C 2014 02 27

BLACK

CHICO

SEES RED

BUDGET BUSTER

See SCENE, page 30

LLANO SECO DROPS ORGANIC See GREENWAYS, page 12

GLITCH JOCKEY See MUSIC FEATURE, page 24

Police and Fire departments have strong-armed the city to the brink of insolvency

ROSA PARKS HAD A POSSE See NEWSLINES, page 8

BY DAVE WADDELL PAGE

Chico’s News & Entertainment Weekly

20

Volume 37, Issue 27

See NOMINEES, page 19

Thursday, February 27, 2014

23rd Annual

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Keeping Dance Alive!

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2 CN&R February 27, 2014

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Vol. 37, Issue 27 • February 27, 2014

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Reality check For several years, Chico’s public-safety departments have

been ramping up the rhetoric about how underfunded they are. The Chico Police Department and the local police union, the Chico Police Officers’ Association, have been the most vocal—and sensationalistic—regarding the impacts to their staffing. Anyone remember the CPOA’s billboard decrying that “The gangs are hiring, why aren’t we?” We do.

Sure, the Chico Police Department has lost personnel through retirements. So have other departments throughout the city. But those other departments have also seen mass layoffs. Some of them, along with city services, have been cut to the bone. (Case in point: We no longer have a crew dedicated to Chico’s trees.)

Not so with public safety. The Police and Fire departments have remained relatively untouched. Indeed, they have been treated as sacred cows. With the exceptions of Councilman Randall Stone, and to a lesser degree Councilman Mark Sorensen, Chico’s elected leaders have been reticent to call out either department over their respective employees’ exorbitant compensation.

And one of them, Councilman Sean Morgan, has become de facto spokesman of the CPOA, backing up the union’s propaganda at every turn. He’s even gone so far as supporting the CPOA as its leader made the mistake of defending a police officer’s overtly racist and homophobic Facebook postings.

That move likely will haunt Morgan, should he turn out to be politically ambitious. Isn’t he supposed to be conservative?

But back to those excessive salaries. As is pointed out in this week’s cover story (see “Strong-arming the budget,” page 20), Chico ranks 25th among the state’s 482 incorporated cities for highest-paid employees. Our fair city ranks just above San Francisco. You read that correctly. With salary and wages combined, the average compensation for a city of Chico worker is $99,585 annually. The average in the City by the Bay is $99,337.

We will grant that San Francisco and Chico are not equal. Here, we have fewer employees on the lower-paying end of the spectrum. Still, if you look at the top-paid personnel in both cities, you’ll see a lot of firefighters and notice that the dollar amounts aren’t very divergent. In other words, many of Chico’s public-safety personnel, who live in a city with a median household income of $43,000, are pulling in salaries similar to personnel who live in one of the most expensive cities in the nation. Simply put, it’s ridiculous.

The Police and Fire departments eat up more than 80 percent of the entire general fund. Fact is, the bloated salaries of their employees during these financially turbulent times have meant reductions in city services.

Here’s a reality check for the Police and Fire departments: Both of them could be fully staffed if the salaries and benefits packages of current personnel were reduced to reasonable levels. It’s unconscionable that certain employees have been allowed to pad their incomes with overtime in the triple digits. That money could have paid for additional personnel—something that truly would be beneficial to the taxpayers.

These public-safety departments are essential to maintaining the quality of life here in Chico, but the fact remains that overly generous compensation packages have stretched the city’s budget beyond its means.

Both unions made some concessions recently, but the savings through these contract negotiations don’t go nearly far enough. The leaders of the local public-safety departments and their unions most certainly will continue to intimidate the City Council and new city management. They will cry out about a rise in crime and a lack of resources. This is where Chico’s residents come in. The next time these departments complain that they need additional personnel, remind them that the only hindrance to them becoming fully staffed is their own greed. Ω

It’s unconscionable that certain employees have been allowed to pad their incomes with overtime in the triple digits.

Disaster on the tracks T has increased significantly in the last five years. Flammable toxic oil shipments from the fracking fields in North

he transport of crude oil by rail in North America

Dakota and possibly Canadian tar sands are coming through Chico and Oroville on their way to the Richmond and Bakersfield refineries.

What will this do to our water supply if one spills in the Sacramento River or Feather River Canyon above Lake Oroville (the beginning of the California State Water Project)?

