On September 17th, Jack and Wes were arrested at a gathering in Parking Lot #4 alongside the Santa Cruz Farmer's Market. According to reports published on Santa Cruz Indymedia, police initially went after and arrested Jack, a Food Not Bombs volunteer. Some people followed the police while drumming and demanding that Jack be released. Police reacted by arresting Wes, a drummer with Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra.

Numerous police were called to the scene, but they quickly left after displaying batons and a riot control gun. The final scene had Parking Lot #4 filled with musicians drumming, children dancing, and Food Not Bombs feeding.

Drum Circle Challenge | Drummers Arrested at Wednesday Farmers Market | Two Arrested Near Farmer's Market, But the Beats Continued On

previous coverage: Raging Grannies and Trash Orchestra Defend Drummers from SCPD (Sep. 10, 2008)

On September 3rd, police preempted the weekly gathering in Parking Lot #4 alongside the Santa Cruz Farmer's Market by occupying the space under the trees usually used by the drum circle and Food Not Bombs.

Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra writes, "In January, the community spoke and acted out to prevent our town from becoming as flavorless as Carmel. We will defend the drummers from police harassment and we will win again.

"This is merely the newest battle of a war in Santa Cruz. A war against dissent, against the poor, against the homeless, and now against people making music. We challenge these laws and the police crackdown on undesirables -- an effort to "clean up" the streets of Santa Cruz of the young, the very old, immigrants, the unemployed, homeless, the insane, and anyone who resists."

Invitations were posted to Santa Cruz Indymedia calling for people to participate on September 10th at around 3:00pm in solidarity with drummers, other musicians and friends playing music together. On Wednesday morning, stakes were pounded into the ground around the trees in Parking Lot #4 to set up fences blocking access to areas where people traditionally sit and chat, play drums, eat food, etc. The fences and several police officers were not enough to prevent people from singing, playing instruments, sharing food and reclaiming an important community space under the trees. Read More and Watch Video | Photos

Blueshirts Erase Drum Circle: New Ban on Public Assembly Near Farmer's Market | Police Surveillance at the Farmer's Market Drum Circle | Santa Cruz Reclaims Peoples' Parking Lot #4

On August 29th at approximately 2:00pm, an FBI agent posing as a neighbor knocked at the door of a home in Oceanside, CA, lured Nathan Pope from his mother's house, and arrested him. The only known charge at this point is felony perjury. He is being held on $100,000 bond. Nathan is a resident of the house on Riverside Avenue in Santa Cruz that has been raided twice in the past six months.

After Nathan was arrested, the FBI unsuccessfully attempted to question his mother and friend. The FBI told the arrestee's mother he is being transferred to the Vista jail, and will be extradited to the Santa Cruz Jail for his arraignment, which is now scheduled for Friday, September 5th at 8:00am at the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. Read More

previous coverage: Police Raid Activist House in Santa Cruz || Police Raid House on Riverside Avenue in Santa Cruz, Again

At their meeting on September 9th, the Santa Cruz City Council will decide whether to fund the initial design for a 5-story garage at Cedar/Cathcart. The garage will displace the Downtown Farmer's Market. The Campaign for Sensible Transportation is proposing that the City implement less costly and greener alternatives to building the garage. These alternatives are recommended in a 2003 report commissioned by the City called the Master Transportation Study. That study recommends that downtown employees be given incentives not to drive to work, including free bus passes, emergency taxi vouchers, credit at bike stores, and cash. The study cites examples from other cities in which such measures have substantially reduced car trips. To date, the City has not implemented the recommendations in the study.

On September 3rd, City Council candidates will face the garage issue at a Candidate Night on Sustainable Transportation, at Louden Nelson Center, 7-8:30pm. Read More

In the early morning of August 25th, three windows were broken and a surveillance camera knocked off the roof of the Ocean Street McDonald's in Santa Cruz.

In a post on Santa Cruz Indymedia, not lovin' it writes, "The Beijing Olympics have ended, but the repressive apparatus set up for the Games remains in place: some 300,000 surveillance cameras, 400,000 informants, and a general tightening of government control. This is always the result of these multinational spectacles. McDonald's, one of the major sponsors of the Olympics, also remains omnipresent and continues to reap its profits with four new restaurants and a large share of the advertising spectacle.

