♪ >> from abc 7 news, this is assignment 7. welcome to assignment 7 i am cheryl jennings. today on our program we look at the foreclosure crisis in california . powerful forces that fought and succeeded in defeating three reform bills and the sacred stone of a 800 year old spanish monas terry and the reassembly job underway. >> it is difficult with what speed they are coming at. >> a local transplant center can help restore lost vision but timing is critical. >> we heard a thousand times that the state is strapped for cash. that is true. but there is a lot of money

sitting in sacramento. 200 million in federal stim tim money. they report use it or lose it situation . part of the california stimulus money is supposed to boost renewable energy and weatherizing homes of low income families. by increasing demand lots of jobs would be created. two and half years later. >> 60 percent of the funs remain in the account. >> stunning revelation. 131 million dollars are not spent on improving energy efficiency and 21 million is lang quishing for weatherization. and if it is not spent by next spring feds want it back. >> to not spend the money is unacceptable. and it is offensive to the 12 percent of the californians that are still unemployed. >> california's jobless rate is highest in the country. >> a bunch of people could

have been put to work. >> agreed. it is a burdensome task that was placed to the energy commission. >> california department had money for child nutrition program it is frustrating to see the same happening to the energy fund. >> i have to find me a job rightt now and it makes me angry they are sitting on the money. >> department heads promise to spe all of the money in less than five months to meet the deadline. the state auditor said the risk of spending so much money could result in the federal funds spent improperly or illegally. if the money does get spent there could be a small hiring boom in the next few weeks. >> more than three-quarters of

a million families, lost their home in california and yet efforts to stem the tide failed in sacramento. michael finney looks at why that is. (chanting) >> demonstrators marched through the san francisco last spring. grass roots efforts failed miserably against the heavy lobbying of the bank financial industry. members of the reinvestment coalition were among those in the really that day. >> the reality that the bank influence in sacramento and washington d.c. is too great. >> they are with the berkeley based money tracker. >> financial services industry has spent over 70 million dollars in sacramento over the past four years. 23.3 million of that was spent on lobbying. and 46 million of that was

spent on campaign contributions to try to influence legislator's votes. >> california banker's association sees it differently. >> we felt that the three bills in the legislature this year. 739 and 1321 and 89did little to address the reason that borrowers are facing difficulties staying in their home. >> it would require servicers to start on loan modiction. >> we hear stories of people who get a letter and congratulations, we have a problem that the house was foreclosured the week before. >> the message sp 729 ought to extend the foreclosure process that takes over 300 days to complete. >> the bill died in the senate finance and banking committee. and the failure of senator to cast the vote is seen as

killing the bill. pateia received more money from banks. >> it is how well placed. >> maplight also found that padillia received more money from interest groups that support the bill. a spokesperson for senator padillia that they worked unsuccessfully with the author of the bill and produce his own as early as january. and other legislators who oppose the other two bills received heavy support from the bank financial industries as well >> the problem is, you have homeowners that simply cannot afford a mortgage payment and they have lost their jobs and underemployed. >> looking at the last legislative session and they get an f. >> housing advocates haven't decided whether to reintroduce the bills next year. they will take time to regroup before making a decision. i am michael finney, 7 on your

side. >> they are taking advantage of dirty sidewalks and etching advertisements on them. your feet by be affected but are they legal? abc's 7 johnathon bloom said it wells down to reverse graffiti is created. >> what we are doing is something that is not necessarily illegal but not necessarily legal and in the gray zone. >> from the distance it looks like paint and stickers. but the ad on the san francisco sidewalk is made of nothing. >> we put down a stencil in a dirty spot and pressurized the lettering and there is a cleann advertising. >> advertising by cleanning and reverse graffiti. >> you know, if you write wash me on the back of the car and the dirt that is reverse graffiti. >> jim started green graffiti and gave us this video as they cleaned for range rover and

