welcome to assignment 7. i'm terry mcsweeney. today on our program. >> drive and save money on gas at the same time. i'm michael finney. find out how later on "7 on your side." >> also today bay area criminals are getting a second chance and focus on solutions report. bay area researchers make an historic breakthrough in fighting a fungus found in frogs. >> the u.s. commerce has made new import fees on solar panels made ia. china. solar companies in this country, it's a step in the right direction. news business and technology

reporter david louie has more. >> reporter: one company owns dozens of sol or panel manufacturers. solar world claims unfair chinese competition forced to it lay off worker is. >> for reasons we needed to close our california planted that continuously manufactures since the late 1970s and we modernized to the tune of $40 million. >> an american subsidies of chinese solar companies will benefit from the new tariff as they build factories in the u.s. they will do additional fact finding. commerce department is scheduled to rule on complaints that china is dumping low cost panels in the u.s. despite concerns the dispute will escalate into a trade war, solar companies are pushing ahead to capture important business. they have unviamd a new thin panel that replaces windows at a

major train station in china. >> the window can be part of the building. the window, exactly you mentioned that. it could be part of the roof or something. it will have more protection. >> and american capital energy was showing off a new solar system in southern california. water runoff eats greenhouses and creates energy. >> we are taking water through the pond and putting it through a solar system. geothermal could get the water to 140 degrees with the system we designed we were able to get the water to 180 degrees. >> innovation is what american solar companies hope will drive more sales but a level playing field with competitive price will go fuel more profits. >> terry: gas prices are record levels for this time of the year. saving a little money at the pump is especially nice.

michael finney has one way to cut gas costs. >> he hasn't given up driving but he has found a smart way to go about it. >> all right, we're off. >> he a member of get around, a peer to peer car sharing service where i can rent a car or rent your car to someone else. each owner sets the price. today he is leaving a fuel efficient to toyota in the garage and driving a electric nissan. >> one is the ability for me in an electric vehicle, in hybrid i am still putting gas in. i would like to get to the point of no gas at all. >> reporter: others that he rented is this tesla. a recent study from u.c. berkeley research center found car share users end up renting cars that get 10 miles a gallon more than their previous

vehicle. some take it one step further. >> 25% of the sample cheryl jennings vehicle. another 25 purchased as a result of car sharing. >> that is what they did three years ago. >> after looking for parking, getting expensive parking tickets, always searching for change to put in the parking meters, high cost of gas and high cost of maintenance of cars just proved to be too much of a has el. >> she es maitd mates she saved $300 on a month on gas and car maintenance of them don't pay for gas. werehat there were once i alternatives to having and owning a car here in san francisco. >> about 600,000 people in the united states have joined car sharing programs and that number is expected to grow.

>> it's well established, car sharing is not going anywhere. >> not only are we saving gas. but it's a great time to driving a car and it doesn't get better than that. >> reporter: researchers point out the average car share user say they save $150 to $4250 a month. >> terry: san francisco's new appointing homeless czar is making nau wet houses. they tell us san francisco's wet house proposal is modeled after seattle. >> if you don't mind, i'm going to take a drink. >> anthony been set the alcoholic. >> my ambition is to wake up in the morning and be able to open my refrigerator and have a beer. that is my ambition. i guess that is my future.

>> he is no longer homeless. >> one of these days i would like to have me -- >> he lives in seattle's so-called wet houses, where they are allowed to drink under the supervision of addiction counselors. >> you are doing well. >> you got pretty wasted yesterday. >> the alcohol is purchased by using part of the public assistance checks. >> they drink less and they are safer in the community. it's where people are looking out for them. >> reporter: the idea is started to catch on with cities in the country considering similar wet house programs. in san francisco where shelters are clean and sober. it's one of the first considered by one of newly appointed homeless czar. >> a lot of people that visit here says san francisco has

homeless problem. everybody that lives here becomes an expert on homelessness, you see what is not working. >> they are calling for a few hundred of chronic public drunks. >> we have to look at repeat offenders and we're spending money fighting people and releasing them. if there is a way to wrap services around the front end of the justice system i think we can help people in a more meaning fashion. >> the seattle program launched in 2006 and is considered a success by most because almost all residents cut their drinking significantly. bennett says he is drinks about 12 ceers a day compared to two or three times that amount living on the streets. >> in a way i look like this. you take the bums off the street and kind of clean it up. >> still, he says this will likely be his last home. >> believe it or not i probably will end passing away like a lot

of my friends have. i seen about 21 guys die over here. better than dying here than dying there out on the street. >> terry: coming up, a future of air travel. effort to help get to you your destination faster as well as safer. plus.... >> how many guys claim that title dirt bag? >> the jericho project and criminals are getting a second chance.

