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On September 2nd, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is expected to release the report of an investigation into widespread accusations that PG&E’s so-called 'smart' meters are inaccurate and routinely overcharge customers. Aside from concerns about accuracy, there is growing alarm from citizens over health risks from the new meters and this has led 20 cities and counties throughout California to demand a halt to smart meter installation.
At the August 25th Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, district nurses used their allotted time during open comment to make an organized, collective presentation to the school board and community regarding the imminent safety of PVUSD staff and students. The presentation School Nursing Services in Hard Times by school nurses Kathleen Kilpatrick, Elizabeth Thorne and Judy Schwartze shared important information about the state of school medical services in PVUSD.
On August 30th, for the third straight morning, outraged Santa Cruz County residents gathered at the gates of Wellington Energy at 38th and Portola in Capitola, successfully blocking what they say is a forced installation of radiating 'smart' meters against the will of residents and nearly two dozen local governments throughout the Greater Bay Area.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff showed up and asked the protesters to step aside. Once it was clear that protesters were willing to risk arrest, PG&E backed down in order to avoid any additional negative publicity that is increasingly plaguing their 'smart' meter program.
Numerous local governments, politicians, and organizations are calling for a moratorium, have enacted a ban, or are opposing Smart Meters, including the City and County of San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Marin County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Sebastopol, Berkeley, Cotati, Fairfax, Santa Cruz, Piedmont, Scotts Valley, Capitola and Watsonville.
Joshua Hart of Stop Smart Meters! says protests will continue every morning this week at 38th and Portola in Capitola, starting at 7:30am.
  Read more with video and photos | Stop Smart Meters! | previous coverage: Protesters Halt Smart Meter Installation in Santa Cruz County
On August 28th, the new Santa Cruz County chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) held a fundraiser in Felton, CA. It was the local chapter's first public event. ASA, based in Oakland, is the largest member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens working to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research.
In another move clamping down on public use of previously public space, the city of Santa Cruz posted "closing hours" on the City Hall grounds for the first time, without any kind of public hearing, announcement, or rationale. When then-Mayor Mike Rotkin tried to close down City Hall in 1996 to end another homeless protest against the Sleeping Ban, the City Council declined to back him and Judge Samuel Stevens ended up granting a very limited injunction requiring that folks there "obey all laws." This time, without a hearing, Parks and Recreation, which controls virtually all the public space around public buildings, issued an edict closing the area.
In the early morning of August 22nd, police issued four citations at Santa Cruz Peace Camp 2010 for lodging in violation of California Penal Code Section 647e. 72-year old Collette Connolly was taken to jail for refusing to sign the citation. A generator is said to cost $100 for each night that it chugs and growls in front of City Hall to fuel the burning glare of four 15' high klieg lights.
Read more | Homeless Settle In As Police Continue Nighttime Raids & Daytime Surveillance | Lights, Camera, Tickets! Klieg Lights at City Hall--Throwing Light on the Shelter Shortage | Correcting the Record at the Homeless Services Center | previous coverage: Peace Camp 2010 Relocates from County Courthouse to Santa Cruz City Hall
Early morning on August 26th, outraged Santa Cruz County residents gathered at the gates of Wellington Energy at 38th and Portola in Capitola to protest what they say is a forced installation of radiating 'smart' meters against the will of residents and nearly two dozen local governments throughout the Greater Bay Area. Despite the fact that the $2.2 billion program is being funded by ratepayers, and the new meters installed on people’s homes, there has been virtually no public consultation in advance of what PG&E itself admits is one of the largest rollouts of technology in history.
Social Security was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. Originally a plan for retired workers, it soon became a program to provide monthly income to widows and widowers and their minor children as well as the disabled. Calling the plan "America's promise to its citizens" and opposing any movement to privatize the program, activists in San Francisco and San Jose held demonstrations around the 75th anniversary of Social Security this past week.
In San Francisco, speakers atop the back of a flatbed truck proposed lifting the cap on the amount of wages taxed and called claims that the program is responsible for America's financial woes a "right wing myth." A sign hung from the truck read "Crisis My Ass."
San Jose's rally in front of the Federal Building on 2nd Street saw protesters cheering and waving signs while light rail buses carrying curious riders rolled slowly past. At both events demonstrators expressed concern that President Obama's Deficit Commission may recommend raiding Social Security to cut the deficit. In San Jose demonstrators piled up tins of cat chow next to a birthday cake and asked, "Will seniors be eating cake or cat food?"
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Anarchist activist and former parade organizer Wes Modes was found guilty on August 16th of walking in the DIY New Year's parade on December 31, 2009. Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Jeff Almquist rejected arguments that the citation was discriminatory and that the city's permit requirements were unconstitutional. Almquist also denied a lengthy challenge to the City's permit requirements without addressing all of the points it brought up.
