Last month, I had the opportunity to talk with Carlos Alvarez, the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for governor. He was in Fresno the same day Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman held their debate at Fresno [...] Continue Reading
Politics
Craig Scharton: Fresno’s Downtown Development Czar Talks to the Community Alliance
We printed an interview with three members of Southwest Fresno H.E.A.T. in last month’s issue of the Community Alliance newspaper. In that interview, the organizers raised concerns about high density [...] Continue Reading
Progressive News Briefs
Fresno Police Violate Federal Court Order Protecting the Homeless In January of this year, the City of Fresno violated the settlement agreement protecting homeless people from having their property [...] Continue Reading
The New Jim Crow
Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow is a brilliant history and assemblage of legal decisions, statutes, rules and practices that have incrementally grown since the 1970s to form a system of mass [...] Continue Reading
On Hold at the Housing Authority
My husband, Tom, and I are reluctant landlords. We have just been told by Preston Prince, the new director of the Fresno Housing Authority, that we have a “small portfolio” of rental properties. What [...] Continue Reading
Meeting Energizes Peace Community
On the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the peace movement in our politically conservative San Joaquin Valley got a big boost. One hundred [...] Continue Reading
Reefer Madness: Fresno Moves to Ban Outdoors Growing of Pot
In reference to the use of cannabis as medicine, one member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors recently proclaimed in a public hearing, “I know it’s the law, but…I don’t like it!” The Board of [...] Continue Reading
2010 Election Preview
The national narrative for the 2010 elections has been defined by the mainstream media as an impending success, perhaps even landslide, for Republicans, with the strong likelihood that the Republicans [...] Continue Reading
The ACLU Goes Back to School
The Golden Westside Planning Committee and others in southwest Fresno asked the Fresno Area American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Board to support community efforts to build a new neighborhood middle [...] Continue Reading
Opinion and Analysis From the Grassroots
The Conflict in Palestine/Israel Cries Out for Justice By Meghan Walsh When people ask me about my interest and slight obsession with the Middle East, I always fumble with a response. The [...] Continue Reading
Q&A: In Conversation with Abby Dees
Q&A: In Conversation with Abby Dees, Author of Queer Questions, Straight Answers: 108 Frank and Provocative Questions It’s OK to Ask Your Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual Loved One I’d been planning to [...] Continue Reading
October Poll: Do you support Proposition 19, which would will legalize marijuana and allow it to be regulated and taxed?
Please leave your thoughts and views about Proposition 19 and marijuana legalization below, in Comments. [...] Continue Reading