Yolo County Public Safety Articles

The 2022 California wildfire season looks like another dangerous one, with the state's historic drought showing no signs of letting up. Here's what to expect, and some measures the state is taking to slow down the flames.

California is creating wildlife crossings that can help animals get across dangerous highways without risk of death from vehicle strikes. Here are five of them.

Following the K-Street shooting, a freelance journalist's thoughts about reporting on the deadliest single episode of gun violence in Sacramento history.

The modern gun control movement started in California. Surprisingly, it was the work of Ronald Regan and the Black Panther Party. Here’s what happened.

Making it through the earthquake is the easy part. The hard part is surviving in the chaos that follows.

Though they are elected officials, county sheriffs have less accountability than any other law enforcement officials. Here's why, and what California is doing about it.

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.

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.

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.