In 1991, 19,000 gallons of soil fumigant spilled into the Sacramento River near Dunsmuir and flowed by into Lake Shasta, killing Sterling 1 million fish and 100,000 Ogden trees. Oil trains carry up to 3 million gallons at a time The author is a and rail lines are being volunteer news and taxed to their limit. There public affairs were more oil spills in producer for North America from trains community radio in 2013 than in the previsince 1992. ous 40 years combined. A local derailment and spill is probably not an if, but rather a when.

Gov. Jerry Brown knows this and has increased the budget of the Office of Spill Prevention and Response by more than $6.7 million, but it cannot order BNSF Railway Co. to stop shipments or

improve its rail lines. Banning the Keystone XL pipeline will not slow the tar-sands oil extraction (wish it would), but rather forces more oil shipments to railways.

This threat to our surface water is compounded by an added threat to our groundwater. Fracking waste and other extremely toxic chemicals are being pumped underground into deep wastewater injection wells. These are often referred to as storage or disposal wells. A high percentage of these wells have been shown to leak.

In a June Scientific American article by Abrahm Lustgarten titled “Are Fracking Wastewater Wells Poisoning the Ground Beneath Our Feet?,” Mario Salazar, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expert on these wells, made this prediction: “In 10 to 100 years, we are going to find out that most of our groundwater is polluted.”

There are more than 680,000 such disposal wells in this country, and who knows how many locally.

Please understand this danger to our lives.

Please push our representatives to make a serious, 10-year, moon-shot push to end our dependence on fossil fuels. This is an achievable, job-creating goal. Ω

There were more oil spills in North America from trains in 2013 than in the previous 40 years combined.

4 CN&R February 27, 2014

SECOND & FLUME

by Melissa Daugherty melissad@newsreview.com

Transparency & truck skirts The CN&R’s savvy readers never cease to amaze me. What’s on our minds is often on theirs, too. For instance, Tuesday morning, as I was looking over Dave Waddell’s excellent cover story about the exorbitant wages city of Chico employees—and public-safety personnel in particular—are taking home, a reader emailed me a clip from the syndicated Armstrong & Getty radio show on Talk 650 KSTE in which Chico was mentioned.

Speaking with the Sacramento-based radio jockeys was Mark Bucher, president of the California Public Policy Center. He was being interviewed about, well, you guessed it, the exorbitant wages of the state’s public employees. Among other things, Bucher talked about the CPPC’s new database—www.transparentcalifornia.com —which he claims is the largest online database of California public employee pensions and salaries, as well as special pay, including overtime.

Bucher noted that about a quarter of the municipalities the nonprofit has queried for such data have refused to provide the info. Chico was not in that 25 percent, so anyone curious about what current or retired city employees are making should check out the site.

During his radio interview, Bucher mentioned a handful of jobs around the state as examples of overcompensation. One of them dovetails nicely with Waddell’s piece. “In Chico, just a regular firefighter: $249,000 a year,” he said.

Interestingly, a few weeks earlier, while Waddell was mired in numbers for his story, another savvy reader pointed me to a pension-reform database—www.fixpen sionsfirst.com. There, I clicked on Chico at the “$100K Pension Club” link, and up popped 21 city retirees. Former Fire Chief John “Steve” Brown tops the list at a whopping … wait for it … $206,524 annually. He’s followed by former City Attorney Dave Frank: $177,960. I can tell the list isn’t current, since former Police Chief Mike Maloney isn’t on it. To see what he’s pulling in, see the cover story.

Roundabout drama. I’ve been wondering since the traffic fixture’s completion last summer at Second and Flume streets how long it would take for a semi-truck to get stuck there. My co-workers and I had seen a couple of close calls over the past six months. But the longexpected day arrived mid-morning Monday, Feb. 24.

I watched the scenario unfold from my corner office, cringing as the very clearly marked 53-foot rig turned too tight and sunk into the soil in the roundabout’s inner circle. The driver’s attempts to surge out of the sinkhole only worsened his plight. Much to his dismay, we immediately started photographing the ordeal. He looked defeated. Poor guy.

To his credit, he got used to it. Between us, the TV news crews, a photographer from the local daily, and the host of lookie-loos who showed up to gawk, this guy is probably in umpteen photos and videos circulating the Facebook pages of locals. It took close to five hours, lots of city employees, and heavy equipment to move the rig.

My thoughts on this situation are twofold. One, either the truck was too big. Or two, our skirt is too small. I suppose driver error is a third option.

Melissa Daugherty is editor of the CN&R

Send email to chicoletters @ newsreview.com

About that meat Re “Butcher with a heart” (Cover feature, by Melissa Daugherty, Feb. 20): George’s Mobile Slaughter and Custom Butchering does a fine job processing locally raised farm animals in our region. George Westbrook knows his craft and keeps a good conversation while he’s at it. I’ve had a tough time arranging bulk purchases of hormonefree, openly grazing pork and lamb, and Mr. Westbrook offers full service for both. If you like good meat, I can’t recommend the Quincy Bluegrass pork sausage highly enough.

