The Weekly Dump – 8.23.24

Get Ready For the Best Week of the Year

It’s almost here! Next week is unofficially my “favorite week of the year to be in Santa Cruz”. Why you might ask? Because people are leaving town and we’ll have it all to ourselves. Less traffic through the maze of construction downtown. Empty beaches. Three things factor into this week of bliss. First, most if not all local Bay Area schools are back in session, so not as many local tourists from over the hill making the trek with kids to the beach for the day visits. Second, UCSC has not started their fall session yet. Classes there start in late September. And finally, we’ve got Burning Man next week. This will empty out town with lots of local people who go. 

Still No Arrests or Suspects in Recent Santa Cruz Shootings

Not a peep from SCPD on any updates about the 2 recent shootings that took place in Santa Cruz. I’m sure they’d rather we forget about them but I haven’t. And won’t. The first shooting took place along the San Lorenzo River levee in downtown Santa Cruz on August 8th. No suspects. No arrests. The second shooting took place on August 14th at the Santa Cruz Harbor near the Crows Nest. Two people were shot and sent to a trauma center in critical condition. Hell, I don’t even know if they lived. The place was packed with witnesses. No suspects and no arrests have been made. 

The Pep Rally is Over

Normally I avoid talking National politics over here and I try to stick to the local stuff, but this week I’ve been swamped with all things DNC. I’m glad it’s over. I was starting to feel a little diabetic with all the love and sugar. But it was a nice, refreshing change in the messaging and I think it resonated with a lot of people who aren’t particularly political but are just sick of the general nastiness in National politics today. It was a pep rally. A pretty good one too. Lots of pep and rally which you want from a pep rally. I actually watched none of it. Not a single minute. I saw what I needed to see on social media. I gotta give the Democrats credit for turning this around 180 degrees. They were fading like Joe Biden without a nap. And they did the unthinkable. They dumped him and replaced him, throwing the party into chaos for about a week. Then once it was done, Biden became the selfless hero (instead of the old guy who refused to give up his power) and Harris became the face of the franchise everyone could pep rally behind. Let’s see if the enthusiasm holds for another 2 and a half months. 

CHP Recklessly Shoot Into Occupied Home in Watsonville

Friday night, a family in Watsonville had to deal with a police bullet entering their home, nearly killing someone inside. It all began after CHP said they received calls from someone waving a firearm in a vehicle on Highway 101 near Santa Cruz County. CHP then searched for the vehicle, pulling the a person over on Stewart Avenue in Watsonville. Then for some still unknown reason, the CHP officer fired his gun after the traffic stop apparently escalated. A single shot was fired, and the person involved in the traffic stop was not struck. Instead, the bullet missed and entered a nearby home while a family was inside. No official explanation from CHP was given about why the weapon was fired, and if it had to happen, why only one round was discharged, and most importantly how or why the officer missed. Nobody inside the home was hurt by the bullet.

Watsonville Sex Offender Sentenced to Prison

This week, a Watsonville man pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting teenage employees and was sentenced to five years in prison and a lifetime sex offender status. As part of the plea deal, 10 of his initial charges were dismissed Monday in exchange for the no-contest plea. He was still charged with felony assault with intent to rape or sodomize a person under age 18 and two counts of sexual battery. He will receive credit for almost 3 years of time served already. He was arrested in 2022 on charges related to three underage girls. The offenses detailed in court filings took place with 16 year old employees between December 2020 and June 2021.

More Ugly Buildings Proposed For Midtown

In the endless march to build more housing in Santa Cruz, a new preliminary application was submitted to the city of Santa Cruz to develop a mixed-use building on a vacant lot at 1024 Soquel Avenue. The submitted pre-application proposes building a six story, mixed-use building with a rooftop deck consisting of a commercial space on the ground floor and 76 residential units. The finished project would be about 75 feet tall. The mixed-use development would have about 1,200 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor on the corner of Soquel Avenue and Cayuga Street. There would be 33 one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom and 33 studio apartments for a total of 76 units. The project also includes 61 automobile parking spaces inside a parking garage. It would contain 12 units considered affordable by the state, with six of the units designated for those considered very low income. Workbench, the developer behind the proposed Clocktower Center project in downtown Santa Cruz, recently submitted the preliminary application. The preliminary application is a part of SB 330, which requires local agencies to create a checklist and application form for preliminary applications with the intent of making the review process faster. The city of Santa Cruz or any other municipality is then prohibited from applying new ordinances, standards or policies to a project with a complete preliminary application.

California Highway Patrol Ends Police Chase on Highway 1

Wednesday night, CHP Santa Cruz assisted with the arrest of a wanted suspect out of the Bay Area. The suspect was driving along Highway 1 in San Mateo County and after they passed into Santa Cruz County, CHP officers successfully deployed a spike strip to end a police chase involving the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. A 42 year old woman was arrested and charged with robbery, hit and run, and evading officers.

UCSC Facing Fiscal Crisis

This week, the University of California Santa Cruz announced they are facing a budget deficit, which will likely result in staff layoffs and other service cuts at the university. Using reserves to cover previous deficits has worked in the past but now the funds are running out. The fiscal year that ended on June 30th showed a significant budget deficit at UC Santa Cruz. The core funds budget had $546 million, but expenses of $654 million created a $107 million loss. School administrators say they don’t have final counts, but will take a phased approach on any staff reductions.

In My Ear

Grateful Dead – US Blues

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)

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.