Heritage Park at Capitol Lake, which is home to the Occupy Olympia encampment, could experience flooding late this afternoon, according to state officials monitoring lake levels.

The storm-swollen flows in the Deschutes River entering the lake, combined with a Budd Inlet high tide shortly before 3 p.m., could lead to park flooding, according to state Department of Enterprise Services spokeswoman Jennifer Reynolds.

The lake level could rise as much as two feet this afternoon with a highest likelihood of flooding occurring around 5 p.m., she said.

Campers in the park have been notified of the potential for flooding in the park, she said.



Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/11/23/18...l#ixzz1eZDwbeNQ

the local police don't have the balls to move this eyesore, maybe this will take care of it.

A Mother Nature flush?

Are the OWS protesters in Olympia doing anything illegal by being there F4B?

If not... why would the local police need to move them?

"Are the OWS protesters in Olympia doing anything illegal by being there F4B?"
Since the park hours are dawn to dusk I would think that would make it illegal for them to camp there.

I hope they are eating those invasive snails. A little escargot while you enjoy the great outdoors.

Cause they don't do dick $hit but bitch, piss and moan, which ends up costing taxpayers money and wastes time and energy to patrol these filthy camps they call "home"....

Occupy a job you goddamn hippies....

I didn't know it was legal to camp in a city park, that could open up some new, closer to home staycation options. Not to mention half or more of them are misguided Evergreen students, the same ones who throw bricks through windows of downtown businesses and then have their parents threaten to sue when they get pepper sprayed. They're really proving a point all right, that they can be a nuisance and keep shoppers away from the downtown core of small businesses.

Occupy a job you goddamn hippies.... [/quote]

Uhm, part of the protest is about the lack of available jobs. People want to work and earn a living, but they can't find work and have run out of unemployment benefits. So they are protesting the tax cuts we gave to the "job creators" who pocketed the profits and haven't created jobs. At least they haven't created jobs in the US. The jobs they create in China don't count.

Was talking with my investment advisor yesterday and she was saying that US businesses currently habe the most money the have ever had, on hand. They just aren't spending it. So, it would appear that the job creators could create jobs, but don't want to yet.

Uhm, part of the protest is about the lack of available jobs. People want to work and earn a living, but they can't find work and have run out of unemployment benefits. So they are protesting the tax cuts we gave to the "job creators" who pocketed the profits and haven't created jobs. At least they haven't created jobs in the US. The jobs they create in China don't count. [/quote]

I understand they are mad about a lack of jobs available.
Not into that sob story $hit they are spewing....I drive by Seattle Central CC on Broadway a few times a week for work, and none of those occupy folk are "hireable" in the first place.

As a recent college graduate I've been able to find employment...

And if I didn't find a job for myself, I sure wouldn't throw the towel in and become one of those "occupy" folks. I wouldn't sit around, bitch piss and moan for everyone to feel sorry for me because the economy is bad. Get off your a$$ and work harder to find a job.. If they put as much effort into finding a job as they do idling around at those homeless camps, they would be employed....

Ya but it's easy to get laid in those camps just as in the Viet Nam
War protests mobs.

Math was never a strong suit of mine..

In regards to the lack of jobs available, It still doesn't excuse those who are sitting idle and complaining. What are they hoping to get done by whining? No ones going to come out there to occupy Seattle and hand them an application or hire them. If they treated finding a job like a job itself, ie commiting 9-5 by applying for jobs, going out and introducing yourself and dropping resumes off at businesses, than things may be different for them.

In regards to the veterans, I'd be the first one to say we treat them like dirt. They deserve much better treatment and health care. However, they are the same in a pool of job applicants. Veteran, black white male female gay straight christian Muslim, whatever, none of that should give anyone an advantage or disadvantage

So you're not a fan of the preferential hiring consideration of disabled combat vets? Nor do you aggree with the recent law signed into effect giving tax breaks as incentive to hire recently returning combat vets?

Well you can talk all night about the statistics of unemployment and the ratio of job seekers to jobs available but I think a good number of people could get jobs if they wanted a job. I was watching the local news the other night and they were doing a story about a job fair for a company (might have been more than one company) that was hiring for various jobs in support of the oil fields in South or North Dakota, they also had job openings in other parts of the country and around the world. Several people walked out with job offers that day. The news then switched to a story about the Occupy Seattle with all the protesters and showed their signs about wanting to work. I think some of those people could find work if they really wanted to or needed to, it may not be the exact job you want or location but when you need to pay your bills you and feed your family you should take whatever job you can get (at least I would).

