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he was just not a baseball player. he did so many things in his capacity as a baseball player, far more than a ball player. >> he was a legend. and not just in sports or in san francisco, but all around the world.

>> tonight we remember willie mays, who passed away today. good evening. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. >> thank you for joining us. san francisco in the world is mourning the loss of our forever giant. take a look. the top of salesforce tower is illuminated in orange in his honor. you can see it in this live picture rising above the san francisco skyline to honor the great willie mays. and in san francisco city hall, also illuminated in orange. you can see that right now in this live picture. all for the say hey kid. >> willie mays passed away today at the age of 93 due to heart failure. number 24 made 24 all-star teams over the course of his baseball career, most of which he spent with the giants. let's start our team coverage with abc seven news sports director larry biel >> what a life this hits home for you and for so many people. >> yeah, we got the news late this afternoon and just felt a wave of sadness overcoming all of us. and it's just it's hard.

it's hard. you know we cover sports stars all the time. willie mays was so much more than a baseball player. literally a larger than life figure, universally beloved, admired for all he did on and off the field. let's look back at the life of the incredible willie mays. >> they say willie, say hey, say woo! swing it at the plate. say hey, say who? say willie said giant kid is great. >> willie mays has been called the greatest all around baseball player that ever lived. when it came to hitting for average hitting for power base, running, throwing and fielding. the say hey kid was the ultimate five tool player. born may the 6th, 1931, in westfield, alabama, mays excelled at an early age. at only 14, he was playing semi-pro baseball with his father while still in high school. his professional career began in the leagues with the birmingham black barons. the boston braves and brooklyn dodgers were both interested,

but it was the new york giants who signed mays to a major league contract that i really didn't care who signed me. >> i wanted to get out of uh- this mouth and not not because of any racial thing there is, because i wanted to go and maybe help my family to make a money. and i did. >> four years after jackie robinson broke the color barrier, mays became the 10th african-american player in major league history when he made his debut less than three weeks before his 20th birthday on may 25th, 1951. >> i had, it ■seemed, to what jackie had, but not on a big scale. i was by myself for quite a while, and it didn't bother me because i. i could handle it because i had played professional ball for like 2 or 3 years. >> mays went hitless in his first 12 at bats. in his 13th, he hit the first of his 660 career home runs, and he did it off of hall of fame pitcher warren spahn. he would go on to

garner rookie of the year honors, and he was on deck when bobby thomson hit the shot heard round the world. the giants won the pennant, propelling the giants from the cellar. >> the giants while the giants beat the brooklyn dodgers in a three game playoff, they would lose to the yankees four games to two. >> in the 1951 world series. during his days in new york, mays was a familiar figure on the streets of harlem, playing stickball games with kids before or after giants games. in 1952, mays career was put on hold for almost two full seasons. after he was drafted into the army during the korean war conflict. many believe mays would have hit 700 plus home runs if not for that layoff. when mays returned to action in 1954, he hit 345 with 41 homers and won the national league mvp award in a four nothing world series sweep of the cleveland indians. he made arguably the most famous catch in baseball history on vic wertz way back back.

>> it is one of the many willie mays just brought. this crowd to his feet with a catch, which must have been an optical illusion to a lot of people. >> when the ball was hit. in my mind that i didn't think i was going to miss the ball, how were i going to get the ball back into the infield? that's the only thing i was thinking about. and two men was on. now >> after the 1957 season, the giants relocated to san francisco. it was as a san francisco giant that mays would have his most memorable offensive display, a four home run game against the milwaukee braves in 1961. willie's stats are second to none in his 22 year career. he batted 302 while collecting 3283 hits. he won 12 gold gloves in consecutive years , was a two time national league mvp, and 24 time all-star. ted williams once said they made the all star game for willie mays. in 1972, mays was traded to the

new york mets. he would retire at the end of the 73 season. in his first year of eligibility. mays was inducted into baseball's hall of fame in 1979. in his post-playing days, mays returned to the giants, acting as a special assistant and team ambassador. he was a common sight in the giants locker room and at practices while mentoring his godson barry bonds, proudly a childhood dream to be able to have the greatest baseball player in the world around you all the time and just, you know, it's phenomenal. the say-hey kids legend lives on. immortalized by a bronze statue outside oracle park at willie mays plaza, an honor befitting one of the greatest to ever play the game. >> to me, it's a heartwarming thing, and whoever thought of it, i. i thank them tremendously because you just don't get that too much, you know? >> one of a kind. everybody who was fortunate enough to meet willie mays has a story you don't forget when you meet willie mays. so for me, i had just moved up to the bay area

