Following Lawsuit, FBI Releases Records Related To Surveillance Of Anti-War Journalists

With the ACLU’s help, Journalists Eric Garris and Dennis Raimondo sued the FBI in 2013, after they learned the agency was monitoring their libertarian news website Antiwar.com.

Helen Christofi
By Helen Christofi
A sign for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offices in Washington, DC.

In a win for government-transparency advocates, the FBI has agreed to turn over records it created when it spied on two anti-war journalists and pay $299,000 to settle their attorneys’ fees. The deal, which brings to a close a four-year battle for the records under the Freedom of Information Act, is spelled out in two stipulations filed in San

Read Full Article

San Francisco Judges Dismiss 66,000 Arrest Warrants Against The Homeless

San Francisco chief judge John Stewart and his colleagues dismissed thousands of cases against the homeless for “quality-of-life” crimes such as sleeping on sidewalks because it “was the right thing to do.”

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Homeless people rest in the Skid Row section of Los Angeles, Friday, Aug. 19, 2016.

The United States, despite often advertising itself as the world’s “most developed” nation, has a major problem with homelessness, with approximately 3.5 million currently living with no place to call home. Even though vacant houses outnumber the nation’s homeless by more than five to one, most of them end up sleeping in public places or out in the

Read Full Article

Zim Shipping “On The Ropes” In Oakland As Activists Prepare To Block The Boat Again

A diverse coalition of pro-Palestine activists and organizations prepare to return to stop Israel’s largest maritime cargo corporation from unloading cargo at the Port of Oakland, costing the Israeli shipping company money and time and hurting its reputation.

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell

AUSTIN, Texas --- After multiple Block The Boat actions, even opponents of the blockade movement admit that Zim Integrated Shipping Services, Israel's largest maritime cargo corporation, is on the defensive. The next in this series of direct actions, which attempt to prevent Zim shipping vessels from unloading at U.S. ports in a show of support

Read Full Article

San Bruno Pipeline Indictment Begs Safety Questions About The Nation’s Fuel Pipelines

Top California regulators communicated often and enthusiastically with executives at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., even offering unsolicited advice on handling the media while they presided over a case to decide how much the utility should pay for a deadly explosion in a San Francisco Bay Area suburb.

Frederick Reese
By Frederick Reese
Pipeline Explosion Emails

In the United States, 2.5 million miles of natural gas and crude oil pipelines form the network that transports energy to all corners of the nation. Yet the age and fragility of this delicate web -- along with questions of how the network is being maintained -- have led many to be critical of the safety of the nation’s fuel delivery system. On

Read Full Article

Commuter Buses For Tech Workers Inflame San Francisco Housing Rights Activists

San Francisco activists rally against buses carrying tech workers from the Bay Area to Silicon Valley, accusing them of pushing longtime residents out of quickly gentrifying neighborhoods.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
SF Tech Shuttle Buses

LOS ANGELES --- San Francisco has long been a venue for colorful protests but a demonstration earlier this month in the city's Mission District may have set a new standard for creativity. At the intersection of 24th and Valencia streets, protesters dressed in one-piece clown suits and bouncing exercise balls joined arms and danced a conga line

Read Full Article

Progressive or Chameleon? Corruption Case Targets Mysterious Calif. Lawmaker

A California politician has made a career out of telling people what they want to hear. Now he’s facing fierce allegations that could answer the question: Who is Leland Yee?

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller

LOS ANGELES --- Throughout his 26 years in politics, California state Sen. Leland Yee has been something of an enigma, even to his supporters. “[W]ho is Leland Yee?” the San Francisco Bay Guardian asked in August 2011, when Yee was running for mayor of San Francisco after eight years in the California Legislature. Yee, the first Asian-American to

Read Full Article