Dan noyes has been on the pg e beat, and he joins us with the latest developments. Dan . Ama and dion, it took two twt days for pg e to announce another one is probably on this way this week. The reaction to pg es announcement of more blackouts, the second round this month was fast and angry. What pg e is supposed to be doing is taking the billions of dollars we have been giving them and trimming the trees and taking care of their grid so we dont have to have these shutoffs in the first place. Just this past friday, a parade of pg es top executives appeared before the California PublicUtilities Commission to defend the blackouts two weeks ago that affected more than 700,000 customers. Pg e president and ceo bill johnson described the longterm outlook for what the Company CallsPublic Safety power shutoffs, or pspss. Our goal over the next ten years is to eliminate these kind of psps events. Ten years of blackouts does not sit well with the governor, some lawmakers and state rate payers. Right now pg e tells me these two men make the decision in collaboration with a staff of meteorologists and other experts. Michael lewis, Senior Vice President of electric operations, and sumeet singh, Vice President of asset and risk management. Now there are calls for others to have more say in the decision to order blackouts outside of pg e. Perhaps cal fire or the state office of emergency services. I asked pg e spokesperson tomar sarkisian about that today. Should pg e be the only one making this decision . Sorry, just a second. Give me just one moment. I may have to get back to you on that, because i i think we have just yeah. Sarkisian told me the company is trying to fix the mistakes of the last blackout by coordinating with state officials more often. But in terms of flipping the switch, its pg e who does that and makes that final decision, correct . At this time it is pg e who makes that decision. Reporter ceo bill johnson discussed sharing the responsibility for ordering blackouts. The public has to have confidence in decisionmaking. And so i heard a lot of commentary that people didnt have confidence in us making this decision. But rate payer advocate told me today the decision on blackouts should remain with the utility. I believe that pg e desperately wants somebody else to make decisions so somebody else becomes responsible. Now pg e also told me they are installing devices to divide the grid into smaller segments so they can target the blackouts to smaller areas. And theyre working on their website and call center where theyve had so many problems. But they couldnt tell me how much progress has been made since the last blackouts just two weeks ago. So i guess were going to have to see what happens this week. Keep pressing on that. Not to mention we just got this information. Pg e just actually clarified that the final notification for the upcoming power outage that will come wednesday morning, that is based off of the forecast conditions. Got you. Thank you, dan. And we are keeping a close eye on pg es actions. So we will let you know the companys latest plans through our news app. Download it now so you will get push alerts. In sonoma county, residents, Business Owners and public officials, they are furious at the thought of going through another power outage. Abc7 News ReporterMelanie Woodrow continues our Team Coverage live at sonoma plaza. Melanie . Ama and dion, the plaza here is the heart of sonoma. City hall is behind me. This area was without power for about two days earlier this month, creating a large economic dent felt by residents as well. The resounding sentiment around sonoma plaza today, here we go again. Xhaustion. As word spread of another possible pg blic safety power shutoff. Sonoma county First District supervisor susan goring. They should have been on this from decades ago, undergrounding lines, setting the transmission grid, as they have been doing in southern california. Where have they been . Instead, pg e says its meteorologists are monitoring weather conditions 24 7, their eyes fixed on this wednesday and thursday in particular. Its expected to have dry, hot and windy weather. Businesses and residents are still recovering from last shutoff. The historic swiss hotel had to throw out meat, fish, and poultry. Were talking about thousands of dollars. Owner hank marioni lost his home in the tubbs fire two years ago. He says he gets it, but questions why pg e officials shut off power as broadly as they did. I dont really have a problem shutting down in the hills whether the winds are 40, 50 miles an hour. But in town i dont believe there is a lot that can burn. Pg e has said its transmission grid is so complicated, it cant isolate smaller areas. Pg e hasnt called for the shutoff yet, but official says they want to make sure customers are as prepared as possible. Still, we found residents who had no idea. I cant believe it. Not again. Don del carlo describes last the most shutoff as radical. Did it feel warranted . Did the wind feel high enough where you lived . Did it make sense . No, i dont think so. Supervisor gorin is one of two supervisors asking why. She is holding more than just pg e accountable. I put the blame where the blame is due, and that is the California PublicUtilities Commission for not demanding excellence from the one utility that covers most of northern california. Supervisor gorin also lost her home a couple of years ago in the tubbs fire as well so she says she gets it. She also believes these are issues that pg e should have resolved decades ago. Live in sonoma, Melanie Woodrow, abc7 news. Melanie, we appreciate that report. During the last shutoff, pg e says it dealt with more than 100 cases of damage or hazards due to high winds. Pg e created this graphic to show how the damage overlapped with areas where the