Announced minutes ago that the San Jose State UniversityPolice Officer who6r p÷ killed lopez will not be charged in his death. We are live in san jose with the new information tonight. Reporter that is the headline tonight. The Santa Clara County das office announcing they will not seek criminal charges against the two officers. Now earlier lori valdez antonios common law wife was given the chance to view the video of the body cam and an opportunity to listen to the 911v qn5i calls. Lopez was holding a 12inch saw typically used for cutting dry wall. The officers asked him to drop it. When he didnt comply, one officer tased him. That didnt work or failed. Thats when lopez reportedly charged at one officer, the second officer who is now behind him shot him twice in the back. Valdez told me she just couldnt bare to watch the video. I thought i wanted to see antonios last time he was alive on earth. But to see him die, i cant do it yet. When itczbs time ill see it with my attorney later on. But right now, i cant. Reporter now no criminal charges again will be filed but the family has filed a civil complaint in federal court. For they say violating his civil rights. Live in duzc05ajey san jose, abc7 news. A new developments tonight in a child Pornography Case m rocking including allegations the suspect may have o illegal immigrant am necessary city. Cto hes accused of molesting a child, possessing and producing pornography. Evidence surfaced saying that he was scheduled to be deported in 2012, but was granted amnesty. Also today, a lawsuit wasgu÷ fileda j 85. ncwaj÷ office of education. The suit on behalf ofjelhi8tn . Q n. Dk children who may have been molested. We want to make sure that this never happens again. And that the other children who may have been abused come forward or get help. Deh the county has 45 days to respond to the lawsuit. An alert young girl and Surveillance Video helped police put a man in m8q officers arrested roberto felipevelasco. This happened in a parking lot not far from where they said he tried to take a girl. The girl helped create a sketch which was a remarkable resemblance. Neighbors say the cameras help keep crime dy sut. We havent had much crime around here, but theres schools around here. Police dont think he knew he was caught on wasnt trying to hide. The girl got away unharmed. Her family released a statement saying the basics really did save our daughter from further harm. Be ejpd scream for help, try to get away. A second man convicted in the beating of giants fan brian stow has been sentenced on unrelated weapons charges. The guns were found when police searched his home. Earlier this month, sanchez was sentenced to six years on weapons charges. He said, quote, i ask for forgiveness in my role in the assault rnlts a federal Appeals Court today delayed the gender the 51yearold has been living as a woman for 20 years. She was scheduled for surgery july 1st but todays ruling could delay it for months. A state parole board decided she is no longer dangerous. If shes released, they would not longer have to pay for her medical care. San francisco is facing a housing afford b89 crisis. But is÷sl the answer simply to stop building apartments that people cant afford. Tonight, people are demanding a time out so the city can develop a newhx seems everywhere you p look, homes are but many middle and working class in San Francisco say they cant afford them. Some say market rate Housing Developments even with a slice of city mandated affordable units are causingd rent hikes. Earlier this month demonstrators from the mission crowded into city hall teuy support ae]f measure to put a 45 day moratorium on new projects in the timeline. Were not taking it no more. C6 i cant imagine how building new housing would help that. A moratorium will simply increase the crisis. The mayor is pushing to build or rehab 30,000 units of housing in the next five years. I think the time to act is now. And while were doing it people can have discussion and debate. Protestors believe a moratorium would send the strongest message. To force them to actually Pay Attention to residents who live here now. Some residents are even trying to get this on the november ballot. But first expect fiery debate here at city hall. And a vote next month. In San Francisco, abc7 news. Cleanup crews are expanding efforts to mop up the oil spill in Santa Barbara county. 175,000 gallons of oil leaked from an on shore pipeline. Some of that oil washed down a culvert into the pacific and now covers about 9 miles of coastline. Hundreds of people are working to clean it up. Were continuing to boom contain and clean oil in all environmentally sensitive areas. More than 7700 kblons of oily water mixture has been removed as cleanup crews continue to work 24 hours a day. Governor brown declared a state of emergency last night. The houstonbased company that operates the pipeline has a history of safety violations. Pro poen innocents of a new stadium for the warriors in San Francisco took their battle to the uc regions meeting today. The Mission Bay Alliance claims traffic from the arena will create problems for the medical center. Today, Business Owners