C-2012-07-19

SWEET & ROTTEN See CHOW, page 27

CREDENTIAL

YANKED See NEWSLINES, Page 8

SPECIAL ISSUE: PAGE

18

HANG IT! See GREENWAYS, page 15

ANARCHY IN

THE 530 See ARTS FEATURE, page 24

NAYSAYER See FROM THE EDGE, page 39

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CN&R

Vol. 35, Issue 47 • July 19, 2012

1

OPINION Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Guest Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 From This Corner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Streetalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

34

James S. Nagel, MD

Would you go to a Chiropractor for heart surgery?

NEWSLINES Downstroke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Sifter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

HEALTHLINES The Pulse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Weekly Dose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

COVER STORY

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ARTS & CULTURE

GREENWAYS EarthWatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Eco Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 UnCommon Sense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The GreenHouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

25

Arts Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 This Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Fine Arts listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Chow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Reel World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 In The Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Nightlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Arts DEVO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

REAL ESTATE

35

CLASSIFIEDS

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Editor Robert Speer Managing Editor Melissa Daugherty Arts Editor Jason Cassidy Calendar/Special Projects Editor Howard Hardee News Editor Tom Gascoyne Greenways/Healthlines Editor Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia Staff Writer Ken Smith Contributors Catherine Beeghly, Craig Blamer, Alastair Bland, Henri Bourride, Rachel Bush, Vic Cantu, Matthew Craggs, Kyle Delmar, Meredith J. Graham, Jovan Johnson, Miles Jordan, Leslie Layton, Mark Lore, Sean Murphy, Mazi Noble, Jaime O’Neill, Anthony Peyton Porter, Shannon Rooney, Claire Hutkins Seda, Juan-Carlos Selznick, Willow Sharkey, Alan Sheckter, Matt Siracusa, Evan Tuchinsky Interns Kyle Emery, Stephanie Geske, Dane Stivers, Kjerstin Wood Managing Art Director Tina Flynn Editorial Designer Sandra Peters Design Manager Kate Murphy Design Melissa Arendt, Brennan Collins, Priscilla Garcia, Mary Key, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith General Manager Alec Binyon Advertising Consultants Brian Corbit, Jamie DeGarmo, Laura Golino, Robert Rhody Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Advertising Coordinator Jennifer Osa

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Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the Chico News & Review are those of the author and not Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint portions of the paper. The Chico News & Review is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or review materials.

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Send guest comments, 400 words maximum, to gc@ newsreview.com, or to 353 E. 2nd St., Chico, CA 95928. Please include photo & short bio.

March to amendment The Chico City Council took a lot of flak last April when it passed

When Maria said good-bye A image of a male Mexican farm worker pops into your head. He is short, swarthy and sports a drooping black mous-

dmit it: When you think of an “illegal alien,” the

tache. He cannot and will not learn English. He gets drunk on the weekends and probably has a knife tucked away somewhere. The term beaner or wetback may flit through your mind.

You need to think again. Think this: 17, female, 3.4 GPA, witty, motivated, plays sports and is the lead in the spring theater production whose character has almost 200 lines. Yeah, she has an accent, by but she’s been in the United Tim Milhorn States since she was 11. She has applied to attend Chico The author teaches State. She is the model stuEnglish and Drama dent. She is here illegally. and coaches soccer On July 4, 2012, President at Orland High Barack Obama issued an School. order that no children who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents would be subject to deportation. This order came too late for “Maria.” She was deported to Mexico on April 28 to “straighten out her immigration status issues.”

Maria’s parents brought her to the U.S. under a false name. When she applied to Chico State, government offi-

cials found out her real last name. Subsequently, the ruling came that she had to go back to Mexico for three to six months to get her immigration status in order. In plain English, Maria was deported.

The last day at school for Maria fell on a Friday. She visited Orland High to tell everyone goodbye. Students in Theatre Class form a close-knit bond; it’s what makes their acting better. They get to know one another on a deeper level than they would sitting in math or history. The closeness and affection proved true when four girls gave Maria a group hug, all of them crying, everyone else in class voicing disbelief as to how this girl had to leave school.

Everyone on staff could not believe it either. How in the hell could Maria be deported, for God’s sake? She is one of the friendliest and most motivated kids in class.

Yet there she stood, tears streaming down her face, trying to be brave in front of her friends.

So the next time you make some comment about how all those damn Mexicans ought to be shipped back to where they came from (as if we all didn’t come from someplace else), think about Maria: 17, female, 3.4 GPA, witty, motivated…. Ω

How in the hell could Maria be deported, for God’s sake?

4 CN&R July 19, 2012

a resolution calling on Congress to initiate a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, known as Citizens United, that allows super-PACs to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from millionaires and corporations and spend them to influence the political process.

We continue to see what that execrable decision has wrought. The farright billionaire oil magnates, David and Charles Koch, have said they will donate as much as $400 million to pro-Romney super-PACs, more than John McCain spent on his entire campaign in 2008, and gambling billionaire Sheldon Adelson has pledged up to $100 million to Romney as well.

It’s not hard to see why these rich men favor Romney: A multimillionaire himself, he’s pledged to keep the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy and to loosen the mild regulations Congress put in place following the collapse of Wall Street in 2008 and ’09.

As a result of Citizens United, the online news source Politico has estimated that the anti-Obama forces (including the Romney campaign) will outspend President Obama and pro-Obama groups by 2 to 1 before the Nov. 6 election. Obama has his own rich backers, but nowhere near as many as Romney does.

There’s a growing upswell of grassroots opposition to Citizens United.

Earlier this month, the California Legislature passed a resolution similar to Chico’s, becoming the sixth state to call for a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United and restoring democracy to the people. And in Montana—whose century-old law banning corporate money in elections was recently overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court—a statewide initiative calling for an amendment will be on the November ballot.

It’s because of actions like these that the movement to overturn Citizens United continues to gather force. Ω

The pain of extreme solitude When we think of torture, we usually think of physical

torture—needles under the fingernails, electricity to the genitals, waterboarding, that sort of thing. But there’s another form of torture that may be even more painful than physical torture: mental torture.

Imagine spending years, even decades, in a windowless cell so small you can extend your arms and touch both sides. Most days, your only contact with another human being is when a guard slips food through a slot in the door. Several times a week, you are allowed an hour of solitary exercise in a concrete-walled yard only slightly larger than your cell.

Today in the United States 25,000 people are kept in solitary confinement in federal and state supermax prisons in 44 states, according to the Washington Post, “and as many as 80,000 may be kept in some other sort of segregated facility.” They are held in conditions of extreme isolation and sensory deprivation. We call it solitary confinement, but that doesn’t do justice to its gruesomeness. These prisoners have been buried alive.

Many of them are mentally ill. Studies have shown that severe isolation can exacerbate mental illness and even cause it in previously stable prisoners. As the Post reports, “solitary confinement can impede brain function, cause psychosis and depression, and even lead to suicide. Approximately half of prison suicides occur in solitary confinement.”

No other modern democracy subjects as many people to solitary confinement as the United States does. Because it occurs out of sight of the public and the press, no light has been shone on this horrific practice. So it was good to learn that a Senate subcommittee chaired by Sen. Richard Durbin last month held hearings on solitary confinement to re-evaluate the practice. Durbin called solitary confinement “a human-rights issue we can’t ignore.” He is right, and we hope his hearing begins a process of reform. Ω

Pregnant? Need Help?

FROM THIS CORNER

by Robert Speer roberts@newsreview.com

Damage control “It’s not a pretty, or encouraging, picture.”

That’s how Chico State President Paul Zingg described the university’s financial crisis in a budget memo emailed to the campus community on July 12. Reading between its lines, I saw a man struggling to stay optimistic in the face of relentless negative news and, as the university’s head cheerleader, trying mightily to rally the team in the face of devastating budget cuts.

Just in the last 18 months, Zingg notes, the campus has taken a $30 million hit. And if Gov. Brown’s tax measure doesn’t pass in November, it will take another $10 million hit, its share of a $250 million trigger cut.

How does an executive deal with such damage? You couldn’t pay me enough.

It doesn’t help that the CSU trustees this week voted to up the pay, using local foundation funds, for three new campus presidents. The increases are infinitesimal compared to the CSU’s overall budget, and besides most presidents got no raise (one even got a reduction). But voters respond to symbols, and the action could hurt the tax measure’s chances.

Harsh words: Councilman Mark Sorensen is a conscientious man, and his criticisms of the city’s budgeting process delivered at City Council meetings are a valuable contribution to the discussion. But I’m dismayed by a letter to the editor, published first in the Chico E-R and now in this issue of the CN&R (see page 6), in which he harshly criticizes the city’s finance director, Jennifer Hennessy.

She’s a bureaucrat, not a policy maker. It’s inappropriate, I believe, for a council member to criticize her in this public fashion. That’s why employee evaluations are done behind closed doors.

Not surprisingly, Sorensen doesn’t agree. “What am I supposed to do, sit down and shut up?” he responded when I phoned him.

I pointed out that he already has a forum, his council seat, and that his criticisms should rightly be directed toward Hennessy’s boss, City Manager Dave Burkland, or Sorensen’s fellow council members.

Sorensen is understandably frustrated. He’s convinced city officials, including the finance director, are failing to confront the fiscal crisis Chico faces. And, as a member of the conservative minority on the council, he can’t get traction for his ideas. Still…

Friends of the river: We have a story in our Newslines section this week about John Merz, who is retiring from his position as head of the Sacramento River Preservation Trust, an organization he founded that has led the way in protecting our great river. It’s healthier now than it’s been in decades, and John’s work is much of the reason for that.

He fought against riprapping and for allowing the river to meander, and his steady, calm advocacy has paid off.

But I want to put in a word for his wife, Carole Ross, as well. Without her support and willingness to sacrifice financially, John wouldn’t have been able to do his good work. They don’t think of it as sacrifice, of course. For them, it’s all about love, which is why so many people love them. And that’s priceless.

Robert Speer is editor of the CN&R.

Send email to chicoletters @ newsreview.com

Euthanasia is up to us

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EXPERIENCING BACK PAIN SHAPE

YOUR Re “In the dog pound” (Cover story, by Tom CONFIDENCE Gascoyne, July 12): Unfortunately for this community, EDUCATE euthanasia is a fact of life. There are too YOUR SOUL many stray and unwanted animals, not enough room in the shelter(s), and not We are here. We can help. enough people adopting. How do we, as a FREE Pregnancy Tests community, fix this?

The answer is simple: spay and neuter. If Aiyana Miller Personal Trainor you’ve already done this for your animals, & Fitness Consultant “I’ll work with you in the educate others. When I see unaltered dogs comfort of your own home.”

(530) 345-9711 • (800) 550-4900 530.990.1000 and their guardians on the street, I talk to them about the importance of spaying and DESIGNER REP FILE NAME CNR ISSUE neutering. I give them resources (for AMB 10.30.08 BIRTHRIGHT instance, the low-cost spay-and-neuter clinicJEN_PU that BHS operates on Country Drive).

Also, talk to your friends and family who are considering purchasing an animal from a breeder about adopting instead. Some people PROTECT YOUR GARDEN! are interested in a specific breed. Guess what? There are plenty of breed-specific rescues out there! Is your friend considering a Nolo Bait golden retriever? Look up golden retriever + rescues.

Encarsia Pointing the finger Formosa at shelters and city representatives isn’t going to solve any problems.

Get involved. Even NORTHERN STAR MILLS better, if you want to 510 Esplanade • Chico • (530) 342-7661 see a drop in the number of cats euthanized at the shelter, trapneuter-release cats in your neighborhood so they will stop breeding. It’s up to all of us to help, including you.

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DEFEAT WHITE FLIES & GRASSHOPPERS

SARAH DOWNS Chico

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Re “Hot dishes” (Chow, by Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia, July 12): Christine was so kind in her article about the Cooking to Impress Chicks app. I just wanted to give everybody else due credit, since collaboration was the key to making it all happen. TrailsVentures were the app architects, David Scott master artist, Thorn Hart, graphics genius. And we mustn’t forget Jewel Fryer at Socail Media Farm. We are now downloaded by folks in 55 countries.

ROSEMARY FEBBO Chico

What’s worse, noise or poop?

Who’s really calling the shots in deciding what’s important for the Chico police to focus on? A noise ordinance needs to be back-burnered when there are what some describe as “homeless people” trashing our waterways with garbage and human waste (yes, poop!).

It seems like all of Chico has decided to pretend there aren’t people camping (and yes, pooping) in every doorway in town. Some of these people are unfortunately homeless and trying, but the majority are drunks who feel it’s their right to trash anyplace they choose LETTERS continued on page 6

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to dwell (and yes, poop there as well).

It’s gotten out of hand. These people need to be given a specific zone to camp with bathroom facilities. They do not need to be allowed freedom to just throw their garbage everywhere they please.

Somebody’s in denial of the problem if all they can focus on are goofy noise ordinances and such while these drunken idiots leave little brown piles by the creekside for our children to step in. Really, though, it’s better our public-service reps clean it up before people get sick!

V. RICHARD TROIA Chico

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Re “Disc-comforting” (Newslines,

by Tom Gascoyne, June 28): It was somewhat disconcerting to discover the recent discussion in the CN&R’s cleverly titled article about Peregrine Point Disc Golf Course. Between the lines of implied discrepancies, one could discern a discreet attempt to discredit disc golf, as well as discount the disciplined efforts of the Chico Outsiders.

Such discourse only discharges more discontent, missing an opportunity to discontinue the ongoing social-class discrimination, which of course, has always been the real source of discouraging discord concerning disc golf. “Discombobulated” may be a better title.

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War is the true enemy Re “They also serve” (Cover story,

by Jaime O’Neill, July 5): Thank you for this thought-provoking article.

Why are we at war? Some of the answers are in the book, The Ruses for War, by John Quigley, an authority on international law and President’s Club professor of law at Ohio State University. He examines about 30 cases, beginning with the Korean War and ending with Iraq, where the U.S. used force. In each instance, he shows, the administration’s reason for why we went in later was proven to be blatantly false.

Then the Pentagon came out with a paper after the first Gulf War that said, “Our objective is to preserve U.S. access to the region’s oil” (N.Y. Times, March 8, 1992, p. A14). Of course, there are no U.S. government-owned oil companies. They are all privately owned, and they are now enjoying

their new and favorable contracts [giving them access] to the Iraq oil reserves. So, apparently, we went to war for oil companies; not for freedom, not for honor, for the profit of a few oil companies.

The words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, come back to haunt me. “I agree with Dante: The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintained their neutrality.”

There comes a time when silence is betrayal.

I am increasingly compelled to see war as an enemy. I am saddened to see many of my friends as neutral in this time of moral crisis.

CHARLES WITHUHN Chico

City’s finances ‘precarious’ The city of Chico recently passed a $42.7 million general-fund budget, 87 percent of which will be spent on payroll and benefits costs.

Unfortunately, the finance director submitted a budget that fails to recognize all operating expenses, spends every dime of revenue that might come in during the fiscal year, and again proposes to spend more money than is coming in.

The city of Chico has spent down its financial reserves by millions of dollars in recent years. It can no longer afford to do so. And while the City Council continues to “invest” its time, employee time and city resources on diversityaction plans and plastic-bag bans, it fails to focus and prioritize city resources, and fails to appreciate the precarious financial condition of city finances.

MARK SORENSEN Chico

Editor’s note: The author is a member of the Chico City Council.

She’s a proud aunt Re “Personal mission” (Newslines,

by Jerry Olenyn, July 12): I attended the luncheon hosted

by MADD to honor North State law enforcement officers who were the top DUI-prevention and arresting officers in their jurisdictions.

I was very pleased to read your article about the recognition of this life-saving work, and the highlight of Paradise Officer Patrick Feaster, who was one of those recognized for his service.

I am very proud of nephew Pat. JANE DOLAN Chico

Wolves and sheep I became a member of the Republic for the United States of America

“The city of Chico has spent down its financial reserves by millions of dollars in recent years.

It can no longer afford to do so.”

—Mark Sorensen

(RuSA) and the Butte County Assembly in the Free State of California in April of 2011. During Bush Jr.’s second term, I had given up all hope in the process that moves despicable men into positions of power.

Then I met two men and a woman who came from out of town on their own dime and time to meet with those of us who were looking for a better way than that which is offered us every four years. I recognized qualities in those three that spoke to me of integrity and honesty, and as I struggled with the concepts of “the democracy” as opposed to “the republic,” they were available to me by phone to answer my questions and direct my search for information.

It became clear that I would have to educate myself about what being “an American” is in truth all about, when I understood this analogy: In a democracy, majority rules; so, when two wolves and a sheep vote on what’s for dinner, the sheep loses. In the republic, the sheep is protected from being its enemy’s dinner.

The Butte County Assembly in the Free State of California will have its monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 24, 6 p.m. at Round Table Pizza, 6038 Clark Road, Paradise. The meeting will begin with a 56-minute video with “the honorable senator from Nebraska” summarizing the history behind the UNITED STATES INC and RuSA. See www.buttecounty assembly.org for more information.

I urge readers to educate themselves, as I continue to do, about the true history of the “United States of America.”

JOANNE ALDEN Chico More letters online:

We’ve got too many letters for this space.

Please go to www.newsreview.com/chico for additional readers’ comments on past CN&R articles.

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CN&R 7

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION WITH MODELS BY TINA FLYNN

WATER RATES LIKELY TO RISE

The California Water Service Co. started a process this month that may lead to significant rate increases for its Chico and Hamilton City customers by 2014.

According to Cal Water, the company filed a general rate case this month with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the agency responsible for auditing the water provider’s operations and determining the rate. For the typical metered residential customer, Cal Water is seeking increases of 28.8 percent, 4.7 percent and 4.7 percent in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. That’s about $13 a month. Fees for flat-rate users would rise, too, by about $8.50 per month for typical customers on lots of 6,000 to 10,000 square feet.

The increases would pay for myriad infrastructure improvements, such as a new storage tank and replacement of water mains. Customers may give input to the CPUC on the proposed rate hike by emailing publicadvisor@cpuc.ca.gov.

Inset: According to this document from the Butte County Superior Court, Michael Sullivan attempted to obtain the home address of one of his female students.

MAN ARRAIGNED IN HIT-AND-RUN

A Chico man was arraigned in Butte County Superior Court July 16 on charges that he drove his car across a lawn to hit a rival gang member and then dumped the car into the Sacramento River. According to the District Attorney’s Office, 20-year-old Jose Manuel Michel was driving near the intersection of Sequoyah, Iroquois and West Lindo avenues May 23 and allegedly struck a pedestrian, a mailbox and a parked car before sideswiping another car back on the street.

The victim suffered severe leg injuries and the car lost a license plate, which led to Michel’s July 12 arrest. He told Chico police officers the car was in the river. The press release asks that “anyone who may have noticed a maroon Mercury Cougar under the waters of the river to contact Chico police.” Michel was due in court July 18, after press time, to enter a plea.

CITY MANAGER CANDIDATES QUESTIONED On July 14 the Chico City Council interviewed candidates to replace City Manager Dave Burkland, who is retiring at the end of August. The interviews were conducted in closed session on the advice of the city’s hiring consultant to keep the candidates’ current employers from knowing they are seeking work elsewhere. The number of candidates interviewed was not made public. Follow-up interviews are set for July 28.

The CN&R has learned that one of the candidates is Brian Nakamura (pictured), city manager of Hemet, population 75,000, where he was hired in July 2009. When he took the job, according to the Valley Chronicle newspaper, he agreed to a salary cut to help with city budget matters. He is regularly criticized by anonymous postings in the local newspaper, blaming him for every problem the city faces. He should feel right at home in Chico.

8 CN&R July 19, 2012

Acquitted but punished anyway Details of a former Marsh teacher’s conduct explain why he lost his teaching credential despite being exonerated of molestation charges

Wreported, on Feb. 24, 2011, that former Marsh Junior High School teacher Michael Sullihen the Chico Enterprise-Record

van was about to go on trial for allegedly molesting two female students, a number of people made online comments in his defense.

Writers heaped scorn upon by the administration of the Chico Christine G.K. Unified School District, as well LaPado-Breglia as upon one of the teenage girls who came forward with accusachristinel@ newsreview.com tions against Sullivan (go to http://tinyurl.com/topixsull to read all the comments).

“Chico Unified is a joke!” writes one respondent. “Run the good, honest teachers out of Chico, and keep the dishonest, lousy teachers…” “There is no evidence in this case from what I can ascertain,” says another.

“Obviously, junior high school students are a bunch of brats and CTC connection: the worst bunch of kids to teach!

Go to … This is the kind of stuff that www.ctc.ca.gov clogs the criminal justice system to learn more and keeps DAs, judges and about the attorneys employed.”

California Yet another, who is identified Commission on as “Marsh Mom,” writes: “My Teacher Credentialing. daughter went to Marsh. Last

year she came home and told me the story.

The teacher is being thrown under the bus for grabbing a girl’s cell phone, who was being totally disrespectful and disruptive in class. What is her punishment?”

And, indeed, in October 2011 Sullivan was acquitted on a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting a child.

Court records, however, offer a somewhat different take on the case, and may explain why the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) recently revoked Sullivan’s teaching credential.

The CTC’s revocation provides

closure to a series of sometimes disconcerting events that began with Sullivan’s being suspended and placed on paid administrative leave (and later, unpaid leave) from the CUSD in December 2009 after being accused of inappropriately touching two of his female students.

Despite his subsequent acquittal, Sullivan, who taught eighth-grade history, was let go based on “immoral conduct and/or evident unfitness,” charges court documents obtained recently from the Chico branch of the Butte County Superior Court appear to validate.

According to an official narrative of the events of Dec. 10, 2009—the day after Sullivan’s alleged misconduct

toward one of the girls in his class—the girl was in a Marsh counselor’s office, upset “about an incident that happened with Mr. Sullivan the previous day.” A Dec. 10 letter from the counselor to Marsh officials describes Sullivan allegedly stroking the 14-year-old student’s neck and ear as she sat in a computer-desk chair, which was not her assigned desk chair. “He allegedly then asked her if she sat in that chair so that he could sit on her lap,” the letter continues.

A formal complaint dated Dec. 11 from a parent of the girl states that while she was “sitting in a computer chair in Mr. Sullivan’s classroom he held her hand, touched her ear and neck and told her to stop flirting with him, that she was a ‘dirty girl.’ He also pulled her out of her chair with his hands on her waist.”

“A few months ago, he asked me to take my phone out of my pocket,” begins an official statement made by another eighth-grade girl—the one whose cell phone Sullivan allegedly grabbed. “I did and then he grabbed it and he started looking through it. I don’t know what he was looking for, but when I tried to grab it, he again grabbed my arm. But this time my arm turned bright red, and had white spots from where his fingers had been.” This same student

also writes of being told by Sullivan, “I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this, but you are a very pretty girl.”