On the night of Monday, August 9th, between 20 and 40 people gathered, many laid out in sleeping bags, for the 37th night of Peace Camp 2010's high profile protest at the Santa Cruz County Building. Shortly after 4am on Tuesday morning, eight Sheriff's deputies were ticketing, evicting, and hauling two people to jail. Five more people were cited. Housed activists Linda and Coral both got their first citations; they had joined the protest in solidarity and were "caught" sleeping when the deputies made their 6th raid of the week.
As Tuesday morning dawned, about eight people remained on the steps of the courthouse building, seated next to "End the Sleeping Ban" signs. The group awaited the return of two jailed activists, while a third, Gary Johnson, was still being held. There have been 24 citations, with the arrest total at an additional 9, mostly on the same charge of violating California's anti-lodging law PC 647e, a "disorderly conduct" code which could result in jury trials and public defenders.
Homeless advocate Robert Norse states that the core message of the demonstration, left out of corporate media reports, "is the homeless have created a safe place to sleep and use the bathroom, because the city and the county refuse to do so, instead using a law to make sleeping at night a crime."
Two Jailed, Curbhugger Released, Five More Misdemeanor Tickets | All Quiet Up to 1 AM | previous coverage: Attorney Ed Frey Arrested on 35th Night
On August 7th, shortly before midnight, Santa Cruz County Sheriffs began to awaken and arrest constitutional lawyer Edward Frey as he slept on the plaza of the County Courthouse. It was the 35th consecutive night of Santa Cruz Peace Camp 2010, a demonstration against the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban, officially known as M.C. 6.36.010, which makes it a crime to sleep outdoors in Santa Cruz, with or without bedding, at any time between the hours of 11pm to 8:30am.
Frey, and others who have been arrested at Santa Cruz Peace Camp 2010, was not charged with violating M.C. 6.36.010, the city law which the demonstration targets. Instead, Santa Cruz County Sheriffs are citing and arresting people for allegedly violating California Penal Code Section 647(e), an anti-vagrancy statute which dates back to slavery laws.
Read more and view photos | Midnight Busts at PeaceCamp2010 Renew Protest Determination
On the night of Sunday, August 8th, eight deputies arrived around 11pm to harass, interrogate and cite two more Peace Camp stalwarts, Chris Doyon and Collette Connally, as they tried to sleep. The wet cold night held health problems for Doyon who said he'd picked up pneumonia after being held for four hours in handcuffs in a police van on Saturday morning, and then stripped of most of his clothes in jail.
5th Deputy Assault on Peace Camp Fails to Drive Away Ailing But Determined Protesters | previous coverage: Sheriff's Deputies Wake, Question and Photograph People at Peace Camp 2010
August 4th marked the 31st day and 32nd night of Peace Camp 2010, taking place at the Santa Cruz County Courthouse to protest the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban, officially known as M.C. 6.36.010, and provide a safer spot for people to sleep at night.
In the afternoon, Ronee Curry, a supporter of folks on the street, brought much joy to the camp with a delivery of burritos, sandwiches and donuts. The traditional Wednesday drum circle, which for years played at the farmer's market, and then on the river levee for several weeks, migrated the weekly ritual to the courthouse lawn.
At about 11:15pm, five sheriff's deputies individually approached, awakened, interrogated, warned, and photographed homeless people sleeping at the County Courthouse. Robert Norse, a homeless rights advocate, reports that angry Peace Camp 2010 residents followed the deputies, denouncing the harassment and invasion of peoples' privacy, as they shined flashlights in the faces of sleeping people. No arrests were reported, however according to Santa Cruz Peace Camp 2010, less than 45 minutes after the action by the Sheriff's deputies, a disabled protester with a heart condition was treated by paramedics then taken by ambulance.
Chess, Drums, Snacks, Sleep and Sheriffs | Second Midnight Roust Prompts Angry Response | Video: Peacecamp 2010 a month | Day 31 | Deputies Stage Midnight Roust; Warn of Tickets to Come | PeaceCamp2010 Marches to City Hall | New Contact Info | Peace Protesters Call for an End to the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban
Responding to weeks of protests and direct action by the grassroots group Fix Fell, as well as lobbying efforts by other community groups, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency on August 3rd painted the bike lane on Fell Street between Scott and Baker Streets green. This is just one more small improvement that is being made to this stretch of The Wiggle, a well-known San Francisco bike route, to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians and improve clarity for motorists.
The protests by Fix Fell have occurred on seven consecutive Fridays since June 11th. There have been two arrests and four citations of protesters, who have been peacefully blocking the Fell St. entrances to the Arco (BP) station to highlight the connection between unsafe conditions for cyclists and society’s addiction to oil, leading to the recent catastrophic Gulf oil spill. Fix Fell maintains its position that while these changes are welcome, they are not enough.
Fix Fell has called for a follow-up day of action on Friday, August 20th.
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See Also:
Police Crack Down on BP/ ARCO Direct Action in SF |
Fell St. ARCO/ BP Protester Assaulted by Station Owner
Previous related Indybay feature:
SF Protest Targets Environmental Disaster in Gulf of Mexico and Unsafe Bike Lanes
1PM Sunday Sep 26
SF Lymewalk
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