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tv   CBS News Bay Area Evening Edition 5pm  CBS  April 18, 2024 5:00pm-5:31pm PDT

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yamamoto. >> i'm elizabeth cook. the teacher she's accusing? 56-year-old shawn thomas. san jose police made the arrest last month. this week the victim filed a complaint against the school district. >> our amanda hari spoke with the victim's lawyer and sister about her fight. >> reporter: the victim who is listed as jane doe on the criminal complaint says she went to the dean when she was 15 and says she did nothing. now she wants to hold the school district accountable for what happened. >> it has impacted every facet of her life. >> reporter: lauren cerri is the attorney representing the victim in this case. she says she met the victim about a month ago. since then she learned everything about her case. >> she was 15 years old. she did something very brave and something that took a lot of strength and courage and she reported it. she was very clear about it that mr. thomas was having sex with her at 14 and
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15 years old. she was a freshman in high school. this is 2003. >> reporter: cerri was given leigh high school year books from the victim. there's a photo of the suspect, shawn thomas, both a teacher and a coach. in the staff and administration section a photo of his wife at the time, sarah thomas, listed as a dean. that's who the victim says she reported the abuse to. cerri says dean thomas' reaction was shocking. >> said, "i can't believe you did this to me after everything that i've done for you." so that is why most people remain silent, because they aren't believed and they're victim blamed and that's exactly what happened here. >> reporter: in the criminal complaint some of the sexual encounters happened on campus in thomas' portable classroom and in a storage room in the boys locker room. the complaint also says they were once caught in the act by the dean. in a statement to cbs news bay area, the district did not say whether sarah thomas is still
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employed by the district, but a sarah thomas is still listed on the staff directory. the district did say there is a different leadership in place now than there was in 2002/2003 and they're taking these allegations seriously and cooperating with the investigation. cerri says when dough doe was 15, she became pregnant with thomas' baby and he forced her to abort it. >> what a burden for a child. she was 16 weeks by the time she was able to bring herself to do it, but he insisted that she do it. she really didn't have a choice. >> reporter: doe's sister spoke to us by upon. she asked to have her voice distorted to protect her eat. >> for so many years my sister thought it was her fault. she felt so much shame and guilt, especially after being forced to abort her child. mrs. thomas blamed her, so she blamed herself. she is now for the first time after 20 years
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coming to the realization that she was just a child. the school district failed to protect her. they protected him instead. it wasn't right and they need to be held accountable. >> reporter: thomas was arrested march 8th by san jose police. at the time of his arrest he was still working at leigh high school and los gatos high school. cerri says she questions why they protected thomas over protecting a child. >> you wonder why, right? you see that he was an acclaimed coach. he was coach of the year multiple years in a row. you wonder were they protecting the image and reputation of that program and the school? >> reporter: based on the attorney's investigation, she believes there could be more victims. anyone with any information is asked to contact sjpd. >> san jose police arrested 49-year-old duc nguyen, 50-year-old kim ho and 30-year-old dayton pham in
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connection to the kidnapping and torture of a man in san jose. police say the man was tortured for two days and then released. police spoke to a neighbor who lived next-door to the suspects. >> there were a lot of things going on. they played music pretty loud and i kind of talked to the owner of the house and she apologized to me that the music was too loud and she was concerned about it. that's the last interaction with her. >> those suspects have been booked into santa clara county jail and are held without bail. oakland police are investigating a deadly shooting involving one of their officers. it happened when sacramento police asked for help to arrest a homicide suspect at a home at 16th and adeline streets. officers say the suspect came out of the home pointing a gun and that's when oakland officers shot the suspect who died at the scene. the officers are now on administrative leave. we're learning a livermore couple and their two children were killed in a fiery crash in manteca over the weekend. this video shows the moments good samaritans rushed to help when
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a minivan flew off the freeway and then burst into flames. chp says it happened saturday night when the driver lost control and crashed. there were seven people trapped inside. people ran out of their homes and cars to help, including a group of high schoolers in their formalwear heading home from prom. they flipped that car over and saved the lives of three children. >> there were three. i think it's three that survived and they would not have survived if everybody had not jumped into action when they did. >> two of the livermore victims killed were in their 40s along with a 12-year-old child and a baby. a legal battle between two of the bay area's international airports, san francisco suing oakland over a plan to add the word san francisco bay to its name and oakland is not backing down. our anne makovec has been following this story for us all day and just spoke to san francisco city attorney about this now official legal move. anne? >> yeah. the federal lawsuit
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was filed today claiming trademark infringement. san francisco city attorney says if oakland's airport has san francisco bay in its name, the entire region will suffer the damage. the neither of these airports is in san francisco, but they both claim the right to use the name and now it's up to a federal court. >> we do think that this litigation is a waste of taxpayer resources. if oakland had chosen to engage with us, we would not be here. >> reporter: while officials at the port of oakland say they're just trying to clear up confusion about their airport's location which sits on the san francisco bay, san francisco city attorney david chiu said it could cause travel chaos. >> we're concerned about travelers missing their flights, have mishaps, suffer economic loss. we're concerned about the reputational damage to the bay area when it comes to the travel experience.
