Voyager lifted off 35 years ago

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Space geeks will recognize this day as being one of those obscure, but fascinating anniversaries. Thirty-five years ago, the U.S. launched the first of the Voyager spacecraft, so ABC7 News revisited its significance in this decade.

There may be few experiences more mysterious and alluring than walking along a shoreline and stumbling upon an ancient message in a bottle -- something cast intentionally, that traveled a long way for a long time, delivered by fate.

Now imagine it on a cosmic scale, because 35 years ago mankind sent two such identical messages aboard the Voyager spacecraft. Their missions are to explore the outer planets and moons of our solar system. Both sent back images and data that we still study, today. By 1990, Voyager I had traveled four billion miles -- so far that it could fit all of our entire solar system into one photograph.

As astronomer Carl Sagan showed us back then, a photo of Jupiter, Saturn, and a speck almost invisible in a lens flare. He said the speck was, "This is where we live... on a blue dot. That's where everyone you know and everyone you ever heard of, and every human being ever lived, lived out their lives."

The Voyagers will likely to be the farthest flung, longest existing objects ever made by man. Their destiny is to travel for all eternity between the stars, which leads to a question: what if someone found them? The answer is the Voyager golden records.

"The idea behind the Voyager record was to put an artifact on the spacecraft that would tell more about us than could be deduced by looking at the spacecraft itself," said science writer Timothy Ferris of San Francisco.

Ferris has written a dozen books and countless articles, but back in the 1970's he worked with Sagan in producing the records for those spacecraft.

"The only record I ever produced was the Voyager interstellar record. Only two copies of it were made and they were both flung entirely out of the solar system," said Ferris.

The Golden Records look like any other LP, except that they're etched in copper and plated in gold. The packages contain a stylus and basic instructions that a space-faring civilization ought be able to decode. Then they get really interesting.

"If you came upon an artifact that included photographs, voices, music, sent by beings, who perhaps lived a long time ago on another planet, about whom you had no prior knowledge, wouldn't you be fascinated by that?" said Ferris.

The records includes greeting in every language and music ranging from Chuck Berry to the classics. They have images of our planet, our biology, our everyday life. They are time capsules of humanity through the 1970s. As simple as messages in a bottles.

"When I was a boy in Florida, I actually once came upon a bottle with a note in it and this is the same thing, except that instead of being in the ocean, it is thrown out into the depths interstellar space," said Ferris.

There are two spacecraft on an anniversary drifting. The odds that they'll be discovered... infinitesimally small... but there's always a chance.

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

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Exploratorium strives to produce as much power as it uses

  SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's Exploratorium has announced an ambitious goal for its new museum -- to produce as much power as it uses. That will be especially tough because of the sheer size of the 230,000 square foot building. But project engineers think they can make it happen.

Ever since the Exploratorium opened in 1969 the hands-on science museum has been known for innovation. That tradition is on full display in the design of the Exploratorium's new home -- a historic pier now undergoing a complete overhaul.

Pier 15 sticks out more than 800 feet over the water -- a giant warehouse-type building that could eat up a lot of power. So engineers are trying something different: net-zero energy.

Engineer Peter Rumsey is a true believer.

"It was part research, part evangelical, you know, getting people to get excited about it and then just sheer determination," he said.

Net-zero means the building will create at least as much energy as it uses. The power comes from a huge field of high efficiency solar panels on the roof. They're made by a Silicon Valley company called SunPower and they're expected to generate 1.3 megawatts -- about what it takes to run 1,000 American homes for a year.

"What you will notice differently on this panel is no glare, all black, no metal on the front, so all the sunshine that hits the panel goes into the cell," SunPower CEO Tom Werner said.

But that's just the start. To reach net-zero, the new Exploratorium will also have to use less power.

The main reason that net-zero approach is even possible for the new Exploratorium is because the new building sits right next to the cool waters of San Francisco Bay. And in order to heat and cool the building they are able to use this water in a very clever way.

Bay water comes into the building through a giant filter.

"We bring the water in at a very slow speed so no fish get sucked up into it," Rumsey said. "This is the same technology used in an aquarium. There's a set of other filters inside there that get all the small micro-organisms out."

The water is pumped to a big blue tank called a heat exchanger. Inside, state-of-the-art technology pulls heat out of the water in winter and cools it in the summer. Pipes carry it all over the building like a giant radiator.

During the process huge filters are raised and lowered for cleaning and visitors will be able to see it all through a window.

"This room is now going to be part of the exhibit to explain how the building works," Rumsey said.

There will be one brand new building -- a glass observatory with spectacular views. But all the windows make controlling the temperature a challenge.

"So we compensated for that by using a super energy efficient glass," architect Marc L'Italien said.

