Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Santa Ana

Man faces trial again for killing a man by hitting him with an axe handle

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

Jorge Santiago Avalos

Orange County District Attorney Press Release

For Immediate Release,  Case # 09ZF0058: October 9, 2013

MAN FACES TRIAL FOR MURDERING ANOTHER MAN BY HITTING HIM IN HEAD AND FACE WITH AXE HANDLE

*Defendant is accused of fleeing the scene in victim’s car and was later arrested for DUI

SANTA ANA – A man faces trial tomorrow for murdering another man by hitting him in the head and face with the handle of an axe before fleeing the scene in the victim’s car. Jorge Santiago Avalos, 27, is charged with one felony count of murder and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in state prison if convicted. This is a re-trial of the case where a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in April 2012. Opening statements are expected to begin tomorrow, Oct. 10, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Continue reading→

Santa Ana isn’t on the top dog friendly cities in America list, of course

Posted on by Posted in Parks and Recreation, Pets, Santa Ana 6 Comments
Santiago Park Lawn Bowling Center

Wouldn’t the Santiago Park Lawn Bowling Center be a great place for a dog park?

Rent.com has compiled its list of the Top 10 Dog-Friendly Cities in America. The scores were based on factors like rental inventory, walkability, pet care costs, dog parks, and other dog-friendly establishments and events, according to the California City News.

As you might imagine Santa Ana did not make that list.  Our city has zero dog parks. But here is how the other cities shape up: Continue reading→

Roads in Los Angeles-Santa Ana-Long Beach ranked among the worst in the U.S.

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Santa Ana roads

Los Angeles-Santa Ana-Long Beach ranks first among cities with more than 500,000 residents for the percentage of roads in poor condition, according to TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group that studies transportation data and issues. According to the study, about 64% of roads in greater Los Angeles are in poor condition, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

TRIP based their study on the Federal Highway Administration’s data from 2011 that catalogs the condition of major roads, including potholes, rough pavement, utility cuts, and cracks, according to California City News.

In the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area, the poor condition of the roads contributes to an annual vehicle maintenance cost of $832, according to the report, according to NBC.

Here are TRIP’s latest road reports: Continue reading→

Costume Howl and Halloween Bash set for Oct. 31 at the Santora

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Entertainment, Santa Ana 11 Comments

A Costume Howl at the Santora (Halloween Bash) has been set for Thursday, October 31, 2013, from 8 pm until 2 am, at the historic Santora Arts building in Downtown Santa Ana, at the Artists Village. There is a $5 Suggested donation (Free drink with donation).

  • Costume contest! Winner wins $75 (Must pay donation to enter contest)
  • Pumpkin Carving/Scary art contest
  • Raffle Continue reading→

SAPD officers arrest serial robbery suspect

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

Dennis Adamson

Santa Ana Police Department Advisory: Police Arrest Serial Robbery Suspect

On Sunday October 6th at approximately 11 pm patrol officers contact suspect on a bike wearing a back pack in the 100 Block East Dyer. When the officer contacts suspect Dennis Adamson (24) he advises officer that he had a handgun in his backpack. Officer also located Two- Black ski masks. Adamson matched the description of a robbery suspect who had committed two (2) armed robberies of commercial businesses in the area. 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→

SAUSD Trustee Iglesias reportedly considering running against Tinajero

Posted on by Posted in 2014 Elections, Cecilia Iglesias, Civic Affairs, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD 12 Comments
Cecilia Iglesias and Janet Nguyen

Cecilia Iglesias and Janet Nguyen

I have heard from several inside sources that SAUSD School Board member Cecilia Iglesias is considering running against Santa Ana Councilman Sal Tinajero next year, in Ward 6.

Tinajero also served on the SAUSD School Board before he ran for the Santa Ana City Council.

Tinajero won his first election in Ward 6 back in November of 2o06, when his main opponent was Jennifer Villasenor.  She had Mayor Miguel Pulido’s support.  Tinajero was hammered via direct mail for weeks and he actually ran out of campaign money.  However Villasenor was undone by the presence of George Collins on the ballot.  Collins ended up with over five thousand votes and Tinajero squeeked past Villasenor by 880 votes, according to Smart Voter. Continue reading→

Updated: Adios Jill Arthur

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Jill Arthur

UPDATED: The Voice of OC is now reporting that Jill Arthur is possibly working in a volunteer capacity for Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.  We have no problem with that.  Who the Mayor opts to work with is up to him and apparently the taxpayers are not on the hook.  That sounds like a good deal for the people of Santa Ana.

Jill Arthur, Santa Ana’s former deputy city manager accused of wrongdoing at the city’s unemployment office, is no longer employed at City Hall after a city investigation into the incident, Voice of OC has confirmed.

We might never know why in the world Arthur offered to use her influence at the city’s work center to help a young man named Marcel Alvarez to find a job after she backed her vehicle into his car but apparently that is what she did. Continue reading→

Progressive Democrats invading Santa Ana on Oct. 21, at Barbaro’s house

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Frank Barbaro, Politics Leave a comment

John Nichols and Robert McChesney

The Progressive Democrats of America, a liberal grassroots organization, are invading Santa Ana on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, from 6 pm to 8 pm, at the home of Sara Chesters and Frank Barbaro (the former Chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County).

Their guest speakers include John Nichols, Robert McChesney, Mimi Kennedy, Tom Hayden and Tim Carpenter. Nichols and McChesney are going to “explain how American democracy is declining as the range of debate is increasingly controlled by big-money campaign contributions, wall-to-wall lobbying, and media more inclined to repeat spin than to dig for the truth.”

That message is rather ironic as the Host Committee for this event, besides Barbaro, includes Larry Agran, who like Barbaro is infamous for winning with the help of thousands of dollars of Independent Expenditures put up by all sorts of shady Political Action Committees (PACs). Continue reading→