>> terry: way jetliners fly in and oust airports is about to change. they are moving away from radar technology to satellite navigation. here is lyanne melendez on the change and what it could mean for passengers. >> this is a control tower at

oakland international where the flow of air traffic is constantly being monitored. acting director wants to redesign the aviation cities to be more in line with 21st century technology. >> system we have is a radar based system. radar based system technology from the last century. it gives us a safe and good view of what is happening in the system, but it is not as precise as the satellite base systems that exist today. >> he says it's more precise so the flight plan ends up being more direct. he and other aviation partners announced the faa's metro plex initiative which will include sfo, san jose international and the sacramento airport. >> this is about saving gas. from a standpoint from the carrier but what else -- reduced emissions. >> air carriers spend 40% of

their boujt fuel. they say if they lower that cost passengers will feel reduced fares. >> if you lower the costs of the provided service you can pass it on. >> so passengers are skeptical. >> i think they'll find ways to jack tickets up just like the gas companies. >> the changes won't happen overnight. it's in the designing stage which will include input from the faa and airlines and air traffic controller. they will do more monitoring and less hands work. it's expected to be up and running in three years. passengers like it will help improve online performance. >> it's already an issue especially if you have another flight to cat>> the >> the initiative is currently under way in 21 metropolitan areas across the nation. lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news". >> terry: in san mateo county

there is little known but highly successful roo recovery program. for criminals that want to rebuild theirs lives. here is inside the walls of jericho project. >> how many guys claim dirt bag? >> reporter: jericho founder counseling meetings are brutally honest. >> if you are going stop stealing you have to support yourself, right. you have to go to work, right? >> he started this program coming out of prison two decades ago. almost all the hundred men are referred to the courts and probation officers. there are former gang members and drug users, all are being given another chance of life. there is a high waterout rate but the odds of success are great for those that stay. >> the 40% that complete the

program have a very high percentage of long-term success, 25-30%. >> compare that to the national success rate of only 2%, long term recovery. >> first time you cooked? >> yes, sir. >> one of many things you learned here? >> yes, sir. lots of thing you learn here. >> miguel is cooking for one of his roommates at boarding houses they teach basic skills like folding clothes and making beds. servicing neat and orderly. everything is a life lesson. >> we work our way up from there. if you can't keep your drawers straight, how are you going to keep your life straight? >> it's highly structured like the military. >> many of these men have no purpose or direction and they respond to it. >> another thing these men never

had, job skills. that is the centerpiece of the jericho project. >> if somebody wants to stop using and stop criminal behavior stop stealing and get their life using, it means they are going to work. a lot of programs don't address that issue. >> reporter: the job training classrooms are held in a large warehouse that serves as the offices and training facility. >> how did the framing go? >> it went good. >> i think it's great. >> like the rest of the staff, damon is of graduate of jericho and now in charge of the construction and warehousing training program. >> everything we do is focused on helping our men develop legitimate self-esteem. a think a purpose and a purpose that results in self-esteem is key. >> they are learning to be plumbers.

those next to them are trained to become electricians. joe is an eager student. he says it changed his life. >> i didn't know what i wanted to do, i started gang banging and got into crime. i came here -- i'm pursuing to become an electrician. >> these men are breaking down their own walls, the walls of crime and edition. vic lee, "abc 7 news". >> terry: frog fungus has baffled biologists for years. we unravel the mystery and the battle against heart disease. a gentle switch is that help cure a life-threatening condition before it develops.

