Community Archives - Page 44 of 47

Political action committees spend big to oust Chico liberals PAC under state investigation avoids pre-election disclosure requirement

By Dave Waddell

A political action committee, under state investigation for its 2014 activities, again produced a slew of negative advertising this election year, flooding the mails with attacks on liberal candidates for Chico City Council.

The PAC, called Butte County Awareness and Accountability, is the subject of an ongoing probe by the Fair Political Practices Commission that resulted from a ChicoSol story that can be read here. Tom Kozik, a member of the Chico Municipal Airport Commission, is the PAC’s founder and treasurer. For years, Kozik was a leader of the Tea Party in Chico. read more

An Election That Will Change Lives Trying to breathe again

by Natalie Charlesworth

Nov. 8, 2016: I sat in math class, frantically checking the presidential election polls every chance that I got. The numbers were so close. Hillary, Trump, Hillary again, and then back to Trump. Jumbled thoughts like ping-pong balls bounced back and forth in my mind. My palms, sweaty. My anxiety increasingly getting worse. I began to wonder, why I had even decided to attend class that day? I then put my phone down and got back to what I should have been doing –focusing on math. read more

Dakota Access Pipeline protest in Chico news photo of the week

photo by Karen Laslo

On the Nov. 15 #NoDAPL National Day of Action, Chico-area residents demonstrated in front of U.S. Bank, one of a number of American financial institutions said to be funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. According to the environmental advocacy organization Food & Water Watch, U.S. Bank has some $275 million invested. The pipeline would carry fracked oil from North Dakota to Illinois, and the Standing Rock Sioux are leading what is now an international movement to halt construction in order to protect the Missouri River and sacred grounds. read more

Trickle-Down Meanness Shapes Attitudes Toward Homeless Local Election Outcomes Matter

By Dave Waddell

While waiting for coffee recently, I became fixated on a mentally ill homeless man. He lay on his side in the shuttered entrance to what last was a Walgreens at East Avenue and the Esplanade. Every few seconds, the old, bearded, agitated man would flail his arms toward someone or something that was tormenting him but wasn’t really there. His situation – common across our country – struck me as just so sad and seemingly hopeless. read more

Political Action Committee Attacks Again, Undeterred by State Probe Investigation sparked by ChicoSol story continues

By Dave Waddell

Seemingly undeterred by a state investigation into its activities, a political action committee is following a script in this year’s Chico City Council race that is similar to the one that brought scrutiny to its politicking two years ago.

The PAC, called Butte County Awareness and Accountability, widely distributed a mailer in recent days that lambasts council liberals Ann Schwab, Tami Ritter and Randall Stone. All three face re-election Nov. 8, along with conservative Vice Mayor Sean Morgan. read more

North State Residents Rally on Day of International Protest Tribal Members Lead with Traditional Prayers in Support of Dakota Movement

photo by Karen Laslo

Ben Gray Eagle from Yuba City plays the Bear Flute at the Chico rally. Gray Eagle pointed out that the Obama Administration’s intervention hasn’t stopped work on the Dakota Pipeline or the destruction of sacred sites.

by Leslie Layton

When Chico’s Jake Davis announced a City Plaza rally to show support for the indigenous groups trying to stop construction of a North Dakota pipeline, he feared only half a dozen people would show up.
Davis, co-founder of Chico350 – the international organization 350.org fights for clean energy and other measures to slow climate change – knows how hard it is to organize climate-justice protests outside of large cities. But what happened Sept. 13 at City Plaza was surprising and moving. read more

Plea entered in Bidwell Mansion arson

Kevin Alexander Carlson, charged with felony arson in connection with the fire that destroyed Bidwell Mansion, pled no contest Feb. 5 in Butte County Superior Court.

The 30-year-old Chico man was jailed without bail until he returns to court for sentencing at 1:30 p.m. March 5. Carlson faces up to 11 years in state prison.

Investigators from various agencies spent “thousands of hours” solving the Dec. 11 arson case, said Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey in a press release.

City Council members to look at homelessness response

Chico City Council voted unanimously Feb. 4 to authorize the mayor to use emergency powers to address and enforce measures against unsafe and hazardous fires in parks.

The vote doesn’t alter city codes in any way, but enforcement of some codes has been lax under the Warren v. Chico lawsuit settlement agreement.

The vote thus represents a consensus that safety has to be a priority.

The discussion was sparked by Councilmember Tom Overbeek, who asked the panel to authorize the mayor to declare an emergency in dry conditions that would ban encampments in Bidwell Park, Teichert Ponds and Lindo Channel.

Later in the meeting, Councilmember Bryce Goldstein asked to agendize a discussion “on ordinances, code changes, and programs beyond enforcement that the City can use as tools for addressing homelessness.”

That passed unanimously, too.