Transcripts For KPIX KPIX 5 Noon News 20170712

The new incentive for witnesses to come forward. Reporter months after Jim Gilliland was killed in front of his home here in el cerrito, his friends are doubling the reward amount that would lead to any information or an arrest as Police Continue to search for his killer. He was a big hearted and warm person, generous with his time and skills to anyone who might benefit. Reporter on behalf of Jim Gillilands family, a pastor from his Berkeley Church spoke today inside the chambers of el cerrito city hall. Jim was a prominent lawyer based out of San Francisco. Police say he was coming home from choir practice on october 27 of last year when he was shot and killed on his front porch. His wife was inside. We dont know what were looking for yet. So in the event that somebody can identify a suspect for us, then we know what kind of car they have and we can look for that car and those videos. Reporter nearly nine months after his murder and police say they still dont have a motive and only a few leads. Friends of jim have increased the reward from 50,000 to 100,000 in hopes someone will say something. Trying to say were not getting much information and hence the need for todays actions to try to get more motivation for more people to give us information. Anyone who can provide any leads or information on this case to contact the El Cerrito Police department. Reporter jims practice focused on patent, copyright and trademark infringement. He frequently represented Companies Like apple, sony and oracle. Billboards with all of this reward information will soon be going up across the east bay. In el cerrito, jackie ward, kpix 5. Videos are spread okay line showing dozens of skateboarders confronting police in San Francisco. The latest video shows one skater smashing right into an officers patrol car. You can see the teenager hit the front of the car hard. He lays on the ground for a few minutes. These videos are taken last night in dolores park. Police say that one officer was hurt and taken to the hospital. At one point, the area around 19th and dolores had to be shut down. A wildfire in East San Jose is now 50 contained. But firefighters are working throughout the day to make sure it doesnt flare up and burn more homes. Kpix 5s Jessica Flores has the latest. Reporter the fire ripped through this hillside property only leaving a charred shell behind. And firefighters tell us that the flames also damaged two other properties. The black and red hillside marks the intense battle where overnight, firefighters pushed back the flames as the fire wrapped around the East San Jose community. The goal today . Stomp out any remaining hot spots. Really, what were trying to do is make sure around the perimeter that we dont have anything thats going to produce any sort of embers that are going to get outside the fire line and outside of our containment. Reporter overnight, the fire spread to Alum Rock Park and the brush and wind carried flames up the hill one, 101 acres. The flames destroyed one home, damaged fences at others, and forced evacuations for 11 homes near lariat lane and claitor way. The houses, they would burn and it was huge. These people were heroes. Reporter today, residents going back to their homes as firefighters worked through the day hoping for 100 containment. The challenge for today is if theres any fire that gets outside of the perimeter, its going to be hot today, its going to be dry again. Theres going to be a little bit of wind. So we are concerned about that. We just have to be careful and kind of go slow. Reporter no one was injured in the fire, and investigators are still trying to determine what sparked the blaze. In san jose, im Jessica Flores, kpix 5. Crews are spending the day mopping up after a fire at this scrapyard in san leandro. They are using heavy machinery to remove some of that charred debris. The fire started yesterday afternoon at the alco iron and Metal Company on doolittle drive. People living nearby were forced to shelter in place for hours after officials grew concerned that those thick clouds could be toxic. He cause is under investigation. Senate confirmation hearings are under way now on capitol hill for President Trumps pick to run the fbi. Weijia jang reports. Reporter Christopher Wray told Senate Lawmakers he plans to lead an independent fbi if confirmed to run the nations top Law Enforcement agency. I will never allow the fbis work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the law, and the impartial pursuit of justice. Period. Reporter the 50yearold says he supports special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into russias alleged interference in the 2016 election and a possible connection with the trump campaign. Im asking you as the future fbi director, you consider this endeavour a witch hunt . I do not consider direct mueller to be on a witch hunt. Reporter wray has extensive legal experience. He led the fbis criminal Justice Department during the George Bush Administration and helped in the governments response to terrorism and National Security rethreats. If confirmed, he will replace james comey who President Trump fired. The director of the fbi must be a leader who has the integrity and strength that will enable him to withstand any attempts at political interference on either side. Reporter President Trump has said wray is qualified and called him a fierce guardian of the law. Weijia jang, cbs news, capitol hill. President trump is defending his oldest son after donald trump, jr. , posted emails on twitter showing that he met with a russian lawyer to get dirt on hillary clinton. The president tweeted, quote, he was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest witch hunt in political history. Trump, jr. Released an email exchange with a british publicist said that that information to be revealed at the meeting was part of russias support for the trump candidacy. Trump, jr. Will be called on to testify. I want to hear it out but really it went nowhere and it was apparent that that wasnt what the meeting was about. The defense is going to be