who want to see the warriors move to the city ask for the group to reveal themselves. Theyre looking to find a way to take back control of land that they dont own either for personal profit or the benefit of the university and we dont know or think the universitys necessarily on board with that. In a statement released, they say they are working with city officials to mitigate Traffic Congestion and encouraged by the citys efforts. A big milestone for the capital of silicon valley. Population growth in san jose now topping 1 million residents. Abc7 chris win joins us live with their reaction. Hi chris. Reporter good evening. Transportation officials will have to change that sign behind me to reflect the growth to 1 million residents here in san jose. Many people we spoke with say the change is good as long as the city of san jose can keep its small town charm. Along one of californias first roads, the alameda, san joses post converges with its present. Its exciting to be here. Reporter according to a new Census Bureau estimate, san jose is one of ten cities nationwide with more than 1 million residents. Sure theres growing pains along the way. Overall, i love the urban lifestyle. Its definitely expanding in terms of businesses, people coming in and different kinds of things available to the residents here. Signs of progress in the capital of silicon valley. Right now, were seening a extraordinary amount of growth. The mayor says more than 40 Tech Companies have moved downtown in the past two years. 1,600 units of housing would be completed in the next few months and another couple thousand in the next year. We have a lot of work to do to accommodate the growth we have and to build smartly. This familyowned car wash, here since 1950 will soon relocate to make way for a new highrise. Another sign of the changing times in the city of san jose. Abc7 news. There are only ten cities in america with a population of a million or more. New york, los angeles, chicago, houston and philadelphia are the top five. Phoenix, san antonio, san diego, dallas and san jose. The nations tenth largest city based on last year. Still ahead beating the California Drought. Were going to take you to a golf course on the peninsula where brown really is the new green. A surprise tonight. Well tell you why theyve decided not to proceed with a drive closure next week. We have a threeday Holiday Weekend coming up and our afternoon temperatures will be coming up as well. Ill have the forecast for you in just a moment. A rare look inside bulldog get a queen serta set for just 397. Save up to 300 on tempurpedic breeze. And get up to four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurcloud collection the Memorial Day Sale ends monday. Mattress discounters the California Drought is taking its toll on lawns around the bay area, probably yours. The grass is really as dry as the weather. And golf courses certainly no exception. Thats where were live tonight. Wayne, fairways are spotty im sure, but how are the greens holding up . Reporter the greens are actually okay, dan. We noticed this story a couple days ago when we were on shark parn fn beach. You see behind me a golf course. Doesnt look like a normal golf course because its not green, its brown, and theyre getting used to it. You might not even notice if you are color blind. Otherwise, public golfers at very, very brown in spots golf course may be asking themselves a multimillion gallon question. Are these the worst of times or can they live with them . Well with the drought, theres nothing we can do. Reporter here especially on this golf kaurs owned by the city of San Francisco where the Recreational Parks Department has reduced water consumption by 24 from two years ago. They say 15000 gallons a day by using recycled water on 20 of the golf course. The rest, they sprinkle conservatively. The dry grass and hard ground have some golf shots rolling 20 farther. It does. Which is kind of fun. Reporter take a look at the british open every year. These are the classic, british isle courses. A seaside goufl course designed by one of the greats. Among many public golfers who might have resisted change if he had a choice and now would you like it this way if there was a lot of water . Oh, yeah. Reporter why . Because i like the way its set up. Reporter call that a positive in hard bouncing times. From shark park golf course, abc7 news. The dead gray whale that wayne covered down the road from that spot was towed out to sea today. It was discovered at Francis Beach on tuesday. Researchers were unable to performe actually. The whale is the third found along beaches in recent weeks. Workers dug holes in the sand and buried the other two whales. Well, a traffic nightmare for drivers planning to use the Golden Gate Bridge next weekend is averted, at least for now. It was supposed to close at 10 00 next thursday. Caltrans says the road will not close next weekend because the state fire marshall must first certify the tunnel. Now caltrans is going ahead with the closure of the san mateo bridge this weekend. It begins tomorrow night at 10 00 and shouldcpreoxm . Bnnxdcnf 30kf9n ab nbe,i monday. Maintenance closur0 