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>> reporter: at least one airline has begun using the new name on their flight reservation system which chiu says means that sfo has already suffered economic harm. >> the name that they have chosen appears to be intentional to divert travel earlies that would otherwise be going to sfo. >> reporter: in a statement the port of oakland said the renaming does not infringe upon sfo's mark. we will vigorously defend our right to claim our spot on the san francisco bay. we are standing up for oakland and our east bay community, but san francisco has owned and invested in the federal trademark for san francisco international airport for 70 years and while the legal wrangling begins, the court of public opinion is already in session. oakland vice mayor rebecca kaplan posting recently, "how about if we call ours sunny side of the bay and they can call theirs millbrae, which is where sfo is actually located?" of course, the theory of airport name
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appropriation is not anything new. take the fresno-yosemite international airport which is about 2 1/2 hours from yosemite. as for the goal of this lawsuit, san francisco wants oakland to immediately stop using the new name as well as potential damages and fees. san francisco transit officials now working to improve safety at the west portal intersection, the site of where a family of four was killed during a deadly collision. under proposed changes, the city would restrict left hand turns to the intersection, a move intended to protect pedestrians. >> here in san francisco on a typical year about 40% of our traffic deaths are a result of drivers making left turns and not seeing pedestrians in the crosswalk. >> the changes could also include adding more space for pedestrians to cross. the next step is to gather community input before sending the plan to the sfmta board. meanwhile a settlement has been reached in the case of the
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woman accused of fatally striking a 4-year-old child in a stroller on king street in san francisco last august. in a statement d.a. brooke jenkins says the case will not go to trial per the family's wishes and instead agreed the driver serve 400 hours of community service and complete a driver safety class with a no driving condition until the class is completed. she added that she hopes the settlement will bring the family some solace as they work to heal and rebuild. two adults and a juvenile behind bars for stealing more than $10,000 worth of merchandise from the valley fair mall in san jose. they were identified as 19-year-old dana parjarno and 22-year-old andreas diaz with. a juvenile was not identified. police say along with getting caught stealing stolen merchandise, another $12,000 worth of goods was found inside their car. retail theft is an issue prosecutors across the state are trying to get a handle on. it's unusual. they're called so-called flash mob robberies.
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lesley marin has more. >> reporter: watch as a mob of people wearing masks and hoodies run into a wsf shoe store. as quickly as they get in, they get out but this time with piles of clothes and shoes in hand. >> where they are in and out generally in under a minute or so. >> reporter: lieutenant michael mccomas heads the lapd retail crime task force. he's seen many videos like this of flash robberies. what makes this one unique? he said the suspects could be as young as 15 years old and may even attend lausd schools near the stores they're targeting. >> what we've discovered is they are riding bicycles, bmx-style bicycles, to the areas where the stores are that they're targeting. >> reporter: lapd says the mob of ten to 20 suspects may be responsible for a robbery a week since march 3rd. so far police say they have targeted only wsf two stores, one in loyal heights, two in south
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central and another in the south gate areas. we went to two locations, but employees could not speak on camera. >> i'm tired of it. everyone i talk to, we're just tired. so what is the solution? >> reporter: l.a. native april moore blames flash robberies on lack of accountability. she fears if it continues, retailers will continue to pull out of communities, especially low income ones. >> if you keep having this, no one wants to be in these areas. >> reporter: the team of officers have seen a drop in flash robberies across the city. >> we have not had any major incidents since i would say november. >> reporter: which is why they're now blasting these videos to the public. >> so that we can, one, get the crime stopped and, two, work with the families of these young people to hopefully help them to get their kids to stop doing this. >> california attorney general rob bonta was in oakland today to talk about the state's housing crisis. he says it comes down to the same issue we've been facing for years now. cities just aren't
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building enough new housing units. california set a goal to build 2.5 million new homes by 2030, but he says we're on pace to fall well short of that goal. >> you don't need me to tell you the crisis we're in when it comes to homelessness, housing, unaffordability in the state of california. we're in a full state of emergency. >> bonta says the state will focus on making sure renters are protected from unlawful evictions or discrimination. foster city celebrating some everyday heroes shining a light on first responders and bystanders who stepped in during emergencies and saved lives. during a ceremony seven survivors shared their stories saying thank you to the people who stepped up during their moments of need. >> i just wanted to say that i wouldn't be alive here without first responders. so the two right people happened to be there at the right time. >> she was there. she got up
