Arts & Culture

Band practice blues

I broke quarantine for band practice. And so did my bandmates. (Sorry, fellas. I ratted you out.) I don’t regret it. Before getting together, we charted our connections for any sketchy contacts, an ad hoc […]

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Second & Flume

Humbled

Those who’ve read my column or editorials in the CN&R over the years know that I’ve been a fierce defender of programs designed to help people who are struggling. I’ve written many times about perennially […]

Arts & Culture

Virtual campus

Last week, Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson announced that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the university will hold a virtual graduation commencement ceremony (May 15) instead of an on-campus event. It’s the final nail […]

Arts & Culture

Go to your window

In Fairbanks, Alaska, there are moose in someone’s driveway licking salt in the snow. A sleepy dog is splayed out on a patio as the sun sets in Australia. Looking down from a high-rise apartment, […]

Arts & Culture

Walk the talk

“Creativity is a survival strategy.” That line is part of a quote by art critic Jerry Saltz that opens the most recent Art Talk newsletter put out by longtime local arts activist, teacher and painter […]

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Second & Flume

Bittersweet

I may have been in the middle of feeling sorry for myself when former CN&R staff writer Ashiah Scharaga called to tell me the California News Publishers Association had revealed the results of its annual […]

Arts & Culture

Poetry 99

The Chico News & Review’s annual Poetry 99 issue was supposed to come out on April 2. That was before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the paper to suspend print publication, putting many planned stories—including the […]