Block Club Chicago: Blue Island Data Center Planners Get Booed By Residents. “Blue Island residents said they were concerned about potential noise coming from the center as well as water and electricity usage, and how the center could affect housing in the city. One resident, a recent college graduate, told the council that while studying she took courses focused on the ethics and societal […]

New York Times: From Indiana to Idaho, a Backlash Against A.I. Gathers Momentum. This link goes to a gift article. “Many of these A.I. critics say they are far from being Luddites just having a bad reaction to new, scary technology. They believe that people in Washington, especially President Trump, are protecting Silicon Valley rather than reeling it in. They want regulation — or at least a […]

Harvard Gazette: Why are communities pushing back against data centers?. “In this interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, Ben Green, assistant professor in the University of Michigan School of Information and Public Policy and a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, discusses the impact of data centers on communities, the factors behind their […]

PBS: Landowners and local communities fight back on AI-driven expansion of high-voltage power lines . “Angry local opposition has sprouted against dozens of the behemoth data centers amid fears of rising electricity costs and irreparable damage to their communities. Opponents of transmission projects are similarly motivated: they say the lines are intruding on the sanctity of private land and […]

MinnPost: Counterpoint: Pine Island data center project is far from a gold standard. “Residents got four months of knowing about the project until final approval was voted on by the city. The city, Google and Ryan Companies got two years facilitated by NDAs. Pine Island and Ryan were warned they would be sued if they didn’t make environmental review changes. They ignored that warning, not […]

Construction Dive: As EPA moves to fast-track data centers, some cities are moving to slow them down. “In their letter to Congress, the environmental organizations stated that tripling the number of data centers in the next five years would require as much electricity as about 30 million households, as much water as about 18.5 million households and contribute to escalating electricity costs. […]

Gizmodo: Microsoft Backs Off New Data Center After Small Wisconsin Town Backlash. “Microsoft has ditched plans for a data center in Caledonia, Wisconsin, after facing pushback from the local community. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday that the tech giant canceled its application for the current site but is still seeking to develop a data center somewhere in Caledonia or the […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/10/13/gizmodo-microsoft-backs-off-new-data-center-after-small-wisconsin-town-backlash/

WATERLOO REGION COMMUNITY RALLIES FOR WILLOW RIVER CENTRE

Downtown Kitchener’s Willow River Centre (WRC), an Indigiqueer led community center, and the brick-and-mortar base for Land Back Camp, was recently in imminent danger of closing.   

After receiving less grant money than anticipated, the WRC’s budget could no longer sustain their rent. For an organization whose mission is largely to provide a safe space for marginalized people, this issue presented a very formidable challenge.  

In an effort mainly organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, a banquet and fundraiser were organized in a short time.  

“We had nothing to do with it, either…We just gave them our social media passwords, and they ran with it,” Bangishimo, co-founder of the centre said.  

With 200 tickets sold, 12 community sponsors, 86 donated raffle items, a meal provided by nine local businesses and plenty of volunteers, the fundraiser brought in over $27,000. The WRC was able to stay alive.  

“It was the most on point organizing I’ve ever seen,” Amy Smoke, the WRC’s other co-founder, said.  

The fundraiser was a triumph for the centre and the region at large.   

 A large portion of the WRC’s funding comes from the Upstream Fund, a fund created in 2022 to support community organizations and build a more harmonious and happier Waterloo Region.  

Upstream draws its money from the regional budget and aims to prioritize groups that service underrepresented, racialized, or marginalized people.  

Initially, the Community Edition reported in the June issue that the WRC’s funding issues were caused by Upstream extending their eligibility beyond Indigenous and Black organizations. With a greater pool of people to compete for funds, less money overall could be distributed to each individual group.  

This however, has proven to be untrue. While many of Upstream’s recipients are and have been Black and Indigenous, they have never been exclusively so. Furthermore, Upstream is not currently providing funds to more people than before. Their records consistently show cohorts numbering between 30 and 40 members each year since they started.   

According to the WRC’s grant writer, Robyn Schwarz, hard times are coming for nonprofits across the board. With a conservative government, whose mandate is to cut taxes, money for publicly funded services is drying up.  

“[The majority of Regional Council] wants a five per cent increase, but that’s actually a cut, because in order to keep current services where they are, we need about 12 per cent,” Schwarz said.  

Schwarz said nonprofits are particularly affected because Ontario’s provincial government and Canada’s federal government currently prioritize business support over social services.  

With only a five per cent tax increase (less than half of what Schwarz predicts is needed) nonprofits are the first to lose funding. Upstream gets cut, and by extension, so does the WRC.  

