A widely used electronic voting machine has been decertified in California, after tests confirmed it sometimes deleted groups of ballots without counting them.

 A co-founder and director of the Election Defense Alliance, Dan Ashby says this latest setback for electronic voting machines is further confirmation of their dubious reliability.

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Was the arrest and conviction of Eric McDavid (right) a successful prosecution of an eco-terrorist conspiracy, or a case of entrapment by an overzealous undercover operative? His friends and family make a compelling case for the latter, on today's North Bay Report.

The use of terrorism and conspiracy charges to suppress free speech and dissent has been used most aggressively against members of the Earth Liberation Front and the  Animal Liberation Front, but Jenny Esquivel  observes that the same  tactics were employed to pre-emptively arrest organizers of political protests at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis last summer.

 McDavid's friends and family have also established an online support website for him and his appeal at supporteric.org .

Injustice For an Activist: In 2008, Eric McDavid, an environmental activist was imprisoned, and subsequently sentenced to 19 years and 7 months for crimes he never committed. Loved ones will be giving a 2 hour presentation of Eric's story including the FBI's use of entrapment as part of the government's Green Scare campaign .

Thursday, February 19, 7 pm, at the Peace and Justice Center in Santa Rosa.

The Sonoma County Economic Development Board hosted the 6^th annual State of the County breakfast Wednesday morning, with Supervisor Paul Kelley delivering the centerpiece address. KRCB was there to record and bring you his talk.

Supervisor Paul Kelley

 One of the difficulties in reuniting families that have been separated by drug-related arrests, says Nick Honey, is creating a new environment where pre-existing dangers to the children have been removed.

Nick Honey explains that almost as soon as a child is placed in temporary foster care, a process to develop a long-term plan for his or her future gets under way.

To report known or suspected child abuse in Sonoma County, call:

1-800-870-7064

or the hotline number: (707) 565-430.