lyanne melendez explains how it works. >> low income students are fed lunch at school through the u.sculture. but in the summer, many families fend for themselves. >> a lot of it has to do with the fact we don't have enough where kids can go to get food. >> he a former superintendent. he wants to expand the food program and heard the mayor talk about government agencies collaborating. while they are walking through in gateway. wouldn't it be nice if it was a site you could have a good lunch. >> alameda food banks where he volunteers loved the idea. so did several branch managers in oakland's poorest neighborhoods. he even helps distribute the lunches everyday. >> on the first day, 25 kids were fed. today that number has increased to 70. then after lunch, it's time to feed their mind. >> because the kids have food in their belly and they are able to stay longer in the library and browse and check out books and all the great materials we have for them. >> they like because it's very healthy. they like it so much. >> i like the free lunches and also the books. >> only has 14 public libra

education reporter lyanne melendez explains the new plan to keep them in class. >> reporter: san francisco'surton academic high school is focusing on ninth graders, identified as habitual truants. they analyzed the school data and found those with a grade point average of less than 2.0 that showed up for class only 85% of the time was very likely to drop out of high school. >> students with these early warning indicators had only a graduation rate of 15%. so it's something that glares out at you and we have to do something about it. >> instead of taken to the truancy center, counselors come to the school once a week. its pilot program being tested only at burton. >> obligated to work -- >> they started in august and those identified as truants have added 25% more school. >> graduating means you can go to college degree and it will make your life easier. >> the money is coming from the district attorney's office. >> it will run for at least one year. if the results are good the district will implement it at other san francisco high schools. >> the goal here where we can get them to graduate.

in the newsroom, lyanne melendez "abc 7 news". >> we wish them luck with that. >> lisa argen is hereeview a wet accu-weather forecast. >> we still have a dry afternoon to enjoy but plenty of clouds out there. >> view from mount tam, pretty high up in the atmosphere, making sure a pretty sky. 60s and 70s today but we've got couple of systems that have come through our area earlier in the week. >>> also ahead, solyndra backlash, another bay area solar installer faces new troubles putting its panels >>> welcome back. time right now, 9:39. thanks for joining us on this sunday morning, the first sunday of the month. this is a live look at the golden gate bridge. you see the clouds there. wonder if they are going lift or just kind of hanging in to build up moisture? what do you call those clouds? >> we have the higher clouds would be cumulus and the low clouds bring us the fog and we do have a fix because the marine layer is mixed. we'll keep it partly cloudy because all those clouds moving from the incoming frontal system. and here a view that shows the cloud cover out there. very pretty

lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >> we're talking about schools, >> we're talking about schools, up nextstudent athletes and look, every day we're using more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ >>> weekend has arrived and sandhya patel is here with the forecast and it looks stunning. >> we're coming over to your house for a barbecue. >> beautiful weather. 80s in inland communities, places like fremont, and yok and livermore. san jose 80 degrees. sunshine in napa, 80 for you and 80 in san rafael. oakland, upper 70s tomorrow afternoon. san francisco hitting 71 degrees and you'll see patches of fog returning. half moon bay, 66 degrees. for the monterey bay, it's 70-degree weather in monterey. 80 for nsalinas. here is the accu-weat

lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >> it's going to be a nice day. towards treasure island from the embarcadero. >>> beautiful out there. numbers coming up today. it's going to be warm weekend with an offshore flow. as you look at this pink you see the city. lots of sunshine. we're in the 50s. 40s to the north. we're talking recess across the bay in oakland. so everyone will gain another five to ten degrees today. i'll show what you the rest of the weekend looks like next. >> bay area scientists on a mission to rescue the reefs. this morning we show you one of ♪ [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies with hershey's chocolate chips. for a moment of warm, gooey, togetherness. chocolate chip cookies... from pillsbury. and these are the ones you'll love on a school night. pillsbury crescent dogs with just a few ingredients you have an easy dinner... pillsbury crescent dogs... school night ideas made easy. >>> to the top of mount tamalpais we go. looking at san francisco. lots of things, you see the trees moving. the top of the golden gate

