Tag Archives: San Francisco Bay Area

NO KINGS DAY in Benicia – Your Personal Invitation

“A protest is an invitation to a better world. It’s a ceremony.” – Peter Coyote

You are cordially, personally, and expansively invited…

…to the RALLY FOR NO KINGS,  Saturday, June 14th, from 1-2 pm on the sidewalk at the Gazebo, corner of First & Military in Benicia. Rally organizer Susan Street says: Bring noisemakers, signs, your dog, anything to increase the joy of being together to protest the nonsense being played out in Washington DC.  We will be on the sidewalk, so please stay out of the street and allow pedestrians to walk by on the sidewalk.  This is a joyous occasion, so please be civil to any dissenters.

The rally in Benicia is one of close to 2000 events planned nationwide as a counter-measure to President Trump’s $45 million military parade, complete with 150 tanks and other vehicles, 50 airplanes, 50 helicopters, and nearly 7,000 soldiers marching in front of the White House, supposedly to commemorate the establishment of the U.S. Army, Flag Day, and, oh, it all happens to fall on the President’s birthday. As the State Department’s Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley put it, “June 14 is a special day. Of course, it’s the president’s birthday, so I’m sure the crowd will break out into a ‘Happy Birthday.’” Former Vice Chair of the Joint Chief of Staff, Paul Selva, used a different characterization, calling such a parade “what dictators do.”

“Trump’s birthday parade and his attack on LA are all part of the same agenda of fascist theatrics, divide and conquer politics, and the consolidation of power,” wrote Leah Greenberg of Indivisible. “Our flag was first raised nearly 250 years ago in defiance of a king, and we won’t let Trump disgrace it as he tries to become one.”

No Kings in the USA.  Flag Day, claiming and re-claiming the flag that waves over the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” Gathering as Beloved Community aspiring to “liberty and justice for all.”  June 14, 2025, 1-2 p.m. An invitation to a better world.


NO KINGS – ALL OVER THE BAY…

Benicia Gazebo, corner of First & Military Streets

>> IN BENICIA: June 14th NO KINGS DAY! 1-2pm at the Gazebo (map: First and Military Streets). Bring your signs, noisemakers, and your goodwill. We’ll “parade” this block for the hour on the sidewalk. – Susan Street

>> IN VALLEJO: Vallejo-Benicia INDIVISIBLE is sponsoring a NO KINGS rally and march on Saturday, June 14 in the plaza at the Vallejo City Hall, 555 Santa Clara Street in Vallejo. The event will start at 10 am with brief speeches, with speakers including Benicia Mayor Steve Young and others. The Vallejo event is listed (with a map) on the mobilize.us website. Bring your signs. Crowns optional.

>> IN FAIRIELD: Sat June 14, 12 – 1pm, corner of Jefferson and Texas Streets under the flags, 605 Texas St., Fairfield. Here’s a map.

> ALL OVER THE BAY AREA: Go to the nokings.org or mobilize.us website and zoom in on the big map. Then click on a city for detailed info about the specific event in that location. 

NO KINGS DAY – All over the Bay!

UPDATES, AFTER THE RALLY:

Sat June 14 in Benicia, Vallejo and more!

>> IN BENICIA: June 14th NO KINGS DAY! 1-2pm at the Gazebo (map: First and Military Streets). Bring your signs, noisemakers, and your goodwill. We’ll “parade” this block for the hour on the sidewalk.
– Susan Street

>> IN VALLEJO: Vallejo-Benicia INDIVISIBLE is sponsoring a NO KINGS rally and march on Saturday, June 14 in the plaza at the Vallejo City Hall, 555 Santa Clara Street in Vallejo. The event will start at 10 am with brief speeches, with speakers including Benicia Mayor Steve Young and others. The Vallejo event is listed (with a map) on the mobilize.us website. Bring your signs. Crowns optional.

>> IN FAIRIELD: Sat June 14, 12 – 1pm, corner of Jefferson and Texas Streets under the flags, 605 Texas St., Fairfield. Here’s a map.

>> ALL OVER THE BAY AREA: Go to the nokings.org or mobilize.us website and zoom in on the big map. Then click on a city for detailed info about the specific event in that location.


