Issuu

WINTRY WORDS See GREENHOUSE, page 11

YEAR IN FILM

See FILM FEATURE, page 32

DEPRESSION SEASON See HEALTHLINES, page 12

DEVO

AWARDS See ARTS DEVO, page 29

Chico’s News & Entertainment Weekly

Volume 37, Issue 18

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Ending the terrorism war When its history is written, 2013 will go down as the year when

Our destructive federal prison system Iand educated—rise up against the entire federal prison system and demand that it be used only for a very few and select

by the feds with a long prison term if he didn’t turn in Angelos for selling him a few ounces of marijuana once in a while. Like type of crimes, such as international terrorism, and that it oth- most Americans, the then-23-year-old Angeerwise be completely dismantled. los—a nationally known music producer who The federal prison system houses once worked with Snoop Dog—had a legal 200,000 inmates, more than half of whom gun in his home. He is serving time until he are imprisoned for drug offenses. We is 85 years old without the chance of parole have young folks who are no danger to at a cost to taxpayers of $1.5 million. society rotting away in those prisons for Angelos has exhausted all of his appeals selling small amounts of and his only hope is for the president marijuana and other drugs, We need to abolish the to commute his sentence. His marwhich accomplishes nothing riage to his high-school sweetheart mandatory sentences, has been destroyed and his two sons but paying the salaries of by nearly 50,000 prison guards, which were bought and are growing up fatherless. This could Garry Cooper who happen to have the sec- paid for by the prison be your son, dad, daughter or best ond-largest political-action friend. guards and the The author, a committee in the U.S. FurAs part of this process, we need to police industry. semiretired thermore, nearly 40 percent demand that citizen-review panels be real-estate broker, of these prisoners in this set up immediately to review every is a longtime Chico highly racist system are black Americans. sentence handed down, so that cruel and resident and graduate We need to abolish the mandatory unusual sentences such as Angelos’ be comof Chico State. sentences, which were bought and paid muted immediately. He has already served 11 for by the prison guards and the police years, and is a decent human being we would industry, as part of this dismantling. all enjoy as a neighbor. Nearly every prisoner in this system I am older than 60 years old, not great at could have been prosecuted at the state social media, and I don’t have the energy of level. our college-age youth. My hope is that, by Let’s take the case of Weldon Angereading this letter, someone will take on this los, who was accused of selling weed to a abusive prison system by rallying the masses “friend.” That friend had been threatened and demanding fairness. Ω t is time that our population—especially our young

4 CN&R December 26, 2013

America finally realized that, in its fearful response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it had trampled on the Constitution, sacrificing fundamental freedoms for imagined security. And for that we have a whistle-blower named Edward Snowden to thank. Had Snowden not released documents showing just how vast and intrusive the National Security Agency’s secret collection of communications data and content had become, President Obama would not have called for a robust national debate about surveillance. Nor would he have appointed a blue-ribbon panel of intelligence and legal experts to examine the matter, issue a report and make recommendations for reform. Last week, just two days after a federal judge, Richard Leon, determined that NSA surveillance was “almost Orwellian” and probably unconstitutional, that report landed on the president’s desk bearing the same message. It calls for the NSA to stop its bulk collection of phone and Internet “metadata,” and for greater oversight of and limitations upon its surveillance program generally. The report also calls for reform of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which rules on governmental surveillance proposals, currently heard without opposition, by establishing an advocate for the people’s civil liberties. It also would require that the FISA court’s judges no longer be appointed solely by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, but instead be divided among all the justices. Most significant, perhaps, the report echoes Leon’s determination that NSA surveillance has done little to prevent terrorism and offers negligible security at a great cost. Some of the report’s 46 recommendations will require congressional approval; others the president can implement on his own. In a May speech he stated that the war on terrorism, “like all wars, must end.” This report is a good step in that direction. Ω

Take caution on franchising Last week, the Chico City Council approved a supplemental

budget appropriation of nearly $100,000 to hire a consultant with expertise in waste-hauling franchising—something the panel is considering establishing. During the meeting, several council members were very clearly in support of the idea, which—if estimates from the dais and city management are accurate—could bring in $1.5 million to $2 million annually. In addition to buoying the city’s general fund, the establishment of a franchise agreement would have a number of other beneficial outcomes. Currently, two waste-hauling companies—which pay a so-called “fee agreement”—traverse the same residential streets, creating extra wear and tear on the roadways. A franchise agreement would eliminate that inefficiency by, say, creating zones that would keep the two companies within particular regions of the city, or franchising with only a single company. In addition, either of these changes would mitigate smog production. From several standpoints, franchising seems like a no-brainer. So, what’s the rub? Well, there’s a big one. A franchise agreement may translate into a multimillion-dollar windfall for the city, but it won’t come without a price tag. And that price tag will be paid for by every resident who has trash collection. That’s why we want to urge the council to proceed with caution and to help ensure that it will not place an undue burden on the community, especially those who live on commercial properties and may be on a fixed income. Trash collection at commercial properties is already efficiently run, so the companies conducting that work likely won’t see any savings like they would in residential areas. In other words, the haulers will have no choice but to pass on the franchise fees to their customers, and the ones of lowest income are likely to take the brunt of it. It’s the council’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen. Ω

Send email to chicoletters @ newsreview.com

SECOND & FLUME by Melissa Daugherty melissad@newsreview.com

End-of-year musings Last week, in my coverage of the City Council’s final meeting of 2013, I mentioned how Councilwoman Mary Goloff made a motion to extend the meeting past 11 p.m. and then, seconds later, took the unusual step of voting against that motion. I’ve covered many council meetings over the years, but that was a new one. I certainly wasn’t complaining, but Goloff emailed me at the end of the week to let me know why she’d done so. Evidently, after making the motion, she noticed that Council members Randall Stone and Tami Ritter, both of whom are relatively new parents, looked surprised (in other words, not happy). She thought I’d appreciate knowing that, since I have a little one at home, too. I do. But I’d have appreciated it more if the meeting had actually ended before 11 p.m. It didn’t. I’ve been told I have the patience of Job, but, for whatever reason, that particular meeting seemed especially long. In what’s not a complete non-sequitur (see the mention of Job above), I am loving the Catholic Church’s new chief, Pope Francis, aka former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the first Latin American (in modern history) to lead the church. The guy could almost turn me into a Catholic. I mean, he took the name Francis, the first pope to do so, to honor St. Francis of Assisi—you know, the saint whose statue has birds landing on him (sometimes he’s patting a wolf, which is pretty awesome). That depiction of St. Francis of Assisi, of course, signifies how he was known as the patron saint of animals and a nature lover. St. Francis came from money, but he gave it all up, living for a time as a beggar. He, like Jesus, dedicated his life to serving the poor. Like his namesake, Pope Francis appears to be an adherent to Jesus’ teachings (which, let’s face it, is really rare these days). He is rumored to disguise himself as a priest and venture out into Rome at night to commune with the needy. I’m pretty sure Pope Francis is the best thing to happen to the Catholic Church in a long time, perhaps centuries. He’s at least the best thing to have happened in 2013. Update: I told myself I wasn’t going to write anything else in this column about contributor Allan Stellar being cited by a Lassen Volcanic National Park officer. Stellar, for the uninitiated, wrote a fantastic essay—titled “Lassen Solitaire”—about spending the night in closed Lassen Park during the government shutdown. That act of civil disobedience was inspired by Edward Abbey, the late environmentalist who spent time in the park as a fire lookout. But then, on Friday, a very generous reader handed over a crisp $100 bill to help cover Stellar’s $250 citation. Another came in on Monday with a check for $20. Add that to the $10 another local reader shelled out, and the first donation of $5 from a reader in Southern California, and Stellar stands to recoup a good chunk of what he paid. What a way to end 2013. Melissa Daugherty is editor of the CN&R

Blame the governor Re “A destructive ‘solution’” (Guest comment, by Nani Teves, Dec. 19): I fully agree with Nani Teves’ stance on the water-diversion tunnels in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, but another huge factor—if not the main driving force—in our governor’s adamant support of this project must be recognized. Governor Brown and the Democratic Party’s main powerbase by far are the union and public employees in our state. This multi-year, multibillion-dollar project and the multibillion-dollar high-speed rail project— both of which are being rammed down our throats—assures that these financial supporters are rewarded for many election cycles with prevailing-wage jobs, therefore assuring that the Democratic party remains in power in our state. Until we all take our heads out of the sand and realize that the Democrats are bought and paid for by the unions and the Republicans are bought and paid for by big business—and we quit buying into the polarization that they both promote and prosper from—we will continue to be thrown to the wolves. In this age of social media, we have the tools to break their selfish strangleholds on our society. We must stop buying into their propaganda and remove ourselves from their manipulation of us.

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A closer look at SodaStream Re “Stop the one-sided blame” (Letters, by Julie Hilton Danan, Dec. 19): Rabbi Julie Danan objects to the Palestine Action Group advocating a boycott of SodaStream.In her letter,she claims that SodaStream employs 900 Arabs for fair wages, and that the company’s CEO is an advocate of peace, supporting the dignity of all his workers. An Israeli human-rights organization, Coalition of Women for Peace, disagrees with her summation. It points out that SodaStream built its factory on land that was taken from Palestinians by military force, and Israel gives SodaStream substantial tax deductions for locating there. Palestinians must get special permits to enter these factories. For Palestinians, involvement in a labor dispute constitutes a security risk and can result in the loss of the worker’s current job, plus his or her ability to work in settlements in the future. When workers protested that they were being paid less than half the minimum wage and were forced to work 12-hour days, they were fired. On another occasion, when workers who had been fired and were still owed a month’s wages went to the factory to request their pay, SodaStream had them removed from the factory and banned from the entire industrial park. For more information, check Jewish Voice for Peace.

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LETTERS continued on page 6

Michael Erpino

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Ralph Slater

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Re “Protesters target Target” (Newslines, by Ken Smith, Dec. 12): I have recently spent three months in the Middle East, mostly in Bethlehem. In the small village of Wadi Foquin, I was shown the hillside where the settlers, eerily close to this village, toss their garbage and wastewater down on the people, their crops and their olive trees. I met a 91-year-old Palestinian man, living in a shack, who was given a two-week demolition notice if he did not vacate. I volunteered for two days with Daoud Nassar at his Tent of Nations. Outside his gate rests a huge stone, and written on it—in Hebrew, Arabic, German and English—is We refuse to be enemies. His family has ownership papers dating back to the Ottoman Empire. Some of his olive trees have been uprooted, but, on a positive note, 30 Israelis came to help him with the olive harvest. I was proud to be a part of the National Day of Protest last Sunday at Target. The gentleman who held up his SodaStream purchase got one thing right: It’s about property rights. Target will do just fine, but the Palestinian people are looking into the ghastly face of extermination if something is not done to prevent it. JANE CASA Chico

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Re “Ship-righting continues” (Newslines, by Melissa Daugherty, Dec. 5): I got a kick out of a recently published article [about a recent City Council meeting]. The statement that made me giggle like a school girl was provided by the subject of the article, Chris Constantin, the city of Chico’s administrative-services director. The article stated that Mr. Constantin had given a preview of the upcoming budget for fiscal-year 2014-15, and implied that his department is well ahead of where it was last year in the budget process. Ha! As shown on the city of Chico’s website, Mr. Constantin’s department never even completed a final budget for fiscal-year 2013-14! Rather, they have stuck with the proposed budget, allowing any supplementals or modifications to be completed in a manner that makes it more difficult to analyze actual impacts to the budget. Sticking with the proposed budget apparently also means they don’t have to complete quarterly reports, as I have yet to see one of

those presented this fiscal year. Maybe I have ingested too many holiday cookies, but you can’t really be ahead in a process if you never completed the same prior process. QUENÉ HANSEN Chico

Props to the undersheriff Re “Sheriff announces retirement” (Downstroke, Dec. 12): When I was the county administrator for Butte County, Kory Honea was the president of the local Deputy Sheriff’s Association. We may have disagreed, but he was never disagreeable. I know him to be a man of integrity and honor. I moved on to be the executive director of the California State Association of Counties and worked with state sheriffs to design and implement what has been called “realignment” throughout California. I was impressed by how Butte County, under Honea’s leadership as undersheriff, eagerly took on the new challenges facing our publicsafety agencies. Given my positions in public service, I have never endorsed a political candidate. Now that I have retired, however, I wholeheartedly would endorse Honea as the best candidate for Butte County sheriff. PAUL MCINTOSH Paradise

Words from a candidate Look around and you will see good things happening throughout Butte County. Economic recovery is happening in our cities and towns. Local government is increasingly accountable and purposely directed. Citizens are more optimistic than in the past five years. In the holiday spirit, donations and selfless acts flow through our community. I have a vision of prosperity and charity continuing through 2014 even as political campaigns arise for the June election. That vision begins with a new way to campaign, because our politics are driven too heavily by money. Instead of asking our community for donations to fund my election, I’ve asked my supporters to actively seek out and involve their social and professional contacts, to act as ambassadors for my qualifications and abilities. In this way, the people retain their own hard-earned money and voters learn of my strategy to improve the way the Butte County Assessor’s office serves its residents in a sincere and mutually beneficial way. Let’s all rethink our election habits and start anew

locally, choosing a path that moves away from the current “money equals votes” strategy. AL PETERSEN Chico

Editor’s note: Al Petersen is a candidate for Butte County assessor.

Note to the City Council Lemon juice or chicken soup? I have given this matter less than considerable thought, yet as I hiccupped the ideas, lemon juice made the most sense. When one seeks to find an explanation regarding the City Council’s continued toga-esque behavior protocol (olive-branch excluded), or a critical accounting of the discretionary use of city funds (as noted in the grand jury investigation and massive city-wide layoffs), it has to be lemon juice! The liquid exhibits an unclear lucidity that blurs the ability to be transparent. The very color of the peel itself has often been associated with debilitating courageousness. Invisible messages were written in lemon juice to keep secrets hidden until enough heat was applied to reveal a codified message. A distinction should be made here between invisible ink and disappearing ink—as in continuity of council minutes or the ongoing fund-’scapade debacle. A popular adage suggests that when one is given too many lemons, a concoction should be prepared that allows the bitterness to be made less sour, more palatable. Why then did the City Council, in its infinite wisdom, purchase an orchard? RICK VAGTS Chico

Clarification An editorial in the Dec. 19 issue titled “Homeless aid must continue” mentioned that some people within the homeless community are unable to access the Torres Community Shelter. While those people include certain members of the public who struggle with addiction issues and mental illness (those who are under-the-influence and those who cannot follow the shelter’s rules), the shelter does indeed serve those overall populations, too. The editorial has been amended online to make that clear. –ed. 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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EARTH WATCH

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WATER SCARCITY LIKELY TO INCREASE

Global warming is likely to put millions more people at risk in the not-too-distant future of experiencing absolute water scarcity, a new study indicates. Currently, thanks in part to population growth, between one and two out of every 100 people live in countries with absolute water scarcity, defined as “less than 500 cubic meters of water available per year and per person,” according to U.S. News & World Report, citing the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research study. The average person consumes about 1,200 cubic meters of water per year. The combined effect of population growth and global warming could push the number of people experiencing absolute water scarcity up to approximately 10 per 100, “within the next few decades,” if greenhouse-gas emissions are not sufficiently reduced soon, said Jacob Schewe, lead author of the study.

