NewsChannel 5 Webcast 3.26.15

a plea from the mayor of salinas — help the food bank for monterey county. good evening, thanks for joing us for this special web edition of news channel 5. i’m amanda gomez. and i’m spencer washburn. today mayor joe gunter saw firsthand the devastation left behind from saturday’s arson. news channel 5’s mariana hicks was with him as he toured the facility. she joins us now in the content center. the fire debris has been cleared out but the most striking thing the mayor noticed was the lack of food in the main warehouse. he fears there are children in his city that are going without food tonight. *trt: 119outcue:that;s not right:*00-07 joe gunter//mayor of salinas 07-13 salinas//mayor visits food bank after fire22-29 melissa kendrick//food bank for monterey county joe gunter//mayor of salinas “kids don’t pick where they are born. they don’t pick who their parents are. they don’t pick the fact that there’s no food on that table at night.” taking it all in. salinas mayor joe gunter.. seeing what’s left behind after a suspected arsonist torched pallets outside of the food bank for monterey county.the refrigerator trucks that were destroyed..have been temporarily replaced.melissa kendrick “”we picked up truck yesterday, it came from northern california. then we swung by the food bank in san francisco, they loaded it up and we have it here now. we also have two trucks that were rented that have arrived today. and we are hoping to get two more rental trucks by next week.”permanent replacement trucks could take up to three months to arrive. kendrick wanted to have operations here fully functional by monday.. it doesn’t look like it’ll happen. mayor gunter — again stressing the need for the community’s help. the food bank says the best type of donations are money at this point. joe gunter//mayor of salinas “this is the time for this community, which we always do, to step up.”and find the person responsible for this — joe gunter “this rates right up there with a homicide. this is serious cause maybe there will be somebody that starves to death, a kid that doesn’t get a meal that gets sick and ends up in the hospital. that’s pretty dramatic when you think about that. skip a meal for a day, let me know how you feel tomorrow. these kids are surviving that way. it’s not right.” fire investigators are actively working the case.. but don’t have any fresh leads. if you think you saw anything that night, no matter how small or insignificant, detectives urge you call salinas police anyway, it could help. in the content center, mariana hicks, news channel 5. and there will be a fundraiser tonight for the food bank at the hofsas house. the event starts at 5:30. tickets are 50 dollars per person.. and all proceeds will go to the food bank. new legislation would require more training for truck drivers. sb 344 is getting support along the central coast after a big rig crashed and killed a local driver on highway 17 back in july. the tragic accident happened during the morning commute on july 10, and took the life of daniel mcguire. now the bill is circulating its way to capitola’s city council where members of the community hope city leaders will throw their support behind the idea of more big rig traing. one truck driver of salinas agrees with the idea. *sot: juan cruz- truck driver from salinas “the schools needs more traing for the new people coming on the road, reporter “why?” “because th is not an easy job you know.”* sb 344 is on capitola’s city council agenda tonight. a long time santa cruz city council woman plans to be there to speak in support of the big rig training legislation — she is close with the mcguire family. many people are expected to be at tonights council meeting. the bill will go to committee in sacramento in early april. and capitola could join other california cities in banning e-cigarettes. the city council is meeting to discuss banning electric cigarettes in public places and at restaurants. e-cigarettes are battery powered devices that contain nicotine liquid that is vaporized and inhaled. the manager at zeldas says he prefers e-cigs over regular cigarettes but smoke is smoke and most customers don’t want that blown in their faces while they eat. *sot-william cole-manager at zeldas”i think it’s ridiculous that people can smoke them inside, so you know even if it doesn’t get banned and i see somebody smoking one of those things in here ill be telling them to stop.”