‘No Kings’ Protest Leader Ezra Levin of INDIVISIBLE Reveals ‘Big Baby’ Trump Plan

A giant balloon inflated by activists depicting U.S. President Donald Trump as an orange baby is seen during a demonstration against Trump’s visit to the U.K. in Parliament Square in London on July 13, 2018. Tolga AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

Newsweek, By Kate Plummer, May 28, 2025

An activist involved with the “No Kings” movement has revealed plans for their upcoming protest.

Ezra Levin, the head of grassroots movement Indivisible, one of the groups associated with the movement, told the Jim Acosta Show that an upcoming coordinated protest on June 14, which is on President Donald Trump’s birthday and Flag Day, would take place in areas away from where Trump is holding a parade.

Why It Matters

The protesters, who are working with local chapters in more than 30 states, are targeting a military-style parade the Trump administration is planning on his birthday.

According to planning documents obtained by the Associated Press, Trump’s proposed event, which would follow a route from Arlington, Virginia across the Potomac into Washington, D.C., and conclude with a concert and fireworks, would include more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 military vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and potentially thousands of civilians.

Trump protestors protested out front to the Tesla Showroom to demand the the Trump Administration stop funding billionaires. Katie Godowski / MediaPunch /IPX

The counter-protest comes amid a wave of protests against Trump and his policies that have taken place since he took office in January 2025.

People are protesting to express their disapproval of policies implemented by Trump’s administration, including cuts overseen by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Other protests have focused on Trump’s immigration policies. Recent polls have shown Trump’s approval rating at a historic low.

What To Know

Levin said their protest would take place in areas everywhere around the country, except downtown D.C., where Trump’s parade will take place.

“We do not want to give this guy an excuse to crackdown on peaceful protest,” he said. “We want the contrast – this guy’s a big baby, he’s throwing himself a big military parade for his birthday. We, the people, where power actually originates in this country, we’re everywhere else.”

He added that the protest was to “send a signal” to Trump and allied institutions to protect democracy.

Levin also said it wasn’t appropriate to spend money on a parade for Trump amid cuts to Medicaid and other government programs.

He also called Trump’s agenda “heinous” and said protests against him were “inspiring.”

What People Are Saying

Army spokesperson Colonel Dave Butler recently told the Associated Press: “We want to make it into an event that the entire nation can celebrate with us. We want Americans to know their Army and their soldiers. A parade might become part of that, and we think that will be an excellent addition to what we already have planned.”

The “No Kings” group previously said: “Real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.”

What Happens Next

The “No Kings” protest takes place on June 14. The coalition has said it will release more information about the event closer to the time.

Law enforcement agencies in Washington, D.C., are preparing for heightened security, though officials have not disclosed specific plans.

 

 

What’s the risk of getting COVID outside? New variants may have changed the answer

A mask-wearing woman stands in the middle of an unmasked crowd at the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival in May. Jungho Kim/Special to The Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle, by Aidin Vaziri, July 7, 2022

Summer in the Bay Area means outdoor parties, weddings and music festivals, where people can worry a little bit less about catching COVID-19. But will fast-spreading offshoots of the omicron coronavirus variant change the equation this year?

The highly infectious and immune-evasive BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages of omicron are now the dominant strains in Northern California, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID infections are up across the state as the test-positivity rate nears record levels, meaning the risk is higher in nearly all settings.

“We know they’re more transmissible, so the risk is greater inside or outside,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert with UC Berkeley.

Health experts agree that outdoor activities are still much safer than indoors, since viral aerosols don’t have a chance to accumulate in the air. But with the most transmissible variants yet, chances are you have less protection in certain situations.

“Being at parks and outdoor sporting events is still what we should turn to,” said Dr. Anne Liu, an infectious disease doctor at Stanford. “But if you are in a dense crowd or in an outdoor space that has been modified to look like an indoor space, then the risk becomes higher.”

In other words, walking on an isolated hiking trail or a breezy beach is a lot safer than standing shoulder-to-shoulder with celebrants under a tent at a wedding or singing and dancing with fans crammed into an outdoor concert.

