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Safe Space works to overcome hurdles to intake Unhoused people may be stranded during storm

photo by Karen Laslo

Safe Space volunteers checked in people who needed shelter during an intake held near the municipal center last winter.

by Leslie Layton & Natalie Hanson
posted Nov. 20

The nonprofit organization Safe Space is working to get emergency night-time sheltering available by Christmas Day as unhoused people struggle with this week’s downpour.

Forecasts were indicating that up to 10 inches of rain were possible in Chico between today and the end of the week, as well as localized flooding. Safe Space Executive Director Hilary Crosby said outreach teams were on the streets handing out tarps and making sure homeless community members “knew about the storm coming through.” read more

Big money plays big role in effort to seat conservative Council candidates Grassroots campaigning helps build Goldstein's campaign fund

photo by Yucheng Tang

Mike O’Brien speaks at a candidates’ forum.

by Natalie Hanson
posted Oct. 21

Chico’s City Council races have become clearly divided between grassroots campaigns that rely on small donors and campaigns funded by wealthy outside interests.

Liberal-leaning candidates rely heavily on door-to-door canvassing and fundraising events. But meanwhile, the hefty financial advantage enjoyed by conservative-leaning candidates has helped drive a strong presence for them throughout the city, from campaign signs to advertising. Conservative-leaning and Republican candidates have long held access to some of the bigger wallets in the region, including in the last City Council race which brought about a 6-1 conservative majority. read more

Election campaigning targets the vulnerable Some candidates rely on racist tropes or discriminatory language

photo courtesy of Yee campaign

District 1 candidate Rose Yee attending the Democratic National Convention.

by Natalie Hanson
posted Sept. 4

As racist and discriminatory speech become commonplace in electoral campaigns, candidates and campaign organizers are calling for a response. In Butte County and elsewhere, some would like elected officials to speak against discrimination and in favor of protecting marginalized Californians.

On a recent panel convened by Ethnic Media Services, organizers said that anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Republican Party is growing. Panelists said that many incumbents and GOP candidates use slurs against migrants, which fuels fear and anger against people who seek a better life in America. read more

Policy critics: Chico’s Climate Action Plan neglected Given weather-related disasters, does the City focus enough on climate change?

photo by Leslie Layton

The City’s updated Climate Action Plan.

by Natalie Hanson
posted Aug. 13

Butte County, facing the Camp Fire, the Dixie Fire, the Park Fire and extreme heat, has been on the frontlines of climate change in recent years. But the City of Chico has not made policies reflecting the urgency of these crises, some say.

Chico’s Climate Action Commission’s role has over time been cut dramatically, and the plans staff put together over years to help plan for a future of climate change have not been properly implemented, say some Chico residents. In their view, a lack of planning for climate change is symptomatic of the City’s unwillingness to make climate change the focus of policy or even fund the work to do so. read more

Chico’s ordinances criminalize homelessness, critics say Winslow: "This is a formula for fire and trash"

photo by Karen Laslo

Chico’s ordinances have long been used to carry out eviction sweeps, like this one at Bidwell Park.

by Natalie Hanson
posted Aug. 8

Civil rights advocates have often accused the City of Chico of creating a “web of ordinances” that target unhoused people.

These advocates say the enforcement of anti-camping ordinances restrict the actions of homeless people by threatening fines, misdemeanor charges or jail time. Unhoused people in Chico have few options for where they may sit or sleep during the day or night or where they may place their property. They may face citations for violations, including for having a vehicle in which they sleep or for pushing a cart of belongings. read more

Irked Zingg backed off $300,000 art donation Former Chico State president wanted name removed from campus Recital Hall

photo courtesy of Natasha Doron/The Orion

Inside Chico State’s recital hall when, in 2017, feminist activist Gloria Steinem spoke.

by Dave Waddell
posted July 31

After Chico State’s spanking new recital hall was christened in 2016, it came as a shock to some faculty that it was named for retiring university President Paul Zingg and his wife.

But today, what was once the Paul and Yasuko Zingg Recital Hall goes by the stripped-down name of Recital Hall.

Why did the university quietly remove the name of its former president?

The short of it is that Paul Zingg, in 2021, feeling ignored by the university he long led and disrespected by his successor, came to want it that way. He also wanted back the art collection, appraised at more than $300,000, that he had gifted to Chico State’s Janet Turner Print Museum as part of the naming deal. read more