Month: June 2017

ChicoSol to be represented on national conference panel

Editor to speak on covering hate incidents
by Dave Waddell | Posted June 22, 2017
Leslie Layton
Leslie Layton

ChicoSol Editor Leslie Layton will speak Thursday in Phoenix at a panel discussion on covering bigotry, with journalists from publications that rank among the nation’s biggest names in investigative reporting.

Joining Layton to discuss “Investigating Hate” at the 2017 Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference will be Josh Harkinson, a senior reporter at Mother Jones; AC Thompson, a reporter for ProPublica; and Carlos Martinez de la Serna, director of innovation at Univision.

Layton was invited speak at the IRE conference after the publication of a two-part ChicoSol series that explored a hate/free speech controversy engulfing Chico State last semester. read more

Autopsy: Phillips shot 11 times, not 10

Mortal heart wound from sharply downward shot
by Dave Waddell | Posted June 18, 2017
Phillips family photo Desmond Phillips

Phillips family photo

Desmond Phillips

Desmond Phillips, a mentally ill young black man killed by Chico police on March 17, was hit by 11 bullets — not shot 10 times, as Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey has claimed — according to a forensic autopsy report reviewed by ChicoSol.

One of those 11 rounds hit Phillips in the nose and then re-entered his body through his chest, creating a total of 12 gunshot entry wounds, says the autopsy report. That same bullet, which the report says traveled in a downward direction at a “sharp angle,” tore through Phillips’ heart, causing his most grievous wound.

Erica Traverso, a Butte College instructor active in the Justice for Desmond Phillips group, said the autopsy indicates Phillips was in a position akin to kneeling when the deadly shot penetrated his heart. read more

Sycamore Pool finally ready and waiting

57 truckloads of sediment removed
by Karen Laslo | Posted June 14, 2017
photo by Karen Laslo

photo by Karen Laslo

Usually, the park maintenance crew has Sycamore Pool cleaned and ready for use by Memorial Day weekend, the official start of the summer swimming season — but not this year.

Heavy winter storms and a swift spring snow melt brought a greatly increased flow of water down Big Chico Creek, resulting in a pressure and volume of water too great to be accommodated by the underground tunnel the park maintenance crew relies on to divert the creek while it cleans the pool.  Finally, last week when the water flow had calmed, the crew began the yearly cleaning of the pool at the One-Mile Recreation Area. read more

Bigotry, stress, more evident at Chico State

Reporting to national database is "bearing witness"
by Leslie Layton | Posted June 9, 2017
defaced flier

defaced flier

This is the second  story in our “Tracking Hate” series. Our first story,  “CSUC student newspaper sparks hate speech debate,” was posted June 8.

When a Chico State staff member posted her “You Matter” flier on a wall in the Meriam Library stairwell after the Nov. 8, 2016, presidential election, she believed it would convey an uplifting message.

Instead, it was defaced, and the defaced flier circulated on Facebook, to be shared and commented on dozens of times by alarmed staff and other members of the campus community.

The original message said: “No matter the election results, there will always be people who care about you. Whether you are an immigrant, Native American, black, white, trans, straight, gay, Muslim, Christian, or anything in between, you are loved and worthy of love.” read more

CSUC student newspaper sparks hate speech debate

Critics of Chico State's The Orion call for more sensitivity
by ChicoSol staff | Posted June 8, 2017
OrionSign_359_286

This is the first in a two-part series. Part 2 on Chico State’s political climate will be posted June 9.

by Leslie Layton

On a recent Wednesday, Chico State journalism professor Mark Plenke was messaged that he should check the campus newspaper racks. The student-run weekly newspaper, The Orion, had come out earlier that day, and an opinion column was already producing a stream of angry social media responses.

Plenke, the faculty adviser to The Orion, found some 600 newspapers missing from racks in Tehama and Butte halls and rescued them from nearby garbage and recycling bins. The May 10 column by student journalist Roberto Fonseca, “Debunking GSEC Myths,” had already inspired a newspaper theft and was on the verge of sparking a campus debate that would veer from angry threats to culture-wars name-calling to thoughtful discussion. read more