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Money and Politics

State employees pile up vacation time, exceeding caps and costing millions

February 27, 2010, 6:59pm | Chase Davis
California Watch
Amid a crippling fiscal crisis, managers throughout California’s government have routinely allowed their employees to amass unused vacation time, enabling hundreds of workers to end their public-service careers with payouts topping $100,000, a California Watch investigation has found.
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How we estimated vacation, leave overages
Article
Money and Politics
California wine train

Federal stimulus program pours $54 million into Wine Train project

An Alaska company swung a deal for one of California’s largest stimulus grants — $54 million for work connected to the famed Napa Valley Wine...
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Article
Money and Politics | Environment
Santa Susana Field Laboratory, image by NASA

Stimulus funds aiding companies fined for pollution, accused of fraud

Large corporations working in California have reaped tens of millions of dollars in new federal stimulus funds, despite previous pollution...
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Article
Money and Politics
California Watch

Politicians rely on county parties to funnel contributions, avoid campaign limits

Is it possible that politicians and their supporters have laundered donations to subvert campaign finance laws?
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California WatchBlog

Money and Politics

Feds wouldn't tell Napa about Wine Train contractor

March 11, 2010, 12:04am
Wine Train, stimulus, Suulutaaq
California Watch wasn’t the only one trying to pry loose government documents on the Alaska Native Corporation that got a $54 million federal stimulus contract to relocate the tracks for the Napa Valley Wine Train. It turns out that Napa...
Money and Politics

Furlough exemption bill could save millions in banked vacation

March 10, 2010, 12:06am
Furlough, employee vacations
A bill passed by the Legislature this week that would end furloughs for upwards of 80,000 state employees could save millions in banked vacation if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chooses to sign it. Of course, chances of that are slim. Schwarzenegger...
Money and Politics

HP founder's granddaughter takes on Fiorina

March 9, 2010, 10:42am
Fiorina, Packard
In her campaign for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina spins her stormy six years at the Silicon Valley tech giant as a story of unbridled success. Carly Fiorina Fiorina “led the reinvention...

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