blocker! which means we have to say good-bye to emmy and triston. there you have it. your finale right there. jack, abi and will. don't miss them as they battle it out right here on this stage for the title in the grand finale next sunday. stay right here on abc. because for some of you, our own "american idol" legend is to keep kids safe. we're learning whether the new approach paid off. an ominous view you could not miss. we're learning more about the fast burning fire that sent up a huge cloud of smoke over the bay, and an encore performance is possible for that stunning solar

show. the odds of the northern lights could make it so far south again tonight on abc seven news at seven. always live abc seven news starts right now. we begin tonight with a powerful tribute to a man who made a difference for so many. the late reverend cecil williams, whose service turned him into a household name, was honored today in the church he founded. good evening, i'm dionne lim. williams died last month at the age of 94. the civil rights pioneer fought for the poor and hungry and founded glide church, turning it into a worldwide brand. you can see his impact in how packed that church was today for his memorial, a rebel, a pastor. >> come on, spiritual leader >> san francisco treasure and icon. >> you know that voice that is former giants announcer renel brooks-moon. summing up williams legacy. just one of the big

names in the service that featured leaders, locals, even warren buffett. abc seven news reporter cornell bernard shows us the fitting tribute to the man who created social change >> it was standing room only inside the varied church reverend cecil williams founded 60 years ago in san francisco's tenderloin, a place which quickly became a movement. >> everyone who walked through that door found love. love because cecil knew love is the answer. love. i chose to come down and hear him. >> this celebration of life for reverend williams brought people from all walks of life together, much like his ministry. >> cecil's essence and his love, his teachings, his way of living life ripples out and continues to impact every person he touched with his presence and his vibration.

>> the outreach programs williams founded with his late wife, janice mirikitani, have helped the city's poor and homeless for six decades with limitless outreach. the line to get into sunday's service, stretching around the block. mark pearson says he gladly waited hours. >> i was a person who grew up in the bay area and, you know, as a as a gay young person, it was really wasn't. okay. and, cecil just, shared his liberation theology with me, and it's been with me all my life. and he was about freedom for all people. >> cecil was always there for those who were under attack. whether we are referring to the lgbt community, political activists like myself people who were who were hiv positive. >> williams is recognized as a

national leader at the forefront of social change and civil rights. >> he embraced people. >> he embraced people. all of the flaws and everything in between. he embraced people using the power of love and his spirituality to uplift out a community. >> musician michael franti, performed. he says cecil williams legacy lives on. >> i loved you so much, and i loved you so long. >> his message today is more important than ever, you know, with the politics that we see, the division in our country, the idea that people can be together and celebrate each other because of their differences and that's what's so important. >> cornell, bernard abc seven news. >> our coverage of reverend cecil williams continues now on our website. you'll find even more on his life and legacy. just head to abc seven news.com. well, moving on, we have new details tonight about a fire at

the port of oakland that sent up this massive plume of smoke. it all started at about three this afternoon with that thick black smoke pouring into the sky. oakland firefighters tell us that fire burned through a pile of lithium batteries. and that kind of fire can be tricky to extinguish. but the good news the fire was out and the smoke appeared to be clearing by about 4:00 today. firefighters are still investigating the cause. protesters and counter protesters go face to face as a group of hundreds marching in support of israel took their message to the stanford university campus. today, green day. >> bring them home >> the jewish group marched to white plaza to protest against a pro-palestinian encampment. one of the demonstrators, a young israeli woman who was able to escape when hamas attacked a music festival in israel last october. >> october 7th. i survived with

five friends of mine. we ran for 11 miles, along the whole way. when they were shooting at us. i came here because we have a peace rally. every college has an encampment. everyone has something to say. everyone has a lot of money going through these encampments. and israel stands for himself itself has nothing to do with it, and we are trying to bring justice into this place. >> the protesters raised flags, signs and sang pro-palestinian students came out and gave their own speeches throughout the afternoon. those demonstrations remained peaceful. it is memorial day in israel, with people across the country observing a day of mourning. fighting is getting more intense in northern gaza, where israel says hamas has returned after a defeat there. months ago, the israeli army says it opened a new border crossing to bring humanitarian aid into gaza. the white house is planning an in-person meeting with israeli leaders to discuss alternatives

to an invasion of rafah. the united nations says more than 300,000 people have fled rafah over the last week. cease fire talks are still on hold as we work to build a better bay area. we want to follow up on big changes to see how they work. it's been four years since the oakland unified school district voted to disband its police department in the aftermath of george floyd's murder. this week, the district is sharing how safety has changed since. in 2022, oakland unified added violence interruption teams to deal with problems at schools instead of police. the district told the oakland city council this week. since those teams started, suspensions for physical violence at school dropped 10. but they say there is more work to be done. police data showed hundreds of violent suspensions, plus 67 shootings that injured people last school year. school board directors want to expand the violence interruption teams to every usd school safety is really a

