The trees finally come down for the new Cal Berkeley athletic complex

[Mojo Rising]

These protestors, the majority not even students at Cal (it's hard to attend class from a tree) have been there for 2 years. Crews wil be working all weekend to cut down every tree they can before the court opens on Monday.

These protestors threw fesces and urine on workers last month. I will be glad when this is over and Cal finally will have an adequate facility. The NFL stadiums in the Bay Area are the bottom 3 in the NFL. Cal's is worse.

To make things interesting The Dave Matthews Band is playing at The Greek Theatre on campus. I can hear his protests now to his likely left audience. Keep in mind his tour bus dumped their latrine in a river while leaving Chicago.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAEE12P1DP.DTL

UC Berkeley today began clearing the Memorial Stadium oak grove where tree-sitting protesters have been camped for nearly two years in an attempt to block construction of a sports training facility there.

Arborists wielding saws began thinning a portion of the grove as several dozen protesters shouted from the median on nearby Piedmont Avenue. The action came a day after a state appeals court refused two groups' request to stop the project.

"It's surreal to see the grove finally be cut down, after so much energy and effort and spirit was put into protecting it," said Daria Garina, a UC Berkeley junior and supporter of the tree-sitters. "It's tragic and awful."

Workers in two cherry-pickers stripped most of the branches off the redwood where the tree-sitters reside, while the protesters swatted them with sticks.

A worker was struck on the head by a bottle from the tree-sitters' perch but was able to continue trimming, officials said.

UC plans to remove some of the larger trees today but has no immediate plans to forcibly remove the four remaining tree-sitters, campus spokesman Dan Mogulof said.

A group of oak tree advocates and a Berkeley Hills neighborhood group planned to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.