“He said that I look really mature for my age,” she continues, “and that 18-year-old boys would be looking at me, and that I should be careful. He said that when I was 18 I would know better, and know what to do with them. … And he said that ‘no one needs to know about our conversation.’”

A Dec. 17, 2009, letter from Marsh attendance and counseling secretary Claudia Robbins states that Robbins “received a call from Mr. Sullivan at the office of Marsh Junior High today. … He made a request for me to give him the home address for [the student of the cellphone incident]. I told him I would not be able to give out that information.”

In the CUSD document, dated Oct. 14, 2011, recommending Sullivan’s termination to the CUSD Board of Trustees, examples of “inappropriate conduct” with four different teenage female students are cited, including the two mentioned above. Allegedly, Sullivan offered to take one student “on a trip in [his] sports car up Old Humboldt Road” and told her not tell anyone about his offer. This same student complained that Sullivan sat in her lap while she was working on a computer, and when she told him to move, he refused.

Another student in one of Sullivan’s history classes allegedly was told by him that he would like to marry her and “would like to see her in a French maid’s costume.”

Health-care heartbreak Child’s death exemplifies the high cost of medical care While the national debate over the recently upheld Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, continues to rage, the core of the issue has hit home for Adam Russo and Stephanie Sullivan. On July 2, a parent’s worst nightmare befell the Chico couple when their previously healthy 2-year-old son, Austin, died unexpectedly of heart failure.

“Austin was always smiling,” said Sullivan, 30. “He made everybody smile, even if you were across the room.”

The couple’s grief is compounded by the fact that they were medically uninsured. Bills have reached $187,000. Sullivan and Russo, like 30 million other medically uninsured Americans, fell into the gap that looks to remain open until Obamacare kicks into place in 2014.

In the meantime, the community has rallied to support the couple, as demonstrated by an all-day softball-tournament fundraiser and merchandise auction Saturday, July 14, at the Hooker Oak Recreation Area. It featured nine 10-player teams, each donating $200, along with 24 products and gift certificates donated by local businesses. Russo’s co-worker Janae Frutos organized the event with the help of Troy Yartz, an organizer for Northern California’s National Softball Association.

The fundraisers brought in $3,200, most of which will go toward funeral costs.

“My comment would be that we

are all working—including Mr. Sullivan, I think—to put this behind us. He and we all want to put this behind us,” said Bob Feaster, assistant superintendent for the CUSD, by phone recently. “I am not going to get into legal issues, who was right and who was wrong.”

The revocation of Sullivan’s credential, Feaster said, “had some meaning to the girls involved. It brings a small bit of closure to the whole incident. That’s about it.

“We [the CUSD] weren’t very involved in the revocation. I think that was initiated by a parent. We cooperated with the CTC when they requested information, and certainly provided information that was requested. The revocation issue wasn’t really our doing.”

Feaster added that he had heard that “a few of the girls [involved] said they were pleased [with the revocation of Sullivan’s credential]. Ultimately, their goal, if they could get anything out of this, was that he not teach again.” The revocation of Sullivan’s credential, said Feaster, makes it so that “he cannot teach—at least in public schools—again,” Attorneys with the Sacramento-based law office of Langenkamp, Curtis & Price representing Sullivan declined to comment on the case. Ω

Adam Russo looks on as his partner, Stephanie Sullivan, cradles the couple’s baby, Austin. The child died at the age of 2 from heart failure.

Two days before he died, Austin came

down with a fever and was experiencing breathing problems, suffering from a condi-

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE SULLIVAN

tion known as aspiration pneumonia. By the time an ambulance arrived the child was clinically dead.

Signs of hope emerged an hour after arriving at Enloe Medical Center when Russo was allowed into his son’s room as doctors worked to revive him. Russo, 31, began whispering words of encouragement into his son’s ear, and within 15 minutes a seeming miracle occurred: Austin’s heartbeat came back; he began moving his arms and legs and seemed to try to talk. Needing more intensive child facilities, he was flown by helicopter to Sacramento’s Sutter Memorial Hospital.

“I wasn’t allowed on the helicopter with Austin, and that’s when his signs began dropping drastically,” Russo said.

The child spent 48 hours on life support at Sutter before he died.

“At this point I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I’m throwing up and looking for my boy everywhere,” Russo said, referring to the days after the child’s death.

Though Russo admits his family is broken now, he says he couldn’t be happier with the support from the community, including his employer, Sleep Train Mattress Center of Chico, which gave employees two days off for the funeral and Russo as much time as he

SIFT|ER GOP turns on judge Supreme Court Justice John Roberts isn’t a popular guy with Republicans these days, according to a new Gallup poll. The judge famously cast the swing vote that upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, aka Obamacare. Roberts was well regarded the last time Gallup polled members of the GOP, but his image has plummeted big time since the health-care-law vote. Meanwhile, not surprisingly, his popularity is on the rise with Democrats. Here’s a look at how Roberts fared during the recent poll (July 9-12) compared to September 2005.

% favorable

% unfavorable

no opinion

July 2012 September 2005

39 50

29 17

31 33

July 2012 September 2005

27 67

44 4

30 29

July 2012 September 2005

54 35

19 31

27 34

National adults Republicans Democrats

needs. Russo called the fundraiser “awesome.”

Frutos, his co-worker, said she was happy to take the initiative for raising funds.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” she said, “but I really enjoyed spreading the message through word of mouth, phone calls, Facebook and ads in the papers and TV.” Yartz, from the National Softball Association, helped gather the teams with just more than a week’s notice.

“We got about 100 players, and several spectators handed me envelopes with donations,” Yartz said.

To pay the bulk of their bills, Sullivan is trying to reinstate their Medi-Cal coverage, which they hope will cover them retroactively. It was cut off just three weeks before their son’s death when Russo, the sole breadwinner in the family, earned two higher-thannormal commission checks. They are also applying for California’s Healthy Families Program, which covers uninsured children.

Those fearing similar problems may

be encouraged by the passage of Obamacare, planned for full implementation by 2014.

The California HealthCare Foundation recently estimated that 8 percent of Californians, people now unable to afford insurance, including about 17,600 Butte County residents, will be covered under the plan.

Families such as Russo’s will more easily qualify for Medi-Cal, which will cover families earning 33 percent more in wages than is currently allowed. For those with higher wages, Health Benefit Exchange subsidies will help them buy insurance by earning tax credits, said Tony Cava, a representative of the state Department of Healthcare Services.

For now, Russo and Sullivan said they are grateful for the support of close friends, family and co-workers, as well as the Chico community. Those wishing to help with expenses can donate to the “Austin Skyler Russo Memorial Fund” through Rabobank in Chico. Call 899-2347 for more info.

Sullivan says she’ll always remember Austin as a bundle of joy.

“In the mornings I’d find him at our screen door waving at neighbors shouting, ‘Hi, see you soon!’” she said.

—VIC CANTU vscantu@sbcg lobal.net

NEWSLINES continued on page 10 July 19, 2012

CN&R 9

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY & SSI Flower tax “We help YOU through the System” You Pay ONLY when we win

B E T S Y H . A L B E RT S

continued from page 9

Longtime Chico florist indicted on federal tax-evasion charges

Attorney at Law Over 18 years of experience

Chico’s Touch of Class Florist on The Esplanade is probably best known among longtime Chicoans for its offering every December of Santa Claus sitting in a sleigh and waving to passing motorists.

What’s not so well known is that owners Sandra and James Molen had long been under scrutiny of the federal government for allegedly playing fast and loose with tax the laws.

The shop closed last year after 35 years in business, and Sandra Bridal, Formal died on Valentine’s Day. According to court documents, three civil cases between the UnitTuxedo ed States and Molen were filed since 2003 “concerning his noncompliance with his tax obligations, frivolous tax arguments, and 169 Cohasset Road history of filing false liens against (530) 343–7060 paid their employees was not subfederal judges and employees of Appointments Preferred ject to Social Security or Medicare the Executive Branch.” taxes and that “federal courts canOn July 16 the 68-year-old not enforce federal tax laws outside Molen was arraigned on an indictof the District of Columbia.” ment charging him, according to a Both arguments, the court docuU.S. Department of Justice press ment says, have been rejected by The NorTh Valley’s #1 locaTioN for release, with “recording false liens numerous courts, which have to retaliate against federal officers, contempt of court, and interference found that “[a]rguments by tax protesters that ‘only residents of with tax administration.”

•rare coiNs •gold & silVer jewelry Washington, D.C., and other federMolen pleaded not guilty to the •silVer dollars •10-24 kT scrap gold charges and was detained. The next al enclaves are subject to the feder•gold & silVer eagles •sTerliNg silVer al tax laws because they alone are day the court ordered him released •maple leafs •placer gold citizens of the United States and on a $100,000 bond.

•krugerraNds •us paper curreNcy that wages are not income because A July 2003 New York Times they are compensation for working story by David Kay Johnson rather than a pure economic rent” reported the Molens sought a are “no longer merely frivolous, refund of all taxes withheld but frivolous squared.” between 1997 and 1999, and the IRS mistakenly n e w s & sent r e vthem i e w ba ucheck s i n e s s u s eThe o ncourt l y also argued, “The ‘International Bill of Exchange’ for $30,698.

The Justice Departamb designer ss issUe dATe 03.03.11 ACCT eXeC that the Molens submitted to the ment said the amount in taxes that FiLe nAMe reV dATe lawofficesofbh030311r2 IRS in July 2005 innew purported paySINCE 1987 should have been withheld during ment of taxes does not constitute that periond was $110,927. please carefully review your advertisement and verify thetender following: valid legal and does not “They can take a hike,” Molen 1414 park ave decrease the Molens’ tax liability Ad size (CoLUMn X inChes) was quoted in the story. “I do not speLLing as they claimed.” intend to abide by any command of suite 108 nUMbers & dATes The Molens also tried to use the me, flesh and blood, to do anyConTACT inFo (phone, Address, eTC) chico, ca 95928 tax code “§ 861 argument in which thing.”

Ad AppeArs As reqUesTed www.chicocoin.com proponents say that ‘U.S.-source Johnson reported that “Molen is ApproVed by: income is not subject to federal part of a movement that contends income taxation.’” that court actions in which names The latest press release says the MON-FRI are typed in all capital letters, as “indictment alleges that Molen the case filed yesterday was, are 10AM-5PM continued in his defiance of tax not valid.” laws and again recorded false liens More recent court documents against two different federal say the Molens, who employed we do esTaTe four workers, failed to report feder- employees. The case is the product al income taxes on their IRS forms, of an investigation by the IRSappraisals Criminal Investigation and the and did not withhold such taxes Treasury Inspector General for Tax ~ from their employees’ pay checks.

SE HABLA ESPANOL Administration. Assistant United They argued that the what they

530.893.8387 976 Mangrove, Chico

French Door

&

BuyiNg & selliNg

chico coiN & jewelry

894–5436

10 CN&R July 19, 2012

Santa waves from his sleigh parked in the Touch of Class parking lot.

FILE PHOTO BY KATIE BOOTH

States Attorney Matthew D. Segal is prosecuting the case.

“The charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until proven guilty.” Molen will return to court on Aug. 10.

The Times’ Johnson had written another story in 2000 that appeared on the front page about a Shasta Lake businessman who’d practiced the same lack of tax withholding.

According to the story, “Al Thompson, owner of Cencal Aviation Products, had announced to his two dozen employees that he would no longer withhold taxes and boasted that he would not be arrested because the tax laws were a hoax.”

He went to show “thousands of others how to do the same,” the story said. Thompson, according to the court, should have withheld $429,400 from paychecks since July 2000.

In April 2005 Thompson was sentenced to six years in prison.

“Judge William Shubb,” Johnson wrote, “took note of the claims, saying that ‘people looking at Mr. Thompson need to know you do go to jail’ for not paying taxes.”

—TOM GASCOYNE tomg@newsreview.com

Sacramento Riverkeeper He’s retiring but don’t expect John Merz to stop speaking for the river After nearly three decades as president of the Sacramento River Preservation Trust, tenaciously dedicated environmentalist John Merz is stepping down from his position.

But his retirement won’t entail moving to Florida and investing in a wardrobe of Hawaiian shirts.

“I’ve never understood how people could even do that,” Merz said during an interview at his office. “Chico is my home and there are no plans to change that, ever. This is a very special place.”

Since he settled in Chico in 1974, that passion for his community has fueled Merz through countless board meetings, hearings and court proceedings regarding of a host of environmental issues. In the words of his longtime friend and fellow activist Kelly Meagher, “There is no truer defender of the regional environment. He’s one of the most dedicated people I’ve met in my life, and he’s never wavered. His legacy will live on for generations.”

Merz, who currently sits on the Chico Planning Commission, managed the Butte Environmental Council in the early 1980s, served as a board member on the Chico Area Park and Recreation District, co-founded the Snow Goose Festival and has been an “eternally vigilant” community activist, Meager said.

But his most notable work has come as leader of the Sacramento River Preservation Trust, an organization he founded and that he believes has helped “turn the tide” for the improvement of the valley’s riparian habitat.

“Our major accomplishment has been changing the nature of the conversation so people really do regard a living river system as something of value and worthy of protection,” he said. “There’s always work to be done, there will always be issues, but the Sacramento River is a much more viable ecosystem now than when we started.”

The trust was formed in 1983 in

response to a proposal from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State Reclamation Board, which were in favor of riprapping every bend in the river between Sacramento and Red Bluff to prevent erosion that could compromise the flood control system downstream.

Riprapping, which involves stripping vegetation away from the riverbanks and replacing it John Merz in the Sacramento River Preservation Trust office in Chico.

PHOTO BY KAREN LASLO

with rock, often has unforeseen ecological consequences, Merz said. The trust successfully sued the State Reclamation Board for improper environmental review, ultimately stopping the project entirely.

“Our lawsuit added impetus, but it also let us know we really needed to get organized, so the trust was born of that as a private nonprofit,” he said.

Merz said the trust has since been instrumental in the resurgence of salmon in the Sacramento River, particularly spring- and winter-run chinook Merz roast: salmon, and a riparian John Merz’s ecosystem with “real retirement party legs under it now.” He and roast will be admits his levelheaded held at Sierra demeanor has helped Nevada’s Big Room on Saturday, July him navigate the political maze associated with 21, at 6 p.m. Email environmental activism. merzcelebration @hotmail.com to “When you’re RSVP. Tickets are yelling at somebody, $25. they’re probably not hearing what you have to say,” Merz said. “I’ve raised my voice on more than one occasion, but the issue is not raising your voice, it’s speaking up, period.

There aren’t a lot of people speaking for the river, and that’s what the trust has done.”

As for retirement, he plans to maintain roles with the trust and in the community in a limited capacity.

“Retirement isn’t a word I’m entirely comfortable with,” he said. “It’s more of a refocusing for me. I’m stepping away from running the organization. I’m done with all that entails; it just gets kind of old at some stage of life.”

Meagher pointed out that Merz could have gone a different route long ago but felt an obligation to Chico and its environs.

“He and his family made a life choice, because John’s a talented fellow,” he said.

“He could have had an excellent job, a nice house and new cars and all that. But he chose not to; he chose this path, and the community of Chico, Butte County and especially the Sacramento River are all better for it.”

—HOWARD HARDEE howardh@newsreview.com

A Doctor’s Confession to Butte County…

Dear friend,

C

onfessions are tough. Real tough. But, sometimes a confession can set the record straight, and I want to give credit where credit is due. Before I talk about my confession, though, let me say a few other things first. Years ago something happened to me that changed my life forever. Let me tell you the story.

Let me start by explaining the photo in this letter. You know, when I meet people in town they usually say, “Oh, yeah, I know you, you’re Dr. Ryan. I’ve seen your ad with that picture of your cute little girls.”

The girls in this picture are Caydance, right, and Melody, left. After a long labor, Caydance was born and was having a difficult time breathing. Her birth process was not traumatic, just long. She was born at home and the midwife was without an infant oxygen mask. As panic seemed to set in, we trusted in the one thing we knew…She got her first adjustment within minutes. Due to the birth process, there was pressure on the nerves that control breathing. Her body responded very quickly and her breathing normalized.

Today, she is almost five and has been checked by a chiropractor regularly. She gets adjusted, not only to feel better, but so that she will function at her full potential in life. Did I mention she is my daughter?

Melody, our other daughter enjoys her life with maximum potential. Like her sister, Melody has been adjusted from day one to ensure a healthy functioning body.

Our bodies have everything they need to be well.

God put everything in our brain to run, control, and regulate every cell in our body. The body only knows how to be healthy. The real question is, “What is interfering with my body being well?” In my office we have identified ONLY 6 things that rob you and your loved ones of their health. We have a turnkey approach to identify and correct the 6 levels of interference. You see, if your house were on fire, you would call the fire department, but you would not call the fire department the next day to rebuild the house, would you? Who would you call?…that’s right, a contractor. Too many of us are calling on medicine to help rebuild our system after the “fire” has already been put out, when we really need a “contractor”.

That’s where I come in…Helping to rebuild the system to put out the “fire” and to avoid future “fires”.

Here’s what some of my patients had to say: Dr. Kremer helped me with my digestive problem, and as a result, my chronic pain has improved greatly”- (T.M.) After 20 years, I am finally headache free, thank you so much!” – (L.B.) I feel better than I have in a long time! I can actually go outside in Chico and breathe without any problems, and I don’t need an inhaler anymore” - (K.K.) Several times a day patients thank me for helping them with their health problems. But I can’t really take the credit. My confession is that I’ve never healed anyone of anything. What I do is remove the 6 levels of interference in the body, and the body responds by healing itself. We get tremendous results. It’s as simple as that!

Being a chiropractor can be tough, because there’s a host of so-called experts out there. They tell people a lot of things that are just plain ridiculous about my profession. But the studies speak for themselves, like the Virginia study that showed that over 90% of patients who saw a chiropractor were satisfied with their results. That’s just incredible!

Forty-eight million Americans no longer have health insurance, and those who do have found that their benefits are reduced. That’s where chiropractic comes in. Many people find that they actually save money on their health care expenses by seeing a chiropractor.

Another way to save…published, peer-reviewed research indicates that the immune system may be enhanced by chiropractic adjustments. The immune system is the system that helps the body fight colds, the flu, and many other sicknesses. Although all people respond differently to care, maybe you won’t be running off to the doctor as much once you start chiropractic. This is especially important if you are self-employed. And an entire week of care in my office may cost what you could pay for one visit elsewhere.

You Benefit from an Amazing Offer- Look, it shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg to correct your health. You are going to write a check to someone for your health care expenses, you may as well write one for a lesser amount for chiropractic. When you bring in this article, you will receive my entire new patient exam for $97. That’s with x-rays, paraspinal thermal imaging….the whole ball of wax. This exam could cost you $300 elsewhere. But, please call right away because this offer expires 2 weeks from this publication, and I don’t want you to miss out.

Please, I hope that there’s no misunderstanding about quality of care just because I have a lower exam fee.

You’ll get great care at a great fee.

My practice is very diverse with a strong focus on families. I’ve been entrusted to take care of tiny babies to people in their nineties. I just have that low exam fee to help more people who need care.

My assistants are Kim and Jessica and they’re really great people. Our office is both friendly and warm and we try our best to make you feel at home. We have a wonderful service, at an exceptional fee. Our office is called Y.O.L.O. CHIROPRACTIC | You Only Live Once and it is at 111 Mission Ranch Blvd. Suite 150 in Chico. Our phone number is 530-513-6546. Call Kim or Jessica today for an appointment. We can help you.

Thank you.

-Ryan Kremer, D.C. P.S. When accompanied by the first, I am also offering the second family member this same examination for only $17. Chiropractic is a family thing.

P.P.S. Can you imagine not having to wait at a doctor’s office? Well, your time is as valuable as mine. That’s why we have a no-wait policy. You will be seen within minutes of your appointment.

Paid Advertisement July 19, 2012

CN&R 11

THE PULSE MANY CALIFORNIANS WENT HUNGRY

Almost 4 million Californians could not afford to properly feed their families during the recession of 2007 to 2009.

A study based on data from the California Health Interview Survey found one in six low-income Californians had “very low food security” in 2009, double the rate from 2001, according to a University of California press release. Food insecurity, which involves being unable to afford a balanced diet, skyrocketed alongside the state’s unemployment rate, which increased from 5 percent to 11 percent between 2007 and 2009. The state’s inflation-adjusted median household income also went down by a record decline of 5 percent from 2009 to 2010, further hampering low-income families.

“In a state that is the nation’s breadbasket, it’s sad to see that so many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” said study co-author Gail Harrison.

HEALTHLINES

Bracing for 2014 Local health-care administrators on the increasing shortage of California doctors as the PPACA comes into full swing

HEALTH REFORM TO HURT ECONOMY?

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of President Obama’s controversial health-reform law, nearly half of Americans believe the reform will hurt the economy, a Gallup poll finds.

A random sample of 1,061 adults from all 50 states concluded that 46 percent of U.S. residents believe the reform will have negative economic consequences, while 37 percent think the changes will help the economy, according to the Wall Street Journal. There was a clear divide down party lines—78 percent of Republicans believed the law would be harmful, while 62 percent of Democrats believed it would be positive.

“The fact Americans do tie [the law] into the economy is important because that could drive their perceptions of the law overall and of course, how they might vote,” said Gallup Editorin-Chief Frank Newport.

PETS MAKE FOR HEALTHY BABY

Although researchers aren’t sure why, children whose families own a dog or cat during their first year of life are healthier than children in families without a pet, a study finds.

Research out of the Kuopio University Hospital in Finland followed 397 infants from birth to their first birthday, finding children growing up in an environment with a dog or a cat were sick less often with a cold or other respiratory infections, according to CBC News.

Researchers suggested a link to hygiene theory, as houses with dogs that spent significant time inside and outside had the healthiest children, possibly because dogs were introducing the child to more germs.

“As the theory goes, the more a child is exposed to germs, the more their immune system matures and therefore the healthier they are as they grow up,” said Dr. Karl Kabasele, a CBC News medical correspondent.

12 CN&R July 19, 2012

by

Evan Tuchinsky ideacultivators@ aol.com

WProtection and Affordable Care Act—aka PPACA, or ACA, or Oba-

hen it comes to the Patient

macare—health-care administrators have a saying. “Some of my peers are referring to 2014 as ‘the edge of a cliff,’” said Mike Wiltermood, chief executive officer of Enloe Medical Center.

That’s because the heart of the ACA really starts pumping in roughly a year and a half, when millions of uninsured and underinsured join the ranks of the insured either through the individual mandate for private insurance or through governmentsubsidized programs like Medi-Cal. This development may help stem the growing tide of charity care in hospital emergency rooms, but it raises a bigger question: Are there enough doctors to go around?