NEONICOTINOIDS AND HUMAN HEALTH

Neonicotinoid pesticides have come under scrutiny in Europe as possibly being harmful to human health, with a call for further restrictions on their use than currently exist. European Union food regulators conducted a review at the request of the European Commission, finding that neonicotinoid pesticides “may affect the developing nervous system” of children, according to The New York Times. Earlier this year, some neonicotinoid pesticides were banned temporarily in Europe for use on a number of honey-bee-attracting crops, due to the pesticides being linked to bee deaths. The European Commission acted in response to a Japanese study that raised concerns about the effects of neonicotinoids—such as acetamiprid (used in Ortho Flower, Fruit & Vegetable Insect Killer, for one) and imidacloprid (the active ingredient in Bayer Advanced Fruit, Citrus & Vegetable Insect Control)—on humans.

LOSING ICE IN ICELAND

Iceland’s more than 300 glaciers are losing approximately 11 billion tons of ice per year due to climate change. The far-northern country is one of the fastest-warming regions on the planet, warming at a rate of up to four times the average of the entire Northern Hemisphere, according to an article published by The Daily Climate. The annual volume of ice lost by Iceland’s glaciers that is not replaced by new snow is enough to “fill 50 of the world’s largest trucks every minute for the entire year,” the article noted. “It is among the highest losses on the Earth,” glaciologist Helgi Bjornsson was quoted as saying. Some of Iceland’s glaciers have already disappeared, and others will be gone in a decade or two, Bjornsson said, due to the effects of greenhouse-gas emissions. Send your eco-friendly news tips to Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia at christinel@newsreview.com.

8 CN&R December 26, 2013

Sustainable at the supermarket? Easy-to-digest tips on more healthful grocery shopping and food preparation by

Evan Tuchinsky

I would eat the most healthful and nutritious meals possible. They’d have organic, n an ideal world, every person

local ingredients—sustainably sourced, from farmers’ markets and natural-food stores, or from their own gardens—carefully prepared in delicious dishes. We don’t live in an ideal world, of course. In the real world, time crunches and financial pinches affect personal choices. Many Chicoans shop at S&S Organic Produce & Natural Foods, the Chico Natural Foods Cooperative and the Saturdaymorning downtown farmers’ market, but many also rely on supermarkets like Safeway or Raley’s for their sustenance. Is it possible to be sustainable at the supermarket, or are “green” and “grocery store” mutually exclusive? It’s possible, says Marsha Vernoga, a registered dietician and nutrition-education specialist at Chico State University. However, she concedes, “it is a bit challenging.” Supermarkets carry thousands of items—many of them processed foods manufactured by national and multinational companies. Even brands that sound local or organic, such as Celestial Seasonings teas and Silk almond/soy/coconut milks, often fall under corporate umbrellas (see accompanying chart for some examples). “‘Big Food’ is really buying into the organic trend because there’s such an increased demand for organic food,” Vernoga said. “You go to the dairy aisle and see Horizon Organic Milk; it’s produced by the same company that right next

to it has regular [nonorganic] milk. “They still have to abide by organic standards, but as bigger companies start owning these smaller organic or healthfood businesses, oftentimes those practices get diluted.” Even finding the right raw ingredients—sustainable meats and seafood, and non-GM (genetically modified) produce— can be a challenge. You’re typically safe when you see a seal denoting organic certification, Vernoga said; nonetheless, you may need to double-check with the butcher or produce manager to make certain you’re getting what you expect. “GMOs [genetically modified organisms] are tricky because, really, they’re in everything,” Vernoga said. “[GMO] corn and soy—those are the two foods that are in almost all processed foods, so it’s very hard to get around them. Plus, unless you get organic meat, you are going to get GMO food indirectly from the animal, because that’s what they’re eating.” Along with corn and soy, other common GMO foods include papaya, summer squash, sugar and canola. One common conception of healthful

eating relates to expense—namely, that good food costs more. A recent assessment from the Harvard School of Public Health found that the average American would need to spend just $1.50 more per day for a more nutritious diet. Researchers came to that conclusion after crunching numbers from 27 studies, evaluating prices of more healthful options for common foods (e.g., lean versus fatty beef) as well as broad habits (e.g., Mediterranean diet versus meat-heavy diet). This dovetails with Vernoga’s local

Marsha Vernoga is a registered dietician and nutrition-education specialist at Chico State University. PHOTO BY CHRISTINE G.K. LAPADO-BREGLIA

experience. Organics may cost more, she said; still, depending on what you buy and where you buy it, you can find good deals. She’s particularly fond of farmers’ markets, and even at local health-food stores, “if you buy the right things, often it’s not that expensive.” By “right things” she means produce, bulk beans, brown rice, oats and other wholesome ingredients, which are available in supermarkets, too. Processed foods may be more problematic than whole foods (and can actually be more costly than cooking with whole foods), but green-minded consumers don’t have to forgo convenience entirely. Local producers include Lundberg Family Farms (rice products), Maisie Jane’s (nut confections) and Mary’s Gone Crackers (baked goods). Other brands recommended by Vernoga include: Amy’s Kitchen, Blue Diamond, Bob’s Red Mill, Cal-Organic Farms, Clif Bar, Eden Foods and Vitasoy. Overall, though, she encourages people

Big Food’s organics: Brand Back to Nature Bear Naked Boca Foods Bolthouse Farms Cascadian Farm Horizon Kashi Morningstar Farms Naked Juice Odwalla Rice/Soy Dream Santa Cruz Organic Seeds of Change Sweet Leaf Tea

Source: Prof. Phil Howard, Michigan State University

Owner Mondelez Kellogg Mondelez Campbell General Mills Dean Foods Kellogg Kellogg Pepsi Coca-Cola Hain Celestial J.M. Smucker M&M Mars Nestlé

WINTER CAMP TIME!

There’s no excuse for kids being bored over the Christmas break when they can attend Chico Creek Nature Center’s Camp Chico Creek Winter Break Camp, which began Dec. 23. The daily camp for children ages 5 to 11 runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, through Jan. 3. $35 per kid per day. Call 891-4671 for more info; go to www.tinyurl.com/p46a52w to register. The nature center is located at 1968 E. Eighth St.

to take a more hands-on approach to food. “No matter where you shop, even if you’re shopping mainstream, I think the key is cooking more,” Vernoga said, “because you have more control over the ingredients you’re using.” Ah, cooking: another concept

more GREENWAYS continued on page 11

UNCOMMON SENSE Green in 2014 Become less wasteful in 2014—it’s easy. Here are some suggestions for simple eco-friendly New Year’s resolutions: Don’t buy bottled water: About 1.5 million barrels are used to make plastic water bottles each year. By investing in a filtering pitcher, and pairing it with a reusable bottle, you’ll be saving money, too. Brew your own coffee: Annually, about 58 billion cardboard cups and carrying sleeves for coffee are thrown away. Rather than going to Starbucks, brew your own coffee at home and carry it in an insulated traveling mug. Shop with reusable bags: About 1 million plastic bags are thrown away every minute. ‘Nuff said.

Source: Mother Nature Network

YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

full of preconceptions. Busy people often shy away from preparing their own meals because of the time and effort they think it takes. Rosemary Febbo, a local cookbook author who hosted a long-running radio show on local FM community radio station KZFR, says the kitchen needn’t intimidate. “If you approach cooking with the attitude of just getting something on the plate to eat, this can be

accomplished in very little time,” she wrote in an email from New York, while on a layover following an extended vacation in Italy. “I’ve developed meals that take maybe 10 minutes to cook, serve and eat when I’m really hungry and in a hurry—and that are all from scratch, healthful and satisfying. “Quesadillas come to mind: Corn tortillas, good cheese, fresh salsa, maybe some shredded lettuce or cabbage and stuffed with some leftover chicken or meat can make a complete meal in just the time it takes for the cheese to melt. … I think every ethnic cuisine has a traditional healthful dish that can be prepared in no time at all.” That said, Febbo recommends taking culinary experiments to the next level. “Taking time to cook a healthful meal is not only therapeutic but the results are [also] far superior to any processed foods,” she wrote. “Healthful meals take time to prepare. Not only do you need to shop for the ingredients, but you [also] do need to develop some techniques that keep the nutrients of the food at the highest levels. Blanching, steaming, roasting, grilling are all cooking techniques that lend themselves to healthier eating.” Febbo has posted a wide range of recipes on her website (www.roseskitchen.com). “For what you spend on processed foods,” she said, “oftentimes you can make two or three meals out of fresh foods.” Plus: “The process of cooking for me is part of the joy of eating.” Ω

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

ECO EVENT

Butte County Public Works Department and the City of Chico

Christmas Tree

Recycling Programs 2013

Chico & Durham Boy Scouts Troop 2 Pick up program: January 4th $10-$30 donation requested. Call 588-4136 to request pickup (Message phone) Leave name, address, ph. #. You can also request for a pickup online at: www.troop2chico.com and use PayPal to donate. You can mail your request to 135 Mission Ranch Blvd, Chico, CA 95926. Have trees on curb by 8am. * Drop-off locations January 4th: – Hooker Oak Park – Oakway Park – Butte Bible Fellowship Church Parking lot *co-sponsored by Recology Butte Colusa Counties

City of Chico Compost Facility Drop off: Free drop off at facility December 26th – January 4th. Hours 8am-4pm. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Remove all tinsel & ornaments. Recology Butte Colusa Counties Curbside collection for current yard waste customers: Place trees next to yard waste containers on regular yard waste pick up day. Must be cut into 3 ft or smaller sections and bundled. Remove all tinsel and ornaments. No flocked trees. Waste Management Curbside: Cut trees into 3’ lengths and place in yard waste containers for collection on regular yard waste day. Remove all tinsel & ornaments. Drop off: December 26th – January 4th at Chico Compost Facility. Hours 8am – 4pm. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Earthworm Soil Factory – Neal Road just east of Hwy 99 Drop off trees for no charge. Remove all tinsel & ornaments. No flocked tress.

Oroville & Thermalito Recology Butte Colusa Counties. Contact 533-5868 for more info. Curbside: curbside collection for current customers. Place trees next to yard waste containers on regular collection days. Must be cut into 3ft or

smaller sections and bundled. Remove all tinsel & ornaments. No flocked trees. Drop-off: Free drop-off at: 2720 South 5th Avenue. M-F 8am-4pm, Sat 8:30am-4pm. Remove all tinsel & ornaments. No flocked trees. Boy Scout Troop 130 Drop of at 2390 Monte Vista Ave. Drop off Friday January 3rd from 5pm to 9pm, Saturday, Jan. 4th from 8am to 6pm For donations on drop off or pick-ups call Jason Miller: 212-0201

Paradise & Magalia Northern Recycling and Waste Services Call 876-3340 for more info. Drop-off locations: December 26th-January 31st. Paradise Vegetative Waste Yard · Paradise Vegetative Waste Yard: Clark Rd. & American Way, Open Tues thru Sat. 9-4pm · Mountain View Trees: 1986 Mountain View Drive · Curbside greenwaste pickup on regular yard waste day. Remove all tinsel & ornaments. No flocked tress. Cut into 3 ft. sections. Tree must fit inside greenwaste cart.

Gridley & Biggs Waste Management. Call 846-0810 for more information Curbside: Cut trees into 3’ lengths and place in yardwaste containers for collection on regular yard waste day. Remove all tinsel & ornaments. Biggs residents can drop trees off at the Biggs/BCFD station on B Street from December 26th to January 6th.

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CN&R 9

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10 CN&R December 26, 2013

FAIR STREET RECYCLING

THE

reen HOUSE

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

A POEM FOR THE SEASON Thanks to local poet John Breen for writing this poem and sending it to me:

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Cross-Country In the Mid-South the snow is falling and out West there’s a frost on the vines. In the far North the wind is calling with a prayer for peace among the pines. In the valley of the avocados Mexicans in their shacks dream their dream. In New England where the cranberry grows pickers have left their tools along some stream.

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O, the heart of man can blossom just like a new-born leaf So praise each star and stone, our time is very brief. There’s snow upon the railroad track, looks like the vision of a ghost. Your brother’s gone. He’s coming back. He took a trip along the coast. Within this silence some unborn thing glistens beneath the fallen snow and clouds above foretell that spring is the outcome of winter’s woe.

YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

O, the heart of man can blossom just like a new-born leaf So praise each star and stone, our time is very brief.

And here I’ll stray among the rocks. I’ll listen to the song of the sea. I’ll touch the sand where there are no clocks, I’ll bless the world and all the things that be. O, the heart of man can blossom just like a new-born leaf So praise each star and stone, our time is very brief.

THINK FREE.

And while the waters bubble and the salmon roam and a strange wind goes through the northern woods I shall perhaps build myself a home and tell the whispering sea my many moods.

What was cool about your ﬁrst bike? I remember taping baseball cards to my bike so they would slap against the spokes and make my bike sound like a motorcycle. And today? I ride through middle and lower Bidwell Park and downtown to get to work at CSU, Chico. My roundtrip is 5 miles a day, 5 days a week. What’s the best thing about your bike? My Gatorskin tires. I have been riding them for over two years (+- 4,000 miles) without a single ﬂat. What would you most like to tell car drivers? Albert Einstein rode a bike. Try giving up your car for two weeks.. I double dog dare you. Who knows, you might just like it. Why DO you ride? I ride because I can’t stop. Is there a local support group for cycling addiction? Eli Goodsell, Sustainability Coordinator, A.S. Sustainability, C.S.U., Chico

EMAIL YOUR GREEN HOME, GARDEN AND COMMUNITY TIPS TO CHRISTINE AT CHRISTINEL@NEWSREVIEW.COM

125 W. 3rd Street, Suite 210 | Chico, CA 95928 (530) 343–8356 December 26, 2013

CN&R 11

THE PULSE

HEALTHLINES

NO ROOM FOR MENTAL-HEALTH PATIENTS

The decreasing number of hospital beds in California reserved for mental-health patients has prevented some individuals from receiving treatment. Statewide, about 4,000 hospital beds dedicated to mental-health emergencies have been removed over the past 15 years as part of a reform movement to shift mental-health treatment to community-based settings, according to California Healthline. The movement has moved mental-health funding away from inpatient facilities and directed it toward outpatient treatment; as a result, some rural counties have been left with no facilities for inpatient mental-health services. However, help appears to be on the way. Senate Bill 82, which goes into effect in 2014, has earmarked $206 million for 2,000 additional crisisstabilization beds, 600 new triage workers and mobile-response teams.

Kicking the ‘winter blues’

Susan Bertozzi (below), a nutritional-therapy practitioner at the Center for Emotional Balance, believes exercising outside is often the best way to treat seasonal affective disorder. PHOTO COURTESY OF SUSAN BERTOZZI

NEVADA SHIPS MURDERERS OUT?

Dozens of the mental-health patients bused to California and other states by a psychiatric hospital in Nevada have been arrested for various crimes, including murder, in recent years. In February, a confused and suicidal patient’s arrival in Sacramento prompted an investigation that revealed Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas had sent about 1,500 psychiatric patients out of state since 2008, and roughly a third of those to California, according to The Sacramento Bee. The Bee cross-checked more than 1,000 names from Greyhound bus receipts with arrest records from across the country, finding dozens of the patients ultimately committed crimes including assault, attempted murder and murder, drug crimes, sex crimes, theft, vagrancy and vandalism.

TEENS FAVOR REAL POT

While teens’ use of synthetic marijuana is on the decline, their attitudes toward real pot are trending in the opposite direction. Synthetic marijuana—known by such names as K2 and spice—is made of dried plant material sprayed with various chemicals and packaged to look like weed, according to SFGate.com. After being introduced in the U.S. in 2009, an alarming number of emergency-room visits and deaths were tied to use of the drugs. But a report recently released by the National Institutes of Health found that the number of high-school seniors who have tried synthetic marijuana has dropped—from 11 percent of seniors in 2012 to 8 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, a separate report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that a clear majority of high-school seniors—60 percent— do not see regular marijuana use as harmful to health, according to CNN.com. Additionally, more than a third of students surveyed reported smoking pot in the past year.

