Searching for food in the land of plenty

As the number of Californians facing hunger reaches “epic proportions,” officials report major strains on the system statewide.
Mendota: a town on the edge
When stomachs growl, learning falters
Hunger tales

State vacation payouts exceed caps, cost millions

Managers have routinely allowed their employees to amass unused vacation time, enabling hundreds of workers to end their public-service careers with payouts topping $100,000.
How we estimated vacation, leave overages
State departments spend millions on unused vacation
GRAPHIC: Big checks for unused time

DUI checkpoint seizures raise cash, legal questions

Law enforcement agencies are more likely to seize cars from sober, unlicensed drivers than take drunks off the road at the state's sobriety checkpoints, investigation finds.
Reporter details how story came together
GRAPHIC: Southern California cities have highest impound rates

More women dying from pregnancy complications

Task force examines possible causes: C-sections, obesity, older mothers and fertility treatments.
CHART: Tracking maternal mortality rates
Q&A: Pregnancy-related deaths explained
AUDIO: Experts weigh in on maternal mortality rates
Health and Welfare
Searching for food in the land of plenty
Money and Politics
State vacation payouts exceed caps, cost millions
Public Safety
DUI checkpoint seizures raise cash, legal questions
Health and Welfare
More women dying from pregnancy complications

California WatchBlog

Health and Welfare

Voter-mandated drug treatment program headed for extinction

Drug treatment, Proposition 36
March 19, 2010, 12:04am | Christina Jewett

The groundbreaking 2000 ballot proposition that mandated drug treatment instead of jail sentences for low-level offenses is barely running and may soon be history, according to testimony during an Assembly hearing.

Treatment advocates have hailed the program as transformative for those who kicked the drug habit. About 13,000 California residents per year finished drug treatment under the law.

Their success...

Environment

Whitman contradicts eBay on global warming law

March 19, 2010
Meg Whitman, eBay, global warming

When it comes to California's landmark global warming law, gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is now at odds with the environmentally conscious...

Higher Ed

How California March Madness teams match up in the lobbying game

March 19, 2010
California Watch, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State University

If university lobbying were a single-elimination tournament, how would California's colleges match up?

Not too well, according to the...

Money and Politics | Environment

Delta Democrat denies swapping health care vote for irrigation water

March 19, 2010
health care, drought

Did the Obama administration swap the fate of the Delta’s endangered salmon for a couple of votes for the president’s health care...

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Money and Politics

Former Gov. Davis again opens wallet for Brown

March 19, 2010, 9:24am
California Watch
It's not often that former Gov. Gray Davis breaks out his checkbook for politics anymore - unless it's for his old boss, Jerry Brown. For at least the fifth time since 2006, Davis made a contribution to Brown's campaign account yesterday, according...
General Assignment

Mapping Christianity

March 19, 2010, 12:02am
Christianity, religion
An analysis of user-generated content placed onto Google maps shows a lot of references to the Baptist faith in placemarks located on top of California. The map, produced by floatingsheep.org, parsed out religious references from Google placemarks...
Money and Politics

In the early going, Brown and Whitman square off

March 18, 2010, 12:07am
Jerry Brown, Meg Whitman, governor's race
The election for governor is nine months off – the primary isn’t until June 8. But Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman went after one another yesterday with the vigor often reserved for a campaign’s home stretch. At issue were attack ads,...
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Inside The Newsroom

California Watch collaborates with USC students to tackle hunger in Golden State

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 12:51pm | Robert Rosenthal

After months of hard work, Califoria Watch and USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism will launch a multi-part series Friday on hunger in California.

Part of our collaboration model calls for working with students. This partnership with 13 graduate students at USC was by far the most ambitious student project we've done at the Center for Investigative Reporting. Keep in mind when you see the series that these students did all this while juggling a full and...

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