"People the world over hate McDonald's as a foremost symbol of American capitalism, and its franchises are targeted in almost every uprising and riot that erupts these days. Here in California too, we revolt against everything McDonald's is and represents. We know that the crap that they pass off as "food" is "cheap" in dollars, but is the direct result of worker exploitation, rainforest deforestation, etc. We're sick of the bullshit that is McDonald's, just as we are disgusted with the spectacle of the Olympics and enraged by the constant presence of surveillance cameras everywhere." Read More

On August 24th, the ACLU of Santa Cruz County held their 2008 Summer Awards Celebration and Fundraiser at the Long Marine Lab's Seymour Center. The local ACLU presented Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty with the 'Hammer of Justice' award. Meanwhile, homeless rights advocates tried to educate ACLU members about what they say is the true nature of Mayor Coonerty.

Attorney Kate Wells, who is on the ACLU's legal committee, but was not consulted in the ACLU's decision to award Coonerty, expressed amazement and outrage at the decision. She wrote the following in an email to the Board, "Having brought many civil rights lawsuits against the City of Santa Cruz over the years of my practice, I have had the unique opportunity to witness first hand the human rights stances of every mayor and councilmember for the past couple of decades. Ryan Coonerty, in my opinion, has not only not stood up for the principles espoused by the ALCU, but has instituted and supported political and legislative stances that are inimical to the goal of achieving those principles. And such behavior is even more egregious given his status as a civil rights instructor." Read More | Photos

previous coverage: Activists ask ACLU to help end sleeping ban || Ban on Public Assemblies in Public Parking Lots at City Council || Sleeping Ban Debate on Voices from the Village || Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban Struggle Persists as Ryan Coonerty Becomes Mayor || Mayor Coonerty's New Rules Ban Public Comment on Half of City Council Afternoon Agenda || Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty Loses Bid to Become Obama Delegate in Denver

The 2008 Watsonville Gay Pride Parade Committee, a group of diverse volunteers, organized the first ever pride parade in Watsonville on August 24th. The celebration was a huge success, with 325 people marching through the streets and over 500 enjoying a party in the plaza.

The Watsonville Gay Pride Parade Committee works to foster understanding and awareness of the issues that affect the GLBTQ community in the Central Coast. Read More with Photos and Audio | More Photos

indynewswire: Maria Perez & Olga Fuentes on Watsonville PRIDE/Orgullo!!

Union laborers, community representatives, and neighbors of La Bahia Hotel in Santa Cruz want to upgrade the distressed beachfront site with a hotel. But they all demand something better--and smaller--than the plan currently being proposed by Barry Swenson Builder and the Seaside Company.

According to Don Webber, a longtime neighbor of La Bahia, "There's a lot of support for building a hotel at La Bahia that is built in scale with the Beach Hill area, in conformance with the zoning law and more in line with community values." Neighbors have been asking city officials for story poles to demonstrate the height and placement of the 125-room luxury hotel up for approval by the City Council in September. Labor unions aren't happy with Swenson's plans since the company hasn't committed to building as a union shop or to a card count union election process for hotel staff. Historic preservationists are unhappy with the decision to totally demolish the aging landmark currently on the site instead of trying to restore even part of it. Community representatives don't like the City Council riding roughshod over the general plan, the zoning law, and a host of other city policies intended to protect the quality of life in Santa Cruz. But Swenson wants to demolish a city landmark and build 30 feet above the legal height limit, so he definitely needs to have the city change a number of important planning laws.

A rally was held in front of La Bahia on August 21st to protest the project as it is currently being proposed. Read More with Video and Photos | More Photos

Glen Chase, a Professor of Systems Management, has released a second report identifying the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) eradication program as a fraud. Professor Chase's first report revealed the falsehoods the CDFA delivered after June 19 when courts and public pressure stopped the CDFA from aerial spraying synthetic pheromone based pesticides directly on cities. This second report reveals the fraud and misinformation delivered by the CDFA from the fall of 2007 until June 19, 2008.

