Feature Archives

Helping Our Peninsula's Environment (HOPE), an organization dedicated to protecting the natural environment, sued the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) because they violated California's Environmental Quality Act. CDFA refused to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) claiming they are exempt because it is an emergency. CDFA plans to aerially re-spray the Monterey Peninsula with Suterra's Checkmate pesticide (a moth pheromone) starting October 9th.

The San Francisco Mime Troupe performed Making a Killing, Building A New Iraq on September 23rd, but the topic of questionable government contracting reaches all the way from Afghanistan to Santa Cruz, in the form of city contractor Camp Dresser Mckee.

On September 11th, 2007 Robert Norse was prepared to present a speech to the community and City Council of Santa Cruz during the Oral Communications period of the City Council meeting. The first two minutes of the speech was read by Coral Brune. However, Mayor Reilly did not allow Robert Norse to speak during Oral Communications, citing a lack of time, and therefore prevented the full speech from being heard during the City Council meeting.

In San Francisco, Beach Impeach Project #3 will take place on Saturday September 15th. Thousands of people will gather at Crissy Field to spell out the words "IMPEACH NOW!" in 100 foot-tall letters. Versions of this same event attracted 1,000 people in January, and 1,500 in April.

August 26th is Women’s Equality Day. The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. The 2nd Annual California Women's Equality Day Parade and Rally will take place on Saturday, August 25th, beginning at 9:30am at Sacramento's Southside Park, and ending in a rally on the West Steps of the Capitol at 11am. On Thursday, August 30th, Radical Women celebrated Women's Equality Day with an event at New Valencia Hall.

Chicken John and Josh Wolf are stepping in to the ring and trying to raise enough money before Friday, August 10th, to run for mayor. Many progressives had been pushing for Matt Gonzalez, Ross Mirkarimi, or Chris Daly to run against Gavin Newsom, who has so far raised $1.6 million for his mayoral campaign.

After weeks of pressure from President Bush, both the House and Senate approved the Protect America Act of 2007, which rewrites the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The new law sharply alters legal limits on the government's ability to monitor millions of phone calls and e-mail messages going in and out of the United States, and moves the power to approve the international surveillance from a special intelligence court to the attorney general.