Local News & Views

Arnieville is a continuous protest led by people with disabilities alarmed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed state budget with its juggernaut of draconian cuts to California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), Medi-Cal and other critical supports for California’s most vulnerable people.

Last night, July 13, the SF Board of Supervisors held a 10-hour hearing on the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for Lennar’s proposed 10,000 unit condominium complex, stadium and green tech development at the Hunters Point Shipyard Superfund site and Candlestick Point. The EIR passed with a 8-3 vote.

Nationally acclaimed scientist Wilma Subra says, “The EIR failed to evaluate and assess the cumulative impacts of exposure to children, adults and the environment as a result of exposure to all of the chemicals present at the site.” Declared Vivien Donahue, “San Francisco is not a Green City for the environment; it is green for the money they want to give to these developers.” “We are opposed to the EIR. The shipyard needs to be cleaned up, not covered up. It is too toxic!” said Esselene Stancil, 78. Showdown at Board of Supervisors Tuesday, July 13, 3pm, City Hall Room 250. Be there!

“I AM,” shouted the speaker at the Oakland protest of the verdict in the trial of ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle; “OSCAR GRANT!” roared back the crowd at 14th and Broadway. The cold-blooded killer of Oscar Grant had just gotten off with an involuntary manslaughter conviction in a trial in LA. After less than two days deliberation, a jury with no Black members cleared Johannes Mehserle of second degree murder.

Addressing those fretting about civil unrest, Michael Walker concluded the press conference by declaring: “For anybody out there who feels like people are against peace, if you really want peace in this city, then fight for justice, and I guarantee you’ll have peace.”

At 14th and Broadway, the community was invited to share what was on their hearts. No one was censored and all views were respected. People surrounded the speakers. No one needed to be alone on a day like today. In African traditional healing, the health of an individual is tied to the well-being of community. Oscar Grant’s relatives and friends called for love and respect for life and each other, as they named the enemy: this corrupt judicial system that allows killers to go free. I noticed another rally in front of City Hall. Just a handful of people were there.

THE VERDICT is INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER. Heed these wise words: Attention activists and citizens over 50 years old: HANDS AROUND OUR YOUTH! We need to be present to protect our youth from police brutality. We must bear witness to our youth's right to assemble and peacefully demonstrate. Let OPD know these are our children and deserve to be respected as full USA citizens with the right to peacefully demonstrate without interference. Come and protect our children.’

A survey sent in April of 2008 by the Union of Concerned Scientists to 5,419 EPA scientists reports that 900 scientists say the White House watered down documents regarding climate change and inserted industry language into EPA power plant regulations and that scientific advisory panel conclusions about toxic chemicals went unheeded.

When San Francisco’s Sunset Reservoir solar project is completed later this year, it will be one of the largest installations of its kind in the country. Sunset Reservoir also holds the distinction of being the first solar project in the country to be shut down by a community protest.

At the Toxic Triangle hearing on June 12 at St. John's Baptist Church, residents discussed the many undiagnosed and unidentified health and skin problems that have resulted from the many pollution sources such as Chevron, the Navy’s Hunters Point Shipyard and the PG&E toxic site.

The job of the media is to hold the powerful accountable. To avoid hypocrisy, the media itself must be held accountable as well. In the past few days, KPFA has broadcast at least twice a brief announcement recorded by the interim general manager scolding Bay View associate editor JR Valrey for a passing mention in one of his Block Reports of KPFA’s former interim program manager, Sasha Lilley. The Bay View respectfully questions its timing and refutes its contentions.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ first hearing on the EIR that would allow the ‘dirty transfer’ of the Hunters Point Shipyard to Lennar is Monday, June 14, 1 p.m., at the Land Use Committee in City Hall Room 263. Dirty transfer means the Navy handing over the Shipyard to the City and then to Lennar before it has been cleaned of radioactive and other contaminants.

San Francisco District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell's legislation that will help Black contractors win contracts and hire workers and on-the-job trainees was unanimously approved. That's another step toward Blacks building the new Bayview Library! If you want a job, come to the meeting of the Bay Area Black Builders on Saturday, June 12, 12 noon, upstairs at 1099 Sunnydale. Sign up so if Liberty Builders does win the contract, you'll have a good chance to go to work ... and make history.

The mainstream media and the educational system indoctrinate us with the propaganda that this society is based on equality and the rule of law. Yet we pay the most and get the least, and trying to exercise our so-called rights becomes a monumental task. We need real housing, not overpriced rented bunk beds and lockers in a crowded facility.

It’s not too often you see Black leaders willing to take a stand these days. This footage has the internet buzzing as Minister Christopher called the redevelopment and planning commissioners and members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors “paid prostitutes” and “political whores.” “This city is rotten to the core!" he shouts.

Nyese Joshua, longtime resident of Bayview Hunters Point, reports back from the Bayview Hunters Point District 10 Supervisorial Community Candidates Forum on April 29, 2010.

"They are trying to find any way possible to evict us." “I’m under pressure to accept a Section 8 voucher, which I do not want because I will have to pay more for rent than I do currently, and I’m only getting unemployment at the moment." "There is nothing wrong with my home. It may need to be painted, but I can live around that, and there is no reason to force me out of my home. I want to stay and raise my kids."

Is Tony Pirone attempting to avoid testifying in Johannes Mehserle’s trial for the murder of Oscar Grant? The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has filed papers to force former BART Police Officer Tony Pirone – who was fired April 22 – to testify in the murder trial of Johannes Mehserle, set to begin with jury selection next week.

In 2001 I founded the Radiological Subcommittee of the Hunters Point Shipyard. I became obsessed by the potential for one of the worst toxic environmental impacts to the human cell being realized with this development project on a federal Superfund site: Small radioactive particles called radionuclides becoming airborne on dust and breathed into the lungs and circulatory system of children.

"People leave feeling alive when they see the film. The brutal police murders that are shown in the film, the drive and motivation of the people of Oakland who organized against all odds to chop down the big trees of terrorism and oppression leave audiences stunned," says Adimu Madyun, director of "Operation Small Axe," winner of the Rise Up Award for Most Motivational Film at the New Orleans Film Festival. Email blockreportradio@gmail.com to arrange a screening.