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100 pounds of illegal fireworks were seized yesterday in Salinas after an 11-year old boy was found playing with a firecracker. Officers made that discovery while patrolling the 800 block of Garner Avenue around 12 p.m., after hearing a firecracker go off. An investigation led officers to the 1-thousand block of Garner Avenue where a woman was found with the illegal fireworks, she told officers she had gotten them from Las Vegas.
Since the state legislature has not passed a budget yet, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered state workers to be paid a federal minimum wage. However, state controller, John Chiang, will reportedly not follow the governor’s order, citing the “impossibility of being able to pay some workers minimum wage and others their current salaries”. The order, stating that state employees will be paid the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour for the July pay period, is said to affect roughly 200-thousand state employees. The change, made effective yesterday, is expected to be reflected in state employees next paycheck. Workers, in the meantime, should expect their normal wages, paid in full retroactively, once the budget is passed.
After a 9-month-long investigation, a Santa Cruz man and resident of Italy, was taken into custody today for distributing child porn over the internet. 45-year old Giovanni Di Maio, was arrested on the 500 block of Water Street around 11:30 a.m., on charges of possessing and distributing obscene matter of children under the age of 14. The investigation, which began in September, started after officers received a tip by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of someone accessing and distributing harmful images of children over the internet. A bail increase of $100,000 was requested and granted, since Di Maio is a current resident of Italy, along with contacting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents for review.
A new study, aimed at researching the effects global warming has on the largest trees in the world, is currently underway. The 2.5 million dollar project, funded by “Save the Redwoods League”, is sending experts into California’s Redwoods and giant Sequoias to measure the tree’s girth, bark and even numbers of cones they have. The study’s locations include Big Basin in Santa Cruz County and Sequoia National Park in the Central Sierra Nevada. Researchers plan to return every 3-years to take new measurements, along with installing sensors on the trees to measure fog temperature.
Over 16,000 marijuana plants, with a street value of $800,00, were seized in San Benito County today. Law enforcement agents, who eradicated the plants, which ranged in size from 2 to 4 feet, also found a handgun in a camp area nearby the marijuana garden. No arrests were made. The sweep was conducted by the Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team and the San Benito County Sheriff’s Depaertment. The Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, Department of Fish and Game, the Bureau of Land Management and Santa Clara County deputies also assisted in the raid.