michael finney has advice on how to keep those bills down. michael: the government report made headlines and shot consumers. home heating bills could jump an average of 30% for most americans, depending on the type of fuel they use. what can you do to save money? consumer reports experts say there are some easy ways to reduce the amount of energy you use. >> your hvac system uses the most energy in your house and it is important to make sure it is running efficiently and not wasting fuel. michael: that usually requires affectional maintenance at least once a year. there are things you can do yourself. start by checking the filters. when they are dirty, the unit has to work harder and that costs you more money. next, check your doors and windows. don't look -- don't let the warm air leak outside. >> you can easily install new weatherstripping and draft blockers to seal in warmer air. for bigger gaps, use foam. cold air can come in through outlets and external walls. michael: think about installing a smart thermostat. they save energy by lowerin

michael finney, 7 on your side. dan: states of emergency across the southeast. wet roads are expected to turn ic tonight your eyes. beautiful on the outside, but if you have diabetes, there can be some not-so-pretty stuff going on inside. it's true, with diabetic retinopathy, excess sugar can damage blood vessels, causing vision loss or even blindness. so remember this: now is the time to get your eyes checked. eye care is important to your long-term diabetes management. see a path forward with actions and treatments that may help your eyes— and protect against vision loss. visit noweyesee.com and take control of your sight. dan: top diplomats from the united states and russia bent today in switzerland amid fears of a russian invasion of ukraine. both sides committed to continue negotiation, but they admitted there was no breakthrough. abc has the latest from washington. reporter: with tensions high at the ukraine border, a critical meeting between the u.s. and russia. secretary of state antony blinken and his russian counterpart sergey lavrov pledging to contin

that was michael finney reporting now michael adds that this is a good reminder to report problems twoen. we'll talk about a successful mission today for nasa the james webb space. telescope unfolded its giant gold mirror today the mirrors 18 gold coated segments had to unfold and lock together in perfect sequence. between the fact that we had large and deterministic deployments like the sun shield and we had large precision deployments like in the ote like in the telescope. this has been a you know, arguably the most challenging deployment program ever done by nasa. yeah, sounds like it spacecraft will spend the next two weeks traveling about a million miles from earth scientists are hoping for images of space as we have never seen it before we want to make sure that the first images that the world sees that the the humanity sees from this telescope are do justice to this 10 billion dollar telescope and are not those you know, hey look a star. yeah a little bit more complex than hey. look a star. the telescope will investigate planets outside of our solar system. we could see some of

dan: when it comes to the edd, the motto seems cut benefits now and ask later. 7 on your side's michael finney is helping people with real disability claims who can't get their money. sandhya: our stretch of dry days in the middle of winter could possibly come to an to be a thriver with metastatic breast cancer means asking for what we want. and need. and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. women are living longer than ever before with kisqali when taken with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant in postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark ur

michael finney has an answer to that. this is a really interesting question.ael: since the pandemic began, we had to shut down or -- our phone lines, so the only way to initiate a consumer complaint with us is online. that really does change things. what is the best way to ask for a favor -- in person, email, may be on facebook, i ask you what is the best way to approach someone when you need help? there were plenty of opinions. in person, text, phone call, online chat. you could make a case for all of those, but know this -- most of the answers are wrong. in one study, researchers found participants really did not understand the process. >> their intuition was actually that all of those different ways of asking would essentially be the same amount of effective, so they would get a yes basically just as often using one medium versus another, but what we found was that really was not the case. >> a professor of organizational behavior at cornell and author of the book "you have more influence than you think" studied participants told to ask someone they knew fo

7 on your side's michael finney warns that many consumers may have unknowingly purchased counterfeit masks. michael: the new york times reported that in november alone, companies that sell fake masks wrapped up $34 million in sales. chances are that if you bought a mask from a third party seller, it is counterfeit. photo after photo of a fake masks can be found at the cdc website. the amount of fakes out there are rampant, yet they remain a hot seller, because n95 and the very similar kn95 masks, when legitimate, block out 95% of airborne particles. michael: right now with how contagious omicron is -- >> wearing and n95 mask will give you optimal protection even in a school setting. michael: on monday the oakland school of the arts announced an emergency closure the rest of the week caused by what the principle described as a surge of cases. according to an an email to parents, when students return on january 18, they will be required to wear n95 or kn95 masks. other districts are at recommending the use of those masks by both teachers and students. that may prove difficult for some f

