Feature Archives

On Sunday, June 2, thousands of people lined Pacific Avenue for the 39th annual Santa Cruz Pride parade and festival presented by The Diversity Center of Santa Cruz. A wide range of organizations participated in the parade, including a contingent raising awareness and support for political prisoner Bradley Manning. Manning is openly gay and has participated in Pride marches and campaigned against the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” restrictions on gay military personnel.

Protests in Turkey began May 28 at Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park, against plans to turn the loved and historic city park into a shopping mall. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan brutally attacked the peaceful demonstrators. As daily anti-government protests rocked Istanbul, demonstrators in the Bay Area showed solidarity against Turkish state repression with protests in Berkeley, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, and Oakland, in addition to the establishment of Gezi Gardens in San Francisco.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers began to strike on July 1. They have been joined by other transit workers and supporters across the Bay Area to protest the attacks on their wages and health care and pension benefits forced on them by management after previous concessions, which already included a five year wage freeze. UPDATE: BART workers agreed to return to work on July 5 under their current contract for a 30-day negotiating period. Another strike remains possible.

On June 7, former workers and community members marched at La Playa Carmel to protest the first year of Sam Grossman's ownership of the hotel. The unionized workers were laid off when the Carmel-by-the-Sea hotel closed in 2011, and since its reopening under Grossman's management, only three of the former 113 workers have been rehired.

The Point Reyes National Seashore’s ecological heart, Drakes Estero, has been designated as the West Coast’s first marine wilderness area. In June, supporters of the Interior Department’s decision to protect Drakes Estero charged that opponents of the Obama administration’s decision presented “inaccurate and misleading” information to the Sonoma City Council to win approval of a resolution riddled with factual inaccuracies that run counter to established state and federal law.

June 25 marked the sixth day in which Will Parrish has been occupying a wick drain stitcher in the Willits Bypass construction area. He is currently out of food and water but is staying strong. Resupplies have been attempted but with no results, as he is being guarded by two CHP officers at all times. Parrish has managed to stop Caltrans from working for six days and plans to be up there until they stop the project. Earth First! Humboldt reports that the community is very strong in Willits but needs more support from those who are able and willing to help.

On November 5th, 2010, hundreds of demonstrators protested the light sentence given to Johannes Mehserle for killing Oscar Grant. Marchers took to the streets and headed toward the Fruitvale BART station, but Oakland police had other plans. One hundred and fifty demonstrators were detained and arrested, forced to spend up to twenty-four hours in police custody under inhumane conditions. In a class action settlement reached by the National Lawyers Guild, the city has not only acknowledged that the arrests were illegal but has agreed to pay $1.025 million and abide by a revised crowd control policy.