the mountain grown aroma of folgers. ♪ the best part of wakin' up so, where do you want to start? i think this is a pretty good place. ♪ is folgers in your cup hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. >> in the news this saturday morning, april 23rd. louis airport is closed indefinitely after a tornado tore through the main terminal causing a midwest travel mess and investigators say they know what caused the hole in a southwest airlines jet earlier this month. >> good morning, temperatures are in the 50's. plenty of clouds around but will we see any rain? >> good morning.

crews are cleaning up after a tornado tore through a terminal at the main airport in st. louis. air travel is still a mess across the midwest. dan ashley has more on the sudden terror at the st. louis airport. >> debris is scattered across runways. powerful wind gusts blew the roof off one terminal and shattered more than half of the windows in another. winds were so powerful, they lifted a shuttle bus on to the second level of the parking garage. this mother was waiting to pick up her husband and acted fast to protect her baby. >> skies went totally black and the wind picked the car up maybe an inch or two, dropped it and blew out the windows. happened real fast. piece of plastic came in and hit her. i threw the phone and grabbed her out of the car seat and put her in my lap in the front seat. >> four people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. mostly from flying glass. >> almost instantaneously, all

the windows started blowing up at like one time and the next thing we know, we heard crashes and all the poles were falling and then they told us to go down to a bunker. and at the airport and the lights were going out. very scary! yep. we have earthquakes where i am but this beats it, let me tell you. >> two planes were stranded briefly on the tarmac because of the debris. i spoke to a passenger on board one of those planes. >> the winds started picking up and the lights in the airplanes started to flicker and we started moving along the tarmac, i guess. and we blew between 5 and 10 fight away from that connector thingy. >> that was dan ashley reporting. in more air news, investigators have pinpointed the defect that caused a hole in a southwest airlines jet earlier this month. passengers actually saw the sky when the roof of the 737 started peeling apart in mid air. now, these new findings are raising new concerns. abc 7's lisa amin gulezian has

more. >> abc news has learned that investigators are focusing their attention on rivets, those tiny pins that hold pieces of a plane together. sources say on that southwest 737 that ripped open, the rivets holding parts of the plane's fuselage together failed because they didn't fit perfectly. the rivet holes themselves may have been sized incorrectly back on the assembly line. >> they may over time with the flexing of an expansion and contraction of pressurizing the airplane's fuselage when it takes flight, those holes would microscopically expand or change. >> and in this plane's case, the seams tore creating a gaping 5 foot hole. oxygen masks dropped and the pilot quickly dove to a lower altitude. >> masks came down and it was pretty frightening. >> as a result, boeing ordered inspections of similar 737's worldwide. nearly 600 total.

a third required inspections immediately. and of those, five have slight cracks. all are southwest jets and sources say all five were built around the same time as the plane that came apart. >> the cracks are along this joint here where the two pieces lap. that crack will become worse and worse and worse with every pressurization. >> passengers we spoke with have mixed reactions about the latest findings. >> we take chances when we fly anyway and there can be problems that occur occasionally but i still believe in the system. >> should have found it earlier. i mean, they're not strict enough on the regulations. >> i don't see there being an issue at all. >> they should be taken out of, you know, service until they investigate them. >> this investigation is not over. in fact, while it's still going on, the plane that ripped apart has been patched and is expected to go back into service. >> this santa clara mother has

been arrested for leaving her toddler alone in her suv while she gambled. they arrested the 25-year-old for felony child endangerment outside the garden city casino in san jose on thursday night. a security guard called police after noticing the little girl strapped into her car seat and locked in the vehicle. she was arrested on felony child endangerment charges. the little girl was released to her father and she is ok. in the south bay, the parents of a 2-year-old boy killed last year when a rotting tree fell on the family pickup truck have filed a wrongful death lawsuit. it accuses a neighbor and the city of san jose of negligence. san jose rejected an earlier claim for damages saying that residents are responsible for maintaining city-owned trees in front of their homes. the suit asks for unspecified damages. 750,000 commuters a day on average use the san francisco transit system but their means of transportation could be in jeopardy. members of the muni operators union have authorized a strike if negotiations with the city

