The Establishment and the Carb: Coffee with Mike McGuire

Asking the difficult question
by Allan Stellar | Posted January 11, 2026
Sen. Mike McGuire is running for the seat once occupied by Rep. Doug LaMalfa in a district that has been redrawn. Photo by Allan Stellar.

Editor: Mike McGuire of Healdsburg, Audrey Denney of Chico and Kyle Wilson of Santa Rosa are running for Congress to represent the redrawn District 1 that includes Butte County.

A couple of days ago, I received a text from the Mike McGuire campaign asking if I wanted to attend an event. I was curious about Mike, so I followed the link, where I found I had to “apply” to attend by providing my name and a sample question.

I filled out the form, providing various forms of identification. The question I submitted was: “Can he think outside of the box?” read more

Chico joins nationwide “ICE Out for Good” protests

by Leslie Layton | Posted January 10, 2026
Alan and Diane Silver. Photo by Leslie Layton

Chico protesters showed up today — in concert with anti-ICE rallies underway across the nation — with cardboard and printed signs, with costumes and canes, with walkers and strollers, to express outrage, disgust and anguish over recent shootings.

In the wake of the shooting that killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, more than 1,000 people participated in the Chico protest that first swarmed the entrance to Children’s Park and then spread out to line the Esplanade down to East Washington Avenue. They carried signs denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Trump administration and fascism. read more

Vigil held for Minneapolis woman killed by ICE

by Leslie Layton | Posted January 7, 2026
Megan Windeler at the Jan. 7 vigil. Photo by Leslie Layton

About 35 Chico-area residents gathered at City Plaza this evening in a vigil for Renee Nicole Good, the woman who was killed earlier in the day by an immigration officer in Minneapolis.

The demonstrators gathered with candles and alternately sang and spoke about the need to organize and protest in the wake of the killing by an officer from Immigration, Customs & Enforcement (ICE). Good, who was 37, and according to reports was a U.S. citizen, was driving a maroon-colored SUV when she was approached by officers and then shot. read more

Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies in 7th term

Longtime Rep. LaMalfa was controversial in Chico
by Leslie Layton | Posted January 6, 2026
Congressman LaMalfa at the Chico town hall in August 2025. Photo courtesy of Karen Laslo.

District 1’s congressman, 65-year-old rice farmer Doug LaMalfa, died early today after suffering an aneurysm and heart attack, according to media reports.

The Richvale Republican was serving his seventh term in the House in a district that has a conservative voter majority and includes rural North State counties like Butte, Yuba, Shasta and Siskiyou. LaMalfa had served on  the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Transportation committees and was a steadfast Trump loyalist. read more

U.S. justifies invasion with revised propaganda

Commentary: Opposition to Venezuela assault grows
by Leslie Layton | Posted January 4, 2026
Zander and Griffin Renzi joined the Jan. 3 downtown Chico protest that attracted 53 people. Photo courtesy of Karen Laslo.

In the 1980s, many of us who are old enough to remember watched with horror as the United States funded the right-wing government in the Salvadoran civil war that collaborated with death squads.

We watched the U.S. government launch a counter-revolution in Nicaragua, shredding the idealistic hopefulness that fueled the rise of the Sandinistas. We watched the 1983 Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada and the 1989 removal of Panama’s ruler Manuel Noriega. read more