Breaking News and Courts Reporter

Colin Atagi

Colin Atagi is a breaking news and court reporter with an interest in sharing details explaining how crimes went down. A Bay Area native, he graduated from San Jose State University before getting his feet wet in Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. After spending 18 months and two harsh winters in the Midwest he returned to California and survived 16 harsh summers in the Southern California desert where he worked for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs. Outside of work, he's an aspiring world traveler and hamburger lover who prefers cats over dogs.

Chris Montano looks for personal possessions in the room he and his wife were sleeping in along with a child, when an 150-foot redwood tree crashed through their home on River Road west of Guerneville, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. The child sustained a minor injury. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)

Child injured after tree crashes onto home in Guerneville

December 24, 2025 at 11:18 a.m.

A 3-year-old Guerneville child was taken to the hospital early Wednesday with a minor injury after a fierce windstorm sent a tree crashing down onto their home.

A Dillon Beach surfer was attacked by a shark Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, according to the Marin County Fire Department. Officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are trying to identify the type of shark involved.

Marin County surfer attacked by shark, avoids injury

December 24, 2025 at 1:49 p.m.

The shark attack is the second one reported along the coast of Sonoma and Marin counties this month.

sun and shadows form on the bars of a prison

Bay Area man gets three years in prison after fourth DUI in a decade

December 12, 2025 at 9:04 a.m.

The man was sentenced in a case that began when CHP officers stopped him driving 99 mph on Highway 101 with a BAC nearly twice the legal limit.

An armed Santa Claus escorts a suspect during the arrest of two Vallejo residents accused of stealing 24 Christmas trees and two crates of wreaths from an American Canyon Safeway, according to police. The arrest took place last week at the suspects’ home. (American Canyon Police Department)

‘Armed Santa’ helps arrest 2 suspects in theft of 24 Christmas trees from local Safeway

December 11, 2025 at 7:23 a.m.

Police say two Vallejo residents were arrested after surveillance footage helped identify suspects in the theft of nearly $2,400 worth of Christmas trees and wreaths from an American Canyon Safeway.

Flowers, candles, balloons and mementos sit gathered near the site on Riverside Drive where a 17-year-old girl and 19-year-old woman were fatally shot Saturday night. Photo taken in Napa, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat file)

Judge pauses Napa double-murder case to review hundreds of jail calls

December 9, 2025 at 12:09 p.m.

A judge has delayed court proceedings in the Napa killings of Aileen Villasenor and Sasha Mufich while attorneys review hundreds of recorded jail phone calls tied to a key witness.

Why Sonoma County is still a flashpoint for animal rights activists

December 10, 2025 at 8:04 a.m.

Sonoma County officials and local farms are facing renewed pressure from Direct Action Everywhere as new jail sentences, restitution orders and protests intensify a conflict now stretching into its seventh...

sun and shadows form on the bars of a prison

Man sentenced for 2022 rape of Napa teenager as victim speaks out in court

December 5, 2025 at 11:16 a.m.

A Concord man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for raping a Napa teenager at her family’s home in 2022.

Santa Rosa police investigate the scene where Mark Calcagni, a 60-year-old Santa Rosa resident and manager of San Francisco’s Condor Club, was found fatally shot along Brookwood Avenue on Oct. 3, 2025. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)

Woman charged as accessory in Santa Rosa killing of Condor Club manager pleads no contest

December 5, 2025 at 10:13 a.m.

One of the two suspects charged in the killing of Mark Calcagni, the manager of San Francisco’s historic Condor Club outside his Santa Rosa home, pleaded no contest in a...

Zoe Rosenberg reads a statement during her sentencing hearing at Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)

Activist sentenced to 90 days in Sonoma County farm break-in case

December 9, 2025 at 10:28 a.m.

The sentencing concludes a nearly two-year court battle over Zoe Rosenberg’s actions at Petaluma Poultry and the broader debate over DxE’s tactics in Sonoma County.

Officer Joseph Huffaker in a photo posted to the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety’s Facebook page in 2015. (CITY OF ROHNERT PARK POLICE & FIRE / FACEBOOK)

Convicted ex-Bay Area cop fires lawyer, delaying long-awaited sentencing

December 3, 2025 at 7:58 a.m.

Joseph Huffaker, convicted of impersonating a federal agent and robbing motorists, has pushed his sentencing to January — prolonging a yearslong case and delaying punishment for his cooperating co-defendant.