The suspect in the murder of 61-year-old Carole Marie Brooks on Sunday in Santa Rosa died yesterday while being pursued by police. 46-year-old John Quincy Ellis of Stockton, whose relationship to Brooks is unclear, was the prime suspect in the case, and police had closed in on him around 8:20 a.m. Monday in Stockton. He was driving a rented vehicle, and police were in pursuit on I-5 when Ellis pulled over and challenged the cops to shoot him. more ›

17-year-old Joseph Jones of Stockton was arraigned as an adult this week in San Joaquin County court on 28 counts, including five home invasion robberies beginning in October. Jones is accused of committing seven other robberies and attempted robberies in the same span of time, but it's his penchant for home invasion with the use of guns that is the freakiest part. Several of the counts he'll be tried for are for kidnapping, with victims ranging in age from four to 81. In his robberies, Jones typically stole money, jewelry, guns. As if living in Stockton weren't bad enough... more ›

Obama's Justice Department may be loosening up about medical marijuana, but right on cue the DEA just busted a huge marijuana grow operation that was running out of dozens of half-million-dollar homes in the towns of Elk Grove, Lathrop, Modesto, Sacramento, Tracy, and Stockton. A total of 24,500 plants in 50 different homes-turned-grow-houses were seized, and the whole operation was estimated to have grossed about $100 million a year. Federal agents and the IRS had apparently been investigating some individuals at lower levels of the operations for several years, and the 18 people arrested in yesterday's raids were all low-level, gardener-type employees. The DEA has said that these houses were all being run by "a San Francisco-based organized crime syndicate." Who knew we had one of those? Anyway, here are pictures of the four dudes arrested in Elk Grove. more ›

Apparently, the image of Michael Jackson appeared on a Stockton tree stump, pictured at right, the day the pop icon passed away, and crowds have begun to gather ever since. Owner of the tree stump, Felix Garcia, has lived on the property for 22 years and had never seen MJ's image until now. Jackson once visited Stockton twenty years ago to comfort the community after a school shooting. "To Stockton, Michael Jackson meant more to us than Jesus... I think they're both about even," said one resident. Personally, we think the image looks more like Gene Simmons in full KISS make-up. [Via D-Listed, the Awl, CBS13] more ›

Stockton wins it. Using nine factors (i.e., commute times, corruption, professional sports teams, Superfund sites, taxes, unemployment, violent crime and weather) to determine the crappiness of 150 of the country's largest metropolitan areas, Stockton, CA, ranked no. 1 when it comes to woeful living. According to Forbes, "only 15% of Stockton adults have a college degree, which is one of the lowest rates in the U.S." But wait, there's more, "unemployment is expected to hit 15% in 2010, while housing prices should keep falling back to their mid-1990s level when the median home price was $130,000." Not to be outdone, Modesto came in just under medal contention at 5th place. San Joaquin County's Stockton is also known for its agriculture and meth production. more ›

There’s a woman over there wielding a paring knife, daring the throng to come closer by yelling for their attention every few seconds. There’s a live fish flopping around in an entryway, and not far from that, a bunch of dead chickens in a window. And here comes a couple men, sending fresh loogies flying at low angles. Sidewalk jostling, auto honking, bus exhaust. River traffic is heavy. Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown. more ›

Scanning Some Life this morning, we see that the Stockton Street Apple Store caught fire on Sunday morning at around 11 a.m.-ish. Or at least something inside the glassy box was used for kindling. Or an alarm went off. Or none of the above. When we called the store today to confirm the small fire -- after waiting on hold, passed around, and spoken to in a hushed and somber tone -- they told... more ›