The Indo-Chinese Muslim Association, in partnership with the Cambodian Family and Team Property Management, will be hosting a U.S. Census Festival today, from 12 noon to 4 pm, at Biship Manor, located at 1001 E. Grant St., in Santa Ana.
There will be games, raffles and prizes. Bring your family and friends to enjoy lots of fun activities and learn more about the U.S. Census.
Bring your Census form for any help in filling it out.
Half of Councilman David Benavides’ Commission appointees live in Ward 3. He represents Ward 4.
David Benavides is one of three Santa Ana Council members up for re-election this November. He represents Ward 4, which is highlighted in red in the Ward Map shown above. I found it shocking that he appointed Julie Stroud to the Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Commission, given her longstanding animus for immigrants, so I thought I would review who else he has appointed to our City Commissions.
When Nelida Yanez ran for the Santa Ana City Council in 2006, she enjoyed the support of Santa Ana Council Members Sal Tinajero and Claudia Alvarez. Yanez lost, with 34% of the vote, according to Smart Voter.
Now Nelida, and her husband Joe, have turned on their former allies and are supporting the mayoral campaign of Alfredo Amezcua, who is challenging incumbent Mayor Miguel Pulido.
The Yanez family is hosting a fundraiser for Amezcua on March 27, from 3-5 pm, at 1125 South Sullivan, in Santa Ana. See the graphic above for RSVP info.
To further convolute things, the supporters of the guy who beat Yanez in 2006, David Benavides, are now supporting Amezcua as well. These supporters include Thomas Gordon, who is also running for the Santa Ana City Council this year. Continue reading
California State Assemblyman Jose Solorio cordially invites you to attend TWO upcoming events:
Below is more information regarding each event:
10th Annual Cesar E. Chavez State Holiday Celebration
Please join Assemblyman Jose Solorio, Santa Ana Councilmember Vincent Sarmiento , SOLEVAR Executive Director Seferino Garcia , and community leaders to celebrate the life and legacy of Cesar E. Chavez. Continue reading
Join SACReD for a Community Day of Action, where hundreds of Santa Ana residents and community members will come together to celebrate community pride, culture, history, and neighborhood roots.
Event: Community Day of Action in Santa Ana
What: Festival
Start Time: Sunday, March 28 at 11:00am
End Time: Sunday, March 28 at 5:00pm
Where: Garfield Elementary School
Santa Ana residents want a healthy community, a good future for children and families, where they are a part of building that future. Proposed plans about the neighborhood will be highlighted all day: cultural and historic preservation, open space, affordable housing, protection for small businesses and all workers, safety, but most importantly being at the table when important decisions are being made about their future. Continue reading
If cost is the issue, the City of Santa Ana could turn the little-used Lawn Bowling Center into a dog park for less than $10K
I was invited to attend tonight’s Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, by the Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Agency’s director, Gerardo Mouet. His staff unveiled their dog park feasibility study tonight, to the Commissioners. The results were a mixed bag.
Mind you that the proposal tonight was merely to study the idea of a dog park – not to actually commit to building one. Nevertheless, at least two of the Commissioners already had their minds made up to oppose the feasibility study.
Commissioner Julie Stroud was the first one to attack the idea. She said it was too expensive – even though my own research found that the City of Costa Mesa dog park is in the black, to the tune of $24,000, and it is run by a non-profit board. Stroud cited the $258,000 spent by the City of Mission Viejo on their dog park. That information was sent to the Commissioners by part-time Santa Ana resident and government worker Thomas Gordon, who announced this week that he is running for Ward 6 on the Santa Ana City Council. Click here to read Gordon’s email message to the Parks and Rec Agency.
Gordon and Stroud failed to note that the City of Mission Viejo is known for wasting tax money in ridiculous fashion. They also spent $300,000 on a Rose Parade float! Their last Mayor, Lance MacLean, was in fact recalled this year, in part because of his wastesful ways. Red County, the blog Gordon writes for, supported MacLean. Continue reading
For Immediate Release: March 23, 2010
Contact: Priscilla Luviano Cell: (714) 488-3860
“Good Jobs Now Rally” Tell Bank of America and Chase to PAY UP!
Who: Orange County Labor Federation and angry working men and women
What: The reckless greed of big Wall Street banks such as Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase helped wreck the American economy and kill American jobs. While working families lost jobs, homes, retirement savings and hope, Wall Street took $700
billion in taxpayer bailouts and went right back to business as usual. They choked up credit, handed about $145 billion in pay and bonuses to their executives who tanked our economy and hired an army of lobbyists to fight financial reform. Our nation is 11 million jobs in the hole. Hard working Americans are angry, frustrated and fed up! We need good jobs now. It’s time to make the big Wall Street banks pay. Continue reading
Photo from file: State Senator Lou Correa addressing National Victims Rights during march to the State Capitol last year
For Immediate Release: March 23, 2010
Contact: Lina Hamilton (916) 651-4034
Correa’s Bill to Strengthen Sentences for Sex Offenders
SB 1037 will give courts discretionary sentencing ability, particularly in cases of high risk sex offenders and sexually violent predators.
SACRAMENTO, CA- State Senator Lou Correa (Orange County) has introduced Senate Bill 1037 (SB 1037) to allow courts the ability to order full term sentences, particularly in certain aggravated cases involving violent sexual offenders.
