Free Republic

A former college professor has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison over a string of arson fires in Northern California in 2021 as fire crews were battling the second-largest fire in the state’s history. Gary Stephen Maynard, 49, of San Jose, pleaded guilty in February to three arson counts in connection to fires in the Shasta National Forest and near the Dixie Fire in the Lassen National Forest. The Dixie Fire burned over 1,500 square miles after igniting on July 13 and destroyed over 1,000 homes. Maynard was accused of setting fires behind firefighters battling the...

<p>An explosive device was found outside the family home of a California councilwoman Tuesday morning, prompting law enforcement to evacuate the area.</p><p>The explosive was planted near San José Councilwoman Dev Davis’ house in Willow Glen and spotted by a neighbor, who reported the “suspicious device,” according to a NBC Bay Area report.</p>

A California city voted Tuesday night to require gun owners to carry liability insurance in what’s believed to be the first measure of its kind in the United States. The San Jose City Council overwhelmingly approved the measure despite opposition from gun owners who said it would violate their Second Amendment rights and promised to sue. The Silicon Valley city of about 1 million followed a trend of other Democratic-led cities that have sought to rein in violence through stricter rules. But while similar laws have been proposed, San Jose is the first city to pass one, according to Brady...

After coming under fire from Republican leaders for its handling of protests outside a Donald Trump campaign rally and vowing the violence “will not go unchecked,” the San Jose Police Department on Tuesday released the identities of four teenagers arrested last week. Ahmed Abdirahman and Antonio Fernandez, both 19, and Robert Trillo, 18, face charges of assault with a deadly weapon. A fourth man, Michael Kitaigorodsky, 19, was arrested for allegedly refusing to follow dispersal orders. Abdirahman is from Santa Clara. The others are from San Jose.