Los Angeles, Ca
Residents of popular Southern California city on edge amid wave of violence
After a wave of violent incidents in Santa Monica, residents and city officials are expressing some serious concerns, with the city’s mayor asking for emergency funds, more police and state assistance.
“There’s beautiful things about the city, but we’re losing it,” Christina Tullock, who lives on the Santa Monica-Venice border, said.
Tullock told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff that she regularly sees one violent attack after another and believes the issues causing the problems are mental health and drug related.
“You can have as much enforcement as possible, but the cops can’t do anything until something happens,” she explained. “What I’d like is to see something preemptively happen, which is help people who are sick, help people who are on drugs.”
Still, as crowds flock to the Santa Monica Pier ahead of next weekend’s Fourth of July holiday, the city has been home to a string of violent attacks since the first of the year.
Just this weekend, five men were arrested after a giant brawl broke out on the beach, leaving one person stabbed and another with a broken ankle. Both victims were hospitalized.
Earlier in the week, 32-year-old Jawann Dwayne Garnett, who police say is homeless, was arrested after violent attacks on three female beachgoers. He has since been charged with attempted rape and attempted murder.
On June 11, a 26-year-old man at Jameson’s Pub on Main Street in Santa Monica punched and killed the bar’s manager after he was one of several patrons asked to leave the establishment.
Late in May, a 39-year-old man believed to be homeless was arrested after reportedly attacking a 73-year-old woman, leaving her with minor injuries. Bystanders also said the suspect had been seen trying to punch others in the area.
Almost a week and a half before that attack, 29-year-old Larry Ameyal Cedeno was arrested after what appears to be a entirely unprovoked assault near Parking Structure 7 in the 1500 block of 4th Street that left two people hospitalized with stab wounds, one who was listed in critical but stable condition.
On May 16, a Venice resident who was jogging in the 2000 block of Ocean Front Walk in Santa Monica was violently dragged by the hair and pulled toward the restrooms. Police said 48-year-old Malcolm Ward, a parolee, intended to sexually assault the victim.
He was arrested and has since been charged with attempted kidnapping and assault with the intent to commit rape.
Some people who frequent Santa Monica, like Howard Zickefose, said it’s confusing and disconcerting to be out and about in the city and then suddenly caught up in a swarm of police activity.
“We were having a wonderful time, returning from shopping at Trader Joes in the middle of the day yesterday and we were swarmed by police,” he said of Saturday’s beach brawl. “They were driving in every direction and there were helicopters flying.”
Santa Monica resident Elizabeth Brown cautioned tourists in the area to stay aware of what and who is around them while visiting.
“If you live in a really safe environment and you come here, you just need to be a little more acutely aware of your surroundings,” she explained.
Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock says the issues facing Santa Monica are happening across Los Angeles.
“Some of the same crime patterns, some of the same theft, some of the same behavior comes from unhinged homeless people who are on drugs or mentally ill,” he said. “It [also] comes from people who cross the border and say, ‘Hey, Santa Monica is lucrative, let’s make some of our money here.’”
Brock’s plan is to saturate business and residential areas with police officers in order to stop crimes before they happen, but said he needs funding to do that. He adds that he also needs help from the court system, the district attorney’s office and the state of California.
According to the mayor, though, the city council rejected his proposal to take a few million dollars from the city’s budget for emergency security use through the summer. That additional funding, he said, could go toward increasing patrols in the area and hopefully alleviate the concerns of people, like Matt Gotzka, on the boardwalk.
“You don’t want to hear about attempted stabbings and violence toward people on the beach,” Gotzka told KTLA. “You’re here trying to have a good time.”
The future of voice to text is here.
I’ve been testing a variety of tools that make taking notes, transcribing audio, and even voice typing faster and easier than ever.
If you have a smartphone, you’re already halfway there!
Google’s Pixel Recorder app is free and built into their smartphone. It’s excellent for transcribing meetings, lectures, and conversations – all in real time.