“A crime against a child is despicable, especially sex violent crimes in which young victims’ lives are lost or change beyond repair, are morally reprehensible,” said Senator Lou Correa. “We need to make sure that we do everything we can to keep violent child predators off the streets and enable our justice and law enforcement systems with laws that will serve justice to victims and their families.” Continue reading
My dog Sparky wants to know if we are getting a dog park in Santa Ana
The Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Agency will be presenting a proposal to conduct a dog park feasibility study at the Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Commission meeting this Wednesday, March 24, at 5:30 pm, at the Santa Ana Senior Center, located at 424 W. Third St.
Click here to read the agenda for the meeting. The dog park feasibility memo is included after the agenda.
The study will include: Potential Sites; Operation Options/Models; a Communications Plan; Potential Costs; and a Timeline.
What is attractive about the dog park concept is that it does not cost much to establish one. And other dog parks in Orange County have been able to raise all of their operating costs from local businesses and dog advocates. Dog Parks also offer folks somewhere to go with their dogs – and we have over 11,000 licensed dogs in town. And our surrounding cities all have very successful dog parks.
Some of the sites that the study is exploring include Santiago Park; Centennial Park; Thornton Park; Heritage Park and Delhi Park.
Santa Ana’s Park and Recreation Commissioners include: Continue reading
Photo: From left to right: Jerry Amante, OCTA Chairman of the Board of Directors; Nadia Villafana, Field Representative for Assemblyman Jose Solorio; Senator Bob Haff ( Diamond Bar); Senator Lou Correa (Orange County); and Will Kempton OCTA Chief Executive Officer
For Immediate Release: March 22, 2010
Contact: Tammy Tran (714) 558-4400
SANTA ANA – Senator Lou Correa, Senator Bob Huff, and Assemblyman Jose Solorio were recognized today for their work on protecting $102 million in transportation funding for the county by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors. Senator Correa was a key advocate for Assembly Bill (AB) X8-11 signed by the Governor on March 8, 2010, to allow local agencies flexibility to use local funds for a project approved for funding by Proposition 116.
Jerry Amante, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Will Kempton, Chief Executive Officer, presented the resolution in honor of Senator Correa’s time, effort, and dedication in steering AB X8-11 through a difficult special session, achieving broad consensus and defusing opposition.
“And I have a lot sleepless nights over the prospect that a large chunk of money was hanging out there during this time of difficult budget decisions in Sacramento,” said Kempton. Continue reading
A reader asked us to compile a list of Santa Ana’s private schools. But let’s start with Santa Ana’s charter schools, which are publicly funded but are run independently.
The Santa Ana Unified School District’s website does include a list of the local charter schools, which include:
The SAUSD is in denial about the persistently low performing public schools in Santa Ana
If you glance at the Santa Ana Unified School District’s website, you might come away thinking everything in the district is great. Headlines include: “Academic Achievement Abounds;” “Measure G Facility Improvements;” and “SAUSD Congratulates its Top Educators of the Year.”
There is no mention of the fact that four of the seven Santa Ana High Schools have been placed on the State of California’s “Persistently Low Performing” list, necessitating massive changes which might include transferring teachers, replacing administrators and even the possibility of becoming charter schools.
But check out what overmatched SAUSD Superintendent Jane Russo has to say on her website, under the headline, “Success is the Standard:”
We are dedicated to high academic achievement, in a scholarly and supportive environment, ensuring that all students are prepared to accomplish their goals in life. Failure is Unacceptable! Success is the Standard…It’s Up to Us All!
Is it just me or is Russo in complete denial? Continue reading
In two years, Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a Republican, is going to have to run for re-election. She only won by three votes, back in 2007. She won a full four year term in 2008. However, since then she has antagonized voters numerous times.
In her latest gaffe, she has upset most of Little Saigon by taking over this year’s Black April event, which commemorates what happened when Vietnam fell to the communists and the people had to flee, many of them arriving here in California.
Rumor has it that popular Assemblyman Jose Solorio, who is a Democrat, will be challenging Nguyen for the First Supervisorial District, in 2012, when, coincidentally, he will term out of the State Assembly.
Solorio represents the Cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana, in the State Legislature. Those same cities are in the First Supervisorial District. Continue reading
Remember the San Patricios: a History of Mexican and Keltic Solidarity A Lecture presented by the Tonantzin Collective and the Mexica Movement. Presented on Saturday, March 20, from 3pm-9pm, at El Centro Cultural de México, located at 310 W. 5th Street, in Santa Ana.
English Language Program (5:30-9pm)
This event is free. Food and beverages will be available for a donation to benefit El Centro Cultural de México. No vendors please. For more info: (714)381-5331. www.mexica-movement.org. Continue reading
KABC T.V. news reported on Wednesday that a teenage girl was attacked in a parking lot at John Adams Park, which is next door to John Adams Elementary School, by a man who stabbed her in the chest and grabbed her, trying to force her to kiss him.
We have been warning for some time that our parks are full of perverts. Our blog reported that men were lurking at Santiago Park, and sure enough the SAPD arrested nine of them a few weeks ago, by using a decoy in a sting operation.
We also reported here the fact that there are over 200 registered sex offenders living in Santa Ana.
Now a teenage girl has been victimized and she might well have ended up murdered. And here is the weird part. The Santa Ana Police Department is NOT including this story on their online alert system, called Citizen Observer.
Why the cover-up? Continue reading