Protest

DOWNTOWN — Police arrested seven protesters at the California headquarters of health insurer CIGNA Corporation on Wednesday after they refused to leave the lobby of the Glendale building while chanting slogans like “Patients, not profits. Medicare for all.” The group of insurance-industry critics was part of a larger demonstration in front of the building on Brand Boulevard, where dozens of protesters paced the sidewalk waving signs and denouncing private insurers as focusing on their bottom lines at the expense of offering complete care for the sick.

Flags, bullhorns and shouting protesters flanked Burbank's new day labor center on Saturday, for the first time bringing a controversy that has raged across Southern California to the fledgling center and to the Home Depot store that helped finance it. The protest, organized by Save Our State founder Joe Turner, was staged to bring attention to a phenomenon the group feels is supporting illegal immigration. A group of about 100 counter-protesters met the Save Our State members, however, hoping to drown out the organization's message with one of their own. "Immigrants should have the same rights to work and feed their families as anyone else," said Burbank resident Malena Hinze.

ANI AMIRKHANIAN My friends and I marched on Hollywood Boulevard on Sunday morning to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It was, by all measures, a spectacle for the eyes and a display of cultural pride and patriotism. Allow me to describe the scene as best I can. Armenians young and old walked and chanted "Shame on Turkey," "1915 Never Again" and "Turkey run, Turkey hide, Turkey's guilty of genocide." Youth carried flags and signs of protest with statements that read "90 years of denial."

Mark R. Madler Helen Lee and colleagues in the California Nurses Assn. had only an hour's notice Thursday morning that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was appearing at a Burbank printing plant to push for reforms proposals. Still, the association's organizers pulled together 50 members to protest outside LAgraphico while the governor spoke inside to a group of 200 company employees and invited guests. "As nurses, we really believe when he's talking about being for the people he should be for the nurses, for the teachers and the firefighters and police officers who provide the type of service we depend on," Lee said.

Ani Amirkhanian After congestive heart failure and arthritis in both knees landed her at an assisted-living facility, Glendale resident Julianne Spillman didn't stop protesting the war in Iraq. The 76-year-old and her friends founded the Glendale Peace Vigil more than two years ago when the war broke out. Spillman, who is a registered Green Party member, can be found on Brand Boulevard on Friday evenings on her scooter protesting against the war with protest signs.

Darleene Barrientos Teachers dressed in black Tuesday to protest the pace of negotiations with the Glendale Unified School District over the Glendale Teachers Assn.'s 2003-04 contract. The union aimed for 80% participation at each of Glendale's 30 campuses, said Sandy Fink, union president and Mark Keppel Elementary School teacher. Union officials believe at least 75% of the 1,400 members participated in the demonstration. "We have decided that, until the contract is settled, we would wear black on Tuesdays as a way of showing our depression," Fink said.

Claudia Peschiutta DOWNTOWN -- Protesters clad in dresses and aprons and banging on pots marched in front of the Nestle building on Brand Boulevard Thursday calling on advertisers to change the way they compensate commercial actors. The demonstration came 11 days after the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists went on strike against the advertising industry. "We feel performers need to be compensated fairly because they are the ones that, through their performances, have helped create the record-breaking corporate profits that we read about in the paper every day now," said Greg Krizman, a SAG spokesman.

I would like to respond to "Free speech put on hold in protest," in your Mailbag on March 7 by Robert Morrison. If I understand this correctly, Morrison believes that people protesting against the Armenian Genocide panel that might have aired on PBS ("Controversial show won't be aired," March 1) is, "an attempt to weaken our cherished freedom of speech." Well, I am one of those people that you describe, who took a 747 to come to this country, and the last time I checked, a nonviolent protest is actually freedom of speech in action.

Alex Coolman GLENDALE -- The Glendale Greens will hold a power-free meeting tonight as part of a worldwide protest against the United States' energy policies. The group, which was formed earlier this month and has only a handful of members, scheduled a meeting for tonight before anyone realized the significance of the day, member Nancy Kent said. Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. This year it's also the date scheduled for a protest that spread across the world on the Internet.

Claudia Peschiutta DOWNTOWN - Cheers, honks and stares greeted striking janitors as they made their way up and down Brand Boulevard in their second full-scale Glendale protest. Glendale Police officers made their way along the banks of a river of redshirted marchers. The strikers were orderly and did not march into the streets as did protesters during the April 5 demonstration. The protest was one of many held by janitors throughout Los Angeles County on Day 10 of the "rolling" strike of Service Employees International Local 1877.