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Mon Feb 3 2014 (Updated 02/07/14)
Gentle Warrior: Animal and Human Rights Activist, Grand Jury Resister David Hayden Passes
David Hayden, a frontline activist and advocate for animal and human rights, passed away on January 31. He was the primary driving force at No Compromise magazine and an S.F. Grand Jury resister. David lived in Santa Cruz and worked at UCSC. A memorial in the Talon Conspiracy describes David's passing as, "a reminder that the best fighters are also the best people: kindhearted, soft spoken, humble, and ready to raise hell when injustice rears its ugly head."
Thu Feb 6 2014 (Updated 02/07/14)
Lawsuit Alleged Packaging of Judy's Eggs Misled Consumers to Believe Hens Outdoors
The Animal Legal Defense Fund announced the settlement of a false-advertising lawsuit against defendant Steven Mahrt, doing business as Petaluma Farms and owner of Judy’s Family Farm Organic Eggs (“Judy’s Eggs”). The lawsuit alleges that imagery and statements used on Judy’s Eggs packaging led consumers to mistakenly believe the eggs came from hens with significant outdoor access. The lawsuit also alleges that consumers bought Judy’s Eggs because of these representations.
Thu Feb 6 2014 (Updated 02/07/14)
With Trial Set for March, Parade Organized to Support Final Four SC11 Defendants
On Tuesday, February 11, a Parade in support and solidarity with the Santa Cruz Eleven will be held in downtown Santa Cruz. The 11th for the 11! Seven of the Eleven have had their charges dropped, however the city continues to spend thousands of dollars prosecuting the remaining four. After two years, their trial is scheduled to begin March 3.
Thu Feb 6 2014 (Updated 02/07/14)
XL Pipeline Demonstrators Urge President to Keep Word and Fight Climate Change
On February 3, protest vigils were held across the country following the State Department’s release of the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL pipeline. The protests included thousands of demonstrators urging the president to keep his word in the fight against climate change and reject the controversial pipeline. In the Bay Area rallies were held in many cities, including Oakland, Palo Alto, and Santa Cruz.
Read more on Indybay's Environment & Forest Defense page
Thu Jan 30 2014 (Updated 02/03/14)
Court of Appeal Denies Biotechnology Firm's Request to Keep Vested Interests Secret
In January 2013, Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of the organization Stop Animal Exploitation Now, using the California state anti-cruelty code against an animal testing facility known as Santa Cruz Biotechnology. The company “harvests” blood from tens of thousands of animals, including goats and rabbits, and the case is currently on appeal. Last week, the Court denied a motion filed by Santa Cruz Biotech to keep secret the names of those who have a financial interest in the outcome of the animal cruelty lawsuit.
Santa Cruz deputy harbormaster Timothy James Anderson is scheduled to be back in court in Napa County on March 4 to face battery charges stemming from an incident that occurred on August 13, 2013 near Lake Berryessa. Anderson and his friend Steven Belmont were arrested in Napa County after the incident, and Belmont has been ordered to stand trial on attempted murder charges for allegedly attacking Berryessa resident Roy Powell with a pitch fork.
Mon Jan 27 2014 (Updated 02/06/14)
Group Says Chipotle's Marketing Disguises Violent Reality of Animal Agriculture
Animal rights activists demonstrated at the Chipotle Restaurant in Santa Cruz on January 24 as part of an international series of actions organized by Direct Action Everywhere. A letter was delivered to the manager reminding the company of the abuses animals farmed for food experience. It was a public delivery for patrons to witness, conveying the message, "It's not food. It's violence."
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal petition on January 16 with the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect more critical habitat for the endangered Southern Resident population of orcas. If successful the proposal would extend Endangered Species Act protection to the whales’ winter foraging range off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. After several drastic declines, only 81 killer whales remain in the Southern Resident population.
Read more on Indybay's Environment & Forest Defense page
Wed Jan 22 2014 (Updated 01/23/14)
Demonstrators Say All Google Employees Should Be Prevented from Getting to Work
According to an article published on Indybay's newswire, at 7am on January 21, a group went to the home of Anthony Levandowski, a Google X developer. After ringing his doorbell to alert him of the protest, a banner was held in front of his house that read "Google's Future Stops Here" and fliers about him were distributed around the neighborhood. The fliers detail his work with the defense industry and his plans to develop luxury condos in Berkeley. After blocking his driveway for approximately 45 minutes, the group blocked a Google bus at Ashby BART.