community effort where you wrap your arms around the incident and finding support in a holistic sense. the district is expecting more data this summer on how well the program is working, as people across the bay area struggle to afford soaring home insurance costs, california's governor wants to let insurance companies raise rates faster. governor newsom says it is something we have to do to get insurance companies to return to the state. he announced the new legislation as part of his budget press conference on friday. right now, regulators get 84 days to approve insurance rate increases , though it can take a lot longer if consumer groups push back. the governor wants to get the process down to 60 days. >> we need to stabilize this market. we need to send the right signals. we need to move. we need to move. >> the change could mean more expensive insurance bills. but proponents argue if it gets more insurers returning to california, homeowners will have

more competitive options. right now, many are stuck with the state's last resort plan, which is significantly more expensive. happening now, the final hours of caltrans work shutting down parts of highway 37 in the north bay. the closure is for the eastbound lanes from sears point to vallejo, and caltrans shared these new pictures of the progress with the repaving work. the road is set to reopen by 5 a.m. tomorrow. caltrans hopes next weekend's closure will be the very last one. well, nobody wants to do it, but millions of californians may be due for a dmv visit. the clock is ticking on a long delayed deadline for anyone trying to fly, and the northern lights could be making a comeback tonight. the bay area's chances to see the celestial event. >> hi, i'm spencer christian. it's been a mostly sunny day for our mother's day away from the coastline, but right now we see low clouds and fog beginning to advance out over the bay.

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for children fighting critical illness, you can make the stars align. because when we come together, hope and joy will shine. help us make every wish come true. ♪ ♪ solar storm keeps getting more intense. the noaa space weather prediction center says it looks like the storm could hit a second peak tonight. the earlier peak friday night made the aurora borealis visible across the bay area and around the world. even as far south as florida. the forecasts aren't calling for the aurora to

stretch quite as far tonight. noaa is still warning, though, about potential impacts to the electrical grid. >> the particular sunspot we're looking at closely now is actually 15 times the size of the earth. so it's huge. we observed these eruptions. we recognized they were going to impact earth. so we were able to give the power grid and other technology owners and operators a heads up. >> yeah. thank goodness. your best bet to see those glowing pink, green and purple lights is to get away from the city lights and hope for clear skies. spencer will have a look at your forecast in just a few minutes. well, looking live now out at sfo and the oakland airport tonight where travelers are coming up on a long delayed deadline that impacts how we fly. come next may, you will need a real id or a passport for domestic flights. the dmv says tens of millions of california fans don't have one yet. the rollout has been riddled with problems and delays, partially due to the pandemic, but the

federal government is sticking with its may 2025 deadline. the agency is urging people to apply soon so the dmv doesn't get overwhelmed. well, it's kind of the go to mother's day gift. a busy morning for flower shops packed with people celebrating mom. and as we take a live look outside, looking pretty clear now. but it has been a little may gray. today we have spencer coming up with your mixed bag of temperatures coming up for this week. >> uh- coming up in sports widow, a pelican, turtle and baseball have in common. we'll explain that. plus bonus baseball at oracle park and the giants deliver some mother's day magic. sports is coming up

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a gift for mom, of course, is flowers and the bud stop florist on union street in san francisco has been buzzing with customers all day long. we talked to a few who told us why they visit this store, specifically when it comes to shopping for mom, because they're beautiful and flowers are beautiful. >> and i think it's just really important to celebrate the women in our life and give our thanks for everything that they've done for us. >> i know very little about flowers and they always make me look like a champion coming home . >> i love what he said. that man was taking the bouquet he was buying for his wife. he tells us they have two wonderful children. just admit it. you

don't know something. so you try to remedy it by asking someone else and you look like a champion. excellent job. >> what could be better, right? >> yes. and your forecast is a champion forecast. >> thank you. i'm waiting for my. what does the champion get? do i get a trophy? >> i know you were gesturing for, like, medals around your neck. that's okay. >> i'll just give you an accurate forecast. here's a look at what's happening right now. it's a gusty out there. if you haven't noticed, we've got a ground surface a ground surface. the surface winds up to 35mph at oakland, 25 at sfo and all around the bay area. it's a pretty breezy but it's pleasantly breezy and getting pleasantly cool as well. the 24 hour temperature change shows most locations are 3 to 5, or in some cases, even nine degrees cooler than at this time yesterday evening. so let's take a closer look from emeryville. looking back at a mainly blue sky out west, but you can see the low clouds building along the coastline 54 degrees here in san francisco right now, 58 in oakland, 62, hayward, 68. in san jose, redwood city, 71 degrees and 54 at half moon bay. we've got some low clouds at the golden gate and breezy conditions there as well. it's

