County Apologizes, Backs Down on Community Foodsharing

On December 23 a security firm hired by Yavapai County to administer the courthouse square began harrassing Food Not Bombs, a free community meal that has been served three times a week for more than seven years running.

Food Not Bombs picknickers vowed to continue their food-sharing. After several tense meals and a heated message left on the answering machine of the county courthouse administrator, a call came back from the administrator herself. She apologized profusely about the harrassment of the Food Not Bombs picknickers and said that she ordered, in writing, the security firm to stay away from the picknickers and to stop calling the police on them. She also said that Food Not Bombs is free to invite anyone they please to join in the meal.

The administrator said that the situation was resolved years ago and that Food Not Bombs is exempt from the permit rule on the Courthouse lawn. She said that security can ask for a permit, but they can not enforce it or call the cops.

Food Not Bombers in Prescott have issued a thank-you to everyone who stood by them to support this free, autonomous community food-sharing project.

See also: Police Bluff Food not Bombs (December 30, 2007)
Silent Food Not Bombs in Prescott this Sunday (December 26, 2007)
Prescott Food not Bombs is Under Attack (December 23, 2007)

More Than 235 Die in 2007, As Arizona Border Battle Heats Up

For the fifth straight year the number of bodies recovered from the Arizona desert surpassed two hundred. While 235 bodies were recovered in calendar year 2007, the number who actually died was likely much higher, their bodies to lie in wake among the thousands of square miles of desert along the migrant trail.

In 2007 the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office had to open a new building in order to cope with the volume of remains being recovered. While the majority of deaths occurred as the result of exposure to the elements, an increasing number resulted from trauma, including gunshot wounds. In spite of this humanitarian crisis, which Arizona human rights groups such as the Coalición de Derechos Humanos and No More Deaths argue is a direct result of the militarization of the U.S. / Mexico border, border militarization and internal enforcement continue to grow.

On January 1st Arizona's new employer sanctions law will go into effect, allowing the business license of any company found employing undocumented workers to be revoked. Many fear this will provide another weapon to racist organizations like the Maricopa County Sherriff's Office, with which to target the state's hispanic community.

In Phoenix, the Pruitt's Furniture Store boycott is entering its third month. Weekly demonstrations there have grown more heated, as hundreds on both sides of the immigration debate have squared off.

Construction continues on the San Pedro River border wall, in violation of 19 federal laws and a judicial restraining order. Earlier this month a constitutional challenge was thrown out of Federal Court against the REAL ID Act, which provided the Department of Homeland Security the authority to overrule the judiciary and ignore all environmental, cultural and public input laws.

Near the border, fear-mongering and profiteering continue, as rural and indigenous communities are terrorized by DHS surveillance cameras and an occupying army of Border Patrol.

Meanwhile, the deathtoll of the U.S.'s deadly border policy continues to grow, with no end in sight. Click here for a complete list of border crossers recovered in Arizona in 2007, including names and causes of death.

Department of energy moves plans forward to turn Yucca Mountain into nuclear waste repository. Public comment period deadline January 10, 2008

Yucca Mountain is sacred to the Shoshone as an herb gathering site, for rituals, and as a part of their stories. Yucca Mountain is known in Shoshone language as Snake Mountain; indeed it looks like a snake. It is said that the snake was headed north when it froze where it is. Furthermore it is said that it will move again and "flip around". Geologists say that there are thirteen different fault lines running through it.

Yucca Mountain is the only site under consideration for disposal of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste. All tribal governments of the region oppose the Yucca Mountain Project. Of particular importance is the Treaty of Ruby Valley, still in force between the Western Shoshone Nation and the United States. The treaty outlines Western Shoshone land, “Newe Sogobia”, which includes Ucca Mountain. Newe Sogobia has been declared “nuclear free” by the Western Shoshone National Council. Thus, Yucca Mountain Project violates Shoshone sovereignty and law.

The U.S. Department of Energy is responsible for implementing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project. The DOE released two Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statements related to repository changes and rail transportation of high-level waste in Nevada.

Public hearings have not been well attended, statements mostly in favor of the plan to put all of the nuclear waste in the country in this one sacred place. Activists were told that if we do not go on record with a statement, they will have no legal recourse later on. Local papers & media spin have recently stated that opposition to the nuke dump had dropped of since the passing of Corbin Harney. read more>>>

For more information visit www.h-o-m-e.org and www.shundahai.org

County Attempts Crackdown on Community Foodsharing in the Courthouse Lawn

On Sunday December 23 people sharing food with Food Not Bombs, a free community meal, were asked to leave the Prescott Courthouse lawn or sign a permit. No one represents Food Not Bombs, so permits do not apply. Sharing food is not a charity, it's what people do in a healthy society.

Five or six years ago, Prescott Food Not Bombs came under fire by a county parks rule that prohibited "organized gatherings without a permit". Individuals continued to show up anyway to exercise their right to share food with each other. When the city police were called in, it was decided that no one was breaking any city laws, so no arrests were made and the eating continued. All branches of county government conceded that they could not enforce it, either, because no one was in charge of any organization. People individually showed up to the park to eat food.

Prescott Food not Bombs is once again under threat. Someone in the county government, whether it was the individual security guard or, his supervisor or county executives, decided that people are now prohibited, after five or six years, from sharing food together in the park. The city police were called in today, and they only half-acted like they had any jurisdiction while asking us to respect park rules. They appeared to have only a mediator role, however. Everyone left.

This Wednesday, 5:00pm, at the Catalyst (109 N. McCormick, behind Porky's), there will be an informational and strategic meeting. There are some communications with the county and the Mayor, and more details should develop before Wednesday.

Some people are planning on sharing food together at the regular time, 3:00, on Sunday. A portion of the meeting will be devoted to planning for this. read more>>>

More than 130 Pack State Transportation Meeting to Speak Out Against New Highway

A meeting of the State Transportation Board erupted into disorder on the morning of December 21st when board Chairman Joe Lane cut off the public comment period with more than 50 people still waiting to comment on the proposed I-10 Bypass.

Before the meeting even began, more than a dozen protesters from the group San Pedro Wild had gathered outside with signs and puppets, declaring that "I-10 Bypass = Death."

Inside, the State Transportation Board was hearing the summarized results of a preliminary study into the possibility of building an I-10 bypass from east of Tucson, near Willcox, to west of Phoenix, near Buckeye. AZ Department of Transportation representative Dale Buskirk and a representative of the consulting firm URS presented their findings that a bypass around the Phoenix area would be unnecessary, as that role is already filled by SR-85 and I-8, and that a bypass around the Tucson area would:

* offer only "limited" or "modest" relief of traffic congestion
* provide an alternative only for long trips
* traverse "sensitive" or "extremely sensitive" lands

and that "opposition" or "strong opposition" had been expressed to all four proposed routes. While the 3 routes through the San Pedro Valley have garnered the most controversy, Buskirk noted that even the route through the Avra Valley west of Tucson would have to pass through either Tohono O'odham territory or part of the Tucson Mitigation Corridor.

Public opposition continues to grow against the bypass and related infrastructure projects in southern Arizona. On December 18th the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to oppose bypass construction. read more>>>

Click here to read a position statement from San Pedro Wild on why the proposed bypass should be scrapped, and here to see photos of the protest on December 21st.
Click here to read more about growing opposition across southern Arizona.

For more information visit www.i10bypassinfo.us.