Feature Archives

Five years after police were exposed infiltrating the organizing group, the Last Night DIY celebration still refuses permission to bring a homespun tradition to Santa Cruz streets. In it's fifth year, the do-it-yourself, grassroots celebration with a family-friendly parade, street party and performers is set for a evening of adventure and entertainment. This year on New Year's Eve, the celebration will meet at 5pm near the Saturn Cafe parking lot on Pacific Ave and Spruce Street.

PORTLAND — Dec 16th, 2009 — Jeff Free Luers, political prisoner and environmental activist, was released from the Columbia River Correctional Institution this morning after serving nine and a half years. Luers was originally sentenced in 2001 to twenty two years and eight months for the politically motivated arson of three SUVs at a car dealership in Eugene, OR. This sentence was deemed grossly disproportionate to the damage sustained by the car dealership and was condemned by legal professionals, human rights groups and activists worldwide. At an appeal hearing in 2007 it was ruled that Luers' original sentence was illegal, and was consequently reduced to ten years.

Newly-elected (by his own City Council) Mayor Mike Rotkin will cross verbal swords with Robert Norse in the Free Radio Santa Cruz studio on Sunday, December 13th at 10:30am on 101.1 FM and online. Topics are expected to include the proposed ban on new medical marijuana clinics and growhouses, recently installed anti-homeless architectural changes downtown, the Sleeping Ban and more.

On Thursday, December 17th at 6:30pm in the Santa Cruz High School Auditorium, Joshua Hart and Bruce Appleyard will address the impacts of cars on our social lives and what can be done about it. Admission is free and open to the public.

This is the second in a series of profiles of activist and alternative media workers in the Bay Area by Indybay contributor Peter M. Featured in this profile is Bradley, who works with Santa Cruz Indymedia. Bradley spoke about his life as a student, his work, and his connection to Mexico.

On December 4th, 1969, the FBI, working with the Chicago police department, assassinated the Chicago Black Panther Party Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton in his bed as he slept. Along with the murder of Mark Clark in the same apartment that night, the "raid" was one in a long line of illegal actions taken by the FBI as part of its COINTELPRO war against the social justice and anti-war movements. Fred Hampton Jr. embarked on a speaking tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the assassination of his father.

After fifteen months, more than a dozen court appearances, three major motions, four rejected plea deals, two district attorneys, and nearly a thousand hours of defense work, the case against drum circle supporters, Wes and Jack, is finished.