The tiny ceramic lines at the top and bottom reduce heat and make the glass visible to birds so they don't fly into it.

Work on the redesigned pier is almost 90 percent finished now, but reaching net-zero energy will take more time.

"We actually have 2,000 monitoring points in the new building that will help us determine what's working and what's not," L'Italien said.

That information will be used to fine tune the energy systems over time with the final goal of becoming the largest museum in the country that creates as much power as it uses.

Now is your chance to get in a last visit to the old Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. It will be open through Jan. 2. The new building is expected to open sometime next spring.

Written and produced by Jennifer Olney

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

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Court cuts could burden Contra Costa County's poorest

RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- Contra Costa County courts are gearing up for a round of drastic painful cuts. ABC7 News has learned that those who will suffer the most are those who can least afford it.

Contra Costa County Superior Court announced last month it will close six courtrooms. They have to do that because they have lost millions of dollars in recent years in state funding due to California's budget crisis. The court shutdowns are mostly in the east and west of the county and that is where Contra Costa's minorities and the poorest of its residents live.

In Richmond, the juvenile law courtroom will close. Its cases will be moved all the way to the main courthouse in Martinez which is in central part of the county. The same thing will happen in Pittsburg, when its juvenile and family courtrooms go dark.

Lawyer Rhonda Wilson-Rice heads the juvenile law section of the county bar association. She said, "These are folks that tend to have the least amount of income, least access to public transportation and just the least amount of resources than anyone else in the county. And yet, they're being made to take the brunt of these budget cuts."

Lawyer Darren Kessler's office is in Richmond. He believes the cuts violate the law.

"When the changes to the court are done in a manner where people are fundamentally deprived of their ability to have justice in that court, it is taking away their Constitutional right to access," said Kessler.

Shawn Hamilton is an unemployed college student who has a child custody case in Richmond's juvenile court. Like many residents affected by the court cuts, he has no car. Hamilton now lives in Oakland which is a fairly quick 30 minute trip by BART. But when the court closes, Hamilton will have to take BART from Oakland to Del Norte, then a WestCAT bus to Martinez -- a trip that would cost more and could take an hour and a half or two.

"So if I have a 9 o'clock court appointment, then that means I have to leave at 7 or 6:30, or at least get up around 6-6:30," said Shawn Hamilton, a college student.

"Many people walk to court or have to take local transportation, public transportation which is relatively easy in the general area, but to go to Martinez, it is fundamentally impossible for many," said Kessler.

Even police are worried about the court closures and whether the much longer trip to Martinez will affect cases involving troubled teens.

"There might be more missed court dates whereas if the court was still here, they may be more inclined to go to their court dates," said Richmond Police Lt. Bisa French.

The court closures go into effect at the end of the year, except for the family courtroom in Pittsburg, which is scheduled to close its doors at the end of the month. Court officials in Martinez never responded to our request for an interview.

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

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Website reunites African Americans with outdoors

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- If you took your family camping this summer, you may have noticed a lack of diversity at your campground. More than 90 percent of campers are white and African Americans are less likely to go camping than any other race. One group is helping to close the racial divide of the great outdoors.

It is where many childhood memories are made, a family camping trip. But look closely and you might realize there is something missing: African Americans. Rue Mapp of Oakland is trying to change that. She started "Outdoor Afro" three years ago hoping to reunite African Americans with nature. "Outdoor Afro is a social media and in-person community that inspires and celebrates African American connections to nature," she says.

Now, Mapp has a national following. She created an online community for African Americans to share their stories. "There are thousands and thousands of members across various social media platforms. We get about 80,000 eyeballs to our Facebook page and we have about 10,000 people engaging on our website," she says.

Despite those numbers, the National Park Service says just one percent of park visitors across the country is African American. Mapp says that doesn't mean they aren't enjoying nature. Outdoor Afro organizes outings and camping trips like a recent one in Coloma. The idea is to get more African Americans out into nature. "Yes, we do camp, most definitely," Linda McDonald of Berkeley says. McDonald says Outdoor Afro is also helping diminish the stereotype that African Americans just don't camp. "Historically, black people have been a part of nature. From the time they were brought over from the continent, they've been a part of nature, cultivating the ground," she says.

"The stereotype is true and then not true because my wife, she loves it. I don't love it, but I'll do it and I'm sure I will have a great time at the end of it," Larry Austin of San Pablo says.

Many of the campers blame urbanization and segregation for disconnecting their community from the outdoors in the past. But today, they are trying to bridge that gap by reconnecting themselves and introducing a new generation to nature. "I think that it's good to bond with people that look like me and to experience new things and my God, this is great. It's beautiful out here," says David Robinson of San Francisco.

"To be able to have an organization like this, it allows more people to do it because sometimes it can be pricey and outside of peoples' means," Michelle Robinson says.