power had been turned off. Pg e says any of those hazards could have sparked a fire. The power outage decision is based partly on weather conditions. Once again, lets get to spencer joining us with Team Coverage and a look at the forecast. Spencer . Were certainly going to have fire weather conditions midweek. As a matter of week, not a red flag warning, i beg your pardon, a fire weather watch. Fire weather watch will be in effect wednesday evening into thursday evening. And thats for virtually all of the hills and mountains around the bay area. During that period of time, we expect wind gusts to range between 30 and 60 Miles Per Hour in the Higher Elevations. Very low humidity. And of course fires can spread rapidly under those conditions. Already the warmup is under way. You can see the 24hour temperature change. We have temperatures right now that are 8 to 13 degrees warmer than at this time yesterday. Its going to continue warming and drying as we get into the middle of the week, along with the gusty wind. Ill have the full forecast in a few minutes. Dion . Sounds good. Big difference there. Fire broke out in eastern contra costa county. Take a look. Sky 7 flew above a remote part of brentwood. This is where flames have burned about 60 acres so far. The fire broke out around 4 00 this afternoon alg orwood road. Crews are having a tough time reaching the scene because the fire is burning in a marshy area off the road. You can see in the center at least one person drove a pickup truck through high brush in order to flatten the dry grass. That fire also burning near an Illegal Cannabis growing operation. Sheriffs deputies have notified the owners of that grow about the fire. Kicking back. Feet up and smoking. Its how the mayor of San Francisco is depicted on a new billboard. We were the first to cover its appearance over the weekend. Today mayor london breed and city officials denounced the billboard, which is paid for by a candidate running for mayor this year. Abc7 News Reporter luz pena has been on the story. She has the latest for us. Luz . Here it is, throughout the day many people have come out of their cars to take a picture of the billboard. Now many neighbors here have been telling me that theyre tired of it and they want it out of here. We also spoke to the mayor of San Francisco this morning, and she said she was shocked when she saw it. Were 15 days away from the general election in San Francisco, and all the attention is on this. Do you think the billboard is racist . I think the billboard speaks for itself. The billboard depicts mayor breed with her feet up, thinking of the homeless, smoking and holding a stack of money. The billboard was paid for by candidate ellen zhou. A city social worker who says she is the best option for the job. It is hurtful and disrpectful, and it is no place i think in San Francisco for that kind of divisiveness. Candidate ellen zhou disagrees and had some words for mayor breed. Tell mayor london breed for people poohing a peeing on the street, you dont think its disrespectful for people who pass by . For people doing drugs openly, you dont think people feel respected . Aft payin for the billboard, zhou says she has been threatened by some people but has gained support. My people need to understand that we can no longer just vote on party. Yes. I tell my grandma that all the time. This morning the board of equalization member malia cohen, along with other city leaders condemned the billboard. Cohen asked for the ad agency in charge of renting the space to pull it down. Zhou says shes not doing it. The question is i put it up . Yes, i put it up. You would do it all over again . Yes, if i had more money, i would have more billboards. According to a representative of out front, the company who owns this billboard space, a space like this one can cost anywhere between 1200 to 2400, and this candidate paid for four weeks of it, and she maybe has two weeks left of it to be up here. So its not going anywhere as of yet. In San Francisco, luz pena, abc7 news. All right, luz, thank you. And on abc7 news news at 4 00, San Francisco chronicle columnist and now abc7 news contributor phil matier joined us in studio to share his perspective. Is it offensive . Yes. It is meant to be . You bet. Because it might be mean. It might be disrespectful, but the point was to get attention. And thats what this accomplished. What we have is a candidate in a sixway race. Mayor london breed is the incumbent. Shes facing virtually no name opposition. The race hasnt been covered as a matter of fact, there hasnt been a single mayoral debate. Ellen zhou, who ran last time against mayor london breed got about 4 of the vote. She isnt happen with that equation. She has been talking about it on the internet. She has been talking about it with reporters, and now she took to it the billboard to get the attention. You could tell in the piece in the San Francisco chronicle. He is contributing to our building a better bay Area Coverage and initiative. Certainly thought provoking. Speaking of building a better by area, that means we make an effort to find and showcase the improvements happening in our communities. Sky 7 shows you where one will appear. It only looks like a vacant lot now. Next, find out how this will help the south bay reach a major goal. Im Laura Anthony in oakland, where a new home has opened up for single women. Its called turning point. And still to come, new at 6 00, the i teams dan noyes with a story that goes from. 6, 7, 8 big dreams start with small steps. But dedication can get you there. So just start small. Start saving. Easily set, track and control your goals right from the chase mobile® app. Chase. Make more of whats yours®. Do you recall, not long ago we would walk on the sidewalk all around the wind blows we would