Send your health-related news tips to Howard Hardee at howardh@newsreview.com.

12 CN&R December 26, 2013

Locals discuss causes of, remedies for seasonal affective disorder by

Howard Hardee howardh@ newsreview.com

P Counseling and Wellness Center, Juni Banerjee-Stevens was a counselor at the

rior to working at Chico State’s

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Each fall semester, as the winter months approached, she would see an influx of students with symptoms of depression. “We would start to get into whether this had happened to them before,” she said during a recent interview. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, last fall this happened, too.’ We would put two and two together and notice that it was when it got darker that they would really struggle. “When we’re trying to identify any mental-health concern, we’re always looking for patterns,” Banerjee-Stevens continued. “It’s not just so much that this person’s coming in with depression, it’s ‘What’s the pattern?’” The clinical term for such recurring episodes of depression in fall or winter is seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, the classic symptoms of which include “oversleeping, daytime fatigue, carbohydrate craving and weight gain,” according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “Many people may experience other features of depression including decreased sexual interest, lethargy, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, lack of interest in normal activities and decreased socialization.” In the book Winter Blues: Everything

You Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder, author Norman E. Rosenthal estimates that about 6 percent of Americans are affected by the most severe form of SAD, while about 14 percent suffer from a lesser form known simply as “winter blues.” When Banerjee-Stevens made the move to sunny California, she thought encountering cases of depression seemingly related to the change of seasons would be more of a rarity compared to her time spent counseling students in the higher latitudes of Minnesota. Now in her second winter at Chico State, “I can say that as it’s gotten darker here, I’ve been seeing a very similar pattern,” she said. “One thing we have to be careful of in a college setting is that fall is also when things start hitting the fan for students— the first round of midterms, relationship stuff starts to bubble up. There are a lot of other little situational factors you have to pay attention to.”

Indeed, since the symptoms of SAD often mirror those of nonseasonal depression disorders, properly identifying what triggered the individual’s depression can be tricky. So, what about the winter makes

some people feel low? Susan Bertozzi, a nutritional-therapy practitioner at the Center for Emotional Balance in south Chico, explained that it’s not the cold weather. Rather, she said, SAD is tied to Vitamin D deficiency, which in turn can be the result of insufficient exposure to sunlight. When your skin absorbs ultraviolet light from the sun, she said, it produces Vitamin D, which plays a key role in the brain’s production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood. Given sunlight’s role in serotonin production, it makes sense that SAD is more common in higher latitudes, during darker HEALTHLINES continued on page 15

APPOINTMENT HEALTHY STEPS Enloe Medical Center hosts a gentle therapeutic exercise class every Monday from 6 to 7 p.m. and every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the Fountain Medical Conference Room (251 Cohasset Road). The class is designed to help regain range of motion, increase flexibility, help alleviate depression and more. $10 materials fee; call Mary Jo at 228-4753 or David at 332-3855 to register.

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CN&R 13

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reserve nOw fOr new year’s

Know your chemicals:

winter months, or even at certain times of day, Bertozzi said. “For a lot of people, they’ll notice when it gets to be late afternoon or evening, they enter an unhappier time of day,” she said. “It really has a lot to do with the position of the sun in the sky and how much time you’re spending outside in general.” Fortunately for those unwilling or unable to venture outdoors, evidence suggests light therapy is a useful means for combating the effects of SAD, and there are a host of products—from simple lamps to high-tech light visors—designed to do just that. (Go to www.needs.com and click “environmental equipment” to browse options for lighttherapy devices.) Even better, make your own therapeutic lamp—all it takes are two or three 100- to 150watt full-spectrum bulbs. Bertozzi said about 30 minutes of light therapy a day—ideally, before 3 p.m.—is a good starting point. However, she cautioned that overdoing light treatment, either by using too strong a light or sitting underneath it for too long, can cause anxiety, irritability or eye damage. Both Banerjee-Stevens and

Bertozzi suggested that, before going out and buying an expensive therapeutic lamp, someone suffering from SAD should try what amounts to good advice for everyone: exercising outside.

To learn more about serotonin levels and how to manage them, call the Center for Emotional Balance (2535 Forest Ave., #150) at 518-7231.

15-$35

Sliding Scale “[In Chico], it’s easy to get outside and let some sunlight hit your retinas during the day,” BanerjeeStevens said. “More and more, especially for mild and moderate depressions, all I’m reading [says] ‘just exercise’—just get out there and get that blood flowing.” Bertozzi got a bit more specific, suggesting exercising earlier in the day to make sure you get a good dose of natural light. “Anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes a day could be enough to totally change somebody’s mood,” she said. When exercise or light therapy doesn’t work, Bertozzi commonly suggests supplementing with amino acid tryptophan, which functions as a biochemical precursor to serotonin and is sold in supplement form under the labels L-tryptophan and 5-HTP. She’s found the supplements often prove effective in treating cases of depression related to low serotonin; however, it should be noted that clinical studies DESIGNER of the supplements tryptophan and JEN_PU 5-HTP are few and far between and potential side effects are largely unknown. For those who prefer not to take supplements, tryptophan is found naturally in poultry, beef, pork, fish, eggs and dairy products. Ω

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Source: WebMD.com

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CN&R 15

YEAR in REVIEW

All told, 2013 was one for the record books when it comes to local-news coverage, our main focus in this annual year-in-review issue. And a majority of the stories we’re highlighting in our top-10 list have some connection to city government (homelessness, booze bans, farmers’ market, tree-cutting, etc.), first and foremost being the financial ship-righting occurring at City Hall that has come with job losses and cuts in services to residents. We’ve also compiled other notable stories that didn’t quite make the top spots, as well as the ever-popular “What were they thinking?” write-ups on a variety of controversial and sometimes eyeroll-inducing and eyebrow-raising events.

THE

16 CN&R December 26, 2013

p o T f o 10 3 1 0 2

CN&R’s editors break down the biggest local stories of the year

CN&R staff

City Hall cut to the bone

Last week, the Chico City Council voted on a plan that is expected to take certain city funds out of a $15.2 million deficit position—losses that occurred over many years, in part from state take-backs of redevelopment and vehicle-license funding, and largely as a result of the recession, as the city borrowed from the funds to pay for operational costs, rather than eliminating jobs and city services. The so-called “fund deficit mitigation plan,” which makes repayment the top priority among all other city expenditures, will take a decade to accomplish. Administrative Services Director Chris Constantin unveiled that plan during the council’s last meeting of the year, Dec. 17, and the panel voted 6-1, with Councilman Sean Morgan dissenting, to approve it. Aside from the city’s ongoing negotiations with employee bargaining units, including the contentious negotiations with the Chico Police Officers’Association, approval of the plan was the council’s last budget-correcting decision in a year of sweeping cuts at City Hall. Those reductions have come under the recommendation of a whole new management team, following the council’s hiring of City Manager Brian Nakamura, former city manager of Hemet, and the subsequent sudden departures of several managerial staff, including Assistant City Manager John Rucker and Finance Director Jennifer Hennessy. Shortly after the first of the year, just weeks after Rucker disappeared, Nakamura revealed that the city was operating with a $3.2 million structural deficit (a figure that later ballooned significantly). He also unveiled during a City Council meeting, to the surprise of almost everyone in attendance, including city employees, a wholesale reorganization of city staffing—from

11 departments to five—a move that ultimately led to the demotion of many department heads and the dismissal of others. Constantin, from San Diego, and Assistant City Manager Mark Orme, who worked under Nakamura in Hemet, were both hired in March. By May, the new management team estimated the city was operating with a $4.8 million structural deficit and Nakamura recommended the implementation of $7 million in cuts. In early June, calling the financial problems “the darkest time for the city of Chico,” Nakamura released a 333-page draft budget that recommended dozens of layoffs of city personnel. Later that month, the council adopted a 2013-14 fiscal-year budget that eliminated 55 jobs, a figure that included a number of vacancies. Most of the casualties were at City Hall. Included among them were the elimination of the three park workers and the city’s fourperson tree crew—a move that led to a temporary four-day-a-week closure of Caper Acres (a public-private partnership reopened the playground, and a new Butte County Sheriff’s Office collaboration, in which convicts clean the facility, looks to keep Caper Acres open indefinitely, or at least until the city’s fiscal state improves). In September, following news that the capital-projects fund had a greater-thananticipated deficit, city management announced that additional cuts of $1.2 million were needed to keep the 2013-14 budget on target. The next month, during a second round of layoffs, the city cut loose 11 employees, several of whom had vast institutional knowledge after working there for decades.

Homelessness addressed

The issue of homelessness raised its head locally this year more than ever before, and the city and community members responded with both aggression and compassion. The end result, in November, was the City Council’s passage of a civilsidewalks ordinance—also known as a sit/lie law—targeting those who recline on sidewalks. Pressure from some downtown business owners and their supporters led to the ordinance. Some merchants said customers were afraid to come downtown to shop because of the homeless people they found sleeping—and sometimes defecating or doing drugs—in the alcoves and doorways of storefronts. Prior to the council taking that action, a group called Clean and Safe Chico devel-

Tim Giusta watches the reels of the Pageant Theatre’s now-obsolete 35mm film projector. FILE PHOTO BY ROBERT SPEER

Jesus Center clients were hired to work two hours a day, six days a week, sweeping and cleaning the downtown sidewalks, trash bins and large concrete planters. The pilot program was scheduled to last until the end of the year, as was the employment of the private guards. The effectiveness of each will be evaluated to determine if either or both programs will continue. While the number of downtown homeless seems to have dwindled, it’s not clear if that’s because of the efforts made to address the issue, or due to the recent cold weather, or a combination of both.

oped programs like the Downtown Ambassadors, which, according to its website, was formed to address community issues in the downtown area including “business stress, ‘homeless issues,’ and ‘college-town’ alcohol problems that our community experiences…” Clean and Safe Chico also created a program called Redirect Generosity to discourage direct handouts to the homeless and instead steer the generosity toward local service providers such as the Jesus Center, the Torres Community Shelter and local food banks. In October, a local group of business owners formed the R-Town Coalition, whose draft mission statement included the shortterm goal of “removing drug offenders, transients, loiterers, vagrants and individuals exhibiting anti-social behavior from private property in the downtown area.” The coalition is headquartered at 325 Main St., in an office next to the nowclosed Towne Lounge. With $60,000 raised through donations of certain downtown business owners, the coalition hired a firm called Armed Guard Private Protection, and in early November, private armed guards began walking the streets and policing the nonpublic property downtown, which amounts to certain parking lots and storefront alcoves that offer shelter to the homeless. At about the same time, the coalition also teamed up with the Jesus Center to create and fund the Cleanup Brigade for which

Crowdfunding Chico’s soul

When it came to preserving the cherished institutions that give our little city its charm, Chicoans put their money where their hearts were in 2013. Two longstanding local favorites—downtown’s The Bookstore and Chico’s intimate art-house cinema, the Pageant Theatre—turned to online crowdfunding to raise enough money to keep from closing their doors. The Pageant’s Go Digital or Go Dark campaign on Indiegogo is actually still underway (it doesn’t officially close until Dec. 31), but the theater met the $51,000 goal with weeks to spare and thus ensured that the theater’s old 35mm film projector will be replaced with a new high-definition digital projector in time for the movie industry’s 2014 phase-out of film distribution. And, back in February, Josh Mills, a longtime employee of The Bookstore, and his wife, Muir Hughes, were able to raise the $35,000 necessary to purchase the store from its previous owner—and keep it from closing—thanks to crowdfunding via Indiegogo as well as community fundraising events. The city may be facing serious growing pains, but Chicoans were willing to literally pay the price to preserve its funky identity. There was, however, one local institution’s online crowdfunding campaign that did not meet its goal. In September and October, the Chico Creek Nature Center used the site FundRazr to try to raise $3,000 and replace

some of the funding lost due to cutbacks in contributions from the city of Chico. The center raised only $755 of its goal by the end of its campaign, but according to CCNC Executive Director Caitlin Reilly, thanks to an “unexpected side effect,” the effort was still a success. She said that media coverage of the crowdfunding plan sparked public interest, and that a flood of donations came in via other outlets—through the North Valley Community Foundation-sponsored Annie B’s Community Drive, as well as directly to the nature center itself. “Overall, fundraising for the fall came out about $1,000 ahead of our target,” she said. Reilly also said that the CCNC likely will go the crowdfunding route again at a later date, but with a more “focused campaign,” such as raising money to build new enclosures for the center’s goats.

Police shoot, kill 19-year-old woman

A small stretch of East Eighth Street at Vista Verde Way was the scene of a horrible and still-controversial tragedy in the early morning hours of Sept. 22, when Chico Police Department officers shot and killed Breanne Sharpe, a 19-year-old Magalia woman driving a stolen car. Officers responding to a report of a person breaking into cars on Coit Tower Way at about 2 a.m. that morning followed a darkcolored Honda leaving the area, and pursued it as the driver led them on a short chase along side streets and through the parking lot of an apartment complex. The Honda, driven by Sharpe, struck a telephone pole and began to reverse toward Sgt. Scott Zuschin, who fired twice, reportedly fearing the car would strike him. One of the shots hit Sharpe in the back of the skull, and several more shots were fired as the car made a sweeping U-turn, colliding with two police cars and a tree before coming to rest in the middle of the street. Police pulled the woman from the wreckage and began to administer life-saving procedures that continued all the way to Enloe Medical Center, where Sharpe was pronounced dead. Eight officers were present at the scene and five of them—Zuschin and Officers Damon Selland, Jared Cumber, David Quigley and Nick Vega—fired a total of 19 shots. Sharpe was hit twice, once by Zuschin’s initial shot and once in the shoulder by Vega. Thirteen bullets hit the car she was driving, while four stray bullets hit unintended targets, including a bus stop and a garage. The five officers who fired were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by an interagency Critical Incident Protocol Team headed up by Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, and the CPD also conducted an internal investigation. Both investigations were concluded with an

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey cleared the five officers who fired their weapons at 19-year-old Breanne Sharpe. FILE PHOTO BY KEN SMITH

Oct. 3 press conference—attended by many of Sharpe’s friends and family, who suffered through a harrowing recount of her last seconds, complete with computer-generated animations—at which Ramsey declared, “The shootings, individually and jointly, were justified under the circumstances.” At the press conference and in CPD press releases, Sharpe was portrayed as a troubled young woman who struggled with homelessness and drug use. She had an extensive criminal record, including a February arrest for fleeing from police in another stolen vehicle. A toxicology report released Oct. 22 revealed Sharpe had methamphetamine and amphetamine in her blood at the time of the incident. The department’s negative portrayal of Sharpe attracted criticism, and the circumstances of the shooting prompted many citizens to question the department’s use of force and its critical-incident-oversight policies.

Farmers’market flap

There was much ado this year surrounding the fate of the popular Saturday-morning Chico Certified Farmers’ Market (CCFM), which has been held for the last 21 years at the parking lot at East Second and Wall streets. In May, after the city of Chico’s Finance Committee gave the thumbs-up to a two-year franchise agreement (instead of the usual year-to-year contract) for the CCFM, based on its offer to pay $16,000 for power and sewer lines to be extended to the market’s lot, the City Council deadlocked in a surprising 3-to-3 vote (with Councilwoman Ann Schwab recused because she is a downtown business owner) that killed the infrastructure project and threw the future of the market into limbo. And, despite the results of a 2009 study showing that the farmers’ market brings thousands of shoppers to the downtown area,

A homeless couple and their dog sleep. FILE PHOTO BY TOM GASCOYNE

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claims by certain downtown business owners that the CCFM negatively affects their business grew louder. Some of them said they wanted to see the CCFM relocated to the parking lot in front of City Hall, an area that many market vendors believe is too small to accommodate them properly. Some critics suggested the day of the market move to Sundays. In June, the council extended the CCFM’s franchise agreement to Dec. 31, 2014, and an offer was made by the city to the CCFM to take part in a group put together to address issues surrounding the farmers’ market, but the CCFM declined. In October, a buzz surfaced indicating that CCFM supporters—including members of Friends of the Farmers’ Market (FFM)— might be considering drafting a ballot initiative so that voters could have their say as to the long-term fate of the market. This followed a July CN&R guest commentary by former Chico Mayor Karl Ory, a member of FFM, in which he noted that the CCFM’s “franchise agreement was terminated effective next year.” When asked recently for an update, FFM spokeswoman Cheryl King offered these words in regard to the current situation of the CCFM: “The farmers and the people of Chico will make sure we stay at the present site. … The FFM will be making an announcement soon in regards to moving forward to protect this invaluable weekly Chico community event,” she said.

