The first of at least two bail hearings for the San Francisco 8 is scheduled for Monday, June 11th, with a rally beforehand at 8:00am. The San Francisco 8 have called for a national movement to demand the reopening of hearings into COINTELPRO, which was responsible for government harassment, persecution, and long-term imprisonment of members of organizations such as the Black Panther Party.

The G8 summit will be held in northern Germany this year from June 6th through June 8th and massive direct action as well as mainstream marches are planned.
June 6th: The first day of the blockades has seen most of the roads that lead to Heiligendamm blocked. Throughout the day different groups set out to shut off access points to the G8 venue. Many groups used a variety of tactics during the day, from sit-down road occupations to building barricades to breaking through police lines to reach their blockade locations. Despite police use of water cannon, mounted police, and helicopters to ferry in reinforcements, many more than expected made it through the no-protest zone to blockade right up to the G8 security fences. Indybay has on-going coverage of events from Bay Area reporters.

On June 4th, convicted Green Scare/Operation Backfire defendant Daniel McGowan was sentenced to 7 years of prison with 3 years of supervised probation. He was the ninth of ten defendants to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in the past two weeks. McGowan was one of only four defendants to refuse to name names and implicate others who took part in similar actions. Another non-cooperating co-defendant, Jonathan Paul, faces sentencing on June 5th.

On May 30th members of Youth United for Community Action (YUCA), celebrated a California state order that will shut down large portions of a major hazardous waste handler located in East Palo Alto, ironically named Romic Environmental Technologies. For 43 years, Romic Environmental Technologies has operated a hazardous waste recycling facility in East Palo Alto.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr recently announced that her office would not be filing any charges in the De Anza gang-rape case, in which an underage, unconscious young woman was assaulted by a group of De Anza College baseball players. At a Thursday May 31st press conference, community members gathered outside the DA's office in San Jose to demand justice for the young woman.

On May 22nd, University of California workers, represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, announced that a settlement has been reached with the University of California to address the wage equity fight for custodians at UC Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz and to end the practice of outsourcing groundskeepers at UC Irvine. The settlement includes an immediate initial wage increase of $1.25 per hour for custodians at UC Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. This wage increase is retroactive to April 2007 and will be additionally increased by $.50 per hour in October, 2007.

The ACLU said in a press conference held in San Jose on May 30th that a lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan, a subsidiary of Boeing Co., was being filed under the Alien Tort Statute, which permits aliens to bring claims in the United States for violations of the law of nations or a United States treaty. The statute recognizes international norms accepted among civilized nations that are violated by acts such as enforced disappearance, torture and other inhuman treatment.

On Wednesday May 30th, a jury split its verdict for author and medical marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal on federal marijuana charges. Rosenthal was found guilty of three federal felonies related to the cultivation and distribution of marijuana, not guilty of cultivation and distribution and deadlocked on a conspiracy count. Rosenthal faces no punishment for the felony convictions, aside from one day in jail that he has already served.

An Iraq veteran was greeted early on the morning of May 28th by nearly one hundred fellow veterans, parents of US troops in Iraq supporters — including the father of Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq — and other as he began a round-the-clock effort to march around the State Capitol for all U.S. troopers killed in Iraq. He has promised he will not quit until exhaustion forces him to quit.

Cindy Sheehan published an open letter on Memorial Day whereby she announced her decision to return to a non-activist life apart from the anti-war movement. Cindy Sheehan first rose to prominence in the summer of 2005 when she set up a camp outside of George Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch and held vigil in order to meet with the President and ask him what noble cause her son had died for. Since then, she has been villified by war supporters and Democrats as she continued to campaign for an end to the war.

Members of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN) entered San Francisco’s City Hall on Thursday, May 24 hoping to influence the 2007-2008 city budget. SFILEN's request, entitled the Immigrant Rights Budget Proposal asks for funding of specific immigrant programs within the People's Budget which they contend will strengthen the city's communities and add to economic growth.

