Section by section, park police spent the day removing camping gear and shelters that showed evidence of overnight sleeping. A large blue tarp that had been draped over the pedestal of the General James McPherson statue at the center of the park was removed as police in riot gear formed a protective circle.
Except for a single taser incident, protesters interviewed Friday by Fog City Journal couldn’t recall any clashes with the authorities. One Dallas protester brought some Texas twang to the scene, located in McPherson Square, a park a few blocks from the White House. Volunteers run a small library. On Friday there was a free dinner of donated stew and raspberry cheesecake. A couple of denizens smoked dope in a pipe fashioned from a whole red apple.
The City instituted a curb on condo conversions in response to increases in “no fault” tenant evictions, limiting conversions via a lottery to 200 per year. Currently there are 2,391 homeowners waiting in line for their chance to convert their tenancy-in-common mortgages into less costly and restrictive joint tenancy instruments.
This month, the Assembly Appropriations Committee unanimously passed AB 1270, also known as the “California Prisons: Media Access” bill, and it is expected to sail through the Senate in March.
Of course, lawmakers have repeatedly approved nearly identical legislation in the past, only to see it fall victim to vigorous lobbying by the Department of Corrections and victim rights groups.
But neither opposes the current bill, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano.
Eileen Hanson, mistress of ceremonies, painted a sensitive and authentic picture of a “complicated person,” who could be “sweet,” but also “really bitchy.” According to Hanson, Michael loved gossip and the “blood sport that is San Francisco politics.”
The lawsuits were filed following a two-year undercover police investigation which documents “numerous instances in which the markets operated as virtual safe havens for the sale of cocaine, crack, heroin, prescription painkillers and other drugs,” in violation of the Drug Abatement Act, according to Herrera.
Before it was over early Sunday, demonstrators had broken into City Hall, pelted police with rocks, and were thrice turned back from establishing a new headquarters. Police responded with tear gas, flash grenades, bean bag bullets and, at times, excessive force. By days end, more than 300 people were arrested. Several injuries were reported, involving both police and protesters.
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