The Weekly Dump 4.14.17

Child Hit by Motorcyclist in Hit and Run on Mission Street

Sunday afternoon, the motorcycle above struck a 9-year-old boy walking with his mother in a crosswalk at Mission Street and Van Ness Avenue. The child is in a local trauma unit with significant injuries. The motorcyclist hit the child while splitting traffic that had stopped to the let the mother and son cross the street. The rider did not stop after hitting the child. He continued fleeing at a high rate of speed southbound on Mission Street. Please help SCPD find this asshat. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the SCPD at (831) 471-1131, Anonymous Tip Line (831) 420-5995 or email Officer Hedley at mhedley@cityofsantacruz.com.

Child Molester Arrested in Santa Cruz

A 53 year old Santa Cruz man was arrested on April 4th and arraigned Monday on multiple counts of lewd acts with a minor and sexual penetration of a juvenile. The crimes occurred while the children were in a home on Chestnut Street between 1978 and 2007. The victim’s ages ranged from 3 years old to 11 years old. 29 years this went on! How does that happen? Concerned parents and other victims can contact the Santa Cruz Police Department Investigations Unit at 831-420-5820.

Great White Shark Washes Up on Pleasure Point

Last weekend, a great white shark washed up on the beach at Pleasure Point, bringing lots of kooks taking selfies and media attention. It’s not certain why the approximately 10 foot shark was in such shallow water. Unable to return to deeper water, the shark later died after being repeatedly thrashed against the rocks when the tide came in. After a necropsy, it was later determined that the shark was actually suffering from some sort of virus that attacked it’s brain.

Hit and Run on Walnut 

Wednesday night around 9:30PM, I got a report of a hit and run accident in the 700 block of Walnut near King street. A white Lexus apparently hit at least 4 cars as well as knocking over a 2 hour parking sign. Neighbors detained the guy trying to flee the scene. After SCPD arrived, the driver apparently passed out.

And We Need More Parking Garages For This?

Wednesday afternoon around 1PM I heard a report from a parking control officer that 2 people were either passed out or asleep inside a van in a downtown city owned lot. As there was apparently a used needle on the ground next to their van, I’m going to guess they were either passed out or dead. They were in a silver van from out of town, with expired tags and parked in an expired meter spot. This one checks all the boxes for stupidity and coddling it. Speaking of checking all the boxes for stupidity and coddling here….

Which Idiot Volunteered Us For This?

Nobody does ridiculously stupid public policy like we do. Maybe there’s a reason no other city in the country does this. It’s a ridiculously stupid idea. But that never stops Santa Cruz from trying something now does it?

Proposed bill would set up injection sites for drug addicts

Hugh’s Views

No city council meeting this week but Hugh has a strong opinion on this injection site nonsense he wanted to share. – BD

By now most of you have heard about AB186 proposed by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman that would allow for the implementation of “Supervised Injection Sites” in several different counties including Santa Cruz. According to my sources every politician and law enforcement agency in this county was surprised to hear Santa Cruz being named as part of a pilot program. I am not sure if everyone is being truthful about this. If this Assemblywoman had any boundaries, work ethic or intelligence I would think she would reach out to the counties that she was writing into this Assembly Bill. I have heard that Dr. Leff our County Public Health Officer is a proponent for safe injection sites and apparently has been pushing for it for some time. I have a very hard time believing he didn’t know.

When interviewed by the media he stated that Santa Cruz “is not ready” for this. Dr. Leff can you define “ready” for me? It is also my understanding that the County is saying no thanks to this idea. That is yet to be seen of course. I am really trying to wrap my head around this idea. It would be nice to have less needle litter I do agree with that. It would be nice to walk through Grant Street Park or Friendship Garden and NOT see someone shooting up. But here’s the thing. By inviting people to shoot illegal, dangerous drugs into their arms is cosigning it. It’s saying that this is ok and I am going to help you do it. It’s sending a message that this is a completely acceptable thing to be doing right now. It’s saying here let us help you stay sick. What neighborhood in Santa Cruz will be picking up the tab on this one? Emeline? Aren’t they going through enough right now? Crime has increased dramatically since the SSP moved to Emeline. I think the people backing this up should ask themselves these questions. Am I willing to have this facility in my neighborhood? Do I want it near my kid’s school? Will I park my car nearby? Do I mind drugs being sold in my neighborhood? (That whole supply and demand thing) Do I know what to do about a person that just shot meth and now they are hanging out on my porch? What specific experience do I have with drug addiction? What specific experience do I have with recovery from drug addiction? Am I willing to be a part of the solution? Am I willing to do more than just express my opinions? Have I addressed my own issues around someone I love being addicted? Do I put barriers between the addict and their consequences? Do I want these people fixed so I will feel better about myself?

