At a hearing in North Carolina Tuesday, intended to start the process of writing rules to govern the rapidly expanding industry, Consumer Financial Protection Board Director Richard Cordray warned about the high fees that catch many consumers by surprise.

“If a company charges a fee for withdrawing money or checking a balance, or calling customer service, consumers should know about it,” Cordray said.

Cordray and other consumer advocates at Wednesday’s hearing warned that many cards offer few, if any, of the protections offered by traditional debit cards.

The market for prepaid debit cards is rapidly expanding. The business is expected to grow 40% this year, and many big banks including JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are now offering the reloadable cards.

A number of websites including Nerdwallet offer comparisons of cards fees and features.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The treats have been linked to potentially fatal vomiting diarrhea and kidney failure.

The complaints about the dog treats date back to 2007, but complaints have skyrocketed in the past few months.

FDA scientists have been unable to pinpoint the specific toxin responsible for the illnesses in dogs. The agency sent inspectors to Chinese plants but results of those reviews were not yet available according to the FDA.

CBS 5 found some of those treats still available on store shelves in the Bay Area. The FDA said it can’t legally recall a product based on complaints alone.

Several pet stores said they were aware of the questions surrounding chicken jerky but stood by their brand-name products and the testing each receives.  PetCO, Pet Smart, Nestle Purina and Del Monte Corp. all pointed out the FDA has not determined any link between the dog illnesses and chicken jerky products from China, nor has there been any recall by the FDA.

The warning by the FDA also notes the chicken jerky products should not be substituted for a balanced diet, are intended to be fed occasionally in small quantities, and that illnesses reported may be the result of causes other than eating chicken jerky.

Pet owners can submit complaints to the FDA at fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

“We’re predicting over 4.2 million Californians to be traveling beginning Thursday morning through Monday evening, the day of Memorial Day,” said AAA spokeswoman Cynthia Harris. In fact, her agency’s survey found that many drivers will be cutting corners – on expenses. “People are spending less on entertainment and are traveling considerably closer to home than they were in past years.”

“This is due in part to the volatility in gas prices,” she reasoned.

She expects that other holiday travelers will be using trains, buses and boats to get around, representing an increase of nearly 12% over last year.

KCBS’ Dave Padilla Reports:

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

In many cases, it’s the local family run practices that rate higher than the big national chains, according to research from the non-profit Consumer’s Checkbook.

Alice Clary and her daughter, Christie Clary, take pride in treating every patient as one of the family at their family-run practice. In 1968, Clary and her late husband purchased the Balboa Pet Hospital. Forty years later, their business is still ranked among the highest in the Bay Area.

“The most striking thing is, there’s no relationship between price and how these vets are rated for quality,” said Robber Krughoff, of Consumer’s Checkbook.

In other words, people don’t have to pay more to get the best vet.

Checkbook.org surveyed tens of thousands of consumers to rate 92 Bay Area vets. The rating ranged from how well the vets listen to their overall price.

Undercover shoppers also compared standard services. Prices showed a $600 to $800 difference. For example, teeth cleaning ranged from $189 to $755, and the cost to neuter a puppy ranged from $84 to $862.

Aside from price, the way to determine if you found a good vet is to make sure your potential doctor has a willingness to meet you. Another way is to pay them a visit and inspect the entire hospital, treatment areas, cages, and dog runs.

Some of the best vets even give free advice by phone.

But, the best vet hospital will make a pet feel loved and like family.

Through special arrangement with nonprofit Bay Area Consumers CHECKBOOK, CBS 5 viewers can access CHECKBOOK’s ratings of 192 local veterinary practices without a subscription until Monday, May 28, 2012, and can view CHECKBOOK’s veterinarians advice indefinitely via this link: www.checkbook.org/cbs5/vets/

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

When he learned of a little-known report we all have, called a C.L.U.E. report, he called CBS to investigate.

When Del Barrett’s car insurance doubled, he learned his insurance company used something called a C.L.U.E. report to set his rates.

“I was absolutely clueless as to what a C.L.U.E. report was,” Barrett.

CBS has learned insurance companies use C.L.U.E. or A-PLUS reports to look how many claims a policyholder has filed in the past seven years, to figure how much to charge.

>>Check Your C.L.U.E. Report
>>Check Your A-PLUS Report

“It’s something that a lot of people don’t necessary know about until it shows up on their report, they have a negative mark on their report,” said Tully Lehman, Spokesperson for the Insurance Information Network of California.

You can pull your C.L.U.E. report once a year for free. When Barrett pulled his, he learned out of about $40,000 worth of insurance claims, almost $35,000 belonged to his brother, who was involved in two major accidents.

“I was surprised. That’s why I couldn’t believe. Somehow I’ve got to get this corrected,” Barrett said.

Barrett thinks the mix-up happened because he was living with his brother at the time.

CBS contacted the company behind the C.L.U.E. report, LexisNexis.

They refused to talk to us about Del’s case but said if someone brings a mistake to their attention, they’ll look into it and get back within 30 days.

We then reached out to Barrett’s insurance company, MetLife to see why they raised his rates. In a letter, they said his brother’s driving history was “not included” in the policy. Instead, it was based on his own “speeding violation” and an “accident” Del had.

Barrett isn’t quite sure he believes the explanation and thinks others should also check their C.L.U.E. reports.

“If you got a drastic increase in your rates, you better start looking at LexisNexis or A-PLUS,” said Barrett.

You can check your C.L.U.E. or A-PLUS report for free once a year. If you find a mistake, you can dispute it with each agency.

Response from LexisNexis to CBS Questions:

• What should you do if you find mistakes on your CLUE report? How can you dispute it?

Upon review of a C.L.U.E. report, consumers have the right to dispute specific information that is contained in the C.L.U.E. report that the consumer believes is inaccurate. The  LexisNexisRiskSolutionsConsumerDisclosureCentercan assist the consumer with any such dispute regarding, or with adding a statement to their C.L.U.E. report. We will initiate the dispute on behalf of the consumer with the reporting insurance company and notify the consumers of the results of the dispute within 30 days. Also, if an individual feels their C.L.U.E. report contains items they feel deserve an explanation, we will be glad to add their personal statement to the C.L.U.E. report and include it in future C.L.U.E. reports. To obtain a copy of their C.L.U.E. report, consumers may visit www.PersonalReports.LexisNexis.com or call 866-718-7684.