lyanne melendez tells us how the village ajs work. >> he has dementia. it kept him from writing his memoir, is when his wife reached out which provides volunteers. an audio version of his life was recently completed. >> i don't think i would have done it. so i feel good about the whole thing. >> asci village has 170 members serving berkeley, albany, pleasanton and small portion of oakland. >> they offer assistance in transportation, in home improvement, home care, cooking, gardening, dog walking. whatever people's needs are that help them to live independently. >> it's not cheap. $750 a year per person, about $62 a month. those that can afford it say they get a lot of support. bob's wife takes a course every thursday night. >> i don't like leaving bob alone. so i asked for a volunteer who could come and be with bob. >> currently there are other villages nationwide with about 11s in senior members. the network met today in oakland to discuss adding more villages. san francisco already has two. >> if they fall and break a hip or have a stroke, nobody knows

lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >> there is a conference on autism today at santa clara university.are on the app that she messaged there, go to abc7news.com and click on see it on tv. >> don't go away. "7 on your side" is next. >> a family books a vacation and winds up paying twice. beth! hi. looking good! you've lost some weight. thanks! you noticed! you know these clothes are too big now, so i'm donating them. nogoing back the again. good for you! how'd you do i eating right, whole grain. whole grain? whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't... multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 lightly sweetened calories per serving... more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios. zbloofld welcome back to a live picture of the conservatory of flowers golden gate park. you see some of the homes in the richmond district there. from the looks of things, if you want to play tennis, golden gate park may be the place, too. >> more travelers are using the convenience of internet to book trips online but for one family ther

lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >>> get prepared to shell out a bit on more for peanut butter. u.s. farmers are expected to produce 13% fewer peanuts than last year. here is nannette miranda from the story from sacramento. >> ask most kids and they will tell you peanut but the are and jelly sandwich is a favorite. he is only 4 years old. >> how many sandwiches do you eat? >> five. >> but parents will soon have to pay more for peanut butter and other butter. a shortage for peanuts driving up the price, almost 300% in the last year from $450 a ton to nearly $1200 a ton. that translates to higher peanut prices. >> i'm bummed. we buy a lot of peanut butter and go through a jar every would weeks. >> grocers raised prices by 30% and they say it will be as much as 40%. >> peanut butter and jelly are such stables an average kid will eat about 1500 peanut butter sandwiches by the time they reach high school. >> sara takes care of nine children. a 30-40% hike won't be easy to swallow. >> peanut is the go to food. at that pricing it is going to make a big difference. >> while it's the most pop

a man that was there that day and helped rescue coworkers spoke with lyanne melendez. >> bill lee stillrs that day in 1988 when a former colleague entered esl incorporated a defense firm in sunnyvale and began shooting. >> people were yelling that there was a gunman in the billing and shortly after that is when we heard the first shots. >> reporter: the shooter richard farley was obsess with a female colleague. he had also been laid off. he entered esl heavily armed and killed seven coworkers and wounded four others. he is currently on death row at san quentin. lee helped rescue some of thinks coworkers. he wrote about it in his book, chinese playground, a memoir. >> sharing the experiences was able to provide guidance and support to other people going through a crisis and dealing with personal demons. >> reporter: there was another work place shooting in santa clara. jing wu killed three company executives. he was areferendum the following day. >>> guy a labor attorney who has studied work place violence, he says shootings like these don't occur because the person suddenly snap. >> the

