Don Thompson, Author at Daily Hampshire Gazette

Sherri Papini leaves the federal courthouse after Federal Judge William Shubb sentenced her to 18 months in federal prison, in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. Federal prosecutors had asked that she be sentenced to eight months in prison for faking her own kidnapping in 2016. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

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Calif. woman gets 18 months for faking her own kidnapping

by Don Thompson Associated PressSeptember 19, 2022

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Northern California mother of two was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for faking her own kidnapping so she could go back to a former boyfriend, which led to a three-week, multi-state search before she resurfaced on…

FILE - Sherri Papini of Redding leaves the federal courthouse accompanied by her attorney, William Portanova, right, in Sacramento, Calif., April 13, 2022. During a virtual hearing Papini accepted a plea bargain with prosecutors and pleaded guilty, Monday, April 18, 2022, to a single count of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. She will be sentenced on July 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

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Calif. woman pleads guilty to 2016 kidnap hoax

by Don Thompson Associated PressApril 18, 2022

A condemned inmate is led out of his east block cell on death row at San Quentin State Prison, in San Quentin, Calif., Aug. 16, 2016.

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Calif. moves to dismantle nation’s largest death row

by Don Thompson Associated PressJanuary 31, 2022

Sirhan Sirhan reacts during a parole hearing on Feb. 10, 2016, at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

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Calif. governor denies RFK assassin Sirhan parole

by Don Thompson Associated PressJanuary 13, 2022

In this image taken from Alameda Police Department body camera video, officers attempt to take Mario Gonzalez into custody April 19 in Alameda, Calif. The video goes on to show officers pinning Gonzalez to the ground during the arrest that ended in his death.

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Deadly Calif. arrest echoes Floyd case

by Don Thompson Associated Press, and Olga R. Rodriguez Associated PressApril 28, 2021

FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2019, file photo, flames from the Kincade Fire consume Soda Rock Winery in Healdsburg, Calif. A California prosecutor has charged troubled Pacific Gas & Electric with starting a 2019 wildfire. The Sonoma County District Attorney on Tuesday April 6, 2021, charged the utility in the October 2019 Kincade Fire north of San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

Calif. DA charges utility in 2019 wildfire

by Don Thompson Associated PressApril 6, 2021

FILE - In this June 27, 2017, file photo, a semi-automatic rifle is displayed with a 25 shot magazine, left, and a 10 shot magazine, right, at a gun store in Elk Grove, Calif. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out California's ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines. The panel's majority ruled Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, that the law banning magazines holding more than 10 bullets violates the constitutional right to bear firearms. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

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Federal court ends California ban on high-capacity magazines

by Don Thompson Associated PressAugust 15, 2020

FILE - In this Monday, April 23, 2018, file photo, a woman high on methamphetamines and the opioid pain medication Opana, sits in a holding cell after being booked for drug possession at the Campbell County Jail in Jacksboro, Tenn. Six black women were imprisoned for every white inmate in 2000, which fell to two-to-one by 2016. Fewer black women were being incarcerated for drug crimes, while more white women were imprisoned for violent, property and drug crimes. (AP Photo/David...

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Report: Racial disparity in prisons narrows across US

by Don Thompson Associated PressDecember 3, 2019

A firefighter battles a wildfire called the Kincade Fire in Healdsburg, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. With ferocious winds driving multiple wildfires through bone-dry vegetation and nearly 200,000 people ordered to leave their homes, California's governor declared a statewide emergency Sunday. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

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Ferocious winds fuel blazes throughout N. Calif.

by Terence Chea Associated Press, and Don Thompson Associated PressOctober 27, 2019

FILE - In this April 29, 2019 file photo, A sign asks for time to grieve at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, Calif. The gunman who attacked the synagogue last week fired his semi-automatic rifle at Passover worshippers after walking through the front entrance that synagogue leaders identified last year as needing improved security. The synagogue applied for a federal grant to better protect that area. The money, $150,000, was approved in September but only arrived in late March....

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Synagogue got US security grant before attack

by Julie Watson Associated Press, and Don Thompson Associated PressMay 3, 2019