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Progressive Activist Calendar April 21- May 1, 2017: 100 Days of Resisting

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President Trump is lumbering towards the hundred day mark as I’m writing this, desperate to be seen as doing something, anything. The latest scheme is to try and horsetrade funding for the wall in return for not throwing a bunch of poor people’s healthcare away.

It won’t work, but not for lack of trying. Thanks to massive and ongoing resistance, the deal he’s offering is a non-starter for much of the Congress.

There are lots of local things to check out this week, and I urge you to think both globally and locally.   [Read more…]

Chula Vista Casino Lawsuit and South Bay Representatives #Resist

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San Diego Business Journal reported last week that the Chula Vista City Council approved the transfer from ownership from Seven Mile Casino to Stones South Bay Corp.

The old casino opened in 1946 as the Village Club on Broadway. In 2014, the casino moved into a lush 14,000-square-foot space along Bay Boulevard. In that same year, the Village Club Card Room had been raided by the FBI.

New problems have arisen this month. On April 10, a class-action lawsuit was electronically filed against South Bay Stone, VC Cardroom, Christopher Hart, David Jocis and Harvey Souza. Card-dealers who were employed at the casino are alleging: failure to provide rest periods, failure to provide meal periods, failure to convert gratuities under Labor Code section 350, failure to pay waiting time penalties, violation of California Labor Code and unfair business practices.   [Read more…]

Dumanis Easing Out As DA Amid Ethics Questions, Considering Supervisor Seat

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San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has informed her staff she’ll be leaving the position as of July 7, and is considering a run for County Supervisor.

In a letter distributed to the DA’s office on Thursday morning Dumanis says, although not committed as of yet to run for office, she believes her experience, along with the Board’s involvement in public safety and policy issues, would make her an effective member.

This announcement comes just days after defense lawyers for Mexican billionaire Jose Susumo Azano Matsura revealed the existence of text and phone conversations between the DA–who at one point was considered to the ‘subject’ of an FBI investigation–and United States Attorney Laura Duffy, who had recused herself from the case.   [Read more…]

Readers Write: Proposed San Diego Budget Bad News for Urban Forestry

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By Anne Fege

The City’s FY 2018 budget was released on April 13 with a proposed cut of $880,000 for shade tree pruning—a grave disappointment. With the City’s commitment to the Climate Action Plan, existing and large trees provide the most canopy cover, and they need to be managed and protected to maximize their health and life span.

The proposed reduction diminishes the City’s capacity to prune more trees on a regular cycle, monitor and mitigate tree risks, and increases City liability.   [Read more…]

Government Shutdown Countdown Begins in Congress

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Congress will return to ‘work’ next week, and the most pressing matter facing legislators is simply keeping the government from shutting down.

As it turns out, Day 100 of the Trump administration will be the first day past the end of Federal funding for most government departments. House and Senate staffers have spent the past two weeks trying to hammer out a bipartisan deal covering the final five months of the fiscal year.

Standing in the way of achieving an agreement are administration demands for border wall funding, cuts in domestic spending, a windfall for the military, and the eight Democratic votes needed to break a Senate filibuster.   [Read more…]

BunnyPAC Makes Duncan Hunter Look Uber Silly

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Congressman Duncan Hunter is now being stalked by a pesky wabbit.

BunnyPAC.org is the website for a political action committee dedicated to focusing on Hunter’s campaign finance issues.

Created by Democratic political activist Shawn VanDiver, the site features the musings of Duncan Thumper: “Congressman Hunter’s first bunny, ethics advisor, and insightful political mind.”   [Read more…]

Happy Birthday, Ernie McCray: Still Pushing for What’s Good in the World at 79

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Streams of Consciousness the Day Before Turning 79

By Ernie McCray

Tomorrow. April 18th. If I make it I’ll be 79. 79.

Can’t wait to jam as a 79-year-old man. No, indeed. Time flashes at some kind of supersonic speed. Glad I’ve got me a beautiful woman and some mellow weed…

And there’s so much greed with people in need… And they choose to shoot at each other and drop bombs on each other in all kinds of weather, no thoughts of whether a timeout should be called at some point in human history…   [Read more…]

Call to Action: Trump Is Bad For Business in San Diego

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Chamber Congressional Luncheon Targeted for Protest

The economy of America’s Finest City is threatened by the policies and executive actions of the Trump administration.

Economic nationalism, as envisioned by the White House with its higher trade and immigration barriers, will hurt tech industries, higher education, and tourism, all of which are major components of the local business landscape.

A coalition of organizations led by Indivisible chapters is calling for a demonstration late Friday morning outside downtown’s Manchester Grand Hyatt, as all five members of San Diego’s congressional delegation meet with the chamber of commerce.

The plan is to ask the congressional members (and the Chamber itself) whether they’ll be working for Trump or for San Diego – because they can’t do both.   [Read more…]

Plant the Seeds for a Progressive Future in San Diego: Support Students for Economic Justice

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In the age of Trump I have heard many a progressive ponder: “What went so wrong?” How in 2017 can we be fighting and, in many cases, refighting battles over basic economic rights and civil liberties? Whatever happened to women’s rights? How can we still be arguing about whether or not climate change exists? How did things get this bad?

In the political realm, as I have written here many times, a big part of the problem is that the Democrats have no bench of talented, young candidates. Indeed, rather than appealing to young voters and activists, it sometimes seems like the party is bent on alienating them. We saw this with the disdain heaped upon the idealism of millennial Sanders supporters in some quarters, and we can still see it in the national party’s frustrating inability to reinvent itself by bringing in new energy.   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: April 9-16

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This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week features articles, commentaries, columns, toons, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, cartoonists, and sourced writers on: the War on Drugs redux, fickle Faulconer, Sessions border session, Trumpcare redux, tax marches, MLK through COMD, ending Carlsbad cronyism, Into the Beautiful North, Don Carlos, doing something in Park City, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Photo Gallery: Tax Marches Around the Nation

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Donald Trump once said words to the effect of ‘only reporters are interested in my tax returns.’ Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told the media shortly after the inauguration the President would not release his tax returns because “people don’t care.”

People in 150 or so cities around the country indicated otherwise on April 15, taking to the streets to demand the release of his tax returns.   [Read more…]

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