Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Santa Ana

The SAUSD’s Superintendent welcomes students back to school

Posted on by Posted in Education, Rick Miller, Santa Ana, SAUSD 1 Comment

SAUSD Superintendent Dr. RIck Miller

One of my complaints about the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) over the years has been that they communicate via phone for the most part and don’t usually email the parents.  But today is the first day of the new school year and the SAUSD’s Superintendent, Dr. Rick Miller, sent out an email to parents with useful information for the new school year – including the introduction of the district’s new smart phone app!

Here is Dr. Miller’s Back to School message:

Greetings,

I am Rick Miller, Superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District. I hope you have had a good Labor Day Weekend with your family as well as a restful, productive summer. I am looking forward to working with you as the new school year begins on Tuesday. Continue reading→

Reception for OC Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen set for 9/4

Posted on by Posted in 2014 Elections, Entertainment, Hugh Nguyen, OC Clerk-Recorder, Santa Ana 3 Comments

Hugh Nguyen, Orange County Clerk-Recorder

Hugh Nguyen, the Orange County Clerk Recorder, is hosting a private reception on September 4th, 2014, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

The event is sponsored by First American Financial Corporation and will be held at their offices, located at 1 First American Way, in Santa Ana.  Reception Location- Main Conference Room.

Please come and hear the innovative changes underway and Hugh’s plans for the future of the Orange County Clerk- Recorders Offices. Continue reading→

SAPD looking for DTSA hit and run vehicle

Posted on by Posted in Accidents, Crime, Santa Ana 3 Comments

Santa Ana Hit and Run Accident

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: Investigation looking for information on hit and run vehicle

On 9/01/2014, officers responded to the scene of a traffic collision involving a sport utility vehicle and a passenger car at the intersection of North Broadway and West Santa Ana Boulevard.

At about 1852 hours, a 2000 Nissan Xterra driven by the registered owner was traveling north on Broadway with his wife riding as passenger. As the Nissan drove through the intersection at Santa Ana Boulevard, it was struck by a passenger car traveling west on Santa Ana Boulevard. Continue reading→

Tokyo Bento now open at the CityPlace in north Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in Business, Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Tokyo Bento combo

Tokyo Bento has arrived in Santa Ana.  They offer Japanese lunch boxes at affordable prices and are located at the CityPlace, at 2775 Main St., in Santa Ana.  You can like them on Facebook here.

Tokyo Bento is a fast casual restaurant chain, serving core Japanese flavors with unique dipping sauces featuring global influences. A Yelper described them as ” It’s basically Flame Broiler set up with the Chipotle assembly model.”  Another Yelper had a worse comparison –  “Yoshinoya meets Chipotle. Yoshinoya for the Americanized Japanese food, Chipotle.” Continue reading→

Santa Ana’s poor schools result in low family friendly big city rating

Posted on by Posted in Education, Politics, Santa Ana, SAUSD Leave a comment

Family friendly CA cities

Santa Ana did not fare very well in a new study of the most family friendly big cities in California by the Estately Blog.

The report mentioned a few upsides: 5th lowest crime, 7th shortest commute, 9th most affordable housing market, 4th biggest children’s population.

But the downsides are significant: 5th lowest number of preschools, 4th lowest number of daycares, 5th highest cost of living.  And check out the low GreatSchools Score: 5 out of 10.

Continue reading→

La Raza to Gaza event set for Sep. 6 at El Centro Cultural de Mexico

Posted on by Posted in Civil Rights, Entertainment, Movies, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Colectivo Tonantzin will hosting a screening of the film “Roadmap to Apartheid” on Saturday, Sep. 6, 2014, from 4 to 8 pm.

There will be:

  • Messages from Palestinian Organizations
  • A post movie discussion
  • Food and Drinks
  • Palestinian products for purchase
  • Education material

Continue reading→

DTSA can’t compete with the MainPlace Mall

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Business, Santa Ana 9 Comments

MainPlace Mall

Santa Ana is a city of families – with more people under the age of 18 than any other city in Orange County.  The transition in Downtown Santa Ana to a hipster paradise of bars, high-end restaurants and nightclubs has predictably chased families out of the heart of the city.  Where have they gone?  To the Westfield MainPlace Mall.

You see the majority of Santa Ana’s residents don’t want to pay $20 for raw hamburgers at the Playground.  They don’t want to drink until 2 am.  They don’t have an interest in the arts.  They are just trying to raise their kids, get them educated and live a good life.  What DTSA has turned into has no appeal to most of us – although it does attract the insecure folks who want to feel like they are hip. Continue reading→

Free Caribbean Family Festival at the Bowers Museum on Sep. 7

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Entertainment, Santa Ana, Youth Activities Leave a comment

Caribbean Family Festival at the Bowers Museum

The Bowers Museum is hosting a free Caribbean Family Festival on Sunday, September 7, 2014, from 11 am – 4 pm, at the Margaret and Cleo Key Courtyard.  This event is sponsored by The Nicholas Endowment.