its actually a viewer that resembles those coinoperated binoculars. This one convertedpayn Scientific Data into a Virtual Reality display. They can pan around and see the future impact ofbf÷ Sea Level Rise wz6xn0zxjsvrg we]3c turned it into a 3d model so it actually looks real. Youre actuallyz yeah, thats right. We had measurable rain overnight as you may have noticed. Not a lot, but some rain. I had my wipers on on the commute ho[ in3 c1 and the rain even extended into the morning hours. Heres a look at live doppler 7c hd. Dry conditions around the bay area. Quite a bit of broken cloud cover around. Up to the north around clear lake, once again today, we have some isolated storm cells ,hua ywthere. Y 8dn z yesterdayf storms wereyfru v much calmer there today. The passes are closed because of snow up in the higher elevations. Were talk lg about above 8000 feet here. Nonetheless nonetheless, accumulating snow. 62 San Francisco. Halfmoon bay, 67. And we look out over the bay, a few broken cumulus clouds. These are some of our rainfall totals from the overnight hours. Open hills 1300ths. Halfmoon may 800ths of an inch. Heres a live view of the golden gate with mainly blue skies above it. These are the forecast futures. Possibility of scattered light showers tonight. Damp spots for the morning commute are possible. Sunnier and milder days this weekend. Its finally going to feel like the season in which we find ourselves. One central low pressure havinguckp si moved inland already, another one about to push inland tosn our south. That will happen this weekend. We still have some unsettled weather as we approach the weekend, but thinks should get more seasonal on saturday. 7 00 this evening chance of light drizzle or showers. Especially in the south bay even some parts of the east bay. So there may be some damp spots in the morning. So morning commuters bear that in mind. We should see at least partial clearing. As we move along to the temperature range for the next few days on saturday, a little bit warmer weather in the inland areas, highs in the mid to upper 70s. Not much warming saturday around the bay. On sunday, the warmest day in the forecast, at least in the threeday weekend period. Across the board with low 80s inland and upper 70s in other locations. Cooler in most areas on monday as coastal clouds return. Inland will still see readings in the 70s. Tonight, look for low temperatures mainly in the mid50s. Chance of light scattered showers or drizzle tomorrow. 60s around the bay, low 70s inland. Heres the sevenday forecast. Nice warmup on sunday. Monday looks like a nice calm day. And well start to warm up again toward the end of next week. All right. Thank you. Well, do you have an old pair of levis you maybe havent worn in a while . Up next youll see some pants that have with stood the test of time. Female announcer through memorial day at sleep train, get up to four years interestfree financing or save up to 400 on Simmons Beautyrest and sealy posturepedic. Even get four years interestfree financing on Serta Icomfort and tempurpedic. Plus, free same day delivery setup and removal of your old set. When brands compete, you save but this special financing offer ends memorial day at sleep train. Sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep San Franciscos center is about to start a 500 million expansion, but the public may not notice much of the construction work. Take a look at what it will look like. A fourstory building willsv be added above the south hall. There will be more meeting rooms and ballrooms. Sri the main exhibitw3n9hall will double in. nsize. 4n but all thw2÷v . o work1 in will0np8 t bendzx doneh0nc giiin underground. A lot zci÷ and whax6n 8 moinhappeninghc o to the,÷ r wont berzn evid o 4ugde. Other upgradeskh water recycling system. The Convention Center generates about 20 n o of all the to tc spending in san g wrancisco. Yesterday was the 142nd birthday of the blue jean. So what did levi give itselfm n to celebrate . The Company Bought this very vintage pair of jeans, its from the 1880s. What makes this remarkable is the condition its in. The others are torn and kind of rusted through. But this one has all the buttonsc ln on. Eyvit. The rivets are shiny and stamped with the patent date of 1873. Plus, the tag still shows the size of the jeans. They will study them very closely. Our designers are the primary users of the archives. They come and take a look at these pieces and get inspiration. The jeans were found near a Nevada Mining town. Levis paid six figures for it. They have not decided if they will wash these. Its amazing. Incredible. Theres more to come heref tonight on abc7 news at 6 00. Just. New Police Indictments in baltimore tonight and there is new evidence. How much can you trust the Online Reviews you read . Im Michael Finney. Female announcer when you see this truck, it means another neighbor is going to sleep better tonight. Because they went to sleep trains ticket to tempurpedic event. Through memorial day, save up to 300 on the cooling comfort of tempurbreeze. Plus, get up to four years interestfree financing. Sleep riskfree with sleep trains 100day money back guarantee. And