News
Sifting through the recovery
It’s been almost two years since the Camp Fire destroyed Concow, and Inez Salinas is bathing her 4-year-old daughter in a plastic bin. River enjoys bath time with Mom, Salinas said, and couldn’t care less […]
Camp Fire
News
Delivered from hunger
Jenny Lowrey couldn’t contain her excitement when the semi pulled into Yankee Hill Hardware on July 31. “Oh my god. Seventeen-hundred families are going to get free food today,” she said. “Ah, I love this!” […]
News
Disaster County
In early March, as coronavirus started to spread through the Sacramento Valley, Katy Thoma remained optimistic. She understood the gravity of the situation—Butte County officials had recently declared both a local emergency and a local […]
Community Essays
Guest comment
“I hate it, too.” That was my message to one of my juniors back in April. Distance learning had been suddenly foisted upon us, and he was struggling with staying interested in it. I had […]
Camp Fire
Paradise premiere
This Friday (July 31), Rebuilding Paradise, the Camp Fire documentary by Ron Howard will be officially released, both online and in select theaters. The Academy Award-winning director—who has relatives who used to live in Paradise—spent […]
News
Day of reckoning
Michael Hanko leaned over the lectern in a Chico courtroom as if his legs would give out, mustering the strength to continue speaking about the sibling he lost in the Camp Fire. His was the […]
News
Guilty pleas from PG&E
On Tuesday morning (June 16) at Butte County Superior Court, more than 19 months after the Camp Fire, PG&E pleaded guilty to causing the mega blaze as well as 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter linked […]
Camp Fire
Can PG&E limit outages?
While economists are trying to determine just how stark the new COVID-19 reality is for mom-and-pop businesses, a recent survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce suggests the situation hasn’t hit rock bottom: Forty-three percent of […]
News
Hunger pains amid the pandemic
As cars lined the street outside the Magalia Community Church on a Tuesday morning last month, Pastor Kevin Lindstrom led a small group of volunteers in worship, praying that everyone arriving that day be “filled […]
Second & Flume
Bittersweet
I may have been in the middle of feeling sorry for myself when former CN&R staff writer Ashiah Scharaga called to tell me the California News Publishers Association had revealed the results of its annual […]
Camp Fire
‘Don’t forget about the Miocene Canal’: Butte County DA and PG&E reach agreement on water access, but questions linger
Business started booming for the Bamford family shortly after they opened the doors to their olive oil tasting room and gift shop in 2016. People constantly trickled into the downtown Oroville storefront to sample the […]