Paradise

A new early warning siren system in Paradise to help people evacuate during wildfires is scheduled to be completed next month. It was one of the town’s top priorities following the 2018 Camp Fire. But after officials in Hawaii decided not to sound their sirens during recent wildfires there, NSPR’s Jamie Jiang wondered how Paradise’s siren system will work in a future emergency.

Show Love Thrift was forced to relocate Friday after the Chico City Council approved a new cannabis dispensary earlier this year. Also, many survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire have been watching the news of wildfires in Maui with a sense of disbelief, and Chico State says for $20 you can pick as many peaches as you want Wednesday at the University Farm.

Health officials are warning that the concerning veterinary tranquilizer xylazine is being used to lace street drugs in Butte County. Also, the U.S. Forest Service says lightning strikes over the weekend led to at least two new fire starts in the Klamath National Forest, and northern California is expected to see limited impacts from Hurricane Hilary.

Chico State’s new president Stephen Perez discusses his goals for the university with NSPR ahead of his Fall Convocation speech yesterday. Also, concerns of a bomb threat at Paradise High put the school on lockdown on the first day back, and the Yurok Tribe’s 59th annual Klamath Salmon Festival takes place tomorrow.

The Chico City Council voted to approve another year of ice skating in the city’s downtown plaza. Also, property owners in Paradise now have one less bill to worry about after Cal Fire awarded the town nearly $2.5 million to help remove hazardous trees after the Camp Fire, and a Caldor Fire survivor is helping others in the burn scar file claims for damages against the federal government.

The town of Paradise conducted the first test of its new emergency evacuation siren system Thursday. NSPR sent reporters to different locations throughout the Ridge to gauge who heard the siren test and who didn’t.

Paradise’s early warning sirens will be tested at 10 a.m. today for the first time in the town. Also, a bill moving through the legislature would raise the minimum wage for people who work in healthcare facilities to $25 per hour but some hospitals and counties are against the proposal, and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has said his administration relocated more than 40 migrants to California.

The first-ever siren test in Paradise will be conducted at 10 a.m. tomorrow, while some residents welcome the drill others question its value. Also, officials say they may not need to increase water releases as Lake Oroville nears capacity, and the Butte County Board of Supervisors scheduled a hearing on June 27 to look more thoroughly at the county's budget.

Paradise officials and residents are concerned that the town’s first test of its early warning sirens Thursday could scare people and cause difficult emotions to resurface. Also, 20 members of Congress from California are sending a letter to the EPA today — they’re worried that a rule intended to improve air quality could make it harder to conduct prescribed burns, and more than 1,200 people in Butte County were counted as experiencing homelessness in the 2023 Point-In-Time report released yesterday.

A new siren system designed to warn residents of an immediate evacuation order will be tested in the town of Paradise for the first time on June 15.