only hold on to let go blow a kiss into the sun we need someone to lean on blow a kiss into the sun we needed somebody to lean on all we need is someone to lean on one of the toughest parts of building a better bay area is dealing with the Housing Price sis. Visible from the cities to is the suburbs to the streets. But building a better bay area means focusing on the positive, and there is hope in the south bay. Three years ago, voters in Santa Clara County passed measure a, a nearly 1 billion bond for Affordable Housing. Two months ago, abc7 news was in cupertino when the veranda became the first completed project funded by measure a. Its the first to finish, and others are just getting started. Abc7 News Reporter chris nguyen joins us live now with an example of that. Chris . Hey, dion. Good evening to you. Were actually standing next to a vacant lot. Its been vacant for a number of years. Take a look. But if all goes as planned, it could be the future home of some of the most vulnerable in our community. If you build , they will come. Those words ring true in Silicon Valley as the region deals with an unprecedented housing crisis. But this week county supervisors are expected to approve another wave of Affordable Housing projects such as this one on auzerais avenue in san jose. Were going to have an opportunity to get homels people off the street who are in very high need who cost, frankly, the county and our communities lots of money and lots of resources. The development will include 128 apartments, half of which will be set aside as permanent Supportive Housing for the formerly homeless. Seen here from sky 7, the oneacre site is west of downtown, not far from the proposed google transit village. Retail and services and transportation and so forth. So its all good. But just the fact that we have a piece of land here thats the perfect size to build affordable units, that alone should be celebrated. Critics typically worry about these types of projects resulting in higher crime. But sarah springer, president of the Delmas Park Neighborhood Association says residents near the auzerais site are supportive. What we want to see is a building going up and feet on the ground so that there isnt a criminal element that might want to come into the property thats vacant right now, but did have dilapidated buildings on it. In 2016, county voters passed a 950 million bond known as measure a which is expected to fund 4800 units of Affordable Housing over a tenyear period. The county is already on track to hit onethird of its goal just two years into the effort. It creates a more diverse inclusive community. We really do need our firefighters and teachers and our low income wage workers and our retail workers to be living in our communities in order for us to be healthy and to have a longterm future as a sustainable community. County officials hope to open this new housing complex on this site by the year 2022. Were live in san jose, im chris nguyen, abc7 news. Thank you, chris. In the east bay, starting today, some people trying to transition out of homelessness can find a new place to get help. Oakland mayor libby schaaf cut the ribbon on a new facility designed specifically for single women. Laura anthony has the story youll see only on abc7 news. I lost my home after 14 years, and it was a downward spiral ever since then. For joanna, its a way out of a life that was destroying her. The poverty that i see that exists, it makes people violent. And yes, very dangerous. I didnt see any hope. Two, one now joanne is among the first to move in to turning point, a new Residential Program in east oakland for single women. We have problems with trafficking and Domestic Violence and also some drug abuse. But what happens to women is they end up being attached to their abuser because its also a means of protection. We have to recognize that women live under a unique set of threats to their safety and to their emotional wellbeing. Turning point, as its called, has space for up to 24 women. Its meant to be a longterm solution, not just a place to sleep for days or weeks. Residents stay for six to 12 months and each must be working toward gaining employment or continuing their education. Theres also counseling for Domestic Violence and substance abuse. Its one thing to put someone in another place, a place to shelter them, but its another thing to give them all of the tools that they need in order to succeed in life. For joanna, its about regaining something in life that once seemed lost. Do you have hope now . Tremendous hope. Where it was dark at, i canee sunlight now, honestly. Im in the light now. In oakland, Laura Anthony, abc7 news. The city of oakland will begin a twoweek cleaning operation tomorrow at a homeless camp because of extreme fire danger. Sky 7 was over the site near the high street home depot where residents will be asked to relocate to the opposite side of the lot while city workers remove massive amounts of inoperable vehicles, highly flammable wooden structures, propane tanks and trash. The city will allow residents to return once the lot is, quote, cleaned and cleared. Theyll maintain a fire lane for emergency accessibility to the site and a buffer zone around pg e utility poles. All eyes on the weather, especially with the risk of these high winds. Absolutely. Spencer christian is here. He is tracking it all. Good reason to have all eyes on the weather under this you can see under 24hour temperature change how much warmer it is now in various bay area locations. 8 to 13 degrees warmer. Here is the view from emeryville camera looking toward the golden gate. 73 degrees in San Francisco right now. Pretty warm for this time of the evening here in the city. Oakland, 76. 84 redwood city. San jose, 80. 75 at gilroy. 63 at half moon bay. Clear skies over