Santa Ana's top news & views blog

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 City of Santa Ana is closing its playgrounds, volleyball courts and tennis courts beginning Wednesday, April 1, in order to prevent gatherings and protect the public from COVID-19. The City has already shuttered its enclosed parks, recreation and other facilities and canceled all programs and classes except the take-out senior meals program. Those include:…

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The County of Orange has launched an Economic & Business Recovery Call Center
March 31, 2020 - Business, Disease, Emergencies, Orange County, Santa Ana - No Comments

Effective March 30, Orange County Community Services has implemented a call center to meet the needs of businesses impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Economic & Business Recovery Call Center will offer information and resources to help Orange County businesses navigate the current economic climate. These resources will support businesses with challenges such…

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Santa Ana businesses can get help from a Small Business Incentive Grant
March 31, 2020 - Business, Civic Affairs, Emergencies, Santa Ana - No Comments

The City of Santa Ana is offering a grant of $2,500 to $5,000 for Santa Ana-based microenterprises through the Santa Ana Small Business Incentive Program. Applicants must qualify for the Small Business Incentive Grant. Details are available at www.santa-ana.org/SBIP. Eligibility Qualifications The program provides a reimbursement grant for eligible businesses on a first-come, first-served basis. Grant…

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Understanding Santa Ana’s moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures
March 31, 2020 - Business, Disease, Emergencies, Housing, Real Estate, Santa Ana - No Comments

The City of Santa Ana has created webpages in English, Spanish and Vietnamese to help residential and commercial tenants understand the City and State moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The webpages include frequently asked questions, a sample letter that renters can use to advise their landlord of their inability to pay…

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Thai Viet Phan for the Santa Ana City Council

Help stop COVID-19!

Santa Ana man arrested by the Irvine Police for stealing high-end jewelry

Posted on by Posted in Crime, irvine, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Daniel Cervantes, a 27-year-old man who lived in Santa Ana with his parents was arrested by the Irvine Police tonight on suspicion of stealing high-end jewelry, including an engagement ring from 1892, from at least four people who asked them to do work on the pieces, according to the O.C. Register.

Cervantes, a former employee at Nathan Alan Jewelers, told the victims that he could polish or resize their engagement or wedding rings. However he would never return the jewelry to his customers – even after they paid him for his services. Continue reading→

Possible kidnapper fled from the SAPD but then crashed his car into a tree in Irvine

Posted on by Posted in Crime, irvine, Santa Ana 1 Comment

A man believed to be a possible kidnapper was arrested by the SAPD  after leading them on a fifteen minute police pursuit on Wednesday night, that ended at about 11:30 p.m. The pursuit ended in a crash at the 4000 block of El Camino Real in Irvine, according to Mynewsla.

The suspect, an unidentified man, was briefly trapped in his car after he crashed it into a tree, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading→

If you live in Santa Ana which local school district is the best one for your kids?

Posted on by Posted in Education, irvine, Santa Ana, Tustin 13 Comments

Do you live in Santa Ana? If you have kids then you need to know that you don’t have to put them in our local schools. That said there are some fine schools in Santa Ana. But are they the best ones for your kids?

Parents are allowed to indicate a preference for the school which their child will attend, irrespective of the child’s place of residence within the district. And surrounding school districts have to honor this parental preference if their schools have sufficient capacity without displacing other currently enrolled students, according to California Education Code Section 35160.5(b).

So what school districts are the best ones in our area? Continue reading→

Santa Ana man who sodomized a 3-year old girl re-sentenced to 25 years to life in prison

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana 1 Comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

Case # 14CF1874

Date: January 31, 2017

COURT OF APPEAL REVERSES TRIAL JUDGE’S ILLEGAL SENTENCE OF MAN WHO SODOMIZED TODDLER

*Defendant was originally sentenced to 10 years in state prison; court remands case for defendant to be sentenced to 25 years to life

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One reversed a trial judge’s illegal 10 year sentence for a man who sodomized a toddler and ordered the judge to impose the mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto, 21, was found guilty by a jury on Dec. 3, 2014 of one felony count of sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child 10 years or younger and one felony count of lewd acts upon a child under 14. His resentencing date is to be determined.

