Friday at Minneapolis City Hall, Tim Dolan was reappointed as Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department by an 8-5 vote over widespread community opposition. Dolan’s original appointment in 2006 was approved 12-1, and since then his department has overseen the repression of dissent before and after the 2008 RNC; multiple police killings of people of color including Fong Lee; several expensive settlements resulting from false arrests, taser use, and police brutality; the Metro Gang Strike Force scandal; and a culture of disrespect for the law as it applies to police and for the human rights of Minneapolis residents.

While the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were holding a $1,000 a plate fundraiser at the ritzy Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan, hundreds of Palestine solidarity activists from a wide array of organizations took to the streets to protest Israeli war crimes, the blockade of Gaza, and the occupation of Palestine. READ MORE | PHOTO: Ellen Davidson

RELATED: The Sixth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week 2010 | Israeli Aparthied Week at UH March 8th to 12th

On Tuesday, March 9th, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-0 to support a recommendation from the city staff which bans the opening of an additional medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Cruz. This was the first reading of the vote and there will be a second vote in two weeks to finalize the ruling.

Under the new ordinance, Greenway Compassionate Relief and Santa Cruz Patients Collective (SCPC), the two existing medical marijuana dispensaries, will be permitted to operate a cultivation facility up to 3,000 square feet, which must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A few thoughts on last week’s G20 appeal hearings

Last week, I was in Pittsburgh again to deal with my appeal on my summary offense conviction of “disorderly conduct”. At this time, there were also a few other appeal hearings from other G20 arrestees for similar offenses. So on March 1st, I went into a hearing of four other G20 Arrestees to get an idea of how the summary appeal process works in Pennsylvania. There were three students and one non-student – all of whom were either arrested on the evening of September 25th near the University of Pittsburgh or the day earlier at Lawrenceville during the un-permitted march.