Editor: ChicoSol will cover the races for four City Council seats that voters will decide in the Nov. 5 General Election. The first in our series is District 1, where candidate Michael O’Brien has outspent opponent Michael Johnson by almost nine times. (See graphic below.)
Candidate Mike O’Brien is the head of Butte County Interagency Narcotics Task Force and a former Chico police chief; his opponent, Mike Johnson, is a businessman running an IT consulting business and a U.S. Navy officer.read more
The PowerPoint review of the 2017 Tyler Rushing killing that the City of Chico refused to release until ordered by a judge to do so.
by Dave Waddell posted Sept. 12
A veteran Chico police sergeant did almost everything wrong on the night seven years ago when he gunned Tyler Rushing down, according to Chico PD’s own analysis of the incident.
The recently disclosed in-house review, which the Chico City Council spent many tax dollars trying unsuccessfully to suppress, also criticizes that sergeant, Scott Ruppel, for “dangerously” shooting the critically wounded Rushing while he was in the grasp of two other officers.
Escaping criticism in the analysis was Billy Aldridge, now Chico’s police chief and then a lieutenant and the department’s on-duty watch commander during the incident. Aldridge never took command until after Rushing was shot. The PowerPoint criticizes Ruppel for his failure to “relinquish” control before authorizing a siege on a restroom that ended in Tyler being shot to his death and then tased while incapacitated.read more
Felony domestic violence charges resulting from disturbing allegations against a former Gridley police officer were dropped because the alleged victim, herself a police officer, refused to testify.
However, the defendant, 31-year-old Devin Pasley, was convicted Aug. 7 of misdemeanor animal cruelty after a three-day trial in Butte County Superior Court. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 29. Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the judge is expected to put Pasley on probation for three years.read more
The City of Chico plans to file a court motion next week asking for “relief” from the Warren v. Chico Settlement Agreement, an effort to give City leaders the latitude they seek to enforce anti-camping ordinances, conduct evictions and generally address homelessness.
As negotiations between the City and Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) came to a crashing halt, the City today issued a press release that says “… with regard to the Warren Settlement Agreement itself, the City expects to file a motion to seek judicial relief” next week.read more
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
Scott & Paula Rushing after their July 8 hearing at the North Butte County Courthouse.
by Leslie Layton posted July 9
This story was updated at 2 p.m. today to add comments from both parties’ attorneys.
Shortly after taking under submission a public records dispute, Butte County Superior Court Judge Stephen Benson ruled July 8 that the City of Chico must release a PowerPoint presentation on the 2017 police killing of Tyler Rushing.
The ruling in favor of Tyler’s father, Scott Rushing of Ventura, requires that the City release requested information “without redactions.” Scott Rushing filed his request under the state’s Public Records Act almost 19 months ago on the premise that the PowerPoint appears to have been created for training purposes.read more