Additionally, consumers may obtain a free copy of their C.L.U.E. report every 12 months, subject to any specific state law requirements.

• How often are there mistakes on these CLUE reports?

On average, LexisNexis receives four disputes for every 10,000 C.L.U.E. reports we provide to our customers.

• How long does the dispute process take?

We verify the information with the reporting insurance company and notify individuals of the results within 30 days as required by law.  Disputes may take less than 30 days depending on how quickly we get a response from the provider of the data.

• If a customer does not hear back from LexisNexis, does that mean the disputed errors will be dropped from their CLUE report?

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), we are required to notify consumers the results of the dispute of their C.L.U.E. report no matter the outcome.

• When these reports are run, are they based on the person’s name, address or license number?

C.L.U.E. reports are created based on a variety of data elements provided by the ordering insurance carrier, including name address and date of birth and on occasion driver’s license number.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The database’s Vice President Daren Bloomquist said on a statewide level, April foreclosures were down 30 percent compared to the same month last year. Nationwide, he said rates were at their lowest since July of 2007.

One trend he said is that lenders are increasingly agreeing to do short sales instead of foreclosures.

“Let the homeowners sell the property for less than what they owe, in effect kind of forgiving part of the mortgage,” Bloomquist said describing the trend.

KCBS’ Janice Wright Reports:

He added that it’s better for both the market and the neighborhoods.

“They get a new homeowner in that property right away. A homeowner who is taking care of the property, mowing the lawn,” he said, adding that it cuts down on foreclosure ghost towns.

Another research firm said Thursday that an increase in April home prices in the San Francisco Bay area is the region’s first annual gain in nearly two years.

DataQuick said Thursday that the median price for new and existing houses and condominiums in a nine-county region was $390,000 last month, up more than 8 percent from a year earlier. It is the first annual increase since September 2010.

April sales soared more than 13 percent from last year to nearly 7,700 homes.

DataQuick says buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines are moving to take advantage of lower prices and low lending rates.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The operations go under different names such as “Ohio Valley Gold and Silver Refinery” or “Treasure Hunters Roadshow.”

Marlene Powell and her friend Karin Engel were curious when they spotted the ad. “It said as seen on TV, and with the words ‘road show,’” Powell said.

They thought it was the “Antiques Roadshow,” a common misconception that led to the company being sued for trademark violations. The women felt deceived again when they went to the event at a local Hampton Inn.

“I had a piece of 18 karat gold that I know for a fact was 18 karat and they told me, ‘No it wasn’t,’” said Powell.

They believe they were taken for hundreds of dollars and they’re not alone. CBS 5 compiled complaints from across the country, mostly from seniors. They include a 71-year-old in West Virginia and an 88-year-old on the Canadian border. Both are grandmothers desperate for cash, selling family heirlooms for pennies on the dollar.

After jeweler Tom Broadwin heard similar complaints from his customers, he decided to visit the same roadshow, traveling under yet another name, this time Premiere Estate Buyers.

“I had a gold bracelet filled with coins, unmistakably gold coins,” said Broadwin. “The individual looked at it for a few minutes and told me they were plated. That was fraud right to my face.”

Broadwin agreed to lend CBS 5 $8,000 worth of gold for our investigation. Before handing it over, he tested each piece for karat count and weight. We took the gold to three separate jewelers to confirm its value. Then the gold was brought to a show in Santa Cruz.

We knew 13 out of the 15 pieces were 18 karat gold. But after carefully examining each item, a road show manager said: “I’ve got some 10 and 14 karat, a mix. Believe it or not half of what you have on the table here is copper.”

Maybe he missed the 18k stamp, and that acid test was wrong. Was it an isolated experience? CBS 5 decided to find out.

So we sent our gold to CBS stations across the country, asking teams in Sacramento, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Dallas to go undercover.

In two cities, they got the karats right. But at two other shows, CBS producers were told 18 karat pieces were only 14 karats. And three out of the five initial offers we received were less than a quarter of the gold’s value.

After weeks of undercover investigations, CBS 5 traveled to the THR corporate headquarters in Springfield, Illinois.

“We are not in the business of lying to people,” Spokesperson Matthew Enright said.

It turns out the company operates 120 traveling shows a week under at least 8 different names. First, Enright examined our gold and confirmed it was 18 karats. Then we showed him our undercover video, in which a salesman tells us one of the 18 karat pieces is only 10 karats.

CBS 5 asked Enright: “There’s a bit of a trend here. Either he doesn’t have a cursory knowledge of gold, or he’s lying to customers.”

His response: “Sure. I mean it’s obviously a concern for me seeing that.”

CBS 5 questioned why it had happened on multiple occasions. He said, “Well it’s a very small percentage compared to 140 managers that we have.”

He said employees are not “trained” to purposely deceive customers. But CBS 5 obtained a THR buying guide which shows employees are “trained” to make a first offer of $1.50 per pennyweight.

The going rate is more than 30 times that.

“Isn’t that excessive?” CBS 5 asked him.

Enright responded: “Ah you know…it’s absolutely legal.”

When asked, “So the question is, do you feel guilty?” Enright said, “I’m not the one out there buying and doing those types of things.”

But “those types of things” have been great for business. The company brought in $300 million last year.

But there are signs of trouble. Two weeks into our investigation, the company’s checks stopped clearing. “The most recent number was 4,000,” said Enright.

It turns out PNC Bank closed THR’s account. The company is now scrambling to make amends, re-issuing checks out of a new account. “It’s an unfortunate situation. I have no idea why it was closed,” said Enright.

The company’s CEO Jeffrey Parsons owes the IRS more than $3 million. And according to court documents, he may have used the company bank account as his personal piggy bank. His current country club residence and the company’s Cessna at least in part paid for with silver coins.

“He did buy a jet and a house with silver?” CBS 5 asked Enright. “Sure,” he confirmed.

CBS 5 then asked, “Do you think the bank unexpectedly closing your account has anything to do with Mr. Parsons using company funds for extravagant personal expenses?”

His response: “Hmmm. I don’t know. It’s a great question, I don’t know.”

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

“American consumers are really left in the dark when it comes to picking a good sunscreen,” said Leeann Brown, of the group’s Oakland office.

