that is about to reopen so we're going to get out of here. but after more than four hours, highway 101 south is reopened again near healdsburg. live near healdsburg, wayne freedman, abc7 news. >> thank you, wayne. we told you 101 opened literally minutes ago. traffic is really slow. want to take a look at our drive time traffic map. you can see the area in red. that's the heavy traffic. hopefully that will dissipate as we get into the afternoon hours. that road has just reopened. >> governor brown's budget is out and it calls for more spending on schools and child care. the plans for the budget year july 1st shows moderaely improved fiscal outlook since his initial proposal in january. the revised package calls for $124 billion in spending, 1.5 billion more than last year. most will go to k-12 edge kaeks. he is backing away for child support for low income families. it is now up to the legislature to come up with the final plans. wells fargo is having budget issues of its own in the wake of the account scandal. they announced an additional $2 billion in cuts. they had already announced an initial 2 billion in cuts by the end of next year. it will come from closing 450 branches. the additional 2 billion in cuts will be made in 2019. >> fire investigators in contra costa county tell us they now believe several recent car fires are connected to a string of suspicious fires that started earlier this year. burned cars have been found in walnut creek, lafayette and brentwood. abc7 news reporter kate larson live in pleasant hill with the latest on this investigation. kate? >> reporter: that's right. i just actually got off the phone with a fire marshal and he says there have been more than ten car fires in the past few months, and they believe all of them are likely related and intentionally set including this one right here in this pleasant hill driveway. you can see a dark patch where the car caught fire two weeks ago. the flames got so high they destroyed most of this redwood tree. >> we heard a second explosion. >> reporter: jerry cooper describing the sound before he discovered his neighbor's car in this quiet pleasant hill neighborhood was on fire. >> it scared me. it's concerning. >> the car was fully engulfed, flames looked like they were 15 feet in the air. >> reporter: joe mcneil lives in a house in the area and he and fellow neighbors have been extra vigilant since the fire. >> we are keeping a look out and we have video cameras set up around the courtyard. >> reporter: even more concerning to neighbors is the fact that multiple car fires are under investigation all over contra costa county this week. in brentwood, two cars parked in driveways about a mile apart burst into flames around 3:30 this morning. on wednesday morning a honda in walnut creek was destroyed by fire. then 15 minutes later, two miles away, this suburban caught fire in lafayette. and on monday, flames engulfed this suv in martinez around 3:45 a.m. all six cars were parked in driveways. >> contra costa county has a very high number of vehicle fires every year. >> reporter: fire marshal robert marshall says contra costa county sees 3 to 500 vehicle fires every year. he says more than half of those fires are suspicious including the recent driveway fires which are under investigation by the arson team. >> we still don't really have a very good idea of what is going on. we're looking into it, trying to see if there's any sort of correlation with that. >> reporter: in pleasant hill, kate larson, abc7 news. >> several downtown san francisco businesses went without water for a short time today and here's why. a tour bus backed into a fire hydrant at the corner of post and mason streets this morning. abc7 news sent us photos of the geiser created. water is shooting up 25 feet into the air. the nearby hotel was one of the businesses that was without water a. >> turn to our weather now and everybody is thinking about mother's day and how is it going to be. take a live look right now from our mount tam cam. pretty socked in there. that's not promising. spencer christian here with a look at the forecast. >> you're right, larry, it doesn't look promising. we're talking around 2,500 feet. at bay level things are a little sunnier. let's look at live doppler 7. we have clouds moving into the bay area, but this is how it looks from our rooftop camera looking at the southeast, not so bad there. partly cloudy. it's currently 62 degrees in san francisco, across the bay in oakland 67. 70 in mountain view, san jose 69, 74 in gilroy and cool 57 in half moon bay. this is looking north from sutro tower. a few clouds over the golden gate there. it is currently 61 degrees in santa rosa, napa 67, 66 in novato, fairfield 69, 70 in concord and 68 in livermore. now back to that view atop mount tam where it is a bit cloudier. this is your evening planner. down at bay level, once again, it is going to be partly cloudy and mostly sunny through the early evening hours. and then after 9:00 going into the 10:00 hour, still partly cloudy for those of us down at this level. but if you're up spending the evening atop mount tam or mt. diablo, mount hamilton it's going to be quite cloudy for you. i'll show you what the mother's day weekend forecast looks like in just a few minutes. larry and alma? >> thank you spencer. san francisco city attorney is taking on people who abuse the city's affordable housing program. >> suing two women, one who bought two condos at below market rates when you can only have one, and another who