MIKE SAWLEY Durham

Re “Slaughter” (Second & Flume, by Melissa Daugherty, Feb. 20): Melissa Daugherty informs us that most of the slaughter images captured by photographer Melanie MacTavish were “too graphic for publication in a community newspaper.”

I find it interesting that images of food production are considered off limits. These are not photographs taken at the scene of a tragic traffic accident where the publishing of such images might be insensitive to victims’ families. These are images of how our food is produced. That that process is considered “too graphic” or disturbing reflects “bad faith” among meat eaters since one should be bothered by such slaughter.

It’s the choosing not to witness in black and white how one’s food is produced that is disturbing, since such willful ignorance further facilitates the fully unnecessary slaughter of these sentient beings for food.

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I appreciate the courage that Melissa Daugherty demonstrated in her column on witnessing the slaughter of a lamb. It is not necessarily easy to share one’s experiences of conscience and matters of the heart in a public forum and Melissa has done this again and again.

For those of us seeking to limit the suffering we create, it is almost inevitable that we ask questions concerning the suffering of animals. This questioning has a very long history—dating back thousands of years. I hope the questioning is intensifying in our time, because the current horrors of animal food production go beyond anything our ancestors could have imagined. (A 30-second online video of “confinement” pork production will offer plenty of insight for the uninitiated.)

If anything, the story in the CN&R described the production of meat in the most responsible manner occurring today. For those who continue to consume meat, it is important to support farmers who have a similar ethic.

For those of us moving away from animal LETTERS continued on page 6 February 27, 2014

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Re “Well-rested, thanks to Obamacare” (Guest comment, by Vic Cantu, Feb. 20): Vic Cantu’s piece does an excellent job of listing the “propaganda” of the right. What he fails to mention is the objection to Obamacare by many on the left. That objection is the use of private, forprofit, insurance companies to provide the coverage.

Cantu’s excited about his premium of $1 a month that would have cost $300 per month. He fails to mention that the remaining $299 will be paid by the government to the insurance companies. For that $299 per month—$3,588 per year—the insurance company will have to provide the “free preventive checkups, immunizations, counseling and screenings” and cover costs above his $6,500 per year deductible. An unlikely occurrence unless, as he correctly points out, he had a “serious illness, accident or disease.”

Additionally, he fails to mention, and may not be aware of, how few medical providers, doctors and hospitals, are enrolled and accept Obamacare. It is a potential problem that people like Cantu who have enrolled discover when they try to use this so-called insurance!

The bottom line is medical coverage could be provided for less with “Medicare for all.” Instead, we get more privatization of health care, just like everything else. Turn everything into a profit center so more can be paid to the CEOs and stockholders. Business as usual in America!

PAUL ELLCESSOR Durham

Editor’s note: Obamacare is not a type of insurance. It is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), a federal law. Mr. Ellcessor is correct that those who qualify for expanded Medi-Cal under the ACA may have trouble finding a doctor who accepts Medi-Cal. For more on that subject, see “Obamacare and the docs,” Healthlines, page 16.

Intersection has issues Re “The path not taken” (Newslines, by Howard Hardee, Feb. 20): For nine years I lived one block from the intersection of East First and Oleander avenues. One summer,

I heard three crashes at that intersection, including one involving a bike and one a motorcycle, years before the recent accidents there.

I also regularly drove out of my way to avoid turning onto The Esplanade from East First Avenue because there is no turn signal and motorists regularly rush through it or turn on red.

In 2008, I attended many meetings coordinated by the Chico Avenues Neighborhood Association and the city to try to deal with these traffic issues. My request for a turn signal at The Esplanade and First Avenue was greeted with condescension by the city representatives. The city’s attempted solution for the Oleander intersection, described in your article, was to put in the curb extensions, then remove them due to complaints and give up.

The attitude that “there is nothing to be done” for this intersection that kids cross to go to Chico Junior High School is upsetting to me, and I am not a “happy citizen” about this unsolved hazard.

JULIE DANAN Chico

I am glad to see some attention given to the dangers that exist on First Avenue. I would like to point out that it is not limited to the intersection of First and Oleander. I live on the corner of First and Arcadian avenues, where I have witnessed numerous accidents over the past several years, including a recent pedestrian versus car.

