more on vandalism discovered at golden gate park and the follow- up from a garbage strike starts hitting home for thousands of people on the peninsula. complete bay area news coverage starts right now. this is bay area news at 7:00. >> good evening, it is wednesday, august 25. i am gasia mikaelian and this is bay area news at 7:00. the hot weather is still with us tonight depending on where you live the way from the coast large parts of the bay area sizzled with inland cities are reaching triple digits. >> take a look at some high temperatures. livermore reached 105 degrees and it was 106 degrees in fairfield as well as concord. it was considerably cooler on the coast and we will show you why, it is a welcome layer of

fog. san francisco and oakland are more than 20 degrees cooler with temperatures in the '70s instead of the '90s. while crews tried to to fight a fire it is called the curry fire and is about 90% contained. about 300 firefighters on the front lines and injured temperatures approaching triple digits today as they worked in heat and rough terrain. >> the heat of the day is honest, the humidity is down and with the wind and stuff we're trying to make sure it's weird supposed to stay. >> the contra costa battalion chief says that the fire may have been struck down by a

downed power line it. >> thirty-one train cars lost air conditioning and malfunctions caused minor delays. car writers have experienced delays and pc went out in about one-third of the train. some of the older cars fail when the temperature topped 95 degrees in see the need more in state funding to upgrade or replace those systems. the warm-up is also putting pressure on the power grid but they say there is no reason to worry about large-scale power outages keep in mind you can find more coverage of the bay area heat by going to our homepage ktvu.com. we have new information about the vandalism happening in san francisco's golden gate park and they showed as two spots where

bushes and trees had been destroyed. jana katsuyama has a live report from the park with details see. >> reporter: gasia, these are all bb redwoods that were planted this year and you can see where they have been cut down to the roots and this is an example of the stream of crimes happening here. the coastal records that tower over golden gate park have been growing 100 years and new seats are being planted but today park officials showed us this. they say someone destroyed three young redwood trees selling them down to tiny stumps. >> i hate to lose any trees, particularly trees like this. >> reporter: the redwoods were planted just four months ago by volunteers on earth day and it seems that bindles have taken root here distorting 44 trees including these and others at nearby lincoln park. >> we lost a lot of trees that

people put a lot of work into growing and it's hard to lose that. >> they are in a metal adjacent to golden gate park's famous rose gardens and only one flower remains blue been clear bindles' used loppers to chop down 46 price rose plants -- price rose plants. also nearby were petrie bushes grow 90 plants were cut the. >> after they cut the plant material believe it lane right there with a happen and allies did so it's not about stealing the plant, it's about destroying them. >> reporter: ministate that they are angry. >> i hope they get caught. >> reporter: they say police have stepped up patrols. >> we have had 60 officer visits during the nighttime hours in a few are in the park

in you are going to damage property we are going to catch you. >> reporter: they say the vandals have caused more than $15,000 worth of damage and there is a monetary award for any tips that lead to an arrest. as for the damages they could end up being felony charges. reporting live, jana katsuyama, ktvu channel 2 news. and other san francisco and mark is in the news. police say a couple was on a second date and taking a unit of the view when two men assaulted and robbed them. they got away with the woman's purse and the male victim is still a hospital with a broken jaw. know or rest so far. in the meantime the san francisco police say that the driver of a suv did not have a driver's license. the vehicle plant into by people that were waiting for a bus. two victims suffered critical injuries and the other three

are in serious condition. 24-year-old female driver said that her brakes failed and she was released and ticketed for driving without a license. two of california's largest insurance providers got the green light to move ahead. the california department of insurance says that and the blue cross can raise rates an average of 13.4% and had originally asked for a 39% hike but withdrew the request are leave public outrage. blue shield's customer base an average rate hike of 18.5%. >> i think the way the economy is going right now to increase anything especially like health care coverage for people in san jose, santa clara county just sounds crazy. >> the president has pointed to rate hikes as example of a broken health care system and the need for reform. in a statement anthem blue cross says it pleased with the