“The Orange County District Attorney’s Office applauds the decision by the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, which recognizes that the Legislature’s mandated punishment of 25 years to life for committing sodomy on a toddler is a constitutionally valid sentence designed to protect the most vulnerable victims in our community,” Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas stated. “This was a good day for child victims of brutal sex assaults and the People of Orange County.” Continue reading→

A vigil will be held on Jan. 31 in memory of Steve Salgado, who was shot by the SAPD

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

The family of Steve Salgado, an 18-year old young man who was shot to death by the SAPD’s gang unit on Jan 29, 2017, at 5:00 p.m. on 400 South Birch Street, in Santa Ana, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his funeral.

A witness to the incident, as seen in the video above, said that Salgado ran from the police because he did not want to go back to jail as he would miss his daughter.  Continue reading→

Burritos La Palma is opening a new restaurant in Santa Ana in February

Posted on by Posted in Food, Food Trucks, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Burritos La Palma is opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Santa Ana at 410 N. Bristol St., on the corner of N. Bristol St. and Santa Ana Blvd., in mid-February, according to the OC Weekly.

Burritos La Palma currently operates a full restaurant in South El Monte and a popular food truck in Santa Ana, featuring food inspired by Jerez, Zacatecas. Continue reading→

Santa Ana man acted in self defense when he killed his sister’s boyfriend, according to his attorney

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Adan Rodriguez Leon, a 34-year old Santa Ana man who is on trial for shooting his sister’s boyfriend to death during an argument is finally getting to tell his side of the story, as his defense attorney is arguing that he acted in self-defense, according to the O.C. Register.

Leon is facing a felony murder charge for killing 39-year old Paul Guzman, 39, in 2015. Continue reading→

A man was shot and wounded early this morning at Santa Ana’s Casa Del Rey bar

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 4 Comments

Casa Del Rey in Santa Ana

An unidentified man was shot once in his torso after he reportedly got into a fist fight with two other men, just past midnight this morning, outside of the Casa Del Rey, a bar located at the 200 block of West Warner Avenue, according to the O.C. Register.

As is often the case in these shootings both the victim and the shooter had fled from the scene before SAPD police officers had arrived. However a short time later the Irvine police notified the SAPD that a shooting victim had driven himself to their city, according to SAPD Case Number 17-02759. Continue reading→

Steve Salgado was shot dead this afternoon in Santa Ana’s Heninger Park Neighborhood

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that left a young man named Steve Salgado dead on Sunday afternoon at around 5 p.m. at 500 South Birch St., in Santa Ana. At least four blocks of Broadway were closed during the SAPD’s investigation according to one of our readers.

Apparently SAPD gang detail detectives either made a car stop in an alley or encountered a car in an alley with two occupants. For some reason the passenger from the car, Salgado, allegedly took off on foot through the neighborhood, and the police officers chased him on foot. Then for some unknown reason he was shot and killed by one of the SAPD police officers, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading→

Santa Ana woman arrested for mail theft in Murrieta

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Murrieta Police Department Murrieta Police Department

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PRESS RELEASE 1701M-5789

Subject : Call from Citizen Leads to Arrest for Mail Theft

Contact : Tony Conrad 951-461-6309, tconrad@murrieta.org

On 1/26/17 at approximately 4:24 a.m., the Murrieta Police Department received a phone call from an observant citizen regarding subjects seen going through mailboxes in the area of Silkwood Court and Spinning Wheel Drive. The caller was able to provide a description of the vehicle that dropped the subjects off, as well as a direction of travel of the subjects who were on foot. The first of several officers arrived in the area within four minutes of the phone call and observed four individuals walking on Spinning Wheel Drive, as the caller had described. The four subjects were detained by the officer while the incoming units continued to check the area for the vehicle described by the caller, as well as any possible outstanding subjects. Continue reading→