Read more on Indybay's Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism page
On January 16, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) officially recommended Santa Cruz County to receive $25 million it requested for jail expansion at Rountree Detention Center in Watsonville. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors now has 90 days to approve or reject the jail expansion proposal from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. In response to the BSCC's recommendation, Sin Barras and other community members demonstrated later that day at the Clock Tower in downtown Santa Cruz to say, "NO MORE MONEY FOR JAILS!"
On Saturday January 25, the "Walk for Life" will be coming back to San Francisco to protest the right to abortion and to celebrate the recent successes of the anti-abortion movement. They will march down Market Street, where lampposts currently sport the slogan "Abortion Hurts Women." Stop Patriarchy is calling on people to stand up in uncompromising opposition to the "Walk for Life West Coast."
On January 9, Tenants Together and their allies filed a class action suit against notorious Central Valley landlord, JD Homes Rentals. The lawsuit seeks immediate court intervention to ensure that substandard conditions in the thousands of units managed by JD Homes Rentals are repaired and the properties made habitable. Among the allegations, JD Homes often retaliates against tenants who complain to authorities.
Civil rights attorney Dan Siegel announced his candidacy for mayor of Oakland on January 9. Siegel spelled out an ambitious agenda focused on social and economic justice which includes a $15 minimum wage, public schools to develop into community centers, neighborhood gardens to flourish throughout the city, Oakland police to stop abusing citizens, and the Domain Awareness Center to be shut down.
Read more on Indybay's Health, Housing, and Public Services, Labor & Workers or Government & Elections pages
Thu Jan 16 2014 (Updated 01/19/14)
Oakland Vigil Marks Five Years of Struggle for Justice for Oscar Grant
On January 1, 2014, hundreds of people marked five years of struggle for justice for Oscar Grant at a vigil at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland. That evening, a panel examined various aspects of the Justice for Oscar Grant Movement, its legacy, and how it continues to shape current events in Oakland. The evening event was a "friendraiser" for the forthcoming documentary "Oscar Grant: The Rest of the Story".
Sun Jan 12 2014 (Updated 01/13/14)
Sustaining the Unsustainable: UCSC Expansion and the Politics of Extinction
Robin Moore / Save Upper Campus writes: We're bombarded daily with slogans and images promoting conservation, urging us to be green, and informing us of UC Santa Cruz's leadership in the field of sustainability. Meanwhile, UCSC is proposing to build on 240 acres of the undeveloped Upper Campus, removing redwood forest, mixed evergreen forest, and northern maritime chaparral in order to construct new buildings, roads, and parking lots.
Tue Jan 7 2014 (Updated 01/11/14)
Banks and Realtors Seek to Block Implementation of Eminent Domain for Underwater Mortgages
The City of Richmond, California voted to continue its groundbreaking effort to save resident homeowners from foreclosure on December 17, 2013. The City Council voted 4 to 2 in favor of moving forward with its plan to use its right of eminent domain to protect homeowners and to "prioritize those neighborhoods that have been particularly hard hit by the housing crisis." Before the meeting began, approximately seventy-five supporters of Richmond's initiative rallied in front of Richmond City Hall.
Tue Jan 7 2014 (Updated 01/08/14)
New Year's Day March Resists Developer-Friendly "Take Back the Plaza" Campaign in SF
FireWorks newspaper writes: Recently [in San Francisco], business owners have pushed to “Clean Up The Plaza.” ...developers have announced a new condo project at 16th [and Mission]. The developers need the police to sweep away the poor, while capitalism throws out thousands through evictions, high rents, and poor paying jobs... On January 1, people marched and rallied in San Francisco against the "Take Back the Plaza" campaign organized by wealthy business owners.
