Former Gridley officer convicted of animal cruelty for abusing dachshund
By Dave Waddell | Posted August 19, 2024
Devin Pasley
Felony domestic violence charges resulting from disturbing allegations against a former Gridley police officer were dropped because the alleged victim, herself a police officer, refused to testify.
However, the defendant, 31-year-old Devin Pasley, was convicted Aug. 7 of misdemeanor animal cruelty after a three-day trial in Butte County Superior Court. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 29. Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the judge is expected to put Pasley on probation for three years.
At sentencing, “we will be asking that the current temporary domestic violence restraining order be extended through the three-year probationary period that we expect to be ordered,” Ramsey said. “Such a restraining order will prevent him from possessing firearms.”read more
Given weather-related disasters, does the City focus enough on climate change?
By Natalie Hanson | Posted August 13, 2024
photo by Leslie Layton
The City’s updated Climate Action Plan.
Butte County, facing the Camp Fire, the Dixie Fire, the Park Fire and extreme heat, has been on the frontlines of climate change in recent years. But the City of Chico has not made policies reflecting the urgency of these crises, some say.
Chico’s Climate Action Commission’s role has over time been cut dramatically, and the plans staff put together over years to help plan for a future of climate change have not been properly implemented, say some Chico residents. In their view, a lack of planning for climate change is symptomatic of the City’s unwillingness to make climate change the focus of policy or even fund the work to do so.read more
The City of Chico plans to file a court motion next week asking for “relief” from the Warren v. Chico Settlement Agreement, an effort to give City leaders the latitude they seek to enforce anti-camping ordinances, conduct evictions and generally address homelessness.
As negotiations between the City and Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) came to a crashing halt, the City today issued a press release that says “… with regard to the Warren Settlement Agreement itself, the City expects to file a motion to seek judicial relief” next week.
LSNC represents the homeless plaintiffs in the Warren lawsuit that was filed against this City in 2020.read more
Chico’s ordinances have long been used to carry out eviction sweeps, like this one at Bidwell Park.
Civil rights advocates have often accused the City of Chico of creating a “web of ordinances” that target unhoused people.
These advocates say the enforcement of anti-camping ordinances restrict the actions of homeless people by threatening fines, misdemeanor charges or jail time. Unhoused people in Chico have few options for where they may sit or sleep during the day or night or where they may place their property. They may face citations for violations, including for having a vehicle in which they sleep or for pushing a cart of belongings.
Chico was one of several cities that created a web of ordinances in the early 2010s that effectively criminalize homelessness, the ACLU said. In 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California said the number of ordinances and how Chico officials were wielding them against unhoused people helped fuel “dehumanizing” attitudes.read more
A resident of the Alternate Site, which the City was required to set up under the Settlement Agreement.
The legal aid agency representing plaintiffs in the Warren v. Chico lawsuit has indicated it will re-negotiate the Settlement Agreement that dictates how the City must approach homelessness.
But Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) does not seem ready to give up one requirement: That the City show there are shelter beds available prior to evicting the unhoused from public spaces.
The City Council has discussed re-negotiations in closed sessions that were held July 9 and 16 and Aug. 6, releasing information when and as it chooses. The LSNC response letter was released today by dissenting Councilmember Addison Winslow, who noted that it’s a public document that may soon be released by the City.read more
