welcome to assignment 7. i'm janelle wang. today on our program. an abc news fix it report and cutting edge hotel open now in wine country. why it could set a standard for the u.s. and three crairs women jump on a treatment for a crippling disease. they claim it works. >> you have seen things that need to be fixed in your neighborhood.

it's part of a segment called, you fix it. >> all the pickets on the fence are coming out. >> jerry showed us the video of the fence that separates his neighborhood. >> this is part of the fence that is protruding. >> he says the fence that was built by a developer in mid '60s is falling apart. >> this has been chipped in from the top. it's very dangerous. whole thing could fall down in a storm. >> he and his makes have been waiting for the city to replace it since 2004 when newark added a project to build a new mall to it's capital improvement plan. >> they are putting up a chain link fencing, they are putting up corrugated roofing. and taking 2x4's and nailing toy the outside fence. >> they built this ball outside on cherry street street.

the project never got funded. >> it's going to be postponed for a while. >> it's deteriorating but it's a matter of priorities. is it a significant risk that section is going to fall down? i would think it is not. >> john is the city manager. a plan to build on the wall there is still on the books but it's been put on hold because of budget cuts. >> i try to keep police and firefighters on the streets. i'm trying to keep our streets at a minimum level of maintenance. frankly we don't have the funding that we would like to do. >> in the meantime, the residents on the street are legally responsible for maintaining the existing fence. but david says that is not fair for families. >> i think the city is pretty much responsible for it because it's showing what our city is

made of. >> it looks like one problem that won't get fixed anytime soon. the city manager says it will cost $450,000 to build the wall and the city can't afford it until the economy improves. if you have a problem, upload your video on our website at www.abc7.com, click on the you report link on the left-hand side of the page and don't forget a phone number and e-mail address where contact contact you. it's estimated that one in five athletes playing contact sports will suffer a concussion this year. one north bay high school is turning to technology to keep athletes safe. leigh glaser reports. >> ten years ago, mount tam quarterback took a bit hitting that left him with a severe concussion. >> i'm just laying there and everything is black and i don't see anything.

>> he didn't know how bad the injury was until he took a brain function test. >> what data from the test allowed us to do in the unfortunate event that one of the athletes should have a concussion, they would return to our clinic and retake the same tests they took today. >> it's similar to a memory test. athletes like the ones here are evaluated on reaction time to what they see on the screen and along with memory and visual recognition. the test is given once a year. they are re-tested if they get a concussion. >> we see a baseline core. it's actually quite good. immediately after the yes, sir when he took the test two to three days later, he was pretty well diminished. >> and they can tell when it's safe for them to return to the field which is the same preinjury test the n.f.l. requires its athletes each year. surprisingly, most concussions

are female with soccer and basketball. >> and dealing with temperatures with hundred degrees, the same symptoms you experience with a concussion, as are similar to heat exhaustion. >> like nausea and headaches and dizziness. >> it's the hopes to keep them on the field longer. >> it seems like everybody is trying to go green these days and hotels are no exception. dan ashley reports on one bay area hotel that is an extreme example of the growing trend. >> in sonoma county, healdsburg is increasingly becoming a destination for tourists visiting wine country and also where you'll find the newest hotel. >> the actual site used to be a gas station. >> jason is director of sales at h--2 hotel a new green hotel that opened in july.

>> obviously, we're going this to save money with the hotel itself by saving energy usage. it's really thefuture. i think other guests really appreciate the value of the green hotel. >> everything from the guest rooms to the lobby was designed with the environment in mind. >> essentially all of the materials in the interiors and in the hotel are sustainable, that is they are reused, resiokd local. >> even the tables in the restaurant are made from reclaimed wood. >> this is locally harvested certainly within the larger bay area. >> rather than jumping into a car you can check out a bike to get around town and a green roof helped the project off. >> you can make a building rich and wonderful and green is the

good way to do it because it saves monies over the long term and something that we need to do. >> they are hoping to get what they call certification from the green knowledge in the is couple of weeks. they set the standard for environmentally responsible building. the council says california has more green hospitality projects than anywhere else in the nation. the number of projects nationally jumped from one in 2005 to 947 this year. >> i think it is a trend. >> colin johnson is associate professor of hospitality management at san francisco state univer >> most of major changes that brought this idea of buying into sustainable development and looking after the environment but it was because cost savings. >> he says that european hotels are much further ahead than the u.s. to green up their hotels.