bought a condo under the city program but doesn't even live in the bay area. >> abc7 news anchor eric thomas is live in san francisco with the story. eric. >> reporter: one of those condos is in this building on beale street. everybody knows there is a housing crisis here in san francisco, which is why there are rules about this affordable housing program. income requirements, you can only be a first-time home buyer and of course you're supposed to live here. the city attorney says these women violated those rules. there are rules about buying below market rate condos under san francisco's affordable housing program. two women are accused of abusing those rules. >> one of them rented it out and lived away from the bay area and took the profits a second home in butte county. >> reporter: that woman's name is kathryn bailey and she bought a condo in this building at 888 seventh street. the city served her with a lawsuit last night. the other woman is accused of buying one condo in this building on first street and another in this building on beale street. owning two properties is not allowed, but apparently didn't immediately raise any red flags. >> they should, but because these people sign these applications under oath and they make these representations, the city in good faith believed that these people are of a particular income level, that they are needy and they will take their statements at face value. >> reporter: the cost of living in san francisco is a sore subject with many since the median home price here is close to seven figures. >> the problem is you've got so much money chasing so little housing in the city units as it is. >> we don't have low market housing because people abuse it. that doesn't make sense at all. >> reporter: the city will ask the court to have each woman return the homes to reserve for deserving families. they also say it will be up to the d.a. to decide if the women should face perjury. our calls to the women for comment were not returned. eric thomas, abc7 news. >> a man was arrested for a car jacking at a cal train station parking lot. he pointed a gun at a driver and threatened to kill him. he gave up the car but sanchez was unable that drive away because of heavy traffic. another driver had already called 911. the deputy arrested sanchez in the parking lot. >> oakland has selected a new superintendent of schools, third generation oakland educator who has been with the district for 18 years. the school board made a point to select somebody local. abc7 news reporter lyanne melendez reports on some of the challenges she now faces. >> papa, come home. >> reporter: reading to students is something kyla tra mel misses. she's been with the district for near two decades. asked why she was selected, she offered kids this explanation. >> i would say just lots of hard work over the years, staying focused on education, believing in myself. >> reporter: naming someone local seems to be the trend among some of the urban school districts in the bay area. san francisco unified recently did the same. the last superintendent was hired from another district and left before finishing his three-year contract. >> after the cadre of corporate carpet baggers left us in the lurch, we needed stability. >> reporter: school board members wanted someone who would remain in oakland for years to come. >> she is going to be the person that actually models for young people inside of our school district what it means to be from oakland, what it means to get an education. >> reporter: in the past few years, the 41-year-old has been in administrative positions and most recently served as the deputy superintendent. today the district faces a budget deficit of between 8 and $10 million left behind by the previous superintendent. next year that deficit is expected to be higher. >> as we have to make tough decisions, we are really employing our value of keeping students first and keeping cutaway from schools. >> reporter: for now johnson % says she'll spend time listening and building relationships. in oakland, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> well, some changes on and off the road in the bay area. >> and it's not just for convenience. >> service is going to be there if the big one hits. >> the groundbreaking today and how it will change more than just ferry service in the bay area. >> and fighting back against a new bill that makes it harder to buy books signed by authors, what it could mean forebay area readers. >> a new social media post by newark police is going viral. are they checking your meth for gluten? >> the traffic, the afternoon commute and it is not looking to good on the skyway in downtown san francisco. pretty much bumper to bumper in both directions. back with a devastating blow today for the boy scouts of america. the mormon church announced today it is pulling all 14 to 18 year old boys out of scouts skarti ska starting next year. that's 180,000 of the 2 1/2 million scouts in the u.s. not only is the number significant, but the mormon church is the largest sponsor of the boy scouts. the church says it will keep some 280,000 younger boys in the scouts while it develops its own scouting-type program. >> some good news for drivers and maybe you noticed gas prices going down a little bit after heading up at the start of the year. aaa says prices have been falling steadily the last few weeks due to a drop in crude oil prices. the national average for a gallon of regular gas is now $2.34. of course much higher in california