Re: Looking into election ballot postal urgency in Butte County
By Ken Magri (News, October 29, 2025)
We mailed in our votes several weeks ago, but have not received any notification that they were received and tallied. Why?
–Roberta Estes
Editor’s note: According to the Butte County Clerk/Recorder’s office, you can sign up at Butte Votes and search “Where’s My Ballot?” to track it.
Re: Chico’s Bob Mulholland, Democratic Party insider and veteran-activist, passes away
By Ken Magri (News, October 28, 2025 )
The loss of Bob is painful. He was the quintessential American. Smart, scrappy and above all, a patriot. When some were crying bone spurs, he served and got a purple heart. He never forgot our Veterans. I was fortunate to meet him. We all benefited from his time on this Earth. Condolences to Jane.
–Helen Harberts
Bob was the kind of guy who dependably sent our family a Christmas card every year, even when we moved to Australia some 30 years ago. I will never forget our climb up Mt Warning, when he visited us… Hugs to Jane.
–John Boland
My friend Bob who announced “Once a Catholic aways a Catholic” at our family’s wedding a year ago was a highlight that will be remembered. Bob also very much supported vaccines, considering the neighbor! Was privy to seeing his wounds on his back in the early 80s, something I will never forget. This man kept up with me for year after year, God bless his faithfulness. I will miss him very much.
–Allyn Johnston
Bob spurred a lot of people to do so many good things for this City, County, State, and beyond. RIP Bob.
–Robin Keehn
Re: ‘No Kings’ rally brings out strong spirit in Chico
By Ken Magri (News, October 21, 2025)
Everyone who attended No Kings 2 helped make it a day to remember well. Over 7 million of us in the U.S. exercised our Constitutional Rights on Saturday.
–Catherine Cottle
No mention of the maga trash in the hella ugly red ford diesel speeding around the block numerous times nearly striking pedestrians as they blew illegally modified exhaust in huge clouds all over everybody. Where’s the police in this town when it’s maga trash doing the offending? No where to be seen. They literally got away with it for more than 15 minutes it’s a wonder no one was killed.
–T. Fiagkua
How can you conclude that the “maga trash” was indeed maga, without any research? A “hella ugly red ford” does not make a maga.
–Robin P.
Um, yes, it’s true. There was an aggressive, bearded, ugly douche nozzle in a big red truck driving aggressively in the middle lane and then swerving fast into the outside lane to try to scare the protesters. I was unfazed with this childishness. But what does it say about someone who goes out of their way to try to frighten peaceful people with bodily harm. It says: incel, Maga, low-intelligence, hateful. That same guy is probably going to get hurt by the Big Ugly Bill’s ramifications. I hope some kind of enlightenment occurs, but I won’t hold my breath. The ignorance within the cult is hard to fix.
–Mellie D.
Re: Bill protecting Shasta and Scott River salmon gets signed
By Dan Bacher (News, October 16, 2025)
Thanks for covering this complex topic. But “drains the Mount Shasta Glacier?” First, there’s no such place. Shasta has several glaciers, but there is no Mount Shasta Glacier. Mount Shasta hosts five glaciers: Bolam, Hotlum, Konwakiton, Whitney, and Wintun glaciers. The waters of the springs feeding the Shasta River have diffuse sources, including rain, snow melt and yes, a fair bit of glacial melt. But the hydrology is a lot more complex than implied here.
It’s worth studying these technical aspects as part of any ongoing reporting of legal tussles happening in the Shasta and Scott watersheds.
Thanks again to you and the News & Review. Keep up the good work!
–C. Harvey
Re: With Butte County’s representation in question, CN&R offers a Proposition 50 primer
By Ken Magri (News, October 2, 2025)
Regarding Prop 50 Primer. The next census is in 2030. Prop. 50 redistricting, when approved, will last only until 2030. Your vote for Prop 50 helps keep our democracy, unlike state legislatures who are not putting redistricting up for a vote of their constituents.
–Catherine Cottle
The upcoming election on Nov. 4th poses some challenging questions for voters: who, what, and why?
