Transcripts For KGO ABC7 News 600PM 20240714 : vimarsana.com

Night, overnight hours, the wind will remain relatively light, below 10 Miles Per Hour. But occasional gusts could occur that are stronger. At the moment weather conditions dont appear to be a major factor in fighting or containing the fire, except for those occasional gusts. But ill keep monitoring this and if conditions change, i will let you know. Dan and ama . Spencer, thank you. To wrap up whats happening in lake county, again, the fire has burned at least 15 acres near kelseyville. So far there are no reports flames have burned any homes or other buildings. We also havent heard of anyone being hurt. Lets move on. Well keep tabs on that. In the wake of three Mass Shootings in america, gilroy, el paso, dayton, communities in the bay area are not only continuing to mourn, but are taking action, too. Today a funeral was held in new york for one of the gilroy victims. 25yearold trevor irby. In total the three shootings left 34 innocent people dead. Today in san rafael, the mayor has taken an unprecedented step to encourage congress to deal with gun sly violence. Abc7 News Reporter Wayne Freedman joins us outside of city hall. Wayne, the mayor just held a News Conference . Reporter well, the News Conference was a little while ago. What he is doing is right over my shoulder. You are see the flag at half staff . Mayor Gary Phillips is sending a mess taj with that flag and six others here in san rafael. Flags at half staff, theyre never a good sign. Never good news. And in marin county, san rafael this week, they have become a symbol of protest. Are you the first city in the country to do this . I think so. I dont know of any other that has. Reporter that is san rafael mayor Gary Phillips explaining why flags fly at half staff over seven city buildings. He ordered this measure to send a message to congress, take action on gun violence. Why should Congress Listen to san rafael . I think san rafael is perhaps like so many other cities within the country, similar in many, many ways. Regardless what city wants to have 20, 21 shooting deaths . Reporter san rafael has never suffered from the impact of a mass shooting that such a protest would happen here is somewhat out of character. Actually san rafael is probably the least political place in marin that i can think of. Reporter but with flags at half staff above city hall, the fire stations, the community center, even the bocce ball courts, san rafael has become political and started a discussion. We dont need to kill each other. We have to start someplace and we have to remind people this is an ongoing thing. For the last 30 years. Its a good move. Reporter is it a proper use of the flag . Sure it is, sure it is. Reporter two constitutional guarantees, the freedom to bear arms and freedom of speech now in a strange coexistence. There is red, white and blue as the flags flying here at half staff, though with no apparently happy medium. We asked mayor phillips how did all this start . He said the answer was really pretty simple. He got tired of all the tragedies, constantly raising flags and lowering flags, raising them and lowering. He just said, hes going to keep them down for a while until something changes. In san rafael, Wayne Freedman, abc7 news. Wayne, any idea when the flag protest may end . Reporter well, no. There is no idea. For now the flags are down. Theyll stay down until at least september. Hes waiting for some kind of congressional action. Theyll make a decision then, he said. All right. Wayne freedman reporting live for us tonight. Thank you. Following the mass shooting at the gilroy garlic festival, the San Jose Police department is beefing up its active shooting response. The department will place officers around the city. Their sole job is to respond to active shootings at schools. Summer fest will see an added security presence. We need to be vigilant, but its not a cause to have our community scared to come out to different events. The idea is a little, you know, scary to go to these events now. But knowing that there will be somebody there that kind of brings you a little more comfort. Police believe having this extra presence could help deter anyone who might be planning to attack. The School Program is expected to cost 3 million, which will come from the Police Departments overtime budget. We want to know what you think following several shootings. What are you doing . Our poll is live now at abc7news. Com vote. You can see the votes on the bottom of your screen and they change in real time as more people vote. Are you shifting plans . Staying home more . Feeling more vigilant, perhaps . Doing what you always do . Or living life to the fullest . Again, go to abc7news. Com vote to answer. Were going to keep the poll going while abc7 News Reporter Lyanne Melendez joins us live from Golden Gate Bridge where the music lands festival opens tomorrow. Lyanne, something has been added this year, right . Reporter thats right. And ill tell you about it, but i want to add to that poll because i went out to talk to people about that same subject and, you know, i remember what one young man told me and i want to share that with you. He said, the logical conclusion is to stay at home. Then what . Then fear has defeated you. Thats what he said. Now, the organizers of this event say there will be so much security here that you wont have to worry. The presence of the mayor and the Police Departments top brass was meant to reassure people that safety is of great concern at the outside lands festival. Ultimately with the goal of keeping you all safe. Reporter heres some of the new security measures that will be in place this year. There will be officers intact cal gear, double fencing will be put up