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >>> all right. here's proof that maybe some firefighters are born not made. this little boy in vacaville proved himself in the junior firefighter challenge. you can see he worked the hose like a pro. put this big teddy bear -- on facebook, the firefighters say the coat may be too big. seems the job is a perfect fit for the little guy. >> still to come, the president's threat following reports a journalist may have been killed inside saudi arabia's embassy. the inspirational message from a bay area kidnapping survivo >>> we're starting this half hour with a look at the weather. here's meteorologist lisa argen. >> matt, good morning to you. we have a lot of fog and our red flag warning going into effect and the wind advisory. so we're anticipating those dry, northeasterly winds in highlighted area from the north and east bay hills through 12:00 p.m. tomorrow. so the northeast winds getting going throughout the morning hours. strongest tonight. and tonight is when we'll have the wind gusts from 45 to 6

in south san francisco, lyanne melendez. "abc 7 news." >> remarkable work, lyanne. thank you.he u.s. postal service has been on high alert all week and in burlingame the employees did the right thing. >> they immediately identified the situation and did what they were trained to do, don't touch it, move away, notify somebody and get out. >> this burlingame facility processes smaller packages between five and 25 pounds. that includes mail coming in from all over the world as well as outgoing packages from the bay area. it sits in the district represented by congresswoman jackie speier. >> imagine if one of these bombs had gone off. imagine how much turmoil it would have created in this country, how unsafe so many people would have felt. >> safety was the top concern in sacramento after a package addressed to california senator kamala harris was found about 7:30 this morning at a post office. >> the building was cordoned off and bomb technicians from various agencies were brought in. senator harris is in jo jaw today. >> she spoke with reporters shortly after a speech at spelman

. >> "abc 7 news" reporter lyanne melendez live from treasure island. what are is problem and what are the solutions? these grades are terrible. >> reporter: well, dan, how much time do you have? listen, the reality is that there are more people here in the bay area and we haven't really invested in our infrastructure. now, what is the solution? the people i spoke to said, you know, we have to rely less on daddy -- meaning the federal government -- and start to think or focus more about thinking regionally. the american society of civil engineers says its report card of california surface transportation was disappointing but not surprising. >> in california in 2018, received a grade of d. yes. if you guessed d, that was correct. >> reporter: our bridges received a c minus and our transit system scored just as poorly. >> california has the largest percentage of bridges in poor condition in the nation. >> reporter: of course, what these experts say matters, but i wanted to hear from you, the hard-working bay area commuters who spend hours on these roads a

abc 7 reporter lyanne melendez was there. >> reporter: it was a debate not meant for news.ameras were not allowed near the candidates. reporters relied on cellphones to poorly record comments made by kaf innewsome. john cox left without talking to anyone and eventually exited the station's parking garage. >> let's get started. >> reporter: on the issue of the state's housing crisis, newsome brought up prop 13 the yearly increases. >> you are talking about reforming prop 13? >> we are talking about a tax conversation around this housing comfort. >> is prop 13 on the table? >> everything is on the table as relates to this issue. >> reporter: cox says california needs housing reform, saying there's too much red tape, taxes and lawsuits that stand in the way of more construction. >> there's no good reason why i am able to build other places for a lot less cost than in california. >> reporter: on the issue of our criminal justice system, cox believes the state needs tougher laws and sentences that stick while newsom said locking people up is not necessarily the answer. with rega

live in san francisco, lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >> lyanne, thank you. >>> on to other news. one of the dozens of bills governor brown signed over the weekend is being challenged by the trump administration. the justice department has filed suit to stop a new law that restores net neutrality protections that the fcc killed last year. the suit claims only the federal government can regulate interstate commerce. now, the governor also signed a bill that requires public companies to have women on corporate boards and another new law gives b.a.r.t more zoning power over its own properties and limits cities' abilities to delay or obstruct development. that law could radically alter the suburban landscape around b.a.r.t stations, giving b.a.r.t the authority to override local zoning laws to build housing. here is "abc 7 news" reporter carlos saucedo with the story from the east bay. >> reporter: the bay area is known for its housing crisis and traffic con jeks. a new law signed by governor brown aims to address both. assembly bill 2923 allows b.a.r.t to build housing and shops out

we sent reporter lyanne melendez to see what solutions to the drug crisis people there might support. lyanne. >> reporter: i think it's safe to say that the safe injection site proposal is very much supported by local politicians by, of course, the mayor of san francisco and yes, drug addicts here on the streets. now, in exactly two minutes, i'll tell you why it may not be dead. in the meantime, people are talking about solutions. >> to say that drug use in the tenderloin is rampant would be an understatement. three politicians running for supervisor of that district say they're willing to take a shot at solving the drug crisis. here's sonia trous. >> enough is enough and can't let them continue to inject outside. we have to make sure that the rehab is available. >> here's the reality. despite spending lots of money to fund services, all three candidates will tell you there are not enough long-term residential treatment centers in the city. matt haney says it's time to open more of them. >> right now, people are coming here because of our failures. because we have a situation where pe

lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >>> tropical storm michael is moving into the carolinas after tearing through the florida panhandle and georgia as a hurricane. tonight we've learned six people have now died. the storm leveled entire cities while some residents waited it out. >> me and my daddy, we spent about two hours watching through the windows how the wind was going and everything. we just saw three trees land on three of our neighbors' yards and everything. that really got me scared. >> neighbors also pitched in despite the dangerous conditions. >> that father-son rescue team saying they stayed behind just to help their neighbors. >>> local response and relief teams in the bay area are mobilizing to help those affected by hurricane michael. abc 7's carlos saucedo has that part of our coverage tonight. >> reporter: ten volunteers with the northern california chapter of the american red cross have already been deployed with more on the way. i did speak with one volunteer who is about to head out tomorrow who says she can't catch a break. catastrophic images out of the gulf coast capture th

lyanne melendez found out what he's saying about this controversial issue. >> reporter: last tuesday night, something was missing at the san francisco school board meeting. >> tonight, we start this meeting in honor of maya angelou who once said when you learn, teach, when you get, give. >> reporter: stephen cook skipped over the pledge of allegiance, not by accident but intentionally. he told me he's honoring the country in a different way by recognizing great americans instead. >> i would encourage anybody that wants to do it, to do it. and in terms of uplifting patriots, that's the focus of how i want to start the meeting. >> reporter: the board is not obligated to say the pledge, but schools are. in fact, 43 states have laws stating it has to be recited. but students can opt out. seven states have no laws. so here's a brief history lesson. the pledge was written in 1892 by francis bellamy. he was a left wing socialist minister. and you know that phrase "under god?" that wasn't him. he didn't write that. in fact, it was president eisenhower who convinced congress to add it in 1954

in redwood city, lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >> thank you, lyanne. >>> in the east bay the contranty sheriff's office is looking for the men behind a terrifying armed home invasion robbery in alamo overnight. according to deputies, several suspects wearing ski masks and dark clothing approached the victim in the driveway of his home. one of the suspects hit the homeowner with a wooden chair. they left the home with personal property. neighbors were very troubled by the incident. >> we lock the doors and set the alarm now for sure. that's definitely a thing because we're pretty -- we have the back door open for the dogs and stuff, and now everything is locked up. >> reporter: the sheriff's office is asking anyone with information about the incident to give them a call. >>> more closures are planned around san francisco's salesforce transit center. the discovery of two cracked seal beams shut down the transit center ten days ago as we reported to you. we are keeping track how long the clock is running. as you can see, starting tonight first street between mission and howard will be

we asked "abc 7 news" reporter lyanne melendez and she joins us live from oakland city hall. lyanne. >> reporter: you know, we couldn't ignore this story after reading the comments made by many of you on the gofundme page. unfortunately for drew, i don't think much will change. by now we thought the homeless man known as drew would be getting the help he needs, but there he was waking up when we found him under the pergola at lake merritt. what about the efforts to find you a home? >> i'm done. i own a home. >> reporter: you own a home? >> yes. >> reporter: it was the cellphone video of a jogger throwing his belongings in the lake that prompted some in the oakland community to help find drew a home. to date that gofundme effort brought in more than $14,000, but donors started complaining after noticing that drew was still homeless, asking, can someone please update and, i'm starting to think you guys just straight-up stole our money. one of the two people in charge of collecting this money finally responded, saying, we were able to use the money to get true housing, but he has

"abc 7 news" reporter lyanne melendez replied to her e-mail and met her and you're here with her story>> reporter: that's right. this could be your neighbor, a friend who suddenly becomes homeless. in this case, she found us. she has lived in a car for a year and wanted her story to be told. and this is home? >> this is home. this is my home. this is it. >> reporter: jane perisi's story shouldn't surprise anyone, ending up homeless in the bay area is not uncommon, especially when wages have not kept up with the price of housing. all it took was for her to lose her job as a cook after developing a medical condition. >> i lost a and then i wasn't able to fulfill my end of the bargain and, of course, then unemployment, you know, doesn't pay, and wenhen i nt bad, it went rlly bad. >> she is 54, working two jobs. she starts early in the morning delivering paint and supplies for janko corporation in berkley. when she finishes there, parisi takes fresh clothes out of her trunk, washes up and a few minutes later heads to her second job where she earns minimum wage working at this dollar store

abc 7 reporter lyanne melendez tells us more. >> reporter: alison is a parent of a student at this schoolshe shared this picture of her child and the teacher who was killed while riding a bicycle. >> it is a shock. it is hard for our community, especially for the little ones who don't understand what is going on. >> reporter: investigators say she was on sir francis drake boulevard near railroad avenue in wood acre when she was struck by a 2006 explorer. the driver, 24-year-old paula drake of fairfax, was apparently under the influence of alcohol. >> as the officers were speaking with the driver, they did notice some signs of impairment and decided to initiate that dui evaluation. so after they did that, she was placed under arrest at that time for felony dui. >> reporter: counsellors from the school district came to the school to help the kids process the news. dibenetto was known for sharing with the students her love of nature. >> tremendous sadness, tremendous loss. the dea she was a big part of the community for the last 20 years. everybody was shocked and stunned. it is not somethin