Transcripts For KGO ABC7 20240703 : vimarsana.com

The sergeants named in the fbi investigation will be returning to work. Abc seven News Reporter anser hassan has the latest. Antioch resident frank sterlings 2009 encounter with then Antioch Police officer rick hoffman left him hospitalized. He was awarded compensation as part of a settlement alleging excessive use of force. Last year, hoffman, now a sergeant, was put on paid leave after being linked to the police texting scandal. Now hes coming back. Well, definitely. Were all very upset that rick hoffman has come back. Hes known for committing violence in the community. Hes mentioned in the text message scandal, laughing at violence. Last year, an fbi investigation uncovered a racist texting scandal at the Antioch Police department. Documents from the fbi and the Contra Costa County District Attorneys Office show rick hoffman on a series of text chains that used racist, misogynistic and homophobic language and memes. If you sent a message, received a message, laughed at a message. If you didnt report these messages, we dont need you. In antioch, abc7 news has learned that an investigation was conducted which cleared hoffman to return. That could include a demotion in rank, but details of the investigation havent been made public. Theyre back on the force. So were there no findings in this investigation . Why hasnt there been any, disclosure on that . Why isnt it the public been made aware and why has, you know, it it felt like a secret. Antioch Police Commissioner Devin Williams says hes troubled by the lack of transparency despite being on leave. Hoffman is still listed as the president of the Antioch Police officers association. Documents from the Contra Costa County District Attorneys Office show hoffman was the ranking officer who cleared some officers for use of force. The fbi later indicted officers in those same cases. Williams says hes concerned about how this will influence new recruits. The culture right of the department. Our new police chief, addington, is saying that he wants to have a culture of accountability, but that hasnt been shown in the past. So how can you ensure that this will be the new way Going Forward . In an email to abc7 news, interim police chief Brian Addington writes, i can confirm that officer rick hoffman is employed as an Antioch Police officer, a source tells abc seven news. It was addington who made the decision to bring back hoffman. Commissioner williams now wants to call hoffman before the police commission. Were not here to, you know, have a hearing, but, you know, we want to have some some, some answers. We want to see if this if its his character has changed, right. For the for the benefit of us all in antioch. Anser hassan abc seven news. Both lanes of highway one at devils slide in San Mateo County are back open after a deadly single car crash. The chp says a vehicle went over the cliff at Gray Whale Cove State Beach around 1230. This afternoon, according to authorities. A 79 year old man was killed. He was the only person in the car crews were able to retrieve the body. At this point, though, authorities are not releasing any other information on the driver or the cause of that crash. One month after a family of four was killed at a bus stop in San Francisco, the city is announcing a plan to make the streets safer. The city wants to change up the main roads in the west portal neighborhood, despite the pushback theyre getting from local businesses. As abc seven News Reporter luz pena has been following this story and is out live in San Francisco. With this new proposal, luz. Dan, this community is still shaken by that tragedy, and very soon sfmta could be making changes that will impact pedestrians as well as business owners. Here dramatic changes are coming to San Franciscos west portal neighborhood. Over a month after a driver plowed into a bus shelter, killing a family of four. This has long been what we would call a high conflict intersection, sfmtas director Jeffrey Tumlin confirmed. The agency was directed by mayor breed and west portals supervisor, myrna melgar, to come up with immediate changes. Today, that proposal was announced cars would be restricted from traveling through the yellow west portal intersection. And again, what this does is it prioritizes people going to shop in the west portal commercial district and supports significant Pedestrian Safety by eliminating all of the left turns west portal merchants and residents learned of the changes last night. Some believe it will hurt businesses as this is a half baked plan. Theres no data behind it. The president of the west Portal Merchants Association views the urge to make changes now as a political strategy, pointing to both mayor breed and supervisor melgar campaigning for reelection. The accident, horrible tragedy that it was, didnt happen in the intersection. It was up the street. So it is clearly i think, a politically motivated ploy to say to their constituents, their supporters that, hey, look, we did something. Business owner lisa moore is asking for more data before any changes, i asked sfmta, why there is this sudden change and in fact, are there statistics that show that this intersection is in fact dangerous . And do we have a disproportionate amount of, you know, injuries, accidents and the answer was no. We asked sfmtas, director for the data. A lot of the data that we are using is that conflict data that stretches back for many, many years. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition said a change here is long overdue. We think that the turn restrictions are a good starting point, but we need to see the physical infrastructure that we know will really keep pedestrians safe. And the sfmta is planning to hold several Community Meetings in the coming weeks. Before presenting this proposal to the sfmta, a board of directors change here could come as soon as this summer in west portal. Luz pena, abc seven news. Luce, thanks very much. Abc7 news is following the story of the accusations against a rising political star in San Francisco, john jacobo resigned from his position at a local housing nonprofit after the Sexual Assault accusations. Now, the San Francisco Police Department is weighing in. Heres abc seven News Reporter tim johns. It does such a disservice to say that we arent investigating cases like this or we delayed. Thats absolutely couldnt be further from the truth. Pushback from the San Francisco Police Department thursday, sfpd calling a News Conference to reaffirm they are actively working on the cases of three women who have made allegations against john jacobo. Jacobo was a rising star in Democratic Politics in San Francisco and the former director of the powerful housing nonprofit tod co on tuesday, an explosive report by our media partner, the San Francisco standard, revealing the stories of several women who have made a slew of allegations against jacobo. Everything from domestic violence, which included strangulation to threats to harassment, stalking and then Sexual Assault and rape. Josh cain, the reporter who spearheaded the year long investigation and joined us for abc sevens getting answers on tuesday. Jacobo resigned the day cains investigation was published. Cain says the allegations date back several years and come from at least four women, three of whom filed police reports. Cain tells us the accusers often felt like they werent being heard due to jacobos high profile people who could have done something didnt. People who could have actually looked into this and tried to help these women did not take that extra step. The report also sending shock waves throughout city hall made me sick to my stomach. Supervisor Hillary Ronen saying shes been in touch with the police chief about the ongoing investigations. Its been three years and thats a long time to wait for some action on the part of the city. In the meantime, sfpd says they want victims of all crimes to know theyre here for them, taking their cases seriously and walking with them hand in hand until the end. Its important for survivors of these kinds of crimes to know that i am in charge of this unit. I read every Single Police report in San Francisco. Tim johns, abc seven news. As the city of San Francisco promised it, filed suit today against the port of oakland over the plan to change the name of Oakland International airport. Heres a live picture from the abc7 Oakland Airport camera. Last week, port commissioners voted to change the airports name to San Francisco bay Oakland International airport. Well, San Francisco City Attorney david chu says the change will confuse travelers and infringes on sfos trademark. We are concerned about how oakland is trying to intentionally divert traffic from sfo to itself. That will create economic harm for us. Its unfair and it infringes on our long standing trademark rights. The port responded to the suit saying that, quote, sfo cannot lay claim to the geographic descriptive terms San Francisco, let alone claim exclusive rights to the San Francisco bay. A final vote on the name change is scheduled for may 9th. Bart has settled a lawsuit thats going to result in significant changes for riders who have disabilities. The suit claimed. The Transit Agency violated the americans with disabilities act. Bart is going to renovate dozens of station elevators and repair elevators and escalators that are out of service. It will also improve the cleanliness of stations and come up with an Emergency Preparedness plan. Coming up here, sacramento will send the bay area tens of millions of dollars to help reduce homelessness. Next, which counties are getting the most and what the money will be used for . Also ahead, its only april, but cal fire is getting ready for fire season. Im cornell bernard in napa county. Well take you to this years seasonal firefighter Training Academy. Im meteorologist sandhya patel. Cooling is underway and will continue tomorrow. Ill let you know whats in store for the weekend. Coming up when abc seven news park area of los angeles has built an entire house. A City Council Member says outreach teams are addressing safety issues posed by the home. It sits right next to a river along the 110 freeway. Governor gavin newsom is stepping up his effort to clear homeless encampments across the state. Hes backing it up with millions of dollars in funding. Abc seven news south bay reporter Dustin Dorsey explains which bay area cities and counties will receive a part of that. Nearly 200 million in grant money. I care about this state. I care about our reputation. I care that people cant afford to live here, cant afford to raise their family here. I care that people visit here and go, what the hell is going on with the encampments and whats going on on the streets and sidewalks . Governor gavin