Tag: Chico

Cities advised to prepare for extreme heat, climate crisis With no plan in place, heat waves become another threat to Chico's homeless

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

by Natalie Hanson
posted July 24

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. read more

Memorial Day: Losses both human and non-human "... all life is radically interdependent"

photo by Karen Laslo
Chico Cemetery on Memorial Day 2023.

by Karen Laslo
commentary posted May 31

Some humans, like some of those on our Chico City Council, (except Addison), still cannot comprehend that even the most seemingly insignificant plant or animal, such as the Fairy Shrimp found in local vernal pools, or the Burrowing Owl found in Chico’s foothills, have the right to exist, not just those we eat, hunt, or use for our benefit.

Species lose this right to life when deprived of essential habitat, most commonly through the effects of climate change, construction and land development, such as the proposed foothill sprawl development Valley’s Edge. read more

An open letter to Chico City Council Eileen Robinson comments on City's new campsites for unhoused people

photo by Karen Laslo
The City is marking 20×20-foot spaces for each unhoused individual who occupies this site.

Editor’s note: Chico resident Eileen Robinson shared a March 13 letter she sent to the Chico City Council regarding the City’s newly-designated campsites at Eaton and Cohasset roads. The city has set up two new sites for unhoused people to comply with a judge’s order.

Honorable Council Members and Mr. Sorenson,
I saw the televised account of Target Team members visiting designated campsite one and issuing citations because some folks didn’t have permission to be there.

The news report said two additional campsites were being prepared across Cohasset Road for the people being cited to move to. Saturday morning I drove out to take a look at sites 2-3. There are two areas with green fencing that is difficult to see through around them. What I was able to see were flagged stakes that appear to have designated the 20/20 foot area each person will be allowed to occupy. read more

Long COVID causes confusion, anxiety The lack of information and help frustrate local patients

Kathryn Robinson, who was formerly a classical music director at Northstate Public Radio, said her music has brought her great comfort.

by Natalie Hanson
posted Feb. 16

Kathryn Robinson never expected that when she contracted COVID-19 in 2021, she would face life-altering symptoms for more than 15 months.

The Chico resident was fully vaccinated when she experienced a mild case of the Delta variant in August 2021. Three days into her symptoms, Robinson lost all sense of taste and smell. Like many COVID patients, she did not get those senses back for several months.

After recovering, Robinson said she awoke months later on Thanksgiving Day smelling what seemed like “sewage” all around her. She said chicken prepared for the holiday dinner tasted like “something rotten dipped in cleaning fluid.” It was then that she realized her sense of taste and smell were altered, a state she learned is called a combination of “parosmia” and “dysgeusia” -– altered smell and taste. read more

Valley’s Edge opponents worry about environmental impacts Fight over foothill development has wracked Chico for decades

photo courtesy of Steve Evans
From left, Steve Evans, Michael McGinnis and Kelly Meagher announced the No way San Jose campaign in 1988 to stop development next to Upper Bidwell Park.

by Leslie Layton
posted Feb. 4
Part II in a two-part series

Thirty-five years ago, a small, progressive coalition stopped development in the lower foothills adjacent to Upper Bidwell Park with the rallying cry, “No way San Jose.”

That area has been protected under the name of Bidwell Ranch since the 1988 referendum that stopped the project. Voters in favor of stopping the Rancho Arroyo project wanted to protect northwest Chico -– not so much from inevitable population growth -– but from the kind of suburban sprawl that had come to be associated with California cities like San Jose and Fresno. read more

Bill Mash always had a project going Chico loses an activist and story-teller who gave the unhoused a voice

photo by Karen Laslo
Mash at KZFR radio station where he produced programs.

by Natalie Hanson
posted Dec. 5

Eric Mash remembers how his father, Bill “Guillermo” Mash, always had projects underway. So when his father told the family that he had decided to move to Chico and write about homelessness, no one was surprised.

“He fell in love with Chico,” Eric said. “He just had this passion and fire within him to help others, and to always love and care about everybody. He did everything on a bicycle … helping the homeless, helping all the causes.”

Chico writer, radio personality and tireless advocate Bill Mash is being remembered by the Chico community as many friends and loved ones mourn his sudden death last week after a heart attack on Nov. 19. read more