Brown said her organization reviewed more than 1,800 personal care products that claim to offer sun protection. She said many contained one of two questionable ingredients: retinol palmitate and oxybenzone.

>>Environmental Working Group Sunscreen Guide

Brown says retinol palmitate, a form of Vitamin A is, “an ingredient that’s been shown to expedite the development of skin tumors and skin lesions.” She says Oxybenzone “has been linked to hormone disruption.”

The Personal Care Products Council is disputing the report, calling it “irresponsible,” and “wrong.”

The report also found improvement in the quality of sun protection products marketed to children. Brown said 60 percent of those did not contain questionable ingredients.

“We were glad to see the children’s market look a little bit more positive,” she told CBS 5 Consumerwatch.

The E.W.G. recommends consumers look for sun protection products that contain zinc oxide, avobenzone and titanium dioxide. The group also recommends buying sunscreen that with an SPF between 30 and 50.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

On January 12, when the valves of the Coyote Dam were opened, a small amount of hydraulic oil leaked into the reservoir. But this is the not the first time it has happened. There have been eight such leaks since 2001.

KCBS’ Matt Bigler Reports:

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the leaks but Santa Clara Valley Water District Spokesperson Marty Grimes said the spills have had virtually no impact on water quality.

“The amount is very small. It gets dissipated so there’s no evidence that we have any impact to the environment or to our water quality,” he said.

Grimes said they plan to replace the leaky hydraulic systems at a price of $5 million each, but that won’t happen until the reservoirs are drained as part of a retrofit project over the next 10 years.

The DA’s Office has notified the Water District that they could be fined up to $25,000 in connection with the latest spill.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The campaign by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), is debuting the PSA’s that shows the Giants struggling against the kids in a video game match. Posey then realizes it isn’t his type of game and then goes into the message reminding parents to check their kids’ video game ratings.

KCBS’ Janice Wright Reports:

“Not every game is appropriate for every child” Vogelsong added stating that he learned how easy it is to get the ratings information right from the game’s box.

If parents want additional information they can also check out the ESRB website.

“It’s just a matter of taking a couple of seconds,” Posey said agreeing how easy it is to keep kids away from inappropriate action.

ERSB president Patricia Vance said its not like the kids are going out and buying the games themselves.

“Parents are involved in game purchases nearly nine times out of 10,” Vance claimed.

The lucky Junior Giants who participated in the PSA stick with “E” for everyone games and avoid “M” for mature. But that doesn’t mean those violent games aren’t in the house. They’re fully aware of the violent games with blood and guns that sometimes their older siblings like to play.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

While most cities and counties request notification of a change in a pet’s status, Fremont’s Animal Care and Control Dept. requires notification. Failure to inform the city can lead to fines of up to $1,000.

Pet owner Rochelle Oral found out about the rule the hard way. Back in April, Oral received only part of her state tax refund. The remaining $480 had been intercepted by the city of Fremont. The reason: when Oral moved from the city of Fremont to Danville four years ago “we didn’t tell Fremont that we would no longer be licensing (our dog) there,” Oral said.

A notice on the City of Fremont’s website states “pet owners are required to update the licensing department of any change in their animal’s status.” But a handful of Fremont pet owners interviewed by ConsumerWatch were all unaware of the requirement.

Susan Mundy of Fremont Animal Control said the rule’s needed to keep the city’s records up-to-date. “If our database is not updated with our current information, it becomes useless,” she said.

Mundy also said the city sends notices when licenses are due for renewal. But Oral contended she never received the notices because they all went to her old address.

That’s not a sufficient excuse said Fremont Police Sergeant Howard Russell. “Just the fact that you moved doesn’t prevent you from having the responsibility from making that notification,“ he said.

ConsumerWatch called dozens of Bay Area cities and counties to see about their pet licensing rules. Sonoma County was the only location besides Fremont to require notification of a change in a pet’s status. But Sonoma has no penalty for failing to notify.

Oral ultimately protested her fine and it was dismissed.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Oregon was $4.17 Monday, up 16 cents from last week. The average was $4.20 in Washington state and $4.35 in California. Both of those states also had double-digit increases.

Meanwhile, the national average price dropped 5 cents to $3.73.

>>Find The Bay Area’s Cheapest Gas Prices

“The West Coast is zigging while the rest of the country is zagging,” said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

A shortage of gasoline tied to issues at the region’s refineries has caused prices to spike in the wholesale market, analysts said.

Gasoline supplies in California are down more than 20 percent from a year ago. West Coast gasoline stocks haven’t been this low in the month of May since May 1992, according to the Department of Energy.

“That’s a long time, especially when you consider how many vehicles have been added to the fleet,” Kloza said.

Gas prices increased sharply across the U.S. in recent months because of a run-up in the cost of crude oil. But the price of a barrel has slid to less than $95, providing a bit of relief to drivers in most places.

The West Coast switches to a more expensive fuel blend in summer to fight pollution, but analysts blame the current price spike on the failed restart of a BP refinery in Blaine, Wash., and maintenance work at several California refineries.

The BP refinery, the third-largest on the West Coast, produces 20 percent of Washington’s gasoline needs but has been shut down since a February fire. The company planned to restart last week, but that has been pushed back because of an undisclosed problem.

Alison apRoberts, a California Energy Commission spokeswoman, said the decision to suspend the restart likely led BP and others to buy gasoline on the wholesale market to cover their contractual obligations.

Meanwhile, five of California’s 12 refineries—three in the San Francisco Bay Area and two in Southern California—temporarily reduced production because of planned maintenance.

Kloza and other analysts expect the surge in prices to be short-lived as refineries return to typical production.

“This isn’t the new normal, and it’s not the arrival of those apocalyptic predictions of $5 to $6 gasoline,” he said.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

An insert in the San Francisco Examiner Monday listed 35 pages of names, and the amount owed, dating back more than ten years. Some had more than $2,000 headed their way.

The school is required by law to notify people of the pending refund, based on the last known address. The problem is, students move all the time.

If you believe the school owes you money, you have until June 25^th to request payment. You must file a claim with the SF Community College Business Office, 50 Phelan Avenue, e103, SF 94112. Or call (415) 239-3760 and provide proof of your claim. The claim form is available online.

City College alums aren’t the only ones who could have some cash coming to them. The California State Controller’s Office is holding on to an estimated $1.6 billion owed to current and former residents.

