Feature Archives

On August 19, Santa Cruz County Supervisors introduced an ordinance that would streamline the destruction of RVs and other vehicles that are deemed illegally parked or abandoned on public streets, even if they are inhabited. Santa Cruz Homeless Union President Alicia Kuhl and other advocates warned the Board that the ordinance could increase street-level homelessness. The proposal was continued to a future date.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency injunction on August 18, blocking the Trump administration from handing Oak Flat over to a private mining company while three lawsuits challenging the land exchange proceed. Without the injunction, the public lands about 40 miles east of Phoenix were expected to be transferred to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of multinational mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP.

In recognition of the 90th birthday of the Social Security Act, on August 14, workers who administrate benefits through the Act gathered at the U.S. Federal Building in San Francisco to protest the DOGE staff cuts and Trump administration’s move towards privatization. The workers said that staff cuts have resulted in their having to serve more people than ever while “experiencing one of the lowest staffing levels in 60 years.”

On July 21, outraged climate justice activists descended on Governor Gavin Newsom's office, demanding that he stop caving to big oil and block a new offshore drilling pipeline and expanded onshore drilling in California. Texas oil company Sable Offshore Corp. has been moving to restart the corroded offshore drilling pipeline that caused the disastrous 2015 Refugio oil spill in Santa Barbara County that fouled miles of California coast.

On July 25, the Northern California office of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla in San Francisco was the scene of a large and exceptionally noisy protest as hundreds of activists armed with pots and pans called attention to the ongoing genocide and the starving of the people in Gaza. After a rally and chalking of the sidewalk outside the building, protesters marched to join an ongoing action at the offices of BlackRock.

The Never Again Moss Landing (NAML) stakeholder group has released a new report detailing the findings of their 120-day investigation into how and why the Vistra Energy lithium-ion battery facility at the Moss Landing Power Plant caught fire and destroyed itself during the period of January 16-22. The report is highly critical of Vistra's design of the facility, as well as the California PUC's role in regulating the plant.

Kayakers brought the fight for liberation to the rivers, disrupting what they call "the shroud of ignorance" that is held there. The South Fork of the American River is the busiest section of whitewater in the Western U.S., and July 4th weekend is the busiest weekend for it. Understanding this, protesters ensured that commercial rafters weren’t able to ignore the message that the planet and its people are under attack by Donald Trump.