-
Safe Space Winter Shelter says its intake center will be in the parking lot of Trinity United Methodist Church for the rest of the season following more than a week of negotiations with the city of Chico over a zoning issue at the nonprofit’s prior location. Also, a controversial settlement agreement between the California Public Utilities Commission and PG&E over the energy company’s role in the deadly 2021 Dixie Fire was delayed for a second time this week, and the Shasta County Election Commission has asked that the county’s supervisors to hire legal counsel to find out if they have authority to review election materials.
-
With a final sale this month, PG&E’s Fire Victim Trust has now sold all of the company’s stock it set aside to compensate wildfire survivors, but it still doesn’t have enough money. Also, Shasta County supervisors voted last week to significantly increase the severance package for its recently hired public health officer, and California’s Medicaid program is undergoing major changes in the new year aimed at improving health care access and delivery for people enrolled in the safety net program. But state regulators will need to rigorously enforce the improvements.
-
The California Public Utilities Commission already said in November that PG&E could charge customers around $33 more every month starting in 2024. Now the utility is asking the CPUC for another rate hike.
-
Chico’s only warming shelter opened its intake center yesterday. Some people waited at the center’s new downtown location days in advance to sign up. Also, Butte County supervisors have ended the discussion regarding whether hauled water can be a permanent water source for the county, and PG&E has asked state regulators to approve another rate hike.
-
PG&E is being investigated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission after allegations that it may not be complying with the terms of its license to operate the DeSabla-Centerville hydroelectric project. Also, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted this week to offer the role of county legal advisor to an unknown applicant. They’ve shared little information about the new candidate, beyond their concerns about how difficult it’s been keeping someone in the role, and California has replaced Bank of America with a new contractor to distribute unemployment, disability and paid leave funds following frequent scams involving debit cards used to pay recipients.
-
An independent investigation defends Chico State’s actions when investigating a former professor who had been tenured, despite sexual relations with a student and threats of gun violence. Also, residents have been left in the dark as to why Oroville Union High School’s District Superintendent was suspended unexpectedly from his position, and the city of Chico has sent letters notifying businesses of their new responsibilities regarding stolen or misplaced shopping carts.
-
Chico enforced anti-camping laws in three places across the city last week; campers say they have nowhere else to go. Also, the California Public Utilities Commission recently approved a massive rate hike for PG&E customers, and a person in their 30s has been announced as the first person to die from complications of the flu in Butte County.
-
The California Public Utilities Commission will decide this week on PG&E’s proposal to further increase rates. A UC Berkeley economist says that the question isn’t whether costs will continue to rise, but “to what extent.”
-
An unsettled weather pattern is bringing rain to the valley today and tomorrow and light snow to the mountains tomorrow and Thursday. Also, Chico State trade workers will be picketing today as part of a one-day strike across 22 California State University campuses, and Cal Fire has announced that burn permits are no longer required to burn green waste in Butte County.
-
In the last three years, the PG&E Fire Victims Trust has paid out more than $10 billion dollars. But it dispenses settlement money in small payments because it isn’t fully funded.