“Basically, the thing to blame is that we’re under a government right now that doesn’t want to tax things and doesn’t want to fund the nonprofit sector,” Schwarz said.  

Regardless of government funding, a substantial portion of the community wants to support organizations like the WRC, and that support was felt by Smoke and Bangishimo.  

“We were wrapped in care, and it was really lovely to be held by other people,” Smoke said.  

Despite the economic instability and the challenges of working as a nonprofit under a conservative government, the WRC is committed to keep working.  

“We’re still grant writing, still getting funds to continue doing what we need to do. Regardless of what happens in a brick and mortar, Land Back is a movement. We’re not going anywhere,” Smoke said. 

#AmySmoke #Bangishimo #BangishimoJohnston #blackAndIndigenous #ChristoffLeRoux #DowntownKitchener #Indigiqueer #landbackCamp #localActivism #PalestinianYouthMovement #RobynSchwarz #upstream #willowRiverCenter #wrc #ZackMason

✊ Join us at Genesee Park in Cuba, NY from 11-12 on Friday 7/4 for our Fight Back Fridays demonstration! ✊

⭐ NOTE THE DIFFERENT TIME AT 11AM⭐

Need more info? Just DM me or email [email protected].

#FightBackFridays #SocialJustice #CommunityOrganizing #Activism #WNY #WesternNY #CubaNY #July4th #Solidarity #PeacefulProtest #LocalActivism

GUELPH, WR JOIN RALLIES ACROSS ONTARIO AGAINST BILL 5

This article was published in print on June 5, with information up to June 4. On June 5, Bill 5 was passed.

The Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, or Bill 5, is now moving through Queen’s Park before the legislature’s summer break on June 5 and may be signed as a law.  

On Saturday, May 24, 2025, the Guelph Climate Action Network held a rally at the covered bridge in York Road Park, Guelph, where about 200 people opposed the Ford governments controversial Bill 5. The protesters came with poster, props, signs and were chanting “stop Bill 5.” 

The Ford government stated it will expedite the completion of large infrastructure and resource extraction projects by cutting down on delays and removing redundancies in the approval process while critics claim the controversial bill will undermine democratic rights and create environmental damage. 

The major aspect of Bill 5 is creating ‘special economic zones’ and would introduce changes to the Electricity Act 1998, the Endangered Species Act 2007, the Environmental Assessment Act, the Mining Act, the Ontario Energy Board Act 1998, the Ontario Heritage Act, the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, the Special Economic Zones Act and the Species Conservation Act. 

“Bill 5 is going to be the Greenbelt Scandal all over again. The last time Doug Ford tried this, the people of Ontario stopped him. Bill 5 and Bill 17 are the same thing—exactly the same thing. He’s trying to do it again,” Leanne Caron, Guelph city councillor, said. 

“He said the special economic zones would be something he’d expect to come out of countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia or other developing countries. No rules, no laws, no democratic oversight. We are not going to take it in Ontario,”  Mike Schreiner, MPP for the Guelph Green Party, said.  

Aislinn Clancy, Green Party MPP from Kitchener-Centre, said the provincial government lost public trust with Bill 23. The proposed Bill 5, she said, would give cabinet ministers absolute power without means to hold them accountable.  

“[…It] also makes them really vulnerable to a conflict of interest, because they can choose which corporations can take advantage of these special economic zones,” Clancy said. 

Mike Marcolongo associate director with Environmental Defence, said Bill 5 is a threat to democracy. It provides the ministers with unprecedented power. 

“The challenge with Bill 5 is that the Ford government is operating as if the economy is disconnected from nature, from the environment, there’s no limits, according to this government. The environment is not red tape. Indigenous consultation is not red tape,”  he said. 

“The legislation that’s in place are the safeguards for clean water or healthy labour practices or healthy community,” Marcolongo said. 

The rally was organised by Wellington Water Watchers, Seniors for Climate Action Now, Guelph Indigenous Community Council, OPIRG Guelph, eMERGE Guelph, Nature Guelph, the Dublin Street United Church and the Guelph Climate Action network.

#AislinnClancy #bill5 #DougFord #eMERGEGuelph #Guelph #guelphClimateActionNetwork #GuelphIndigenousCommunityCouncil #LeanneCaron #localActivism #MikeMarcolongo #NatureGuelph #OPIRGGuelph #ProgressiveConservatives #ProtectOntarioByUnleashingOurEconomyAct #provincialGovernment #rallies #SafinaJennah #SeniorsForClimateActionNow #SherylMadakkai #theDublinStreetUnitedChurch #waterlooRegion #WellingtonWaterWatchers