Bay Area Buzz
Compiled by EagleEye Rye
The Battle for the Bulb: On May 6th, 2013, Albany City Council voted towards removing the humans and art that live on the capped landfill known as the Albany Bulb, a capped landfill that juts out into the Bay. The Albany Bulb has been a space of human wilderness for over a decade — with art, music, theatre, gardening, and creativity bursting from the seams. It is not always a “safe” place, but it is a free space, and it has become an international icon of autonomy. This summer, we are calling on artists, performers, builders, and creative people of all ilks to come make the Bulb your playground. Let’s show the world why autonomous space is more valuable than anything money can tame!
Pending Destruction of the Sacramento Delta Wetlands: A major industrial project is underway that will divert the Sacramento River away from the wetlands of the Delta into the unsustainable (but heavily lobbied) factory farms in the Central Valley. Also, according to the Daily Kos, the hidden agenda is to frack the Delta. A couple decades ago, voters turned down a similar proposal to divert the Sac River into a “peripheral canal,” but now, Gov. Jerry Brown has bypassed the will of the voters with the “Bay Delta Conversation Plan” (hella think-speaky name, yeah?). If the BDC Plan isn’t stopped, 35 miles of the Sacramento River will be diverted into underground tunnels, destroying vast ecosystems as well as the spawning grounds of endangered salmon and smelt. overtroubledwaters.org/
The Davis Dozen Walk Free! In early 2012, a group of students and teachers at UC Davis protested the presence of a corporate bank on their university by peacefully blockading the entrance. They did this for 2 straight months, until the bank closed up and left their campus forever. In April of 2012, twelve people who were associated with the blockade were charged with misdemeanors, and faced up to 11 years in prison and $1,000,000 in fines. On May 6th, 2013, the Davis Dozen settled on a plea bargain: 80 hours of community service. Pretty ironic seeing how they have already spent 2 straight months serving their community…but thank goodness they are free!
Court Victory for Hot Mess / RCA: Hot Mess is a reclaimed house near the MacArthur BART station with a free store, a huge vegetable garden, and a chicken coop. In recent months, residents have liberated the abandoned RCA store next door, turning the shop’s ground floor into a lecture hall & music venue. On March 14, Hot Mess / RCA won a major victory in court when a judge chose to throw out the lawsuit being pressed against the squatters by the property owner. This victory will be useful in the defense of future squats (to find it in the books: Alameda County Superior Court Case #: RG12638555, Rockridge Properties LLC, vs Carey et al.). Legal defense was provided by Land Action, an Oakland-based non-profit that assists environmental & social-justice organizers in establishing and defending occupations used for housing & advancing projects. www.land-action.org
Conscious Living Collective: Up on the UC Berkeley Campus, students have formed a group that is dissolving the boundaries between personal growth and social change. Come if you dare transform your bullshit into the fertilizer for a new era of awesome. CLC-Core@googlegroups.com / 30 Wheeler, Thursday 8-9:30 pm.
Tristan Anderson Case to be Brought before Israeli Courts: Tristan, a beloved member of the Bay Area activist community, received brain damage and permanent paralysis at the hands of Israel’s military police in 2009. Gabby Silverman will soon travel to Israel with Tristan’s parents to demand justice in Israel’s corrupt courts (It’s pretty hard to respect that judicial system after they threw out Rachel Corrie’s case last year. I mean, she was interacting with the driver of that Military Police bulldozer for 2 hours before it ran over her twice! Now these courts are claiming the cop-soldier didn’t see her? Yeah right, you cowards! If you’re going to murder foreigners, at least give us the same level of vague acknowledgement you do your Palestinian victims.). Tristan’s trial will start on June 10th. Gabby plans to post updates to IndyBay.org.
Drones Over the East Bay: Since 2005, Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) has used drones to scan the skies over the US-Mexico border. In December of 2011, CBP graciously allowed police departments nationwide to share in its bounty of drones — without so much as a smidgen of public consent! In December, it was announced that the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office would be receiving a drone, and since February, that drone has been sighted hovering over West Oakland. PRETTY. FUCKING. SCARY. Here’s the ACLU report on domestic droning: aclu.org/blog/tag/domestic-drones
Nudity Ban in SF Spawns Hella Nudity: On Nov 20, 2012, San Francisco City Council formally banned nudity, attempting to snuff out one of the city’s most treasured cultural traditions. In protest: monthly nude street parties! MyNakedTruth.TV
Re-Occupy the Farm: As these words are being hot-waxed into the Slingshot on May 11th 2013, the Gill Tract is being re-Occupied… and then busted by police at 4 am.