News
Safe for now
After decades of self-described “rough living,” including spending the last two years on the streets, Nathaniel Edwards is no stranger to hardship. But in mid-March, as fear of the coronavirus rose in the North State, […]
Month: May 2020
Arts DEVO
‘Momma! I’m through’
This was going to be one of those quarantine-fatigue columns where Arts DEVO whines about life in times of pandemic and how all I can muster this week is a slideshow of images and words […]
News
Syringe issue gets stickier
Tensions over syringe access in Chico, a polarizing issue since the Northern Valley Harm Reduction Coalition began distributing and collecting needles in October, have boiled over this spring. As reported in the CN&R, an alliance […]
News
Still a college town
When Chancellor Timothy White announced May 12 that all 23 campuses of the California State University system would teach classes predominantly online in the fall, political and business leaders in Chico went into a tailspin. […]
News
Hunger pains amid the pandemic
As cars lined the street outside the Magalia Community Church on a Tuesday morning last month, Pastor Kevin Lindstrom led a small group of volunteers in worship, praying that everyone arriving that day be “filled […]
News
Backup facility packed and gone
Early this month, as the Butte County Public Health Department prepared paperwork that convinced Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office that the county could accelerate reopening plans, Public Health Director Danette York sent another request to the […]
Arts & Culture
Challenge: Autobiographical
Arts DEVO has been tempted. The “10 albums that impacted my life” or “10 albums that influenced my taste in music” challenges making the rounds on social media are just the sort of navel-gazing escapism […]
Community Essays
Doomsday and CN&R’s Plan A
By Ron Angle My father would always warn, “If you have nothing good to say, say nothing.” Unfortunately, his son eventually became a journalist, and as we all know journalists always have something to say. In […]
News
Backlash to masks
The Bookstore has been closed since March 19, as have most other “nonessential” businesses in Chico due to the coronavirus pandemic. In early April, the shop partially re-opened—for contactless curbside sales—and since then owners Muir […]
News
Breaking points
Lindsay Briggs has grown accustomed to criticism. She’s a particular bugaboo for Chicoans who, in a clique of Facebook groups, take umbrage with her social activism. Called “Professor Voldemort” in reference to her position in […]
Arts & Culture
Explorers-in-place
Like so many cultural resources in Butte County, the Gateway Science Museum remains closed indefinitely in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But before they turned out all the lights, the staff populated the website with […]
News
Local high-schoolers take home film prizes
Several Pleasant Valley High School (PVHS) film students will receive awards during a virtual ceremony this week (Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m.) for the 2020 Directing Change Program Film Contest. The annual public service […]
News
Premature opening?
When Butte County became one of the first two California counties permitted to advance further in reopening businesses, Tami Ritter had a muted reaction. Ritter, a county supervisor representing Chico, served on a committee of […]
News
Arts DEVO: Local music for your pandemic blues
Arts DEVO loves to hear himself talk about music, so a prompt is hardly necessary to get me going. But if you ask … Friend and co-worker CN&R writer Ashiah Scharaga posted a query to […]
News
Holding pattern
The city of Chico will be appointing an interim police chief in the coming weeks, an outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recruitment for the position—held for the past five years by Chief Mike O’Brien—is on […]