starbucks all over europe . sees it as a greener ander alternative. >> we are not using the paper and ink and our message is not back lit. >> start to finish, it is done with water. >> here goes. >> the pressure is so high that the stream is moving super sonic. and a little water jet is strong enough to cut through steel and carving out a stencil for the clean abs. is t. >> 20 minutes, the logo is ready to hit the streets . i am not using harsh chem cheps and just water and heat and pressure. >> that is enough to blast away months of sidewalk crime. will reverse graffiti is not new to san francisco. a artist from london came and

cleaned the giantt mural. and that is a cold realization. paul curtis goes for the word moose. it was crafted in a 130 foot mural. and we call a larger than life product. >> they get covered and people don't walk on walls. >> it is still here. almostt. and the green works logo has been wiped away and moose had a permit to create a mural he didn't for outdoor advertising. >> is there any reasonn you can put it on the walk way. >> and they are charged with keeping the sidewalks and streets and broadway tunnel free of graffiti. >> graffiti is unsanctioned

permitted work that is put on the buildings or the public right of ways. >> that's where it gets tricky. >> both said so far he's never gotten in trouble because most governments including san francisco has no laws against cleaning. >> we'll investigate and look at the enforcement code this is under. >> instead of citation they want to see permits for the clean water. >> i think people would tolerate it in this form if they knew the portion of the money was going to funding schools or the national forest. >> while the city figures out how to handle the new ads. they asked the company responsible to come and clean the rest of the sidewalks. in san francisco uabc 7 news. >> sacret stones. ztzp

>> so northern california monks are literally rea part of the sacred history one stone at a time. abc sevenwayne freed man reports. >> if you use your imagination. the land could be space . as we said almost.

it depends on where you look. and this construction project will add to the illusion. there is one and foam on top of it. >> one finish this will look like ace 12th or 13th monastary from spain. that is what it is. transplanted for another place in time. >> did you pray for this? you are emotional? retired abbott father davis echoes the sentiments of all of the monks in the abbey. an enclave of peace, devotion and service and spirituality on 580 acres it say world to itself for men in a thousand year old order. >> you get up at 3:15 and start praying and you are going to pray off and on throughout the day for about four or five hours and then you will spend five hours

every day in manual labor in the orchard and vine yard and ground and cook doing the laundryy. >> where is the fun? >> uh-huh. it is fun all day long. i mean. >> and now this project. it was 17 right after high school. >> father davis wanted the stones. >> when i heard the words assertion i knew what that meant. >> the stones arrived decades earlier. william randolph hearst founded the abby and he bought and dismantle shipped them here. after the depression, that never happened. to pay a storage debt he gave the stones to the city and they kept them in the park and used them in the japanese tea garden . eventually the stones were turned over to the young museum and they never knew

what to do with them. finally 40 years of hard effort by father thomas in 19nosh, the museum gave the monastary back to the monks. it is part of our heritage . beautiful part of our heritage and an hare- on heirloom and belonged to us. >> it is a jig saw puzzle. until they found a miracle worker in stone mason. >> how many stones, frank? >> i have no idea how many stones. >> he went to work based on rough architectural drawing from the 1930 and crafting new stones when necessary. and reverse engineering. >> it is difficult to conceptualize the oldest stones were carved 800 years ago and if you look closely at them, they tell stories. >> that is a mark made by an original stone mason from the 13.

that was an accounting tool. they were paid by the thumb and not by the hour. >> speaking of money. the m estimate it will take two more years and cost several million dollars and that is a task. >> where do the monks get this kind of money? >> that is precisely it. we are poor. and we can't afford to put a project like this on. that's where the public comes in. >> along with faith and prayer and now the manifestation of father thomas earthly toil. sacred stones rising above the soil. >> my life's work is to be a monk and serve god. that's my life's work. >> and this? >> it is a passion. from the abbey. wayne freedman abc seven.