At some point doesn't one have to ask, "What are the protestors accomplishing that is good?"

Good on ya, knuckbustersonly!

Too many of the unemployed are that way because they just can't find what they want, where they want it, at a wage they are worth......they are really executives in disguise (with no experience...but that shouldn't matter). It's past time to knock a good number of them off the gov't teat.

Ranty needs an outing to the camps, packing her sign of support and singing "You've got a friend." Her and all her girl friends....that would be a party of one, but hey, it's the thought that counts.

If I had a hammer.
Actually I have one.
I sure hope Aunty doesn't.
Don't need any gratuitous mayhem.

Then who would you blame, AuntyM? Tell me that. Who's fault is it? Where do you point the finger? Get a clue and realize that life ain't fair....

And let me also ask you, would you hire someone who wasn't able to market themselves well enough over a two year old span to secure employment, even at the least flipping patties at Jack in the Crack? I sure as sh!t wouldn't.

I know plenty folks who have lost their jobs in this economic downturn, some due to performance and some due to the financial constraints of the company due to the economic downturn. Some have landed back on their feet, some haven't. Those that have deserved it due to the effort and work they put in to finding a job.

It wasn't easy for me being a college grad to find an entry level position. I called people I knew, asked for meetings, introduced myself and did my best to network, went into businesses and offered my resume and tried to present myself as a hire-able person. Guess what, I have a job. Does it pay well? No. Do I like it? Not really. Nor do I envision myself spending the rest of my working career in this particular field..... But hey, its a job, I have things far better than many other humans on this earth and I'm thankful for my employment.

But hey, if I was to follow Ranty's lead, by this point if I was unemployed I'd be qualified to become an "occupier" and b!tch about the lack of jobs and cite statistics about the lack of jobs available per unemployed. Personal responsibility is lacking, and many folks need to sack up and take matters into their own hands to find a job instead of looking for some excuse as to why they aren't employed.


No. Where did I say that? Start thumbing through all my posts if you got the time. You *try* and draw such far fetched parallels to make conclusions about someone in an attempt to belittle them and make yourself sound witty, but you just end up making yourself sound completely mental...

College officials vote to evict Occupy Seattle
The Associated Press • Published November 23, 2011

SEATTLE – Occupy Seattle is no longer welcome at a local community college, but the dozens of protesters who have been camping there don't have to leave right away.

The Seattle Community College District's board of trustees on Wednesday adopted an emergency rule banning camping, a move aimed at evicting the Occupy Seattle protesters who have taken up residence at Seattle Central Community College.

College administrators said there have been reports of vandalism and they can't afford to pay for the extra security and additional cleaning crews.

Jill Wakefield, chancellor of Seattle Community Colleges, wrote in a memo to the trustees that the camp was "overcrowded and unsanitary" and that multiple health inspections found health and safety concerns that included "animal feces, and drug dealing and usage."

Wakefield also said the camp in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood was close to a child care facility and that the protesters' presence had made the nearby playground "unusable."

The demonstrators say they've policed themselves and have been good neighbors.

The protesters moved their encampment to the school late last month after city officials told them they couldn't pitch overnight tents in a downtown park. College administrators had contacted state lawyers to find a legal way to remove protesters from campus grounds, and the emergency rule adopted Wednesday bans camping on community college property for up to four months.

College officials said protesters won't be removed immediately but will likely be ousted in the coming days.



Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/11/23/1888629/college-officials-vote-to-evict.html#ixzz1eiZVOT9W

I wonder why they didn't pitch their tents on the Capitol grounds? Seems like they would have gotten more attention that way.

If an occupier can't keep his/her camping space clean, I wouldn't hire them.

The statistics may prove how hard it is to get a job, but it is appearing to many that those aren't the reasons why the protestors don't have a job.
I think most people are realizing that this is not the face of unemployed america, and if it is, there isn't much hope for the future.

People put up with them for a while because they were drawing attention to a real problem, but realized too soon that most were an embarassing, lazy, dirty, drug laced group that were detracting more than helping.

I'm aware that math and logic usually hold true more frequently than stereotypes. You can keep trying to make conclusions about me but you'll still end up missing the target and look like a douchenozzle doing so.

Momma always told me not to stereotype.... However, they exist because *often* times they are true and hold enough significance to the point that they are valid (to a degree, not always, but sometimes yes).