now in their second month don't go as they hoped. abc 7 as more. >> friday's news that union local 258 had authorized its negotiators to strike struck some as bold. especially given recent bad publicity. an operator caught on camera ordering passengers off the bus. another caught texting while driving. and twice, cell phone cameras caught malfunctioning doors wide open even as the muni trains rolled on. supervisor scott wiener witnessed one of those door malfunctions but says the union has really hurt itself with its decision to authorize a strike. >> to authorize a strike is not productive. >> union workers declined to talk on camera. but union secretary treasurer walter scott when asked about the negative publicity told abc 7 news over the phone that "we already have two black eyes and a broken nose. it doesn't make any difference." charles goodyear, a spokesperson for muni says the city is hoping to scale back

muni's annual budget by between $25 and $50 million. >> we hope the union leadership will join us in addressing the economic realities that everyone in san francisco is facing now. >> public sympathy doesn't seem to be with the union whose members earn an average of just over $100,000 per year. >> in a recession time, hard to stand up for as much pay as you got during the boom years. >> every other city employee union has been taking pay cuts, has been increasing pension contributions, has been really chipping in to make sure that we can address our budget problem and twu is the only union that hasn't done that. >> by law, muni drivers cannot strike. but the union says that's up for legal interpretation. meanwhile, the city attorney dennis herrera says he would take legal action to prevent a work stoppage. coming up next, more violence in syria this morning following the

bloodiest day during the month-long uprising. and update on an endangered butterfly found only in san francisco's twin peaks and they are thriving. [ male announcer ] last year, the ethan thompson band won the first ever folgers jingle contest. to see this year's semi-finalists and cast your vote, go to bestpartofwakinup.com. you could win $10,000 just for voting. ♪ is folgers in your cup

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>> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >> more bloodshed in syria this morning. a witness says government security forces opened fire at a funeral near the capital killing at least four people. that follows the bloodiest day yet in the month-long uprising. yesterday, at least 75 people were killed when syrian security forces fired bullets and tear gas at thousands of protesters across the country. president obama called it outrageous use of violence and said it must end now. he called on syrian president assad to allow peaceful demonstrations. a senior libyan government official says the army will withdraw from the rebel held city. senator john mccain was in the rebel-held city of benghazi yesterday and he's urging the

white house to increase u.s. support for the rebels. mccain says a first step would be to declare them libya's official government but the white house says it is up to libyans to decide who their leaders are. several mission blue butterflies were released atop twin peaks in san francisco yesterday. that's all part of an effort to restore the endangered species to the area after a small population was discovered there yesterday. san francisco park officials carefully placed several butterflies on plant to re-introduce them to the habitat. >> the butterfly will stay there for the rest of the afternoon until it gets cold because we want it to stay on that plant and lay its eggs before it flies off tomorrow morning so at the end of the day today, we'll release that netting over the plants. >> san francisco's park department along with the u.s. fish and wildlife service says the spread of invasive plants reduce the butterflies in san francisco. those butterflies are going to be a little moist as they begin

their journey. >> right. good chance of that along the shoreline where we have more of a westerly moist flow, southwesterly flow and that's due to a couple of weak systems outside right now. you notice all the clouds from the roof camera. numbers are in the 50's across the bay area. how warm it will get and your chances of rain over the weekend. that's coming up. >> also, that's one of the best goals you will ever see. larry beil has that. plus giants and a's highlights coming up in the morning sports.

>> good morning. welcome back to abc 7 news. a live look at the transamerica pyramid in downtown san francisco. about 10 minutes or a little less than 10 minutes away from sunrise. get a sense of the cloud cover that's out there this morning. gas prices are continuing to soar. according to gas buddy, highest price in california yesterday was $4.99 outside yosemite

national park. $5 gas is already appearing on gas signs in major cities and according to experts, we could see $6 gas this summer. >> $6 gas is probably one well placed hurricane and one tiny bit of supply disruption away. >> some people are already cutting back on the amount of gasoline they're buying. six weeks in a row, consumption is down. and according to a new abc news "washington post" poll, 71% say gas prices are causing them financial hardship. lisa argen is here and not exactly the sunshine and warmth we were hoping for. >> no, but the bunny is coming tomorrow. rain or shine, he'll be around and maybe getting a little wet out there. the afternoon looks sunnier tomorrow than today. as we head outside this morning, we have a lot of cloud cover. temperatures are mild in the upper 40's to low 50's. 6:24 the sunrise. 7:53, sun setting tonight and we