from hawaii. i was assigned to cover spring training. we're on a back field in scottsdale where the giants are getting ready, and there's just me, cameraman and off in the distance i see a figure. and walking, walking, walking. and i see that's willie mays. and so i was so scared to approach him. i didn't know what to say. i was just starstruck and i, you know, reached out to shake his hand and i said, mr. mays, mr. mays, i just want to say, you know, and he goes, i know you. you're that new guy. and so that broke the ice. i was like, oh, okay, willie mays knows who i am. >> you'll never forget. >> oh my god. i mean, yeah, to this day i think about that moment. oh, they're a handful of sports figures. >> always, always wished i had met. he is one of them. yeah. >> for me, it's also muhammad ali. oh that's another one for sure. >> absolutely. arnold palmer is also another. yeah. for me. yeah, ironically, he was on his. they had hoped he'd be on his way to alabama and a couple of days. right. yeah >> and that makes willie's passing even sadder. he was going to be honored in

birmingham as a tribute to the leagues at rickwood field in birmingham. that's where ways where mays started his career as a teenager with the birmingham black barons and so we got word a couple of days ago that, you know, he was not going to be able to make the trip because the whole thing is supposed to be a salute to willie mays. and so now it's going to be kind of a, i hope, a celebration of life. sure. for willie mays, they will obviously recognize him as planned. >> he just can't be there. yeah, yeah. what a remarkable man. >> incredible, incredible. >> all right. thanks, larry. >> yeah, well, the news broke during the giants cubs game this afternoon at wrigley field. here's the moment it was announced by john miller. >> we are very sad now to relay this information that has just been released by the giants. that the great willie mays has passed away. he passed away peacefully this afternoon at the age of 93. as the giants come to bat here in the fifth inning

with jorge soler, then nick ahmed and yastrzemski, the giants release said it is with great sadness that we announced that giants legend and hall of famer willie mays passed away peacefully this afternoon. >> at a short time later, the game announcer called for a moment of silence. >> please join us. in a moment of silence as we remember willie mays >> and after news of mays death broke around 6 p.m. today, fans started coming by oracle park. mays statue, of course, is right outside. >> just a natural place to congregate. and abc seven news reporter j.r stone is there live for us. j.r >> yeah, larry a somber mood here outside of oracle park as fans have come out here to pay their respects to willie mays. and you can see what has become a growing memorial here at the willie mays statue. fans have left flowers, bobbleheads,

baseballs and even notes, one that read you are always our say hey kid and forever giant. some just wanting to touch the statue, many remembering the player that he was. the 24 time all star might have taken the home run record if not for being drafted by the army to serve in the korean war, something he did not complain about. the memories still strong for some. >> it was one of the first players i saw when i was coming to the old stick with my father, and i just wanted to pay my tributes to him. >> i'm old enough to have watched him play through my childhood and i've been a san francisco resident for, you know, 40 years, and it's been great to watch him play here as well. >> and back out here, live outside of oracle park, you can see that candle that was lit there and you can see all of the flowers out here. and so many fans still out here this evening beyond some of our cameras, many

making the point that willie mays was a crucial figure in the fight for equality, not only for black athletes, but also black americans as well. reporting live in san francisco, j.r. stone, abc seven news. >> he certainly helped break the color barrier in so many ways. and, you know, i always loved that statue at the park because it's bigger than life. iconic it's iconic. and just like the man bigger than life, it's so different now that he's passed. i always love seeing it there, knowing he's still alive to see it, but it's a different feeling there now. i imagine. >> it certainly is. and we've seen people come through all day and oftentimes bring younger kids. and some who said, i never saw him play, but i heard about what he did and i was amazed by that. even adult who said they didn't see him play, but they were so amazed by him as the community man at that. >> yeah, families sharing memories spanning generations. all right. thank you so much, j.r. >> very touching. longtime giant barry bonds posted his reaction

