Articles by Melissa Daugherty

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 […]

The CN&R is committed to chronicling the Camp Fire and its ensuing crises for the foreseeable future. That is our pledge to readers moving forward into the long and complex recovery process. I mention this […]

I wanted to write about something other than the Camp Fire this week. But it’s difficult to escape the calamity. Maybe impossible. We’re in a new post-fire world, and there are a lot of ramifications. […]

Prior to the Camp Fire, the biggest natural disaster in my orbit was the Loma Prieta earthquake back in 1989. Though most of my family is here around Chico, I was born and raised in […]

Photo by Merdith J. Cooper Guido Barbero (masked), along with friends Truck-a-roni, wanted to help evacuees, so he set up operations in the Chico Walmart parking lot, with no expectation the donation center would become […]

I’m familiar with the thousand-yard stare. As a journalist, I’ve seen it many times over the years. Back in the day, as a daily newspaper reporter, I encountered it while interviewing people at the scene […]