Shooting of Phillips violated “public trust”

Prof says killing not comparable to other recent deaths
by ChicoSol staff | Posted September 16, 2017
Desmond Phillips

Editor’s Note: ChicoSol asked Diane E. Schmidt, the ranking professor of public administration in the department of political science and criminal justice at Chico State, to comment on the two deadly law enforcement shootings in Butte County that have taken place since the March 17 Chico police shooting of Desmond Phillips, a 25-year-old mentally ill black man. We have elected to run her response as a guest commentary.

by Diane E. Schmidt

I don’t see these situations as being comparable to Desmond Phillips’ killing. Desmond’s killing violated the sanctity of the home — the trust of the family calling for medical help — and instead they had to endure police officers pepper-spraying the dog, breaking in the door, and shooting the very person who most needed medical intervention. Desmond’s killing was a violation of the public trust, not just a tragic overreach of police power. read more

Writer-consultant Roland Bunch discusses ways to stem famine

by Leslie Layton | Posted September 8, 2017

Regenerative agriculture expert Roland Bunch was at Chico State today discussing the ways farming techniques can help end an African famine threatening 20 million people. Bunch has spent the last six years using these techniques to end famine in Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and other nations, and has consulted on regenerative agriculture in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

During years of working in other parts of the world, Bunch says he’s come to realize that sound priniciples that have been developed for tropical climates can be applied to agriculture everywhere. (Regenerative agriculture involves using techniques that mimic nature to nourish the soil in place of dependence on chemical fertilizers.) read more

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