welcome to "news4 this week." >> hey there. i'm wendy rieger. we are going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them a facebook fairy tale. a couple struggling to adopt after a devastating loss. they find a blessing through social networking. so should food maker ditch the dye? the serious concerns over artificial coloring and the possible link to behavior problems in kids. even nfl players need a little pampering. see what has some of washington's gridiron stars flocking to the spa. but first, there is a battle bubbling. within the d.c. council over whether to put a tax on so das a sodas and sugary drink.

opponents think it is not a good idea. news4's tom sherr hood has more on how a soda tax could impact city businesses and families. >> reporter: at a conference packed with obesity held at gallaudet university, healthy foods were offered to attendees, food education and access to healthy food products. how bad is the problem? >> significant. problem across the country. availability of good food, healthy food is variable. every part of the city does not have the same access to fresh fruits and vegetables or other good food options. >> reporter: d.c. council member schayes is introducing the bill to propose a sugar tax. a tax some leaders welcome. >> i i think it is -- an option that needs to be looked at. i think that there are some benefits to it. >> reporter: chase says the tax is needed revenue tow fight

obesity and give retailers healthier food options. d.c. council finance committee chairman jack evans says that the tax will fall mainly on the poor. and chase retail business to the suburbs like the city's cigarette tax has done. >> a bad idea. putting a one-cent tax on sodas is really, i think, counterproductive way of doing it. it falls largely on people who are at the lower end of the income scales. >> reporter: even adults have a hard time with sugary things. physically active ward 5 council member thomas believes in moderation but has a three doughnut card on his key chain. >> you gave money to send a kid to camp. what do they give you? encourage you to come and get your one free doughnut. what does that tell you? you are going to promote some kind of lifestyle other healthy choice there. you need to know how to eat wisely in these places. >> reporter: tom sherwood, news4, washington. >> soda and other sugary snacks

have a tendonency to make kids bounce off the walls. dyes may triggering the problems. manufacturers in the uk have been asked to get rid of the artificial products in their products. doreen gentzler has details. >> gets easily frustrated. he would cry. and he would get horrible headaches. he would throw up. >> reporter: like a lot of kids his age michael enjoys candy, orange crackers, sweet yogurt and pudding. but his mother noticed after he ate those brightly colored foods, his behavior would change. >> i think a lot of the behavioral issues that the teachers and parents are seeing is direct result of the additives. >> reporter: specifically, she is talking about artificial food dyes used in thousands of foods. things like yellow 6 used to make waffles a golden yellow and blue one and red 40 used to give these yogurts their blue and pink hues. >> it is not that food dyes are

the underlying cause of adhd or hyper activity. but the -- if a kid is -- prei did posed to it then the dyes can trigger. you bursts. >> reporter: michael jacobson is the executive director for the center of science in the public interest. he says that research dating back to 1980 has linked food dyes with behavioral issues in children. >> some children, certainly not all children, react sharply. they -- they become -- they lose control over the impulses. so -- you know, physically they jump around and might yell, scream out. >> reporter: a 2007 study done by the united kingdom's food standards agency, the british equivalent of the food and drug administration, found that 1k38 9-year-olds that drank beverages with food dyes are more likely to become hyperactive. the findings prompted the agency to get food manufacturers to get rid of six artificial colors in british foods by the end of

2009. jacobson says most companies have complied but they haven't made changes to their u.s. products. for example, these strawberry nutri-grain bars purchased in the u.s. are made with red 40. the same strawberry snack in the uk uses paprika extract for color. >> the foods with automatically would be safer for kids. and that's re -- that should be the bottom line. >> reporter: the fda maintains that there there isn't enough data to conclusively link these dyes with hyperactivity in children. a statement on the agency's website says that they reviewed the british study and found it does not substantiate a link between color additives that were tested and behavioral effects. but the family says getting the dyes out of their family's food has made a big difference. >> more focused and has more confidence. his handwriting is -- significantly improved. he can stay on task a lot better. i think the biggest improvement is he feels a lot bert about

himself. >> reporter: doreen gentzler, news4. >> there's still a lot of controversy over this issue. the fda maintains the dyes are safe. but some experts still feel the kids who may be predisposed to behavioral problems could be more sensitive to the artificial food dyes. if you need to tell something to a lot of people these days one option is to post it on a social networking site. one local couple did that when they were looking for a baby. they ended up with a true blessing. eun yang has this facebook fairy ta tale. >> yea. >> seth and i met at a barbecue a volunteer organization. oh, my gosh. he should do this par. >> reporter: melissa and seth have a lot to smile about as they sit in their living room with baby noah. >> we were able to be a part of noah's birth, unbelievable. we are the luckiest people. >> reporter: the road to parent hood wasn't easy. >> we went through all the tests and got the news that probably

