Opinions
Second & Flume: Risky business
I let my guard down. Early last month, my family and I took a nice, long coastal vacation. Ten days, two beach towns. One in Northern California and the other about two-thirds of the way […]
Second & Flume
Opinions
Second & Flume: Fat cat
Man, was June 24 a dumpster fire day. I woke up that Friday morning to the news that the Extremist Court—aka Supreme Court—had repealed the 50-year precedent on legalized abortion. Next up, Butte County’s retiring […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: JC & the real WMDs
God and guns. I’ve yet to figure out how so many people have convinced themselves that they go together. It’s delusional. Indeed, Jesus followers are kidding themselves if they think that their beloved peace-loving proselytizer—the […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Seeking intelligent life
When are the aliens going to show themselves? No, seriously. When I think about what’s happening in the world today, I can’t help but think about the fact that the federal government has vaguely acknowledged […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Convenient scapegoat
I’d say Mark Orme learned the hard way that there isn’t a back the conservatives on the Chico City Council won’t stab, but I suspect deep down he already knew that. In all my years […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Sabbatical
Before I accepted the job of CN&R’s editor-in-chief back in 2013, I sat down with my predecessor, Robert Speer, to get some advice. At the time, I felt reasonably prepared for the job. I’d been […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Cheers to Dave
I last saw Dave Mettler a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I was at Safeway to buy sourdough bread, but I popped over to the next aisle to say hello to the store’s venerable “wine guy.” […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Best laid plans
One recent evening, I told my son the good news. I explained that scientists had come up with a way to help him get the protection he’d need to be able to return to school […]
Second & Flume
Second & Flume: Disaster lesson
I still get anxiety when I visit Paradise. I go up there only occasionally, mostly to visit a friend who, thankfully, lives just off the main drag. I’m all right if I stay on or […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Incoming
The day after the CN&R closed up shop last year due to the statewide shutdown, I sat in our downstairs conference room with a few staffers and former staffers. I’d invited them to the office […]
Opinions
Accountability
This column is part of special wildfire report on the one-year anniversary of the North Complex Fire’s destruction of Berry Creek and Feather Falls. Find links for more articles in this series at the end […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: A dark cloud
Love isn’t enough. I learned that the hard way during childhood, when people I was close to deeply hurt and disappointed me. But never in adulthood has that lesson been so in my face as […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Busted
I’ve never been more embarrassed for my beloved community. Because, while the Chico City Council and administration have made some pretty big blunders over my two-plus decades here, nothing compares with the “resting environment” set […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Commitment
Each year at around this time, I write about the awards the CN&R picks up in the annual journalism competition put on by the California News Publishers’ Association. I give a rundown in Second & […]
Opinions
Second & Flume: Press charges
Over the short time Rob Berry has lived in Chico, I’ve seen and heard various descriptions of the guy, some of which aren’t fit for print. He is, shall we say, a controversial character. He […]