Read Em' and Weap

For those of you that are not up to date on upsetter Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallego, He has planed to file suite on behalf of the people of Humboldt County against Pacific Lumber for fraudulant business practices.
To spice things up a bit local Lumber Company supporters and their big money sponsors have alreay began to congeal efforts for a recall vote.
In the past week locals in Huboldt County have been exposed to a slandering media campagn by Pacific Lumber (subsidary of Maxxam, check out their Dow Jones ind. Avg. These are the big boys) The media Blitz of recent is aiming to those who are willing to buy into the fact that non-violent protestors can be considered a Terroist.
This type of association is obviously very dangerous, and will only serve to increase tensions in the Freshwater fall zone. Not only is it dangerous, but it is extremely disrepectful for our nation. To equate Tree-Sitting's effects with the massive loss and pain real people have indured on 9/11 and since that terrible day could only be viewed as an immature and shameful manipulation of a Global tragedy, for ones own benifit. These types of irresponsible dealings with the public create a genuine fear and tension. Many individual's in the protest lines are subject to constant intimidation. On one side you have all the money in the world, brutes, guns and pepperspray, and on the other you have people chained to tree's using their words as their parents or a positive role model has instilled. So I ask you what is terror?
And now to the point, the following is a Media Release from MENDOCINO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNY's office. This is the "why a large corporation would shake in it's boots". If more polititions like this get into office we might become an honest nation again.

BTW: Tim Stoen, who is mentioned in this article is the assistant D.A. in Humboldt County. Good work gentleman. Poco y' poco.

MENDOCINO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
NEWS RELEASE
Fax: 463-4687

Date: April 9, 2003

DERIDDER AND PRIEST AGREE TO $150,000.00 PENALTY IN DA'S UNFAIR COMPETITION
SUIT

District Attorney Norm Vroman today announced the Superior Court's approval
of a "Final Stipulated Judgment and Permanent Injunction" requiring
defendants William DeRidder and Richard Priest to pay $150,000.00 in
penalties for fraudulent business practices involving timber operations, and
prohibiting them from conducting any timber operations in the coastal
district of California for five years. Payments will be: $5,000.00 to be
paid immediately; $75,000.00 by July 1, 2003; and $70,000.00 by October 1,
2003.

Under the Stipulated Judgment defendants DeRidder and Priest will pay the
$150,000.00 to the Office of the Mendocino County District Attorney, which
will in turn pay $50,000.00 to the Mendocino County Resource Conservation
District ("MCRCD") for habitat improvement and erosion control projects.
MCRCD has agreed to seek double or triple matching funds, all of which will
be utilized in the coastal areas of Mendocino County. The projects shall be
selected in consultation with citizens in the areas impacted by the "less
than 3-acre conversion exemption" timber operations of the defendants. The
coastal areas impacted include Caspar, Gualala, Point Arena, Fort Bragg, and
Comptche.

The Stipulated Judgment is the result of negotiations that took place at
Judge Henry Nelson's suggestion following eleven days of testimony in a
criminal preliminary hearing. The judge was concerned about the drain on
county resources of a preliminary hearing that was still only half over, and
the prospect of a two to three month jury trial.

The District Attorney's office proceeded to file a civil lawsuit for Unfair
Business Practices under the Business and Professions Code, Section 17200
(the "Unfair Competition Law"). Following the Court's approval of the
Stipulated Judgment in the civil lawsuit, the criminal proceedings were
dismissed in the interest of justice.

"This is a major victory for our County," said District Attorney Norm
Vroman. "As a result of this settlement, we obtained a penalty many times
more than we would have received from the criminal proceedings. This
settlement will result in habitat restoration where the timber operations at
issue took place, and will provide money enabling our office to prosecute
other complex environmental and public interest cases in the future."

"I want to thank prosecutor Tim Stoen," said Mr. Vroman, "for the
intelligence and diligence he exemplified in handling this case,
particularly in presenting the complex evidence paving the way for this
Stipulated Judgment."