i am michael finney, 7 on your side. liz: i will keep that in mind.all know times square in new york celebrates the new year with the infamous ball drop, but other cities across the country have different kinds of drops. take a look at this. on the left, you see a cheese drop as you make -- may guess, that is from wisconsin, the cheese capital of the world. on the right, an unusual new year's eve drop, a marshmallow peak being dropped ipennsylvani. it weighs 400 pounds, is five feet tall, and bethlehem is home to the candy company that makes peeps. people are staking out their spots for this morning's 133rd rose parade in pasadena. the floats are in position this morning. last year's parade was called off because of a covid winter surge. now with the omicron variant, officials recommend masks and in some areas of the parade, they require proof of vaccination or a negative covid test. >> i am a nurse at ucla, so i am very aware of the risk and i think being outside and having our masks on and vaccinated and boosted, i felt like it was safe. liz: for th

i am michael finney with one announcer: building a better bay area.g forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. gun owners tonight, considered first of its kind gun-control measures. tomorrow san jose could become the first city in the nation to approve certain requirements for both gun owners and gunmakers reporter zach fuentes has details. reporter: gun liability insurance and a $25 annual fee, that along with whether san jose mayor calls an additional administrative cost. >> if the council approves this measure, san jose would become the first city in the nation and only jurisdiction in the nation to implement this kind of innovative gun regulation. reporter: in june the month after the light rail yard shooting, the council unanimously voted in favor of retracting the ordinance. ricardo says that money would go to a newly created nonprofit that would send the money to other programs that would work to reduce gun violence and more. citing the study, ricardo says the city spends a million each year responding to gun violence. >> the second amend

reporter: michael finney, 7 on your side. dan: let's hope that happens.edom berg he is currently fag charges for consumer fraud. if you have any information about the dogs, please share it with us and we will get that with us and we will get that informatio family is just very important. she's my sister and we depend on each other a lot. she's the rock of the family. she's the person who holds everything together. it's a battle, you know. i'm going to be there. keytruda and chemotherapy meant treating my cancer with two different types of medicine. in a clinical trial, keytruda and chemotherapy was proven to help people live longer than chemotherapy alone. keytruda is used to treat more patients with advanced lung cancer than any other immunotherapy. keytruda may be used with certain chemotherapies as your first treatment if you have advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer and you do not have an abnormal “egfr” or “alk” gene. keytruda helps your immune system fight cancer, but can also cause your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body.

dan: michael finney is here with the latest on consumer headlines. there's a lot going on. the new year brings with it a new year to track your credit. equifax says by the end of next month, it will be including in its reports the popular by now, pay later plans. small loans have been excluded from credit reports. now those who pay each month will get good marks on their credit report and those who missed payments will have their scores changed -- dinged. these plants have become extremely popular and took off this past holiday season. although they are offered in brick-and-mortar retailers, you probably most often see them when you are shopping online. this year also comes with new patient protections. if you have a medical emergency, out of network hospitals and doctors will no longer be allowed legally to charge you the higher out-of-network rate. millions of americans who suffered medical emergencies also suffered a financial one went out-of-network providers would send along another set of bills for the out-of-network citizens -- services. studi

larry: michael finney is here with a look at the headlines. michael: the u.s.nomy last year grew at the fastest pace in nearly 40 years. but the gains are not expected to continue through 2022. the gnp rose 5.7% the most since 1984. the growth was mostly impacted by an increase in consumer spending and private investment. the reopening of many of -- of many businesses, the rollout of vaccines and low interest rates pushed the recovery after the devastating 2020 year. a store is closing its remaining two u.s. stores, one in san francisco and one in emeryville. retailer opened its first san francisco location on market street in 2017. closed at the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. the emeryville store and the second san francisco location on 16th street are now scheduled to close this march. twice as many fraud victims were initially contacted by a social media than the year before. the federal trade commission says more than 95,000 people reported losing money in a scam that was initiated by social media. those reported losses totaled about $770 million making up

. >> a group of bay area women made a trek up mount kilimanjaro in tanzania to michael finney is herewith a story. this trip would not have happened if not for the help of a good samaritan should >> they had been working on this trip for almost two years with the help of a bay area hiking group. they deposited nearly $2000 each for the trip only to be told by the tour operator he never got the money. >> we are about to start. >> we are a little out of breath but we will make it. >> that is marissa as she embarks on the strenuous climb up mount kilimanjaro. the highest mountain in africa is also the tallest freestanding mountain in the world. 19,340 feet. >> it is a challenge. i am in avid hiker. i've been hiking for 15 years and i love hiking. >> regina fox and the other is belonged to a local hiking club. the group says organizers began accepting installments 18 months in advance. they accuse miles of never paying the tour operator. >> a lot of people know him and hiked with them for many years so it was very disappointing and a big sense of betrayal. >> both regina and patricia are