because it always is, $2.93 a gallon. >> today the board of directors approved a resolution of support for a center in eastern contra costa county. they will work with the city of brentwood and transportation authority of building the brentwood transit center. it would serve as a hub for pittsburgh bay point station and could eventually become a station for a future b.a.r.t. extension. >> new project officially got underway in san francisco designed to ease the bay area commute and serve the region in case of emergencies. >> abc7 news anchor kristen sze is here with an important groundbreaking at the san francisco ferry building. kristen. >> larry and alma, they put their shovels in the dirt this morning and symbolically broke ground on a $79 million project. work begins now to expand the downtown ferry terminal from two gates to four gates. and add more space to park vessels. this would accommodate extra ferry service to and from the city. it comes at a time of growing demand. ridership on the bay is up 29% since 2015. now 2.7 million passengers a year. >> if we could double it again in the next few years, we could actually relieve about a lane and a half of traffic congestion on the bay bridge. >> and it's not just for convenience. ferry service is going to be there if the big one hits. >> additional improvements include a new plaza, expanded pedestrian promenade, and canopies for waiting passengers. this project is funded by voter approved bridge toll hike and federal dollars. it's set to be done in two years. and in the next ten years i'm going to show you the master plan includes many more terminals around the bay, including redwood city, mission bay in san francisco, sea plane lagoon in alameda, treasure island, berkeley and of course hercules. so, a lot more to come, larry and alma. >> thank you, kristen. if your morning commute was a little lighter today, you can thank bike to work today. thousands of people used pedal power to get to work. the bicycle coalition handed out food and drinks and goody bags to bicycle commuters. one rider who did not need any more encouragement is dr. robert miller. abc7 news caught up with him as he arrived to work at california pacific medical center's campus on buchanan street. dr. miller has been riding his bicycle to work for 15 years now, from tiburon. 18 miles each way. >> about an hour and a half, almost two hours on the bike each day. so, it's a lot of exercise, but it's also saving gas, parking and tolls to the tune of $6,000 a year. >> got to be in fantastic shape. on the bike 3 to 4 hours a day. bike trips went up 10% last year. abc7 news in walnut creek, warriors fans lined up for free car flags. flags being given away at warrior stores while supplies lasted. this is leading up to car flag friday. team fans want that yellow and blue banner wave while people are driving around the bay area. meanwhile the warriors will wait to see who they face in the conference finals. the spurs or the rockets. >> well, spencer christian is here to look at our weather. maybe a little less windy today? >> you're right, it is a little less windy. easy for me to say. the winds are going to pickup a little bit tomorrow going into saturday and then they'll get calmer for mother's day. how about that? good mother's day gift. here's a look at live doppler 7. we have a relatively calm conditions right now, although a little bit of increase in clouds is apparent right now. especially up in the north bay as we move south ward, father south you can see the skies are a little bit sunnier. right now it is breezy in some spots, not so breezy in others. kind of a mixed bag. 22-mile an hour winds in fairfield right now. 23 mile per hour gusts in livermore. right around the bay not so windy at all. as you get closer to the coast the winds pickup again. i guess whether it's windy or not depends where you are. here's a look at the golden gate bridge with partly cloudy skies right now. traffic is moving nicely. i don't see the doctor biking back to work yet so he must be busy with patients. forecast features are these. breeze i and cool, sunny on mother's day, a chance of rain early next week. now let's look at our wind gust animation. starting at noon tomorrow, at which point the wind will be generally rather light, we'll see the winds increase in intensity going into tomorrow evening, especially on the coast where the gusts will range from 20 to about 30 miles per hour. and we'll see maybe 15 to 20 mile per hour gusts generally in our inland area. going into saturday morning we'll see rather strong gusts but they will diminish in the afternoon hours to just light winds in most inland locations. it will still be breezy, though, saturday afternoon and evening. and our coastal communities. overnight, look for partly to mostly cloudy skies with a few low clouds as well. low temperatures will drop into the mid to upper 40s in our inland communities lows in the low 50s near the bay. tomorrow skies will be a bit brighter. it will be breezy at the coast once again and a little bit on the cool side with highs ranging from mid to upper 50s in the coast, 60s in the bay, upper 60s in inland areas. not likely many places will top out at 70 tomorrow. mother's day forecast, let's break it down for you. we'll see a few clouds in the early morning hours. sunny skies the remainder of the day into the early evening. mild in the afternoon highs up around 70 degrees inland, upper 60s to near 70 near the bay, 60s in the coast. a coastal breeze will develop