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.