I understand the job environment is getting more and more difficult due to globalization..However, if all these companies are outsourcing work, it doesn't change the playing field for all the potential applicants within the US. We're all fighting for the same domestic jobs whether there are 4 openings per every 5 potential applicants or this 1:5 ratio you have a fetish about. Yes, it blows that there are fewer jobs available. That's not the unemployed's fault. THE INDIVIDUAL IS STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR PRESENTING THEMSELVES AS THE BEST AVAILABLE CANDIDATE, NO MATTER HOW MANY COMPETITORS ARE SEEKING THE SAME JOB..... What part of this don't you understand?

Globalization/outsourcing reduces the amount of domestic jobs available, but applicants still have to show they are more worthy of employment than every other applicant, whether there are jobs galore or slim pickings... That's what you don't understand. I'm not blaming the unemployed for the lack of jobs available. That part sucks and there's not a lot we can do to change that, at least in any hurry. But whether I'm applying for a job against 1000 people or just one other person, it's still my responsibility to market myself better and present myself better than the other person(s). The amount of jobs per applicants is irrelevant. YOUR STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR OUT-COMPETING THE OTHER APPLICANTS, AND THAT IS IRREGARDLESS OF HOW MANY JOBS ARE OPEN AND HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU ARE COMPETING AGAINST..

All along I've said this Aunty. You seem to think that because there are fewer jobs available that it's someone else's fault for not getting hired. The typical blame game bull$hit where it's always some elses fault. Life's a b!tch, no one said it was easy. Sack up and outwork the bull$hit and blame yourself for you own shortcomings. America is getting so soft and the people are becoming such pussies that everyone looks to blame someone else any time they come up short.

Put this in fishing terms (if you ever get off your a$$ and wet a line that is...) to make this easier on you.....

5 people fishing in a river for 1 steelhead. Everyone has a different tactic to hook that fish (which is exactly the case in job interviews, everyone presents themselves as a different candidate to land that job) and the guy who tailors his presentation to the application the best catches that one fish. (just like the guy who applies and interviews better than every other candidate...)

Same situation, 5 guys on a river bank, but there are a few more fish to catch (representing a few more jobs in a better economy). You're still responsible for being better than the other guys in order to catch that fish/job. It's not entirely the fisherman's fault for the lack of steelhead.

But under your mindset, it's not their fault that they didn't catch a fish because their simply weren't enough.... In reality, there's fewer fish available, but there are still some. Just like the job landscape. There are jobs available, albeit few, but you still have to present yourself better than the rest regardless of how many people you're fighting against.

I agree, it's not really the fishermans fault for the lack of fish (jobs) available. But that doesn't mean it's not their fault for not finding a job. The unemployed don't have much to do with the fact that there aren't many job openings. But to get HIRED, you still have to be better than the rest, whether there many jobs available or just a few.

You truly have my sympathy, Aunty. The man presented you with a
coupla pretty good analogies and all you can come up with is a BS
and a personal attack.
My son manages a facility in Everett, two or three hundred employees
I believe. He is constantly looking for quality applicants. He has a
tough time finding them. Ones that can pass a drug screen and
actually have the background or will to work. Some come in as
managers, some at the bottom of the ladder. There is a ladder, that's
important. Learn to climb.
I got broad shoulders so, give me your best trash talk. lol

duh, i tink i understood

did u, Ranty? huh? did ya? huh?

Your logic is flawed.

5 fishermen and 1 steelhead: Fisherman number 1 catches and bonks the steelhead. This leaves 4 fishermen and 0 steelhead. Zero steelhead. If there are no steelhead to catch, then what are the fishermen to do?

Let them eat cake.

"Your logic is flawed.

5 fishermen and 1 steelhead: Fisherman number 1 catches and bonks the steelhead. This leaves 4 fishermen and 0 steelhead. Zero steelhead. If there are no steelhead to catch, then what are the fishermen to do?"

Then you start fishing for trout or bass or something.

There are jobs out there for some. May not be the exact job you went to school for, may not be your dream job, the location you desire, hours/shift you wanted. Lots of people have jobs they don't like but when you need to feed your family and pay your bills I would think you would take any job vice camp out at some state park or college campus.

Then you head on down to Capitol Lake and become an "occupy olympia" resident....