sunday evening and here's the accuweather seven-day forecast. almost ran over something here in the studio. wow. fortunately i still have good reflexes. we'll have sunny skies mainly through mother's day. a few clouds will move into the picture on monday and then there is a chance of showers on tuesday with sunny and milder conditions toward the end of next week. it's like an obstacle course getting back here from where i was. >> you're so agile. >> thanks, spencer. >> well, a heart breaking story about a parent, a child and basketball. how warriors star steph curry stepped in to help ease some pain and make a dream come true. >> in honor of asian pacific american heritage month, we're using our abc7 news bay area instagram feeds to celebrate events where you live. san francisco's iconic chinese new year parade has been a tradition since the 1860s. we started by gold rush immigrants who combined their native culture with the american parade tradition. you can learn more on our abc7 news bay area instagram feed. ♪ the sun'll come out for people with heart failure, tomorrow is not a given. but entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ i love ya, tomorrow in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure... ...kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow i love ya, tomorrow ♪ ask your heart doctor about entresto. and help make tomorrow possible. ♪ you're only a day away. a 16-year-old basketball player from the south bay will be remembered tonight days after she collapsed on the court and then died. her family is grieving, of course. but as abc7 news reporter jeannine de la vega tells us, they are working hard to honor their daughter with the help of warriors player steph curry. >> my favorite day dream would be becoming a wnba basketball star. >> reporter: he is reading the pages from his daughter kimberly's scrapbook, hanging onto memories. the teen collapsed on saturday during a basketball game and died. this is the last picture taken of her. >> she hold her chest and i start to get out on the court and they sit down. and she fell. since then i never heard her voice. >> reporter: in the last year kimberly began getting migraines and have fainted. doctors still cleared her to play. he hopes to get answers. >> until now i have a question, why? you know, a 16-year-old girl who is healthy, who loves sports. >> reporter: kimberly's favorite basketball player was steph curry. he reached out on social media hoping to have her shoes signed. the wish was granted. >> i wish i could have met her before she passed. but this is a small token for her family to i guess know that there's a lot of people thinking about them. >> i know she's in heaven right now. she will be happy. she will be happy. >> reporter: the family plans on burying kimberly with the shoes and memorabilia. students at high school are remembering her. the high school will have a candle light vigil for kimberly next week. they plan to give these items of the memorial to her family. reporting from cupertino, abc7 news. >> so sad. >> i can't imagine the heart break of her family. the girl had such a beautiful smile. the warriors really, they make a huge effort in the community to try to help kids that have medical conditions and in this case she was not able to meet steph. >> all right. a girl who practices some really good karma is reaping the benefits. abc7 news was in antioch where we met charlotte and her moment today. charlotte is battling severe health issues and she's happy to be back on her custom made bike. it was a gift from friends in the community and stolen from the family's porch earlier this week. today charlotte wanted to thank the officers who found the thief and her bike. she also has a message she asked us to share. >> the more you giveaway, the more you'll get returned. and that's just truth about love. >> sweet. those antioch officers who found the bike late at night didn't stop there. they continued to work to find a pick-up truck they could use to return the bike to charlotte right then. >> closing in on a laptop ban on air travel to and from europe, tell you what's next. plus. >> president trump now says that he always intended to fire james comey regardless of the recommendation. i'm abc7's lan a zach with the testimony everybody is waiting to hear. >> and signs in the sand, warnings in the water. a shark off the california coast. internet speeds 20x faster. at&t fiber sounds amazing. wait a sec, i'm not done yet. less than 12% of at&t homes actually qualify. huh... hold on. everyone else gets our other, slower internet speeds. but no one reads this stuff anyway. except for the old guy with the binoculars. huh... we got ourselves a reader. don't be fooled by at&t. xfinity delivers the fastest speeds to the most homes. >> announcer: live where you live, this is abc7 news. >> and here are the stories making headlines at 4:30. southbound highway 101 near near healdsburg opened just after noon. you can see the scene here with the bullet holes. the chp tells us an unidentified vehicle pulled up alongside another car and shot the two victims. a live look at sky 7, you can see there is still a back up here, even though the road is back open. 101 is clear, but most of the traffic is backed up onto side roads including healdsburg avenue as people try to get back onto 101. coming up on abc7 news at 5:00, university california president janet napolitano talking about reported audit interference, only on 7, she told abc7 news reporter laura anthony there