Category: Education

Sheriff: school’s “vulnerability” exploited by gunman DA: Suspect had history of mental health problems

photo by Yucheng Tang
Elias Wolford, one of two shooting victims.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Dec. 19

The Dec. 4 Palermo school shooting that severely injured two kindergarteners appears to fit more under “domestic terrorism” than it would under the hate crime category, says Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey.

Ramsey also indicated, in a recent telephone interview, that he believes the violence was related to the suspect’s mental health problems.

Meanwhile, in a social media post last week, a woman who identifies herself as Debbie Wolford, the grandmother of victim Elias Wolford, said Elias hadn’t had movement of his legs since being hospitalized. In another update this week, a post indicates that Elias had undergone emergency surgery that went well. read more

Young shooting victims identified Suspect in Palermo school shooting also named

photo by Yucheng Tang
Sheriff Kory Honea identifies Glenn Litton (shown on screen on left) as the suspect in the Palermo school shooting.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Dec. 5

Roman Mendez, aged 6, sustained two gunshot wounds resulting in internal injuries when a gunman entered his school yard Dec. 4 and opened fire. Elias Wolford, 5, was shot one time in the abdomen, also resulting in internal injuries.

The two kindergarten students who attended Feather River Adventist School in Palermo remained in critical condition today. In the pictures shown at a press briefing earlier today, smiling Roman wore a red sweater and Elias cupped his chin in his hands. read more

Chico State Academic Senate calls for TPM policy suspension

photo by Caleb Hearn
Bryce Ingersoll tabled on campus, discussing with students what implementation of the TPM policy would mean.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Nov. 12

The Chico State Academic Senate has called on the California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s office to suspend the interim “Time, Place, Manner” (TPM) policy that sets rules for student protests.

The Oct. 31 resolution says the CSU should “initiate a process of good faith negotiation through shared governance to determine what guidance for peaceful activism … may be justified and consensually applied.”

The local Academic Senate took action days after the Academic Senate of the California State University system passed a resolution condemning the CSU-wide interim TPM policy. The California Faculty Association notes the policy restricts use of face coverings and requires “advance written permission for posters, signs, banners, and chalking.” read more

Will CSU’s new policy affect campus free speech? Some students and faculty worry; university officials say nothing has changed

photo by Yucheng Tang
Professor Lindsay Briggs makes a suggestion at the Sept. 25 campus forum.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Sept. 26

This story was updated Sept. 28 as more detail on the policy emerged.

On a list of 174 locations on the Chico State campus, only three are listed as “Public” that are available for sound-amplified assembly, marches, protests, and debate between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays by reservation, based on the newly-introduced, California State University (CSU) Interim Time Place Manner policy.

However, university spokesman Andrew Staples said Sept. 27 that outside spaces at Chico State, including Trinity Commons, can be used for “demonstrations, protest etc.” during campus operating hours that are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily if the area hasn’t already been reserved. A document sent to ChicoSol Sept. 28 called “Addendum Specifics” says those areas can be used for “non-amplified speech and expression.” read more

Irked Zingg backed off $300,000 art donation Former Chico State president wanted name removed from campus Recital Hall

photo courtesy of Natasha Doron/The Orion
Inside Chico State’s recital hall when, in 2017, feminist activist Gloria Steinem spoke.

by Dave Waddell
posted July 31

After Chico State’s spanking new recital hall was christened in 2016, it came as a shock to some faculty that it was named for retiring university President Paul Zingg and his wife.

But today, what was once the Paul and Yasuko Zingg Recital Hall goes by the stripped-down name of Recital Hall.

Why did the university quietly remove the name of its former president?

The short of it is that Paul Zingg, in 2021, feeling ignored by the university he long led and disrespected by his successor, came to want it that way. He also wanted back the art collection, appraised at more than $300,000, that he had gifted to Chico State’s Janet Turner Print Museum as part of the naming deal. 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