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and she grabbed that aed. she saved my life. >> fire officials pointed out if any link in the chain of helpers was missing, those stories could have had a much different ending. still ahead, the lessons learned from san francisco's 1906 earthquake and efforts still underway to protect lives from the next one. fire crews rescuing two dogs who went over the decide of a cliff at fort funston. we look at some of the endangered plants here in the bay area and efforts underway to try and save them. unseasonably warm weather again today for most of the bay area except along the coast. the fog is starting to spread back out. it's going to be widespread across the bay area by tomorrow morning. you can see it getting organized as we look to the [♪♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's age renew formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond.
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we've all heard of endangered animals, but did you know some plants are also threatened.
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>> david schechter shows us rare and endangered plants here in the u.s. >> reporter: there are 154 forests in the natural forest system, none larger than in puerto rico. >> places like these are medicinal to the soul, to the heart, and you belong to nature. you have to come to these places to heal yourself. >> reporter: i'm headed into the forest with park ranger victor cuevas and volunteer michelle lopez lorenzo. they're telling me at a time when 1 million species on the planet are threatened with extinction, that protecting wild places is one of our best defenses to save our living treasures like the tapanuko tree. victor says the tree's sap has medicinal qualities.
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>> take a taste of the most transparent. >> reporter: this is newer sap? >> that's enough. try it. >> reporter: it's like very herbal. >> not any feeling? >> reporter: i'm starting to lose the feeling in my tongue right now. >> that's what it is. >> this is, you know, you have a cavity, if you have a toothache, this was and is one of the many traditional ways to remedy that. >> reporter: it also tastes wonderful. the tabanuko has long been used in traditional folk medicine, but new research suggests its use as a pharmaceutical is largely untapped and the class of trees it belongs to has potential to treat various cancers, card cardio and other diseases. there are many other species across the country, like the
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endangered yellow hibiscus, state flower of hawaii, and the turk's head cactus in arizona. >> the only people experts will be able to study these trees is if there's a healthy, abundant population. >> reporter: today preserving wild places like this sustains a huge variety of plants and animals that lives here. tomorrow it might help sustain us with remedies we don't yet know about. >> it's amazing what you can find in nature. the u.s. fish and wildlife service estimates that more than 40 plant and plant-like species are either endangered or threatened in six bay area counties. >> and for the entire state the estimate is more than 170 species. this saturday at 7:00 p.m. the first alert weather team looks back at this past winter, another year of wild weather that will leave a lasting impact around the bay area. then at 7:30 a cbs news climate watch special, we look
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at the species threatened by the changing planet. speak of our planet and changing planet, we had a gorgeous day today, paul. i never got to get outside, but i'm told that it was great. >> she was against the window like this, yes. >> i'm like please, i want to go outside. it looks so perfect. >> breath fogging at the window pining for the outdoors. >> i know days like this can be fleeting this time of year. >> in april we don't get many consecutive above average days in san francisco. along the coast you're back into the assume as the marine layer reestablished itself. that's going to be more of a factor the next couple days. let's look at the shift happening and the reason for the subtle changes in the weather the next few days. the area of high pressure, a big hill of air in the atmosphere to our south, is moving farther away. we'll be closer to normal april weather the next couple days, still
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above average inland, much closer to average highs along the bay and coast and the fog will be a much bigger factor. you can see it lurking in the background. san francisco is only 59 degrees, 62 degrees in oakland, the influence of that reestablished marine layer while farther inland mid- to upper 70s and in the warmest spots inland we're up to around 80 degrees again today. that won't be the case tomorrow. i think the fog will make a big push across the bay well into the inland valleys later tonight. if you're heading out to the first of a four-game series, temperatures at game time a degree or two cooler than now, coasting down to the mid-50s by 8:00. the fog will spread across the city and then make its way across the bay into the inland valleys by early tomorrow morning. reduced visibility on a widespread basis, allow extra time for the morning commute friday. then fog is a bit more stubborn than
