Experts Back Hunters Point Testing Process
A panel of experts brought in from the University of California issued a report Friday vouching for the testing of the contaminated Hunters Point shipyard development site.
The Investigative Unit
The Latest
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Mountain View Tech Company Owner and President Pleads Guilty to Visa Fraud
A woman accused of setting up two fake Mountain View tech companies as part of a bogus F-1 visa fraud scheme now faces prison time and deportation after pleading guilty to her crimes. NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit first reported the arrest of Weiyn “Kelly” Huang and her companies “Findream” and “Sinocontech” in April 2019, after the FBI charged... -
PG&E Alerted to Wind-Driven Corrosion Before Camp Fire
Just months before the Camp Fire, PG&E engineers urged the utility to inspect steel hardware on high voltage transmission towers in high wind areas that could be prone to wind-driven corrosion damage – like the damage found on the tower blamed for the disaster.
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Examining Wedgewood: A Look at the Home-Flipping Giant in Battle With Homeless Mothers
Southern California home-flipping giant Wedgewood Inc. was thrust into the spotlight last month when homeless mothers from Moms4Housing began squatting in a vacant West Oakland home owned by the company and refused to leave. It’s an unusual situation for Wedgewood, which until recently, had received little public attention or scrutiny in Northern C... -
NBC Bay Area Investigation Links Group of Vallejo Police Officers to Majority of Use of Force Incidents
Lawsuits and other public records reveal that a small group of Vallejo police officers are connected to most use of force incidents.
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Bay Area Parks Still Use Potentially Cancer-Causing Herbicide
NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit looked into the incident and found out San Jose’s Parks Department uses several herbicides – including Roundup – to maintain its dog parks and public spaces. And public records show that many cities in the Bay Area continue to use the chemical despite California labeling it as potentially carcinogenic. -
Civil Rights Claim Against Palo Alto PD Raises More Questions About Use of Force, Transparency
Julio Arevalo said he just wanted to get his son a donut when he left his home at the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park late one night last July. He never came home with that donut. In the morning, Arevalo says he woke up handcuffed to a hospital bed with a fractured bone in his face and a brace around…
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$1.6 Billion Wildfire Deal Draws Fire
Critics are calling on the state Public Utilities Commission to reject a proposed $1.68 billion wildfire regulatory settlement with PG&E, saying it effectively gives the utility “a get out of jail free card’’ for safety violations. They also note the agreement does not include require PG&E to pay a single penny in actual fines. -
Carbon Dioxide: The Invisible Indoor Air Pollutant in California’s Classrooms
Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and UC Davis recently released a study looking at ventilation in California schools – several right here in the Bay Area. Their findings: 85 percent of classrooms had levels of carbon dioxide, or CO2, above acceptable levels of 1,000 parts per million, having the potential to impact students’ heal... -
PG&E Admits 1987 Hook Failures Did Not Prompt More Tests
In its response to a federal judge about NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit report of last week, PG&E said Thursday that while two worn hooks failed strength tests back in 1987, such hooks had not been regularly failing like the one that sparked the deadly Camp fire.
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PG&E Must Account for 1987 Red Flag on Worn Hooks
A federal judge has ordered Pacific Gas & Electric to account for what it knew about the risk of worn hooks on its system in light of a 1987 internal report of tests showing a risk of premature failure in worn hooks taken off its electric transmission towers – hooks similar to the one blamed for the massive and deadly Camp Fire.
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Heroes in Exile
After brilliant military careers, two immigrant servicemen were banished from the United States and deported to Mexico, cut off from their children and families. NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit takes a closer look.
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Burning Question: Can a $70 Christmas Tree Ornament Alert You to Danger?
The National Fire Protection Association says that about 160 Christmas trees catch fire each year, resulting in three deaths and $10 million in damage. NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit tested a new product aiming to give families an early warning in the event of such a fire. Chris Chmura reports.
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Muni Crews Use Parts From $3M Train Car to Keep New Fleet Running
NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned that Muni maintenance crews have been stripping parts out of brand new $3 million train cars for several months and using those parts to keep other trains in the new fleet running.
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Latest Muni Equipment Problem Risks Future Rush Funding
The discovery Wednesday of another broken coupler pin on one of Muni’s new train cars – a part already replaced once because of similar problems in April – left a key San Francisco official wondering about Muni’s request for rushed funding for 150 new cars.
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PG&E Alerted To Risk of Worn Hooks Back in 1987
PG&E was alerted more than 30 years before the deadly Camp fire about the failure risk of worn steel hooks like the one that snapped and caused the most destructive wildfire in state history, documents obtained by NBC Bay Area’s investigative unit show.
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New Images of PG&E Hooks on Camp Fire Power Line Released
The federal judge overseeing PG&E’s probation over regulatory violations has ordered the utility to answer more questions about the worn C-hook that failed and sparked the Camp Fire last year as a follow-up to PG&E’s release of damaged hooks.
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Suspicious Company Dissolves Following NBC Bay Area Investigation Into Potential Student Visa Fraud
Less than a week after NBC Bay Area published an investigation finding more than a dozen possible shell companies may have provided false employment records to thousands of foreign students, one of those companies filed paperwork in Nevada to legally dissolve.
