On 10/5 we talk with two of the many artists who'll be displaying their work in Chico's downtown windows. People can see those many works of art during an Art Walk this Friday. We also talk with director & cast of the comedy-drama "Making God Laugh," about a family which gathers at end-of-year holidays in the 80's, 90's and 2000's.

This week's Blue Dot is a classic episode. Our nation's fleet of weather satellites are one of our greatest orbital assets. They provide the data that is fed into sophisticated computer models which are then used by forecasters to give us accurate 5 to 7 day outlooks on the weather. In November, the Joint Polar Satellite System or JPSS-1 was launched with amazing instrumental capabilities. In the image above, you can see the smoke plumes from the devastating Thomas Fire, the largest wildfire in California history.

Long after the retardant drops end and the hot shots and news crews move on, the danger across wildfire burn scars remains. Special teams of geologists, biologists, soil scientists, and hydrologists are dispatched to assess damage, plan fixes and identify potentially fatal hazards. 

There’s an ancient association between the botanical world and art inspired by it. This week on Cultivating Place, we kick off a four-part series in which we hear about the process, purpose and passions of five different artists all expressing their love for plants through their artistry.

Today we hear from the bold and the heroic when we’re joined by botanical illustrator Kate Blairstone of Portland, Oregon, followed by a conversation with international urban muralist, Mona Caron. Join us.

This week we head up the road to revisit Joshua Tree, about an hour north of Coachella Valley and party-central Palm Springs. Temperatures are 100-plus most of the summer, so this isn’t most people’s idea of an ideal summer retreat, though on the plus side: in summer, you can grab a prime camp spot even on weekends without a reservation. In winter it’s crazy-popular (meaning, congested), so spring and fall can be the best for Joshua Tree.

Following another lengthy and acrimonious hearing, the city council in Chico declared a shelter crisis Tuesday night, opening the door to financial help from Sacramento aimed at easing homelessness.

It took close to two hours to wade through the claims and counter claims in an overflowing chamber, but in the end the council narrowly approved the declaration on a 4 to 3 vote with conservative Andrew Coolidge joining the liberal bloc.

Author Kimball Medders grew up on military bases in Europe and Ethiopia with parents who were overseas teachers. His memoir, The Italian Lesson, recounts his adventures as a military brat and sailor.  After serving in the Navy, he returned to college in Sacramento, then later taught inmates in Susanville for 23 years, retiring from that job in 2009.