Knuckle,

Your logic is flawed too. Even if the 5 job applicants (or fishermen) are the 5 best in the world, the most prepared, highly skilled, etc., at the end of the day, one of them gets the job (or fish), and the other 4 remain unemployed. No one is questioning or saying that there aren't a bunch of whiny sleaze bags who only get hired when the work force is tapped out, and any idiot with a pulse can get a job. This is not then. There are highly skilled, ambitious people who can present themselves better than you can present yourself, but when the number of highly qualified and ambitious applicants outnumbers the available jobs by a significant margin, as is presently the case, then very good workers are going to remain unemployed.

I do wonder however, how it is that so many apples went unpicked in WA this year. The pay is not great, but it is not bad (can't be too bad if McDougal Orchards paid WA state $22/hr to provide prison inmates to pick), and the work is hard. Even at my age, I'd pick apples before taking an unemployment check. Sorry for the tangent.

The upshot is those who think there are jobs for anyone willing enough to work hard enough at it are basing their perspective on the worst of the work force out there, using the term loosely. Those folks are generally known as the last hired, first fired. Society always has some of those, the type that often can't get a job when the economy is humming along. Those are not the only kind of people unable to find work these days.

Sg

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mayor of Los Angeles set a deadline for anti-Wall Street protesters to leave an encampment by City Hall, while demonstrators elsewhere in California took their message about corporate greed to Black Friday shoppers, at times facing off with police.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lauded the Occupy movement for "awakening the country's conscience," but he said that after 56 days, the encampments that flank the two grassy areas adjacent to City Hall must be removed by 12:01 a.m. Monday for public health and safety reasons.

At an afternoon news conference with police Chief Charlie Beck, Villaraigosa said the movement that has spread in two months from New York to numerous other U.S. cities has "awakened the country's conscience" — but also trampled grass at City Hall that must be restored.

"The movement is at a crossroads," the mayor said. "It is time for Occupy LA to move from holding a particular patch of park land to spreading the message of economic justice and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society."

The camp of about 485 tents was unsustainable because public health and safety could not be maintained, and the park had to be cleared, cleaned and restored for the public's access, he said.

Later Friday, protesters demonstrated in the streets near San Francisco's tony and touristy Union Square during the annual Macy's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, disrupting traffic but otherwise causing few other problems.

Lines of police officers in riot gear faced off with dozens of demonstrators who were trying to discourage shoppers from shopping at Macy's and other stores in the popular tourist area.

Demonstrators used signs to spread an anti-consumerism message. One, 9-year-old Jacob Hamilton, held a sign that read, "What is in your bag that's more important than my education?"

Earlier, some of the protesters from the Occupy movements in San Francisco and Oakland clashed with police when they briefly blocked the city's iconic cable cars until officers pushed them out of the street.

Some of the participants in what protesters called "Don't Buy Anything Day" sat down in the middle of Market Street, San Francisco's main thoroughfare, and blocked traffic while chanting, "Stop shopping and join us!"

"I wanted us both to be here for the children," said protester Steve Hamilton, a screenwriter who traveled to the city from Winters, Calif., with his son Jacob. "I see how the education deficit directly affects the schools; how the teachers struggle with so many kids in the classrooms and a lack of books. It's not fair to this generation."

A group of about 20 Occupy protesters in Sacramento marched from a park to a small outdoor mall where many of the storefronts are empty. A police officer on a bicycle trailed the crowd.

A few puzzled shoppers, many toting large shopping bags, stopped to stare at the crowd as they read a manifesto asking people to support local merchants.

At a Macy's store, the group stayed for several minutes chanting slogans such as, "They call it profit; we call it robbery." Several shoppers crowded around taking photos with their cellphones.

In Emeryville, a small city on San Francisco Bay, more than 60 people attended a Native American community's 10th annual Black Friday protest of the Bay Street Mall.

Corrina Gould, a lead organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, said the goal is to educate shoppers that the mall was built in 2002 on a sacred Ohlone burial site.

About one-third of the people came from neighboring Oakland's Occupy movement, and Gould said having the new voices was invigorating.

In his comments, Villaraigosa told campers to start packing up their tents and said he believed the move would be peaceful, unlike some of the tumult other cities have seen.

"I'm proud of the fact that this has been a peaceful, non-violent protest," he said. "I trust that we can manage the closure of City Hall Park in the same spirit of cooperation."

Outside City Hall, Occupy LA protester Opamago Casciani, 20, said he found the Mayor's priorities insulting, and he intends to continue demonstrating peacefully through the deadline.

