it's been me, in the background of all the shots. >> we'll ♪ i'm terry mcsweeney live at the federal courthouse in san francisco where a judge is expected to rule on the constitutionality of proposition 8, california's ban on same sex marriage. a big ruling but not the final ruling. >> this morning rail crews work into the night to clear four derailed freight cars that stopped amtrak service. the schedule should be back to normal this morning. >> a strong push of marine layer clouds derailing our summer once again. even cooler weather especially inland the next couple days and could last through the weekend. >> i'll be keeping an eye on this amtrak delay. for right now we have an eye on 101 and 880 in san jose where we

have major road work blocking some of the connection ramps. >> the products are fake. federal agents seize $100 million worth of counterfeit goods intended for tourists at fisherman's wharf. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. this is the day both sides in the battle over same sex marriage in california has been waiting for. a federal judge in san francisco will rule today on whether the voter-approved ban on same sex marriage in this state is constitutional. terry mcsweeney is live in san francisco with a preview. terry? >> yeah. california's same sex marriage is on trial and today sometime between 1:00 and 3:00 this afternoon judge vaughan walker is going to release his decision, his verdict on this trial. now, it is an important decision but it is not the final decision on same sex marriage. judge walker heard evidence in this non-jury trial back in january. closing arguments were in june

and here we are in august. he's going to be announcing his decision today. the federal trial has two same sex couples battling sponsors of proposition 8. the couples say the voter-approved ban violates their right to equal treatment. supporters say it is a reasonable way to protect traditional marriage and better for children. it appears most legal experts expect the judge to rule against prop 8. >> the pro-prop 8 lawyers can read the handwriting on the wall just like everybody else. they know this was a hugely lopsided trial. i think the defendants are expecting to lose. >> the pro-prop 8 side is asking judge walker should he rule prop 8 unconstitutional that he leave the same sex marriage ban in place while an appeal is heard. now, whichever side loses, pro-prop 8, this is going to be appealed to the 9th circuit court of appeals. the loser there expected to

appeal to the united states supreme court. when do we get a final decision? sometime between one year from now and two years from now where most experts come down where we get a decision from the united states supreme court, today's decision between 1:00 and 3:00 this afternoon. terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> both sides have been waiting months for it, terry. again, as terry told you, the ruling between 1:00 and 3:00 this afternoon. we will carry it live here on abc 7 and abc7news.com. >> san jose voters will decide in november if medical marijuana should be taxed after the city council voted to place that question on the ballot. many speakers at last night's council meeting believe the idea is unfair because medical pot users shouldn't pay a 10% tax to take what they call medicine. supporters for the tax insist it will provide the tax-strapped city with much-needed revenue. they put other measures on the ballot. one calls for limiting the power

to arbitrators who broker labor deals for police or firefighters. another asked to reorganize pension system for new workers hire by the city starting next year. >> the federal government wants to know more about oakland's new law that permits large-scale marijuana growing operations. the drug enforcement agency is asked if the ordinance that appears on oakland's city website is a draft of the final version of the law. marijuana is illegal under federal law. councilman told other media partner the dea has not provided any feedback about the information it's seeking. >> 11 fisherman wharf workers face charges in a goods investigation. federal agents capped a two-year undercover operation with a seizure of nearly $100 million worth of fake high-end watches, wallets, purchases, clothing and other knockoffs. most were made in china. the investigation began after

agents found counterfeit items at the port of oakland. >> when we opened that shipping container up, there were 50,000 counterfeit items being shipped under false shipping invoices and documents. >> not only are you gonna suffer the for fit chur of the goods and the humiliation of being caught up in this but probably lose your job and business and go to jail. >> the suspects face charges that could land them in prison for 35 years. >> it's 4:35 now. commuters on amtrak's capital corridor and trains can expect normal service at crews cleared a derailment. several cars from a union pacific freight train went off the tracks yesterday. it blocked the tracks between emeryville and jack london square. the trucks are cleared and expected overnight the trains will run through the area once again. >> starting next week, the routine will change for thousands of commuters who get to and from san francisco by bus. they'll use a brand new but

temporary terminal. it's located a few blocks from the existing trans sis house that's about to meet the wrecking ball. >> security was at the top of the list of priorities when architects designed this temporary trans bay terminal. >> pretty much open. you'll find there's no real cubby holes for people to hang out and hide it at the end of the day. >> they used glass walls at the bus stop so you can see who is coming and going. cameras will help keep an eye on everyone. almost like they were thinking of it as they drew the plans. she's a bit nervous about the location on the terminal on main street. you can see everything. it is a little dark. >> but they may have taken things too far. because of security, they also decided not to have public bathrooms. it can attract the homeless. >> true.