It is very clear to me that 35 mph is an inappropriate speed for such a narrow road. It sees heavy traffic and parking congestion due to its proximity to both Chico High and Chico State. For comparison, Fifth Avenue between The Esplanade and Mangrove has bike lanes, bulbed intersections, a 30 mph speed limit and less traffic.

It is time to slow the traffic to 25 mph on First Avenue. Signage is a very inexpensive solution to reducing accidents.

SCOTT SLATTERY Chico

I bike on Oleander Avenue nearly every day, and during vehicle rush hours, it can be nearly impossible to cross East First Avenue. A possible solution?

Install push-buttons at Oleander— similar to those at pedestrian crosswalks—that would light up a flashing yellow sign with a cyclist/ pedestrian symbol on it that drivers on East First Avenue would see.

Another possible solution is adding crosswalks. Since bicyclists are allowed on sidewalks in this area of town, per rules of the road,

vehicles would be required to stop to let a bicyclist cross if they are in the crosswalk, just as they would if that cyclist was a pedestrian.

This is not an “us versus them” situation. Cyclists and drivers both are going to school and work, and wanting to get there in one piece.

LISA WILLIAMS Chico

Two views on school board Re “Mismanagement here, too” (Letters, by Leslie Elena Thompson, Feb. 13) and “All about Dan” (Letters, by Tam Hammersly, Feb. 20): It is unfortunate in 2014 that there are still people who dismiss a woman simply due to her age. Two recent letters to the CN&R (written by women!) took pot shots at the current members of the Chico Unified School District School Board because of their age and gender.

I beg to differ. Having worked with four of the five members, I know this is a group of dedicated, thoughtful, intelligent women who each bring a unique perspective and multitude of life experiences to the board.

This is not a job of glory. It is community service with long hours, complicated issues, and little thanks. They do it to make sure the children within CUSD get the best public education the district can provide. It is the voters who determine who serves on the City Council, school board, and other elected positions. I am proud to live in a community where the electorate looks at the credentials of the candidates and not their number of years on the earth.

JANN REED Chico

Editor’s note: Jann Reed is a former member of the CUSD School Board.

I wanted to offer my perspective about all the recent negativity about Chico Unified School District.

School districts are not unlike football teams. A few players can make them rise, or because of a bad coach or chemistry, they can sink.

I read last week’s letter criticizing the school board. I compare that to fans blaming the owner for a last place team. Chico Police have done major personnel changes to improve. City Council brought in a new “coach” in Nakamura to improve.

Unfortunately, education still is run by an antiquated system: a board composed of people with no experience manages a mammoth organization. The results are often predictable.

I watched my first school board meeting last week to see the dynamics of CUSD and to judge for myself why they get so much ridicule lately. I turned it on just as a vote was stopped by one of the board members who wanted to talk about a pretty flow chart. I couldn’t stomach any more.

Whether it’s bad management or a poor board, we are all in trouble if you think that pretty flow charts create improvement. Nothing is more important to any community than the quality of its schools.

BURT CHAPMAN Chico

What transparency?

Re “City gets $5.3 million gift horse” (Newslines, by Robert Speer, Feb. 11): At the Feb. 18 City Council meeting, Mark Orme, the assistant city manager, asked the council to waive the two-week “sunshining period,” which is the typical review time for memorandum of understanding (MOU) reports. An MOU defines the proposed pay and benefits between the city and their collective bargaining groups.

The title of this MOU report begins with “Transparency in Negotiations” and ends 169 pages later. This report is billed as a “final draft,” complete with double underlines for new language and strikethrough font for deletions.

Orme said that sunshining “was unique for Chico. It gives the public the opportunity to have more time than the typical public would in a municipal agency to review contracts.” Later, he emphasized that Chico’s sunshining should continue; however, this time, the city is in a “dire emergency.”

Orme said delaying immediate approval would cost $36,000. The prior labor contracts expired in December. Since January, more than six weeks have elapsed before the “final draft” reached council.

No one mentioned that six-week delay cost $108,000.

After a mere 20 minutes, the seven council members unanimously approved waiving the sunshining period. No transparency, no citizen oversight. Isn’t that how we got into this mess in the first place?

DAVE KELLEY Chico

Editor’s note: Dave Kelley is a former Chico City Council candidate.

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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I think the worst thing that I have to say is bad is people’s ability to always look at the bad side. I don’t think everything is great, but I am a romantic optimist, and I think that people are too negative.

I think my opinion would be: as bad as you let them be. I think that to more of a degree than people understand, they control their own destiny, be it bad, good or otherwise. So, as opposed to being a victim of a bad situation, you could be a victor in a bad situation.