to this news on facebook, writing in part, quote, i have no words to describe what you mean to me. you helped shape me to be who i am today. >> san francisco mayor london breed shared her thoughts, quote to a native san franciscan some things just go without question. it's foggy in the summer. cable cars go halfway to the stars, and willie mays is the best there ever was. >> former president barack obama is remembering mays tonight. he posted on x, quote, willie mays wasn't just a singular athlete blessed with an unmatched combination of grace, skill, and power. he was also a wonderfully warm and generous person and an inspiration to an entire generation. those words from our former president well, you're going to hear more from former president obama coming up at 1030. >> yes. coming up, the compliment he paid willie mays back in 2015 when he presented him with the presidential medal of freedom. >> stay tuned for that. but also ahead on abc seven news at ten and san francisco, a 14 year old program that helps the community

with safety and resources is at risk of being eliminated. plus a step forward in the efforts to recall the mayor of oakland. >> i'm meteorologist sandhya patel. smoky, hazy skies today, an air quality advisory continuing through tomorrow. i'll be back with the forecast coming up. >> and the next game in the stanley cup final is friday, right here on abc seven. see if the florida panthers can close it out against the edmonton oilers. live coverage of game six starts at 5 p.m. friday. it will be followed by after the game with

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largest active wildfire in the state. it's charred more than 15,000 acres in colusa county and is 5% contained. there are evacuation orders in place and there's also a red flag warning for the area. putting up a lot of smoke that has drifted down to napa, sonoma and solano counties. >> firefighters are making progress on the point fire in sonoma county. containment is up to 50% now. it's burned more than 1200 acres. cal fire provided this encouraging update this evening. >> so the moisture coming in from the ocean over the fire area will put our relative humidities into the 30% range, and overnight recoveries into the upper 60s, which is a fantastic advantage for firefighters to continue to get a good handle on that fire situation. >> the fire has destroyed a number of buildings, and there are still evacuation orders in place. west of healdsburg. >> you can track the fires burning across the state with this. abc seven news wildfire tracker. click on the fire icon to learn the latest on each fire, including acres burned and

containment. you can find it on abc seven news.com/fire map. >> certainly encouraging to hear the humidity going up that's helping on the fire lines and maybe the wind has died down some. >> yeah. abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel has been tracking the conditions closely. sandhya. yeah. >> and dan and umma, let's take a look at some live pictures right now, because our weather situation is definitely changing. so looking at live pictures, we do have less haze and smoke in the atmosphere than we did earlier in the day. certainly seeing still some fog beginning to develop around half moon bay. let's take a look at the satellite picture from earlier today. the site fire in colusa county. you can see that smoke that was just coming into parts of the north bay and the east bay and really causing the air quality to deteriorate. right now, we do have some pockets of moderate air quality indicated in yellow, but it is not quite as bad as it was earlier today. now, i do want to show you what's going to happen. here's a look at the surface

smoke. it is once again going to drift into parts of the north bay, going into tomorrow morning and even into tomorrow afternoon. some of that may drift into the east bay as well. but because of this, the air district has extended that air quality advisory through tomorrow. moderate air quality is expected for the north bay coast and central bay good elsewhere, and then a duplicate of that on thursday. although the air quality advisory for now is just through tomorrow. temperatures down compared to 24 hours ago by 11 degrees in mountain view, novato down five in oakland, san jose nine degrees cooler. the sea breeze did pick up and that helped to kind of mix out the atmosphere a bit. right now it is sustained winds of 30 miles an hour in san francisco. we do have a little bit of fog in half moon bay checking out those temperatures right now. most areas are in the 50s and 60s. brentwood at 73 degrees from our pier 39 camera. looking good tomorrow morning. fog cooler. afternoon on friday and saturday. the heat spikes inland and then early next week we are expecting our typical

summer spread. so first thing tomorrow morning, notice the expansion of the fog going in across parts of the bay tomorrow morning for the commute. we will also see higher clouds just like today, adding to the haze in the atmosphere. the wind will pick up once again, but this is a typical sea breeze. looking at 20 to 25 miles an hour. a stronger gusts not out of the question. 40s and 50s on your temperatures tomorrow morning, you're going to wake up to more gray skies than we have seen in days past. tomorrow afternoon it's going to be in the upper 50s and breezy coast side all the way to the low 80s inland, so not quite as warm as what we have been seeing. a look at the accuweather seven day forecast. it's cooler for juneteenth for those who have the day off to enjoy. and then summer begins on thursday at 150 in the afternoon, and it is going to be pleasant weather for the first day of summer, but it heats up as you would expect. friday, saturday, sunday we're expecting mid 90s to low 100 inland. but good news is ama and dan 60s coast side and then really minor fluctuations early next week. so

