Contra Costa County News

An arbitrator rules that poor training by the Oakland Police Department - not poor decisions by police commanders - led to the deaths of two officers and a murder suspect.

A man trusted to coach high school students was booked Thursday into the Contra Costa County jail on suspicion of molesting children.

Craig Bowen, the San Ramon Valley fire chief who retired in 2008, collects an annual pension of $310,000 a year, in part due to egregious pension spiking that persists in Contra Costa County.

A 38-year-old Vallejo rapper was sentenced to five years and eight months in state prison for the sex trafficking of women he kept in prostitution against their will.

Antioch Police Department Detectives made an arrest in the late afternoon hours of Thursday, May 23, 2013 on the case of an 83-year-old man who was robbed and beaten on Lone Tree Way near Orchard Supply Hardware last Saturday.

Saying that she lacked a conscience and empathy, a Contra Costa County judge on Friday sentenced a 60-year-old Southern California woman to eight years in prison for kidnapping her infant granddaughter as part of a bizarre plan to pass her off as her own.

Firefighters have extinguished a two-alarm grass fire that threatened homes near the intersection of state Highway 4 and Interstate Highway 80 in Hercules Friday afternoon, according to Contra Costa County Fire Protection District dispatchers.

A Southern California woman accused of kidnapping her 4-month-old granddaughter was sentenced Friday to eight years in jail, authorities said.

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake was widely felt as it rattled Northern California Thursday night, breaking dishes and shaking mirrors off walls.

A student at a Walnut Creek high school died after an incident at a gym earlier this week, the school principal said.

A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake was recorded about 6 miles northwest of Greenville, near Lake Almanor, at about 8:47 p.m. Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Contra Costa Sheriff's Office is finalizing a new immigrant detention policy that would decrease the number of deportations stemming out of County Jail.

A man whose body was discovered in the Contra Costa Canal nearly two days after he left a local emergency room and jumped into the waterway has been identified.

Maddie's Fund Pet Adoption Days are coming on June 1-2. This free adoption event is the biggest in the country, and Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter hopes to empty the FAAS shelter of adoptable pets to qualified homes.

Shoreline Unified School District's new superintendent, Thomas Stubbs, whose appointment was announced at a board meeting last week, is looking forward to working with staff to "figure out the direction we want to take the district," he told the Light this week.

The El Cerrito Garden Club has taken on a lot of beautification projects over its history, and one of its most significant is also one of the smallest.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee delivers the news that the Bay Area has been awarded Super Bowl L. He's joined by Board of Supervisor David Chiu and Charlotte Schultz, chief of protocol, at City Hall in San Francisco, Calif.

In an effort to prevent childhood obesity, First 5 Contra Costa and the Healthy and Active Before 5 collaborative have launched a hard-hitting campaign called "Sugar Bites", which is urging parents to protect their toddlers and preschoolers from sugary drinks, and serve them water instead.

Contra Costa County's Board of Supervisors believe the draft Plan Bay Area is a good first step in setting regional goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a letter addressed to the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Kevin Walthers will take the reins as Allan Hancock College president beginning July 8, following official approval of his contract Tuesday night.