The fate of downtown’s popular Saturday-morning farmers’ market remains up in the air. FILE PHOTO BY CHRISTINE G.K. LAPADO-BREGLIA

explained at an early-December City Council meeting that BEC doesn’t “want to fight treeby-tree battles with our fellow nonprofits.” For his part, Withuhn—who was recognized by the CN&R in the 2013 Local Heroes issue (see “Local Heroes 2013,” Nov. 28) for his tree-advocacy work—called for more members of the public to become involved in advocating for the survival of healthy historic trees. “We need to have more tree advocates show up for these meetings,” he said, referring to the twice-monthly meetings of the city’s Architectural Review & Historic Preservation Board. “We need more citizen involvement.”

Plight of the urban forest

It was a tumultuous year for trees, specifically those—valley oaks, claro walnut trees, California sycamores and so on—that make up Chico’s “urban forest.” In June, the Chico City Council passed a budget that eliminated the city’s treemaintenance crew, and in July, Denice Britton—the city’s urban-forest manager— departed from her job. She still has not been replaced. Add to that shake-up the fact that the city’s Urban Forest Management Plan has languished in the draft stage for months (go to www.tinyurl.com/treeecomment to read the current draft) and a gloomy picture is painted as far as the future of the urban forest goes. In fact, bits and pieces of the urban forest have already been taken out as a result of what is perceived by a number of local tree advocates as rash moves on the part of a cash-strapped city lacking adequate urbantree oversight. In August, in response to the looming removal of a number of 75-foot-tall walnut trees at Third and Chestnut streets, local heritage-tree advocate Charles Withuhn formed the Chico Heritage Tree Committee—later renamed Chico Tree Advocates. He also tied yellow ribbons around four of the trees in an attempt to save them by calling attention to their plight, but the trees were chopped down anyway. A similar story is playing out with the stately valley oak tree that resides in the

The towering valley oak tree at West Eighth and Salem streets is slated for removal. FILE PHOTO BY CHRISTINE G.K. LAPADO-BREGLIA

parking lot at the corner of West Eighth and Salem streets. It (along with the other, smaller trees in the lot) is slated for removal to make way for two duplexes that will serve as transitional housing for Salvation Army clients. A Butte Environmental Council appeal of the tree’s removal was withdrawn; BEC board chairman Mark Stemen

Ghost-bike memorials for Kristina Chesterman (above) and Janee Nickerson (right) remind drivers to watch for cyclists. PHOTOS BY HOWARD HARDEE

18 CN&R December 26, 2013

Deaths shock cycling community

Two cyclists—college students Kristina Chesterman, 21, and Janee Nickerson, 20— died following collisions with motorists in September and November, respectively. Chesterman, a Chico State nursing student was struck by an allegedly drunken driver on the night of Sept. 22 as she was biking home on Nord Avenue near the Big Chico Creek bridge. She died at Enloe Medical Center days later. The driver, 19-year-old Riley Dean Hoover, was reportedly so drunk that, after striking Chesterman, he proceeded to crash into several vehicles in the parking lot of his apartment complex on Nord Avenue. Police found him passed out on the floor of his apartment and estimated that his blood-alcohol level was

0.30—nearly four times the legal limit— based on a measurement taken about 10 hours after the hit-and-run. On Sept. 25, he was charged in Butte County Superior Court with felony vehicular manslaughter, a felony count of transporting marijuana for sale (a search of Hoover’s vehicle reportedly turned up about two ounces of hashish ready to mail) and a special allegation of fleeing the scene after causing serious injury or death. On Nov. 1, Nickerson was struck by a vehicle near the intersection of East First and Oleander avenues by driver Amanda McClintock, 21, who was arrested for driving on a suspended license. Nickerson died at Enloe Medical Center two days later. As a response to the tragedies, members of the community set up “ghost bikes” in the areas where Chesterman and Nickerson were struck. The bikes, painted ashy-white and surrounded by flowers, messages and special trinkets, serve both as memorials for the dead and a reminder to drive safely. Janine Rood, executive director of Chico Velo Cycling Club and a bike-safety advocate, wrote a guest commentary in the CN&R on Oct. 10 urging a broad discussion of how Chico’s infrastructure could be improved to avoid more cyclist deaths. “We should consider how the outcome for Kristina Chesterman might have changed if there was a safer route for her commute,” Rood wrote. “If we had separated bike lanes on Nord Avenue (such as on Warner Street), or if the railroad bike path were made safe for late-night cyclists, perhaps she would be alive today.”

Booze battle rages on

In January, Chico State President Paul Zingg released “A Call for Community Action,” signed by 28 officials from the university, the city of Chico and Butte County, which urged the community to address its “serious alcohol problem.” A meeting on Feb. 22 drew 400 Chicoans who provided their input on everything from use of fake IDs to personal responsibility. That effort stemmed, in part, from the death of Chico State student and fraternity pledge Mason Sumnicht, whose Nov. 4, 2012, binge-drinking episode left him braindamaged and on a respirator. His death 12 days later—the fourth alcohol-related student death toward the end of 2012—prompted outcry that reverberated throughout 2013. Zingg acted first, temporarily suspending all Greek activity late in 2012. (At the time, 10 of Chico’s 26 Greek organizations were tied up with the university’s Student Judicial Affairs for violating alcohol and hazing policies.) Around the same time, the university’s Greek community was given a list of guidelines for reinstatement that spelled out tighter rules for hosting events, and stricter punishment for violations, including permanent disaf-

A marijuana farm in the Feather Falls area. PHOTO COURTESY OF BUTTE COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS

filiation from campus. Greek chapters in compliance with the new rules were allowed to resume activity on March 1. (In May, Sigma Chi fraternity was suspended over allegations of brewing beer in its Chico annex and subsequently cut ties with the university.) With the community hyper-aware of alcohol issues, it became much more difficult for downtown businesses to apply for liquor licenses. In May, Police Chief Kirk Trostle “drew a line in the sand,” publicly stating the city should stop granting licenses. Several businesses—the Mangrove Mini Mart, the Winchester Goose, and the yet-to-be-opened B Street Oyster Co. bar on Broadway— encountered varying degrees of difficulty with applying for licenses. In July, Trostle released his now-infamous “Chico Conditions,” a set of 32 proposed rules for new alcohol licenses that included such items as prohibiting “happy hours” and other cheap-drink promotions, requiring security for entertainment at some establishments and banning entertainment outright at others. The last item drew the ire of the music community, which has been mostly absent from the alcohol debate. During a July 30 meeting to discuss the conditions, local musician and record-label owner Josh Indar asked, “What does live music and entertainment have to do with kids dying?” The police department has since maintained that the conditions—based on a 400-plus-page report of how other communities have dealt with similar alcohol issues— were intended as examples, not recommendations.

As the year draws to a close, the city’s policy on alcohol sales remains in flux; Brendan Vieg, a Chico city planner, recently told the CN&R that the city is “making some changes to the [municipal] code.”

There’s pot in them foothills

On May 7, a letter signed by Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly was sent to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board asking that it step in to help enforce the federal Clean Water Act, which was being threatened by the large potgrowing operations taking place in the foothills. “Butte County has its share of large marijuana grow sites,” the letter reads. “The development of these sites ha[s], in many cases, disturbed over one acre of soil and include[s] buildings and other improvements that support these large marijuana-growing operations without proper local and state permits.” The letter also says the state regulates mining, industrial and construction operations with strict guidelines, and that the same should be done for large marijuana gardens. But Ken Landau, the assistant executive officer for the RWQCB, said in a phone interview three weeks later that the board would not be getting directly involved in policing pot farms. “Yes, there is a real issue with these marijuana operations,” he said. “However, our staff are not armed peace officers, and we cannot be sending them into places where their lives will be at risk. We will provide technical support on evaluating things, but they simply can’t be out on the front lines going into these places.” And thus began a season in which the Board of Supervisors got updates on the continuing saga of foothill pot farms and their associated soil-grading violations, as well as the pesticides and fertilizers contaminating the waterways that lead to Lake Oroville. In July, a team made up of members of the county’s Code Enforcement department, the Public Health Department’s EnvironmenChico Police Chief Kirk Trostle. CN&R FILE PHOTO

tal Health Division and the Butte County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the foothill pot gardens. “We are verifying the facts,” Mike Crump, director of the county’s Department of Public Works, explained at the time. “It’s not illegal in our county to grow medical marijuana,” Crump said, referring to a fairly restrictive county medical-marijuana ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors earlier in the year. On Dec. 10, the supervisors adopted three amendments to the pot-growing rules. The amendments require that grow sites have an occupied and permanent residence as well as permitted plumbing and sewage systems. Fines for violating the ordinance will jump to $500 a day for a first offense, from the earlier range of $25 to $100, and $1,000 a day for second violations, up from $100 to $200. The supervisors also made it more restrictive to move about soil, an activity in the foothills that first brought the pot gardens to the attention of county officials.

Specter of crimes past

In February, a spate of stabbings, including five separate incidents in 24 hours involving eight victims, grabbed headlines in Chico and made for an ominous start to the new year. But in terms of crime, the most interesting and high-profile cases involved the arrest of an alleged kidnapper and rapist, and a number of murders, several of which didn’t happen in 2013 but resurfaced years, even decades, after they took place. In late January, Chico police detectives arrested 40-year-old Lonnie Scott Keith, a physician assistant and family man who authorities allege is responsible for kidnapping and raping three women in the neighborhoods near Chico State, beginning in the spring of 2012. Prosecutors say Keith injected his victims with drugs and bound their feet and hands with zip ties. The detectives were on a stakeout when they pulled Keith over for a traffic violation. In his car, they found a combination stun gun/flashlight, syringes, latex gloves, several nylon stockings, and strips of adhesive tape. He is in Butte County Jail awaiting trial, which is scheduled to begin in March. He faces 32 years to life in prison. In May, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office announced that DNA samples had matched a missing woman, Victorene “Vicki” Pyrskalla, to a body found 17 years earlier in the Sacramento River, in Yolo County. Pyrskalla went missing Jan. 3, 1996, under suspicious circumstances. She’d been staying in a trailer at her father’s farm near Chico River Road, and though no body was recovered at the scene, a large pool of blood was found just outside. A man named Gary Otto Meyer, who was imprisoned on a thirdstrike burglary conviction in 1996, is report-

Steven Crittenden was convicted of murder in 1989. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

edly the last person to have seen her alive. No one has been charged with her murder. In October, a federal judge ordered a new trial for former Chico State student Steven Crittenden, who was convicted in 1989 of the murder two years earlier of Dr. William and Katherine Chiapella. Evidence showed the couple had been bound, gagged, stabbed and bludgeoned. The couple was white and Crittenden is black, which led to some racial tension in town at the time. An all-white jury in Placer County found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Gerald Flanagan, the prosecuting attorney, had dismissed the only black jurypool member because she opposed the death penalty. The case was appealed many times before reaching the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2010, which sent the case back to district court for review based on the dismissed juror. Judge Kimberly Mueller ruled in October that racism was a factor in the juror’s removal and ordered a new trial. In June, Butte County Sheriff’s deputies and CalFire firefighters responded to a report of a vehicle fire on the outskirts of Magalia, and found three bodies—two in the trunk and one in the back seat—once they extinguished the flames. The victims, all from Sacramento, were eventually identified as Richard Jones, 17, his friend Roland Lowe, 15, and Lowe’s 46-year-old mother, Colleen Lowe. A man named Don Clark, a 72-year-old Centerville resident who reportedly accused Jones of theft at his residence, is charged with their murders. For a couple of summers, the teenager had lived on the same property as Clark, which is actually owned by a neighbor of Jones’ family in Sacramento. Clark allegedly warned the three victims to stay away, then shot them, put their bodies in their car and drove to a spot on the Skyway near Hupp-Coutelenc Road in Magalia, where he doused the car with gas and set it on fire. A trial date has not been set.

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Torres Shelter’s troubles

It was a tough year for the Torres Community Shelter, the 120-bed homeless refuge in south Chico. The troubles began in the spring with a bed-bug infestation that required covering the shelter with a tent and fumigating the building. Though guests were relocated for only three days, ongoing financial costs related to keeping the shelter pestfree proved to be a financial burden as the year wore on. All of that—coupled with a 4,000square-foot expansion including a full commercial kitchen, case-management offices, a cafeteria and space for activities—drained the shelter’s financial reserves and made the annual Christmas Tree Auction & Holiday Festival, the organization’s main fundraising event, even more important than in years past. Thankfully, the event was well attended and the expansion is set to be completed in January.

Beard brothers

Those damn Afghanimals! Local boys Brandon Squyres and Adam Switzer were already falling behind when the other (less-impressively) bearded team on The Amazing Race— fun-loving cousins Leo and Jamal (the self-proclaimed “Afghanimals”)—“U20 CN&R December 26, 2013

turned” our guys (sending them back to do another “Detour” task), and essentially put an end to Chico’s vicarious adventure. But it was great fun having a home team to cheer on during the 23rd installment of the popular realityTV series. The childhood friends—the local metal-band vocalist (Squyres) and the off-the-grid farmer (Switzer)—were both charming and funny, and they did Chico proud as they seemed to enthusiastically embrace the challenge and adventure provided by such a unique opportunity.

Californian or Jeffersonian?

On Sept. 3, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to approve a “declaration to withdraw from the state of California,” making that county the flashpoint of the latest effort to separate the Golden State into

separate entities. The idea of splitting the state has been bandied about for years, the Jefferson movement itself taking its name and inspiration from a 1941 attempt waylaid by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The gripe is that rural North State counties don’t have adequate representation in Sacramento, and it has since spread well beyond Siskiyou— Modoc’s supervisors have approved a similar declaration, with other efforts currently underway in several northern counties including Butte, Shasta, Del Norte, Tehama, Glenn, and the YubaSutter area.

Labor Day float goes flat

For years, there’s been an effort to tame the shenanigans that take place during the annual Labor Day weekend float down the Sacramento River. In 2013, that goal was apparently achieved, based on the number of tubing participants—3,000 this year as compared to 12,000 last year—on Sunday, the busiest day of the float. Last year saw the death of a 20-year-old Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo student, and 63 water rescues with 13 people taken to Enloe Medical Center by ambulance. In 2013, there were only five The two X’s on the proposed state’s seal refer to rural residents being doublecrossed by California and Oregon. IMAGE COURTESY OF JEFFERSON PARTY

rescues with one taken to the hospital for alcohol intoxication. This was the first year that there was an alcohol ban both on and within 50 feet of both sides of the river. Last year, the ban was in effect only on the Butte County side. Glenn County adopted similar measures this year, effectively taming the annual holiday tradition.

