Border-crossing journalism from the Sacramento Valley
By Dave Waddell
Desperate to get help for his mentally ill son, journalist Pete Earley told Chicoans Saturday he did things he never thought he’d do.
Earley said he lied about what his son had said, violated his own professional ethics by threatening to summon feared investigative reporter Mike Wallace of “60 Minutes” TV fame, and “literally went out and grabbed a doctor” from a crowded emergency room hallway to evaluate his delusional son.
by Dave Waddell
There were two Republicans on the El Rey Theater stage for Saturday’s Chico forum on school gun violence — and only one was made of cardboard.
At center-stage throughout the program was a life-size cutout of a microphone-holding Rep. Doug LaMalfa, so real-looking that many in the audience at first thought the Richvale Republican was in attendance. Students organizing the event say LaMalfa was invited.
Bob Butler and Gabriel Sandoval at awards banquet
by Dave Waddell
Former ChicoSol intern Gabriel Sandoval, recently honored by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) for his investigative reporting, has been hired by ProPublica as he prepares to enter graduate school in New York City.
Sandoval, who received a bachelor’s degree in journalism in December from Chico State, will do reporting for ProPublica, which describes itself as a nonprofit news operation producing investigative journalism in the public interest. ProPublica won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for public service.
At City Plaza
by Dave Waddell
Chico teenagers spoke out passionately Saturday against school gun violence to a crowd of thousands at City Plaza, leaving some of their older listeners not only admiring their steely resolve but in tears at their stirring words.
“Do you know how it feels to hear the ‘all clear’ in a Code Red and say ‘Thank god I’m alive’ when across the country parents are crying ‘God, why? God, why did my baby have to die, their lives stretching out before them, withering in opportunity and promise?” asked Bailey Christiansen, a 15-year-old Chico High School sophomore.
Sharon DeMeyer participated in the march along with her daughter, Zoe Karch, a student walkout leader.
by Dave Waddell
Hundreds of students of assorted ages poured into Chico’s City Plaza this morning, joining in a loud chant that didn’t let up for several minutes: “No More Silence, End Gun Violence.”
The students came from different campuses, ranging from Chico State to junior highs and charter schools, to participate in #Enough National School Walkout. The protest was inspired by the shooting deaths of 17 staff members and students Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Empower, the youth branch of Women’s March that helped in organizing events nationwide, had counted 3,136 walkouts at the time this story was posted.
by Leslie Layton
Students from two Chico high schools and Chico State will participate in the #Enough National School Walkout Wednesday to protest gun violence and to call for congressional action.
The Chico students say they want school campuses to be gun-free zones, they want more background checks at the time of purchases and they want bans on the sale of assault rifles.
