Teisha Hase, a “child advocate,” assumes trustee seat "There needs to be a focus on mental health"

photo courtesy of Teisha Hase

by Natalie Hanson
posted Jan. 11

Editor’s note: Gayle Olsen and Teisha Hase joined the Chico Unified School District (CUSD) board this month after winning seats in the Nov. 5 General Election. Read our Q-and-A with Olsen here and our Q-and-A with Hase below. Read our sidebar on policy under the Trump Administration here.

Longtime English and reading educator Teisha Hase is taking her dedication to students to the next level as she assumes her seat on the CUSD board representing Trustee Area 3.

Hase told ChicoSol she’s excited to take on this new journey after 27 years working at Chico and Oroville high schools and tutoring students needing alternative support. Hase, who considers herself a student advocate, has also served as president of the Oroville Secondary Teachers Association (OSTA). read more

New Chico Unified board member prepares for challenges Gayle Olsen: "Every student learns differently"

photo courtesy of Gayle Olsen

by Natalie Hanson
posted Jan. 11

Editor’s note: Gayle Olsen and Teisha Hase joined the Chico Unified School District’s (CUSD) school board this month after winning seats in the Nov. 5 General Election. This Q-and-A with Olsen is the first story in a two-part series. And read our sidebar on what policy under the Trump Administration could look like here.

Gayle Olsen is no stranger to the challenge of fighting for resources for the most vulnerable students.

Now that she’s won the race for a seat on the board in Trustee Area 2, she said she’s ready to leverage that experience to fight for many more students. read more

Controversial Tuscan Ridge rolls forward County supes vote in favor of Skyway housing project

photo by Yucheng Tang
Butte County’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to move forward with Tuscan Ridge, but developer Mark West still has to meet conditions of approval.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Jan. 3

Butte County’s supervisors have approved the controversial Tuscan Ridge housing project on the south side of Skyway, but the developer must still jump hurdles related to water, sewer and drainage.

The supervisors voted 4-1 Dec. 10 to move a project forward that will plant 165 single-family homes where the Tuscan Ridge Golf Course was once located between Chico and Paradise. After the Camp Fire, the site housed the PG&E base camp. The entire 163-acre project area will include six commercial lots and houses that are between 3,000 and 20,000 square feet in size. read more

Chico man suspected of arson in Mansion fire Arraignment scheduled for Jan. 6

Cal State Parks asks that people who have photos or video related to the Mansion fire scan the QR code to submit information to the CAL FIRE Evidence Submission Portal.

by Leslie Layton
posted Jan. 3

A Chico man, Kevin Alexander Carlson, 30, was jailed Jan. 2 in connection with the fire that virtually destroyed the city’s Bidwell Mansion. Carlson faces arraignment on what are likely to be felony arson charges at 3 p.m. Jan. 6.

A California State Parks press release issued today said Carlson was arrested Jan. 2. “CAL FIRE investigators found clear indicators pointing to an intentional act and on Dec. 17, determined the cause to be arson,” the statement says in reference to the Dec. 11 early morning fire. read more

Sheriff: school’s “vulnerability” exploited by gunman DA: Suspect had history of mental health problems

photo by Yucheng Tang
Elias Wolford, one of two shooting victims.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Dec. 19

The Dec. 4 Palermo school shooting that severely injured two kindergarteners appears to fit more under “domestic terrorism” than it would under the hate crime category, says Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey.

Ramsey also indicated, in a recent telephone interview, that he believes the violence was related to the suspect’s mental health problems.

Meanwhile, in a social media post last week, a woman who identifies herself as Debbie Wolford, the grandmother of victim Elias Wolford, said Elias hadn’t had movement of his legs since being hospitalized. In another update this week, a post indicates that Elias had undergone emergency surgery that went well. read more

Deaths of unsheltered people continue in 2024 Safe Space opens winter sheltering

photo by Yucheng Tang
The mural on Park Avenue commemorates Chico-area residents who are usually homeless and have died on the streets or in other public spaces.

by Yucheng Tang & Leslie Layton
posted Dec. 16

A march to commemorate the unhoused who have passed away in a public space will begin at Children’s Park at 4:40 p.m. Dec 21 and conclude at the Our Hands sculpture where a memorial will take place. And Safe Space, the nonprofit that operates seasonal nighttime sheltering, restarted its winter program Dec. 15.

Dec. 21 — the day that has the longest night in a year — is nationwide Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. The first Annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day was commemorated in 1990, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, in order to remember those who have died while experiencing homelessness. There have been between 10 and 18 such deaths in Chico in 2024. read more