will be looking at temperatures staying fairly mild in the morning and overnight hours due to all that cloud cover. 52 at mountainview. 50 at san jose. highlights and sprinkles are possible this morning. the chance of showers continues throughout the day today and tomorrow afternoon, we'll see more in the way of sunny breaks and that will allow for some sunshine for the easter sunday. well to the north of us right now, sprinkles around mount shasta and snowing lightly. in the bay area, we have just the cloudy skies and area of low pressure getting closer to the coast later on today. 10:00 this morning, the moisture is still off shore but as it heads to the south and east of us, still a slight chance of showers out there and this computer animation taking us to

11:00 tonight with the cloud cover keeping the numbers up and talking about a few breaks tomorrow. so the flow continues from the northwest today and we will see another system behind this one giving us a better chance of rain coming in on monday. looking for temperatures to stay below the average today and those winds out of the south-southwest allowing for a chance of rain as far south as monterey with 58 there. notice the temperatures are rather cool across the state. 68, even some sprinkles as far south as los angeles. 82 in palm springs with 56 in the southern sierra. high temperatures back home in the south bay. 63 in milpedas. peninsula, keeping the 50's here from half moon bay to pacifica. 63 redwood city and san francisco, a cool afternoon. everyone in and around san francisco just in the mid and upper 50's today. north bay numbers a little partly cloudy sky from time to

time but only 55, bodega bay. 60 petaluma. near east bay, numbers ranging from 60 in richmond. 62 in union city and out over the hills, high temperatures just in the low 60's. we'll call it a partly to mostly cloudy sky yesterday. a chance to get wet around monterey with 58 there. 62 in salinas so the chance of showers lingers into tonight but tomorrow, we'll look for temperatures to come up maybe a couple of degrees with a few areas of sun mainly in the afternoon and then the next system will bring a better chance of light showers on monday. behind it, breezy conditions but highs rebound until the low to mid 70's for much of next week and we haven't seen many 70's at all for april. that will be a welcome change. >> thanks, lisa. dan harris joins us now from new york to tell us what's coming up at 7:00 on "good morning america." good morning, dan. >> hey, yeah, good morning. coming up on gma, another night of nasty weather in the midwest. more than a dozen tornadoes

reported in st. louis last night with hail as big as softballs. softballs! fell in another town in missouri. on top of that, serious flooding concerns there. we have an eye on another one that could be blowing through soon. startling prediction about the gas prices we've been dealing with. forget $5 a gallon. some experts say we're going to see prices hit $6 soon so we want to know if there's anything that can be done to stop the runaway gas prices. get into that coming up. plus lindsey lohan found herself in and out of jail last night. she was released on bail for violating her probation for allegedly stealing a necklace. we'll have more on the star's recent struggles coming up and as you know, we're less than a week away from will and kate's big day. we have more details about the wedding as they continue to surface. for example, the official guest list was announced earlier this morning. we've got all the latest royal scoop from london and our very own reporter is headed there after the show today. we'll be sending her off. all coming up next on "good

morning america" on this sunday, john. >> it will be like 3:00 a.m. on the west coast so people will be having all kinds of watch parties. >> yeah, our coverage starts at 4:00 eastern. it will be 1:00 clock in the morning for you guys. you cannot sleep. >> red eye all the way through. thanks, dan. in sports tonight, the san jose sharks will try to close out the l.a. kings in their first round. last night, the giants played atlanta at at&t park, the first meeting since the giants defeated the braves in the divisional playoffs last year. here's larry beil with highlights in this morning's sports. >> good morning, everybody. the giants got home from a week-long road trip. they'll spend this weekend at home and then fly east on a monster 10-game roadie. giants and the braves in a rematch of last year's division series. do they do this in your job? put a cup on the head of some unsuspecting guy. don't know how that stays on there all night long. he's had a rough go lately. a nice grab here, diving in the second inning to make the catch.

