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By Mike Rhodes
On Nov. 8, 2011, this homeless man held a handmade sign on Santa Clara Street as City of Fresno workers destroyed his shelter. Now the homeless are fighting back with a lawsuit alleging that the City of Fresno and Caltrans took and destroyed their property.
Attorneys for homeless residents of Fresno announced the filing of nine lawsuits on March 22, brought on behalf of 12 individual homeless residents of Fresno arising out of the demolition and destruction of their dwellings and personal property beginning on Oct. 27, 2011, and continuing through the …[Read the details]
By Paul Boden
Yolanda was one of the women who lost her shelter during the City of Fresno’s demolition of homeless encampments on Dec. 8, 2011.
If ever there was a time to organize, it is now. Property and business owners are creating private business improvement districts (BIDs) to police downtown areas across the country. The stated goal is to “improve” these neighborhoods for “visitors and businesses.” The effect is to remove “undesirable elements” from downtown business and tourist centers.
BIDs hire security teams (sometimes ironically called ambassadors) that patrol public spaces, often augmented by …[Read the details]
By Mike Rhodes
Homeless people living at this encampment near Palm and H streets have been told by the police and business owners to “move on.” Homeless advocates are arguing that they need a safe and legal place to move on to, where they will have basic public services like drinking water, toilets and trash pickup.
There is a new organization in Fresno working with the homeless, which is the outcome of a community forum held at the Unitarian Universalist Church in February. The well-attended forum was in response to the City of Fresno’s demolition …[Read the details]
Save Jesse Morrow Mountain
At the Feb. 9 [Fresno County] Planning Commission meeting regarding mining Jesse Morrow Mountain, 200-plus people in opposition to the mine were treated like enemies of growth, jobs and development. Cemex [Corporation] filled up rows of seating early with unions and employees. The meeting was “open to the public,” but the majority of those in opposition were not allowed in.
We requested signup sheets to speak and were told no signup was required. Cemex presented for three hours. Afterward, we were told we did need sheets. However, there weren’t any available. When the sheets were …[Read the details]
By Vanessa Aranda
Citizens of the county and surrounding communities have joined together to form what is known as Occupy Fresno. Occupy Fresno, recognized as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, began with a strong centralized message: Stop the major corporations and the 1%, which place profit over the people, the 99%. During its five-month existence, Occupy Fresno has convened with labor unions and other organizations in the Central Valley, such as Peace Fresno and SEIU, to tackle issues on the local level.
One of the prevalent issues Occupy Fresno has taken up is the homeless. Activists from …[Read the details]
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