* capitola would join seaside and watsonville in banning e- cigarettes. for the agriculture industry the future is here and with that comes innovative technology! for the second year in a row the salinas valley ag technology summit was held in gonzales featuring the latest gadgets from all different types of companies to help growers and field workers do their jobs more efficiently. news channel 5’s jake reiner was at the summit today. he joins us from the newsroom tonight. one of the engineers showing off his product today told me…when people think of agriculture, their first thought isn’t technology..well that’s what they hoped to change today as well as help fill the gaps of the labor shortagewe have on the central coast when it comes to the industry.. *trt:1:45 outcue::*20-2457-101 1″36-1:42it’s fast…1:49:47 – nats”i’ll just give you a quick demo of the unit here” and it’s slow…1:42:44- nats “it’s quiet, the machine just creeps along’but the key is efficiency to capitalize on farming and profit1:56:19″we are a start up in every sense of the word”eagle eye ag technology is in the business of aerial surveillance–or drones—1:57:48″you can survey about 8 acres in about 10 minutes and you see everything”covering the ground from the sky…dr. cliff hogan says growers can spot insect damage from the air using h-d cameras..nats- 1:52:21″you can bring it down really low to get a good view of your crops” he says he wants ag consultants and crop advisors to use this as a tool..but first he needs to an exemption permit from the federal aviation administration to fly commerically…2:00:03″the f-a-a rules are sort of up in the air at the moment”did you catch that? he says it’ll be at least two years before the f-a-a finalizes its rules for dronesstandupdr. hogan says he understands people’s concerns about privacy but in his line of work…”2:02:03 – dr. hoga “one of our mottos is we look at plants not people” 2:05:3 “and with hundreds of acres of crops there’s not a person in sight…well, almost”by that i mean…field workers…especially strawberry pickers…1:41:19 “five years ago, no one would have imagined this solared powered vehicle working in ag” engineer peter degroot…showed off his innovation…which cuts out carrying boxes and boxes of strawberries when workers are done harvesting with each row 1:40:54″you’re doing less walking and picking more”more strawberries leads to more cash and happier employees… 1:44:09 “this has helped the growers keep those laborers that are in the strawberry picking business” in the end, helping everyone’s bottom line. degroot said that there are 30 versions of that picker in the salinas valley right now and they go for around 60,000 dollars a pop..as for drones, dr. hogan says you need to register it with the f-a as an aircraft utnil they finalize the rules discussing and strategizing immigration services. that’s what community leaders from the central coast did today as they met with representatives from u-s citizenship and immigration services. the group strategized on the next steps and collaboration work for immigration services, advocacy work and how to actively promote it. “dispelling some of the myths about immigration and then also collaborating a little bit in terms of ideas, things that we can do together as a community.”butted”i lik coming together will provide us with greater strength in assessing what are the community needs and filling in those gaps” after this meeting, the groups have decided to come together once a month. a greenfield woman was arrested for allegedly embezzling thousands of dollars from the monterey derby girls league. police say kourtney gulick was the treasurer of the not-for-profit club based out of marina. gulick is accused of taking 17-thousand dollars… and using it to by personal items and gifts. marina officers say a search warrant turned up evidence for their investigation. she’s now booked in monterey county jail. new details about the deputy involved shooting in santa clara county. reports now say it all started when deputies were investigating a suspected drug deal. the deputies saw two cars.. and approached the suspects. that’s when one man allegedly rammed the patrol car.. and drove toward the deputies.. one deputy opened fire. two people were arrested.. including a man who showed up to a hospital with a gunshot wound. we could learn when fallen san jose officer michael johnson will be laid to rest.. any moment now. a police union spokesman says plans for the service could be announced as early as today. meanwhile, the san jose police officers’ association is asking for donations to help officer johnson’s family on its website. santa clara county deputies arrested the brother of escaped inmate johnell carter. investigators believe joseph carter helped his brother after he escaped. johnell was in jail for child molestation…when he overpowered a deputy during a hospital visit and escaped. investigators say they’re working several leads.. but don’t believe he is still in the san jose area. right now there is a 6-thousand dollar reward for information leading to his capture. just a day after police said the reported kidnapping of a vallejo woman for ransom was a hoax….the people at the center of this case are speaking