taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. ♪ jardiance is really swell ♪ ♪ the little pill ♪ ♪ with a big story to tell! ♪ yeah. at first glance, you know, may seem like, the reports. maybe they're a fluff piece, but they actually, they do reflect what's going on in the street

right now, which is, improve cleanliness and safety conditions. >> the governor's office is claiming that crime reduction efforts in san francisco's tenderloin are working, and the neighborhood merchants association agrees. good evening, and thanks for joining us. i'm dionne lim and i'm dan ashley. >> tonight the chp has confiscated 42 pounds of fentanyl in the tenderloin since the governor's special operation began last may. >> but how does that translate to overall crime reduction in that area? >> abc seven news reporter lena howland breaks down the numbers. she's in the newsroom with more lena, dan and dion both business owners and the city's top cop. >> tell me the numbers are encouraging, but they also say there is still a lot of crime and that this is not the time for law enforcement to take their foot off the gas. progress in san francisco since chp began patrolling the city's streets last may under governor newsom's orders, officers have taken enough fentanyl to kill the entire city's population nearly a dozen times over. >> remove, saying that much of

it that many fatal doses that otherwise would be out on our streets being ingested by who knows, that's a huge step forward. >> in that time, the chp has also issued more than 6000 citations, leading to almost 500 arrests, and they've recovered 15 crime linked guns. >> our focus from the beginning has been increased patrol in these areas of san francisco that have been identified as having higher crime or, you know, we know that there are, for lack of a better terms, these open air drug markets. >> i probably see 1 or 2 of these a month, which is very unfortunate. renee, colorado is executive director of the tenderloin merchants association . >> he knows the issue all too well and says this is the most progress this area has seen in a decade. if anything, it's showing people that, hey, it's not kind of a free for all anymore. but he says there's more work that still needs to be

done. >> i think we need to maintain our current intensity and probably even go further, because things have improved vastly in the tenderloin, it doesn't mean we're in a good spot, and it doesn't mean we're where we're at, where we're supposed to be, but we are definitely headed in the right direction. >> san francisco district attorney brooke jenkins says she's encouraged by these numbers. >> they are able to come in and do actually things that for a while, the san francisco police couldn't do. as far as stopping vehicles and issuing those citations, this simply tells us that we are on the right track in getting there, and says she's keeping her foot on the gas. i still see the same challenges that everyone else sees, and so i do recognize that this is only a sign of encouragement. it is not a sign that we are done. we have a long way to go to make sure that we get the tenderloin in the south of market area to what it needs to be. >> similar efforts are also being made by chp in the east bay, with a focus on oakland. since february. the governor's

office says the agency has arrested around 200 suspects and recovered more than 400 stolen cars live in the newsroom. lena howland, abc seven news 400 stolen cars. >> wow. all right. lena, thanks. a group of state lawmakers today announced a package of bills aimed at decreasing retail crime. the package includes seven measures right now, and lawmakers expect to add about five more. one key component here would expand tools for police to arrest people for shoplifting. >> we've given law enforcement the tools to fight this, and when they use these tools, they are very, very, very successful. >> the legislation would also add railroad police to fight cargo theft. and there are guidelines for keeping repeat offenders in custody. lawmakers did not say when they'll vote on these bills. >> san francisco library workers are calling for increased security at branches across the city. the workers, along with fellow service union members, rallied this morning outside the main library, demanding the city install guards at all 28

branches. they claim they've been forced to intervene in too many dangerous and violent situations. our demands aren't aren't big. >> we're not looking for anything huge. nothing that shouldn't be automatically provided to make sure that this city runs safe, safely and responsibly. >> the workers are members of the same union with tens of thousands of other city employees currently in contract negotiations. library officials issued a statement denying the union's claims, saying, quote, our branch libraries are much safer today than they were a decade ago, and we want to make sure you get the full picture of public safety where you live with the abc seven neighborhood safety tracker. >> our tool gives you a wide range of statistics on public safety over the years for san francisco, oakland and san jose. you'll find it on the front page of abc seven news.com. >> new developments out of vallejo, abc seven news has learned. a statement has been reached between the city, the