small hotels like this are planting the seeds of change locally but he says it's a matter of time before the big chains follow suit. >> i think it has eventually, not just in northern california but throughout the world. >> dan ashley, "abc 7 news." a very special summer camp based here in the bay area. coming up. they share a mission of love doing all they can to do to help children

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we want to take you back to a summer camp that is based right here in livermore. you'll hear from two women that want to help children with the aids virus. cheryl jennings reports on camp arroyo. >> i was born positive and hope is good and i am happy in life. >> live longer and i get to have

more friends. >> how do you like camp? >> i love it a lot. >> these young people are thriving in spite of living with the aids virus. they are working with other children with aids and siblings at summer camp. she is a counselor and they are counselors in training. they are reuniting with two dynamic women from california that made great sacrifices to make a safe place for children with aids. line taylor and her husband started the foundation with a modest event. >> we had a fund-raiser in our front yard. i never thought we be here. >> jerry founded the camp with children with aids. it was a terrible time of fear and lack of awareness. >> parents are really frightened to let their children know they were positive or they themselves were positive because they were

afraid the children wouldn't be accepted into school. >> the children enjoy a week of free summer camp. it was the dream of elaine taylor. she made out gos for special children with aids. jerry brooks was providing out of their own pocket. they would allow to bring the kids because of the care and stigma. geri told me back in 1989er was the first tv reporter to hold a child with aids. they met jerry as result of my story on abc7. >> it was a miracle when you brought elaine taylor to us. she is a woman in the community who was really interested and really cared about knowing more about children with aids. >> the can't here? livermore was built ten years with the virus and other life-threatening illnesses but the commitment to children's

happiness started more than 20 years ago. >> we took on the mission of building a camp for children with aids. >> now they are celebrating two decades of helping children. kids are being diagnosed with aids has declined and children with other life-threatening illnesses are now invited to the camp along with the families. >> we have two brain tumor camps and heart camps, the asthma camp >>. >> whether it gets a child to come to the camp, siblings to come to know the programs or other siblings that we tack talk about what is going on or it gives them free time to have a little break. >> for geri brooks it's a reward for a lifetime of hard work.

>> it's because of improved medication, to become young adults and coming back to be counselors, it's really wonderful. >> for them, camp had become her lifetime commitment. >> i love all the counselors and staff and everyone here. they really are my family. this is one of the most important things in my life. >> at camp arroyo in livermore, cheryl jennings, "abc 7 news." >> coming up bay area patients jump on the bandwagon for a controversial treatment to stop a crippling disease and not a crippling disease and not - hello! - ha! why don't you try a home cooked meal... with yummy hamburger helper? oh! tada! fantastically tasty, huh? ummm, it's good. what would you guys like? hamburger helper. what?! one pound... one pan... one tasty meal! with not having enough food. that's why i've teamed up with feeding america and hamburger helper®. when you buy hamburger helper® you can help feeding america deliver a meal to a local food bank.

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1-800-no butts. there is encouraging news for california students in spite of the budget cuts, new statewide test scores that students made progress for the eighth year in a row. >> you should feel proud of yourself. you did it. >> for years, bridges academy in

oakland struggled to increase test scores. this year they nearly made it to the 800 point mark. that is the benchmark set by the state in order to be considered a high quality school. it hasn't been easy. nearly 85% of the students here are english learners. >> we have a focus where we reviewed anden participated. >> extra help were given to those that need it. >> it's an abstract knowledge. >> when california begin tracking schools, only 20% or were at or above the 800 mark. this year, 46% reached it. it's clear that elementary schools are doing much better than the high schools. only 25% of them have hit that target. they say much emphasis has been

placed on the younger kids. >> how those kids are entering middle school and we're starting to see the gains at middle school level. we're hopeful we'll see the gains when they reach high school. >> other schools are now doing a number of things to try to improve scores. for example, here in oakland, two middle schools have decided to extend their school day. >> united academy is one of them. thanks to a grant the school will work with a nonprofit that will run an extended academic program. >> so knowing the standards, the guides, knowing what the students are working on in class and awill allowing practice time. >> they want to make sure that no one is left behind. in oakland, lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." bay area researchers will be joining the effort to examine a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis.