Bob Wentz, CEO of Oroville Hospital, expects “a pent-up demand from people who didn’t have health insurance—not just on the primary-care level but across the spectrum.” Yet there already is a physician shortage, locally and nationwide, particularly in primary-care fields like family medicine and pediatrics. Thus comes the edge-of-the-cliff analogy relayed by Wiltermood.

A recent report from the California HealthCare Foundation, titled “California

Faces Headwinds in Easing Doctor Shortages,” projects that 3 million Californians—or roughly 8 percent of the state’s population—will become insured in 2014.

In Butte County, that translates to around 17,600 people. Those on private insurance will have less of a problem getting in to see a physician than those on Medi-Cal, which is not accepted at every medical office.

“Some Medi-Cal patients already have a tough time getting access to primary care and specialty care,” Wiltermood said. “I don’t see patients suddenly getting access to medical care just because they are covered by Medi-Cal.” So, with demand expected to rise more dramatically than supply, what will patients do? Or, to put it another way, what are local health-care administrators going to do about it?

Well, first off, they will continue to

recruit the doctors, nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) needed to provide care. But, since communities across the country are wrestling with the same shortfalls, other actions are required.

Enloe is addressing the issue, in part, by partnering with local organizations that provide federally subsidized primary care.

Oroville Hospital, meanwhile, continues to streamline its health system to accommodate more patients.

“There’s always been a shortage of primary-care physicians, even in the current system,” Wentz said, “but what I think this overarching [ACA] policy does is allow us to organize primary care a little better to be more efficient.

“The old health-care system was very inefficient in that practitioners and providers had a lot of redundancy. If one HEALTHLINES continued on page 14

APPOINTMENT FREE HEALTH CLINIC Every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., the Shalom Free Clinic (1190 East First Ave.) offers free services for minor ailments like sore throat, earache, colds, flu, chronic headache, minor trauma, gastroenteritis and chronic low-back pain in addition to nutritional counseling and chair massage. Schedule an appointment for hypnosis and acupuncture treatments. A free buffet luncheon is offered during this time as well. Call 518-8300 or go to www.shalomfreeclinic.org for more information.

Stories To Tell Listening well has medical benefits. The loss of

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care physician to meet your needs, call the Oroville

Dr. Mihaela Hasse and Dr. Aaron Bowen love

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“Some doctors treat a patient’s heart or their lungs, we treat the whole person.”

“I always love hearing about my patients, especially the elderly,” agrees Dr. Hasse. The daughter of a pediatrician, Hasse left Romania after finishing medical school and served her residency at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

“Some doctors treat a patient’s heart or their lungs; we treat the whole person,” Dr. Bowen says.

“We know their history and what is going on in their lives. I have patients that I’ve been seeing for more than 20 years.”

Besides providing routine check-ups and exams, the primary-care physician counsels

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HEALTHLINES doctor didn’t know what another doctor had done, he’d repeat the tests, which is inefficient and not cost-effective.”

Electronic medical records (also known as electronic health records) will facilitate sharing information, and this is one of the ACA elements slated to be functioning in 2014.

But there’s more: “With the idea of the accountable-care model,” Wentz continued, “there’s an opportunity for health-care providers to organize primary-care delivery in a way that will allow us to use physicians more for highlevel cognitive activities and use more midlevel practitioners [i.e., NPs and PAs] so we can treat more patients with the same number of practitioners.”

Even though a hospital itself

is a center for acute care—that is, treating illness and injury—provisions of the ACA serve as motivation for expanding the focus to primary care. If a patient who’s discharged from the hospital returns within 30 days, the hospital faces restrictions in what it can bill.

“Centralized health-care providers are going to be responsible for the people they see, so they’re going to be very interested that there be good primary care in their communities,” Wentz said.

“There’s an incentive to keep patients healthy, and the best way to do that is make sure they don’t get acutely ill and, if they do get acutely ill, make sure they get treatment so they don’t need [hospital] readmission.

“We understand that in this new environment we may run primary care at a loss to guard against much bigger losses at the acute-care level.”

Similar to Oroville Hospital, Enloe Medical Center operates clinics that serve Medi-Cal patients as well as those with Medicare and private insurance. Unlike Oroville, or Feather River Hospital in Paradise, Enloe does not have a federal designation as a rural health clinic.

“When we look at how we subsidize uninsured and underinsured patients—through the Children’s Center, Prompt Care, the Trauma Program and the Hospitalist Program through the E.R.—we’re already heavily subsidizing physician programs as it stands,” Wiltermood said.

“I don’t see that changing.”

As a result, Wiltermood has sought partnerships with Ampla Health (formerly Del Norte Clinics) and North Valley Indian Health (NVIH) to help stem the tide of primary-care patients. NVIH, for instance, is taking over operations

continued from page 12

of the Enloe Children’s Health Center. If those services can attract patients away from the emergency room, that will ease the burden on the hospital.

Enloe also is forming partnerships with local physicians and medical groups to form a united front when negotiating reimbursement rates for the community. In addition, Wiltermood said, “We need to support our physicians so they can be more efficient and effective.”

Whether the Affordable Care

Act itself spurs changes—or even survives repeal efforts by Republicans in Washington, D.C.—its lasting effect remains to be seen.

Wentz sees positives, particularly in primary care. Already, California officials are considering a 7 percent increase in Medi-Cal reimbursements for family-medicine physicians, which bodes well economically.

“There are going to be more people in the system,” Wentz said, “but there’s also going to be more money in the system in that uninsured people will be insured in some fashion. To the extent more people are insured, that will mitigate the charity care we’re providing now.

“Hopefully we’re going to be able to reach deeper to include prevention that will include nutrition

Obamacare

and exercise. I defined: think that will ben- Go to www.health efit the overall to health of the com- care.gov read the full munity.” text of the Wiltermood Patient Protection and isn’t so sure the Affordable money will be Care Act. there even for what’s promised.

Through 25 years in the health-care industry, and in multiple states, he’s seen new initiatives that wind up failing when legislators pull out their red pens.

“Every dollar helps,” Wiltermood said, “but my concern is how much of the increase is going to be subsidized by tax dollars. If the government says it is going to have people enroll in Medi-Cal but is not raising taxes or increasing funding, hospitals and physicians are going to have to treat more patients at less per capita.”

If the federal government does infuse cash into the system, “it’s new money for us,” he continued.

“I’m just skeptical about how sustainable that is.”

“I don’t believe physicians provide more care than society demands. Certainly there’s some defensive medicine practiced…but until we get to the point where we want to ration health care, I don’t see the money wheel changing, and it’s going to be a political issue we wrestle with.” Ω

WEEKLY DOSE Bone up, gentlemen!

A common misconception is that osteoporosis affects only women, but 20 percent of Americans afflicted with the disease are men.

The following tips can help men keep their bones healthy for life: 1. Get plenty of calcium and vitamin D: They are essential to keep bones growing throughout our lives as old bone cells die away.

2. Don’t smoke: The correlation between nicotine consumption and bone loss has been common knowledge to doctors for more than two decades.

3. Lift weights: Weight-bearing and resistance exercises have been found to benefit bones.

4. Watch the alcohol consumption: Alcohol interferes with the way our bodies process calcium and vitamin D. 5. Keep testosterone levels up: Some testosterone is converted to estrogen, which preserves bone density. Regular exercise, a balanced diet and getting enough sleep are the best ways to keep testosterone levels up.

Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

EARTH WATCH

GREENWAYS

S.F. GIVES APPLE THE BOOT

San Francisco made a big political statement with a relatively small move, announcing the city government is no longer buying Apple computers after the company withdrew from an environmental-certification program.

Apple removed all 39 of its desktop and laptop computers from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registry, an online resource helping institutions compare computers in terms of green-friendliness, according to the Wall Street Journal. Though only 1 percent to 2 percent of the city’s computers are Macs, the decision could have meaningful ramifications, as other institutions like UC Berkeley and Cornell University are considering following San Francisco’s lead.

The MacBook Pro, Apple’s latest laptop, does not qualify for EPEAT certification because its battery is glued directly to the case, making it difficult to recycle.

“Apple takes a comprehensive approach to measuring our environmental impact and all of our products meet the strictest energy efficiency standards backed by the U.S. government,” said Apple spokeswoman Kristen Huguet.

PLASTIC BAGS GET SACKED?

Support for a statewide plastic-bag ban is mounting as a Senate committee in Sacramento approved an anti-bag bill introduced by Julia Brownley (D-Oak Park).

Roughly 50 cities in California, including Los Angeles, have passed plastic-bag prohibitions despite lawsuits from groups like American Progressive Bag Alliance and Savetheplastic bag.com, according to U-T San Diego. Such groups call plastic bags “the environmental choice,” as they can be reused for a variety of purposes. However, ban supporters like Environment California claim state residents throw away 123,000 tons of plastic bags each year, contributing significantly to land and ocean pollution.

The bill was approved by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and will now be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

It is likely the plastics industry will challenge the legislation, which must be approved by floor votes in both houses before becoming law.

HEAT WAVE OF THE CENTURY

The last 12 months have been the hottest in the United States since record-keeping began in 1895, the National Climatic Data Center reports.

This past March was the warmest ever recorded and the average U.S. mainland temperature in June was 71.2 degrees, two degrees above the 20thcentury average, according to CNN.com. The report does not account for this month, in which 2,116 record-high temperatures have been tied or broken between July 2 and 8 alone. All-time state records in South Carolina and Georgia have been set at 113 and 112 degrees, respectively, and the National Weather Service issued excessive-heat warnings for California and Arizona on July 9, predicting temperatures from 110 to 115 degrees in some areas.

Hanging out

Sheryl Hubbard, who does not own a dryer, hangs her family’s laundry to dry, rain or shine.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHERYL HUBBARD

Chico woman talks about the joys (and practicality) of life without a dryer by

Claire Hutkins Seda cmh.seda@yahoo.com

S machine, in the back of her Chapmantown home, looks lonely. Something pretty heryl Hubbard’s washing

standard in American households— although rare throughout most of the rest of the world—is missing. Hubbard doesn’t own a clothes dryer. Hubbard, who estimates that she does four loads of laundry a week for her toddler, her husband and herself, takes every load of laundry—rain or shine—and hangs it up to dry.

“It’s just so hot here—you don’t even really need one,” explained Hubbard on a recent weekend, when Chico temperatures hovered around 100 degrees.

Ten months of the year, she hangs her wet laundry on a clothesline in her back yard. “It’s so dry, it’s done within an hour,” for even the thickest towels, and in less time for clothing, she said. And yet, even when, most of the months of the year, the weather outside dries the laundry faster than the dryer itself—and for free—few people take Hubbard’s lead to ditch the dryer entirely.

“Especially when we had a baby, every-

one was like, ‘You’re going to have to have a dryer.’ I don’t know why—her clothes dry faster than anybody’s, because they’re so little!” she said, speaking of her toddler.

Hubbard discovered that dryers were a luxury and not a necessity back in 2000, when living with her then husband-to-be in Turkey, where dryers simply don’t exist.

She quickly acclimated to life without one.

On rainy days, Hubbard hung her laundry indoors directly onto hangers to dry. Her “hanger technique” was borrowed from her mother-in-law, and she still uses this technique as her standard method on rainy days in Chico.

When Hubbard left Turkey and returned to Chico a year and a half later, she went back to using the dryer, and lived without a clothesline until she moved to a small house in 2005, where there wasn’t space for a dryer.

Slow-laundry movement:

Go to www.laundrylist.org for the “clothing-care cost calculator” and other useful information provided by Project Laundry List. Also, head to www.dryingforfreedom.com for information about Drying for Freedom , a documentary about clothesline controversies.

“I just decided to only have the washer, and there was a perfect spot for a clothesline [outside]” and, even after a move to her current house, with ample space for a dryer, she decided to keep hanging her laundry to dry instead. “It’s definitely part of my job, as it’s something that I do in the household,” Hubbard explained, but “I do it by choice and I enjoy it.”

Often cited as the second-largest

energy consumer in a household, second only to fridges (go to www.tinyurl.com/ dryerwhack for more information), dryers are still a luxury in most countries. Even across Europe, a land of high electricity prices and small living spaces with standards of living comparable to those in the United States, dryers continue to be rare.

Project Laundry List, a New Hampshirebased nonprofit focusing on getting folks to hang their laundry, says that less than 4 percent of households in Italy—a nation with a similar Mediterranean climate to our own—have dryers.

Project Laundry List provides loads of laundry-related information, including a clothing-care calculator, that estimates how much energy and money one spends per GREENWAYS continued on page 16 July 19, 2012

CN&R 15

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load, based on energy costs, type of machine used, source of energy, and more. The average dryer’s carbon footprint—how much carbon is released into the atmosphere per load of laundry dried—has been calculated by UK mega-retailer Tesco as 4.4 pounds per load.

Hanging laundry has thus become an environmental and political statement. An estimated 60 million Americans live in community associations like a homeowners’ association (HOA) or retirement community. Most, says Project Laundry List, “restrict or ban the use of clotheslines.” California Park Association, a local HOA representing the California Park neighborhood in east Chico, falls into this category, as it requires clotheslines to be “enclosed or fenced” so they will be “concealed from view from any neighboring lot or street and common area,” as stated in California Park’s Architectural and Landscape guidelines.

Such a requirement—to essentially restrict laundry lines to the back yard for cosmetic reasons— has resulted in lawsuits, petitions and infighting neighbors across the

ECO EVENT TOUR DE POND On Saturday, July 21, take a tour of local houses featuring beautiful yards with ponds, waterfalls, fish and plants to benefit the Congregational Church of Chico’s community-outreach programs, such as the Shalom Free Clinic and the Torres Shelter. Tickets will run $15 for the Chico Pond Tour, now in its 18th year, which will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m.

Tickets available at a number of local businesses, including Zucchini & Vine, The Plant Barn and Little Red Hen Nursery. Call 3424913 for more info.

United States. Similar battles are being fought by environmentalists for the right to have solar panels and to convert front-yard lawns into productive vegetable gardens.

The laundry-hanging controversy was covered in a documentary titled Drying for Freedom. The UK film, released in 2010, connects the issue of clotheslines to the larger

UNCOMMON SENSE Camping made greener

YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

Camping is one of the best ways to break the routine and connect with nature, but also a particularly good time to practice responsible stewardship—you want your grandkids to enjoy a weekend in the woods too, right? Here are some green camping tips to make sure your retreat is environmentally mindful:

16 CN&R July 19, 2012

• Buy bulk organic foods for your camping adventure.

• Choose a camp stove wisely—Sustainable Travel International recommends the Sierra stove, a lightweight, highly efficient stove that can burn almost any kind of solid fuel such as pine cones, wood chips, tree bark or charcoal.

• Consider a pollution-free solar oven as an alternative to a camp stove.

• Pack biodegradable soap for cleaning up.

• When you leave, make sure you don’t leave anything behind like trash, food or anything that doesn’t belong in a forest.

More info: www.sierra club.org

issue of “environmental freedom,” which is at the crossroads of “energy waste, consumer exploitation, restrictions in basic human freedoms and the impact this has on our planet,” as the movie’s website puts it.

For Hubbard, who simply enjoys the act of hanging laundry, lessening the household’s environmental impact “wasn’t the reason I did it, but I think if there’s anything I can do to make a little less impact, energy-wise, I think it’s great. … It’s one little thing in my household that I can do.”

But dryerless living has actually trickled into other parts of the Hubbards’ lives, like into their relationship with their stuff. They’ve chosen to have less. “We don’t have tons of clothes. It’s really easy to do a load, and have all my clothes washed,” said Hubbard. “When you do take one of those convenience items [like a clothes dryer] out, you are more conscious of how much you have.”

Part of the reason Hubbard loves laundry-hanging time is to enjoy the sunshine. Hubbard also finds that she pays better attention to the seasons and weather, as she has a reason to be more connected to the outside world. “I’ve learned the weather patterns,” she said.

“It’s like, OK, it’s raining today, probably don’t do laundry. But I can do laundry tomorrow—it’ll be sunny and warm.”

Hubbard finds that between her job and her young family, her time hanging the laundry is one of the rare occasions in her week when she can slow down. “I’ll be hanging my clothes, the sun will be out, and I have a moment of serenity and gratitude,” she offered. “A moment of contentment. There’s not a lot of space for that.” Ω

G

THE

reen HOUSE

by Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia christinel@newsreview.com

Home Improvement Directory A L o c a l D i r e c t o r y f o r Yo u r Gr een Hom e I m p r ovem en t To-Do L i st

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THE REAL TRUE CRIME I’ve been told that newspaper readers like to read

“true crime” stories—you know, the ones that feature such sordid juiciness as someone getting bludgeoned to death with a high heel under mysterious and baffling circumstances. I submit that far more insidious things are taking place under the guise of everyday goings-on. Take the recent news of the “Monsanto rider”—named after biotech-chemical giant Monsanto Co.— that has quietly slipped into the multibillion dollar FY 2012-13 agricultural appropriations bill, as AlterNet reported recently.

The rider would require (yes, require) the secretary of agriculture “to grant a temporary permit for the planting or cultivation of a genetically engineered crop, even if a federal court has ordered the planting be halted until an Environmental Impact Statement is completed.”

Officially called the Farmer Assurance Provision, the Monsanto rider is poised to pose “a direct threat to the authority of U.S. courts, jettisons the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) established oversight powers on key agriculture issues and puts the nation’s farmers and food supply at risk,” as the Center for Food Safety (CFS) put it. The rider “is engineered to strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of illegal, potentially hazardous genetically engineered (GE) crops while the USDA assesses potential hazards. It also would inexplicably force the USDA to allow continued planting of a GE crop even if a court of law identifies previously unrecognized risks.”

“There is no doubt that the objective of this explosive appropriations bill insertion is to empower a single corporation and a few of its industry friends to move beyond the control of the U.S. courts, USDA and public review to make their own rules and profit from slippery backdoor politics,” said CFS’ Andrew Kimbrell. “It’s no accident that game-changing policy riders like these are buried deep inside the pages of appropriations documentation.”

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has sponsored an amendment to get rid of the rider, which would have to be approved by the Senate if it makes it through the House of Representatives.

Go to http://signon.org/sign/stop-the-monsanto-rider to sign the “Stop the Monsanto Rider” petition.

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YOUR HELP IS NEEDED Shar Plowman of the Patrick Ranch Museum (10381 Mid-

way) informed me that the museum is seeking volunteers to help with a number of upcoming events as well as with the restoration of the property’s Glenwood Farm House (pictured).

“The Glenwood Farm House is about to be wallpapered upstairs and we can use volunteers to get the farm house prepped for artifacts and furniture restoration and more,” wrote Plowman in an email.

Other opportunities to help are as follows: • July 20, from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., when school children from Glenn County will visit Patrick Ranch for a “historic outdoor classroom” experience.

• Autumnfest 2012: Volunteers are needed to generate ideas for this annual fall event, as well as help with food and pumpkin sales, ranch tours, hayrides, kids’ activities and so on.

• Christmas at the Patrick Ranch Museum: Decorating Patrick Ranch Glenwood Farm House at the and helping with food sales and Patrick Ranch Museum. tours are some of the ways volunteers can take part.

Call Mary Davis at 345-3559 or email her at mdavis7878@sbcglobal.net for more information. Also, go to www.patrickranchmuseum.org for more info about the Patrick Ranch Museum.

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CN&R 17

Holding the line

THE GREENLINE AT 30

Jane Dolan says maintaining the Greenline is more important today than ever

This Saturday, July 21, marks the 30th anniversary of a historic vote by the Butte County Board of Supervisors to adopt the Greenline, the boundary protecting Chico’s westside orchard lands from urban-style development.

That pledge was controversial in 1982, and it remains so today.

The Greenline has not changed, and its biggest backer, former Supervisor Jane Dolan, wants to see that it never does. These days, with a weak demand in the housing market, there’s little if any pressure to build on properties outside the boundary. Still, some property owners in the area would like to develop their lands.

In this special issue, we take a look at the Greenline, hear from its challengers and advocates, and look ahead to its future as a tool to protect Chico’s rich agricultural lands.

melissad@newsreview.com

M

etaphorically speaking, the Greenline is the third rail of Butte County politics.

“Everybody loves the Greenline,” said Jane Dolan, the former longtime Butte County supervisor commonly credited with leading the effort to codify the line.

But hers was a nuanced statement. Dolan went on to say that a boundary protecting agricultural land from urban development may be universally championed, but the question for those who claim to support it is whether they support the demarcation as it currently stands.

“Which Greenline do you support?” she asked, rhetorically.

So far, 30 years after Dolan and two of her colleagues on the Butte County Board of Supervisors voted to establish the boundary, the line has held. Farmlands to the west of Chico remain planted in orchards and row crops, not paved over with cul-desacs like the ones that swallowed up the fertile fields of cities such as Stockton and San Jose.

“We have some of the most productive ag land in the world, so that’s what it should be,” said Dolan, who regularly walks areas along its border.

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2

Current Greenline bounday

Today, the Greenline is the

Dayton Rd./ Estes Rd.

Main roads Study areas for potential new development beyond the Greenline

Entler

same line that was put into place on July 21, 1982.

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of that vote, perhaps it goes without saying that Dolan, undoubtedly the boundary’s biggest defender, wants it to stay that way. After all, it is a significant part of her legacy as a public servant. Mitigating urban sprawl was the platform that launched her 32-year career representing District 2, one of two Chico districts and arguably the richest in terms of agricultural value.

Dolan first ran for a seat on the five-member Board of Supervisors in The Greenline zig-zags from just above Keefer Road to just below Butte Creek Estates. Go to www.tinyurl.com/ ChicoGreenline to see the full map.

18 CN&R July 19, 2012

response to seeing Butte County’s “anything-goes” development in unincorporated farmlands just outside of Chico. Back then, in the early ’70s, while on the city’s Planning Commission, she became increasingly frustrated by the construction of subdivisions without proper infrastructure, traffic circulation and county services, among other things. She encouraged the Board of Supervisors to work with the commission to protect the agricultural heritage of the region.

But the supervisors, she said, had no interest in cooperating with the city.

Dolan lost her initial bid for the 2nd District seat in 1974, but she unseated Bernie Richter, a former high-school civics teacher, four years later. Richter made the mistake of saying he favored ag-land protections and then turning around and supporting a rezone that led to the construction of a west-side subdivision called Big Chico Creek Estates in an area of prime ag land along West Sacramento Avenue.

