Counties that are on the watch list for increased coronavirus activity. Abc 7 News ReporterLyanne Melendez has local reaction. Reporter School Districts in the buy area had every intention of welcoming back students in the fall. Until covid19 numbers recently forced the state to roll back business reopenings in several counties. Marin county, for example, is one of the districts on the states watch list because of its rising numbers. Yet this morning some parents came out to support inperson learning. Already children who have not schooled since march 16th and 17 whoth need to get back in front of the eyes of our teachers. We believe it can safely be done. Reporter the white house has threatened to cut funding if schools dont fully reopen. When he says open he means open in full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. Reporter therefore continuing with the Distance Learning model has not been an easy decision for many School Districts. Heres the state superintendent of public instruction addressing the issue during a town hall conversation this morning. When the president says that he might cut funding for School Districts, you know, because they dont open, im sorry. I just have to call it what it is. Is dangerous. Its reckless. And its immoral. Reporter state senator steve glazer represents parts of contra costa and alameda counties. He invited three local superintendents to weigh in. Pittsburg announced it will begin with Distance Learning on august 12th. The Lafayette SchoolDistrict Voted last night to do the same. It was a difficult decision. It was not unanimous. Reporter so far Livermore Valley joint unified is one of the few that remains undecided and is preparing for hybrid learning. Even though the county, alameda, is on the governors covid watch list. Schools there start in 40 days. Challenge our community to ghettos numbers down. To wear your masks, socially distance, do all of those things because we got it down once. Reporter one thing superintendents agree is that Distance Learning, while deemed necessary today, is not ideal. One thing superintendents agree is that Distance Learning, while deemed necessary today, is not ideal. Lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. Salon owners want to get back to work. Now along with state lawmakers theyre asking Governor Newsom to allow Beauty Industry professionals to perform their services outside. Abc 7 News ReporterMelanie Woodrow has the story. Reporter Outdoor Dining has taken on a new meaning during the coronavirus pandemic. Here in california weve even seen relaxed restrictions around serving and Drinking Alcohol outdoors. Now beauty professionals want the same allowances made for them. None of the people that are on that list of recent closures have been licensed by the state in sanitation. We are. Reporter california Assemblyman Jim Patterson is joining salon owners in calling on Governor Newsom to temporarily waive a state law. It prevents hairdressers, barbers, manicureists and koz metologists from providing services outside of a licensed establishment. Governor, you have to Pay Attention to this and fix it. Reporter patterson cites that the California Department of alcohol i can Beverage Control was allowed to waive regulations in order to serve outdoors. Salon owners say in the absence of this option they are struggling. We are not able to pay our bills. Reporter the professional Beauty Foundation of california says the request would not be limited to haircuts and could include manicures, pedicures and waxing services. Allow the beauty professional to get creative on the best ways that they can perform their services. Reporter bay area residents seem to think its a good idea within reason. The way the winds been blowing there could be quite a hair storm. We have to do it responsibly if we ever want to get ak to some kind of normalcy. Reporter in an emailed statement to abc 7 news a spokesperson with the California Business Consumer Services and Housing Agency writes, the administration understands and is very sympathetic to the possible economic hardships on salons. For now the law does not allow Salon Services to be performed outside. However, we are actively looking at this issue and exploring options to lessen the economic harm on these businesses. Salon owners say without the exception they could be forced to shut down permanently. Melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. As courts grapple with conducting trials in a coronavirus reality a new ruling could set a precedent for the rest of the state and country. A San Francisco judge today ordered witnesses will wear transparent face masks. Lawyers argued that a coveredup face could result in unfair testimony. Heres nbc News Reporter kris reyes. Im hoping that jurors, witnesses, myself and my client can wear those transparent masks in an effective way. Reporter at a Pretrial Hearing in San Franciscos superior court a judge ruled that witnesses wear clear face masks instead of cloth masks. Deputy public defender sierra delaran says shes satisfied with the compromise even though she originally proposed a face shield. Her main point, that faces of witnesses cannot be covered. We judge facial expressions and microexpressions in milliseconds. And thats a big part these nonverbal cues are what we use to determine credibility, trustworthiness. Reporter the judge did not specify what kind