Caper Acres saved by convicts

Early in July, Bidwell Park’s Caper Acres began closing four days a week. The popular children’s playground is a sacred place to many Chicoans. But it got caught up in city efforts to balance the budget, which included the elimination of three park workers. That meant a cut to cleanup efforts and playground inspection. An online petition was launched and collected 2,578 signatures in about a week. The petition carried no legal weight, but it did send a message. Local maintenance company ServPro stepped in and offered its services in other areas of Bidwell Park, which freed up the remaining park workers to take care of Caper Acres. When that arrangement ended in November, the city brought in Butte County Alternative Custody Supervision inmates, who otherwise sit at home under house arrest. They now work in the park twice a week to help keep Caper Acres open.

Edward Abbey redux

In a page that could easily have been taken out of a book by the late environmental author Edward Abbey, local psychiatric nurse and CN&R contributor Allan Stellar was fined $250 in late November by a Lassen Volcanic National Park officer for entering and camping within the closed park during the government shutdown in October— after he penned a Nov. 7 CN&R cover feature called “Lassen Solitaire.” The story—a well-written, nature-reverent piece—elicited a number of letters to the editor both in support of his actions and against. As Stellar put it in a follow-up to his cover story, “I’d been attempting to visit Lassen Park legally in the run-up to the

government shutdown, and when closure happened, I was inspired in the spirit of Abbey, who encouraged such acts of civil disobedience. After all, the real criminal in this situation is a congressman by the name of Doug LaMalfa, along with his Republican cohorts, as well as the tea partyers who voted for the shutdown of the park in the first place.”

Hail to the chief

In May, after a long and storied career with the CN&R—including being one of its founders, moving what started as Chico State’s college newspaper, The Wildcat, off campus and into a for-profit com-

munity newspaper—Robert Speer stepped down as editor. Speer had held many positions at the CN&R since its inception in 1977, and mentored countless staffers over the years, including current Editor Melissa Daugherty. And though the paper has evolved over the decades, the imprint of Speer— who has been credited with being its “architect”—remains with the publication.

Water worries

As it has been in so many other communities in the Western U.S., water has become a prominent

topic of discussion here in the North State. And perhaps nothing exemplifies the area’s concerns about water use and availability more so than the debate that has arisen around California’s planned twin-tunnels project—two multibillion-dollar, 40-foot-diameter tunnels designed to ship precious North State water south. Locally, the Butte Environmental Council, among a number of other groups and individuals, has been active all year long in raising awareness about the controversial project; BEC’s Code Blue series, featuring a variety of educational workshops and field trips, kicked off in February. In related water news, a waterresource scientist working for the

Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation weighed in late in the year on the concerning decline of Butte County’s groundwater levels, exacerbated by chronically dry winters.

Random tragedies

While a spate of alcohol-related deaths of college students in 2012 led the community to unite against an obvious common enemy, tragedies struck the campus community in far stranger and more random ways this year. On April 28, 22-year-old Chico State student Marissa Madrid succumbed to head

Clockwise from top left: A tent used to fumigate the Torres Community Shelter; kids looking inside closed Caper Acres; The Amazing Race contestants Brandon Squyres (left) and Adam Switzer; contributor Allan Stellar (right) being cited by a Lassen Park officer; and Robert Speer, former CN&R editor. PHOTO OF ALLAN STELLAR BY JONI STELLAR ALL OTHER PHOTOS BY CN&R STAFF

trauma incurred when she fell about 20 feet from a tree she was climbing at the One-Mile Recreation Area in Bidwell Park. On Aug. 27, 18-year-old Pa Houa Lor was killed by a falling tree branch while sitting on a campus bench between Lassen and Butte halls. And on Nov. 15, James Lowder, 19, was hit by a train on the rail“NOTABLES” continued on page 22 December 26, 2013

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“NOTABLES” continued from page 21

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* PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT *

Request foR PRoPosals (RfP) In accordance with its Strategic Plan, the First 5 Butte County Children and Families Commission (the Commission) makes funds available through Proposition 10, the Children and Families Act, for the provision of programs and services that will lead to improved outcomes for Butte County children, prenatal to five years old, and their families. The Commission authorized the release on December 23, 2013 of a Request for Proposals (RFP) under its Strengthening Families Initiative. With the release of the RFP, the Commission is seeking to expand its Strengthening Families Initiative by identifying Family Strengthening Organizations to partner with in an effort to incorporate the Strengthening Families framework within their own work and to promote the five Protective Factors in the communities and families they serve. The Commission seeks proposals (up to $250,000) to develop a Gridley/Biggs Strengthening Families Network and proposals (up to $150,000) for Fatherhood Involvement. The funds will be awarded through a competitive process. To apply for funds under these two RFPs, applicants may be an individual, community-based organization, faith-based organization, for profit or non-profit entity, public or private agency, college, university, municipality or a unit of Butte County government. The guidelines for both RFPs are available on the website at www.first5butte.org. Copies of the RFP guidelines are also available by contacting the Commission office at 530-538-7964. 22 CN&R December 26, 2013

The long-running story of dioxin-contamination in Oroville is over, except for the out-of-court settlement with the producer of the pollutant—New Jersey-based Covanta, owner of the recently closed Pacific Oroville Power Inc. (POPI)—and the actual eradication of the toxin. Actually, the dioxins have had two suspected sources over the past 50 years—POPI, which produced energy by burning urban waste, and two fires at the long-closed Koppers wood-treatment plant, both of which were located in the Highway 70 Industrial Park. Tests by Chico Environmental Science and Planning showed levels of dioxin at 83.8 parts per trillion (40 ppt and higher are considered unhealthful by the World Health Organization) about a mile south of POPI and 46 ppt near Oroville Dam Boulevard and Highway 70, and higherthan-normal traces were located near an orchard in Durham and cornfields in the Glenn County community of Artois, where the ash was used as a soil amendment. The Butte Environmental Council has received two grants to help spread the word of the dioxin contamination to the citizens of Oroville.

Food in the road

The number of street-food options that have flooded Chico over the last year or two is impressive—Mayhem Gourmet Grilled Cheese, the Paleo-rific The Hunter

& The Farmer, the wood-fired gourmet pies of Pop’s Pizza, and all the rest of the carts, trucks and tents that have become ubiquitous at nearly every community event in town. Part of the impetus for the rise in local street-food culture has been the “Street Food, Chico” Facebook page maintained by John Geiger (owner of the Crazy Dog cart, with his wife, Ethel, who operates Inday’s Filipino food truck), and his daily updates of 30-or-so foodtruck locations. But the watershed event for local “mobile cuisine” was arguably the first Fork in the Road rally that Geiger and the owners of The Hunter & The Farmer—Jenna Hunter and Analise Farmer—put on behind Manzanita Place in July, with more than a dozen trucks and hundreds of diners showing up. The response was so great that many trucks ran out of food as people were still waiting in line to give orders. Since the debut, they’ve worked out the kinks, upped the number of trucks, and transformed Chico’s food scene with the monthly community event.

Court ruling defends muckraker

Old-school newspaperman Tim Crews; his paper, the Sacramento Valley Mirror; and newspapers throughout the state dodged a bullet in July when a state Court of Appeal in Sacramento overturned a Glenn County judge’s ruling two years earlier that Crews pay the Right: Tim Crews, Glenn County’s No. 1 muckraker. Below: Chico Chuckwagon, one of the area’s biggest food trucks. FILE PHOTOS BY MELISSA DAUGHERTY

Willows Unified School District $56,000 in court costs. Back in 2009, Crews had made a public-records request from the district, which failed to meet the timeline required by state law. And when it did respond, documents were delivered in an electronically unsearchable format with 2,300 pages omitted. Crews sued the district, but Glenn County Superior Court Judge Peter Twede dismissed his suit, ruling it was frivolous, and ordered him to pay the school district’s attorneys’ fees. Crews was supported in the form of friend-of-the-court briefs from the Los Angeles Times; McClatchy, which owns The Sacramento Bee; MediaNews Group, owner of the Chico EnterpriseRecord; and the First Amendment Coalition, which also helped finance Crews’ case. “Without them, we would have been sunk,” Crews said. more YEAR IN REVIEW continued on page 24

December 26, 2013

CN&R 23

T A Hthey W ere w g n i k thin by

CN&R staff

Hooker Oak stump gets torched

In an act of vandalism, the stump of the Hooker Oak tree—the namesake of Hooker Oak Recreation Area in Bidwell Park and a true Chico relic—was set aflame during the night of March 1. Annie Bidwell, wife of Chico founder John Bidwell, named the gigantic valley oak after English botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1887. For a time, the tree was thought to be the biggest valley oak in the world; however, when a storm felled it in 1977, it was discovered that it was actually two trees that had grown together. The stump was badly damaged by the fire. At the time, Parks and Natural Resource Manager Dan Efseaff said, “It’s

Clockwise from top: Members of Orchard Church feed needy folks; GOP guru Karl Rove; Charanjiv Singh, owner of Mangrove Mini Mart; and Chico Junior High School. KARL ROVE PHOTO BY CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA VIA FLICKR. ALL OTHERS ARE FILE PHOTOS BY CN&R STAFF

Right: An image Chico Police Officer Todd Boothe posted on his Facebook page.

24 CN&R December 26, 2013

hard to believe an important piece of Chico history is falling apart right in front of our eyes through this thoughtless act.”

WWTT poster boy or ‘one of us’?

In less than a year since assuming the congressional seat long held by Wally Herger, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has made a number of dubious political moves. While setting up house in January, he chose Mark Spannagel—his former campaign manager who’d served as the fall guy in an ugly 2012 campaign tactic of using a fake, possibly libelous website to discredit opponent Sam Aanestad—as his chief of staff. In Washington, LaMalfa voted with other conservatives to shut down the federal government over their disapproval of the Affordable Care Act, then met with protesters at the World War II memorial to express his disgust over the monument’s closure. He voted to gut the food-stamp program, stating poverty programs are the responsibility of churches and citizens, while accepting millions in government farm subsidies over the years (27,457, or 11 percent of his constituency in Butte County, rely on the food-stamps program). He’s also supported “healthy forest” legislation that actually relaxes lumber laws, and is such an adamant climate-change denier that he received a tongue-in-cheek Unicorn Award from political group Organizing for Action. Since such confusing actions are a staple of his decade-plus political career (last year, he graced this section for claiming abortion causes cancer), the real question is: What are North State voters thinking?

The wacky, ill-advised and unfathomable moments of 2013 Facebook feud

On Nov. 9, a Saturday, Chico City Councilman Randall Stone fired off an email to Chico Police Chief Kirk Trostle, informing him that Officer Todd Boothe had posted racist pictures on his Facebook page. “[I]t is my concern that this perspective has transcended free speech and become a procedural issue (job performance),” Stone wrote to Trostle. “I originally stumbled across Officer Boothe’s Facebook page early Tuesday morning after he posted a profane comment to my public Facebook page (nonthreatening, but very public).” Boothe called Stone incompetent and an asshole, and most of the racist postings Stone “stumbled across” on Boothe’s page were posted in 2009. Stone said in his email to Trostle that he was concerned Boothe’s posts could jeopardize the safety of his fellow officers. On Nov. 10, Stone sent the email to the local media, and the next day, TV’s Action News Now broadcasted the story. The Police Department is conducting in internal investigation, and Peter Durfee, president of the Chico Police Officers’Association, has called for Stone to step down from the Police Community Advisory Board. This is all taking place while the city negotiates a new labor contract with the CPOA.

No free meal?

At an Oct. 15 Chico City Council meeting, Councilman Sean Morgan objected to the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission’s issuance of a permit allowing a church to feed the needy at City Plaza. Orchard Church, headed up by Pastor Jim Culp, had been conducting that outreach each Sunday evening at that location for more than five years without any complaints from the public. However, a park ranger, who spotted the group last summer, informed the congregation its gatherings required a permit. Morgan said a “disturbing chain of events” had led to the permit being granted and felt the council’s power had been usurped by the commission. He wanted to appeal the decision himself. However, doing so would preclude him from discussing or voting on the matter as a council member. Hotel Diamond owner Wayne Cook, whose business is less than a block away from the plaza, ended up filing an appeal. On Nov. 19, the day the appeal was to be heard by the council, Culp and city management came to a compromise: The handouts could continue but had to take place outside of the Chico Municipal Center. That move, which remains controversial, removed the need for the church to obtain a permit.

A booze-debate casualty

When Charanjiv Singh purchased Mangrove Mini Mart back in January 2012, he was under the impression that he would have little trouble obtaining a license to sell beer and wine at his convenience store. But in May, the Chico City Council voted 6-1 to deny Singh’s application for an offsale beer-and-wine license. The council was under pressure from Police Chief Kirk Trostle, who—following the string of alcoholrelated student deaths and Chico State’s Call for Community Action released in January— publicly stated the city should stop granting new liquor licenses entirely. For weeks, it looked like Singh would be an innocent casualty of the booze debate—he estimated the loss to business would force him to close the store within six months— but the council eventually reconsidered its initial decision and ended up approving Singh’s application.

Rove leaves reporter hungry

On May 11, CN&R staff writer Ken Smith went to a fundraiser for state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber), a buffet-style breakfast with Republican political strategist Karl Rove. Though the event was advertised on the radio, and Smith had made arrangements to attend and pay the required $75 “donation” (which came with a copy of Rove’s latest book, Courage and Consequence) with a Nielsen staffer, he arrived to be told that, as a member of the press, he was not welcome. While the legality of this move was questionable, there’s no question that restricting press access doesn’t help the GOP’s public image or Rove’s snaky reputation.

Big talent cut loose

Back in May, after the sale of TV stations KHSL and KNVN, the new owners, GOCOM Media of Northern California, dismissed longtime and beloved local morning anchor and weatherman Rob Blair. Blair was co-host of the Wake Up! morning show and was the station’s most popular personality. His fans were shocked and saddened by the move and many of them promised to boycott the stations. Fortunately, Blair landed on his feet. In June, he moved to Southern California with

his husband, Michael, and the two are pursuing new opportunities. Despite his departure from Chico, Blair retained his title of “Favorite Local Personality” in the CN&R’s annual Best of Chico contest.

Good riddance, ‘Tell It’

Chico Enterprise-Record editors were asleep at the wheel back in August, when they published a “Tell It to the E-R” item calling for the city of Chico administrators’ and City Council members’ heads to be placed on spikes in the new downtown roundabout. That threatening comment was printed on Aug. 22 and was perhaps the final straw in a long line of questionable commentary that’s been printed in that anonymous, readergenerated column over the years. E-R Editor David Little took a lot of flak for printing the item and, in September, ended up sacking the column, one he inherited when he joined the paper in 1999.

Exhibitionist caught exhibiting

In late January, an off-duty Chico park ranger jogging through Bidwell Park near Cedar Grove saw a man masturbating; her report to Chico police led to the arrest of 24-year old Ryan B. McDaniel of Paradise. Turns out, in December 2012, police had begun investigating multiple reports—dating back months—of a man exposing himself to women in the park. Though McDaniel ran away after being spotted by the park ranger, he was located and questioned by CPD detectives. After further investigation, he was arrested on Feb. 14 and charged with six counts of indecent exposure and two counts of disorderly conduct.

They’re in the money

The city made some new hires at the top of the pecking order this year after bringing on City Manager Brian Nakamura, former city manager of Hemet, as the city manager last August. Nakamura was offered a salary of $217,000 a year by unanimous vote of the Chico City Council. That’s about $40,000 more than his predecessor, Dave Burkland, was paid.

In March, the City Council approved the hiring of Mark Orme as assistant city manager at a salary of $185,000 a year, about $27,000 more than that of his predecessor, John Rucker, who mysteriously stepped down in January. Orme and Nakamura had worked together previously, filling the same managerial roles in the Riverside County city of Hemet. The City Council then hired Chris Constantin out of San Diego as the new finance director in the wake of Jennifer Hennessy’s decision to move to Temecula. Constantin came in at $130,000 and was bumped up to $160,000 two months later, when his title changed from finance director to administrative-services director. His salary is now about $30,000 more than what Hennessy pulled in. Altogether, taxpayers are paying $97,000 more a year for the three new hires, whose initial message to the council was that the city is broke.