some are hit. >> arrives on thursday but slaps us in the face on thursday. >> yeah, pretty much so pleasant. >> yeah. >> sandhya. all right. >> two astronauts will extend their stay on the international space station. that's to allow teams on the ground to better understand the issues with the boeing built starliner spacecraft that carried them there since it blasted off into orbit on june fifth, astronauts have dealt with a number of issues, including malfunctioning thrusters and a series of helium leaks. nasa says the two astronauts will not return home before june 26th. that's later than the original window between the 18th and the 22nd, california's biggest school district is going to ban cell phones at school next reaction from those who

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coming up with a plan to implement the ban by january of next year. you know, we've seen the harmful effects on kids academic achievements, their mental health, their physical health. >> we had a robust discussion about some of the challenges, whether that's the inequities, not just in bridging the digital divide, but protecting certain students, vulnerable student populations. >> right now, it's all up to you as a teacher. you become the phone police or not, and you have to decide what i appreciate about this policy is that the district will take a stance. >> a lot of students, they don't they haven't seen a world without their cell phones. so it's going to be a really challenging for the board to convince students to not be on their phones and convince students to get on board with this policy. >> will be interesting to see how that goes. and we're also following the story of san francisco's valencia street bike lane. the sfmta board is changing course on this controversial center running bikeway on the street. the board voted today to have muni staff design a side running bikeway that will replace the one that runs right down the middle of

the street. the center running lane has received mixed feedback . merchants say business on the valencia corridor has suffered because of this center running bikeway. so what's next? sfmta's board says more potential disruption, what will happen in the coming months and through an eventual construction phase, will be very significant for many, if not most, or maybe even all of the businesses that are impacted. >> today's vote authorizes sfmta staff to come up with a new bike line lane design that will include engaging with business community members, bike riders, really everyone involved, all stakeholders. we are continuing to follow the second trial of david depape, the man accused of attacking nancy pelosi's husband, paul, in their home today. the case went to the jury, but even that hasn't been without controversy. as it turns out, abc seven news reporter stephanie sierra was in court today and has the story. >> the verdict is now in the hands of the jury. but leading

up to that, a lot happened today. two separate incidents of attempts to influence members of the jury. and i witnessed one of them. we'll show you some photos this morning. the website of david depapes ex-partner, gypsy taub, was written on the wall of a stall in the women's bathroom. that website has been reporting false conspiracies about the case, and there's concern several jurors saw it last night. a similar incident happened where a juror found some items, likely papers in the same bathroom with information attempting to sway jurors. bailiffs found it in the trash and confiscated it. today, the judge ordered gypsy to be excluded from the courtroom and parts of the courthouse for the remainder of this trial. he said, quote, you have been attempting to influence corruptly one or more members of this jury. following that, the defense presented closing arguments, describing depape as utterly exhausted and confused, living a solitary, isolated life, refuting the government's argument that depape wanted to kill people like gypsy and others on his so-called hit

list. the defense also tried to argue some of the charges are not applicable to this case, like aggravated kidnaping that carries a life sentence, stressing depape lacked intent to detain mr. pelosi. now, the prosecution used their last moments, with the jury replaying body camera footage of that moment. david depape struck paul pelosi on the head with that steel hammer. as far as the timeline for the jurors, they deliberated for about 2.5 hours today and will resume on thursday at the hall of justice. stephanie sierra abc seven news. >> juneteenth is happening tomorrow, but the alameda county board of supervisors used today to pay tribute. it honored carol h. williams for her work in the community, as well as her successful business career. >> entrepreneurs. we've got millions of them out here, but in order to be a great entrepreneur, you got to learn how to be a great employee, because at the end of the day,

that's what it takes. >> williams launched her oakland based advertising firm in 1986 and has worked with numerous big name companies throughout the years. in honor of juneteenth, the national park service is waiving entry fees, but you'll still have to pay for things like parking. the east bay regional park district is marking the holiday with a free park day. it's waiving the fees on things like parking dogs, horses, fishing and boat launching. in san francisco, the recreation and parks department is hosting a celebration at golden gate park. >> you don't need to steal. you don't need to take things that don't belong to you. shelf emptied by thieves coming up tonight. >> the ongoing battle against retail theft

