ChicoSol

State’s voters approve Prop. 50

Prop. 50 will redraw congressional maps to favor Democrats

by Maya C. Miller and Jeanne Kuang/Cal Matters | Posted November 4, 2025

A voter fills out their ballot at a voting center at the Armstrong Transit Center in Clovis on Nov. 4, 2025. Voters statewide are casting their ballots for a special election on Proposition 50. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

California voters on Tuesday passed a ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor Democrats, a major victory for the party in a high-stakes national redistricting fight that could determine who controls the House of Representatives next year.

The Associated Press called the race shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. Early returns showed the measure leading with nearly 58% of the vote.

In Butte County, however, unofficial results from the Clerk Recorder’s Office were showing 53.71 percent of voters opposing Proposition 50 and only slightly more than 46% in favor.

The maps voters approved with Proposition 50 make it likely that five of California’s GOP-held congressional seats could be won by Democrats in next year’s midterm elections. They also bolster the re-election chances of three Democrats currently holding office in now-competitive districts. read more

ChicoSol’s online newspaper experiment comes of age

NewsMatch matches donations dollar-for-dollar

by Lindajoy Fenley and ChicoSol staff | Posted November 3, 2025

Eighteen years ago, we founded ChicoSol as a bold, extraordinary experiment. We wanted to provide a platform for local news that would be online, nonprofit and bilingual, with information available in both English and Spanish.

Throughout the country, print newspapers were being swallowed up by corporations that were cutting their resources and eating their profits. We had very few models for something different.

But our readers proved the experiment could work, joining a subscriber list and later a small-donor base. Now we run stories that are viewed by thousands of readers, and nonprofit digital news sites are thriving in communities across the country.

Today, we’re poised for more growth as we launch our second NewsMatch fundraising campaign. We’re asking you to partner with us during an annual fundraising drive that will match your donations dollar-for-dollar. read more

Ex-girlfriend: On-duty sex with former sergeant dated to 2022

Chico PD records show sex acts ‘escalated’ after sex-related demotion

by Dave Waddell | Posted October 30, 2025

Chico police Sgt. Michael Williams began having “a lot” of sex on duty just a couple of months after he was demoted from lieutenant for engaging in sexual relations with a subordinate, according to Williams’s former girlfriend.

The ex-girlfriend’s timeline, provided to a police investigator, means Williams was having sex on the clock nearly three years before leaving the payroll of the Chico Police Department. Her revelations suggest the department’s disciplinary action failed to curb his behavior and may have instead provided increased opportunities to escalate misconduct that continued uninvestigated for nearly two years.

The ex-girlfriend’s account is contained in investigative reports obtained under a Public Records Act request. Williams did not respond to a message seeking comment on his ex-girlfriend’s account. read more

Immigration crackdown produces fear among students

League of Women Voters hosts community conversation on immigration and criminal justice

by ChicoSol staff | Posted October 26, 2025

Maitreya Badami, center, speaks as fellow panelists Juan Araujo (left) and LeAnn Jenswold listen. Photo by ChicoSol.

Maitreya Badami, an associate professor at Chico State, talked during an Oct. 25 panel presentation about the fear that is affecting student life on campus.

“There definitely is an atmosphere of fear among our Latino students, whether they are citizens or non-citizens,” said Badami, an associate professor in the political science and criminal justice department. “They’re not participating in activities that they would otherwise. I am talking to citizens and folks with green cards, lawful permanent residents, not to mention our DACA students who have this temporary protection that could be gone at any moment. They’re terrified.”

DACA status refers to people who have temporary protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Immigrants with legal status can become vulnerable in the crackdown underway because of past convictions, political activity or for other reasons. read more

Butte County responds to immigration crackdown

Sheriff's Office ends alternative custody for some immigrant inmates

by Leslie Layton | Posted October 24, 2025

Walnut grower Tom Bush protests at No Kings 2 in Chico.

When immigration officers helicoptered into Chico in August, a network of volunteers was prepared. When the officers slipped out before dawn the next morning, they left people with both relief and lingering questions, according to NorCal Resist Chico.

NorCal Resist volunteers say they don’t know whether the officers were merely stopping in Chico on their way somewhere, or whether attention from protesters dissuaded them from taking enforcement actions that they might have preferred to be surprise.

Regardless, the visit showed the role that community preparation can play in view of immigration raids that have produced both violent as well as quiet disruptions to communities across the country. NorCal Resist says that community response is critical as Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramps up with a larger budget. read more

Council increases security, code enforcement at Alternative Camping Site

Unanimous Council vote increases nighttime security for the neighborhood

by Yucheng Tang | Posted October 22, 2025

Public Works Director Erik Gustafson. Photo by Yucheng Tang.

The Chico City Council voted Oct. 21 to increase visits by Jesus Center staff to the Alternative Camping Site from twice a week to seven days a week, and to have Armed Guard Private Security patrol not only the site, but also the nearby neighborhood.

The plan will be implemented for two months at the north Chico homeless encampment, after which time City staff will return to the Council with an assessment.

Meanwhile, the City will incorporate several new rules into the site’s code of conduct, require that residents who are now eligible for the Genesis pallet shelter relocate there, and provide pallet pads to help raise existing tents off the ground.

The updated Code of Conduct for unhoused people living on a corner lot at Eaton and Cohasset roads will prohibit the addition of any structure of any kind to an assigned space; will ban certain items — including generators, full or empty gas cans, electrical cords and propane tanks of any size; and will permit animal fencing but only with prior approval. read more