but you gotta have it, too. trying to find, you know, a restaurant to let them in is going to be really difficult. >> we tried to balance the needs of the neighbors and the transit riders and certainly want the terminal used by people actually using transit. >> after the temporary open-air design, it drew some rave reviews and some concerns. >> i like this. it's going to be interesting to see how it turns out. it's pretty nice. >> the architect says the constructive comments were taken in stride. >> quite a vibrant and wonderful space. >> amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. >> 4:37 on this wednesday morning. >> i didn't have to use the windshield wipers. the drizzle was there. >> there was drizzle and some fog. i think in some spots it was thicker today than yesterday. but maybe the fog is teasing me. >> exactly what we talked about

yesterday. good morning to you. the marine layer would be deeper today, how that would jump start our cooling trend. if you're leaving the house, the hills are the warmest. los gatos about 63. the rest of us in the 50s with the coolest weather in the north bay valleys, san francisco along the coast low 50s for you. this afternoon we will see quite a spread in temperatures once again once the clouds make it back to the coast which they should do by about 1:00. over san francisco we see less sunshine than yesterday and still more clouds lingering around richmond and oakland. that's why you see a lot of 60s here and even in san mateo. increasing sunshine around palo alto, fremont, low 70s there. mid-70ss south bay with mid to upper 70s the north bay valleys and low to mid-80s in the east bay valleys. let's take a look at your accu-weather seven-day forecast. this is the beginning of the cooling trend. well below average today all the way through the ends of the forecast. looks like this will hang around even longer. low to mid-80s inland. upper 60s, low 70s around the

bay and mid to upper 50s along the coast. frances, any road work we should be aware of? >> some lanes closed in san jose. here's a live shot. 101 and 880 interchange. if you're watching us in hd, you can see the cal tran's crews off to the right there. the south 101 connector to southbound 880 is blocked until about 5:30 this morning. you can take the parkway, that will get you on to 880. and the south 101 to northbound 880 as you can see across your screen from that direction to that direction is blocked until 7 a.m.. head over to the san mateo bridge. traffic flowing well here in both directions. a bit foggy out there. northbound 880 in hayward right now 92 you'll be detoured at tennisson to 92. eric, kristen. >> frances, thank you. it's 4:39. >> still ahead, health concern. >> also a design flaw in san

francisco causes a major problem for neighbors. >> and putting vacant property to use. the pop-up shops that could be springing up around the city by the bay. well, max, first day... moh-ohm. -do you have your lunch? -yes. and you know where your classroom is? uh huh. mom, i can walk from here. what about your... mom, i got it. ♪ [ female announcer ] they're never too big for a little something sweet. kellogg's rice krispies treats.

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good morning, everyone. it's 4:42 on the abc 7 morning news. a live hd picture from our rooftop camera of the embarcadero, the ferry building, the bay bridge in the background. another morning of low clouds and fog. mike's gonna tell us whether it's going to be a bit cooler today. >> more news now. an algy outbreak will keep alma din lake in san jose off limits until the middle of the month. the lake has been closed since july 23rd when the nationally occurring blue-green algae was spotted. it has potential to cause rashes when it comes in contact with the skin. if swallowed it can cause a sore throat or even death. health officials will keep the lake closed until the algae clears. the water will then be tested. the parks department thinks the

earliest the lake could open to swimmers is august 18th. >> repair crews will soon start work to remove mold from parts of san francisco's mettreeon complex. they have agreed to pay for cleanup in three buildings. they include the marriott on mission street and the moss coney convention center. officials blame the mold problem on a design flaw in the waterproofing that covers expansion joints which allows the buildings to move safely during a earthquake. most of the mold damage is underground and cannot be seen by the public. >> the city of san francisco is moving forward with a plan to bring more light to an already lively neighborhood. one of several pop-up stores are expected to be housed and recycled shipping containers like this one on vacate city-owned lots in hayes valley neighborhoods. sketches show what the boxes could look like. check it out. 25 of them will be hooked up to water and electricity transforming a parking lot or

empty parcel into restaurants, art galleries, a beer garden and shops. the leases would run from three to four years. >> the whole idea is if you have vacant land is what can you do in the interim to uselize that land as oppose to allowing it to grow weeds and collecting graffiti and garbage. >> it's given opportunity for a lot of either local businesses or new start-up businesses to get a foothold in a really hot neighborhood. >> the neighbor was in the path of the earthquake-damaged central freeway. when that freeway was demolished a decade ago housing was to be built but that was put on hold. >> a rocket goes up along san francisco's embarcadero. cool video just ahead. >> b.p. says it's reached a significant milestone in the oil spill. i'm in washington. the latest coming up. >> also the serious threat hackers could be posing to the neigh's power plants. >> getting to know you.

