Feature Archives

On Monday, January 29th, Pit River Indian Tribe members and Indigenous and environmental justice supporters delivered an eviction notice to Calpine Corporation in downtown San Jose, demanding they drop their decades-long attempt to build polluting power plants in the Medicine Lake Highlands near Mount Shasta. Tribal members and supporters vowed to nonviolently defend Medicine Lake from any attempts to build power plants at this area that is profoundly sacred to area Native peoples.
Photos: 1 | 2 | Audio

Several local organizations invited the public to Skate Against Torture — and against Jeppesen — on Monday, January 1st. Jeppesen is a San José company that handles the logistics for the CIA’s torture flights. Jeppesen is a sponsor of the Holiday Ice Rink and displays its banner on the rink. People Skated Against Torture from 12-2pm at the Holiday Ice Rink in downtown San José. Participants wore orange to symbolize opposition to torture by the U.S. government. Photos: 1 | 2

While most of America focuses on the turkey they will eat on Thanksgiving, animal rights activists cannot forget the poor conditions millions of turkeys are forced to live in every day. Animal activists do not begrudge the celebration of family and friends on Thanksgiving, partaking in the camaraderie of the day themselves, but they are actively working to improve the living conditions of turkeys and/or to encourage the public to consider more humane animal-free alternatives.

The San Francisco Bay Area is a Mecca for vegetarians with nearly 100 vegetarian restaurants in the region. Bay Area Vegetarians (BAVeg) sponsors the annual "Best of Veg" survey to recognize the top vegetarian restaurants in the area and to raise awareness of how easy it is to dine with compassion and good health, vegetarian-style. The public is encouraged to dine at vegetarian restaurants of their choice and vote for their favorites in several categories through November 15th.

On August 25th, the first Friday of the new school year at San Jose State University, there will be a protest action against the university's expelling of legal medical cannabis patients. A homeless woman on campus was woken in the middle of the night, searched by a male officer, and held until 4:30am. Her medical cannabis was seized. This began a campaign to raise awareness of SJSU cops' lack of recognition of the state's medical marijuana laws. The protest on August 25th will be at 4:20pm at the San Jose State University Police Department, 377 S. 7th St., San Jose, at the parking garage at 7th and San Salvador. A patient training will be conducted at 5pm.

The city of San Jose is roiling in a scandal involving its mayor, Ron Gonzales, who has been indicted on charges of felony bribery. This latest scandal, according to New America Media commentator Raj Jayadev, fits right into the narrative of San Jose in the post-dot-com era.

Local grassroots group, Citizens For Cruelty-Free Entertainment, organized educational leafletings at all of the Circus Vazquez shows in San Jose in June. The group had leafleters at all the entrances each day to educate patrons about what they call the cruelty of using animals in circuses. Tigers are kept in cages just big enough to turn around and horses and camels are kept in small stalls on concrete parking lots. The activists report that violence and intimidation are standard training and handling practices. They urged the public to not support circuses that use animals — and to tell the circus they will not come back until the circus is animal-free.