Outdoor Afro isn't just for families or African Americans for that matter. It's about creating a relationship with nature. "I think a lot of people of color are just not used to it, maybe from their childhood, they never really did a lot of outdoor activities. But I think it's great to connect with other people, to get out there, really connect back with Mother Nature, and I think that's really important not just for people of color, but for everyone," Amara Aidbedion says.

Written and produced by Ken Miguel

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

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Sleep Train and ABC7 team up for Dream Campaign

ABC7 News is teaming up with Sleep Train to help raise awareness and support for foster children. Sleep Train runs a year-round campaign for foster kids, and now we're joining in the effort.

Eighteen-year-old Andre Taylor was 5 years old when he entered the foster care system. He suffered through four foster homes and two group homes before finding what he calls the perfect family when he was 10. "In certain homes I was physically, mentally and emotionally abused," he says.

Andre tried to hope for a better life, but it was hard. "I remember when I entered foster care I was like, nobody loves me, nobody believes that I can do anything. So why should I be able to do anything?"

Now, with the support of the same stable, loving foster family for the last eight years, his ambition and achievement have soared. He's headed to UC Santa Barbara as an English major this fall, with hopes of a career in music. "If my music thing does not happen, I will go to graduate school, hopefully at Harvard for either law or English, and either to try become president or become an English professor," he says.

Like all foster children, Andre's greatest need was for someone to love him. "I had a child that asked me, 'How many hugs can I have per day?'" says Lisa Harris, a foster parent who has provided that love to 12 foster children over the last eight years. It takes more than love. There are other basic needs.

"Often times we'll get children who, they have no clothes, they have nothing. They come to your home with nothing," Harris says. "I've had children who were taken from their home at midnight and they have nothing."

That's where Rocklin-based mattress company Sleep Train comes in, asking people to donate basics like school supplies and clothing. Collection bins are set up at stores. Their TV and radio ads play year-round.

Sleep Train CEO Dale Carlsen says he got the idea after a toy drive for foster kids. "We noticed that when we delivered the toys, the kids didn't have the basic needs. They didn't have shoes, they didn't have mattresses, they didn't have jackets. They needed the basics," he says. "So at that point we said this is what we're going to do."

Foster children rely on the kindness and generosity of strangers. Programs like Sleep Train's try to make it easier for those strangers to help.

Here's how you can help foster kids in the Bay Area achieve their dreams. ABC7 News and Sleep Train have teamed up for the Dream Campaign. All you need is your Facebook account! Just go to Facebook.com/abc7news and click on the Dream Campaign tab. For every new 'like' on our page this summer, $1 gets donated to Bay Area kids. Once you 'like' our page, or if you're already a fan, you can still spread the word to your friends. Just choose your favorite badge and share it on your wall.

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

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San Francisco churches finding new life as housing

  SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- In the last 20 years, some of San Francisco's biggest and oldest churches have closed their doors. Dwindling congregations and aging buildings have left these buildings empty until now. There has been a spate renovations in the last couple years, but don't expect the places of worship to open back to churchgoers.

People once filled the pews at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood.

"I know people who grew up here and got married in this church; I know people who were buried in this church," developer Brian Speirs said.

Today St. Joseph's is empty, stripped of its sacred shrines, now just another big, empty San Francisco church in need of a new life.

"I thought it was so amazing, but sad that it had not been touched in 25 years," Chris Foley said.

Foley bought the nearly 100-year-old building three years ago. He is working with Speirs to remake the historic landmark. St. Joseph's was closed after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake because it didn't meet seismic standards.

"What we realized was, with technology companies in mid market being so hot, they are very interested in creative space, so what we decided to do is we got it approved as an office building," Foley said.

The plans call for 22,000 square feet of office space and a restaurant. The exterior will be restored and the building will be brought up to modern codes.

Cost is most often what keeps churches from being restored.

"To rehabilitate a building like this is about $17-$19 million dollars," Foley said.

St. Joseph's is just one of a number of church buildings around the city preservationists hope can be saved.

"The adaption of a building like that, that removes it from the vacant list, that creates activity around and within a community, a neighborhood is far more valuable than seeing a building vacant," San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission spokesperson Charles Chase said.

The Second Church of Christ Scientist on Dolores Street was built in 1915. It is an important architectural landmark in San Francisco.

"This is one of two wood framed truss system domes in San Francisco," owner Siamak Akhavan said.

Akhavan is planning to turn the ornate church into four residential units.

"There's going to be three multilevel units on the ground floor and one loft unit up here in this dome," he said.

Neighbors fought to keep the building from being torn down.

"We'd prefer that the building stayed as a church, but unfortunately the congregation got smaller and smaller and they couldn't afford to maintain the building, so they had no choice but to sell the building," Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association spokesperson Peter Lewis said.

