Category: Point of View

Thank You, Judge Ann: A Remembrance

by Kim Weir | Posted March 19, 2024

photo courtesy of Butte County Superior Court
Judge Ann Rutherford

Retired Superior Court Judge Ann Rutherford, the first female judge in Butte County, served 40 years on the California bench. She died Feb. 16.

The people who Judge Ann Rutherford left behind are now sharing their verities about her. Groundbreaking, she was, and trailblazing. Remarkable. Highly regarded, sharp-minded, and quick-witted, too. She was all that.

But no words capture her depth of commitment to justice, or the fierceness of her intelligence and character. Anyone who mistook her decency and fairness for gullibility would regret it. She took no prisoners.

Once, an acquaintance of mine came before Judge Ann in a contentious divorce — one so nasty it led to criminal contempt charges against her ex-husband. His continuing harassment and defiance landed him in jail. Twice. The third time, Judge Ann told the bailiff to lock him up, with only a legal pad and pen, until he wrote his ex-wife a sincere letter of apology. And if, at the end of court that day, Judge Ann wasn’t happy with the letter’s content or tone, she would then send him to prison. read more

Local news coverage crisis hits home

17-year-old ChicoSol "well-positioned" to thrive
by Natalie Hanson | Posted February 28, 2024

Rebuild Local News Founder Steven Waldman

(ChicoSol coverage of the nationwide local news crisis has received support from an Ethnic Media Services fellowship.)

The rapid erosion of local news across the country is nothing short of a five-alarm emergency for democracy — and it will take creativity and commitment to keep democracy’s fourth pillar standing.

Butte County affairs are covered by only a few news outlets that employ a handful of journalists. Research shows reduced local news coverage is linked to less government transparency and reduced civic engagement. Most citizens do not have time to carefully monitor the use of their tax dollars and attend public meetings that reporters once watched closely. read more

At the Chico Cemetery, celebrating Día de los Muertos

Families gather to honor a Latin American tradition
by Ulises Duenas | Posted October 29, 2023

photo by Ulises Duenas
An altar at the Chico Cemetery.

Death is universal and inevitable. It’s almost impossible to prevent a loved one’s death from being emotionally painful when it happens. But how a culture or family views death and the passing of a loved one is far from universal.

Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead,” is a Mexican holiday that came from combining Aztec and Spanish traditions. The focus is on celebrating the lives of those we lost and using food and music to give them a good time before their souls return to rest. The holiday is all about associating death with feelings of joy and thankfulness rather than with reopening old wounds. read more

Protesting our military extravagance

Looking ahead to "flooding, melting polar ice, human migration"
by George Gold | Posted October 26, 2023

photo by George Gold
September protest at Beale Air Force Base.

In September, about a dozen members of the Chico Peace Alliance traveled to the front gate of Beale Air Force Base to deliver a message to pilots and support workers.

We wanted to share our view — not often noted by the defense establishment — about the hazards that are caused by the U.S. military industrial complex. Our view was that peace is more important than war, and that the U.S. defense infrastructure causes a huge negative environmental impact right there in Marysville and around the world.

The U.S. military budget for 2023 was $842 billion. So, let’s see, if we just cut that budget by 10%, that would mean that some $84 billion could be used to provide food to curb the shocking rise in child hunger across the United States, to alleviate the crushing debt of so many students, to solve the devastation of homelessness, to work to address the negative impact of climate change. Hmm… what a concept. read more

Facing climate grief during terrible week

Life-affirming work is empowering
by Leslie Layton | Posted June 19, 2023

The photos this past week that showed tens of thousands of dead fish washing ashore on the Texas Gulf were haunting. Then, reports surfaced that dead wild birds were washing up on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, too.

‘Haunting’ became macabre.

Temperatures around the world soared, breaking records in Mexico and producing the hottest June day on record in Mexico City that sits more than 7,000 feet high. The Canadian wildfires turned some smoke-filled skies in the Northeast an eerie orange, and ocean temperatures underwent a “sudden escalation” because of global warming combined with natural events like an El Niño. read more