No day in court

The court date that Chico activists Chris Nelson and Cathy Webster were anticipating on Tuesday (Jan. 12) didn’t happen after all. The federal judge dismissed their cases—they were arrested in September for trespassing on Beale Air Force Base land while protesting drone warfare (see “Standing tall,” Newslines, by Meredith J. Cooper, Jan. 7).

Despite the dismissal, the women, along with fellow anti-drone protesters, set up camp outside the federal courthouse in Sacramento Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday’s actions, which included street theater and a rally, coincided with a larger event in Washington, D.C., dubbed The Real State of the Union, the point of which was to bring attention to issues that President Obama would likely ignore during his annual speech.