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orange tonight. the lights are on at oracle park as well. >> willie mays number 24. the say hey kid died today. his family in the san francisco giants announced his death jointly this evening. mays died this morning from heart failure. the hall of famer spent practically his entire playing career with the giants. 21 of his 23 seasons in the bigs. his exuberance, his incredible talent on the field made him one of the greatest baseball players of all time, mays was 93, and mays really was a giant on and off the field. >> he was, in 2015, president obama awarded him with the nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. the president calling mays a trailblazer is because of giants like willie that someone like me could even think about running for president. >> in his remarks, president obama said mays incredible lifetime statistics on the field

helped carry forward the banner of civil rights and he loved baseball. >> he spoke of it poignantly when he retired from the sport in 1973. >> it's difficult right now to even, try to explain to you how much i love baseball and how much baseball will mean to me. i think we had what you call, a love affair. i think, the two together for 22 years have been terrific. i don't. >> and coming up on abc seven news at 11, the giants poignant journey to alabama on thursday to play at the field where mays got his start in baseball, how the team intends to remember mays on this historic visit, and how fans have already begun remembrances there tonight. >> that's coming up later. but for the moment, let's move on, governor newsom said today the statewide crackdown on organized retail theft appears to be working, according to numbers abc seven news first received last night, the chp has made 636

arrests and recovered more than 216,000 stolen goods valued at nearly $5.7 million. all since january. from january to may, arrests have risen 167% since the same period last year. now, this all sounds great, doesn't it? well, perhaps on paper, however, in one oakland neighborhood, some retailers are not seeing signs of the success the governor is proclaiming. >> yeah, take a look at these empty shelves. this rite aid store doesn't have supply issues. nope. it has been repeatedly cleaned out by thieves again and again. >> abc seven news reporter ryan curry is in oakland with a closer look at the problem. >> if you ask people who have lived in the montclair neighborhood for a while, they'll tell you they love living here. >> it's one of the places where everybody knows your name. you're going to your bank and they call you by name. >> but the safe and friendly atmosphere seems to be diminishing. >> these changes are very upsetting because it's not the way it's always been. >> businesses are dealing with rising crime, particularly this

rite aid drugstore, feminine products gone alcohol gone. the nail polish stand has just a few items and the laundry detergent is locked up, just grabbing stuff off the shelves and walking out. the oakland police department tells us they have been in the neighborhood multiple times in the last several months for reports of robberies, rite aid store employees tell abc seven news oakland police have assigned patrol cars to monitor the store . >> i don't like to see people go to jail, but there has to be some kind of consequence. >> times have been tough for this rite aid and the evidence is completely clear. this window was smashed and boarded up because what lies on the other end of this wall is the checkout counters and cash register. other small businesses in montclair are also getting robbed. >> even just as recently as a couple of weeks ago, a you know, commercial burglary in the middle of the night doing, you know, thousands or maybe tens of thousand dollars of damage. >> daniel swafford with the montclair village association says even though the governor's office says police have made over 600 arrests for retail theft, more needs to be done to

keep montclair safe. >> it's not a guarantee that our businesses can weather the storm of, you know, constant and incessant crime. shoppers we spoke with have a message for those committing crimes. >> stop it. it's not necessary. >> just stop it. >> your karma will catch up with you. >> they want this neighborhood back to being a safe area in oakland. ryan curry, abc seven news. >> across the bay now in san francisco, community ambassadors are doing their part to try to build a better bay area. they're rallying now to save the 14 year old program that helps with safety and resources. as abc seven news reporter, luz pena explains, it's one of the programs that could be cut in the upcoming budget. >> with backpacks on and fliers ready, san francisco community ambassadors tony zachary and daniel aberra are on a mission. >> every day we outreach for unhoused individuals. we save lives. we give out resources, referral materials, also a kind

of social service materials. >> san francisco's community ambassador program started in 2010, in response to increased violence and the need for better community safety options in the bayview and visitacion valley neighborhoods. zachary remembers seeing the ambassadors when she was in school. now there are ambassadors in six neighborhoods, and she's one of them. >> but when i was in middle school, i remember i used to see the community ambassadors on the t line, and i think it helped prevent a lot of like, snatching fights. >> san francisco's latest budget cuts are set to impact this program today. ambassadors rallied outside of city hall, hoping to save the program. take good care. >> it's not just the city's only city operated ambassador program, it is a national, finally recognized model. >> zachary showed us the narcan in her bag. she used one of them recently to save a life. >> this is narcan. we carry this to reverse overdoses.

