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March to Santa Cruz City Hall to Save the Knoll

Published on August 25, 2011 in Environment, Race

It has been over three weeks since KB Home contractors unearthed the skeletal remains of a young Ohlone child at the Branciforte Creek construction site in Santa Cruz. The City Council has yet to meaningfully address this situation or take action to honor Ohlone requests to protect the area by halting KB Home’s planned development.

On August 25th, 75 people marched in downtown Santa Cruz from Laurel and Pacific to City Hall on Center Street in an action organized by the Save the Knoll Coalition. One person maintained an indigenous chant throughout the march, many people carried signs and banners, and several distributed educational flyers.

The march was urgently organized for 10am on a Thursday because the Santa Cruz City Council was holding a special closed meeting, but the Branciforte Creek development was not on their agenda. However, prior to the closed meeting, twenty minutes were allocated for public comments about the pending Branciforte Creek development. Read More and View Photos

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Stop the Dirty Energy Proposition: Vote No on Prop 23

Published on October 10, 2010 in Environment, Government

On October 10th, a day of global action to work on the climate crisis, Santa Cruz residents rallied next to a Valero gas station on Highway 1 / Mission Street urging people to vote no on California’s proposition 23. If it passes on November 2nd, it will suspend California’s Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. AB 32 requires that by 2020 the state’s greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 1990 levels, a roughly 25% reduction under business as usual estimates. Read More and View Photos

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Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market Expands. Is the Drum Circle Finally Over?

Published on April 21, 2010 in Arts & Creation, Environment

Wednesday, April 21st was the first day of the expanded Farmers’ Market in downtown Santa Cruz.

While I was finishing lunch in a nearby restaurant, I heard the owner speaking with one of her employees about the expansion of the market, and she was not happy about it. She said that the increased amount of goods and services now being offered each Wednesday at the Farmers’ Market will have a negative impact on her restaurant and other downtown businesses. The feelings expressed by this longtime owner of a downtown restaurant do not correspond with an announcement from the Farmers’ Market which states, “The plans for the new Downtown Market have engendered excitement and full support from downtown businesses located adjacent to the market.”

The Farmers’ Market was also strangely quiet compared to previous weeks. Notably absent was the weekly drum circle and the crowd it attracts. And a vendor was selling artisan bread where for years, Food Not Bombs had been distributing free meals to anyone. Read More and View Photos

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Thousands Attend the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo at the Cow Palace

Published on April 20, 2010 in Drug War, Environment, Solidarity & Outreach

The International Cannabis and Hemp Exposition took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City on April 17th and 18th. The expo, which had the first permitted area for the use of medical marijuana, was the largest event of its kind to hit Northern California.

Established activist organizations dished out information to prospective members, and hundreds of vendors pitched their freshest accessories to thousands of medical marijuana patients and connoisseurs. At the same time, prominent members of the cannabis community discussed a wide-range of topics, including marijuana cultivation, medication and prohibition. However the main buzz, on and off stage, was the initiative to “legalize, control, and tax cannabis in California,” which is to be decided by voters in the state during the November 2010 elections. Read More and View Photos

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March in Santa Cruz for the Global Day of Climate Action

Published on October 26, 2009 in Environment

Global Day of Climate Action The website 350.org reports that on October 24th, people in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet’s history. At over 5,200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis.

Numerous events took place in Santa Cruz, CA, including a march which began at the wharf and went up the sidewalk of Pacific Avenue. The march ended at the clock tower where there was a rally and a mock trial of the private automobile, the largest contributing source of CO2 in California and Santa Cruz County. The trial was presided over by the honorable Fred Keeley, a former member of the California State Assembly and currently the Treasurer of Santa Cruz County. Read More and View Photos

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