vallejo police department and the california department of justice. the settlement includes reforms and oversight that had been part of a previous stipulated judgment, including working with an oversight evaluator. that's according to a vallejo city spokesperson. the ag's office says they are committed to continue working together to implement all of the agreed upon reforms. >> san jose state university police are investigating two arson attacks on campus at the schools library. the first fire was set on easter. the latest was just last night and as abc seven news south bay reporter dustin dorsey explains, students say this highlights a bigger issue of library safety. >> the smell of burnt plastic lingers on the eighth floor of the san jose state library, after a trash can was set on fire in a bathroom, a shock to students we spoke with kind of just, i guess, scary, and i wouldn't assume that anything would happen like that on campus. but it's not even the first fire there. this week, university police are investigating arson and two men's bathrooms at the martin

luther king junior public library, and officers believe this is the person who started both. >> so we're talking about someone acting in a suspicious manner. and in these cases, the individual entered and exited the restroom several times. you know, there's paper towels and stuff. so it looks like they piled it and then set it on fire . >> captain frank belcastro says the man, likely in his 20s, was caught on surveillance footage leaving the eighth floor bathroom on monday, april 8th. around 630 in the evening. the same person was seen after a fire on easter in the seventh floor bathroom, just after 5 p.m. >> the message to the campus community is see something, say something. if you see someone acting in a suspicious manner, you should always reach out to upd. >> what's still unknown is whether or not the suspect is a student or a community member. the upper floors of the library were once exclusive to students, but now all eight floors are open to anyone who visits. one student tells us he's had issues before me personally, i sometimes don't feel safe because i have some experience with homeless myself where they come up to me and they just just

invaded my privacy to. >> so i think that, you know, they should do a better job of just restricting people. >> a look at sdsu crime data shows at least ten arrests made in the mlk library in the past month, anything from vandalism to possession of weapons, crime in public libraries is not uncommon, but students want a sense of security on campus. it's just scary. >> as a student, i should be feeling safe here, right? and if that's like if i'm not allowed to be safe in a campus and, you know, it's own building, that's supposed to be for students, then how can i feel safe anyway, at san jose state university, dustin dawsey, abc seven news. >> oakland fire crews are trying to determine the cause of a fire in one of the city's most historic neighborhoods. the first started inside a detached garage on montclair avenue in the cleveland heights neighborhood this afternoon. it then spread into the home next door. firefighters used a chainsaw to cut open the roof of the home to make sure there weren't any hot spots. the oakland fire department says no one was hurt. >> sky seven captured these

flames coming from the chevron richmond refinery this afternoon . smoke started coming from the factory just before 1 p.m. chevron says its sulfur dioxide in the form of gas. that's being released into the air. they issued it as a level one flaring and say they're investigating what caused it. authorities say there is no current threat to the public health. >> the post office branch near the embarcadero in san francisco may soon be named after late california senator dianne feinstein. senators alex padilla and laphonza butler plan to introduce a bill authorizing that name change. padilla issued a statement calling feinstein a towering figure in the history of our state and our nation. the branch is located along stewart street on the ground floor of the rincon center. developed during feinstein's tenure as mayor. >> coming up, the state and city officials have spent billions of dollars trying to solve the housing and homelessness crisis. but is it working? the shocking results, released in a new audit today. >> plus, the race is on to find

this entangled gray whale that marine mammal experts say could die if it's not cut

he is not doing enough to assess the cost effectiveness of its homelessness programs. and not only was the state audited, but two california cities were also evaluated, including one here in the bay area. abc seven news reporter zach fuentes has the story. >> just validates everything that advocates have been saying for a long time. we've been saying, where's the responsibility? where's the accountability? and we were right. reaction. >> tuesday from an advocate to the unhoused after this state audit was released. it found that california spent $24 billion over five fiscal years in efforts to end homelessness. but didn't consistently track the outcomes of the work or effectiveness of the programs. state senator dave cortese

requested the audit in 2023, after he said he was getting questions from constituents about why the state wasn't doing more. >> i talked about the billions of dollars that have been included in the state budget, appropriated and forwarded to the cities and to the counties to some degree, but obviously, people are looking for more specific responses than than generalizations. >> so cortese said he reached out to the city of san jose to see if it had more specific information. we weren't able to get that information readily, thus leading to this this audit. as part of the look into the state's performance, cortese asked the state auditor to look into san jose. it was audited along with san diego. the report found that both cities failed to effectively track revenues and spending due to lack of spending plans. san jose mayor matt mehan reacted to the report tuesday. >> state, county and every city should have a uniform program for measuring the efficacy of these programs. we're committed to that in san jose. that's why we've stood up dashboards to track our spending and i'd like to see a uniform system statewide, cortez says.

>> the new information brought to light by the audit can help lawmakers form solutions. >> we think that in the days ahead, this audit will establish some somewhat of a blueprint for legislative direction and guardrails going forward, you know, to improve upon, you know, some of these areas, these deficiencies and these systemic issues that that the audit, calls out in san jose, zach fuentes, abc seven news. >> glide has found a new host for its annual charity lunch auction. today, the organization announced salesforce ceo marc benioff will host this year's event for two decades. that auction was hosted by billionaire investor warren buffett. over the last 24 years, the event has raised more than $53 million to support programs at glide. the 2024 charity lunch auction will take place from may 5th through the 10th. the winning bidder will get to spend an afternoon at a private lunch with benioff and up to seven guests. >> that should be fascinating

conversation. well, coming up the bay area, super bloom is on the verge of peaking where you can see some of the spectacular wildflowers and how this year comp

beach, the marine mammal center says the whale was first spotted this morning caught in netting, but scientists lost track of it because of poor visibility. a satellite tracker was also placed on the animal, but unfortunately it fell off. if the whale is not untangled, it could die. so they're really worried about it. gray whales are now migrating from baja california to feeding grounds up near alaska. >> the north bay is the final destination for this rare sight in the san francisco bay. it's a two story houseboat just out to sea. sky seven captured video of the houseboat being towed to its new home in san rafael. now the boat was forced to leave the dock town marina in redwood city. that's because of a long legal battle which determined

vessels that people live on were not allowed to block access to a state waterway in san mateo county, between 60 and 80 houseboats had to relocate this one's journey from redwood city to san rafael reportedly took two days. >> everything is coming up. wildflowers in the bay area this week. so are we on the verge of another super bloom? abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley got out into the open space in the east bay to find out for us. she is live from the foothills of mount diablo in walnut creek, at the trailhead of shell ridge. hi, leslie. >> hi, dan. great assignment today. out here. beautiful day and of course, warmth. plus you bet warmth plus water is equaling lots of april flowers. in fact, wildflowers are out in abundance all across the bay area right now, so it's a great time in northern california to get out and take a hike. the buzzword is biodiversity. the bay area is blessed, and this

spring showy wildflower display is now exploding in the sunshine after late season cool rainfalls. >> we're really starting to see kind of this peak of the bloom right now. i think the sun that's helping this week, is really starting to make those colors pop. >> poppies are popping up everywhere, along with lavender, lupine. experts say it won't rival last year's super bloom, but it will be a pretty spectacular season this year. >> two is very similar to last year, and we're seeing a lot of blooms start kind of a little bit later again this year, which is honestly a little bit better too, because we're noticing the blooms to be longer lasting, which is nice. >> when you have a nice year like this, it's a real it's kind of a race between the wildflowers and the grasses. this uc davis ecologist says this year, the tall grasses might beat out the blooms in many places. if you were here 150 years ago, this and you had a weather year like this year, you'd probably see wonderful

wildflowers all over the place. but now a lot of what you see are these very tall grasses, which aren't natives. and so when you go to the desert, what you're seeing is just pure wild flowers responding to a nice rainfall year, good places to see, wildflowers within driving distance. >> table mountain near chico, sugarloaf state park in sonoma county. skyline ridge on the peninsula. just don't trample the flowers. >> stay on established trails and only take photos of flowers. don't take flowers themselves. >> we can have more places for bees to be pollinating and spreading the flowers. and you know it only does good things visually and environmentally. >> so some great spots to find. wildflowers are places with volcanic and serpentine soil, rocky outcroppings and places where cattle might have already, eaten some of this tall grass down to a point where the flowers really have a chance to show themselves. of course, up here on the slopes of mount

diablo. always a great spot as well as in the berkeley and oakland hills at parks here in the east bay. and these wildflowers should be out in blooming well into may, i'm told, reporting live in the east bay on leslie brinkley. abc seven news. >> just a stunning and it puts you in a good mood. it feels like spring. thanks leslie very much. >> and the one thing that came to mind was about april showers. and those may flowers. and there you go. >> there you go. exactly right. although we're about to take a step backwards in terms of our spring weather. >> yeah. sandy is standing by with a little bit more on that. yeah. and you know what? dan and don, we're going to go right to summer tomorrow okay. >> and then we'll bring winter back. let me show you a live picture right now. the view, the views that leslie brought were absolutely gorgeous. here's another beautiful view from santa cruz camera. let's all go out there and just enjoy. it's going to be beach weather tomorrow. you can see just a sea of blue. people are already out soaking up the sun today. and as we check out our high temperatures so far, santa rosa 76 degrees 67. in the city, 74.