out. police say there was no evidence to support the claim that 30-year-old denise huskins was kidnapped from her and boyfriend’s home monday morning. she turned up wednesday morning in huntington beach. but her boyfriend’s lawyer is disputing the claim.. saying that both were bound and drugged during the abduction. daniel russoaaronquinn’s attorney”what has been coming out has been making it look like he’s perpetrating a hoax. we have not seen evidence that this was some type of hoax.” meanwhile, huskin’s uncle.. jeff kane.. says the family’s plans to deal with what he calling “character assassination.” the investigation into the cause of the fatal plane crash in the french alps took a dramatic turn today. french prosecutors now say the co-pilot intentionally crashed the jet killing all 150 people on board french prosecutors say the co-pilot of germanwings flight 95-25 deliberately flew the jet into a mountainside as passengers screamed in terror. authorities say the cockpit voice recorder reveals that german co-pilot andreas lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit after he stepped out. he then manually set the plane on a descent as the captain pounded on the armored door. *sot: brice robin/french prosecutor :13-:17refused to open the door.//turned the button to get down the plane.* people who knew lubitz say he appeared normal. and happy to be working for germanwings airline. investigators are focusing on his personal and professional life to try to figure out what motivated him. cbs news has learned that lubitz trained at an arizona flight school in 2010 and had a u-s pilot’s license. an explosion and fire leveled part of a building in new york city’s east village. some 250 firefighters were on the scene in manhattan this afternoon. at least 12 people are injured… 3 were critically hurt. the nypd says initial indications suggest the cause was a gas explosion. oklahoma’s governor declared a state of emergency after tornadoes ripped through the state… killing at least one person and leaving widespread damage. the declaration was made, after governor mary fallin toured a school in moore who lost most of its roof to the storm. the damage comes about two years after a massive tornado hit moore.. destroying two schools and killing 7 students. california attorney general kamala harris says she’s asking the state court for permission not to authorize a proposed anti-gay ballot initiative. the measure calls for putting to death anyone who has sex with a person of the same gender. harris says the act is both “patently unconstitutional” and ” reprehensible.” unless a judge rules otherwise, she will have no choice but to let the measure go through the initiative process. california’s very own otter ambassador.. has died. the state department of fish and wildlife says “olive” th otter was killed by a shark bite. olive made headlines back in 2009, after she was found covered in oil on sunset state beach. thanks to several central coast organizations including the monterey bay aquarium and long marine lab.. she was rescued, washed and rehabilitated. olive was about 7 years old.. and was last spotted back in february. researchers say olive helped provide a big opportunity to learn more about otters. a 1 billion dollar water spending plan to help california communities dealing with the drought… is now heading to governor jerry brown. today, the california assembly unanimously voted 74-to-1 to pass the drought bills. the bills would provide funding for water and flood protection projects…. as well as financial help for communities hurt the most by the drought. the governor is expected to sign the bills. the news comes as california’s drought continues to worsen. according to the newest drought monitor… about 41-point-4 percent of california.. is now in an “exceptional drought”… th worst drought category. that’s up nearly 2 percent since last week. a new report shows that california’s current drought may be the worst in history or close to it. the report was just released by the state department of water resources. it compared severe droughts from california’s history and includes pictures of what state reservoirs looked like during those events. while, each drought brought its own unique challenges state water officials say in some respects, the current drought is the worst. *doug carlson/department of water resourcessays ” we have many more people than we did in say 1977we had 22 million then we have 38 million nowagriculture has changed a great deal with a lot more orchards as opposed to row crops, so there is a greater demand on the water that is available” * next week, water officials will measure the snowpack and they expect to see a new record low. it was a warm day here on the central coast… so what can we expect tonight? for more on that let’s bring in chief meteorologist dann cianca.