newsom says hes fed up with the states response to the homelessness crisis, or make that the lack of response highways, parks, sidewalks covered by encampments with too few places for the unhoused to go, newsom says hes now investing millions more to get more done. People want to see these tents and encampments removed, but they want to see them removed in a compassionate, thoughtful way. And we agree. And so this is a program that i think aligns with that. And certainly a program that builds on success. The Encampment Resolution Fund has given out three quarters of 1 billion to address the underlying issues that lead to encampments. Now, another nearly 200 million will permanently house 2200 people in 17 cities and counties in the bay area, marin county received just over 18,000,014 million for San Mateo County. Oakland received 7 million, and 4 million will go to the city of santa cruz. This grant here that we received today is going to expected to serve hundreds of our most complex unsheltered individuals living across 26 encampments, San Mateo County ceo mike kelly says the grant will build upon their existing Homeless Outreach and homekey programs. As anyone who doubts homekey, i want you to come to San Mateo County. I want you to see the 600 people that weve housed and this program, this this grant that were receiving today is going to augment those efforts to receive funding from the grant, organizations must undergo a specific analysis by the state to ensure positive outcomes. This after a state audit found california has not done enough to assess the effectiveness of homeless programs. Newsom wants to see this program make a difference. Its cleaning up these encampments. Its cleaning these sidewalks, taking the sidewalk backs, cleaning them up permanently by not just pushing things from one part of town to the other part of town. Dustin dorsey, abc seven news in the north bay, cal fire is already gearing up for the 2024 fire season this week. Dozens of new and returning seasonal firefighters are undergoing Training Academy to prepare them for summer. In a story youll see only on abc seven, reporter cornell bernard gives us an inside look at the training in napa county and firefighter predictions for the upcoming fire season. Hose ready for war 1 or 2 four feet. This is what training looks like at cal fire, which did a progressive hose starting from the engine, and we mocked a fire on the right side. Firefighter Brendan Oconnor is here for all the good, bad and exhausting moments. This is not easy work, but its very rewarding work. What come in. Hes one of 30 seasonal firefighters taking part in this Training Academy hosted by cal fire. Sonoma lake and napa unit. A total of 250 new and returning firefighters are getting hired for the summer patrol. How was that . It was good. Its still early in the year, got a lot to improve on, but were doing good so far. We go over basic skills like ems, wildland firefighting, structural firefighting, Hazardous Materials response. This drill simulating a fuel spill from a tanker truck. Cal fire says it has enough firefighters to staff stations and engines this summer, but more are needed. But i will say that our pool of candidates, compared to a number of years ago, has gotten a little bit smaller after a very wet winter and spring, all this green grass could be dry and brown in a months time, and firefighters have thoughts about what that could mean for this years fire season. I think well see a delayed in a delay in fire activity due to the rainfall, so i cant really speak to what well see later on in the year. I mean, we had a lot of rain, like you said, so it could mean that we get more fires, just because everythings been growing. But you never really know until summer hits. But not everyone is willing to make a guess. If i could predict fire weather, then i should go buy a lottery ticket. Good or bad, these firefighters say theyll be ready this season. Theres no other job like it. I love it in the napa valley. Cornell barnard, abc seven news. Boy, they are working hard. Its always interesting, isnt it . I mean, if we dont get a lot of rain, its dry. We get a lot of fires. If we do get a lot of rain, everything grows. We get fires. So we need to be careful. Either way. All right, lets check on our weather for now. Sandhya patel is here with the forecast. Yeah, definitely is interesting. And we do need to be careful. Dan and anna, lets take a look at a live picture right now from our mount tam cam. You probably have noticed that karl, the fog is back and that marine layer is rapidly deepening up above. Weve got a lot of high, thin, wispy clouds, cirrus clouds. And as we take a look at another live picture from Golden Gate Bridge camera, you can see that it is sucked in and theres a nice breeze blowing. Temperatures are dropping down ten degrees. Oakland and napa right now. Heres a look at where those numbers are going for livermore. Its going to be even cooler than today. You got up into the low 80s today. Tomorrow 76 degrees saturday in the mid 70s. And then a nice little recovery low 80s sunday, monday before temperatures go down tuesday and wednesday. Heres a look at live doppler seven high clouds just kind of coming in streaming in. Theyll continue to do that through this evening. We do have fog down below. And its really, like i said rapidly expanding the marine layers 1600 feet deep. Now its going