in oakland, getting up into the upper 70s from san jose to livermore to redwood city, those temperatures are going to continue to rise as high pressure is nudging closer to us and keeping that storm track well to our north. temperatures for most areas running a little bit warmer than where you were yesterday in san rafael. cameras showing you the sunny skies. right now it is 62, in the city, 66 oakland, 70 for hayward, san jose right now, a cool 55.5 moon bay where there was some fog this morning and there still has been some lingering from our oakland airport camera. right now you are noticing mostly sunny skies. it is 70, in santa rosa and napa, 76 in fairfield and livermore. as we look at a gorgeous view from our pier 39 camera. everyone enjoying the sun. it looks like next two days summer-like warmth. end of the week dramatic drop in temperatures and it turns unsettled late friday night going into sunday. so let's go hour by hour this evening if you're stepping out. still pretty mild in most areas. i'd even call it warm by eight, 15, 50, 60 on those temperatures.

and then tomorrow afternoon around noontime, you're going to notice those temperatures rising quickly into the 60s and 70s. by the early afternoon. you're already in the 80s for our warmest spots. morning temperatures in the 40s and 50s. we'll call it partly cloudy for the north bay and the coast, mostly clear in the south bay as high clouds have been streaming in, and they'll continue to stream in tomorrow afternoon in the south bay. 82, san jose 83, gilroy a lot of these temperatures anywhere between 5 and 15 degrees above average 79. in redwood city, 66. pacifica, downtown san francisco 71 degrees. hard to believe north bay 77 in san rafael 79 napa. santa rosa head into the east bay 75, oakland 79, fremont inland areas you'll be warm. 82 livermore 81 in concord and 80 in walnut creek. thursday. the temperatures inland still in the 80s, but the cooling starts at the coast and on friday. it's a real big shift in those temperatures 50s and 60s. by saturday, it's going to feel like winter again as we drop

into the 50s for most areas. and that's when we're expecting a storm system friday night to come in here. it will bring rain. it will bring a rain snow mix to the sierra over the weekend, and then the system pulls on out of here. here's a look at the accuweather seven day forecast. we bring you summer like weather tomorrow. temperatures in the 80s inland still warm inland thursday. as i mentioned big drop off in the numbers friday. chance late level one for saturday and sunday. it's going to be chillier i will tell you that much. and it's going to be back to a reality check early next week. it will be nice. diane and dan, we're really in for a big drop off in, you know, roller coaster ride, if you will. >> sandy, this is terrible. >> oh come on now. >> she didn't do it. yeah exactly. >> well moving on. access to e-bikes is expanding in the east bay. the metropolitan transportation commission says an additional 500 e-bikes will soon be placed across 24 docking stations in oakley, oakland. i should say berkeley and

emeryville. those bikes can go up to 20 miles an hour, which helps commuters travel l

100 if you can believe it. on may 17th, the coaster is the fourth oldest in the u.s. and is a national historic landmark. understandably, it took just 47 days to construct it back in 1924 at a cost of $50,000. that's equivalent to $900,000 today. back then, guests paid $0.15 for a ride. today, it costs eight bucks to take a spin. >> how things have changed a san francisco boy has been reunited with his sloth toy after his parents online plea to have it returned. yesterday, we shared with you that didi, the lost sloth toy, had been missing for two weeks. the family tells us their seven year old son, ronan stuffed animal, was found in a planter just half a block away in their haight-ashbury neighborhood. they say their neighbor heard the news from a story here on abc seven news and reached out. nice to see that reunion. >> yeah, all's well that ends well. all right. we still have more news ahead for you.

>> yeah, let's get to abc seven news anchor stephanie sierra with a look at the stories coming up at 530. hi, steph. >> hi, diane and dan tonight we're digging into a new bill that aims to restrict which anti-aging products teens can buy. bay area assembly member alex lee will join us live next to discuss his bill, and the health concerns that face young kids using these products. then we're less than a week out from tax day, and we hear from a man who admits to defrauding people for five years, and now he's helping to avoid scams. join us for those stories and more at 530. dan and diana. >> okay, steph thank you. >> well, reminder you can download the abc seven news app and join steph in just two minutes. >> and if you're watching us on tv world

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come on the air. the tornado threat right now and the severe storm threat worsens over the next 24 hours. several states. and tonight, the arizona supreme court upholding that state's 160-year-old abortion ban, one of the strictest bans in the nation. the reaction coming in at this hour.