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Medi-Cal recipients must renew to keep coverage

The scramble is on to ensure that millions, if they still qualify, do not get disenrolled this year from their state medical insurance.

In California, one out of every three residents is insured by Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income adults and families. That means that one-third of all Californians, or more than 15 million, will have their eligibility redetermined, according to California officials. Almost 90,000 Butte County residents qualified for Medi-Cal as of June of this year.

California has been able to “completely eliminate assets as a Medi-Cal eligibility criteria,” the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) told ChicoSol today; that change takes “full effect” on Jan. 1, 2024. read more

Cities advised to prepare for extreme heat, climate crisis

photo by Karen Laslo

On a recent 100-degree day, residents of the City-sanctioned encampment were sweating it out.

With no city-wide plan for extreme heat in place, Chicoans have few resources to fall back on during dangerous heat waves like the one last week. Like much of California, the City now often faces stretches of days with high temperatures topping 100 or even 110 degrees.

Extreme heat threatens vulnerable residents across the state — including thousands of farm workers toiling in the heat, low-income residents in poor-quality housing and thousands of unhoused people with few options for safe shelter. But Chico does not have a long term plan for managing extreme temperatures.

Panel experts at a recent Ethnic Media Services briefing said that cities need to be prepared to face extreme heat, both in city planning and with emergency public health measures. read more

Lawsuit over gender identity dismissed by federal judge

A federal judge has dismissed a Chico parent’s claim against Chico Unified School District (CUSD) over maintaining confidentiality rights for students.

Chico mother Aurora Regino’s lawsuit, which claims that the district must out students who are trans or exploring their gender identity, has been tossed out of federal court. CUSD had argued that it follows state law in protecting the confidentiality of students seeking counseling.

Filed Jan. 6 in federal court in the Eastern District of California, Regino’s case alleges that a school counselor at Sierra View Elementary coaxed a student into adopting a male identity after the fifth-grader confided that they “felt like a boy.” Regino claims her child was encouraged to “socially transition” by adopting a new name and male pronouns. The school did not inform her, and the child later reverted to identifying as female. read more

Groundwater management tax faces protest election

Chico-area property owners have through July 26 to reject a proposed new fee for groundwater management that will otherwise appear on their December tax bills.

The annual per-acre fee would fund and implement a new groundwater management plan for the area known as the Vina Subbasin. That subbasin, which holds a significant portion of Butte County’s water, stretches from the Durham area northward to the Butte County line and includes Chico.

The fee will appear on property tax bills if it’s not rejected in what’s called a “protest election” underway now. Property owners who are opposed can send a written protest by July 26 to Vina Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (see address at end of story) or voice their objection at a public hearing that day. read more

State sends Chico back to the drawing board – again

photo by Karen Laslo

Creekside Place Apartments are opening to senior citizens who need affordable housing.

Chico city officials say that after nearly a year, the City’s plan for building new housing under state law — the Housing Element — could be approved this summer. But the process is already far behind schedule, as the state just slapped the latest draft with demands for more revisions for the second time in one year.

The City’s Housing Element has been under scrutiny since almost a year ago when it went before the public and City Council in August. A Housing Element, required of each city in California, must cover the eight-year period from 2022 to June 2030 to ensure that the City complies with state legislation, creating a comprehensive strategy to promote safe, decent and affordable housing. It assesses current and projected housing needs, constraints to housing production, and resources. It then establishes housing goals, policies and actions to meet housing needs over the Housing Element planning period. read more

Activists turn from personal pain to community healing

photo by Leslie Layton

In the last several months, Bethel AME Church has been the target of “cryptic messages.”

At a time when hate-fueled speech, crime and violence are threatening marginalized communities nationwide, it often falls on grassroots community movements to create change and promote healing from injustice, experts say.

Chico has tragically faced numerous incidents of hate against people who have historically faced discrimination. The city’s oldest Black church, Bethel African Methodist Episcopalian Church (AME), has reported repeated vandalism since 2020. Art by indigenous organizers has been vandalized. Unhoused people face ongoing verbal harassment and death threats. Anti-Semetic flyers have been delivered to homes across the city several times this year. Stonewall Alliance Chico says it is aware of growing fears of harassment, particularly among LGBTQ youth who face calls for public schools to repeal codes protecting their privacy to avoid discrimination. read more