Santa Clara County Public Safety Articles

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.

Three grieving mothers talk to the Gilroy Dispatch about the hazards of street drugs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California’s Democratic legislators have enacted a sweeping new package of police reform legislation. Here’s what the new laws will accomplish, and why.

The state’s largest power utility faced new criminal charges Sept. 24, but PG&E has a long and disturbing history of causing wildfires. Why? And how can the company change?

Despite a history of wildfires in the area, the state wants to build nearly 150 new campsites in Auburn State Recreation Area in El Dorado and Placer counties.

Even as California’s wildfires grow more intense seemingly every year, insurers are cancelling policies for homeowners in the path of the fires.

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.

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.

Noise is a form of pollution that threatens public health like any other type of environmental pollution. Here's what federal, state and local governments are doing to quiet things down.

A combination of factors all related to climate change are fueling the ‘unprecedented’ growth of the Caldor Fire in El Dorado County.

PG&E has a long history of starting wildfires, including the Dixie Fire, with equipment failures. Now, a federal judge wants the company to hand over information on the fires it has started this year.

As a new wildfire burned through Nevada and Placer counties, federal officials said they would now be more aggressive fighting fires.

The state of California, as well as some local governments, will soon require all public employees to be vaccinated against COVID. Here’s why they’re taking that step.

AB 1185, authorizing civilian sheriff's oversight bodies, was one of the few law enforcement reform bills to pass in the wake of the George Floyd protests. What does the law accomplish, and will it make a difference?

After admitting a power line may have started the Dixie Megafire in Butte County, PG&E now says it will place 10,000 miles of power lines underground.

Climate scientists say that global warming is making wildfire season much worse. Here's how climate change causes fires to be more destructive.

Mask requirements appear to be on the way back in California, including for fully vaccinated people. Here's why.

PG&E waited five days to report that one of its power lines may have sparked the Dixie Fire, which is burning across Plumas and Butte counties.

The delta variant and often lagging vaccination rates are putting California in new danger from COVID-19.

A new report reveals that only 20 counties have complied with a law requiring release of workplace COVID outbreak data.