unfortunately for him, could not get out of the third inning. jason hayward base hits to right. 1-0 braves. and then chipper jones slams a fastball. goes with the pitch. cody ross, welcome back to at&t park. off the wall. very quietly in this game as the braves take the series opener 4-1. only broadcast booth, but when you call a game like this. second inning, jack wilson, grounder. out of kennedy, scores 1-0. pulled in the fifth. in comes jerry blevins, the bases loaded. 2-0 seattle. can they beat the a's in the series opener with a home run? single scores, the a's shut out for the second straight game, 4-0. to the ice now, the sharks have taken a commanding lead over the l.a. kings. dramatic turn around from a week ago when it looked like the sharks might be in for an early

playoff exit. when the sharks host the kings tonight, they have a chance to end this series in five. >> when you have the opportunity to win that fourth game, you got to take advantage of it. i think we're at home, you know, there's no -- we don't want to have to get back on a plane, go out there, you know, fight for another 60 plus minutes. you want to take care of business when you can. >> taking care of business. one of the best goals you'll ever see. bobby anaheim turning one inside out, not only once but twice and shoots and scores. this is so pretty! are you serious, bobby ryan? it was great but it was the predators who won the game 4-3. the lakers drop off their playoff opener it new orleans. that only seemed to make kobe bryant angry. you won't like him when he's angry. for the 80th time, he scored at least 30 points in a playoff game. out of my way! kobe with an even 30.

undersized but strong and this would be carl with authority! hornets down six in the third. kobe held to 11 in game two goes off in this one. lakers take game three 100-86 and lead the series 2-1. knicks and celtics game three, amare stoudamire hobbled by a bad back. not a factor in this game. paul pearson and ray allen, raining threes at msg. allen hit eight threes and torched new york for 32. they combined for 70. rondo had 20 assists feeding allen. they trounce the knicks 113-96. mike shuman will be here with all your sports at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. >> next at 6:30, overdue honor for one man's ultimate sacrifice. a bay area world war ii veteran finally has been laid to rest. and why this teenager faked a pregnancy for months with her mother and principal's approval.

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>> a petaluma soldier was buried yesterday with full military honors. what makes the story of army private mervin sims so unusual is he died in world war ii. here's abc 7's vic lee on the 68-year gap between his death and his burial. >> ["taps" plays] >> it was the end of a long 68 year mystery. the day army private first class mervin sims came home with full military honors. his final resting place, the cemetery where his mother and father are buried. >> he's back home where he belongs. with his family. 1938, there's mervin. >> there he is! >> lily fishman bought her

yearbook from petaluma high school. she and betty grew up with him. >> i went from the first grade all the way through high school with mervin. >> they both said the same thing. he was a nice young man. and like many of the young men, the 23-year-old enlisted in the army air force. in april of 1943, his cargo plane crashed over the hump. the term pilots used for the dangerous 500 mile route that crisscrossed the jagged ridges of the himalayas. in 2003, a private expedition searching for m.i.a.'s found the wreckage and sims' bones. clayton cools who led the expedition says by luck, his guide found a small piece of aluminum. >> and i looked at it and here it was the aircraft data plate. it was kind of bent up but this is the most important identifier you could find. >> two months ago, the army notified sims' next of kin that they had finally identified him through a d.n.a. sample. roloff is sims' niece but never knew her uncle.

>> you recognize him from that picture? >> yes. >> she got to know him better through his friends like evelyn, sims' first girlfriend. >> he was a wonderful guy. didn't have him around long enough when they took him into the service. i think the community got what they needed ises us as a family got what we needed and it's a perfect day. >> a day celebrated with sadness and gratitude. most never knew private sims. but today, everyone here was his friend. vic lee, abc 7 news. >> president barack obama says one answer to high gasoline prices is to spend money developing renewable energy sources. in his weekly internet and radio address this morning, the president said he wants to end the $4 billion in annual taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies. >> instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy sources, we

need to invest in tomorrow's. we need to invest in clean, renewable energy. that's the long-term answer that we need. that's the key to helping families at the pump and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. >> the president says the government is already dealing with high gas prices by boosting u.s. oil production and trying to root out any illegal activity by traders and speculators. mtv shows like "teen mom" have made celebrities out of girls who get pregnant. but this washington state teenager wanted to see what it's really like. 17-year-old gabby rodriguez faked a pregnancy for her high school senior year project. she stuffed a pillow under her shirt. only her mother, boyfriend and principal knew the truth. gabby says it wasn't easy to hear what others thought of her. >> that i was irresponsible. and that i wasn't going to continue in college and even, oh, it was bound to happen anyways and i knew she was going to get pregnant. >> gabby is a straight a