In response to the Mayor's comments, Casciani said "What I got from it is 'I value grass more than the people.'"

Beck said police will be patient with laggards who were working to leave at the time of the deadline — but said the city's law enforcement will no longer look the other way.

"After 56 days of not enforcing three city laws that prohibit the use of that park, the time is now," said Beck.

Pick up the paper.......look at the help wanted section......it's not empty........hmmmmmmmmmmm

To think, I used to get hammered for Cut and Paste. Oh the irony.
By the way. Life is a gift. Use it or lose it.

"Then perhaps they should do so, and decrease the surplus population." Ebenezer Scrooge, 1843

Long term solution to a short term problem.

Crime goes up too.

So did Black Friday spending.

So, they're looking for jobs.....??????????


VICTORIA — An overdose of cocaine and heroin killed Ashlie Gough, the 23-year-old Victoria woman who died at the Occupy Vancouver protest last weekend.

Owen Court, Metro Vancouver regional coroner, said Saturday that the investigation found that a mixture of the two drugs proved fatal.

Gough’s family have been told the cause of death, he said.

"We have indications from those close to her that Ashlie was a recreational user of illicit drugs," Court said.

"The use of cocaine and heroin, either independently or together, is very high-risk behaviour."

The drugs would have been used shortly before she died at the protest site, Court said.

Gough arrived at Occupy Vancouver about one day before her death and was believed to be visiting friends for the weekend rather than taking part in the protest.

Gough grew up in Victoria. She had a passion for art, including body-piercing and tattooing, and loved to travel with her boyfriend, Kegan Munro.

Gough’s death added fuel to demands from some groups that the Occupy Vancouver and Victoria campsites be closed down for safety reasons.




A man suffered from an apparent drug overdose at the "Occupy Santa Cruz" encampment at a city park Wednesday night, police said.

Officers responded at 9:40 p.m. to the camp at 137 Dakota Ave. at San Lorenzo Park for a possible drug overdose, police said Reno resident Tyler Forshey, 20, was lying outside of a tent and seemed to be under the influence of heroin, police said.

Forshey admitted to police he had injected heroin, allegedly in one of the tents. He said he believed he had not lost consciousness and was awake as someone pushed on his chest before police arrived, according to police.

Forshey was taken to a hospital where he was cited and released for being under the influence of heroin, police said.




EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) -- Occupy Eugene protestors are speaking out regarding an alleged drug overdose inside of the camp on Saturday evening.

Around 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 19th, 2011, Eugene Police and paramedics were called out to the Occupy Eugene camp at the Washington-Jefferson Park off 6th Avenue.

Emergency responders were told that a man in his 30's had overdosed on heroin, passing out near other Occupy protestors with a shallow pulse. Protestors immediately called 911. Two protestors on scene including a registered nurse and a doctor then gave the man CPR for about 8 minutes before paramedics arrived.

Occupy Eugene protestors say when paramedics arrived, the man was stabilized and seen sitting up and talking.

The man refused transport to the hospital by an ambulance. Occupy Eugene protestors gave him a ride to the hospital shortly there after.

Occupy Eugene protestors released a statement Sunday, saying, “Due to the Occupy camp’s presence the situation was reacted to quickly and effectively with volunteer medical professionals on site when the overdose occurred, an immediate call placed to 9-1-1 and follow through medical assistance.”



PORTLAND, Ore. – Police say protesters inside the Occupy Portland camp are making improvised weapons.

According to Lieutenant Robert King, protesters alerted police on Friday about the weapons and officers confiscated them. Protesters also told police about a man who they said planned to damage police cars parked near the camp, King said.

Officers found the man, who had a six-foot long bamboo pole, and he gave it up. Police said no damage was done to any of their cars and no arrest was necessary.

Also Friday, police and medical personnel said they found a man suffering from a drug overdose at the camp. He was revived and taken to a hospital.

They also revived a woman in her 20s from a drug overdose Saturday morning. She was also taken to a hospital for treatment.




Second drug overdose at Occupy Portland
By admin on November 10, 2011 in Oregon

From Gateway Pundit

Occupy Portland protesters surrounded the tent where medical personnel were treating a man suffering from a drug overdose. The man was using heroin he purchased at the camp.
The Portland Police reported:

On Wednesday November 9, 2011, Portland Police officers working the Occupy Portland encampments at Chapman and Lownsdale Square Parks, responded to the report of a man suffering from a drug overdose in a tent at Chapman Square. Officers found the man in a tent and he was blue and not breathing. Officers immediately began performing CPR and called for medical to respond. Medical personnel responded and were able to revive the man then transported him to an area hospital. Officers learned that the man used heroin purchased within the encampments.