Apple’s Voice Memos App recently added transcriptions if you’re upgraded to iOS 18.
Samsung’s Voice recorder app now offers transcripts too – as long as you’re on their latest One UI 7 software. (Check Settings > About Phone > Software Information)
Got an older phone? Try Otter.AI. It works great for transcriptions across devices and you get 300 minutes a month free.
Don’t want to tie up your phone?
I’ve been testing AI-powered digital audio recorders from a startup named Plaud.
The Plaud Note is thin, records for hours, and can even clip to the back of your phone to record calls. Just make sure you know your local laws before using that feature.
The Plaud Pin can be clipped to your shirt or worn on your wrist for hands-free recording.
Both devices sync audio to a companion app that auto transcribes and summarizes.
You get five hours of transcription a month included, with options to pay for more.
Pricing for each gadget starts around $160 dollars.
Want to transcribe audio files on your computer?
My favorite Mac app is MacWhisper. You can even get it completely free – although paid versions are avaialble with more features and options.
On Windows, check out Vibe Transcribe, also free.
And for a web-based option, Whisper Web gets the job done.
Finally, if you want to type less and talk more… there’s an excellent AI voice-to-text app called Wispr Flow. It was previously Mac only but just became avaialble for Windows, too.
One you install it, you pick a hotkey. Then, instead of typing just press and hold down that key and dictate what you want to write.
Since it uses the power of AI, you can even stumble or ramble and it will clean up your words and get the punctionation right.
It’s a gamechanger for responding to emails fast! You get 2,000 words free each week with options to pay for more.
Enjoy your newfound time!
An alleged attack on a state prison officer by a 43-year-old inmate transferred from Los Angeles County is being investigated as attempted homicide, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials announced Tuesday.
The March 18 incident at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad reportedly unfolded just before 9 a.m. on what authorities describe as a “dayroom floor.”
The inmate, Anthony G. Ramirez, is believed to have pulled an improvised weapon from his waistband before attempting to attack custody staff member, according to a CDCR news release.
“Staff immediately responded, disarming Ramirez and placing him in handcuffs without incident,” the release detailed.
The 43-year-old, who was transferred to SVSP in 2008 after being sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder, with enhancements for the use of a firearm and causing great bodily injury or death, was placed in restrictive housing pending the investigation and possible felony prosecution by the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Both Ramirez and the custody staff member were examined by medical personnel who noted no serious injuries.
Officials said that the California Correctional Peace Officers Association was notified of the incident and prison staff were offered peer support services and employee assistance programs.
Salinas Valley State Prison, opened in 1996, houses more than 2,400 minimum, medium, maximum and high-security inmates. The facility also offers vocational programs and academic classes and employs some 1,800 people.
A toxic algal bloom leaving an increasing number of marine mammals stranded along Southern California beaches shows no signs of subsiding and “will only get worse,” officials said Monday.
“This week, we saw more stranded dolphins (both alive and deceased) than we saw during the major domoic acid (DA) bloom in 2023,” Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC) Los Angeles posted on Facebook.
Recent tests showed DA-producing algae levels have increased, and officials believe that trend will continue in the coming weeks. “We anticipate that it will only get worse,” the post read.
MMCC asked the public not to approach sick dolphins or sea lions on the beach because they can become aggressive upon awakening from a seizure.
“This is a safety issue for people and their pets as much as it is for the marine mammals,” officials said.
Beachgoers were also urged not to push stranded dolphins back into the water, saying it can reduce their chances of survival.
More information about domoic-acid poisoning can be found at https://marinemammalcare.org/domoic-acid/.
The volume of sick marine mammals has also had a financial impact on the MMCC.
“Our team is working heroically to respond to every call and to rescue every animal they can. Please share this post and give now at marinemammalcare.org/donate to give these marine mammals a second chance at life!” the MMCC stated.
Anyone who encounters a sick or stranded marine mammal can alert the nearest lifeguard and call 1-800-39-WHALE to make a report.
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