62, in pasetta, a 52 in petaluma, rather. that's our cool spot on this panel. 62 in santa rosa, napa 66 and low to mid 70s at fairfield, concord and livermore. so on we go looking down onto the bay from mount tam. these are the forecast headlines tonight. cooling coastal fog is with us now. we'll continue to push inland overnight. the week ahead mostly sunny and dry days. it will be a pleasant week with the temperature range generally mild to warm away from the coastline, but from the bay to inland, mild to warm. so the forecast animation starting at 8 p.m. shows low clouds continuing to advance across the bay and locally inland during the late night and overnight hours, and after about 1 or 2 a.m, we'll see lots of patchy drizzle just offshore. it's not likely any of this rain will hit the coastline, but just offshore it'll be a bit drizzly and it will feel sort of moist near the coastline overnight. low temperatures mainly in the low 50s, so still relatively mild overnight weather and tomorrow's highs near 60. at the coast we'll see low to mid 70s. most short bay shore locations in our

inland areas will warm up to about 8082, maybe 83, in the warmest spots. here's the accuweather seven day forecast will maintain that same temperature range just about all the way through the week and mainly mid 80s inland mid 70s around the bay shoreline, sunny skies and dry conditions with a little bit of a cool down under breezy conditions. when the weekend arrives. >> well, yesterday at oracle park, a pelican got lost, landed right on the field. i'm going to call it the rally pelican and it gave the giants some good luck. they beat the reds yesterday. today no pelicans but the giants looking for a series victory on mother's day. and happy first mother's day to alyssa nakken who became a mom earlier in the off season. de la salle high product kyle harrison on the mound in trouble. early bases loaded in the first two outs. jeimer candelario deep to center and juju lee going for the ball. hits the wall hard. a bassist clearing double three. nothing. reds. he would leave the game with what was later being called a dislocated shoulder mri. tomorrow lamonte wade junior in the fifth. going, going. hey

it's out. two run shot. didn't look like it was going to get out but it did. part of a five run inning that gave the giants the lead. we go into extras tied at five, casey schmidt at the plate and be a hero. his first hit of the season. he was called up a couple of days ago. it's a game winner. giants win six, five and ten. hey a series victory. up next three games hosting the dodgers starting tomorrow. a's looking for a series win in seattle and the special mother's day bases all across baseball. a lot of pink on the hats, the bats, the socks. seattle scored four in the second. julio rodriguez capped it two run shot off alex wood, who threw 60 pitches in just two innings before getting pulled and history for the a's here. max schumann solo home run . and when he touched home plate, he scored the 40,000th run in oakland history. the a's lose eight four, though. off to houston tomorrow to begin a four game series. saw it right here on abc seven. the 2024 nba draft lottery warriors have the worst odds of winning the lottery, and since they did not get a top four pick, that pick went to the blazers because of a trade they

made with that pick to memphis, along with andre iguodala back in 2019. the warriors will not pick in the first round of the draft unless they somehow move back with a trade or something else. now here's how close they were. the atlanta hawks had a 3% chance of winning the lottery. they did win and they get the first pick for the first time since 1975. the warriors had less than 1% chance. and here the hawks are getting the pick. the draft starts wednesday, june 26th right here on abc seven. and last night you saw the rally pelican here in florida and a minor league game. how about the rally turtle. there's a turtle on the field. starts in left center field of a single a baseball game down there in florida. and so the outfielders are like hey we need some help. let's go look at this turtle. the turtle then scoots away to center field as three players chase it down. it is a fast turtle. spencer and then the bullpen guy, the brave man for the bullpen. i got it. maybe he had a pet turtle growing up. he takes the turtle to his friend in the bullpen. no word on if he got any chance to pitch in the game. still waiting on that, but that's a pretty brave guy from

the bullpen getting the rally turtle. >> why did it take four players to corral this single turtle? >> oh, did you grab the turtle if a turtle came right on the set? i don't know that i would spring into action. >> really? yeah. i'm not doing it. there's a spider. just not turtles. yes, i will remember that. we'll be right ba

alameda is now shutting down a climate study over controversial

experiment. we dive into the health and safety concerns aboard the uss hornet, plus a social media star is born. take a look. the full story behind this black bear in california, captured on a hidden camera. well, what's it like when the most influential people in the world come together? we are about to find out. time has teamed up with abc to bring viewers inside the exclusive time 100 gala. taraji p henson is the host of the evening and a time icon honoree. the event is brimming with changemakers, trailblazers and a-listers who all make up the 21st annual time 100 most influential list. you can watch the special tonight at 10 p.m. right here on abc seven, and stream it tomorrow on hulu. disney is the parent company of hulu and abc seven. i think we've decided we're going to vote for spencer next year as a trailblazer or a change maker. >> both. >> you can be both. thanks for

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