
Activists opposing the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline staged a sit-in on Saturday, August 20, 2011, at the White House. About 50 to 60 of the activists were arrested for engaging in an act of Civil Disobedience. To learn the exact number arrested and the charges against each, go to: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/
On the last Saturday in February, around forty people gathered together for a potluck meal in the Baltimore Free Farm warehouse. It was the monthly Foodmakers potluck, and the theme was “Seeds.”
In keeping with the monthly theme there was a seedling workshop, and afterward everyone shared the food they had brought: sesame seed ice cream, pear muffins, even homemade cider and beer. Read more

On Saturday, June 18th, the Baltimore Free Farm and the Baltimore Free Store will partner for the first time in order to host a Free Market at the Free Farm’s warehouse in Hampden. The Free Market, a long-held Free Store tradition, is a market in which donated and salvaged goods are redistributed to the public completely free of charge. While the Free Store and Free Farm will be donating some goods, the majority of items will be donated on-site by community members. Donations of any items, that are in good working condition, will be accepted between 10am and 12pm.
On April 8, twenty-six activists (including myself) from across the nation, organized under the banner of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, emerged from Washington DC's metro onto Pentagon property and called for an end to both the human and environmental destruction caused by the United States military.

Hello World! This is the very first segment of our new Baltimore-centric (although not exclusive) headline-news-round-up called Sounds of Independent News. We are committed to posting snippets of independent news to help equip and inform local social justice activists and organizations. We are committed to posting regular segments and updates. We solicit your important news and announcements, as well as any suggestions and ideas. Email us at: indypendentreader@gmail.com

A three-hour hearing on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011, put a partial end to the six-month controversy brewing over the Mt. Vernon Place Conservancy's Plan to "renovate" Mt. Vernon Place Park. The conservancy's 18.5-million-dollar plan has drawn public outcry, not only for its colossal budget, but also for the method it calls for to "restore" the parks.

Is Natural Gas Drilling Truly a Clean Alternative?
Today the environmental non-profit, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CFB) released it’s annual report titled “State of the Bay 2010” which highlights the health and quality of the water of the Chesapeake Bay and it’s extensive watershed that stretches into several mid-Atlantic states. One central focus of the report was the potential environmental risks and hazards of the recent boom of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale Formation (MSF), done through a process called Hydraulic-Fracturing.

“Climate change should always be looked at as a justice issue,” said RAN’s Joshua Kahn Russell.
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Originally posted in the November 2009 issue of the NY Indypendent
http://www.indypendent.org/