Articles by Melissa Daugherty

The city of Gridley’s motto—the small town that loves company—is a nod to the hospitality often inherent in rural life. But that slogan is especially true now that the southern Butte County city has welcomed […]

One of the images of the Camp Fire I’ll never shake is of Pearson Road six days after the blaze began. I’d traveled that road many times over the years, almost always in happy circumstances, […]

If you were out of town for the July 4 holiday and didn’t grab a copy of last week’s CN&R, you missed our annual Pet Issue. If not, and you read about the Camp Fire […]

Photo by Ashiah Scharaga City Manager Mark Orme, pictured outside of the City Council chambers about a week after the Camp Fire, across the street from smoke-shrouded City Plaza, where the flag flew at half-staff […]

I’ve had a pretty bad bout of insomnia since the Camp Fire. Actually, to be precise, the trouble sleeping began on Nov. 9, the day after the state’s deadliest wildfire began in remote Butte County. […]

At the top of the list of businesses I was determined to check on after the Camp Fire was Mendon’s Nursery—a special place to many people in this part of the North State, including yours […]

Photo by Meredith J. Cooper Audrey Denney, pictured at Chico City Plaza in September, says the 2020 election feels more pressing. “I always knew I’d give it two goes.” That’s what Audrey Denney told the […]

Photo by Melissa Daugherty Dan Gonzales said crews worked day and night to get the RV park up to code as soon as possible. Sean McAndrew lights up when talking about Butte Creek Canyon. He […]

A few weeks after the Camp Fire erupted, I began making predictions about the future. One was that it wouldn’t be long before the throng of reporters from large, out-of-town media outlets would begin an […]

Photo by Melissa Daugherty Chico Animal Shelter’s Tracy Mohr pets a tortoise shell cat that likely will be put up for adoption soon. Tamara Yates and her husband, Chris, were beaming on Tuesday morning (Jan. […]

Cue the damage control. After our story last week about the Red Cross’ pending closure of the emergency shelter at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds and my not-so-subtle criticism of that plan (see “#RedCrossFailure,” Jan. 17), […]

Red Cross officials have told this newspaper’s reporters multiple times that the organization’s efforts to operate shelter services for Camp Fire evacuees would continue until there is no longer a need. Well, apologies for the […]

I’ve never been one to read the last page of a novel first, and I really hate spoilers, but I’m going to tell you how this week’s cover story predicting a devastating Ridge fire ends: […]

When I was in elementary school, my mom worked at a veterans’ hospital, doing clerical work. My brother and I spent a fair amount of time there—exploring the outdoors in the foothills of Livermore and […]