>> we looked at the data, and so far from the fiscal year 2023 to 2024, ambassadors have made 48,000 reports to 3-1-1 done 4500 safety escorts and 65,000 wellness checks. the majority of their work is under neighborhood support, with almost 100,000 merchant visits. >> when someone is in psychosis or sleeping outside their door, they call us to check in with them. they don't call the police . >> san francisco mayor's office said the city is prioritizing direct services programs, streamlining our ambassador programs, and really making them work more efficiently for the city mayor. london breed said they're planning to fund them through the first fiscal year. >> we are going to work to try and potentially transition them all into other job opportunities. >> these ambassadors want the program to survive, so we are not a burden, but we are a solution for the city. mayor breed says. there's still hope that san francisco is facing an

$800 million deficit in san francisco. luz pena, abc seven news, the san francisco board of supervisors voted unanimously today to approve mayor breed's tenderloin curfew legislation. >> certain stores must close up shop between midnight and 5 a.m. it's an attempt to prevent drug related crime and loitering crowds in the neighborhood. business owners face $1,000 fines for every hour they break curfew. >> a second wave of vacant to vibrant businesses open today in san francisco. the pop ups are located in the financial district, rincon hill, yerba buena and east cut neighborhoods. 11 new businesses get to open their doors, including papers on coffee on second near folsom. >> today's soft open, so let's go. i mean, i believe in san francisco, so i hope san francisco believes in us. >> san francisco launched the vacant to vibrant program last september. pop ups fill vacant retail space and get three

months free rent and other support to get up and running. a delicate balancing act will go one on one with san francisco mayor london breed to talk about the budget, as well as the state of the city. >> remember, abc7 news is streaming 24 over seven. get the abc7 bay area app so you can join us whenever you're not alone. rent is up, and every family outing costs an arm and a leg. well, we want to help. so when prices go up, we find new ways to go low. and now, we've lowered the price on hundreds of your favorite products. designing something beautiful is easy. designing something beautiful with great quality for a low price? that's a different story.

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ticket offer for a limited time. is that a titanic wreckage imploded, killing the five people on board. one year later, investigators still cannot say for sure what went wrong during the expedition operated by the company oceangate. the coast guard says that it will need more time to determine the cause . ocean gates titan lost contact nearly two hours after it began, a two and a half mile descent. it touched off a multinational search and rescue operation that was highly publicized. justin timberlake is making headlines tonight. not for a good reason,

though. the singer was arrested in the hamptons under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. timberlake was arrested early this morning in sag harbor, new york. sources tell abc news he blew through a stop sign and swerved into the opposite lane. he claimed to have only had one drink, but police say timberlake had bloodshot, glassy eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. he's been released without bail. timberlake is currently on tour. it's not clear if this will impact any of those tour dates. >> new developments out of oakland, where the petition to recall mayor shengtao was approved today. the alameda county registrar verified the signatures, a process organizers say went much faster than expected. it will now go to a city council committee to address the next steps, which is expected to happen on july 2nd. if the recall is to appear on the november ballot, the deadline is august 9th. should that happen, it would be the second recall on the ballot for oakland voters. the recall of alameda county district attorney pamela price is already set on that ballot in november. all

right. a few minutes ago, we talked about some of the budget cuts being made in san francisco. and today on our 3 p.m. newscast called getting answers, abc seven news anchor kristen sze spoke live with mayor london breed about her budget, the state of the city and the upcoming election, also, your opponent last night, mark farrell, brought up policing that you haven't devoted enough funds to it, haven't managed to hire enough officers. so the city is still 500 officers short. i know in this year's proposed budget you did not cut police. you had to cut some other departments, but do you think it's enough? >> so. so just to be clear, when mark farrell was temporary mayor in san francisco, my budget today in what we're proposing is $200 million higher than it was when he served. and more importantly, i negotiated some of the best contracts we are now. san francisco is the highest paid police department in the region, and retention bonuses to help retain people so that we have less police officers retiring. our current