On the panel, Dolan, just 29 when she took her seat in January 1979, was viewed as an interloper. She was on the losing end of so many 4-1 votes that her softball team issued her a threedigit jersey—421. The running joke aside, her early years on the panel were rough. She endured the poor decorum

A young Jane Dolan in 1982 (at right), the year the Greenline was adopted. Seated beside her are (right to left) Supervisor Bertha Moseley, Al Saraceni, and Hilda Wheeler, who was the swing vote. Not pictured is Supervisor Len Fulton, who also supported the boundary.

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CN&R FILE PHOTO

Jane Dolan stands along a portion of the Greenline near the intersection of Rose and Oak Park avenues. Here, one side of the road is an almond orchard, while the other is lined with homes.

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no day is the same - find us on facebook of her colleagues, some of whom referred to her as “supervisorette.”

“I sort of rattled the good-oldboy system, frankly,” she said.

Even the local daily paper, the Chico Enterprise-Record, referred to her as a co-ed. “They called me a girl,” she recalled.

Dolan made a concerted effort to publicize the goings-on of the board. She recalled when one of her colleagues, District 5 Supervisor Bob Lemke, asked her why she would do so. “Because we’re public officials and people should know and be able to participate,” she responded.

In that setting, getting the three needed votes for the proposed zoning restriction wouldn’t come easy or quickly. But the tide began to turn when Len Fulton, a writer and publisher, was appointed to the panel by then-first-time Gov. Jerry Brown after the death of Lemke in 1981. Dolan called the late Fulton a remarkable person—“smart, caring and diligent.”

The two didn’t agree on everything, but Fulton supported the idea of the Greenline, giving the proposal a second voice of support from the dais.

About four years after Dolan

earned a spot on the board, including 18 months of public hearings and compromises on the matter, the Greenline went to a vote of the full board. By this time, the boundary was backed by an “unlikely alliance” of environmentalists, farmers and even some developers, the latter of whom wanted to know where they could build.

For her part, while Dolan’s political-party affiliation was well known because of her relationship with her now-husband, Bob Mulholland, then a very active state Democratic Party adviser, she pointed out that the Board of Supervisors is a nonpartisan body and that the board should operate as such.

Dolan’s name is practically synonymous with the Greenline, but she noted that many people were involved in the effort to establish it.

“I think I was a voice, but it came

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The proposal passed during a split vote. Hilda Wheeler, the other Chico supervisor, was the swing vote. Al Saraceni and Bertha Moseley, supervisors for District 1 and District 4, respectively, dissented. To this day, Dolan thinks Wheeler supported the Greenline only because it was an election year and the plan had become a pivotal campaign issue.

Fast-forward 30 years.

Dolan believes the boundary is more important than ever and that support for it, regardless of political leanings, is solid. (She pointed out that farm-land conservation was a campaign point during District 1 Supervisor Bill Connelly’s recent successful bid for re-election.)

But Dolan is no longer on the Board of Supervisors. She lost her seat to Larry Wahl, a conservative former Chico city councilman, in 2010. Weeks later, a local land owner addressed the City Council and Planning Commission during a joint general plan update meeting, asking that the city annex his southChico property so he could develop it. The panels eventually agreed to include the site, the Estes Road region, as an “area of study” (see Tom Gascoyne’s story, page 20). So far, however, the properties there remain outside of the Greenline, and thus undeveloped.

Contacted by telephone this week, Wahl said he currently has no plans of changing the Greenline.

His thoughts in general on the subject were relatively supportive: “[The Greenline] is a nice delineation between urban and ag,” he said. “It seems to have done what it

was designed to do.”

Wahl did say that there are places along the Greenline in Supervisor Steve Lambert’s southern Butte County District 4 where the boundary is “oddly structured.”

He said none of his constituents has contacted him with complaints about the boundary. “If somebody brings something forward, I will listen to anything,” he added.

An admitted workaholic, Dolan has moved on from her political life. She keeps busy with her realestate-appraisal business and serving as executive director of the Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum. And in December, Gov. Brown appointed her to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board.

Still, she is not completely without worry when it comes to keeping the Greenline sacrosanct. Her hope is that her former colleague and ally, Chico’s District 3 Supervisor Maureen Kirk, now the panel’s lone progressive, will be able to staunch any attempts to change it.

She called Kirk amazing, but also said her job is certainly more complicated these days.

“I feel like Maureen is alone, and it’s very difficult to be alone,” she said, speaking from experience.

Even still, Dolan said she’s fairly confident the Greenline will remain untouched. Ag-land preservation continues to be a priority for the community, and then there’s that third-rail effect.

“No one is going to say, ‘Let’s change the Greenline,’” Dolan said.

And if anyone does, they are in for some serious pushback.

“They’re not going to do it in secret, and not going to do it easily,” she said. Ω more GREENLINE on page 20

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CN&R 19

Greenline glitch?

Property owners in the Estes Road area object to the line

story and photos by

Tom Gascoyne

tomg@newsreview.com

T

here is a 55-acre triangle of county land in southwest Chico where a majority of the property owners would like to jump the Greenline and get annexed into the city’s urban structure. The Estes area is just south of the 110-year-old Barber neighborhood and the old Diamond Match property, which is slated for development one day (see map on page 18).

The property owners, at least 11 of the 13 who own parcels there, want to move into the city, they say, because agriculture is no longer a viable option and the area’s location—surrounded on three sides by development and adjacent to existing neighborhoods and access to city infrastructure—make it a natural option for residential infill growth.

They signed a petition more than three years ago requesting the Chico City Council include the area for potential development in the update of the city’s general plan. This would have necessitated moving the area inside the Greenline. The council instead decided to label the land as an area of study rather than a special planning area, leaving it outside the Greenline.

The Estes triangle also sits east of the Union Pacific railroad tracks, making it pretty much the only place where the Greenline protects property on the east side of the tracks. To the south is the Hegan Lane Business Park.

But Estes is also nestled against the Riparia neighborhood along Comanche Creek, where the residents pride themselves on their agricultural accomplishments and back-to-nature lifestyles. The nonprofit GRUB (Growing Resourcefully Uniting Bellies) started there.

The Riparia folks have been through this before. Back in 1994 the general plan update included the construction of a bridge over the creek that would connect East Park Avenue to the industrial park’s Otterson Drive. The project was fiercely opposed, resulting in a referendum called Measure A (what else?) that was defeated by voters. However, two years ago the council included the concept of such a 20 CN&R July 19, 2012

bridge in its update of the new general plan.

Duke Warren owns just less than 10 acres of Estes property, right next to eight acres owned by Greg Amarel, who allows the Butcher Shop Theater group to stage its summer plays on his land.

Warren has led the effort to push the area onto the other side of the Greenline. In June 2010 he addressed the City Council during one of its many meetings on updating Chico’s general plan. At that meeting Warren read to the council the petition he and 10 other Estes land owners had signed.

They wanted to be annexed into the city limits, he said, for eventual development.

“It is further our intention that maintaining the existing agricultural use of these properties is not in keeping with the premise of highest and best use of our lands. By our signatures below we also state that we cannot maintain a viable agricultural operation on these parcels due to the constraints and encumbrance of the adjacent urban city uses and relatively small parcel sizes.”

The area, he said, is simply no longer conducive to commercial agricultural practices.

“What has developed from this is a square peg in a round hole situation,” he said. “We are a county agricultural island situated in a city urban environment. Eight-six percent of the population owning land would like that to be changed.”

Warren said he’s let his almond orchard go uncultivated in recent years because it simply wasn’t worth the effort economically.

Warren’s testimony was followed by Chico State economics professor David Gallo, who referred to a study he’d done in 2001. He agreed that the area was no longer productive agriculturally and that allowing development there would benefit the environment.

His study compared a housing project proposed to be built at the western end of Eaton Road in north Chico to a similar-sized project if built in Estes. The conceptual projects consist of 240 housing units on 30 acres of land. Gallo concluded that an Estes project

would reduce travel by 5,800 miles annually, saving more than 67,000 gallons of gas, reducing nitrogen and hydrocarbon exhausts by 4,500 and 9,000 pounds, respectively.

Carbon-monoxide emissions would drop by 68,000 pounds annually, and carbon dioxide would be reduced by 664 tons per year.

Duke Warren’s Estes Road property, an old almond orchard, sits just to the northwest of the Hegan Lane Business Park. Below: On the opposite side of Camanche Creek is the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s facility along the railroad tracks that receives shipments of hops.

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“If the concern is environmental,” he told the council, “this infill project makes a lot of sense.”

But Gallo was followed by Bruce Balgooyen, a neighbor of Warren who said he earns a very good living farming on two acres in the Estes area, which has “some of the best soil in the world.”

“I had to listen to a sorry story about a man who said his almond trees died,” Balgooyen said.

“Almond trees need to be watered.

They need to be cared for. I live across the fence from there, and I’ve seen that almond orchard go down through the years because it was never cared for.”

Warren said he bought the land from Jim Estes, the man for whom the area is named. Estes testified at that same council meeting and said he used to farm the area but that poor production forced him to sell acreage just “to pay the bills.”

After purchasing the acreage, Warren said, he replaced the trees and eventually had someone else farm it for him. That person harvested the almonds, fertilized and mowed.

“There was never any real money in it,” he said. “I made enough money to pay the property taxes, and eventually that dwindled down to where the guy would do it to just to collect the crop. I’d ask him to just mow it twice a year, and finally it devolved to the point where he told me could no longer even afford to mow it.”

Warren said he had plans, if the Greenline were moved, to build an assisted-living facility along with an “independent senior-citizen village campus-like community” for his generation. He said he believes the main reason the Estes area has not been moved from behind the Greenline is the local political influence wielded by former county Supervisor Jane Dolan and her husband Bob Mulholland.

He mentioned that July 22 marks the second anniversary of the death of his long time partner Carrie Jean Holiman, who was hit and killed by a vehicle while jogging in south Chico two years ago, about a month after he’d addressed the council on moving the Greenline. Understandably, that tragedy distracted him from the effort.

His almond trees still stand on the property but are not harvested, and his fields are mowed for fire suppression purposes. He’s not sure what he’s going to do with the property, but said he truly believes it could have great potential if allowed to develop. Ω

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CN&R 21

From Greenline to greenbelt

Land Trust seeks to bolster Greenline by purchasing development rights in southwest Chico by

Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia christinel@newsreview.com

I

f the Northern California Regional Land Trust (NCRLT) has its way, the southwest section of Chico’s Greenline will become an unalterable greenbelt made up of agricultural properties forever protected from subdivision and development.

“The mission of the land trust is to strengthen the political line that the Greenline is with some kind of permanent line that is brought about by placing agricultural easements on those properties so they can never be developed,” Tod Kimmelshue, president of the board of directors of the NCRLT, said recently.

Kimmelshue—who “grew up on a family Greenline farm in Durham,” where champions: he still lives and farms Go to www.land almonds and walnuts conservation.org with four siblings who to learn more about co-own the farm with the Northern him—is also a past presiCalifornia Regional Land Trust and to dent of the Butte County www.buttefarm Farm Bureau. bureau.com to find “The farming comout more about the munity is pretty pleased Butte County Farm with how long the Bureau.

Greenline has held,” he added.

Kimmelshue “grew up valuing agriculture and the farming community,” he said, so it makes sense that his work with the NCRLT involves a concerted effort to “save and protect prime farmland” along southwest Chico’s Greenline from possible parcelization and future development by entering into agricultural-easement agreements with landowners.

Such ag-easement agreements serve as deed restrictions over what can be done with the property; in other words, the property can be used only for agricultural purposes, in perpetuity.

“One of the purposes of the land trust is to purchase the development rights from farmers so the farming property on the southwest side of Chico will stay in farming forever,” Kimmelshue said. “It’s kind of common knowledge that it is some of the finest soil in Butte County and has good water availability through aquifers. The water is only 20 to 30 feet below the surface—versus 200 to 300 feet below, as it is in other parts of California—so it doesn’t cost a lot of money to get it to the surface.”

Southwest Chico’s rich soil, he added, is “very deep and very well-suited for tree crops such as almonds and walnuts.”

Enter George Nicolaus. In the sum-

mer of 2011, Nicolaus, a local nut farmer since 1977, sold the development rights to the 146-acre Hegan Lane property he and his wife Connie own and farm along the Greenline to the NCRLT. “We acquired this property in ’05,” said Nicolaus. “It was second-generation almonds at that time,” which meant that only almonds had been growing there for decades. Unlike row-crop farms, on which crops are rotated often to help eliminate pathogens in the soil, the orchard was longstanding and in dire need of being replanted with a different type of tree so as not to put undue stress on the soil.

Nicolaus decided to replace the almond trees with walnut trees. There were “significant costs,” however, associated with removing the almond trees, preparing the soil to plant walnuts and replanting the orchard,

Nicolaus said.

“In the course of all that, back in ’09 I became aware of Northern California Regional Land Trust’s interest in preserving North State agriculture,” said Nicolaus. That’s when he entered into a discussion with the nonprofit to pursue an agricultural-easement agreement for his entire property “with one exception—we reserved space for one home.

“The zoning here is A-20—agriculture, with a 20-acre minimum—so you could have seven 20-acre parcels out here, seven homes out here,” he said. “And ranchettes are often a sought-after home site.” Selling his property’s development rights to the NCRLT helped Nicolaus both with the expense of retooling his orchard and with keeping it from being developed.

“In 35 years, I’ve seen a lot of this land [in southwest Chico] go from productive agriculture to homes. Development pressure would potentially be there [on this property] at some point,” he observed. “The [area’s] combination of climate, well-drained soils and adequate water—those things are a unique com-

George Nicolaus stands in the midst of walnut trees and rows of cucumber, gourd and squash vines growing on his 146-acre farm near Comanche Creek in southwest Chico. Last year, Nicolaus put the Hegan Lane property into an agricultural-easement agreement with the Northern California Regional Land Trust to protect it from future development.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE G.K. LAPADO-BREGLIA

bination. Once that land’s converted from agriculture to other uses, such as residential, it’s gone.

“Nor-Cal Regional Land Trust’s willingness to compensate me as a land owner to agree not to develop [my land] seemed like a good trade-off.”

While the purchase of the Nicolauses’ property as an agricultural easement is the NCRLT’s only Greenline acquisition thus far, the organization intends “to build on that parcel of land,” as Kimmelshue put it. The NCRLT is currently “talking with adjoining landowners [about selling their development rights]—a two-year process—and we plan to go all up and down the Greenline to see if we can purchase the development rights.” Ω

22 CN&R July 19, 2012

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The Bell-Muir quandary

It’s outside the Greenline but that’s not why it’s undevelopable

story and photos by

Robert Speer roberts@ newsreview.com

O

n any given day, West East Avenue is chockablock with cars zipping west toward Highway 32 or east to The Esplanade past office buildings and houses, apartment complexes and supermarkets at a steady 45 mph. But if you turn north on Guynn Avenue for just two blocks to Henshaw Avenue, you leave the city behind and are in what appears to be farm country.

This area, a 400-acre mish-mash of small farming operations, abandoned orchards, ranchettes, mobile homes and stick homes on small lots, is known as Bell-Muir, after Bell Road and Muir Avenue, which border it on the north. It may look like farm country, and it’s outside the Greenline, but it’s zoned for minimum 1-acre lots, and about half the area has been developed.

Only a few acres of tended walnut and almond trees remain—though there are some substantial Hmong truck gardens, and Chico High School’s FFA operates a teaching farm on the north side of Henshaw between Guynn and Alamo. The site originally was intended for an elementary school and park and was purchased on the expectation that Bell-Muir would fill out, drawing more families to the neighborhood. Didn’t happen.

Even the Greenline’s godmother, former county Supervisor Jane Dolan, recognizes that Bell-Muir, despite its rural character, is no longer viable for traditional farming. In fact, when the county Board of Supervisors adopted the Greenline in 1982, this was the one area outside the Greenline that she and her fellow supervisors thought eventually would be brought into the city and developed.

That was 30 years ago. Though the subject of Bell-Muir has come up many times in official discussions, the land is still in the county and the city has no plan for developing it. From all indications, nobody knows where or how to begin doing so.

Part of the problem is that there are

an estimated 150 landowners in Bell-Muir, and while owners of the larger parcels want to develop, those living on the small lots pre-

fer to keep the area rural.

And development would be expensive because the area lacks the basic infrastructure—roads, street lights, sewers, storm drainage—that developers, in a partnership with the city, would have to pay for.

Right now, of course, there’s no pressure to develop the area. Because of the recession, nobody’s building anywhere. But that wasn’t the case just a few years ago, when Chico’s booming population had developers warning of a looming housing shortage and decrying the lack of developable land.

As recently as five years ago, at the peak of the housing market, some landowners in the area did express interested in developing, said Brendan Vieg, principal planner with the city of Chico. “But there’s no pressure now,” he noted, and as a result trying to resolve Bell-Muir’s problems has become low priority. There is some concern at the city, Vieg added, that this inattention could exacerbate the area’s historic tendency to build out haphazardly.

Although Bell-Muir is in the county, it’s understood that it will eventually become part of the city and that the city will be the principal planning agency for the area. When that will happen is anyone’s guess.

Under the city’s new general plan, BellMuir is one of five “special planning areas” set aside for possible future development.

Whatever plan the city develops for the area will have to grow out of what is on the ground now, which means Bell-Muir will most likely end up as a transition zone in which small, low-density subdivisions will be interspersed among community gardens and small-scale farming.

“Integrating sustainable small-scale farming helps build social connections,” the general plan reads, “offers recreation, education, and economic opportunities, and provides open space and a local food source.”

But a plan won’t pay for the roads, sewers and storm drainage the area needs. Histori-

cally, city officials have looked beyond BellMuir, to the orchard land directly to the north, as a way to leverage improvements in Bell-Muir.

Designated “Study Area 1” by the City Council several years ago, when housing pressures had council members looking for new growth areas, and commonly referred to as the Mud Creek area, this 540-acre section of land is eminently developable, except for one thing: It’s outside the Greenline and still being farmed.

As Vieg put it, Mud Creek “could provide the economic driver for the development of Bell-Muir.” But environmentalists are sure to see it as sprawl that leapfrogs over Bell-Muir and resist any relaxation of the Greenline to

Bell-Muir scenes (clockwise from top): This sign is likely to topple over before Bell-Muir is developed and the Chico Area Recreation and Park District builds a park here; Chico High agriculture students move irrigation pipe at the FFA farm on the north side of Henshaw Avenue, across the street from a 20-year-old subdivision; this house on Guynn Avenue is more than a century old; today Hmong farmers are renting the 20 acres on which it sits to grow vegetables and flowers, like these gladioli.

enable its development.

The issue is moot, anyway. Nobody’s building. And if the housing market does pick up, the city has plenty of infrastructureready land already available. At this rate, Bell-Muir will look much the same 30 years from now as it does today. Ω July 19, 2012

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CN&R 23

Arts & Culture Daniel Sacco (below) at his “warehouse” to stock up on ’zines for his next 530 DIY table (left) at Monstros Pizza.

PHOTO BY KYLE DELMAR (INSET PHOTO BY KEN SMITH)

19

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DIY anarchist/queer/feminist ’zine distro sets up shop in the 530

Acopied, self-published magazines (’zines) cover the table that serves as bout three dozen photo-

530 DIY’s mobile headquarters. Among the varied titles and tracts on feminist, queer by Ken Smith and anarchist theory is an amazing array of kens@ “how to” manuals pronewsreview.com viding instructions for everything from constructing a tin-can banjo (“Singing Garbage and Hardware”) to destroying bridges (the unsubtly titled “How to Destroy Bridges”). “Of course there’s a lot of bad things that could be done with that information,” admitted Daniel Sacco, founder and driving force behind the anarchist book distro, “but there’s also a lot of good things that can be accomplished with it. Coming from an anarchist perspective, I think information should be available regardless.”

Sacco, 20, struck out from his hometown of Ventura at 17 and spent some time traveling across the country. By the time he landed at a cattle ranch in Orland two and a half years ago, he’d acquired a collection of several hundred ’zines.

Moved by the desire to share the wealth of information and looking for likeminded individuals in Chico, he found a full-size copy machine on Freecycle.org and started 530 DIY. Sacco and roommate Josh Vanzetti (both are using pseu24 CN&R July 19, 2012

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donyms due to the nature of the materials they distribute) set the table up outside shows at Monstros Pizza and other venues and distribute the material, free of charge. Donations are accepted, and Sacco said the money often goes straight to keeping the aging, second-hand machine running.

“It’s broken down a few times,” Sacco said. “The last time, I ended up distributing my own book collection until we got enough donations to fix it. It was painful to part with some of that stuff, but worth it to keep it going.”

Sacco said he’d been involved in similar projects in Ventura and Santa Barbara, such as Café Anarchista, when he and friends would distribute fairtrade organic coffee and anti-Starbucks literature outside of the coffee chain.

“We’d all be sitting around and say, ‘Hey we’re all bored, let’s make some wheatpaste and posters, or let’s make a ’zine.’ We’d get active and involved instead of doing something shitty like play video games.”

Sacco hoped to establish a similar group of friends locally, but it’s been hard going: “I really wanted to start with the distro and keep doing more, get a mailing list going and book shows, basically get a group of people together and come up with some cool ideas. I meet a lot of people who say they’d like to be involved but it doesn’t happen for some

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reason or another. I’ve also checked out the [Chico] Peace and Justice Center, but they seem more interested in liberal politics, not radical politics.”

Vanzetti is also Sacco’s bandmate in Tip Makhno, which takes its name from Nestor Makhno, an anarchist leader who fought the Bolsheviks and eventually became a cab driver. Sacco said his politics and some of the titles he carries sometimes spark interesting conversations.

“I set up the table in the plaza while Food Not Bombs was giving away food last Saturday,” he said. “I got into a long debate with some pacifist, one of those guys who give out free hugs.”

Sacco said Monstros is his preferred spot to set up the table. “I tried doing it at a metal show at Origami [Recording Lounge] a few weeks ago, but those people just weren’t having it and pretty much ignored us. I do best at Monstros and at punk shows in general. I think the punk scene in Chico is pretty far removed from politics, but at least there’s still that underlying subversive factor.”

Sacco hopes to carry more local ’zines in the future (“If people give me a copy, I’m happy to make copies and distribute them,” he said) and plans to do one of his own someday. “I write a lot of poetry and lyrics and have started to do some before, but never finished. I like writing, but also have a big problem with procrastination.” Ω

ZOMBIE SURF PARTY Saturday, July 21 Origami Lounge

SEE SATURDAY, MUSIC

FINE ARTS Music ZOMBIE SURF PARTY: Be sure to dress like you’re dead and also ready for summer fun. Slip ’n’ slides, water noodles, kiddie pools, zombies and music by Brass Hysteria, Master Lady, Season of the Witch and more. Sa, 7/21, 611pm. $5-$6. Origami Lounge; 7th and Cherry streets.

