New Santa Ana

The City of Santa Ana reminds us to stop putting illegal signs in the public right of way

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Santa Ana Leave a comment

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community: Violators Beware: Illegal Signs in the Public Right-of-Way / Infractores Tengan Cuidado – Anuncios y Carteles Ilegales

The City of Santa Ana has regulations in place to protect our neighborhoods and major thoroughfares from blight or unsightly conditions potentially caused by illegal signs. The Santa Ana Municipal Code prohibits advertising on public property, including but not limited to posting signs or posters on curbs, utility poles, traffic signals, and trees. If you’re caught posting signs in a right-of-way, you can be ticketed up to a $1,000 citation per location.

Recently, the City of Santa Ana conducted a targeted sweep, resulting in the removal of over 400 illegal signs from our streets along with several citations issued. The City has also added an “Illegal Signs” reporting function to the MySantaAna mobile app where the public can report illegal signs as a service request to have the signage removed. Continue reading→

The new Santa Ana Olive Garden location is opening up this Wednesday

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana 6 Comments

The popular Olive Garden restaurant at the MainPlace Mall closed on Sunday night after some 30 years at that location. The good news is that their new restaurant is opening this Wednesday, at 11 a.m., across the street at the City Place, at 2791 N. Main St.

Parking at the City Place is awful but folks will be able to park at the MainPlace Mall and just walk across the street to the City Place. Or even park just north of the City Place at the shopping center where Barnes and Noble is located. Continue reading→

Santa Ana man gets 11 years in prison for stabbing a man to death at Underground DTSA

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Remember when the gentrifiers promised that DTSA would be so much better and safer without all those Mexican bars? Well today Juan Angel Rivera, a 23-year old Santa Ana man who stabbed Nathan Alfaro, a fellow concert-goer, to death during a punk show at the Underground DTSA, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, according to the O.C. Register.

Rivera could have been sentenced to either probation or the minimum term of three years in prison. Instead Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick H. Donahue gave him a far more severe sentence. Donahue noted in his comments that Rivera had an abnormal fascination with knives. Continue reading→

Mexican national with 27 aliases convicted of killing a woman in Irvine in 1992

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, irvine, OCDA, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Case # 00SF0657

Date: July 14, 2017

FORMER FUGITIVE SENTENCED TO 35 YEARS TO LIFE IN STATE PRISON FOR 1992 COLD CASE MURDER OF 19-YEAR-OLD WOMAN

*Defendant fled to Mexico and was extradited 10 years later

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man who was extradited to Orange County from Mexico was sentenced today to 35 years to life in state prison for murdering a 19-year-old woman in 1992.

Defendant: Leonardo Pimentel Sanchez, 59, Mexico City, Mexico

Found guilty by a jury on May 22, 2017, of one felony count of: Continue reading→

Rojas filed a claim against the City of Santa Ana after he quickly angered his new bosses at BART

Posted on July 15, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Carlos Rojas, Crime, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Do you remember when former SAPD Police Chief Carlos Rojas quit the SAPD to go be the Chief at BART (the Bay Area Rapid Transit System in San Francisco and Oakland)? At the time Rojas said his new job was a “fun” challenge. “I’m excited and humbled to have been selected to lead such a progressive police department,” he said.

Well it did not take Rojas long to anger his new employers!

“Not long after Rojas started work in late May, he made the decision to stop issuing daily curated email reports on police calls at BART, which described in short paragraphs the reported crime and the department’s response, and instead, to send BART crime information to the free online tool, CrimeMapping.com,” according to the Mercury News. Continue reading→

Two pedestrians were hit by a juvenile DUI driver near several Santa Ana schools

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alcohol, Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Five juveniles were injured after an underage, unlicensed driver suspected of driving under the influence struck two pedestrians in Santa Ana on Thursday, according to ABC News.

The driver, who was not licensed, was speeding along the 1600 block of South Greenville Street at about 11 a.m. when he lost control of the silver Honda Accord, striking two juvenile pedestrians then crashing into a pole, according to the OC Register.

The crash occurred nearby several schools including Godinez High School, Carl Harvey Elementary School, and Carr Intermediate School. Continue reading→

New acting SAPD Police chief Valentin announces a plan to crack down on the gangs

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Valentin, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SANTA ANA POLICE IMPLEMENTS PLAN FOR INCREASED 7-DAY A WEEK GANG SUPPRESSION STRATEGY

Santa Ana, CA – JULY 13, 2017. Working to combat gang violence in Santa Ana, today Acting Chief David Valentin released a gang suppression plan. This plan is a coordinated suppression strategy in response to the City’s seven gang-related homicides and other documented gang related crimes, thus far in 2017, that targets gang related offenders and the most violent gangs. The core of the Department’s strategy will include the redeployment of officers from throughout the department to field gang activity suppression. Officers deployed to the department’s anti-gang units, will provide seven day a week coverage, enhancing the current strategy of four days a week coverage. Continue reading→

Trump picked a 19-year old realtor to decide who gets drafted in Orange County

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Anaheim, Federal Government, Military, Politics, Republican Party Leave a comment

Mark Vladimir Prizmic, a 19-year-old Realtor from Anaheim, California, was recently appointed by president Trump to serve as the new board member of the Orange County Selective Service System (SSS) Board.