of course, free sameday delivery are you next . Announcer but dont wait sleep trains ticket to tempurpedic is ending soon. Your ticket to a better nights sleep bulldog mattress discounters Memorial Day Sale ends monday . Oh boy a queen size serta mattress and box spring set for just 397. Mattress discounters has the Largest Selection of memory Foam Mattresses under one roof well ill be. Up to 300 off tempurpedic breeze. And wow get up to four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurpedic cloud collection better hurry the Memorial Day Sale ends monday. Mattress discounters six baltimore Police Officers charged in the custody death of freddie gray were the City Attorney said grays neck was broken while he was being handcuffed. The officers will all4n[appear in court in july. Now that the grand jury has also found probable cause to charge the officers based upon the evidence, these officers who are presumed innocent until Proven Guilty are now scheduled to be arraigned on julyn kc 2nd. Grays death ignited a series of riots in baltimore and protests across the country. Tonight, an infamous east bay off ramp is gone. Its the scene of a horrible accident 39 years ago today. They are replacing the exit to make it seismically safe. But for those who remember the crash, it has come not a moment too soon. Laura anthony is in martinez. Dy n were sorry. Well get to lauras report here in just a moment. Reporter it was may 21st 1976, the driver of a school bus full ofmwchoirxe students took thlt off rampmtin z martinez, and the bus plunged over the railing landing upside down more than 20 feet below. That day it was horrible. This 89yearold was mayor of martinez at the time and saw the scene firsthand. It was just a mess. I cant describe it anymore than that. Confusion, you know just it was overwhelming. 28 students and one teacher died, 22 others were injured. Including this student who spoke with us by telephone. The bus was trying to turn and just sliding sliding. I remember hitting the side and jumping. When it finally jumps the curb and flips, that all happened really fast. Reporter along with driver error, mechanical failure, investigators ruled severe curvature of the off ramp was a contributing factor. Now caltrans is replacing it as part of a larger earthquake retrofit program. But the agency is well aware of its history. The community has a long memory of this tragedy. You know they expect that caltrans is going to do our part to build a÷c bridge that complies with standards. Reporter at this point the off ramp has been removed but thejx n memories of what happened here 39 years ago will likely never go away. When you come across that bridge and take that off ramp, youll always be reminded of that. Reporter the new off ramp should be completed byxl october. Abc7ypg . News. Bigu2 p budget was issued for the city of San Francisco today. The mayor announced 690 million in funding for Public Education and other programs to help children and their abc7 news today[2 7talkedqwam about tne various agencies that are contributing with fundingz2 over the next two7t y years. San francisco unified will get about 140 million. All of us in the city including my staff and the number of departments and the School District have worked together to build a stronger city and a better Public School system. And we continueu to do that on an ongoing cbasis. Cfq after School Programs that build social skills and provide more learning opportunities for Public School students will benefit from the funding. Posting fakehla has becomeis a thriving industry. People are actually getting paid to write glowing reviews. 7 on your side, Michael Finney is here to show us how to protect ourselves. Industry is such a good work for that. Officers from those who pay for reviews and those who write them are pretty blatant. Courtney saw a job posting on Mof Craigslist involving social media and thought it would be perfect for her. Social media comes really easy for me. She replied to a blind emailvge ox ande36 received a job offer to write a review for a Plastic Surgeon. Courtney had never even heard of the doctor yet she was sent a glowing review and told to cut and paste itp i said im not doing this. Courtney may have turned down the job but there are plenty of others ready and willing. We found several people advertising their services to write positive reviews on sites. I will do high quality positive review. I will write a word positive product or Service Review for 5. I will review anywhere l4 f [fuip oibcmio you can ; also provide me your ownrmxw ]x review8m, z,nj ipo they havent purchased that product or had an experience with that product. His job is to make surex reviews posted on a companys site are legitimate. We tend to flag about 2 of content as suspicious. That content goes through additional testing. If its fraudulent, its removed from a clients site. We asked 7 on your side to apply for a job as a reviewer to see what would happen. The ad seemed innocent enough, get paid to post reviews in San Francisco. It didnt take much to get hired. All i had to do was reply to the ad. What they want me to do is write a review. She was asked to