was, quote, no nefarious or inappropriate intent. abc7 news reporter kate larson tweeted this photo of the first of six recent car fires, all parked in driveways in contra costa county. arson teams say these blazes do appear to be suspicious. we're learning more today about the firing of fbi director james comey. a senate hearing is putting the new acting director right into the spotlight as senate majority leader mitch mcconnell announced he's invited assistant attorney general rod rosenstein to brief senators on comey's firing next week. abc7 news reporter lana zach live in washington, d.c. with the story. lana? >> reporter: hi there, larry. some tremendous changes today. you know, prior to this we were really hearing two reasons coming out of the white house for why fbi director james comey was let go. but now based off of the testimony of the acting fbi director and the president himself, those narratives are being called into question. initially the white house claimed james comey was fired at the recommendation of deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. speaking to nbc news, president trump said that was never the case. >> he made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. >> reporter: the white house also said comey had to go because he was not supported by fbi staff. >> the rank and file of the fbi had lost confidence in their director. >> reporter: but the new acting director of the fbi andrew mccabe said that was not accurate. >> i can tell you that i hold director comey in the absolute highest regard. director comey enjoyed broad support within the fbi. and still does to this day. >> reporter: there is one reason for comey's dismissal that has democrats and some republicans concerned. the heading up of the russia investigation. this is making them rethink the suggestion. >> we have got to get rid of this cloud over this country. this is in the best interest of the president, the best interest of the republicans or democrats. we are in a bad place. >> reporter: meanwhile the president's other comments calling comey a show boat are not sitting well with members of either party at the senate intelligence committee. >> i'm offended at the president's comments today. >> i find him to be one of the most ethical, up right, straightforward individuals i've had the opportunity to work with. >> reporter: and here at the capital the president's assertion that james comey had assured him on three separate occasions that he was not under investigation is also being questioned. many people saying that sounds out of character for the fbi director that they knew. reporting live from our nation's capital, lana zach, abc7 news. now back to you, larry. >> lana, what about the white house assertion the russian investigation is one of the smaller items on the fbi's plate, what did mccabe have to stay about that? >> reporter: that was almost a laughable moment here in the chambers. the assertion that when all of the fbi has to do, that the russian investgation was actually pretty minimal was something that acting director mccabe said wasn't accurate. that they take that investigation very seriously and we know in the days just prior to being terminated, that james comey himself was asking for greater resources and money to put toward that investigation. larry? >> all right, lana, thank you. lana zach live in washington. president trump today signed an executive order to establish a commission to review alleged voter fraud and voter suppression. the president claimed millions of people voted fraudulently for his opponent hillary clinton during the 2016 election. now, to date neither trump nor his administration has provided any evidence to back up that claim. the president promised to investigate it. the commission mr. trump established today will be bipartisan and will be tasked with studying, quote, vulnerabilities within the u.s. electoral system. >> a man accused of killing a shaev sh sheriff's deputy and two people in arkansas is now in custody after a standoff with police. 32-year-old james michael boating gave up after keeping police at bay several hours. a woman held hostage was released. he shot and killed a deputy at a traffic stop. the bodies of two women were found after a call for help was made. that's where the deputy was heading when he was shot and killed. a 35-hour long standoff between police and a wanted man in trenton, new jersey is over. authorities say 35-year-old reese surrendered without incident two hours ago. he allegedly opened fire on u.s. marshals as they tried to serve an arrest warrant yesterday morning. a bystander was shot and killed during the exchange. >> the removal of the jefferson davis statue in new orleans took place early this morning really marked the halfway point in an effort to remove statues of three confederate leaders and militia from public land. >> abc7 news reporter josh haas kell showed how the removal has caused controversy on both sides. >> reporter: early thursday morning construction workers dressed intact cal gear faces covered removed the 106 year old statue of jefferson davis. as a crane lifted the statue of the confederate leader into the sky, supporters and protesters faced off. >> beautiful historic monuments and a lot of this, people are against it are even not from here originaly. and don't understand, you know, our culture and a lot of people even from here don't know their history. and i think if they knew their history it would be a more unifying thing. instead they want to