student and she plans to present her findings to community leaders. coming up on 6:33 right now, lisa is standing by with the look at the forecast. >> don't have any sprinkles yet but they are not far away so we're having it in the forecast part of the weekend and beyond. tell you about that next. >> also ahead, smallest university in the state of california. a place where students learn the ropes before setting sail on the high seas. ♪ you're unpacking already? yeah. help me find some mugs? sure. ♪ [ beep ] hey. okay. -these'll do. -yeah. [ male announcer ] wake up to the mountain grown aroma of folgers. ♪ the best part of wakin' up so, where do you want to start? i think this is a pretty good place. ♪ is folgers in your cup

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♪ ooh baby, (what) can i do for you today? ♪ [ female announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance? align can help. only align has bifantis, a patented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance. try align to help retain a balanced digestive system. try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. >> this is an exciting time in wine country. grapes are beginning to bud as the growing season gets under way and as abc 7's wayne freedman reports from the napa valley, more than ever growing the perfect grape involves technology. >> for grape growers and wine makers like jennifer lem, this is what spring looks like in the napa valley. emerging buds not much bigger than the tips of pencils and now the work begins. >> what we worry about is the moment these little tiny buds come out, how to protect this

vine and this crop for the rest of the growing season. >> in that sense, a person could view all of the napa valley as an intensive care nursery right now, a place with so much potential and yet so much danger. >> it's early in the season but this little baby cluster here is worth roughly half a glass of wine at the end of the season if it gets that far. at this point in the season, this is very sensitive to temperature change. 3 degrees could make all the difference. >> it could mean, you know, a healthy crop vs. a completely damaged green tissue which you would get relatively no crop off of. >> as paul goldberg knows full well, temperatures can fluctuate even within a few yards and he has vineyards across the valley but at least he can monitor them all at once thanks to a series of weather stations on the internet. >> we have air temperature at different heights, soil temperature, soil moisture, dew point, leaf wetness, soil radiation, wind speed, humidity. >> yes, such variables do matter and now growers like matt

lamborn use satellites and google earth to track progress on smart phones. >> it's a snapshot, aerial photo of your property and it measures the reflectance of light off grapevines and by doing that, it says these are the vigorous areas and these are the nonvigorous areas. >> to put it another way, so much for the little old wine maker with barefeet, dust between his toes and a hunch. from the napa valley, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> the technology is going to say that the vienes are going t get wet today most likely. >> we have a couple of systems if not today, another one tomorrow and a stronger one on monday. all providing a chance of showers for marin, sonoma, napa and perhaps even the coastal range. here's the airport, 50 degrees. no delays here. and we are looking at the clouds to hang around throughout much of the day today. and our roof camera shows more cloudy skies. temperatures, well, they've been held up overnight due to the

cloud cover. 48 in livermore. good morning, napa. 49 for you. fairfield, 49 degrees and it's 52 in mountain view with a cool 46 at half moon bay so highlights, sprinkles are possible this morning and a slight chance of showers moves into the forecast throughout the afternoon. the evening hours, another system tomorrow but also we're going to see a little bit of clearing so we should see some sunshine for easter sunday. the sun coming up at 6:23 and the best chance of rain actually arrives on munld. -- monday. here's the moist flow that continues from the pacific. we are looking at rain right now to the north around mount shasta, a little snow in the sierra nevada and the weak system is off to the south and west of us right now and as we look at live doppler 7 h.d., you'll notice to the north, you can see a little bit of rain/snow mix, well to the north and also a few showers here, snow showers but highs in the upper 40's today in the sierra nevadas so here's the timeline with the moisture in and around the san francisco bay area, we're going to have to keep the

chance of showers with us. most of the activity is off shore here from the first system, we'll take you through the overnight hours, a few breaks and then a second system heads our way easter sunday, sun coming up at 6:23. so keep that in mind if you have outdoor plans. nothing will be a complete rainout by any means. in fact, if we see any rain at all, a few sprinkles out there. a couple hundredths, that should do it until monday, though. that's the system that could bring some light showers or way. better chance anyway monday morning. 70 today, partly cloudy in fresno with 68 on the coast in monterey with the shower chances for really the northern, the central portion of the state starting out with some sprinkles in southern california. 80's in palm springs. low to mid 60's south bay today, mostly cloudy sky in campbell. 63 menlow park and redwood city. more widespread 50's here. cool afternoon. you'll need the jacket along the coast and even downtown today.