During this police and medical response, nearly 100 people were gathered around the tent and not following police direction to allow medical personnel room to work on the patient. Officers worked with the Occupy Portland Peace & Safety Team to assist in moving people away from the patient.

This is the second overdose in as many days in the encampments.

Portland Police officers also made several arrests and issued several exclusions related to criminal activity.

29-year-old Brandon Steven Ash was arrested for a parole violation after observing him smoking marijuana in Lownsdale Square.

24-year-old Tyler Nees was given a citation and excluded from Lownsdale Square after officers observed him drinking a beer.

A 17-year-old male was observed smoking marijuana and was transported to JDH for various warrants out of Clackamas County.

18-year-old Alysha Schuler was issued a citation for Drugs in the Park.

Officers took another report from a member of the media about harassment from people in the Occupy Portland encampments. There have been several reports of harassment and physical confrontations of members of the media over the past 2 weeks.

22-year-old Maxwell Logan was contacted for smoking marijuana and found to have several warrants.

Portland Fire & Rescue responded to the report of a dumpster fire which did not cause any damage.

The Portland Police Bureau will continue to provide updates on arrests and public safety conditions within the Occupy Portland encampments.

They might qualify as lab rats.
Better living through chemistry.

Fumb Ducks

Some of those cretins are giving pot use a bad name! I thought police had better things to do these days besides arresting people for pot possession - until a week ago when, along with DEA, they raided 17 medical marijuana dispensaries. Now if anybody should be unemployed, it should be DEA. Talk about a bunch of societal leaches, taking taxpayer money to fight an unwinnable war at exhorbitant cost and nothing to show for it. They make the Occupy protestors look like contributing citizens.

Waste of time and resources as usual

Occupy this!

ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) – The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis.

The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease. WGCL reports that a health department spokeswoman said there is a possibility that both Occupy Atlanta protesters and the homeless people in the shelter may still be at risk since tuberculosis is contracted through air contact.

“Over the last three months were have been two persons who have resided in this facility who have been diagnosed with confirmed or suspected infectious tuberculosis (TB),” said Fulton County Services Director Matthew McKenna in a written statement to CBS Atlanta. “One of these persons was confirmed to have a strain of TB that is resistant to a single, standard medication used to treat this condition. All person(s) identified as positive have begun treatment and are being monitored to ensure that medication is taken as directed.”

The Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless has indicated that two cases have been made public knowledge to the group, the first coming from someone who contracted the disease in September. The identities of the people who have contracted the disease, however, have not been disclosed by the health department to this point.

The news of the tuberculosis contractions could force Occupy Atlanta to move once again. WGCL reports that more than 100 protesters made the move to the homeless shelter Oct. 30 after Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed evicted Occupy Atlanta from Woodruff Park, citing that they were no longer allowed to camp out overnight. The homeless shelter is also facing an eviction of its own from the city.

Must be a GOP plot to off the libtards.

Occupy Olympia should abide by rules like everyone else THE OLYMPIAN • Published November 20, 2011 Modified November 19, 2011

The Olympian
298 Comments
As the Occupy Olympia movement enters its second month, one thing is clear: state officials have mishandled this situation by not requiring the protesters to live up to the same rules that every other community organization must follow.

State officials seem to have a hands-off approach to the protesters. While we understand the state’s reluctance to provoke a confrontation, by treating the protesters with kid gloves they have one set of standards for Occupy and a different set of rules for everyone else in the community and state.


The unequal treatment is unfair.


The Occupy Olympia movement began on Oct. 15 with a protest in Sylvester Park in the heart of downtown Olympia. The Occupy Wall Street protest began in New York’s Zuccotti Park on Sept. 17, and quickly spread globally.


After one day in Sylvester Park, the Occupy Olympia protesters moved a few blocks west to Heritage Park where they have been ever since. They have a food tent, medical tent, and dish-washing facilities, but rely on the nearby bathhouse for restroom facilities. Last week there were 153 tents in the park, down 20 from the week before.


