Local News

California Adds Five States to Travel Restrictions List as a Result of Wave of New Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation

SAN FRANCISCO – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced that California will restrict state-funded travel to Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia as a result of new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation recently enacted in each state. The states are a part of a recent, dangerous wave of discriminatory new bills signed into law in states across the country that directly work to ban transgender youth from playing sports, block access to life-saving care, or otherwise limit the rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Many states pushing these new discriminatory laws are already on California’s travel restrictions list. The new restrictions on state-funded travel to the states announced today are prescribed by law in California pursuant to Assembly Bill 1887 (AB 1887), which was enacted in 2016.

Madera Sheriff Deputies Make Felony Copper Wire Theft Arrest

MADERA - Early Saturday morning the Madera County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an unknown male subject at the PG&E Equipment yard located in the 30000 block of Avenue 12. Deputy Joseph Wood and Corporal Adam McEwen responded to the location and observed a male subject entering a gold-colored minivan parked outside of the fence.

A suspect, later identified as 32-year-old Ernesto Navarrete of Fresno, was found at the scene inside the minivan. Upon further investigation, deputies discovered a hole cut in the fence. Deputies recovered numerous coils of copper wire, a pair of wire cutters, and bolt cutters at the scene. Additional copper wire was located inside the van with Navarrete, along with two large pry bars. A methamphetamine pipe was also located inside the vehicle.

Seniors and Others at Risk from Extreme Heat Can Find Relief at Cooling Centers

SAN FRANCISCO - Cooling Centers continue to provide a safe, air-conditioned location for all residents to cool down during extreme heat. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has the long-provided financial support to fund the operation of the existing county- and city-run cooling centers throughout the service area where summer temperatures typically reach triple digits, primarily in the Central Valley.

This year, PG&E introduces new partnerships with the City of West Sacramento and Kingsburg as well as El Dorado, Shasta, and San Joaquin counties to help fund the operation of their existing cooling centers.

Prison Officials Investigating the Death of an Incarcerated Person as a Homicide

DELANO – Officials at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the June 11 death of inmate Artemio Gomez, 40, as a homicide.

At approximately 8:15 a.m., KVSP correctional officers immediately responded when inmates Marcos Lomeli and Alberto Mejia began attacking Gomez with weapons. Lomeli and Mejia disregarded orders to stop their actions, as officers quickly intervened using chemical agents to quell the attack and subsequently recovered two inmate-manufactured weapons. Gomez suffered multiple stab wounds and was taken to the institution’s Treatment and Triage Area for medical attention where he was pronounced deceased at 8:45 p.m.

California Court Rejects the State's Prolonged Detention of People with Psychiatric and Intellectual Disabilities in County Jails

SAN FRANCISCO – The California Court of Appeal has ruled that the state’s prolonged detention of people who have been declared incompetent to stand trial due to psychiatric or intellectual disability violates their right to due process. This has profound implications for the thousands of people who languish in county jails every year because they cannot stand trial or pursue their defense without adequate treatment for their disabilities.

“The court recognized that California cannot continue to warehouse people in jail for months at a time while it denies them both their right to a trial and the mental health treatment they need to become competent to have a trial,” said Michael Risher, counsel for the ACLU Foundation of Northern California. “These are people who have not been convicted of any crime and cannot even demand a trial because of their condition. The ruling affirms that they must have access to prompt treatment, and it highlights the need for the Legislature to address the root causes of this crisis once and for all.”