Tombstone Community Celebrates Safe Drinking Water Access
On May 13, residents of Tombstone Territory, an unincorporated community in Fresno County, celebrated the groundbreaking of a long-awaited project to consolidate their water with the City of Sanger. After nearly a decade of advocacy, about 40 households in this rural community will finally be connected to a safe, reliable drinking water source.
The project, funded by California’s Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund (SAFER), will bring long-overdue relief to families who have endured years of unsafe and unreliable water supply. Many private wells in Tombstone have gone dry, while for others recent testing shows dangerous levels of contaminants. Residents have been forced to rely on bottled water and emergency deliveries for years.
“We’re so happy this project is finally beginning construction. My home was one of the first to lose water,” said Jovita Torres, Tombstone Territory community resident. “After nine years of struggling and fighting to get access to clean water, I’m happy that we have finally made it here.”
The consolidation project represents a major victory for water justice in this predominantly Latinx community that has been historically excluded from safe water infrastructure.
“We are thrilled to have reached this tremendous milestone in Tombstone,” said Nataly Escobedo Garcia with the Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability.
This celebration shows that progress is possible when frontline communities are heard and supported. Advocates are continuing to push for three critical water justice priorities: sustained funding for SAFER to assist other disadvantaged communities facing water crises, passage of SB 350 to establish California’s first Water Rate Assistance Program for low-income families and equitable water solutions led by frontline communities most impacted by water injustice.
Opposition to AB 715
The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), along with numerous other members of a statewide coalition, strongly condemned the unanimous (9–0) passage of AB 715 in a special Assembly Education Committee hearing last month, calling the measure an assault on academic freedom and an attempt to silence voices advocating for Palestinian rights.
AB 715 revives the most troubling elements of AB 1468, a now withdrawn bill that sparked widespread outcry. It expands the definition of “nationality” in California’s Education Code to include perceived ancestry, ethnicity or even religious affiliation tied to a country—such as Israel.
This opens the door to punishing educators who teach about Palestine, colonialism or human rights abuses, simply because someone claims offense tied to their national or religious identity.
While the draft legislation claims to address Islamophobia, it does so without acknowledging anti-Palestinian racism—a major driver of Islamophobia today. Worse, the authors failed to consult with any Arab or Muslim groups, even as they engaged with leading anti-Palestinian organizations.
“AB 715 is a shameful escalation in the ongoing effort to censor discussions of Palestinian history,” says CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush. “This bill cloaks censorship in the language of combating antisemitism when, in reality, it is an attempt to erase Palestinian narratives and weaponize identity to chill protected speech…
“Our classrooms should be places of truth, not tools of repression.”
DNC Update
(Editor’s note: Michael Kapp is a member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the California delegation. He serves as vice chair of the DNC Western States Regional Caucus. Below are excerpts from his recent report on DNC activities.)
For more than six months, grassroots Democrats have been arguing that most elected Democrats are failing their constituents and the American people by not standing up to Trump and his MAGA fascists. I agree with what Leaders We Deserve is doing in terms of primarying bad Democrats. Choices are healthy in a democracy.
I believe that DNC officers should be neutral in primaries. That means our leaders should not support incumbents, either.
The DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) are incumbent protection rackets. I disagree with almost everything they do. But they don’t report to the DNC. They also operate in an entirely different universe: they don’t come to DNC meetings, and DNC members have no special access to them.
Do you want to change the DCCC? Talk to your member of Congress. Or better yet, run for Congress yourself. Few organizations have ever been transformed from the outside.
Neutrality is the progressive position. When then–DNC Chair Tom Perez endorsed Andrew Cuomo for Governor, Keith Ellison responded that “the Democratic Party should not intervene in the primary process. It is our role to be fair to all contestants and let the voters decide.” I agree.
The American people deserve a Democratic Party fully focused on combating MAGA fascism—not one that is instead debating arcane parliamentary procedure. Republicans are taking away Medicare and Social Security and our democracy is crumbling.