Middle-school mishandling?

The Chico Unified School District stirred up a bit of a ruckus among parents late this year after announcing a decision to move sixth-graders out of elementary schools and into middle schools comprising sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, beginning in the fall of 2015. In addition to the fact that some parents voiced objections to sixth-graders attending school with seventh- and eighth-graders, some were upset that the first they’d heard of the plan was on the TV news and/or on Facebook. Many felt caught off-guard by the decision they believed should have been made in a more transparent way. The issue did come before the Chico Unified School District Board of Trustees in October, but few parents took notice and attended the meeting, and thus many were shocked when they found out it was a done deal. The district notified parents on Nov. 4, via letter, days after the TV station carried a story about the decision. “It makes me feel like I can’t trust the district. I mean, is there anything else in their pipeline that they’re not telling us about?” one parent said of the CUSD’s handling of the decision and the announcement concerning it.

December 26, 2013

CN&R 25

Arts & Culture The mustaches at the Winchester Goose (like the one on server Kyle Forrest Burns) are a sign of good, funky times in Chico. PHOTO BY MELANIE MACTAVISH

Chico: still good and weird Don’t let nostalgia trick you into thinking Chico is fading

W there were four record stores downtown: Sundance Records, The Underground, Tower

hen I first moved to Chico in 1989,

Records and Melody Records (in its old location in the “Upstairs Mall,” above House of Rice). Today, of course, only by Melody remains. As I think about Jason Cassidy those numbers now, I’m not so jasonc@ much bummed at the dearth of newsreview.com brick-and-mortar music shops available to us as I am amazed at the fact that we ever sustained four record shops in a two-square-block radius! I think fondly of those four places often, as well as the other frequent stops on my at-one-time regular downtown loop that also took me to the funky rock shows and plays of the Blue Room Theatre; to the endless eclectic rock lineup at Juanita’s (and before that Hey Juan’s/Burro Room); to the dusty books of The Bookstore; to the art-house flicks at the Pageant Theatre; to the constant hipster/hippie/homeless freak show at Café Sienna; and, after turning 21, to the cheap pints of Sierra Nevada at Duffy’s Tavern. For a kid who grew up in the cultural black hole of Shasta County, downtown Chico was an endless sideshow of rock-and-roll and weirdness, and I immediately fell into its relaxed, funky rhythm, and I have been living Chico-style ever since. But as we here at the Chico News & Review have, as of late, been making a lot of noise about “Keeping Chico Weird,” I’ve been thinking a lot about where our little city stands in that regard. Is Chico still the same unique, funky progressive NorCal outpost it once was? Is Chico still weird? The inspiration for the CN&R-sponsored Weird Talent Show (coming to the El Rey Theatre Jan. 31) came during the course of putting together a Keep Chico Weird-themed issue this past October, and we of course got the idea for that issue’s title from the famous Keep Austin Weird and Keep Portland Weird campaigns that were born in those respective cities during the early 2000s. The basis for those movements were the efforts of small businesses to promote locally owned shops over corporate ones in their city centers, and in the process retain the funky identities of the energetic and creative progressive communities.

26 CN&R December 26, 2013

Chico definitely has its share of creative, eccentric characters, but what about the broader picture of the unique character of the city as a whole? Over the past year, against the backdrop of failed city finances, downtown homelessness issues, decaying infrastructure, frequent stabbings, drunk knuckleheads, etc., I have heard a lot of people say Chico is changing for the worse. There is no doubt, Chico is facing a lot of challenges as it continues to grow during increasingly uncertain economic times. Just in my time here, the population has nearly doubled (to more than 80,000), and more people will always mean more problems. But more people can also mean an opportunity for the small businesses in town to impress a bigger pool of potential clients. And even though some of the old favorites have faded away, there are a ton of new/newer, very promising locally owned businesses popping up—the Winchester Goose, Home Ec, The Banshee, the soon-to-open Sweet Cottage pie shop, the many second-hand clothing shops (Konjo, Three Sixty Ecotique, Yard Sale, Bootleg), Argus, and a fleet of food trucks and carts—that are carrying the weird-Chico torch admirably. And there’s also the very positive sign of the outpouring of support that locals gave via the crowdfunding of two of the Chico institutions that have contributed greatly to our city’s funky character— The Bookstore and the Pageant Theatre. And besides, burritos are still $3. Rock shows are only $5. We still have Melody, Duffy’s, Upper Crust Bakery, the many farmers’ markets, Naked Lounge, Lyon Books, the Chico Natural Foods Cooperative, Bat Comics, The Banshee, the bike shops, Collier Hardware, community theater and art galleries, Café Coda, LaSalles, Shubert’s, hundreds of bands, Tin Roof Bakery & Café, the Home Brew Shop and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. The City-Plaza trees, however, are never, ever coming back, and we very likely will never have more than one locally owned record store again, but if we keep the chain stores out of downtown as much as possible, build upon our locally focused, sustainable economy, and continue to let our freak flags fly (maybe add an eclectic all-ages music venue/taco shop to the new blood downtown?), we’ll be good and weird for the foreseeable future. Ω

THIS WEEK 26

THURS Music

(NOT SO) CHICO LEGENDS: The annual day-afterXmas celebration brings a special appearance by rapper KOOL A.D.(formerly of Das Racist), plus local rap unit Dr. Becky Sagers PhD (celebrating their 20th anniversary), MC Faydog, and DJ Ted Shred. Th, 12/26, 9pm. $7. Duffy’s Tavern, 337 Main St., (530) 343-7718.

Poetry/Literature CHICO STORY SLAM: Tell a five minute, unscripted story related to a weekly theme. Last Th of every month, 7pm. Free. 100th Monkey Café & Books, 642 W. Fifth St.

Music THE SPAZMATICS: An ’80s musical experience. F,

12/27, 9:30pm. $5. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.featherfallscasino.com/brewing-co.

SAT

Music DAN HICKS & THE HOT LICKS: Celebrate the “Holidaze in Hicksville” with songs from the eclectic singer/songwriter’s Crazy For Christmas album. Sa, 12/28, 9:30pm. $10. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr., in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.feather fallscasino.com/brewing-co.

FRI

MON

Special Events

Music

COMEDY SHOW: Hosted by Ric James and featuring funny men Cody Woods and Kabir “Kabeezy” Singh. F, 12/27, 8pm. $5. Gold Country Casino Showroom, 4020 Olive Hwy, in Oroville, (530) 538-2542.

CHICO STORY SLAM Tonight, Dec. 26 100th Monkey Café and Books

SEE THURSDAY, POETRY/LITERATURE

THE MOTHER HIPS: Chico’s favorite psychedelic country-rockers take up a two-night residency at the El Rey with Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. 12/30-12/31, 9pm. $25 (Dec. 30) & $48 (New Year’s Eve). El Rey Theatre, 230 W. Second St., (530) 892-1838.

BULLETIN BOARD

FINE ARTS Art 100TH MONKEY CAFÉ & BOOKS: A Few of my Favorite Things, bold, colorful mixedmedia works by local artist, Sally Hedley. Through 12/31. 642 W. Fifth St.

1078 GALLERY: Stories Two, a group exhibition featuring five local artists showcasing media such as ceramic, painting, photographs and prints. Through 1/4, 2014. 820 Broadway, (530) 343-1973, www.1078gallery.org.

ARTISANS GALLERIA: Artisan Displays, showcasing sculptures, paintings, ceramics, jewelry, stone art and more by Larry Lefner, Matt Tupper, Don Bravo and other local artists. 25 Lost Dutchman Dr.

AVENUE 9 GALLERY: New California

Abstracts, new abstract landscape paintings by Lenn Goldmann. Through 1/11, 2014. 180 E. Ninth Ave., (530) 879-1821, www.avenue9gallery.com.

BUTTE COLLEGE ART GALLERY: The Portal

Series: Opportunity Knocks, brightly painted works on doors by Caitlin Schwerin. Through 12/31. 3536 Butte Campus Dr., in Oroville, (530) 895-2208.

CHICO ART CENTER: Winter Salon d’Art, oneof-a-kind gifts created by local fine artists, including original paintings, sculptures, jewelry, prints, mosaics and ceramic works. Through 12/31. 450 Orange St., (530) 895-8726, www.chicoartcenter.com.

(NOT SO) CHICO LEGENDS Tonight, Dec. 26 Duffy’s Tavern

SEE THURSDAY, MUSIC

CHICO PAPER CO.: Mariam Pakbaz, drawings and paintings by the recent Chico State graduate showcase reflections of her inner world. Through 12/31. 345 Broadway, (530) 891-0900, www.chicopapercompany.com.

environment by the late Lois Cohen. Through 12/31. 254 E. Fourth St., (530) 3432930.

NAKED LOUNGE TEA & COFFEEHOUSE: Psyano, an experimental look into the world of photographic cyanotypes by Saucy Cat & The Kid. Through 12/31. 118 W Second St., (530) 895-0676.

SALLY DIMAS ART GALLERY: Home For The

Holidays, featuring original art by local and regional artists celebrating the holidays. 12/26-1/1. 493 East Ave., (530) 345-3063.

Call for Artists EVERYTHING BLUE: How will you portray this pervasive hue? All mediums accepted, must be wall-hanging. Call for more info. Through 1/18, 2014, 12-5pm. $5. Manas Artspace & Gallery, 1441-C Park Ave., (530) 588-5183.

Museums CHICO CREEK NATURE CENTER: Banding by

Day and Night, a close look at birds in hand with incredible detail. Ongoing. 1968 E. Eighth St., (530) 891-4671, www.bidwellpark.org.

CHICO MUSEUM: Chico in Black and White, an exhibit featuring historical photos from the John Nopel collection. Ongoing. 141 Salem St., (530) 891-4336.

GATEWAY SCIENCE MUSEUM: Keys to the

Kingdom: Fungi, learn the varieties and importance of mushrooms and fungi via interactive displays. Through 1/5, 2014. $6. 625 Esplanade, www.csuchico.edu/gateway.

JAMES SNIDLE FINE ARTS: A Walk With the

Animals, watercolors of animals and their

TUES

AFRO-CARIBBEAN DANCE: Dances of Cuba, Haiti,

Brazil and West Africa with live drumming. Tu, 5:30pm. Chico Women’s Club, 592 E. Third St., (530) 345-6324.

CAMP CHICO CREEK: An environmental education-based day camp providing outdoor recreation activities. Call for details. Through 1/3, 2014.$35. Chico Creek Nature Center, 1968 E. Eighth St., (530) 891-4671, www.bidwellark.org.

CAREER BUILDERS: COUNTER-RECRUITMENT: A monthly counter-recruitment meeting for the community’s youth. Fourth Th of every month, 3:30pm. Free. Chico Peace and Justice Center, 526 Broadway, (530) 343-3152, www.chico-peace.org.

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.butte county.net/bclibrary.

1 Take the plunge In 1981, a few brave friends decided to shiver off their New Year’s Eve hangovers with a plunge into Sycamore Pool at the One-Mile Recreation Area in Lower Bidwell Park. The tradition has grown every year since, and these days, hundreds of people dressed in swimsuits shiver, EDITOR’S PICK shake (and maybe sneak a nip or two) before crashing en masse into the frigid waters at 1 p.m. on Jan. 1, which falls on a Wednesday this year. The event is advertised mostly by word of mouth and there are no official organizers, making it a truly homegrown Chico tradition. Be forewarned: This is no leisurely swim. Last year, the outside temperature was 43 degrees and the water 40 degrees at jump time, and with record low temperatures in recent weeks, there’s a good chance it will be even colder.

SOUL SHAKE DANCE CHURCH: Drop your mind, find your feet and free your 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, www.chicorec.com.

SOUNDS OF THE VALLEY CHORUS: Women singers welcome to sing in four-part harmony barbershop style. Call for more info. W, 7pm. Marigold Elementary School, 2446 Marigold Ave., (530) 343-5183.

SQUARE-DANCE CLUB: Square-dancing classes for beginners and advanced-level dancers. Call for more info. Th, 7-10pm. Veterans Memorial Hall, 6550 Skyway in Paradise, (530) 872-1962.

DYEING WITH MUSHROOMS: Learn how to dye fabric and create colorful pigments using mushrooms. Sa, 12/28, 1-3pm. $3-$6. Gateway Science Museum, 625 Esplanade, www.csuchico.edu/gateway.

FARMERS’ MARKET: SATURDAY: Chico’s weekly

POLAR BEAR SWIM: It’s going to be an especially

basic medical care and mental-health counseling. Call for more information. Su, 2-4pm. Free. Paradise Lutheran Church, 780 Luther Dr. in Paradise, 8727085.

open dance with the elements. F, 6-8pm. $6-$12 sliding scale. Subud Hall, 574 E. 12th St., (530) 532-1989.

Certified Farmers’ Market serving as a community forum for healthful-lifestyle promotion and education. F, 2-5:30pm. Chapman Mulberry Community Center, 1010 Cleveland Ave., (530) 624-8844, www.cchaos.org.

Special Events

SAMARITAN FREE CLINIC: This clinic offers free

DANCING FREEDOM: A weekly

FARMERS’ MARKET: CHAPMAN: A year-round

WED

Used book sale. Every other Sa, 10am-3pm. Prices vary. Butte County Library, Paradise Branch, 5922 Clark Rd. in Paradise, (530) 8726320, www.buttecounty.net/bclibrary/ Paradise.htm.

Bring a water bottle, drop your mind, find your feet and free your spirit. Call for more info. Tu, 6:30-8:30pm. $10. Call for details, (530) 891-6524.

dancers welcome to work on the foxtrot, waltz, swing and more to a live band. Tu, 7:30pm. $5-$7. Chico Area Recreation District (CARD), 545 Vallombrosa Ave., (530) 895-4015, www.chicorec.com.

9pm. $25 (Dec. 30) & $48 (New Year’s Eve). El Rey Theatre, 230 W. Second St., (530) 892-1838.

PARADISE FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOK SALE:

DANCE SANCTUARY WAVE:

FANCY FEET DANCE: Beginning to experienced

THE MOTHER HIPS: See Monday. 12/30-12/31,

Post your event for free online at www.newsreview.com/calendar. Once posted, your CN&R calendar listing will also be considered for print. Print listings are also free, but subject to space limitations. Deadline for print listings is one week prior to the issue in which you wish the listing to appear.

sounds and rhythms of West Africa. Call for info. M, 6pm. $10. Chico Grange Hall, 2775 Old Nord Ave., (530) 321-5607.

session. F, 7:15pm. $10. Yoga Center of Chico, 250 Vallombrosa Ave., Ste. 150, (530) 342-0100.

Music

FREE LISTINGS!

AFRICAN DANCE CLASS: A workout set to the

EVENING DANCE JAM: A weekly meditative dance

For NYE listings, see NIGHTLIFE on page 36

frigid plunge into the waters of the Sycamore Pool this year. Join the brave souls for the New Year’s Day tradition. W, 1/1, 1pm. One-Mile Recreation Area, Lower Bidwell Park.

Community

community gathering, with fresh produce, crafts, baked goods and more. Sa, 7:30am1pm. Municipal Parking Lot No. 1, Second & Wall streets.

FREE HEALTH CLINIC: Free services for minor medical ailments. Call for more info. Su, 14pm. Free. Shalom Free Clinic, 1190 E. First Ave., (530) 518-8300, www.shalomfree clinic.org.

