Protester (MI Coalition against Tar Sands) climbs tree near Cassopolis, MI and stops pipeline

from local CBS Affiliate (Wednesday, August 7, 2013) = www.wsbt.com (Reporter Kelly Stopcyzinski): CASS COUNTY -- A Kalamazoo woman spent about nine hours in a tree Wednesday, protesting Enbridge oil pipline construction in Cass County. Police said the woman, who was being called “Felix,” was hoisted into the tree by three other protestors shortly before clearing crews were supposed to knock down that tree and others in the Crane Pond State Game area, east of Cassopolis. The woman, estimated to be about 60 feet up, is with a group known as MI-CATS – the Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands. Shortly after 6 p.m., the Cass County Sheriff's Department indicated in a news release that the woman had come down but said the incident remains under investigation. The case is expected to be forwarded to the Cass County Prosecutor. Demonstrations like that one have prompted Enbridge (a Canadian fossil fuels corporation) to pay the the Berrien County (Michigan) Sheriff's department $65 an hour to patrol its Niles Township staging site at the old Eastgate Shopping Center on Oak Streetin Niles, Michigan. Deputies don’t get paid the whole $65, but the rest of the money covers costs for things like gasoline.