the best way that we would most likely conceive was to go through in vitro fertilization. that was a big shock to us. >> reporter: seth and melissa decided to pursue in vitro fertilization and were overjoyed to learn they were successful. melissa was pregnant with twins but five months into her pregnancy something wasn't right. the twins had weak lungs and died shortly after birth. >> wheeled us back to our room, we just -- cried. >> reporter: seth and melissa were determined and turned to adoption. private adoption. >> when you do private independent adoption you have to do all the marketing on your own. and so we had done some newspaper ads and we have a blog. >> reporter: that blog opened up a whole new door to the world of social media. >> i thought i would put it on facebook. >> reporter: then like so many things on the internet, it went viral. a friend named john saw the post

and put it on his facebook page where it was seen by one of his friends. >> talked to john and -- hadn't talked to john in 20 years. took the flyer from john's site and called me. and she called me at work. >> reporter: one of her employees who already had several children was pregnant again without a plan for her baby. a few e-mails later they realized she lived ten minutes from seth and melissa. they meteaphor the first time at a local giant. >> she walked into the giant and melissa was getting coffee. i said, hi. >> reporter: they clicked. agreed it was -- agreement was signed. one day before seth's birthday, noah was born. >> it is completely unbelievable. one, we would find a birth mother through facebook. and that she would live this close to us and that we would be part of the delivery and be part of, you know, seeing noah born. >> reporter: seth and melissa's story is now part after book called "facebook fairy tales." author emily lieber gathered 25

vignettes to prove just how powerful social media can be. but you don't have to convince seth and melissa. they already know. eun yang, news4. >> still ahead on "news4 this week," elaborate game of human pacman that take a popular video game. oysters surfaced in the chesapeake bay. i will show you how it is good for bay and local seafood in my "going green report."

fresh locally grown food is available near one of d.c.'s biggest tourist attractions. the fresh farm market by the white house is open again. it is on vermont avenue northwest between h and i. market offers local produce. you may see the first lady michelle obama there. she is a big appropriate poent of locally grown foods and helped bring the farmers' market to the area last year. open to 3:00 to 7:00 every thursday until mid november.

you don't need a month with an "r" in it to eat oysters. it is better for the oysters and for the eco on the half shell. oysters have come up in the world and no longer dwell on the muddy floor. now they float on the surface. this is the chop tank oyster company located in cambridge, maryland on the eastern shore. >> we have four acres p right now containing in the four acres the oysters between the ages of 1 year to 4 years old. >> reporter: kevin mcclaren's oysters are fat and happy. life on the surface helps. the algae is plentiful and so is the oxygen. that means a better oyster for your plate. >> it is a clear oyster and more consistent oyster. we don't harvest oysters of a lot of different sizes. get a box of it. what you get is all your oysters

will be, you know, roughly five inches. >> reporter: this aqua culture, as it is called, could be the solution to saving the chesapeake bay oyster. pollution, overharvesting, disease, all seriously depleted the bed and left the watermen that spent generations on the bay wondering if they have a future. this could be it. mcclaren refers to his oysters as his animals and like a racehorse, he breeds them from healthy stock. >> there is about 300 million oysters in the tank behind me. >> reporter: this is his hatchery and the pick of the litter. used for breeding. >> when an oyster is deemed high performer, we save that oyster. we use him for reproduction purposes. >> reporter: he even has a brewery where he grows several species of algae so his oysters get a healthy diet. >> dark brown, light green, and

this mahogany. >> reporter: of his 300 million babies, only 3 million will make it to the bay. but that's a guaranteed harvest. year-round which means this past winter they had to struggle with the ice to get their oysters to market. these oyster farms are also good for the bay and the oyster is a filter. >> oyster filters 50 gallons a day. by about 7 million oysters, that's a lot of water. >> reporter: chop tank oyster company is one of many oyster farms now bringing the jewels of the bay to market. it is not as romantic as the old skip jacks and the watermen. tonguing the muddy depths for these encrusted d eed delicacie. the oysters' future is now rising to the surface. thanks to the big old crisis. chop tank is one of several oyster farms in the chesapeake bay area. to find their link and buy them

go to nbcwashington.com and search going green. coming up on "news4 this week," intriguing look inside the animal kingdom as the national zoo says good-bye to the endangered zebras. and washington's nfl stars give us a whole new

a day at the salon is usually a treat for the women folks but now there is a growing number of manly men that want to get pampered, too. john schriffen put it to the test with the redskins. >> reporter: edwin wrnlgs 6'3", 315 pounds, offensive lineman, washington redskins. >> how is it going? >> good. >> reporter: we are at a real salon. are you ready to do this? devin thomas. 6'2", 215 pound wide receiver. washington redskins. here at the robert andrews salon tucked away from the tin foil and peroxide, special men's

