welcome to assignment 7. today on our program.... >> it's not an easy job. it could be dangerous if you are not smart. >> an inside look at the caldecott tunnel. a round the clock project. plus.... >> the car and warranty was voided when he logged 30,000 miles in nine days. i'm michael finney, mystery miles from san francisco, coming up on 7 on your side. >> and a dublin teenager that could be the next venus williams >> electronic tolling making

convenient for people. a confidentiality law meant to present technicality lease officers means the stay the is losing millions out in tolls and toll revenue. heather ishimaru, reports. ing. >> through a tollbooth and get a bill for it without paying and you get $25 million unless you are protected by the confidential address program. >> it's very hard for us to find some of these folks. >> a bill working its way through the state legislature aims to change that. a 1978 law designed to protect officials from harm keeps their home addresses secret, even from those government agencies who want to them a ticket. in southern california, the confidentiality program caught the attention of a assemblyman jeff miller who says in the last year the state lost out $13

million in uncollected tolls. >> the goal is not to diminish any of the protections to any of these individuals. it's on to simply make sure that nobody is above the law. they pay their fines just like everybody else. >> there was a time when anyone could walk into the dmv and walk out with a home address for someone not in the confidentiality program. that changed when rebecca was killed by a stalker who did just that. now everyone's address is protected. but the program remained in place and continued to grow. the covered category not only sworn and non-sworn employees, politicians and bureaucrats, their spouses and children but categories like museum guards and park rangers. >> it's outrageous the amount of categories that are out there that are protected. >> in the two-year period more

than 4,000 drivers in the confidentiality program went through bay area bridge toll bridges more than 27,000 times without paying, only about a third of those were collected. one of those drivers skipped a $4 toll and associated fine, 467 times in an 18-month period. metropolitan transportation commission manages the tolls and fines. >> they are very few. couple dozen folks who clearly know that they are not paying their toll, they use the bridges every single day and get an interest free loan or trying to get out of pain. >> the bill would make them easier to find. >> it would require them to give the address on the dmv form so in case they did get a ticket and they did have confidentiality they will have a business address to mail the ticket to.

>> a director of the organization a lobby known as porac. >> we would don't believe anybody is above the law. >> method health, "abc 7 news." >> a local minister had trouble getting his car fixed because the warranty expired and the vehicle had too many miles on it. how did all those miles get there? we investigated in impossible odometer reading. >> he is seen here in the youtube reading leading the daily church in prayer. five years ago he bought 2006 nissan centra. it was sitting there two months. >> it was undrivable. >> he property the car in for an oil change. it indicates the car was returned to him with just over

57,000 miles on it. nine days later he took the car back to nissanfor repairs under his warranty but the dealership told him the warranty had been voided because it expired after 75,000 miles and odometer showed he had driven 87,000. >> i drove the car 30,000 miles within nine days and they agreed that is impossible to happen. >> serramonte nissan says they misread the odometer. mark anderson is a consumer attorney specializing in auto cases. >> he says the dealer's explanation leaves him wondering. >> the dealer doesn't have a good explanation. after all the dealer wrote down the odometer reading of 57,000 a week before it was 87,000.

>> we contacted nissan corporate and it is standing behind the dealership. it's impossible for the odometer to jump mileage the customer alleges. and recovering $2200 for a new transmission but he would still be responsible for $2600 for a label. lomax has rejected the offer. >> it was an invoice of 57,000 miles, that is correct. something went awry. that caused the odometer to read 87,000 miles. >> he says the readings done by the dealership the car has been consistently driven about 10,000 miles a year since he got it, right before the story with went to air, nissan offered to pay the new transmission. they would now cost the cover of

labor of putting in the transmission plus charge labor costs for any additional repairs. he is pleased. >> i'm not going to split hairs at this point. i think 7 on your side, what they done for me, i'm thankful. >> and he says thanks to serramontenirs san for advertising him and roughing him to us. >> this year, marks the 1 high schoolth anniversary of women getting the right to vote. we turned to the league of voters for a history lesson. a warning, some of the footage is graphic. cheryl jennings has more. >> it's such a milestone. >> karen coptin says the fight to win voting rights for california women was long and sometimes very painful. >> we started in 1893 with different initiatives. a bill passed the legislature to