Theater ARRRRRGH!: See Thursday. Blue Room Theatre, 139 W First St., (530) 895-3749, www.blue roomtheatre.com

GODSPELL, JR.: See Friday. Chico Theater Company, 166 Eaton Rd. Ste. F, (530) 894-3282, www.chicotheatercompany.com.

YOUTH NEW WORKS FESTIVAL Sunday, July 22 Chico Women’s Club

SEE SUNDAY, THEATER

STEVE KIMOCK: A virtuoso guitarist with roots in San Francisco’s folk-rock movement in the early ’70s joined onstage by former Parliament Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell. Th, 7/19, 8pm. $25-$30. El Rey Theatre; 230 W. Second St.; (530) 342-2727.

Theater ARRRRRGH!: Plenty of sword fights, girly-pirates, damsels in distress and more in this seafaring musical production by the Blue Room Young Company. 7/19, 7pm; 7/20-7/21, 11am, 2pm & 7pm. Free. Blue Room Theatre, 139 W First St., (530) 895-3749, www.blueroomtheatre.com

THE LITTLE MERMAID, JR.: Kids from the Theatre on the Ridge StageCoach Youth Theatre program perform the classic underwater musical fantasy for four nights. Through 7/21, 7pm. $7$10. Theatre on the Ridge Playhouse, 3735 Neal Rd. in Paradise, (530) 877-5760, www.totr.org.

20

FRI

Music FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERT: DECADES: The weekly concert series continues with a wide array of chart-topping hits from Decades. F, 7/20, 78:30pm. Free. Chico City Plaza; 400 Main St.

Theater ARRRRRGH!: See Thursday. Blue Room Theatre, 139 W First St., (530) 895-3749, www.blue roomtheatre.com

GODSPELL, JR.: A reflection of the life of Jesus with a message of kindness, tolerance and love as performed by young company actors.

F, 7/20, 7pm; Sa, 7/21, 1 & 7pm. Chico Theater Company, 166 Eaton Rd. Ste. F, (530) 894-3282, www.chicotheatercompany.com.

THE LITTLE MERMAID, JR.: See Thursday. Theatre on the Ridge Playhouse, 3735 Neal Rd. in Paradise, (530) 877-5760, www.totr.org.

21

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on the Ridge Playhouse, 3735 Neal Rd. in Paradise, (530) 877-5760, www.totr.org.

22

SAT

SUN

Special Events

Music

12 TASTES OF 2012: Sample local food and beer from Sierra Nevada at this Slow Food Shasta Cascade party. Sa, 7/21, 2-5pm. $10. Farwood Bar & Grill; 705 Fifth St. in Orland; (530) 8659900.

12 VOLT TATTOO GRAND OPENING: A celebration for the grand opening of Chico’s latest tattoo shop with music by Ryan Davidson. Call for more info. Sa, 7/21, 5-8pm. Free. 12 Volt Tattoo; 194 E Eighth St. Between Wall & Main; (530) 592-3074.

CHICO POND TOUR: See beautiful yards with ponds, waterfalls, fish and plants as a benefit for the Congregational Church’s community outreach programs, like the Shalom Free Clinic. Sa, 7/21, 8am-3pm. $15. Shalom Free Clinic, 1190 E. First Ave. Corner of Downing and E. 1st Ave, (530) 891-8023, www.shalomfree clinic.org.

FRIENDS OF THE HERBARIUM PRESENTATION: Field botanist, writer and photographer Albin Bills and illustrator Larry Jansen discuss their work on the book Wildflowers of Table Mountain. Sa, 7/21, 2-4pm. Free. Avenue 9 Gallery; 180 E. Ninth Ave.; (530) 879-1821; www.avenue9gallery.com.

GRIDLEY RECYCLING GRAND OPENING: Gridley Recycling Center celebrates its grand opening with music by Live to Rise, food and refreshment. Don’t forget to bring your cans, plastic, glass, old TVs, desktops and laptops. Call for more info. Sa, 7/21, 1pm. Free. Gridley Recycling Center; 33 E. Gridley Rd. Corner of E. Gridley Rd. and Fairview in Gridley; (530) 9235964.

OLD FASHIONED SOCIAL: Bluegrass music, historical entertainment, a silent auction, ice cream sundaes and carriage rides at the historical hotel, the only remaining stage stop hotel on Humboldt Road. Proceeds benefit ongoing restoration efforts. Sa, 7/21, 1-4pm. $25.

Jonesville Hotel; 6 Miles Past Butte Meadows On Humboldt Rd. in Jonesville; (530) 873-3097.

OLD-FASHIONED SOCIAL

FREE LISTINGS!

THE LITTLE MERMAID, JR.: See Thursday. Theatre

Saturday, July 21 Jonesville Hotel

SEE SATURDAY, SPECIAL EVENTS

CONCERT ON THE CREEK: A day of swimming, food and music with Jaquan Sayers, Jessica Braun, Resonators, Soul Union and more as a benefit for Doroteia Pathways Foundation. Call or go online for more info. Su, 7/22, 3-8pm. $5$20. Riparia Farm; 2310 Estes Rd. South end of Normal, past W.22nd St.; (530) 518-9992; www.doroteia.org.

Theater YOUTH NEW WORKS FESTIVAL: A performance of five plays written, directed and acted entirely by the kids at the Playhouse Youth Theatre.

Su, 7/22, 1pm & 3pm. $6. Chico Womens Club, 592 E. Third St., (530) 894-1978.

25

Art 1078 GALLERY: Summer Stock 2, an annual group show with works from Lee Holcomb, Logan Kruidenier, Elizabeth Newman Kuiper, Mariam Pakbaz, Amber Palmer, Daniel Papke, Anastasia Samoylova and Jennifer Tancreto. Through 8/4. 820 Broadway, (530) 343-1973, www.1078gallery.org.

ANGELOS CUCINA TRINACRIA: Sal Casa Gallery, some of Sal Casa’s early work depicting classic Sicilian culture. Ongoing. 407 Walnut St., (530) 899-9996.

AVENUE 9 GALLERY: Its Our Nature!, an exhibition of works by ceramist Tedo Best with Table Mountain Wildflower painters and illustrators. A collection of pressed wildflower specimens from Chico State’s Friends of the Herbarium will also be on display. Through 7/29. 180 E. Ninth Ave., (530) 879-1821, www.avenue9gallery.com.

BOHO: Stay Up Fly On, artwork by Christian

Garcia. Ongoing. 225 Main St. D, (530) 8953282.

CHICO ART CENTER: Discovery Series, an exhibition of selected local, regional and national artists. Through 7/21. 450 Orange St. 6, (530) 895-8726, www.chicoartcenter.com.

CHICO CREEK NATURE CENTER: Dragonflies and Damselflies, a photo exhibit by Robert Woodward. Ongoing. 1968 E. Eighth St., (530) 891-4671, www.bidwellpark.org.

CHICO PAPER CO.: Sutter Buttes By Jake Early, the latest print series by the prolific local artist on display. Through 7/31.Artistic Nature, a combined show from owners Greg and Jana Strong focusing on natural forms. Through 7/31. 345 Broadway, (530) 891-0900, www.chicopapercompany.com.

HEALING ART GALLERY: Cancer Exhibit, by Northern California artists whose lives have been touched by cancer. Currently featuring watercolors by Amber Palmer.

Ongoing. 265 Cohasset Rd. inside Enloe Cancer Center, (530) 332-3856.

JAMES SNIDLE FINE ARTS AND APPRAISALS:

Oaxacan Huipiles & Prints, brightly colored Huipils woven by Guatemalan women, telling stories of their heritage. Also exhibiting etchings depicting Mexican wrestlers, folklore and mythologies by Charles Barth.

Through 7/28. Free. 254 E. Fourth St., (530) 343-2930, www.jamessnidlefinearts.com.

SALLY DIMAS ART GALLERY: Americana: Red,

White & Blue, art done in watercolor, pastel, oil and collages. Through 8/31. 493 East Ave. #1, (530) 345-3063.

THE VAGABOND ROSE GALLERY & FRAMING: Will Chiapella Photography, “lost” B&W film images and digital photographs from abroad on display. Through 7/31; Tu, 7/31, 10am-5pm. 236 Main St., (530) 343-1110.

Call for Artists CATALYST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EXHIBIT: All mediums will be accepted and should reflect the theme “In Honor of Love: Separate Identities and Equal Partners.”

Call or email to submit art of for more information. Through 10/5. Catalyst, 330 Wall St. 40, (530) 343-7711, www.catalystdvservices.org.

Museums BOLTS ANTIQUE TOOL MUSEUM: Kitchen

Gadgets, a new display featuring kitchen gadgets past and present. M-Sa, 10am3:45pm; Su, 11:45am-3:45pm. $2 adults/kids free. 1650 Broderick St. in Oroville, (530) 538-2497, www.boltsantiquetools.com.

GATEWAY SCIENCE MUSEUM: Summer Exhibits, Exhibits exploring the California grizzly bear, an interactive video exhibit and a display of photographs of wildflowers and their pollinators running all summer.

Through 8/10, 9am-1pm. $3-$5. (530) 8984121, 625 Esplanade, www.csuchico.edu/ gateway.

WED

The Resonators

Special Events

PHOTO BY HELEN HEBERLEIN

COMEDY NIGHT: Weekly comedy night on Wednesdays inside Spirits Lounge at Gold Country Casino. W, 8pm. Free. Gold Country Casino; 4020 Olive Hwy at Gold Country Casino & Hotel in Oroville; (530) 534-9892; www.gold countrycasino.com.

Theater OFF THE CUFF: Bi-monthly improvisational performances. Every other W, 7:30pm. $5 advance/$8 door. Blue Room Theatre; 139 W First St.; (530) 895-3749; www.blueroom theatre.com.

for more Music, see NIGHTLIFE on page 32

Sound of music flowing Music, food, swimming … do we need to keep going? Isn’t that enough to get you out to the creek at Riparia Farm on Sunday, July 22? In addition to being a perfect way to spend a sunny summer day, the Concert on the Creek is also a benefit for the Doroteia Pathways Foundation, a Chico-based non-profit with the mission to “help people in less developed areas EDITOR’S PICK of the world improve their living conditions.” The entertainment portion of the day-long event features performances by Jaquan Sayers, Jessica Braun, The Resonators, Arahita Belly Dancers, Chris Schadt and Soul Union. Bring a swimsuit!

—JASON CASSIDY

July 19, 2012

CN&R 25

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DJâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s: David Starfire â&#x20AC;˘ Ana Sia â&#x20AC;˘ Dragonfly â&#x20AC;˘ Shamanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dream SambaDa â&#x20AC;˘ Indubious â&#x20AC;˘ Afromassive â&#x20AC;˘ MaMuse Clan Dyken â&#x20AC;˘ Fanna-Fi-Allah Qawwali Sufi Ensemble Joel Rafael â&#x20AC;˘ Absynth Quintet â&#x20AC;˘ Dirt Floor Band Beso Negro â&#x20AC;˘ The Freys â&#x20AC;˘ Shovelman â&#x20AC;˘ Jeff Baker â&#x20AC;˘ Nicki Scully

Melissa Crabtree â&#x20AC;˘ Steel Toed Slippers

Ginger Ninjas â&#x20AC;˘ Willits Shakespeare Co. â&#x20AC;˘ Sita Devi MC Caroline Casey â&#x20AC;˘ Rock The Bike â&#x20AC;˘ and More

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Michael Franti & Spearhead Yonder Mountain String

BULLETIN BOARD Community BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: Regularly scheduled

meeting. Every other Tu, 9am. Board of Supervisors Chambers, 25 County Center Dr. in Oroville, (530) 538-7631, www.butte county.net.

CHICO FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOK SALE: Chico Friends of the Library weekly book sale.

Sa, 9:15-11:30am. Butte County Library, Chico Branch, 1108 Sherman Ave., (530) 891-2762, www.buttecounty.net/bclibrary.

DANCE SANCTUARY WAVE: Bring a water bottle, drop your mind, free your feet and your spirit.

Call for directions. Tu, 6:30-8:30pm. $10. Call for details, 891-6524.

DANCES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE: Simple, meditative and uplifting group dances honoring many of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spiritual traditions. Third Sa of every month, 7-9:30pm. $5-$10 donation.

Subud Hall, 574 E. 12th St., (530) 891-8789.

DOULA MINI-WORKSHOP: A workshop illustrating the birthing services five local doulas offer.

Call for more info. Third and First Th of every month, 7-8pm. Free. La Casita Primera Preschool, 2035 Esplanade, (530) 592-7887.

FARMERS MARKET - SATURDAY: Baked goods,

honey, fruits and veggies, crafts and more. Sa, 7:30am-1pm. Chico Certified Saturday Farmers Market, Municipal parking lot on Second and Wall streets, (530) 893-3276.

FARMERS MARKET: OROVILLE: Produce and fresh food vendors with local crafts and food booths.

Sa, 7:30am-noon through 11/17. Free. Oroville Farmers Market, Montgomery & Myers, Municipal Auditorium Parking Lot Montgomery & Myers in Oroville, (530) 879-5303.

FILM SHOWING: STEADFAST HOPE: Steadfast

Hope: The Palestinian Quest for Just Peace challenges common misconceptions about the origins of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Tu, 7/24, 7pm. Free. Chico Peace and Justice Center, 526 Broadway, (530) 228-1344, www.chico-peace.org.

FOLK DANCING: Teaching during the first hour, followed by request dancing. No partners necessary. Call for more information. F, 8pm through 7/27. $2. Chico Creek Dance Centre, 1144 W. First St., (530) 345-8134.

FREE HEALTH CLINIC: Free services for minor

medical ailments. Call for more info. Su, 1-4pm.

Opens 7/22. Free. Shalom Free Clinic, 1190 E.

First Ave. Corner of Downing and E. 1st Ave, (530) 518-8300, www.shalomfreeclinic.org.

FRIENDS OF THE HERBARIUM PRESENTATION: Field botanist, writer and photographer Albin Bills and illustrator Larry Jansen discuss their work on the book Wildflowers of Table Mountain. Sa, 7/21, 2-4pm. Free. Avenue 9 Gallery; 180 E. Ninth Ave.; (530) 879-1821; www.avenue9gallery.com.

GOLF FOR VETERANS: A program to help combat veterans socialize with other veterans on the links. Ongoing. Free. Call for details, (530) 8998549.

LATIN DANCE CLASS: A fun, friendly dance class

open to all ages. No partner required. Tu, 7pmmidnight through 12/18. Free. AMF Orchard Lanes, 2397 Esplande, (530) 354-3477.

RARE PLANT TREASURE HUNT: A three-mile quest for the rare Humboldt lily and Sanbornâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s onion. Bring appropriate gear and water.

Email for more info. Sa, 7/21, 9am. Free. Chico Park & Ride, Hwy 99 & E. Eighth St.

SAMARITAN FREE CLINIC: This clinic offers free

Purchase TickeTs aT DimPle recorDs & airborneTickeTs.com for VENDOR BOOTHS & AVAILABILITY please contact JB @ 916-889-3679 RIO RAMAZA EVENT PARK ON THE RIVER 10,000 GARDEN HIGHWAY

basic medical care and mental health counseling. Call for more information. Su, 2-4pm.

Free. Paradise Lutheran Church, 780 Luther Dr. Next to Longâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Drugstore in Paradise, 8727085.

Saturday, July 21 Avenue 9 Gallery SEE COMMUNITY

for four-year olds through adults. Go online for a complete schedule and enrollment information. Ongoing. California State University, Chico, CSUC, (180) 096-48888, http://rce.csuchico.edu/reading.

SURVIVING & THRIVING: A presentation designed for those who have suffered through recent loss or turmoil looking to enhance their outlook and learn to cope. Tu, 6-7:30pm through 7/24; Through 9/25, 6-7:30pm. Lakeside Pavilion, 179 E. 19th St., 895-4711.

For Kids DAY CAMP FOR KIDS: Hosted by Orovilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s YMCA, this day camp is intended to get kids outside and to begin developing healthy life-long habits. Call for more info. M-F, 6:30am-6pm through 8/17. Call for fees. Oroville YMCA, 1684 Robinson St. in Oroville, (553) 533-9622, www.orovilleymca.org.

DISCOVERY PLACE PRESCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: This family friendly event is open to everyone who would like a Saturday morning playgroup.

Come on by and check out Chicoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new preschool. Sa, 7/21, 8:30am-12:30pm. Free.

Discovery Place, 790 Filbert Ave. 790 Filbert Ave Cross streets Filbert/Arbutus, (530) 8998168.

SEWING, KNITTING & CRAFTS CLASSES FOR KIDS: Classes for kids hosted by Earth Girl Art. Go online for class schedule. Ongoing. Earth Girl Art, 3851 Morrow Ln., (530) 354-2680, www.earthgirlart.com.

Volunteer BIDWELL PARK VOLUNTEERS: Help the park by volunteering for trash pick-up, invasive plant removal, trail maintenance, site restoration, water quality testing and more. Ongoing; check Friends of Bidwell Park web site for dates and locations. Ongoing. Call for location, (530) 891-4671, www.friendsofbidwellpark.org.

PATRICK RANCH VOLUNTEERS: There are multiple volunteer opportunities available at the museum, including help with Autumnfest 2012 and the annual Christmas celebration. Call or email for more info. Ongoing. Patrick Ranch Museum, 10381 Midway, Chico Halfway between Chico and Durham, (530) 345-3559.

SOUL SHAKE DANCE CHURCH: Drop your mind, find your feet and free you spirit at this DJ dance wave to a range of musical styles. No previous dance experience necessary. Su, 10am-noon. $8-$15 sliding scale. Dorothy Johnson Center, 775 E. 16th St., (530) 891-6524.

SUMMER READING SKILLS PROGRAM: Chico State offers eight different reading skills programs

26 CN&R July 19, 2012

FRIENDS OF HERBARIUM PRESENTATION

MORE ONLINE Additional listings for local meetings, support groups, classes, yoga, meditation and more can be found online at www.newsreview.com/chico/local/calendar.

1/2 off Entree

CHOW

Buy 1 Entree + 2 drinks and receive the 2nd Entree of equal or lesser value 1/2 off (Not valid with delivery. Exp 8/16/12)

Botrytis cinera on the vine in the Sauterne district of France.

PHOTO BY EDWIN LEUNG (VIA FLICKR)

We Deliver!

that his zinfandel vineyard was fouled with mold. It seemed by the crop would Alastair Bland be lost, until a allybland@ friend—a wineyahoo.com maker visiting from France— told LaRocca that there was hope: Let the grapes fester, he advised, and harvest them in November.

LaRocca did just that. He fermented the juice, and he wound up with a standout batch of rich, red dessert wine—and he couldn’t have made it without the fungus.

Because Botrytis cinerea isn’t just any nasty fungus. This mold, recognized by most grape growers as both friend and foe, is also called “noble rot” and was first cultivated on ripening grapes by French and Hungarian winemakers. Though Botrytis can destroy a vineyard of fruit if it over-develops, it is also responsible for some of the finest, most delicious sweet wines in the world.

Since that first vintage, LaRocca has produced a late-harvest botrytized zinfandel almost every year.

The mold requires a delicate balance between moisture and sunshine all the way into November. In ideal conditions, the mold shrivels the grapes and intensifies sugars and flavors. Fruit yield decreases as the juice grows syrupy, but the wines that result from a Botrytis infestation can be wonderful.

“There is an elegance on the finish that only comes from the Botrytis,” said LaRocca, who owns LaRocca Vineyards. “But it’s a

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gamble, because by letting the mold grow you risk losing your entire crop if it doesn’t rot just right.”

French winemakers depend on Botrytis cinerea to produce the dazzling flavors and aromas that make sauternes among the most sought after white dessert wines in the world. Sauterne, which is named after a district in France near Bordeaux, is made from sémillon, sauvignon blanc, and muscadelle grapes. Aged several years in oak barrels, a classic sauterne is golden colored, redolent of honey and pineapple, about 13 percent alcohol, and as sweet as a peach.

LaRocca uses a red grape for his botrytized wine, and so his sweet late-harvest zinfandel, available at S&S Organic Produce and Natural Foods and Chico Natural Foods, is very different than the wines of Sauterne.

But winemaker Marco

Cappelli, who owns Miraflores Winery in El Dorado County, uses the same fungus, the same grape varieties, and similar methods as the French to make his white dessert wine called Botricelli— and the wine is a dead-ringer for a classic Sauterne. The Botricelli of 2008 smells of pineapple and tastes of honey, apricot, browned butter and caramel. The 2009 is a deeper amber, with similar but more aggressive flavors, and a spicier finish.

Cappelli uses grapes from a small Lake County vineyard.

Some years, the Botrytis fungus fails to properly develop, while other years “bunch rot” may occur when the grapes are over-

infected, producing a powerful vinegar scent. But cleanly “botrytized” grapes will taste like honey, Cappelli says—a vivid prelude to the golden-hued wine to come.

Robert Mondavi Winery also has a wine called Botrytis, though production of the sauvignon blanc halted in 2002 when the supplying vines were torn out. Mondavi winemaker Rich Arnold says he is now looking for a new and suitable vineyard—but he says finding a site with conditions equal to those of Sauterne may not be possible in the Napa Valley.

“Conditions there are so different than here,” says Arnold. “We really can’t use the same methods that they use in France, and the wines come out differently, too.”

Arnold says that a classic French sauterne is smooth and velvety, while a California imitation is “coarser.”

Yet Mondavi’s 2001 Botrytis, still available for sale through the winery’s website, is as sweet as honey, aromatic as a peach grove, and wonderfully complicated by age. Scents and flavors of dried apricots, raisins and caramel emerge from the aromas of citrus peel and tropical fruits. The wine is a knockout, even if it doesn’t quite taste French.

Want Botrytis? Prefer beer?