yet, we had intent to collude with russia to elect donald trump but we were deeply disappointed in not getting it at that meeting. Thats not much of a defense. Cbs news has confirmed special counsel Robert Muellers team will review the emails and the meeting as part of his investigation into alleged russian interference in the 2016 election. The sanctuary city legal battle enters the federal court in San Francisco. Trump wants to cut federal funding to those cities and counties that dont cooperate with federal law. A federal judge will be asked to dismiss the lawsuit. If you have logged on to social media today, you probably have seen some posts about a Net Neutrality day of action. Several Tech Companies including google, facebook and twitter, are participating. Its part of a protest against the fccs proposed rollback of internet regulations. Those regulations were put in place in 2015 under president obama. The fccs new leader wants to change those rules which would allow internet providers to slow down, speed up or charge more for access to different sites. There may be a new weapon in the fight against cancer. An fda panel is meeting today to decide whether to recommend the first government approved gene therapy. The treatment uses the bodys own immune system to attack cancer. Doctors say its shown results in Clinical Trials against blood cancer like leukemia and lymphoma about bad side effects and its expensive. When you put in all these t cells that are turned on, the patients many times go into a significant distress syndrome affecting the brain and other parts of the body. Nobody has died. But this cancer is lethal within weeks or months. The side effects are real. The analysts say it will cost 3 00,000 to 600,000. It has worked well in patients with no other options after chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants. 39 of patients who got the treatment e turfree nine months later. A massive iceberg roughly the size of delaware has broken free in antarctica. The scientists are watching it to see how it might affect sea levels. Reporter scientists have been watching this iceberg, weighing more 1 trillion tons broke away this week. This is astounding scientists believed that the west antarctic was stable for centuries to come yet within our own lifetime, were seeing the gradual breakup of the south pole. Reporter this physics professor says the iceberg is one of the largest ever recorded. Aerial photographs captured the crack growing up to 120 miles long before detaching from the floating ice shelf, a process called calving. Climate change accelerated previous icebreakers but not this one. Natural cycles wer involved. But the point is we have to look at the bigger picture. And that is the stability of the south pole is now being called into question. Reporter researchers say this newly created iceburg wont raise sea levels since the ice was already floating. But they worry about longterm consequences. If the ice shelves begin to crumble, then the ice sheets can then tumble into the ocean and that would definitely begin the process of raising sea levels around the earth. The map is already being redrawn. Reporter the ice shelf is reduced by more than 12 . Still ahead, sacrificing their rest for a boost in their paychecks. Why some uber drivers say its the only way to make the cash they need. Plus, a new travel option for people in the bay area. A new nonstop flight to mexico. Have you ever wondered what a typical summer day looks like in the bay area . Take a look at this. We have a few clouds at the coast with a little bit of sea haze and blue skies and we also have the big change in the weekend forecast that you need to know about coming up. Sacrifice sleep. For more pay. Cbss John Blackstone rode along francisc some uber drivers say the companys incentives are pushing them to sacrifice sleep for more money. John blackstone rode along with one driver in San Francisco. Hi, john. All right. Reporter this uber driver says he was making more money a few years ago but with fares dropping to lure customers, he says now its the drivers who are getting taken for a ride. Theres so many people that believe you can just hop in the car and drive when you want and youre going to make what you need. Youre not going to make what you need unless you make the bonus. Reporter the incentives are designed to help drivers earn extra money, if drivers take 10 trips between 9 p. M. And midnight on a friday, they could get an extra 20. But he says with fares dropping, the optional bonus has become mandatory. One ride short you lose a third of your income or more. Reporter so for one ride you would stay up late at night . Oh, yeah. I would definitely stay up later at night if i was that close to the bonus. I would push myself past the point of being tired. Reporter the national Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates there could be as many as 1. 2 million collisions every year because of drowsy driving. Still, theres no clear data on how many of those might have involved Ride Hailing Service drivers. Ubers app reminds drivers to rest. But the company doesnt set a cap on their hours. Rival lyft shuts off its app after drivers work more than 14 hours requiring a sixhour break. But that is voluntary because hours for Ridesharing Service drivers are not federally regulated. They have no responsibility because they have completely delegated the safety of the driver and of the passengers to the driver himself or herself. Reporter uber estimates that just 7 of drivers work more than 50 hours per week while more than half of drivers in the u. S. Use the uber app less than ten hours a week. Still, for the rest, getting enough rest could sometimes be a challenge. Strong coffee and red bull, a big part of being an uber driver these days . Coffee for sure. Reporter John Blackstone, San Francisco. Childrens apparel retailer gym barista is closing. Its trying to restructure business after filing for bankruptcy back in june. They say they will close 350 Stores Including 24 here in california. The Closing Sales Begin Next Week several stores. The retailer will