have women's right to vote and the governor vetoed. >> it you can see the image of the battle in california in an exhibition of the martin luther king library at san jose university. nationally the battle for voting rights for women started much earlier in 1848 in seneca falls, new york. it was the first ever convention to discuss women's rights. the grim fight is graphically depicted called "iron-jawed angel." >> there were women that were arrested and hunger strikes in prison. >> it was obvious. >> taxation without representation women were working and contributing to the tax base. >> city by city the with women lobbied the men and momentum grew and was successful in 1911.

california was the sixth state to grant the women a ai the right to vote. then they were harassed at the polls. >> it was to make sure that women informed and educated voters. >> nationally it would take 72 years for congress to finally approve the 19th amendment in 19206789 it granted all women in the u.s. the right to vote. >> my mother was born before women could vote. my daughter got to vote for her for president. >> and the league of women voters celebrates and honors of those determined to get the laws pass. >> still ahead the future of biotech in california. local companies make o make cutting edge drugs and who is trying to lure them away from the bay area.

and running without shoes, why

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about the future of california's biomedical industry. they are making cutting edge drugs to treat diseases. david louie reports some are worried the businesses could begin leaving the state. >> eight out of ten research firms say they are getting overtures to move their labs overseas. they are urging state lawmakers to do something to retain them. too many regulatory hurdles is one of their primary complaints. john is a scientist of a biomed company. >> the rules of fda because of under staffing or maybe they are under appreciation of certain

products and what they can do to treat diseases like cancer has an enormous impact. >> another concern is having a well-trained work force. eighth graders rank 45th in the nation to science literacy. this biotech program at san mateo high school is trying to change that. one-fourth of the 1500 students take this elective course. most are taking biology or chemistry. >> in this program it's about developing significantly higher and higher skills so they are working like research associates or scientists in the lab regularly and getting the experience of what that means, what that is really like. >> the industry says this is how california can keep them here. 16-year-old tiffany says they will give her a leg up if she decides to work in this field. >> i would most of basic things they would have to teach me first.

>> california has over 2200 biomedical company. nearly000 52,000 people work ine bay area. sacramento lawmakers is looking what they can do to save these jobs. popular new exercise trend is parking questions about its safety but a growing legion of runners believe that it's healthier. >> they are getting ready to go for a run but instead of lacing up traditional shoes they are slipping on the equivalent on gloves for their feet. >> the shoes are the softer side of a fast growing trend, barefoot running, it's fueled by the belief that it makes a more natural stride and prevents injuries. >> it just hurt, everything hurt. feet hurt, body hurt.

neck hurt. i never had an enjoyable experience in in a running shoe. >> kevin stone once a clinic in san francisco and is an expert in knee repair. he says padded running shoes encourage runners to land on the heel and roll forward. although the initial impact is padded but the force of the heel striking the pavement transmits more stress than a barefoot landing. >> it goes right through your knee and hip and back in a very bad way. as opposed to you landing on the ball of your foot or mid foot, at the they land in the mid foot or in the forefoot, muscles and tendons absorb the force and work like a ab absorber. >> recent studies including one at harvard generally support the safety and mechanics of barefoot running but they point out some of the risks. >> in the had a harvard study

they found that barefoot runners that land on the heels create a collision force nearly three times their body weight, far more damaging if they wore shoes. diane phillips says her first run using the gloves were a learning experience. >> the next day, i couldn't walk. my calves were very tight. >> still her husband and her are converts and logged hundreds of miles injury free. >> after these shoes you couldn't pay me to do without them. >> one of the great american tennis players may be from dublin. mike shumann went shot for shot that looks like the next venus. >> she won her first tournament at 8 and has one ten singles entitles.

she preferred another name. >> i want to say mars because mars is bigger than venus. >> but venus is her role model after they saw her play on tv. >> we just want to play more and be the next replacement. >> her development has been a family affair. her dad worked on her conditioning and mom handles nutrition but both say she has felt motivated. >> we're proud of her for going there and proud of her not giving up. >> some she is schooled through independent studies and keeps a 3.5 grade point average. she has been semd at tennis academy in arizona but she is thinking more about the pro tour. >> i wouldn't say i'm completely there, but i would say two or three years, i'll be right on top. >> we don't know if it's going to happen but if the pieces start falling in place.

