Feature Archives

On April 27th, people believed to be paramilitaries affiliated with the ruling party of Oaxaca ambushed an international aid caravan en route to the autonomous town of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca. At least two people are reported dead. The caravan was carrying food, water, and other basic necessities to the town, which has been subject to a paramilitary blockade that has prevented anyone from entering or leaving the community since January.

An Academic Senate meeting at UC Santa Cruz on April 23rd turned into a heated forum to criticize Chancellor Blumenthal’s hesitancy in changing the student judicial proceedings. Various faculty members voiced concerns about the current judicial proceedings relating to the three day protest at Kerr Hall in November 2009, saying they violate students’ right to due process and also have a chilling effect on political protests.

On Thursday, April 22nd, around a hundred community members rallied outside a courthouse in Oakland to oppose a controversial gang injunction proposed by City Attorney John Russo. The proposed injunction would criminalize everyday activities in a 100 square block area of North Oakland. Community members spoke out against the injunction, saying it would rely on racial profiling, strip people of their civil rights, and push poor and working class people of color out of North Oakland.

On April 16th, veteran Indybay reporter David Morse moved to quash a search warrant issued for photographs he took at a December 11th protest on the UC Berkeley campus. The photographs were taken while Morse was covering the protest for Indybay. Despite clearly identifying himself as a journalist, Morse was arrested along with seven others, had his camera and photographs seized, and was charged with multiple felonies. The charges were dropped within days. On June 18th, Judge Yolanda Northridge quashed the warrant, ordering the UC Regents to return the original photographs and all copies.

The International Cannabis and Hemp Exposition took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City on April 17th and 18th. The expo, which had the first permitted area for the use of medical marijuana, was the largest event of its kind to hit Northern California. Prominent members of the cannabis community discussed a wide-range of topics, however the main buzz, on and off stage, was the initiative to "legalize, control, and tax cannabis in California," which is to be decided by voters in the state during the November 2010 elections.

When local activist Wes Modes accepted a misdemeanor plea deal in December 2009 for his part in defending the Farmer's Market Drum Circle, he figured that would be the end of it. A year suspended sentence and some community service. No problem, he thought. Now the Santa Cruz District Attorney is saying that Wes violated his plea agreement by organizing the Last Night DIY parade.

Four-Twenty (including 4:20, 420 and 4/20) has long been associated with marijuana use and marijuana activism. 4:20 is a time of day when people smoke marijuana. April 20th has evolved into a counterculture holiday, known for large gatherings of people celebrating and consuming marijuana, a.k.a. cannabis. Thousands of people gather annually in Boston, Boulder, New York, Santa Cruz, Seattle and many other cities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and elsewhere around the world.