Month: April 2022

Rosedale Elementary vice principal and equity leader says she has been suspended

Parents worry that backlash on social media prompted administrative leave
by Natalie Hanson | Posted April 28, 2022

photo by Leslie Layton
Rosedale Assistant Vice Principal Joana Campos Castañeda speaking with concerned parents earlier this week.

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Parents are calling for change after a Rosedale Elementary assistant vice principal, who acted as equity leader for the school, said she has been placed on administrative leave.

Joana Campos Castañeda, known at Rosedale as Ms. Campos, alleges that she has been suspended for insubordination after voicing concerns about the school’s approach to inclusion, while serving part-time as equity team lead this year.

Chico Unified School District (CUSD) administrators have declined to comment on any disciplinary action or investigation, and Castañeda is still listed as Vice Principal Joana Campos on Rosedale’s website.

The news comes as schools around the district face backlash from some parents in relation to discussions about important historical events and ethnic history, including Black History Month and Cesar Chavez Day. The phenomenon — called “culture war” by some news outlets — is seen as a push from conservative leaders across the country. Some in CUSD fear teachers and staff have been pushed out as parental pressure during the pandemic increased. read more

Survey designed to build support for sales tax measure produces good response

Trust will be a problem for the City of Chico
by Leslie Layton | Posted April 21, 2022

photo by Leslie Layton
Deadline for returning the “Essential City Services” survey is April 22.

A mailer from the City of Chico with a survey to be returned by April 22 is a piece in a three-phase campaign to win support for a city-wide 1 percent sales tax. The survey asks city residents to rank their spending priorities in order of importance.

Chico is one of about eight “full-service” cities in the state that don’t have a local sales tax; it receives a small portion of state sales tax revenue only. Full-service cities provide public safety and other services.

ChicoSol was contacted by several readers when the Essential City Services survey began appearing in mailboxes earlier this month. The Chicoans said they didn’t know they were about to be surveyed and were confused by the mailer, which was signed by Matt Madden, Chico police chief who was then interim city manager. read more

Sinkholes in Orland area raise new water concerns

Public records reveal problems on ag land around Stony Creek
by Todd Bishop | Posted April 20, 2022

photo courtesy of the Sacramento Valley Mirror
Public records recently released to the water monitoring nonprofit AquAlliance show sinkholes like this one appearing east of Orland.

Glenn County — State and local officials have been quietly looking into the emergence of numerous sinkholes starting last summer and fall on agricultural land east of Orland, in the area of Stony Creek, according to newly released public records.

Many of the sinkholes are relatively small and shallow, a few feet wide and less than a foot deep, for example. However, there are isolated reports of bigger sinkholes, as wide as 10 to 12 feet.

“The deepest is about 12 to 15 feet in depth — literally, a small child could have entered the tunnel that I observed at the bottom of that hole,” wrote Rick Massa, manager of the Orland Unit Water Users’ Association (OUWUA), in a Nov. 8 email to officials with Glenn County and the California Department of Water Resources after a follow-up visit to one hard-hit property. read more

Medical experts warn against complacency as new COVID variant appears

Counties like Butte most at risk for a surge
by Natalie Hanson | Posted April 16, 2022
Enloe Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Marcia Nelson

Public health experts are urging people to stay vigilant and get vaccination boosters as the new COVID-19 variant BA.2 becomes the dominant strain of coronavirus.

Experts worry that as the new variant spreads, in counties like Butte where vaccination rates and community masking are low, communities will be particularly vulnerable.

Butte County Public Health data reports that as of April 11, the population is 55.8% fully vaccinated, 5.76% partially vaccinated and 38.35% unvaccinated. Yet, statewide, 75% of people 5 and older are fully vaccinated and 9% are partially vaccinated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, by April 2, BA.2 had become the dominant strain in the United States. However, in Butte County, omicron still appeared in 84.6% of the county’s cases while BA.2 was responsible for 15.4% of cases in March. read more

Final steps underway for pallet shelter site

Advocates: Management style may affect outcomes
by Natalie Hanson | Posted April 4, 2022

photo by Karen Laslo
Pallet shelters

The city’s court-ordered pallet shelter project is close to completion, and advocates for unhoused people are hopeful but cautious about its chance for success.

The proposed code of conduct and the operating standards for the site are now being finalized. The city, plaintiffs and the judge must agree on these standards in order to finalize insurance and open the site on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, said Jesus Center Executive Director Amber Abney-Bass.

Advocates for the unhoused are cautiously optimistic, but have concerns about how the management style will affect use of the site. One question some have is whether there will be armed security.

Abney-Bass: ‘We want people to feel safe’
The pallet shelter project is now under the leadership of interim City Manager Matt Madden – who has been the chief of Chico Police Department – as well as Public Works Director of Operations and Maintenance Eric Gustafson, according to the city’s administrative office. read more

Friends on the Street, confined to a corner, keeps rolling

In its 7th year, volunteers peeved but undeterred by fencing around City Plaza
by Leslie Layton | Posted April 3, 2022

photo by Leslie Layton
Susanne Malloy says the Friends on the Street weekly gatherings help her stay fed – but serve an even more important purpose as well.

Chico’s Patrick Newman and a small cadre of volunteers continue to serve unhoused community members coffee and donuts every Sunday — seven years after the project began — gathering quietly on the southeast corner of the fenced-off City Plaza in downtown Chico.

Some five months after the City fenced off City Plaza to erect a wintertime ice rink, the fence remains even though the rink has been dismantled. Still, Friends on the Street serves coffee, donuts, sandwiches and cheese sticks to several dozen unhoused community members, gathering outside the chain link fence. Newman says Friends ran through $50,000 in cash donations in six years.

As Susanne Malloy sipped coffee this morning, she told ChicoSol that as an unhoused person, the gathering has been more than just a source of food. read more