62 sonoma, partly to mostly cloudy for napa today with 62. look for the clouds to be more widespread here in the east bay with 63 walnut creek and down by the monterey bay, shower chances stay with you over the weekend in watsonville with the cool high of 60 so average highs are well below normal for the next several days with the series of weak weather systems pushing through the bay area. a little sunshine on your easter sunday. maybe a little rain from time to time. shouldn't be a big deal. we have to wait for the more seasonal weather to come our way on tuesday. >> a little annoyance. >> a little bit. >> thanks, lisa. >> hey, you may have noticed it while crossing the bridge, a huge white ship with a giant golden bear on it. it is a massive classroom for the smallest university in the state. in this morning's assignment 7 reports, transportation reporter attends the maritime academy. >> cadets, not students will run

this huge ship when it sets sail in a couple of weeks. >> we're on the bridge of the ship. this is where our cadets train at sea. >> captain harry bolten will stand watch over a ship of college students. >> this is where they learn. >> the at sea requirement is part of the education at california maritime academy, only maritime school on the west coast and one of six state-owned facilities in the nation. it is a fully accredited university and parted of the california state university system. students here pay the same tuition as other csu's and learn about everything from driving a supertanker to managing and designing a port to running the engines below the deck. >> freshmen will spend a semester living on board this ship to get their sea legs. >> i think it's a little bit rough for people that, you know, they came from home and you no they're living on a ship but it's also a good thing because it gets you more exposed to that environment. >> the school is a throwback to a time when supertankers ruled the san francisco bay and long shoremen ruled the san francisco waterfront. it opened in 1929, and has been

training shipmates ever since. including captain bolten who spent 30 years at sea before coming back to the academy to teach. >> you must take leadership and responsibility. you must learn how to handle this ship or you're not going to graduate. >> unlike other universities, this one must follow strict rules set forth by international and national law. cal maritime president bill eisenhart has to balance several bosses in running this campus. >> we are unique also in that i have three bosses essentially. secretary of homeland security, secretary of transportation, and the governor of the state of california. >> among the federal requirements, all of the roughly 1,000 students must wear uniforms making this college campus look more like a naval academy than a university. >> you know, u.c. berkeley, you go there as a freshman and you're almost overwhelmed. it's too much. but at cal maritime, we really stress on the small community and building relationships. >> while some may leave for leadership shops in the u.s. navy, most will end up in the private sector.

in fact, they tout a graduation rate of about 80%. roughly twice the national average. graduation from the academy nearly guarantees a job. >> the placement rate normally is about 100% but in these hard times, we've dropped down to 94% within a month or two of graduation. >> with that diploma comes good salaries for someone fresh out of college. >> the average salary offers between $60,000 and $70,000, not bad for a first job out of college. >> most of the school's applicants are men. only 20% of the student body is female. and graduation day is next saturday. don't go away. 7 on your side is next. >> a woman can't prove she mailed her cash for appliances rebate application. i'm michael finny. coming up, 7 on your side steps in to help. switching to progressive could mean hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today.

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>> good morning. welcome back to abc 7 news. live picture from our emoriville h.d. cam across the bay. going to be a gray and overcast morning and probably weekend for most of it anyway. california's cash for appliances program has paid consumers almost $28 million in rebates for buying energy saving machines. one woman bought all the right appliances but did not get her money. until 7 on your side michael finney stepped in. >> joanne finally got rid of her old appliances and bought this energy saving washing machine and clothes dryer. she also traded an old water guzzler for this energy efficient dish washer. >> my appliances were getting old. i wanted to be energy efficient. i thought now is the perfect time to go out and replace everything. >> perfect because the cash for appliances program was offering rebates for replacing wasteful

appliances with energy savers. the program was about to expire so joanne hurried out and brought all three appliances in one day, mailed off the forms and then never heard back. >> there's no record that you sent us anything. that's a mystery. i don't know what happened. to the mailing. >> cash for appliances said it never received the application. no rebate. joanne offered to resend the forms to show she purchased the right appliances at the right time. she also had to prove she mailed it on time. >> if i had proof, maybe they would listen to me. they wanted something that was post marked. for someone to go out and spend $1500 because of the promotion that the state offers, i think that's very harsh. >> joanne contacted 7 on your side and we spoke with a california energy commission that runs cash for appliances. it said rules are rules. it required mailing the forms no later than last december 6th.

