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Glen Chase, a Professor of Systems Management, has released a report identifying the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) eradication program as a fraud. "CDFA claims the moth is an emergency and pretends that they can eradicate it in order to steal $100's of millions from taxpayer emergency funds, set aside for real emergencies."
8,500 University of California workers represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) initiated a five-day strike at UC’s ten campuses and five medical centers. The strike, which began on July 14th, concluded on July 18th. At issue are poverty wages as low as $10 per hour. Many employees work 2-3 jobs and qualify for public assistance to meet their families’ basic needs.
UC wages have fallen dramatically behind other hospitals and California’s community colleges where workers are paid family-sustaining wages that are on average of 25% higher. In addition, when workers have stood up for better lives for their families and better working conditions, the University has retaliated by violating labor laws.
96% of service workers are eligible for at least one of the following forms of public assistance: food stamps, WIC, public housing subsidies and subsidized child care, creating a potential burden for CA taxpayers. Increasing wages would not only help lift workers out of poverty, but could positively impact CA and the low- and moderate-income areas where UC workers live as they contribute more to their local economy. Read More
  Coverage: UC Berkeley | UC Santa Cruz 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 |  AFSCME on FRSC | UCLA | UC San Diego 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Video: Facing Poverty At UC | AFSCME Local 3299 | Previous Coverage
When a prison riot between inmates and guards broke out in a maximum security facility, Salinas Valley State prison in California on Thanksgiving Day in 1998, corrections officer Donald J.Vodicka's life would be changed forever. In an attempt to document evidence of injured inmates, Vodicka was behind the camera that day. What was normal standard procedure would be shunned on by a group of guards, and Vodicka was told by other guards to get rid of the photos and evidence of injured inmates. To cover-up evidence.
Sam Farr, representative of the 17th Congressional District of California, stated in a June 19th press release that, "aerial pheromone application over urban areas is off the table" in the effort to control the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that aerial pheromone application will no longer take place over urban areas and will be "limited to agricultural land and undeveloped regions as a tool of last result."
In a June 19th conference call with environmental and citizen groups, Secretary A. G. Kawamura confirmed that aerial spraying of pesticides is off the table in all urban areas. He went on to say that this includes all areas that are accessible by road: If there are roads, CDFA considers it an urban area. Audio
“The bottom line for eradicating this pest has always been safety,” Rep. Farr said. “The public was never convinced that spraying was safe or the only option, and the result has been protests, anger and a series of lawsuits. It’s vital that we don’t delay in our efforts to control this pest. CDFA was correct to recognize that aerial application was becoming a distraction. A shift in strategy is the right move.”
reader comments, "Farr is a politico, he is only trying to keep the program alive."
"The public was never convinced that spraying was safe"
"No mention of the fact that it was actually not safe. Only public perceptions matter."
Aerial Pesticide Spraying Over Cities Stopped | Statewide Grassroots Movement Victorious in Stopping the Spray | Vegan Reader | LBAMspray.com | StopTheSpray.org | Helping Our Peninsula's Environment
Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) is facing closure after its major supporter substantially reduced funding.
FSRN has been given notice by the financially-strapped Pacifica Foundation that its funding will be cut by more than $13,500 a month - effective immediately. The reduction represents about a 25% cut in income for the grassroots news collective. Since FSRN is barred from on-air fundraising, it must seek to offset the cut with income from affiliates, foundations and individuals.
A massive cut in funding from Pacifica on a moment's notice will make it impossible for Free Speech Radio News to produce a daily half-hour newscast.
On June 2nd, the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) class at UC Santa Cruz hosted an evening entitled "The University is Unsustainable: militarism, nuclearism, corporatism and the UC." Student researchers Jono and Leah presented on UCSC's Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) while UCSC alumni Will Parrish and Darwin BondGraham focused on the University of California from 1868 to 2008, from the genocide of Indigenous Nations, the Spanish American War and the Manhattan Project, through to the present: a time of renewed nuclear-militarism and increasing corporatization and privatization of the University.
On June 5th, after a federal judge cleared the way, Blackwater Worldwide, the 'World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army', opened a large training facility in San Diego, just three blocks from the border that separates California and Mexico.
Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill wrote a book chronicling how this dangerous private security corporation leveraged over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan to build an elite Praetorian Guard for the "global war on terror." Now, Blackwater is setting its sights on the so-called "war on drugs" and recently opened its own private CIA, called "Total Intelligence Solutions," marketing "CIA-type services" to Fortune 500 companies.
Blackwater is aggressively building up a parallel infrastructure to the U.S. national security apparatus as its owner, Erik Prince, promotes Blackwater as the "Federal Express" of the military industrial complex.
Grassroots activists in San Diego, led by relentless local groups like Citizens' Oversight Projects, Activist San Diego, and the Peace Resource Center of San Diego, are ramping up their campaign to shut down Blackwater's base of operations on the border. On Wednesday, June 11th, these groups are organizing a major protest outside the Blackwater facility at 7685 Siempre Viva Road in Otay Mesa. Read More
see also: Military contractor Blackwater files suit to push through new California facility | No to Blackwater on Border Gain Allies
On June 6th, George Blumenthal was inaugurated as the 10th Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz during a ceremony on the East Field overlooking the Monterey Bay. Students and workers, organized through the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice (SWCJ) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), rallied at UCSC, marched to the Chancellor's Inauguration and blocked California Highway One during a 10-hour day of action to end poverty wages at the University of California.
