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practices you need to look out for when refinancing your home. a major brkthrough in alzheimer's research. technology that could possly prevent it. >> it's a magical place. >> a record number of girls are attending so why are the girl scouts closing cam we begin wh the latest results of testing. educators use it how students are performing primarily in reading and math. lyanne melendez has a ok at results for students in california. >> the number ey test your kids last spring, the results are in. >> for eight consecutive years, california public school studts meade steady progress. 52% are reading at grade level are abe. no knowledge 35% were doing so. in math, 48% are proficient or advanced. in 2003 on 35% were.

some bay area school districts like san francisco did even better than the state average despite budget cutbacks. >> wre in a horrible situation. class sizes going up. could they have an impac. they couldave an impact. >> this year some scol districts will impose furlough days. >> we haven't furloh days and i don't know what they are going to look like. we need more public funding for -- funding for public education. >> in the meantime, some school distcts have adopted innovative programs aimed at keeping scores on the rise. they have adopted a reading workshop program allowing students to read at teir own pace and level. the idea is to create a passion for reading. >> our students and teachers became better readers, there it is no surprise that are a science students got better,

too. >> most schools now have a successful program where an animated penguin teaches math using diagrams on a computer. for a second year in a row, san francisco students will be assessed every nine weeks, especially helpful for english learners. >> we can talk about performae of students in third grade. >> this is interestin this year statewide the achievement gap among african-american students and latino students remains relatively unchanged, but those two groups did much better in larger urban areas, again san francisco and santa clara counties. in the newsroom, lyanne melendez "abc 7 news." with today's rock bottom mortge rates, this could b a great opportunity for you to refinance your home. you could save lots of money but watch out for added fees.

michael finy has a warning. >> mike mccoy ner thought about refinancing his home until he received this offer from hi lender. chase bank said, he could save a bundle. >> like $250 a month and in addition we'll waive the fees. >> chase said he could save more than $2900 per year in mortgage payments. not only that th would waive up to $1,000 of usual fees including no appraisal fee. that cinched it. >> in making a refi the additional cost would be. >> so he went ahead and chase granted him a reduced 5% interest rate. he was saving $250 per month but there was one problem, the appraisal fee had a was supposed today be waived, there it is,

$470 right the bill. >> the principle of no appraisal fee anhave the audaty in to put it in writing. >> he e-mailed the bank officer demanding his $407 back. he apologized to fix it. however, the charge stuck. >> you see there was $3 lend are credit, that is your appraisal fee, i said no that was application fee. >> this dragged on for months, until mike contacted 7 on your side. we contacted chase and the bank looked io the case. within days, mike received a letter of apology. >> in response to the letter addresd to kgo tv, they were refundg the appraisal fee. >> the bank said after we were made aware of the erro we waived the fee for mr. mccoy. >> it was a matter of $407 but

it was kind of the principle of the thing. thank you kko. >> he says he noticed the fee because he went over many pages of documents before signing off, always a good idea when you get into a new loan. >> tourisms number one industry in san ancisco and street performers are part of the draw but some of the artists say they are unfairly targeted by police. carolyn tyler reports. >> shawn lee known as one man banjo entertains tourists at a cable car turnaround in san fransco. ♪ >> it adds flavor. >> not everyone appreciates the music. a police officer recely confronted him. >> i have been tol that i meet

knead permit and "b" there is no permit what i'm doing. >> the $440 a day if they a using amplifiers, he is not. larry hunt says heas been ordered to move along. the deputy director of the entertainment commission street performers are heard from every day but there is nothin she can do. >> we want to protect them from a variety of folks that might chase them off the streets. >> police say they are responding to complaints usually about noise or public safety. >> not the tourists complaining but the other businesses. >> but with tourism driving the economy why aren't there regulations to keep everyone happy? >> there is one neighborhood where they are licensed. it was organized back in 2008.

