The Weekly Dump – 6.28.24

United States Supreme Court Settles Public Camping Debate

This week, the US Supreme Court took up the case involving Grants Pass, Oregon and the idea of allowing the homeless to camp in public parks. In a 6-3 decision, the court sided with the city of Grants Pass and found the city could make it illegal to camp in public parks and public spaces. This has been an ongoing issue for Santa Cruz, one that goes back more than 5 years and made it difficult to impossible to clear and evict multiple large homeless encampments from city parks like San Lorenzo Park and Harvey West Park. The city of Santa Cruz has used the threat of a lawsuit to basically do nothing and allow the camps to grow out of control, then reacting to the issue as if they didn’t create the problem in the first place. Now there’s no more excuses for the city manager, or the police chief, or the city attorney to not enforce no camping regulations in our public parks and give them back to the people and the community at large. 

Taking a Walk on the Wild Side

Medical emergency forces Giant Dipper to stop mid-ride 

Wednesday afternoon, riders on the Giant Dipper got quite the surprise when they found themselves having to evacuate the ride midway up the big first hill. It made the national news. I saw the story on CNN. According to reports I read, the Giant Dipper was evacuated after someone in line on the loading platform had some kind of medical emergency. So nothing wrong with the ride! After a brief period, the roller coaster was back in action and hopefully everyone evacuated got a free ride to make up for the thrill of walking down the cat track. 

Playing With Fireworks and Getting Burned

Wednesday afternoon, Santa Cruz Fire responded to reports of a fire on Murray Street across the river from the Boardwalk. Neighbors used a garden hose and kept the fire under control until Santa Cruz Fire arrived. The damage was confined to an exterior patio of the building. Police and the fire department are tracking down surveillance footage to help with the investigation. Santa Cruz Fire confirmed reports about fireworks in the area. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Next week is the 4th of July and here in Santa Cruz, that means a solid week of idiots blasting off illegal fireworks at all hours of the night while SCPD pretends to care and says they have quadruple fines now, but nobody ever gets arrested for fireworks here. 

Solo Crash Along Highway 1 Kills Driver

Sunday afternoon around 12:30PM, a 35 year old male driver was killed in a solo rollover accident near Dimeo Lane on Highway 1 just outside the city of Santa Cruz. Investigators believe the man was driving southbound in a silver 2007 Chrysler Town & Country minivan when he apparently veered to the right and crashed into a metal guardrail before crashing into a dirt embankment while rolling over on the highway. The driver was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.

Solo Crash Along Graham Hill Road Kills Felton Man

A few hours after the deadly Highway 1 crash on Sunday, a 34 year old Felton man died in a solo car crash on Graham Hill Road. Just after 9PM, fire and rescue personnel responded to the crash north of Quarry Road. The male driver was going southbound in a gray 2008 Ram 1500 pickup before veering off Graham Hill Road and crashing into nearby trees before rolling over, according to CHP reports. The man died at the scene.

County Board of Supervisors Discuss Low Impact Camping Ordinance

This week, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors discussed bringing a low-impact camping ordinance to rural and unincorporated parts of the county. According to the county, the goal is to provide people more access to open space and outdoor recreation. The ordinance would only apply to rural areas like Felton or Boulder Creek​. It would not include commercial areas or cities near the coast. The proposed plan is asking for a minimum of 5 acre campsites, and some​ commissioners want to reduce that to 3. The county said the ordinance is also requiring supervision at the camp sites. The county said if the ordinance passes, people would need to get permits in order to camp in rural areas, and this could provide some revenue streams for rural landowners. Low-impact camping is a small-scale campground rented out for short-term, overnight recreational camping that would last no more than two weeks. Apparently, the ordinance has been put on hold due to fire danger concerns during the fire season. 

Sweet and Sour From the Santa Cruz City Council

This week, the city of Santa Cruz unanimously passed a measure to place a potential tax on “sugary drinks” on the ballot in November. The measure would charge a two cent tax per fluid ounce on sugar sweetened beverages to any sellers in the city. Five years ago the Santa Cruz City Council tried this, but Governor Jerry Brown nixed it. If at first you don’t succeed, try again!

