OAKLAND -- Protesters tore down fencing Saturday at two plazas that had been scheduled for renovation, calling the action a "liberation" of public space.

The group used bolt cutters to remove the chain-link fences around St. Andrews Plaza on San Pablo Avenue at 32nd Street, and Bishop Floyd L. Begin Plaza at 22nd Street and San Pablo, where someone spray-painted "no fences, no walls, no borders."

The plazas, located in West Oakland, have been longtime haunts for local residents and the homeless, and the subject of complaints by residents upset over drug use and public drunkenness.

Fence torn down at plaza at 22nd at MLK and San Pablo Ave. (David DeBolt)

Fences were put up as recently as Thursday at St. Andrews Plaza to prepare for grant-funded renovation projects, city leaders said. By noon Saturday, locals were back at the San Pablo Avenue plaza, where a man who identified himself as David cut hair with clippers for $5 a cut, using a toothbrush as a comb, while members of New Hope Baptist Church handed out spaghetti and salad meals as they do every Saturday.

"I never seen anyone (from the city) come out here and talk to the community," said David, who refused to give his last name. "To me, this is my park. 'Bout time someone stood up."

Oakland Public Works Agency spokeswoman Kristine Shaff said the fences will be replaced.

"We are constantly trying to balance all these needs and wishes and wants and styles and it's really tricky," said Shaff, referencing Oakland's diverse community. "We have our fair share of conflict or where we come up against one another, differences of opinion.

"We don't always get it right the first time. We keep trying."

David DeBolt covers breaking news. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt.

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Protester tear down fences at Oakland plazas slated for renovation

Today at Fairyhouse, at least as far as Im concerned, is all about Un de Sceaux in the two-mile beginners chase.

He made his debut over fences at Thurles last month and arrived with an impeccable record, unbeaten in nine previous races.

Un de Sceaux went off at very prohibitive odds then and, for most of the journey, looked certain to deliver one more time.

Heading to the third last we were cruising along in front and must have held the guts of a 20 lengths lead. But then calamity struck and Un De Sceaux went at the obstacle.

Thankfully, he was largely unscathed and so very much lives to fight another day. Truth to tell that mistake at Thurles was the only one he has made since we started him off over fences.

He has schooled really well since and, to be brutally honest, Im expecting this to be relatively straightforward.

Val de Ferbet makes his debut over fences in the three-mile beginners chase and I am nowhere near as confident regarding his prospects.

The ex-French horse performed twice for Willie Mullins last season, running a shocker first time up at Limerick and then doing somewhat better when fourth at the Punchestown festival.

But neither display, however, matched his excellent home work. Hes also working well now and the trip will suit, but has got to do it on the track.

Uradel, in the three-year-old maiden hurdle, is my third ride of the day and he certainly has plenty to prove as well.

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Un de Sceaux should make no mistake this time

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Updated: Friday, 19 Dec 2014 14:50 | Comments Un De Sceaux wins The Star Best for Racing Coverage Novice Hurdle at Punchestown last year

Willie Mullins is keeping his fingers crossed Un De Sceaux can learn to be less extravagant in the jumping department as he bids to get off the mark over fences at the second attempt at Fairyhouse on Saturday.

The free-going six-year-old won each of his seven starts over hurdles, more often than not blowing his rivals away with awesome displays from the front.

He looked set to continue that trend on his chasing debut at Thurles last month, but failed to organise himself on landing after jumping the third fence from the finish and parted company with Ruby Walsh.

Un De Sceaux, second only to esteemed stable companion Vautour in ante-post lists for the Arkle Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival, will be a long odds-on favourite to put that recent mishap behind him this weekend.

"Everyone likes to see horses stand off fences and clear them by miles and that was what he was doing (at Thurles) until he made a mistake," said Mullins.

"Hopefully it might have taught him something. Horses need to be able to go in short and pop one every now and then, like Vautour did at Navan."

Walsh has schooled Un De Sceaux since his Thurles tumble and reports him to have suffered no ill effects.

"He schooled over eight fences last week and was super. He was unlucky to fall. It was just a novicey fall and he jumped super up until that. His jumping wouldn't be a concern to me at the moment," Walsh told Racing UK.

"He seems in really good form."

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Stanford Kirshtein/Provided Sullivan's Island resident Stanford Kirshtein photographs coyotes at night using a remote camera placed on a fence at his home near Station 26.

SULLIVAN'S ISLAND - Taller fences to discourage coyotes may still be allowed here but first the idea must get Planning Commission approval.

Town Council on Tuesday night voted to send to the Commission a proposal to allow residents to have seven-foot-tall fences.

Currently, residential fences can be up to five-feet tall.

