PAC backing Chico conservatives banking big bucks Police union, businessman help bring total funds to $43,000

by Dave Waddell

Chico’s police union and a longtime businessman have supplied big bucks to bolster a political action committee (PAC) trying to keep conservatives in control of Chico city government.

A $5,000 donation from the Chico Police Officers’ Association, as well as Tom Dauterman’s unusually large $10,000 contribution, were booked in recent days by the PAC, called Chico Citizens for Accountable Government (CCAG).

CCAG reported raising $22,000 during the first half of October, more than doubling its 2018 fund-raising to a total of $43,000 through Oct. 16. CCAG is working to elect incumbent Andrew Coolidge and newcomers Kasey Reynolds and Matt Gallaway to the Chico City Council. Even before the October infusion of fresh money, the three conservatives and CCAG together had raised more than $200,000. read more

Fewer officers overall attend Butte crisis training ‘Memphis Model’ in county has been ‘opportunity lost’

photo by Dave Waddell

Sal Ventura

by Dave Waddell

During a period in which five people were killed by law enforcement in Butte County, overall attendance at the county’s annual week-long training program in crisis intervention has been in steep decline.

However, the Chico Police Department – roundly criticized for past absences at crisis intervention trainings – has stepped up participation since the killing of Desmond Phillips, a young black man in mental crisis.

Chico PD sent six officers Oct. 8-12 to the ninth annual Butte County Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, which was sponsored by Butte College and is patterned after the so-called Memphis Model approach to the treatment by police of individuals in mental crisis. read more

Out of Darkness becomes a Chico tradition Annual downtown walk promotes suicide prevention

photo by Jessica Lewis

by Jessica Lewis

A crowd of people hold hands in a circle around the City Plaza on Oct. 13, bowing their heads as the song “1-800-273-8255” by Logic rings over speakers through downtown, referencing the suicide prevention hotline and marking the end to the ninth annual Chico Out of the Darkness walk.

“I found out about the Out of the Darkness walk because I participated in the Sacramento one after losing a friend to suicide in high school. I went for a few years, and then was like ‘why don’t we have one of these in Chico?’ There were other people that felt the same way and so we started the Chico walk in 2010,” said Ariel Ellis, co-chair for the Out of the Darkness walk and board member for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. read more

Council passes new Sit and Lie Ordinance Ordinance opponents stage quiet protest; one detention

photo by Karen Laslo

Audience members turn their backs on the Council in protest.

by Leslie Layton

About 20 opponents of a law that bans sidewalk lounging near businesses turned their backs on Chico City Council Tuesday night as it voted 4-3 to reinstate the so-called Sit and Lie Ordinance.

The protest was quiet and emphatic and different in character from the orchestrated disruptions at the Sept. 4 City Council meeting when Mayor Sean Morgan ordered the chamber cleared and the panel proceeded to advance the ordinance in an almost empty auditorium. (ChicoSol journalists were barred from that meeting.) read more

Chico police didn’t ask for return of Sit and Lie law Councilman Coolidge resurrected contentious ordinance

photo by Karen Laslo

Councilman Andrew Coolidge

news analysis by Dave Waddell

Contrary to Chico’s latest urban legend – one sparked and fanned by certain news media and politicians in the midst of a City Council election campaign — Chico police did not “ask” for the highly controversial Sit and Lie Ordinance to be resurrected.

The distinction of raising Sit and Lie from the dead belongs to a single individual: City Councilman Andrew Coolidge, who’s seeking re-election in the Nov. 6 balloting.

The current Council, controlled by a 4-3 conservative majority, is expected to restore the Sit and Lie Ordinance to city law at its meeting tonight – three weeks before the election, and as voters are receiving their mail-in ballots. The ordinance outlaws sitting or lying on sidewalks next to businesses during certain hours. read more

Senate Confirmation Vote Sanctions Hatred of Women point of view

photo by Karen Laslo

Counter-protester at Chico Women’s March 2018

by Karen Laslo

I saw him standing on the corner of 4th and Main streets in downtown Chico on January 20th during this year’s Women’s March for Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Unity. His sign and the sneering smile on his face told me what he thinks of women.

Particularly offensive is the sign’s reference to a speculum, a medical instrument used for examinations that saves women’s lives, but here he was using it and the humiliating “C” word to abuse, denigrate, insult and express his hatred of women. And contrary to the sign’s assertion, women don’t want “extra rights.” We want — no, we demand — that the laws of human rights that already exist be enforced: namely, the right to govern our own bodies and the right to not be sexually harassed, raped and/or physically abused by men. read more