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, of Milton, Del., makes a grapeinfused, 9-percent-alcohol beer called Noble Rot. Available in California, the beer is smooth, creamy and spicy, with a flowery bouquet of stone-fruit scents. Malt and hops are faintly evident, but the beer owes its refined, fruity character to a botrytized batch of Viognier grapes. Ω

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July 19, 2012

CN&R 27

6701 CLARK ROAD

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We Need to Talk About Kevin

www.paradisecinema.com

ALL SHOWS PRESENTED

BILL MURRAY, BRUCE WILLIS, JASON SCHWARTZMAN IN WES ANDERSON’S

IN

S HOWTIMES G OOD F RI 7/20- T HUR 7/26 12:30 1:30 4:00 5:00 7:25 8:30 9:15PM

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES [PG-13] ICE AGE:

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PG-13] TED

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AMAZING SPIDERMAN, THE (3D) (PG-13) 10:35AM 12:45PM 1:50PM 4:00PM 5:05PM 7:15PM 8:20PM 10:30PM AMAZING SPIDERMAN, THE (Digital) (PG-13)11:30AM 2:55PM (6:10PM*)♣ (9:25PM*)♣ BRAVE (3D) (PG) 2:10PM 7:10PM BRAVE (Digital) (PG)11:35AM 4:40PM 9:40PM DARK KNIGHT RISES, THE (Digital) (PG-13) 9:50AM 10:45AM 11:40AM 12:35PM 1:30PM 2:25PM 3:20PM 4:15PM 5:10PM 6:05PM 7:00PM 7:55PM 8:50PM 9:45PM 10:30PM ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (3D) (PG)10:00AM 12:20PM 2:40PM 5:00PM 7:20PM 9:40PM ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (Digital) (PG) 11:10AM 1:30PM 3:50PM 6:10PM 8:30PM MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED (Digital) (PG) 9:55AM 12:15PM 2:35PM 4:55P MAGIC MIKE (Digital) (R )11:45AM 2:20PM 4:55PM 7:30PM 10:05PM

SAVAGES (2012) (Digital) (R )10:20AM 1:20PM 4:25PM 7:25PM 10:25PM TED (Digital) (R ) 12:35PM 3:10PM 5:55PM 7:15PM♠ 8:35PM 9:55PM♠ (SPECIAL SHOWING) STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION 25TH ANNIVERSARy EVENT (Digital) (PG) Mon. 7/23 7:00PM (SPECIAL SHOWING) THE WHO QUADROPHENIA: THE COMPLETE STORy (Digital) (NR) Tues. 7/24 8:00PM (MOVIE CLUBHOUSE) PUSS IN BOOTS (Digital) (PG) Wed. & Thurs. only 10:00AM (SPECIAL SHOWING) DER ROSENKAVALIER - MET SUMMER ENCORE (Digital) (NR) Wed. 7/25 6:30PM (MIDNIGHT SHOWING) STEP UP REVOLUTION (Digital) (PG-13) Thurs. Late Night 7/26 12:01AM (MIDNIGHT SHOWING) THE WATCH (Digital) (R ) Thurs. Late Night 7/26 12:02AM

Showtimes listed w/♣ NOT shown Mon. 7/23 Showtimes listed w/♠ NOT shown Tues. 7/24 Showtimes listed w/ ( *) NOT shown Wed. 7/25

1/2 Off

SALE

Monday July 23rd

Thursday July 26th

Furniture • Clothing Electronic Items and more!

Thrifty

Bargain

2432 Esplanade • Chico Store’s Hours: Mon. through Sat. 9 am to 8 pm Sunday 10 am to 6 pm

knick knacks • jewelry • radios • blankets • rugs • dolls• knick knacks • jewelry • radios • blankets • rugs • dolls

FRIDAY 7/20 – thuRsDAY 7/26

knick knacks • jewelry • radios • blankets • rugs • dolls• knick knacks • jewelry • radios • blankets • rugs • dolls

jewelry • radios • blankets • antiques

jewelry • radios • blankets • antiques

28 CN&R July 19, 2012

psychological thriller. But Lynne Ramsay’s superbly crafted film is also a kind of stream-ofconsciousness family portrait, with the by Juan-Carlos main emphasis on Kevin’s mother (a superb Tilda Swinton). Three different Selznick actors play Kevin at three different ages, and his family’s story is told from his mother’s point of view via the narrative’s scrambled chronology (with time-shifts identified via three different hair styles for Swinton).

The tale (adapted from a Lionel Shrive novel) gradually builds to a disturbing climax, but Ramsay’s film is only secondarily a horror film. Where it really shines is in its richly fragmented portrait of a deeply troubled woman battling through a nightmare of mythic proportions.

Last Ride (Australia): A man and his small son are trekking across the Australian outback. The raggedy-looking father (Hugo Weaving in fine, funky form) is a small-time criminal fleeing after an act of violence witnessed by his otherwise innocent child, Chook (Tom Russell). While Kev (Weaving) is zealous in protection of the boy, his own erratic behavior puts both of them in jeopardy, and precocious Chook begins to shed his innocence.

Director Glendyn Ivin treats the escape tale as a ruggedly lyrical outdoor adventure. Harsh and radiant landscapes become integral to the action, even as the father-son relationship edges toward new moral awareness for both.

Take This Waltz (Canada): A quietly brilliant performance by the mercurial Michelle Williams and some richly evocative production design make this quirky mood piece from Canada surprisingly captivating. A slow-brewing romantic triangle is the main story hook, with Margot (Williams) wavering between her husband, an affable teddy bear named Lou (Seth Rogen), and a charming neighbor, an artist named

Daniel (Luke Kirby), who catches her eye more or less by accident.

Writer-director Sarah Polley is better known as an actor (Dawn of the Dead, Go), but this feature-length drama (her third as director) suggests she’s becoming a first-rate auteur as well. Here she has a good cast and the atmospheric cinematography (Luc Montpellier) and production design (Matthew Davies) all working in lovely concert with her characters’ delicate drama of mixed emotions.

Polisse (France): The actress/filmmaker who goes by the name Maïwenn has framed this multi-character police story from France as an ebullient ensemble piece with a roistering cast. French star Karen Viard teams with Joey Starr, Marina Foïs, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Karole Rocher, Emmanuelle Bercot, Frédéric Pierrot and others as the tight-knit crew of the Child Protection Unit in a Parisian police precinct.

The scenario (by Maïwenn and Bercot) mixes investigations (viewed in semi-documentary style) with somewhat stylized portrayals of the group’s relationships and after-hours conduct. At times it feels a little too much like a French knock-off of an American TV series, but it maintains a brisk pace of brash entertainment for its full 127 minutes. Maïwenn herself has the role of a visiting photographer who gets variously entangled in the dramas she’s there to document.

Other recent releases deserving of special mention (and ordering from Netflix or from your cable provider): We Have a Pope (Italy), Nanni Moretti’s wry comedy/drama about a newly elected Pope (the estimable Michel Piccoli) who is reluctant to accept the role; Mozart’s Sister (France), a sardonically detailed period piece with a semi-feminist/contrarian spin on musical history; Heat Wave (France), the complexly interwoven misadventures, in sultry summertime heat, of four separate characters; El Gringo (USA), a gritty action movie with the look of Savages and the baroque flair of a spaghetti western; A Burning Hot Summer (France), a suavely fatalistic romantic triangle with Louis Garrel and Monica Bellucci in key roles. Ω

Reviewers: Craig Blamer, Rachel Bush and Juan-Carlos Selznick.

Opening this week The Dark Knight Rises

Director/screenwriter Christopher Nolan caps off his Batman trilogy (see theater listings for a Thursday-night marathon-showing of all three) with this eagerly awaited follow-up to the insanely popular The Dark Knight (2008). This time, Batman (Christian Bale) is forced to return from exile to try to save Gotham City from destruction at the hands of the ruthless terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy). â&#x20AC;Ś Oh, and Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) is slinking about as well. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

Now playing

3

The Amazing Spider-Man

When I initially heard that director Marc Webb was remaking the origin story from Sam Raimiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent film franchise, I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t too interested. But Webbâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spin is just fresh enough to warrant a repeat, and newcomer Andrew Garfieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s awkward charm is well-suited for the profile of the quintessential underdog superhero. The story is a familiar one: Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a nerdy high school kid who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and develops the proportionate super strength of a giant spider. The succeeding murder of his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) motivates Peter to use his new abilities to fight crime anonymously. The filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different flavor comes in the form of a new villain, The Lizard (Rhys Ifans). When Dr. Curt Connors uses himself as a human trial for a serum that supposedly rids the body of weakness, he transforms into a dangerous lizard-man hybrid who wreaks havoc on New York City. The battle of good versus evil ensues. Kudos to Webb for making a fun summer flick that just lets you go swing along for the ride without thinking too much.

Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13 â&#x20AC;&#x201D;R.B.

Brave

Pixarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest animated feature tells the story of the fiery Scottish princess Merida who would rather work on her archery skills than follow tradition. Her defiance leads her on a journey that requires her to overcome her fear to reverse a witchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curse. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG.

Ice Age: Continental Drift

For this fourth installment in the animatedfilm franchise, the mismatched crew of prehistoric animalsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Manny, the wooly mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid, the sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego, the saber-toothed cat (Denis Leary)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;are forced into an adventure on the high seas atop a chunk of iceberg after the continents are split apart.

Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG.

Madagascar 3: Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Most Wanted

Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and the other familiar voices are back for part three in the DreamWorks animated franchise about the mismatched crew of wayward zoo animals trying to find their way back home to New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this time via a cross-country European adventure disguised as circus animals. Cinemark 14. Rated PG.

2

Magic Mike

Magic Mike wants to be taken seriously. The film is about male strippers. See the problem? I understand that star/co-producer Channing Tatum used to work the poles in real life, which director Steven Soderbergh capitalizes on to give this film slightly more sincerity. But this storyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all over the place, leaving the viewer little chance to be truly compelled by the moments of real dancer drama. First we

meet Mike (Tatum), who works the clubs by night and tiles roofs by day. Mike introduces his young slacker friend, Adam (Alex Pettyfer), to the stripping world to give him some â&#x20AC;Ś direction? But Adam takes advantage of the fast-paced lifestyle, leaving older sister Brooke (Cody Horn) worried. Oh yeah, Brooke and Mike develop feelings for each other. But between the strip-club scenes, Adamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spiral into the drug world, and Mikeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s struggle to â&#x20AC;&#x153;find himself,â&#x20AC;? thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s little room for a love story. However, if you want to see a lot of naked, toned butts and fun dance scenes, this is your movie. Maybe I should have led with that? Cinemark 14.

Rated R â&#x20AC;&#x201D;R.B.

5

Moonrise Kingdom

The new film by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, etc.) is a summertime comedy of an exceptionally poetic sort. While it has a big-name cast (Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton), the chief characters are two precocious, gifted 12-yearolds, Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward), who fall in love and run away to their own little romantic paradise on the coastal island where they are spending their respective New England summer vacations.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pointedly a storybook situation, and in the frisky scenario concocted by co-writers Anderson and Roman Coppola, it blossoms into a wistfully dreamy romantic comedy that also revolves around and beyond the travails and pratfalls of the various adult characters. Gradually, there emerges a sense that the kids are innocent versions of various adults in their lives, while the adults in part remain children amid the challenges and disappointments that life has brought them. But a buoyant comic energy prevails even as the more bittersweet themes weave themselves more prominently into the action. Pageant Theatre. Rated PG-13 â&#x20AC;&#x201D;J.C.S.

4

Savages

The story of Oliver Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest, drawn from the novel by Don Winslow, has a pair of enterprising beach-boy stoners getting entangled in a violent conflict with a Mexican drug cartel. Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) are pot-growing tycoons whose imported-from-Afghanistan strain of high-grade marijuana draws some very hostile interest from the competition just below the California-Mexico border. The menacing attention comes chiefly from Elena (Salma Hayek), a cartel matriarch headquartered in Tijuana, and Lado (Benicio Del Toro), the maliciously enterprising enforcer ostensibly working on her behalf.

And the tension is complicated further through the involvement of a double-dealing DEA agent named Dennis (John Travolta).

But thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also Ophelia (Blake Lively), known simply as â&#x20AC;&#x153;O,â&#x20AC;? who is the beloved of both Ben and Chon. The shining centerpiece in these golden boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mĂŠnage Ă trois, she is fated to become a funky damsel in distress.

The filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reductive character psychology, more or less mandated by some semi-

incomprehensible cartwheels of the plot, is summed up in the title. The undercurrents of social psychology, however, prove more resonantâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Afghanistan, Mexico, commando raids, the war on drugs, warlords and drug lords, power and profit, etc. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R â&#x20AC;&#x201D;J.C.S.

SERIES TICKETS NOW ON SALE

4

Ted

Ted is the best sitcom never allowed to air on television, an onion of â&#x20AC;&#x2122;80s-nostalgia porn that positively bursts at the seams with a giddy excitement at getting to play on the big screen. A lovable loser (Mark Wahlberg) with an amazingly hot girlfriend (Mila Kunis) is given an ultimatum to leave behind his childhood toys and join the adult world, or else. But the toy in this case is a walking, talking stuffed teddy bear (voiced by director and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane), and Wahlbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character and Ted the bear have been inseparable since the toy sprung to life after a Christmas wish 25 years before. But now that he is all grown up, Ted leaves behind his snuggliness to pound shots, snort lines of cocaine and bring home hookers. Complications ensue.

There are a whole lot of ways this premise couldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve gone wrong, and fast, but MacFarlane pulls off the impressive feat of delivering a consistently hilarious comedy that demands its audience sink or swim rather than spoon feed them the jokes with soothing tones. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R â&#x20AC;&#x201D;C.B.

@ 1 0 1 1 &$ 3 ! 3 3& 1 ; ĂŞ 0 $3 - 0 &0# $ 1 August 8/22 8/28

January The Avett Brothers Americana & Alt. Rock

Steve Martin

& the Steep Canyon Rangers

September 9/5

Ziggy Marley

9/14

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Chico World Music Festival

9/20

Don Gonyea

9/25

Elvis Costello

9/27

Paul Barrere & Fred Tackett

NPR Correspondent

Little Feat Guitarists

October

3

To Rome With Love

Woody Allenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest European-based summer romance is charmingly entertaining, but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t match the sustained effervescence and delight of its dazzling predecessors, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and Midnight in Paris (2011). Architectural student Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) and his live-in girlfriend, Sally (Greta Gerwig), have some unexpected romantic challenges when her actress friend, Monica (Ellen Page), comes to visit them in Rome.

Newlyweds Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi), just arrived from Pordenone, get farcically separated, and then romantically distractedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; he with a misdirected hooker (PenĂŠlope Cruz), she with a porky movie actor. Visiting student Hayley (Alison Pill) falls in love with the son of a mortician, after a chance meeting. When Hayleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents (Woody Allen, Judy Davis) come to visit, dad Jerry (Allen) tries to create a career in opera for the peculiarly talented mortician (Flavio Parenti). A scrawny-looking office worker (Roberto Benigni) gets swept into a few silly minutes of fameâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and a satirical bit of romanceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;through the extravagant absurdities of reality TV. And an American architect (Alec Baldwin) weighs in as a semi-symbolic alter ego for Jack. The young couples have the best of it. Baldwin, Cruz and Davis have good moments, but the attempts at satire have little real impact.

Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R â&#x20AC;&#x201D;J.C.S.

The Dark Knight Rises

10/3

Fiddler on the Roof Jr.

10/5

Robert Glennon: Unquenchable Book in Common

1/22

Clint Black Trio

1/23

Golden Dragon Acrobats

Erthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dinosaur Petting Zoo Febuary 1/30

2/1 2/6 2/7

Tommy Emmanuel Cirque Mechanics

Comedic Acrobats & Gymnastics

Whose Live Anyway?

2/12

Juan de Marcos

2/14

Russian National Orchestra

2/17

Eric Bibb & Habib KoitĂŠ

2/20

Paco PeĂąa:

& the Afro-Cuban Stars

Flamenco Vivo

2/27 Calder Quartet March

10/10

Shaolin Warriors Kung Fu Spectacular

3/3

10/12

In the Footsteps of Django

African Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choir

3/9

Yuval Ron Ensemble

Gypsy Jazz

10/18

Doc Severinsen

10/26

World Music

3/14

Lula Washington

Reduced Shakespeare Company

3/16

Rhythm of the Dance

10/27 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band November

3/20

Wynton Marsalis

& the San Miguel 5

Comedy & Satire

11/3

A Chorus Line

3/22

11/5

Shirin E badi

April

11/7

B.B. King

Nobel Peace Prize

11/13

Ballet FolklĂłrico de Mexico

11/15

AngĂŠlique Kidjo

11/27

Punch Brothers

African Diva

Progressive Bluegrass

December 12/4

DanĂş: Christmas in Ireland

12/5

Comedy Pet Theater

12/7

Sweet Honey In The Rock

4/5&6

Dance Theatre Irish Dance

& Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

H4ĂŞ< k $3 ÂŞ] 0 Keeping Dance Alive!

4/7

Menopause the Musical

4/11

Ukulele Orchestra

4/12

Ray Kurzweil

Inventor & Futurist

May 5/9

Paul Taylor Dance Co.

5/15

The Little Mermaid Jr.

a Cappella

´¾¼´œª´š

Nutcracker

For tickets & more information:

WWW.CHICOPERFORMANCES.COM &0 "" Â?¸œ³Â&#x17E; ŸªšœœœÂ?

July 19, 2012

CN&R 29

NEED ATTENTION? ADVERTISE HERE.

Tuff talk Catching up with one-man rock band King Tuff totally tuff.

PHOTO BY JEFFREY SAUGER

A (he plays it coy when asked (“18 or 19 or 29, I can’t rememlthough he’s a young man

SERIOUSLY, BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF.

(530) 894-2300 30 CN&R July 19, 2012

ber”), Kyle Thomas, aka King Tuff, has lived by nine lives as a Becky musician.

Grunewald In the midaughts he was in Feathers, a cult (and slightly cultlike) folk collective from his hometown of Brattleboro, Vt. As a teenager, he recorded an PREVIEW: King Tuff performs album (Was at Harlow’s Dead, 2008) Wednesday, alone in his bedJuly 25, 8:30 p.m., room in the perwith Jaill and The sona of King Coathangers.

Tickets: $6-$8, Tuff. And along available at the way he’s had launchsacramento. stops in bands as com or at the door. diverse as the metal band Witch Harlow’s (with J. Mascis 2708 J Street, Sacramento of Dinosaur Jr.) (916) 441-4693 and East Bay www.harlows.com bubblegum-pop stars Hunx and Kyle Thomas, His Punx.

In the years since Was Dead’s release, the punk/glam/ pop/bubblegum masterpiece spread by word-of-mouth and became a bona-fide underground hit. Thomas had already moved on to his next band, Happy Birthday, but King Tuff called him back.

With a new, self-titled album out on Sub Pop to support, King Tuff will be stopping at Harlow’s in Sacramento on Wednesday, July 25. The News & Review talked with him by phone in Los Angeles.

CN&R: Where are you right now?

King Tuff: I just got back to L.A. yesterday, so I’m in a parking lot somewhere because I don’t have reception at my house.

What neighborhood?

Echo Park.

You just got back from Vermont?

Yeah, I was hanging out with my family for a little bit. It was beautiful. I was swimming every day in the mountains and the trees.

What is Vermont like?

Right now is the best time of year there. Summer in New England is incredible, because everyone is so bummed out all winter and then they get psyched, so the energy is crazy.

Brattleboro is a pretty artistic town, right?

Yeah it’s a little freak town. It’s really nice.

Your “freak folk” group, Feathers, was based in Brattleboro.

Were you pretty immersed in folk music at that time?

I started working at a record store and met the guy I started that band with, Kurt Weisman. We were just getting into a lot of different stuff at the time and writing acoustic songs and experimenting. …

There were all these other bands doing it at the same time that we had no idea about, and all the sudden everyone was on the same page. It was a really cool time. I had so many awesome experiences playing in that band.

Why did you move to L.A.?

Well, you know I lived in Vermont my whole life; I never really felt the pull to move anywhere else. …

I started coming out here a couple of times and just getting a really amazing family of friends. … It really drew me to it.

Is the L.A. vibe going to influence the songs you write?

It’s hard to tell. I haven’t really

written any songs this year. I go through really intense waves of songwriting. … My surroundings really do have a lot to do with if I’m able to write or not. I need to be secluded. … I think I’m going to have to go on some kind of hermit writing experience. I would really like to spend some time in the redwoods or something.

The production of both the Happy Birthday and this new King Tuff album has this spacey AM-radio type of feel …

I’ve heard people say that AM radio thing before. What does that mean?

It’s a kind of distance to the sound. It always gave AM radio this eerie feel of its own.

That sounds really cool! I’m glad my music sounds that way. I just make things and they come out a certain way. … I just record things and the sound makes itself. Every time I try to make something sound a certain way it always comes out a different way; you can’t really control it.

As the popularity of Was Dead grew did you feel pressure to go back to King Tuff? It seemed like you had moved on to Happy Birthday.

I didn’t necessarily feel pressure; it just seemed like the right thing to do because people would talk to me about it all the time. I made that album years and years ago … when I was 17 or 18. I recorded it in 2006 and then I kind of didn’t do anything with it and then someone put it on record and it started spreading by word of mouth. …

It’s just the thing that’s always come back over the years, so I eventually gave in to it. … I just try to follow what the universe tells me to do. Ω

“The production team has designed

Heroes Willie Nelson Sony Legacy My friend Jim and I first went into the woods to shoot tin cans when I was 19. For the next 45 years, there wasn’t a summer that didn’t include at least one shooting expedition, most of those outings culminating in music and tequila back at the house. Jim died a couple summers ago, and as I listened to this new Willie Nelson album, I kept wishing Jim could hear it, too. He would have loved “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” a spoton number Nelson does with Snoop Dogg and Kris Kristofferson. And when Nelson and Merle Haggard sing “A Horse Called Music,” it can move a harder heart than mine. The duet with Sheryl Crow on the Tom Waits song “Come on Up to the House” is as consoling a song as I can imagine, and the line “come down off your cross, we need the wood” is brilliant. “Hero,” sung with Jamey Johnson and Billy Joe Shaver, is as good a song as Nelson’s ever written, and that says a lot. But damnit, Willie, missing Jim was bad enough without you adding this album to that loss.

MUSIC

—Jaime O’Neill

Every Night the Trees Disappear Alan Greenberg Chicago Review Press Alan Greenberg’s new book, about the making of German director Werner Herzog’s Heart of Glass, was adapted from the film’s 1976 publicity materials.

It’s bookended by Herzog’s foreword from the original publicity pamphlet and a 2012 afterword by him as well. This captivating work dares to be almost as mysterious and alluring as the film itself, which featured actors who were hypnotized during shooting. The bulk of the book consists of sections of Herzog’s original Heart of Glass screenplay woven in between chapters in which Greenberg, who accompanied Herzog during the making of the film, reflects upon the quirkiness, madness and genius that is Herzog. The chapter called “Sachrang” has Herzog speaking with Greenberg about Herzog’s young son, Burro. After picking up Burro’s small jacket, Herzog shakes his head and says, “For a long while after Burro was born, it was difficult for me—I had no idea who or what he was. And now look at this. What fits into such a thing? What is it? I just can’t understand.” In his afterward, Herzog speaks to the book’s title: “At night the trees disappear. I hear them speak in the book. I see them all, alive and full of enthusiasm, following me on a wild project which stands alone among so many other wild enterprises in my life.”