"CDFA has demonstrated that they will lie, cheat and even sacrifice the lives of California's children in order to steal $100's of millions of emergency funds, set aside for real emergencies."

"We are now into the third year after noticing the Light Brown Apple Moth in California and recognizing that LBAM has been living here about 30-50 years or more, while doing NO DAMAGE. The CDFA is getting more and more desperate to quickly implement fake emergency eradication methods, so they can access the emergency funds and pretend they are saving California by stopping the LBAM from doing damage. For emergency funding, it seems the CDFA would claim to save us from Lady Bugs, if we didn't know better."

The only real emergency is the CDFA. The CDFA is planning to expose children and adults to toxins by many methods and interfere with natural balances in nature in order that programs are ongoing that appear to be a legitimate eradication. CDFA is also threatening the existence of small farmers and nursery businesses by imposing quarantines on their products, without assisting them financially. Read More and Download the Report

According to a post by Stop Cal Vivisection, FBI agents showed up unannounced at an individual's workplace in Oakland. They seemed more obsessed with who they think her friends might be than anything. They made mention of Santa Cruz and some type of flyer. They wanted to know if she could lead them to two individuals. The FBI agents stated that they are going to have to keep investigating if two named individuals don't give them a call. The person made clear that she didn't know anything and was busy at work. Read More

see also: Know Your Rights

LRDP-Resistance Media writes, "It comes as no surprise to us that the city council and the Coalition to Limit University Expansion (CLUE) have settled their lawsuit with UCSC over the campus expansion under the 2005 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). But, despite the city's capitulation and Chancellor Blumenthal's speculation that the Tree Sitters 'have accomplished their goals,' we will not be coming out of the trees. The city does not speak for us, nor do they speak for the Coast Redwoods, the Mountain Manzanita, Burrowing Owls, Red-legged Frogs, Bobcats, Coyotes, Gray Foxes, California Myotis or any of the other living creatures who call the exceptional habitat of North Campus their home.

"The city's lawsuit was never intended to protect the unique ecosystem of North Campus that UCSC plans on destroying. The destruction of the forest was always the main issue behind us climbing into the Redwood trees at the site of the first proposed 2005 LRDP building. We look forward to working with the city and with CLUE on the legal battles that will be waged when the UC's plans are put before the Santa Cruz Local Agency Formation Commission. But we cannot rely on politicians and bureaucrats to protect the things that are truly important: clean air, clean water, animal habitats and the experience of being surrounded by the beautiful hundred-year old redwood and chaparral forest that are in danger of being destroyed forever. Those are the values that have called us into the trees, and those are things that cannot be quantified or litigated." Read More

see also: A Glimpse at UCSC's North Campus | Aug 13th and Sep 17th: Upper Campus Forest Walk

Radio Trabajadora escribe, "Este es un show de radio en Radio Libre Santa Cruz, escuchen a 101.1 FM o freakradio.org todos los martes de 6-7:30 pm. Durante este show hablamos sobre AFSCME Local 3299 y las ultimas noticias de la pelea por un contrato. Tambien hablamos de los trabajadores de la union UNITE HERE! en Oakland y la accion que el 8 de Agosto van a tener en el aeropuerto de Oakland. Y de la accion que los Teamsters tubieron hace como dos semanas en los Puertos de Oakland. Y finalmente tuvimos una entrevista con James sobre los trabajadores de El Balazo que fueron detenidos por la migra. escuchen! Listen!"

"We don't need another parking lot" read one of over 30 stenciled cardboard signs erected on the evening of August 1st across the fences of various failed businesses in Santa Cruz by a group of bicyclists as part of a "Going Out of Business & Green Futures" community ride.

Part protest against car culture, part living art project, and part prank, the bicyclists visited the sites of former gas stations, drive thrus, auto-dealerships, and more, planting wild flower seeds, and other decorations depicting a deteriorating economy and hopes for a greener, wilder future. "Property is Theft", "My heroes carry guns in the their minds", and "Community Garden Coming Soon!" read some of the signs posted outside fenced off buildings and pavement cracking open with weeds. Read More and View Photos | More Photos