lyanne melendez has the numbers. >> ashley chandler of san francisco says families should be financially stable before starting a family. >> there is so many different factors to consider when having a baby and obviously the financial aspect is huge. >> some americans even postponed having children butts of the nation's economic uncertainty. a report found in 21st century, fewer babies, directly linked to our economic crisis. in 2007, just before the recession, 4.3 million babies were born in the u.s. but three years later the fertility rate fell to 4 million. let's look at it a different way. in 2007, there were 69 about .7 babies per 1,000 women. in 2010 the number dropped to 64.7. california had nearly 74 babies per 1,000 women, down to 68 in 2009. >> we are looking at a 1% decrease with our older women and looking at a 6% decrease with our younger women and those younger women are probably going to have kids but it will just be delayed. not a dramatic dip but i think it is another indication of how the rehe section has impacted americans. >> reporter: america has seen this kind of de

in oakland, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> now, if you would like to contribute to the donors chooseam, there's a lincoln to their website on abc7.com under see it on tv. that's a good deal there. our weather look pretty good? >> for today. the runners, we have a mild start to the day. although we have some 50s out there and only partly cloudy skies. so waking up to this sunshine when the sun comes up after 7:00. rain arrives, a couple days of it. we will talk about it next. >> thank you, lisa. also ahead, overcoming your phobias. how virtual reality can help you overcome many of your biggest and very real fears. ♪ [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies with hershey's chocolate chips. for a moment of warm, gooey, togetherness. chocolate chip cookies... from pillsbury. and these are the ones you'll love on a school night. pillsbury crescent dogs with just a few ingredients you have an easy dinner... pillsbury crescent dogs... school night ideas made easy. >> overcoming your phobias is a daunting challenge for people, but you can now overcome your very real fierce with v

lyanne melendez has the story. >> reporter: the tanker truck was on its side engulfed in flames. the driver managed to get out but passed out dangerously near the fire. 22-year-old kina williams was driving ahead of the truck on highway 101. at that moment she left her five-year-old daughter in the car and made a decision that may have saved the driver's life. >> he is standing between the fire, he passes out. so now, i'm like oh, my god, oh, my god. so my first instinct is to run over there and put my arms under his arms and i dragged him all the way to my car. >> the truck driver, 52-year-old michael finnerty was unconscious. williams was on the south side of thefore the only person close enough to get to him. >> she made all of the difference in the world because the driver was on the ground on the other side of the fire so from our approach we had to extinguish the fire and probably wouldn't have seen him on the ground if nobody else had stopped. >> williams says it all started when two cars ahead of the truck got involved in an accident, making it impossible for the truck to

lyanne melendez reports. >>> this is rivera's largest standing mural cra the smallerforming arts theatert city college. it was never intended to be here. in 1940 the plan was to build a library to house the mural but then came world war ii. >> you couldn't get concrete, you couldn't get steel. so finally the library was a multiuse space and more need for classrooms so there wasn't anything large enough. this is 22 feet high by 74 long. >> that is nearly as long as tennis court. president of city college and well known architect convinced them to come to san francisco to participate in the golden gate exposition on treasure island. it took him four months to complete the fresco known as the pan american unity mural. >> he was paid a thousand dollars a month for living expenses and a thousand dollars travel, but the mural itself is his gift to city college. >> the mural is fusion between the great, past contributions of latin america and later north america's technical innovation. it covers a significant portion of the mural. his ex-wife is prominently shown even though he is behind her ho

in oakland, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> change is coming to the weather forecast. here to tell us all about it. >> the usual spring to summer to fall. follow suit, and an early rain coming our way. here's a look at emeryville. you are looking at berkeley with the cloudy skies. a little fog with the sun on the way today. a couple days rain next week. i'll explain next. >> also ahead, overcoming your phobias. how virtual reality can help you overcome many. your biggest and very real >> overcoming your phobias is a daunting challenge for people, but you can now overcome your very real fears with virtual reality. here's abc7 business and technology reporter, david louie. >> reporter: for 45 years kathy milton har poured a fear of heights after falling out of a tree when she was a child. she just lived with that fear until she recently lost a job. >> the first question out of the interviewer's mouth is how are you with heights? of course, i didn't answer directly or quickly, so he naturally figured out that i did fear heights. >> she turned to a special clinic at kaiser

