Feature Archives

On October 30th, the DEA raided Compassionate Collective of Alameda County, a medical cannabis dispensary located on the 21000 block of Mission Boulevard in Hayward. According to California NORML, "CCAC was by far the largest and most conspicuous dispensary in the East Bay, due in large part to the suppression of its competitors by local regulations, raids and bans." CCAC had operated as a legal business in full compliance with Alameda County regulations.

October 22nd, 2007 was the 12th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation. In Oakland, protesters converged at 1:30pm in Frank Ogawa Plaza, outside of Oakland City Hall, at 14th Street and Broadway. A march began at 2:00pm, with a rally at 3:30pm back at Frank Ogawa Plaza. A Community Feeder March demanded justice for Gary King Jr. and "No More Stolen Lives!" Gary King was killed by an Oakland Police officer on September 20th.

Members of the Native community and their allies are protesting UC Berkeley’s decision to dissolve an autonomous unit that handles compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Activists charge UC Berkeley and the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, which house 13,000 native ancestral remains, of not complying with NAGPRA and of failing to include Native representatives in their decision-making processes. An October 5th rally protested the university’s move to dissolve the NAGPRA unit and called for the repatriation of all ancestral remains.

On October 17th, CodePINK protested at the Marine Officer Recruiting Station at 64 Shattuck Square, just south of University Ave. in Berkeley from 7:30am to 4:30pm. CodePINK, Grandmothers Against War, and allies were there to "banner, flyer, picket in front of the station, hand out counter-recruitment info to those in danger of being recruited, and go inside to ask the Marines to LEAVE our town!" The Officer Recruiting Station is located just blocks from Berkeley High School, UC Berkeley, and Berkeley City College.

On Saturday, October 13, 2007 the IWW will picket with striking workers from 12:00-5:00 PM in front of Metro Glass on 2121 San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley. Workers at Metro Lighting are striking over the unfair labor practices of the owners, Lawrence and Christa Grown, who last month fired one of their workers for labor organizing and whistle blowing over unsafe working conditions. They are demanding that all union workers be rehired with back wages and a pay raise for the retail workers who make almost half as much as their co-workers in the assembly shop in the back.

The fourth Beach Impeach action was held on Sunday, October 7th, in a new location- the Berkeley Marina. Up to 1000 people participated, including such notables as Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, and former Berkeley Mayoral Candidate Zachary Running Wolf. The Beach Impeach action was held on the last day of Fleet Week in San Francisco. After Beach Impeach 4, CodePink led a march from Cesar Chavez Park and up University Ave to a Marine Officer Recruiting Station to say, "NO Military Predators in OUR Town!"

On May 17th, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia heard oral arguments in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. A decision is expected sometime very soon. Organizers have called for protests to take place if the Court rules to uphold the death sentence or denies Mumia’s appeals for either a new trial or new hearing the day after a decision - or on Monday if the decision falls on Friday or Saturday.