According to the official site of the United States Government: Selective Service System, the mission statement of the SSS is “to furnish manpower to the Defense Department during a national emergency, to manage alternative service for men classified as conscientious objectors, and to register, with only a few exceptions, all male U.S. citizens and male immigrants residing in the United States who are ages 18 through 25…”. Continue reading→

A possibly armed suspect is barricaded in a home in Tustin

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Tustin Leave a comment

Tustin police are investigating a possible suspect barricaded inside a home Wednesday morning, July 12, at the 13000th block of North Yorba, according to the O.C. Register.

The incident began this morning at around 9 a.m. when a disagreement between two unidentified people led to one of them calling the Tustin Police to report that the other person was armed, according to the Tustin Police. Continue reading→

A fire damaged a landscaping business in Santa Ana last night

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Fires, OCFA, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Picture courtesy of the OCFA

A total of 44 firefighters from the OCFA and the Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa fire departments battled a fire last night outside a landscaping business, Wm. Vandergeest Landscape Care, at the 1900 block of South Yale St., in Santa Ana, not far from Centennial Park, according to the O.C. Register.

The fire began as several vehicles parked outside of the landscaping business caught fire. Then the fire spread to the building, according to the OCFA. Continue reading→

The SAUSD’s statement on the arrest of Segerstrom H.S. coach Tracey Steven Fulford

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Santa Ana, SAUSD Leave a comment

Contact: Deidra Powell, Chief Communications Officer, (714) 558-5555 Office, (714) 673-4995 Mobile

Santa Ana Unified School District’s Statement on the Arrest of Tracey Steven Fulford

SANTA ANA, CA (July 10, 2017) – Santa Ana Unified School District was notified, July 9, 2017 that Tracy Steven Fulford, a walk-on Basketball Coach at Segerstrom High School, was arrested and booked for allegations of sexual misconduct with a former student. These allegations are being taken seriously and are in direct conflict of the District’s zero-tolerance policy relating to staff misconduct, in which all district employees are held at the highest ethical standards. This includes reporting any suspicious activity involving abuse or neglect of a child directly to authorities, as mandated by law. Failure to do so is a criminal violation of the law. Continue reading→

The OCDA strongly opposes three CA State Senate bills that increase crime in California

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in california, Crime, OCDA, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 10, 2017

SB-10, SB-421, SB-620

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY STRONGLY OPPOSES STATE SENATE PROPOSED BILLS THAT CHANGE FIREARM ENHANCEMENTS, PRETRIAL RELEASE, AND SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) strongly opposes three California State Senate bills that change firearm sentencing enhancement requirements, bail and pretrial release, and sex offender registration. Crime victims’ rights leaders Dr. Henry T. Nicholas III (Marsy’s Law) and Erin Runnion (The Joyful Child Foundation) joined the OCDA at the news conference to voice their opinions. Continue reading→

The SAPD is looking for an overweight suspect who has robbed two Arco gas stations

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: Detectives Asking For Media & Publics Assistance In Identifying Armed Robbery Suspect

Crime Type: PC 211—Armed Robbery (Black Handgun)

Synopsis: On 7/6/2017 at approximately 11:30 p.m., the suspect committed an armed robbery at the Arco Gas Station located in the 1700 block of East Dyer Road. Approximately an hour and a half later, the same suspect committed another armed robbery at the Arco located in the 3400 block of South Main Street. Continue reading→

The Santa Ana Parent Union’s next Movie Night will feature Waiting for Superman, on 7/27

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Education, Family, Movies, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The Santa Ana Parent Union is hosting their next free Movie Night on Thursday, July 27, 2017, at 6:30 p.m., at El Zocalo Restaurant, located at 301 N. Tustin Ave., in Santa Ana. The featured movie will be “Waiting for Superman.”

Waiting for ‘Superman’ is the highly acclaimed documentary directed by Davis Guggenheim and produced by Participant Media about the serious challenges facing the American education system. Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our public-education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children and is buckling. Continue reading→

Two Santa Ana gang members were arrested after a police pursuit on Sunday night

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Gangs, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Shortly before 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Santa Ana police tried to stop a vehicle for various violations including no license plate and no seatbelts, according to NBC News.

The driver, a documented gang member who was later identified as Jesus Arturo Martinez, refused to pull over so the police began to pursue his vehicle on local streets at speeds that topped 90 mph. At one point the suspect even drove the wrong way on the street, according to the SAPD. Continue reading→

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana’s playgrounds, volleyball courts and tennis courts to close

March 31, 2020 - Civic Affairs, Disease, Emergencies, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety, Santa Ana, Sports, Youth Activities - No Comments

The County of Orange has launched an Economic & Business Recovery Call Center

March 31, 2020 - Business, Disease, Emergencies, Orange County, Santa Ana - No Comments

Santa Ana businesses can get help from a Small Business Incentive Grant

March 31, 2020 - Business, Civic Affairs, Emergencies, Santa Ana - No Comments

Understanding Santa Ana’s moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures

March 31, 2020 - Business, Disease, Emergencies, Housing, Real Estate, Santa Ana - No Comments

Google Ad

Thai Viet Phan for the Santa Ana City Council

Help stop COVID-19!