Administrators of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) have announced their intention to “suspend” Alette Kendrick, a prominent Black activist, for a period of three years — in essence, a sentence of expulsion for the third-year student. In response, Alette has immediately requested a formal hearing — her right under the school’s judicial process — while supporters have organized a week of action culminating in a large rally on Thursday, May 24th, featuring Angela Davis as a speaker.

Parrots known to have lived in San Francisco since the early 1970s has survived the loss of some tree habitat, cold snaps, and various other threats over the years. A popular film and book both called "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" brought the birds to national attention in 2004 and 2005. Legislative efforts have been made to help protect the flock, the first of which protected some of the birds' long-time tree habitat. Now, activists say the health, welfare and safety of the beloved wild parrots has been threatened by a large group of bird lovers who have taken to feeding the parrots daily, and on May 22nd, the SF Board of Supervisors voted to ban human feeding of the flock.

On Wednesday, May 23, while the San Francisco Board of Supervisors reviewed the implementation plan of Community Choice Energy (CCE), the Green Guerrillas Against Greenwash staged a street theater performance outside City Hall. The performance included caricatures of Mayor Newsom and PiG&E; being caught "in bed" by woman dressed as a giant windmill. Material distributed by the protesters highlighted Newsom's relationship with PG&E;, including indirect campaign contributions totaling over $30,000 and his recent history of blowing off CCE events while publicly praising PG&E; for their token "green" publicity events. CCE is the plan to run San Francisco on 51 percent renewable energies by 2017. It achieves this goal by dismantling PG&E;'s monopoly and allowing the city of San Francisco to bulk buy energy from independent producers.

Ramiro writes: Human migration is a phenomenon as old as humanity. Throughout the ages humans have been known to migrate extensively all over the world. Indeed, it is migration which created human isolation and is therefore responsible for our current genetic differences and the makeup of the world today.

After a brief press conference on May 22nd in front of San Francisco’s City Hall, three students embarked on a "March for Peace” yesterday with the intent of walking every step of over 3,000 miles across North America. If all goes to plan, they will arrive in Washington DC in late August.

Four Bay Area Code Pinkers -- Cynthia Papermaster, Nancy Mancias, Kathy Greene and Janet Weil -- crashed Congressman George Miller's birthday party/fundraiser at the Pleasant Hill Community Center. After Pelosi spoke, Code Pink members called out, "End the war in Iraq! You better do it soon!" and similar remarks in challenging tones.asked her. Later a Code Pink member asked Pelosi: "Why are you pushing for the Iraqi Oil Law? Isn't that what Bush has wanted from the first?"

On May 19th, work activity at the Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) gates was successfully halted after the ILWU locals chose not to cross the community picket lines. Pickets continued throughout the day. The picket was a direct action to stop the war. Currently, military shipments through the port enable and support the ongoing occupation of Iraq.

Following the killing of a senior Fatah leader on May 13th, violence erupted throughout the Gaza Strip. Two attempted ceasefires collapsed within hours and fighting between Fatah and Hamas has resulted in dozens of deaths, threatening to shatter the two factions' unity government. Israel is intervening in the factional strife with the explicit aim of eliminating Hamas as a military and political force; a senior Israeli cabinet official has even called for all Hamas leaders to be killed. Israeli air strikes have killed over thirty civilians in the past few days, with some of the attacks appearing to be assassination attempts.

Filipino organizations, youth groups, and a growing movement for police accountability rallied outside the San José Superior Court Hall of Justice on May 16th, demanding justice for Marlo, Romel, and Marilou Custodio. The Custodios are three Evergreen Valley residents who are being charged with resisting arrest during a February 5th incident. The Custodio Family and other community organizations are charging the San José Police Department with police brutality and racial profiling.

Just weeks after being released from a military stockade in Germany for refusing redeployment to Iraq, Agustin Aguayo were joined by fellow war resisters on a greater San Francisco Bay Area speaking tour from May 9-18. Agustin served almost eight months in prison after fighting for nearly three years to be recognized as a conscientious objector. Agustin explained for the first time why he chose jail instead of redeploying to Iraq.

