Nov. 4, 2006

Organized labor and its allies launched a massive, nationwide get-out-the-vote drive in the final days of the midterm election as polls showed many tight races certain to be decided by voter turnout

A recent court decision has boosted the struggle for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Last week the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to the same state benefits, protections and obligations as different-sex couples. The court split, however, on how to remedy current state law.

SEQUIM, Wash. — My wife Joyce and I traveled 900 miles in Washington and Oregon earlier this month, raising funds for the 2006 PWW fund drive.

DALLAS — All over Texas, people are incredulous about the Republican election ploy to build a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border — from Columbus, N.M., to El Paso, Texas.

In the aftermath of the Oct. 9 nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), many in the region and around the world now worry about the acceleration of nuclear proliferation and the threat to peaceful coexistence in Northeast Asia. The greatest threat is a nuclear showdown with the United States.

OAKLAND, Calif. — If media ownership rules are changed to allow even more consolidation, already poor coverage of issues important to racial and ethnic minorities and working-class communities could get much worse, with severe consequences for democracy, speakers warned at an Oct. 27 town hall meeting sponsored by the California NAACP as part of its state convention.

EL MONTE, Calif. (AP) — Maria Valdez didn’t consider herself an environmentalist when she pressed this city east of Los Angeles to buy land ringed with factories and railroad tracks for a new neighborhood park.

WASHINGTON: Troops tell Congress ‘Bring them home’
NEW ORLEANS: Immigrant workers fight for wages
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.: Voting rights upheld
CHARLESTON, W.Va.: More deaths on the job

CHICAGO — Two and half months have passed since Elvira Arellano took sanctuary here at a northwest side church, defying U.S. government efforts to deport her to Mexico. Arellano is optimistic about her prospects, and says her struggle to resist deportation to remain with her 7-year-old son Saul, who is a U.S. citizen, is worth the fight.

Campaigning around California last week, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides sharply criticized Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his close ties with giant corporate interests, and continued to stress working-class families’ need for greater access to health care and higher education.