On October 3rd, Andrew Stepanian started a three-year prison term, becoming the first person to do time under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) activists were not accused of causing physical damage to property or people. They were convicted of targeting Huntingdon Life Sciences by maintaining a website which contained information that could potentially be used to commit a crime. Congress has been working to pass more laws offering special protection for businesses that profit from the use of animals and restricting the free speech of peaceful activists.

On Tuesday, October 3rd, the Bay Area medical marijuana community was rocked by the news that eight Bay Area locations associated with New Remedies Cooperative and Potent Employment Solutions had been raided by federal agents. The targets were allegedly growing, prescribing, and dispensing medical marijuana. New Remedies was the only surviving spinoff of Compassionate Caregivers, which has been under investigation ever since their LA outlet was busted in May, 2005. Sparky Rose, the executive director of the organizations, was one of over a dozen people who were arrested. They were expected to be arraigned on Wednesday. A march was held from City Hall to the Federal Building. Photos from Raid

Emergency Action: Thurs. Oct. 5th, 7–9 a.m. at Woodfin Suites Hotel, 5800 Shellmound, Emeryville.
On Friday morning, September 29, community members including faith-based leaders, local union members and residents demonstrated their support for immigrant workers at the Woodfin Suites in Emeryville. Carrying mops, brooms, drums, and noise makers, protesters demanded "Woodfin Clean-Up your Act" and "Worker Rights Now!" as workers waved bedsheets from the windows. Photos

The World Can't Wait called for a national day of action on October 5th against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. In San Francisco, students staged a morning walkout and protesters converged at noon in Justin Herman Plaza. Protests also took place in Oakland, Mill Valley, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and Arcata. Photos: 1 | 2

On Wednesday September 27th, the US House of Representatives approved HR 6166 by a margin of 253-168 and on September 28th, the US Senate approved its version of the bill, Senate Bill 3930, in a 65-34 vote. The bill will give President Bush extraordinary power to detain and try prisoners. The legislation strips detainees of the right to challenge their own detention and gives the President the power to detain them indefinitely. The bill also immunizes U.S. officials from prosecution for torturing detainees who the military and the CIA captured before the end of last year.

On Sunday, October 1st, right-wingers from the religious "right" were in San Francisco to hold a "life chain" event. Apparently, every year on the first Sunday in October, Life Chain invites churches in each city and town across North America to stand on a local sidewalk and pray for one hour, while holding signs that include approved pro-life messages. In San Francisco, the life chain was on Park Presidio Blvd. between Geary and Clement from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. BACORR and others were there to support the "No on 85" campaign and to counter the right's extremist messaging. Photos

Saturday, October 7th will be a No on 85! Day of Action. A rally will be held in Dolores Park at 12pm (20th Street and Dolores) in San Francisco. People will join together to try to form the World's Largest Human No on 85 Sign. The No on 85 Campaign is hoping that over 300 people will participate in this visibility action. At 1pm people will conduct voter outreach and visibility in District 8, and at 5pm, a NO on 85 Happy Hour and Comedy Show will be held at Martuni's Martini bar.

Proposition 85, the "Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of a Minor's Pregnancy" initiative, would amend California's state constitution to young women under the age of 18 from obtaining abortion care without government-mandated parental notification. Prop 85 is one of the initiatives on the ballot for the Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 general election in California. Opponents of Prop 85 point out that California's adolescent pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates have declined in the last ten years.

The California Healthcare Collective (CHC) in Modesto was raided on the morning of Wednesday, September 27th by local and federal agents. The city had last year banned dispensaries, except for those that are nonprofits. Last week, the Modesto City Council voted to repeal the non-profit provision, thus making the CHC "illegal," and setting the scene for the raid. Protests were held around the state on Friday to tell the DEA that medical marijuana supporters in California will not stand for these continued attacks on medical cannabis patients. Protests took place at 12pm outside of DEA offices in Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Modesto, and other cities.