Separate Car Fires Plug Marsh Creek Road/Caldecott Tunnel Saturday

A News24/680 "Flash Photo" from a reader on scene of car fire at the Caldecott Tunnel Saturday.

A pair of smoky but unrelated car fires sparked a sizable fire response to Marsh Creek Road in Clayton as well as an eastbound bore of the Caldecott Tunnel on Saturday, paralyzing traffic and severely damaging the involved vehicles. The first fire was reported at 11:03am after a delivery van caught fire in the 15000…

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Sheriff Investigating In-Custody Death At Martinez Detention Facility

On Thursday, June 25, 2026, at about 9:06 AM, a deputy sheriff at Martinez Detention Facility intake discovered a male inmate unresponsive in a room. Health Services medical staff at MDF were immediately requested to respond. Deputies began life-saving measures until medical staff took over. The fire department and an ambulance also responded to MDF.…

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Thieves Snatch Victim’s Chains At Sunvalley Mall Tuesday

Readers noted a sizable police response to the Sunvalley Shopping Center Tuesday after a man reported two masked thieves approached him and snatched two of his necklaces. The theft occurred at approximately 3:12 p.m. near Macy’s Women’s. A brief struggle ensued before the pair fled from the mall with the necklaces. The victim sustained minor…

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Contra Costa Homeless Count Shows Small Increase, Still Below 2024 Levels

From Contra Costa Health: Contra Costa County’s annual survey documenting people experiencing homelessness found a modest increase in 2026 compared to 2025, though the overall count remained lower than 2024 levels, according to data released by Contra Costa Health’s Health, Housing and Homeless Services Division (H3). H3, with 188 volunteers, conducted the Point-in-Time Count across…

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FBI Searches County Assessor’s Office, Personal Residences Tuesday

A team of FBI agents executed a series of search warrants at private homes and the Contra Costa County Assessor’s office Tuesday. Agents declined to specify who or what they were looking for though a bureau spokesperson confirmed warrants had been served at the assessors office at 2530 Arnold Drive in Martinez, the home of…

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Board Of Supervisors Appoints Aaron McAlister To Lead Con Fire

(Martinez, CA) – On Tuesday, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors appointed Aaron McAlister as Fire Chief of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (Con Fire). McAlister has served with Con Fire since 2016 and most recently served as Deputy Fire Chief of Administration, overseeing Communications/Fire Dispatch, Information Systems, Support Services, Finance, and…

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Letters: Protecting The Planet While Feeding The Hungry

Editor; As our community prepares to mark Earth Day, one local nonprofit is quietly executing an unprecedented environmental feat: every single day, Contra Costa-based White Pony Express rescues 10,500 high-quality meals from supermarkets, farmers markets, and restaurants and delivers them to neighbors in need. While we usually think about food recovery as a low cost,…

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