Monterey County Public Safety Digest

After California lost over 4 million acres to fire in 2020, the state funded Task Force Rattlesnake, with National Guardsmen to assist Cal Fire.

San Francisco isn’t going to take last week’s robotaxi decision by the California Public Utilities Commission lying down. Joined by the city's transit authority board, fire department and board of supervisors, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed motions on Wednesday to halt the unrestricted expansion of autonomous vehicles for commercial use.

Locally elected sheriffs manage California jails and are responsible for the safety of the inmates they hold. Record deaths in San Diego’s jail are shaping a plan for new statewide oversight.

A corridor was created to help prevent the advancement of a blaze in the event of a wildfire into the neighboring property or across the trail.

Keep in mind that most insect repellents don't kill insects. Insects that bite—not ones that sting—are kept away by repellents.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to make prisons a friendlier place for inmate families. An updated strip-search policy has some worried that families will face intrusive encounters during their visits.

Two recent reports on sexual harassment complaints filed against Cal State employees conclude inconsistent data collection makes it difficult to determine a reliable number.

The Biden administration’s app rule makes it harder for migrants to assert a right to asylum, advocates say. Lawsuits are sparking debate about immigration control, safety.

Huge winter rains and snow are continuing to reduce fire risk, experts say.

Luis Yauri Oyola hopes one day to buy a tractor to start a business in Peru; he estimates that he is six years away from that goal, for which he will have spent more than a decade of his life living thousands of miles away from his family. He is on call 24/7 and doesn’t leave the job site except for necessities.

As nights warm and droughts intensify, past models predicting fire behavior have become unreliable. So California is working with analysts and tapping into new technology to figure out how to attack wildfires. Gleaned from military satellites, drones and infrared mapping, the information is spat out in real time and triaged by a fire behavior analyst.

The number of reported hate crimes increased 22 percent in California in 2021. Following a model from Los Angeles County, state leaders launched a statewide hotline and resources.

After several years of devastating wildfires, California lawmakers want to give hefty raises to Cal Fire firefighters. The deal could tie the governor’s hands in contracts.

The State of California will provide new protections for prescribed fire and cultural burning practitioners. The $20 million allocated for the Prescribed Fire Liability Claims Fund Pilot will cover losses in the rare instance that a prescribed or cultural burn escapes control.

After California’s largest home insurance provider said it wouldn’t issue new policies, consumer and insurance industry groups have ideas for what they’d like to see California do. Here’s how the debate over four of those ideas shakes out.

Californians accused of crimes spend an average of five days waiting to see a lawyer. Shortening that time can help them keep their jobs, and spend less time in jail.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana ruled the U.S. Forest Service can continue to use aerial fire retardant to fight wildfires while waiting on a Clean Water Act permit.

In May, a video featured a young woman named Brooklyn imploring viewers to tell the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation about the importance of EarnIn, part of a relatively new app-based industry that provides cash advances to people based on their wages.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice started assisting the Environmental Protection Agency’s investigation this week.

In a report titled “City of Seaside: The Real Cost of Fireworks,” grand jurors found city officials were aware of illegal fireworks use causing problems and efforts to reduce illegal fireworks use “appear to have minimal effect.”

After unanimously clearing the Senate, a bill expanding first responders' access to workers’ comp for PTSD moves to the Assembly.

Pacific Gas and Electric will soon change the way it stores casks of new highly radioactive spent fuel from Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

Schools in flood-prone areas, in some cases protected by aging levees, face possible floods similar to those that have already swept through schools in Alameda, Merced and Monterey counties this year, FEMA data shows.

Before this winter’s storms first started in January, the Monterey County Mosquito Abatement District had already treated the normal mosquito hotspots within the 458 square miles that they cover. “We hit ahead of time, but we didn't know how bad those rains were going to be,” said Ken Klemme, the district manager.

For most Californians, the sight of aircraft spewing neon pink liquid over flaming trees and brush has become a hallmark of aggressive wildfire suppression campaigns. But some forest advocates say the substance does more harm than good. A federal lawsuit could reshape how the U.S. Forest Service battles wildfires throughout the western United States.

Sprawl has allowed Californians to live closer to nature and buy homes where it is cheaper to build. But it has also left millions vulnerable to wildfires and flooding.

Last year, the Seaside City Council considered banning the sale of State Fire Marshal-approved, Safe and Sane Fireworks, or to place a measure before the voters on the ballot that would cost the city about $150,000.

Since battery energy storage systems have been housed at the Moss Landing Power Plant site, there have been at least three incidents concerning the lithium ion batteries.

As seismic engineers study the earthquakes that killed more than 20,000, it's becoming clear that a significant cause involved a building design common in California.

The earthquake in Turkey and Syria is just the latest warning of the potential risks for other seismically active areas.

Like much of California, Monterey County remained in the thick of not just storm recovery but the aftermath.

Fernando Velasquez Perez suffered a medical emergency and later died after life-saving measures were unsuccessful.