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the past several days. around the bay and along the coast reduced visibility still by late morning and finally starts to improve heading towards lunchtime into early afternoon. a few upper 40s, a lot of low 50s on the map by early tomorrow morning and temperatures will warm up, especially inland. it looks nice inland friday afternoon, mid- to upper 70s in the santa clara valley, similar inland in the east bay, not quite a warm in fremont and redwood city, but still topping 70 degrees. it won't be that warm along the coast, 58 degrees half moon bay, 62 degrees in san francisco, very close to average, 67 degrees in oakland. in the north bay because of the more persistent fog, low 70s as opposed to mid- to upper 70s. the pollen count is going to continue climbing even though we have a stronger onshore breeze tomorrow. it's still in the medium high category and as
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temperatures warm back up by sunday and monday into the highest category possible for the pollen count, no rain in sight in the seven-day forecast. there are better chances a little farther down the line. the six to ten-day outlook advertises a decent chance of wetter than normal conditions by the end every next week. short term we still have warm weather, 80 degrees inland sunday and monday and a big drop in temperatures that kicks in monday to tuesday with cooler than average readings in store for the entire bay area by next tuesday, wednesday, thursday. yesterday we were talking about a chance of showers on wednesday. now it looks like any chance of showers will probably hold off till maybe thursday night into friday. this time of year our rain chances tend to be like lucy pulling the football away from charlie brown before he can keep it. we'll keep an eye on things. deeper into april the rain chances tend to be fewer and farther between and less impressive when they do arrive. we'll be watching it.
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still ahead, why google fired more than two dozen employees following protests earlier this week. and later san francisco commemorates one of the most catastrophic disasters in the city, the lessons learned 118 why do i care about paper so much? because my life and career were built on them. auditions, headshots, boxed wine... i mean, the least i can do is keep it around. [angelic sound] see, she gets it. ethan! empty, flatten, then recycle.
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i'm a papertarian, sue me. and you can recycle those papers too. let's go gary! [ struggling ] ok. what, you don't get fan mail?
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san francisco's district attorney brooke jenkins is asking anyone who was stuck on the bridge monday during the protests to file a report with the chp. >> 26 people were arrested for the bridge being shut down for hours. anybody who got caught up on the bridge could be a victim of false imprisonment. we do not know the fate of the protesters arrested for shutting down 880. in a statement the d.a. price expressed support for the right to protest but also said public safety should never be compromised. 28 google employees were fired after protesting the
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company's involvement with the israeli government tuesday. employees held sit-ins at google's offices in sunnyvale and new york demanding the search giant drop their $1.2 billion contract with the israeli government and military forces. google says the terminated employees clearly violated company policies by physically obstructing the workplace. their internal investigation is ongoing. finding impartial jurors for former president trump's hush money trial is proving harder than previously thought. coming up at 5:30, why some of the jurors already picked got kicked out during today's hearing. then why more and mo
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right now at 5:30, more than a century after the 1906 earthquake, how a san francisco group is preserving the history of first responders on this, the anniversary. then the latest insurance companies to pull out of the state thanks to increased chances of severe weather fueled by climate change. former president trump back in a new york city courtroom today as both sides struggle to agree on prospective jurors, including why some of the members already chosen got the boot. >> good evening. i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm ryan yamamoto. just as san francisco remembers the deadly 1906 earthquake, northern california was hit with multiple small quakes this morning. here's a map showing the four total
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earthquakes reported today by the usgs, the biggest a 4.3 magnitude 32 miles east of bakersfield, the other three in the pinnacles national forest and central valley belden and plumas national forest and off the california coast near the oregon border. they measured 2.5, 2.7, and 3.4 respectively. >> thankfully, they were nothing close to the 7.9 magnitude quake that hit 118 years ago in 1906 which along with the fires that followed caused massive damage and devastation. shawn chitnis has a look at some historic photos that can help us appreciate what the city went through and how it recovered. >> reporter: scenes from more than a century ago offer a snapshot into the destruction that consumed san francisco in 1906 from a major earthquake and the fire that started soon after. >> i'm born and raised in san francisco. i above our first responders. i love our history and this was a great way

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