>> the long time coach has no doubts. >> it will be the next rising star. she has the talent that i think that i see on tv. >> now when i here fenom, you have to prove it to me. >> be easy on me. >> i don't know about that. [ laughter ] >> she beat me bad. when we continue, progress report from inside the caldecott tunnel. ar the clock project to [ woman ] everybody's looking for deals these days, and i'm not talking about saving a dollar off shampoo or two-for-one tacos or something. i'm talking about paying less -- every month. like this deal. and get the fastest internet for the price -- an amazing $14.95 a month

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okay, i'm back, whoa- oh, i am so ready for this recession to be over. we have an update on the construction of the fourth bore of the caldecott tunnel. $420 million project is still a couple years away from completion but as alan wang

reports, crews are working around the clock and they face real dangers. >> for every five feet they carve through the east bay hills six feet is laid on the wall, bolth are drilled in support and another six inches finishes the process. it's repeated 24 hours a day. when it's finished the caldecott tunnel the fourth bore will be 4,000 feet long and the miners only advance 10 to 15 feet each day hauling out the must be. so if a far they are third ofthe the way through. this is considered a tunnel that something as simple a spark from a cell phone can turn into a gas into a deadly fireball. >> it's all about safety. it's not an easy job. it could be dangerous if you are not smart. >> a process in and out is

mandatory. of all the safety precautions and warning signs construction site, this is the sign you will only find on a tunnel project. >> they identify who is in and who is out of the bore. in the early days, brass was used because of the high melting point. >> in event there is a fire, that won't melt. it will survive the fire and the identifying imprinted will still be good. >> method i know gas is also poisonous so the deducts are blasting air into the dump, ducts is blasting air into the tunnel. >> as they go through the orrinda formation and into the claremont formation in brown, joe off 80 jists expect to find larger pockets of gas and more dangerous formation. >> rocks can fall down and make

it dangerous for the miners. >> here is the geologist eird to oversee the construction company's geologist. a large chunk broke off in november and injured two miners. >> it was five-foot long and six to eight-inch thick. >> they were putting the second level on there and they jumped on it too quick. >> it was inside the tunnel, something can happen because you can never measure anything. >> is that something you foresaw? >> no. >> with all this technology, he said he could not have present diblgd the temperature on the temperatures difference or where the water was leaking. it's another dangerous unknown these crews face as they mine their way through the mountains. alan wang, "abc 7 news."

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gowns and costumes made out of paper. don sanchez shows this unique exhibit now on display at legion of honor in san francisco. >> to the featherers and painting, elegant gowns and dresses, all of them made of paper. >> even the buttons, necklaces and all the shoes. stunning in their detail. it begin with making paper costumes for her children 20 years ago. now it's much more involved. >> you change the effect of the paper. >> she works with a team creating the place and then shape the design and then she paints it.

>> i look at the fashion, i look at the printing and many things, the fabric. >> after they arrive here, they have to be shaped and ironed. she finds her inspiration in classic paintings, this became this. this is the first time all their work has been shown together in this country. >> for this exhibition she was inspired by four european paintness the collection, and made five figures like this from this famous painting. >> this is more than fashion. i do not want anybody to say, this is ano fashion fashion, this is fine art. >> they are not meant to be exact copies, closer to impressions. >> it's so unique that servicing painted paper. so in fact it's an illusion in large part. it's very dream like fantasy. >> it's very simple but you can do it. >> the show here until june.

if you would like more information on the stories on our program today, go to oure ak under the news links on the left side of the page for assignment 7. and that is all for this edition of assignment 7. i'm eric thomas. thanks for joining us.