Feature Archives

4/5/2005: Let’s begin with a few facts. RMC Pacific Materials of Pleasanton, California, is proposing to destroy half of Jesse Morrow Mountain. Jesse Morrow Mountain is on the north side of Highway 180 (designated a scenic highway by the federal, state, and county governments.) You see it when you’re on the way to Kings Canyon/Sequoia right after you take the hard left turn on 180 and head due east toward the Sierra Nevada. It’s the huge mountain just past the old schoolhouse, now a restaurant, the Sherwood Inn. The south face of the mountain looks out over Sanger and Reedley and its north face drops down to the little community of Piedra and what’s left of the Kings River.

RMC proposes a one-hundred-year plan to provide for local gravel needs by mining 400 acres of the mountain to a depth of several hundred feet. Once a week, the mountain will be blasted open with dynamite to “produce the desired aggregate.” An “aggregate processing plant” (i.e., a rock crushing machine) will be built on site. There will be in excess of eighty daily round-trip deliveries by gravel truck with operations occurring approximately 315 days a year. Currently RMC has not been granted a permit to begin operations, and they have not filed an environmental impact report on the project. See the story HERE

4/4/2005: Events were held in Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, and the Bay Area last weekend to honor the life of Cesar Chavez, the late labor activist. The San Francisco parade was led by local politicians and activists, and it included contingents representing unions and other local organizations. The largest float was an advertisement for Safeway and there were many local radio stations handing out promotional stickers. There were two marches in Fresno. On Thursday, 1,500 people marched in downtown Fresno in honor of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers union he helped organize. On Saturday, a smaller march was held at Holmes Playground in Fresno. Following the march there was food, music, and folkloric dancing. This event was sponsored by the Co-Ce-Cha Comite Cesar Chavez of Fresno.
San Francisco Photos: 1 2 | April 2 in Fresno: 1
2004 Coverage | 2001 Coverage | Read More on Indybay's Immigrant Rights Page

In an unprecedented show of unity, hundreds of members of the Yurok, Hoopa Valley, Karuk and Klamath tribes rallied in support of the removal of dams on the Klamath in front of the State Capitol on March 14. After marching from Riverfront Park in Sacramento, the group, including many attired in traditional tribal dress, converged on the capitol and urged Governor Schwarzenegger to serve as “Conan the Riparian” by increasing state efforts to restore the Klamath River’s beleaguered salmon populations. The salmon runs are now blocked by six dams owned by PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Scottish Power based in Glasgow, Scotland. Historically, the Klamath produced up to 1.1 million adult fish annually, including chinook, coho, pink and chum salmon, as well as abundant steelhead. According to Tucker, the Klamath River fall run chinook salmon productivity is now less than 8 percent of its historical abundance. Coho salmon, once the “workhorse” of the West Coast fishing industry, are less than one percent, while chum and pink salmon are extinct. Full report here.

Anarchists in Sacramento have been organizing to an increasing degree despite increased state repression against them in the wake of various ELF, (Earth Liberation Front), actions. Last month, anarchists organized the first ever, “Anarchist Café”, which brought together speakers, music, poetry, and various activist groups. The event attracted hundreds of people, and featured highlights on issues ranging from animal liberation activists and updates on the status of the Industrial Workers of the World, (IWW), in Stockton CA. Organizers are hoping to repeat the success of the event, by staging another event in April. Anarchist organizers are also busy working in local Food Not Bombs chapters, doing prison solidarity work for political prisoners, promoting the gift economy with a newly started “Really (Really) Free Market”, re-starting Critical Mass, and also organizing an Anarchist Discussion group. More information here.

As Easter Sunday approached, a day that also marks the beginning of spring and the rebirth of life in nature, a number of activists used the occasion to remind the public that the holiday is meant to be a celebration of life by demonstrating and distributing information against the Easter-related exploitation of animals, from pigs and ducks to rabbits and baby chicks.

On Saturday March 26, members of Bakersfield Alliance for Animals protested Honey-Baked Ham sales in the Central Valley.

The Bakersfield Alliance for Animals demonstrated outside of the Honey-Baked Ham store on Ming Ave. to discourage people from buying hams for Easter Day. There were eight of them there, holding signs saying such things as "Does your food have a face?" and "Why call some animals pets and others food?" A couple even had gruesome pictures of how pigs are treated in the factory farms that they were raised in. Photos
More Info on Easter and Animals: In Defense of Animals | Viva!USA >

3/19/05: The Rally in the Valley" was a focal point of anti-war activity in the Central Valley. Participants at the Rally in the Valley, which was held in downtown Fresno, came from Modesto, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Visalia, Reedley, Porterville, and many other Central California communities. One creative fundraiser at the rally, Crushing Bush Lies", was a smashing success. Earlier this week Students at CSU-Fresno students drummed for peace at an event in the free speech area. There was also a bus full of CSUF students that went to the Big demonstration in San Francisco. On the day before the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the Reedley Peace Center held a vigil for peace and heard a presentation by high school students about their efforts to counter the lies of military recruiters on campus. Other anti war events are being held in Sonora, Sacramento, Davis, Modesto, and elsewhere in the valley. For details on those events go here

The Bakersfield Chapter of Marriage Equality California took to the streets in celebration of Judge Kramer's ruling against discrimination in marriage law, which would make Gay Marriage legal in California if the ruling is upheld. For about an hour, activists stood on the corners of busy intersections, getting much support from the local community. Small groups made their way around the crosswalks about five times, holding signs and singing songs. About forty people attended the celebration, which received large media attention, and according to activists was the largest ever seen for a rally or celebration of this nature in Kern County. Read report here.