Monterey County Public Safety Digest

In his 2018 campaign, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would create 500,000 new apprenticeships in the decade after taking office. So far, the state has registered more than 180,000 new apprenticeships. Many of them are firefighters.

After years of delay, a new California regulation to protect indoor workers from extreme heat is now in effect.

The first two human cases of West Nile virus this season were reported in Yuba and Stanislaus Counties.

Residents of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties are warned against local recreational shellfish harvesting due to toxic local algae blooms and red tides.

The Monterey County Office of Education has responded to the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury report, titled “Fentanyl: Our Youth in Crisis.”

Assemblymember James Gallagher speaks during the floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on June 13, 2024. Photo by Cristian Gonzalez for CalMatters

The response to the Monterey County Grand Jury findings and recommendations about the Monterey County Health Department has been released.

The Monterey Bay Economic Partnership announced $45 million in California Public Utilities Commission grants to three local Internet Service Providers to expand broadband to unserved areas.

Almost 400 suppliers, two-thirds in communities of color, don’t meet safety and reliability standards. Fixing them would cost billions.

Before the first official day of summer, almost 90,000 acres have been burned in California wildfires.

With multiple fires already burning in the state, forecasters predict the coming fire season will be "very active."

Young Great White sharks are convening in the warm waters of Soquel Cove off Seacliff State Beach between Capitola and Rio Del Mar.

CalTrans announced convoys through the Rocky Creek slip-out on Highway 1 are open to the general public twice daily at 7-8AM and 5-6PM.

CalTrans continues to work toward a May 27 reopening of Highway 1 at the Rocky Creek slip-out.

In its April 18 meeting, the Seaside City Council voted to put a measure to ban fireworks on the November ballot.

CalTrans is concentrating work on stabilizing the edge of the lane at the location of the slip-out with a goal of installing a temporary stoplight so one-way traffic can resume.

A tornado stuck Kings county briefly, and another touched down in Madera county, as favorable conditions came together during a powerful winter storm which swept the region.

A report of a 12 month study which ended in February indicates almost half of those cited for drug usage were not residents of the city, leading to questions about city approaches to drug addiction.

Those signed up for alerts with the current system will be transitioned to the new system as part of the process. Officials note integration with County GIS map platform as key benefit of new system.

California’s law that requires background checks when purchasing ammunition is back in place.

A handful of super powerful tropical storms in the last decade and the prospect of more to come has a couple of experts proposing a new category of whopper hurricanes: Category 6.

Los Angeles County flood control network withstands punishing rains—for now.

The storm fed off of unusually warm waters as it grew. It also reached “bomb cyclone” status as it neared California.

Sidewalk repairs, which in many cases are the responsibility of adjacent property owners, are happening in Monterey to reduce tripping hazards and clean up uplifts caused by trees roots and wear over time.

The Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted to allow guns in local government buildings, defying California law.

An updated earthquake hazard map from USGS shows a high shaking risk in California.

Hundreds of San Diego homes and businesses were damaged or ruined in devastating floods after punishing rainfall fell on Jan. 22.

Our understanding and preparedness have come a long way since Southern California’s magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1994. We’re still learning from that destructive temblor.

Michel Moore, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, announced he will resign. The departure of Moore, who has been in the job since 2018, will spur the appointment of an interim chief and a nationwide search for his replacement, according to Mayor Karen Bass.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case related to whether cities and towns can ban camping on public property. The high court could overturn Martin v. Boise, a 2018 federal court decision that keeps western cities and counties from blocking public camping when sufficient shelter space is unavailable.

Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism found that hate crimes rose 12.9% between 2022 and 2023. The spike follows a particularly stark increase in crimes against Jewish people.

California correctional officers train like ‘they are going to war’ to work in state prisons. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to transform San Quentin could require a kinder approach.