The Heat is On
Santa Cruz is expected to broil this week as a heat wave moves into the Bay Area. Friday we broke a record with temperatures reaching as high as 110 degrees locally. Gee what could possibly go wrong here? The beaches are open. Everyone from over the hill is going to at least think about or attempt to come here. And the COVID numbers continue to spike. My advice to anyone living here is stay the hell away from the beach. You live here. You can go anytime. This weekend is not the right time.
Tyler Tenorio Murder Suspect Arrested in Mexico
A suspect in the murder of Tyler Tenorio who fled to Mexico has been arrested and extradited back to Santa Cruz to face the consequences. Paulo Luna, 34, was arrested in Mexico and extradited to Santa Cruz County on Monday. He was arrested with the help of the Santa Cruz District Attorney’s office, authorities in Mexico, United States Marshals, and INTERPOL, according to reports from the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office. Luna is being held on murder charges, according to the DA’s Office. The Santa Cruz High school junior was stabbed to death near Chestnut and Laurel streets on October 16, 2009. Law enforcement said he and his friends got into a brief fight with another group outside the 7-Eleven store.
Downtown Wells Fargo Bank Robbed
Friday afternoon around 2PM, reports came in that the Wells Fargo on River Street in downtown Santa Cruz had been robbed. The suspect was described as a male with facial tattoos who passed one of the clerks a note. He left the bank in a red Mercedes headed along water Street towards Ocean Street. CHP reportedly later found a red Mercedes believed to be used in the robbery abandoned off Highway 17 near Glenwood Drive. Santa Cruz County sheriffs deputies eventually arrested the suspect near Laurel and Redtail Ridge. The 24 year old male was in possession of over $9,000 of stolen money. He’s also on parole (of course he is!) and police say the getaway car he drove was stolen from Mountain View. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail.
Felton Jerk Charged With Statutory Rape
Wednesday morning around 11:30AM, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 20 year old male from Felton and charged him with 2 counts of domestic violence, 2 counts of statutory rape, possession of obscene material, and sending harmful matter to a minor to seduce. His bail was set at $50k and he didn’t get one of those Get Out of Jail Free cards. Last check he’s still in jail.
Getting Wilder Out at the Ranch
Wednesday around 6:30PM, SCPD responded along with deputies from the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s department for some kind of disturbance in Wilder Ranch State park. Apparently a 52 year old male thought it would be a good idea to resist arrest and try to take the Ranger’s weapon away. That poor decision led to his arrest.
Turnstiler of the Week
Wednesday morning around 1:30AM, SCPD arrested a 55 year old man on the 100 block of River Street for arson, assault with a deadly weapon, and making criminal threats. He’s been arrested 21 times locally since 2013. We’ve been propping this guy up for 7 years and counting. Look at this guy. He obviously suffers from mental illness and addiction and this is how the county treats those people. The county doesn’t treat them. They just arrest them and release them over and over, making them our problem. Last check he’s still in jail on a $25K bond, which I just can’t see him coming up with, unless Sheriff Jimmy decides to kick him to the curb yet again for nothing.
Just Another Bum With a Box Knife Threatening People
Wednesday afternoon around 3PM, SCPD responded to the 100 block of Bixby Street for a report of a man chasing after and threatening another person with a box cutter knife. He eventually was caught and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, as well as trespassing and occupying a property without the owner’s consent. He’s still in jail on a 25K bond.
Flea Market Approach to Boardwalk Shut Down
This week, the city of Santa Cruz announced vendors outside of the boardwalk are prohibited due to COVID-19 concerns. Vendors will be prohibited along Beach Street, West Cliff Drive or in the wharf area, according to a recent “executive order” signed by the city manager. This comes after the city council decided to allow vendors to set-up just about anywhere, but mostly on city streets. The order is set to expire October 1st.
COVID Keeps Spiking Locally
“Due to a significant and unresolved problem with the State of California’s CalREDIE reporting system, the County of Santa Cruz Public Health Department, as well as county public health departments statewide, are experiencing significant underreporting of COVID-19 testing results.”
So it’s actually worse than this.
