Santa Cruz County Public Safety Articles

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.

California homicide spiked by 31 percent in 2020. The shocking increase has continued into 2021. Here are several theories that attempt to explain the state’s suddenly rising murder rate.

With more rain coming, officials and experts discuss county’s ongoing homeless crisis.

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Fire Department will soon take on a new firefighter/paramedic after he completed the 16-week training academy at Watsonville Fire Station No. 2 on Airport Boulevard on Dec. 2. Adrian Chairez, of Santa Cruz, and three other trainees were officially …

Omicron is a new variant of the COVID-causing coronavirus that has now arrived in California and is causing fears of a new pandemic wave. What is it? Why are people so worried? And what, if anything, is California doing to …

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

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

A new California law to lower speed limits, AB 43, is part of an overall effort, called ‘Vision Zero,’ to eliminate traffic deaths completely. Here’s what the law does, and why it can make a difference.

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.

Authorities ask residents to learn new zones ahead of rain, possible slides.

The Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors has flatly rejected the grand jury's recommendations for further action after the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire.

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.