California Watch examines seismic oversight at public schools
Tonight, 19 months after joining our staff, Corey G. Johnson finally gets his first byline at California Watch.
I hope you will agree that it was worth the wait.
At 9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time we will begin rolling out a three-part series on seismic safety in public schools called "On Shaky Ground."
It’s a project that Johnson began working on almost immediately after we gave him his laptop and a desk back in September 2009.
His first assignment was supposed to be a quick-turn anniversary piece about safety issues for the 20thanniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake.
Johnson had just arrived from North Carolina, and we figured it would be a good, easy way to get his feet wet – and to get him that first early byline. Johnson had never been to California. But his fresh eyes began to see
Secret out-of-state donor powering pension reform group
Photo by Mark Altamero
An unknown out-of-state foundation has become a substantial backer of an ambitious nonprofit group that is positioning itself at the center of the state's debate over public pensions.
Democratic consultant Marcia Fritz, who runs the nonprofit Californians for Fiscal Responsibility, first mentioned at a San Francisco forum last month that the group had received a substantial contribution from an out-of-state foundation. She said the money will be used to research several competing pension plans that are being