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Santa Clara County Public Safety Articles



San Jose Inside logo LOCAL NEWS
SJ Fire Chief Provides Details of Fire Crew’s Stops at Strip Club and Local Bar While on Duty

San Jose Fire Chief Robert Sapien Jr. told City Council members Tuesday that unspecified “appropriate disciplinary action” had been taken and that he considered his investigation of the Oct. 5 incident at The Pink Poodle closed.

Gilroy Dispatch logo LOCAL NEWS
Temporary Gilroy fire station gets new location

The Gilroy City Council on Monday approved another location for a temporary fire station on the west side of the city. A modular fire station will now be constructed on the ranch side of Christmas Hill Park, with Fire Chief …

Gilroy Dispatch logo LOCAL NEWS
Sheriff investigates fentanyl exposures at jail

From Bay City News Service Santa Clara County Sheriff Robert Jonsen is drawing attention to a rash of fentanyl overdoses and exposures at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, he said in a release on Wednesday. Thirteen inmates and two …

Gilroy Dispatch logo LOCAL NEWS
More than 9,000 in South County lose power due to storm

Thousands of PG&E customers throughout South County were without power Tuesday afternoon due to strong winds and extreme weather from the latest atmospheric river storm that struck the region. As of 2:45pm March 14, more than 9,000 electricity customers in …

Gilroy Dispatch logo LOCAL NEWS
Week begins with more snow in the hills, rain and thunder in the valley

The hills east of San Jose and mountains of San Benito County are likely to see more snow and more windy, dangerous conditions this afternoon, based on the latest winter weather advisory from the National Weather Service. Forecasters late Sunday, …

San Jose Inside logo LOCAL NEWS
Legislature Considers Statewide Gun Insurance Requirement Like San Jose’s

The amended Senate Bill 8 was introduced following the mass shootings across the state in January.

Image caption: View of the flooded San Lorenzo River Park Benchlands in Santa Cruz, California on New Year's Eve 2022.
Communicating During Disaster and Crisis

How to effectively communicate actionable information for preparation before extreme events, and to disseminate vital information during and after disasters.

Image caption: Explaining California is hard work! But at California Local, we were up for it throughout 2022.
Explaining California in 2022: Our 10 Best Explainers of the Year

2022 was a year that needed a lot of explaining. And California Local was there. Here are our 10 most important explanatory journalism stories from the year gone by, from immigration to cryptocurrency to wealth inequality and more.

Morgan Hill Times logo LOCAL NEWS
Gun buyback is ‘one tool’ to prevent deaths, injuries by firearm

Gun violence is a public health crisis in the United States, and an upcoming firearms buyback event in Morgan Hill aims to address the problem by keeping unwanted weapons out of the wrong hands, according to county law enforcement and …

Los Gatan logo LOCAL NEWS
Residents get crash-course on what to do during an earthquake

Local residents went through a dry-run of how to react to a natural disaster, Saturday, when they were hit with a 7.2 magnitude “earthquake.” The imaginary calamity was organized by the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Community Emergency Response Team. The participants …

Image caption: Elon Musk is now in control of the world's most influential social media outlet. What happens next?
What Elon Musk Really Wants From Twitter

Elon Musk says he plans to make Twitter a haven for 'free speech,' but a look at his list of investors suggests that the world's richest person may have other reasons for purchasing the highly influential social media platform.

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
With the proliferation of rechargeable batteries, a problem has emerged for waste collectors: fire.

Consumers may not know it, but their cellphones and laptops – if improperly disposed of – could become an incendiary device. Ditto that for anything with a rechargeable battery, like a toothbrush, drill, or any number of now-common household appliances

San Jose Inside logo LOCAL NEWS
San Jose Reminds Gun Owners of New Year’s Day Deadline to Comply with Gun Insurance Law

Firearm owners are encouraged to apply for a city of San Jose insurance attestation form to provide proof of insurance coverage.

Morgan Hill Times logo LOCAL NEWS
Bird Flu detected in South Valley

San Benito County public health officials are warning residents of the danger of handling or getting too close to diseased or dead birds after a number of positive cases of Avian Influenza have been detected here. County Health and Human …

Image caption: California traffic deaths remain high, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Why Zero Traffic Fatalities Remains a Distant Goal

California’s goal of zero traffic fatalities remains distant. Here are some common causes of deaths on the road that can be fixed, but haven’t been.

Image caption: Vision Zero aims to implement steps that would make roads safer, and stop traffic death entirely.
Vision Zero: Cities Struggle With Goal of Ending Traffic Deaths

The Vision Zero program sets a goal for California cities to eliminate traffic fatalities, but almost a decade into the effort, the goal remains distant, and horrific tragedies on the road continue to stack up.

Image caption: Supporters of Donald Trump have been behind a series of disruptions and threats at local government meetings.
New California Law Aims to End Public Meeting Disruptions

A wave of public government meeting disruptions by right-wing groups often inspired by Donald Trump has inspired a new law designed to help officials restore order to the process of running local government.

San Jose Inside logo LOCAL NEWS
San Jose Police Acted Lawfully in Fatal January Shootout, Concludes DA

Robert Seth Carter, 32, was shot and killed on Jan. 19 after he unsuccessfully attempted to carjack someone on Monroe Street and then T-boned another car while armed in the intersection of Park Avenue and W. Hedding Street.

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.

San Jose Inside logo LOCAL NEWS
San Jose Police Contract Talks Boil Over into Public Debate

While the San Jose Police Officers Association claims response times are growing and predicted a “mass exodus” of officers because of pay and working conditions, the city counters that the department has the lowest vacancy rate in a decade, and …

Featured

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.
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.
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
Here's the story behind that new service, and the original 911 number.
Mosquitos kill about 725,000 people every year, worldwide.
Taking a Bite Out of the Mosquito Population
How local government tries to control the world’s deadliest wild animal—the mosquito.
There are more than 300 community service districts in California.
Community Services Districts, Explained
Areas that the county overlooks can form their own local governments.
How Not to Feel the Burn
These groups help residents preserve their property, health and life.
Supercell storms are just one of many weather phenomena in the era of climate change.
The New Vocabulary of the Climate Change Era
As climate change causes more extreme and unusual weather, we need a new set of terms to describe the various phenomena
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 easy—the hard part comes later.
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 in a Wildfire
Wildfires are larger, more frequent, and more ferocious—so be prepared.
Thousands of homeowners have been kicked off their fire insurance policies.
California Fire Insurance Crisis: How the State Helps Homeowners
The state tries persuading insurance companies to cover homes in fire zones.
With CERT training, volunteers can learn firefighting skills.
Emergency Teamwork
With CERT training, ordinary civilians can play critical roles in protecting their communities.
View of the flooded San Lorenzo River Park Benchlands in Santa Cruz, California on New Year's Eve 2022.
Communicating During Disaster and Crisis
Recent lessons learned over days of local disaster.