here is carolyn johnson. >> they are just back from a trip to the east coast. gail and michelle and the other weren't taking a vacation. they were together to receive an experimental treatment. >> that we were independent and did not depend on each other but what a joy. >> all three women suffer from multiple sclerosis. the decision they shared was to undergo a controversial procedure based on theory known as ccsdi. it's backers believe the symptoms of mgs are caused by blockages in cranial blood flow. the pictures on carol's computer are from an imaging test of her veins. increased blood flow around her neck and brain, distribution performed angioplasty and placed a stent in her brain. >> i definitely feel better.

the stiffness in my legs is gone. >> it's the craziest thing, my husband and i can't believe it. >> sheryl jordan a mother of two says ms has forced her to use a wheelchair. she also received angioplasty. >> i'm walking up and down and it's no problem. >> all three women consider their treatment a success. the patients desperate for relief can receive a placebo effect. much of the research community remains skeptical. >> we first reported on this earlier this year when a stanford surgeon stopped performing the procedure. he decided to hold off until het could conduct a clinical trial. in fact within the mgs community there has been a huge push for the th research with the hope of determining whether this plays a role in ms. >> that is the first step. if it's not real phenomenon, you

can forget the notion of doing surgery. >> he directs the multiple sclerosis center at ucsf. >> if this really works, it would be exciting for the patients. the problem is, it's not been established as a valid sort of factor in the cause of cause of multiple sclerosis. >> they were motivated in part by the explosion of clinics offering the procedure. and patients willing to travel across the country even across the world to get it. he expects to have data from blind trials in about a year. >> it's giving us a lot of high profile exploration in the lay press. >> meaning a stanford surgeon that helped develop it is now preparing to launch a clinical trial of his own. they are organizing an independent fund-raising event to help with some of the costs.

>> it's important that we support the trials and that everything is done in such a way that it becomes accepted. >> and while they wait for definitive results, the three women are believers in the relief they say they found in a disease that threatens to cripple their bodies. >> not getting enough sleep? now there is an app for that. richard hart reports on a home version of a medical sleep clinic. >> about half of us don't get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep. >> society is more sleep deprived than people appreciate. >> as director of sleep center, he oversaw the change over to sono grams that cav it with infrared light.

the patient is in the environment and the clinic offers home testing, too. >> originally we were sleep deprived students. we were extremely tired. >> so eric and his partners spent five years developing this. it's an alarm clock that collects brain waves through a wireless headband. in the morning it reveals how much deep sleep you got and light sleem and rem and how many times you woke up summarized. pop out the memory card and you can upload week's worth of data to a web app. it's not at medical device but based on your medical diary it coaches you with personal observations. >> what good is it? the idea is to associate sleep patterns with those things during your day that affect your sleep, from the headband to the display, to the internet, and to this. >> this app delivers all the web coaching to your smart phone where you can keep a log.

the company has opened a program interface so any of us can now tinker with our own sleep data. >> and you don't need a sleep monitor to tell you that you are sleep deprived. you have to figure out what are your priorities. >> pretty neat. you will get a kick out of next story. we'l

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zplee finally one of great holiday classics is the radio city hall starring the rockets. if you can't get the new york. here is the story with a real kick to it. >> radio city rockettes is tradition. it includes a production 78 years ago.

>> the rockettes are not stuck. >> i think it's relevant and so successful. >> four of them are here to promote the december show at oracle pavilion and show us their signature. ♪ >> we've rehearsed it through the week in order to attain that precision. >> it takes a lot of practice. >> these shows are big, a cast and crew of more than 150. 1300 costumes, 22 trucks, nine buses on stage they look the same. >> we make it an i will luilgs. they go out to the girls at the end. >> all of these women say being

a rockette is a dream. >> you definitely to have stick with your dance training, ballet and tap and the other movements. >> how do they do that? what form? you know they'll be back in mid-december with a really big show. what do you think, i could be part of the group or not? >> absolutely. we'll keep in you into n mind. >> don sanchez, "abc 7 news." >> that is all for this edition of assignment 7. of assignment 7. >> alan: a soggy day around the bay area causing problems. on this von veteran's day, comments by robert gates has

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