Factors that come into play when they decide what charges to pursue including priors, age, lots of different things. Thats where we are with this investigation. Reporter police say the driver accidently hit the gas instead of the brake plowing into an outdoor tent being used by a restaurant. A total of eight people were hurt including one wm evone wom. Neither the restaurant or mall owner applied for a permit to operate outside. Mall management declined our request for comment. When you put cars in a parking lot and people eating outside in the parking lot, accidents are foreseeable and the courts will say were reasonable safety precautions taken to protect the diners . Reporter in this case it doesnt appear any barricades were separating the Outdoor Dining space from the street. The fact that the permit process was bypassed here is going to be a strong factor in favor of the plaintiffs if they bring a lawsuit. Reporter legal analysts Stephen Clark says other restaurants and Business Owners will take notice especially as Outdoor Dining gains in popularity during the pandemic. These people went to have a safe Dining Experience and it turn into a nightmare. Reporter police reminding everyone to do their part to keep each other as safe as possible. Whether its a busy parking lot like grand century mall, there is loath of pedestrians or driving through a school zone, its important to Pay Attention and have some heightened awareness of your surroundings. In sanjay son joe san joss nguyen. Alameda and santa clara can move from red to orange tier. Those join San Franciscos bay area counties in the tier. Alameda not likely to move forward until next week at the latest. The changes will go into Effect Tomorrow in santa clara, outdoor gatherings up to 200 people will be allowed and shopping malls can operate at 50 capacity. Its important to note the countys rules for Indoor Dining and gathering will be more respective than the states. Were talking about restaurants for example. They can operate at 25 capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer. Its a really important limitation that we put in place to help try to reduce the densi density, to help try to reduce risk enduring there is compliance. While Santa Clara County officials praised residents for the tremendous progress the county made, they are reminding everybody to stay vigilant to prevent a slide backwards. Health Officials Say contra costa is on pace to move from the red to the orange tier sometime in early november. No the ad justed case rate is 4. 3 out of 100,000, which is moving in the dright direction. We need to be below four to move to orange. Were on track to meet that. County residents are doing a good job adhering to the Health Guidelines that drove down the Positivity Rate to 2. 4 . Thats a significant drop from the past over 10 . Hospitalizations flattened and testing is up to 3200 a day. The goal is to test more than 4500 people per day. Parents and students in the community in la morinda are announcing a clear plan to get back to at least some in person classes. Laura anthony has the story from lafayette. Reporter students and parents from la morinda schools say the time is now for some of them to get back into the classrooms after months of learning only online. I think there has to be allowances made for people that want Distance Learning, they should be able to do that. I respect that. The teachers that need to stay home, i respect that. For the families that want to go back and need that and their kids need that, we have to make that happen, too. Reporter despite Contra Costa County meeting state criteria for allowing in person classes, la morinda districts say its not time, not yet. We really want to be with our students. Reporter the Lafayette Association has an agreement with the district for a safe return but the union wants to wait until after the holidays. With people probably gathering in larger groups than they normally do, outside of the social bubble, they may be exposing themselves to covid and if were back in the close room, then youre exposing the students and the staff to covid. Reporter the Acalanes Union district did not respond to our request to comment but we hear from many parents and students that we must open our schools faster. We hear from many we should be more cautious. Our charge is to best meet the needs of all but to do so safely. Besides some sports activities, the High School District set next january as a goal for returning to at least some in person in a hybrid model. Some here say thats not soon enough. J the worse part about it is not seeing my friends. Going to school would be 100 better. And hundreds of schools are already open across california so how are they doing as a whole . Coming up at 4 30, well look at the lessons they learn so far. With the holidays approaching, were working to figure out ways to celebrate. Today the state released guidelines for halloween. Abc 7 news liz said while officials havent banned trickortreating, they are recommending against it. It a tradition we know and love going door to door collecting buckets of candy on halloween but think twice before you do it. The whole act of going door to door in groups, ringing doorbel doorbells, digging into buckets of candy spread a risk of spreading covid19. Reporter safely celebrating halloween didnt ban trickortreating but discour e discourages it. The state is recommending safer activities hosting an online Costume Party or pumpkin carving or a drive in movie night or costume contest or having an outdoor halloween theme meal with a small group of