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CN&R 7

Mazi Noble is a member of Chico State’s Black Faculty and Staff Association, which helps coordinate many of the college’s Black History Month events.

SHALOM ON THE MOVE

The Shalom Free Clinic Thrift Store and clinic itself are moving to new locations. Circulating rumors suggest the store may be moving from its current location at 250 E. First St. to the vacancy left by the closing of the Towne Lounge at 327 Main St. A spokeswoman for the clinic said that employees were not yet able to comment on the moves, but that even though the new location is only “two blocks away” from the current one, they are still facing resistance from other downtown business owners who are afraid that the store will attract the “wrong kind of crowd.” No word on the future location of the clinic, but it will be announced before the end of the year.

REDEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT

An initiative that would repeal the California Supreme Court’s 2011 decision to eliminate redevelopment agencies has received approval from the secretary of state allowing supporters to start collecting the needed 504,760 voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Prior to the decision, more than 400 local redevelopment agencies in California used property tax revenues to pay for projects that mitigated blight. In 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown made a push to eliminate the agencies in order to ease the state’s fiscal crisis. After the state Legislature passed a law abolishing the agencies, cities and redevelopment agencies filed a lawsuit, but the Supreme Court upheld the law and it went into effect Feb. 1, 2012.

The new initiative would allow local governments to re-establish the agencies and “resume redirection of certain local property taxes to redevelopment projects.” It would also expand the definition of “blight” to allow whole cities and counties to be considered redevelopment areas if the county’s unemployment rate is higher than the state or national average.

RAMSEY PULLS HIS PAPERS

It’s official. Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey (pictured) has taken out the papers to run for re-election in the June 3 primary. Ramsey’s been elected every four years since 1990, following his appointment to that post in 1987.

Four years ago, he was challenged by local attorney Dale Rasmussen and attorney Lance Daniel, who moved here from Sacramento, rented a house in Chico to establish his residence, declared his love for the area and then promptly moved back to Sacramento after he lost. Ramsey earned 54 percent of the vote over Daniel’s 34 percent and Rasmussen’s 12 percent.

There is currently a state initiative in the works that would place term limits on county district attorneys and sheriffs. The measure, which, if qualified, will appear on the ballot of the November general election, would limit the DA to no more than three consecutive four-year terms.

8 CN&R February 27, 2014

Rosa Parks had a posse Chico State celebrates Black History Month with entertainment and education

Win African-American history, most people believe they know the story of Rosa Parks well: hen it comes to important figures

An Alabama woman is so fed up with segregation and racial inequality she decides one day not to relinquish her city story and bus seat to a white passenger. photo by Her subsequent arrest sparks Ken Smith community—and nationwide— kens@ outrage, and her lone act of definewsreview.com ance single-handedly starts the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Right? Not exactly.

Before Parks’ arrest, four other Montgomery women— Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald and Mary Louise Smith—had also been arrested for refusing to change seats in 1955. All of these were intentional acts of civil disobedience organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Montgomery branch, of which Parks was secretary.

These women were the subMore ject of a Feb. 19 discussion at information: Go to Chico State’s Cross-Cultural www.csuchico.edu Leadership Center (CCLC), part /diversity/ of a four-part series held resources/ throughout the month of Februbfsa.shtml to ary focusing on unsung heroes learn more about Chico State’s of African-American history.

Black Faculty and The discussions were part of the Staff Association. CCLC’s contribution to campus-

wide events celebrating Black History Month.

As Julia Walker—a CCLC paraprofessional and Chico State student who organized the series—explained, learning the details doesn’t diminish Parks’ legacy, but illustrates how true histories are often much richer than American students are taught, and challenges what people think they already know.

“I think college students are pretty well informed, but as a whole, we can all be a little bit better informed in both history and current events,” Walker said. “I think discussions like these are beneficial, because it helps people see where the gaps are in our history in general and think about what we need to do to fill those gaps.”

The group of about 20 students attending seemed especially impressed by the cases of Colvin and McDonald, the former of whom was 15 years old, and the latter of whom was in her 70s at the time of the bus boycott. Walker explained she personalized the women’s stories by design.

“You can see the wheels start to turn when people put themselves in the individual’s shoes,” she said. “If you make the stories real to them, they have more impact.”

Walker, who said the nonviolent aspects of the civil-rights movement are her own primary inspiration to work for social justice, also said there’s hope to be

found in history.

“Without knowing where we came from, it’s hard to move forward, especially in terms of social justice,” she said. “It’s important to be reminded of civil rights successes, because without that knowledge it can be hard to get new things moving.”