California residents can do an online search to see if they’re owed anything. Governor Brown himself has $61 coming back.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Even so, company CEO Tony Earley said PG&E lags behind other utilities because of fines from the San Bruno pipeline explosion.

The shareholders meeting was protested by people who oppose fees imposed by the utility for opting out of their controversial SmartMeters and one Bay Area legislator wants tighter controls on executive compensation.

KCBS’ Jeffery Schaub Reports:

Assemblymember Jerry Hill wants to make the company’s executives more accountable, and has introduced legislation to prevent executives from receiving bonus money that comes from utility rates.

Hill said in order to increase profits, officials could look to cut maintenance, safety and operational costs.

“If they get a bonus for doing that, that is just the wrong incentive that we’re sending out,” said Hill.

PG&E claimed it does not pay bonuses from rate-payer money. Earley said the utility opposes any new laws. Earley added, “We don’t need another layer of regulation in California”.

According to Earley, analysts have “made assumptions” about the amount of money the company will be penalized and is building those figures into their earnings estimates.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Earlier this week, the owner of Hudson Auto Repair, Sohail Irshad, pleaded no contest to a single count of making a false statement. Now, the state Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) is trying to take away Irshad’s license to operate a repair shop.

San Mateo County Assistant District Attorney John Wilson said the investigation of Irshad’s shop began in 2010, after the Bureau of Automotive Repair “received complaints from consumers who were concerned that the shop may be performing unnecessary repairs,” Wilson said.

According to court papers, filed by the BAR, Irshad performed unnecessary repairs on two different undercover vehicles, once in late 2010, and again in early 2011.

More information on finding a reputable reapair shop:

Consumers’ Checkbook Auto Repair Shop Recommendations

Consumer’s Guide to Automotive Repair In California

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The changes would allow homeowners to qualify without a matching reduction from the bank servicing the loan.

“It certainly may make more people qualify,” said housing advocate Elizabeth Letcher.

According to Letcher, the program has been around for a while, but until now homeowners only qualified if the bank servicing the loan agreed to match the principal reduction dollar-for-dollar. The program, which is funded by federal grant money, was intended to help homeowners from losing their home.

“Two years later, but finally they’re making requirements that will disperse money to the people who need it,” said Letcher.

In order to qualify, the home needs to be the owner’s primary residence. Homeowners must owe more than the loan is worth, and owe more than $729,750 on the first loan that was originated before January 2010.

The household income should also fall below the limit of the county. To get more information on eligibility go to Keep Your Home California.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Americans received almost 5 billion spam texts last year. All of those unlimited messages can add up to huge fees, for those without an unlimited plan.

If spam text messages are driving you crazy, there are several things cellphone users can do to make it stop.

1. First, make sure your cellphone number is on the FTC’s “Do Not Call” list. Being on the list won’t block everything but it helps. It makes it illegal for telemarketers to call or text you.

2. You can also report spam texts to your cellphone company. Most carriers offer a free service. Users can forward the unwanted message to the number 7726, which spells out SPAM.

3. Download an anti-spam app. If you have an Android smartphone, there are hundreds of apps available on Google Play. One of the most popular is Mr. Number, which lets you text and call the ones you love, while blocking everyone else. There is also Privacy Star, which lets you file complaints directly with the FCC. There are also free apps for the iPhone.

4. Don’t reply to the spam text. According to the Los Angeles Times, replying sends a message to the spammer that your phone number works.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Christina Good of San Jose is leading the charge. Earlier this year, she started an on-line petition that currently has 281 signatures, many from Scion owners claiming the same problem. Good said the handle on her 2008 tC broke off last year, shortly after the car’s warranty expired.

Good said her Scion dealer offered only half a solution, a free replacement part, but Good would have to pay for the labor and installation. Additionally, she saif Scion dealers across the country are addressing the problem in inconsistent ways, with some offering free fixes, others charging car owners for the entire repair.

“It’s not a cheap fix, and they don’t want to fix it for us,” Good told ConsumerWatch.

Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety agrees that the hatch handle is inadequate.

“It may belong on a toy car, it doesn’t belong on a real car,” he said. Ditlow said that while the problem doesn’t rise to the level of a recall, he thinks Toytoa should do what’s known as a service campaign for its Tc and XB models.

“They notify the owners and they say – we’re sorry, we made a mistake, we’re going to replace the plastic handle on your car with a real handle.”

Toyota told ConsumerWatch it takes the quality and safety of its vehicles “very seriously.” It said it is currently investigating the issue at this time.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The last time Carly Geehr went to the dentist was nearly a year ago. “I just started working at a small startup where we don’t have dental insurance,” she said.

But rather than buying her own dental coverage, Geehr discovered a deal on LivingSocial. A full dental exam, plus teeth cleaning and x-rays for $59, nearly a $300 savings.

Daily deal sites are offering more than dental visits. Dr. Julie Orman, a chiropractor, recently offered a $25 LivingSocial deal for care. “I wanted to make this more available to people who normally can’t afford to come in,” she said.

According to Orman she gives LivingSocial 50 percent of every deal she sells. Despite the cost, Orman said it’s a good way to advertise her business. “It’s sort of a win, win, win for everybody,” she said.

Don’t expect to find deals on major surgery, though. Doctors mainly offer discount for elective services such as eye exams, LASIK eye surgery and even plastic surgery.

“They’re targeting new patients, usually patients who are fairly you and health who probably have money but don’t have insurance,” said heath care business consultant David Williams.

According to Williams, it’s also a buyer beware market.

“I would be careful about the upselling and I would also be worried that a dentist once they have you in the office may find some kind of problem,” he said.

Geehr said she had no problem with Dentist Dr. Ala Din of Palo Alto. “This was really a happy median,” she said. “I could afford to pay out of pocket.” According to Williams, daily deal sites generally check if a doctor or a practitioner is licensed. But he said consumers should always check online ratings and reviews before buying a deal.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

When San Jose resident Victor Karazija received a 30 percent coupon plus $20 worth of Kohl’s Cash he purchased two ties, but before paying Karazija said he had already done the math. He figured on a $45 purchase if he applied the 30 percent coupon first then the $20 Kohl’s Cash he would only owe $11.50. But when he handed over the coupons to the sales rep he said he got a big surprise.

“She said ‘it doesn’t matter,’” he recalled. “She said the computer is programmed to use Kohl’s Cash first and then deduct the 30 percent.”

