Border-crossing journalism from the Sacramento Valley
by Ken Smith
posted April 5
Ricardo Orellana grew up against the backdrop of a 12-year civil war in his native El Salvador, but his childhood memories are thankfully dominated by more peaceful recollections — namely, of working with the cows at his grandmother’s farm outside the small town of Usulutá.
by Natalie Hanson
posted March 21
A group of Chico residents again have called on city leaders — in a third effort — to pass a ceasefire resolution that would show support for the Palestinian community amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
At the meeting earlier this week (March 19), activist Rain Scher stepped to the podium to present a revised ceasefire resolution to the City Council. Scher, a member of Chico Jews in Solidarity with Palestine, pointed out that the new resolution calls for declaring that all human life is “precious.” Scher told ChicoSol that the resolution “explicity names both the Palestinian and Israeli casualties.”
Chico’s Juan Flores is investigating the attitudes people around the world have toward their countries. To see his U.S. survey click here.
by Natalie Hanson
posted Jan. 24
Educators and experts have joined California’s leaders in urging an appeals court to uphold a ruling that supports Chico Unified School District’s (CUSD’s) anti-discrimination policy.
California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta filed Jan. 9 in support of the district, along with representatives of 15 other states, arguing that the policy is designed to be flexible on a case-by-case basis to support transgender and gender-nonconforming students, and to withhold parental notice when a student does not consent. The only exception for parental notification, against a student’s wishes, is if the student’s well-being is at risk.
posted Jan. 23
Picketing at Chico State by striking faculty ended Jan. 22 when the California Faculty Association (CFA) reached a tentative deal with administration.
Faculty have been offered a 5% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2023 and a possible 5% salary increase coming on July 1 of this year. In addition, the CSU will raise the salary floor for the lowest-paid instructors.
by Leslie Layton
posted Jan. 22
About 150 faculty and their supporters joined the picket line today as Chico State University employees participated in the statewide, five-day action that cancelled many classes in the semester’s first week.
CSU faculty unions statewide — that includes instructors, librarians, coaches and counselors — are asking for a 12 percent salary increase after years of small increases that fail to keep up with inflation, said Associate Professor Lindsay Briggs.
