School name creates controversy 12/13/12 8:30p.m. TDH

Local law enforcement agencies are speaking out against a decision by alisal union school district leaders to name a new school after a convicted murderer who lived during the mid- 1800s. tiburcio Vasquez was known as an outlaw on the central coast and throughout california.  the monterey native and his gang engaged in robberies and other criminal acts, and tiburcio was publicly hanged in san jose for murder in 1875.  This week, the alisal union school district board of trustees voted unanimously to name a new school in Salinas after the bandit.  That drew a rebuke from both the Salinas police officers and Monterey county sheriff’s deputies associations, who issued statements expressing dismay over the decision.  Despite his criminal background, some considered Vasquez a robin hood-type figure.