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>> welcome back. 4:47 on the dot. still watching the heat wave up to the midwest. one in st. louis today, one in dallas. friends in little rock, it hit the heat index near 118. that is just disgusting. here's a look at what's going on around the country as far as our major airports. chicago airport having flight arrival delays just like yesterday. severe weather from chicago, louisville all the way to d.c. and charlotte. eric. wait a minute. you gotta go to our flight tracker to see if your flight is specifically affected. that disgusting heat index got me there. sorry, eric. >> that's okay. (laughter) >> the heat index with 118, i'd be disgusted, too.

4:47 now. government scientists say three-quarters of the oil from b.p.'s massive oil spill has been cleaned, captured or broken down in the gulf of mexico. meantime it appears the static kill method is working at the bottom of the gulf. b.p. says mud forced down the well is blocking the flow of crude oil. abc's emily schmidt has more. >> this morning b.p. says the static kill has reached a significant milestone. well pressure is controlled after eight hours of pumping mud into the broken well. 107 days into the oil spill disaster, it is the first time engineers have hoped they may have permanently choked the well. >> good news in a time where there hasn't been a lot of good news but not cause for premature celebration. >> the static kill got underway yesterday and warned a relief well still needs a bottom kill. he added b.p. and the federal government still face work in the recovery face. this is going to go well into

the fall. we need to respond properly during hurricane season awe don't think after three months of oil spilling in the gulf it's captured in two weeks. >> government numbers released show 5 million barrels of oil spilled were by far the most in history. but "the new york times" reports that today federal scientists will say 75% of that oil has evaporated, dispersed or been captured and what's left presents little additional risk. >> local fishermen remain skeptical. >> gives people the idea everything's okay. >> b.p. has said it could take a week of testing to know whether it has permanently killed the well. abc news, washington. >> federal agents this morning are investigating what could be a major security threat from computer hackers who may be able to cripple power plants and other big industries. department of homeland security investigators discovered a compute code created to seize the inner workers of industrial

plants. the code is capable of opening and closing doors and gates to allow access for potential intruders. it's considered serious because it can shut down aging power plants and affect the operation of connecting infrastructure. >> security experts are warning about a newly discovered flaw that could make apple's most popular products vulnerable to hackers. i-pad, i-phone and i-pod touch. it could allow hackers to take complete control of the devices with a tainted pbs document. >> giving i-phone and i-pad userless the ability to jailbreak their devices. that jailbreak makes them vulnerable to the hack. apple is investigating. a huge piece of public art is going up along the san francisco waterfront. this is video of the installation of the 40 foot ray gun gothic rocket ship near pier 14. artists worked on the installation all night. they plan to have a debut party friday afternoon.

they've got a deadline to work with. the rocketship first caused a stir at burning man. it will be on the embarcadero the next 14 months. if you have video you can upload it to us or e-mail it. those folks work hard. i drove by the embarcadero this morning and saw the rocket and it's practically all done. >> literally a blast from the past. rocketships used to look in popular media. all right, sir. more fog out there today. >> absolutely. but won't stop you from seeing that. we're trying to see on the other side of the ferry building. that tree unfortunately is blocking our view here from vallejo street. notice how hard it is to see the top of the bay bridge as that thicker marine layer has moved in this morning. you'll find mist, even coastal drizzle this morning. temperatures running in our hills in the 60s like the hills around los gatos. low to mid-50s from the north bay into the east bay valleys

except antioch at 59 and mid to upper 50s around bay itself. inland cloudy conditions and low to mid-50s. the cooling hits our inland neighborhoods. the low clouds and drizzle may return tonight and we could have thesebly average temperatures all seven days of the forecast. 5:00 to 8:00 you see the spreading of the clouds. by noon we're still going to have clouds along the east bay shore. parts of the peninsula definitely san francisco. and the coast. by about 1:00 or 2:00 it will be mainly along the coast. san francisco that finger fog heading over toward oakland. because of that we'll have 50s and 60s in these areas. 70s and 80s in our inland neighborhoods. 90s gone from yesterday replaced by low to mid-50s in the east bay valley. the 60s on the east bay shore. only union city, fremont into castro valley and hercules in the low 70s. in the south bay low to mid-70s.

milpitas 72. a few 80s around saratoga and los gatos. more 60s on the peninsula. millbrae, san mateo, menlo park. redwood city in the low to mid-70s. upper 50s along the coast. even a few mid-50s like that 56 daly city. downtown south san francisco, sausalito mid to upper 60s with mid to upper 70s through the north bay valleys but only upper 50s at your coast. 60 degree temperatures monterey bay. we'll hit the low 80s arounds gilroy. maybe warmer morgan hill at 83. around the state clouds and 60 eureka, 65 big sur. cooling trend even making it to sacramento. sunshine 81 in tahoe. 108 today in palm springs. bring it back here at home. we've lost one, won one. afternoon game. increasing sunshine at the coliseum. 12:45 first pitch. tonight cloudy conditions,

temperatures low to mid-50s this time tomorrow. we'll hold in the mid-50s along the coast all the way to sunday. near 70 around the bay and low 80s inland. we may warm a little monday and tuesday but still temperatures well below average for early august. let's turn it over to frances. hi. >> hi, mike. good morning, everyone. going pretty well as you would expect this time of the morning. a live shot of the golden gate bridge. i thought the fog might be a bit thicker. traffic light heading into san francisco. and at the bridge toll plaza, there are no delays. of course, if you want to see how traffic looks across the span, all you need to do is look behind eric and kristen. they have one of the best views of the bay bridge. the maze as well. traffic flowing well in all directions. westbound 80 there coming out of emeryville and berkeley. that's westbound 580 out of oakland. northbound 880 heading towards the maze as well. we'll ends with a stop in san

jose at the 280 and 17 interchange where traffic is flowing well in all directions. if anything changes we post it on our website 24/7. you just need to go to abc7news.com and click on the traffic link. >> a proposal to help the mentally ill will head back to the drawing board after one board of supervisors feared they might reject it. the supervisor sent legislation to enact laura's law in san francisco back to a committee before it faced an uncertain vote yesterday. the decision also came after the city's director of public health argued against the proposal. it would allow the mental health chief to order people with severe mental illness into outpatient treatment programs. >> a series of events in several oakland neighborhoods make the entire city safer. thousands came for national night out celebrations. allen wong tells us more.

>> six years ago there were 36 national night out parties in oakland. tonight there are 452 gatherings going on across the city, the most ever. >> i think that just tells you that our community is coming together here in oakland. they wanna come out. they want to get to know each other in a fun, safe way. >> the key is getting to know your neighbors and forming a solid network that looks after each other. >> we can take chinatown as an example how every community should be acting in the city of oakland. >> the chinese cham of commerce posted surveillance cameras and reported crimes on elderly citizens including the speeding death of a 59-year-old in april. the crimes galvanized the chinatown community. residents are building relationships despite the dialect and political allegiances that once divided them. violent crime is down partly because people have done away

with an old chinese philosophy. >> philosopher said it in that way that things that not concern you, you should not bother to get involved. but that is changing. >> now chinatown is broadcasting surveillance video throughout the community and posting surveillance photos of criminals like this guy painting graffiti on a store front. national night out is the night you forge relationships but every night after that is when you cultivate and reinforce them. reporting on national night out, i'm alan wong, abc 7 news. >> it's 4:57. just ahead on abc 7 news at 5:00, a. c. transit says sick calls from union drivers continue to affect bus service even after a judge sided with the union over a disputed contract. also... >> taxing pot and pension reform just a couple ideas to help a cash-strapped city. i'm theresa garcia live in san jose.

we'll let you know about ballot measures that help voters decide come this fall. >> state managers cash in on furlough fridays. still ahead the federal labor law forcing california to pay them overtime. [ fele announcer ] this is a strawberry pop tart. but this is warm, fresh-baked strawberry toaster strudel [ music ] see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat. swimming is♪ y favorite thing. and only two things can get me out of the water. prunedoes... ♪ and totino's. ♪ we're the kids in america

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