You know there's a war going on right now in Northern California.......

[Bennyboy]

In Willits. Caltrans and the increasingly militarized CHP against protestors against the destruction of vital habitat in order to build a road there so walmart can send bigger trucks. (and the first leg in the plan to widen Highway 1 in crucial zones including Richardson's Grove redwood park north of Willits)

From Willits Tomorrow FB page: https://www.facebook.com/WillitsTomorrow I've been following and this is the real deal. People shot out of machinery, rubber bullets all of that. senior citizen beaten etc....


Looks like The Two Machines responsible for Caltrans Drying out of the Wetlands in the Willits- Little Lake Valley are a little bit "Tied and Tangled Up" . Not only that but Will is watered and fed and has supplies to last for a while. The irresponsible CHP Tactic of trying to starve and dehydrate Will from the top of a 70 foot crane endangered Will's life, but the CHP tactic didn't work ! This morning the second climber, "Froglamander", threw a line across to Will and sent him much needed food and water.
Power to the People. IMUA!
Save Little Lake valley Wetlands, they are the Headwaters to the Wild and Scenic , Majestic Eel River.
Caltrans Out of Little Lake Valley!

[REP]

1. Oh CalTrans - what can't you fuck up?

(Lives right off the Lexington Resevoir)

[Auggie]

3. You sum it up well: +1

[Luminous Animal]

2. They want to fuck with Richardon's Grove?!! Assholes.

[Egalitarian Thug]

4. Everywhere, all around us, all the time. We've mostly become so conditioned to it

that most of the time we don't even see it, let alone recognize it for what it is.

[Prism]

5. I saw a piece on Bay news that said they didn't even need the thing

They did a traffic study, and it turned out there was barely any traffic.

But hey, CalTrans has money to spend incompetently, and by God, they will spend it.

Meanwhile, the Bay Bridge is terrifying.

[Bennyboy]

17. Well that is not true..

The bottleneck at the center of town is horrendous. Under the arch. But it also provides a lot of money as well because it goes through the center or town. Had that bottleneck not existed I would never have found my favorite restaurant in the world, Ardellas......

There were much better alternatives than this however.

[WillyT]

6. Richardson Grove...

& Rec !!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Why oh my do I miss the good photo assignments?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. Check the other end....

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. After my half ass answer to willy bellow

You expect this to be on CNN? Hell, I doubt the local patch will cover this.

So thank you for bringing this to my attention.

[WillyT]

9. More Here:

Link: http://redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net/book/export/html/710

And here: http://redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net/

[eaglesclaw]

10. A Link

http://www.savelittlelakevalley.org/

Is this what we pay the CHP to do??

[NYC_SKP]

12. Yes, apparently we pay them to starve out pile-driver sitting protesters.

The only nexus I can think of is CalTrans and Highway Patrol, but I really think this is not in their job description.

However, it's a federal project, imagine, so federal agents wouldn't be any better.

[limpyhobbler]

11. I don't really understand the issue. But Walmart sucks and I like trees. So I guess this is cool. nt

[hunter]

13. We ought to be removing and narrowing roads...

... not widening roads or building new ones.

Anything to discourage automobile use and ownership.

[AFJROTCcadetEcho]

14. corporate greed

Corporate greed is disgusting!

[mwooldri]

16. Does the designation "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" exist in CA?

This is the first time I've heard of this... and apart from Wallyworld, who else would benefit from this bypass? How bad is the traffic on the road? No public consultation? No alternative routes offered? Wouldn't the Willits area count as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty? Or a Site of Special Scientific Interest? Sometimes the best way to improve things is to leave them alone.

I know some protests are more NIMBY-er than others, but this protest is definitely not NIMBY. It's not about the by-pass ... it's about the environmental damage being done with this project.

And as for using money already set aside to alleviate congestion - I recommend that the areas of congestion are found and use the money for that. From what I saw on the TV news video, Willits is hardly "congested".

I hope the protesters get their way. There's a right way to do it and there's a wrong way... CA Dept of Trans. seem to be doing it the wrong way. Shots fired? Beating up Old Age Pensioners? Grrrr....

[Bennyboy]

18. Well, partially false there...

The center of Willits is very congested. on a weekend, it can take an hour to go through the one stoplight. Smart people such as myself know to go to one or two blocks to the east and bypass it through the other streets in town however.

There were alternative routes proposed but they never made it. Caltrans has made this the plan since the get go even though there have been many other better and less expensive alternatives proposed.

See the thing is the town relies on people going through it. the store at the corner, Ardellas, the hippie shops and all the other cool places there get ALL of theri money from people traveling through there. Right now I bet the town is packed with kate wolf festival in laytonville going on this weekend. I know people right in the Q right now in fact. So at least ther will be a lot of attention thrown to the deal there..... and that people that don't know what is going on and coming up there will get a huge dose of that I bet.