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Two Victories on January 20th: San Lorenzo Park Residents and RV Dwellers on Riverside 
Joint community direct action and legal pressure prompted two victories this last week for unhoused folks in Santa Cruz. In-person physical support on Riverside St. and at San Lorenzo temporarily thwarted the standard "move out and hide out" strategy of both the Public Works Department and City Manager Martin Bernal....
Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:31PM
TRO Extended Another Week; Homeless Removal Squad Seeks More Pretexts 
Federal Magistrate Susan van Keulen granted a last minute motion from City Attorney Condotti delaying any decision and/or hearing on the San Lorenzo Campground until January 20th, allowing both the SC Homeless Union Survival Supporters and "Save the Grass; Screw the Homeless" attorneys to present more evidence and argument to sweep the park....
Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 10:00AM
Bookshop Santa Cruz Union Election Starts Tomorrow 
Bookshop Santa Cruz workers will be voting tomorrow to get their union legally recognized, and are seeking the community's support....
Posted: Wed Jan 6, 2021 11:36AM
Stop the Sweeps in Watsonville 
Linear Park
100 E Front St., Watsonville...
Event Date: Tue Jan 5, 2021 6:00AM
Posted: Mon Jan 4, 2021 5:59PM
Police Chief Mills says New Homeless Camping Ordinance will go to City Council this Month 
In the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has the local homeless population scrambling for places to camp and shelter in place, Santa Cruz Police Chief Andrew Mills is soliciting support from the public for a new camping ordinance that he says will go before the City Council for approval in January. "It will need our support," Mills said. "We Have not had an ordinance to enforce due to a SCOTUS decision and council suspending our ordinance," he added. (Photo: Correspondence between Police...
Posted: Sun Jan 3, 2021 9:25PM
Stop The Sweeps in Santa Cruz: Activists Resist Closing San Lorenzo Park (audio/mpeg 97.8MB) Interviews with human rights activist Abbi Samuels and unhoused activist Hannah, who lives in a homeless encampment in San Lorenzo Park in downtown Santa Cruz....
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:04PM
Working on a History of Protest Power Around Shelter and Sweeps in Santa Cruz 
In light of the current community support for the San Lorenzo Survival Campers, I thought it might be helpful to post a partial history of the changes and services created by protest and direct action in the past. I distributed this flyer at the Park today. If Chief Mills word is to be believed, the protests Monday have already extended the Final Sweep "Solution" deadline to late January....
Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 6:54PM
Educating the City Manager (and his Neighbors) On December 20th and 21st, Santa Cruz Union activists demonstrated and spoke in front of City Manager Martin Bernal's suburban house at 96 Brookwood Drive. Bernal's police have begun demolition of the San Lorenzo survival campgrounds destroying tents, gear, and other property. In winter weather, with no winter shelter, defying a shelter-in-place CDC order--Bernal's decree raised much outrage....
Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2020 4:24PM
Next Steps in Fighting the Anti-Homeless Sweeps? An outreach demonstration today on Pacific Avenue seeks to gather perspectives and supporters for a sane and fair solution to the Winter Shelter crisis. The crisis has been provoked and intensified by City Manager Bernal's Sweeps, the overboard powers granted him by Myers' City Council, the lack of any walk-in shelter, and the police destruction of homeless gear in violation of the Boise v. Martin "no tickets without shelter" decision....
Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 5:11PM
Missing Documentation on San Lorenzo Camp Extermination to Remain Missing I sent the following Public Records demand to the City Administrator/Clerk on 12-17 regarding the abrupt and toxic shutdown of the San Lorenzo Campground displacing 150-200 people. I received a reply that City offices would be "closed for the holidays" until January 4th -but City Mangler Bernal has set January 6th as the date for completion of the destruction of the shelter-in-place camp....
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 9:56AM
Much-Needed Federal Protection for America’s Beloved Monarch Butterfly Warranted, but Precluded U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agrees that monarchs are threatened with extinction, but does not yet provide the protection that monarchs need to recover....
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 1:26PM
Monarch Butterflies Put on Waiting List for Endangered Species Act Protection 
WASHINGTON, December 15, 2020 — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that protection for monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act is warranted but precluded. This puts the imperiled butterfly on a waiting list for listing but confers no protection in the meantime....
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 1:18PM
Homeless Dead in Santa Cruz County 2020 
This is the list given out at the on-line 2020 Homeless Memorial on December 17, 2017, sponsored by Housing Matters, the Santa Cruz County Homeless Persons Health Project, Wings and the Salvation Army. It was updated for the in-person Memorial held today at the Food Not Bombs meal location at Front and Laurel Sts....
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:12PM
"Clear 'em Out" Cruelty as Usual: Deportations Slated from San Lorenzo Park 
City Manager Martin Bernal and Parks and Recreation Boss Tony Eliot are expanding an existing crisis in San Lorenzo Park. Staring Monday December 21st, they have announced they will begin removing unhoused survival camps there with no shelter destination. Community activists Alicia Kuhl and Peter Gelblum have published their responses to this latest insanity....
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:28AM
Pacific Grove Police Officer's Parler Account 
Pacific Grove Police Officer Michael Gonzalez's Parler account. Officer Gonzalez previously got in trouble in May for stickers he had on his truck which was parked in a City owned parking lot. The City has spent $23,000 defending him so far....
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:04AM
Alternative Responses to 911 - Santa Cruz ACLU Webinar Highlights CAHOOTS Program 
Tonight the Santa Cruz ACLU presents "Alternative Responses to 911" - a Zoom Webinar - Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 - 6:30 PM PST...
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:47AM
Stand with Bookshop Santa Cruz Workers as they Organize a Union 
Bookshop Santa Cruz booksellers and other non-managerial staff have asked that store owner Casey Coonerty Protti voluntarily recognize their union with the Communication Workers of America Local 9423. Sign this petition in support: Stand with Bookshop Santa Cruz Workers as they Organize a Union!...
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:24PM
Volunteer SCPD Homeless-Harasser Deb Elston's Ticketing Record 
For those seeking more information regarding the questionable ticketing behavior of the SCPD towards those whose only home is their vehicle, check out the record of Santa Cruz Neighbors organizer and Nextdoor boss Deborah Elston below....
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 9:23AM
Monarch Population in California Spiraling to Another Record Low 
Early Thanksgiving Count numbers show population may be less than 10,000...
Posted: Fri Dec 4, 2020 12:56PM
Tamario Smith's Death in SC County Jail - Attorneys Discuss May 10 Death & Lawsuit (audio/mpeg 114.5MB) Interview with Jonathan Gettleman and Elizabeth Caballero, two Santa Cruz attorneys filing a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Tamario Smith's family....
Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 8:39PM