In that order Karazija said he paid $6 more then he expected. But Bay Area couponer Alice Serraon said she’s not surprised to hear Kohl’s is putting restrictions on its coupons.

“Let’s face it, that’s the reality of things,” she said. “They’re there to make money.”

Karazija isn’t the only one feeling shortchanged. CBS 5 found online complaints some that go as far as to call it a scam.

But according to the Department of Consumer Affairs, Kohl’s can apply the coupons in any order it chooses as long as it’s spelled out in the fine print. However Karazija said that’s no consolation. “

To me it’s kind of an ethical issue,” he said. “I don’t have to spend my money there.”

Kohl’s told CBS 5 the terms and conditions for Kohl’s Cash are printed online, on its marketing materials, in store and on the back of all Kohl’s Cash certificates.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Safeway Inc. announced Monday that it’s planning to stop buying from suppliers that use pig gestation crates.

Most pork currently comes from sows confined during their four-month pregnancies in narrow crates. Animal welfare activists have pushed for using open pens.

Other corporations such as McDonald’s and Burger King also plan to buy pork from pigs not kept in crates.

Safeway spokesman Brian Dowling said the chain already buys some pork from producers who are phasing out gestation crates. The Pleasanton-based company has not set a deadline for going completely crate-free.

The Humane Society of the United States has been working with the industry to improve welfare of caged chickens and pigs.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Meat glue is a powdered enzyme, transglutaminase, harvested from fermented bacteria that the Food and Drug Administration considers safe to patch together various pieces of meat into a single steak.

Sen. Ted Lieu said reports of allergic reactions to meat glue prompted him to request that the U.S. Department of Agriculture study whether products made with transglutaminase pose any health risks, or have a greater chance of becoming contaminated.

“When you think of a whole steak straight from a cow,” he said, “the inside is sterile. But not when you glue it together from different parts.”

Lieu worries that filet mignon and other products glued together from different parts might require more cooking in order to ensure harmful bacteria have been killed, adding that better labeling may be necessary.

“You should have a right to know if the steak you are about to have is actually glued together from 25 different parts,” he said, a practice many consumers are unaware of.

Lieu also pointed out that products assembled with meat glue may also pose additional challenges for investigators trying to trace the source of food born illnesses.

Lieu sent a letter Thursday to the USDA, and urged the food industry not to wait for a federal investigation to adopt better labeling practices.

“We had a lot of responses to this story because consumers were just unaware that this was happening,” he said.

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The controversy erupted earlier this week when a grocer in Rhode Island pulled Kashi cereals off his shelves, citing a report that the Kashi brand uses genetically-engineered, non-organic ingredients in the majority of its cereals.

The report by the Cornucopia Institute, an organic and agriculture policy group, came out last year, but didn’t get much attention. The grocer’s protest did, however, with pictures of his store shelf quickly going viral.

The Natural Grocery Company in El Cerrito stocks about a dozen varieties of Kashi cereals, both those with GMO ingredients, and those without. The store distinguishes between the two by using green shelf labels in front of the non-GMO products, and blue shelf labels in front of those with the controversial item.

Assistant Manager Jennifer Sandkuhler says she welcomes the controversy.

“I think it’s great,” she said. She hopes it will lead to decreased use of GMO ingredients, and more support for a California bill that would require GMO products to be clearly labeled. “We want consumers to be informed about what they’re eating.”

Kashi’s list of GMO-free products

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That hadn’t occurred to Christine Brownwesthoff of Walnut Creek when she sold her car to a buyer who responded to her Craigslist posting.

The next day, she discovered her car re-listed for $2000 more. “Good on him, he’s making a couple of grand,” Brownwesthoff initially thought.

But then she took a closer look at the ad and noticed it promised the car had a new engine with paperwork to prove it.

She realized it was unlikely the engine had been replaced within the 24 hours since she sold the car, and when she looked at her copy of the pink slip she worried that she might be held liable.

“He had not signed as the buyer, I had only signed as the seller. I’m assuming he’s going to give the pink slip to the next buyer which would bypass him completely; making it look like I sold the car and lied about the new engine.” said Brownwesthoff.

Concerned, her roommate contacted the seller posing as an interested buyer. That’s when Brownwesthoff confirmed he was selling the car under her name along with a forged receipt for the new motor.

The seller claimed his name was Angelo Marks and that Christine was his wife. He created an elaborate story about why she had to have the engine replaced three years prior.

Brownwesthoff then contacted ConsumerWatch and the team accompanied her roommate to meet the alleged scammer for a second time.

When confronted, he didn’t seem to care that he was in violation of state law that requires a secondhand dealers’ license to sell a car under someone else’s name. Before driving off, he denied that he forged the paperwork for the new engine. The Craiglist posting was removed the following day.

The DMV fraud department was investigating and warned buyers are not required to sign the pink slip in front of a seller, but the seller can certainly ask. .

The seller, however, is required to file a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability with the DMV, within 5 days.

That can easily be done online at www.dmv.ca.gov/online/nrl/welcome.htm

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When Unsa Kamal and her husband Aizad received a letter from Bank of America informing them their box had been drilled opened and emptied, they said they thought it was junk mail. But after carefully reviewing the letter, the Kamals said the bank in fact emptied their safe deposit due to lack of information.

“They claim they didn’t have Social Security numbers, which is not true,” Aizad Kamal said. When they open the account that’s something very basic they ask for and they have that.”

According to the Kamals, inside the safe deposit box were family heirlooms going back three to four generations. “We just couldn’t think straight,” said Unsa Kamal after finding out their heirlooms were missing. The Kamals said their heirlooms were sent to a holding center in South Carolina.

CBS 5 ConsumerWatch confirmed the Kamals did have their Social Security numbers on the rental agreement.

According to litigation attorney John Kithas, banks will not open a safe deposit box unless Social Security numbers are provided. “Someone somewhere made a mistake,” he said.

Bank of America would not admit to a mistake but did agree to send back the jewelry from South Carolina only via FedEx and insured for $50,000. According to the Kamals, their family heirlooms are worth more. The Kamals are now suing Bank of America to have their heirlooms shipped back fully secure.

Bank of America would not comment since the case is in litigation. The Kamals said Bank of America did agree to send back the valuables fully insured via a security company. But the family said they have yet to receive them.