demon eyes history. >> reporter: the city of new orleans did not announce the timing of the removal due to threats of violence. however, an area school was notified and sent a message to parents, then word spread. >> this is the culmination of six decades of struggle here in this city. >> yes, it is. >> and we are so proud to have all of you out here with us tonight. >> reporter: new orleans mayor mitch lan drew leads the effort to remove the three statues and monument which honor the lost cause of the confederacy. two of the four are now gone. the statue will be placed in storage until the city finds a permanent home, possibly a museum. >> do not -- >> reporter: attention now turns to the two remaining monuments of confederate generals. these will likely be the most challenging to remove because of their size and location in heavily trafficked areas. josh haas kell, abc7 news new york. >> the european union is demanding urgent talks that the laptop ban could expand to flights from europe. u.s. officials say they want to be included in discussions about possible threats involving airports in the member states. the e.u. ambassador to the united states is expected to meet with homeland security secretary john kelly over the matter. u.s. officials fear concealed bombs could be installed in electronic devices and taken onto flights. >> a growing concern on southern california beaches. scary stuff. sharks, a bunch of them, gathering right off the coast. why we are seeing so many right now. >> i'm spencer christian. we have partly cloudy skies over the bay area. clouds will thicken overnight. could there be rain before mother's day weekend? i'll have the accuweat warning scenes are going up on some southern california beaches because of these guys. great white sharks sighting. at least 25 spot ed in long beach and waters off of cap stran owe beach in orange county. abc7 news reporter marcy gonzalez explains why officials are not surprised. >> reporter: signs in the sand and warnings from the air. >> you are paddle boarding next to approximately 15 great white sharks. they are advising you exit the water in a calm manner. >> reporter: those great whites between 6 and 10 feet long swimming close to shore, an unsettling scene repeated day after day this week in southern california. >> i have swam in this ocean and in the bay and never ever worried about sharks. so, yeah, it's kind of stunning. >> reporter: long beach officials say it's perfectly normal. they saw a similar number of sharks around this time last year. >> the fish are thriving and so they're coming in to feed on those fish. >> reporter: still authorities are taking precautions keeping the beaches open yet issuing a shark advisory. >> please stay out of the water. >> reporter: urging people to stay on the sand. a no-brainer for some beach goers. >> i think i like to keep my legs. >> reporter: but others are braving it on their boards. >> i saw two sharks. >> reporter: just to catch a glimpse. that advisory will stay in place until lifeguards go a full day without seeing a shark. marty gonzalez, abc7 news, los angeles. >> announcer: now your accuweather forecast with spencer christian. >> okay, we'll start once again with live doppler 7 showing partly cloudy skies which will become increasingly cloudy overnight. overnight lows will be generally in the 40s. inland areas low 50s right around the bay. then tomorrow we'll see bright mostly sunny skies. it will be a little cooler than average this time of the year. breezy at the coast with high temperatures mainly low to mid 60s near the bay and upper 60s inland. we have a little bit of rain in the forecast future, but not until tuesday. over the next seven days as you can see, our chances of rain are 0 through monday, but pouncing up to about 60% on tuesday. let's take a look at our forecast animation starting 5:00 tuesday morning. notice as we get into the midday hours. we'll see little pockets of rain developing but it's going to be mainly light rain and should be over by late tuesday night. so, here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. we're going to have sunny skies through mother's day which is going to be a pleasant day with high temperatures up around 70 degrees in our inland areas, upper 60s near the bay. clouds will increase on monday, then tuesday we have that chance of showers. most locations will receive less than a tenth of an inch of rain if any from this system. basically over the next seven days we expect a mainly dry pattern. >> okay, thank you, spencer. >> an unusual way to raise awareness about a serious problem, the social media post by a bay area police department that is gaining worldwide attention. >> i'm 7 on your side's michael finney. new help from people having trouble getting to doctor's the newark police department is getting worldwide attention after its facebook post went viral. >> the department is offering anyone who brings in their meth free testing for gluten. abc7 news reporter matt keller has the story behind the post. >> reporter: a facebook post from a police department rarely gets much attention, but take a close look at this one from the newark police department. it says, is your meth laced with deadly gluten? not sure? bring your meth down to the p.d. and we will test it for you for free. lieutenant is the author of the >> so, channel surfed and happened to be watching some gluten free commercial or whatever and then thought to myself, hey, wouldn't it be funny if drugs have gluten in it? >> reporter: the facebook post went viral around the world. more than 200,000 shares, 31,000 reactions and close to 9,000 comments in just a week. but not everyone thought it was funny. >> i showed it to my wife, what do you think about this? she thought it was lame. >> reporter: people in newark weren't sure what to make of the post. >> this is from the newark police department's facebook page. >> okay, interesting. >> reporter: these people were seeing this for the first time. >> and this is a real post? >> reporter: it's a real post. >> it's puzzling. >> no one is going to bring in their meth to get it tested for gluten. >> no, they don't care about gluten. >> reporter: lieutenant says no one has come in yet to test their meth for gluten, but the offer is still on the table. ye >> yeah, any time you have any illegal drugs and you want to come in, we're more than willing to take a look at it and test what you need. the p.d. is always open 24 hours a day for you. >> reporter: the reactions aren't slowing down. they've heard from people as far away from australia and japan and england. in newark, matt keller, abc7 news. >> bring all your drugs in so they can arrest you and then test you -- yeah, you won't have to worry about the gluten at all. thousands of home heating pumps are under recall today because they may cause a fire. >> the manufacturer says you should stop using them immediately. 7 on your side michael finney has the report. >> this is huge. these are large home heating p pumps. they weigh between 5 and 10 tons each. carrier green feed and bryant evolution extreme. they were sold from june of 2011 through august of last year. carrier says the capacity can stop working, causing units to overhe'd a overheat and possibly catch fire. there have been reports of overheating, but not fire or damage. if you one u you should stop using the heater and carrier will provide a free repair. i'll post all the information you need. you can catch it on my facebook page. how does a parked car burst into flames? it's happened multiple times even here in the bay area. shocking videos from across the country and what the manufacturer says. could you be at risk? i'll have a 7 on your side joint safety investigation with abc7 news brian ross. i talked to him about what he hoped viewers will take way from our stories. >> i think you should take way the fact, a car, a bmw or any modern car may not really be off when you park it and there could be this issue. the national highway traffic safety administration says at this point it's unaware of any defect, but they're asking bmw owners who have these kinds of problems to contact them and talk about it. >> our coverage begins on world news at 5:30, then continues on abc7 news at 11:00 and then on night line. if you have a doctor's appointment but no ride, well, blue cross/blue shield really wants to get you there, so much so it's offering free rides with lyft. the insurance carrier announced it will cover lyft rides for policyholders who don't have other transportation. the goal is to reduce the number of missed appointments. especially in areas that don't have public transit. patients don't even need to down lift the lyft app. a doctor will hail your ride ahead of time. initially lyft rides will only be included in employer sponsored policies that the company may expand coverage down the line. now, i want to hear from you. my 7 on your side hot line is up weekdays 10:00 to 2:00. you know the number, 415-954-8151. you can reach me on facebook abc7 news.com. >> thank you, michael. >> pretty soon your favorite chocolate candies may look a little different, smaller. world's biggest candy companies including mars, wrigley, nestle and gear ar deli will make changes to fight the obesity epidemic. the servings will have 200 calories or less and nutritional information will be printed on the front not the back. those changes will happen by the year 2022. >> all right. summer is right around the corner and this year a lot of love is in the air. >> a alexis smith tells us how you can experience it from hood line. >> the summer of love, the california historical society and yerba gwen a neighborhood is launching their exhibit called on the road to the summer of love. >> the summer of love was many things i think to many people. you can see it as our exhibition tries to help you understand it as a culmination of a lot of different revolutionary and what we group together as kounlter cultural impulses. >> young people flock to san francisco to be at the heart of that social revolution. from political protests to music festivals and everything in between, the exhibit will take you back through it all. >> we have a number of listening stations where you can pickup a pink phone or blue phone or orange phone and here, you know, mario protesting at u.c. berkeley or here ginsberg greeting. we hope it is a beautiful historic experience and a personal experience and, of course, a beautiful esthetic experience as well. >> the exhibit runs friday through september 10. you can find more info at summer of.love. if you spent hours playing mario cart when you were a kid, get to golden gate park saturday for cart wheel. it's a series of battle races inspired by the video game and, yes, you'll be dodging banana peels while racing your friends for prizes and of course bragging rights. need a last-minute mother's day gift? i have the purr-fect idea. a japanese style cat cafe in hayes valley. on sunday they'll host a mother's day tea tasting. mom will learn all