In addition to the CCLC, other

campus entities that held events throughout February include the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, University Housing and Food Service, and UMatter, which is dedicated to promoting the positive mental health of Chico State students.

The events kicked off Feb. 3 with a discussion in the Student Services Center titled “Legacies Lost: Trayvon Martin and Victims of Violence.” Entertainment events included a Feb. 6 showing of the film Fruitvale Station, Chico Performances’ “True Blues” showcase on Feb. 13, and a Feb. 20 Poetry Night with spoken-word artist and activist Suzi Q. Smith.

Mazi Noble, a graphic designer in the university registrar’s office (and former Chico News & Review employee), explained that many of the events were overseen by the Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA).

Noble said he joined the BFSA when he started working at Chico State in 2010, and became the organization’s

social chair in 2011. He designs the physical calendar of Black History Month events each February, always incorporating the work of famous black artists, and this year featuring the late Harlem Renaissance artist Hale Woodruff. Since 2011, Noble has also organized a Poetry Slam with fellow BFSA member Deanna Pierro. He said this year’s Feb. 13 installment was one of the best ever, despite a major hiccup.

“There was an overbooking issue with our on-campus venue, but at the last minute the owners of the Naked Lounge came forward and offered their space,” he said. “It was a great night, with 14 contestants and an a capella performance by local hip-hop crew Chain Gang. The winners got to open for Suzi Q., which they were really excited about.”

Two Black History Month events

were scheduled to take place (after CN&R deadline) on Wednesday (Feb. 26)—the final installment of the CCLC’s Unsung Heroes series, and a “Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin & Those Lost to Violence” at Trinity Commons.

The month’s culminating event is tonight’s (Feb. 27) ninth annual Harlem Renaissance Rent Party, a collaboration among the BFSA, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the college’s School of the Arts.

The party is in the tradition of rent parties held during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1930s and ’40s, when people would throw get-togethers complete with live musical entertainment and food to raise funds when they were short on rent. Attendees are encouraged to dress up in period garb.

“They were celebrations of that amazing community,” Noble said of the historic rent parties. “From my viewpoint, the rent party tradition is all about reaching out to your own community, circling the wagons and taking care of yourself and the people around you.”

Though nobody is under threat of eviction from the Harlen Adams Theatre stage, where the event will be held, Noble said the party retains its altruistic roots by choosing a yearly benefactor.

This year, all proceeds from the suggested $5 donations to attend the party will go to Chapman Elementary School.

Noble, who is also a visual artist, will be completing two paintings during the party that will be auctioned off, with those proceeds also going to the school.

Noble noted the Rent Party has been a community staple for nearly a decade, and was originally started by English professor Tracy Butts, the event’s coordinator, as an extension of one of her literature classes.

“Since it started as a literary event, we’re asking the money raised be used specifically for books,” Noble said. Ω

Study hall of the wild University’s ‘wilderness orientation’ offers grounded primer for college life State’s widespread reputation as a party school Con hico undoubtedly reaches most freshmen well before they set foot campus as a student. But, as Chico State junior Daniel

Lovik readily conveyed during a recent interview, there’s much more to the college experience than “the norm of going downtown and drinking.”

Lovik, a mechanical engineering major and trip leader with Adventure Outings, is spearheading a recently rebooted program aimed at exposing small groups of incoming freshmen to an entirely different form of recreation before their college careers begin.

This summer, the Wildcat Wilderness Orientation program will lead four different groups of students on multiple-day outdoor excursions, including a camping trip in Lassen National Forest—highlighted by a day-long visit to Subway Cave—and backpacking in Lassen Volcanic National Park; a canoeing trip down the Sacramento River, beginning south of Red Bluff; a combination of camping and hiking in Castle Crags State Park and boating on Lake Shasta; and backpacking in the Trinity Alps Wilderness area.

In the fall of 2012, Adventure Outings hired an entirely new fulltime staff, including Coordinator Jenna Walker and Assistant Coordinator Keith Crawford. The pair agreed that the wilderness orientation program was in need of restructuring and chose to suspend it for a year in Answer the call: order to make the changes.

For more information on Chico State’s Wildcat Wilderness Orientation Previous trips offered through the program, go to www.aschico.com/wwo program were usually just a day long or email wildernesso@csuchico.edu. and “focused more on fun and entertainment,” Crawford explained. “We like that aspect, but we wanted to add some social and personaldevelopment-type things, which we thought required longer trips.”