Altamed is providing free health insurance enrollment help this weekend in Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in california, Health and Medical, Insurance, Santa Ana Leave a comment

LAST CHANCE: FREE ENROLLMENT ASSISTANCE IN ORANGE COUNTY ON SATURDAY, JAN. 28 AND SUNDAY, JAN. 29 AS DEADLINE TO SIGN UP FOR OBAMACARE COVERAGE APPROACHES

January 31 Marks Official Deadline to Sign up for Obamacare Coverage Effective throughout 2017; AltaMed Health Services to Offer Free Enrollment Assistance for Orange County Residents

WHO/WHAT: January 31 marks the deadline to sign up for Covered California health care coverage that is effective throughout 2017. On Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

AltaMed Health Services, the largest network of Federally Qualified Community Health Centers in Southern California, will provide the public with free health insurance enrollment and renewal assistance at its Health Insurance Resource Center in Santa Ana. Multilingual certified enrollment counselors will be available to assist the public. Continue reading→

A man was wounded in another shooting early this morning on Santa Ana’s west side

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Rojas, Crime, Juan Villegas, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Shooting at 100 South Mountain View in Santa Ana

On Friday morning, January 27 at about 1 a.m. SAPD police officers responded to the area of 100 South Mountain View after receiving calls about a shooting.

Witnesses reported an altercation between two males and minutes later a male checked into a local hospital for emergency care with a gunshot wound, according to SAPD Case # 17-02529. Continue reading→

Two men from Colorado sentenced for pimping a 17-year old girl in Orange County

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

January 27, 2017

Case # 16NF0951

TWO COLORADO MEN SENTENCED TO FIVE AND EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR TRAFFICKING, PIMPING, AND PANDERING 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Two Colorado men were sentenced to five and eight years in state prison today for human trafficking, pimping, and pandering a 17-year-old girl. Jahsee Elan Brewster, 33, Denver, Colorado, and Clifton Haralson, 34, Colorado, were found guilty by a jury on Nov. 16, 2016, of one felony count of human trafficking of a minor, one felony count of pimping a minor, one felony count of pandering by procuring, and one felony count of carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in public. Brewster was sentenced to five years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration, and Haralson was sentenced today to eight years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.

Co-defendant Jovon Andrew Williams, 21, Denver, Colorado, pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2016, to one felony count of pandering and was sentenced on Nov. 18, 2016, to three years in state prison. Continue reading→

Santa Ana man on trial after killing his sister’s boyfriend and fleeing to Mexico

Posted on by Posted in Crime, mexico, OCDA, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

Case # 15CF0763

Date: January 27, 2017

MAN TO FACE TRIAL FOR SHOOTING-MURDER OF SISTER’S BOYFRIEND BEFORE FLEEING TO MEXICO

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man is scheduled to face trial on Monday for the shooting-murder of his sister’s boyfriend before fleeing to Mexico. Adan Rodriguez Leon, 34, Santa Ana, was charged on April 13, 2015, with one felony count of murder and a sentencing enhancement for personal discharge of a firearm causing death. If convicted, Leon faces a maximum sentence of 52 years to life in state prison. The defendant is being held on $5 million bail, and opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-44, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on April 8, 2015, Leon is accused of going to the home of his sister’s boyfriend, 39-year-old Paul Guzman, in Santa Ana. The defendant is accused of contacting Guzman and walking down the sidewalk with him. Leon is accused of pulling out a loaded firearm, shooting the victim multiple times, and fleeing the scene. Continue reading→

Olive Garden is leaving the MainPlace Mall and moving to the City Place

Posted on by Posted in Business, Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The MainPlace Mall took two more hits this week as Olive Garden announced that they are closing the restaurant they have had at that mall for over 25 years, and the clothing store Chico’s also closed down this week, according to the O.C. Register.

The good news is that the Olive Garden is staying in Santa Ana – they are literally moving across the street from the MainPlace Mall to the City Place, where they are taking over the vacancy that was left when McCormick & Schmick’s closed that location five years ago. Continue reading→