Oak Grove Update #1

First off, unfortunately I didn't have my camera, so I have no photos to upload.

After work today I drove by the oak grove to...well...see what I could see.  The north direction of Piedmont Ave / Gayley Rd was closed, so I swung around the east side of Memoral Stadium to approach from the other direction.

One interesting thing to note: There are large stacks of 2x4s piled up on the east rim of the stadium...waiting for construction to begin?

Heading south on Gayley Rd, at the Haas turnout, you first encounter ALL of the news outlets media vans with their satellite link ups fully extended (and the red KRON 4 Pontiac Vibes...couldn't afford a van I guess.)

Since I was there yesterday I was also able to notice a few more things.

1. The police barrier (the waist-high movable kind) has been extended.  It stretches from Bancroft Avenue all the way to the stop sign where the media vans are.  This is a much larger area than yesterday.  It also goes ALL the way to the median, encompassing the entire northbound lane of the road.  This pushes all of the hippies into the steep median, the southbound lane, or the opposite sidewalk.  It also prevents ANY supplies from getting anywhere near the hippies in the trees.

2. There are WAY more police than there were yesterday.  There are at least 1 or 2 officers per six feet along the barrier.

3. There are more anti-hippie people than yesterday.  I drove past at 6:30PM and there were lots of people there who did not seem to be supporters of anything...only there to watch.

4.  Though unconfirmed (as I was driving a car at the time), I didn't see any sign of the "God Pod" or "Dumpster Muffin".  It seems like the perch may have been taken down, though like I said, it might have been hidden from my view on the street as I tried to avoid (sadly) hitting any of the ground-hippies.

5.  The tall crane and the cherry picker are still there, though the basket was fully descended into the trees, so I couldn't see what it was doing.

Also, while standing on the street yesterday, I was talking to a friend who lives near Channing Circle and is a grad student, so he goes to school / works on campus daily.  He often stops by the International House Cafe in the morning and chats with the employees there, who told him (yes, it's a friend of a friend rumor) that the ground hippies come into the cafe very early in the morning and abuse the bathrooms, leaving them absolutely disgusting from basically showering in the sinks.  They sound like quality people!