The latest North State and California news on our airwaves for Wednesday, Feb. 9.
Board of Supervisors aligns proclamation with state, federal ones
After considering its termination, the Butte County Board of Supervisors Tuesday narrowly approved keeping in place a local emergency proclamation for COVID-19.
County administrators said the proclamation was needed early in the pandemic to receive certain coronavirus aid.
Butte County’s chief administrative officer, Andy Pickett, recommended the board keep the proclamation in place as a safety measure against any future audits.
He added that most California counties have kept their COVID-19 proclamations in place. Exceptions in the North State include Glenn, Colusa and Lassen counties.
The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to align its proclamation — as well as its termination — with state and federal ones. Pickett reported those are expected to end April 1.
— Andre Byik, NSPR
North State senator emerges as GOP challenger to Gov. Newsom
State Sen. Brian Dahle announced his campaign for California governor Tuesday in Redding. So far, none of the Republicans who ran in last year’s recall election are trying again.
Dahle called Gov. Gavin Newsom a dictator who doesn’t follow his own pandemic rules, pointing to photos of the governor maskless at a recent NFL game.
While Dahle didn’t present a policy platform Tuesday, he did blame problems like homelessness and the cost of living on Democrats, who control the Legislature and all statewide elected offices.
GOP political consultant Tim Rosales said he doesn’t remember a time when the party didn’t have a candidate of stature until this late — just a month before the filing deadline. Read the full story.
— CapRadio Staff
Thinner forests are more resilient to wildfire, study shows
A study published this month in the journal of Forest Ecology and Management shows thick forests in the Sierra Nevada would be more resilient to threats like wildfires, drought and infestations if tree density was reduced by as much as 80%.
The study found that forests in the early 1900s had about 30 trees per acre while today tree density is around 200 trees per acre.
Malcolm North, lead author of the study and research scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, said thinning could help protect forests against fire, drought and bark beetles.
“We really need to restore those very low-density, open forest conditions so that the trees are growing vigorously,” he said. “Because it's that vigor that really makes them able to resist these stresses."
North said taking out 80% of the trees would require investment in more wood processing infrastructure such as sawmills.
— CapRadio Staff
COVID-19 vaccine clinics planned in Glenn County
Eligible Glenn County residents can get a free COVID-19 vaccine at community clinics planned for the end of this month and early March. The clinics are being hosted by the county’s public health department, Northern Valley Indian Health and Tri Counties Community Action Partnership (TCCAP). They are scheduled for the following days:
Tuesday, Feb. 22 from 3 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
- Glenn County Office of Education Conference Room — 311 S. Villa Ave., Willows
Saturday, March 5 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
- Glenn County Fairgrounds (Flaherty Hall building) — 221 E. Yolo St., Orland
Appointments are recommended but not required and can be scheduled by calling the TCCAP hotline at 1-855-268-2227. Transportation can also be arranged by calling the same number.
— Adia White, NSPR
Interview: California energy regulators postpone vote on rooftop solar benefits
California energy regulators were considering whether to vote this week on a controversial plan to cut financial benefits for residential rooftop solar customers, but that vote is now indefinitely on hold.
Energy companies like Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison were behind the effort to cut benefits, while the rooftop solar industry has come out in force against it. Politico Energy Reporter Colby Bermel recently spoke with CapRadio to explain what would change.
“The system that's been in place for the past probably 20 years, is that for any excess power that your solar panels generate, you can feed it back to the grid,” Bermel said. “And your local power provider pays you the retail rate for that power.”
Listen to the interview in today’s Headlines.
— CapRadio Staff
Stories from NPR partner stations are edited by NSPR Staff for digital presentation and credited as requested.
In other news
- Union restaurant sets up fundraiser for Karin Dalton who was killed in Oroville mass shooting: “Jordan Vogel, a general manager at the Union, said the restaurant plans to give all donations to Dalton’s family. The GoFundMe has raised $3,085 as of Feb. 8 and it has the goal set at $10,000.” — Chico Enterprise-Record
- Citing political upheaval as a factor, Shasta County official retires: “Donnell Ewert, who heads one of the largest departments in the county, the Health and Human Services Agency, announced his retirement on Monday.” — Redding Record Searchlight
- Tehama County sees shortage of beds for displaced youth: “Agencies are seeing roughly the same number of children needing to be placed into homes, but the lack of placement opportunities has made child placement nearly impossible.” — Red Bluff Daily News
- Search for missing Chico man being scaled back; personal items found: “Frank Christopher, 53, of Chico went missing near the Rock Creek drainage in the Feather River Canyon. Christopher’s family reported him missing Sunday, Jan. 30, when he failed to return from a camping trip.” — Plumas News
- Sen. Nielsen bill seeks to help Sites Reservoir project: “The bill, Senate Bill 890, is meant to ensure millions of acre-feet of water is stored during wet years instead of being flushed out to sea, a release from California Senate Republicans said.” — Colusa Sun-Herald
- Four additional COVID-related deaths reported for region: “As of Tuesday, there have been 313 total deaths related to COVID-19 in the Yuba-Sutter region. Of those deaths, 88.38 percent were either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.” — The Appeal Democrat
- New COVID sick leave would leave out at least 1 in 4 California workers: “A bill on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom would require large employers in California to offer workers up to 80 hours of COVID-related paid sick leave. But there’s a catch: The bill, which the Legislature passed Monday, doesn’t apply to small employers with 25 or fewer workers.” — CalMatters
- Sacramento took nearly a year to create a new ‘safe ground’ homeless shelter. We look at why it takes so long: “For years, city leaders have pledged to open more shelter space for the thousands of Sacramentans living on the streets, under freeways and along riverbanks.” — CapRadio
In case you missed it
- Interview:Greenville resident on town’s needs 6 months after Dixie Fire — NSPR, Headlines (Feb. 8)
- Hey national media, Shasta County hasn’t been taken over by the “militia” quite yet — Shasta Scout (Column)
- Regional Housing Authority cuts low-income programs — The Appeal Democrat
- Red Bluff Bank of America branch to close permanently — Red Bluff Daily News
- Coronavirus updates: 8 more people die of COVID-19 in County — Redding Record Searchlight
- Number of COVID-19 cases in Lassen County falls slightly — Lassen County Times
Headlines is published every weekday by 8 a.m. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and NPR One. Theme song Borough is courtesy of Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue).
