garvin thomas: thank you so much for joining us. for the next 30 minutes, we'll bring you stories about regular people doing extraordinary things and making the bay area proud. we begin with a young woman who took a simple fact about recycling and is turning it into a world of good. with a bit of money and a bit of knowledge, sonali ranaweera is doing remarkable things. garvin: at san jose's del mar high school, there are a whole bunch of after-school activities a new student can sign up for. collecting the recycling is not one of them. freshman sonali ranaweera came up with that one all by herself. you see, while the school is new to sonali, the job isn't. with the help of older brother mano, sonali has been collecting bottles and cans since the 6th grade, ever since she got a certain christmas present from her mom and dad. sonali: my parents gave me and my brother each $100 for christmas, and they told us "use it to make a difference in someone's life." garvin: sonali decided to use the money to help smiletrain a non-profit that p

garvin thomas is here with our "bay area proud" series. >> reporter: heidi says she wasn't much of anete growing up. she only started running, she says as a way to get out of the house after the birth of her older son. it became though a form of meditation at the time. but it has turned into so much more for her and now others. with a send-off like this who wouldn't have at least one spring in her step. >> see you later! >> of course heidi boyneton is going to need quite a few springs because she isn't just running a half marathon on this day, it's her third in three days. with five more to go. why you naturally ask? well, it fits in with heidi's philosophy that challenging your body does wonders for the mind. >> the connection between movement and your head and your heart and what magic that holds. >> it must be said though that not all of heidi's challenges were of her choosing. like that phone call from a doctor. one fall 15 years ago. >> i definitely remember feeling like i think my life is about to change. >> it did, with the diagnosis of a rare and unfortunately aggressive form

this morning's "bay area proud," garvin thomas. >> a sports camp wasn't quite for him. there was one camp, though, that he was very excited about and considering what he is doing to get there, they should be very excited about getting him. there's something you should know before drivenging a glass of hand-squeezed lemonade prepared by cash ashkinoa. he likest sour, really sour. >> i would prefer to put no water in, but i know we have to. >> reporter: lucky for the general public, mom sweetens it up before sale. >> eh, too sweet. >> reporter: why cash is selling his lemonade is what this story is really about. not long ago, cash, a 12-year-old with learning differences and challenges hear a pitch for camp inc in southern colorado. he instantly wants to go. and his parents would love to send him. one problem. >> $3,675. >> my heart sank because i just knew there's no way we could afford this. this was way out of our league. >> this is so heavy! >> reporter: which brings us back to the lemonade. he has had luck raising money with it in the past so he starts again. >> hi,

garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> good luck to him.you know someone who is doing something nice for others, garvin.com. >>> plus, the duchess of cambridge is getting closer to her due date. will it be a boy or a girl? we'll show you the excitement that's leading up to the second royal baby's arrival. stay with us. >>> hi there. your time now is 7:29. we want to give you a live look from our sky camera network in emoryville. that's san francisco across the bay there if you can make it out through all that fog. waking up to a little bit of a foggy start this morning. but thanks for waking up with us. i'm vicki ngyuen with anthony slaughter. we're seeing the forecast all over the place in the area. >> we're talking 60s at the coastline, 70s in the tri valley. it will be in the 80s there. so yes, pack for the weather if you'll be traveling around the bay today. later on this afternoon, even at the coastline, we'll see sunny conditions. it will be comfortable for most of us between the range of 60 and 8 on degre0 degrees. but then it gets c

garvin thomas nbc bay area news. >> boy we certainly wish him luck.till to come tonight, the last reportable place to live in palo alto. a mobile home park full of residents fighting to stay. however, odds are stacked against them. we'll bring you the very latest on this controversy. >>> demolition crews across the state busy ripping out beautiful backyard pools. how pools becoming a luxury that many californians are giving up. >>> and puppies strapped to the roof of a car brings a flood of 911 calls. we'll show you how those dogs are doing after being rescued. >>> it's the middle of the priciest neighborhood in the country, palo alto sitting there is this mobile home park. some of the families that live there have been there for decades but now the owner wants to sell the pricey lot that the homes sit on and they could be forced to leave. some residents are doing everything they can to stay in that mobile home park. even considering trying to buy the park with the aid of the city and county. >> i'm scared. >> maria martinez and her family live in the