as abc7s lyanne melendez explains.sing an ipad makes a difference for children on the autism spectrum. >> i pop the red balloon. >> i pop the red balloon. >> nice job. >> this is a tool she uses to help her autistic students improve their language skills. >> it's a pracical way to use an educational tool in the classroom that ads to what you are doing because you are eliciting language all day long. that's all i want to do, get language for the kids. >> she has been testing an app called in-genie made by a company in albany. >> are you ready to plant your last one? >> yes. >> okay. nena is engaged, something that doesn't become naturally to kids on the autism spectrum. and ms. johnson is with the project. she said the auditory and visual cues help these kids retain new words. >> the modeling of language is really important. >> here's another game. >> children will dig right in and experience it for themselves. >> that back and forth action done when sheering the sheep develops their fine motor skills, needed to start w

as abc7s lyanne melendez explain, using an ipad makes a difference for children on the autism speck trim>> i popped the red balloon. >> nice job. >> this is a tool she uses to helper autistic students improve their language skills. >> it's a practice way to use an educational tool in the classroom that tad ads to what you are doing because you are eliciting language all day long. that's all i want to do, get language for the kids. >> she has been testing an app called in-genie made by a company in albany. net. ena is engaged, something that doesn't become naturally to kids on the autism spectrum. and ms. johnson is with the project. she said the auditory and visual cues help these kids retain new words. >> the modeling of language is really important. >> here's another game. >> children will dig right in and experience it for themselves. >> that back and forth action with sheering the sheep develops their fine motor skills, needed to start writing. it also allows her to move around and teach anywhere in the classroom. it also encourages independent play. shana of redwood city still remem

education reporter lyanne melendez explains the new plan to try to keep them in class. >> san francisco'semic high school is focusing on ninth graders, identified as habitual truants. this is why. stanford university analyzed the school direct's student data and found those with a grade point average of less than 2.0 who showed up for class only 85% of the time were very likely to drop out of high school. >> in fact, students at both of these early indicator warning indicators had only a graduation rate of 15%. so it's something that glares out at you and we have to do something about it. >> so instead of being taken to the truancy assessment and resource center, counselors from that center come to the school once a week. it's a pilot program being tested only at burton. >> and that case manager is obligated to work with that young person to get them reengaged back with school. >> since the program started in august, those once identified as truants have added 25% more school days. >> graduating from high school means you can go to a college and a college degree will make your life easier

lyanne melendez shows us why this program is getting so much attention. >> it's 8:30 in the morning andss at mckinley elementary is going exploring. their one mile walk will take them to the mission science workshop located at mission high. >> what we're going to do first is go in the workshop and take a seat. i'm going to give you some exploration cards. >> for the next several minutes of flee time they will discover new sounds and experience new concepts while getting acquainted with things they've only read about. they move on learning about the five senses. >> taste, touch, and sight. there is two more. very good. >> and the props help reinforce what they are taught. in this case the yellow is made of sulfur which they learn is used in different things. and the sound of a tuning fork. >>can hear the sound. >> more pieces of information they can get i feel like my ultimate goal is to get them to closed circle on the way they look at the world. >> don is director and idea of the program started in 1990 in his garage where he had a small workshop for local kids in the mission. >> they

in the newsroom, lyanne melendez, ab.>> get prepared to shell out a bit more for peanuts butter. u.s. farmers are expected to produce about 13% fewer peanuts than last year and that is driving prices up. we have the story from san francisco. >> peanut butter. >> and most kids and they will tell you peanut butter and jelly sandwich is their favorite. >> can you tell me how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you eat in one day? >> five? >> parents will soon have to pay more for peanut butter and maybe even nutter butter. a drought in the south is creating a shortage, dramatically driving up the price. almost 300% last year to $450 a ton to nearly $1,200 a ton. that translates to higher peanut butter prices. >> i'm bumped. we buy a lot of peanut butter. probably we go through a jar every two weeks. >> jiff brand will hike prices up to grossers 30% in november and others say it could be as much as 40%. they will pass the increase on to consumers. >> peanut butter and jellies are such staples in the american household tha

