Feature Archives

On May 10th, the Santa Cruz City Council defeated a resolution supporting AB 1081, The Trust Act. The resolution would have supported opting out of the "Secure Communities" (S-Comm) program in Santa Cruz County. On May 25th, over 50 activists entered Coonerty's lecture class at UC Santa Cruz to make his support of "Secure Communities" more publicly known, and point out the contradictions in his "progressive" ideals.

On May 22nd the "Coalition Standing Up for the Right to Sit" held their first "chair-a-pillar" at Berkeley BART. More than 30 people participated in the action, sitting in colorful chairs on the curb and sidewalk along Shattuck Avenue. The City of Berkeley, led by local merchants/property owners, is considering following in the footsteps of San Francisco by introducing an anti-sitting ordinance this summer. A coalition made up of homeless service providers and homeless people is organizing to fight the ordinance.

Exarchia is known throughout Athens as the center of social struggles. This densely packed neighborhood has a reputation as being anti-establishment and is home to students, anarchists, artists, and leftists of all stripes. A month of nationwide rioting was sparked in December 2008 when a 15 year-old local high school student and anarchist was shot and killed by police near Exarchia Square. Most Athenians hate the police, and when this young boy was murdered the whole country exploded. On the corner where Alexis was shot, his mother has mounted a memorial plaque which has his photo as well as an inscription in Greek.

Brent Adams writes: The police department has begun a very strange public relations campaign lately and I’m a bit confused about the message I should be getting. As we all know, the economy is hurting and difficult cuts are being felt in most areas. The City of Santa Cruz is grappling with this reality and has just settled on a medium-range funding plan (massive cutbacks). There is increasingly a large amount of available office and retail space downtown and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the economic climate is desperate, which is why I’m a little surprised at what I’ve been seeing from our local police department.

A new film, Medical Cannabis and Its Impact on Human Health, exposes the lies about the medical use of marijuana that led the San Diego City Council to enact a virtual ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. Director James Schmachtenberger, who works at a local dispensary, appeared with the film on April 30th at a showing sponsored by Activist San Diego. The film is a bit dry, and even Schmachtenberger describes it as not especially entertaining, but it lays out the facts about marijuana's medical uses and makes the case for allowing the substance to be used to treat disease and preserve health.

On May 15th, Santa Cruz SlutWalk took the sidewalks to make a unified statement about sexual assault and victims’ rights, to demand respect for all, and re-appropriate the term slut. The demonstration was one of many around the world sparked by a statement on January 24th from a representative of the Toronto Police to a group of students. The officer shared insight into the police force's view of sexual assault by stating, "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."

"Surf City Revolt!" writes: When the flooding happened, seeing fully submerged cop cars brought smiles to our faces. Now, Capitola police are trying to use this as an opportunity to move out of a building that "has not been adequate for the department's needs for a long time." Likewise, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner is looking to spend $44 million out of a $75 million redevelopment budget on a more centrally located Sheriff's Center.