Transcripts For KGO ABC7 20240703

Price for bay area water customers. Calling all hikers. How would you like to be paid 5,000 to do a gorgeous famous hike . If you answer yes, stay tuned. But first, the end of an era for College Basketball and womens sports. The winningest coach in ncaa history, stanford legend Tara Vanderveer, is retiring. Youre watching, getting answers. Im kristen sze. Thanks for joining us. Tara vanderveer spent 45 years as a head coach, first in idaho, then ohio state, and the last 38 seasons at stanford. Her career comes to a close with 1216 victories and three championship titles. Abcs lara spencer has a look at vanderveers legacy. Tara vanderveer, the winningest head coach in all of College Basketball, announcing her retirement after 38 seasons. So much love for the head coach. Its always about her players and elevating the game of College Basketball. Vanderveers storied career includes 1216 wins in her 45 years of coaching. The majority of her time spent at stanford, where she led the team to three ncaa championships. She even had a stint at the olympics, leading team usa to gold in 1996. Coach Tara Vanderveer robin, speaking with the hall of famer and five Time National coach of the year after she reached the top of the mountain. What are you most proud of . You know, im most proud of the improvement that and just the life impact that stanford basketball has on the women i coach. You know, basketball is a team sport. And obviously i wouldnt have accomplished this without great assistance and great, great, great players. And Tara Vanderveer held a News Conference just a short time ago. And here to share that with us is abc seven sports anchor chris alvarez. I know you watched that press conference very closely. Lets run a short clip from it. I honestly have to pinch myself and just say, wow, what what what a ride. What Incredible Opportunity to be coaching at stanford. Uh working here and to coach the Outstanding Young women that i get to coach. I got a all right. That was part of what she said. But obviously so monumental and so momentous. What is your reaction . Well i first think 38 years shes been coaching at stanford as long as ive been alive. So thats one thing. Yeah. I listened to her statement. She spoke for about 30 some odd minutes and prepare statement. Im emotional guy. It almost made me cry. I dont know tara that well, but you can get the sense just listening to her as a coach, as a leader of women and all the things that have happened over the years. The way basketball is transformed lives, the numerous things that theyve done in their careers, what theyve done after basketball. She talked about how people call her when they have a birth of a child. I mean, like just the relationships you build. And so i think thats when youre an athlete or when youre a coach and you retire. Thats the thing you miss the most. They talk about all the wins and losses and all those things, but i think every athlete ive ever talked to when they retire, theyre going to miss the clubhouse, the teammates, the coaches. And so that cant be replaced. And so when you have a culmination like this, its a very emotional moment. She was witty. One of the things she said she was funny and shes one of the most, you know, decorated coaches in this bay area has ever seen it in the country. In College Basketball, shes transformed what its meant to be a College Basketball coach. And she also talked about a story when her dad, she was talking to her dad, she was talking about taking the job at stanford when she left ohio state. And she didnt tell him yet that he had taken it. And he was saying, thats a graveyard of a job. Youre never going to. Its hard to because you have to recruit the top line student athletes as well. Yeah. And she said, im taking the job. And he goes, he told his wife, the dad told us, you know, her mother, shes going to be unemployed in three months. And sitting on her couch, well, she ended up being much different. Yeah, yeah, but it is true. It is. Its stanford. And one of the things about stanford is you have to recruit the student athlete. And those great requirements are so hard, right, to get even to get into the school. So shes able to do both. Right. It kind of limits your options a little bit. When youre looking at 1450 on the sats and a 4. 2 gpa and all that, but shes really transformed the sport and the program talk a little bit about her legacy there. I know we touched on that in lara spencers piece, but what did you see growing up and watching all that shed done . Shes one. Shes consistently one. Whether shes had the players or not. And a lot of times shes had the players as sort of be consistent and take your team to the top of the mountain every year and put yourself in a chance to win a National Championship final fours. That is not easy to do over and over again. In college kids, they they leave, they transform. You cant pay them and now things have changed with the nil. And theres Different Things about how college is changing. And one of the things she said to is she wanted people to know that the retirement wasnt effective, that theyre going to go in the acc, which we all know. The college landscape is changing. Where now a west coast school like stanford is playing clear across the country. It was just time, i think, she said. It was just time. Shes been doing this, what, four decades . Yeah. And people have been asking and shes been thinking about it for a long time. When is retirement coming . She said shes on her retire 20 times in her mind. And so she said she was really close about ten years ago to retiring. And she took a summer off as much as she could. And it rejuvenate her. And shes glad she did not do that. But she had to talk to people, get advice and counsel. And thats the other thing she talked about with stanford, all the great resources shes had over the years. And we know all about that academic institution, all the people you can surround yourself with, and taras. Taras a pillar of stanford athletics. Yeah. I mean, was this a good time to end it in terms of the season they had at stanford this year . Well, they had a really good season. And thats i think what makes it hard is that you had such a good team and youre so committed to these athletes, and some of them are obviously going to be playing, but when you know, you cant give all of yourself, thats when the time is right. And so as much as its going to hurt some of our players, shes still going to be around in an advisory role and shes going to be