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Groups including Just Cause, the Coalition on Homelessness and the Housing Rights Committee, crammed onto the sidewalk outside the U.S. Bank at the corner of 16th and Mission streets. They demanded the renters be allowed to stay in their rental units after their landlord was foreclosed upon.

KCBS’ Anna Duckworth Reports:

Alma Sierra is one of the mothers fighting to stay in the three-unit Excelsior District apartment building. Through a translator, she spoke of the strain of the impending eviction for her and her nine-year-old son.

“I have a son that goes to school right now right across the street and the idea that he would have to find another school is just very, very difficult for me,” she said. “We don’t want to be evicted. We want them to continue to live in our housing.”

Lucia Kimble of Just Cause said that U.S. Bank needs to act as a landlord by collecting rent and making repairs to the building.

“These families represent families all over. Tenants here in San Francisco and all over the country,” she said. “These are the hidden victims of the foreclosure crisis.”

Wells Fargo actually manages services for the property. A company spokesman said that he’s looking into the case and that tenants without valid leases can remain in their homes for 90 days with an option of an offer of financial relocation assistance.

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Roughly a million California children live in a home that either has been foreclosed, or where the mortgage is delinquent, according to the Brookings Institution report released Wednesday.

KCBS’ Janice Wright Reports:

Author Julia Isaacs estimates between 12 percent and 19 percent of the foreclosures in California between 2004 and 2008 displaced children, and more precise data can be hard to come by “because the mortgage records don’t have very many demographics.”

“Children are sometimes the invisible victims of the foreclosure crisis,” she said, adding the numbers climb even higher when factoring in families that rent from landlords caught in foreclosure.

The report suggests some 8 million children nationwide have been directly affected by foreclosure.

Although the number of foreclosures in California has been declining, displaced children may feel the effects for years to come, said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, a national research and advocacy organization based in Oakland.

“Jumping around to different housing options, often switching to different schools,” Lempert said, makes it harder for kids to succeed academically.

Lempert said the Bay Area counties where foreclosure has been highest are also areas where the recession has made it harder for parents to find full-time work.

“Over a third of California children have no parent with full-time employment,” he said, and nutrition and medical care suffer in such homes.

The data available today offer few clues as to whether the current foreclosure crisis has set in motion a cycle of poverty for children forced out of their homes, but Isaacs was not optimistic given what happened during the Great Depression.

“I’m afraid we may see long-term impacts for children of the current recession,” she said.

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The company eSalon custom blends each hair color for less than $25. Users simply fill out a detailed online survey and within days a package is shipped.

“The concept is brilliant,” said hairstylist Jeryl Andrea Green. But Green thinks its unlikely users will get the salon quality results.

Our producer Jessica put the product to the test.

Half of her hair was dyed dark brown with the eSalon custom blend. The other half was dyed with professional color. Both hair colors sat for 15 minutes. Once her hair was rinsed both sides were shinny and brown. But the highlights she hoped to get rid of weren’t fully covered on one side.

“From what I see is some of your ends weren’t covered as well with the product e-Salon,” said Green.

The company tells CBS the product is not directed to consumers who professionally color their hair, rather it’s an alternative to those who can’t afford the salon. As for Jessica’s red tips, a customer service representative said. highlights could be tricky, and suggests letting the hair color sit longer or applying a second application.

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A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes of California said the sick 5-year-old came from Tulare County, the No. 1 dairy-producing county in the nation.

It’s the first new case of the fatal brain disease in the U.S. since 2006.

The cow died at a dairy and was randomly selected for testing at a transfer facility. A plant official said the cow had exhibited no outward symptoms of the disease.

Agriculture officials say the animal had an atypical form of mad cow, meaning it did not get the disease from eating infected cattle feed.

California health and food officials are assuring consumers that the food supply is safe.

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The infected cow, the fourth ever discovered in the U.S., was found as part of an Agriculture Department surveillance program that tests about 40,000 cows a year for the fatal brain disease.

No meat from the cow was bound for the food supply, said John Clifford, the department’s chief veterinary officer.

“There is really no cause for alarm here with regard to this animal,” Clifford told reporters at a hastily convened news conference.

USDA Video: Remarks On Mad Cow Finding

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is fatal to cows and can cause a fatal human brain disease in people who eat tainted beef. The World Health Organization has said that tests show that humans cannot be infected by drinking milk from BSE-infected animals.

In the wake of a massive outbreak in Britain that peaked in 1993, the U.S. intensified precautions to keep BSE out of U.S. cattle and the food supply. In other countries, the infection’s spread was blamed on farmers adding recycled meat and bone meal from infected cows into cattle feed, so a key U.S. step has been to ban feed containing such material.

USDA Statement On Central Valley Mad Cow Finding

Clifford said the California cow is what scientists call an atypical case of BSE, meaning that it didn’t get the disease from eating infected cattle feed, which is important.

That means it’s “just a random mutation that can happen every once in a great while in an animal,” said Bruce Akey, director of the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University. “Random mutations go on in nature all the time.”

KCBS’ Rebecca Corral Reports:

The atypical form of BSE that is caused by protein mutation also occurs in humans. Called classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, it is found at a rate of one case per 1 million people worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It’s not unreasonable to think that something similar could occur in cattle,” said Terry Lehenbauer, director of the School of Veterinary Medicine Research Centers at the University of California, Davis. “We just don’t know all the science about how this disease develops and is transmitted.”

Questions remain about whether the incident will prompt the USDA to change how it tests for the disease. But Mike Doyle, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, said the testing system worked because it caught what is a really rare event.

“It’s good news because they caught it,” Doyle said.

Clifford did not say when the disease was discovered or exactly where the cow was raised. He said the cow was at a rendering plant in central California when the case was discovered through regular USDA sample testing.

Rendering plants process animal parts for products not going into the human food chain, such as animal food, soap, chemicals or other household products.

Dennis Luckey, executive vice president of Baker Commodities, told The Associated Press that the disease was discovered at its Hanford transfer station when the company selected the cow for random sampling.

Luckey said the cow died at a dairy and was randomly tagged for the surveillance program.

Michael Marsh, chief executive of Western United Dairymen, said it was an adult cow over 30 months old, not a downed or sick animal, and it appeared normal when it was last observed. He said the cow was first tested April 18.