Both Sylvester and Heritage parks are state-owned facilities, with the latter considered part of the Capitol Campus. Both parks are under the purview of the state Department of Enterprise Services – formerly the Department of General Administration.


For several years, Enterprise Services has had specific requirements for groups or individuals who want to use state facilities such as Heritage or Sylvester park. A couple who wants to wed in either park or community events such as Pet Parade or the Bon Odori festival, must apply for a state permit and be granted permission to proceed. There are costs associated with those permits.


The Olympia Downtown Association, for example, pays $140 per concert for electricity and Dumpsters at Sylvester Park.


The state permit for the sponsors of Lakefair to use Heritage Park ran to 27 pages this year, according to executive director Bob Barnes. The fees charged to Lakefair amounted to $24,700 for the five-day event and included a $100 fee from each of the 62 arts and craft vendors. The $24,700 also included $5,000 for State Patrol security, but does not include the $10,500 the City of Olympia charges for Olympia police officers. City and state fees are getting “astronomical,” Barnes said.


So how much has Occupy Olympia paid for their month-long encampment?


Not a dime.


Not only that, Occupy Olympia participants have not been required to get a no-cost “free speech” permit.


Steve Valandra, spokesman for Enterprise Services, said agency Director Joyce Turner has made those decisions. “It’s a director decision based on a free speech activity. It’s something we haven’t quite dealt with before,” Valandra said.


It’s not as if there aren’t costs associated with the Occupy movement. Take, for example, the damage being done to the park on the eastern shore of Capitol Lake.


Larry Kessel, property manager for Heritage Park, said between two and three acres of park property have been destroyed by continuous use over the last month. “It won’t come back,” Kessel said of the grass. “We’re going to have to regrade two to three acres because the damage is enough that it’s not repairable.”


By one estimate that could cost up to $40,000. Taxpayers will get stuck with the bill.


Further complicating things is Director Turner’s request that the tents be removed from Heritage Park. She didn’t set a deadline or spell out consequences for inaction. The Occupy Movement is being treated with kid gloves.


Then there’s the mixed message that State Patrol officials are sending.


On Nov. 4, Occupy Washington protesters set up a handful of tents near the Capitol dome. About 18 State Patrol troopers moved in just before 8 p.m. that Friday and hauled away five small tents. Two men were arrested after they refused to vacate a tent. They were to be cited for misdemeanor obstruction and given no-trespass orders for the Capitol, Lt. Mark Arras said.


So how do state officials justify the fact that Occupy Olympia protesters are allowed to have a sprawling encampment on one part of the Capitol Campus – Heritage Park – while a handful of Occupy Washington protesters were booted, and arrested, for staking claim to a different part of the campus that just happens to be in the shadow of the dome?


Do the rules apply equally to everyone, or does the Occupy Olympia Movement get a pass? It’s time for state officials to answer that question.

Not much going on in Mulletville.

That's what Somethingsmellsf looks like.

Anyone who believes that these are anything more than the usual bunch of attention seeking Evergreen students and homeless drug addicts needs to take their blindfold off. Or leave it on, someone has a bridge to sell you.


More arrests at occupy Olympia.

An alleged robbery and an assault on a police officer resulted in two arrests Thursday night and early Friday at Occupy Olympia.

Olympia police responded about 10 p.m. Thursday to a report of a man who had been beaten, knocked to the ground and robbed in the 500 block of Capitol Way, said Olympia Police Lt. Paul Lower. The man was robbed of $2 and a six-pack of beer.

Multiple witnesses sent police in the direction of Occupy Olympia, a protest of about 100 tents in Heritage Park. Police found the suspect, a 25-year-old man, in a tent. He was booked into the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of second-degree robbery, a felony.

About 4 a.m., police responded to the encampment after receiving 911 calls about what “appeared to be a male and female fighting,” Lower said.

When officers confronted a 25-year-old man, he “physically raised his hands up in a fighting stance,” Lower said, and “lunged” at an officer. An officer shocked him with a stun gun, and he was arrested and taken to the Olympia Municipal Jail on suspicion of fourth-degree assault, harassment and resisting arrest.

A posting on the website of Occupy Olympia gives a different version of the event. It says a woman was having a seizure, and authorities were called, but they instead tended to a man “who was showing signs of frustration at having his personal belongings looted.”

The posting also says that officers didn’t listen and didn’t appropriately address the man “before firing their Tasers.” The group also questioned why police responded, given that they were on state property, which is the jurisdiction of the Washington State Patrol.

