Mental health in question for Oroville bus shooting suspect | Butte County pares down COVID response | Time change affects biological rhythms

By Sarah Bohannon,

Published March 10, 2022 at 8:44 AM PST

The latest North State and California news on our airwaves for Thursday, March 10.

Oroville bus shooting suspect to have mental health examined

Criminal proceedings were suspended Wednesday in the case of a Sacramento man accused of carrying out a deadly bus shooting last month in Oroville.

Court records show a Butte County judge suspended the case against suspected shooter Asaahdi Coleman after Coleman’s court-appointed attorney expressed a doubt as to his client’s mental competency.

Coleman will undergo a doctor’s examination to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial. He’s due back in court April 6.

Coleman is charged with a single count of murder and four counts of attempted murder for his alleged role in the Feb. 2 Greyhound bus shooting that happened near an AM-PM convenience store on Oroville Dam Boulevard.

The shooting left a Seattle woman dead and four others injured. Law enforcement officials at the time saidwitnesses reported Coleman appeared paranoid and agitated.

According to court records, Coleman has not yet entered a plea.

— Andre Byik, NSPR

Butte County trimming down COVID-19 response

Public health officials in Butte County are paring down their emergency response system for COVID-19.

Public Health Director Danette York said the move comes as cases continue to decline in the county. However, she noted that the landscape could change.

“There’s always the possibility that another variant will show up [and] that we would need to revert back to some of the mitigation efforts,” she said.

York told the Butte County Board of Supervisors Tuesday that the health department is working on 16 outbreaks of the virus in congregate living settings, such as skilled nursing facilities and health care homes.

She added that if the downward trend continues, her department could rescind its public health emergency proclamation for COVID-19 in the coming months.

— Andre Byik, NSPR

Garamendi says oil companies are price gouging, calls for hearings

As gas prices continue to soar, Democratic Congressman John Garamendi, who represents several North State counties, is calling for congressional hearings on the profitability of the oil industry.

Garamendi said the oil industry anticipated the war in Ukraine when Russia sent troops to the Ukrainian border. Since then, crude oil prices have more than doubled.

"At the same time, the profits of the international petroleum companies have quadrupled, gone up tenfold in some cases,” Garamendi said. “Is that price gouging? I believe it is.”

On Tuesday President Biden announced that the U.S. will ban all Russian oil imports in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. He also warned gas companies, telling them not to excessively increase gas prices and exploit consumers.

— CapRadio Staff

Interview: Sleep expert explains bad effects of shifting to daylight saving time

Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday. Clocks will be set forward an hour, which means another hour of daylight in the evening. But experts say changing the clocks in this direction creates problems for people.

Dr. Kin Yuen is a sleep specialist at UC San Francisco. She said this “springing forward” is a tough transition because it requires a readjustment of biological clocks.

“Typically, we ask that since we can anticipate this change, we try to shift our schedule a couple days by going to bed 15-20 minutes earlier and waking up 15-20 minutes earlier,” she said.

Yuen said the time change can contribute to making more mistakes, and traffic accidents tend to be more frequent, especially in the first couple of days after moving the clock. Listen to the interview in today’s Headlines.