The first half of the Chronicle's two-man team that broke the Barry Bonds-BALCO story left when Mark Fainaru-Wada joined ESPN in 2007. Now, they're both gone.

Lance Williams is the latest addition to the Center for Investigative Reporting's California Watch project, which has hired him as an investigative reporter covering money and politics.

Born in Ohio, Williams has spent 34 years as a reporter in California; prior to the Chronicle he worked for the San Francisco Examiner, the Oakland Tribune and the Hayward Daily Review.

At one point, he and Fainaru-Wada faced 18 months in prison for contempt-of-court charges after refusing to divulge their sources on the BALCO case; charges were later dropped. The pair's work became the book Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports.

Read CIR's release here.