around. Its just when you cant fully give to that job, its so demanding. Yeah, its time to get out. And speaking of demanding, she said Something Else in the News Conference. Another clip i want to run that speaks to that. Lets listen. Basketball coaching has changed a lot over the 40 years, as you can imagine, but now it is an incredibly 24 over seven job and even if youre on vacation, i might be water skiing at the lake. But im on the phone recruiting. Ive got, you know, a 4 00 call, 430 call, you know, and sometimes its just youre ready. And i just felt yeah. So thats a change in terms of the role of a coach. Right. You said its a lot about recruiting too. But it sounds like its gotten more demanding. I dont know if its just the business side of it has changed the business side of it. You have all these different kids that transfer. You just never know where theyre going to be because they have so many options. Social media plays a role in all these things. Yeah. And the one thing that was left out of that quote, she goes, the 24 seven. Im not about the 24 anymore. I can do the seven parts of the seven. But i think thats very telling. When you cant do the 24 seven, its such a demanding job. But shes been so good at it for so many years, and shes beloved in what she does. And again, very heartfelt and very personable. One thing ive interviewed tara a couple times, she makes you feel like youve known her for years and thats thats a unique quality to have. And shes not a supporter of just her players, really, of women, College Basketball and women in sports in general. And she leaves it at a incredible time when the sport is exploding in popularity. I mean, look at Caitlin Clark and iowa and the womens championship game, i think drew more audiences. Yeah, not through the mens. So the Womens Womens basketball has been growing, especially over the last decade. And you think about whats happened with the wnba being around 25 or some odd years, even though those players that she had in the early 90s, there was no opportunity to play professional basketball. So stanford basketball or maybe the olympics were it. And so now you have someone like cameron brink, who was one of her stars, is going to probably go second overall. And theres a new avenue for these women. If they want to play basketball. They have so many other options. Theyre so smart. They can be doctors, lawyers, whatever they want to be. But some of them do have the opportunity to play basketball. So i think thats also cool too. But the womens game is exploding. I also think that the nba players, you think about guys like steph curry and the guys and the names, just think about the warriors and how much theyre promoting the womens game. Its a great thing. The cohesion of basketball. Kobe bryant, the late kobe bryant did it for so long. You saw what his daughter would have been and how he was taking her to game. So the support from the mens side of the womens game, i think has been really cool, especially has exploded over the last maybe five years. Really. Its grown so much and hey, were getting a Golden State Team here in a year or so. Oh my. Thats going to be so exciting. And so vanderveer must feel great. Kind of leaving it to seeing the whole sport in a great place and growing. Thats awesome. I do feel like it seems like she always talks about not just the wins and the losses, but really bringing the women up as young women and human beings and leaders. Right . Thats thats very important. I think thats the essence of a coach, is that youre trying to build these young women to College Students and get them ready for the real world, whether theyre, you know, family members and wives and mothers and whatever job they may do. And i think thats probably what she takes the most pride in, is developing these young women from 17, 18 years old and the young adults and then seeing them thrive. And i think when she said that all those people she keeps in contact with and call them when theres a birthday or when theres a monumental moment. She also said she wants to play bridge with her 97 year old mother. And oh, she shes very competitive about that. She wants to spend more time with her mom. So thats Pretty Amazing in itself, right . Wow i can see her being competitive even with her mom. So her record is 1216 victories, three championship titles. Do you think anyones going to be able to top that or or i have to look at the numbers again. Yeah. I mean, because coach, she was right there with coach k. So yeah, there are some coaches that are right around that number. I mean id have to look really directly at it. But again, if you stay in this game for a long time and you win a lot at a high level, you can. But its going to take a while. Right . I mean, its just yeah, its a pretty remarkable number to even have it for a little bit. Her career and legacy have been cemented. Chris, thank you so much for coming on. I know it was a short turnaround. That press conference literally just happened and youll have more for us later today, right . Well be here 4 or 5 and six. Thank you chris. All right. Coming up next, the federal government limits forever. Chemicals in public water systems. How much are we exposed to here right now . And is this going to cost us as water customers . Well be right back today, the federal government imposed strict new limits on forever chemicals or pfas, in public water systems. Those six synthetic chemicals are linked to cancer and other health problems. While some applaud the move, there is a potential cost to water users. Joining us live now is tasha steuber, Senior Scientist at the Environmental Working Group based in san francisco. Tasha, thanks for your time. Thank you. So you researched contaminants and chemicals in water. Tell us how big of a problem is the presence of forever chemicals in public water systems. And by that do we mean tap water . Yes. So epas announcement today is one that has been a long awaited. And it is a really big win for public health. Uh pfas are a problem in Drinking Water systems in every state in the us, and there are 11 states that already have passed state level. Mcls. So this is something that weve been waiting for quite some time. Pfas are linked to a number of Different Health effects, and weve all all already been exposed to them for quite some time. So this is, well welcomed news, that there will finally be a National Standard for six of these pfas in Drinking Water. So theyre not saying has to get down to zero traces. Right. Its, tell me about the limits and