Month: January 2025

New Chico Unified board member prepares for challenges

Gayle Olsen: "Every student learns differently"
by Natalie Hanson | Posted January 12, 2025

photo courtesy of Gayle Olsen

Editor’s note: Gayle Olsen and Teisha Hase joined the Chico Unified School District’s (CUSD) school board this month after winning seats in the Nov. 5 General Election. This Q-and-A with Olsen is the first story in a two-part series. And read our sidebar on what policy under the Trump Administration could look like here.

Gayle Olsen is no stranger to the challenge of fighting for resources for the most vulnerable students.

Now that she’s won the race for a seat on the board in Trustee Area 2, she said she’s ready to leverage that experience to fight for many more students.

A longtime special education teacher, Olsen says she’s ready to step into her new role — especially given how many challenges the school district may be facing within the next two years. On the campaign trail, she previously told North State Public Radio about several of her priorities, including advocating for children’s rights to privacy under the law and pressing for proper funding of facility improvements. read more

Controversial Tuscan Ridge rolls forward

County supes vote in favor of Skyway housing project
by Yucheng Tang | Posted January 3, 2025

photo by Yucheng Tang
Butte County’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to move forward with Tuscan Ridge, but developer Mark West still has to meet conditions of approval.

Butte County’s supervisors have approved the controversial Tuscan Ridge housing project on the south side of Skyway, but the developer must still jump hurdles related to water, sewer and drainage.

The supervisors voted 4-1 Dec. 10 to move a project forward that will plant 165 single-family homes where the Tuscan Ridge Golf Course was once located between Chico and Paradise. After the Camp Fire, the site housed the PG&E base camp. The entire 163-acre project area will include six commercial lots and houses that are between 3,000 and 20,000 square feet in size.

Almost 16 acres of commercial lots will house facilities including a gas station, convenience store and a mini-storage facility.

Some of the people who filled the board’s chambers for last month’s meeting – including a few supervisors – were concerned about water and sewer service for the project. Some members of the public, speaking during the public hearing, opposed it because of fire hazard, effects on Paradise reconstruction or other impacts. read more

Chico man suspected of arson in Mansion fire

Arraignment scheduled for Jan. 6
by Leslie Layton | Posted January 3, 2025

Cal State Parks asks that people who have photos or video related to the Mansion fire scan the QR code to submit information to the CAL FIRE Evidence Submission Portal.

A Chico man, Kevin Alexander Carlson, 30, was jailed Jan. 2 in connection with the fire that virtually destroyed the city’s Bidwell Mansion. Carlson faces arraignment on what are likely to be felony arson charges at 3 p.m. Jan. 6.

A California State Parks press release issued today said Carlson was arrested Jan. 2. “CAL FIRE investigators found clear indicators pointing to an intentional act and on Dec. 17, determined the cause to be arson,” the statement says in reference to the Dec. 11 early morning fire.

No other information on Carlson was provided, but the press release notes that Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park remains closed to the public, and the 26-room Mansion, which was completed in 1868, was undergoing renovation. read more