>> it should be a simple task to get a permit system in place, but it actually to three years and about 30 meeting. overall we have 35 to 40 performers. it's very diverse prram. >> so far the port is the only entityhat has taken on the challenge. when assignment 7 continues .... >> there is hope for the future. yes, we're looking for the cure. >> a bay area doctor takes a big step forward into preventing alzheimer's disease plus a local researcher uncovers evidence from millions of years ago. >> and hundreds of north bay high school students have an unusual requirement

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for diagnosing alzheer's disease is having an impact on researchers in the bay area. as carolyn johnn reports, many believe it will help speed the development of new treatment. >> like most doctors researching alzheimer's disee, jerome uses tests to help track the effectiveness of experimental drug he is employing a new technoly that could soon have a dramatic impact. >> it's a whole different perspective, it tests somebody cognitively to ask them what week is and who is the president. questions like that but a whole different issue to actually see what is happening in te brain. >> to make that positive, a pennsylvania company developed a dye that binds to animal pro teens. they are associated with alzheimer's, now using c.a.t. scans they can see the plaques in the brain.

>> when where yu see a lot of red, these people have alzheimes disease. >> she researcher and director of the alleg initiative privately fund multimillion dollar project to detect alzheimer's disease. >> we have been unble to diagnosis it unless we have an autopsy. >> an early diagnosis could be key to preventing the disease because it takes up to 20 years to develop. up to now they had to wait until they perform autopss to confirm the diagnosis and to learn what a drug was really doing inside a patie's brain. >> it's going to make us able to detect the presence of the amyloids so they can be studied with various treatmen. >> and following the treatment plan, research treatment plans to see if they worked. >> the doctor point to several

promising drugs currently in development but cauoned that alzheimer's is so complicated it may take a combination of medications to treat i he says the new imaging technique will help speed up results from other clinical trials. >> there is hope for the future. yes, we're looking for the cure. this is not the complete answer, but it is a light into the future which is extremely important. it may be one of most significant finds in year the ancestors of humans may have used tools million years earlier before we thought >> this area of rural ethiopia is regarded as the cradle of mankind. home to some of the eldest known remains of modern man's anceors. scientists have been looking for

clues he for decades and they've made a major discovery about our ancient ancestors. researchers from the california academ of sciences provided with us this video. >> we discovered two bones that clearly indicate they have frontal inflicted mar on them. >> these fossilized animal bones show signs of primitive stone time they were likely made by sharp rocks to break the bones open to extrac marrow for food. until now the oldest evidence of butchering dated to b.35 million years ago. >> meaning they pick up tools million years than earlier thought. on our ancestors were more advanced but able to use tools but they ate meat. >> this species played a very

critical role in our evolutionary history. this bridges the first hominids. >> it was made from a short distance from the oth discovery, oldest and complete juvenile skeleton was unearthed in 2000. they dated back 3.3 milln years, modern humans emerged just 200,000 years ago. >> as to now, n to demonstrate that this speci existed. >> the team will resume in coming months with a new motivation, finding the tos that may have made these early cuts. you can learn more about the team's finds in the science journal, nature. >> it's a great way to enjoy the outdoors. why the g

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it all. >> northern california is facing tough choices. a record numb of girls are attending camps but the scouts are struggling to keep them going. >> they. >> this has been part of their history. there is no question that camp activity has evolved overthe years but the basic idea remain >> guys get to do all the outdoor stuff but i thk it's important that girls do to. >> this is sky lark ranch. campers learn to ride. shoot bows and arrows.

>> fire at will. >> and overcome challenges, even when theare 40 feet in the air. >> w! >> but an hour away is saa cruz, another girl scouts camp called hidd falls is closed for the summer. the camp needed major repairs and the scos simply could cannot afford them. >> to keep our girls safe and have good quality program. >> the property manager showed us some of t problems. this is the infirmary, lots of rustic champion bu it needs a new roof. >> it's allowing water and toilets makingll this damage. >> all over the camp you can see years of deferred maintenance. a huge tree came down on the swimmi pool and the final straw was big rainstorm washed out part of the road. >> this ud to be a nice little turnout. >> over the edge is a 40-foot drop down to a creek, a new

