San Benito County Local News: Public Safety


All Local Public Safety News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: With CERT training, volunteers can learn firefighting skills.
Emergency Teamwork

Fires, floods, earthquakes—California’s got it all. And CERT volunteers are ready to step in.

Image caption: Thousands of homeowners have been kicked off their fire insurance policies.
California Fire Insurance Crisis: How the State Helps Homeowners

As California insurance companies have revoked the fire policies of thousands of homeowners, the state has taken steps to get them covered again.

Image caption: Many of Robert Kerbeck’s neighbors in Malibu Park lost their homes in the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which left behind lots where only chimneys still stood.
Give Your Home a Fighting Chance

California wildfires are becoming larger, more frequent and more ferocious. ‘Malibu Burning’ author Robert Kerbeck shares simple steps you can take to protect your home.

Image caption: Though it’s the most famous, the San Andreas Fault is just one of more than 500 active faults in California.
Battening Down for the Big One

Making it through the earthquake is the easy part. The hard part is surviving in the chaos that follows.

Image caption: Supercell storms are just one of many weather phenomena in the era of climate change.
The New Vocabulary of the Climate Change Era

The climate change era has created a whole new set of terms for a wide variety of storms and other weather phenomena. Here are some of the most important.

Image caption:
How Not to Feel the Burn

California residents can turn to these public and private entities to help prepare for wildfires and protect their property.

Image caption: There are more than 300 community service districts in California.
Community Services Districts, Explained

Community service districts can do most anything a city government can do. Here’s how they work and how to start one.

Image caption: Mosquitos kill about 725,000 people every year, worldwide.
Taking a Bite Out of the Mosquito Population

The pesky mosquito can be deadly as well as annoying. Here’s how local governments in California have been waging war on mosquitoes for more than a century.

Image caption: California will soon be getting a new hotline number as an alternative to 911 for mental health crises.
988, the New Mental Health Emergency Number, Explained

California will soon add a new emergency hotline service with the number 988. Here’s the story behind that new service, and the original 911 number.

Image caption: States have expansive powers to protect the health of the general public.
The State’s Broad Power to Protect Public Health, Explained

Since long before the COVID-19 pandemic, states have possessed broad authority to protect public health, even to suspend laws and commandeer private property. Here’s why, and how it works.

Image caption: A Pyrocumulus cloud generated by the Dixie Fire in July, 2021.
What is Fire 'Containment?' That and Other Terms, Explained

What does it mean when firefighters call a fire "contained?" Here's a brief guide to commonly used fire prevention terminology.

Gilroy Dispatch logo From Gilroy Dispatch...

04/16/2024
Image for display with article titled One Injured in Caltrain Collision in San Martin

A Caltrain struck a vehicle on the tracks in the unincorporated community of San Martin in Santa Clara County on Monday night, a spokesperson for SamTrans said.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

04/11/2024
Image for display with article titled Backers of California Homeless Camp Ban Cite ‘Successful’ San Diego Law. But Is It?

A new bill would make it illegal for homeless residents to camp in certain places, such as near schools, throughout California. Its authors say such a ban has had great success in San Diego. But a closer look at that city paints a more nuanced picture.

California Local Pin Marker From Benito Link...

03/12/2024
Planned Highway 101/25 interchange sound wall will cut off access to popular destination.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

03/02/2024
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.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

03/01/2024
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.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

02/08/2024
Image for display with article titled Why Are Tech Billionaires Apologizing? Lawmakers Now Calling for Regulation of Social Media

CEOs of Instagram, Snapchat tell parents at Senate hearing they’re sorry for deaths of children.

California Local Pin Marker From San Joaquin Valley Sun...

02/06/2024
California’s law that requires background checks when purchasing ammunition is back in place.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

02/05/2024
The storm fed off of unusually warm waters as it grew. It also reached “bomb cyclone” status as it neared California.

California Local Pin Marker From Daily Democrat...

02/05/2024
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.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

01/29/2024
Image for display with article titled Should Homelessness be a Crime? New San Mateo County Law Allows Charges, but SCOTUS May Get the Last Word

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could reshape how California tackles the homeless problem.

California Local Pin Marker From SF Gate...

01/24/2024
An updated earthquake hazard map from USGS shows a high shaking risk in California.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

01/24/2024
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted to allow guns in local government buildings, defying California law.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

01/23/2024
Hundreds of San Diego homes and businesses were damaged or ruined in devastating floods after punishing rainfall fell on Jan. 22.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

01/16/2024
Image for display with article titled Can Traffic Deaths in Los Angeles be Reduced? Ballot Measure Aims for ‘Healthy Streets’

City council rejected the “Healthy Streets L.A” initiative. Now it’s up to Angeleno voters.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

01/16/2024
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.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

01/14/2024
Image for display with article titled Death on the Roads: California Traffic Fatality Crisis Far From Over

California in 2024 has implemented two new, potentially important traffic safety laws

California Local Pin Marker From Sacramento Bee...

01/12/2024
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.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

01/12/2024
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.

California Local Pin Marker From LAist...

01/09/2024
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.
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