The Field is Set
The field for the Santa Cruz city council election is set and it is made up of all women. Given that fact, I’m hoping that we’ll see a more civil race, without the excessive aggressive confrontational douchery we saw from Chris Krohn and Drew Glover. Glover has left town and moved to Alabama. I guess that’s far enough away. All I can say about him (and a special message to all the recall critics). Worth. Every. Fucking. Dime. Spent. Can you imagine if those 2 idiots were trying to navigate us through this pandemic mess? So while I might not be getting the candidates I really want, I’m not worried about really despising anyone running. Except of course for Bad Mom. I despise her but she’s irrelevant.
For future reference here, I’ll label each candidate with one of 4 labels:
- MMB: Moderate Machine Backed
- PMB: Progressive Machine Backed
- OTOLI: On The Outside Looking In
- GLFA: Grifter Looking For Attention
So here are some random thoughts, cheap shots, and bon mots:
- Martine Watkins (MMB): She’s not especially strong at anything but she’s pretty moderate about everything that matters. And she ran a (relatively) tight ship during meetings as mayor.
- Sandy Brown (PMB): If she’s at the top of their ticket, it’s a pretty weak and desperate field this time around. In her four years on the council, she’s proven herself to be not much more than a Krohn/Glover lackey. She’s a follower not a leader. She’s a willing progressive vote if you tell her how to vote. She’s a hot mess. She’s been a hot mess for 4 years. By herself, she talks a lot in circles (and gets lost), but she’s pretty harmless. She’s certainly less offensive when she’s not just rubber stamping Krohn or Glover’s bullshit.
- Sonja Brunner (MMB): Don’t know much but I’m learning. She’s part of the Downtown Association so I guess she supports local businesses and that’s a much needed voice. The machine obviously likes her. I think she would actually do fine. She seems smart, grounded, and in it for the right reasons.
- Kayla Kumar (PMB): I guess she’s part of the slate. She’s the development director of “Food, What?!”, a local non-profit. She’s also worked with Barrios Unidos, another local non-profit. So she’s part of the homeless industrial complex basically. She’s backed by the local socialist democrats.
- Maria Cadenas (OTOLI?): She’s solidly far left progressive in her views. She’s also endorsed by basically the whole Coonerty family. So it’s hard to say where she falls on the spectrum. Somewhere in the middle maybe? She’s also an Executive Director of a local non-profit. I’m seeing a pattern here.
- Kelsey Hill (PMB): She was an editor at City on a Hill Press, works for the Romero Institute. Endorsed by the fake Santa Cruz For Bernie group.
- Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson (MMB): This is what a moderate machine backed candidate looks like. Even Don Lane endorses her. She’s obviously solid and well liked by the mainstream “local influencers” and will bring their money and backing.
- Elizabeth K. Conlan (OTOLI): “Santa Cruz’s vibrancy comes from its people”. Vibrancy. Gag. Hard pass. We’re anything but “vibrant” right now. We’re a vibrant dumpster fire.
- Bad Mom (GLFA): Nope.
Welcome Arsen!
SCPD introduced their newest member this week. K9 “Arsen” is a 2 year old Belgian Malinois. He and his handler/partner just completed their 6 week training together. Arsen has specialized training in locating hidden people and apprehending them. Arsen comes to SCPD from the civilian world as a sport dog with a high level of obedience training. Arsen will be a fine addition to SCPD and added bonus, he’s not concerned about being politically correct. He only follows orders to protect. Love the dogs. You want to defund the police? Give me cops with dogs. For every cop who’s laid off or cut, give me a dog to replace them. With the right partners, you will be able to maintain public safety. And you don’t have to pay the dogs.
Manu For District 1 Supervisor
Anyone who reads me with any degree of regularity over the past 4 years knows how I feel about John Leopold. He’s gotta go. And Manu is the guy we need to replace him. If you love in the 1st District of Santa Cruz, please vote for Manu. We need change at the Board of Supervisors and Manu is a step in the right direction here. Notice the lack of “status quo machine” support. That’s the kind of stuff I like. And it came out recently that Manu is spanking little John Leopold in fundraising. Manu has raised over $75K for his campaign while last check Leopold had raised about $42K. Let’s get this done Santa Cruz! Time to send little Johnny into unplanned early retirement.
Get Your Swagger On!