review a diet supplement, no one asked if she had ever tried a product. Ive never use add weight loss product thats the form of a pill. But they want me to write a positive fivestar review. Earlier this year, yelp flagged 85 businesses with this alert, warning consumers, the companys rating may be inflated. Theres a description of the evidence that weve found behind the scenes they can read that and make their own decision about. They say certain kinds of businesses tend to use fake reviews. We have seen evidence of medical businesses and dentists trying to game our season and purchase or offer exchange for reviews. Now back to courtney who was asked to review Plastic SurgeonAndrew Barnett on yelp. He has offices in San Francisco and has fivestar reviews from 40 out of 51 people posting on yelp. He declined to go on camera but told us a Company Called future Solutions Media worked on his behalf without authorization and later billed him. He went onto say, let me be perfectly clear, i did not and never have paid anyone to write a fakeio review. We reached out to future solutions, but never heard back. I think he has four and a half out of five stars. Are any of them real. They issued 300 consumer alerts since 2012. They expire after 90 days. Right now there are no active alerts on yelp. So how do you tell a fake review from a real one . Well dont rely on a single review. Compare reviews across websites is another good way to go. And read sites that require reviewers to actually use a product or service before they are allowed to post a review. Good advice. Well, when abc7 news at 6 00 continues, fixing your Technology Still considered experimental in the United States is now being used to treat severe back pain. Unlike some alternatives it can preseven a full range of motion. Eric thomas reports. Tim is a man whor , likes to move fast. Motorcycles and hot rods. P back pain left him worried about moving at all. At first it was slow. Within about three weeks i could maybe do five steps. A piece of the disc came out of the space. The doctor diagnosed a deteriorating discs in tims lower back. While it does ease pain, the fusions also limit Natural Movement and can move the problem up or down the spine. The fused part of the body attaches to the mobile part of the body. Instead, he recommended an emerging technology called a disc replacement. They cap the two surfaces with a metal plate. It slides between the two acting as a replacement disc. Theyve been approved in europe for years, its still considered experimental here in the u. S. Andf n it can take months of negotiations with an insurer to convince them to cover the procedure. Tims case was also complicated because it involved the lower back. Still, the doctor says advances in materials have made the replacements Strong Enough to handle the force. Its made out of the same material as a total hip. And those materials resist compression very well. To reach the area, he performed the surgery from the front delicately moving past the organs to remove the existing disc to slip the caps and replacement disc into place. And while recovery can take several months tim says he can do the things he enjoys most. I can lift weights, ride a motorcycle. Every morning i get up and walk 5 miles. Free of pain, the man who once worried about walking is now planning a ride with his wife along the california coast. Eric thomas, abc7 news. Coming up next well give a rare look ininside the n bulldog mattress discounters Memorial Day Sale ends monday . Oh boy a queen size serta mattress and box spring set for just 397. Mattress discounters has the Largest Selection of memory Foam Mattresses under one roof well ill be. Up to 300 off tempurpedic breeze. And wow get up to four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurpedic cloud collection better hurry the Memorial Day Sale ends monday. Mattress discounters female announcer through memorial day at sleep train, get up to four years interestfree financing or save up to 400 on Simmons Beautyrest and sealy posturepedic. Even get four years interestfree financing on Serta Icomfort and tempurpedic. Plus, free same day delivery setup and removal of your old set. When brands compete, you save but this special financing offer ends memorial day at sleep train. Sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep theres something new rising above San Franciscos airport. And were not talking about airplanes. Jonathan bloom got a rare look inside the new control tower. And the view, well its pretty hard to beat. Reporter travelers are used to seeing this tower but the new one towers above it. 40 feet taller. Reporter airport officials gave us a rare tour of the tower. L]s whenn a . n we start using the tower next year well be operating out of a building that is outwardly striking and constructed according to the strictest modern seismic standards. Reporter remember the south napa quake shut down the small airport there. The earthquake built out most of the windows in the control tower. Reporter but not at sfo. Theyre7us 6 1 2 thick pieces of glass. Reporter that means the tower can keep functioning. The primary role is to visually identify the aircrafts spot them, see their movements and ensure theyre safe. Reporter the desks here will be chock full of computer equipment. This will be the most highly technically advanced tower in the country. Reporter the air traffic manager explained the current tower looks like this old faa video. Using paperh strips that identify all the identification of an airplane. Were going to a totally Automated System where everything will be on a computer screen. Reporter only a select few will be allowed inside. Theres one piece of Technology Everyone can see. We do have the capability to change the colors for different events. When the giants win the world series again, it will be orange. Reporter there is one thing blocking the view, the old tower. It will have to come down as soon as this one opens. Abc7 news. This is our weather as we head into the weekend i think. The weather is looking that way. How about this time lapse view this afternoon from the time lapse camera. Lots of blue sky over the bay and a few puffs of clouds traveling eastward. Right now a few clouds still but we also have lots of bright skies out there right now. One little storm cell out towards the patterson area. It appears to be weakening though. Across the state tomorrow, its going to be quite active. Thunderstorms and showers again up and down the sierra. Into the interior sections and showers and thundershowers across the northern most part of the state. By afternoon tomorrow we should see at least partial clearing, lingering clouds. High temperatures upper 50s around the coast, to lower 70s inland. Heres the sevenday forecast going into memorial day weekend. Warmer weather by sunday. High temperatures up to 80 degrees in the inland areas. Oh rngs, wow. We are underway. Yes. I think you will like what the baby face the latest from game two, plus what happens when the bulldog get a queen serta set for just 397. Save up to 300 on tempurpedic breeze. And get up to four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurcloud collection the Memorial Day Sale ends monday. Mattress discounters female announcer when you see this truck, it means another neighbor is going to sleep better tonight. Because they went to sleep trains ticket to tempurpedic event. Through memorial day, save up to 300 on the cooling comfort of tempurbreeze. Plus, get up to four years interestfree financing. Sleep riskfree with sleep trains 100day money back guarantee. And of course, free sameday delivery are you next . Announcer but dont wait sleep trains ticket to tempurpedic is ending soon. Your ticket to a better nights sleep the warriors trying to take a 20 lead. Dwight howard is but is not moving all that well. A little bit stiff. Andrew bogut taking advantage, dashing to the rim and the onehand hoop. We get another look. Terrence jones, very good offensively. Bogut much more active than he was in reaching in on the steal. Steph had 15 points in the firstnt quarter. And the arena erupted. The warriors led 3628 after one quarter. That is andre iguodala. Right now, the rockets are in danger of getting blown right out of the gym. Warriors up 17 early in the second quarter. Onto baseball. Not only did the giants sweep the dodgers, but the ultimate is Madison Bumgarner homering off of clayton kershaw. Top of the first billy burns on third. Nobody out. [ [ except for one thing. h n burns doesntunarun. Get your head in the game. As do not score. Top of the fourth. 1zkn h lc dejesus with a double. Scores 10 rays. uzgt vgjesus had his number. His fourth of the year. Right now its 30 rays in the eighth. 49ers wrapped up their first week of organized Team Activity activities. Lot of changes. One thing remains the same. Colin kaepernick still throws really hard. Davis jammed his thumb yesterdai1zdnrmz then thumb. 3oroh04k0lc;tw eeggiemna his first season. If u4n 9 overwhelmed overwhelmed. I guess you could say ive gotten used to it. Its nothing new for5fa me. Still4 n football. And but im excited to be able< tox5na go out and be a part of this organization, be part ofuzsn this according to his k v n;r 4agent. Ky5c u1uzk[ readqo 7 to go by training camp. Thacuvq gob of the senior pga championship indiana. Defending champ k6a in the player from japan only player under par. Hes got aktn heading to round two. Brought to you by bank of the west. Warriors onqxafire. W0p good change. N5f9hpn turned it over seven times in theor4 aau quarter. Up and down, up and down. Unless jamts harden starting to really get going. Rockets having an off night. Theyre having some problems. We like that. Join us tonight at 9 00 on channel 13. A man who how the community isd w rallying|xn to get the gooded cause back on track. Heres the lineup. Back to back installments of the new quiz show followed by a special edition of jimmy kimmel live. That will do it for this edition ofn75 abc7 news at e72[6 00. Continue to follow us on twitter. We appreciate your time. Have a great night. I know at the last session some of you felt that my tone sounded a tad judgmental. Patrick. You just did it again. I am truly sorry. Patrick. And again. And thats why, to avoid any confusion about my tone, im gonna start speaking through this