friends. During this hard time, we know the importance of halloween, we believe that weve outlined a number of important activities can sumpmepplement a create alternatives. Reporter the state released recommendations for celebrating dia de los muertos. They say create a virtual alter. If you visit a cemetery, go with members of your own family. As the Holiday Season nears, the state recognizes there will likely be an increase in private gatherings and hoping people will follow precautions to prevent a spike in covid19 cases. They recommend limiting the gatherings to no more than three households to host outdoors to limit the gatherings to two hours or less and refrain from singing, chanting, shouting or physical exertion. Its batter to watch football than play it with your friends but if you do, you know what to do. We want you to wear your covering. So how risky is Something Like a Family Gathering compared to getting a haircut or taking a bus . Test your knowledge on this interactive page at abc7news. Com. Here we go again. Another Public Safety power shut off could happen as early as tomorrow. Pacific gas and electric says nearly 23,000 bay area customers could lose power this week due to dangerous wind conditions forecasted for tomorrow night through friday morning. Napa county could see the most homes and businesses impacted more than 9200. In all more than 50,000 people in 21 california counties could affected. Well, lets get the words from Spencer Christian out. What are you expecting in terms of heat and wind . Well, larry, its going to get really hot not only inland but around the bay shoreline. It will be windy starting overnight tonight and its going to be very, very dry. Those three elements combined to raised fire danger. Were looking at gusts beginning to develop over the hills above 1,000 feet we have guests from about ten to 15 Miles Per Hour and they will get stronger. The red flag warning is issued that will be in effect from 5 00 a. M. To 11 00 a. M. Friday for hills and valleys of the north bay and east bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains and during that period of time, well see daytime temperatures in the upper 90s and inland areas, low to mid90s around the bay shoreline and wind gusts may reach or exceed 50 Miles Per Hour in the highest elevations and the vegetation, the fuels will be very, very dry. So all those, again, those combined to produce high fire risk to give you an idea how hot it will be, im skipping ahead to thursday and friday. Look at the projected High Temperature readings. Inland mid to upper 90s around the bay shoreline, upper 80s to low 90s. Same thing on friday. Not only might we see record High Temperatures during the day, we might see record high overnight low temperatures during the night. So ill give you the full forecast later. Larry and kristen. Spencer, see you in a few. Five people have been arrested for vandalizing a statute in san rafael. We were at the church where you can see the aftermath red paint on the base and thats all thats left of the statutes feet. Police say the vandalism took place during a protest yesterday evening. Sarah founded several of californias missions and critics say he was part of the spanish colon yil is m that destroyed native american culture. Two accused of defacing a black lives matter mural are headed to trial. Abc 7 news was outside the courthouse and emotions running high. There were two groups of protesters, one supporting black lives matter and another Group Supporting the man and woman charged in this case. While there was yelling, we didnt see any scuffles break out. David nelson and Nicole Anderson were arrested in july and facing hate crime charges. New details today on the census count today. The Supreme Court said the head count of every u. S. Resident should be stopped now. The Trump Administration argue that the head count needed to end immediately so the u. S. Census burro had enough time to crunch numbers before a congressly mandated year end deadline. A collision of local governments and civil Rights Groups had sued arguing that minorities and others in hard to count communities would be missed if the count ended early. Right now, the Senate Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett underway. This is the first real day the senators are getting a chance to ask her questions and california senator and Vice President ial candidate Kamala Harris right there is questioning barrett right now. These are live pictures from the hearing. Senator harris is zooming in and so far shes focused on the Affordable Care act as a topic and she also blamed Senate Republicans for rushing these confirmation hearings, rather than waiting until after the election day. So we will continue to monitor what senator harris asks and what judge barrett will answer and well have more on that later on in this newscast. So are you ready to upgrade . The competition to tap into your Holiday Shopping budget if you have one this year. The Digital Divide and effort to get more people connected in the south bay. Its a passion the next generation is here. Th Cellular Network technology on iphone the next generation is here. Apple introducing the new iphone 12 today. Apple is a month late in revealing the latest phones because of production issues but the new iphone 12 may entice some consumers to upgrade. Abc News Reporter david liouie has a look. Reporter apple is ready to help you with Holiday Shopping. At the sd beginning of a new era for iphone. Today were bringing 5 g to iphone. Reporter ranging from 700 to 1100 will have it offering super fast uploads