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Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: pocha pena

Who you will be voting for in November for the Santa Ana City Council and the SAUSD School Board

Posted on by Posted in 2018 elections, Angie Rosario Cano, Art Pedroza, Ballot Measures, Bond Measures, Cecilia Aguinaga, Cecilia Iglesias, Civic Affairs, David Penaloza, Education, Irma Macias, John Palacio, Miguel Pulido, Mirna Velasquez, Nelida Mendoza-Yanez, Paul Gonzalez, Phil Bacerra, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Sandra Pena, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Valerie Amezcua 6 Comments

When I spoke with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido earlier this week he was not yet sure if he was going to run for what will be his last two-year term. Since them Pulido has indeed pulled papers and he will be on the November 6 ballot. He will face off against termed-out Santa Ana City Councilman Sal Tinajero, who has been garnering a lot of media attention of late due to his leadership of the SAUSD Debate Team. The path for Tinajero was cleared when his colleague, Mayor Pro Tem Michele Martinez, opted to not run for Mayor after all. She too is terming out from the Santa Ana City Council.

No question about it – the Tinajero versus Pulido race will be the big contest in the General Election. But the race for Santa Ana’s Ward 2 will also be sure to garner a lot of attention as no less than six candidates have pulled papers. Here are the Ward 2 candidates: Continue reading→

Local arts leader argues that crime in DTSA is on the rise

Posted on by Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Crime in DTSA

When Ellie Soto, a student at Santa Ana College, posted this on Facebook: “The community of Santa Ana is asking for more green spaces and less drinking spaces. The city may have an increase in sales, business license, and income but it has become a very dangerous city to be in,” Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides immediately responded – “Really? Santa Ana has become a ‘very dangerous city to be in’? I would be very interested to see the statistics that the persons that are making this claim have to support this theory. In fact, Santa Ana crime statistics have been on a nose dive the last few years, in fact the OC Register wrote about it not too long ago. If someone has statistics that prove the OC Register or the SAPD wrong please present them to me, that would be very concerning to me.”

The response, from none other than local arts leader Pocha Pena, was downright incredible: Continue reading→

Update 2.0: Who killed the Plaza Santa Ana mural?

Posted on by Posted in Alicia Rojas, Arts and Culture, Santa Ana 17 Comments

An early sketch of the Plaza Santa Ana Community Mural

The artist group Workshop for Community Arts organized eight artists to paint a Plaza Santa Ana mural at the intersection of 4th and French streets by Dec. 13, according to the O.C. Register.

We promoted the WCA’s call for artists in a post we published on Sep 4, 2013

But the mural isn’t going to happen after all – it was killed by the current Acting City Manager of Santa Ana, Carlos Rojas, who is also the City’s Police Chief.

The question is – who killed the mural? And was that maybe for the best? Continue reading→

OC Film Fiesta Continues with Green Docs, Lucha LIbre and Tin Tan Tribute

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Entertainment, Latinos, Movies, Santa Ana Leave a comment

For Immediate Release: September 12, 2012
Contact: Sandra “Pocha” Peña
Email: info@ocfilmfiesta.org
Phone: 619-701-0073
Festival website: www.ocfilmfiesta.org

OC Film Fiesta Continues with Green Docs, Lucha LIbre and Tin Tan Tribute

Final Weekend of Free Festival Coincides with Fiestas Patrias Celebration in Santa Ana

The 3rd Annual OC Film Fiesta comes to a fun-filled close this weekend with a celebration of legendary Mexican film comedian Tin Tan and boogie woogie dance party, the OC Premiere of Carlos Avila’s lucha libre documentary and the classic Mexican wrestler film El Santo en el museo de cera (El Santo in the Wax Museum). Continue reading→

Santa Ana Film Fiesta celebrates Latino heritage, from Sep. 4-19

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Entertainment, Latinos, mexico, Movies, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The Santa Ana Film Fiesta is a film festival component of The City of Santa Ana’s 2010 “Fiestas Patrias – Fiestas de Independencia” Mexican Bicentennial events. It’s a celebration of the Santa Ana’s Latino heritage through cinema and an educational tour of Santa Ana’s historic roots.

Opening night is on Sep. 4, at 5 pm.  The festival will continue through Sep. 19.  Watch Busby Berkeley’s classic 42nd Street, starring Bebe Daniels, plus a vintage car show, at the Old OC Courthouse, located at 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd., in downtown Santa Ana.  Click here for the full Film Fiesta schedule.

This unity-building event will provide downtown audiences, both new arrivals and traditional families, with entertaining events throughout the City of Santa Ana that deepen relationships with local cultural groups, businesses, colleges and the film industry.

Every year, over 200,000 visitors attend Santa Ana’s “Fiestas de Independencia” Mexican Independence Day festivities centered along historic 4th Street, “La Calle Cuatro.” This year will feature musical artists Aleks Syntek, Maria Jose, Paty Cantu and Elefante. The Santa Ana Film Fiesta will add a vital new dimension to these traditional festivities by celebrating Santa Ana’s cultural diversity through a selection of feature films, documentaries and shorts.

Join us for this year’s new and dynamic Film Fiesta, a cinema celebration in the historic heart of downtown OC!

The Santa Ana Film Fiesta will be produced by Sandra Peña Sarmiento (aka “Pocha Peña”), an award-winning filmmaker, artist and writer who has directed film festivals in California and Texas. Sandra is the founder of POCHARTE Gallery, an influential arts space which operated for several years in Santa Ana’s Santora Building.

For more info visit http://www.ocfilmfiesta.org/ for more information

Click here to RSVP on Facebook.