So let me do the math here. The cost of this tax isn’t going to be absorbed by anyone but the consumer. So on a 12 oz. can of soda, which might cost a buck from a vending machine, it will be taxed at about 24%. Or let’s look at a liter of soda you might pick up at Safeway for about $2 now. That liter will cost you about $2.65 now, with almost 25% of the cost from this new tax. And who are the majority of the people that will suffer this tax? Poor people. Middle class people. Working class people that want a soda with their lunch. I’ve got a message to the Santa Cruz city council. Fuck you and your shitty regressive taxes on the poor to make cheap revenue off the backs of the working class. If this is such a great idea, get the votes to put it on the ballot, instead of circumventing the voters so you can grift them with some health benefit bullshit sales pitch. This is all about an easy revenue stream tax grift that can be spent however they want. NO to this measure in November. 

Grand Jury Report Highlights Santa Cruz Neglect on Domestic Violence Prevention

A new report released by the Santa Cruz County grand jury revealed how the city of Santa Cruz has basically been willfully ignorant over a long city ordinance that was enacted to make rape and domestic violence prevention one of the highest priorities in the city. Last year when the Santa Cruz City Council adopted their five year strategic plan, there was no information about rape and domestic violence prevention. No mention of it, no plan for educating the public about it, nothing. Not important apparently. Sweep that shit under the rug and forget about it. Only the grand jury didn’t forget about it. They found the city has reduced access to programs that would keep the public educated and informed about these issues. The city stopped offering in-person self defense classes for students in the Santa Cruz City School District. The 2023 Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women Joint Report had no information or facts on what the city is actually doing to prevent rape and domestic violence. As usual, the city gives us lots of lip service and not a lot of actual service. 

Damsel in Defense is a great resource for empowering women with the tools they need to feel safer. Check out their website. Take matters into your own hands when it comes to self protection and violence prevention because we can’t count on the city to protect us when they can’t even prioritize rape and domestic violence. 

Man Spends 10 Days Lost in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Survives

Last week, a 34 year old man was found alive and mostly well after spending 10 days lost in the Santa Cruz mountains. After going for a what he thought was gonna be a 3 hour hike (a 3 hour tour!), he got lost along the hike. His family reported him missing when he failed to show up for a Father’s Day dinner 5 days later, triggering search and rescue efforts. He was eventually found in Big Basin Redwoods State Park thanks to a drone from the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office. He had no major injuries and survived by drinking lots of creek water. 

The Community Speaks!

Crazy story about the guy who was lost in the Santa Cruz mountains for 10 days! When they found him, he said he was craving a burrito. If i hadn’t eaten in 10 days, I’d be craving one too! So I was thinking to myself (here it comes….the Question of the Week!)

If you had just spent a week lost in the Santa Cruz Mountains, what would you be craving first? (me: a Jack’s burger basket and a cold beer)

“Tacos dorado from Los Perricos, or cheeseburger basket from Jack’s!”
-Joh

“A large hot coffee and 2 tri-tip breakfast tacos from Aptos BBQ.”
-Samantha

“Birra Tacos from Los Vijonos taco truck on Ocean Street”
-Joseph

“Lobster quesadilla from Olitas”
-Craig

“Palomar tacos!”
-Sharon

“Chicken Lorenzo pizza from Boulder Creek Pizza.”
-Tee

“Chicken korma and salmon from the clay oven from Namaste!”
-Trynt

“An entire Costco cheese pizza and a cherry coke”
-Michael

“A huge rib eye steak, loaded baked potato with tons of extra bacon, roasted asparagus with a garlic lemon butter sauce, garlic bread. And a cold one! For dessert, chocolate mousse cake with a pound of homemade whipped cream and an Irish coffee.”
-Karla

“Morenos al pastor burritos”
-Dawn

See all the answers here!

In My Ear

Well it’s high time that you find the same people you misuse on your way up you might meet up on your way down…

On Your Way Down – Little Feat

New Santa Mierda YouTube Channel!

I started a new YouTube channel for the Weekly Dump. It will host all my videos going forward. I’ll also put the podcast over there too if I can ever get that going. Go check out some videos if you haven’t seen them yet, and thank you to all the subscribers! (you can subscribe over there)

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