BOOK

—Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia

The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends

fanTasTic ads for us and the sales team has helped our small business

effectively advertise ”

in the chico community.

From the day we opened our doors, we have consistently advertised in the CN&R. The reason? It’s the most well-read, well-known periodical in Chico. The production team has designed fantastic ads for us and the sales team has helped our small business effectively advertise in the Chico community.

Every other week we have our ad in the CN&R, which always includes our picture. We’ve been told by people in Chico that they know us a little better because of our ever-changing pictures. In fact, people we don’t yet know frequently stop us to say, “Hi” because they recognize us as “The Chiropractors in the CN&R.” Many thanks to you and your team for helping us successfully promote our business and contribute to the health of our community!

-Dr. Vincent commenDatore & Dr. michelle anDerson, CHIRopRaCToRs CHICo spINE & WEllNEss 1350 E. 9th street, suite 190 Chico, Ca 95928 530.456.1457 www.ChicospineandWellness.com

The Flaming Lips Warner Bros.

In the case of a band as seminal as The Flaming Lips, it is increasingly difficult to evaluate their contemporary efforts. For 30 years, The Lips have pushed their medium as far as it can be pushed in any palatable direction, having explored every possible nook and cranny along the way. And therein lies a catch: When a band with such a voluminous catalog reaches creative zenith—which The Lips arguably did with 1999’s The Soft Bulletin and its follow-up, 2002’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots—they begin to run the risk of making records for themselves more so than the fans. The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends speaks to such a notion. A 70-minute collection of star-studded guest appearances (everyone from Nick Cave to Kesha) rather than a cohesive LP, Fwends is an album of tranquil highs (“Children of the Moon”) and languid lows (“Helping the Retarded to Know God”), frenzied peaks (“You, Man? Human???”) and masturbatory valleys (“Girl, You’re So Weird”). You could make this same hitand-miss case for most Lips records, but with Fwends coming three years on the heels of their seemingly unnecessary The Dark Side of the Moon tribute, one has to wonder if The Lips are still up to the challenge.

MUSIC

—Jacob Sprecher July 19, 2012

CN&R 31

NIGHTLIFE

THURSDAY 7|19—WEDNESDAY 7|25

20FRIDAY

HAIL THE SUN & WHITE RUSSIAN DUAL CD-RELEASE

BIG MO & THE FULL MOON BAND: A variety straightforward blues, Southern rock, soulful ballads and funky grooves. F, 7/20, 8pm. $10. LaSalles; 229 Broadway; (530) 893-1891.

Tonight, July 19 Café Coda

THE BUTTE COUNTY PLAYERS CLUB:

SEE THURSDAY

19THURSDAY

THE CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD: Chris Robinson of Black Crowes fame swings through Chico in support of his band’s debut album, Big Moon Ritual.

Th, 7/19, 7:30pm. SOLD OUT. Sierra Nevada Big Room; 1075 East 20th St.; (530) 345-2739; www.sierra nevada.com/bigroom.

AARON RICH & FRIENDS: Country music round-robin. Third and First Th of every month, 9pm. Free. Crazy Horse

Saloon & Brewery; 303 Main St.; (530) 894-5408.

ANCHORS AWAY: An emo-inflected pop rock band from San Diego appears alongside local soul rockers Beards and Broads. The Artisan opens. Th, 7/19, 6:30pm. $5. The Axiom; 2130 Montgomery St. in Oroville; (530) 5338010.

HAIL THE SUN & WHITE RUSSIAN CD RELEASES: White Russian, an allinstrumental psychedelic rock band, releases their self-titled debut album alongside their counterparts Hail the Sun, a progressive rock band also releasing Elephantitis. System & Station and Cameron Ford open. Th, 7/19, 8pm. $5. Café Coda; 265 Humboldt Ave.; (530) 566-9476; www.cafe coda.com.

BLUES JAM: Weekly open jam. Th, 8pm-

midnight. Lynns Optimo; 9225 Skyway in Paradise; (530) 872-1788.

BUTTE COUNTY PLAYERS CLUB: Live clas-

JOHN SEID: John Seid and friends, fea-

sic rock and blues. Th, 7/19, 6pm. Free.

Tackle Box Bar & Grill; 375 E. Park Ave.; (530) 345-7499.

CHICO JAZZ COLLECTIVE: Thursday jazz.

Th, 8-11pm. Free. The DownLo; 319 Main

turing Larry Peterson and Steve Cook playing an eclectic mix of tunes all night. Th, 6:30-9:30pm. Free. Johnnie’s Restaurant; 220 W. Fourth St. inside Hotel Diamond; (530) 895-1515; www.johnniesrestaurant.com.

St.; (530) 892-2473.

MATTEO PLAYS FILM SCORES: Classical guitarist Matteo plays film scores and light classics. Th, 6pm. Free. Angelos Cucina Trinacria; 407 Walnut St.; (530) 899-9996.

OPEN MIC: Singers, poets and musicians welcome. Th, 7-10pm. Has Beans Internet Cafe & Galleria; 501 Main St.; (530) 894-3033; www.hasbeans.com.

OPEN MIKEFULL: Open mic night to benefit Earthdance. Refreshments on sale.

First and Third Th of every month, 7pm. $1. Paradise Grange Hall; 5704 Chapel Dr. in Paradise; (530) 873-1370.

THE RETROTONES: Live classic rock

covers and originals. Th, 7/19, 6-9pm.

Free. LaSalles; 229 Broadway; (530) 893-1891.

STEVE KIMOCK: A virtuoso guitarist with roots in San Francisco’s folk-rock movement in the early ’70s joined onstage by former Parliament Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell.

Th, 7/19, 8pm. $25-$30. El Rey Theatre; 230 W. Second St.; (530) 342-2727.

Classic rock and country tunes in the lounge. F, 7/20, 8:30pm. Free. Feather Falls Casino; 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville; (530) 533-3885; www.featherfalls casino.com.

A CULT LIKE VULTURE: Dark alternative rock reminiscent of Incubus. Furlough Fridays and In Case of Karma open. F, 7/20, 8pm. $5. Café Coda; 265 Humboldt Ave.; (530) 566-9476; www.cafe coda.com.

GONE COUNTRY: Modern country hits,

JUST US: Live, funky R&B in the lounge. F,

traditional country and a dash of rock ’n’ roll. F, 7/20, 8:30pm. Free. Gold Country Casino; 4020 Olive Hwy at Gold Country Casino & Hotel in Oroville; (530) 534-9892; www.gold countrycasino.com.

IRISH MUSIC HAPPY HOUR: A Chico tradition: Friday night happy hour with a traditional Irish music session by the Pub Scouts. F, 4pm. $1. Duffy’s Tavern; 337 Main St.; (530) 343-7718.

7/20, 9pm. Free. Colusa Casino Resort; 3770 Hwy. 45 in Colusa; (530) 458-8844; www.colusacasino.com.

THE OISTERS: A rough-around-theedges, two-steppin’ punk band. Hard Pipe Hitters (from Vegas!), Icko Sicko and Private Interest open. F, 7/20, 9pm. $5. Monstros Pizza & Subs; 628 W. Sacramento Ave.; (530) 345-7672.

PURE COUNTRY: A showcase of George

JEFF PERSHING BAND: Improvisations influenced by rock, funk, blues, Latin jazz, Afro-pop and reggae. F, 7/20, 9pm.

Free. Tackle Box Bar & Grill; 375 E. Park Ave.; (530) 345-7499.

Strait’s western swing music, barroom ballads, honky-tonk and traditional country music in the brewery. F, 7/20, 9:30pm. $5. Feather Falls Casino; 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville; (530) 533-3885; www.featherfallscasino.com.

TREVOR GREEN: Multi-instrumentalist Trevor Green—who dabbles a bit in the Digeridoo, stompbox, harmonica, mandolin and banjo—appears alongside songwriter Martin Purtill. F, 7/20, 7:30pm. $5. Bustolinis Deli & Coffee House; 800 Broadway St.; (530) 8921790; http://bustolinis.com/events.

FRANKIE DOPPLER’S NUCLEAR SUNRISE:

Lighthearted punk and ska. Threk and Crescent open. F, 7/20, 7pm. Free.

Pepper Grand Coulee’s Funky Trunk, 1112 Mangrove, (530) 894-8065.

FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERT: DECADES: The weekly concert series continues with a wide array of chart-topping hits from Decades. F, 7/20, 7-8:30pm. Free.

Chico City Plaza; 400 Main St.

STEVE KIMOCK BAND

FUNKY FRIDAYS: Tracorum, a soulful and

Tonight, July 19 El Rey Theatre

feel-good funk band out of San Francisco, headlines this installment of Funky Fridays. M.I.P. and Not Dead Yet open. F, 7/20, 9pm. $5. Lost on Main; 319 Main St.; (530) 891-1853.

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NIGHTLIFE

THIS WEEK: FIND MORE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPECIAL EVENTS ON PAGE 24

by Brass Hysteria, Master Lady, Season of the Witch and more. Sa, 7/21, 6-11pm. $5-$6. Origami Lounge; 7th and Cherry streets.

21SATURDAY

JAZZ HAPPY HOUR: Carey Robinson hosts

AMAROK: The slowest, heaviest, gloomiest metal you’ll find in these parts.

Stoneburner and Ninth Moon Black join the bill. Sa, 7/21, 8pm. $5. Monstros Pizza & Subs; 628 W. Sacramento Ave.; (530) 345-7672.

22SUNDAY CONCERT ON THE CREEK: A day of swimming, food and music with Jaquan Sayers, Jessica Braun, Resonators, Soul Union and more as a benefit for Doroteia Pathways Foundation. Call or go online for more info. Su, 7/22, 3-8pm. $5-$20. Riparia Farm; 2310 Estes Rd. South end of Normal, past W.22nd St.; (530) 518-9992; www.doroteia.org.

THE BLANK TAPES: The Blank Tapes are a four-piece lo-fi pop rock outfit from L.A. Soulful acoustic singer-songwriter Pat Hull opens. Sa, 7/21, 8pm. $5. 1078 Gallery; 820 Broadway; (530) 343-1973; www.1078gallery.org.

BUSTER BLUE: Part raucous bar band

BIG MO & THE FULL MOON BAND

and part vaudevillian music theater, fresh out of Reno. Sa, 7/21, 9pm. Lost on Main; 319 Main St.; (530) 891-1853.

Friday, July 20 LaSalles

THE BUTTE COUNTY PLAYERS CLUB: Classic rock and country tunes in the lounge. Sa, 7/21, 8:30pm. Free. Feather Falls Casino; 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville; (530) 533-3885; www.featherfalls casino.com.

GONE COUNTRY: Modern country hits, traditional country and a dabble of rock ‘n’ roll. Sa, 7/21, 8:30pm. Free. Gold Country Casino; 4020 Olive Hwy at Gold Country Casino & Hotel in Oroville; (530) 534-9892; www.gold countrycasino.com.

SEE FRIDAY

NORTHERN HEAT: Southern rock and

country covers. Sa, 7/21, 9pm. Free.

Tackle Box Bar & Grill; 375 E. Park Ave.; (530) 345-7499.

RAT JERKY: Classic rock hits from AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne and Van Halen. Sa, 7/21, 9pm. Studio Inn Cocktail Lounge, 2582

Esplanade, (530) 343-0662.

JUST US: Live, funky R&B in the lounge.

Sa, 7/21, 9pm. Free. Colusa Casino Resort; 3770 Hwy. 45 in Colusa; (530) 458-8844; www.colusacasino.com.

Fin Du Monde. M, 7/23, 8pm. $5. Café Coda; 265 Humboldt Ave.; (530) 5669476; www.cafecoda.com.

REUNION: A tribute to ’70s music from the likes of Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty and

more in the brewery. Sa, 7/21, 9:30pm. $5. Feather Falls Casino; 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville; (530) 533-3885; www.feath erfallscasino.com.

SURROGATE ACOUSTIC: An unplugged set from one of Chico’s favored rock bands. Dustin Ruth, Sharaya Mikael and Casing the Promisedland open. Sa, 7/21, 8pm. $5. Café Coda; 265 Humboldt Ave.; (530) 566-9476; www.cafe coda.com.

TOM DRINNON: Live country covers and originals. Sa, 7/21, 9pm. Free. Rolling Hills Casino; 2655 Barham Ave. in Corning; (530) 528-3500; www.rolling hillscasino.com.

like you’re dead and also ready for summer fun. Slip ’n’ slides, water noodles, kiddie pools, zombies and music

NO.

IT IS A COMPLETE SENTENCE

REGGAE NIGHT SELEcToR AND ZION ROOTS

JAZZ TRIO: Every Wednesday with Carey

Robinson and company. W, 4-7pm. Free.

Cafe Flo; 365 E. Sixth St. Next door to the Pageant Theatre; (530) 514-8888; http://liveatflo.weebly.com.

OPEN JAM NIGHT: Join the jam. Drum kit,

24TUESDAY AARON JAQUA: An open singer-song-

writer night. Tu, 7-9pm. Free. Cafe Flo; 365 E. Sixth St. Next door to the Pageant Theatre; (530) 514-8888; http://liveatflo.weebly.com.

bass rig, guitar amp and PA system are provided, bring your own instruments. All ages until 10. W, 7pm. Free.

Italian Garden; 6929 Skyway in Paradise; (530) 876-9988; www.my space.com/theitaliangarden.

SALSA BELLA: Live Salsa music in the

restaurant. W, 8-11pm. Tortilla Flats; 2601 Esplanade; (530) 345-6053.

Internet Cafe & Galleria; 501 Main St.; (530) 894-3033; www.hasbeans.com.

23MONDAY THE AMERICAS: An evening of crushingly noisy experimental garage rock with The Americas, Canadian duo Man Your Horse and instrumental five-piece La

THE BLANK TAPES

ZOMBIE SURF PARTY: Be sure to dress

Thursday 7/19 // 9pm-2am

JAZZ: Weekly jazz. Su, 4-6pm. Has Beans

a jazz happy hour every Monday. M, 57pm. Cafe Flo; 365 E. Sixth St. Next door to the Pageant Theatre; (530) 514-8888; http://liveatflo.weebly.com.

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CN&R 33

ARTS DEVO

JOURNALISM STUDENTS:

Got the write stuff?

The Chico News & Review is looking for journalism students who want to build their résumés and gather great clips. The CN&R’s semester internship program offers an opportunity to work with seasoned reporters and editors, and to gain experience in a professional setting. We are seeking newshounds, features writers and savvy photographers who are currently enrolled in college. Interns are paid per assignment.

For application information, contact Managing Editor Melissa Daugherty at melissad@newsreview.com.

Jason Cassidy • jasonc@newsreview.com

CONCERT IN THE PARK Lately, as Arts DEVO has kicked off his four-minute summerevening commute home, he’s occasionally been greeted by the warm strains of a tunnel troubadour serenading those passing through the underpass between Annie’s Glen and Lower Bidwell Park. The young fuzzyheaded street musician’s name is Avery Pound, and when I interrupted him during a spirited Animal Collective cover, he said that he wasn’t there busking, but rather just to enjoy the acoustics and play extremely short concerts for passersby.

Though he deserves a longer listen, he gives enough during those few seconds for me to be able to carry a sweet melody all the way home.

GAS, ELECTRICITY AND HEAVY METAL Have

Live in the tunnel: Avery Pound.

you seen that new, huge PG&E transformer box out in front of the Chico Municipal Center?

No, you haven’t! Because local metalworking badass Jeff Lindsay wrapped the green metal box in a 7-foot-tall fence made up of much more-decorative metal.

The city of Chico’s press release calls it an “aesthetic treatment,” and the aesthetic with which Lindsay treated the untreated steel panels includes a series of cutouts of tiny houses and big trees (with the latter tying into the design on the nearby “Our Hands” sculpture). PG&E footed the bill for the four walls of art, so show your gratitude by flicking on a light switch or firing up some Jiffy Pop on the stove top Hot, metal-on-metal action! or something.

Application deadline is Thursday, August 9.

JUST CALL ME GRAMBLER Chico faves Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers (featuring—in addition

to the band’s leader/namesake—Mother Hips singer/guitarist and former Chico dude Tim Bluhm and local singer/songwriter Dave Mulligan, among others) have been gettin’ a ton of ink in my column these days, and mostly because they keep doing badass shit.

The latest feat of badassery comes on the heels of the exceedingly popular “Van Sessions” series of YouTube videos, featuring recordings of the band touring in the van and simultaneously covering everything from Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” to Hall & Oates’ “I Can’t Go for That” (the latter closing in on 1.5 million views).

Turns out someone at the sports behemoth ESPN saw the videos and hired the band to record a song to be used exclusively during the network’s recent ESPYS sports-awards show. Specifically, the band was tasked with recreating the Queen/David Bowie classic, “Under Pressure,” and sure enough, during the July 11 presentation, Nicki and the guys could Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers and The Tebow hit the road. indeed be heard providing the spirited soundtrack for the montage of the “Best Moment” of the year nominees. (If you’re wondering, the winner—by fan vote—was Tim Tebow’s 80-yard touchdown bomb to lift the Broncos over the Steelers in the NFL playoffs.)

And if that isn’t enough NB&TG good news, last year’s digital-only album, Driftwood, was just re-released this week on CD and vinyl, and is available at www.nicki bluhm.com right now.

DEVOTIONS

*

YOUR WEEKLY BULL@ T DETECTOR 34 CN&R July 19, 2012

•Didgeridooin’: Hot off recording a few songs for the recent Sean Penn movie, This Must Be The Place, multi-instrumentalist one-man band Trevor Green stops by Bustolini’s on Friday, July 20, 7:30 p.m., with his didgeridoo in hand.

•Zac attack: Tattooist and tattoo-machine maker Zac Black is holding a grand opening for his new 12 Volt Tattoo shop (194 E. Eighth St.) Saturday, July 21, 5-8 p.m., with live music by Ryan Davidson.

•Palio in the park: Chico Palio, the art-horse race/arts fest kick-off for Artoberfest, is going to take place by the pool at One-Mile in Bidwell Park this year (Sept. 9), and you still have time to sign-up to make a horse or host a booth. Visit chicopalio.org for info.

Find Us Online At:

www.chico.newsreview.com

BUTTE COUNTY LIVING HOME WEEK OF THE

Open House Guide | Home Sales Listings | Featured Home of the Week

Free Real Estate Listings Find Us Online At:

www.chico.newsreview.com

SmAll, QuieT, Well mAiNTAiNed Complex

Now Offering

Studios, 1 & 2-Bedroom Units

1 & 2-Bedroom, 1-Bath Units

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University terrace Two Story, 2 Bedroom, 1 Bath Townhouses with Small Backyard or One Story, 2 Bedroom, 1 Bath Flats All Units Include W/D, D/W, Central Heat/Air, and More BBQ and Cat Friendly, Off Street Parking, Walk to CSU

542 Nord Avenue Call Today (530) 893-1967 uterrace@rsc-associates.com

20 DONALD DRIVE • CHICO

Ceres Plaza

HUNTINGTON Full Size WaSher/Dryer in each unit, SWimming Pool, garageS available too!

LISTED AT: $550,000

Sizzling DealS & More!

Beautiful pool & clubhouse with computer room and pool table 1459 E. Lassen Avenue Call Today (530) 893-3018 cere@rsc-associates.com

2002 Huntington Drive (20th Street near Forest Avenue) CALL TODAY AT (530) 894-2408 huntington@rsc-associates.com

Professionally Managed By rsC assoCiates, inC.

Spacious living in this 3 bedroom 3 bathroom 2782 sq ft home with newer kitchen appliances, plus upstairs great room with bathroom and closet that could be used as a bedroom. 3 car garage and covered patio close to the crystal clear swimming pool. Park like setting with beautiful rose garden. Asphalt driveway with roof that was done 2 years ago. With over 3 acres you can bring your animals, grow an oversized garden, or just enjoy the space around you.

Professionally Managed By rsC assoCiates, inC.

Frankie Dean | Century 21 Jeffries Lydon | Realtor/E-Pro (530) 840-0265 direct | Call or TEXT for more info

Professionally Managed By rsC assoCiates, inC.

Amazing Views of Chico

JUST LISTED!!

1930’s Chico charm & character. 3 bed/2 bath 1403 sq. ft. Chestnut St.

Private setting on 5 acres, just 20 minutes out of Chico. Three bed, two bath. $298,000

$220,000 EMMETT JACOBI

Alice Zeissler

www.AtoZchico.com

Cell 530.519.6333 emmettjacobi.com

518-1872

Homes Sold Last Week SQ. FT.

Sponsored by Century 21 Jeffries Lydon

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

22 Burney Dr

Chico

$415,500

4/ 2

2211

829 Alice Ln

Chico

$229,500

3/ 1.5

1256

819 Westgate Ct

Chico

$335,000

4/ 3

2715

22 Moraga Dr

Chico

$229,000

3/ 2

1290

65 Temperance Way

Chico

$319,000

3/ 2

1605

2877 Godman Ave

Chico

$195,000

3/ 2

1662

1259 Oleander Ave

Chico

$292,000

2/ 1

1707

582 East Ave

Chico

$182,500

3/ 1.5

1179

1926 Potter Rd

Chico

$279,000

3/ 1.5

1961

3078 Snowbird Dr

Chico

$163,500

4/ 2

1407

55 Brenda Dr

Chico

$269,000

3/ 2

1811

1024 Neal Dow Ave

Chico

$158,000

3/ 1

1154

2889 Lovell Ave

Chico

$260,000

4/ 2

1917

3111 Michael Way

Chico

$156,000

2/ 1

970

2183 Robailey Dr

Chico

$232,000

3/ 2

1683

555 Vallombrosa Ave 70

Chico

$121,000

2/ 1

902

July 19, 2012

CN&R 35

QuALity, AffoRDABLe & fRienDLy housing HOUSES

APARTMENTS Location

Bd/Ba

Rent

Dep.

1048 1/2 Warner St. Studio/1 801 W. 1st Ave. 2/1 1245 Esplanade. #3/#7 2/1 939 W. East Ave. #19 2/1 15 Klondike Ct. #A 4/2

$550 $650 $700 $700 $850

$650 $750 $800 $800 $950

Location

Bd/Ba

Rent

Dep.

1603 Chico River Rd. 1154 Neal Dow Ave. 585 E. 8th St. 1048 Warner St. 715 Flume

6/2 $1800 2/1.5 $1050 2/1 $875 2/1 $875 2.5/1 $950

$1900 $1150 $975 $975 $1050

Location

Bd/Ba

1600 Arcadian 6327 Cumberland Rd. 540 W. 4th Ave. 1427 Hobart

Rent

Dep.