Wed Jan 1 2014 (Updated 01/03/14)
Phrase Printed on Stickers Brings Back Memories of 1980s SCPD Assaults on Street People
At the end of December, stickers printed with the statement "Bring Back Code Blue! Santa Cruz, CA" were spotted in downtown Santa Cruz. Many residents remember the phrase "code blue" as a reference to when officers within the Santa Cruz Police Department organized a pattern of violent assaults on homeless or "street" people in the 1980s.
Read more on Indybay's Police State and Prisons page
Community members continue to protest La Playa Carmel owner Sam Grossman's refusal to rehire the workers who were laid off in 2011 when the hotel was closed for a remodel. La Playa Carmel re-opened in 2012 and only three of the former workers, who were all union members, were hired back. At the holiday rally held on December 20, a former worker named Sergio said, "I miss working here. I worked for 23 Christmases in this restaurant, and the last three I haven't worked."
Read more on Indybay's Labor & Workers page
Tue Dec 31 2013 (Updated 01/04/14)
Christian Palestinian Reflects on Life Under Israeli Occupation and Maintains Hope
Mazin Qumsiyeh writes: Christmas 2013 in Bethlehem is still a very special and meaningful time even under the brutal Israeli apartheid occupation. Nowhere is there an exhibit of “Occupation Art” shown in a “Peace Center” in front of a large Christmas tree in front of one of the holiest places in Christianity.... It is also a time to reflect on the real message of Jesus.... It is still a message of hope, peace, joy, justice, love, and harmony.... [Yet] on Christmas eve, Israeli forces also bombed Gaza killing at least two including a 3-year old girl and injuring others in her family.
Mon Dec 30 2013 (Updated 01/04/14)
Google Buses Blocked in Oakland, Apple Bus Blocked in SF to Protest Rising Costs of Living
San Francisco and Oakland residents are being evicted as a result of increasing housing costs caused in part by an influx of tech employees, many of whom are provided private buses by their employers to get to offices in the Silicon Valley. Activists first blocked a Google bus in the Mission District of San Francisco on December 9. On December 20, protesters blocked a Google bus at the MacArthur BART station and another at 7th and Adeline in West Oakland. In San Francisco, an Apple bus was blocked at 24th and Valencia Streets.
Read more on Indybay's Health, Housing, and Public Services, Labor & Workers or Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism pages
On December 25, Christmas Day, Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs served a free vegan holiday meal to hundreds of community members outside of the downtown post office. Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry helped organize the meal, and he has reported that many of FNB groups across the country would be sharing vegan meals during the holidays this year in response to an increased need due to new cuts in food stamps and an extreme reduction of access to food during the holiday season.
Read more on Indybay's Health, Housing, and Public Services page
Thu Dec 12 2013 (Updated 12/28/13)
Many People Caught Out in Sub-Freezing Weather Across Northern California
The recent sub-freezing weather has prompted community members in Santa Cruz to mobilize around the creation of “warming stations”. Warming centers for the homeless could open during the overnight hours when temperatures drop drastically. An ad hoc group calling themselves Residents for a Coldest Nights Warming Center was formed, and they held a meeting to continue the discussion on December 22.
Read more on Indybay's Health, Housing, and Public Services page
On December 9, which was one of the coldest days of the season, the eviction of the Albany Bulb began. Workers from the City of Albany's Department of Public Works used a backhoe to dismantle homes located at the autonomous wild space where people have lived and created art for decades. Bulb residents' belongings were thrown in dump trucks behind the lines of Albany police.
Read more on Indybay's Health, Housing, and Public Services page
Tue Dec 17 2013 (Updated 12/20/13)
Environmental Groups, Indigenous Leaders Point Out “Fatal Flaws” of BDCP
Over 400 people organized by Californians for a Fair Water Policy, a statewide coalition opposing Gov. Brown’s massive water export tunnels, attended a rally on December 13 at the State Capitol protesting the Bay Delta Conservation Plan as the 120 day comment period for the BDCP and environmental documents began. Tunnel opponents pointed out “fatal flaws” of the tunnels they said would be too costly, create no new water and do nothing to increase regional water self-reliance.
Tue Dec 17 2013 (Updated 12/21/13)
Nationwide Rallies Demand $15 an Hour Minimum Wage for Fast-Food Workers
Lively protests took over McDonald's restaurants in the Bay Area on December 5 as part of a nationwide series of actions organized by Fast Food Forward, a joint effort by community and labor groups. Young workers in Oakland celebrated and danced as much as they protested, and a raucous rally was held in San José. The rallies demanded a $15 an hour minimum wage for fast-food workers.