>> a discovery by bay area researchers can help unlock the origins of life-threatening heart defects. they could cure the defects before they take hold. carolyn johnson explains. >> reporter: more than a million people in the u.s. suffer from congenital heart disease but now researchers at gladstone institute the believe this a gentle switch of sorts --

genetic switch could be responsible in some of those cases. >> when you think about heart development, we think about what genes we need to turn on so that tissue becomes what it's supposed to be. >> instead the team decided to do the opposite. they turned off a master gene that regulates the development of cells int cardiomyosites that develop into tissue of the heart. they lose the ability to develop. >> it was a real shocker when they had structural normal hearts. >> in fact, the animals showed no heart problems at birth. >> but what happened next could hold clues to the formation of heart defects in humans and potentially a new way to treat them. >> there is normal size of a mouse. >> they kept monitoring the animals but they begin to

develop a deadly defect as they continued to grow. >> almost four times the size of a normal cardiac miocite. >> but their hearts became massive. >> he believes the enlarged heart was caused by a second gene to turn on and off by the gene that was removed. so the potential of treating heart defects in the womb. >> they discovered once it already happened association if we can find earlier intervention to prevent them in the first place that would be the ideal scenario. for more than 15 years, biologists have been baffled by a mysterious fungus that have killed forecasts around the planet. they identified it but only now have they figured out how it spreads. wayne freedman reports.

>> reporter: it's an environmental preserve a perfect get away between the sharp park golf cultures kours and pacifica suburb. you canrog eggs see frog eggs ad residents can hear them. >> it's a big echo of frogs basically. >> natalie earned had her masters from san francisco state. she came here looking for one type of frog in particular. >> based on the noise, they are called chorus frog. >> a little frog like that makes all that noise. >> i know, they are one of smallest in california and one of loud left. >> thanks to the research, most interesting frog with implications of the kitrid fungus that would include her professor. >> we are studying of something that unheard of recorded history. it's had a bigger impact o than any other disease ever recorded.

>> they only discovered it about 15 years ago. it is killing amphibians worldwide but the question is, how does it spread? on most, they cover the skin suffocating themselves to death. but it grows them in patches allowing them to breathe. >> since the other frogs get sick and die really quickly, they don't have the opportunity to carry the disease to new areas where the frogs aren't sick but since chorus frogs don't get sick, they can move from one population and spread the fungus to new areas. >> you might wonder why this research has relevance beyond amphibians. biology is biology no matter what the host. >> what is the next is a mammal. you have the same factors taking place. you have a pathogen that being spread from host to host. you are looking at transmission

dynamics. they are the same across all diseases. >> in short we may need to apply this to humans some day and natalie with a masters thesis has given her colleagues a new set of clues, that is no small accomplishment. kind of like an a plus, plus, plus. >> is this is the kind of thing that gives you an ph.d. somewhere? >> i would have to spend more time on it. >> wayne freedman, "abc 7 news". >> terry: and coming up, a bay area company that has been pitching e-books long before they were cool.

>> terry: kindles and ipads are all the rage right now but

electronic books have much longer history. pioneers of e-books marked a tenth anniversary. jonathan bloom shows us they bo. >> vincent is reading harry potter. >> why, i love it. >> he wasn't enthusiastic about reading. big words were slowing him down. he was some of the kids using a program called book share created by a rocket scientist. >> i was learning how to make smart bombs at cal track cal tech. >> he realized he could use that same technology to recognize words on a printed page and read them out loud. >> we found a bunch of users were using it. >> quite by accident he found

outwords highlighting words higr spoken is to help kids that have trouble reading. ten years later they have hundred thousand books all kee free to the kids that need them. >> students have been reading with the help of these computers in the resource room for four years. now that apple has dropped the price on the ipad 2, they can take book share right into regular classrooms. >> it gives them a lot of freedom. just a lot of self-confidence. >> book share also helped them with weak vision programs and building vocabulary. >> now kids like vincent can keep up with the class instead of misbehaving. >> you just city in with your headphones? >> in my room. >> terry: if you want more information on the stories on our program today, go to our

website at abc7news.com. look under the news links on the left side for assignment 7. that is all for this edition of assignment 7. i am terry mcsweeney. thanks for joining us. thanks for joining us. >> developing news in san francisco. a fallen tree takes out powerlines and causes a headache for neighbors. >> alan: tens of thousands take to the streets in the bay-to-breakers race. >> ama: a plan to move a battleship out of the area hits rough waters. >> alan: all