I have swag! I’m working with Spreadshirt and have my own shop. I just put some basic products up to start with for now with the new logo. You can also click “Customize” and “Products” and pick from other products not currently available in my store. Contact me with any questions or issues. Nothing would make me happier than to see people out and about with my swag. I want photos! I’ve never asked for money, and I still plan to continue to do the Weekly Dump each week and make it available for free, without any paywall or ads or spam (or salary). Think of this as a way of donating to the effort and getting something back for your donation (I only make a few bucks on each item sold). I’d love to do more with Santa Mierda if I had the means to do so. This will help provide the means to do so. And it helps get the word out. The hell with the coronavirus, let’s make this viral. Being stuck inside is the perfect time for online shopping! I’ll love you long time if you buy my swag.
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24 Responses
Do you know anything about the giant herd of bike riders going down Soquel to Capitola road from the direction of downtown? Seemed like hundreds of them – doing stupid tricks and taking over the oncoming lane and coming at cars while zipping around those cars. One imbecile cut off a small truck trying to turn onto Soquel and landed in the intersection at Walgreen’s.
Looked like a huge lump of moving, imported, wanna-be antifa/fascists thinking they are “cool”.
It was the SE Bikes rideout.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CD7R7BBHLzd/
Rob a bank, in a Red Mercedes, oh my goodness!! Just can’t make this up, can ya??
So happy to hear another person was arrested for Tyler and that he is still in jail !
I am trying to figure out who would be best for city council. Not sure about any of them, not sure if any of them would be even ok. Including the last one on the list !! Nope is right !!
District elections will be exciting, maybe at that time it will be a good and fair political process. I am looking forward to the district elections. So far we have a couple of good candidates for that time.
Thanks so much for getting the dumb out. Hope you are feeling better !!
Dump !* not dumb
Paige- watch this when you get a chance:
Progressive Press Conference Aug 11, 2020
https://youtu.be/QZ6oifTTUAQ
Brown (Hell) No
Kumar: No
Hill: No
I agree…so tired of the word “vibrant” “vibrancy” etc. Also over-used: “most vulnerable” and “transformative.”
“Worth. Every. Fucking. Dime. Spent.” That alone was worth the wait for this weeks edition.
Yes, also worth the 4 months I spent getting signatures collected hearing he’s gone. I probably need to lay off the taquila before phoning into the council meetings, but it helps. IndyBay reports there is a SDA/SEIU scheduled council phone bomb in “defund police” and march on the city hall this Tuesday. Our politics are getting kinda sick. My advice is always the same. Do something every day to make your life more like you want it to be. What other choice is there.
Re: John Leopold.
I don’t live in his district so my opinion doesn’t matter to him. But since it appears he is content being another multi-decadal supervisor a la Gary Patton, people in his district should question if their life is better now than when he first assumed office in 2008. It’s an honest question and every First District voter should decide that for themselves. In the meantime, he never ever reports anything to the entire county electorate on the results of his personally sponsored county wide lawsuit against against 29 petroleum companies or the costs involved since 2017. Whats up with that, John Leopold? Where are all the billions you were going to get us for the ruined climate? We are tired of waiting and crickets don’t cut it.
I do live in Leopold’s district and I agree he does not communicate well enough with his constituents, but he is really smart and up to speed on every issue and seems have a “split the difference” kind of attitude, who can therefore compromise and listen to all sides.Before him we had Robley Levy and she was just wonderful, IMO.
Manu sounds pretty privileged and vague on his positions. Changing to Manu would lose all the experience and knowledge that Leopold has acquired and he is not some wild-eyed idealistic, let’s have free everything type. Just my opinion. Open to feedback.
And thanks again for your great site. Sorry you were sick.
I disagree. He might be “smart” but his biggest problem is he thinks he’s smarter than everyone else. He brings a preconceived bias towards every decision he makes up there. He has an agenda and he really doesn’t give a shit what anyone who doesn’t agree with him has to say about it. He’s directly responsible for the MILLIONS of dirty needles we find in Santa Cruz, going back to his SCAN days to the present and his support for this new stupid volunteer group that hands out needles by the thousands, undermining his own county health services program. Voting for Leopold is just voting for the same BS.
I did not realize he promoted that stupid extra needle exchange. I thought I signed the petition and he was …oh well, I guess I thought wrong. Thanks for telling me. i will reconsider and do more research.
I believe the only two supervisors who seriously opposed that goofball group (serious as in wrote a letter to the state actually opposing it) were Coonerty and McPherson. Even Zach Friend was no friend to public safety (but most of us knew that already). Leopold started the original “secondary exchange” when he was with SCAN, and started the original “SOS” group that was eventually shut down for running it from a laundromat parking lot on Barson and Bixby, which isn’t even in his district. Neighbors fought that shit for years before the city finally made an ordinance that shut it down. And they ran out of funding.
Where I live the district lines are weird. But even though I am in Santa Cruz and just a few streets down it is different, I am in McPherson’s district. I have emailed him often and I am satisfied with his response. I only wish that I could vote against Leopold, his bad ideas impact me as well, the Needle Exchange madness most of all.
Ben, You are so right. Leopold needs to go. If dirty needles is enough what about the endless waste of suing 29 oil companies for climate change. The county is paying attorneys huge amounts of money every single day to respond to legal papers, file motions etc etc this is an enormous waste of money.
Instead of advocating for more money for drug treatment and treatment programs for the mentally ill, he just advocates for coddling and enabling drug addicts with more needles. That’s who he is. And he doesn’t care what anyone thinks because he doesn’t think he can be replaced. Time to show him he can indeed be replaced.
Pride goeth before a fall.
Manu came and met with me and a business partner for over an hour to listen to us. He came across as middle of the road, practical, and smart, but kinda boring. What struck me in a positive way was how he called out people on both sides of the political spectrum for being too rigid in their thinking and not willing to listen. Seemed like a good guy that takes the view of government working for the people, rather than the other way around. Our conversation with him was heavily tilted towards the county planning department and the permitting department.
In honor of our lately-departed Al Mitchell, there were lightning strikes over Mitchell’s Cove last night. Fox News has the photo here:
https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEOYGO79K9TJ4rPHgxmZbxIIqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowwL2ICzCckocDMP2lqQY?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
My bad. I forgot to mention that the photo was taken by local awesome photographer Shmuel Thaler, and appears in the Sentinel.
I live near Mitchell’s cove, but the lightning when I got up to look at it around 2:30 and again around 3:30 seemed very odd to me. Not the usual flash then boom thunder , but real soft thunder like it was far away, but light intensely bright seemingly near, but also only visible near the horizon looking towards the mountains (I didn’t bother with the view of the ocean) and seemingly coming from nowhere. Odd stuff.
Actually, I live in the mountains. It was intense. But the photo is showing distant lightning, not close to the cove.
The garbage/trash/overuse situation on the North Coast is getting out of control.
Huge piles of trash left out overnight at SharkFin, Davenport Main Beach, and Scott Creek.
People are openly camping on the bluffs between Scott Creek and Greyhound Rock. Driving trucks over berms. Every time an area is driven over, it becomes more apparent and acceptable for the next person coming around looking for a spot.
Lots of trash picked up one week and then, boom, its trashed again within a week. Who acts like this? I suspect many many visitors to these beaches are from County.
Davenport Landing, maybe Waddell, are the only beaches I would ever think about taking family or friends to.
What is going to happen when “The Monument” opens? I shudder to think of it.
There are many places, especially near urban areas on the East Coast, where admission to the beach is only by paying a fee. One of my cousins mentions $13 per day. Those are not state or county parks, but long sretches of the beach itself. Money allegedly goes to cleanup. I am sure that most of it does, after Tony Soprano takes a cut.
Over the years, California has become just another large urban area. The sense of nature is largely lost in many places. Inevitable, I suppose. But I cannot simply blame city dwellers. Go out to the countryside anywhere, and you will find trash dumped anywhere it is convenient.
Ben: May I humbly suggest Jimmy Buffet’s “Volcano” as theme for tomorrow’s Dump?
I’m evacuated from Bonny Doon, but luckily had a place to go, well outside the danger zone. I note the the city has opened its Civic Auditorium as refugee center, for those less fortunate. Now, how does that sync with Coronavirus concerns?
As for the falling ash: At least we already had masks.