at Livermore on Aug 8th

300 protesters march to lab
Activists in Livermore oppose increases in nuclear, defense budgets while schools are cut back
by Merrill Balassone
CORRESPONDENT, Oakland Tribune
Monday, August 09, 2004 -

LIVERMORE -- As a teacher in the Livermore school system for 35 years, Janis Kate Turner said she's seen the best and the worst of times.

"It's gone up and down and we've closed schools before, but the state of the schools today is the worst that I have seen," said Turner, 60.

Facing $12 million in cuts over the last four years, two Livermore elementary schools have closed and only one full-time nurse serves the entire elementary and middle school population.

Roughly 300 activists marched from Jackson Elementary School to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Sunday to protest increasing defense budgets for nuclear testing while local schools face millions in cuts.

Throughout the day, people scoured booths set up by peace activists, anti-Bush groups and environmentalists against nuclear testing, browsing the buttons, bumper stickers, posters, books and pamphlets.

More than 15 speakers took the stage to mark the 59th anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The event was one of 86 weekend events around the country to commemorate the anniversary.

Corine Thornton, 81, of Hayward attended the event as a member of the worldwide group "Grandmothers for Peace," and said she remembers the horror of the bombings that marked the end of World War II.

"At the time, I was very upset, and I was sure it was going to set off a chain reaction," Thornton said. She has attended Hiroshima Day events ever since and said she will keep at it "as long as she's breathing."

Her husband, Nate, 89, whose T-shirt proclaims him a member of the men's auxiliary of "Grandmothers for Peace," said he has been "agitating" since 1934.

"I have always been in favor of peace, and I don't think the bombings were the proper thing. I have never been able to get over it."

Tri-Valley CAREs, a local organization opposing nuclear testing and design, shed light on a recent environmental impact statement for the Livermore lab that would increase the design and manufacture of nuclear weapons over the next 10 years.

When Turner first moved to Livermore, she said she was unaware of the environmental problems caused by the lab's nuclear research. The main lab and its Site 300 testing range between Livermore and Tracy were put on Superfund's National Priority List in 1987 and 1990, which includes the nation's most contaminated sites.

Now, Turner is a member of the citizens' advisory committee for the cleanup process. Although she said the effort is going well, she said she received a backlash from the community when she brought her views into the classroom.

"When I brought up the environmental issues, administrators would get calls from parents who worked at the lab saying that I was scaring their kids," Turner said. "I quickly got the message that you just don't talk about it."

Although the lab has done positive medical and environmental research, it is secondary to the goals of nuclear development, Turner said.

"I see no need for war experiments when we have so many nuclear weapons stockpiled," she said. "The brainpower is wonderful, but we are asking our government to be more dedicated to our kids and less dedicated to weapons of mass destruction."

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1865%257E2323388,00.html?search=filter

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Rally marks bombing date
By Mike Adamick
Contra Costa Times
Monday, August 9, 2004

Hundreds of protesters marched Sunday afternoon to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory to mark the 59th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to protest the development of newer and more devastating nuclear weapons.

The march, now in its 21st year, started at Jackson Avenue Elementary School, where people gathered on a searing blacktop to promote "books, not bombs." On a nearby grassy field, musicians offered protest and peace songs, while speakers said more money should be spent on education and less on weapons.

Tara Dorabji, a spokeswoman for Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, which helped organize the event, said the nonviolent march comes at a time when Livermore schools are closing but bigger, more powerful bombs are being developed.

More money should be spent on education, she said.

Last year's march attracted more than 1,200 people, but Sunday's march drew about half that amount by mid-afternoon, though the crowd still swelled enough to cram the school grounds with protesters and line the streets with marchers.

Over the past 21 years, Dorabji said, the march and community activism has helped bring many changes at the national laboratory, where nuclear technology is developed.

More stringent safety protocols are in place, for instance, and problems have been brought to light and corrected, she said.

The annual march has also cast a spotlight on the first use of atomic weapons in warfare, the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, and the bombing of Nagasaki three days later. The bombings led to the end of World War II.

Almost 60 years later, protesters said, nuclear development in the United States is increasing by billions of dollars and that the Bush administration is threatening nuclear attacks against countries that don't have similar weapons. The Bush campaign declined to provide comment for this story.

Sitting at a table under a ribbon of shade at the school, Sacramento resident Lorraine Krofchok said she's traveled from the state capital the past three years to join the march, saying it's important to call attention to nuclear development.

"It seems like we're in a never-ending war and a never-ending development for future wars," said Krofchok, a member of Grandmothers for Peace.

Brother David Buer, a Franciscan monk from Arizona, spent the afternoon folding paper cranes, symbols of peace.

"It's very inspiring to be out here on such a hot day and see so many people," he said, as young people painted a "books not bombs" poster, a man pounded rhythmically on a colander tied around his neck and marchers offered brochures on everything from world peace to vegetarian cuisine.

Janis Kate-Turner, who retired from the Livermore school system after 35 years of teaching but remains a substitute, said that two schools closed their doors for good this summer, yet spending on nuclear weapons has increased. And some people in the community suffer illnesses from laboratory pollution, she argued.

"Our community does not put the safety and education of children first," Kate-Turner said.

Last year, the march culminated in the arrests of three people, including nuns. Laboratory officials couldn't be reached Sunday for information about any arrests this year.