August 22, 2011, 12:05 AM
In a move designed to kick-start the review and repair of 7,600 potentially unsafe California school buildings, the State Allocation Board in May scrapped restrictive rules that blocked school districts' access to nearly $200 million in seismic retrofit money. But weeks after lowering...
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July 22, 2011, 12:05 AM
Last week, California Watch, the Center for Investigative Reporting, Capitol Public Radio and Need to Know aired a report on seismic safety at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant operated by PG&E. We didn’t have a lot of time to go into it in the television show. So, I’d like...
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June 28, 2011, 12:04 AM
Scientists know the San Andreas Fault is going to rupture. But why it hasn’t triggered a major temblor in more than 100 years has baffled geologists and seismologists. A new study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, may explain the seismic hiatus. And it suggests...
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May 26, 2011, 12:05 AM
State officials voted yesterday to expand access to a $200 million fund created for urgent seismic repairs at California's public schools. The move came in response to complaints that restrictive rules created by the Schwarzenegger administration had blocked the funds from thousands of...
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May 19, 2011, 9:22 AM
State officials moved a step closer yesterday to allowing more California schools access to a limited pot of money set aside for urgent seismic repairs. A three-member committee of the State Allocation Board, which controls funding for school repairs and construction, is recommending that...
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May 18, 2011, 12:05 AM
Officials will review proposals today that would make it easier for schools with potentially dangerous buildings to qualify for seismic repair funds. Only 20 buildings are currently eligible, but the new proposals could give anywhere from 83 to 189 additional buildings access to a $200 million...
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May 13, 2011, 12:05 AM
By June 10, nuclear power plant operators must verify under oath that they have updated and adopted additional safety and equipment procedures mandated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after the 9/11 attacks. The bulletin, issued Wednesday at a conference sponsored by the industry's...
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May 12, 2011, 12:05 AM
Legislators voted yesterday to fast-track an audit of the office that oversees public school construction after a recent California Watch investigation found it had routinely failed to enforce earthquake safety laws. During a morning hearing, members of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee...
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May 6, 2011, 12:05 AM
For more than 40 years, the state regulator of public school construction approved projects without thoroughly assessing liquefaction, landslides and other earthquake hazards because it doubted the scientific justification and didn't want to pay for the extra work, according to agency and...
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April 27, 2011, 5:37 PM
State regulators will loosen the criteria for schools to access millions in unspent seismic repair funds and will require building inspectors to reveal whether they have been convicted of a crime before taking the state's certification test, officials said today. Scott Harvey, acting chief...
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April 20, 2011, 12:05 AM
Scientists who have surveyed earthquake damage in Japan say the soil condition intensified the destruction, and their findings raise concerns about geologically similar areas in California, Oregon and Washington. In a report released this week, a team of scientists –...
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April 20, 2011, 12:05 AM
A school construction inspector previously convicted of a felony in a construction safety-related case has worked on at least 15 school projects in Southern California in the last few years, records show. California Watch reported April 9 that the Division of the State Architect – the...
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April 13, 2011, 9:09 AM
State construction officials were ordered yesterday to examine ways to make it easier for schools with potentially dangerous buildings to qualify for seismic repair funds. Five years ago, voters approved nearly $200 million in bond funds for seismic repairs at thousands of school building...
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April 11, 2011, 5:01 PM
Korean: Lax oversight of school construction raises doubts about earthquake safety
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