live in oakland, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. >> wow. all right, melanie thank you for that information. no plea deal. >>> max harris is set to be released from santa rita jail within the next few hours. here's a live picture from the jail. >> the sheriff's department says he'll have to be processed before he's released from there. that's max harris. derick almena will remain in custody for now. both have been in custody since their arrest. >>> the first push alert went out about the verdict coming in at noon. we continued to send more alerts as more information came out. you can download the an so you're the first to know when major news breaks. >>> coming up next, new clues from the dive boat fire. a crew member who survived talks about what he saw when he tried to go into the galley. >>> the people who deliver food for companies like door dash held rallies today. what they're demanding. >>> i'm meteorologist >>> if you are just joining us, a verdict finally in the ghost ship fire trial. >> a jury found max harris not guilty on all 36 c

live in lafayette, melanie woodrow, abc7 news. >> melanie, thank you. in oakland hundreds of kaiser permanente workers rallied and marched for a new contract after more than one year of negotiations. as they promised, 70 of those workers were arrested for blocking an intersection. abc7 news reporteder luz pena has the story. >> no way. >> reporter: more than 1,000 kaiser permanente workers rallied together for a better contract. >> they're taking billions of dollars but won't put it into the hospital. >> reporter: among their concerns are low wages, high pay for kaiser executives, staffing shortage and outsourcing jobs. harvey has worked for kaiser 17? they're taking away my retirement. this is going to affect us greatly. it's going to be something hard to swallow, you know, taking a 10, $15 pay cut is going to be tough. >> reporter: almost 70 workers were arrested for blocking the intersection of macarthur boulevard. he said he needs to provide for his family in the philippines. >>> you know you're about to get arrested. >> right, yes. and i'm ready be

melanie woodrow spent weeks talking to business and the sfmta.with the story. >> reporter: we're talking about two more years projected. right now i'm sg on the rooftop of san francisco toyota. this is one of several businesses impacted by this construction, and of course impacted by all of the delays. you can see some of the construction from here. it runs up and down van ness and the businesses along the corridor say they want someone to compensate them for their lost revenue. these two miles of van ness avenue have become too much for some local businesses >> there's dirt. there's noise. there's road closures. >> i've watched dishes rattle off of tables and smash to the floor. >> i know that our patrons and musicians and staff members have been frustrated by commuting to get here on van ness. >> it is a mess. >> reporter: the sfmta awarded a three-year, $183.9 million contract for the job. the cost, nearly $309 million. it began in 2016. substantial of completion was supposed to be reached next month, around the three-year mark. but the sfmta

in alameda, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. >>> uber is wrapping up its safety features as it comes under fire over allegations that the company is putting profits ahead of passenger safety. abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez has moore. >> reporter: uber is guaranteeing riders that when you get into this car, you will be safe. >> because it's the right thing to do. >> reporter: that's head of uber's safety program who rolled out the company's safety tool kit. for one, you will now have the option of requesting a code to make sure you have the right driver. >> and only if the pin is the right pin can the driver start the trip. >> sometimes late nights, all cars look the same. you may hop into the wrong car thinking it's the uber, so the confirmation would definitely help on drunken friday nights. >> reporter: you're revealing too much of yourself. riders or drivers can now text 911 discreetly if in trouble. >> all you have to do is hit the send button and all the important information from your trip such as your current location, the driver information, the vehicle information is automati

. >> let's go to melanie woodrow. >> reporter: you can see that over my shoulder there's a podium set up with a lot of microphones. that's because we're hoping to speak with some of the victims' family members. we're waiting for them to come outside here from court. so far, really we've been hearing from the defendants' attorneys, including one of derick almena's attorneys named brian getz. he broke down in tears as he described that great loss of life. he said that his client has also been devastated by the loss of life and this is what he had to say. >> he said that while he was relieved not to have been convicted, he has not and will not lose sight of the terrible tragedy that occurred. the fact that he was somehow involved in it, the fact that 36 families were shattered, the fact that there was the most unspeakable -- loss of life. >> reporter: you can hear there obviously a lot of emotion for everybody involved here. we spoke with derick almena's other attorney. tony cera. i asked him whether or not there was a gag order still in place. you may recall when the three jurors were l

