San Benito County Public Safety Digest

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.

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

“This is not a drill” were the words Hollister High School students heard over the school’s loudspeaker on May 18. Those words sent a wave of fear in the Hollister High community. Afterwards, the school explained it was caused by a glitch in the automated bell schedule.

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.

More metallic balloons are sold for Valentine’s Day than any other holiday; not surprisingly, it’s also around this time of year that PG&E sees an uptick in outages.

Higher monthly bills might jolt PG&E customers in the wake of the utility's request for additional revenue due to the company's spending on wildfire mitigation and catastrophic events.

Facing a mental health crisis, Cal Fire crews sought less of a workload. But they have to wait two years under their new contract.

A special San Juan Bautista City Council meeting was held on Nov. 29 to allow public comment on the city’s ongoing attempts to resolve violations of its floodplain ordinance occurring at 451 San Juan Hollister Road, a property owned by Kulta Farms LLC.

The Bureau of Land Management Central Coast Field Office lifted its seasonal fire restrictions on Nov. 7 on approximately 300,000 acres of public land due to reduced wildland fire potential.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has reached a $4.97 million legal agreement with online retail giant Amazon.com Services for the illegal sale of pesticides in the state.

State regulators plan to impose a $155.4 million fine against PG&E Corp. over the Zogg Fire, which killed four people in Shasta County. PG&E is already under criminal indictment in the fire, and has pleaded innocent to manslaughter and other charges.

Gas stoves in California homes are leaking cancer-causing benzene, researchers found in a new study, though they say more research is needed to understand how many homes have leaks.

A study by researchers at UCLA and the University of Chicago says that California’s wildfires of 2020 destroyed 4.2 million acres of forest—and erased years of progress the state made on battling climate change.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, trying to ease an insurance crisis that’s hurt rural California, has announced that all carriers active in fire-prone communities must incorporate his “Safer from Wildfires” program into their premiums.

According to the first in a series of reports to come from a consulting firm hired by California officials, PG&E’s efforts to improve wildfire safety are hindered by aging equipment, damaged power poles and hazardous trees that went undetected by the utility’s crews.

One of California’s top elected officials announced steps to limit how developments can be built in areas that are at highest risk of wildfire. Attorney General Rob Bonta released guidelines for local governments to follow when they are deciding whether to approve subdivisions in the “wildland urban interface.”

A seismic survey due by the end of November will reveal whether San Juan Elementary School will have to be extensively modernized and retrofitted or moved entirely because of its proximity to the San Andreas Fault.

Hollister High School installed 20 video surveillance cameras over the summer, for a total of 95. The school says the cameras are intended to provide school staff and faculty with a way to monitor the campus during emergency, or to watch for crimes or altercations.

The California Highway Patrol is marking the two-decade anniversary of the Amber Alert system. Hundreds of abducted children have been found and returned safely to their families following its implementation in 2002.

Dr. Ronald Li, a veterinarian at UC Davis, treated 23 cats rescued from the Tubbs fire in 2017. In addition to the expected traumatic injuries, something else caught Li’s attention. “We noticed clots forming within their hearts,” he said. “But at that time, we didn’t know why.”

Senate Bill 1012, a law that will require California State Parks to restrict open fires, has been unanimously passed through the Committee of Water, Parks, and Wildlife. The bill instructs parks to work with the guidelines of local fire departments. The bill could appear before the full assembly in August.

The California State Guard needs volunteers to join its Team Blaze, a group focused on wildland firefighting. “This team specializes as a Type II fire line hand crew, ready to respond to any area of California when needed,” according to a release.

The Bureau of Land Management is issuing seasonal fire restrictions for lands managed by the Central Coast Field Office, which covers San Benito, Santa Cruz, Monterey and western Fresno counties. These restrictions are in addition to the year-round statewide fire prevention order.

Red flag warning issued for Sacramento Valley; elevated fire conditions expected for Bay Area.

The Cal Fire Air Attack Base in Hollister now has an even greater defense going into this fire season: the S70i. Also known as the fire hawk, the chopper is the newest version of the Blackhawk and its capabilities are a turning point for fighting fires.

This year figures to be a bad one for California wildfires. The driest regions include parts of the North Bay area and the northern Sacramento Valley, each devastated by major fires since 2017.

The state auditor blasted the regulators who oversee wildfire safety at California’s major electric utilities, saying they signed off on flawed safety plans. He said the California Public Utilities Commission and the recently formed Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety haven’t gone far enough in demanding safety reforms from utilities.