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Occupy movement spreads, including to some unlikely Northwest places

It may have started in New York, but now the Occupy movement is reaching to cities around the world and even starting up in small Northwest towns.

"Spokane, Seattle, Auburn, Portland, Salem, Yakima..."

That's Jason Caryl of Pasco. And those are just a few of the places that have started up their own Occupy movements in the Northwest. Others you might not expect are: Occupy Seaside, Oregon and Occupy Idaho Falls.

The movement has been mostly organized on Facebook and Twitter. It has been criticized for being too loose, with no clear message or demands.

Caryl is helping Occupy Tri-Cities. He's an out-of-work union sheet metal worker. He's protesting because he wants a job and he wants to reinstitute the gold standard.

"What you are seeing here is not a bunch of hippies, not a bunch of people that don't have something better to do with their time than just to cause problems," Caryl says. "What you're seeing ia people with suits and ties actually down in the streets saying, 'Hey, I'm a person, and I need to be heard, I haven't had a job.'"

In the Tri-Cities, the protesters are planning to meet up and then march together They haven't decided yet whether to occupy or not occupy something.

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Copyright 2011 Northwest Public Radio

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.