Oregon workers petition for jobs, safety net
With the jobless rate in the Rose City at 10.6 percent or 38,402 workers unemployed, the labor movement and its allies are fed up and fighting back.
Jean Quan becomes first Asian American woman to lead major U.S. city
In a ceremony marking several "firsts," Jean Quan, a former labor organizer and school board and city council member, was inaugurated Oakland's 49th mayor Jan. 3.
Banning ethnic studies in Arizona is wrong!
A new draconian law in Arizona went into effect banning classes statewide, k-12, that promote the teachings of civil rights leaders such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez.
Texans face tough fights
With their two-thirds GOP majority in the Texas House, the right wing hopes to curtail the right of Texas workers to join unions.
Food safety at risk with Republican slashes
Republican plans to cut taxes for the rich and social spending for working families may threaten food safety, say supporters of a law passed in the lame duck session of Congress and signed into law this week by President Obama.
Scott sisters freed!
Jamie and Gladys Scott received the news on December 29 that their 16-year prison ordeal was over at last: Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour commuted their double-life sentences and ordered them out of prison. They were originally accused of having taken part in an $11 robbery!
Job creation nowhere on GOP agenda
On a different planet, perhaps, an incoming Congress would now be plowing its way through the pages of jobs plans - but not this one.
Blizzard blues? Relax: it’s hotter than ever
Guess what: this year is stacking up as one of the hottest since we humans started keeping thermometer-based temperature records 160 years ago.
LA neighborhood councils fight vehicle confiscations
The South Central Neighborhood Council joined other groups calling for an end to the impoundment of unlicensed drivers' cars at traffic stops, charging that the practice targets poor, minority and immigrant communities.
Finally: aid to 9/11 heroes approved after GOP yields
The GOP finally relented and allowed 9/11 first responders funding for health care and other needs - but only after nine years and an intense grassroots campaign.
