Occupy-Wall Street-wise, is the nation in the middle of the sizzle before the fizzle? Or is this thing going to keep on long enough to get your mom out there with a “No Bulls No Bears Only Pigs” sign?
Whether the protests will turn out to be a serious counterweight to the considerable influence of the Tea Party on the nation’s politics, or ultimately just a tempest in a teapot (as history may remember another series of protests that gained a lot of local attention this year), no one really knows… (Granted, a lot of people think they do, as in here and here.)
But one thing’s for sure right now: Things are heating up. A run-down of This Week in Occupy Bay Area:
Occupy Oakland:
- Occupy Oakland gets eviction notice from City Hall (Oakland Tribune)
Officials put residents of Occupy Oakland on notice Thursday night that a tent city outside City Hall could no longer continue. A letter posted on the city’s web site at 8 p.m. expresses concerns about a wide range of public health and security issues surrounding the 10-day old camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza. No moves have been made by police or other officials to dismantle the camp since the notice went up.
- From the city of Oakland’s warning (pdf) yesterday that overnight camping will no longer be allowed at Frank Ogawa Plaza:
We believe that after 10 days, the City can no longer uphold public health and safety. In recent days, camp conditions and occupants’ behavior have significantly deteriorated, and it is no longer manageable to maintain a public health and safety plan. These conditions, which have not been sufficiently addressed, include:
-Fire hazards: cooking with open flame, improper storage and disposal of propane tanks, storage of grease, inadequate fire extinguishers, density of tents and flammable materials, smoking in tents, piles of hay and wood
-Safety hazards: increasing frequency of violence, assaults, threats and intimidation
-Denial of access: to emergency personnel to treat injured persons and to police to patrol the Plaza
-Sanitation hazards: public urination and defecation, litter, improper food preparation and storage practices
-Health hazards: existing rodent problem has been exacerbated and is endangering public health.
-County vector control is unable to implement measures to control the rat population under current conditions
-Physical damage: graffiti, vandalism and other damage to Plaza infrastructure and the historic tree
-Disruption of the Plaza for public use: some events for groups who have complied with City regulations have been reprogrammed or relocated
As a result of these serious conditions, the Administration has determined that facilitating this expression of speech is no longer viable, nor in the interest of public health and safety. Peaceful daytime assembly will continue to be allowed between 6 am and 10 pm daily. No tents or overnight camping permitted.
- KGO TV video
- AP Datebook: Oct. 21. 3 p.m. Marriage ceremony between Mateus Anthony Cuauhtemoc Chavez, grandnephew of Cesar Chavez, and Latrina Rhinehart, an Oakland Elementary School Teacher, at the site of Occupy Oakland.
Location: Frank Ogawa Plaza, In Front Of Oakland City Hall, Oakland
Contact: Federico Chavez (510) 326-2670 Or (510) 527-4879
Occupy San Jose:
- San Jose: Eight Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested, one cited (San Jose Mercury News)
San Jose police arrested eight Occupy Wall Street protesters and cited one man in a wheelchair early Friday for violating a city ordinance that forbids camping out on city property. Sgt. Jason Dwyer said the arrests came about 3 a.m. near Fourth and Santa Clara streets at San Jose City Hall Plaza, where protesters have been complaining about corporate greed since Oct. 2, on the heels of a nationwide movement, which began more than a month ago.
- KQED News intern Daniel Gamberg reported the following at 11 a.m. from Occupy San Jose:
Protesters are beginning to reassemble now in larger numbers after being cleared out by police this morning. Sgt. Jason Dwyer of SJPD said the eight protesters who were arrested are “probably not still incarcerated because they were minor violations.”
He also said that if the reassembling protesters were to camp again “they would likely be arrested again.”
Occupy San Francisco:
- A Day in the Life of Occupy SF (Mission Local)
It’s the one-month anniversary of the populist occupations in both New York and San Francisco, and the folks at Occupy SF are starting all over again. For the third time. But you wouldn’t know this from walking around Justin Herman Plaza. It’s 10 a.m., and despite having been torn down 10 hours earlier by the SFPD, the camp — two tables under a large tarp serving as a kitchen and another large tarp protecting supplies — has been resurrected with the efficiency of a beehive.
- Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine Expected to Play Occupy SF Today (SFist)
According to the Occupy SF twitter account, liberal activist and radical guitarist Tom Morello is expected to make an appearance on Justin Herman Plaza this afternoon at 4 p.m. We don’t have much than a tweet to go off of here, but we’re inclined to believe this one: Morello is scheduled to play the Great American Music Hall tonight under his Nightwatchman alter-ego. Also on that bill tonight is Boots Riley of The Coup, a frequent conspirator of Morello’s who put on a free concert at Occupy Oakland last week. Morello himself dropped in to Occupy Wall Street in New York last Thursday, so he’s obviously sympathetic to the cause.
- Why, Ed, Why? (SF Weekly)
OccupySF protesters heckled Mayor Ed Lee on Tuesday at City Hall while he was carefully trying to appease both protesters and cops. And last night, demonstrators disrupted a Police Commission hearing, enough so that the commissioners reportedly got up and walked out.
- Michele Bachmann on Occupy Wall Street, at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco yesterday. (Spoiler alert: She doesn’t like it.)
- Video: Police raid Occupy SF
- Oct 17 audio: Greg Suhr talks with demonstrators at impromptu meeting on sidewalk