December 2021 - ChicoSol News

Referendum effort launches over redistricting Group claims gerrymandering to dilute Latino and urban vote

photo by Karen Laslo

District 3 Supervisor Tami Ritter at today’s press conference.

posted Dec. 17

A “No on Butte County Gerrymandering” campaign launched today to circulate a petition for a referendum on the redistricting map adopted in a Dec. 14 split vote by the Butte County Board of Supervisors.

Speakers at today’s press conference said the map that was adopted was gerrymandered to disenfranchise urban voters in Chico by splitting the city into four districts. The map, which establishes two western agricultural districts, was approved by supervisors Bill Connelly, Tod Kimmelshue and Doug Teeter.

The trio that approved the map said they wanted to protect the voice of rural voters and give Paradise growth room. Lucero told ChicoSol that it splits up the Latino population and “packs” voters with a Democratic Party affiliation into one district — District 3. read more

Project Roomkey extended in Butte County Some motel space will be available through March 2022

photo by Karen Laslo

District 2 Supervisor Debra Lucero

by Leslie Layton
posted Dec. 17

The Butte County Board of Supervisors made funding available this past week to extend Project Roomkey – the state program that utilized federal funds to house at-risk homeless people during the pandemic.

In a 5-0 vote, the board on Dec. 14 approved a proposal brought forth by supervisors Debra Lucero and Tami Ritter that allocates $1.5 million from the county’s General Fund for motel rooms for unsheltered senior citizens or individuals with chronic health conditions who need isolation or quarantine during the pandemic. The rooms will be available until the end of March and the occupants will receive services to help them maintain quarantine, such as meal delivery.

The county will be reimbursed later by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. read more

Pandemic’s painful toll in Butte County discussed at briefing Panelists call for dialogue, stronger leadership

photo by Leslie Layton

Butte County Public Health’s Victor Rodriguez speaking at a statewide media briefing.

by Leslie Layton
posted Dec. 11

Butte County’s abysmal COVID-19 vaccination rate is a symptom of an anti-science movement that has cost lives, polarized communities, and contributed to a “climate of denial,” panelists said at a statewide media briefing.

Five Butte County residents made up a panel at a briefing sponsored by Ethnic Media Services earlier this week to discuss this region’s COVID toll. They reminded a Zoom audience of 62 people that the county has been ravaged by wildfires, its residents slammed by soaring housing costs. On top of all that, misinformation about the virus has further polarized communities.

The youngest of the speakers, a 16-year-old Chico high school student, issued a plea to end the silence around COVID, which she said has disappeared from much of the public discourse. Maya Klein, a junior at Inspire School of Arts & Sciences, said a “culture and climate of denial” evolved as COVID increasingly became part of Butte County’s political “conflict zone.” (Read Maya’s essay on ChicoSol here.) read more

Break the “local silence” on Covid Chico teen says youth need "dialogue of healing"

by Maya Klein
guest commentary
posted Dec. 10

Ed. note: This is a condensed version of a presentation made by Chico’s Maya Klein at a Dec. 7 statewide Ethnic Media Services briefing.

My high school — Inspire School of Arts and Sciences — is a bubble within Chico. Our student vaccination rate is 82%, and our population generally follows mask and hygiene guidelines.

Our 2020-2021 school year remained almost entirely on Zoom classes, following a 1×8 schedule in which we delved into a single class for each month until the end of the school year. During this time, other high schools within Chico had returned to in-person learning, and as a result, student Covid cases began to increase.

This was and still remains a reality that I feel relatively detached from: Students at Inspire, a public charter school focused on the sciences and arts, have witnessed from afar a local unwillingness to adhere to safety guidelines. This is obvious when entering the community, whether that be in another school or in a grocery store. At the height of the pandemic, our Covid hospitalization rates were terrifying, a matter which was reflected in the extremely painful experiences people in our community have endured. However, it was not reflected in the actions of the community. read more

Emergency shelter program shuts down Unexplained closure moves some people to the streets

photo by Leslie Layton

ChicoSol’s editor was greeted by a True North staffer and a security guard.

by Leslie Layton
posted Nov. 30, 2021

A Chico nonprofit shut down an emergency hotel-based shelter program today, and this reporter was told to leave the property at Town House Motel where residents had been staying.

The program, funded by the CARES Act, placed unhoused people at high risk for COVID or COVID-related complications in motels and hotels. The shelter program was expected to stay in place until the end of January 2022, but was ended Nov. 30 after participants were given two weeks notice.

About half of the people using the program, described as a “Project Roomkey” extension but funded in another way, had nowhere to go, ChicoSol has learned. A total of 40 people had been staying there through the shelter program.

True North Housing Alliance, which ran the program and also runs the Torres Community Shelter, could not be reached for comment despite multiple attempts by ChicoSol to reach Executive Director Joy Amaro. A True North staffer who identified herself as “Ashley” demanded ChicoSol’s departure off the motel property this morning. read more