HAPPY HEALING: Experience a variety of healing modalities. F, 7pm. 100th Monkey Café & Books, 642 W. Fifth St.

DYEING WITH MUSHROOMS Saturday, Dec. 28 Gateway Science Museum SEE COMMUNITY

TAKE US HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: The annual December adoption campaign aims to have every animal available on December 1 adopted into a new home by Dec. 31. Visit website to see available animals. Through 12/31. Butte Humane Society, 2579 Fair St., (530) 343-7917.

TRADITIONAL WEST-AFRICAN DANCE: All levels of

drummers and dancers welcome. W, 5:307pm. $10. Chico Women’s Club, 592 E. Third St., (808) 757-0076.

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. Check Friends of Bidwell Park website for dates and locations. Ongoing. Bidwell Park, Bidwell Park, www.friendsofbidwellpark.org.

PATRICK RANCH VOLUNTEERS: There are multiple volunteer opportunities available at the museum. Call or email for more info. Ongoing. Patrick Ranch Museum, 10381 Midway, (530) 514-3903.

INFINITE RHYTHMS ECSTATIC DANCE: A shoefree, food-free, drug-free, smoke-free dance

for you and yours with DJ Clay. Th, 7:309:30pm through 5/8. $8-$10. Manas Artspace & Gallery, 1441-C Park Ave., (530) 588-5183.

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.

December 26, 2013

CN&R 27

28 CN&R December 26, 2013

Jason Cassidy â€˘ jasonc@newsreview.com

2013 DEVO AWARDS Ladies and gentlemen, itâ€™s time once again for Arts DEVOâ€™s super, somewhat random, local arts-awards ceremony for all the stuff that tickled my personal art spot. The envelope, please â€Ś

BEST AMBASSADORS FOR CHICO: The Beards! The doom-metal screamer and dread-headed farmer (Brandon Squyres and Adam Switzer, respectively) and their gloriously bearded mugs represented Chico admirably as contestants on the reality show The Amazing Race.

BEST THINGS I LOOKED AT: Chico in Black &

White at Chico Museum (John Nopelâ€™s historic local-photo collection); Erin Wadeâ€™s environmental sculptures in Bidwell Park during her temporary Invasive Nature(s) exhibit; high-school student Katharine Shermanâ€™s paintings and sculpture at 1078 Galleyâ€™s 2(D) for the Entire Gallery exhibit.

BEST CULINARY DEVELOPMENTS: Fork in the Road food-truck rallies, and

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

BEST LIVE MUSIC: Kinski at CafĂŠ Coda (May 25); French Reform twice at CafĂŠ Coda (Jan. 12 and during the CAMMIES); Lloyd Roby playing tuba-innovator Ă˜ystein Baadsvikâ€™s â€œFnuggâ€? during Glorious Sounds of the Season at Chico State (Dec. 7); Paul Dresher and his invented instruments at the New Music Symposium at Chico State (March 1); and probably the best show Iâ€™ve seen in five years: Andrew Bird at Laxson Auditorium (Nov. 19).

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BEST THEATER: God of Carnage at the Blue Room Theatre and the

Pageant Dadsâ€™ presentation of their original musical The Loveseat Diaries at 1078 Gallery. Also in theater: I wouldâ€™ve undoubtedly enjoyed Rogue Theatreâ€™s The Weir (which got rave word-of-mouth reviews) and this yearâ€™s edition of The Butcher Shop had I been able to attend.

BEST LOCAL MUSIC: Striking a personal chord this calendar year were

French Reform (still my favorite local band), Electric Canyon Convergence, Michelin Embers, Bunnymilk, The Chrome, Surrogate (best local album, Postheroic), Mandalyn May, Fera, The Persian Skirts, Butte Area Cypher Crew, She Fetus, Bran Crown, David Vallelungaâ€”pastor of a thousand instruments (accordion, stand-up bass, ukulele) at Trinity United Methodist Church.

2013 MILESTONES:

Birthdays: Chico Theater Co. turned 10; Dr. Becky Sagers, PhD, Chicoâ€™s wisecracking rap crew turned 20 (and celebrates at Duffyâ€™s tonight, Dec. 26); the Open Studios Tour turned 25; and the Chico Womenâ€™s Club and Enloe Medical Center each turned 100! Out of here: Dex (music venue); shows at Origami Recording Lounge; the original Burger Hut on Nord Ave.; Mary Gardner (city of Chico arts project coordinator laid off); Rob Blair (popular TV anchor let go); Kyle Pickett (North State Symphony conductor/director moves to the Midwest); Robert Speer (CN&R editor and co-founder retires); Artoberfest (city de-funds arts-marketing campaign); the trees.

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REST IN PEACE

â€˘ Kathleen â€œKatieâ€? Kelley: Bassist for Candy Apple, Shivaree. â€˘ Leon Gardea: Longtime Chico percussionist/saxophonist. â€˘ Peter Boyle: â€œMustache Pete,â€? â€œHandlebar Pete,â€? whatever the nickname, he was a fixture at the old downtown Tower Books. â€˘ Floetta â€œFloâ€? Hamilton: Iconic downtown Chico character. â€˘ Stephen Moore: Owner of one-time downtown landmark Pegasus import/export shop.

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CN&R 29

DOCTOR’S ORDERS CHICO’S CLOSEST COLLECTIVE

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a few weeks ago expecting, well, a former Taco Bell. What greeted me instead was a spiffed-up dining room and a friendly Korean man with a big grin by and kind eyes. Meredith J. “Good morning!” he said, loudly Graham and warmly. meredithg@ I looked quietly at my watch to newsreview.com confirm that it was, indeed, still morning. Barely. Having read the glowing Yelp reviews of the new downtown eatery, I was eager to chow down on some delicious teriyaki. Looking at the simple menu at the counter, ★★★ however, I found myself unsure of what to order. Enjoy “This is my first time here,” I Teriyaki 450 Broadway offered as an explanation for my 899-9344 slowness. Open daily “Your first time?” asked the man 11 a.m-9 p.m. (till who, as it turned, was the owner, 3 a.m., Friday & John Chuen. “Try the bento box!” Saturday) He pointed to a picture on the wall and my decision was made. The bento box ($9.50) appeared to be a nice sampler of the menu, and included teriyaki (beef or chicken), California rolls, tempura, salad and a Korean noodle dish called ★★★★★ japchae. While I waited, I surEPIC veyed the restaurant. The inside ★★★★ has been transformed with high AUTHORITATIVE tables and faux-bamboo décor. ★★★ Plants liven it up and the colorful APPEALING dishes upon which the food is ★★ served are a nice upgrade. HAS MOMENTS Once served, I made quick work ★ of the meal in front of me. I dove FLAWED

into the teriyaki chicken first and … disappointment. Don’t get me wrong—it wasn’t bad—but the meat seemed processed and the teriyaki sauce, while flavorful, was strangely lumpy. Not letting that get me down, I picked up a tempura shrimp and my smile returned with a satisfying crunch. Pure perfection! The tempura veggies were excellent as well, with the sole exception of the broccoli, which was undercooked for my taste. Also on my plate were the delightfully understated japchae (clear sweet-potato noodles with subtle sesame flavor), and the slightly out-of-place California roll, which, with just avocado and snow-crab filling was missing a bit of crunchy texture. All in all, my first visit was just so-so. My gut had told me to try the teriyaki because, well, it’s the restaurant’s namesake, but after seeing some of the other menu options I vowed I’d return for the bibimbab, a staple of Korean cuisine. I followed through on that promise, and boy, was I happy that I did. Bibimbab ($8.50) is a beautifully presented dish, with the main ingredients—beef, chicken (this time I chose beef) or tofu, spinach, carrots, zucchini, bean sprouts and lettuce—arranged in individual segments atop short-grain white rice, with a chopped-up fried egg in the middle like a cherry on top. “You have to stir it all together just before you eat it,” the owner explained while handing me my order, along with the house-made chili-pepper paste to go with it. I also opted to try the gyoza (potstickers), which at $4.50 for eight, is an amazing deal. The ones at Enjoy Teriyaki are crave-worthy—crunchy on the outside, moist and full of flavor on the inside. I’m always surprised by something when I try a new restaurant, and at Enjoy Teriyaki that thing was the bibimbab. I will definitely be returning for more of that and those potstickers. It’s those Korean dishes that set Enjoy Teriyaki apart. Added bonus: The restaurant offers beer and sake and is open late—till 3 a.m.!—on the weekends. Also, not enough can be said about the customer service. Owner Chuen is so inviting, it’s impossible not to walk out smiling. Ω

December 26, 2013

CN&R 31

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Before Midnight

2013: year in film CN&R’s lead film critic breaks down his year of movies

Lsay there’s been an abundance of really good things to see, but no one film that stands out as the

ooking back at the movies of 2013—I’d

very best of the best. In the practical terms of top-10 lists, that means at least two dozen of by the year’s films seem worthy of Juan-Carlos inclusion but none can lay absolute Selznick claim to the top spot. But that’s not really much of a problem for me. Without too much Juan-Carlos trouble, I can narrow my list of the Selznick’s best best down to a dozen (or so—see of 2013: column note), and there’s still a good 12 Years a Slave Ain’t Them Bodies deal more to be said about the diverse charms and pleasures of the Saints movie-year now nearing its end (I’m All Is Lost writing this the week before ChristAmerican Hustle mas). Amour Abundance and diversity were the Before Midnight hallmarks of my movie pleasures in Blue Is the 2013, and those values are only parWarmest Color tially reflected in year-end lists. So Blue Jasmine let’s try this as well: Ten or 11 things Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club I liked about the movies in 2013: Gravity Mud Nebraska The Place Beyond the Pines Renoir Silver Linings Playbook Stories We Tell

Small, smart, lively productions flourished: That includes the multitude of non-blockbusters on my year’s-best list, as well as things like Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha (with Greta Gerwig) and James Franco’s adaptation of Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying; the offbeat absurdism of David Gordon Green’s Prince Avalanche (with Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch) and the Polsky brothers’ The Motel Life (with Hirsch and Stephen Dorff); the indie westerns Sweetwater and Dead Man’s Burden; the chambermusic drama A Late Quartet (with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener, and not to be mistaken for Dustin Hoffman’s hammy Quartet with Maggie Smith, et al.). Great day for a game: 42 is concerned with a great story of baseball history and race relations, but it’s not a great movie. But it is good enough to merit 32 CN&R December 26, 2013

special mention here, alongside two distinctive, recently encountered baseball documentaries— Knuckleball (2012) and Ballplayer: Pelotero (2011)—which help make the case for 2013 being part of a good period for baseball movies. How the West was won and lost: Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012) didn’t reach us until early this year; Gore Verbinski’s raffishly Tonto-ized The Lone Ranger arrived right on time. Both worked a little too hard at putting historical urgency and contemporary spin into the old genre, but there were abundant signs of life in both. The previously mentioned modest westerns Sweetwater and Dead Man’s Burden played it straight and still managed to put a contemporary edge on old-fashioned doings. Neither reached a local theater, however. Foreign affairs: The number of foreign-language films coming our way continued to dwindle. Three gems from France—Amour and Renoir (both released in 2012) and Blue Is the Warmest Color—reached Chico this year, but little else did. Even the video-only pickings were pretty slim, with the lone exceptions being Blancanieves, a silent-movie-style mash-up of the Snow White story from Spain, and a couple of stand-outs from Italy—the Taviani brothers’ Caesar Must Die and Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty, both of which I encountered via European DVDs. Say what? Even some of the year’s more conspicuous misfires had points of exceptional interest. Out of the Furnace has its extraordinary character role for Christian Bale and great work on the sidelines from Sam Shepard and Casey Affleck. The Counselor, from a Cormac McCarthy script, summons up a sense of existential dread that makes it worthy of keeping company with the year’s more prestigious and accomplished “endgame” pictures. Stoker has a silent argument with Alfred Hitchcock that makes it more genuinely Hitchcockian than either of the films that pretended to be about Hitchcock. The Iceman had the benefit of another smoldering and taciturn performance from Michael Shannon. Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer took the familiar notions of the “American in Paris” and “innocents abroad” and put a nasty but not indelicate spin on them. There too, what Ω is lost may be everything.

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CN&R 33 10

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Do it! Do it! Do the hustle!

Superb actors play their rascally roles to the hilt in 1970s caper comedy

A comical caper movie, a semi-picaresque period America’s hard land piece set among con artists, influence peddlers, merican Hustle is a sardonically

political fixers, etc., in the late 1970s. Banking scams, FBI stings, Mafia politics, governmental corruption, fashion by excesses, and elaborate doubleJuan-Carlos crosses all have roles to play. Selznick It’s a beguiling tale, with a nicely timed set of surprise twists laid out along the way. But what makes this one of the best films of the year is mostly a matter of superb, beautifully directed performances from a fine cast, including especially its four American leading players. Hustle The key figures here are a sleazy Starring Christian Bale, entrepreneur/con man (Christian Bradley Cooper, Bale), a frenetically ambitious young Amy Adams, FBI agent (Bradley Cooper), a gifted Jeremy Renner quick-change artist (Amy Adams), and Jennifer and the Bale character’s hilariously Lawrence. Directed by David erratic wife (Jennifer Lawrence). A O. Russell. wheeler-dealer New Jersey politician Cinemark 14. (Jeremy Renner), a perpetually flabRated R. bergasted FBI official (Louis C.K.), a much-feared Mafia titan (an unbilled Robert De Niro), and the Renner character’s mock-regal wife (Elisabeth Röhm) make particularly Poor memorable contributions as well. Bale is especially brilliant—giving unexpected shades of emotion Fair and intelligence to a character who at first seems merely a mild comic grotesque. Lawrence is very funny Good and very persuasive with a character sometimes prone to rapid, serial identity shifts. And Adams is superb with a character who seems the wisVery Good est, quickest, saddest, most versatile and alert figure in this film’s marvelously varied bunch of shape-shiftExcellent ing, role-playing rascals. Ω

34 CN&R December 26, 2013

Nebraska

Pageant Theatre. Rated R.

by Juan-Carlos Selznick Nebraska, the new picture from Alexander

Payne (The Descendants, Sideways, Citizen Ruth), is filmed in widescreen black-and-white, and most of it has the bleakness of the central plains in late winter. Storywise, much of it is a sort of start-and-stop (and start again) road movie in which an unhappy young man (Will Forte) indulges the wishes of his aged father (Bruce Dern) to travel from Billings, Mont., to Lincoln, Neb., for an in-person submission of what he assumes to be the prize-winning number in the lottery run by a mail-order subscription service. The quixotic nature of this endeavor is essential to the pathos and contrasting charms of father and son alike, but that fool’s errand also puts both men on paths toward tentative regeneration, modest but real, for their respective stalled lives. Woody Grant (Dern) is at times little more than a gaunt, withered, almost ghostly figure persisting against the weather and vast spaces, doggedly bent on his peculiar mission. Wistful David (Forte) and his older brother, Ross (Bob Odenkirk), persist in quixotic tasks of their own, and the brothers’ mother (hardscrabble matron June Squibb) prods all three with serendipitous jolts of loving antagonism. Stacy Keach has a couple of good moments as Ed Pegram, Woody’s erstwhile partner and nemesis. Payne and his actors play Bob Nelson’s script as a quietly corrosive comedy of Midwestern manners. A cool, patient realism prevails, even in the occasional bits of faintly gothic caricature. Ω

Reviewers: Craig Blamer and Juan-Carlos Selznick.

Holiday-season films: Due to early production schedule, listings may not reflect recent changes. Please check with theaters for upto-date listings and schedules.

