City Council: Arm the park rangers

Bidwell Park rangers will carry guns and receive police training
by Dave Waddell | Posted September 6, 2017

photo by Leslie Layton

Councilor Randall Stone voted in opposition.

Bidwell Park’s three rangers will begin carrying guns and taking their orders from the Chico Police Department as a result of a plan approved Tuesday night by the City Council.

The conservative majority of the council held sway in the 4-2 vote, with council members Ann Schwab and Randall Stone in the minority and Karl Ory absent.

“You can’t convince me this is anything but a revenue grab for the Police Department from the Public Works Department,” Stone said. “The park is the perpetual whipping boy … to placate a Police Department that needs to grow.”

Councilor Reanette Fillmer, while discussing increased dangers in the park, surprised some at the meeting by announcing that “now rape is a non-violent crime in the state of California.” (Rape by force has been and continues to be a violent felony in this state, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.) read more

Dreamers worry Trump could end DACA

Republican leaders urge Trump to act by Sept. 5
by Gabriel Sandoval | Posted August 31, 2017

La Opinión photo courtesy of NAM

Aldo is worried, indeed afraid, that President Donald Trump may soon end or phase out a federal deportation-relief program, making it harder for him to live, work and study in the United States.

“My plan of getting my master’s, my plan of getting my doctorate, now looks very unrealistic,” said Aldo, a senior anthropology major at Chico State who requested that ChicoSol omit his last name.

Aldo is one of nearly 800,000 immigrants who benefit from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which grants temporary deportation relief, work permits and Social Security numbers to law-abiding people who were brought to the country illegally as children. read more

Como se puede curar el odio

How hate is sometimes healed
by Katherine Kam | Posted August 26, 2017
Tim Zaal (izquierda) y Matthew Boger se reunieron como voluntarios en el Museo de Tolerancia de Los Ángeles. Zaal, un neonazi de una sola vez, atacó a Boger como un adolescente. Los dos son ahora amigos cercanos. (Crédito de la imagen: BuzzFeed News).

Translation by New America Media

Editor’s note: To read this story in English, visit New America Media here.

Los Angeles — Se puede curar el odio? La pregunta ha sido central en la vida de Tim Zaal durante las últimas dos décadas.

Cuando Zaal tenía 17 años, él y sus amigos fueron una noche en busca de pelea en West Hollywood. Cerca de un local muy frecuentado, divisaron a un grupo de jóvenes y persiguieron a un indigente gay, de 14 años, hacia un callejón. Mientras el muchacho estaba tumbado en el suelo, Zaal le dió una patada en la frente con una bota con clavos afilados, dejándolo inconsciente. read more

Caterpillars Make Do With What They’ve Got

by Karen Laslo | Posted August 23, 2017

photo by Karen Laslo
Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars feed mostly on the native Pipevine plant that contains a toxic substance that also makes the caterpillars toxic, so that birds and other predators leave them alone.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, take a look at what you’ve got. The black and red-dotted caterpillar phase of the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly sets a good example of this parable for humans.

Normally, in a more natural setting, the caterpillars attach themselves to rocks or trees. But in lower Bidwell Park’s recent freeway construction site, these familiar objects have been stripped away. In the absence of the customary, the caterpillars must improvise.

They do so by hauling themselves up the sides of the concrete freeway supports where they attach and weave a protective, hard shell around themselves. read more

Feds: Butte College broke gender law

Alleged rape by football player investigated
by Gabriel Sandoval | Posted August 19, 2017

photo by Gabriel Sandoval
Butte College

The U.S. Department of Education has concluded its years-long investigation into Butte College’s handling of a student rape allegation, determining the community college violated federal law.

The investigation began after a student filed a federal complaint in February 2013, alleging she was raped by an unnamed college football player at an off-campus party in September 2012 and that the college’s response did not comply with the gender-equity law known as Title IX.

Under the law, colleges must investigate and adjudicate allegations of sexual assault, on- and off-campus, in order to maintain safe learning environments free of sex-based discrimination, so as not to deny or limit a student’s participation in activities or programs. Colleges failing to comply risk losing federal aid. read more