Lower said Olympia police regularly make what are called “mutual responses” with the State Patrol.

Occupy Olympia started in Sylvester Park on Oct. 15 as a protest in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, a protest of the growing income disparity between the top 1 percent of the population and everyone else. A day later, occupants agreed to move to Heritage Park because it has hardier grass and restrooms.

State officials have tolerated the encampment under the cloak of free speech. But Joyce Turner, director of the state Department of Enterprise Services, asked people to remove their tents three weeks ago.

Campers have refused to leave. The state set no timetable for them to do so and has not enforced removal of the tents. Officials said they don’t want a confrontation.

Bout time ...


State orders ‘Occupy’ tents out of Heritage Park



State officials ordered the Occupy Olympia campers to remove all tents and equipment from Heritage Park by 12:01 a.m. Friday. The order, signed by Department of Enterprise Services director Joyce Turner and posted this morning, cites health and safety concerns at the two-month-old protest site.

It remains to be seen what will happen next. Robert Whitlock, a supporter of the encampment, said he was just getting to the park this morning and had only heard rumors of the state’s action. But he questioned the wisdom of driving out the homeless people who have pitched shelters at the protest site.

“I think there’s some real concerns, in terms of the ability of the people who are here to take care of themselves. Last night there was one of the sort of domestic disputes that have happened, and a woman said ‘I don’t want to go back in the woods.’ … People feel safer here,’’ Whitlock said.

“I don’t think kicking people out is the best thing. … The best thing for the state is to take the situation more seriously and see how to support the people who are here and get them the support they need,’’ Whitlock added.

Turner has said the encampment poses a humanitarian challenge that her agency does not have the purview to address. And DES spokesman Steve Valandra said it is up to other groups to deal with the social needs of those in the park for reasons of shelter.

"We understand people need some help. We can't do that. It has to be up to other organizations,'' Valandra said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said recently that the encampment could not go on indefinitely, and Occupy activist Leon Janssen said he agreed: that the conditions of wealth imbalance that gave rise to the original encampment can’t go on either.

Protesters began their action at state-owned Sylvester Park on Oct. 15 and moved a day later to Heritage Park. Asked why the eviction action was being taken now, Valandra said:

"We just think it's time to have it come to an end. We had more concerns about unsanitary conditions down there. We just noticed ... there are people defecating in the park. The restrooms had a lot of graffiti yesterday. And we've got to take a look at that turf.... We feel it's become less of a protest and more of an encampment. It just seems like the right time to bring it to an end.''


An interfaith group did a survey of the encampment recently and had been working with nonprofits and local governments on ways to open more shelters.

Camping is illegal on state grounds, and DES has let the protest go on despite a lack of permit. The State Patrol could arrest any who resist the "cease and desist" order, but Sgt. J.J. Gundermann referred all questions to Valandra of DES. Under Turner's order, those leaving personal belongings at the site can claim them up later.

Looks like when the evergreen students got cold and wet, they went back home to their parents, leaving the city of Olympia enabled homeless clan. From the Olympian........

State troopers moved to evict the camp, which had been in place about two months, after the Department of Enterprise Services asked campers Nov. 11 to leave voluntarily, citing health and safety concerns. Campers refused to leave by 12:01 a.m. Friday, instead holding a dance party with loud music that drew several dozen people into the wee hours.

The Washington State Patrol responded to the park at about 7:20 a.m. and told campers via a loudspeaker to leave, said Sgt. J.J. Gundermann, a spokesman.

“When we bring the troops in to clear it out, we’re going to clear everybody out,” he said.

About 9 a.m., authorities did just that. About 30 troopers walked side by side, creating a line that slowly advanced on the camp.

Troopers checked each tent for inhabitants. By then, only a few campers remained, peacefully retreating as the police advanced.

Meanwhile, a temporary fence was quickly erected around the camp, preventing anyone from entering. Crews began using heavy equipment to remove the remaining tents and heaps of belongings. Owners of seized items will be able to claim them from the state until Jan. 9.

Steve Valandra, spokesman for the Department of Enterprise Services, said he didn’t know how long the park will be fenced off. The department will assess the grounds; some grass will have to be reseeded, and debris cleared.

“We found syringes, crack pipes … we want to make sure we go through it thoroughly and restore the turf a bit,” he said.

Valandra said the demonstration had cost his department about $5,300, but that the number will rise.

I wonder if that bite is in the City Budget.