Melanie Falick is a maker of many things by hand, and in her work from knitting to gardening, welding to baking, she explores the connection between what we do with our hands in our own lives and our quality of life and sense of wellbeing. 

In 2015, Melanie left her 15-year corporate career in the publishing world without a completely clear sense of what she would - or wanted to do-  next. Her intuition told her that whatever it was, it would involve engagement with the handwork – knitting, sewing, time in the garden – that she loved, but that she had moved away from personal direct contact within her career. 

This is NSPR’s weekday show about the local and regional effects of COVID-19 in the North State. Listen each weekday at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. NSPR will continue this special coverage as long as our community needs it. Our mission with this show is to provide accurate news and information about COVID-19 for the North State.

Today we’re checking in with businesses around the North State on how they’ve been affected by the pandemic and on their plans for reopening.  

As always, if you have questions for us let us know on our message line 433-9216 or go to our website at mynspr.org.  

Local author Carl Ochsner drops by Nancy’s Bookshelf to discuss his latest, A New Age Diary: Personal Glimpses of Life in Post-Modern America. In his memoir, Ochsner recounts his experience in California’s counterculture.

This is NSPR’s weekday show about the local and regional effects of COVID-19 in the North State. Listen each weekday at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. NSPR will continue this special coverage as long as our community needs it. Our mission with this show is to provide accurate news and information about COVID-19 for the North State.

Today we’ll check in with Shasta County on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest announcement that churches can now re-open. We’ll hear why it’s critical to follow your county’s guidelines in order for them to keep moving forward with re-opening, and we'll get a psychologist take on why some people are following health recommendations like wearing masks during this pandemic and others aren’t.

Lately, choosing to wear a mask, or choosing to not wear a mask seems to be the big controversy. And when you visit a downtown, or a shopping center, there is a wide discrepancy of people wearing, or not wearing masks. 

NSPR's Matt Fidler wanted to go into the psychology of why some people choose to comply with the guidance of experts like the CDC and medical experts, and why some people just aren't very concerned, despite the known risks. So he called up local psychologist and author of “Show Your Anxiety's Who's Boss,” Dr. Joel Minden. Minden is the director of the Chico Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

This is NSPR’s weekday show about the local and regional effects of COVID-19 in the North State. Listen each weekday at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. NSPR will continue this special coverage as long as our community needs it. Our mission with this show is to provide accurate news and information about COVID-19 for the North State.

Does visiting an ice cream shop put you at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 than a fast-food restaurant? How to navigate which businesses are the safest to visit and which might not be is what we’re exploring today with help from the podcast Pandemic Economics. It’s from The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago and it's hosted by Eduardo Porter and a good friend of this station, Tess Vigeland. It’s an interesting conversation, we highly recommend staying tuned.

Updated Wednesday, May 27, 4:37 p.m.

Earlier this month, California State University Chancellor Timothy White announced that the majority of CSU courses will be delivered virtually in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.

NSPR's Andre Byik recently spoke with Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson, about the Chico City Council's recent action to possibly explore the viability of bringing more students back to the campus than currently planned.

As more businesses begin to reopen under the governor's phased reopening plan, questions have been raised regarding which agencies have the authority to enforce public health orders. 

NSPR's Andre Byik recently spoke with Chico Vice Mayor Alex Brown to discuss enforcement as well as other items addressed at Tuesday's City Council meeting, including exploring possible options to bring students back to Chico State in the fall. Here are highlights from their conversation. You can listen to the full interview at the top of the page.

This is NSPR’s weekday show about the local and regional effects of COVID-19 in the North State. Listen each weekday at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. NSPR will continue this special coverage as long as our community needs it. Our mission with this show is to provide accurate news and information about COVID-19 for the North State.

Today we’ll hear from Chico Vice Mayor Alex Brown on enforcing California Governor Gavin Newsom’s stay at home order in the city and the council’s recent action to possibly explore the viability of bringing more students back to the campus. We’ll also hear from Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson about the idea and more about Chico State’s current plans for the fall semester.

In this episode, inspired by our good friend Alan Stern, the Principal Investigator for the New Horizons Spacecraft, we examine a question that has vexed astronomers, planetary scientists and 5th graders, for decades: "What exactly is a Planet?" And more importantly, why should we care about definitions like this in science.