Chico, California

Drought-impacted residents of Orland may see relief with a new water project, and Chico’s Catalyst expands its services as Rape Crisis Center closes. Also, the Chico City Council will discuss police and fire department funding at its meeting, and Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed a new senator to serve the remainder of the late Senator Feinstein’s term.

The city of Chico's Pallet shelter site for unhoused residents opened in April 2022. NSPR looked into the number of people the site has housed in nearly a year and a half. Also, the Butte County Board of Supervisors voted this week to explore a possible tax to fund the county’s libraries, and a controlled burn will take place in the Red Bluff Recreation Area on Friday for the first time in almost 10 years.

Dozens affected by the Bear Fire or North Complex gathered Friday to address the looming expiration of permits that allow them to live in RVs and trailers on their properties. Also, the Butte County Board of Supervisors will once again discuss how to continue funding for libraries at their meeting today, and California’s new insurance deal covers all of California but allows insurers to use catastrophe modeling to set insurance premiums and to pass on reinsurance fees to consumers.

Tropical storms this summer brought flash floods to Siskiyou County, where last year the McKinney Fire killed four people and destroyed more than a hundred homes. Also, today’s storm could mean the end of fire season in northern California, and Glenn County will be testing its emergency alert system on Thursday.

The Chico City Council this week unanimously approved the newest plan to advance the city’s housing and living conditions over the next several years. Also, the city of Redding has stepped in as administrator of the NorCal Continuum of Care after Shasta County officials announced they would be terminating their responsibilities to the organization, and a celebration and mural dedication will take place in Chico tomorrow in honor of Deaf Awareness Month.

The Chico City Council this week (Sept. 19) unanimously approved the newest plan to advance the city’s housing and living conditions over the next several years. That’s after months of revisions to better comply with state requirements. NSPR’s Erik Adams reports.

Many Chico State students say they oppose the decision by the California State University Board of Trustees to raise tuition rates over the next five years. Also, a PG&E price hike as high as 26% has been proposed to the California Public Utilities Commission, and if you live in Glenn County and get a call from ‘Sergeant Harris’ asking you to send money to them, you’re being scammed.

The town of Paradise is getting new road signs that tell people which evacuation zones they’re driving through. Also, California State University trustees voted yesterday to approve a proposal to increase tuition by 6% annually over the next five years, and Shasta County supervisors will discuss suing California if Newsom signs a measure passed by the legislature last week that would ban hand-counting ballots in most elections.

A month after forcibly removing unhoused people from a large encampment at Depot Park, the city of Chico issued notices of enforcement to those camping along sections of Big Chico Creek and the Lindo Channel. Also, a major sweep of 24 unlicensed grows in Siskiyou County netted more than 8,000 pounds of marijuana with a street value exceeding $68 million earlier this summer, and Cal Fire will conduct a controlled burn today in Redding, Igo and Cottonwood.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has found four new gray wolf packs in California in addition to three existing packs in Lassen, Plumas and Siskiyou counties. Also, a disaster summit will be held by Cal OES this Friday in Chico to increase community understanding of emergency response systems, and local public health departments are starting to schedule flu vaccine clinics as flu season nears.