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Bradley Allen writes: Salinas Chinatown, a six block, twenty-nine acre neighborhood, is a refuge for members of our society who have been marginalized and discriminated against. Taylor Farms, the world’s largest producer of cut vegetables and salads, built their new five-story headquarters in Oldtown Salinas, with a view of Chinatown.
In March 2015, the Salinas Downtown Vibrancy Plan was approved by the city council "to address serious needs to update Downtown's infrastructure to assure pedestrian safety, calm vehicular traffic to encourage increased bicycle use, provide a sustainable parking strategy, and create a sense of place through art and culture that attracts visitors to a new, safe destination."
Mike, a man living on the streets of Chinatown, replied "Taylor Farms" when asked where the pressure on homeless people was coming from. In 2015, Taylor Farms, the world’s largest producer of cut vegetables and salads, built a five-story building in the middle of Oldtown Salinas for their corporate headquarters. Mike explained that Taylor Farms entertains guests from around the world and they don't like looking down during their BBQs on the fourth floor outdoor patio with panoramic views and seeing homeless people living in Chinatown.
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On January 2, a couple dozen people kicked off 2016 with a protest in Watsonville, where Driscoll's, the world's largest distributor of fresh berries, is both headquartered and first began producing strawberries in 1904. The demonstrators are amplifying a campaign initiated by farmworkers in Washington State and Baja California to boycott Driscoll's strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.
Workers who grow, harvest, and pack the lucrative berries are struggling against the systematic abuses they are forced to endure, and the companies profiting from the exploitation of their collective labor.
Gloria Gracida attended the demonstration, which was held at Mi Pueblo Market on Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville, a large chain supermarket which sells the berries. She explained that contrary to claims made by Driscoll’s and it's subcontractors, there are ongoing labor disputes with Driscoll’s growers in San Quintín over unfair wages and wage theft, mistreatment and sexual harassment in the workplace, and against the dependency upon child labor for production. Gracida, known as Maestra Gloria, was born in San Martín Peras, Oaxaca, and spoke on behalf of the Alianza de Organizaciones Nacionales, Estatales y Municipales para Justicia Social (the Alliance of National, State and Municipal Organizations for Social Justice) based in San Quintín.
Read More with Photos and Video:  Boycott Driscoll’s Action in Watsonville | Community Members in Watsonville Demonstrate in Support of Driscoll's Berry Boycott
Previous Coverage: U.S. and Mexican Workers Call for Boycott of Driscoll’s Berries
On January 5, two environmental groups filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its failure to protect the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety first petitioned for the monarch’s protection in August 2014, following a more than 80 percent decline in the butterfly’s population over the past two decades.
Steve Schnaar writes: Santa Cruz City Council member Cynthia Chase, elected with a lot of progressive support based on her years of excellent work supporting women transitioning out of prison, has voted for some of the worst anti-homeless decisions to come out of the council recently. However when asked about the contradiction between her past progressive positions and these votes, she refuses to engage or explain herself.
Cynthia Chase, former director of the GEMMA program which supports women in and transitioning out of prison, was elected in 2014 with a lot of progressive support. As a candidate and Council member, Chase has often expressed sympathy for the plight of homeless people, noting that many of the women she worked with would end up on the street. However, her voting record includes some deeply problematic choices, including the "stay-away ordinances" which further penalize sleeping outside in the parks, and the ban on RVs which criminalizes sleeping in vehicles.
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Despite objections from environmental groups such as The Campaign for Sensible Transportation, there is a new push to widen Highway One in Santa Cruz County. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), has prepared a draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment for the new highway widening proposals.
The project is divided into two components: a long-term analysis of widening Highway One between Santa Cruz and Aptos, and an analysis for highway widening between 41st Avenue and Soquel Drive. The public may submit comments about the draft EIR by Monday, January 18, 2016.
The Campaign for Sensible Transportation writes: "In 2004, we led the County-wide opposition that decisively defeated a sales tax increase to widen Highway One. Since then we have actively supported numerous transportation improvements around the County, including the long push to get local public ownership of the 32-mile rail corridor stretching across the County. And we have continued to resist wasteful investment in the outdated thinking behind widening highways. Now it’s back. A new 30 year transportation sales tax measure proposed for 2016 could fund useful and environmentally sound improvements. Unfortunately, the current proposal would waste more than $100 million dollars on widening Highway One. But widening Highway One STILL won’t work. Repeated scientific studies have shown that expanding busy freeways just encourages more traffic, so they soon become congested again."
Read More | The Campaign for Sensible Transportation | See Also:  Draft EIR for Highway 1 Widening Proposals Released
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