michael finney stepped in to try to help. >> this is not the first time we told you these kinds of storiesily describes a unit they rented as uninhabitable. the discovery forced them to scramble to find alternative arrangements on a busy holiday weekend. musician and filmmaker daniel improvises a few chords from the song he would write about his experience with airbnb. >> it would be dark and a lot of distortion and at the end, it would be bright and sunny. >> these are pictures of the unit posted on the rental marketplace. these are photos daniel and his wife took the way they found it when they arrived. >> the driveway is full of trash, garbage. garbage cans, broken furniture. >> they >> they grass, electrical outlet covers missing, scuff marks on walls and a broken window. >> you could tell there was some sort of raging party there that trashed the place. >> the host asked the couple to return and promised unit would be back to normal soon. they left. a few hours later, described the rental as any the same condition they found it. the host told them they would need to get a refund from

. >> michael finney looks at how scammers built a local team out of local -- out of thousands of dollarshe offer of being a woman's sugar baby proved to tempe for the 17 vote. it all started vision over snapchat. i am willing to pay you $500 as allowance on a weekly basis if you are willing. yes, i'm down the boy replied. janet read a conversation between her son and a woman who went by the name arena angel. she said the two of them talked about every thing from holidays to family. >> we are not askin much, just online companionship. there are two checks deposited into this wells fargo account. keep $500 for himself and then donate the rest. >> why do i have to why didn't the account just donate? it makes no sense. he is family, he has been with the family for decades. i would like to do the same as well. thisthisthisthisthisthisthis for 4500. and then then then then then thn his behalf. >> the fact that this money went out the window so quickly, i was just like holy cow. >> the checks deposited had bounced. why is all of my money gone? can you please exercise some patients? it is my iss

michael finney first reported on the program in february of 2020. here's how it works.you get specialized bags with a barcode at participating stores. you fill your bag up and drop it off at a collection site. you can download the bottle bank app and register for an account. the money goes directly into your account when the cans and bottles are sorted. >> it is a heartwarming video going viral of perhaps the biggest fan of the new hit disney movie. a two-year-old boy seeing himself as a character. will ganz has more on the message it is sending to moviemakers. >> hi. >> there he is, the star of the show. what is up, kenzo? >> what is up? >> that is a two-year-old. this is antonio from a new disney movie, enan >> >> -- the resemblance uncanny, something kenzo himself noticed. >> i truly believe he thought it was him. this is his reaction. he kept staring at the screen and smiling. >> mom and dad catching the moment. >> to see how ecstatic he was. he clapped. he was excited. >> the photo going viral, along with the hash tag, #representationmatters. >> growing up for me,

larry: michael finney has a look at the headlines -- we are talking about billions at stake. >> bankica is the latest bank to overhaul its overdraft fees. the bank says it will reduce the fees from $35 to $10 starting in may. bank of america will cut nonsufficient fund fees entirely. those are the ones assessed when a customer's transaction is rejected or they bounce a check. it will stop customers from over drawing their accounts and illuminate the $12 fee from auto transferring from one account to another. that one always onerous. they collected $30 billion in these kinds of fees in 2020 loan. banks have been under pressure from elizabeth warren and other critics who point out the fees target people of color and those living paycheck-to-paycheck. if you want to get an uber, you will have to do it the old-fashioned way -- with your phone. have quietly stopped support for its apple watch app, meaning watch customers have to use traditional phone apps. apple watch users will see a warning that uber is no longer supporting the app. lift dropped its apple watch app in 2018. if you purch

here's michael finney. >> back in october i started receiving notices from edd about changes made toaccount. reporter: robert is an anesthesiologist in santa rosa. he was puzzled when the edd began sending notices about his account. >> i thought i didn't make any account. reporter: he doesn't have on. the notices that the doctor had updated his mailing address and treatment facility. >> i realize this is for disability. reporter: he realized some bite used his name to file a funny disability claim. surely the edd would want to know about this right away. >> i would be on hold for 45 hours at a time. -- four to five hours at a time. reporter: he left a message on the hotline, never heard back. he made copies of the notices and sent them to the edd, covered with warnings. >> cancel this claim. close it immediately, before any checks are sent out. reporter: but too late, instead of canceling the claim, the edd sentiment check for $2700. -- sent him a check for try $700. >> i'm speechless. reporter: it was for two weeks of disability pay. >> i wrote void all over the check. reporter: lik