Tue Dec 17 2013 (Updated 12/19/13)
North Atlantic Right Whale May Be Just One of the Casualties of Harbor Expansions
The Obama administration’s push to modernize U.S. ports to accommodate huge new ships that can pass through the widened Panama Canal worries environmentalists who believe U.S. coastlines will be subjected to enormous damage and coastal residents will face increased health risks. For marine life already threatened by shipping traffic, like the majestic right whale, the odds are even tougher.
Tue Dec 17 2013 (Updated 12/18/13)
Sabeghi Settlement Comes Just Months After $2 Million-Plus Paid for Other OPD Violence
The Oakland City Council has agreed to settle Kayvan Sabeghi's federal civil rights lawsuit for $645,000. Sabeghi's spleen was lacerated during an Occupy Oakland demonstration on November 2, 2011, when he was beaten by Oakland Police Officer Frank Uu Uu, now retired, who was part of a tight-knit group of SWAT/"Tango team" officers at the heart of OPD's violent misconduct toward Occupy Oakland demonstrators.
02/06/14 Lawsuit Alleged Packaging of Judy's Eggs Misled Consumers to Believe Hens Outdoors northbay | animalliberation 02/06/14 With Trial Set for March, Parade Organized to Support Final Four SC11 Defendants police | santacruz 02/06/14 XL Pipeline Demonstrators Urge President to Keep Word and Fight Climate Change environment 02/03/14 Gentle Warrior: Animal and Human Rights Activist, Grand Jury Resister David Hayden Passes animalliberation | santacruz 01/30/14 Law Enforcement Officer Timothy James Anderson Faces Off-Duty Battery Charges police | santacruz 01/30/14 Court of Appeal Denies Biotechnology Firm's Request to Keep Vested Interests Secret animalliberation | santacruz 01/27/14 Group Says Chipotle's Marketing Disguises Violent Reality of Animal Agriculture animalliberation | santacruz 01/22/14 Declining Salmon Populations, Pollution, Ocean Noise Threaten Iconic Whale Species environment 01/22/14 Demonstrators Say All Google Employees Should Be Prevented from Getting to Work globalization 01/18/14 Santa Cruz Residents Urge County to Reject State Grant Awarded for Jail Expansion police | santacruz 01/16/14 Siegel Campaign Goes Against the Tide of Law-and-Order Politicians in Oakland labor | government |
Open Letter to the Santa Cruz City Council Re: Reconsideration of Justice Assistance Grant
Friday Feb 7th 12:35 PM
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Recommendation: No Protection for Wolves
Thursday Feb 6th 1:07 AM
Actions to Protest Repression against LGBTQ Community and Others in Russia
Wednesday Feb 5th 6:28 PM
Richmond Rally Defends IFPTE21 Chief Steward San Feury From Retaliation, Bullying
Wednesday Feb 5th 8:46 AM
Land Trust Buys Laurel Curve Property: 10 Acres on Highway 17 for Wildlife Crossing
Wednesday Feb 5th 4:09 AM
ACLU Charges State with Illegally Denying the Right to Vote to Tens of Thousands of Voters
More Local News...
Tuesday Feb 4th 4:55 PM
Contaminate Migration Expected Under SB 4 “Well Stimulation Regulations” for California
Thursday Feb 6th 4:05 PM
Settlement Protects Marbled Murrelet on Oregon State Forests, Cancels 28 Timber Sales
Thursday Feb 6th 12:51 AM
The so-called indignants protests : Potential, contradictions and perspectives
Wednesday Feb 5th 7:56 AM
Palestinians dodge Israeli soldiers to retake village in occupied West Bank
More Global News...
Tuesday Feb 4th 11:20 AM
Should Cameron be prosecuted for recruiting Brits to fight in Al Qaeda ranks in Syria?
Wednesday Feb 5th 2:27 AM
Tarasha Benjamin After 4 years--should feds probe missing teen's disappearance?
Open Newswire...
Tuesday Feb 4th 2:09 AM |