Border-crossing journalism from the Sacramento Valley
by Natalie Hanson
posted April 29
The Chico Police Department, after facing years of scrutiny over transparency and accountability concerns, has launched an effort to improve its community image.
Chico PD’s administration has within the last six months jump-started several efforts to improve its public image, announcing today the results of its Community Survey, which can be found here.
by Dave Waddell
posted Feb. 23
Sign-carrying demonstrators who braved Wednesday evening’s freezing winds near City Hall to protest Chico police violence came in a wide range of ages.
They included Jeremiah Lozada, age 5, whose sign demanded justice for his uncle, Eddie “Gabe” Sanchez, who was killed before Jeremiah was born. Chico police Detective Mark Bass , now a sergeant, shot the fleeing Sanchez in 2015.
by Dave Waddell
commentary posted Sept. 12
I’d like to plug an important, disturbing and highly instructive film that gets at some little-known truths about police killings and is now available for viewing online: “3 Seconds in October: The Shooting of Andy Lopez.”
“3 Seconds in October” was produced and directed by Ron Rogers and is enhanced by Peter Coyote’s incomparable narrative voice. The 28-minute documentary recently received a regional Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
by George Gold
guest commentary July 24
While this great Smokey Robinson song isn’t directly related to the event held yesterday honoring some of the precious lives lost at the hands of the Chico Police Department, there were tears in the room as we listened to the parents, uncles, brothers and sisters tell stories of people who should be alive today.
by Dave Waddell
posted July 21
The year was 1976 and Paula Staben from Santa Paula was a senior child development major at Chico State. She lived off campus at Gordon Hall, an “all-girls dormitory.” As that year’s activities director for Alpha Chi, Paula frequented the sorority’s distinctive yellow house at the corner of Fourth and Orient streets. There, she coordinated events such as theme dinners and movie nights.
by Leslie Layton
posted March 16
ChicoSol contributor Dave Waddell was honored today – on Freedom of Information Day – as a “transparency champion” for work that accessed public records related to three killings involving the Chico Police Department.
Waddell received the Freedom of Information Award in the small Print and Digital division for ChicoSol stories on the killings of Desmond Phillips, Tyler Rushing and Stephen Vest. The 37th annual James Madison Freedom of Information competition awards were presented today by the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California (SPJ) chapter.