Summer means outdoor activities, where the risk of getting coronavirus is supposed to be low. But will new new COVID variants change things? An attendee of Stern Grove Festival’s opening concert was one of the few wearing masks for the event at Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove in San Francisco in early June.  Laura Morton/Special to The Chronicle

The omicron sub-lineages are so new that infectious disease experts are still measuring their potential impact, even in outdoor settings.

“The risk outside is going to be substantially less than inside but we don’t know if it’s changed because we haven’t had a lot of experience with BA.4 and BA.5,” said Swartzberg. “We’re basing our assumptions on BA.1 and BA.2.”

Given the high rate of infection across the Bay Area, there is more virus circulating in the air, so it’s better to be cautious in any environment. That means masking, social distancing, and being aware of your surroundings.

“The chances of being around someone outside or inside who is shedding virus is very high,” said Swartzberg.

Even for those who were recently infected, the new variants don’t offer much protection against catching the virus again, according to Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert with UCSF.

“The newest kids on the block, BA.4 and BA.5, cause a lot more reinfections,” he said.

There are certain outdoor situations when you should even consider wearing a mask.

“If I was crowded together with other people where I couldn’t keep my distance, or if somebody near me was talking loudly or singing, I would just carry a mask with me and put it on if I feel uncomfortable,” said Swartzberg.

Wedding receptions and concerts are some examples of high-risk environments where you would likely slip on a high-quality mask, such as an KN95 or KF94, especially if you need to go inside to use the restroom or pick up drinks from the bar.

“These are really transmissible variants. It doesn’t take much time to pick up the virus,” Liu said.

Some people wear masks as Kaitlin McGaw and Tommy Soulati Shepherd read “You Are Not Alone” on stage during the Bay Area Book Festival at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley in May.  Brian Feulner/Special to the Chronicle

So far, the CDC guidance for outdoor masking is unchanged: People generally don’t need masks outdoors, regardless of vaccination status. However, face masks are recommended in areas of high transmission for individuals not fully vaccinated in a crowded outdoor setting, or in situations with sustained close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated.

Testing is also an effective tool in helping catch potential infections when large groups of people gather, especially if attendees are traveling from different locations.

Keep in mind that BA.4 and BA.5 are taking longer to detect than previous strains of the virus, so anyone showing symptoms should stay at home and isolate. Swartzberg said it is not unusual to see tests with negative results up to three days after people become infected.

“If I was having a party outside, I would ask everybody to do a rapid test recognizing that it’s not going to be foolproof but might pick up a few positive cases,” he said. “If you wanted to add a layer of protection, you would ask people to do a PCR test the day before. We’re now getting results back for those within 24 hours.”

People should also test if they plan on spending any time inside.

“Outdoor activities are often associated with indoor activities,” said Liu. “Any time people are staying in close quarters, like an Airbnb, it is advisable to do testing. The antigen testing has proven to help detect the presence of infection even if doesn’t completely rule it out.”

California is seeing a surge in cases as BA.5, a rapidly spreading subvariant, takes root

Though new case reports have climbed in California, local officials have hesitated to reimpose mask mandates or limits on public indoor settings. Residents relaxed outdoors in Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco in June. Credit…Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times

New York Times, by Soumya Karlamangla, July 7, 2022

California is in the grip of its third-largest coronavirus surge of the pandemic, with roughly 19,000 new cases being reported here each day on average, according to a New York Times database. The true number of people falling sick is undoubtedly even higher, since most at-home test results aren’t included in official case counts.

Experts say the surge is being driven by the Omicron subvariant known as BA.5, which has rapidly become dominant in the United States and is especially good at infecting people even if they’ve been vaccinated, boosted and already had the virus.

“It’s highly immune-evasive, and that is why it’s causing trouble,” said Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research in San Diego. “And it comes along in California at the same time that we basically have this delusion that the pandemic is over.”

As of the end of June, 39 of California’s 58 counties had high community levels of the virus, including the whole Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while only two rural counties in the state had low levels. Continue reading California is seeing a surge in cases as BA.5, a rapidly spreading subvariant, takes root