Community Archives - Page 4 of 45

Homeland Celebration delivers “taste of the world” Pae Xiong: "We are trying to tell people that we exist"

photo by Yucheng Tang

Hmong dancers during the Thursday Night Market.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Sept. 13

On stage at City Plaza, 13 Hmong girls from Oroville, dressed in traditional attire, performed a dance to the Hmong song, “Hello, Hello, I Like You.” Below the stage, audience members took pictures, recorded video and applauded. This was the opening performance at the Sept. 12 Homeland Celebration event.

“Our girls love to perform. It’s a good experience for them,” Passion Chue told ChicoSol. She works as a program supervisor at Oroville’s Hmong Cultural Center and oversees all youth programs, including the dancing team. Chue said the girls practice dancing at the center after school in a limited space and without mirrors. read more

The retirement of Grizzly The mule with a "heart of gold" will enjoy oak shade and rolling hills

by Leslie Layton
posted Sept. 8

Not everyone gets to retire at age 26, and not everyone gets to retire at Bella Vista Farms west of Cottonwood in Shasta County.

But the consensus is that Grizzly, a pack mule who worked for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for some 22 years, earned what are now his days of leisure in the animal sanctuary that is “nestled amongst huge oak trees and rolling hills,” according to founder Chic Miller who describes her project on this Bella Vista Facebook page.

When we at ChicoSol saw photos and video of Grizzly after his recent arrival at Bella Vista, we thought we should share a little of his story with our readers. We don’t have a lot of details yet, but we know that Grizzly was known as “Griz” by his USFS companions. read more

Policy critics: Chico’s Climate Action Plan neglected Given weather-related disasters, does the City focus enough on climate change?

photo by Leslie Layton

The City’s updated Climate Action Plan.

by Natalie Hanson
posted Aug. 13

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

Plaintiffs respond to City as it tries to extricate itself from Warren Councilmember Winslow calls for more transparency

photo by Manuel Ortiz, EMS

A resident of the Alternate Site, which the City was required to set up under the Settlement Agreement.

by Leslie Layton
posted Aug. 7

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

How the Park Fire became the largest active wildfire Changing climate produces night-stalking wildfires

photo by Leslie Layton

Sergio Arellano and Jahaira Zaragoza, representing Cal Fire’s public information office, explain the fire map at the agency’s Chico command center.

by Leslie Layton
posted July 29

By 11:30 p.m. on July 24 – the day that some Chicoans heard that a fire had started near Upper Park’s Alligator Hole, an area that hadn’t burned in a very long time – the blaze had devoured 6,465 acres.

The next morning, Cal Fire reported that by 6:46 a.m. the scorching-hot fire, driven by south winds, covered 45,550 acres. The fire had moved at a speed so stunning that while most Chico-area residents slept, it had covered on average almost 6,000 acres an hour. read more

Park Fire rages; thousands evacuate Vice mayor: Evacuation planning for homeless encampment underway

12:30 p.m. update July 26: Cal Fire says the Park Fire has burned 178,000 acres and 134 structures. Evacuation orders have been expanded and can be checked here.

by Leslie Layton
posted July 25

The Park Fire in Upper Bidwell Park east of Chico city limits reached almost 71,500 acres by midday today with only 3% containment.

It continues to be hot and windy, thousands of people are under evacuation order or warning and air quality for most city residents has slid from good to moderate.

Vice Mayor Kasey Reynolds said today that she confirmed, at 1 a.m. this morning, that the Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG) has buses on standby if the residents of the Alternate Site homeless encampment at Eaton and Cohasset roads have to be evacuated. read more