Feature Archives

Heather MacAllister was "a fucking sexy fat wicked smart intense and funny fierce femme." She died February 13th in Portland, Oregon after battling ovarian cancer for several years. She was 38 years old. On Saturday, February 24th the 7:00pm Goddess Rosary service was in memory of Heather, at HerChurch, 678 Portola Drive, San Francisco. On Sunday, February 25th, a Funeral/Mourning/Goodbye ritual was held at 1:30pm at Precita Park, corner of Folsom and Precita, followed by a procession up Precita to a wake at El Rio ( Report). Ms. MacAllister was the founder and artistic director of Big Burlesque and the Fat Bottom Revue, the first burlesque act exclusively featuring large-sized performers. She was an anti-racist and queer community organizer and activist.

February 14, 2007 - The Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Jeffery Luers' case will be reversed and remanded back to the Circuit Court for re-sentencing as a result of Judge Velure's errors in imposing the original draconian sentence. The opinion just came out this morning and Jeffrey's Support Network is still reviewing it for details, but it looks like Jeff could potentially get about 15 years taken off his 266 month sentence.

On February 15, 2007, students at UC Santa Barbara, Columbia University, and Columbia College went on strike against the war. Solidarity actions took place at more than a dozen other schools - including 5 in the Bay Area: San Francisco State, Lowell High School, Mills College, UC Berkeley, and UC Santa Cruz. The Feb15 protests were initiated by activists at UC Santa Barbara who have been organizing a student strike for weeks.

Aaron Glantz reports (#3 Audio) that on the third day, Wednesday, February 7th, a mistrial was declared in the Lt. Ehren Watada court-martial. He was covering the trial in Fort Lewis, Washington, for KPFA and Free Speech Radio. Jeff Paterson's analysis of the situation after the mistrial.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | Audio: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

On January 29th, Army prosecutors of Lt. Ehren Watada dropped two charges of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.” These two charges—each of which carried a one year possible prison sentence—were based on interviews Lt. Watada held with Oakland-based independent journalist Sarah Olson and Greg Kakesako of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. In exchange for the dropping of the two charges, Watada agreed to testify that he made the comments attributed to him by the reporters. Watada still faces up to four years' confinement on three other charges. Sarah Olson will no longer be forced to testify.

The 4th anniversary of the US-led war on Iraq is being commemorated March 16th through March 19th. Local vigils took place on Friday and Saturday, and a big ANSWER march took place in San Francisco on Sunday. The SF march started with a rally at noon in Justin Herman Plaza. Around 1pm, protesters marched up Market St. for another rally in Civic Center Plaza. Protests took place in cities across California, including Eureka, Arcata, Chico, Sacramento, Fresno Walnut Creek, Palo Alto, San Jose, and Los Angeles, as well as around the country. 2007 is the 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 anti-war march to the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. On Saturday March 17th, people from around the country gathered in Washington, DC to march on the Pentagon and demand that the US get out of Iraq now.

On Saturday, January 27th anti-war protests were held around the US to tell the new Congress to "represent the truly nationwide peace majority." United for Peace and Justice organized the largest march in Washington DC, where over one hundred thousand anti-war protesters circled the US capital.
In San Francisco, there was a rally and march that started at Powell And Market and ended at Pier 31/33 to support IBU-ILWU/MMP workers, who are under attack by Terry MacCrae and Hornblower Tours.
Report | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Video: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Audio
In Sacramento, more than 100 people gathered at the intersection of Arden Way and Heritage Lane to protest the continued war and occupation. Photos
In San Jose, two hundred people lined the busy intersection of Stevens Creek Blvd and Winchester Blvd to protest the war. Photos: 1 | 2
In Fresno, there was a demonstration at the Peace Corner: Blackstone and Shaw. Photos: 1 | 2 | Video