Spotlight

Spotlight:
Money & Politics

Minimal impact helped Spain avoid rail opposition

Despite crossing both cityscapes and farmland, Spain’s high-speed rail program stirred no major opposition, going to great lengths to minimize its impact on surrounding land. + read more
Spotlight:
Money & Politics

Business interests killed more bills in Legislature

Weak economic conditions gave lobbyists working on behalf of business groups an advantage during the last legislative session, a joint analysis by California Watch and the Sacramento Bee found. + read more
Spotlight:
K–12

Schools plagued by unresolved safety issues

Despite California's strict seismic regulations, two school districts serve as case studies of a broken system that leaves children in harm's way. + read more
Spotlight:
Health & Welfare

Patient: Hospital billed for condition she didn't have

Darlene Courtois had never heard of kwashiorkor, a dangerous form of malnutrition, but records show a hospital owned by Prime Healthcare Services billed Medicare for treating it anyway. + read more
Spotlight:

Support independent investigative journalism

California Watch and the Center for Investigative Reporting need your help to produce investigative stories that look out for you. Please consider donating today. + read more
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Daily Report

Health & Welfare
January 27, 2012, 12:38 PM
State investigates skin lighteners for dangerous mercury

SAN FRANCISCO -- There could be a dark side to skin-lightening creams often found in stores that cater to ethnic communities. 

Starting next week, California health officials will collect and test a sampling of skin-lightening products in the Bay Area for possible mercury...

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Higher Ed
January 27, 2012 | 12:05 AM

For-profit accreditor seeks more accurate job placement data

The accreditor that oversees several campuses owned by for-profit college company Career Education Corp. is demanding that it submit more accurate...
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Money & Politics
January 27, 2012 | 12:05 AM

Billionaire insurance exec backs initiative to change rate rules

UPDATE, Jan. 27, 2011: Mercury Insurance provided this response to questions about its record. The 90-year-old billionaire chairman of Mercury...
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Health & Welfare
January 27, 2012 | 12:05 AM

US guidelines on food marketing to kids stalls

According to a recent analysis of medical costs in the research journal Obesity, California spends an estimated $15.2 billion on obesity-related...
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K–12
January 26, 2012 | 12:05 AM

Pentagon taps students to build robots, drones

With an eye toward revolutionizing how defense systems and vehicles are made, the Pentagon has tapped a team of Bay Area-based scientists, engineers...
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Money & Politics
January 26, 2012 | 12:05 AM

Disclosure of corporate campaign spending sought in Calif. bill

Corporations that donate to political campaigns – including through so-called super PACs that have no contribution limits –...
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Environment
January 26, 2012 | 12:05 AM

Car emissions may fuel desert forest fires

Nitrogen emissions from car exhaust and industrial sources might be increasing forest fires across the California desert by fueling the spread of...
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Inside the Newsroom

Meghann Farnsworth's picture
January 20, 2012 | 2:15 PM
If an elected official talks loudly in public, should reporters tweet?
When California Watch's senior editor Bob Salladay took the train from Sacramento to Oakland on January 19, he didn't think he would be in a place to break news. But it's hard to ignore an Assembly candidate when she is talking loudly on her cell phone in a public space. [View the...
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Mark Katches's picture
January 10, 2012 | 5:50 AM
Media partners pool resources to fund bullet train trip
When Fresno Bee business reporter Tim Sheehan boarded a plane for Spain in November, his trip signaled a new chapter of collaboration for a growing group of California news organizations. Sheehan spent eight days abroad, gathering string for a package of stories about Spain's 20-year-old bullet...
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Stephen K Doig's picture
December 16, 2011 | 12:08 AM
Precision journalism reveals patterns in government data
Journalists find stories in all sorts of places. I have spent much of my journalism career, both in newsrooms and classrooms, finding stories in data. That’s how I found myself crunching data for California Watch, a nonprofit investigative news operation that is part of the Center for...
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