Category: Politics

City re-examines police advisory board Some want more transparency from Chico PD

photo by Leslie Layton
Chico Police Chief Michael O’Brien is retiring in June.

by Leslie Layton and Dave Waddell

Item 5.5 on tonight’s City Council agenda could easily be overlooked given other hot-button topics competing for attention. But it could be instrumental in shaping police-community relations.

Mayor Randall Stone has agendized a discussion on the Police Community Advisory Board (PCAB), a nine-member panel, in a bid to press for more transparency from Chico Police Department. [Editor’s note: Stone tabled the discussion at the Feb. 18 meeting until a replacement for the retiring chief is appointed.] read more

Demonstrators in plaza call for impeachment On 'impeachment eve,' Chicoans join nationwide mobilizations

photo by Karen Laslo
A demonstrator at City Plaza Tuesday evening shows his support for impeachment proceedings.

by Leslie Layton

More than 200 hundred people converged on Chico’s City Plaza Tuesday evening to support President Donald Trump’s impeachment, joining many thousands of people across the nation who mobilized.

Chico’s Jim Henson led a spirited series of chants as demonstrators waved signs, many saying, “Nobody is above the law,” until a man from a pro-Trump counter-protest that was also stationed at the plaza slipped into the middle of the larger group and raised a bright blue “Trump 2020” banner. Henson, who didn’t organize the event, then asked the pro-impeachment demonstrators to follow him to the City Council meeting and show support for sheltering the homeless; about half of the demonstrators followed him. read more

Students clash over #Walkaway event Chico State says it will defend free speech

by Leslie Layton

Chico State staffers were gathering this morning on a campus walkway in an effort to prevent any more altercations over the tactics of the campus Republican club. But today, instead of noisy protesting, a video posted on social media showed a group of protesters dancing to music as they faced the club’s booth. read more

Hundreds rally at City Plaza on #GlobalClimateStrikeDay Some 200 students walk out of Chico classrooms

photo by Karen Laslo
Students Sar Moch, CORE Butte Charter School, and Maggie Pope, from Inspire, attended the rally.

by Leslie Layton

A couple hundred teen and pre-teen students filed out of classrooms today and marched to City Plaza to join the Chico Climate Strike rally, an event that was both upbeat and insistent as speakers demanded bolder climate action.

The Chico event coincided with demonstrations throughout the world that turned out millions of people demanding action. Together, they made up the largest climate change demonstration in history. The Chico rally was co-sponsored by Sunrise Movement Chico and Butte 350 and drew about 500 people — students, teachers, parents, families — to City Plaza. read more

Bernie Sanders talks climate change in Chico The Democratic presidential candidate holds town hall, tours Paradise

photo by Karen Laslo
Steve Marquadt, Chico Sunrise Movement (left) and Sen. Bernie Sanders open town hall in Chico.

by Leslie Layton

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders brought his ambitious and sweeping plan to combat climate change to Paradise and Chico Thursday, touring fire-ravaged neighborhoods and holding a town hall in a packed auditorium.

Speaking at Chico’s Masonic Lodge to an audience of some 700 people – most of whom had probably been affected directly or indirectly by the Nov. 8 climate-driven Camp Fire — Sanders was passionate in defending a plan that he had put forth just a day earlier. Sanders’ version of the Green New Deal is now viewed as the most ambitious plan to combat climate change that the Democrats have touted. read more

Camp Fire Town Hall draws several hundred Protesters line the entrance to the Chico Elks Lodge

photo by Karen Laslo
Steve Marquadt from Chico’s Sunrise Movement (left) and Mary Kay Benson from 350 Butte County, protesting Congressional inaction on climate change at today’s Town Hall, call for a Green New Deal.

by Leslie Layton

The appearance of Congressman Doug LaMalfa and state lawmakers at today’s Camp Fire recovery Town Hall meeting drew anxious survivors and evacuees, as well as protesters who lined the entrance to the Chico Elks Lodge.

Several hundred people filled the lodge auditorium, as well as officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the California Office of Emergency Services. After presentations by lawmakers and officials, audience members concerned about the need for tree clearing and road widening to provide safe evacuation routes from fire-prone communities, about water quality and services for survivors suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, lined up to ask questions. An Oroville resident asked about the toxicity of the heaps of concrete and metal being trucked out of Paradise and whether it’s being handled in the safest possible way. read more