Month: June 2024

Divided Supreme Court ruling delivers victory to Grants Pass ‘Either stay awake or be arrested’

photo by Karen Laslo
The City-sanctioned campground in north Chico that was opened to meet a court requirement.

by Natalie Hanson
posted June 28

The country’s highest court dropped a landmark decision on the question of civil rights for America’s unhoused people today.

In a decision that many attorneys and activists had predicted, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that cities enforcing anti-camping laws are not committing cruel and unusual punishment during evictions of unhoused people. It remanded the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson case back to the lower courts with a ruling that could affect policy in cities like Chico.

“We are reviewing the legal aspects of the opinion and how those legal aspects may apply to the City of Chico …,” said City Manager Mark Sorensen in a statement released this afternoon. “The City Council will be considering options and will provide direction as to next steps.” read more

California Local News Fellow placed at ChicoSol Reporter begins work in September

Yucheng Tang

by Leslie Layton
posted June 27

ChicoSol will welcome a new, Chico-based full-time reporter in September, Yucheng Tang, after being selected to participate in the California Local News Fellowship program.

Tang is one of 39 early-career journalists in this news fellows cohort who will work for two years at an outlet that has a focus on local and underserved communities. The program is in its second year, placing reporters in selected outlets from Shasta to Orange County.

Tang begins work at ChicoSol Sept. 9 after moving to California from Manhattan, NY, where he recently completed an MFA at New York University (NYU) in narrative nonfiction writing. He previously earned a Master’s in management sciences in Beijing, China, where he studied global affairs.

Tang said he’s looking forward to his move to Chico where he plans to “write more social justice stories that transcend cultural and ethnic boundaries and positively impact the local communities I report on.” read more

Juneteenth celebration draws community members to DeGarmo

photo by Karen Laslo
Juneteenth at DeGarmo Park in Chico.

by Karen Laslo & Leslie Layton
posted June 19

A Juneteenth celebration, with food, music and speeches, drew a cross-section of the community to DeGarmo Park today to celebrate the federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery.

“We’re really going for a family-reunion type vibe,” said Christina Archie, an organizer with the group, Building Leaders, Advocates & Community Connections (BLACC) late in the afternoon. “We’re just wanting people to feel the love within the community. We’re working on that connection piece, community connection. It’s been really cool.”

BLACC organized the event because members felt it was important to “bring the community together” to celebrate a day that was “very important in American history, Black history,” Archie added. read more

Protect free speech rights for Israel’s critics Legislation likely to produce "dangerous overreach"

Emily Alma

by Emily Alma
guest commentary posted June 18

Israel’s cruel and disproportionate response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks has elicited world-wide outcry, public horror at their actions, eclipsing our horror at the cruel Hamas actions against Israelis.

On the home front, popular uprisings continue unabated, spreading from action in the streets to union halls to university campuses to government employees resigning, to elected representatives in Congress – all demanding an end to hostilities, demanding an end to Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war, demanding an end to the flow of U.S. arms to Israel, demanding divestment from companies profiting from Israel’s war, demanding a permanent ceasefire and justice for Palestine.

The popular uprisings underway came after Israel’s immediate response to the Hamas attack: A brutal assault on all Palestinians in Gaza, immediately cutting off food, water and power to millions, bombing apartment buildings, on and on – unrelenting and escalating day by day, month by month. read more

Chico mom appeals gender identity lawsuit

Aurora Regino

by Natalie Hanson
posted May 31

A Chico mother has appealed her case against Chico Unified School District (CUSD), accusing it of inappropriate conduct and secrecy in a gender identity case.

Aurora Regino has argued that the district must out students who are trans or exploring their gender identity to their parents and that a federal judge denied her right as a parent to control the upbringing of her child. But a panel of Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges questioned whether Regino changed her case substantially – enough to send it back to the federal judge for reconsideration.

Center for American Liberty attorney Josh Dixon told the panel in the May 9 hearing that Regino wants parents to have “broad authority,” and claimed that the district’s policy is about “parental secrecy.” read more