Alex Darocy Photography

On December 4, Direct Action Monterey Network (DAMN) organized its eleventh sit-in protest in downtown Monterey. Since February, community members have been gathering monthly on the sidewalk of Alvarado Street to defy the city's sit-lie ordinance, which has been in effect for just over a year now. Sec. 32-6.2 of the Monterey municipal code bans sitting or lying on most commercial sidewalks in Monterey between the hours of 7am and 9pm. Based on their outreach with Monterey's homeless community, DAMN believes the sit-lie ordinance is discriminatory and has been selectively enforced by police. There was quite a bit of support for the sitters at the December 4 protest. Several unsolicited donations were made by individuals passing by. After speaking with members of the group, one individual opened their wallet and gave the demonstrators a generous cash donation. Another person brought them packages of cookies. The protests bring together a wide variety of community members...

The Freedom Sleepers encountered the first real rain of the season at their latest community sleepout held at Santa Cruz City Hall on November 24. Since July 4, a group of unhoused and housed activists, many of whom call themselves "Freedom Sleepers" have slept at Santa Cruz City hall every week to protest local laws that criminalize homelessness and the act of sleep. The next sleepout is planned for tonight, December 1, again at Santa Cruz City Hall. SCPD arrests a person sleeping at City Hall Due to the extreme weather on November 24, the majority of those attending the protest chose locations to sleep that were sheltered from the rain and wind. After the evening's city council meeting had concluded, one individual lay in a blanket in the walkway that leads to the main office in the city hall complex, which has a roof and is covered. The walkway also leads to council chambers, which is the location where the city council's agendas are posted for public disp...

On November 22, hundreds of Santa Cruz residents joined together for the "Climate Changes Everything" rally and march to demand action at COP21, which will be held in Le Bourget, France, from November 30 to December 11. COP21 is the 21st annual "Conference of the Parties," which is a meeting of nations organized to discuss taking action regarding the climate. After assembling at Calvary Church, community members marched downtown to San Lorenzo Park, where Rick Flores greeted them by reading a welcome message from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. A wide range of speakers were heard in the park, and Santa Cruz Mayor Don Lane proclaimed November 22, 2015 as “Santa Cruz Climate Action Day.” The proclamation urges all residents to, "join together to achieve carbon-reduction goals in Santa Cruz and to join the Climate Action Network in urging global leaders at the Paris conference to adopt an aggressive plan to dramatically reduce carbon emissions around the world....