30% increase and explored to working with customers. >> supreme member commission convened in san francisco and confirmed connie, and appellate courts judge. she you would be the first filipino justice. the top two competitors are making big area stops and the republican may quit in stop -- meg whitman stop by the studios and says that california needs a breath of fresh air pitch she says she has experienced finding innovative solutions to problems and the democratic candidate, attorney general

jerry brown is scheduled to do some fund-raising in santa rosa tonight. brown has spent one played by liam dollars compared to the $104 million whitman has spent of her own money and a poll shows perot with a slight advantage proud's fund-raising event will start in about 20 minutes in santa rosa. garbage is piling up because of a walkout by dozens of landfill workers but hundreds of garbage collectors have joined them in a show of support. >> these two trash bins were supposed to be empty this morning. >> is that why they have not picked up my garbage. >> reporter: she was not aware that thousands of residents will be delayed because of the garbage workers strike. >> i do not know where i will put it now. i will have to put it in the

grass been until friday. >> reporter: about one dozen trash workers in half moon did they walked the picket line after are going contact talks stalled yesterday's. >> basically they are trying to take our pensions away and make us pay for our insurance. >> reporter: and the unexpected move too hundred 50 garbage collectors and clerical workers also walked off the job in solidarity. >> we were a bit surprised by that and frankly disappointed that the union would do something that would have an impact on our customers because waste collection is a health issue. >> reporter: the trash collection company says it will delay 36,000 trash collection pickups of crossing the tail county. >> we have had enough criticism already here at the picket line but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. hopefully it's for the better of the people of. >> reporter: residents whose trash was not picked up today will have picked up our credit

and tomorrow trash pickups will delayed until saturday and in the meantime contact the talks continue. maureen naylor, ktvu channel 2 news. the bay area company is under fire for reap video game that allows players to kill u.s. troops. it is called medal of honor and set to be released october 12th. it lets players take on the role of taliban fighters and critics say that e.a. has crossed the line. e.a. has suspended medal of honor saying it has no plans to change the content of the game. twelve seasons is providing counseling. 1900 people were in attendance when a man jumped from a roof

in saratoga day paris called ascenders says that the band has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount four group counseling of audience members traumatized by witnessing the death. right now in san francisco bob dylan is ready to perform be before a sold-out crowd. dozens of fans lined up to see the 7-year-old rock icon be there were no ed behan's ticket sales and no online sales pick people had to pay $60 in cash and they could only get one ticket poor person. >> there are dylan fans all over the world and we go traveling and we have a lot of fun. >> promoters said that the tickets eliminate sculping and saves concertgoers about $12 in handling fees. coming up on bay area news at 7:00, how would decision

made today could mean cleaner water for years to come. >> and in some neighborhoods it was hotter today by as much as two and 3 neigorhoods above 20 cooler. i will have your forecast coming up. [ man i was deciding what to do with my citi thankyou points when it happened... [ glass breaks ...again. ♪ [ child run! [ man first it was the mailbox. then my squirrel. and now, this. so i used my points to make a donation

to get the park down the street built. when it finally opened, i also used my points for... car repair. [ male announcer use your citi thankyou points for almost anything, even local charities. what's your story? citi can help you write it.

>> teachers, parents and students rallied 1/7 oakland's board of education meeting and will protest the closing by a child development centers funded by state money but with no budget in place to school district says it can no longer cover the cost the district is working to place the affected students into other after-

school programs. bundy will be restored once the budget is passed. pg&e says the base. 's heat wave may have contributed to a power outage in the east bay paid 2700 customers lost power in antioch and believe for the update for a utility officials to find out when they expect the power to be restored. >> power usage is surging due to warmer temperatures and we have not yet seen outages on a grand scale. consumer editor tom vacar shows us what regulators are doing to contain the crunch people back from here pg&e controls the power grid from bakersfield to the oregon border and kind to do meet air conditioners can overwhelm the systems -- and on hot days their conditions can overwhelm the system. >> insures that we have enough energy running to the system to meet our customer's energy demand. >> reporter: it's not just the

people and products use less energy, the fact is that the nobles have never been more available and every day they become more cost-effective pretty use of solar systems on homes and businesses has gone way up. >> we have a record amount of customers investing in solar generating mechanisms. >> reporter: they have the equivalent of one large gas powered plant and solar. >> renewable energy and seeking to build new work renewable generation sources. >> reporter: wind energy is growing rapidly and biomass will be another contributor. geothermal is coming and the wet winter has given as an abundance of hydropower and many companies including ktvu are installing their own fuel cell power plants. 13 megawatts of power and many