Not long ago there were people stomping their feet and yelling that they have never found a needle outdoors, that other people are needle obsessed and that they are fear mongering about needles. I am willing to bet the same people will now come out and pontificate on how this will help with all that needle litter! What we desperately need here are more treatment options. Clearly jail isn’t working. Of course we should not jail someone for being an addict but if they are doing smash and grabs on cars, burglarizing, assaulting people, stealing bikes and operating bike chop shops etc. then they SHOULD go to jail and have treatment options available to them when they are finished doing their time. Enabling is removing the natural consequences between an addict and their behavior. Addicts experiencing the damaging consequences of their addiction can lead to the most powerful incentive to change. It’s simply the truth. The natural consequences of shooting drugs into your body can be deadly. It’s devastating sad and true. What would be their incentive to stop using if someone is giving them carte blanch to use and not suffer any consequences?

Robbery at Hampton Inn

Sunday night around 8:30PM, I heard a report that a man and woman robbed someone at the Hampton Inn. They were last seen walking down Ocean street. Walking, not running. I didn’t hear if they were caught, but even if they were, the local court response would be a big, giant, all caps “MEH”. They would just jump aboard the County Shuffle™ and be dumped back on the street the next day, if not hours later.

Fight at Joe’s Subs!

Sunday afternoon around 6PM, a call came in for 2 males fighting in front of Joe’s Subs on Pacific. I’m kind of surprised that it happened there, as I always see First Alarm hanging out loitering in front with the Downtown Rangers (among others). Does Joe’s give them some kind of special deal or something? It’s like the First Alarm water cooler.

Fight at 24 Hour Fitness!

Monday night around 9PM, a man was confronted on the parking lot of the 24 hour fitness and was accused of camping in the parking lot. The man claimed his girlfriend was working out in the gym. I hear about a lot of calls to the 24 Hour Fitness location, and I don’t really blame the business. It seems to be more about location and the fact it’s a 24 hour business.

Fight at Starbucks on Pacific Avenue!

Monday night around 10PM and the store is closed. Get a report of 2 males inside the store physically fighting. Both were apparently customers. One claimed the other stole a laptop from him. Both were in their fifties. After their little fisticuffs session, one of the men left the store and crossed the street while the other man stayed inside yelling obscenities at him. The staff just wanted them both to leave so they could close the store and go home. I’ll bet this last part sounds familiar to anyone who works retail downtown. Bum fight in the store at closing time? GTFO.

Man Plays With Himself On Water Street Bridge

Heard a report on Monday around 4:30 in the afternoon that a man was masturbating on the Water Street bridge. I guess he could have been peeing off the side of the bridge. Neither one is a good look. Isn’t that just the kind of thing you want to see while walking around downtown on a sunny Monday afternoon? And the city wonders why people don’t want to shop downtown? And they want to build a 6 story parking garage and call it a library? Are they serious? They can’t fill what they have now. They subsidize most of the existing parking downtown to business employees right now as it is. When they get laid off from a lack of downtown business, we’ll see even less parking in the garages. That’s being vibrantly honest here!

Bum Gets Angry Over Waiting to be Coddled by SCPD

Thursday morning around 8:30AM, I got a report of an angry bum in front of the Cocoanut Grove. Wrapped up in a gray blanket. Said if someone doesn’t hurry up and get down there, he’s gonna get violent. Lovely. Don’t forget his coffee and donut.

Aptos Fire District Continues to Self Immolate

Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District leaders this past week alleged serious misconduct and sexual discrimination at the fire department after a union vote of no confidence for Fire Chief Jon Jones. The statement from the Board of Directors also claims the Aptos/La Selva Firefighters Local 3535 union wants to dissolve the district and merge with the Central Fire Protection District. Union leaders disputed that claim and refuted the sexual discrimination allegations. Union leaders also claimed to report a former treasurer who allegedly stole money from colleagues and took charitable donations. That treasurer served from 2013 to 2015 but remains on active duty. It’s pretty hard to put out fires by slinging mud. And I thought the city of Santa Cruz was dysfunctional.