On Thursday, May 17th, oral arguments were heard in federal court in Philadelphia on what could be the last appeal of death-row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is known as the "Voice of the Voiceless." Bay Area supporters of Mumia held rallies in San Francisco and San Jose. Mumia Abu-Jamal has been on death row in Pennsylvania for 25 years.

A hunger strike initiated by 44 UC students, several alumni and a professor has passed its 1-week mark. The hunger strikers are demanding that the UC Board of Regents withdraw from their contracts to operate Los Alamos and Livermore National Laboratories based on, “the grounds that the Reliable Replacement Warhead program and Los Alamos Labs’ ongoing preparations to conduct plutonium pit manufacturing both clearly violate Article VI of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.” The UC has been identified by the hunger strikers as a site of strategic importance in the campaign against new nuclear weapons.

A newly formed branch of the Minutemen and other similar groups are targeting the San Francisco Peninsula and South Bay cities with their anti-immigrant messages. The Raging Grannies have sounded the alarm for local community activists to react quickly in response. Calling on peace and immigrant rights groups to counter-demonstrate, the Peninsula Raging Grannies Action League set up a team to get the word out that, "our communities will NOT be divided along lines of immigrant vs. citizen."

Every year, over 800,000 pets end up in shelters in California. Taxpayers spend $250 million to house these abandoned cats and dogs and then euthanize the majority of them. Proponents of the Healthy Pets Act, a mandatory spay/neuter law, point to the wide availability of free and low-cost spay/neuter services and say it is a common sense solution to the problem of pet overpopulation. Advocates of the bill massed in Sacramento in support of the proposed law.

On Friday, May 11th, Berkeley Critical Mass was stopped by a car that destroyed several bicycles. The cyclists had been through much of Berkeley, including a sojourn to Indian Rock, and were heading back down the Alameda. The riders entered an intersection on a green light, and several were struck by a car, which trapped three bicycles underneath it. They, along with dozens of others, had been participating in a monthly bicycle ride around Berkeley, promoting bicycling and the reduction of automobile and oil dependency. Police reportedly sided with the driver and denied the rights of the demonstrators.

The Student/Farmworker Alliance announced that May 11th and 12th would be Days of Action vs. Burger King calling on the world's #2 burger chain to take responsibility for the conditions of farmworkers in the fields. On May 11th, four students from the University of California at Santa Cruz and one loyal Burger King customer went to the Burger King on Mission Street / Highway 1 in Santa Cruz to drop off a letter to the manager calling attention to the human rights crisis in Florida's tomato fields.

An Oakland judge on April 18 refused to back down from his earlier order to stop water exports from the South Delta until an incidental take permit for endangered fish is obtained. Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ordered the agency to "cease and desist" from operation of the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant Operation until the agency has obtained authorization with regard to the Delta smelt, winter-run chinook salmon and spring-run chinook salmon.

On Tuesday, May 8, students from UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley occupied the UC "Anti-Poverty" Center protesting poverty wages by demanding that the UC release $8.5 million earmarked for custodians by the State Legislature. The UC administration has been holding up the money - meant for low-paid workers on 4 campuses - in an attempt to force concessions in contract negotiations. Meanwhile, The Coup's Boots Riley joined Danny Glover in boycotting UC Berkeley's graduation speech in support of the custodians' wage-parity campaign.

The Watsonville City Council meeting was packed on May 8th with attendees in support of a resolution requesting the suspension of random detentions and arrests of residents in Watsonville. Migrawatch, a newly formed network of immigrants rights organizations, called for supporters of immigrant rights to speak up and demand that two clauses be added to the resolution before the council vote. The first clause to make the City of Watsonville a "sanctuary" for undocumented people similar to other cities around the country offering a safe space for members of the community. The second amendment sought by activists was a "notification" clause.