surrounding the event with more eyes in strategic places. There will be more barricades, but police chief William Scott highlighted that it will be the added Police Officers that will hopefully reassure people attending the event. Weve always had good security at this event, but i think weve enhanced it this year and definitely were going to be very vigilant and make sure that we keep this event as safe as possible. Reporter thats reassuring to this these three young women whoa came from Southern California. Still, they were discussing their own safety plan. To know your exits before going into the festival and when youre in there, thats really important just in case anything happens. Just to have a plan is very important nowadays. And its sad that we have to resort to that, but its what we have to do in order to be safe. Reporter police also said they have an evacuation plan in place. Also a first this year is the sale of cannabis. Vendors will be located in an area south of the polo fields called grasslands. But the mayor hinted, it was on a trial basis. If it works well, we might do this for other festivals. If it doesnt, then were going to have second thoughts about issuing permits like this in the future. Reporter and, dan, there is your first. Now, one of my followers tweeted that he will be working this weekend, and that the smell of marijuana gives him a headache. But i told him that grassland is in a separate area. Thats where they will be selling cannabis. But again, people tend to bring their own. Now, one thing very important that the organizers wanted to convey, and that is that people should not and will not be allowed inside with back packs. Now, bring plas a plastic bag, anything where they can see what youre bringing, what items you will be bringing inside. Stay safe. Im live in golden gate park, Lyanne Melendez, abc7 news. Great information. Thanks so much. The result from our poll at abc7news. Com vote, it looks like close, but doing what i always do seems to be winning. And feeling more vigilant. People responding in that way as well. So please, well keep this open, so please let us hear from you on how youre responding to these attacks the last few couple of weeks in america. Thats right. For now, though, more news. New at 6 00 a bicyclist fell from a cliff in pacifica. A north county authority tweeted this, a bicyclist at rockaway beach. No word on the bicyclists condition or what caused that person to fall. A near miss at sfo two years ago that nearly caused one of the worst aviation accidents in American History has led to the introduction today of a new bill in congress. The safe landings act is responsered by east bay congressman mark dasonier with one of the best known names in flying. Abc7 news anchor eric thomas is live at sfo with more. Eric. Reporter and ama, that best known name would be Sully Sullenberger. Youll hear from him in just a moment. The bottom line here is youre not supposed to have two airliners on the same runway at the same time. Thats called a runway incursion. The congressman says thats up 83 over the past few years. But what actually triggered introduction of that legislation and in a twoyear search for answers happened here on a july night in 2017. Most landings at sfo are routine. But on a july night two years ago, a near miss put hundreds of lives at risk. Hes on the taxi way. Reporter on that night the pilot of an air canada jet miss took a tack taxi way for a runway and almost crashed into four jets with passengers on board. They barely pulled up in time. We can no longer define safety solely as the absence of accidents. Reporter retired Airline Pilot Sully Sullenberger of danville stood alongside the congressman as he unveiled his new bill, the safe landings act. Sullenberger is known for his miracle on the hudson, landing his stricken plane on the river with no casualties. The congressman said he consulted with sullenberger, pilots unions and Safety Experts before introducing the bill. Its human factors. Its looking at how we make sure the pilots as well trained as they are continue to use the technology to make sure what happened here came very close to being a huge disaster doesnt happen again. Reporter his bill would require that airlines use existing systems or install new ones that alert the pilot and air Traffic Control when a plane is not properly lined up on a runway. And that new Safety Technology be developed along with best practices on training pilots to better use existing and future tech. In a statement, the faa today told us they are already working on it. They said, quote, we are modifying existing Radar Systems to issue an alert when an aircraft is lined up for a taxi way rather than a runway. Faa says its already in use at ten airports and soon to be at 12 more. The bill would allocate 20 million to get the ball rolling. He believes he has a good chance in the house, but the Republicancontrolled Senate is another matter. Unfortunately, common sense is not very common in the u. S. Congress right now. Reporter so the senate is one thing. Another thing that the congressman expects is push back from the aviation industry. This may cost them some money to put in these safeguards, and they may figure its safe already to fly. Its one of the safest modes of transportation there is, so why spend that money . But theyre hoping that common sense prevails because safety, well, after all, isnt that what we all want when we fly . Live at sfo, eric thomas, abc7 news. Think so. Thank you, eric. All right. Roller coasters are fun in the summer at amusement parks. Not on the stock market. No. Today things were up, far enough to wipe out some of the downs. Car breakins at cliff house are so common. There are signs everywhere warning people not to leave