This event will include:

  • Face painting, Jelly Fish and Wood Fan art projects
  • Free frozen tropical fruit bars

The Caribbean Jems will wow the audience with their vibrant costumes and unique high energy dances. They will perform to popular Caribbean music played by Upstream. Continue reading→

SAPD detectives need your help to find an armed robber

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

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Robbery Detectives request media and Public assistance identifying suspect in armed robbery

Location: Auto Zone, 810 S. Harbor Boulevard

Suspect: Male, Hispanic, 28-38 yrs. old, 5’6”-5’8” tall, 150-170 lbs., black mustache, tattoos on arms and legs; wearing black baseball hat with white logo, sunglasses, white/brown checkered shirt, black sleeve on left arm, beige shorts, white sneakers; and carrying small dark blue-colored bag

Suspect Vehicle: Silver 2002-2007 Mitsubishi SUV 4-door

Weapon: Black semi-automatic handgun Continue reading→

Yes on Measure CC, Medical Marijuana Initiative, to launch on 8/30

Posted on by Posted in 2014 Elections, Ballot Measures, Elections, Entertainment, Health and Medical, Marijuana, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Yes on CC

The Yes on Measure CC (Santa Ana Medical Cannabis Restriction and Limitation Initiative) campaign is launching this Saturday, August 30, 2014, from 12 noon to 2 pm at 117 W. Fourth St., in Santa Ana.

Come by and learn how you can volunteer to help save safe access to medical marijuana in Santa Ana.  RSVP to Kandice@yesonmeasurecc.com.

About Measure CC: Continue reading→

Woman who helped collect signatures for Lake Forest carpetbagger Walker indicted

Posted on by Posted in 2014 Elections, Adam Nick, Cecilia Iglesias, Elections, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Sherry Walker Leave a comment
Lake Forest carpetbaggers Sherry Walker and Adam Nick

Lake Forest carpetbaggers Sherry Walker and Adam Nick

The woman who helped collect nomination signatures for Lake Forest carpetbagger Sherry Walker, Farzaneh Akhavi, 55, aka Frances Akhavi, has been  indicted on charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, by a grand jury in Phoenix, Arizona, according to the East Valley Tribune.

Both Walker and Nick changed their names.  They are originally from Iran.  Walker also became a registered Republican right before running for the 69th Assembly District.

The indictment refers to the victim only by the initials SRG. But court records showed a federal civil lawsuit was filed against Akhavi last month by a California woman named Soraya Ghalchi, who claimed she was defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the financial scheme, according to AZ Central. Continue reading→

John Wayne Airport provides Labor Day Weekend travel tips

Posted on by Posted in Airplanes, Orange County, Santa Ana, Transportation, Travel Leave a comment
Color-coded and numbered columns make meeting arriving passengers easy. Column 14 is the JWA Yellow Cab pickup location for Terminal C.

Color-coded and numbered columns make meeting arriving passengers easy.
Column 14 is the JWA Yellow Cab pickup location for Terminal C.

John Wayne Airport
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : August 27, 2014
Contact: Jenny Wedge, (949) 252-5182 (office), jwedge@ocair.com

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT PROVIDES LABOR DAY WEEKEND TRAVEL TIPS

SANTA ANA, Calif. – John Wayne Airport (JWA) anticipates a busier-than-normal travel period from Thursday, August 28 through Tuesday, September 2 during the Labor Day holiday weekend. More than 145,000 passengers traveled through JWA during the same period in 2013 with the busiest travel days being the Friday before and Labor Day.

Visitors to JWA during this holiday period can check the Airport homepage, www.ocair.com, for real-time flight status and the most up-to-date construction activities around the Riley Terminal. Drivers are encouraged to exercise caution when navigating Airport roadways and to follow posted speed limits. Continue reading→

Why is David Benavides holding a campaign fundraiser in Michele Martinez’ ward?

Posted on by Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, David Benavides, Elections, Politics, Santa Ana 19 Comments

Councilman David Benavides

Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides represents Ward 4, which stretches from Willits on the North to Sunflower on the South and from Fairview on the West to Flower on the East. There are plenty of restaurants in Ward 4 but for whatever reason Benavides is hosting a fundraiser on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 at the Little Sparrow, located at 300 N. Main St., in Downtown Santa Ana – that is in Ward 2, which is represented by Councilwoman Michele Martinez.

Why is Benavides holding a major campaign fundraiser outside of his Ward?  This is a major snub to the businesses and residents of Ward 4. Continue reading→

SAPD DUI Checkpoint set for August 29 at 2400 W. Fifth St.

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

SAPD DUI Checkpoint

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: The SAPD will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Friday, August 29th, 2014, 9:00PM – 3:00AM 2400 W. Fifth St.

The Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Friday, August 29th, 2014. It will begin at 9:00PM and is scheduled to conclude at 3:00AM. It will be conducted in the area of 2400 W. Fifth Street, in the City of Santa Ana.

The primary purpose of a DUI Checkpoint is to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests. All too often, members of our community are senselessly injured or killed on local roadways by impaired drivers. This DUI/Drivers License checkpoint is an effort to reduce those tragedies, as well as ensuring drivers have a valid driver’s license. The DMV reports that unlicensed drivers are 4.9 times more likely to cause a fatal crash than a licensed driver. Continue reading→

Santa Ana teen missing since Wednesday, August 20

Posted on by Posted in Public Safety, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Pedro Guadarrama

A Santa Ana family is looking for their missing 16-year-old son, Pedro Guadarrama.  He stands 5’6″ and weighs 170 pounds.  He was last seen on Wednesday, August 20, 2014.

For some reason the SAPD has not been very helpful in trying to find this young man, according to a family friend.  Pedro suffers from a mental condition and he was apparently released from a local hospital when he disappeared. Continue reading→