about tea from a consewer, take home plenty of samples and spend an hour with snuggly rescue kittens. you can check out details on abc7news.com. >> a baby hip owe is getting ready to make her outdoor debut at the cincinnati view. we've shown you fee own a in the past. in the last few weeks zoo divers have been getting her used to swimming in the deep end of the pool in her habitat. she was born in january, six weeks early so she weighed just 29 pountsds, not the normal 55 to 100 birth weight better for hippos when they're born. she now weighs 200 pounds. >> she probably doesn't know she's a hippo because she hangs out with people. she's going to be a hungry hungry hippo. >> like the game. >> a warning now for readers. >> anybody who loves books and loves their local bookstore should be concerned. >> stores are fighting back against the new bill that makes it harder to buy books that have been signed by authors. >> and kristen is here with a look at what is coming up on abc7 news at 5:00. kristen. >> alma, larry, thanks. the doctor who was arrested for child porn, how he used university resources to commit his crime. allegations of interference with the state audit, a one on one interview only on abc7 news. and a city that has a head for a fountain unveiled its newest piece of art under the black cloth that has a lot of people scratching their heads. those stories and more when dan and i join for abc7 news at 5:00. internet speeds 20x faster. at&t fiber sounds amazing. wait a sec, i'm not done yet. less than 12% of at&t homes actually qualify. huh... hold on. everyone else gets our other, slower internet speeds. but no one reads this stuff anyway. except for the old guy with the binoculars. huh... we got ourselves a reader. don't be fooled by at&t. xfinity delivers the fastest speeds to the most homes. it is tgi team night here tonight. at 8:00, grey's scandal. >> new restrictions on the sales of signed books. we're taking about assembly bill 1570. it expanded the state's ought graph law. >> book sellers say the bill was written so broadly they're worried about how it could affect them. here's abc7 news reporter chris nguyen. >> reporter: getting an auto graph from your favorite celebrity is always fun, but bay area bookstore owner bill is now concerned about author appearances becoming a thing of the past. >> i don't know whether we're subject to a law right now and i don't want to wait to find out when someone sues us. >> reporter: attorneys with the specific legal foundation filed a lawsuit against the state on his behalf claiming california's auto graph law is unconstitutional. >> anybody who loves books and loves their local bookstore should really be concerned. >> reporter: as the law stands, any auto graphed item worth $5 must now be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity as well as a warranty. last fall supporters such as actor mark hamil of "star wars" fame had this to say. >> it's not no none to say to 8-year-old, the certificate you bought is fake. >> reporter: critic say it is so broad that it inadvertently overregulated independent book sellers who are now obligated to keep a paper trail of all signed items, even if the author signs it right in front of the customer. some worry that publishers could stop making their authors available altogether. >> it's one more sort of hassle or nail in the coffin for small book sellers who are just trying to get foot traffic into their store. >> reporter: a bill to rikt identify these concerns is currently being considered by the state assembly. in san francisco, chris nguyen, abc7 news. >> all right. that will do it for this edition of abc7 news at 4:00. thanks for joining us. i'm alma daetz. >> i'm larry beil. abc7 news at 5:00 starts right now. >> unknown vehicle pulled alongside them and opened fire. >> a drive by shooting on highway 101 in sonoma county, two people are hurt. we're there live with the breaking news. >> more breaking news in contra costa county, a investigation into a series of car fires has taken a new turn. >> u.c. under fire over a scathing audit. what the university system's president is saying only to abc7 news. >> and taking uber to court, the next goliath for san francisco's city attorney. >> announcer: now from abc7, live breaking news. >> and that breaking news is in contra costa county. we have just learned that one person is probably to blame for a string of car fires. good evening, i'm kristen sze. >> and i'm dan ashley. thanks for joining us. those car fires have been all over the county really, most just in driveways until today when a fire jumped to someone's house. >> abc7 news reporter kate larson is live in plez ants hills tonight with a new development. kate? >> reporter: kristen, dan, the fire marshal just told us that they believe the six fires in recent weeks are not only all related but that they were all intentionally set and they are actually connecting them to at least ten fires, not just the past few weeks, but recent months. and at this point they would really like to catch whoever is responsible before more damage is done. >> these fires have mostly been occurring during the overnight hours so people are home, people are asleep. one of the fires in brentwood this morning had two young children who were immediately above the fire area. so, at this point we want to make sure that we can try and catch the person who is doing this so that we can get them off and hopefully prevent further fires.

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