and while you think about that, we turn to abc7 news i-team reporter melanie woodrow who's been covering the latest from the newsroom. >> huffman pleaded guilty in the varsity blues case, the country's largest college admissions scandal. you might recall the recommendation was one month. the judge opted instead to give her half of that. >> reporter: in addition to 14 days in prison, huffman will have to perform 250 hours of community service and pay a $30,000 fine. she'll also serve one year of probation. huffman pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud in connection with paying $15,000 to have an s.a.t. proctor correct her daughter's answers. during her court appearance, huffman told the court her daughter asked her why she didn't believe in her. huffman said i was frightened, stupid and i was wrong. i've inflicted more damage than i could ever imagine. she released a statement, i especially want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices supporting their children. huffman has been ordered to self-report to

abc7 news reporter melanie woodrow has been following this. melanie, not the best commute for people on this labor day. >> reporter: not the best, but we do have some good news to bring you. first of all, power is expected to be restored to everybody within the next hour, by 5:00 p.m. also take a look, you can see crews have finished their work on these overhead power lines. more good news means no man advertise pat more anticipate the closures for highway 24. >>> after replacing a crane at the lafayette bart station, it hit a power line. this is the crane bart provided from a previous weekend of work. just before 5:30 this morning, the impacted line came down in the westbound lane of highway 24 which was reopened just before 6:30 a.m. the incident knocking out electricity to more than 700 customers including this lafayette shopping customer. owner joan brisoni. saying no one called her. >> i just arrived and almost had a heart attack. i thought, what's happening? what's going on here? then i found out. >> reporter: as did her tenants, the whol

live in oakland, melanie woodrow, abc7 news. >> all right, melanie, thank you. >> and we also want to bring in abc7 news reporter wayne freedman tonight. >> yeah, he spoke with the father of a woman who died in the fire. wayne. >> reporter: thank you. you know, as we say, 36 victims, that's a lot of families. that's a lot of grief. some of those families came out of the courtroom and said nothing today. others did want to talk. among them mikaela gregory's family. we have a photograph of her here. let's show you her picture. she was 20 years old, student at san francisco state. she had gone to the concert with her boyfriend. when authorities discovered their bodies, they were the two who were found in an embrace. her father david gregory attended pretty much every day of this trial. and as you are about to hear, predictability he was not happy with these verdicts. >> i'm in shock. in disbelief. i can't believe it. i don't know what to think. >> reporter: are you disappointed? >> absolutely i'm disa point. there's a man walking out there that should be in jail right now. he was willing

. >> melanie woodrow did digging, more than half the schools are in sonoma county. >> according to the health officer, last reported case was 2011, still low immunization rates for children in kindergarten in sonoma county is concern for health officials. there's no way to tell the difference looking at children playing but according to data by the california department of public health, only 23 of the 44 kindergarteners were immunized against measles 2014 to 2019. remaining had medical exemptions. >> have heard from some of the parents that certain doctors are more willing than others to provide a governor gavin newsom, more scrutiny for doctors. another new law invalidates doctors with motions before the board. santa rosa based pediatrician. >> sonoma county is haven for fraudulent medical exemptions and is dangerous to health of the community. >> 4 of the top 10 schools with lowest rates were located in sonoma county. >> it's really rare for somebody to actually qualify for a medical exemption. >> dr. celeste philip degrees. >> below 95%, it's concerning. >> says the percentage with

for the i-team, melanie woodrow, "abc 7 news." >>> los angeles health officials are investigating theh e-cigarettes. county officials would say only that the deceased was under 50 years old and suffered from chronic underlying health issues. despite that, they say vaping was likely the cause of death. officials say no single vaping device, liquid or ingredient, is linked to the cases. >> stop vaping now. until further information about what is causing lung damage and death can be understood. >> it took many years for us to understand the health impacts of nicotine and the health impacts of smoking. we question whether or not we are on the same path in terms of looking at vaping. >> u.s. health officials identified about 450 possible vaping-related cases in 33 states, including as many as five deaths. >>> as coroners work to identify the victims of the southern california boat fire, reports say another bay area man was aboard the conception. singapore paper says palo alto scientist and stanford graduate sanu santu was among the victims. the coast guard says salvaging the boat will take

