Feature Archives

Each year, the week of the Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair and the BASTARD conference of anarchist theory includes more and more events. This year, the Anarchist Bookfair took place on two days, on Saturday, March 17th from 10am to 6pm and on Sunday, March 18th from 11am to 5pm at the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, near Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way. The BASTARD conference took place on Sunday, March 18th from 10am to 6pm at UC Berkeley's Dwinelle Hall.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has rejected the oversight role the CA Legislature thought it had mandated in AB 2987. In a perfunctory vote, the state PUC rejected the protests of California cities and consumer groups, deciding against any direct oversight of the state's new statewide video-service franchises for phone and cable companies. PEG access provisions of the bill are now threatened.

From March 1st though 6th, Shannon Young and Vladimir Flores, Oaxaca correspondents for Free Speech Radio News and Mal de Ojo TV, will be in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, San Jose and San Francisco to present a series of short films produced by Mal de Ojo TV. Indybay reporters Danielsan and Ariel will show photos and reportback on their recent experiences in Oaxaca City.

March 9, 2007 — Negotiations mediated by a federal magistrate failed to yield a settlement.
February 14 , 2007 — In yet another strange twist in the case against San Francisco independent journalist, Josh Wolf, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who has rejected several defense requests to free Wolf, one as recently as last month, issued a brief order Tuesday saying he was referring the case to U.S. Magistrate Joseph Spero "in the interest of reaching a resolution satisfactory to both sides.''

Three years after it was raided by armed federal marshals, SFPD and FCC agents, SF Liberation Radio will have its day in court on Wednesday, Feb. 14th, in a special federal court session convening on the UC Berkeley campus. SFLR, through counsel Mark Vermeulen and other pro bono attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild, will argue that the federal government violated the station’s first amendment rights when it obtained a warrant for the seizure of the equipment through a back-door, ex parte procedure. The US Government utilized a maritime law to conduct the raid without giving advance notice to the station, arguing that a radio station is literally like a ship that may sail away in the night.

On Tuesday, February 6th, there was a noontime press conference in support of Josh Wolf on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. A benefit for Josh's legal defense was held on Tuesday night at 8:00pm at House of Shields in SF. The Free Josh Coalition says that Josh has become the longest-imprisoned journalist who has ever been held on contempt charges in the United States. Audio | Photos and Words from Josh | Video: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

On January 29th, Army prosecutors of Lt. Ehren Watada dropped two charges of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.” These two charges—each of which carried a one year possible prison sentence—were based on interviews Lt. Watada held with Oakland-based independent journalist Sarah Olson and Greg Kakesako of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. In exchange for the dropping of the two charges, Watada agreed to testify that he made the comments attributed to him by the reporters. Watada still faces up to four years' confinement on three other charges. Sarah Olson will no longer be forced to testify.