still have more than 900 locations after those stores are shut down. Taking a look at wall street, how the stocks are doing this morning and this afternoon, the dow is up 142 points. A new nonstop flight route is connecting Silicon Valley to mexicos emerging technology hub. Today Mineta San Jose International airport celebrated the launch of aeromexicos nonstop service to guadalajara, thats mexicos second most populous city. Direct flights will be offered six days a week. So roberta, lets hop a plane you and me lets go to mexico, mexico [ laughter ] im ready. But why do you want to leave the bay area right now . We have pristine conditions, blue skies. This is the scene it popped up from our webcam from Mount Hamilton. And we can see, wow, visibility is unlimited. Thats good considering we have a fire burning south of san jose in the foothills there. So the winds are blowing out of the northwest. Weve keep an eye on the moderate air quality in thursday san jose. Look at the blue skies over Mount Hamilton boy, mount diablo. I went from Mount Hamilton to mount diablo in the east bay, getting a little bit of a breeze this afternoon, as well. 73 in santa rosa to 83 degrees right there in throughout the trivalley. Winds are increasing at this hour 9 in San Francisco, 10 oakland. But notice out of the north out of the westnorthwest, now in the fairfield area, west southwest variable winds 10 to 20 throughout the day. High pressure is there. Watchful eye on that because its reducing some monsoon moisture and entraining it into the Desert Southwest into Southern California over the weekend. But meanwhile, were keeping an eye on that right there. That High Pressure as it expands for the weekend, and our temperatures warm. In fact, they will be hot. Also right there, that was once a hurricane, now a tropical storm, the remnants of hurricane eugene out over the open waters. Its churning up the Southern California surf. What its doing for us here locally is producing some very dangerous rip currents and sneaker waves. So if you have any plans going out to the ocean today, its summertime, you want to head to the beach, please be careful. 94 state capital, 64 monterey bay, low 80s in the high sierra. Sunset at 8 32. 60s and clearing today at the coast. We have 60s, 70s around the bay. 70s, 80s peninsula. 90s inland. This is a typical summer day here in the bay area and we like it so much, well have a repeat on thursday. Then gradually warmer on friday, moderate air quality, definitely over the weekend. But i got to keep an eye i must say that another time because of that subtropical moisture to the south of us. If we see any of that move in, it could produce some dry lightning, which means fire danger. Certainly with what were seeing outside with that fuel. Thanks, roberta. Still ahead, kids with allergies not getting the medicine they need in a timely manner. New research on kids and epipens. And whats cool about your summer camp . Email your nomination to us at coolcamps kpix. Com, and we may feature your camp on the thursday morning show. Doctors want epinephrine to be ell, todays tip of the day is going to be is broccoli crowns. We did a lot of summer fruit and melons. But broccoli, the prices are great the quality is great. Its a super food. It should be enjoyed year round. The broccoli crowns are great for broccoli slaw, salad, or just on the grill, olive oil, salt and pepper. Selection and storage is very important. When you buy it, make sure jean all the way around. A little purple is okay, not yellow. Make sure the stalks have no cracks and free right here from any decaying. When you bring them home, because theyre picked right now this time of year in some fields that are hot, when you bring them home, store them in the refrigerator, very important, and store enough for two or three days at the most. Wash them before you enjoy them, not when you store them. Broccoli crowns, super food, loaded with nutritional value. Great anytime of the year. And im tony tantillo, your fresh grocer. Nd always remember to eat fresh and stay healthy. Doctors want epinephrine to be the first line of defense when children are suffering a severe allergic reaction but a new study finds that many arent getting the medicine as soon as they need it. Researchers look at more than 400 patients records and they found among children arriving at the hospital with some issues, fewer than half had been treated with an epipen even if they had one at home. Be generous and be happy. I like this story. A team of International Researchers says that an act of generosity may actually lead to a happier life. They found that even promising to behave generously activates areas of the brain associated with happiness. The study found people who only act out of selfinterest are less happy. Well be right back. Over this guy peta takes this monkeys case to a federal Appeals Court. Saying he owns the copyrig a very unique court battle in San Francisco over this guy. Peta takes this monkeys case to the federal Appeals Court saying he owns the copyright to his selfie. That and more at 5 00. Let the debate begin about copyright law. What he is going to do with the copyright to the selfie . The lawyers win in this case. Quinn eric didnt come home last night. How can i not be concerned . Ivy so, he hasnt let anyone know where he is . He didnt say when he might be back . Quinn there are clothes missing from his closet. I have no idea where he is katie he just found out about you and ridge. Clearly he was upset. Maybe he just needs some space. Quinn i know, i have been texting him and calling him, though, and i thought maybe one of you had heard from him. Brooke i tried again on the way over, but he didnt pick up. Ivy see, this isnt like uncle eric. He at least calls and tells someone that hes okay. Quinn i ive been calling all of the hotels that i can think of, thinking that maybe he just wanted to check in for the night, but. Hes just hes nowhere to be found. Ridge maybe thats the idea. Eric im surprised to see you here, sheila. Sheila me, too. What are the odds of us being at the same hotel . Eric yeah. Same floor