in berkeley, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> lisa is going to talk to us about the forecast. you are saying pretty darn nice? >> that's what you are saying but i'm agreeing. you are right. although this morning it's cold out there. >> yeah. >> in our north bay valleys low 40s. san francisco 59. sutro showing that -- looks pretty clear, and it is. just some patchy ground fog. we will talk about the clear start, the warm finish, the mild weekend and the offshore flow. that's all coming up. >> that's a lot. also ahead bay area scientists on a mission to rescue the reefs. this morning we slowly you one of the hey guys, what can i get for you? i would like a decaf 360 calories please. and for you? i'll have a triple iced 410 calories please. you want the 40 whipped calories on that? uh, you know what... i'll have this instead. [ female announcer ] swap one thing a day for a yoplait light. with 33 flavors all around a hundred calories, a swap a day adds up to amazing. now you caadd some crunch to your creamy. yoplait light with granola. try it today. >> oakland international airpor

in the newsroom, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >>> get prepared to shell out a bit more for peanuts butter.s. farmers are expected to produce about 13% fewer peanuts than last year and that is driving prices up. we have the story from sacramento. >> peanut butter. >> ask most kids and they will tell you peanut butter and jelly sandwich is their favorite. >> can you tell me how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you eat in one day? >> five? >> parents will soon have to pay more for peanut butter and maybe even nutter butter. a drought in the south is creating a shortage, dramatically driving up the price. almost 300% last year to $450 a ton to nearly $1,200 a ton. that translates to higher peanut butter prices. >> i'm bummed. we buy a lot of peanut butter. probably we go through a jar every two weeks. >> jiff brand will hike prices up to grocers 30% in november and others say it could be as much as 40%. they will pass the increase on to consumers. >> peanut butter and jellies are such staples in the american household that an average kid will eat about 1500p and j sandwiches by the tim

in berkeley, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> lowsa is here with weather.lso later on we will talk about the fire danger in the middle ever all the chilly morning weather. >> 'tis the season for sure. we are looking at an offshore flow. warmer today. atmosphere drying out over the next several days. we have mid-40s in the north bay valleys, 50s elsewhere. the warming trend, the offshore flow and your forecast all straight ahead. >> also ahead, bay area scientists on a mission to rescue the reefs. this morning we show you one of the ocean's tiniest >>> heavy metal music may not be for everyone, but in some parts of the world the head banging sound is actually illegal. there are places where heavy metal artists are threatened with violence and prison. we report on an east bay musician trying to rescue them. >> this is heavy metal via teran, and for 23-year-old ziran, being a heavy metal musician made him a target of his own government. >> if you are walking on the street with long hair and some black metal t-shirt, they will arrest you. they cut your hair. th

lyanne melendez has more on the jobs outlook. >> september employment numbers were better nearly halfl new jobs came from verizon. company re-hired 45,000 workers after going on strike. analysts say it still counts as new jobs. >> i guess the best thing can be said about it it wasn't a terrible report. it didn't give any credibility to the argument that we are sliding closer to a recession. >>> robert rice says the slow job has impact on consumer confidence. consumer spending presents 70% of the economy. >> americans cannot buy because they are stressed. they have to save if they have any money at all, at the same time unless they buy businesses are not going to create new jobs. >> the professor says the only save grace is for the government to step in to boost the economy. >> rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and ports and providing people with the safety net they need so they can turned around and in turn buy things so businesses will create jobs. >> right now congress is battling over president obama's $447 billion job package. many are frustrated with lawmakers and inabilit