Community Archives - Page 5 of 45

Chico moves to dissolve lawsuit settlement Winslow: The pallet shelters are "hostage" in the homeless case

by Leslie Layton & Natalie Hanson
posted July 17

The City of Chico announced today that it plans to dissolve the lawsuit settlement that for the past 18 months has restricted its ability to conduct eviction sweeps at homeless encampments. It says it will return to court.

The January 2022 Settlement Agreement produced by the Warren v. Chico lawsuit requires the City show it has shelter beds available before evicting unhoused people from public property. If the City prevails in a new round of litigation, it will once again be able to enforce anti-camping ordinances and conduct eviction sweeps freely. read more

ChicoSol wins ‘Community Focus’ award First-place award from CNPA recognizes coverage of gender-identity lawsuit

photo by Leslie Layton

A mom at a 2023 meeting of CUSD’s Board of Education.

posted July 15

ChicoSol has been awarded a first place in the prestigious Community Focus category in the statewide newspaper contest run by California News Publishers Association (CNPA).

The award, announced July 14, recognizes the stories last year by Natalie Hanson and Leslie Layton on the gender identity lawsuit that was filed against Chico Unified School District by a local mom.

ChicoSol competed for the first place with the Bay Area Reporter, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Santa Barbara Independent and the San Francisco Chronicle, all of whom were named as finalists in May. A judge wrote that our coverage of the lawsuit produced a “strong series that shows how a community paper can be fair – and still expose bigotry and transphobia and offer the true facts.” read more

Social workers on the frontline of Medi-Cal campaign Work underway to get expanded services to low-income and homeless people

by Natalie Hanson
posted July 1

Daniel Reinhard, a Butte County social worker, regularly visits unhoused people at Genesis, a pallet shelter village in Chico.

Each week, he talks to people who are either renewing their Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, or need help accessing expanded Medi-Cal services. In January 2024, Medi-Cal, which already served one-third of all Californians, expanded services to all state residents who qualify regardless of immigration status, as well as to people already enrolled. read more

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. read more

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

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. 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.” read more