anything in their vehicle. You wouldnt believe what one family had stolen and how police got it back. Im spencer christian. Not only is it cooler than average for this time of year, but its quite windy out side. How long will this pattern last . Ill have the answer in my accuWeather Forecast coming up actually, thats my buick. Your buick doesnt have a roof rack this is my buick. How are we gonna fit in your moms buick . Easy. I like that new buick. Me too. I was actually talking about that buick. I knew that. Did you . Buicks fresh new lineup is full of surprises. Current eligible nongm owners and lessees get 20 below msrp on most 2019 buick encore models. Were here for you. So chances are, youve seen us around the house. Or around the yard. On the shelf. Or even out in the field. Your mom knew she could always count on us. And your grandma did too. Because for over 150 years, weve been right by your side. Advancing health and nutrition for everyone you love. So, from all of us at bayer. Thank you for trusting in us. Then and now. Back now to the scene of that breaking news, a wildfire burning near clear lake, youre looking at the scene live now from sky 7. The lake county sheriff has ordered people to evacuate from the riviera west area. Thats because they live closest to the flames. And theres only one way for them to escape their community. The fire broke out around 3 00 this afternoon and the smoke has been visible for several miles, as you can imagine looking live again from sky 7. As you can see, at least one person used a garden hose to wet down a home, trying to protect it from hot flying embers. So far cal fire has not reported if any homes or other buildings have burned. The flames have burned at least 15 acres. And firefighters have not confirmed it contained the fire so far. A fiery fatal crash shutdown south bay traffic for the morning commute. Five people in five vehicles were involved. One driver died. Two drivers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The collision happened at 3 30 this morning on northbound 101 near bailey avenue, just south of highway 85. It started when a Station Wagon hit the center divide. That driver died. Then a ford fusion hit the first car followed by a toyota yaris, and a tacoma and subaru. The back up as you can see here from sky 7 stretched for miles. All but one lane of 101 was closed for almost five hours, reopening a little after 8 00 a. M. A family from el paso, texas, flew to San Francisco to spread their loved ones ashes, but someone stole them from their car just minutes before the ceremony. Tonight a happy ending for the family. Melanie woodrow has the story youll see only on abc7 news. Reporter William Thomas brennan and his sister grew up in San Francisco. Playing as children in the cave near cliff house. Whenever i come into town, i feel like its my second home. Reporter its also where brennan asked his son to spread his ashes. My dad loved the city. He loved the city. Reporter the family parked their rental car here. We went in for drinks and to wait for all the family to get there. Reporter when they came outside, they saw the window smashed. The back pack with the ashes stolen. I lost it completely. I mean, can you imagine . Can you imagine, i mean i lost my dad all over again. I lost him twice. Reporter its a pain another family visiting San Francisco for the same reason felt in 2017. Their loved ones ashes stolen from a rental car at fishermans wharf. Police responded after abc7 news got involved and recovered the scatter tube. This family staays it only took one call to sfpd. They came right away. Reporter while william was looking his fathers ashes, they found them wrapped in a sweatshirt on top of a vehicle. Im so thankful for them. It was like one of those really, really bad days that turned out to be like a miracle. Reporter after losing him and finding him, the family spread William Thomas brennans ashes, fulfilling his final wish. Free at last, free at last. Reporter thanks to two San Francisco Police Officers who showed up and made a difference. We gave them too many hugs and kisses and we took lots of pictures with them. We did a really, really long journey to get here, and they made it happen. They saved my dad. Reporter in San Francisco, melanie woodrow, abc7 news. Amazing. Yeah. Lets turn our attention to the Weather Forecast. Spencer christian is here with the latest. Spencer. Well, people have been calling it foggist this week because weve had lingering nothing and cooler than average temperatures for this time of year. Thats about to change, but not for a couple days. Hears a. M. A live look at doppler 7. Mainly bright skies over the area. High clouds passing by, a few low clouds over the coast. A big deal with weather is the wind. We have some strong gusts at this moment. 31 Miles Per Hour here in San Francisco, also 31 Miles Per Hour over at fairfield and many other locations in between have gusts around 24, 25 Miles Per Hour. So its breezy, but as you can see we dont have a lot of clouds at the moment. Looking westward from emeryville, we see a few low clouds off in the distance. Lots of high clouds but bright skies. 63 degrees in San Francisco, oakland 69. 71 at redwood city. 73 san jose 80 gilroy 64 half moon bay. This is where the skies are bright. 78 right now at santa rosa. Napa 72. 68 in petaluma, 76 at fairfield. Concord 72 degrees. Out over the bay from our rooftop camera, you can see how breezy it is out there. These are our forecast features. Cool august weather will continue tomorrow and saturday. But warming trend begins on sunday and its going to be quite hot in our inland areas early next week. Heres our forecast animation for tonight and overnight into the morning hours. Well see a continued flow of pas