The disease is not transmitted through casual contact like a virus, but Marsh said government investigators are testing other members of the dead cow’s feeding herd, as well as cows born at the same time as the dead cow.

It wasn’t known how the cow died, and the name of the dairy where the cow died has not been released. Officials also haven’t said where it was born.

“It’s appropriate to be cautious, it’s appropriate to pay attention and it’s appropriate to ask questions, but now let’s watch and see what the researchers find out in the next couple of days,” said James Culler, director of the UC Davis Dairy food Safety Laboratory.

Culler, an authority on BSE, said the California cow’s form of the disease so rarely occurs that consumers should not be alarmed.

“Are you worried about all of the meteors that passed the earth last night while you were sleeping? Of course not,” Culler said. “Would you pay 90 percent of your salaries to set up all of the observatories on earth to watch for them? Of course not. It’s the same thing.”

There have been three confirmed cases of BSE in cows in the United States—in a Canadian-born cow in 2003 in Washington state, in 2005 in Texas and in 2006 in Alabama.

Both the 2005 and 2006 cases were also atypical varieties of the disease, USDA officials said.

The Agriculture Department is sharing its lab results with international animal health officials in Canada and England who will review the test results, Clifford said. Federal and California officials will further investigate the case. He said he did not expect the latest discovery to affect beef exports.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said in a statement that “U.S. regulatory controls are effective, and that U.S fresh beef and beef products from cattle of all ages are safe and can be safely traded due to our interlocking safeguards.”

Clifford said the finding shows that safeguards the U.S. government and other nations have put into place in recent years are working. In 2011 there were only 29 worldwide cases of BSE, a dramatic decline since the peak of 37,311 cases in 1992. He credited the decline to effect of feed bans as a primary means of controlling the disease.

Past scares about mad cow disease have affected beef exports to Japan and other countries. Japan banned all U.S. beef imports in 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in the United States. Japan resumed buying American beef in 2006 after the bilateral trade agreement setting new safety standards.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Tuesday that the latest finding would not affect trade between the US and Canada.

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Silicon Valley has likely succeeded in killing anti-piracy legislation at least until after the 2012 elections, said Dodd, whose remarks came at CinemaCon, a Las Vegas convention for theater owners.

Instead, reform must come by improving Hollywood’s relationship with Silicon Valley by stressing the havoc pirated films can wreak on consumers, creative leaders and the many blue-collar workers who make up the movie industry, Dodd said.

“Content needs technology, technology needs content, and the idea that somehow there is a loser in all of this, it’s beyond my imagination why people are insisting on that,” Dodd said.

A massive campaign by Web giants Wikipedia and Google and their millions of users saw Congress indefinitely postpone legislation in January to stop online piracy of movies and music costing U.S. companies billions of dollars each year. The move was largely seen as a victory for Silicon Valley over Hollywood.

The two bills sought to allow the Justice Department and copyright holders to seek court orders against foreign websites accused of copyright infringement. They also would forbid search engines from linking to such sites.

Opponents said the reforms would result in censorship and stifle innovation.

The MPAA, which represents the major film studios, has been a leading advocate for anti-piracy legislation. Dodd joined the MPAA last year after representing Connecticut in the U.S. Senate for 30 years.

In Las Vegas, Dodd said the number of illegal videos taken of movies in theaters declined by 50 percent since 2007, but noted that consumers in the U.S. and Canada need constant incentives to see films on the big screen and not in the comfort of their homes.

“One third of the public in the U.S. and in Canada no longer goes to the movies,” he said. “We need to bring them back.”

Dodd said proponents of anti-piracy legislation should have done a better job of talking about the consequences of copyright fraud, such as identify theft.

“The truth is that neither the content nor the technology industries could survive without strong protections for intellectual property,” he said.

The film industry needs to stress the commonalities between tech-savvy consumers and studios that want to protect their products, Dodd said. He claimed people with multiple gadgets on average go to theatrical productions more than once a month, compared with average consumers, who go fewer than four times a year.

“People with technology love access to content and going to that theatrical experience, with that surround sound and big screen, it’s another gadget in a way,” Dodd said.

John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, said anti-piracy laws in the U.S. and incentive programs encouraging theater employees to combat bootleggers helped reduce domestic movie pirating. But that means the market has shifted to countries where the rules aren’t as strict, such as Russia and Mexico.

“There are millions and millions of jobs at stake,” Fithian said.

To lure in consumers, some theater owners are experimenting with variable pricing that would allow them to sell more expensive tickets to new releases and then lower the price once the film has been out for many weeks, Fithian said.

Even so, going to the movies remains one of the nation’s most affordable pastimes, especially compared to professional sports games, Fithian said.

“It’s possible that 2012 may be the year where we all work together to grow the pie instead of fighting over the pieces,” he said.

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Her solution is a bill that would force mattress makers and sellers to help get them off the streets. The bill would require them to pick-up the old mattresses or contribute $25 for each mattress sold to a special fund.

Hancock announced the measure Monday morning in West Oakland, in front of three trucks filled with illegally dumped mattresses. She said more than 5,000 mattresses were abandoned on public property in Oakland last year, and more than 20 are recovered every day in Richmond.

“It’s a health problem…these mattresses, when they’re outside, attract rodents. They attract mold, germs,” Hancock said.

The bill, SB1118, cleared its first hurdle Monday when it was passed 5 to 1 in a senate environmental committee. It now goes to another senate committee for consideration.

“It will set up a recycling and recovery program for mattresses here in California…very much like what we have for bottle and cans and electronic waste,” Hancock explained.

The mattress industry opposes the measure. The International Sleep Products Association told ConsumerWatch the “vast majority” of mattresses are disposed of properly. It also says Hancock’s bill would drive up the cost of buying a mattress.

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In California, over 572,000 students have taken out federally subsidized Stafford Loans. The loans were made more affordable in 2007 when Congress lowered the interest rate from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, but that reduction is set to expire at the end of June.

At San Francisco State University’s financial aid office, student Misty Johnson expressed concern about what the doubling interest rate will mean for her ability to repay her student loans.

“Over time that’s going to definitely add up when you have $30,000 to $40,000 in student loans already,” said Johnson. “It’s pretty scary.”

Barbara Hubler, the director of financial aid at SFSU said that about 12,500 students are utilizing the subsidized Stafford Loans, which defers payment until six months after they leave school.