"today in the bay's" garvin thomas is here with this morning's bay area proud. >> what nancy donouer thinks we need help with is our brains. a never assaulting end on our minds with little or no down time. she thinks she has stumbled on the perfect way to give our brain what it needs. >> if you just happen to be in need of a hobby, nancy donnauer says she has a great one for you. one that won't empty your wallet or grow your waste. >> i cal it a zero calorie hobby. >> nancy believes will do wonders for your brain. it involves letting a pen wonder across paper in an unplanned direction just not in the way most of us do it. mindlessly. >> that's just doodling. then, there is zen doodling. all you need is a paper or pen and pencil. >> zen doodle was developed less than a decade ago by a husband and wife orn tn the east coast. by following base can rules like the size of the paper and the use of repetitive paper. it turns a simple art form into a meditating tool. >> everything here is times and numbers and competition and money and fast, fast, fast. people don't have time to relax. >> re

garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> you doodler? >> i have dabbled from time to time.mation is being absorbed when i'm doodling. >> that's the point. zen out. >> block it out. >> have you ever heard of a three spine sickleback? >> i haven't. ecologists in san francisco saved it. >> one year later, joe takes a look at how that experiment is turning out. >> at the western edge of san francisco's presidio. >> probably 30 to 50. >> in a creek, a fishing expedition of sorts. >> we're trying to get about 1,000 before the end of the year. >> presidio college combed the creek with nets sifting through the debris to find their prized catch. the three-spined sickleback. >> they're the only native fish found in the lake and they were to come up from baker beach, and had gotten into mountain lake at one point in the past. >> you won't find sickleback on any menu but the college's jonathan young, treats each one as if it were precious. >> every individual fish we have to measure to get an idea of average sizes. i took a lot of macro photography so we can go through and sort of sex

garvin thomas nbc bay area news. >> he was mentioning it's a good bet she's going to go somewhere. >> i'm thinking she might do some incredible things with her life. >>> coming up after us tonight, "nightly news." >>> coming up tonight, threats of the islamic group. closer to home in california, what farmers are doing to find profits even in the wake of a devastating drought. finally, how drones are being used to protect some of the world's oldest creatures from poachers. we have it all ahead on "nbc nightly news." ♪ at kaiser permanente everything you need is under one roof. another way care and coverage together makes life easier. okay, a little easier. become a member of kaiser permanente. because together, we thrive. ♪ >>> well easter is tomorrow. a san francisco organization that aims to help those in need is already giving a lot of sweet treats. >> did you see them coming out of the starting block? >> you've got to get out there. >> glide memorial church hosting an egg hunt for kids earlier today. it will serve a free breakfast and lumpl for thousands tomorrow. all happening in

garvin thomas joins us with tonight's "bay area proud." garvin? >> raj, maya varmer is just 16 years old. it wasn't until two years ago that she even heard of a sporometer to measure how well someone breathes. she thought she could improve it and make it cheaper. given maya's track record who would disagree? >> and again, you're going to be doing this 30 times. >> reporter: in ms. o'keefe's seventh period statistics class at san jose's presentation high school, probability is the lesson of the day. maya varmer like her classmates, pays close attention, though truth be told maya already knows a little something about the science of chance. >> n1p1 stuff. >> reporter: as in chances are, when maya enters a science competition, she wins. though she swears that's not the point. >> i don't really do these science fairs to win. i have a lot of fun building these devices, and that's kind of why i do them. >> reporter: well, maya clearly has been having a lot of fun, then. since the sixth grade, maya has been entering science fairs. she has won at least on