Each group will be led by two student guides who, over

the course of three to five days, will emphasize the principles of environmental stewardship—such as “leaving no trace,” Crawford said— and specific outdoor skills such as proper paddling technique and how to pack a sleeping bag for rainy weather. But Crawford and Lovik also hope to jump-start broader development that students will find helpful during their upcoming college experience.

Indeed, the student guides will be assigned an “outdoor curriculum” including a variety of topics, from general healthy living to conflict resolution.

Students kayaking along the Trinity River during an Adventure Outings expedition, circa fall of 2012.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHICO STATE’S ADVENTURE OUTINGS

“Time management skills are something we hope to ingrain,” Lovik said, “or present in a way to make [students] aware of the responsibilities they will have in college, just getting things done and being productive with the time that they have.”

For instance, when a group of students ventures into the wilderness and becomes entirely self-reliant, the effects of poor time management are clear for all to see, Crawford said. “Say the group ends up hiking until 9 [p.m.]—they’re showing up to camp in the dark.

That’s a real-life example. It was up to them as a group to do this, so what went wrong? Or, what went well if they show up at 5 p.m. and they’re able to cook dinner before it gets dark?

“If you don’t pack your sleeping bag properly and a thunderstorm comes in, you have a wet sleeping bag—you weren’t responsible for your own property,” he continued. “If you leave your laptop out at school, it could get stolen. There are all kinds of little parallels like that.”

And the longer duration of the trips will make effective communication especially important, Crawford said. “You live with a small group of people for up to five days, and you’re all getting stinky together, eating the same food, sleeping under the same tarp,” he said.

“If you’re being passive-aggressive for four days, somebody is going to bite your head off, eventually.”

On the last day of each trip, the student guides will turn leadership over to the group as a whole, requiring they work together to safely meet the day’s objective.

If all goes well, each student presumably

SIFT|ER Falling respect The public’s view of journalism’s perceived contribution to society has declined in recent years, according to a Pew Research Center report released last July. Only 28 percent of American adults say journalists contribute “a lot” to society’s well-being, down from 38 percent in 2009. Another 27 percent think journalists contribute “not very much” or “nothing at all,” while 42 percent say they contribute “some” to society. Of the 10 occupational groups considered, only business executives and lawyers received lower ratings than journalists. The top two occupations for contributing “a lot” to society were military (78 percent) and teachers (72 percent). The other occupation rankings in the “a lot” category were medical doctors (66 percent), scientists (65 percent), engineers (63 percent), clergy (37 percent) and artists (30 percent).

will start the school year with a network of friends and acquaintances already in place.

They’ll also know firsthand that plenty of their fellow students are interested in exploring more than the bottom of a red plastic cup.

Crawford pointed out that the wilderness orientation’s five-day canoe trip along the Sacramento River will end at Scotty’s Landing, which is also the main exit point for students who participate in the alcohol-fueled floats at the beginning and end of each school year. He believes the students who enroll in the program this summer and choose to canoe the river will have a much different perspective than many of their peers.

“They’ll see it in a totally different light,” he said.

—HOWARD HARDEE howardh@newsreview.com

NEWSLINES continued on page 10 February 27, 2014

CN&R 9

continued from page 9

Gas emissions Larry Wahl the holdout on Supes’ adoption of ‘encouraging’ Climate Action Plan

Climate Action Plan Feb. 25 that is more advisory in nature than demanding. The plan’s purpose is to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and was approved by a 4-to-1 vote, with Supervisor Larry Wahl strongly opposing it.

Tim Snellings, the county’s development services director, and Dan Breedon, a principal planner in the Development Services Department, were tasked with drawing up the plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 15 percent by 2020. The year 2006 is the baseline year as directed by state legislation—Assembly Bill 32 and Senate Bill 375, which were passed in 2008. The board adopted a revised version of the county plan that substitutes the word “encourage” for the word “require” in six plan actions.

Breedon told the board members the plan was designed to meet requirements set by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), but that they did have the option of removing one or more of the actions included in the plan, which should still allow it to achieve the state’s required reduction in emissions.

He recommended the board approve the plan as presented, with requirements to expand renewable energy sources by calling for things such as solar energy for new housing developments of 500 units or more, solar options for multifamily developments as well as nonresidential development, and maximizing the roof space of each

to accommodate solar panels. The plan would have required that construction equipment operators “reduce fuel use and cut emissions.”

Additionally, it would have required electric vehicle outlets on external walls or inside garages on all new residential construction.

There was also a section in the plan calling for guidelines requiring employers in the county with more than 50 employees to “implement a transportation-demand management program to reduce drive-alone trips and support ridesharing, public transit, walking and bicycling.” The authority for that was also reduced from being required to just being encouraged.