of those megawatts coming from a fleet of new clean and efficient gas-fired power plants. consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. house officials say that will be -- whooping cough is spreading, and so far this year the state department of public health has more than 3300 confirmed and suspected cases of whopping cough. health officials are urging people to vaccinate their children and themselves. a livermore this group construction company will pay over $12 million. they will pay the money for back pay and the rest will go to the state compensation insurance fund to pay civil the penalties. they build universal housing back in march the attorney- general sioux country builders

on behalf of the workers after they claimed they were being underpaid. dismal news from the u.s. housing market the cars department reported that new- home sales fell pulpit 4% in july from the month before and sales in july happened at the slowest pace since 1963 yesterday aker report indicated existing home sales dropped in july to the lowest level in decades. >> today's home sales report sent stock expand into a tailspin and barkin bargain hunters stepped in and the stocks recovered. >> food prices will increase tepper slowest pace did almost two decades. they predict u.s. blue costs will rise between one-half of 1% and 1.5% about 1% less than

a few weeks ago. the environmental protection agency announced a new rule emetine where along the coast large ships can dump sewage. >> reporter: as aaron brown played with her two boys, sewage from passing ships was the last thing on her mind. >> i never would have thought that, that is disturbing to know that they are dumping sewage. >> the marine environment today is under siege. >> reporter: disk yards away officials from the fog gathered to sign the will that would establish a no discharge zone and would stop them from dumping treated and untraded sewage with 3 miles of california's 1600 miles of coastline. >> we estimate that of 25 million gallons a year it would

stop 20 million gallons from entering our near coastal waters. >> reporter: the e.p.a. says that those millions of gallons of sewage in contribute to a halt the waters it cannot do anything until decentered petition the e.p.a. to stop this. >> this makes it clear that you shouldn't stop to do that and makes enforceable as the pro- government. >> reporter: they have not got a lot of opposition and erin brown says it's hard to imagine a downside. >> i feel better. they have to dump it somewhere. >> reporter: the e.p.a. will be taking public comments and if all goes well this prohibition could be in place by the end of the year. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. san francisco and toyota are joining forces to reduce the carbon footprints but the

city has received two hybrids, a new pastor charging station has been installed outside a san francisco city hall and the plugging hybrid will not be on the market until 2012. coming up on bay area news at 7:00, how some bay area visitors are using their time off for a great cause. and relief from the heat is on the way. chief meteorologist bill martin will have details on becoming cool -- on the coming cool down.

>> the bay area's warm weather has meant good business. we came across one repairman who says he has been busy fixing air-conditioned areas -- air-conditioner is in the present area and some companies tell as many people are holding off on expensive repairs because summer is almost over. chief meteorologist bill martin joins me paid a lot of people do not have the option. >> with the cool summer we have had the air conditioning folks have not been that easy out there. record highs and today was really hot england. we go on outside and the fog is the main mechanism for the cooling produce can see the fog

doing its familiar path through this area kent fog will make it to the east bay tonight. some areas came down as much as 20 degrees. you see cool air coming in against oakland and san francisco. once again in england to fairfield, antioch and livermore it was very, very hot inland. all of my friends of on the avenues these sunny beach days will come to end and temperatures instead of in the '80s will be 20 degrees cooler out at ocean beach. war england and you will still find some upper 80s low 90s inland but it will be much more noticeable as you head into thursday and friday. your forecast, 50s at the coast and '60s around the bay. watch what happens.

it goes to the upper 80's, low 90s and just stays there. so where they were one '06s and 105s we are looking at lower 90s. the forecast is 76 degrees and no spare the air day and the fire danger comes down. we get into a much cooler weather pattern. don't get me wrong, we will see a couple of ladies popping up but temperatures will drop off a good 15 degrees. the fire danger goes away and a much cooler weather pattern has are we. some people on vacation in san francisco may not look like it because they are working. they are participating in a voluntary vacation program and are here at their own expense.

the american hiking society organized the program that offers a volunteer vacations in 26 states for all skill levels. that is our report for tonight. i am gasia mikaelian the pre our coverage continues with our 10:00 news over on ktvu channel two. the tmz is up next right here on tv36.

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