Feature Archives

After a five-month trial and nearly four weeks of deliberations, a Yolo County jury recently convicted three suspected Woodland gang members of first-degree murder in the Halloween, 2002 shooting deaths of two men. Defendants Ernesto Duran Arellano, 34, Oscar Hurtado Cervantes, 32, and James Joseph Olague, 29, were convicted of first-degree murder in the killings of Woodland residents Eric Eugene Folsom, 17, and Robert Michael Stepper, 20.

Arellano and Cervantes both face the death penalty and an all-white jury. District Attorney Jeff Reisig, who is the District Attorney for Yolo County, based his recent re-election campaign in large part on his success in prosecuting this case. The penalty phase in this case will last until roughly mid-July. Family and supporters try to convince the jury that Arellano and Cervantes are valuable to society and should not be sentenced to death. Anti-death penalty organizers are calling for people to gather at the Yolo County Courthouse every Monday at 5pm, until a decision is made. Read more about this case

On June 4th, East Bay Animal Advocates (EBAA) and the Direct Action Anti-Authoritarians (DAAA) Collective demonstrated outside of Costco Clubs in Modesto and Merced. The activists “fostered compassion” by distributing literature to raise awareness about what the activists call Foster Farms’ inhumane treatment of chickens. As one of the top sellers of Foster Farms products, Costco is being urged to conduct animal welfare audits of their main poultry supplier. A recent investigation by EBAA revealed that the company violates animal cruelty laws and misleads the public through its marketing.

Lauren Weiner, arrested along with Zachary Jenson and Eric McDavid in January of 2006 in Auburn, CA, agreed on May 30th to cooperate with investigators and plead guilty to USC 18 371 "conspiracy to commit an offense or defraud the United States," in exchange for a lesser sentence. She along with Zach and Eric were originally charged with USC 18 844(n) "conspiracy to destroy property by means of fire or explosives", for which they could be jailed a maximum of 20 years. The three were originally arrested with the help of an FBI infiltrator who was planted in the group and was said to have been a driving force behind the alleged "conspiracy." An analysis of the implications of the arrests can be found here.

The arrests are a part of the government's Green Scare campaign. Almost 20 people have been indicted in California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado. Of those arrested, eight are still in custody, six have been released on bail, four are considered fugitives, and one has committed suicide. As for their levels of cooperation; seven are not cooperating with the government, three of their levels of cooperation are unknown, and four are providing information to the goverment and are considered to be "snitches" by many in prisoner support and activist communities.

Sacramento Prisoner Support, the group which was providing the bulk of the support to the trio, has issued a statement which calls for the withdrawl of all support for Lauren as she is now doing the government's job for them in helping put her co-defendants in jail. They will continue to support Zachary and Eric for the duration of their trial and possible incarceration and ask that others do the same. They have both been denied bail and are still awaiting trial in isolation at Sacramento County Main Jail. Imprisoned activist Jeff "Free" Luers has issued a callout for a weekend of resistance against the Green Scare on the weekend of Saturday, June 11th. Read more

Previous Coverage: April 22nd | March 1st | Feb 3rd | Jan 30th | Jan 18th

Fresno is on the verge of installing and implementing one of the most sophisticated video surveillance systems in the country. Fresno Police Department Captain Al Maroney says "I hope to have at least a ‘seed’ system operational before the end of calendar year 2006." The system Maroney is talking about would vastly increase video surveillance in this community with at least 256 cameras and the ability to connect with private sector cameras in locations like River Park, Fashion Fair, convenience stores, and other local businesses. A large part of the funding for this project will come from a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, administered by the County of Fresno.

The Fresno Police Department (FPD) plans to spend over a million dollars in the first phase of the project. Their vision is to have state of the art high resolution cameras interconnected with video surveillance cameras in businesses all fed into a central downtown location. When a crime takes place and a 911 call is received a camera in the area of the crime will be put on alert. The signal from that camera will be sent directly to squad cars in the crime scene area. The camera can be zoomed in and focused on the activity taking place. The responding officer can see, in real time, what lies ahead. Meanwhile, the entire incident is being recorded on a hard drive that stores the information at police headquarters. MORE

This week, close to 50 people marched in Tracey to show solidarity with workers who were fired at Chevy's Tex Mex, and to call for the store to re-hire them. The Chevys Fresh Mex in Tracy, CA terminated many of it employees because of their absence from work on Monday, May 1, after the kitchen's Latino crew had handed a signed petition to their employer indicating their desire to support the May 1st march. Other workers were forced to comply in labor on May 1st, regardless of their desire to express their opinion with their community in the May 1st march. Many employees, as a gesture of solidarity towards their coworkers, stepped out of work when their opinion about the unfair termination measure was completely ignored. Report and pictures here.

Vice-President Dick Cheney will be in Sacramento on May 22 in the morning, and in Stockton on May 22 in the afternoon, to support Congressman Richard Pombo's bid for re-election. Various groups are calling for various showings of opposition towards both Cheney and Pombo.

Information for Sacramento here.

Information for Stockton here.

On a small strip of land, next to highway 99, and near the Poverello House, the homeless people have constructed a few tents and temporary shelters. Last week, Caltrans and the Fresno Police Department (FPD) descended on the area with bulldozers, gave residents a couple of minutes to get out, and proceeded to destroy everything in their path. One resident told independent reporters that when she resisted, and undercover police officer pulled a gun on her. here.