retaing wall to michael the road safe will cost $80,000. >> this is really a magical place. to bring it to people is expensive. we have a hard time with toll nature takes on the camps. >> they own or operate 29 properties. most othe land is used for camps buthere are buildings for indoor scout programs and office spa. it costs about $500,000 a year to maintain that property and like many nonprofits these days, the scouts are hurting. >> maureen is ceo. >> we have rising costs and benefitsosts and health care cost >> a record number of girls are attending camps and the scouts wanted to keep it affordable so they are not considering huge hikes in camp fees, but they are considering just about everything else. increased fund-raing, partnerships with other

nonprofits and even selling proper. >> what would it looks like if we had fewer properes and invested more monein the properes we had to make sure they are meeting the needs of today's girls. >> they have 50,000 girl members and 30,000 adults. they spend about a year looking at the options and the ceo say whatever happens, they are commitd to keeping camp part of scouting. >> it's to build girls' confidence and characte and the really big part we do that is getting girls outside and connected with nature. >> it's awesome. >> high school students in novato have one more requirement to fulfill in order to graduate. they must volunteer fo a community service, without it they won't get their diplom and some aren't happy about it. here is lyan melendez.

>> steven is putting in the hours volunteeng at his school. his buddy leads the project. >> we are redoing the sign here. we're going to replace this with a new sign and shine up the letters and get it back together. >> from now on hi school studentsill have to volunteer ten hours of community service a year, that is 40 hours over four years. >> i le the experience, just the kindness. i like working with people. >> students that don't will not graduate. the principal came up with the propal and the school board approved it. he says volunteering can help boost a student's chances are gettin into college. >> it's a pretty good way for schools to value that kind of thing to make a determination about a particular thing.

>> now it's a conservation in turn, if you volunteer it should of your own free will. that was one of the main arguments made by opponents if you going to volunteer you have to do it from within. it shouldn't be something that is mandat on you. >> despite holding that position for several weeks, the principal of novato high has since changed his mind. he did get to the board to agree to allow some students to opt out. >> when you do have a consensus students are helping their parents or medical issues, students tt are not able to work independently and might need supeision. >> each school will keep track of the hours. up next, big hatsd and big laughs. we go backstage of san francisco's beach blanket babylon. babylon. see how they pull off the show

were pse i want you to we knothe real story on jerry brown. jerry brown opposes the death penalty. even for cop killers he signed an inmtes bill of rights. one supreme court dge that brown appointed was so liberal on crime.. voting to stop the dea penalty 64 times. 64 times. the votersossed brown's liberal judge right out of office. but as attorney geral, brown did spd a quarter million dollars... to redecate his office. we know the real story on jerryrown. now you do, t. vote g whitman. meg meg. vote meg whitman.

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san frcisco's beach blanket babylon i the longest musical review in the worl it has delighted audiences for decades. don sanchez takes us backstage. ♪ >> it's still about looking for prince crming and along the way she meets wacky people in outrageous hats. >> gng to have lots and lots of children. >> and ere is john edwards and levi johnson the show was created in 1974. he thought it might run six weeks. here it is 36 years later. the producer and direct find new characters. >> you have to do this tonight. >> it's easy the change lines

while the show is on stage. >> and before you can even respond it would open. ♪ ♪ >> you're doing a show like this it evolved with t times. you always keep it up to date. >> by now as the well-oiled machine. backstage coordinated stage group. >> it is with a nod or a wink or gives the indication that i need a cue. >> jackie is costumes. here she is at kate gosselin and she is also tayl swift. she runs to the stage where the costumes hang. they have done costumes foren years. >> it has to be th right time or if you don't, someone could get hurt. >> a theat student and by

night a cla member in a show that sti creates magic. >> there is a fine line that we never cross, we have fun but we don't make fun of. >> ready for another 36 years. >> if you want more informatio on the stories on our program today, go to our website at www.abc7.com and look under the is is on the left-hand side for assignment 7. that is all for this edition of assignment 7. i'm janelle wang, we'll see you next time.

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