KCBS’ Susan Kennedy Reports:

“They’re not going to feel it right away because they will get a subsidized loan for next year, however, when they go into repayment, the interest rate will be up to 6.8 percent on their outstanding balance,” said Hubler.

Tuesday, President Obama was to promote an extension of the student loan interest rate, a proposal also supported by his GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Democrats plan to introduce legislation to keep the subsidized Stafford Loans available at 3.4 percent for at least another year. While 77 Republicans voted for the original bill, Rep. John Kline (R-Minnesota) said that he expects that this time there will be more of a party line vote.

“We simply can’t keep providing money from the federal government in the form of subsidized or actual loans when we don’t have the money,” said Kline.

The cost of extending the program for a year is estimated to be $6 billion.

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Several Bay Area cities have a free or low-cost program to pick up large items such as mattresses, couches or appliances. Customers simply need to schedule a pickup a week in advance in most cases.

In San Francisco, residential customers are entitled to two free curbside collections per calendar year, with no charge for the first 10 items.
http://www.recyclemyjunk.com/

In Oakland, every household gets one free pick-up per year, a second pick up is available for the first 500 people who request it.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/pwa/documents/report/oak026207.pdf

The City of Berkeley offers one bulky waste pick-up per calendar year for single-family homes and multi-unit residential buildings up to 4 units.
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=5702

In San Jose, there is no limit for pickups of bulky items but there is a small fee.
http://www.sjrecycles.org/residents/special_stuff.asp

If your city isn’t mentioned you can contact your local garbage service and ask them about bulky item pick ups.

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The Seattle-based coffee chain said in a blog post on its website Thursday that it made the decision to reformulate its drinks after feedback from consumers prompted a “thorough” evaluation.

The company says it will swap out cochineal extract, which is made from the juice of a tiny beetle, and instead use lycopene, a tomato-based extract.

Cochineal dye is widely used in foods and cosmetics products such as lipstick, yogurt and shampoo. Starbucks had used the coloring in its strawberry flavored mixed drinks and foods like the raspberry swirl cake and red velvet whoopie pie.

The company says the items will be reformulated by the end of June.

An online petition on Change.org asking the chain to stop using the bug-based dye had collected more than 6,000 signatures. The petition was started by a South Carolina woman who wanted to inform consumers that the chain’s strawberry drinks weren’t vegan-friendly.

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DataQuick said Thursday that nearly 7,700 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in a nine-county region in March, up more than 9 percent from the same period in 2011.

It’s the highest tally for the month since more than 8,300 homes sold in March 2007.

The median price was $358,000, a decline of less than 1 percent compared to the same time last year.

The San Diego-based firm said about one-quarter of existing home sales were for properties in foreclosure during the previous year. Another 19 percent were “short sales”—when the price is below the amount owed by the seller.

DataQuick also reported that more than 37,000 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in the state last month.

That’s almost a 3 percent rise over the same time last year and the highest number since nearly 40,000 homes sold in March 2007.

The median price paid for a home in California last month was $251,000, up less than a percent compared to a year ago.

More than half of last month’s sales statewide were of homes either in foreclosure or being sold for less than what the seller owed.

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Santa Clara Valley Water District spokesperson Marty Grimes said that getting an extra 10 percent allotment from the California water project has helped matters.

KCBS’ Matt Bigler Reports:

“Just a little bit more water that we’ll have this summer and going into next year in case it’s dry,” Grimes said. “That’s comforting since we had such a dry year up until the last part of March.”

Grimes said that the last series of storms also helped to increase the Sierra snowpack and added to the local reservoirs.

“And locally, some of our reservoirs did get some inflow, so that’s good as well,” he said.

As a result, water officials are not calling for mandatory conservation this year. Local resident Carly Baker said that people should still try to use less water.

“I think they need to be educated about conserving just as much as they were when we were in a drought year,” she said. “I’ll definitely still conserve.”

Water officials still stress that conservation is a way of life because no one knows what Mother Nature has in store for the area.

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Last fall, the FTB started telling taxpayers and tax preparers that could only deduct the portion of their tax bill that was based on the assessed value. It would mean that taxpayers would lose the ability to deduct taxes that included Mello-Roos and school parcel taxes.

But, it turns out the board flipped the script. The state now says that homeowners may continue to count their entire property tax bill, as a deduction. This could mean thousands of taxpayers may have to amend their taxes.

Our Guide To Tax Filing Day

It may come as a stress to some taxpayers because they do not have much time to correct their returns if they did not deduct parcel taxes.

Some taxpayers were not even aware of the late notice. The FTB asked the IRS to look into its rule change last year. But, the IRS claimed they never received the letter, and by the time it was reviewed, it became last-minute. According to the FTB, it was encouraging taxpayers to abide by the new rules when they file their 2011 taxes.

Many people did follow the change. And those people can amend their taxes and possibly see a bigger refund.

A newly released report from the science advocacy group The Union of Concerned Scientists, is basically a snapshot of what the electrical grid is today in different areas of the country.

“California’s electricity grid is one of the cleanest grids in the country, meaning that California relies pretty heavily on cleaner sources of electricity such as natural gas, and renewable electricity such as wind and solar power,” said Don Anair, a Berkeley-based senior analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “So compared to the rest of the country, electric vehicles in California really are the best choice for consumers in terms of having the lowest global warming emissions.”

KCBS’ Susan Leigh Taylor Reports:

Anair said that means an electric car in California produces the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as a gas-burning vehicle that gets 79 miles to the gallon, because the grid is so efficient. He said that with California’s adoption of a 33 percent renewable electricity standard by 2020, that means your electric car will actually become greener as it gets older.

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Rates at premium parking meters meanwhile have reached $4 dollars an hour in some parts of the city.

KCBS’ Barbara Taylor Reports:

Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Paul Rose said overturning the conventional wisdom that it’s cheaper to park at meter could change the dynamic in high traffic areas, such as 16th and Mission, by getting motorists directly into the parking garage.

“That frees up the streets,” Rose said, which would allow motorist and Muni buses to move faster.

Not all city-owned garages will cost less, however. Just one-third are lowering rates, Rose said. Most will not change their prices at all, while about eight percent will charge more.

Rose said the higher prices would encourage turnover, much like the parking meter rates that fluctuate with demand.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)