i'm ed melendez, the director for larkin street youth services. my program overseas, a ged, a completion program, support readiness, job training program, one-on-one tutoring and various other employment and education support systems. we worked with 1,100 youth last year. that was everything from referrals to various on the programs in the city. i want to speak to one of the statements that one of our youth made, vanessa, who spoke about foster care, which the highest problem of homelessness is out of foster care systems. not just in san francisco, but in l.a. county, for example. and vanessa really alluded to how things are stabilizing. so if a young person is housed, they then can take a shower. then they have the stability to go look for work, to complete their g.e.d., to maybe perhaps think about college, look for employment. those things that we take for granted. this housing project is one that i hope you can support. this is not a drop-in. it's tullely youth who have gone now a process to be chosen to be in the housing program. there's goin

lyanne melendez explains. >>> kevin has always suspected there could be non-genetic factors in autismld and was diagnosed several years ago. >> those of us that have children like this hope usually to find a cure or at least a cause so that fewer and fewer children are subject to this. >> reporter: a new study suggests environmental factors must also be involved. nearly 200 sets of twins were assessed. keep in mind that identical twins share the same set of genes, so if one twin as a disorder the other one will, too. >> basically, one has autism the other one has autism. >> the doctor knew it wasn't always true with identical twins or fraternal twins. his study the largest ever of twins proved environmental factors played a larger role than previously thought. his study concluded that they account for 38 ps and environmental accounts for 62%. what are the environmental factors are they talking about? but it seems something could be happening very early on or during the pregnancy. >> medication during pregnancy, toxins during pregnancy, infections, things luke this, i would start to lo

lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >>> don't go away. 7 on your side is next. >> an old gift card causesems. i'm michael finney, coming up, problem solved.áÑáÑáÑáÑáÑáÑáÑáÑw >>> well, it is looking a little gray and gloomy in san francisco at ferry building. this is a live look from our roof cam, but you know that is the way it goes. it will get better as the day wears on. welcome back. it is 8:49 and lisa will come along to give you a full accu-weather forecast just a bit later before we end the newscast. >> well known restaurant chain says no to a bay area woman when she tried to use her gift certificate. she knew it was against the law oh ee turned to 7 on your side's michael finney for help. >> she is telling me about a night out she had with a friend recently. she planned to pay with an old gift certificate her husband never used. >> it was a gift certificate but it's blue. they said, we don't take them anymore. >> a gift certificate rather an gift card. that is sure tip-off it was old. >> i was with a girlfriend you don't know how that feels. [ laughter ] >> she was at the restauran

lyanne melendez looks at what is being done to meet the demand. >> he has worked at retail and at a consulting firm. >> realizing math is just math, it grows into science and grows in other subjects. on. >> her training starts in this classroom, one month of intense preparation under the residency program. they will spend one year shadowing a veteran teacher at one of the 30 schools operating in low income communities in california. while working on their credentials and master's degrees. we have high demand to have and highly qualified teachers who understand the subjects and how to teach it well. >> the obama administration has called on nonprofits like this to recruit and prepare for science is teachers. they have already placed 1200 math and science teachers throughout california and now they have vowed to place another 2500 by 2015. despite the efforts, the state expected to fall short. that is why schools are eager to attract more career changers like tim. >>> coming up, will she, won't she or when will she? sarah palin latest word on a possible presidential build. >> and the resolution

education reporter lyanne melendez looks at what is being done to meet the demand. >> reporter: helen has worked in retail and at a consulting firm and now hopes her financial background will help her become a good math teacher. >> i want to open up opportunities for students, math is not just math. it flows into so many other subjects. >> one month of intense training. the new teachers spend one year shad co-doughing a veteran teacher at one of the 30 aspire public schools operating in low income communities in california while working on credentials and master abouts degrees. katie kelly was attracted to the program and moved here from boston a month ago. >> i knew i wanted to teach and applied and said i would be almost equally happy to teach social studies or biology. i had a hunch that they might take a bite at the biology because i though that science teachers are now in high demand. >> she will now teach high school science in the fall. >> in the middle school and high school we have a high demand for highly qualified teachers who understand the subject and how to teach it wale

lyanne melendez shows us how it works and what you'll find. >> there have been numerous marches throughout the state bringing attention to cuts in education. and then there are the numbers. >> we've been reduced over 20% already from the state. >> but how much of that information is understood or digested by parents? >> a new online tool that maps funding of schools. clicks and information pops up. it shows how much districts will lose if the tax, tensions do not pass. >> for every school district potential cuts to that district and this is based on downward projections, if there is no additional revenues. >> oakland unified. that represents 764 fewer dollars per child with 30 kids in a classroom that is $22,922. it shows the number of teachers who received layoff notices. the create rs of the website from los angeles. >> we got our hands dirty and realized we need to simplify the information. >> cynthia lew is a mother of an elementary school student she worked on it for a month volunteering their time. one works for google. the maps are powered by the internet search giant. per school di

