Feature Archives

Despite widespread objections, Junipero Serra was canonized on September 23 at the National Shrine in Washington DC by Pope Francis during his US visit. On September 27, as a parish celebration of the sainthood of Junipero Serra was scheduled to take place at the Carmel Mission Basilica, a statue of Serra was toppled over and paint was smeared on two grave sites, as well as on signs with the name of Serra, and on the doors of the mission. One mission artifact was inscribed with the statement, "Saint of Genocide".

In the classic movie Chinatown the villain and the head of the water district played by the late John Huston says, "Either you bring the water to L.A. or you bring L.A. to the water". In a scenario eerily reminiscent of a scene in the film, when the LA Department of Power and Water buys up land in the Owens Valley in order to seize Owens River water, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is considering purchasing land in the imperiled Delta to "bring L.A. to the water".

Dan Rush, a former union organizer for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5, was recently named in a federal arrest warrant that alleges he engaged in bad-faith negotiations with cannabis dispensary owners while acting in his capacity as a union official. Rush is also accused of holding a private financial interest in a medical cannabis company seeking a dispensary permit in Oakland in 2010.

A Texas-based oil company submitted a proposal to the U.S. Forest Service to hydraulically fracture eight new oil and gas wells and lay 8,000 feet of new pipeline in and around the pristine Sespe Wilderness in Southern California. In August, at the California Democratic Party’s Executive Board Meeting, state party officials voted to adopt a resolution urging state and federal lawmakers to curb oil extraction on public lands.

Despite a record drought in California, agribusiness tycoons Stewart and Lynda Resnick are pushing a controversial tunnel plan to benefit their almond and cash crop empire. The plan, called the "California Water Fix" and formerly known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, would imperil northern California fish populations. The average California household could be charged as much as $5000 to pay for the project, according to Food and Water Watch. On August 19, protesters took their complaints to the street, demonstrating in front of the Resnick's agribusiness headquarters in Los Angeles.

Wildfires are a natural and regular occurrence during the dry season in California. After four years of drought, the situation this year is especially dire with huge numbers of large fires breaking out all over the state. The Rocky Fire was only contained within the last several days after burning for more than a month, consuming 70,000 acres in total. D. Boyer shared a thorough report from the scene of the Rocky Fire.

The year 2013 was a busy one for animal liberation actions across the U.S., primarily at businesses that breed and/or sell fur. Tyler Lang and Kevin Johnson of Los Angeles recently pled guilty and currently await sentencing for a related charge of violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). On July 24, the FBI arrested two more animal rights activists. Joseph Buddenburg and Nicole Kissane of Oakland were charged under AETA for 2013 actions. At a court hearing on July 28, Judge Ryu released Nicole from electronic monitoring but ordered that Joseph remain on home lockdown with continued monitoring.