>> restoring 20-20 vision thanks to a local eye transplant center. but typing is of the essence and plus. ♪ turning into a real guitar hero. one kind of play could be

si ♪ from abc 7 news, this is assignment 7. a new addition to the bay area being help patients with fading eye sight. car lin johnson has more. >> we'll look and see how it looks. >> just about everything looks good to mark sanchez these days but two years ago it was different. >> it was depth of field that was gone . difficult to see when things were come what speed they are coming at. >> with the sight of his right eye fading. surgeons performed a cornea transplant and it is a delicate procedure and produces traum attic resultings. >> - results >> he has 20-20

vision in that eye. it made a difference. >> doctors say a key hurdle is finding a healthy cornea that must be transplanted quickly after the donor's death. now the process of obtaining corneas is far more stream lined. >> all tissue is not suitable. >> reginal kelly is a director of the new nonprofit. it is designed to speed the collection and distribution of the tissue. >> we have to get it within acovered within a 12 hour period and transplant it within oro or three days. >> once the association receives permission. they collect the cornea and bring it in the lab. after confirming the cornea is healthy they examine the cell layer. >> from a surgeon's point of view fresh tissue is

paramount. they want to insure they have a sufficient supply of cells when it is transplanted. >> he said the organization is on pace to do 900 transplants this year. >> in a few years, we anticipate 1500. >> for mark it is life changing. >> i can totally relate. >> carolyn johnson, abc sevennews. >> sight life will collect and process eye treasure for locall research centers including university of the california and pran fran. a former san jose engineer wanted to learn how to playy the guitar and found conventional methods frustrate he came up with a solution. don sanchez shows us how fret light works. ♪ >> you can play notes or cords if you follow the flashing lights attached to the pcc or mac the lights show on the

light. it is fret light. >> normal traditional guitar learning want you to go back between a book and neck of the guitar and it is a head bob and you lose a lot of information in the translation. >> it puts the notes on to the guitar where you see them and feel them and instant feed back. >> there is the road map and gps. he tried to interest guitar makers. >> they are not in the interest of education. they are classy furniture builders. >> he manufactured it himself and it is a national product. >> you know who has to give it a try. i never played a guitar. ♪ good. now if you being - think it is

difficult imagine with the light. >> you are fretting too far. >> i am fretting about this whole thing. >> i imagined i would sound more like this. ♪ >> and okay, so it is not likely to do a newscast. he hope to get fret light in the schools and it will be sold in muc stores where he could wind up with a world of guitar heroes . in san francisco, don sanchez abc news. >> that is cool. coming up next, a life-changing commitment. >> my parents told me i have the power within me to change the world. i can't do it alone. >> we salute a program and the dogings - dogs that help the physically and

>> there is a national program to help people with disabilities live a much more fulfilling life. canine companions helped thousands of people and based here in the bay area. here's tonight's abc seven-salute. >> thank you, girl. good girl. yeah. >> and chris shirrley is proud of his new friend. he relies on a wheelchair to get around. he has a better way of life thanks to the service dog.

it is call would canine companion for independence. >> she has provided assistance for me each day i experienced increased independent being on my own and feeling good about that. >> highly trained assistance dogs are part of the a national program. >> i assist in the mom and canine midwife and throughout the duration of seven or eight queek - weeks, i monitor the weight gain and health and do exercises to expose them to specific stimuli. volunteers raise them for a year and half and give them up. they are sent back to train adults and children with physical or developmental disabilities or wounded veteran or used in therapy or educational training or hard of hearing or deaf. clients undergo a two week

training session with their dog to make sure they are a good match. they attend an emotional graduation ceremony to formally receive their dog. metcalf has sebral palsy. >> my parents told me i have the power within me to change the world. i can't do it alone and now i have bernis as a partner to not just open doors and pick up stuff for me. but help me to open opportunities for both of us that hopefully can help people. >> service dogs are provided for free and that means canine companions for independence relies on donations it is a life long and life-changing commitment. let's go, girl. >> we salute canine companions for independents for helping them with disabilities. go to our website and send us an e-mail. for more information on, go to

abc 7.comand look on assignment 7. that's all for this edition as assignment 7. thank you for joining us, thank you for joining us, >> alan: police put an end to the latest "occupy" encampment in oakland and san francisco. >> the former b.a.r.t. police convicted in the oscar grant shooting is heading back to court. >> alan: lawmakers in washington are working to reach a deal on the debt. join us at 5:00.