LAW AND DISORDER
A Huntington Beach man has been charged with
having sex with animals one week after sheriff’s deputies arrested
him for cavorting nude with horses and sheep in the La Purísima
Mission animal pen. Deputies also charged Alfred Stevens, 69, with
trespassing on a state park with a concealed .357 handgun. Stevens
reportedly broke into the pen, stripped, and slathered his body
with olive oil, salt, and oats so that the horses would lick him.
Deputies – who wore night-vision goggles – also reported seeing
Stevens standing behind a female sheep and hearing loud rhythmic
thumping sounds. Stevens, whose phone number has since been
disconnected, denied having sex with sheep, but reportedly told
investigators he has long fantasized about getting naked with
animals.
Janean Acevedo Daniels – the attorney
representing former Santa Barbara City cop Ruben Lino – was awarded
$640,000 in legal fees and costs, bringing City Hall’s total cost
in the battle over allegations of sexual orientation discrimination
and retaliation to $1.1 million. Daniels noted that Lino – who is
gay – offered to settle the matter for $97,000 early on. City
Attorney Steve Wiley explained that City Hall declined Lino’s offer
because the independent consultant the city hired to investigate
Lino’s allegations concluded he had no case. Lino declined to speak
with this consultant, who is well-respected in gay rights. Wiley
said he remains convinced that Lino had no case, and City Hall is
appealing the jury’s verdict.
Former Santa Barbara mayoral candidate and
business leader Alberto Pizano is suing the Old Mission for
spoiling what should have been the joyous occasion of his daughter
Sonia’s wedding. On September 3, 2004, just a day before the
ceremony, the Pizanos say Old Mission staff made abrupt,
discourteous objections to certain aspects of the ceremony, such as
Mr. Pizano’s walking his daughter down the aisle and having a limo
pick up the newlyweds. Plaintiff’s attorney Desmond O’Neill says
that all they seek in taking the matter to court is an
apology.
The Santa Barbara City Council may soon
consider calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush.
Mayor Marty Blum announced last weekend that two city
councilmembers had voiced support for putting an impeachment
resolution on the council’s agenda. (Two sponsors are needed for
resolutions to be considered.) Berkeley and San Francisco are also
considering adopting impeachment resolutions.
The Santa Barbara County coroner is still
investigating the cause of death of David Klotz, the 26-year-old
Petaluma man who died while struggling with bouncers at the
Spearmint Rhino during a bachelor party. None of the obvious
indications of asphyxiation – bruises to the throat, neck, or
larynx – were present, nor was there any evidence he choked on his
own vomit. But the coroner is still investigating whether the
combined weight of the two bouncers – 690 pounds – who sat on Klotz
after a brief altercation over lap dance fees could have caused
positional asphyxiation.
UCSB is exceptionally pot-friendly,
according to a new ranking by the marijuana magazine High Times. In
a national ranking of student bodies that support marijuana use and
call for reform of marijuana laws, UCSB students came in second
only to students at the University of Maryland.
In California this year, 1.2 million marijuana plants – at a net
worth of $4.9 billion – have been eradicated; 1.1 million plants
were destroyed last year. In Santa Barbara, 16,800 plants have been
destroyed thus far. According to Sgt. Erik Raney, spokesperson for
the County Sheriff’s Department, this year’s harvest season was
early due to the fact that saplings, rather than seeds, are being
used on farms.