California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) has organized several GE-free education and dialogue events to be held around the state, with Percy Schmeiser speaking. Schmeiser is the Canadian farmer whose canola fields were contaminated with GE seed, and who in turn was sued in 1998 by Monsanto. Tour dates include Monday, Nov. 13th in Santa Cruz; Tuesday, Nov. 14th at UC Berkeley; Thursday, Nov. 16th in Sonoma; Friday, Nov. 17th in Ukiah; Saturday, Nov. 18th in Pt. Arena/Manchester. Flyer All programs begin at 7 p.m.; proceeds will go to the Schmeisers' efforts to fight Monsanto and GE contamination, as well as to efforts to educate about the risks associated with GE crops.

Read more on Indybay's Environment & Forest Defense page

A new study by a team of marine scientists outlined in the November 3rd edition of Science Magazine asserts a decline in marine biodiversity in the Earth's oceeans. Overfishing, pollution, and other environmental factors will wipe out the global seafood supply by 2048, if steep declines in marine diversity continue at current rates. But as FSRN's Vinny Lombardo reports, its not too late to change the outcome and protect ocean wildlife. Read more and listen to audio

Mike R's Anti Fanclub writes: We're not associated with any parties and don't advocate any candidates. Honestly, we don't even advocate voting. But IF you vote, for fuck sake don't vote for Mike.

There are some people who claim to represent you who are worse than others. Some duplicitous souls who get elected year after year by convincing hapless youth that he and they share the same values.

For one city council candidate in particular, we read his carefully-worded campaign statements, many of whose positions "neither oppose not support" this issue or that and wonder what about several months ago when he was opposing the minimum wage law? What about last year when he supported police spying and supported hotel development? What about the two decades of anti-homeless, anti-poor, and anti-youth laws he's supported? Read more and download the flyer

revochick comments: Mike Rotkin gave his offical endorsement to Dale Skillcorn for District 7 City Council Watsonville election. Dale Skillicorn is a racist...only outreached to white voters, had no spanish is his literature and is slinging mud like crazy against his opponent, Mireya Gomez, who is a honest campaining hometown girl with a degree from UCSC and over 10 years of community organizing experience.

see also: Rotkin Campaigners Vandalize Opposition's Materials and Stalk Opponents

more election articles: Measure H will fund Police 4x more than fixing roads || No on Measure G Campaign for Low Wages! || Voters qualify marijuana reform ballot initiatives across California || Please Don't Forget About Us on Election Day || Liberation News Voter Recommendations

previous election coverage: Examining Measure G, Santa Cruz's Wage Hike Ballot Initiative

Indybay's full coverage of the November 7th elections

Bay Area supporters have announced that on the day after the next attack on Oaxaca, protests will be held at the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco (532 Folsom St.) at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Nov. 10th–12th: APPO Constitutional Congress convenes in Oaxaca | Oaxaca at Any Cost

Nov. 10th: The Names of Oaxaca's Disappeared

Nov. 8th: Shortly after midnight, Ministerial (State) Police reportedly shot live ammunition at people on the Carrillo Puerto barricade; no one was injured. At around 1 a.m., gun shots were reported near the Soriana barricade, and there were six arrests at the Carrillo Puerto barricade. Women's march | Student's march | Memorials to the fallen | More APPO photos | The story of the takeover of Canal 9 state-run TV station

Nov. 7th: The APPO women's march in Oaxaca was attacked by the Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP), and a total of 16 protesters were arrested in Oaxaca throughout the day, including eight people kidnapped off the street by agents in a white van, according to reports on APPO Radio. Report and photos | Faces of Oaxaca | More photos from the barricades

Nov. 6th: Radio Universidad (in Spanish) Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Nov. 5th: After a week of defending their barricades, more than a million people joined the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca's (APPO) 6th Mega March. This morning, paramilitary forces repeated their pattern of early morning gunfire at the barricades, wounding 22-year-old Marco Sanchez Mertinez; he is in grave condition. 12 buses and a caravan of cars arrived from Mexico City for the march. Photos and Audio Report and Written Report from today. Read minute-to-minute updates from Oaxaca on NYC IMC. Nov. 5th in Oaxaca by Tristan | Photos from Nov. 5th by Barucha Calamity

Nov. 3rd: Radio Universidad, the movement's only remaining radio station, was successfully defended on Nov. 2nd after fierce battles with the Federal Police. Photos: 1 | 2 | Listen to live Radio Universidad coverage | Foreigners and Journalists Threatened in Oaxaca by Danielsan and Ariel

Read more on Indybay's Globalization & Capitalism, International or Americas pages

November 3rd, 2006 - danielsan and ariel write: The climate for journalists has worsened in the days since the Federal Police occupied Oaxaca City. Today we talked to Juan Carlos Gomez, who until recently worked with a local radio station. He says he had recieved repeated threats on his life, and today was beaten by several men whom he believes are the same men who were shooting at Barricade 3 last friday, and that they were some of the same men who shot and killed Brad Will. In the interview below he describes the attack, saying 'They hit me in the stomach and the mouth... I fell back on the ground and felt a kick to my neck. I ran to the Cinco Señores [an intersection near the University] where I passed out. Some people picked me up and took me to the clinic [behind the barricades protecting Radio Universidad].'
Audio: Download the mp3 (es) (3 min. 17 sec.)