garvin thomas nbc bay area news. >> if you know someone doing something nice for others, garvin wouldove to hear from you. go to our website, nbc bay area.com and search bay area proud. >> we hope you are enjoying your easter holiday. we had heavy showers earlier. >> most of them fell quickly. now you can see the skies clearing nicely around the bay area as we are in between weather systems as we watch the stronger of the two coming in right around this time tomorrow. outside write now, breezy, san francisco 57 degrees. some partly cloudy skies there. and the skies trying to clear now closer to san jose. 59 degrees. and another stop will take you over towards dublin in the trivalley. 58 right now. the hills still green out and around dublin. the nice thing about this weather system and the one to follow while it may not be a drought bruser we can hopefully slow down the start of fire season heaping the hills extra green around the bay area as we see the rain monday night into tuesday. winds 15 to 20 miles per hour. they will probably be twice that tomorrow as the winds really accelera

garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> we wish him a lot of luck. that's really cool anthony. using brainpower not just for profit, but to really help people out. >> i tell you, there's always something new happening in the bay area. never talking about it always doing it. start off with a look at doppler. we don't have rain right now, in the bay area, but we have thunderstorms firing up across the sierra. we have lightning with thunderstorms. you know what it's great news we're getting the rain. but you know with lightning comes the fire risk. we'll be watching this not only today are we expecting more thunderstorms across the sierra but the next four days expecting more thunderstorms. firefighters across the state will be on guard for lightning strikes. another storm system out across the pacific, not producing lightning strikes. we've got monsoonal moisture late season monsoonal moisture. this is our next storm system expected to move in and that's going to bring rain and cooler conditions as we move through the next few days. weather headlines tell that story from sf we ha

garvin thomas joins us. >> she is just 16 years old.ars ago that she had heard of a device to measure how well someone breathes. she thought she could improve it and make it cheaper. given maya's track record, who would disagree? >> again, you're going to be doing this 30 times. >> in seventh period a.p. statistics class at san jose's presentation high school probability is the lesson of the day. maya like her classmates pays close attention, though truth be told, she already knows a little something about the science of chance. >> as in chances are, when maya enters a science competition, she wins. though she swears that's not the point. >> i don't really do these science fairs to win. i have a lot of fun building these devices. that's kind of why i do them. >> well maya clearly has been have aglot of fun then. since the sixth grade, maya has been entering science fairs. she has won at least one award every year at the silicon valley science fair. 19 in all, including this year's grand prize. maya's winning entry, a low-cost wireless b

garvin thomas nbc bay area news. >> santa clara turns out some good ones. >> they sure do. >>> here is meteorologist christina loren and we can feel the goodness in you and in your forecast. >>> oh thank you. temperatures right now are going to struggle to reach into the low 70s for today. we're at 68 degrees in the tri-valley 61 degrees in san francisco, a beautiful day ahead. as we have a mostly clear sky headed your way, summerlike heat though will surge tomorrow. and yeah that's when the real warmth kicks in. very warm for thursday and friday as well. this is what you can expect. down-sloping winds moving from the hills toward the ocean pushing the marine layer out to sea. here is how the warmup works. the sun heats the earth. we get the down-sloping winds and get friction. as the air descends it warms up along the way creating the friction. for us especially in your inland valley spots we have the valleys where the air goes all the way south. no ocean influence tomorrow. i got off the phone about 20 minutes ago with the pio from cal fire. he doesn't have the greatest of updates fo

garvin thomas nbc bay area news. >> he has my vote. that's incredible. >> great story.he make the inner workings of that? he's 13 years old. >> very smart. >> engineering specialist. >> there is our feature. that's nice to see. >>> want to check your forecast now with meteorologist christina loren. expecting a nice weekend. >>> really nice weekend. thank you, lora sam. good morning everybody. temperatures are climbing. it's pretty warm out there already except for in san francisco, where we did start with some fog this morning. we're at 63 degrees there. 73, meanwhile, 10 degrees warmer, microclimates showing up at san jose. we're on our way to 86 degrees later on today. it's definitely getting into the ac territory, especially in the tri-valley. and out in the north bay where temperatures will be the warmest, into the mid to upper 80s for today. i wanted to show you what's happening this webbing. it's earth day 2015 in emeryville they're going to be cleaning up the shoreline out there at shore bird park 9:00 a.m. to noon temperatures will be in the upper 70s. hitting t