reporter

Joe Nelson

Joe Nelson is an award-winning investigative reporter for the Southern California News Group's Watchdog Team. He is a graduate of California State University Fullerton and in 2014 completed a fellowship at Loyola Law School's Journalist Law School program. He is a bibliophile, film buff, and lover of the outdoors.

Desert bighorn sheep in the Soda Mountains, near the Mojave National Preserve. (Photo courtesy of Michael Gordon)

State officials recommend approval of controversial solar project near Baker

January 6, 2026 at 3:18 p.m.

An alternative design would include a quarter-mile buffer zone to protect desert bighorn sheep habitat, migration and grazing.

WESTMINSTER, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 09: Lucia (2nd L) and Eusebio Ayala (L) stand near their son Ismael Ayala-Uribe’s casket during his burial service on October 9, 2025 in Westminster, California. Ayala-Uribe, 39, who was originally from Mexico, died on September 22nd while in ICE custody. His family said the former DACA recipient had lived in the U.S. since he was about 4 years old and that he was in detention for about a month before his health began to rapidly deteriorate. He was the 14th person to die this year while in federal immigration custody. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Family of Orange County man who died in ICE detention sues prison operator

January 6, 2026 at 4:14 p.m.

Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, was given a clean bill of health when admitted to the ICE detention facility in Adelanto, then died from from a blood infection.

New law revives dormant plans for solar plant near Mojave National Preserve

December 26, 2025 at 10:20 a.m.

The controversial Soda Mountain Solar Project is proposed for an area where one of three wildlife crossings is planned to be built.

Tim Pollock, president of CPS Express trucking and logistics company in Ontario and president of the California Trucking Association, stands beside one of his company’s semi-trucks outside CPS Express on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)

Surge in cargo thefts in Southern California driven by swift, organized rings

December 21, 2025 at 7:05 a.m.

Law enforcement is struggling to keep up with the proliferation of cargo theft cases as criminals become more technologically savvy.

A radiologist attends to an inmate patient at West Valley Detention Center’s Medical Clinic. Sheriff’s administrators have hired more mental health and medical professionals to meet the needs of an increasingly sick and mentally disturbed jail population in Southern California’s county jails. (Courtesy of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department)

Death behind bars: County jails embrace reforms to save lives, but will they work?

December 13, 2025 at 12:13 p.m.

Under pressure from consent decrees, lawsuits and grand jury recommendations, Southern California counties take measures to improve treatment of inmates.

General Parker, center right, with the Riverside All of Us or None action group, along with spanish translator Moses Ramirez, center left, speaks during a news conference involving a coalition of community action groups announcing their push for a 2026 ballot initiative for a sheriff’s oversight committee outside the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department headquarters in downtown Riverside on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Reporter sues Riverside County over public records law breach in probe of jail deaths

December 5, 2025 at 4:19 p.m.

A coalition of free speech advocates claims the Sheriff's Department has blocked release of public records despite a new law expanding access.

In this Oct. 3, 2012, file photo, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies inspect a cell block at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. Conditions have gotten so bad in Los Angeles County that California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit in September against the Sheriff’s Department for inhumane treatment of inmates. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

Death behind bars: Who’s dying in Southern California county jails — and why

December 13, 2025 at 11:29 a.m.

Jail administrators in L.A., Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties struggle to meet the needs of a population that is increasingly mentally ill and physically sick.

Sheriff deputies and other personel with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department stand at attention outside the Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center as San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus speaks during a press conference on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced 10 felony chargers against Angelo Jose Saldivar, including murder, for the killing of Deputy Andrew Nunez on Oct. 27 in Rancho Cucamonga. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

San Bernardino man charged in fatal shooting of sheriff’s deputy

November 3, 2025 at 4:34 p.m.

Angelo Jose Saldivar, 47, faces 10 felonies, including special circumstance allegations that could lead to the death penalty.

San Bernardino County Sheriff motor deputies escort the San Bernardino County Coroners van as it transports the body of slain Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Nunez from Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. Nunez, a 6-year veteran, was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call in Rancho Cucamonga. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Man suspected of killing Rancho Cucamonga deputy was in heated argument with ex-wife: source

November 3, 2025 at 8:36 a.m.

Angelo Saldivar, who had been divorced from his wife since July, allegedly was trying to force her into a car when San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies arrived.

Jashanpreet Singh, 21, the truck driver accused of killing three people in a crash in Ontario this week, enters a Rancho Cucamonga courtroom on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The judge entered a not guilty plea to three felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one felony count of driving while under the influence of a drug while causing injury. The Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday that Singh, originally from India, entered the United States in 2022 and is in the country unlawfully. Singh is being held without bail. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Truck driver accused of killing 3 on 10 Freeway pleads not guilty to DUI, manslaughter

October 24, 2025 at 3:58 p.m.

Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old allegedly in the country unlawfully, is accused of driving under the influence of drugs before the crash in Ontario.

All Stories