AFSCME Local 3299's strike, planned for June 4 - 5, has been postponed indefinitely. UC hired the infamous anti-union law firm Littler Mendelson, a firm that boasts on their website about their expertise in avoiding unionization and busting unions. Suddenly, UC Executives claimed to have new proposals for AFSCME and asked for negotiations to resume -- even though they already gave AFSCME their "last, best, and final proposal." In the eyes of a Republican-dominated state labor board, these alleged new proposals were enough to overturn AFSCME's right to strike.
University of California patient care and service staff announced the results of a statewide strike vote that took place between May 17th and May 22nd. Results were tabulated at midnight on May 22nd, and an overwhelming majority of voters voted to authorize the strike. The workers gave UC Executives notice that a strike could begin as soon as June 4th for the 20,000 workers at the University's five hospital/ten campus system.
On May 22nd in Los Angeles, the California Court of Appeals ruled that
the state limits on medical marijuana possession and cultivation
that were established under state law SB 420 are unconstitutional. In the case People v. Patrick Kelly, the court overturned the defendant's conviction for possessing 12 ounces of dried marijuana
plants on the grounds that the prosecutor had improperly argued that
the defendant was guilty because he possessed more than the 8-ounce
limit established in Health & Safety Code Section 11362.77 and did not
have a doctor's recommendation that authorized more. That section also says that counties and cities can enact medical marijuana guidelines that allow patients or caregivers to exceed the state limits.
In its 3-0 decision, the court ruled: "The prosecutor's argument
was improper... because the CUA [Compassionate Use Act] can only be amended
with voters' approval. Voters, however, did not approve the
eight-ounce limit and other caps in section 11362.77; hence, section
11362.77 unconstitutionally amends the CUA." The decision could be appealed to the
Supreme Court. Prop. 215 advocates such as California NORML
have long believed that the SB 420 limits are unconstitutional. Statement from California NORML
Text of Court of Appeals decision in People v. Patrick Kelly | Text of SB 420 | Text of Proposition 215
The campaign against science experiments on animals at the University of California continues to grow stronger, but not without opposition. Over the last several months, activists have been conducting frequent demonstrations outside the homes of UC animal researchers -- a handful of people with signs, a bullhorn and some literature to hand out to neighbors.
On May 15th, the California State Supreme Court issued its decision that laws that have excluded gay and
lesbian couples from the right to marry were unconstitutional. Gatherings will be held around the state to celebrate the ruling. See NCLR's list of sites or Add an event to Indybay's calendar
California in 1948 was
the first state in the
modern era to strike down laws banning inter-racial marriage, leading to a
nationwide drive to do away with those laws, which culminated in the 1967 Loving v.
Virginia Supreme Court
decision, which struck down such laws around the nation. Massachusetts already issues same-sex marriage licenses, while some other states provide for civil unions for same-sex couples. The California court cited the state's equal protection clause
in striking down the discrimination. It also ruled that
marriages performed outside of California must
be recognized as legal by the State of California. The Transgender Law Center is pleased by the ruling, as it says, "it creates marriage equality by removing gender as criteria for a valid marriage." It writes that transgender people will gain a sense of security, as they often have to struggle for recognition of their legal sex as well as their relationships.
If the decision is not overturned by the US Supreme Court or an upcoming anti-same sex marriage initiative, same-sex couples could be able to share Social Security and pension
survivors'
benefits, the right to uncontested inheritance of a deceased spouse's housing,
and unquestioned right of visitation in hospitals. California conservatives have collected signatures for an anti-gay marriage initiatve, which is awaiting verification of signatures by the Secretary of State. Both Democratic Party candidates for president reportedly support civil unions, but not marriage, for same-sex couples.
California Supreme Court's Full Decision | Initial announcement and discussion | Press Release from Transgender Law Center | Statements from local and national same-sex marriage organizations
Some Past Coverage on Indybay: 5/8: CSU Holds Mock Marriage Ceremony | California High Court Hears Oral Arguments on March 4th, 2008 | 2/18/2004: SF Issues Over 2000 Same-Sex Marriage Licenses
Farm Sanctuary, which operates the largest rescue and refuge network for farm animals in North America, and Animal Place, a nonprofit sanctuary for abused and discarded farmed animals, have responded to a call from Santa Cruz Animal Services and are coming to the aid of 14 neglected animals confiscated from a Watsonville slaughterhouse on May 1st. The rescued animals—12 goats, one cow and one sheep—were discovered at the Lee Road slaughter facility on May 1st by Todd Stosuy of Santa Cruz Animal Services, when he noticed a cow with a bloody horn from the road and initiated an investigation.
12PM Saturday Aug 2
Summer in the City
7:30PM Thursday Aug 7
APAture Runway II
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