melanie woodrow has the story. >> for 21 years cycles of change has been teaching kids bike safety. >ing jobs i've ever had. >> but graders at maya lynn elementary school and their parents got an unexpected lesson when someone stole a u-haul with 50 bikes from eighth street and santa clara avenue. >> how do you explain that to a 9-year-old? >> i can't even explain it to myself. >> the u-haul had been parked on school property for two weeks without any problems. school officials asked cycles of change to move it before the last day of safety training. >> it's because the truck is so heavy and we have a fairly knew asphalt black top out there and it actually damages the asphalt. >> we put a club on it, locks on it, lock the door, we'll be okay. but we came back in the morning and the truck was gone. >> the alameda police department is now investigating. as for the likelihood of finding the truck with the bikes in it. >> if they knew that the bikes in there and stole it, maybe the bikes are already taken. >> cycles of change is supposed to be at another school next week. >> we need secur

"abc 7 news" i-team reporter melanie woodrow has been covering the scandal since the very beginning andparents who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, napa vineyard owner agustin huneeus is facing the longest sentencing recommendation at 15 months. he paid rick singer $300,000 to participate in both the college entrance exam cheating scheme and the college recruitment scheme for his daughter. next is marjorie klapper of menlo park with a recommended sentence of four months. klapper paid singer $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for her son. peter sartorio of menlo park with one month. he agreed to paid singer $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for his daughter. actress felicity huffman is facing a one-month recommended sentence. through her attorneys she is asking for no prison time. the government says they considered the amount of the bribe, whether somebody was a repeat player, whether they were active or passive parts paicipan the scheme and whether or not they involved th

abc 7 i-team reporter melanie woodrow covered the scandal since the beginning and has the latest. >>o pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, napa vineyard owner augusti augustine hunias is facing the longest recommendation at 15 months. he paid rick singer $15,000 to participate in the college recruitment scheme and col col entrance for his daughter. peter sartorio of menlo park with just one month. he agreed to pay singer $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for his daughter. actress felicity huffman is facing a one-month recommended sentence. through he attorneys she is asking for no prison time. >> the government says they considered the amount of the bribe, whether somebody was a repeat player, whether they were an active or passive participant in the scheme and whether or not they involved their children. in the newsroom for the i-team, melanie woodrow, "abc 7 news." >>> los angeles county health officials are investigating the county's first death associated with e-cigarettes, also known as vaping. county

in the newsroom, melanie woodrow, abc7 news. >>> big bounce america is bouncing out of another bay area event. this time over goose poop. the company said droppings from canada geese has forced them to cancel the visit to loel park in oakland. the kre said -- the ceo said the customers are kids in socks and this would make the bounce house a bigger mess. the oakland parks and recreation department said the company should have inspected the grounds before signing a $20,000 lease. would-be bouncers can get a refund but they'll be disappointed. >>> stay here with us. apple unveiled a bunch of new tough today. >> several new versions of the iphone coming and that is not all. see what other gadgets and services are on the way. >>> and are you a fan of the game show jeopardy? we'll explain how you could take it on the go and play along in your car. >>> i'm meteorologist sandhya patel. temperatures fell below average today but a big rebound is coming. we'll talk about the heat straight ahead. >>> and raiders fans are vented about the departure of antonio about the departure of antonio br face

. >> melanie woodrow was in court today and has the latest developments. >> reporter: these hearings at estimating the value of claims against pg&e so wildfire victims and get paid. pg&e has been linked to a series of deadly wildfires, including the camp fire. the utility company filed for bankruptcy in january. now pg&e is in u.s. district court for estimation hearings to determine the value of the cases by wildfire claimants. >> some people are still living in tents in the camp fire. there are people who have lost loved ones who need to be compensated. and the judge really seems to want to move this fast. >> reporter: the federal judge has suspected experts come in and the middle ground would be to take a claim and multiply it by the total number of people who have a claim against pg&e. >> trying to estimate the value of those cases so that the people can get paid through the bankruptcy and the amount of money that's set aside for those im >> reporter: meantime, san francisco has offered $2.5 billion to buy pg&e wires in the city. mayor london breed. >> our goal is to continue to p