'BEST BET' FOR INDEPENDENT
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From: Jon W.
Date: Sunday, March 4, 2007, 10:06 AM
Subject: 'Best Bet' for Independent
ID: 256215

Hi all,

Here's what I've come up with for submittal to the SB Independent as text on what will hopefully be their "Best Bet" for the week of the march, rally and workshops. Mo McFadden suggests we ask Sarah, the calendar editor, if the paper can dip into its archives and perhaps pull some pictures of past protests to use as a visual. Sarah needs something by Tuesday so please get your thoughts and comments in quickly. I tried to keep this simple, readable and to the point but of course we can make changes if necessary.

Thanks,

Jon

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Saturday noontime pro-peace marches up State Street have become commonplace, with numbers that can vary from a handful to fifty or more. But the ranks of the demonstrators should swell greatly on March 17 as hundreds of UCSB students literally ride to the rescue of Santa Barbara's never-say-die pro-peace community.

Monday, March 19th marks four years since U.S.-led "Coalition Forces" staged an invasion of Iraq. This Saturday, Americans and others around the world will stage countless rallies in protest of the war's continuation. Locally, The People's Coalition is one organization that's helped keep a pro-peace flame burning by organizing weekly demonstrations. The group is calling on all peace-loving Santa Barbarans to march up State Street and rally at the Courthouse Sunken Gardens before joining in workshops at the Downtown Library's Faulkner Gallery.

A number of organizations have taken part in the event's planning, promotion and staging. UCSB students, many of whom were involved recently in anti-war protests that closed down a highway leading to the campus and airport, will ride bicycles from Isla Vista to the meeting place in downtown Santa Barbara, with stops at the offices of known Pentagon suppliers.

Anyone able and willing to help the world send an anti-war message to Washington, DC and the Bush administration is invited to gather at Santa Barbara's Vera Cruz Park, 130 E. Cota Street, at 11:30 AM on Saturday, March 17. The trek up State Street begins at noon and pro- peace workshops at the library start at 2:30.