5/3 $1400 2/2 $900 3/1 $1200 4/1 $1000

$1500 $1000 $1300 $1100

1382 Longfellow Ave. Chico

RELIABLE

PRoPeRty MAnAgeMent

895-1733 | www.reliableproperty.com Info subject to change. Please do not disturb tenants. We will schedule the appointment.

OPEN

HOUSE CENTURY 21 JEFFRIES LYDON Sat. 11-1 37 Burney Drive (X St: Idyllwild) 3 Bd / 3 Ba, 2130 sq. ft. $379,000 Brandi Laffins 321-9562 Sat. 11-1 7688 Maddrill Lane (X St: Bigger Glenn) 3 Bd / 2 Ba, 1725 sq. ft. $369,900 Nick Zeissler 520-6968

Sat. 11-1, 2-4 115 Zinnia Way (X St: W. 11th Ave) 4 Bd / 3 Ba, 2300 sq. ft. $356,500 Dana Miller 570-1184 Frankie Dean 840-0265

3 Bd / 2 Ba, 1736 sq. ft. $305,000 Emmett Jacobi 519-6333 Brandon Siewert 828-4597 Lindsey Ginno 570-5261 Sat. 11-1 683 E. 9th Ave. (X St: Mangrove) 3 Bd / 3 Ba, 2459 sq. ft. $289,500 Steve Kasprzyk 518-4850

Sat. 2-4 & Sun. 2-4 1428 Dartwood (X St: West Sacramento/ Gateway) 4 Bd / 3 Ba, 2309 sq. ft. $339,000 Dana Miller 570-1184 Paul Champlin 828-2902 Sat. 11-1, 2-4 & Sun. 11-1, 2-4 822 Teagarden Court ( X St: Winkle)

“Vacation” like home on 2.5 acres $335,000

Great home in California Park, 4 bd, 2ba, master w/ large bath & walk-in closet. $308,500

3/2, 1,732 sqft for $225,000

Dana Miller

Century 21 Jeffries Lydon (530)571-7738 (530)570-1184 dmiller@century21chico.com

Sat. 11-1 & Sun. 11-1 1088 Tracy Lane (X St: Ceres) 3 Bd / 2 Ba, 1601 sq. ft. $239,000 Frankie Dean 840-0265 Steve Kasprzyk 518-4850

KATHY KELLY 530-570-7403

DRE# 01860319

KathyKellyC21@gmail.com

Bringing You To

Paradise

2BR/2BA Great floor plan, Great price

1,440 Sq. Ft. $9,900

Ad #389

8/10 of an acre Well, septic, power

In Camelot $25,000

Ad #434

2 BR, 2 BA Mobile on .34 ac

1,440 Sq. Ft. $51,900

Ad #391

3 BR/2BA New Custom Home

2,273 Sq. Ft. $299,000

Ad #552

Sat. 2-4 15 Jones Creek Road (X St: Humboldt Road) 1 Bedroom, 1 Ba, 808 sq. ft. $225,000 Alice Zeissler 518-1872 Sat. 11-1 9074 Humboldt Road (X St: Jones Creek Road) 1 Bd / 1 Ba. .$124,990 Alice Zeissler 518-1872

5350 Skyway, Paradise

(530) 872-7653

Paradise@C21SelectGroup.com www.C21Skyway.com 1-800-785-7654

4 bed/2 bath, 1,995 sq ft, newer home w/pool, $350,000 19.55 Acres in Orland, $89,000 1 ac building lot, Chico. OWC $150,000 3 bed/2 bth, +den, nice senior mobile $39,285 2 bed/2 bth, senior mobile in park $17,000 INGbth, 2,268 sq ft, pool. $319,000 Cul de sac Ave’s,PE3 ND bed/4 Teresa Larson (530) 899-5925 www.ChicoListings.com • chiconativ@aol.com

One owner home on quiet cul-de-sac. 4 bd/3 ba, pool, 3 car garage. $362,000 Jeffries Lydon

MARK REAMAN 530-228-2229 Mark.Reaman@c21jeffrieslydon.com

The following houses were sold in Butte County by real estate agents or private parties during the week of July 2, 2012 — July 6, 2012.

The housing prices are based on the stated documentary transfer tax of the parcel and may not necessarily reflect the actual sale price of the home.

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

870 Vermont St

ADDRESS

Gridley

$142,500

4/ 2

2168

898 Deer Creek Ln

Paradise

$220,000

3/ 2

1572

6054 Lane Ct

Magalia

$165,500

3/ 2

1742

5772 Tipton Ln

Paradise

$215,000

2/ 2

1445

203 Canyon Highlands Dr

Oroville

$270,000

4/ 2

2903

1261 Bennett Rd

Paradise

$180,000

2/ 2

1398

904 Mission Olive Rd

Oroville

$268,500

3/ 2

2214

831 Wagstaff Rd

Paradise

$165,000

2/ 2

1144

28 Ridge Way

Oroville

$223,000

3/ 3

2694

6667 Evergreen Ln

Paradise

$160,000

2/ 2

1595

20 Linda Loma Dr

Oroville

$195,000

3/ 2.5

1960

5895 Oakmore Dr

Paradise

$150,500

2/ 2

1179

1455 18th St

Oroville

$164,000

3/ 2

1160

6361 Lucky John Rd

Paradise

$129,000

2/ 2

1442

5814 Vista Del Cerro

Oroville

$110,000

3/ 1

1064

1630 Maple Leaf Ln

Paradise

$110,000

3/ 3

2814

36 CN&R July 19, 2012

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Men, women & women w/ children, a sober living environment, rooms for rent. includes utilities.

Resident mgr. Stacy 530-520-5248 ROOM FOR RENT 3 bedroom house, big yard, 4 blocks from Enloe, $450/mo includes utilities.

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as WESTERN PACIFIC CAFE AND CATERING at 2191 High St. Oroville, Ca 95966.

AMANDA CORONA, 2925 S Villa Ave. Oroville, CA 95966.

This business is conducted by an individual.

Signed: AMANDA CORONA Dated: May 8, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000707 Published: May 17,24,31, June 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as BURGER KING at 962 East Ave. Chico, CA 95926.

RIVER VALLEY ENTERPRISES INC, 2565 Zanella Way, Suite C, Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: BYRON CROSSEN Dated: June 13, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000885 Published: June 28, July 5,12,19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as STAR STUDIO’S at 1224 Mangrove Ave. #10, Chico, CA 95926.

DONNA BRISTOL, WESLEY BLAKE BRISTON, 13735 Nimshew Rd. Magalia, CA 95954. This business is conducted by a Husband and Wife.

Signed: WESLEY BRISTOL Dated: June 22, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000934 Published: June 28, July 5,12,19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons is doing business as JG PAINTING at 6038 A Clark, #149, Paradise, CA 95969.

JAMES GOULARTE, 6038 A Clark #149, Paradise, CA 95969. This business is conducted by an individual.

Signed: JAMES GOULARTE Dated: June 20, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000913 Published: June 28, July 5,12,19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as HONEYBEE LANDSCAPING at 1584 Rue Francais, Chico, CA 95973.

MICHAEL E CHILDS, 1548 Rue Francais, Chico, Ca 95973.

JAIME PASILLAS, 669 El Verano Way, Chico, CA 95973.

this Legal Notice continues

This business is conducted by a General Partnership.

Signed: MICHAEL CHILDS Dated: June 12, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000881 Published: June 28, July 5,12,19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as BURGER KING at 1104 W 2nd St. Chico, CA 95928.

RIVER VALLEY ENTERPRISES INC, 2565 Zanella Way, Suite C, Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: BYRON CROSSEN Dated: May 31, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000806 Published: July 5,12,19,26, 2012

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➡

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as CHICO SCRAPBOOKS AND MADISON GRACE PHOTOGRAPHY at 2033 Forest Ave. #104, Chico, CA 95928.

JODIE N BECK, WALTER MARTIN BECK, 1991 Potter Rd. Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a Husband and Wife.

Signed: JODIE BECK Dated: June 11, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000869 Published: July 5,12,19,26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as THE BREAKFAST BUZZ at 208 Cedar St. Chico, CA 95928.

THE TEAFORD GROUP, 295 Santa Rosa St. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: KATIE NORTON Dated: June 11, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000868 Published: July 5,12,19,26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as AA ALTERATIONS AND ASSOCIATES at 1834 Mangrove Ave. #30, Chico, CA 95926.

MARITZA Y MCCUTCHEN, 2211 Notre Dame Blvd. Chico, CA 95928. This business is conducted by a Limited Partnership.

Signed: Maritza McCutchen Dated: July 2, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000991 Published: July 5,12,19,26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as THE IDEA EMPORIUM at 764 E 7th St. Chico, CA 95928.

Carey Jeanne Robinson Galliani 764 E 7th St. Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by an individual.

Signed: CAREY GALLIANI Dated: July 6, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0001011 Published: July 12,19,26 August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as SOOPER DOOPER(S) at 75 Glen Circle Dr. Oroville, CA 95966.

EDWIN GENE DENHAM JR, 75 Glen Circle Dr. Oroville, CA 95966. This business is conducted by an individual.

Signed: EDWIN G DENHAM Dated: July 6, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0001009 Published: July 12,19,26, August 2, 2012

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as CHANGE, CREATING HAPPINESS AND NEW GROWTH ETERNALLY at 1616 Hemlock Lane, Paradise, CA 95969.

SAMANTHA SOLEIL, 1616 Hemlock Lane, Paradise, CA 95969. This business is conducted by an individual.

Signed: SAMANTHA SOLEIL Dated: July 9, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0001014 Published: July 12,19,26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as CURB APPEAL LAWNSCAPE SERVICES at 59 Lexington Dr. Chico, CA 95973.

MICHAEL MACARTHY, 59 Lexington Dr. Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an individual.

Signed: MICHAEL MACARTHY Dated: June 5, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000820 Published: July 12,19,26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as MAYHEM! at 100 Risa Way #217, Chico, CA 95973.

JENNIE WOLFE, JEREMY WOLFE, 100 Risa Way, #217, Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by a Husband and Wife.

Signed: JEREMY WOLFE Dated: July 11, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0001031 Published: July 19,26, August 2,9, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as DESIGNER CANVASES at 3042 Calistoga Dr. Chico, CA 95973.

KELLY MILTON, 3042 Calistoga Dr. Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an individual.

Signed: KELLY MILTON Dated: June 22, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000940 Published: July 19,26, August 2,9, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as DAVID YAGER PHOTOGRAPHY at 5 Mione Way, Chico, CA 95926.

BRYAN YAGER, 5 Mione Way, Chico, CA 95926.

DAVID YAGER, 1328 Bruce St. Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a General Partnership.

Signed: BRYAN YAGER Dated: June 22, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000939 Published: July 19,26, August 2,9, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as ID INTERNATIONAL at 1033 Park Ave. Chico, CA 95928.

MATHEW JACOBS, 1703 E Sacramento, Chico, CA 95926.

ALEX SORGER 570 Waterford Dr. Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by a General Partnership.

Signed: ALEX SORGER Dated: June 22, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0000937 Published: July 19,26, August 2,9, 2012

Gooselake Circle, Chico, CA 95973. This business is conducted by an individual.

Signed: ASHLEY BOONE Dated: July 9, 2012 FBN Number: 2012-0001015 Published: July 19,26, August 2,9, 2012

NOTICES NOTICE OF LIEN SALE NOTICE OF SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY Pursuant to the California self-storage facility act (B&P code 21770 et sec) the undersigned will sell the contents of units: TAMMY NEWTON, furniture, boxes.

KEVIN WITHDRELL, clothing.

To the highest bidder on: August 4, 2012 Beginning at 2:00pm.

Sale to be held at: Extra Storage, 60 E Grand Ave. Oroville, CA 95965.

Published: July 19,26, 2012 NOTICE OF LIEN SALE NOTICE OF SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY Pursuant to the California selfstorage facility act: (B&P code 21770 et.sec.) the undersigned will sell the contents of: VALERIE VASQUEZ, kitchen table/chairs, misc. home decor, toys/games.

LARRY GRIFF, king bed set, oak hutch, dressers, ent. center, wave board.

TASHA ROMERO, TV’s, dressers, patio chairs, game controllers, kids items.

To the highest bidder on: August 4, 2012 Beginning at 1:00pm Sale to be held at: Extra Storage 3160 Olive Hwy, Oroville, CA 95966 Published: July 19,26, 2012 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner Kyle John-Thomas Hicks filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: Kyle John-Thomas Hicks Proposed name: Kyle John-Thomas Williams THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: August 24, 2012 Time: 9:00am Dept: TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: Robert Glusman Dated: July 5, 2012 Case Number: 157171 Published: July 12,19,26, August 2, 2012

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as THE GYPSY CROW at 131 Gooselake Circle, Chico, CA 95973.

ASHLEY LYNN BOONE, 131

this Legal Notice continues

➡ July 19, 2012

CN&R 37

K N I TH .

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38 CN&R July 19, 2012

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ARIES (March 21-April 19):

AcroYoga is a relatively new physical discipline. According to a description I read on a flyer in Santa Cruz, it “blends the spiritual wisdom of yoga, the loving kindness of massage, and the dynamic power of acrobatics.” I’d love to see you work on creating a comparable hybrid in the coming months, Aries—some practice or system or approach that would allow you to weave together your various specialties into a synergetic whole.

Start brainstorming about that impossible dream now, and soon it won’t seem so impossible.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Unless you

grow your own or buy the heirloom variety at farmers markets, you probably eat a lot of tasteless tomatoes. Blame it on industrial-scale farming and supermarket chains.

They’ve bred tomatoes to be homogenous and bland—easy to ship and pretty to look at. But there’s a sign of hope: A team of scientists at the University of Florida is researching what makes tomatoes taste delicious and is working to bring those types back into mainstream availability. I think the task you have ahead of you in the coming weeks is metaphorically similar, Taurus. You should see what you can to do restore lost flavor, color and soulfulness. Opt for earthy idiosyncrasies over fake and boring perfection.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It’ll be a hum-

ming, murmuring, whispering kind of week—a time when the clues you need will most likely arrive via ripplings and rustlings and whirrings. Here’s the complication: Some of the people around you may be more attracted to clangs and bangs and jangles.

They may imagine that the only information worth paying attention to is the stuff that’s loudest and strongest. But I hope you won’t be seduced by their attitudes. I trust you’ll resist the appeals of the showy noise. Be a subtlety specialist who loves nuance and undertones. Listen mysteriously.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Most change

is slow and incremental. The shifts happen so gradually, that they are barely noticeable while you’re living in the midst of them from day to day. Then there are those rare times when the way everything fits together mutates pretty quickly. Relationships that have been evolving in slow motion begin to speed up. Long-standing fixations melt away. Mystifying questions get clear answers. I think you’re at one of these junctures now, Cancerian. It’s not likely you’ll be too surprised by anything that happens, though. That’s because you’ve been tracking the energetic buildup for a while, and it will feel right and natural when the rapid ripening kicks in.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Lately, you’ve been

spending time in both the off-kilter parts of paradise and the enchanting areas of limbo.

On one notable occasion, you even managed to be in both places simultaneously. How’d you do that? The results have been colorful but often paradoxical. What you don’t want and what you do want have gotten a bit mixed up. You have had to paw your way out of a dead-end confusion but have also been granted a sublime breakthrough. You explored a tunnel to nowhere but also visited a thrilling vista that provided you with some medicinal excitement. What will you do for an encore? Hopefully, nothing that complicated. I suggest you spend the next few days chilling out and taking inventory of all that’s changed.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The painter

Philip Guston loved to express himself creatively. He said it helped him to get rid of his certainty, to divest himself of what he knew.

By washing away the backlog of old ideas and familiar perspectives, he freed himself to see the world as brand-new. In light of your current astrological omens, Virgo, Guston’s approach sounds like a good strategy for you to borrow. The next couple of weeks will be an excellent time to explore the pleasures of unlearning and deprogramming. You will thrive by discarding stale

She loves computer guts

by Rob Brezsny preconceptions, loosening the past’s hold on you, and clearing out room in your brain for fresh imaginings.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Nineteenth-cen-

tury author Charles Dickens wrote extensively about harsh social conditions. He specialized in depicting ugly realities about poverty, crime and classism. Yet, one critic described him as a “genial and loving humorist” who showed that “even in dealing with the darkest scenes and the most degraded characters, genius could still be clean and mirth could be innocent.” I’m thinking that Dickens might be an inspirational role model for you in the coming weeks, Libra. It will be prime time for you to expose difficult truths and agitate for justice and speak up in behalf of those less fortunate than you. You’ll get best results by maintaining your equanimity and good cheer.

story and photo by Shannon Rooney rooney.shannon@ gmail.com

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): For many

years, ambergris was used as a prime ingredient in perfumes. And where does ambergris come from? It’s basically whale vomit. Sperm whales produce it in their gastrointestinal tracts to protect them from the sharp beaks of giant squid they’ve eaten, then spew it out of their mouths. With that as your model, Scorpio, I challenge you to convert an inelegant aspect of your life into a fine asset, even a beautiful blessing. I don’t expect you to accomplish this task overnight. But I do hope you will finish by May 2013.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

“Interruption” will be a word of power for you in the coming days. No, really: I’m not being ironic, sarcastic or satirical. It is possible that the interruptions will initially seem inconvenient or undesirable, but I bet you will eventually feel grateful for their intervention. They will knock you out of grooves you need to be knocked out of. They will compel you to pay attention to clues you’ve been neglecting. Don’t think of them as random acts of cosmic whimsy, but rather as divine strokes of luck that are meant to redirect your energy to where it should be.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You

don’t have to stand in a provocative pose to be sexy. You don’t have to lick your lips or radiate a smoldering gaze or wear clothes that dramatically reveal your body’s most appealing qualities. You already know all that stuff, of course; in light of this week’s assignment, I just wanted to remind you.

And what is that assignment? To be profoundly attractive and alluring without being obvious about it. With that as your strategy, you’ll draw to you the exact blessings and benefits you need. So do you have any brilliant notions about how to proceed? Here’s one idea: Be utterly at peace with who you really are.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I brazenly

predict, my dear Aquarius, that in the next 10 months, you will fall in love with love more deeply than you have in more than a decade.

You will figure out a way to exorcise the demons that have haunted your relationship with romance, and you will enjoy some highly entertaining amorous interludes. The mysteries of intimacy will reveal new secrets to you, and you will have good reasons to redefine the meaning of fun. Is there any way these prophecies of mine could possibly fail to materialize? Yes, but only if you take yourself too seriously and insist on remaining attached to the old days and old ways.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Be alert for

fake magic, and make yourself immune to its seductive appeal. Do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to get snookered by sexy delusions, enticing hoaxes or clever mirages. There will, in fact, be some real magic materializing in your vicinity, and if you hope to recognize it, you must not be distracted by the counterfeit stuff. This is a demanding assignment, Pisces. You will have to be both skeptical and curious, both tough-minded and innocently receptive.

Fortunately, the astrological omens suggest you now have an enhanced capacity to live on that edge.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny's EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

15 MINUTES

BREZSNY’S

For the week of July 19, 2012

Not every woman loves to tear down a laptop and replace parts. But Nicolette Battenfield, the new (as of May) owner of PC-MD, a long-established Chico computer-repair business, enjoys tinkering with computers and making them work right. Battenfield, a personable, 29-yearold divorced mother of two, enrolled at Butte College a couple of years ago to complete transfer coursework after two years searching unsuccessfully for a job. She spied a posting on the school’s job board for a computer-technician position at PC-MD, got the job and rapidly learned the business. When the former owner told her earlier in the year that he wanted to retire, Battenfield jumped at the chance to own her own business. (Go to Facebook or PCMD.com to learn more about Battenfield’s business. She can be reached at 345-3371 or at the business, 2117 Esplanade.)

How did you first learn about computers?

My dad was a big computer geek and had an older computer he loved messing around with.

He was also using computers at work because he was in the military. He would always pull me over and show me DOS language and that kind of thing.

What happened when you had your own computer?

Once I was out on my own, my dad bought a computer for me. I quickly got my computer infected and had to deal with it myself, so I started to do research and figure it out. It

[working on computers] was a lot of trial and error. Over time I got better, and family and friends came to me for help. I think a lot of my ability to pick it up is that I like to research. I like to figure out the resolution to the problem, whereas a lot of people don’t want to take the time to figure out what to do.

Why aren’t there many women doing computerrepair work?

I don’t know. I haven’t personally met many other women who can tear a laptop down and replace parts. To me, it doesn’t seem very complicated, but I guess maybe in reality it is, and there are a lot of things you have to pay attention to.

What’s your strong point as a computer technician?

Where I start to shine is when somebody comes in with something that’s not familiar.

Then I have to really dig in and solve the problem. One of my favorite problems was when someone wanted to network two computers with different operating systems. That was a big learning experience, and I was able to successfully do it. When I saw that I could, I was ‘Yes!’ Solving the problem is the greatest feeling.

FROM THE EDGE

by Anthony Peyton Porter himself@anthonypeytonporter.com

No I’m learning to say no. I know I’ve said no many times in print, every time I wrote about something I didn’t like. That’s not the same as saying no to someone I like. That’s not even like saying no to poor service, which I can usually manage to do.

As my mother’s only child and her major focus of attention, I’ve always had a hard time saying no to women. Now and then it would dawn on me than I could say no, to anybody, even this smooth, warm one right here. I hardly ever did, though. I don’t suppose my passive aggressiveness, if that’s the right label, fooled whoever she happened to be into thinking I was altogether happy with my lot, probably ensuring that she wasn’t altogether happy with her lot either.

My father’s wordless acquiescence to whatever my mother wanted showed me how to go along with whatever my primary woman wants. If I do it I’ll be happier than if I don’t—I get a point or two, and I don’t have to hear about my not doing it. I could tell you no, though, even if you’re a woman, because you’re almost certainly not my woman, and if you are, “Yes, dear.”

I’ve heard that Woody Guthrie turned down a chance to make a lot of money to do a show and said no, because he’d have to disrespect his social group and, of course, himself. He was a poor man, as were the other musicians, a lot of money would’ve made a big difference to any of them, and he said no anyway.

That’s a big ass no. I’d’ve sold out long ago if I had gotten an offer, but I was the world’s worst employee and didn’t know I had anything to sell other than my time, and I never got anywhere. I took what was offered. I never considered saying no.

An especially hard no is not being able to think of something good to say about work done by someone I like, and that’s the no of the week for me. A guy I know slightly and think a lot of asked me to read part of a manuscript a couple of years ago, and I had to tell him that if I were to come across such a book, I wouldn’t read past the first page. I tried to explain specifically why I felt like that, and ways he could approach the story that might help him, or at least help me like it.

He recently sent me the whole shebang to comment on, and it’s no better than it was two years ago, dammit.

July 19, 2012

CN&R 39