November 27, 2012, 12:05 AM
The Federal Aviation Administration will take back $2.1 million in stimulus funds that it gave to San Francisco International Airport because the money was used improperly, according to the Department of Transportation’s inspector general. The airport received $14.5 million in stimulus...
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November 21, 2012, 6:27 AM
Solano College will pay a consultant more than $100,000 over two years to recruit international students from Asia – at a time when the community colleges have undergone severe budget cuts and many in-state students are struggling to get the classes they need.
Solano College...
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November 21, 2012, 12:05 AM
Two San Joaquin Valley lawmakers have been accused of laundering $40,000 in a scheme to dodge California’s tough limits on political contributions. In an accusation filed Oct. 22, the state Fair Political Practices Commission said state Sen. Tom Berryhill, a Modesto Republican, and...
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November 21, 2012, 12:05 AM
Larry Ihrig, the longtime pastor of Celebration Christian Center in Livermore, began a recent Sunday sermon with the issue on everyone’s mind: the outcome of the presidential election. “Now, some of you may glory in the result, but I know some of you are disappointed,” Ihrig...
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November 20, 2012, 12:05 AM
A Southern California federal judge ruled in favor of companies in which he owned stock, despite measures to prevent such conflicts of interest.
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November 20, 2012, 12:05 AM
The federal government has collected millions from the online Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, or PACER – nearly five times what it cost to run the system.
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November 20, 2012, 12:05 AM
When the Department of Homeland Security trudged up to Capitol Hill this year and asked lawmakers for another 365 days worth of funding, as every federal agency does each year, officials ticked off a list of accomplishments they presented as evidence of the agency’s ongoing success. The...
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November 19, 2012, 3:58 PM
Challenges accessing higher education, fear of debt, English as a second language – these are just some of the challenges we heard during our Future State series in Merced. On Nov. 8, a number of California Watch staffers traveled to Merced County in the Central Valley to hear directly from...
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November 19, 2012, 12:05 AM
U.S. Customs and Border Protection last month received its latest unmanned aircraft, but it’s a new sole-source contract that could approach a half-billion dollars that offers the latest insight into the agency’s vision for its controversial eyes-in-the-sky drone program. The...
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November 16, 2012, 12:05 AM
A state appellate court has dealt a blow to Wal-Mart’s strategy of using petition drives to push through approval of new superstores while avoiding California’s environmental law. In a cookie-cutter pattern documented by California Watch, the mega-retailer bankrolled local...
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November 15, 2012, 12:05 AM
Once a social justice leader, the Vanguard Public Foundation crumbled under lavish spending and fraud; its demise has sent shudders through the nonprofit world.
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November 15, 2012, 12:05 AM
A little-known privacy office in the Department of Homeland Security has given its stamp of approval to an ongoing initiative aimed at monitoring social media sites for emerging threats. Congress created the department’s privacy office in 2003 to review major initiatives and databases...
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November 13, 2012, 12:05 AM
For-profit college giant Career Education Corp. announced that it will close 23 of its 90 campuses and eliminate 900 jobs after the company reported a net loss this quarter of $33 million and a 23 percent drop in new student enrollment. The company, which owns six campuses in California, has...
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November 13, 2012, 12:05 AM
San Francisco bedbugs: Stand up and be counted. That is the message from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which approved an ordinance last week that aims to give the city a more accurate picture of where the pests lurk. Exterminators will now be required to report to the ...
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November 12, 2012, 11:25 AM
Local Goodwill chapters recently lost their fight for stronger state regulation of donation boxes when Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation that would have required organizations to get written consent before putting boxes on private property. But in cities and counties across the country...
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