Santa Cruz County Public Safety Digest

A new law, sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta, will create a fund designed to fully compensate victims of false advertising or unfair competition.

Under new state laws, five cities will test cameras to catch speeding drivers and cruising bans will be lifted statewide. The first is supposed to improve road safety, but critics of the second say it will endanger the public.

Prescribed burns, used to limit destructive wildfires, are growing in frequency at California State Parks. But as the smoke drifts into residential areas, it’s easy to see why many Californians are concerned about the health impacts.

Some firefighters and police officers who worked long enough in California to earn pensions are heading to more conservative destinations like Idaho in retirement. Some of these people even run for political office in these places.

An effort spearheaded by the Newsom administration and congressional leaders resulted in Congress authorizing and accelerating the transfer of seven C-130 aircraft from the U.S. Coast Guard to CalFire, expanding California’s firefighting fleet.

In its final meeting of the year, the Capitola City Council took steps toward improved traffic safety, including installation of six LED flashing lights and re-striping at the Bay Avenue and Hill Street intersection.

The fentanyl epidemic has pushed San Francisco to a grim milestone: a new record for overdoses. A total 752 people overdosed in the first 11 months of this year, surpassing 2020’s record number of 726.

A group of protesters sat down with interlocked arms on the 110 Freeway near downtown LA on Dec. 13, halting southbound traffic for more than an hour. Multiple people were arrested according to the CHP.

A new select committee in the California Assembly dedicated to retail theft will hold its first hearing on Dec. 19. This allows the committee to get to work before the next legislative session on an issue that’s drawn much press for California in recent years.

Californians have said they experienced added difficulty over the past year in getting car insurance. Insurer rates have gone up more than usual.

Santa Cruz County is the 15th most vulnerable county nationwide, according to data recently compiled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
More than 93% of the county's total geography is made up of unincorporated regions where more than half of its population resides.

A large gathering of protesters sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian people is expected outside a fundraiser Dec. 8 in Westwood for President Biden. Police have warned that any violence won’t be tolerated.

County leaders will seek state backing to install “no parking” signs for more than a mile outside Santa Cruz city limits along Highway 9. The move targets a stretch of state highway where vehicle pullouts serve as access points to wooded areas.

Students and teachers alike are decrying the actions of the Temecula Valley Unified School District board, which became conservative in majority following the recent elections of three members. The board’s actions include banning critical race theory and mandating parental notification if their child is transgender.

Hackers stole data this week from Blue Shield of California. Historically, this type of data has sometimes wound up for sale on what’s known as the dark web, the part of the internet not typically included in search engine results.

Two miles of public beach were closed in Laguna Beach following a spill of 94,500 gallons of sewage. Orange County is testing water to determine when the beach will be safe to reopen.

Seven times as many patients have been admitted to the trauma unit at UC San Diego Health since the Trump administration raised the height of the border wall to 30 feet in California. The hospital also notes that 23 people have died in falls from the wall since 2019.

Alex Pang and Fahim Hasan Khan are working on algorithms that can monitor shoreline change, identify rip currents, and alert lifeguards of potential hazards.

Lacking power at the state level, conservatives are leaning into local governance to protest California’s progressive politics. The fight in Huntington Beach could be a harbinger of what’s to come.

Millions of people across the state struggle to pay electric bills as California regulators decide on proposed rate increases. PG&E wants a rate hike to bolster the safety and reliability of its services.

Workers are in the final stages of a long, $217 million project: Install a protective barrier at the Golden Gate Bridge. Roughly 2,000 people have died by suicide jumping from the bridge since it opened in 1937.

Tustin Air Base was destroyed Nov. 7 in a raging fire that could last for days. Authorities said letting the 1942 hangar collapse was the only way to contain the fire.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduced the bicameral Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act to increase overtime pay caps to allow U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior firefighters to receive higher compensation for their service.

Voters have just one week left to weigh in on funding the proposed relocation of a community fire station. The $22.2 million Measure W bond would fund construction of a new Scotts Valley Fire Protection District firehouse on La Madrona Drive.

The safety lights, known as pedestrian hybrid beacons, were set up along Mission Street at Olive Street and Berkshire Avenue and facilitate pedestrian crossing at higher-speed roadways, midblock crossings and uncontrolled intersections.

Legislation that was created in response to fire breaking out in 2022 at the Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage System facility was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Ready to hit the streets of Santa Cruz, fire engine 3113 features a number of “aggressive” new fire suppression features.

The European Union has banned certain additives that are used in American candies and baked goods. California is on the cusp of prohibiting their sale by 2027.

As the public protest period ended, no challenges arose to ongoing efforts to dissolve Branciforte Fire Protection District into its Scotts Valley neighbor.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has identified nearly 500 “zones” that are ill-prepared to tolerate flooding, earthquakes, heat waves, wildfires, landslides and other natural hazards. California topped all states with 51 total zones, followed by 35 in Texas and 32 in Florida.

Incidents involving use of the systems, commonly known as drones, in firefighting airspace have led to the temporary suspension of critical aerial firefighting operations a half-dozen times so far this year.

“We’re going to have another storm; we’re going to have another extreme weather event,” said Rep. Jimmy Panetta. “I’m obviously proud of what happened in regards to the response, but I also know it wasn’t perfect ... and that’s where we can get better.”