Neighbors support the plan to convert the church into homes. They already knew Akhavan could do it. Less than a block away, he restored another church, turning it into a multi-million dollar home.

"He put in a beautiful kitchen and when we turn this into classrooms, we'll keep the kitchen," Children's Day School spokesperson Molly Huffman said.

When the property didn't sell as a home the private Children's Day School bought it to convert into a middle school for 180 students.

The castle like architecture will remain untouched.

"The Tudor Gothic Hogwarts ambiance of the building is wonderful for middle school students," Huffman said.

Some neighbors protested elements of the school's plan, but finally reached an agreement. Others are happy to see the school move into the empty corner.

"In San Francisco, I'd say that the majority of the churches are probably worth saving; there is a tremendous amount of outstanding church architecture in San Francisco," Lewis said.

But should every old church be saved?

That's the question being asked at St. John's United Methodist Church on Larkin Street. It is falling apart. What hasn't rotted has been vandalized.

"Three, four, five structural engineers who have said it's unsafe," developer John McInerney said.

The church closed nine years when the congregation shrank to about a dozen people. They could not afford the $6 million in repairs, so the church turned to McInerney. Together they want to tear it down and build 27 units of housing. But the city is making it tough -- last month, officials rejected the plan saying it would "result in the demolition of an historic resource."

"Churches, religious institutions have a right to use and dispose of their property under both state and federal law," McInerney said.

The church is appealing the decision.

Written and produced by Ken Miguel

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

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Travel industry learns to spot human trafficking victims

  SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As many as 300,000 American children are victims of human trafficking every year. Worldwide, the numbers are even higher and many are transported on commercial airlines. The travel industry may become a critical link in rescuing victims.

Petra Hensely was just 16 years old when she was kidnapped off a public street in the Czech Republic.

"I was drugged, beaten and raped by more men than I could count," Hensely said.

The kidnappers were human traffickers selling their victims for sex. After three days of unspeakable torture, Hensely jumped out a window and escaped.

Now, almost 20 years later, human trafficking is worse than ever and Hensely is telling her story, this time at San Francisco International Airport.

"I have a deep desire to help others escape from the monsters who are dealing with buying and selling human beings," Hensely said.

SFO was the first airport in the country to start training employees to recognize human trafficking -- adults and children sold for sex, slave labor, even forced organ donations. It's happening everywhere, including the Bay Area.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, says human trafficking is now one of the largest and fastest growing criminal industries in the world.

"As drug cartels, they are realizing, 'Hey we can make more money or as much money selling young girls or young boys as we can selling dope,' and you can sell these youngsters over and over again, you can only sell drugs once," Speier said.

Incredibly, many victims are moved from place to place in plain sight on commercial airlines. They are often drugged or too terrified to ask for help.

So now there is a growing call to get airlines involved.

Air France was the first to step up with short in flight videos, graphic reminders that human trafficking is illegal in every country and sex with minors can lead to prison.

Starting this fall, Delta will become the first U.S. airline to train employees how to spot and report human trafficking. A non-profit called Airline Ambassadors is pushing other airlines to do the same.

"If airlines would train their crews, we could have hundreds of thousands of eyes and ears in the air, stopping what we see as the biggest human rights issue facing mankind," spokesperson Nancy Rivard said.

Airline Ambassadors is running a training class at the International Tour Management Institute in San Francisco. Future tour directors are learning to look for warning signs such as bruising, wounds, and maybe no or little eye contact. Some victims are even tattooed with bar codes. The students are told to gather information to report to authorities.

"Your location, what exactly is going on, what the victim and trafficker look like," Rivard said.

"Do not try to rescue, we are not in the business of rescuing and we are not professionals," Airline Ambassadors spokesperson Deborah Quigley said.

But professionals are available anytime. The Department of Homeland Security has a 24-hour tip line with highly trained specialists.

Airline Ambassadors know it works. In just one day a couple of years ago, members reported suspected human trafficking on four different commercial flights and they were correct in every case.

"And in one of those cases it led to the bust of a trafficking ring in Boston and we saved 82 children," Rivard said.

That kind of result, and just an hour of training made a big impact on one group travel professionals.

"This has opened my eyes; I know that I have witnessed so many of these things before, but I didn't know how to handle it or what to do," tour management student Linda Blitstein said.

Others are learning too. Next month, Mineta San Jose International Airport will be training its employees to recognize and report human trafficking.

Speier is calling on all airlines to voluntarily start training employees on human trafficking and if they don't, she may consider legislation to encourage them.

Written and produced by Jennifer Olney

Homeland Security Tip Line
866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) (from United States, Mexico, and Canada)
802-872-6199 (from other locations around the globe)
To report tips online:
http://www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

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