December 22, 2011, 12:03 AM
December 22, 2011, 12:02 AM
California Watch uncovered systematic failures by the state's chief regulator of construction standards for public schools. You can contact school officials, politicians and state agencies about earthquake safety.
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December 22, 2011, 12:02 AM
Here are ways that you can learn more and get involved in earthquake safety at schools in your community.
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December 22, 2011, 12:02 AM
Find information to help you better understand earthquakes and the terms used throughout our seismic safety coverage. There are resources for getting involved, tips on how to prepare for the Big One, a parent’s preparedness checklist and more.
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December 8, 2011, 1:48 PM
State regulators charged with overseeing school construction have failed to ensure that the buildings children occupy are safe, according to a state audit released today.
The California State Auditor’s report found that the Division of the State Architect has limited authority to penalize...
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November 18, 2011, 12:05 AM
UPDATE, Dec. 6, 2011: Gov. Jerry Brown announced today that he has selected Chester “Chet” Widom as the new state architect. An ex-designer and supervisor of building projects at UC Berkeley, two former national presidents of an architectural organization, and the state architect...
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October 31, 2011, 12:05 AM
As many as 17,000 older concrete buildings in California could be vulnerable during a major earthquake, according to a new inventory by a coalition of volunteer structural engineers, universities and government agencies. A number of schools, state and local government buildings, and other...
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August 30, 2011, 12:05 AM
In 2004, Liberty High School had just laid new carpet, finalized a fresh paint job and installed up-to-date air-conditioning units when the Liberty Union High School District learned the campus was on a state list of school buildings that may be unsafe in an earthquake. Alarmed and trying to...
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August 25, 2011, 12:05 AM
The governor's office has been working with the American Institute of Architects to help find a new leader for the embattled state office responsible for the seismic safety of school buildings. Gov. Jerry Brown has taken a special interest in the position of state architect in light of...
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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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August 3, 2011, 12:05 AM
Concerned about a renewed state focus and the potential for lawsuits, the Los Angeles County Office of Education has stepped up efforts to help local school officials investigate the seismic safety of their buildings. In June, the office asked Terry Tao, an attorney who specializes in...
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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 2, 2011, 8:49 AM
Seven weeks. Fifteen hundred miles. Thirty-six thousand coloring books. It’s been nearly two months since California Watch published its "On Shaky Ground" series on seismic safety in California’s public schools, but the stories’ publication did not mark the end of our...
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May 31, 2011, 12:05 AM
Nuclear power plants are often located in highly populated areas. That’s because they were designed to provide electricity for people. And the closer the plants are to those people, the less energy required to get that power there. So, just how close are these plants to people? And...
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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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