Month: July 2019

Girl, 11, says she was tackled by Chico cops

Her exposed breasts fueled police vs. kids confrontation
by Dave Waddell | Posted July 28, 2019

photo by Dave Waddell
An 11-year-old girl says she was tackled by officers.

An 11-year-old girl, whose guardian grandparents had asked police to conduct a “welfare check,” says she was tackled by two Chico police officers, leading to an ugly confrontation recently between cops and kids in Bidwell Park.

Teenagers who were at the scene say they were outraged because, as the officers kneed the prone 11-year-old to the dirt, her small top came up to her neck and her breasts were left exposed. In videos of the July 5 incident, the teens can be seen becoming animated over their insistence that her breasts be covered.

“If anybody fights with (the 11-year-old) here, we got her back,” one boy later told ChicoSol.

In a recent television news account, the girl’s grandfather expressed support for the police response. Police Chief Mike O’Brien, while confirming Thursday that an official complaint over the officers’ actions had been submitted, said it had not been made by the grandparents, who did not return a message from ChicoSol seeking comment. O’Brien said the complaint is under review. read more

Teens lead Chico immigration policy protest

High schoolers worry that "history will repeat itself"
by Leslie Layton | Posted July 28, 2019

photo by Leslie Layton
Students from PATCH (Politically Active Teens of Chico High) staffed a voter registration booth.

In matching teal-colored T-shirts, a group of Chico teens Saturday led some 100 people on a downtown march to protest immigration policy and conditions for refugees at the border.

The teens, all of whom are students at Chico High and Inspire School of Arts & Sciences, said they chose teal to reflect the color in the Statute of Liberty torch-holder for a protest designed to recall the conditions that led to the Holocaust.

The protest was titled “March for Freedom: Never Again is Now,” and opened with student and parent speakers at City Plaza downtown.

Jordan Michelena, an organizer who is an Inspire student, said the protest “turned out pretty well for such short notice.”

Jordan’s grandfather fought fascism in World War II. “We can’t let history repeat itself,” she said. read more

Chico State takes the reins in regenerative agriculture

Tiny microbes can help addresses climate change - if we stop killing them
by Richard Roth | Posted July 26, 2019

courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Thomas Jefferson’s improved mouldboard plow.

When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they applied their mouldboard plows to the prairies, to soils that were rich, dark and black. That soil was steaming with mineral and organic carbon — with soil life so small it was invisible to the human naked (unmicroscoped) eye and, hence, to our consciousness. So we ripped into them with gusto, mining this flesh of earth.

The settler-farmers killed the microbes by exposing them to sunlight, erosion, heat and dryness, and they planted monocrops – a single crop like wheat. Or corn. Or walnuts.

The soil’s rich, dark color faded. The soil lost its carbon, its water, its oxygen. The rich, natural, complex collaborative ecologies were replaced by chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides — inputs that continue to strip life from the thin surface of the planet.
We killed everything — plants, animals, insects, microbes. Each living thing other than our single crop was viewed as an enemy, a “competitor,” and we went to war with every tool at hand, stripping the soil of its naturally complex soup of collaborative dynamic life. read more

Protesters hold rally at PG&E forum

Utility giant seeks rate increase in wake of Camp Fire
by Karen Laslo | Posted July 20, 2019

photo by Karen Laslo
“This meeting should be about breaking up PG&E and taking local control,” said protester Susan Sullivan.

Chico area residents spoke at two forums held July 18 on PG&E’s request for a rate increase, and some participated in a rally to protest the utility, which owns the electrical transmission lines that Cal Fire says caused the Camp Fire.

The forums were sponsored by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to take public comment on the request for a rate increase on gas and electricity that would take effect in January 2020. Several people spoke at the second forum at 6 p.m., including Camp Fire survivors, PG&E customers, and environmental and social justice advocates. All spoke against the rate increase.

The CPUC’s Christopher Chow said the Commission will most likely make its decision by the end of this year. However, if the Commission decides to grant the increase, but doesn’t do it until later in 2020, the rate increases could be made retroactive to January of 2020. read more

Sick of gerrymandering? Join California’s redistricting commission

Panel seeks to end political rigging of voting districts
by Mark Hedin | Posted July 18, 2019

Kathay Feng, Common Cause national redistricting director, has championed independent redistricting efforts across the country. Those efforts began with two initiatives California voters passed prior to the 2010 Census, leading to the formation of the state’s Citizens Redistricting Commission, which is now seeking new members.

California is looking for new commissioners to draw its redistricting maps — the maps that define who votes for California’s representatives in Congress, its state Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization members. The deadline is coming up fast to apply for the job, which pays up to $300 per day.

The initial application form takes five minutes to fill out. It’s due by Aug. 9 for the first round of the application process. Find it here.

(The California State Auditor’s office reported today that more than 5,500 Californians have already submitted applications and only .68 percent are from Butte County.)

“This is your chance to shape California’s future by drawing fair district boundaries that serve the best interests of all of the people of California,” said Kathay Feng, national redistricting director for Common Cause, the nonprofit that led the way in creating the commission, the nation’s first, in 2009. read more

Camp Fire housing bill to face final committee hearing

AB 430 doesn't address need for affordable housing or housing in Paradise
by Leslie Layton and Karen Laslo | Posted July 8, 2019

photo by Karen Laslo
AB 430 author James Gallagher, 3rd District assemblyman, at July 3 Senate committee hearing. Gallagher said the bill will create a “narrowly-applied, streamlined” approval process – but whether that streamlining will produce affordable housing is the topic of debate.

Chico-area residents and Butte County leaders spoke at last week’s Senate committee hearing in Sacramento, some in support and some in opposition to Assemblyman James Gallagher’s Camp Fire housing bill that will encourage large-scale development.

Gallagher’s bill, AB 430, was passed July 3 on a 5-1 vote by the Senate’s Environmental Quality Committee and will be the subject of a final committee hearing on July 10. The bill will facilitate housing construction in eight communities by letting builders, in many cases, circumvent review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and by reducing requirements for public hearings for new development.

The Chico City Council voted in May to be removed from AB 430, titled the “Camp Fire Housing Assistance Act of 2019,” and introduced by Gallagher (R-Yuba City). AB 430 would be applied to the cities of Biggs, Corning, Gridley, Live Oak, Orland, Oroville, Willows and Yuba City. To what extent the legislation would meet the needs of Camp Fire survivors is unclear; there is no provision in the bill for affordable housing, which is what drew many Paradise residents to that town. read more