This map shows how much money each county received in 2011 through Secure Rural Schools, as well as total payments since 2001.
Mercury, a potent neurotoxin, has an effect that is difficult to quantify, but is believed to be most dangerous for pregnant women and small children. It can also contaminate bodies of water and cause fish to be unsafe for human consumption. It may also cause other symptoms like reduced IQs, behavioral problems and heart conditions.
Data provided by Bay Area Rapid Transit covering calendar year 2006 through October 2011 show a 20 percent increase in the number of bike theft reports, with eight stations – Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre, Dublin/Pleasanton, Ashby, Fremont, North Berkeley, MacArthur and Concord – accounting for half of the thefts. The Walnut Creek and neighboring Pleasant Hill stations are the top targets for bike thefts. The two stations accounted for more than 430 thefts of bicycles or bicycle parts, nearly 17 percent of the thefts in the entire system.
California Watch and the Sacramento Bee have gathered thousands of formal declarations of opposition and support to bills filed in the California Legislature and 2011. Use our database to see which bills powerful organizations are supporting.
This interactive graphic by The Sacramento Bee shows the nearly 150 groups that recorded positions on 10 or more bills in the 2011 legislative session, and declared lobbying expenses during that period.
As of late 2010, the state had issued nearly 1,100 notices to school districts with construction projects that had known safety concerns. We've done our best to identify the projects below, but the state's data is messy.
The USC Annenberg Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism and California Watch commissioned tests to measure the Martin family’s exposure levels to dangerous metals and industrial byproducts. The results were delivered to the family on Jan. 31, 2011.
Prime Healthcare Services, a chain of 13 hospitals in Southern California and one in Shasta County, reports higher rates of several serious medical conditions than other California hospitals. At the same time, former doctors and employees of Prime say that chain owner Dr. Prem Reddy has urged doctors and medical coders to log those conditions, which pay a premium when treating elderly Medicare patients. Here's a primer on how we calculated hospitals' diagnosis rates.
California interest groups have filed nearly 7,000 reports this year disclosing what bills and issues they have lobbied in state government. Use this form to see which bills interest groups have lobbied in the Legislature.
Prime Healthcare Services acquired 11 California hospitals from 2005 to 2009. After Prime acquired each facility, the percentage of seniors with Medicare who were sent from the emergency room to the main hospital increased. Compare the Medicare admission rates at each hospital, before and after Prime Healthcare took ownership.