. >> lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >>> the study is published in the archives of general psychiatry. the author says researchers have been focusing on childhood vaccines as a cause of autism but there is little evidence to support. that he believes researchers should study other environmental factors. >> the author of a study of widely used drugs that called smokers to quit. chantix is prescribed for any more than any including to stop smoking. it may linked to heart approximate. smokers who used chantix had more cardiovascular problems that smokers than did not. drugmakerser says the study was too small if chantix was the cause. >> a london scientist says breakthrough is. they have all the tools to cure aging. he says gene and stem cell therapies could be used as treatments to slow and repair lifelong cell damage. he calls it preventative geriatrics. others say it's intrigue but it has yet to be tested. >> getting a good work out, leading a healthy lifestyle and exercising. >> you want to do it in the morning, obviously. good news is, yesterday we talked about possibility of poor ai

lyanne melendez has more. >> she has in her hands the cellphone that may tell police more about the disappearance berkeley resident anthony michael martin. she was supposed to meet with her boyfriend at 8:00 on the berkeley campus. >> i walked over to his place and i waited outside of his place for hour and a half, two hours and i got a call from the cyclist who found his phone. >> that was picked up near this stretch of the road. martin was riding a green and white bicycle. he may have been wearing street clothes at the time. they say the boyfriend was just recovering from an illness and also been fasting for several days. >> he was going through a cleanse. i think he was malnourished, physically and mentally and may not have been able to cycle at the same level as he did before. >> they are investigating the case but the former professional cyclist could be anyway. >> he was an engineer and his girlfriend said he was having a hard time getting his life in. >> today he was working a full-time job and under a lot of stress. he was trying to get his ph.d. in physics. >> he decided to leave the bay

education reporter lyanne melendez looks at what is needed to meet the demand. >> he has worked at retail and a consultant firm. now, he hopes to be a good math teacher. >>> realizing that math is just not math, it grows into science and other subjects and tha uses math as strong foundation. >> she is training one month of intense preparation of aspired residency teacher program. they will spend one year shadowing a veteran teacher operating in low income communities in california. while working on their kre deny rnls. >> middle cool and high school we have high demand to have highly qualified teachers who understand the subjects and also understand how to teach it well. >> the obama administration has called on nonprofits like aspire to recruit more science, technology and engineering teachers in public schools. another organization, california teacher corps has placed 1200 math and science teachers throughout california and they have vowed to place another 2500 by the year 2015. at the spite these efforts the state is expected to fall short of meeting the demand for math and science tea

. >> in san francisco, lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >> 4th of july weekend is here but how hot is it going to get. >> you know, i'm going answer that in a minute. but we do have fog around the bay. this is definitely a key, too, because it's supposed to go away. >> and the beard that set off brian wilson in detroit. that is coming up next in sports. >>> here is something you might not have expected. we got a wet lens looking out at the golden gate bridge. fog is very thick out there now but we're talking about sunshine and heat. more coming up in just a minutes >>> san francisco choir starts a tour of cuba today. ♪ >> last night a sendoff concert on fillmore street for the 40 member choir will be giving four concerts as a special 4th of july celebration. they will take part in master classes and take part in a choir. they sound like angels, don't they? last year they won two grammy awards. >>> so many questions about weather. wet lenses out at the golden gate bridge but hot temperatures what is going on? >> we saw the fog increase since the morning hours. we were looking at a west wi

lyanne melendez, "abc 7 news." >>> could the gas you use in your car end up voiding your warranty?> and also swallowed up in a cloud of death, massive sand wall that turned day into night in phoenix. >> after three years, the nation is stunned by the verdict in the casey anthony trial. >> and a new low for british tabloids, police say they jeopardize the investigation of a 13-year-old girl murderer. >>> welcome back. live doppler 7-hd. what we're seeing some of the moisture left over from yesterday's thunderstorm that rolled through phoenix. as far as what is going on in our forecast, more scattered thunderstorms all the way up to possibly tahoe and yosemite with temperatures mid to upper 80s and near 100 degrees chico and fresno. sunny and 88 in l.a. >>> in orlando, florida, casey anthony could walk away a free woman as soon as tomorrow. a jury found her not guilty of killing her two-year-old daughter caylee and is to be sentenced for lying. she could be released. here is more from john hendron. >> a nation trance fixed by the trial was left stunned by the verdict. >> as to the ch

education reporter lyanne melendez with the cool toys they have created and how the experience couldves. >> jason phillips is having fun pumping a balloon that. and he is learning once the wheels touch the floor, something called friction will slow it down. >> the energy of moving. >> he and 300 kids between the ages of eight and ten are participating in a three week camp called summer ask engineering experience for kids. >> it was started by the national society of black engineers but they have been operating mainly in the east coast but this is the first year in oakland. >> we want to put in a mind, i can be a college engineering major. >> science and technology and engineering and math. making a skimmer glide is another project which teaches them that the size and design and shape of a tail matters. >> the wind is blowing and it goes like. >> this a rubber band and metal washers inside this coffee can help move it. >> then the rubber band and then it winds up and the rubber band is used as the engine. >> hosting them are african-american college students from around the nation. al