One of two state prisons in Soledad is scheduled to become major educational and training hub for paroling inmates under an aggressive overhaul plan unveiled Monday by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The 244-page plan, which officials said will bring about $1.5 billion in budget savings when fully in place, names the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, known as CTF, as one of nine "re-entry hubs" providing life and vocational skills to male inmates preparing to re-join society. Several facilities for women will become re-entry hubs...

Hundreds of inmates at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad are fasting in protest to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the signing of the California Three Strikes law.

The fast began Sunday and involves more than 480 prisoners, said Barbara Brooks, founder of Sentencing and Justice Reform Advocacy, which sends the monthly newsletter "Advocate" to inmates and their families.

Brooks said she learned of the hunger fast from CTF inmates who came up with the idea. She joined another dozen people who gathered about 2:45 p.m. outside of CTF in support of the hunger strike, she said...

An inmate who walked away from the Gabilan Conservation Fire Camp in Soledad early Monday was found today in Santa Barbara County, a camp official said.

Phillip Anthony Lopez, 41, was apprehended about 8 a.m. at a home in Lompoc by investigators from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Lt. Peter Spoto.

Spoto speculated that Lopez was staying with friends or family…

The warden of a Northern California prison acted inappropriately when he failed to discipline a correctional officer and allowed him to keep working at the institution after he was convicted of two felonies in connection with a hit-and-run accident last year, according to a report released today by a state prison watchdog.

The officer was driving under the influence of alcohol at 85 to 95 mph during the June 20, 2008, accident, in which three passengers in another vehicle – including a 3-year-old – were injured, according to the report by Inspector General David Shaw. Shaw's report did not identify the participants or the prison, but state officials said the warden was Ben Curry, who runs the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad.

According to Shaw, days after the officer was convicted, the warden granted his request for a voluntary demotion to lead groundskeeper, a position in which he would supervise inmates and for which he was not qualified…

The two prisons stand smack in the middle of the Salinas Valley, separated by just 6 miles of fertile farmland.
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But when it comes to the condition of their health-care facilities, the lockups are worlds apart, a state analysis shows.

Of California's 33 prisons, the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad is the fifth most in need of immediate health-care-facility upgrades, according to the California Prison Health Care Receivership…

El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility officially shut its doors on July 31 for what state officials referred to as a "warm closure" with most of its existing employees landing jobs in San Luis Obispo, Soledad and Salinas.

Spokeswoman Josi Slonski said the majority of the Paso Robles boys school staff was placed within the adult division of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at California Men's Colony, CDCR's Correctional Training Facility in Soledad and Salinas Valley State Prison.

Effective Aug. 1, an estimated five employees were to stay at the facility including maintenance personnel to keep the institution running, Slonski said. Effective last Friday, the institution was officially to be referred to as the Estrella Correctional Facility and shed its former name…

After city officials protested, a proposed state re-entry prison facility that could house high-risk offenders may not be placed in Soledad, county leaders said today.

Trying to reach a compromise and avoid potential delays or lawsuits, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday directed Sheriff Mike Kanalakis to list two sites near Soledad in a proposal to the state — but make clear they are considering other, as-yet-unknown locations.

Soledad Mayor Richard Ortiz said Kanalakis' presentation didn't receive "a good review." "How does the city feel about it?" he said. "It doesn't feel that great about developing that prison." While Ortiz said the city would have welcomed a facility on the county-owned land that already houses two prisons, the Camphora Gloria Road site is "just a stone's throw from the city of Soledad." It's also within Soledad's sphere of influence, an area slated for future growth in the city's general plan.

Both sites would place the re-entry facility too close to Soledad residents, he said, potentially endangering them. "I think there was interest, but also concerns," Kanalakis said. "I tried to address those concerns as best as I could, but I got a sense that they felt that they might be looked at like a dumping ground."

County says it should be built in Soledad

A state prisoner re-entry facility proposed for Salinas has been relocated to an area near Soledad, county officials said Friday, after the state changed the facility's potential population from low-risk to high-risk inmates.

The project is a joint venture with the county's custody operations bureau and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation…