The Latest COVID Updates From Santa Cruz County
There have been 9,891 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Santa Cruz County, according to the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency, including 2,511 active cases. 313 have been hospitalized and 97 people have died. 84 people are currently hospitalized, and 16 people are in the ICU. 7,283 people have recovered from the disease. A total of 96,413 people have tested negative. Santa Cruz County is in the purple tier of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, meaning many non-essential indoor business operations are closed. Its adjusted case rate is at 41.1, and it needs to be at 7 or below to move up. It also has a 9.4% positivity rate, and that needs to be at 8% or below to move up.
Avoid crowds. Wear the mask. Don’t be a selfish idiot.
Judge Lets Squatters Stay Another Week in San Lorenzo Park
This past Wednesday, a judge in Sacramento extended a temporary restraining order ordering that the city of Santa Cruz must allow a homeless encampment at San Lorenzo Park to remain in place, at least for another week. The same judge issued the original TRO on Dec. 30th. In extending the order, the judge said she needed more time to further review arguments and evidence presented by attorneys for the City of Santa Cruz and Tony Baloney, an attorney representing the local homeless grifters union. She said she’ll decide on Jan. 13th whether to make a final ruling or further extend the order. The hearing followed a Dec. 17th “executive order” from Santa Cruz City Manager Martín Bernal to clear the campers and close the park, saying that San Lorenzo Park had reached an untenable state as a result of the homeless encampment there. He cited criminal activity, widespread trash, fire hazards, drug use and other hazardous conditions as the reason for the order.
JFC. How many times do we have to watch this idiocy play out before us? It’s like an annual fucking tradition now. How many times do I have to say this? SOCIAL SERVICES IS A COUNTY RESPONSIBILITY. NOT THE CITY’S RESPONSIBILITY. The COUNTY has millions of dollars in annual funding. The COUNTY has a “Health Services Department” that is responsible for the human welfare and social services for ALL of the county. The city is part of the county. Yet, it’s ALWAYS the city dealing with this shit, the city’s jewel of a downtown park getting shit on and polluted (under the COUNTY Board of Supervisors noses). The city’s money being spent to fight this in court. Where the fuck is Ryan Coonerty? Bruce McPherson? Missing in action in all of this as usual.
Bumster Fire on Felker
Monday night around 7PM, Santa Cruz Fire responded to a report of an illegal camp fire near the 100 block of Felker street. When they arrived, they found some bum with a fire UNDER A EUCALYPTUS TREE. He refused to leave so Santa Cruz Fire had to call SCPD to come drag his ass off so they could put out the fire before it set the fucking EUCALYPTUS TREE on fire. Ever seen a Eucalyptus tree burn?
Fugitive From Oregon Rounded Up in Santa Cruz
This past Tuesday, Santa Cruz Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 30 year old male from Oregon on the 700 block of Ocean Street who was a wanted fugitive from Oregon. He’s currently sitting in county jail on a $1 million dollar bond. Was he living in the San Lorenzo bum camp? It would be pretty easy for a fugitive to blend in over there.
Turnstiler of the Week
This week, we’ve got the guy who was arrested 3 times in less than 24 hours. For doing the same fucking thing. Now that’s what I call “turnstiling”. Go to jail? Make me laugh. As Andy Mills likes to say, “there’s no room at the inn”.
First he gets “arrested” on the 700 block of Front Street around 7:30 in the morning for trespassing and refusing to leave someone’s property.
Then later that same day around 7:30PM, he gets “cited” for doing the same fucking thing on the 600 block of Ocean Street.
Then the next day he get arrested AGAIN, this time for breaking into someone’s residence and refusing to leave.
Last check Jason is still jail, this time on a $25K bond (that was increased). I’m sure if it was up to the Sheriff, he’d be out of jail already again. We get what we are willing to tolerate. Buy a gun or a dog. You’re on your own here.
The Walking Dead
Thursday night around 5PM, SCPD got a call about some guy loitering at the Santa Cruz Memorial cemetery at the end of Ocean Street refusing to leave. The caretaker described the man as having “blood on his face and his pants down”, and they couldn’t lock the gates up until the trespasser with the bloody face pants around his ankles was off the property. SCPD sent a couple units but the guy was gone before they arrived.
Shattered
This week, deputies from the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s department arrested a 34 year old male from Oregon and a 43 year old male from Washington for illegally running an unlicensed marijuana operation which produced more than $2 million of butane honey oil in Boulder Creek. Inside the make shift lab, investigators found 28 volatile butane canisters, 1759 pounds of cannabis and 136 pounds of concentrated cannabis. Both men were arrested and sent to the Santa Cruz County Jail.
Of course they were both released on PENNY BAIL. Our Sheriff is the biggest threat to our public safety.
Her Brains be Battered
Monday afternoon around 4:30PM, SCPD responded to a disturbance on the 100 block of Hunolt Street for a report of a female in some kind of disturbance. After the arrived, police arrested a 32 year old woman and charged her with being drunk in public, loitering, and battery on a peace officer.
Don’t You Know the Crime Rate’s Going Up Up Up
Sunday night around 11:30PM, reports came in about someone vandalizing cars. SCPD responded to the 400 block of Pacific Avenue where they found a total of 17 vehicles had been vandalized by someone in a private parking garage. Nobody was arrested.
The Weekly Seen
Longtime progressive mouthpiece Steve Schnaar gets it. Better late than never I guess.
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.
The Santa Mierda Podcast Network
Be sure to check out the Santa Mierda Podcast Network! You can find the Santa Mierda Podcast Network on SoundCloud. And Apple Music. And Spotify. It’s free so check it out and give it a listen!
Check Out Our Twitter Feed for More Mierda!
Be sure to check out and follow our Twitter feed for even more mierda! Even though the Dump only comes your way once a week, I try to post breaking news and updates on other days as well. So check us out and follow us on Twitter for even more updates about real time news in Santa Cruz you might not otherwise hear about.
Get The Dump Delivered Each Week!
Don’t forget you can sign up and have the Weekly Dump automatically delivered to your email each week! Just click that little box in the bottom right corner of any page that says “Follow the Weekly Dump!” and sign up! All we need is an email.
Discover more from Santa Mierda!
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
29 Responses
Yesterday I had business on lower Pacific Ave and got to see the shit show first hand…Food not Bombs, Tents, Trash and of course Bums/Zombies roaming the area…pretty sad when you can’t go downtown without looking over your shoulder….I just can’t believe the destruction of our once beautiful town…
Law enforcement is not the only government entity completely missing in action in the middle of this never ending shit-show. Looking at the overflowing filth at each one of these “camps”, I can’t help but wonder where the hell is Environmental Health, Regional Water Quality Control or even the Department of Fish and Wildlife. These government entities would shut down any legitimate business that even produced one-tenth of one percent of this filth. I guess it’s all part of the new normal where criminals have rights and law abiding citizens are left in the cold. One of the only hopes is that the efforts of Ben and Santa Mierda will finally get the attention of enough decent people to make a difference.
Your rage is measured by the coarse language in your newsletter. Find a more articulate way to express it.
Fuck off.
LOL! Touche’!
No, our rage is justified by the magnitude of the problem. What is your “articulate” way of describing the shit-show?
Why don’t you just STFU?! You’re probably a bleeding heart liberal who believes that the junkies and bums have a right to do what they do with no thought about the rest of the people who are being forced to deal with their shit.
Really? And you think it’s somehow your business to tell him how to communicate on his own blog? Go start your own &*$#& blog. Is that articulate enough for you?
Been screaming this for years !!!
So disappointing that Gail Newell is not doing anything about that. Frankly, how dare she even comment such a thing!! Best practice, sure but then we can expect her to hide her head in the sand with the rest of them! It is a county thing !! No matter what way anyone or anybody wants
to twist it! It is always the county’s responsibility !! I am sick of all of it ! Sick of the person, and person’s who barks constantly, tells so many stories, demands so much from the city to help, while helping no one !! They still they don’t understand that this is a county issue!!!
Rolling my dam eyes
A couple of weeks ago someone was vandalizing cars parked in a westside neighborhood. Somebody punctured tires on vehicles parked at night in about a three block long stretch as far as I could tell. All the tires punctured were the drivers side front tire. So it seems we have a serial car vandal walking around town at night with nothing else to do. Whether they have an anti-car agenda or are just an asshole, nobody knows. Of course, it wasn’t reported in the local paper because that would require a reporter to actually do their job. I asked a couple of victims if they had reported it to police and they both said why bother. Welcome to Santa Cruz where the quality of life keeps going down.
1. I assume the cover photo is in Neary Lagoon. Pray tell, what is that in the center? Rocks? Anyway, interesting.
2. Nice eyes over the swag.
3. This past week, I have been so bummed out. Trump lost Georgia by 11,000 votes. I voted there 20,000 times, but not one of my votes was counted. Cheaters! Anyway, the good news is that I got 20,000 $600 stimulus checks deposited in my bank account. Now I can shop for a small fixer-upper on the west side. If they throw in the other $1400, times 20,000, then I can repair the roof, buy furniture, and maybe even pay the taxes.
4. Ben, your response to Tom says it all. People from here with money move to Oregon. People from Oregon with no money move here.
Actually, the cover is a picture I took yesterday as I walked across the Water Street bridge. The blue stuff in the water appeared to be a partially submerged tent or structure of some kind polluting the San Lorenzo River. Thanks Penguino!
Even though I’m sure Steve Schnaar is getting a lot of crap from the DSA for telling the truth about conditions at the park, I admire that he had the courage to say what is so painfully obvious to anyone who has been to the park. Ditto Gillian Greensite, who also told the truth about the situation in her Bratton on line column this week. Only when people start dealing with reality with all the attendant issues (including drug and alcohol issues, mental health issues, for example) are we going to get anywhere with creating real solutions. And thank you for repeating the heart of the matter…..the COUNTY gets the funding and has the responsibility for homeless services, including shelter, mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment, not the city. The more responsibility the city takes on the less the county does, and the more the regular city services and budget suffer to the detriment of city residents.
Yes Carol, Ben certainly got to the heart of the matter. It absolutely astounds me that the woke tards on the city council compete with each other to spend money in an area they have no responsibilities for — homelessness. Of all the homeless problem dinensions, probably one of the easiest to deal with is getting the mentally ill into secure residential facilities where they can be properly cared for. Reagan made an enormous mistake when he closed up all the mental institutions years ago, by reducing their numbers from 55 to 15.
I’m taking this as a good sign of things to come locally in that for ONCE, there isn’t ONE Leftist Refritola Jacamola item on the city council agenda come this Tuesday. Not that I won’t be bringing up a few from last year for more discussion if I get the chance, but again maybe (I hope) we’re done with that kind of stuff. What Swamp Joe will dream up is another matter.
There was I’d say a very talented guy blowing sax busking at Safeway yesterday. I don’t usually tip such people but I did in his case, and it’s 100 thousand% better than the homeless begging.
The problem with clearing the park is that without a follow up plan these folks will just move their camps all along the river and levee with their piles of trash still polluting the river.
As I mentioned above, that’s where an agency like Water Quality should step in. They have a legal responsibility to protect water quality and they sure as hell have the authority to shut things down and impose fines. But as I also mentioned, in California, criminals are a protected class. On top of that, the scumbags can’t pay the fines, so agencies have no economic incentive to exert their authority.
What agency are you speaking of when you say “water quality”? Is it state level, local city/ county or federal?
Usually water quality people don’t have tools or resources to enforce on negative homeless impacts. They will most likely rely on PD to enforce…
This did not make the paper either. A city employee was physically assaulted on the levee near the trestle bridge this week. The vagrant just walked up and started punching him in the head through his truck window. Other employees are getting visits at their homes from ranting “activists”. It would be painful enough to have to act as housekeepers for this literal trash, but then have them follow you home at night? Get the dog AND the gun. The animal shelter should team up with the local sporting-goods stores. Offer a twofer package. Or would that be woofer package?(Sorry)
It’s called the “normalization of violence” that has been getting worse and worse. It’s a very bad thing from the sinkholes of cities like Baltimore, to the BLM/antifa, capitol invasion/protest, local crime. Get a gun and dog indeed.
I would not put BLM in the same group as the right wing fascist Insurrectionist Traitors who stormed the capitol. The right has consistently produced real domestic terrorists. People who legitimately want to destroy our constitution and country to have their leader become dictator and that actually acted on this. “There’s good people on both sides” Right?
Actually BLM and ANTIFA did the rioting and destroying of multiple cities, police stations and a couple Federal buildings.
I’m not agreeing with what happened at the capitol, but saying one side is worse than the other when they’ve done the exact same thing, is just hypocritical.
And all I know is it’s not conservative cities that allow bums and criminals to take over.
Name one instance where BLM/antifa broke into a federal building in the hundreds, carrying guns, nooses, handcuffs and pipe bombs seeking out government officials to kidnap and chanting for the death of these officials…. Yeah didn’t think so. The capitol insurrection by Trump followers is on a whole different level.
The things you learn, here at Santa Mierda… Inspired by the reply to Spooky, I searched the news online (I do not watch TV or use YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter, or the like). Seems that some folks did indeed have plastic ties, of the sort used for handcuffs. Also seems that bombs may have been planted near the hangouts of both major parties. Also seems that a makeshift noose was erected in protest against Mike Pence. In other words, nonpartisan riot. Reminds me of an occurrence in downtown Santa Cruz some years ago (maybe 10). Someone had encouraged people to come to SC for an evening of fun and “mayhem” but apparently did not know what “mayhem” was. Sure enough, some visitors started breaking windows and things like that. Moral: No morals.
@ joe arena: do you not know how to Google? Does the seattle federal building being attacked not ring a bell???
The federal officer who was attacked with a hammer by ANTIFA or whatever other cloaked angst ridden young “adult” was associated with?
It have you already forgotten what all of is have been watching on MSM for the past 6 months ?
Check your sources instead of assuming because someone is leftists they’re non violent.
Love how you think half or any of these rioters are justified in what they do, or that it even had to do with politics at all. Shows how bias and out of touch with reality you are.
Please (everyone) refrain from attacking other commenters or making comments personal. Thanks. I know it’s a sensitive subject and I’m willing to let it go a bit as long as it stays clean.
Hi Spooky,
I do not condone violence in any way. I never said any of this violence was justified. The original post was to clarify that BLM or “antifa” protesters cannot be grouped into the same category as the fascist traitors who stormed the capitol. They did not do the “exact same thing” as you stated. BLM was protesting over police violence against black people and the verified killing of black people like George Floyd and Ms. Taylor. The rioters that stormed the capitol did so based on complete POLITICAL lies, they had no legitimate reason to be there and do what they did. What are they “protesting”? The election was not stolen. They want to forget about democracy and voting and place their fascist leader, Trump, into power by force. You still didn’t answer my question: “Name one instance where BLM/antifa broke into a federal building in the hundreds, carrying guns, nooses, handcuffs and pipe bombs seeking out government officials to kidnap and chanting for the death of these officials….” I might also add that 5 people died in this capitol riot. There has been no BLM/antifa protest that compares to the capitol insurrection…. sorry. I don’t assume someone if someone is “leftist” that they are non-violent. But let’s look at the facts. Where is the most violence and death coming from in our history and the history of the world for that matter? Answer is: the Right. White supremacists are far more violent by death count and mayhem than any “leftists” have been. Here is a quote from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “far-right terrorism has significantly outpaced terrorism from other types of perpetrators, including from far-left networks and individuals inspired by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Right-wing attacks and plots account for the majority of all terrorist incidents in the United States since 1994, and the total number of right-wing attacks and plots has grown significantly during the past six years. Right-wing extremists perpetrated two thirds of the attacks and plots in the United States in 2019 and over 90 percent between January 1 and May 8, 2020.” Google that.
Felker Street – the douchebag highway, which leads to the douchebag rookery. And where, literally, shit is on fire.
“Don’t You Know the Crime Rate’s Going Up Up Up ”
Aw jeez, you mean Chief Mills might be wrong? I haven’t been paying attention to that lately – is anyone from the City still peddling the puffy pabulum of “crime is down”? Seems like no one is even taking the time to lie and misdirect about that these days. Just kick back and watch the shitters burn I guess.