of clear face masks will be used, but this is whats available for purchase online. Its yet another new rule as trials evolve in a coronavirus reality. A long list of other recent considerations include whether witnesses and jurors should appear via zoom. Law professor hadar aviram agrees there are no good answers right now. On the one hand you have the problem with putting together social distancing and masking and dealing with public buyin or lack thereof. On the other hand we have all the data that we know about how the zoom discourages productivity and puts people to sleep. Reporter for villarans trial jurors are expected to appear in person. However, with Seating Capacity limited inside the courtroom because of social distancing, another challenge is that the trial may have to be streamed intoanother room inside the same building. Of course i think its very important that my clients family be able to attend. We just have to be extra aware in this current pandemic situation that we are dealing with novel issues and that we need to take it slowly and reconsider it. Reporter in san jose kris reyes for abc 7 news. Target is the latest corporation to require customers to wear masks at all stores. Cvs health, which has many pharmacies inside target stores, is also making masks mandatory. The new policy takes effect on monday at cvs stores and on august 1st at all target stores. The nations largest retailer, walmartl make masks mandatory inside all stores on monday. Starbucks, best buy, kohls and kroger, which runs foodsco stores here in the bay areav also put mandatory face shield rules in place. Masks, super spreaders, the surge, all topics facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and dr. Anthony fauci discussed in an hourlong Facebook Live today. Abc 7 News Reporter stephanie sierra is breaking down the highlights. It sounds like zuckerberg showed his cards a bit today. Thats right. Mark zuckerberg found a polite way to criticize the governments response to the pandemic admitting this crisis was avoidable. But much of the conversation gave clarity to why were seeing this major resurge of cases across the country. I also have to say i think you might be quite generous in your description of the governments response here. Reporter before a long list of questions on an hourlong Facebook LiveMark Zuckerberg didnt hide his opinion when assessing the u. S. Response to the pandemic. I just think that it was avoidable and its really disappointing that we still dont have adequate testing, that the credibility of our top scientists like yourself and the cdc are being undermined. Reporter dr. Fauci made it clear part of why were seeing this falls to failures in reopening. The citizenry of the state or the city had the impression that you went either from lockdown to put caution to the wind. And what we saw were clips of people at bars congregating without masks, not staying distant, in crowds, and thats what i believe is at least part of the explanation. Reporter but the other factor, what did other countries do that we didnt . When you look at what happened in the european countries, when they had their peak and they locked down, they locked down to the tune of about 90 to 95 of the country truly locked down. Reporter analysis showed a stricter lockdown in europe resulted in fewer new cases. Is another lockdown the answer . Fauci says no. More of a reset. When i say a reset button, i say okay, time out. Lets everybody regroup. Because if youre in a situation where you should not have jumped over one of the checkpoints youve got to think about pulling back, starting all over again, and doing the gradual entry into, quote, normality. Reporter dr. Fauci said its possible we may have a safe and effective Covid Vaccine in six months, by the beginning of 2021. And one of the many promising options is entering a phase 3 Clinical Trial by the end of this month. That particular trial will have a testing pool of 30,000 people. Stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. Interesting. Stephanie, thank you. Today californias second in command, Lieutenant Governor eleni kuehl nack kuehl nackis s about how simple steps could make a difference. We have to take it seriously because it does appear that thats the culprit for the prer. Resurgence, is people arent taking the precautions seriously enough. Even with precautions any activity represents some level of risk of contracting coronavirus. Put your skills to the test with our coronavirus risk quiz, from getting a haircut to taking a bus guess the risk level, then see what the experts have to say about it. Youll find that on abc7news. Com. Even with the pandemic we havent forgotten our commitment to racial and social justice. Next, well take you to the south bay for a look at the effort to Defund Police at san jose state. And check out the traffic at the bay bridge toll plaza. Not much right now or really just about anytime you look. So how long will it stay like this . New at 6 00 tonight we look at the long term of whether traffic will get better or worse than before. Im spencer christian. After a bit of a cooldown today we have a nice warmup coming our way for the weekend. Our way for the weekend. Ill have the we are the thrivers. Women with metastatic breast cancer. Our time for more time. Has come. Living longer is possible and proven in postmenopausal women taking kisqali plus fulvestrant. In a Clinical Trial, kisqali plus fulvestrant helped women live longer with hr , her2 metastatic breast cancer. And it significantly delayed disease progression. Kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. It can cause serious liver problems and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. Avoid grapefruit during treatment. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. Cal fire confirmed today that pg e electrical transmission lines are to blame for last octobers massive kinkade fire in Sonoma County. A transmission line failure had long been suspected. This time lapse video those how quickly it exploded during high winds at the fires origin in geyserville. 374 structures were destroyed, nearly 78,000 acres burned. Cal fire sent its investigative report to the Sonoma County district attorneys office. Pg e sent this statement which says, we are aware of cal fires news release stating that pg e facilities caused the fire. At this time we do not have access to cal fires investigative report or the evidence it has collected. We look forward to reviewing both at the appropriate time. Oakland will pay 32. 7 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of 32 of the 36 people who were killed in the 2016 goefhost ship fire. 9. 2 million of that goes osam maxwell, a survivor who has severe lifelong injuries. The rest goes to the families of those who died. The city says it continues to assert, as the agreement provides, that its not liable for the deaths. Ghost ship Master TenantDerrick Almena is set to be retried on 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. A mistrial was declared last year because of a hung jury. An update tonight to a story our iteam has been following very closely. The lawyer for a young bay area man accused of killing a Police Officer in rome is reacting to testimony from the officers partner. On the stand yesterday the partner admitted he didnt have a gun on him the night of the crime. He earlier had said he was armed. The lawyer for finnegan elder says if the partner has lied about this it draws his other statements into question. Elder claims he stabbed the officer in selfdefense. Gabriel natalie hyort is facing charges also partly for fighting one officer. Another hearing is scheduled for monday. Now, our dan noyes went to rome last year to cover the case in the days immediately after the stabbing. You can find his original reports online. As well as a fulllength documentary that he produced. Very powerful television. Just go to abc7news. Com iteam. Administrators at San Jose State University say they plan to reevaluate the role of policing on campus as part of their efforts to address systemic racism. Ensuring racial and social justice is part building a better bay area. Students and staff have signed a petition to partially defund the police department. Abc 7 News Reporter chris nguyen has the story. Reporter at Silicon Valleys only Public University a call from students and staff to partially defund the Campus Police department is now opening the door for dialogue with the administration. Sjsu president Mary Papazian now plans to create a task force that will meet this fall to reevaluate the role of policing on campus. The response is the first of what i think will be many steps that should unfold over many years. Reporter sjsu professor nicky aboa helped write the petition urging the university to redirect some of the funding from police to initiatives that support black students and staff. The demands also include disarming Campus Police. You can imagine how long the systemic issues of racism have been on our campus. So to think that a threemonth task force will address the issue, i feel like misses the mark. Reporter in a statement papazian said the task force will select an external reviewer to support and guide the work and offer recommendations for reform such as new models of safety and policing, new training protocols, policy revisions or redistribution of resources. Sjsu professor Scott Meyers Lipton says while it appears to be a step in the right direction more must be done to support the work of students and faculty of color. My africanamerican students have said when they run across campus they are sometimes st stopped as they run because they are seen as suspects rather than students. Reporter according to University Data more than 80 of sjsu students are people of color, yet more than half of faculty are white. Papazian also plans to add two new roles within her office to focus on antiracism and diversity education. Some students are skeptical of the president s announcement but hopes that the university will take their concerns seriously. People dont have trust that the university is actually going to perform in the way they say they do, and theyre nervous about what is going to happen with these new measures if the universitys actually serious about reforming the police on campus. Reporter in san jose chris wen, abc 7 news. Several groups came together to defend the painting of asada shakur on the black lives matter mural in palo alto. The National Police association wants it removed. Shakur and other members of the black Liberation Army were convicted of killing a new jersey state trooper in 1973. Shakur maintains her innocence. She escaped prison in 1979. She went by police and Court Officials as blatantly racist. She was wailroaded into prison