unhoused Archives - ChicoSol News

photo by Chris Nelson

Activist Chris Nelson found Teichert’s rising pond water seeping into tents and the path out flooded.

by Leslie Layton

The winter sheltering organization Safe Space jumped into high gear today as a ferocious early storm flooded homeless encampments. But Safe Space said it was only able to shelter 35 of the hundreds of unhoused people living in encampments.

Siana Sonoquie, a Safe Space board member, said she was contacted early today by an unhoused resident of the Comanche Creek encampment who reported that the area was flooding, tree limbs were falling down and one person was missing. “We started looking for a church,” Sonoquie said. “We’re used to doing this now and have a pretty quick system, with protocols in place and a lot of practice.” read more

Follow and like us:

photo by Karen Laslo

Activist Emily Alma holds up a “Justice Prevails” sign at the Comanche Creek Greenway April 12 after a federal judge grants a temporary restraining order, pausing evictions of unhoused campers.

by Leslie Layton

Bobby Warren knows something about the crime of homelessness.

His court docket is a litany of supposed missteps, with various charges related to Chico ordinances. According to court records, he’s been caught in Depot Park when it was officially closed, stored belongings near a Chico creek, been cited for illegal camping — all examples of ways you might violate city code if you’re wandering unmoored, without an address, job or helpful relative.

Warren also must know something about misfortune: He lost his home after a divorce and cancer diagnosis. He has been fined around $2,000 for code violations, fines that came down after notices addressed to Warren were returned to the court (he sleeps outside!). The “Failure to Appear” entries mount up quickly, the docket shows. read more

Follow and like us:

What is ChicoSol?

ChicoSol is an independent, reader-supported online journal that runs on donations and occasional fellowships as it works to provide cross-cultural feature writing and bold investigative reporting. Our stories usually reflect national issues but focus on the Chico area of the Northern Sacramento Valley. We’re journalists who believe that fact-based reporting sustains healthy, participatory democracy. We post comments from readers on stories when commenters identify themselves by name. To learn more read here.

Officer-involved fatal shootings in Butte County, 2017-21, and agency involved

March 17, 2017 Desmond Phillips, 25 (Chico PD)

July 23, 2017 Tyler Rushing, 34 (Chico PD)

Aug. 17, 2017 Mark Jensen, 56 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

April 7, 2018 Larry Siordia, 33 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

April 26, 2018 Myra Micalizio, 56 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

Nov. 15, 2018 GD Hendrix, 48 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

Jan. 28, 2019 Richard Moulton, 52 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

Oct. 14, 2020 Stephen Vest, 30 (Chico PD)

ChicoSol wins top 2020 honors

For the second consecutive year, ChicoSol was recognized for outstanding work by judges for the California News Publishers Association (CNPA.)

ChicoSol won awards in four categories in the 2020 Journalism Awards contest run by CNPA. Our stories were recognized in the investigative reporting, health reporting, election coverage, and public service journalism categories for digital publications.

Dave Waddell’s story, “Conflict of interest in Stephen Vest killing probe?” placed fifth in investigative reporting.

Leslie Layton’s reporting that began with the story, “Butte County Latinos hit hardest by the pandemic” placed third in two separate categories — coverage of the pandemic (health reporting) and public service journalism.

“The public service effect of Ms. Layton’s July article is impossible to miss in the subsequent two entries, and I applaud ChicoSol on its efforts to highlight a disparity and follow that reporting through…”, wrote a CNPA judge. “This is classic and clean public service journalism.”

Finally, Layton’s story, “An election ends Gridley’s ‘political slumber‘” placed fifth in the category for local coverage of the 2020 election.

Thank you readers and supporters!

Were callers to dispatch warning that Stephen Vest was in trouble?

The Chico Police Department media log suggests Stephen Vest was likely on East 20th Street as of 6 p.m. — and possibly much earlier.

9:09 a.m.: Caller says a man is on East 20^th Street jumping in front of cars. He’s described as a thin white man 5-feet-9-inches tall wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and backpack. Police arrive almost 26 minutes later and report him “gone on arrival.”

5:59 p.m.: A man on East 20th Street behind Petco is “trying to cross and then running in the road.” Log states: “Appears very confused or 11550” referring to the under-the-influence Health & Safety code section. Police arrive quickly and report him “gone on arrival.”

Sometime around 7 p.m., Vest was seen at that location in a hooded sweatshirt by an acquaintance who worried that he might get hit, says Lisa Currier. Sometime around 7:30 p.m., Vest had an encounter with a security guard in the area of Community Park, says Butte County DA Mike Ramsey.

Tag: unhoused

Grass-roots activism rescues some Comanche residents Homeless encampments flooded; many have nowhere to go

Civil rights action: Chico homeless caught in ‘web of ordinances’ Lawsuit stops sweeps momentarily