Re: “Ishi’s story still haunts Butte County and beyond” by Scott Thomas Anderson (Opinion & History)
Thank you, Scott, for this soul-rending reminder of the loss of life and history of California’s indigenous tribes at the hands of early European settlers. We can still learn so much as we consider how and why we remember.
– Dave Marquis
Re: “Ishi’s story still haunts Butte County and beyond” by Scott Thomas Anderson (Opinion & History)
As someone from Minnesota, I wouldn’t know about Ishi and the Yahi were it not for your account. Thank you for keeping them alive.
– Dan Bernick
Re: “Can Bidwell Mansion in Chico be rebuilt?” by Ken Magri (News)
As a Chicoan since 1972 (also, the first time I toured the mansion) I can’t imagine Chico without Bidwell Mansion. A true Chicoan, either long-term or new transplant, needs this mansion to identify its historic roots, among others … I say rebuild. Or regret not doing so.
– Johnny Moretti
Re: “Can Bidwell Mansion in Chico be rebuilt?” by Ken Magri (News)
Loved walking around the stately Bidwell Mansion and looking in its windows in the late 1960s while I was an undergrad at Chico State. It personified the city of Chico and Chico State. I would love to see the mansion restored. lt is a big part of Chico’s history.
–Frank Kelly
Re: “Can Bidwell Mansion in Chico be rebuilt?” by Ken Magri (News)
I agree a practical resolution is needed, too, using the land left there and resources that it will take to reclaim the property for any meaningful use, for the benefit of the community, it’s living, moving people, while also honoring the site as one of the most historically significant in town. Thus, this property should be Chico’s Public Transit Hub with another Chico History Museum that, in addition to the Bidwell Wing … and another wing covering the history of transportation in the North Valley and surrounding foothills.
Infrastructure funding is currently in the fiscal stream to Chico from Biden’s infrastructure bill, and could, along with State Park Funds/insurance recovery, be used to restore the property to good use.
–Nelson Anthoine
Re: “Bidwell Mansion arson suspect captured and arraigned” by Ken Magri (News)
The poster boy for all of those teachers who preach anti-American sentiments with CRT and anti-American ideology. Shameful and so very sad. It’s too bad the sentence can’t be longer.
–L.T. James
Re: “Bidwell Mansion arson suspect captured and arraigned” by Ken Magri (News)
Good article, good law enforcement investigation.
–Daniel Bernick
Re: “Return to Cohasset” by Ken Magri (News)
Wonderful story and photos. The Cohasset Historical Society has been sharing Park Fire stories for several weeks now on Substack.
– Elizabeth Vegvary
Re: “Should Chico’s Greenline be expanded? Contentious growth committee meeting has one member resign” by Ken Magri (News)
Chico is no longer the small/big town I loved. In the ten years I have lived here, I have watched orchards disappear and housing units after housing units being built. The traffic is now horrendous. It is almost impossible to find a parking place on the street. The small but amazing small feel of the town is gone. I don’t understand Chico has to keep expanding and expanding. Where does it end?
– Suki Haseman
Re: “Should Chico’s Greenline be expanded? Contentious growth committee meeting has one member resign” by Ken Magri (News)
Chico is losing its small town feel with population and traffic increase. I grew up in what became Silicone Valley and watched the orchards disappear. I’d probably fall under the obstructionist label. Not only agriculture but wildlife needs space.
– Mike Ashlock
Re: “My Improv Class at Blue Room Theatre: A lesson in what’s both liberating and terrifying while building community and life skills” by Rachel Bush (Arts & Culture/Theater)
I’ve often thought that if children learned acting, especially creative dramatics, at an early age, they and their communities would be stronger and healthier.
Improv is much the same as creative dramatics but is more-focused on entertainment (although what Rachel Bush describes sounds much like my Performing Arts Center class). I took SPDR 260 at Chico State, and I remember it as an educational tool, a class that explored ideas, emotions, and social skills through improv but in a less performance-focused way. Our first assignment was to stand like a tree in the wind. It wasn’t advanced, but it was an unforgettable experience. We did do skits, but getting there took a while. Kudos to Dana Moore and her Blue Room Theatre. What a fantastic idea.
– C DeForest Switzer
Re: “My Improv Class at Blue Room Theatre: A lesson in what’s both liberating and terrifying while building community and life skills” by Rachel Bush (Arts & Culture/Theater)
Love this, Rachel. Congrats on both the experience and the wonderfully written story.
– Steve Metzger
Re: “Chico’s inconvenient history: A list of discriminatory housing practices and how the city was involved” by Ken Magri (News)
Great article. This type of discrimination has a long history in California.
As a surveyor in San Diego, I found that La Jolla had a “covenant” that people of the Jewish faith could not purchase a home in La Jolla. This was as late as the 1950s. People in Coronado (home of the US Navy Pacific Fleet) could not sell to Asians.
A friend who served on the Lake Tahoe Lands Commission told me she found titles for land at Tahoe that said you couldn’t sell property to Black people … and the beat goes on.
– Brian Mancarti
Re: “Chico’s inconvenient history: A list of discriminatory housing practices and how the city was involved” by Ken Magri (News)
Well, this was a disgusting journey down memory lane, but only marginally relevant except in historic context for the whole USA. However, the corporate ownership of housing is an extraordinarily serious problem and needs to be stopped. They are buying up apartments, housing, and mobile home parks. Like some of our predatory downtown landlords, they make money by leaving properties open and jacking up rates. This is something that must be stopped. Frankly, a thousand properties is way too high a limit. Chico needs to begin a non-occupancy tax which punishes those who sit on properties and take write-offs for losses. I drive around and wonder why we reward non-productivity by the moneyed class. Incentivize productivity and occupancy for owners and landlords … and punish those who sit on empty property.
– Helen Harberts
Re: “Chico’s inconvenient history: A list of discriminatory housing practices and how the city was involved” by Ken Magri (News)
Let’s not forget the post WW II GI bill, which allowed many white vets to become first-time homeowners and generate family wealth, but was not available to black veterans.
– Dennis Eicholtz
Re: “The gaslighting of Chico through a fake ‘local’ newsletter being written by A.I.” by Scott Thomas Anderson (Opinion)
Thank you for alerting us all to that sneaky underhanded operation. Good to know, so I can ignore and let others know. Keep up the good work. You are admired and appreciated for all you do.
– Sharon Roushdy
Re: “The gaslighting of Chico through a fake ‘local’ newsletter being written by A.I.” by Scott Thomas Anderson (Opinion)
I prefer to read material written by robots. You know, real beings more or less intelligent as the case may be. It is a matter of trust.
– Alice Duncan
Thank you for publishing the letters and for periodically spotlighting them! I love reading them!