Berkeley, Calif.
Tree-sitters battle police: California authorities this week ratcheted up efforts to oust a band of protesters blocking construction of a new sports training center at the University of California, Berkeley. For the past six months, protesters have camped in tree houses in a grove of oaks that the university wants to cut down, to make room for the facility. Campus police this week cut several ropes used to haul supplies to the tree-sitters and tried to dismantle some of the structures. But protesters fended off police by throwing buckets of urine on them. University officials say they’re not giving up. “The university has been tolerant,” said school spokesman Dan Mogulof, “and that tolerance is coming to an end.”
Los Angeles
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Judge’s porn hoard: A high-profile obscenity case ended in a mistrial this week, after the presiding judge admitted to maintaining a website that included pornographic images. Judge Alex Kozinski, a scholarly libertarian conservative often mentioned as a potential Supreme Court candidate, withdrew from the case and declared the mistrial after the Los Angeles Times published an article about Kozinski’s personal website. Tucked away in the site, the paper reported, was a folder accessible to the public containing images of masturbation, public sex, and other graphic sexual acts. Kozinski, 57, says he thought the folder was shielded from public view by a password. Kozinski was presiding over the trial of Ira Isaacs, who faces obscenity charges for allegedly making films featuring scenes of bestiality and defecation.
Baltimore
Mayor’s home raided: State police this week raided the home of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, raising the stakes in a far-reaching investigation into municipal corruption. For two years, the Maryland attorney general has been examining questionable spending at City Hall, netting guilty pleas from Dixon’s former campaign manager and a city contractor who employed Dixon’s sister. The investigation now threatens to derail the career of the city’s first female mayor, a Democrat, who has received national attention for her efforts to reduce gun violence and homelessness. Backers claim she’s the victim of a politically motivated “witch hunt” by an ambitious Republican prosecutor.
Charlotte, N.C.
Five dead husbands: Charlotte police this week said that a 76-year-old woman accused of plotting to kill her fourth husband years ago may also have killed her first three husbands, as well as her fifth. Betty Neumar was charged just last month with hiring a hit man in 1986 to kill her husband at the time, Thomas Harold Gentry. That case was reopened after a relentless campaign by Gentry’s brother, who suspected Neumar. In the course of their investigation, police discovered that three of her previous husbands, and one subsequent one, had also died suddenly under mysterious circumstances. Police in those jurisdictions have now been notified. “It appears that after each husband, she moved on,” said Detective Scott Williams. “So she could just tell any story she wanted to tell.” Neumar has pleaded innocent in the 1986 murder.
Westmore, Vt.
Nude beach flap: Southwest Cove, a “clothing optional” beach located in pristine northeastern Vermont, has been featured for years in nudist travel guides. But now, some local residents have seen enough; they have launched a drive to ban nudity at the town’s lakeside beach. “You want to be naked in private, fine,” said resident Tony Strange. “I just don’t want you to prance around like a puffed-up chicken in front of my kids.” Others say the beach is “family-friendly,” and they vow to fight the proposed ban when it comes before town selectmen next week. Many don’t see what all the fuss is about. “I just don’t go down there,” said resident Bob Drew, 75. “Most of them are fat old men like me.”
Washington, D.C.
Obama staff shuffle: Barack Obama’s presidential campaign jolted supporters of Hillary Clinton last week by hiring former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle as chief of staff to Obama’s as-yet-unnamed running mate. Clinton and Solis Doyle reportedly haven’t spoken since February, when she was fired following a string of primary defeats. Angry Clinton supporters said the hiring amounted to a blunt message that Obama would not tap Clinton as his running mate. Obama last week also accepted the resignation of Jim Johnson, who had headed his vice presidential search committee. Johnson came under widespread criticism for accepting cut-rate loans from Countrywide Financial, a controversial subprime mortgage lender.
