The Feminist Issues Group for the SF Greens will be sponsoring a workshop on creating a grassroots campaign for women on Sunday, June 18 from 1-4 p.m. at the Brava Theater, 2781 24th St.

1:15-1:45-”Tools for Activists” with Joe Lynn, Open Government Educator
1:45-2:15-Fundraising with Darcy Brown of the National Women’s Political Committee of San Francisco
2:15-2:45-Ethics and Campaign Filing with Oliver Luby
2:45-3:15-Grassroots Campaigns with Sue Vaughan, Boris Delepine and Kim Knox
3:15-4:00-How to Shine as a Candidate-Barbara Blong, Terry Baum, Jane Kim and Renee Saucedo (invited)

Prop D sank to a new low by sending out a mailer with a picture of a woman who had a black eye. Since Prop D is purportedly about patient care at Laguna Honda, one might think she was a patient there who had been attacked. But no. She is an actress, and worse, they photo-shopped the black eye. See this stock photo of the woman on the mailer prior to her attack by a photo-shop.

(UPDATE: See before and after comparison)

Minneapolis has a fancy new library. Unlike the fancy new San Francisco Library (which, admittedly, isn’t that new any more), the Minneapolis library has room for most, if not all, of the books.

Unfortunately, the library just isn’t open that much. Like some of the programs in Chicago and San Francisco that I mentioned last week, the new library is a high-profile project that just doesn’t meet the needs of many of the city’s residents. It’s pretty, it’s shiny, but it’s not open often enough, or for long enough, to make it a real quality addition to the lives of the people who need it most.

FROM: California State Senator Sheila Kuehl’s Office

We desperately need your help in urging Governor Schwarzenegger to
reconsider his intention to veto SB 1437, a bill authored by Senator
Sheila Kuehl that would ensure inclusive and bias-free curriculum in
California schools.

The Governor’s announcement is a clear move to play election-year
politics on the backs of our children. We need to let him know this
is unacceptable.

You can help to counteract the vocal opposition of the right-wing
minority and let the Governor know that a majority of fair-minded
Californians support inclusive and bias-free curriculum.

I want to call your attention to a major statewide
effort underway to transform our state senate
into another arm of the corporate interests. This
time they’re trying to do it through the Democratic
Party, using pro-business Democrats, and one of most
blatant examples is right in the Bay Area, where
Assemblyman John Dutra has received over $1 million,
mostly from big business, including Philip Morris,
Pfizer, Chevron-Texaco and the California Building
Industry Association, just to name a few. I’m not
joking here… He really claims to be a Democrat
while using that money to run a dirty campaign.

I am currently in Chicago, and I am struck by some parallels between this city and San Francisco. Chicago’s Mayor Daly has a reputation as one of America’s greenest mayors. Publications from the SF Sentinel to Metropolis Magazine have cited Chicago’s various programs as true examples of a Green City.

The city is greener, in the sense that there’s a lot more shrubbery and trees and plants around than there used to be. Still, as a Green City, it’d be more convincing if it had a functional recycling program.

From the SF Bay Guardian by Tim Redmond
Onward: much, much ado at the Coalition of San Francisco Neighborhoods meeting May 16. The agenda for a group that has too often been under the sway of Joe O’Donoughue included a proposal to rescind the coalition’s endorsement of Prop. D, the badly flawed Laguna Honda measure.

Joe and his ally, former CSFN president Barbara Meskunas, had pushed for (and won) an early endorsement of the measure, which would use zoning rules to ban certain types of patients from the hospital. Somehow, though, the Yes on D presentation wasn’t entirely complete: Most CSFN members who initially voted to back the plan didn’t realize that it had potentially much more sweeping impacts, and could legalize private development on a lot of other city property.

Susan Stryker, Jack Walsh, and Victor Silverman are happy to let you know that “Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria” won an Emmy for
“Outstanding Achievement, Historical/Cultural Program Special” at the Northern California Emmy Awards this weekend. This is a great honor for us and a real recognition by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences of the importance of recovering the lost history of transgender militancy.

Here is the agenda for the May 23 SF Board of Education meeting which will begin at 7 p.m. at the BOE’s Chambers at 555 Franklin:

1. First Reading of Commissioner Sanchez’s resolution that calls for all JROTC units at district campuses to shut down at the end of the 2006-07 school year, due to the military’s policy of excluding persons known to be gay or lesbian from its enlisted ranks. The resolution is being co-sponsored by Commissioner Kelly.

2. First Reading of Commissioner Mar’s Resolution in Support of Expanding Mandarin and Other Language Immersion Programs in SF Schools. The resolution is being co-sponsored by Commissioner Chin.

The Milk Annual Dinner is this Thursday, May 25, at Ramada Plaza Downtown, 1231 Market St. @ 8th. Drinks at 5:30, Dinner at 7:00.

For entertainment we’ve got dancing and burlesque-ing boys and girls & spoken word, and an evening of recognition for our cultural and political heros.

Our awards will be:
Harry Britt Lifetime Achievement Award: Patrick Califia
Lifetime Friend and Champion Award: Carole Migden
Bill Kraus HIV/AIDS Award: Brian Basinger
Harvey Milk in his footsteps Award: Sharen Hewitt
Harvey Milk Organization Community Service Award: Young Workers United
Queer Cultural Activist Award: Heather MacAllister
Harvey Milk Individual Community Service Award: Tamara Ching
Simeon White Volunteer of the Year Award (announced at dinner)