[Vision2020] Four arrested at megaload protest in Moscow
Moscow Cares
moscowcares at moscow.com
Fri Aug 26 11:26:46 PDT 2011
I am currently uploading a video to YouTube that starts with the "Wide Load Ahead" vehicle and ends with . . . well . . . you know.
Seeya round town, Moscow.
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change and the Realist adjusts his sails."
- Unknown
On Aug 26, 2011, at 10:36, Dave <tiedye at turbonet.com> wrote:
> Apparently the DN reporters can't count. There were six arrested, not four.
>
> Somewhat better the the Trib. though. According to them there were only a dozen protesters when there were actually about two hundred.
>
> Dave
>
>> Megaload moves out for Moscow and beyond
>>
>> Friday, August 26, 2011 9:42 AM
>>
>> (Source: Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho)<cimage.nsp>By Elaine Williams, Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
>> Aug. 26--The stars in a summer sky were among the only witnesses to the departure of the first Imperial Oil megaload to go through Moscow.
>>
>> The load left the Port of Lewiston at 10:05 p.m. Thursday, following a couple of honks that signaled the start of its journey.
>>
>> Wild Idaho Rising Tide, an anti-megaload group, had previously announced plans to watch it leave Lewiston and protest it in Moscow.
>>
>> The monitors were heading to Lewiston, said Helen Yost, an organizer with the group in Moscow, who couldn't confirm they'd arrived.
>>
>> About a dozen people gathered in Moscow by 10 p.m. to oppose the oversized load and at least two dozen more were expected, Yost said.
>>
>> Allowing loads to use north central Idaho's roads is a bad idea for a variety of reasons, Yost said.
>>
>> The extraction process in the tar sands where the load is headed hurts the ecosystem, Yost said.
>>
>> In doing so, they affect the lives of indigineous Canadians who have a subsistence lifestyle of hunting and fishing, Yost said.
>>
>> "This is a blatant exploitation of the public resources of Idahoans and Americans," Yost said. "These heavy, long loads coming through will damage our roads and bridges."
>>
>> Imperial Oil has stated previously the impact of the oversized hauls is similar to that of regular semi tractor-trailers because of how the weight is distributed per axle.
>>
>> Two calls to Imperial Oil late Thursday night were not immediately returned.
>>
>> Idaho State Police took no extra security measures. The same four officers that accompanied five previous megaloads that used U.S. Highway 12 earlier in the year went with the rig heading on U.S. Highway 95 to the Palouse, said Capt. Lonnie Richardson of ISP. Their overtime is paid for by Imperial Oil.
>>
>> The 24-foot-wide, 14-foot-high and 208-foot-long rig was carrying a piece of a processing plant to be built at the Kearl Oil Sands in Alberta, Canada.
>>
>> Idaho Transportation Department rules require it to pull over every 15 minutes to allow cars to pass, and limit its travel times to between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.
>>
>> It was supposed to get as far at the Latah/Benewah County line by early this morning, and then resume traveling after 10 p.m. today to a stopping point 15 miles east of Coeur d'Alene on Interstate 90. On the third segment of its Idaho journey, it was expected to reach the Montana state line.
>>
>> The component that moved Thursday was among 33 that arrived at the Port of Lewiston in the fall and were converted to about 70 shorter hauls at a cost of almost $500,000 each. The work made it possible for them to navigate underneath interstate overpasses.
>>
>> Originally the 33 were part of a group of 207 loads Imperial Oil wanted get across Idaho on U.S. 12.
>>
>> Imperial Oil chose to modify the cargo after it took longer than the oil company anticipated to get permits to move them on U.S. 12. The delays occurred because opponents successfully insisted they get a chance to testify in a formal proceeding before ITD made any final decision on the issue.
>>
>> So far, ITD has granted permission for only one Imperial Oil shipment to take U.S. 12, a test module in the same dimensions and weight as the largest of the proposed shipments. A court case brought by Missoula County commissioners and three environmental groups has, so far, blocked Imperial Oil's efforts to use U.S. 12 in Montana.
>>
>> In the meantime, Imperial Oil is finding other ways to get the Korean-made components to Canada, bypassing the Port of Lewiston after they arrive at the Port of Vancouver.