Residents have said they would like the option of enclosing backyards with taller fences to better protect pets and even children, although there have been no reports of the animals threatening people.

In the meantime, the town has encouraged people to report coyote sightings to police.

"A lot of people are seeing them very often. We want to hear about it," Councilman Pat O'Neil said.

Several people spoke on the coyote issue Tuesday night at the council meeting.

"These are invasive animals. They do not belong here and they are decimating everything on this island," Wayne Stelljes told the Council.

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Taller fences to deter coyotes goes to Sullivan's Planning Commission

VATICAN CITY (AP) A sweeping Vatican investigation into Roman Catholic nuns in the U.S. that began amid fears they had become too feminist and secular ended up praising the sisters for their selfless work caring for the poor a major shift in tone that reflected the social justice mindset of Pope Francis.

The overwhelmingly positive report Tuesday also promised to value their "feminine genius" more, while gently suggesting ways to serve the church faithfully and survive amid a steep drop in their numbers. It was cheered by the American sisters themselves, dozens of whom swarmed the Vatican news conference announcing the results in a rare occasion of women outnumbering men at the Vatican.

"There is an encouraging and realistic tone in this report," Sister Sharon Holland told reporters. "Challenges are understood, but it is not a document of blame, or of simplistic solutions. One can read the text and feel appreciated and trusted to carry on."

The report was most remarkable for what it didn't say, given the criticism of American religious life that prompted the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI to launch the investigation in 2009.

There was no critique of the nuns, no demands that they shift their focus from social justice to emphasize Catholic teaching on abortion, no condemnation that a feminist, secular mentality had taken hold in their ranks.

Rather, while offering a sobering assessment of the difficult state of American congregations, the report praised the sisters' dedication and reaffirmed their calling in a reflection of the pastoral tone characteristic of history's first Jesuit pope.

It was a radically different message than that of another Vatican office that investigated an umbrella group of the sisters' leaders.

That investigation, conducted by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, resulted in a Vatican takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in 2012. The doctrine office determined that the LCWR, which represents the leaders of 80 percent of U.S. nuns, took positions that undermined church teaching and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

The Vatican's congregation for religious orders has long sought to distinguish its broad investigation into the quality of life of American sisters from the more narrow doctrinal assessment carried out by the orthodoxy office.

But both investigations began within months of one another and resulted in tremendous feelings of betrayal and insult from the sisters.

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Vatican offers olive branch to US nuns

An unprecedented Vatican investigation of U.S. women's religious orders that alarmed Roman Catholic sisters when the inquiry began years ago ended Tuesday with a report signaling a softer approach under Pope Francis.

The report praised sisters for their selfless work caring for the poor and promised to value their "feminine genius" more, while gently suggesting ways to serve the church faithfully and survive amid a steep drop in their numbers. There was no direct critique of the nuns, nor any demand for them to change only requests that they ensure their ministries remain "in harmony with Catholic teaching."

"There is an encouraging and realistic tone in this report," said Sister Sharon Holland, head of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the umbrella organization for most U.S. religious orders. "Challenges are understood, but it is not a document of blame, or of simplistic solutions. One can read the text and feel appreciated and trusted to carry on."

The laudatory language contrasted sharply with the atmosphere in which the review started under Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Franc Rode, who in 2008 initiated the nationwide study when he led the Vatican office that oversees religious orders, said there was concern about "a certain secular mentality that has spread in these religious families and, perhaps, also a certain 'feminist' spirit."

Rode left the post while the review was still under way, and his successors had said they wanted a friendlier relationship with the sisters.

Still, many nuns remained concerned about the outcome of the investigation under Francis' still-young pontificate. Some nuns had taken legal steps during the inquiry to shield the financial assets of their religious orders in case of a Vatican takeover.

The report expressed hope that sisters would take "this present moment as an opportunity to transform uncertainty and hesitancy into collaborative trust" with the church hierarchy. Many sisters have complained that their work often went unrecognized by priests and requested improved dialogue with bishops to clarify their role in the church and give them greater voice in decisions, according to the report.

Before the news conference releasing the report in Rome, leaders for the sisters and the nun who oversaw the review, Mother Mary Clare Millea, attended the pope's daily Mass in the Vatican hotel where he lives and spoke with him briefly, where he offered his blessing.

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, based in Maryland, said in a statement the document signaled "a hope for future dialogue and communion among and between women religious and church leaders."

"The report is clearly focused on cooperation. It's clearly focused on dialogue, which I think is not necessarily what people expected back in 2008 when this issue came up," said Jana Bennett, a specialist in Catholic theology and ethics at the University of Dayton, Ohio.

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Vatican signals new tone on US nuns