Feature Archives

On June 6th, a candlelight vigil and march for Luis Gutierrez Navarro, a farm worker killed by undercover Yolo County Sheriff's deputies, was held at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Woodland, CA. On April 30th, twenty-six-year old Luis Gutierrez was walking home from the Woodland DMV after taking a Driver's License test when he was approached by three undercover gang suppression officers who shot six bullets, killing him in broad daylight.

June 1st is the first day of a highly contested union election for 10,000 homecare workers in Fresno County who are trying to leave the Washington, D.C.-based SEIU, a union that has been condemned by the AFL-CIO for using violence in inter-union conflicts. The stakes have never been higher for SEIU officials, who are desperately trying to stop a movement of nearly 100,000 healthcare workers in California who are organizing to quit SEIU and join the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

On May 30th, thousands of marriage equality activists came to Fresno from throughout the state to protest the Supreme Court decision on proposition 8. A 15 mile march for civil rights by about 100 marriage equality activists who walked in the scorching valley heat from Selma to Fresno started the day. About 3,000 people were waiting for them when they arrived at Fresno City Hall.

On May 19, activists in the San Francisco Bay Area and Fresno marked a Global Day of Action for death row inmate Troy Davis with rallies, vigils and public information sessions. Davis has been on Georgia's death row for more than 18 years despite a strong case of innocence. He lost his most recent appeal and his execution date is expected to be set soon.

Fresno is ground zero in an epic battle for the heart and soul of the union movement. Will 10,000+ Fresno homecare workers be represented by a union run by unelected, out-of-town bureaucrats who negotiate sweetheart deals behind closed doors with corporate CEOs? Or, will workers support the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), a member-driven organization that fights for better pay and benefits for its members?

On Wednesday, May 6, several Women in Black members were holding signs of peace in the breeze way of the Fresno County Courthouse when they were confronted by armed Sheriff Deputies and threatened with arrest. One of the shotgun toting guards was quoted as saying "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."

A Fresno homeless advocate has been sent a letter from Homeland Security, informing him that his attempts to help the homeless have been "brought to the attention of the Police Department's Terrorism Liaison Officers." The unwanted attention of the Homeland Security anti-terrorism group followed a City of Fresno "clean up" of a homeless encampment on the Mariposa Mall in downtown Fresno.