UCSC Students Squat at Kerr Hall
About a hundred whiny students took over Kerr Hall at UCSC on Tuesday afternoon, as they “demanded” changes from campus leaders. Apparently, some group calling itself the Afrikan/Black Student Alliance issued a “reclamation statement”, with four demands regarding housing concerns. UCSC Staff were forced to leave the building while the students threw their tantrum. Thursday afternoon a group met with Chancellor Blumenthal and apparently he told them he would “meet their demands”. Yeah right. Anything to get them out of the building without busting any heads or looking “uncompassionate” here. Did he promise to sleep in the wet spot too? I’ll believe they “met their demands” when I see it. Until then, GTFO of the building. If non-students did this in a private building, we’d be seeing the freaking Bearcat. Instead, we have Blumenthal bringing these clowns milk and cookies. Part of me wanted to just ignore this whole story but it’s just SOOO Santa Cruz it hurts.
Hit and Run Accident on West Cliff Leaves Woman With Major Traumatic Injuries
Monday night around 8:30PM, a report came in about a hit and run accident on West Cliff Drive involving a vehicle and a pedestrian. The suspect was later arrested on Front street. The victim, a woman from Bonny Doon, suffered critical injuries after she was struck by Lorenzo Arteaga of San Jose as he drove on West Cliff Drive. The woman was walking her dog just east of Its Beach near Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz when the incident occurred. After striking the woman, the suspect fled the scene. He was located and stopped by SCPD minutes later traveling in the roundabout on Beach Street. The suspect’s vehicle also had damage to the front windshield. He was arrested and booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on numerous charges, including felony hit and run and DUI. He was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail, but has since been released. $10k bail for felony hit and run that nearly kills a woman, and still may. Pathetic. He’s back out on the road as we speak.
Dead Transient Found on Main Beach on Sunday Morning
This is one of those shake your head, only in Santa Cruz stories. A man determined to be a homeless transient with an extensive history of bad behavior locally was arrested Sunday afternoon for killing another homeless transient on Main Beach next to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The victim was found dead beside the volleyball courts on Main Beach around 4:20 early Sunday morning. SCPD began investigating the death as a homicide after a witness told detectives both men had been fighting with each other earlier that night. After interviewing witnesses, detectives identified Kevin Callahan as a suspect in this case and found him sleeping near the scene of the homicide. Callahan was arrested and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on a charge of first degree murder Sunday afternoon. He was being held in lieu of $750,000 bail.SCPD taped off a large area of Main Beach until about 1PM. Turns out the suspect is a famous surfer from the 70’s, who’s now homeless and sleeping on Main Beach most nights. Then a few days later, SCPD releases the guy and drops the charges against him. Uh. WTF? Apparently he was released due to a “lack of evidence”. Let’s see. Witness saw suspect fighting and choking the victim the night before he was found dead a few hours later. He’s only been arrested 16 times in the past 3 years. Why’s that’s hardly a recidivist for Santa Cruz.
Man Shot Walking His Dog Near Boardwalk
Last Thursday night around 9:30PM, a 32 year old man was walking his dog on Beach Street near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk when he was shot. According to SCPD, multiple witnesses described a group of males and females involved in an altercation with an intoxicated man. During this incident, someone from the group fired a weapon. Police said the victim was hit by a stray bullet and he was not the gunman’s intended target. SCPD found the man suffering from a gunshot wound on the corner of Leibrandt Avenue and Beach Street. He was transported to a Bay Area trauma center, and he is expected to survive. No arrests have been made. Sounds to me like a local gang tried to roll a drunk and the man was just an innocent bystander walking his dog through a part of town that’s infested by gang members. How does the city deal with making this area safer? Not by getting them kicked out of Santa Cruz (and the country). We know that much. Appearances are scarier than live bullets here.
Mayday on May Day!
Every May Day reminds me of the movie The Wicker Man, one of the oddest and creepiest movies I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t a lot of naked dancing around the maypole in Santa Cruz on Monday. May Day has been given a whole new meaning as “worker complaint” day, with various “walkouts” and marches (yawn) and protests (yawn). When it’s a weekly thing (and marches and protests seem to becoming a weekly thing lately), it loses it’s meaning.
This particular protest involved a lot of students. Lots of students standing in the road holding hands and blocking regular, hard working people from going about their life. UC Santa Cruz officials have confirmed that incidents of violence, including an assault on a UCSC police officer, marred the May Day “shut down” rallies Monday. UCSC Police Chief Nader Oweis confirmed one protester was arrested for assaulting a UCSC police officer. Another protester broke the nose of one student who was trying to cross the picket line and enter the campus. Police could no locate the assailant, however, and did not make any arrests. In addition, one man was arrested for fighting with protesters on campus. Monday’s campus “shut down” event was coordinated by the loosely organized UCSC March Collective. The “shut down” event successfully closed access to the university for much of the day. Santa Cruz officials confirmed that tensions ran high for most of the day between the protesters and students, faculty and staff not involved in the rally.
Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Deputies Find Stolen Car Chop Shop Located Off Highway 17
Two camping trailers, a motor home, a stripped race car, and two pickups, all of them stolen, were found Tuesday morning on wooded property near Highway 17 and Laurel Road, a Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said. A man was found inside one of the RVs and was detained. About 7:30AM, deputies were called for assistance regarding improperly parked vehicles on the property, where a man appeared to be “squatting” in an RV. There are no structures at the property, which only has a driveway. The race car was stolen from a business at the 300 block of River Street.
Drunk Woman Rolls Her Car on High Street and Goes to Jail
Monday night around 10PM, a report came in about a single car rollover accident near Bay and High Streets. Witnesses reported seeing the car on it’s side. Apparently the driver, a 28 year old woman from Florida, was ok, as she walked away from the crash and was later found (and determined to be drunk) by SCPD. They took her to jail.
Climate Protest in San Lorenzo Park
Last Saturday, a small (for a local protest) group of people turned out to San Lorenzo park for an early afternoon of music, passionate speeches, and a peaceful protest march through downtown. And they even stayed on the sidewalks (mostly). I had lunch with friends at my favorite little downtown restaurant (which I’m not naming as I like the fact it mostly flies under the local radar and I want to keep it that way) and I walked over after. Beautiful day, beautiful weather, and really nice, friendly folks in the park. Mostly older crowd, and very few kook activists trying to take over the messaging. And I really enjoyed the marimbas! San Lorenzo park is really a jewel for the city, as is the river. Great to see positive use of the space like this. Bring out the food trucks weekly to the park, set up a little stage (like the new small stage at the Boardwalk), and start offering free, weekly, city sponsored events in the park. Stuff for locals to do on the weekends when the beaches are packed.
Food Slam and Slammin Food at the Food Lounge
The City of Santa Cruz’s Economic Development Office is bring us a “Food Slam!” this Saturday afternoon from 4-6PM. This is a partnership event with the Santa Cruz Food Lounge’s Night Market. The Food Slam will feature twelve presenters each giving a quick 3 minute demo of a culinary technique or recipe idea. I love the Food Lounge. It’s one of those hidden secrets downtown. I miss Ty’s BBQ on Wednesday nights. But it’s a nice venue, and the night market’s always feature a nice variety of culinary delights from local chefs. It’s definitely worth supporting as a good local cause and your stomach will thank me later. You can register here, but I think you can also just show up at the event.
Guerreros
by Ernie Douglas
Golden State Warriors:
The Warriors took on the Utah Jazz in game one of their second round matchup on Tuesday night. The Jazz were never really in this game, but it wasn’t a blow out either. The Warriors took game one of the best of seven series 106-94. All 5 starters scored in double figures, with Curry leading a balanced attack with 22 points. Game 2 was Thursday night in Oakland. Warriors led wire to wire and took game 2 115-104. Warriors now up 2-0 as the series moves to Utah. Draymond hurt his knee late in the game but appears to be ok. And it looks like Steve Kerr will be out for this series and possibly the rest of the playoffs. Hope he gets well soon.
Upcoming games this week: Game 3 is Saturday, May 6th in Utah. Game 4 is Monday, May 8th in Utah. Game 5 (if necessary) is Wednesday, May 10th in Oakland.
The Weekly Seen
West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz.
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“Dead Transient Found on Main Beach”
As I recall, the deceased showed no evidence of being shot or stabbed. There was no sign of blunt force trauma. He was just dead. Suspicious death? Sure. Murder? Maybe? I’m still stuck on how a person can be arrested on murder charges when there is absolutely no evidence of a murder occurring. Is the guy who was arrested a person of interest? You bet. Somewhere out there is a lawyer who is going to make a lot of money from this.
I think if there was no evidence of murder, SCPD wouldn’t have arrested him. He got his due process here. He had a preliminary hearing in front of a judge who set bail at $750K. SCPD has no control over that. If there was no evidence, the DA would have dismissed it before he saw the judge. Or the judge would have dismissed it. There was probable cause. I don’t think he has any kind of case to sue for false arrest here. People get arrested all the time only to see their charges dropped. Ask Sugar Mama! I still think something smells funny here and it’s not the bum they let go. A witness saw the guy fight with and choke the victim hours before he died. How much more do you need to at least get an arrest to stick in this town? Thanks again for reading and commenting Big J.
You can be arrested for felony hit and run and get out of jail with $1,000 in cash to post bail? Life is cheap in this town.
It’s one more example of our broken court system locally. Almost kill a woman in a felony hit and run DUI? No problem. In Santa Cruz, you’ll be back on the road the next day. Thanks again Mabel.
The victim of the Hit-and-run has succumbed to her injuries. According the the Sheriff’s “Inmate Locator” the driver is still incarcerated. Let’s hope the Justice system performs properly.