Highlights, lowlights from the week’s news
HIT » Friday’s announcement that the city of Chico will open its non-congregate housing site Monday was the news most of us have been waiting to hear for a long, long time.
Has it really only been 109 days since the city announced the settlement? Feels longer.
In any case, the opening of the Pallet shelter site off Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway opens a new chapter in our city’s history. For the first time, there will be available shelter for just about anyone who wants it. Also, there will be one centralized location where our unhoused residents can meet with service providers in hopes of using that site as a stepping stone to better things in their lives.
Soon enough, this should also mark the return of Chico’s ability to enforce its ordinances regarding camping in public spaces. As you no doubt recall, the city was slapped with a temporary restraining order April 11, 2021 prohibiting it from enforcing those policies after conducting several sweeps of homeless camps throughout Chico. Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. of the
U.S. District Court Eastern Division said the city was in violation of Martin vs. Boise, the landmark ruling that says municipalities cannot remove people from public lands unless there is shelter space available for them.
At this point, it’s important to remember that nothing is going to change overnight. But we’re finally to the point where progress can begin — and, a few nattering nabobs of negativism aside, it’s being made via the only legally viable path.
It’s been a rocky and often ugly road getting here, but today, let’s be thankful that the site will finally open. Let’s focus on making it as successful as possible — for the benefit of all in Chico, housed and unhoused alike.
MISS » The initial reports were the kind of gut punch everyone fears could happen in this day and age — social media posts about an “active shooter” at Tinseltown Theater.
Fortunately, that scenario ended up being false. As it turns out, police suspect a few severely misguided jokers set off some sort of pyrotechnic device inside one of the theaters.
That stunt not only caused a nightmarish panic and rush for the exits — something dangerous enough by itself — it also horrified an entire region about what might have happened, and which of their loved ones might be there.
And it tied up our police department for most of a night. The task of sweeping through 14 theaters looking for a possible active shooter, and victims, is nothing that can be done by a couple of officers in a matter of minutes. Lives were literally put on the line in a situation where police had to assume the worst-possible scenario.
Our first responders deserve our highest praise for getting there so quickly and determining there was no threat in such a reasonable amount of time.
We hope whoever is responsible for this sick act is apprehended and prosecuted. There is absolutely nothing funny about it.
HIT » As noted in this space recently, it’ll be 10 years before we have to go through the redistricting drama again. Kudos to two of our county supervisors for rolling out some ideas to make things go more smoothly next time.
The Butte County Board of Supervisors held a brief discussion during its meeting Tuesday to go over the possibility of creating an independent commission or committee to advise the board on future redistricting discussions or handle the process entirely. This item was brought forth by Supervisors Debra Lucero and Tami Ritter with a presentation by Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Brian Ring.
As it stands, whichever side has the majority of votes is going to get its way when the lines are redrawn. Period. The Fair Maps Act produced a few more hoops to jump through, but as long as politicians are drawing the lines, it’s going to be at least partially a political decision. It happened at the county level, at the city level and the school district levels this year.
We hope there’s less drama and more cooperation next time around. And while we’re not naive enough to think any non-partisan group is always going to be non-partisan, at least it might be a good start. What we’ve got now is just too painful.
MISS » There was some pretty disheartening information shared Thursday during the Butte Interagency Narcotic Task Force’s press conference.
The task force reported that in 2021, it seized 46.43 pounds of methamphetamine, 4.31 pounds of heroin, 1.23 pounds of fentanyl, 0.59 pounds of cocaine and 3.40 pounds of Schedule II drugs — all but cocaine showing an increase from 2020.
Also, in 2021, 41 individuals died from fentanyl-related overdoses.
“Forty-one individuals died from fentanyl-related overdose deaths. Forty-one — that is a quadrupling from 2020 alone,” said Michael O’Brien, BINTF commander.
It’s a crisis, and it’s getting worse.