>> we recommend the certificate of mailing or mailing by delivery confirmation or certified return receipt. >> james wigdale of the u.s. postal service recommends using certified mail or other special service when you send important documents or packages with mailing deadlines. >> certainly was a voice in my head that is saying, i should have sent it certified. >> just when it seemed all hope was lost, a twist. after we called cash for appliances was reviewing applications left over in its processing center and there it was. joanne's package. ironically, it had somehow slipped through the mail system without getting a post mark stamp. however, the agency tells 7 on your side since the documents were dated prior to december 6th, her application will be approved after all. this is great news. >> a spokesperson telling 7 on your side, we continue to

process and review applications to ensure accuracy by the rebate processor. they regret the inconvenience this has caused consumers. >> wonderful, i appreciate it. thanks so much. >> if you'd like to find out how to send a package with post mark proof, i've posted a list of services with prices starting at just $1.50. go to our web site at abc 7 news.com. >> coming up next, a dance for all ages. why this flash mob showed off their moves in san francisco's union square.

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>> if you buy your mega millions tickets in san bruno, you could have a lot of cash coming. lottery officials say there is an unclaimed winning ticket for $227,000. it was purchased at the shell station on el camino royale in san bruno. winner has six months from the drawing date to claim the prize and two months have already gone by. national dance week is in full swing with 600 free events planned around the bay in the coming week. yesterday, they were but dancing in the streets around union square. hundreds of people celebrated the start of national dance week with one big flash mob. abc 7's arts and entertainment reporter don sanchez got caught up in the rhythm. >> you have to dance. they come together with so many styles. and ages. that's appalachian mountain

dancing. >> you can do it to anything! any kind of music, classical, anything you want to do it to, you can do cloging. >> about 700 people converged in union square to celebrate the beginning of the 13th bay area national dance week. reflecting the bay area's diversity. >> it's all about dance. >> it's absolutely awesome and everybody gets out and move your body. >> here they celebrate their individuality and then get ready to share. >> today, reese created the flash mob choreography and here we go. >> ♪ time of my life >> they have the unison that brings everybody together. >> this just shows you don't have to be like a "dancing with the stars" level or a pro. anybody can dance. it's about the interpretation of the music and the rhythm, right? >> yeah. >> hey, how am i doing? >> fantastic! >> thank you. >> ready for lady gaga? maybe not. there has been a dance renaissance. and they want to take their message to a new generation.

>> there's not a lot of dance happening in schools and this is a really important way for kids to learn to express themselves. >> during dance week, there will be 600 free events throughout the day that will keep you moving. >> there's classes, workshops, performances, everything from pole dancing to zumba, to ballet classes, you name it. it's an amazing list of events. >> which you can find on our web site at abc7news.com. in san francisco, don sanchez, abc 7 news. >> you may want to dance to stay warm. it's a little chilly out there. or just dance for the heck of it. >> yeah, why not? some clouds around right now. a few breaks and as we head outside, you'll notice that you can see over san francisco, a mostly cloudy sky. temperatures right around 50 downtown. there's the satellite picture. most of the energy is to the north. a few sprinkles, though, in and around the bay today. 59 in the city. continued cool throughout the afternoon with mostly cloudy skies. 64 concord.

san jose and our coast is just 56. down by the monterey bay, look for 61 in santa cruz and upper 50's in monterey. here's a look ahead. even with the weak system in the area tomorrow for easter, we'll manage some afternoon sun. then warmer and sunnier for sunday. >> thank you for joining us on the abc 7 saturday morning news. next newscast at 8:00 a.m. gma is next. stay connected 24/7. for those of us who have lactose intolerance,

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