Rent-Controlled Tenants Evicted To Make Room For U.S. Veterans

This isn’t really local to Santa Cruz but San Jose is just a hill away, and it’s the kind of thing that is worthy of a broader discussion. I know we don’t have rent control locally, so it’s not applicable unless we do at some point. And there has been rumblings for such by local progressives like Krohn and his sidekick. The gist of this story is low income renters are being evicted in San Jose and being replaced by homeless vets. The reason why this is happening is because Veteran Affairs will pay market-rate prices to house U.S. veterans. So the property owners get rid of a below market renter and replace them with a market rate formerly homeless veteran tenant. And because those tenants are vets, and it’s hard to attack the idea of vets getting housing from the VA, they get kind a free pass here. And at least one South Bay landlord may be evicting rent-controlled tenants out to make room for otherwise homeless vets. In San Jose, one property owner issued 35 “no cause evictions” that were all completely legal.

Read more from KPIX

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue Adoption Event on Saturday

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue will hold a dog adoption event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at General Feed & Seed, 1900 B Commercial Way. This is a really terrific group that helps place dogs from aging senior citizens. These dogs might otherwise be left behind or put down if not for their foster services and adoption advocacy. Volunteers will bring up to 10 dogs to the event. They will also have information on the other dogs in the group’s care, all housed in foster homes. Peace of Mind Dog Rescue, founded in 2009, is a resource and advocate for senior dogs and seniors on the California Central Coast. Through its foster and adoption services, the organization has rescued more than 1,260 dogs left behind. In addition, more than 450 senior citizens have received help with keeping their dogs in their homes through the Helping Paw Program. “We focus on taking in dogs from senior people who can no longer care for them, and we also take in senior dogs from local animal shelter who may otherwise be at risk for euthanasia,” according to Carie Broecker, executive director and co-founder of Peace of Mind Dog Rescue. To view the adoptable dogs or learn about the rescue, visit their website.

The Weekly Seen

Seen on the door of the bathrooms at the Santa Cruz Harbor. The number rings the Harbormaster. 

Guerreros

by Ernie Douglas

Golden State Warriors:
We’re in the final week of the regular season and the only real meaning behind this week’s games were to get KD acclimated back into the rotation, and to figure out which guys will make the postseason rotation. Typically, a team will tighten up it’s rotation to 8-9 guys on a 15 man NBA roster for the playoffs. The Warriors have used all 15 guys this year, so some of them will be riding a lot of pine during the postseason. In order of priority: Curry, KD, Draymond, Klay, Zaza, Iggy, Livingston, David West, Javale McGee, and Ian Clark all seem to be pretty much a lock here. If Matt Barnes is healthy, he’ll see playoff time. That’s 11 guys right there. If they trim it back to 8, I think McGee, Clark, and Barnes will see limited minutes. West is balling right now and they’ll need his toughness in the paint so he’ll see solid rotation minutes from now on. Clark is also playing well as a 2nd scorer off the bench (usually paired with one of Curry, KD, or Klay). A lot depends on everyone’s health. I doubt the young guys (McCaw, JMM, Looney, Jones) will see any significant playoff time, unless it’s garbage time in a blowout. They’ll be ready should someone go down. Warriors first round opponent will be Portland. That works out great for the Warriors, with minimal travel time on away games. Less than a 2 hour flight each way.

But in their final “tune up” week, KD returned in fine form against a Pelicans team that sat out both Davis and Cousins. KD looked to be in fine form. Monday night they took on the Jazz at home. The game was close until the 4th quarter when Steve Kerr decided to basically pull his starters and rest them and let the bench play the 4th. The Jazz won. In the final game of the regular season on Wednesday night, the Warriors took on the Lakers. The Warriors basically treated it like a warm up game to the first round, winning 109-94 in a game that was never close. Durant had 29 points and Curry had 20 in 3 quarters.

Upcoming games this week: Round One Best of 7 series vs. Portland begins this week. Game 1 is Sunday, 4/16 at Oracle. Game 2 is Wednesday, 4/19 at Oracle.

Santa Cruz Warriors:
The Santa Cruz Warriors battled the Oklahoma City Blue in the D-League Playoffs this week. After winning game one in Santa Cruz, the Sea Dubs had to fly to OKC to play the next 2 games in this best of 3 game series. Saturday, the Blue tied the series at one game a piece winning 131-117. In the final game on Monday night of the series to determine which team goes on to the next round and play for the Western Division title, the Warriors saw their season end as the Blue put them away 124-104 and now move on to the next round while the Warriors fly home. It was a great season. Santa Cruz loves it’s Sea Dubs!

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