November 2, 2012, 12:05 AM
The beverage industry has spent nearly $2.5 million to crush a soda tax ballot measure in Richmond, records show, in a costly bid to keep the idea of taxing sugary drinks from spreading nationwide. “This is basically a battleground in a national debate," said Chuck Finnie, a...
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November 1, 2012, 4:04 PM
America has embraced tough-on-crime policies since the 1990s. But this November, California voters will consider a ballot measure to reform the state’s strict three strikes law.
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November 1, 2012, 12:05 AM
Californians rank 10th in the country for having the longest commute times, taking an average of 26.9 minutes to travel to work, recently released census data show. Workers in the state spent 10.4 minutes more getting to work than did workers in North Dakota, which reported the quickest...
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November 1, 2012, 12:05 AM
Construction companies are pumping tens of thousands of dollars into the race for the Bay Area Rapid Transit board in an effort to unseat incumbent Director Lynette Sweet. The construction firms accuse Sweet of meddling in bids for BART construction work and are backing 25-year-old Zakhary...
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October 31, 2012, 12:05 AM
For fans and officials alike, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s dossier on cyclist Lance Armstrong was dispiriting. It detailed how one of the greatest stars in cycling history had used banned drugs for years and systematically lied to cover it up. The agency's evidence file became...
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October 29, 2012, 12:05 AM
The state’s Environmental Protection Agency finalized a revision of a controversial K-12 environmental curriculum on plastic bags Friday. California Watch reported last year that whole sections of an 11th-grade teachers' edition guide for a new curriculum had been lifted almost...
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October 29, 2012, 12:05 AM
Linda Mendoza says her life began changing for the better the day she was robbed at gunpoint. In 2010, Mendoza had just opened her beauty salon on International Boulevard in East Oakland when three men walked through the door, pointed a gun at her pregnant belly and demanded cash. The...
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October 29, 2012, 12:05 AM
FBI investigators used a court order authorizing access to cellphone customer data to quietly deploy a powerful surveillance technology known as “stingrays,” privacy groups contend in a new court filing [PDF] that claims the devices are overly invasive. Your cellphone can...
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October 26, 2012, 12:05 AM
While Gov. Jerry Brown cries foul over $11 million in unidentified money that recently infused the state ballot measure fight, federal races in California and around the country are awash in secret money, too. Advocacy groups that don't disclose donors have dumped more than $200 million...
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October 26, 2012, 12:05 AM
The state’s managed care watchdog has reached a settlement agreement with a Los Angeles physicians group that was accused of allowing business executives to decide whether patients get requested medical care. The Department of Managed Care reached the agreement earlier this month with...
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October 25, 2012, 12:05 AM
San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos has introduced a resolution urging the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and state Legislature to strengthen privacy protections for Clipper card users. The transportation commission, which administers the transit card, also has begun re-examining why...
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October 25, 2012, 12:05 AM
State health officials have declared day care and youth centers, ballfields, some residential backyards and other sites on Treasure Island safe from radiation in response to fears about the area’s nuclear past. The surveys taken from 24 publically accessible locations were not part of...
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October 24, 2012, 12:05 AM
In a taste test of new lunch items last year at the Long Beach Unified School District, the "fiesta salad" received a nearly 73 percent approval rating. One student even declared that the dish of pinto beans, cilantro, corn, tomatoes and cayenne pepper was "better than McDonald...
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October 24, 2012, 12:05 AM
Amy Youngman’s seventh- and eighth-grade humanities students had left for the day. Other than some shouts from the after-school program in the courtyard, all was quiet in her second-floor classroom here. Youngman’s day of teaching at Oakland’s ERES Academy – part of the...
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October 23, 2012, 12:05 AM
Since the start of the 2010 school year, thirsty students at Turlock High School can visit a “hydration station,” a state-of-the-art drinking fountain that provides filtered and chilled water. The high-tech fountain, which has also filled nearly 9,000 water bottles at Turlock...
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