Monterey County Local News: Crime & Justice

'New York Times v. Sullivan' is a landmark SCOTUS case on press freedom. Thomas wants it gone.

A new law governing the service of alcohol in California is an effort to save lives on the road.

Within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that protected the right to have an abortion in America, thousands of protesters across the country took to the streets on Friday,…

Part Two of a 2-part explainer on what SCOTUS might do after overturning Roe v. Wade.

Part One of a two-part Explainer on what SCOTUS may do after overturning Roe v. Wade

California's 19-year-old law letting workers enforce labor codes suffers a Supreme Court setback.

National media calls election results a sign state is swinging right—but that's misleading.

Texas law that court blocked could have crippled some of California's largest tech companies.

After 23 years serving on the police force in Merced, Alan Ward has been sworn in as police chief in Carmel.

Cal Poly student Kristin Smart’s unsolved disappearance in 1996 has remained a live wire, sparking more than 25 years of investigations, newspaper stories and highway billboards. Smart’s body was never recovered, but in April 2021, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s…

If you invested in cryptocurrency just six months ago, you're bleeding money now.

GONZALES — Cesar Castillo and Nathan Cordoba were both promoted to police corporals with the Gonzales Police Department on April 18. Castillo served in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1997 as an infantry rifleman and was honorably discharged in 2001. He has been assigned as the range master, taser instructor, vehicle abatement officer and adviser [...]

Rocio Mendoza, 51, was arrested on 11 counts of identity theft and embezzlement. The Hartnell College employee came under investigation last November by the Salinas Police Department.

BIG SUR — A Monterey County judge has sentenced 31-year-old Ivan Gomez to 24 years in state prison for starting the Dolan Fire near Big Sur in 2020, which seriously injured a firefighter and destroyed multiple residences. Gomez, who had previously been found guilty of the arson on April 7, was also found guilty of [...]

Two employees who worked inside the evidence lab at the Salinas Police Department for more than two decades have alleged years of evidence mismanagement by a third-party forensics contractor. The former employees say carelessness from the contractor led to lost…