zone. previously untapped market and caters to men who want to relax and get pampered all while watching the game. >> like a -- reminds me of the players. redskins park, man. we can get the party started. >> reporter: that's the goal. salon made a profit out of making men feeling comfortable. in the past year alone they have seen a 13% increase in male customers and now 35% of their business comes from men. >> from the outside we are very deceiving. walk in and men are overwhelmed. like a mini mall. the men kind of, you know, phone for them to go away and get away from the hubbub and women. >> reporter: first up, men's fash zblal how does that feel? >> oil. >> reporter: relaxing massage. what's a trip to the salon witho ani-pedi? what are their teammates going to think? >> they can't say nothing. lot of guys do it whether they

say it or not. >> like a man. you know. you are not going tell my boys about this. >> reporter: secret is out. williams hook order a new trend that just might spread through the locker room. john schriffen, news4. >> everyone knows the game pacman. it is a pop icon from the '80s remains one of the best known video games in the world. now some of the 20 and 30-somethings that grew up with the game are taking pacman to the streets of d.c. aaron gilchrist tags along. >> reporter: who could forget this? joysticks, tightly clenched, breath held, and you pacman p. running through ghosts, racking up points. those were the days. not so strange that a group of people would get together for a friendly game but this time pacman has feet and a cell phone. >> somebody talking to me or

giving me instructions on where i'm supposed to go. >> master's degree. >> i think i'm probably going to be one of the colored things and i'm going to be running away from pacman. >> reporter: that's a short of it. these are members of the d.c. adventure group from meetup.com and jumped at the chance to be the real-life pacman. okay, here is how it works. >> pacman runner, four ghost runners and pacman general and four ghost generals. >> reporter: okay. pacman or actually mrs. pacman, check. ghosts. check. everybody carries a cell phone. general tells pacman where to round and it all happens on foot to avoid the ghosts and round up points. >> you are going to have people running around in ponchos with cell phones held up to their ears, shouting instructions like they are playing battleship. g-13, f-12. >> reporter: okay. we know the rules. right? >> ready, set, go.

>> reporter: yellow blurred pacman hits the streets with the two-minimum lead and family in tow to help. ghosts are hot on her trail. back at home base plotting points and prepping to pounce. even with all the running, the sweating, strategizing, this game is really about nostalgia. many of our childhoods now in living color. >> i used to play pacman all the time. colors. played it at the pizza parlor. little table. >> there has been a lull of about, you know, 20 -- 24 years there. i played pacman. >> reporter: 30 years after pacman, video game, changed child's play forever, for these players, victory is still oh, so sweet. in washington, aaron gilchrit, news4. >> makes me want to run out and play parche si.

saying good-bye to one of national zoo's cherished animal. oh. [ male announcer ] looking for a price that starts low and stays low? look no further than fios. now pay just $99.99 a month for verizon fios tv, america's top-rated internet and phone -- guaranteed for two years! that's fios price protection, and it saves you hundreds of dollars. you'll also get the fios movie package -- over 60 premium movie channels, including 18 in hd and starz and showtime free for six months. call 1-888-get-fios now

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. national zoo had to say good-bye to a special zebra. dante is part of a breeding program that works to save grevy zebras that are in danger. one zoo curator had to find just the right match. jim handlies that story. >> reporter: since june 2007, dante called the national zoo his home. his miked mane and large rounded ears are typical to grevy zebras. the animals native to africa are listed as endangered. the good news is dante is part of the zoo's species survival plan. >> had been here at the national zoo where we hold young bachelors and help them socialize as they grow up and when they get to be about his age go off to meet the girls and

add their genes to the gene pool. >> reporter: tony coordinated dante's departure as part of the survival plan. the zoo doesn't greed grevy zebras but houses only males nurturing them into adult hood. >> when they get to the point where the males are becoming less compatible, more dangerous to hold them together, like in the wild where they start to fight and term from play to more serious, that's when we start to separate them and get recommendations to move on to the grownup zebra world. >> reporter: the grevy zebra is now heading for the great plains zoo in sioux falls, south dakota, where female grevy's are a plenty. he worked it out much like an expert matchmaker. >> in particular, the recommendations are made based on genetics. based on his pedigree specifically. >> reporter: once that settles, the introductions begin. >> probably start with him getting used to the routines and

him in an enclosure and females and then put them together. >> reporter: along with successful match making the zoo's goal is to educate. >> populate the grevy zebra population, north american zoos sweeshgs can learn from them, so we can teach children and parents about grevy's and get them board and help protect them. >> reporter: jim handly, news. >> two new young grevys are being checked tout move into the national zoo so it is not the end for zebras in our area. this is the end for "news4 this week." i'm wendy rieger. have a fabulous weekend. "know the species, know the stain." lanolin-free coat, i know it's an alpaca. walks in here, looks says "hey look, it's a llama!" cleaning the stain like he would a llama stain. time he's wasting. ♪ call 1-800-steemer