and downloads, a chip inside will enhance graphics and games and outside ceramic shield will make the display glass stronger claiming its four times more likely not to crack if the phone is dropped. Iphone 12 is 1 1 thinner, 15 smaller and 16 lighter. Reporter the 12 pro and pro max will have a skocanner tt sees objects and focuses in the dark. They have additional features that match the capability of full size dig to cameras. Unless youre looking for very highend features, youll do fine be basic model. Why spend over 1,000 if you dont need that professional quality camera . Reporter while rivals have 5 g capable phones, apples 5 g lineup could trigger consumers to upgrade. When apple gets into a market with a brandnew feature like 5 g support it tells the market its time to wake up and spend time thinking about upgrading your phone. Reporter one thing to note, not all carries deployed 5 g everywhere and apple has a 99 home pod minute snow speaker that works with other apple devices and services. Now time to dive into consumer news. Yeah, here is 7 on your sides Michael Finney with a look at the headlines, hi, michael. Hey, you guys, Social Security recipients will be getting a raise next year. Not a big one but still a raise. In 2021 there will be a 1. 3 increase. That amounts to about 20 a month for the average retiree or 33 a month for a couple. Critics have said this cost of living increase isnt enough. You just heard the figures. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic and rising costs for things that affect seniors, most obviously health care and its increasing costs. Facebook is expanding the ban on anti vac ads. It prohibited ads that toted vaccine hoaxes. Any ad that explicitly discourages users from getting a vaccine will be rejected. Facebook says that this is part of a multi pronged effort to help support vaccine efforts whether for the flu or childhood illnesses or the eventually one expected for the covid19 pandemic. Amazons prime day is underway and this year your prime day purchases will arrive an extra spooky packaging between,and halloween amazon packages will be shipped in new echo friendly boxes that feature an augmented reality experience. There you can draw faces on to a pumpkin and when viewed through so amazons phone app, the faces will actually come to life. Amazon is using the festive boxes to draw attention to itsless packaging, more smiles initiative. If youre on amazon very much these next couple days, you may know rather than have stuff constantly shipped out if you buy a lot from them, you can say ship it to me on wednesday and pile it all into one box so that it usesless natural resources. Something to keep in mind during the next two prime days during prime day. Ahha. Ive been choosing that option with a lot of other retailers. Makes a lot of sense. Sustainable. Thanks, mike. Michael, appreciate it. Hawaii is requiring travelers to quarantine. Starting thursday there is a pretravel testing option that will allow visitors age 5 and over to skip the quarantine period if they pass a specific type of covid19 test at least 72 hours before they arrive. Now, its important to note the luls a rules are complicated so travel lers could check in in advance with the state of hawaii or health officials. Thats for sure. Oh, was that a, you you you u tense pause . Is that what were doing . Ive been exploring the rules and you have to get an appointment with one of the states trusted partners, some of whom dont have the tests available. It great when you go to the website and they say details coming soon. Im sorry i asked. Anyway. Yeah. Right now we do want to hand things to spencer with Important Information about the winds coming our way. Oh, yeah. Got details on rising temperatures and increasing winds. Lets take a look what is happening. Its warming up. The warmup started yesterday and its warmer as you look at the 24hour temperature change. Most locations are about three to five degrees warmer than they were at this time yesterday so as we look over San Francisco from the tower, here is a look at specific temperature readings. 76 in the city, oakland 89. Mountain view upper 80s at san jose and gilroy and 68 at Half Moon Bay looking toward the golden gate toward emeryville, it is 90 in santa rosa and 95, 91 napa, fairfield 96 and concord and livermore and looking down on to the bay from mount tam, here is a look at the forecast features. Gusty winds overnight in the hills and higher elevations. High fire danger for the next few days through friday. Record heat is possible especially thursday and friday. And the weekend will bring us a cooler pattern, which i cant wait for. So we have high fire danger across the hills and valleys of the north bay and east bay and Santa Cruz Mountains. The red flag warning for that high fire danger will be in effect from 5 00 a. M. Tomorrow to 11 00 a. M. Friday and wind gusty 50 Miles Per Hour or higher over the highest peaks, steady wind 15 to 35 Miles Per Hour out of the northeast an offshore flow there . My phone was ringing. Are you still with me . Were with you. Yes, we are. As the winds race down there and the phone im talking into started ringing. The winds get drier and warmer and that of course increases the fire danger. So lets move along to our forecast animation overnight we wont see much of a marine layer, maybe a patch or two of fog will pass along the coastline and lows will be mild. Upper 50s to low 60s and highs tomorrow will start in the south bay, lots of low to mid90s, up to 94 morgan hill and 93 san jose and upper 80s to near 90 on the peninsula. Coast