Feature Archives

A newly formed branch of the Minutemen and other similar groups are targeting the San Francisco Peninsula and South Bay cities with their anti-immigrant messages. The Raging Grannies have sounded the alarm for local community activists to react quickly in response. Calling on peace and immigrant rights groups to counter-demonstrate, the Peninsula Raging Grannies Action League set up a team to get the word out that, "our communities will NOT be divided along lines of immigrant vs. citizen."

On Thursday January 11th anti-war protests took place across the country to protest Bush's escalation in Iraq. In Palo Alto, community members gathered at El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road, to protest against "this amplification of an outrageous and illegal failed war that has already resulted in the deaths of over three thousand U.S. troops as well as hundreds of thousands of Iraqis". In San Francisco, there was an anti-war march starting at 5pm at Powell and Market Streets. Many other anti-war events took place around the Bay Area, including protests in Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, El Cerrito, Mountain View, San Jose, Petaluma, San Rafael, and Benicia.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Video | Report

During October and November, Bay Area Vegetarians (BAV) distributed vegan food samples and literature, and most recently, vegan recipes and literature. The events are not difficult to organize, volunteers enjoy them, and it gets vegan information into the hands and minds of people who may not have otherwise received this information. From these events to vegan baking classes to demos at area KFC's in support of PETA's Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, BAV keep themselves busy. BAV is currently looking to expand their volunteer team to do leafleting on a regular basis in the East Bay, San Francisco, and the South Bay.

The San Francisco Bay Area is a Mecca for vegetarians with nearly 100 vegetarian restaurants in the region. Bay Area Vegetarians (BAVeg) sponsors the annual "Best of Veg" survey to recognize the top vegetarian restaurants in the area and to raise awareness of how easy it is to dine with compassion and good health, vegetarian-style. The public is encouraged to dine at vegetarian restaurants of their choice and vote for their favorites in several categories through November 15th.

Andronico's Market claims it is "committed to the highest standards of animal husbandry." Yet the Bay Area grocery chain still sells eggs from chickens confined to battery cages. East Bay Animal Advocates has called for a week of action at Andronico's locations in Palo Alto and Berkeley, Sunday, July 16 through Thursday, July 20. The campaign will encourage Andronico's to adopt an exclusively cage-free egg policy as other socially responsible grocery chains already have.

On Friday, April 21st, President Bush was in San Jose. A protest was held at 1:00pm outside of Cisco Systems ( Audio | Photos: 1 | 2 ). Bush was then scheduled to meet with fellows at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, but thousands of protestors blocked the main entrance forcing him to change his plans. ( Photos | Video ) He spent Friday night in the Napa County town of St. Helena, where Friday evening's protest were renewed on Saturday 4/22. Later on Saturday, Bush made a stop in West Sacramento for Earth Day, and was met with hundreds of protesters. ( Photos )

Read More On Indybay's Government and California Pages

On Sunday, May 14th, activists gathered at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago restaurant in Palo Alto to protest the cruel treatment of veal calves, whose flesh Puck serves. The protest coincided with Mother’s Day to highlight the plight of calves, who are separated from their mothers at very young ages to be turned into veal. The protestors distributed leaflets about veal production and held signs urging customers to say no to veal.

Wolfgang Puck has refused to stop serving this inhumane and decadent item, and also serves foie gras, the artificially fattened livers of force-fed ducks. When representatives from Farm Sanctuary worked to educate Mr. Puck and his affiliates about the plight of veal calves, they responded with misinformation, excuses, and ultimately, silence. Read more