News

View Articles in Other Categories

Federal Housing and Poverty Programs Are Threatened by the Fiscal Cliff

News
Unless the Obama administration and Congress agree on a new plan to avoid falling over the “fiscal cliff,” several disastrous, across-the-board spending cuts to non-military programs are scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 2, 2013, and may cause great harm to programs serving the elderly, disabled, low-income and homeless people.

No Proof of Correlation Between Homelessness and Business Decline

News
Kriss Worthington denounced Measure S as immoral and a diversion from the issues of homelessness and poverty. Sales taxes have declined the most in places with a smaller concentration of homelessness. This gives the lie to the repeated efforts by some business owners to blame homeless people for declining profits.

People, Land and Justice

News
The Ecumenical Peace Institute’s Autumn Gathering focuses on “The Community Challenge to Protect Public Land.” Speakers will address the ways people relate to the land, beginning with the viewpoint of Native American peoples, then looking at current struggles relating to land and justice, and analyzing the concept of “the commons.”

On October 16, Clergy Will Speak Out Publicly Against Measure S

News
Clergy and leaders of faith communities have signed a letter opposing Berkeley Measure S, the "no sitting" law, on the November 6th ballot. Religious leaders and young people will present the letter and list of signers on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m., Berkeley Old City Hall, 2134 MLK Jr. Way.

Santa Monica Students Pepper-Sprayed for Protesting Fee Hikes

News
“It really creates segregation between the haves and the have-nots,” says Board of Trustees member Margaret Quiñones-Perez. “If you can pay, you’ll get your classes. That’s guaranteed if you have money. But if you don’t have money, you may get classes, and you may not. Community colleges were not created for this.”

One Million Students Are Homeless in America

News
For the first time in history, public schools reported more than one million homeless children. The data also shows the troubling depth of America’s housing crisis. “The severe lack of affordable housing for families has yet to be addressed, and over one million children are paying the price,” said Maria Foscarinis.

Challenging Berkeley’s Anti-Sitting Measure

News
Elisa Della-Piana, director of the Neighborhood Justice Clinic in Berkeley decried the anti-sitting measure as punitive. “It will achieve nothing except create division in the community,” she said. “Enforcement of the ordinance would keep people homeless and create criminal records that could prevent them from getting housing or jobs.”

Thousands March in May Day Protests in Oakland

News
More than 5,000 protesters marched in Oakland on May Day to call for economic justice, full human rights for immigrants and poor people, and to demand an end to corporate greed and bank bail-outs. Demonstrators represented Occupy Oakland, immigrant rights organizations, anti-war activists, faith groups and labor unions.

Massive Protest at Wells Fargo Exposes Corporate Misconduct of Big Banks

News
Thousands of marchers protested the unjust gap between rich and poor by nonviolently disrupting Wells Fargo’s shareholders meeting in San Francisco. They confronted bank executives about Wells Fargo’s role in the country’s financial crisis, the high number of foreclosures that reduce families to homelessness, and the bank’s investment in private prisons.

Berkeley City Council Moves to Privatize Public Housing

News
“The city and BHA promised to keep its public housing permanent to receive special funding from HUD to build housing for the poor. Now they are breaking their promise to current and future generations of the poor, who desperately need low-income housing to remain in their communities.” – James Vann