academy class has 40 individuals. the next one will be fully staffed at 50. we've cut the hiring process by half and we expect to be fully staffed with the police department in the next two and a half years. so we have a lot of momentum, but police departments all over the country have been impacted. after the death of george floyd, and many are trying to build up their departments. but also, just to be clear, we're working very hard and we're seeing change with our department. but policing and safety uh- safety in san francisco is more than just about policing. it's about alternatives to policing, taking things that used to be the police department's responsibility, like wellness checks, responding to people in crisis. those kinds of things are now there's a crisis response team and other alternatives to policing to remove responsibilities from the department. so we've been doing a lot of different things. and it's just not one thing. yeah. >> and to be fair, hiring police

in all high cost of living cities has been a challenge. and i think we just had a study yesterday that we reported on that, you know, san francisco is impossibly unaffordable by some metric. and that's not something one person can fix. but it is an area, you know, reality. but i want to point out you talked about alternatives. and one of those is community ambassadors and several supervisors held a rally today to say, hey, mayor, why are you you know, cutting combat the community ambassadors program in the budget and wanting to outsource that, if you will. >> so to be clear, we have ambassadors. some work better than others. uh- urban alchemy is a perfect example. they're located in the tenderloin. they're very effective. our downtown and union square ambassadors. and what we're doing with these particular ambassadors, we're funding it for the next year. and we're not funding it for the following year. if our budget situation changes, then then we will make some adjustments and more importantly, all of the individuals who are hired through oca, which is a different kind of ambassador,

that we will make sure that we work to ensure that they receive other employment opportunities, including the possibility of working with a couple of our other ambassador programs. so i think there's just definitely a difference of, you know, what kind of ambassadors we should be funding. we have retired police officers who are ambassadors in different neighborhood corridors . but my desire is to centralize some of our ambassadors and to cut costs in doing so and to ensure that, you know, if we decide to eliminate this program in next year's budget completely, then our work is to ensure that these ambassadors receive employment through some of our other programs, because we do have a lot of them, i see. >> all right. so hopefully the services will still be available, maybe under a different bucket. yes. or name. but okay, i want to talk about reviving downtown and the union square area. i know for union square you've proposed business pop ups, a filipino cultural center. i think a facelift for powell street. but just today, our media partner, the san francisco standard, is reporting

that the independent budget analyst is saying, hey, you know, some of this may not be possible because of the budget realities, like maybe, you know, some of that $15 million cannot happen. how concerned are you about? >> so let's be clear. this is not an independent budget and legislative analyst. they are paid by the board of supervisors . it's the budget and legislative analyst for the board of supervisors. that sole purpose is to analyze those dollars and do everything they can to find more money for the board to cut, so that they can use it for their pet projects. this is something that has been happening even when i was on the board of supervisors. this is what happens. and they try to look at easy pickings like they look at downtown and our economic recovery as easy pickings. but downtown and what downtown generates as it relates to revenue is what pays for all the things that the board cares about. so we need to make sure we revitalize downtown. we're looking at activation and many of those storefronts, paying for some of the build outs so that people can choose to work in downtown town or bring their

businesses like our vacant to vibrant program, where people are providing free space and businesses are coming, and the city is providing resources. so we have a lot of options that are going to help business prosper. that is the goal, and that is what this money is so desperately needed for. >> i was going to say, related to that, the old westfield center that had the nordstrom, that left the emporium center, there's been some new occupants, right? >> oh, definitely. and you know, it's not just going to be retail. you know we have historically black colleges and university students who are here taking classes in a space in the former westfield. it's now considered emporium. we have some new pop ups that have opened and have spaces. >> there's our video from uh. i think that's the kickoff to black in san francisco. >> yes, and we are loving it. and we're trying to show other universities throughout the country that our downtown is a place for students to take classes. lab spaces is possible. dorm room space where we can convert some of the office buildings to dorm room space. we can do so much with downtown,

but this is a place of excitement and innovation, and so we're really happy about what this will entail. >> now you can watch live interviews just like that one every weekday at 3 p.m. right here on abc seven, coming up next season. >> and his forecast for the final day of spring and the start of summer. >> also here, google's silicon valley campus isn't just about tech, it's also about something else taking flight. the protected birds that set up shop

on the peninsula. we first visited this area nearly a decade ago, and when we checked back in to see how things are going, we found a full house filled with sights and sounds for strolling nature lovers. this quiet block in mountain view may be the busiest street in town. if you don't believe it, just look up. tucked in the

shadow of the google campus, you can catch a glimpse of some of the most magnificent shorebirds in the bay area. and like 11 year old camden bok, maybe capture a picture or two. >> this is probably my favorite one at the great egret. >> the trees make up a nesting area known to bird experts as a rookery, where species ranging from herons to egrets perform a delicate dance of twig gathering and nest building. matthew dodder is executive director of the santa clara valley audubon society. he says the birds chose the area themselves, but over the past decade, their neighbors have pitched in to make them feel at home. >> google moved in 2014, and they discovered that the colony here, and they sought the advice from santa clara valley audubon society and san francisco bay bird observatory and tried to figure out, how do we take care of these birds. >> what they came up with were steps, including closing off the block of shorebird way to traffic during nesting season, and educating bird lovers to keep a respectful distance.