With the PFP in town, local PRIistas are threatening members of APPO, teachers, and visible members of the Oaxacan resistance, including members of the organization CIPO-RFM (Consejo Indigena Popular de Oaxaca - Ricardo Flores Magón), as well as foreigners in general and foreign journalists especially. Indymedia has an especially high profile due to Brad's affiliation with NYC indymedia. We've heard rumors that indymedia is on the minds and lips of PRIistas and government loyalists high up the chain of command, who have claimed that indymedia correspondents take orders from APPO, and that foreigners are stirring up trouble and encouraging the continuing resistance. Read more and view photos

In San Jose, people will gather for a protest at the Mexican Consulate (115 4th y St. John at 2pm and at 540 N. 1st St. at 3pm) today from 2-7pm, and on Saturday, November 4th, a 6pm prayer vigil and rally, followed by a screening of films from Oaxaca, at Mi Pueblo Market at Story and King Roads.
At 5pm on Tuesday, October 31st, hundreds of people protested at the Mexican Consulate to condemn the repression in Oaxaca. Fake blood was thrown on the door of the consulate and one person was arrested. ( Photos: 1 | 2 ). Protests and vigils were held at Mexican consulates all over the world starting in the morning on Monday Oct. 30th. List In SF, protesters met Monday at the Mexican Consulate (532 Folsom St) at 7am ( Photos: 1 | 2 | Video ), and 5pm.
Reports from Oaxaca: 10/31: Photos | 10/30: Text by Tristan | Photos and text by Danielsan

On Sunday in Oaxaca, tanks and large machinery were used in the government in efforts to tear down barricades. Thousands of women, children, and men were in the streets, enduring attacks with tear gas and other chemical weapons. There were reports that several protesters were killed by the police, including one child. Many who have been abducted are being taken to Ixcotel Penitentary and military camps and are being beaten there. They are also raiding and destroying homes in Oaxaca, as happened in Atenco.

A film screening will be held at Station 40 on Wednesday night at 7pm, with funds raised going to people in Oaxaca.

Read more on Indybay's Globalization & Capitalism or Americas pages

According to Friday evening's reports from Radio APPO and other sources, paramilitaries began an assault on Oaxaca, which has been held by the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) for over 5 months. People were killed, injured, disappeared, and hospitalized. New York City Indymedia reporter Brad Will (William Bradley Roland) was shot in the chest and killed, while Oswaldo Ramírez, photographer for Milenio Diario, has also been shot and is injured. Brad Will's Video from Friday APPO also confirmed that schoolteacher Emilio Alfonso Fabián died from three bullet wounds after an attack by shooters for Ulises Ruiz Ortiz outside the state government palace. Reportes en español: 1 | 2 | English: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 There were several protests over the weekend. People gathered Saturday at 7pm at San Francisco City Hall for a vigil for Oaxaca and the 5 people who were killed there on Friday. Photos: 1 | 2
Day of the Dead Memorial Altars: Barricade 3 | Calicanto

Read more on Indybay's Globalization & Capitalism, Indymedia or Americas pages

danielsan reports from Oaxaca City, Mexico

October 24th - We spoke with two teachers, Flavio & Fabian, in the Central Zócalo for a while before moving to the UABJO, Autonamous University of Oaxaca-Benito Juarez. Audio files in mp3 format are in Spanish. English translation is transcribed below each file. The first file is a message in Zapotec, greeting Oaxacans living in California. Read more and listen to audio

October 23rd - Questions about the process and manner in which leadership of the teachers' union (SNTE) initiated a controversial referendum to return to work led to a rejection of the 'consulta' and the continuation of the five-months-and-running teachers strike. The teachers remain at the forefront of the strike and they stick to their demand: No return to work with URO claiming to be in power! Read more and view photos

October 20th, 2006 - There have been two APPO supporters killed this week: a painter and a teacher. Two autopsies filmed by human rights observers, two memorials in the Zocalo. There have been many more over the past few months, but as more time passes it seems like the violence comes in waves. They're starting to use the term "death squads" to describe the teams of out-of-uniform cops and military that are always found responsible for the shootings at the barricades or at the building occupations. There are some soldiers and cops around from time to time.