Opening this week 47 Ronin

Keanu Reeves stars as the leader of 47 samurai in this update of the 18thcentury Japanese tale of the group of warriors’ quest for revenge and defense of the honor of their slain master. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

Grudge Match

Two old actors—Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone—star as two old boxers who come out of retirement to step into the ring and settle a 30-year grudge. Cinemark 14 and Feather River Cinemas. Rated PG.

Lone Survivor

Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) directs this true story about a failed Navy SEALS mission to capture a Taliban leader in Afghanistan in 2005. Starring Mark Wahlberg. Cinemark 14. Rated R.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller directs an stars in this adaptation of James Thurber’s famous short story about the heroic daydreamer Walter Mitty. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese directs Leonardo DiCaprio in this black comedy based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort, a fast-living stock broker who was convicted of securities fraud and money laundering in 1998. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R.

mostly setting up the characters who will serve their function in the conclusion next year. When Bilbo and crew arrive to confront Smaug, the film settles down into a fine-tuned hum. Obviously, as an epic, it’s not as subtextually satisfying as the The Lord of the Rings trilogy, because it wasn’t intended to be an epic. But one feels that when this trilogy is completed, it’ll serve nicely as the run-up to Jackson’s true masterwork. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13 —C.B.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

As a bridge, Catching Fire is in itself entertaining, but suffers in that it gets us only to the midway point of a story that ends in 2015. We rejoin Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) as they spend some quality time hunting in the woods while the second narrative arc kicks in. It seems that President Snow (Donald Sutherland) isn’t too happy with Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) escaping his deadly machinations and sowing the seeds of revolution, so he brings in the ultimate game-designer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to whip up something to clear the slate of all the past winners of the Hunger Games. So it’s back into the arena, and this time the emphasis is more on the game versus the competitors, than the competitors going after each other. We are never given anything but a rudimentary introduction to most of them, so as the casualties pile up, any connection with the characters existing as anything other than clay pigeons rings hollow. However, the film does move along cracklingly enough for a 2 1/2-hour entertainment. Cinemark 14. Rated PG-13 —C.B.

American Hustle

See review this issue. Cinemark 14. Rated R —J.C.S.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Still classy a decade later, Ron Burgundy (Will Farrell) and the rest of the news team (Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner) rise from the ashes of their failed careers and join the ranks of a new 24-hour news network. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

Frozen

The new Disney computer-animated feature is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale, The Snow Queen. In the film, a young princess embarks on an epic journey to find her sister—the Snow Queen— whose magical powers have buried the kingdom in a never-ending winter. Cinemark 14. Rated PG.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The action picks up from where we left off in part one of director Peter Jackson’s threefilm adaptation of The Hobbit, with Gandolf (Ian McKellen), Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the dwarf posse setting off to the evil woods of Mirkwood and a confrontation with the foul dragon Smaug in the hall of the former mountain king. But first they have to confront giant spiders, rampaging orcs and cranky elves before barrel-riding on down into the degraded village of Laketown. As the second entry in the sprawling narrative, it’s

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A Madea Christmas

Tyler Perry is back in drag as the sassy, pistol-packing granny this time on a Christmas adventure in the country. Cinemark 14. Rated PG-13.

Nebraska

See review this issue. Pageant Theatre. Rated R —J.C.S.

Out of the Furnace

Now playing

We Want to Help!

“This is a movie To bring home and live wiTh, To kick around in your head afTer iT hiTs you in the heart. it’s near damn perfect” ....peter travers (rolling stone)

The new film from Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) mixes violent action with some sensitively written (and very well-acted) character drama. Brutal violence pretty much gets the first and last word in this case, but the character of Russell Baze and Christian Bale’s very fine performance in the role are likely to be the things that stay with you after the bloodletting has stopped. The story revolves around Bale’s character, a steel-mill worker in a decaying Rust Belt town, and his wayward younger brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck), an Iraq war vet (four stints) trying to fast-start his bankroll via gambling and bare-knuckle boxing matches. A sad-sack bar-owner/gambler/ promoter (Willem Dafoe) gets Rodney a highstakes match in the domain of a terrifying backwoods crime boss (Woody Harrelson) ruling over an “inbred” clan of hillbilly psychopaths, and when Dafoe and Affleck’s characters fail to return from their venture among the “inbreds,” Russell and his steadfast uncle (Sam Shepard) take action. Cinemark 14. Rated R —J.C.S.

Saving Mr. Banks

A comedy/drama directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) and loosely based on the negotiations between Australian author P.L. Travers (played by Emma Thompson) and Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) over screen rights to her Mary Poppins novels. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

GET HEALTHY AND

STAY THAT WAY. The CN&R’s annual Health and Wellness Issue will be on stands January 9. Pick up this issue for more information on how to live a healthy lifestyle, get in shape and eat better. For more information about advertising in this issue, call your News & Review advertising representative today at (530) 894-2300.

Walking with Dinosaurs

Realistic-looking CGI-animated dinosaurs are set against a live-action backdrop in this tale of a young, awkward pachyrhinosaurus who grows up to lead his herd on an epic adventure. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG.

December 26, 2013

CN&R 35

NIGHTLIFE

THURSDAY 12/26—WEDNESDAY 1|1 ROCKIN THE MIC: A monthly open mic

27FRIDAY

open to performers young and old.

Fourth F of every month, 6-8pm. Free.

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AMANDA GRAY AND WHISKEY SAVAGE Friday, Dec. 27 Tackle Box Bar & Grill SEE FRIDAY

Influenced by modern country and southern rock, the West Coast singer/songwriter takes the stage with her band Whiskey Savage. F, 12/27, 9pm. $3. Tackle Box Bar & Grill, 375 E. Park Ave., (530) 345-7499.

Chico School of Rock, 932 E. Eighth Ave. (530) 894-2526, www.chicoschoolof rock.com.

THE SPAZMATICS: An ’80s musical experience. F, 12/27, 9:30pm. $5. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.feather fallscasino.com/brewing-co.

BASSMINT: A (mostly) weekly electronic dance party with a rotating cast of local and regional DJs. Check with venue for details. F, 9:30pm. Peeking Chinese Restaurant, 243 W. Second St. (530) 895-3888.

COMEDY SHOW: Hosted by Ric James and featuring funny men Cody Woods and Kabir “Kabeezy” Singh. F, 12/27, 8pm. $5. Gold Country Casino Showroom, 4020 Olive Hwy in Oroville, (530) 5382542.

26THURSDAY CHICO JAZZ COLLECTIVE: Thursday jazz.

Th, 8-11pm. Free. The DownLo, 319 Main St., (530) 892-2473.

JOHN SEID DUO: John Seid and Larry Peterson play an eclectic mix of The

Beatles, blues and standards. Th, 69pm. Opens 12/26. Grana, 198 E. Second St., (530) 809-2304.

(NOT SO) CHICO LEGENDS: The annual day-after Xmas celebration brings a special appearance by rapper KOOL

A.D. (formerly of Das Racist), plus local rap unit Dr. Becky Sagers PhD (celebrating their 20th anniversary), MC Faydog, and DJ Ted Shred. Th, 12/26, 9pm. $7. Duffy’s Tavern, 337 Main St., (530) 343-7718.

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

FRIDAY MORNING JAZZ: A weekly morning jazz appointment with experimental local troupe Bogg. F, 11am. Free. Café Coda, 265 Humboldt Ave., (530) 5669476, www.cafecoda.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.

MONKEY MUSIC SHOWCASE: Spotlighting local acoustic singer/songwriters and musicians. F, 7:30pm. 100th Monkey Café & Books, 642 W. Fifth St.

28SATURDAY DAN HICKS & THE HOT LICKS: Celebrate the “Holidaze in Hicksville” with songs from the eclectic singer/songwriter’s Crazy For Christmas album. Sa, 12/28, 9:30pm. $10. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.featherfalls casino.com/brewing-co.

FIGHT MUSIC RECORD RELEASE: Local hardcore that will knock your teeth out, plus Raw Nerves (PDX hardcore) with locals Criminal Wave and Teeph. Sa, 12/28, 8pm. $5. 1078 Gallery, 820 Broadway, (530) 343-1973, www.1078gallery.org.

MANAS PRESENTS: Intimate performances by Bay Area multiinstrumentalist Alex Rather-Taylor, New York bassist and singer/songwriter Miles Wick, plus locals Lish Bills, and Fera. Sa, 12/28, 8pm. $5. Manas Artspace & Gallery, 1441-C Park Ave., (530) 588-5183.

AULD LANG SYNE

There’s nothing sadder than finding yourself alone when the ball drops at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Who ya gonna spill champagne all over and sloppily kiss? Chico has an abundance of events happening that evening so you don’t have to ring it in solo. There’s the All Fired Up bash with music and dancing at the Tackle Box Bar & Grill, a Funk Bash featuring Seattle crew Down North with locals Sofa King and Mojo Green at Lost On Main, a New Year’s Eve Party with “party band” Take 2 at Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., and the Spectacular New Year’s Eve celebration at Gold Country Casino featuring Steel Breeze, Dueling Pianos and Northern Traditionz. Get outta the house and kick 2014 off right!

INTERNSHIPS the

Best Gift from the

Best Bar!

Duffy’s Hoodies NOW ON SALE! Limited Supply

337 MAIN ST (corner of 4th St. & Main)

36 CN&R December 26, 2013

ATTENTION JOURNALISM STUDENTS Are you interested in telling stories that get to the heart of a matter, and making a difference in our community? If so, you might be perfect for an internship at the Chico News & Review. Here, you’ll find an opportunity to take college skills to a professional level. We are seeking writers who are currently enrolled in college. Interns are paid per assignment. For application information, contact CN&R Editor Melissa Daugherty at melissad@newsreview.com with “internship” in the subject line.

NIGHTLIFE

THIS WEEK: FIND MORE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPECIAL EVENTS ON PAGE 26 OPEN MIC: Open-mic night with Aaron

and Friends. Tu, 7-10pm. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.weebly.com.

FIGHT MUSIC RECORD RELEASE Saturday, Dec. 28 1078 Gallery SEE SATURDAY

SHIGEMI & FRIENDS: Live jazz with keyboardist Shigemi Minetaka and rotating accompaniment. Tu, 6:308:30pm. Free. Farm Star Pizza, 2359 Esplanade, (530) 343-2056, www.farm starpizza.com.

SPECTACULAR NEW YEAR’S EVE: Celebrate the new year with dancing and live music by Steel Breeze, Dueling Pianos, and the local country/folk/bluegrass of Northern Traditionz. Tu, 12/31, 8:30pm. $25. Gold Country Casino Showroom, 4020 Olive Hwy in Oroville, (530) 538-2542.

MUSIC SHOWCASE: An open mic hosted by local country musicians Rich and Kendall. Sa, 5-9pm. Free. Scotty’s Landing, 12609 River Rd., (530) 7102020.

NORTHERN HEAT: Local country music

from Paradise. Sa, 12/28, 9pm. $3. Tackle Box Bar & Grill, 375 E. Park Ave., (530) 345-7499.

30MONDAY JAZZ HAPPY HOUR: Live Jazz happy hour with Carey Robinson Trio. M, 5-7pm.

Free. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.weebly.com.

31TUESDAY

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY: Ring in the new year with live music from party band Take 2. Tu, 12/31, 9pm. $20. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.feath erfallscasino.com/brewing-co.

ALL FIRED UP: A New Year’s Eve bash

with live music and dancing. Tu, 12/31, 9pm. $5. Tackle Box Bar & Grill, 375 E. Park Ave., (530) 345-7499.

FUNK BASH: A New Year’s Eve bash with the party-fueling soul of Seattle’s Down North, plus local funk rockers Sofa King and Mojo Green. Tu, 12/31. Lost On Main, 319 Main St., (530) 8911853.

NTS POST EVE Y ONLINE B AT G IN R E T REGIS ico

om/ch newsreview.c

HOLIDAY-SEASON CALENDAR Due to scheduling changes that may occur around the holidays, please confirm listed events, dates and times with venue.

1WEDNESDAY

HIPS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Local boys done good The Mother Hips, one of Chico’s best-loved bands ever, will make a pair of rare hometown appearances with a two-day stand at the El Rey Theatre, Dec. 30 and 31, with the second show promising another interesting way to spend New Year’s Eve. Also appearing are Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, featuring Hips frontman Tim Bluhm appearing alongside wife Nicki.

LAURIE DANA: Soul, light rock, blues, country, Tin Pan Alley, jazz and more.

W, 7-9pm. Free. VIP Ultra Lounge, 191 E. Second St.

MIDNIGHT BLUES SOCIETY: An open blues jam—bring your own ax. First W of every month, 7pm. Free. Nash’s Restaurant, 1717 Esplanade, (530) 8961147, www.nashsrestaurantchico.com.

OPEN MIC: An all-ages open mic for musicians, poets, comedians, storytellers and dancers. W, 7pm. Free. 100th Monkey Café & Books, 642 W. Fifth St.

HAPPY HOUR

GREAT FOOD, GREAT PRICES 3-6 AND 9-CLOSE DAILY $3 WELL DRINKS $2.50 BEER $5 APPETIZERS

REMEMBER THIS NUMBER

898-1776 Liberty Cab

Lunch Tuesday-Saturday at 11:30am Champagne Brunch Sunday at 9am-2pm Dinner Tuesday-Sunday 4pm-9pm Happy hour Tuesday-Sunday 3pm-6pm 3312 ESPLANADE, CHICO | 530-809-1108 | OPEN 7 DAYS | RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED

December 26, 2013

CN&R 37

IN THE MIX Hosted by Arts DEVO & featuring performances by Blue Room Theatre, Chikoko & more TBA

The Grateful Dead FAQ Tony Sclafani Backbeat Books

The Grateful Dead was a far more multifaceted entity than many people allow. Saying the band only played “space jams” is akin to saying The Beatles only played pop-rock. Following the band’s influential time in San Francisco’s burgeoning music scene during the 1960s, the Dead took their carnival on the road, embracing rock, jazz, bluegrass, improvisation and country-blues on their own and via myriad collaborations until the passing of Jerry Garcia in 1995. In the new The Grateful Dead FAQ, longtime music journalist Tony Sclafani engagingly breaks it all down in 39 easy-to-digest chapters, each packed with bite-sized nuggets. Sclafani entertainingly expounds on the band’s folklore; provides fascinating tidbits about certain famous and not-so-famous live shows; presents bios on much of the band’s extended family, important places and milestones; and perhaps most unique to published works about the Grateful Dead, offers interesting insights on the band’s ambitious—but often unheralded—music catalog. Assorted trivia abounds. Ever wonder why a young Courtney Love appears in the back-cover photo of the 1969 album, Aoxomoxoa, or whether or not conservative pundits Anne Coulter and Tucker Carlson really are Grateful Dead fans? Pick up this 357-page book of answers.

BOOK

Calling all performance artists, sword swallowers, musicians, mimes, thespians, magicians, competitive eaters, ballerinas, Olympic curlers, contortionists, one-man bands, mind readers, chainsaw jugglers, spelling-bee champs, interpretive dancers, slam poets, organ grinders, and everyone else with a talent for keeping Chico weird … the Chico News & Review wants to put you on the stage for the

Keep Chico Weird Talent Show!

Friday, Jan. 31 El Rey Theatre To purchase tickets, visit cnrsweetdeals.newsreview.com Performers of every style are eligible to participate (visual artists, too, for the Weird Gallery in the lobby). Must be 18-over. Email a description of your three-minute act (and if you’ve got ‘em, include photos, video and/or audio samples, and any pertinent Internet links), or a photo of your art, plus contact information, and the names and ages of everyone in your act to:

keepchicoweird@gmail.com or mail to: Chico News & Review (attn. Keep Chico Weird) 353 E. second St. | Chico, CA 95928 Deadline for submissions is Thursday, January 9. Selected entrants will be notified the following week.

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