their efforts paid off dodder says the rookery has continued to thrive, while others have faced ongoing pressures, including construction and increased traffic. >> the colony does appear to be healthy. this is about 20% of the monitored population of great egrets in the south bay, and the numbers do seem to be good. >> and for visitors of all ages, it's a chance to experience the life cycle of these magnificent creatures with a true bird's eye view. >> it is so. the sounds are so beautiful that you could really just sit out here all day and just listen. it's so peaceful. >> just the behavior. it's like it's really cool when you see, like the herons hunting. >> even though i don't know them, i don't know, like what kind of birds they are, but they really look cool. so i started taking pictures. >> a flight of fancy in a shady corner of the busy bay area. pretty cool. the santa clara valley audubon society has programs to help you join in on the fun. here we have links for more information on our website

just go to abc7 news.com. >> we will celebrate the summer solstice on thursday, the day with the longest amount of daylight and while it's something that happens every year, this year will be the earliest in 228 years. it's due to the slight difference in the length of time it takes the earth to journey around the sun, compared to our calendar, the solstice occurs at 1:50 p.m. our time thursday. so whether you plan to sip champagne, make s'mores over a bonfire at the beach this year, there is a reason to celebrate a little extra. >> that's very cool. >> and then that means the days start getting shorter. they will after that. >> that's true. after thursday. >> okay, i'm just going to hold on to that day and just savor it. >> ama and dan while you can. yes, summer is coming up on thursday. let's show you a time lapse from earlier today. smoke and haze. unfortunately, with us mount tam cam showing you the view. the smoke is from the wildfire. the sites fire burning up in colusa county. we also have some fog that has started to form around half moon bay,

where visibility is down to seven miles. so tomorrow morning is going to be a different morning. we're going to have a lot more fog around, even though we only have patchy fog on live doppler seven now tomorrow afternoon, upper 50s to low 80s. it's breezy. it's going to be hazy with some high clouds and fog. and of course the smoke impacts as well. and then we fast forward to friday because this is when the heat comes up into the mid 90s. about 100 degrees for our hot spots on saturday. and you will notice sunday you still have some 90s in there. so summer comes in on thursday and appropriately so we bring in the heat. but it is going to be cooler for juneteenth tomorrow. so if you don't like the heat you have tomorrow to enjoy. dan ama. >> all right. sounds great. thank you. sandhya. all right. >> the extra charge for guac appears to be paying off for chipotle. >> its stock is about to make hist

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the end of the day on a high note. the dow gained 56 points, closing at 38,834. the nasdaq reached its seventh consecutive record high closing, while the s&p 500 also hit a record close. one reason for the gains nvidia's continued surge to new peaks. the chip maker has now surpassed microsoft as the world's most valuable company. shares of the santa clara company climbed today by 3.5% to just more than $135. >> and one more final financial item that's a shocker. chipotle shareholders have approved a historic 50 for one stock split. it will be one of the biggest stock splits in the history of the new york stock exchange, and it's the first stock split in the history of chipotle. the split makes shares more affordable for investors. chipotle stock has been running at record highs today. it closed at more than $3,400 per share, which is remarkable. >> it is all right. that is going to do it for this edition of abc seven news at ten. abc seven news at 11 is coming up

next. >> we'll have new details about a suspected arsonist accused of setting a number of fires at uc berkeley. why his lawyer claims this prosecution is political. >> and our coverage of willie mays life and impact continues with reaction from the giants and fans in mays home state, who grew up watching. willie played and iconic buildings lit up in orange tonight for an iconic man. >> coit tower, salesforce tower and oracle park all lit up in orange to honor the say hey kid, we'll see you in just a moment for abc seven news at 11.

he literally changed san francisco. >> it's been great to watch him play here. >> say, hey, kid, is the ultimate forever giant, a legendary player whose impact went far

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