>>
>> Sixty are able to use a mostly interstate route through Washington, Idaho and Montana without any fabrication. At least 49 more have been staged at the Port of Pasco for a four-lane highway and interstate route through the three states.
>>
>> Williams may be contacted at ewilliam at lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
>>
>
>
> On 08/26/2011 08:01 AM, Tom Hansen wrote:
>>
>> Courtesy of today's (August 26, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Four arrested at megaload protest in Moscow
>>
>> At least four people were arrested early Friday morning in downtown Moscow as protesters sat cross-legged in front of the 413,600-poundmegaload making its way north on Washington Street.
>>
>> Several of the protesters passively resisted arrest, and law enforcement officers crammed limp bodies into a Latah County Sheriff’s Office van.
>> Some who weren’t arrested yelled and made lewd gestures at police and the megaload convoy, while counterprotesters called for law enforcement to make arrests and get people out of the crosswalk.
>>
>> The nighttime protest started out relatively slowly, with a small group of people gathering outside the Pie Hole restaurant at Second and Washington streets around 10 p.m. Thursday.
>> Starting around 10:30 p.m., the protesters began marching through downtown Moscow with the Moscow Volunteer Peace Band.
>>
>> By the time the megaload rolled through downtown Moscow shortly after midnight, hundreds of protesters, counterprotesters and spectators lined Washington Street.
>>
>> Greg Larson, a Latah County resident, smeared black paint on his face and carried a large sign reading “Mega ugly.”
>>
>> “Ultimately, I don’t have to make a moral statement, but an aesthetic one,” he said. “(The oil sands project in Canada) is just too ugly.”
>> He said he was tired after getting off work Thursday but felt a duty to protest.
>>
>> “If they can do that in Syria, I can do this in Moscow,” he said.
>>
>> University of Idaho law student Al Baker and a group of his friends stood on a corner opposite the protesters, holding signs supporting the megaloads and oil sands project.
>>
>> He said he didn’t think the megaload was something worth protesting, given the amount of work done to determine the feasibility of its travel plan.
>>
>> Fellow counterprotester and law student Reed Colten said the oil sands project didn’t concern him.
>>
>> “Have you been to the gas station lately?” he asked. “The more oil, the better.”
>>
>> Jennifer Emerson, a UI senior studying environmental science, said she protested the megaload because she is opposed to the oil sands project.
>>
>> “It’s one of the most environmentally destructive practices on the planet,” she said, holding a sign that said “Heart of the monster.”
>>
>> Marcie Miller said her husband, Greg Freistadt, in addition to Bill French, Brett Haverstick and Vince Murray were among the protesters arrested early Friday morning.
>>
>> Helen Yost, community organizer for Wild Idaho Rising Tide, said several protesters were going to the Latah County Jail to keep in touch with those incarcerated.
>>
>> “Wild Idaho Rising Tide organized the event, but we were amazed and surprised that so many showed up,” she said. “We’re very proud of Moscow. We think this has been the most successful direct confrontation with the megaload in the entire Northwest.”
>>
>> Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney said she was saddened by the passing of the megaload through Moscow to the Alberta Tar Sands, but felt the protest was successful.
>>
>> “I thought the protest was peaceful and powerful,” she said. “I think law enforcement, from my observations, handled it well,” she said.
>> Chaney said she hopes Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil will consider an alternative route from the Port of Pasco up U.S. Highway 395 then Interstate 90 through Washington and Idaho and into Montana to Interstate 15.
>>
>> “I think that is a far more rational route than taking a two-lane, deteriorating highway through rural Idaho towns,” she said.
>>
>> Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil says it plans to transport at least 60 shipments from the Port of Lewiston up U.S 95 and I-90, though not every load will be of this size, which was 24-feet wide, 14-feet tall and 208-feet long.
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Stay tuned, V-peeps.
>>
>> I will have photos and videos available online later today.
>>
>> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>>
>> Tom Hansen
>> Moscow, Idaho
>>
>> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>>
>> - Unknown
>>
>>
>> =======================================================
>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>> http://www.fsr.net
>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>> =======================================================
>
> --
> Windows, OSX, or Linux is the same choice as:
> McDonald's, Burger King, or a (real) Co-Op.
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20110826/497d59c3/attachment.html
More information about the Vision2020
mailing list