MIAMI — They whiled away the week on a sex- and drug-fueled romp: dancing on white-sand beaches and frolicking on a paradisaical Caribbean island with prostitutes from Europe, some snapping selfies with famous reggaeton artists. But unbeknownst to several children of Venezuela's ruling elite, the coronavirus was spreading among them....
Mexico’s New Drug War May Be Worse Than Old One
COATZACOALCOS, Mexico — Mexico's drug war appears to be back — and it may be worse this time around than in the bloody years of the government's 2006-2012 offensive against drug cartels. Back then, the worst of the violence was confined to a few cities. Now it is spread out...
Mexico’s New Drug War May Be Worse Than Old One
COATZACOALCOS, Mexico — Mexico's drug war appears to be back — and it may be worse this time around than in the bloody years of the government's 2006-2012 offensive against drug cartels. Back then, the worst of the violence was confined to a few cities. Now it is spread out...
DA Smittcamp Talks Gangs, Stolen Guns, Sentencing Reforms
Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp is calling for a community-wide effort to prevent children from joining gangs. She also has a message for otherwise law-abiding citizens: Lock up your guns! If you don't, they could end up used in robberies and murders. Here is what Smittcamp has to say...
Advance Peace Isn't About Paying Gang Members Not to Shoot People
A renewed effort to convince gang members to become law-abiding citizens is coming Fresno's way. What that initiative looks like, how much it costs, and who funds it, however, will be decided over the next three months. That was the compromise hammered out by the Fresno City Council at Thursday's...
Fresno’s Immigration Affairs Committee Launches. Who’s On It?
Three months after creating an Immigration Affairs Committee, the city council and mayor have named the 15 members who will serve. Many names are familiar to immigration advocacy in Fresno. The council is scheduled to vote to approve the appointees Thursday (May 16). The committee’s bylaws allow each councilmember to appoint...
300K to Expand ShotSpotter? Get It Done Today.
What if you could keep Fresno residents safer, significantly reduce gunfire, and take more guns off the street for $300,000? Most folks would say that's a great deal — let's do it today. But that's not how things work at City Hall, where the bureaucracy moves at glacial speeds and...
Brand to Human Traffickers: All of Fresno Is Coming After You!
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand put human traffickers on notice Wednesday morning. We're coming after you. We're arresting you. You're going to prison. And here's one more thing: The flophouses on Parkway Drive and Blackstone Avenue better clean up their acts. If they don't, the city will take them over. No ifs,...
The Myths and Truths About Chicago's Guns and Murder Rate
CHICAGO — Chicago police are wrestling with gun violence, blamed largely on gangs. President Donald Trump has frequently singled out the city for criticism, calling the crime problem "a total disaster" and claiming Chicago has the strongest guns laws in the nation and still hasn't been able to curb violence. But...
California Judge Cracks Down on Smuggled Inmate Cellphones
SACRAMENTO — Judges in California and South Carolina have ordered cellphone carriers to disable nearly 200 contraband cellphones used by inmates to orchestrate crimes behind and outside prison walls, the most sweeping order of its kind ever won by corrections officials. It's an important victory for prison officials who have...