then tell us about how these chemicals get into a water system. What are they coming from . Right. So we the limits that the, the federal legal limits that will be set, they will be four parts per trillion for pfoa and for pfoa. So it wont be zero. The ideal level is zero since these are chemicals that are linked to cancer. But the levels that have been set, they have been set because those are the levels that we can reliably detect them and repeatedly detect them in Drinking Water. Where do they come from, though . So pfas, come from a number of different sources, a triple f Firefighting Foam is a source of Drinking Water contamination, pfas are in so many different types of Consumer Products and we dont have good disposal methods for them, so they can come from things like leaking landfills, their discharge, along with wastewater, as well as from manufacturing facilities that have released them into the environment. So a number of different sources have led to Drinking Water contamination. And weve had incidents here in the bay area. Right. I read something about oakland airport. And also the Alameda Naval air station is that where pfas has been found in the past . Here picasso didnt have been detected in a number of Drinking Water systems in the bay area as part of the infrastructure plan to help pay for, filtration and compliance so you dont think it would for states that dont already have that and utilities that havent already, you know, been following the protocol, you dont think its going to have to cost them billions and pass it on to consumers. That, will be something to consider. But fact that that there is, federal money that. Reward. How would you like to be paid to make a special trek on the famed Pacific Crest National Scenic trail . Indeed theres a 5,000 offer on the table. So joining us live to talk about this special deal is lydia beck, marketing and pr manager for visit carson city. Hey, lydia. Hi. How are you . Im doing great. Just hearing about this promotion that you guys are running. What is the offer here . Tell us about it. So this is the carson city to canada quest is what we are calling it. And we are looking for two people that we can work with to give them 5,000 to hike all the way from carson city to canada. Whoa. Okay. Is this to celebrate a new trail . Because i kind of thought Pacific Crest has been around for a long time. Did you add a small portion or something . Oh, we sure did. Absolutely so we this is all honor of a brand new trail that was, built anally opened last july of 2023. Its called the capital to tahoe t is the first from carson city to lake tahoe, which then connects to the tahoe rim trail, which connects to the Pacific Crest National Scenic trail, which obviously goes all the way to canada. So when we realized this connection happened, you know what better way to celebrate it and see if someone can actually do it . And so thats how this sparked and came to fruition. And so were really looking for someone to bring us along on the journey with them. And were looking for two people to take on that challenge and see see what its like. Just so we know, i mean, this is not for beginners or the faint of heart, right . I mean, its difficult, isnt it . Like 1600 miles and it is. Yes, it is 1600 miles from carson city all the way to canada. So were looking for people that are experienced backpackers. You dont have to have have done a thru hike before, but obviously thats a great bonus. We just want to make sure that were working with with people that are capable of doing this, and isnt their first time on the trail. So, and also just willing to create some content along the way so we can live vicariously through them. Since that, through hiker is such a niche market, you know . Totally. I mean, do you how does it work in terms of like, cooking food . Like personal needs . Like, do you carry all of it or. I mean, well, theres a stations along the way where you can get resupplies, a resupplied area. So people plan drops along the way so you dont have to carry all that for the 1600 miles. Youre going to have a big pack, of course, because youre going to be on your own in nature, you know, living, you know, off off the elements, per se, and whatever you can carry on your back. So, its up to them to find the drops in, figure out how to resupply. So were really just there to kind of document the journey with them, not so much. Apply a supply. The food along the way, but provide the financial means to do so. I gotcha obviously i wouldnt qualify because, you know, i dont think i can handle the journey, but for someone whos got a social media accounts and can do a little posting and hike that trail, its a great opportunity, but this is, you know, really about carson city, too. Like, why carson city . I mean, those of us from the bay area we often think of, you know, reno or we go to tahoe. But tell us about carson city. Oh, yeah. Absolutely, im always surprised how few people know that carson city is actually the capital of nevada. So many people think las vegas. You can see our capital building, on my screen somewhere here, so our, our proximity to reno and all of northern nevada, as we sit right in the center of it all, were really kind of the center point of your nevada experience when you get here. Because in 20 minutes or 30 minutes in each direction, youre also in a very amazing place, which includes lake tahoe. So carson city is just a wonderful place to stay and visit. But this trail that connects us to tahoe is really just a gem that showcases our access to the outdoors. We have over 100 miles of trails in carson city, so not only are we great for history and culture, native american experiences, but the trails and the outdoors is really a huge part of who we are and what we do. And our proximity to tahoe as well. All right, lydia, before i let you go, 10s, where do people go to apply . To find out more, visit carson city. Com quest or you can just find it at visit carson city. Com and the application is pretty easy. Just make sure you send in a 62nd video and tell us why tada hulu on disney is now available. I think we just found our new home. Your favorites, together like never before. This is a destination spot. For disney bundle subscribers, hulu on disney is here. Tonight, tornado strikes and severe storms as we come on the air. The shootout at a crowded Ramadan Celebration in philadelphia. And the abortion battle in arizona. President biden an donald trump both weighing in. First, those deadly storms sweeping across the south