Butrfly's Wonderings

March Lends Support to Placerville's "Hate-Free" Proclamation

Following a mayoral proclamation declaring Placerville a "hate-free" zone, a crowd of several hundred marchers took to city streets Sunday in a show of support. The demonstration further fueled the brewing El Dorado County controversy over homosexuality and freedom of speech rights.

The procession was the latest in a string of incidents triggered by the vocal emergence of a Garden Valley anti-gay group, which calls itself GayMarriageNO.

The organization, which describes itself as Christian-based, says it is "dedicated to the public advocacy of the natural family and...opposed to homosexual marriage...and the homosexual lifestyle." It elicited controversy when a truck carrying signs touting anti-gay messages began appearing along US-50 and near county schools last October.

The group has also been accused in recent months of passing out literature espousing intolerance at local events such as the annual Martin Luther King commemoration and Georgetown's Founders Day.

A handful of GayMarriageNO members showed up to stage a counterprotest. They said the proclamation discriminates against religious groups and attempts to silence their right to freedom of speech.

Sex Education Initiative Would Ban Some Topics from Class Discussion

Discussion of many sex-related topics could soon be severely curtailed in California schools under the edicts of a new initiative that could go before voters next year.

The conservative activist group Responsible Citizens, Inc. kicked off a signature drive Wednesday at the State Capitol aimed at turning the Civil Rights for Families Initiative into law. The measure, sponsored Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia, would significantly restrict any in-class discussion of various sexual practices, including masturbation, homosexuality and domestic partnerships.

Under the terms of the initiative, at least 18 topics related to human sexuality would be prohibited in any California kindergarten through sixth grade classroom. Any instruction or discussion of those topics in grades 7 through 12 would require advance written parental notification and approval for every day the subject was taught. School districts could also be fined $5,000 per violation for any infraction of the initiative.

Supporters say the measure is designed to return the control and responsibility for children's education to parents. "It's not the school's job," said Mountjoy. "That's Mom and Dad's job."

Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles said the restriction would limit class discussion in several school subjects, including art, history and social studies.

El Dorado High School -January 4, 2005- 7:45am, a group of about 5 men and women begin gathering on the public sidewalk in front of El Dorado High School in Placerville, California. The group has planned to distribute literature as part of a peaceful, first amendment educational outreach to the local students attending the high school.

Area Residents Find Hate Fliers In Yards
Literature Distributed In Sacramento, Roseville, Rockin, Other Areas

POSTED: 1:44 pm PST February 15, 2005
UPDATED: 1:49 pm PST February 15, 2005

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Some residents of Sacramento and Placer counties have complained about a mass distribution of hate literature that was left on front yards Monday morning.

Residents in Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, Sacramento, Carmichael, Roseville and Rocklin discovered the three-page flier from the National Alliance contains an anti-Semitic message and targets Black History Month. A similar distribution occurred Friday in Galt.

"People still feel violated," said Nancy Appel, associate director for the Anti-Defamation League's regional office in San Francisco. "They still feel upset that this filth has been dropped on their driveway."

The National Alliance appears to be involved in a national campaign to recruit new members, Appel said.

The fliers were rolled and inserted into small, clear plastic tubes, with the phrase "Love Your Race" visible, residents said.

Protesters, Supporters Gather for Vigil at Home with Anti-War Displays

About 400 people showed up for a candlelight vigil Tuesday night at the home in Sacramento's Land Park neighborhood where anti-war displays have provoked strong sentiments.

The gathering was organized as a protest by Move America Forward, a conservative organization that supports the war on terror and American troops. A roughly equal number of individuals showed up in support of the homeowners' right to free speech.

The three-hour gathering was vocal, with First Amendment supporters on one side of Marty Street and those who oppose the effigy on the other. One of the latter was Mike Ferreira. "The effigy that they hung up was disrespectful of our troops and being a veteran I was deeply offended by that," he said.

Glenda Thomas believed that the Pearcys, who put up the anti-war displays, have the right to express their views. "I support the Constitution which the people across the street don’t seem to do," she said. "The president doesn’t even seem to do much to support the Constitution."

While the police kept the protestors apart, a representative of the Pearcys invited those who opposed their displays to talk with them. The offer was declined.

The Pearcys told News10 in a one-on-one interview later in the evening that their displays expressed their opinion that President George W. Bush is responsible for the deaths of American troops in a foreign country. The couple emphasized that the display was not meant as a sign of disrespect for soldiers themselves.

The first display, which went up a week and a half ago, showed the effigy of a soldier with a noose around its neck and the words "Your Tax Dollars at Work." The effigy and its message immediately provoked a local response that in turn was picked up on radio and national talk shows. The display was torn down several days later. The individual responsible, who turned hismelf into police, may be charged with misdemeanor vandalism.

Last Saturday Steve Pearcy put up another display, again an effigy of a soldier, this time with a sign reading "Bush Lied, I Died" around the figure's neck. On Monday that display was torn down by another protester.

Pipe Bomb Found Near Auburn DMV Office
Explosive Device Found By DMV Employee

POSTED: 11:11 am PST February 15, 2005
UPDATED: 6:00 pm PST February 15, 2005

AUBURN, Calif. -- Local and federal authorities are investigating the discovery of a pipe bomb near a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Auburn.

The device was found about 7 a.m. Tuesday by a DMV employee near the building at Enterprise Drive and Nevada Street.

Authorities described the device as a piece of PVC pipe with duct tape, gun powder in the center and wires attached. No note or graffiti was found with the device.

FBI officials have yet to determine if the pipe bomb is linked to other incendiary devices found at other sites in Placer County in recent week.

"We've had a county building, we've got buildings that are being built, we have residential areas, now we have a state building ... and so, it's getting personal to everyone involved," California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Kelly Baraga said.

The most recent incident involved a firebomb inside a backpack that was placed at the entrance of the Placer County Superior Courthouse in Auburn Sunday morning.

E.L.F. claims it planted bombs
Radical environmental group says Auburn, Lincoln attacks a prelude to further sabotage

By: Penne Usher, Journal Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 11:54 PM PST


In a letter received at the Auburn Journal on Tuesday, the Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for five firebombs planted in a newly constructed Auburn building last week and a similar bomb planting in Lincoln discovered Dec. 27.

FBI investigators confirmed that the devices found at the Auburn site were strikingly similar to those found in three homes under construction in the Twelve Bridges development in Lincoln on Dec. 27.

posted by Lynn  # 6:17 PM