In Santa Cruz last week, at least three individuals were visited by FBI agents and compelled to give DNA samples. The agents possessed court orders for their DNA in investigation of a "violation of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act."

Another individual was served with a subpoena for a federal grand jury hearing. FBI Special Agent Andrew Myers found her in downtown Santa Cruz as she hung out with friends last weekend. The grand jury hearing is scheduled for October 23rd at the federal courthouse in San Francisco.

An anonymous contributor to Santa Cruz Indymedia states, "Anyone with more specific information should post here. We need to be as public about this as possible. We need to let folks facing FBI intimidation know that they have our utmost support, and send the FBI the message that we will never cooperate with their witch-hunts." Read More

previous coverage: Information on Grand Juries || Know Your Rights || Santa Cruz Resident Nathan Pope/Knoerl Arrested in Oceanside by the FBI || FBI Agents Visit Individual's Workplace in Oakland

On September 27th, four windows, a glass door and an ATM were smashed out at the Wells Fargo on the corner of Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane in the unincorporated area of Santa Cruz. Wells Fargo is one of the largest single stockholders in the GEO Group, a private prison outfit with prisons and detention centers spread across the world. Among many others, the GEO Group runs the ICE (Immigrations & Customs Enforcement) Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA. The Geo Group also operates a Migrant Operations Center in Guantanamo Bay, on the grounds of the Naval Base, adjacent to the more infamous "Gitmo".

Ironically, Wells Fargo is also one of the largest methods of private remittances--money sent home to family abroad by working immigrants. They benefit off of the cash transfers of the migrant community on one hand, and profit off of their incarceration with the other. Read More

previous attacks: Santa Cruz Wells Fargo Paint Bombed || ATMs Attacked In Solidarity With Olympia Rioters || Smashed ATMs on UCSC Campus

From SC-IMC's open-publishing calendar: "The police and the city council claim that the escalating issues at Wednesday's Farmer's Market are the result of complaints about the drummers. Instead of dealing directly with the complaints, they have turned the market into a police state. Please attend the City Council meeting this Tuesday at 3pm to support the request to rescind the poorly-written, ambiguous 15-minute parking lot law. Last Wednesday cost the taxpayers over $5,000 to stop people from DRUMMING!"

Comments on the newswire by "brent is my name," "ElderHermit," "Rise up!" and others assert that the community will return to Parking Lot #4 (Cedar and Cathcart) on September 24th. Here are some of the comments: 1) "I'll be back to drum there next wednesday... just like I've done for years." 2) "I plan to be at the farmer's market. And I am telling friends. I am glad to see people standing up for themselves." 3) "Everyone should be preparing for Wednesday. We need to protect our rights and show support for those that have stood up putting there lives in turmoil, sacrificing themselves for our rights. THANKS WES! We Know who you are! We see through the lies. We will not be intimidated! We will stand up."

see also: Fun Next to the Farmer's Market Today! | Mesh Fencing Up Again in Parking Lot #4 to Prevent Drum Circle | Drum Circle is Back with a Bang in Santa Cruz's Parking Lot #4

After 10 months of occupying in 100-foot high redwood trees, tree sitters at UCSC's Science Hill are ready for students to return for school. The tree sitters say that their presence is more important than ever since the Santa Cruz City Council settled their lawsuit with the University. The settlement gives the City Council's blessing for UCSC to begin the first phase of their construction plan that will eventually destroy 120 acres of forest and add at least 4,500 new students to the area.

UCSC tree sitters have taken a stand against construction before it begins. Precious watershed regions, unique manzanita groves and hundred-year old redwood forests will be destroyed by the University's unfettered construction. The homes of such rare native animals as the burrowing owl and the endangered red-legged frog will be devastated. The University's plan sacrifices the unique ecosystems, as well as the highly esteemed liberal arts education that attracts many people to Santa Cruz. Following the trend of privatizing public universities, current students are paying more for education and receiving less. Read More

previous coverage: Tree Sitters Maintain Perch as UCSC Settles Lawsuit || With Students Gone, UCSC Tree-Sit on Alert || Standoff with Police as Activists Occupy Redwoods to Oppose UCSC Expansion

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