via www.dailycal.org

Well, it is over.  The tree-sitters came down voluntarily, avoiding a messy extraction and now some inane committee will be formed and summarily ignored (Edit:  Apparently, that's not even true and Cal agreed to no such committee).

With the Oak Grove situation coming to a satisfying end, we thought it might be prudent to send a few thank yous the way of some highly underappreciated people these last many months:  UCPD.  They have been tirelessly dealing with the hypocrisy and insanity of the tree sitters and their support groups.  You can find their contact information here, starting with Victoria Harrison, the Chief of Police and many of the officers working under her who managed this difficult situation.  And Spazzy informs us that Berkeley spokestud Dan Mogulof's official email is DMogulof at berkeley dot edu. He put up with a lot, including personal attacks from the Berkeley Daily Planet.

Clearly, the protestors were looking for as much publicity and "police brutality" as possible to drum up support.  UCPD managed the situation there in the most reasonable, level-headed manner, ensuring that not only was it always safe, but also the protestors never got any of their beloved PR (except for that stupid announcer dude, who is that guy?).  While many fans gnashed their teeth and rent their clothes due to the lack of physical violence used against the protestors, UCPD realized that the protestors were a truly unimportant problem.  To stoop to their level was to give them the very PR they needed and to lose the battle. 

UCPD took the high road and, although frustrating at times (as the high road generally is), in the long run it paid off.  I am sure they would love to read thank you emails from Cal fans.  Also, thank yous are in order for Goldblooded who send many helpful reports back from the scene.

Also feel free to use this thread as a final discussion thread of the whole situation.  Don't miss out on Thread 1, Thread 2, and Thread 3.  Tons of great stuff in there.  So, send your thank yous in to UCPD and GO BEARS!

"God, it really stinks up here.  I wish somebody would cut me down.  What is this?  White-coated arborists building a giant staircase to take me down?  Yay!!!!  Come soon, new friends!  Come soon!"

Thread I

Thread II

Well, as Thread II gets a bit bulky there, let's move on to Thread III here.  The live feed is here.  Comment away!

The aborists and company are almost there.  They've got the staircase flush with the encampment, but the sitters have moved to the God Pod, where they are most likely smelling bad and mooching.

Edit: Announcement! Goldblooded, who is on the scene, just informed me (over the cheers of a crowd) that apparently an agreement has been reached.  Cal will create some sort of committee for land use (the importance of which I predict will be minimal) and now the sitters are voluntarily coming down.  When we hear more, we will update further.  No forced extraction, it would appear.

Be careful now.  You don't want to get hurt.  Your health is your most important thing. Your health and Cal football.  Don't make us choose!  Live feed thread 1 was getting a bit bulky.  The Live Feed is here.  Continue the comments here.

The extraction continues.  A complex staircase is being built:

I moved the previous text to the entry body behind the fold. 

I just spoke with Goldblooded.  He is at the grove right now.  He says that they are constructing a metal tower around the base of the tree.  It is similar to the drum major's tower, he tells me.  He says they are moving slowly, but have enough poles to make it to the top.  It is unclear exactly what this metal tower is for, but one would think it relates to the extraction.  Here is the ABC7 Live Feed if you want to keep an eye on things.  When I hear more, I'll pass word along to here.  Of course, as citizen journalists, if you hear of anything, similarly post it here.

It appears that things are coming to a head at the oak grove.  Keep it locked here for all the action.  We got people watching the feed and people at the location sending reports back in.

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The first ever LIVEBLOG of a bunch of trees getting cut down.  Watch it on the ABC Live Feed.  And comment inside!  That other thread was getting bulky!  Go Bears!

Dan Mogulof MUST BE STOPPED:

"What a nicely dressed hippie!"  via kleph.com

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Reports have been flooding in all morning that work has started on cutting down the Oak Grove.  Just wanted to put this out there, so those who aren't combing through the DBD will be aware.  We've waited a long time for this day.  Per OskiMonsta:

KGO Radio Report

Just heard it, complete with chainsaws humming in the background and hippies yelling. Mogolof confirmed they have officially starting work and will continue until it’s done.

Ayr: “it’s wrong, I know in my heart, we’re going to do what we can”

  Discuss the developments in here!

ABC 7 has live video.

I just got an email from the Court saying the Petition denied, I think.  It is long and confusing  Reading it NOW.  Linky!

Help figuring this out, people

Ok, I'm trying to figure this out quickly off the top of my head here.  It says the Writ of Supercedes is denied, which is good.  This appears to be because Volker filed the Motion For New Trial in the Trial Court.  This is good, I figure.

But it also says this:

The Order after Hearing also provides that "[t]he preliminary injunction will be dissolved when the judgment takes effect . . . ." (Exh. 13 at 220.) Ordinarily, an order dissolving an injunction is independently appealable. (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 904.1, subd. (a)(6).) In this case, however, the companion Judgment never took effect, and, hence, the preliminary injunction is not yet dissolved. Rather, it remains in place, subject to future modification by the trial court, as appropriate.

I don't understand if that means Volker can appeal again to get 20 more days after the Judgement takes effect.  The preliminary injunction, it says, is not yet dissolved.  But it is subject to future modification by the trial court.  Judge Miller has made clear her view that it should have dissolved last week.  So, I don't know what this means, exactly. 

This seems good, but leaves me with more questions about what the timeline is going forward.  Any help?

Stephan Volker is not a man for reasonable discourse.  He is a man of bluster and histrionics.  After Cal received the favorable ruling, he had this to say:

Volker said he is confident of eventual victory. "I have prosecuted over 100 appeals, and prevailed in about 85 percent of them," he said.

Hmmm.  Sounds impressive.  100 appeals.  85% success rate.  Maybe this isn't just bluster, maybe he's an appeals God.  Maybe UC student Matthew Taylor was correct at the Council Meeting the other day.  Maybe Volker, going at it alone, will dominate Cal at the appeals level and then we'll have to start over.  And the sacred trees will have already been cut down, insulting Native Americans and WWI Veterans everywhere.  And then we'll all cry.

So, to see if this dark, dark eventuality might hit, let's take a look at Volker's experience at the Appeals level.  Can he pull this off?

via www.volkerlaw.com

"I'm trying to save Cal from itself!"

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