Alex Darocy Photography

On Sunday night members of local homeless rights organizations held their second community campout at Santa Cruz City Hall. Making it through the entire evening at City Hall was no easy task for the group, which was comprised of some individuals who have homes of their own to sleep at and some who do not. The campers wrangled with Santa Cruz police, who rousted them out of their sleep spots in the City Hall court yard at 1am after insisting the area be vacated. Many, however, returned to their spots after the police left, and most were able to sleep through to the morning hours. Group sleepouts have been organized in Santa Cruz to call attention to local laws that render it a crime to sleep outdoors in public, and are also a response to the drastic cuts to day-services that occurred at the Homeless Services Center in June. The July 19 sleepout began with a march through downtown Santa Cruz where activists carried a portable shower stall to show it off to the public. After arrivi...

Three of the four remaining Santa Cruz Eleven defendants resolved their legal cases in Santa Cruz Superior Court today. Gabriella Ripley-Phipps and Brent Adams were present in court and pleaded "no contest" to one misdemeanor count each of trespass in association with the 2011 occupation of the vacant bank building located at 75 River Street. A no contest plea was also entered by his attorney for Franklin Alcantara, who was not present at the hearing. In exchange for the plea, the felony vandalism charge the defendants still faced has been dismissed, and a fixed restitution amount has been set at $1500 per person. The remaining defendant Cameron Laurendau and his attorney were not present in court today, and at the time of the hearing his case was still scheduled on the court calendar with a trial date of July 27. Gabriella Ripley-Phipps after the hearing. The large, empty bank building, which had been leased and left vacant in downtown Santa Cruz for years by Wells F...

On July 4, community members in Santa Cruz held a public campout at Santa Cruz City Hall, but it was quickly cut short by police at about 1am. The campout was organized in response to the recent reduction of services at the Homeless Services Center that occurred due to a funding deficit, as well as to protest local laws that criminalize sleeping outdoors. Police issue citations to clear the community campout from Santa Cruz City Hall. Organizers announced in advance of the protest that a location for the campout would be decided at a meeting to follow the July 4 Food Not Bombs dinner at the post office in downtown Santa Cruz. At an assembly on the steps of the post office, a group of about 40 people voted to camp in the courtyard at City Hall, which would be an act of civil disobedience as the area is closed to public use at night. To address sanitary needs, organizers rented a portable restroom, which was to be towed to City Hall on a small trailer. The plan was complicated...

Today on the 4th of July, community members in Santa Cruz brought messages of peace, justice, and equality to Ocean Street as they greeted visitors entering town for the busy holiday. Every year a variety of groups working on peace and justice issues rally along Ocean Street as thousands of people make their way to the beach and the Boardwalk. Although some very serious statements were communicated by those holding signs at the rally today, the atmosphere was generally fun and festive, and the tourists showed a lot of support for what they saw as they rolled by. Some of the topics communicated at this year's rally included support for the Highway 17 Six, ending solitary confinement in prison, ending U.S. military involvement in Syria and the Ukraine, ending sexual violence, ending the killing of children and adults by U.S drone warfare, and ending the war on Gaza. One individual at the rally wore like a necklace a set of signs that were tied together and inscribed with the na...