In 2010 via Prop 20, California voters approved the creation of a Citizens Redistricting Commission. Then Governor Schwarzenegger wanted to end the drawing of districts by the California Legislature because of the legislative bias towards Democratic incumbents.
Chico is now the largest city by population in a district that was created using the “communities of interest” measure to have populations with shared social and economic interests in the same district. Those interests are listed as agriculture and timber.
July 15 President Trump told the Texas legislature to draw new US Congressional maps, aiming to keep the Republican control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. Texas acted quickly and created new districts to flip 5 seats currently held by Democrats. Missouri followed suit.
Governor Newsom proposed temporary re-redistricting to allow California to secure votes to oppose President Trump’s control of the Federal Government. California’s Congressional District 1 will be redrawn to more effectively align with contiguous communities of interest.
California Republicans filed an emergency petition with the California Supreme Court aiming to block the Nov. 4th election. The Court denied the request.
The new Congressional 1 District will expire in 6 years. And the Citizens Redistricting Commission will again address Congressional voting districts in California.
VOTE YES on Prop 50 on Nov. 4th.
–Linda Hale
Drug air strikes questioned
(To: CN&R Letters, October 3, 2025)
I live every day with the grief and scars of America’s overdose crisis. It is not abstract to me, it has touched my life in ways I can’t forget. Behind every statistic are people with names, families, and stories. Behind every number is an empty chair.
That’s why I cannot stay silent when I see our government bombing boats in the Caribbean and calling it a victory. Explosions make headlines, but do they save lives? Where is the proof that fewer families are burying loved ones because of these strikes?
The truth is, fentanyl deaths only began to fall in the last year, and that drop came before these military actions. The real progress came from programs rooted in healthcare: naloxone access, treatment, prevention, recovery support. Yet today, those very programs are being gutted, even as billions are spent on missiles.
If this campaign is truly about saving lives, then the government owes us transparency: forensic evidence of what was destroyed, proof that supply is shrinking, and data that deaths are going down. Anything less is political theater played out on the ocean, while families like mine continue to carry the real weight of this epidemic.
My conscience will not let me stay quiet. We must demand policies that measure success in lives saved, not boats blown apart.
–Mary Crone
Re: What happened to Paulo? Butte County farmworker with deep ties to the community swept off by ICE
By Ken Magri (News, May 1, 2025)
Sept. 26, 2025: Thank you for publishing this story. We can watch television and see ICE operations elsewhere, but I really wondered about the extent of it’s activities in our area. I also appreciate the listing of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. My husband and I will donate to this group. ICE is unAmerican on so many levels. Being taken without Due Process to remote locations and treated cruelly is terrifying and wrong. Please keep reporting on ICE activities in Butte/Glenn Counties.
–Trudy Duisenberg
Re: Flaming trauma and tragic memories: A portrayal of Butte County’s deadliest disaster, The Camp Fire, comes to Apple TV+
By Ken Magri (Arts & Culture, September 25, 2025)
Good article with insights, good film too; very intense.
–Daniel Bernick
Re: Win one for the writers
(Editorial, September 19, 2025)
Excellent! A great start and a solid win for writers and creators. Thank you for reporting on this.
–John M.
Re: Streetalk: What person, dead or alive, would you want to have dinner with?
(Opinions, September 17, 2025)
These are all great answers! Glad to see folks sharing!
–Justin Cooper
Re: Essay: My eviction story and the new bill that imperils housing for those most at risk of losing it
By Sarah Grace Kubasek (Guest Comment, September 4, 2025)
Nice job on the article. These are important statistics.
–Leslie Johnson
UC Davis in-state tuition is slightly north of $15,000. Please explain how she lives on public assistance, sleeping in a car, and has the means to attend UCD. Scholarship(s)? Student loan(s)?
–Bill Collins
Re: When gerrymandering trumps redistricting: Chico is in the middle of a national political battle
By Ken Magri (News, September 2, 2025)
The real shame: they support TX’s gerrymandering to skew election outcomes in their favor. Else, we would not be in this situation.
–Erica S.
Chico/Butte County dems will not be crying over the projected outcome of this latest shuffle. We’re still smarting from the total skewing of the local election that wiped out Debra Lucero’s district as a County Supervisor.
–Trudy Duisenberg
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