Last night after Panfilo Hernandez Vasquez was shot and killed, two police patrol cars were stopped and smashed in retribution. But no one was hurt--just some smashed windows and a couple of no-longer-driveable cars to add to the barricade. This movement has been unarmed for the whole time. Sticks, sometimes machetes, but never guns. But until what point? How many teachers, picked off by gunfire in the night, as the seemingly endless negotiations drag on? How many memorials in the Zocalo? How long before a guerrila movement resurfaces? Before people leave the morgue with retribution in mind? Read more, view photos and listen to audio || Audio: Oct. 22 Update from Oaxaca

Audio (mp3s): maestra - caso contra URO || maestra - Oaxaca as an example to the world || maestra - educaton en Oaxaca || niño - poesia en zócalo

previous Oaxaca reports from danielsan: Ulises Gives A Face to Corruption || Ingobernabilidad || ¡Ni un paso atrás! Not one step back! || Interview with APPO Supporter Shot Friday Night || From the Barricades: Oaxacan Teachers Speak

The UC Regents came to Santa Cruz on October 18th, 2006, for the first time in four years in order to learn about the Santa Cruz campus' various new activities. They were met by a speak out organized by a coalition of UCSC student and worker groups fed up with the Regents' undemocratic and unaccountable decision making processes and other issues, including: poverty wages, student fee hikes, education program cuts, campus expansion, lack of diversity outreach and retention, and the management of nuclear weapons laboratories at Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos. Read more

Photos: Grim Pictures from UC Regents Protest at UCSC || Students Hold Speak-Out for Visiting Regents, Police Give Response || Weeping Wednesday: A Protest Against the UC Regents || Victims of Violence: When UC Police Attack || Highlights from UC Regents Protest at UCSC

Video: Regents Meeting (Short Video)

see also: Why We're Here and What We're Fighting For (on the UC Regents protest) || Summary of Events: UCSC Protests Regents Visit

earlier on Oct. 18th: AFSCME Action Kicks off Day of Unrest During UC Regents Visit to Santa Cruz

At noon on Wednesday, October 18, 2006, members of AFSCME 3299 and their supporters at UC Santa Cruz marched from the Bay Tree Plaza to the base of campus, where a roving picket line was held, followed by a rally. The workers have been engaged in a year-long struggle to receive wages similiar to those of neighboring colleges and universities where people can make up to 30% more for the same (or less) work. Over the summer, the California State Assembly passed legislation funding these wage increases, yet UC President Dynes has been holding the money hostage as a way of forcing union concessions over pension issues.

Wednesday's action, which, due to police blockage of the road, effectively shut down the base of campus for 30-40 minutes, was the first protest of the day at UCSC. Due to a visit from the UC Regents, a high-profile action a few hours later where police assaulted and pepper-sprayed students has taken most of the headlines. It's important to note, however, that these two actions were in solidarity with each other, as students and workers struggle over the same need to democratize the UC and fix the problems at UCSC before any possible expansion. Read More and View Photos || Students and Workers (Re)United for Justice!

On October 18, the California Sixth District Court of Appeals reversed the March 2005 conviction of medical marijuana caregiver and patient, Roger Mentch, for cultivation and possession of marijuana intended for sale. The court recognized the legitimacy of Mentch's caregiver defense under the 1996 Compassionate Care Act, which was forbidden during his first trial. Read The Entire Decision

previous coverage: Roger Mentch On Trial Again | Roger Mentch Gets Leniency From Courts | Roger Mentch will continue the Hemporium | Medical Marijuana Provider and In-Home Caregiver on Trial in Santa Cruz

Congress has repeatedly failed to bump up the minimum wage and since 1997, it has remained at $5.15 an hour. Since then, 19 states and three cities have raised base pay rates higher than the federal minimum, while scores more of other cities have enacted living wage laws for government contractors. This November, voters in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio will decide whether or not to raise their own hourly base pay. In Santa Cruz, CA, the year's hottest election issue is Measure G, a city-wide proposal to raise the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour. FSRN's Vinny Lombardo examines the potential impacts on the Santa Cruz economy. Audio

see also: Santa Cruz Businesses That Don't Care About Workers' Lives || Measure G, Political Nastiness, & the lies of liberal democrats - EDITORIAL || Raise The Minimum Wage, Yes On Measure G!

danielsan has published an audio interview, in spanish, with two Oaxacan teachers recorded on October 14th, 2006, at La Ley Barricade which protects an occupied radio station in Oaxaca City. An english language transcript of the interview has been provided thanks to Emilyn, Ariel, & Daniel(san).

Audio (en español): Baje el mp3 (36:34 minutos / 16.7 MB)

During the interview, one of the teachers explains that, "The most valiant victory of this movement is what we're learning from it, those who are participating, and those who are watching too. Oaxaca will never be the same again, after all of this. Because the people know what it is, a popular struggle. They know what it costs--the blood spilled. They know the need of organizing themselves. People see the need to organize just to feed the barricades! To sustain them!" Read the full transcript

see also: Declaration of Solidarity with the People of Oaxaca

older stories > >

You can find more archives of Santa Cruz Indymedia (SC-IMC) by visiting the following links to SC-IMC's Features, Newswire, and Other Press.

You can also use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to view screenshots of the santacruz.indymedia.org homepage from 2001 - 2005.

Read about Santa Cruz IMC's Regional Integration with Indybay.org || Lee sobre Santa Cruz CMI que se esta Integrando con Indybay.org