Border-crossing journalism from the Sacramento Valley
by Yucheng Tang
posted Jan. 18
Hundreds of people joined the People’s March on Chico today, marching from City Plaza to the Women’s Club as many passing drivers honked in support, prompting cheers and screams from the protesters.
Lead coordinator of the People’s March Chico coalition and Women’s March Chico, Angela Silva, said the coalition formed in “response to Trump’s second election. We have welcomed in so many groups.” Silva said more than 500 people participated in the march and rally.
by Peter Schurmann, EMS
posted Jan. 18
POPLAR, Ca. -– In the early 1970s, this unincorporated town in California’s agricultural heartland was designated by county officials as having “no authentic future.” That designation—entailing dramatic cuts to basic services remained until as recently as 2023.
Now, following a series of raids on immigrants that began on Jan. 7 in neighboring Kern County, residents here say the future does indeed look bleak.
“People are scared. They don’t want to come out. We’re all scared,” says Gregorio, a resident of Poplar for the past seven years and the owner of a local business that caters to the community’s farmworker population. (We are not using Gregorio’s last name to protect his identity.)
by Yucheng Tang
Incumbent Dale Bennett has retained the District 3 seat, defeating challenger Monica McDaniel by only 93 votes in the closest race in the 2024 Chico City Council election.
The majority of the City Council remains conservative, but the number of progressive councilmembers has increased from one to three. A special meeting of the City Council will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 4 in the Council Chamber at 421 Main St. Newly-elected councilmembers will be sworn in and the mayor and vice mayor selected.
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.”
by Yucheng Tang
posted Nov. 7
Nov. 8 UPDATE: The vote gap between Monica McDaniel and Dale Bennett narrowed to just seven votes as of 4:30 p.m. today, with Bennett receiving 3,009 votes and McDaniel 3,002. Updated vote counts will not be available until next week.
Whether challenger Monica McDaniel or incumbent Dale Bennett secures the District 3 seat has become the key question in the 2024 Chico City Council election.
The District 3 candidates are in a tight race; Bennett led McDaniel by only 40 votes Nov. 7, according to the Butte County Clerk-Recorder’s unofficial count that had been updated Nov. 6. The District 3 race will determine which slate will become a majority on the seven-member panel for the next two years.
by Danielle Alexich
guest contribution posted Nov. 6
I would give myself an A plus.
Nobody has done what I’ve been able to do.
–Donald Trump
Grade school mornings
we faced the flag,
hands over hearts,
pride of a nation pulsing inside us.
We compared report cards,
took cuts in line at recess,
played dodgeball in the thin Oakland fog.
Across town and on TV,
dark people got dragged away in handcuffs.
If we saw a drunk collapsed on the street,
we were told not to stare.
People dreamed of getting rich.