“This should be a voluntary program based upon some outreach to local businesses about measures they can take to conform to the cap to reduce trips,” Breedon said.

Breedon said existing county

staff should be able to manage the Climate Action Plan and encourage its implementation. The plan calls for the county to work with the local chambers of commerce to promote the alternative transportation strategies, with the county providing facilities for carpooling and park-and-ride programs.

The plan also calls for the reduction of methane gas emissions produced by decomposing waste at the Neal Road landfill.

This would include adopting an ordinance calling for a 75 percent diversion rate from the landfill by 2020.

“A lot of this is about capitaliz-

FILE PHOTO BY HOWARD HARDEE

ing on efforts that are ongoing, either on the public side or the private side, and taking credit for them as a goal for reducing greenhouse gases, and measuring that and aligning ourselves with state law,” Breedon said.

Gov. Jerry Brown has called for 1.5 million electric vehicles to be operating in the state by 2025, he noted, and that “translates into charging stations at homes, businesses and public facilities.”

“You go down to Sacramento [and] every parking garage has charging stations,” Breedon said.

“Actually, you can get free parking if you charge [your vehicle], so there are a lot of incentives around that. We know where California is going, so we are planning on incorporating the vision into our climate action plan.”

Supervisor Wahl questioned

the overall cost of the Climate Action Plan and suggested that

replacing thermostats for efficiency, as called for in one part of it, will add up. He said the county was already doing enough to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions.

Wahl did not like the call for pre-wiring for solar panels or the call for charging outlets for electric cars. He also questioned the encouragement of businesses to develop transportation management programs.

“Why should we even do it?”

Wahl asked. “Businesses will do that if it makes good economic sense and makes good sense for their employees. So I think that ought to be struck out of the whole plan completely.”

Four people spoke during the public comment period, including Raymond Schimmel, who questioned the notion of climate change. He said he did place solar panels on his house last year “because it penciled out” economically.

Schimmel referred to an opinion piece that Charles Krauthammer recently wrote in The Washington Post called “The myth of ‘settled science’” that called climate change into question. In the piece, Krauthammer describes himself as a “global-warming agnostic,” saying that while he’s not sure if human-caused climate change is real, he does question the dire predictions “environmental advocates” support, which call for governmental regulation that he called “socially destructive.”

In the end, Supervisors Maureen Kirk, Doug Teeter, Steve Lambert and Bill Connelly voted to adopt the Climate Action Plan, and Wahl voted no.

“This whole thing is a jobkiller—it’s anti-growth, antidevelopment and it is not friendly to business in any sense of the word,” Wahl said.

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NO COST SERVICES

Tent city iscussion about providing the homeless a D campground is not a new thing around these parts. The idea goes back at least 15

years and was talked about at Chico City Council meetings and inevitably shot down on the grounds that “If you build it they will come,” meaning a facility would only attract more homeless to the community.

This was before the Torres Community Shelter was built. Back then, shelter for the homeless was provided on a rotating basis by a number of local churches. Today, the Torres Shelter does not house the entire homeless population—some choose not to go there because they have animal companions, others because they can’t abide by the shelter’s rules.

At the Feb. 25 meeting of the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Services, the campground/tent city idea was floated again by members of the Chico Housing Action Team (CHAT), who said that while it’s not a solution to the homelessness problem, it is a starting place.

CHAT member and local attorney Leslie Johnson told the task force that resourcegenerating ideas were being discussed, such as crowdfunding, an Internet-based money raiser recently used by the Pageant Theatre, downtown’s The Bookstore and KZFR community radio to help keep their operations afloat.

“We’d like to put out a request for a piece of land,” she said. “It’s got to be in the right place—not too far out of town, not too close in, and not in the neighborhoods.”

She said CHAT, which formed last November, would like to start with a number of smaller camps.

“We’re treating this as a symptom, as a way to start,” she said. “It’s an opening to bring people out of dirty, unsafe camps to a place with toilets and maybe a place to meet.”

Opponents of homeless camps in the

past have included the local business community, by way of the Greater Chico Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA). Katie Simmons, the chamber’s president and CEO, said it was too early in the current discussion for the chamber to weigh in and that it was surveying members to find out where they stand on the matter.

“We’d rather not comment until we have the information we need,” Simmons said.

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Chamber CEO Jolene Francis, who is now with the Enloe Foundation and a group known as the North Valley Housing Trust Team, warned that “my opinion is that the business community would not be in favor [of a camp.]”

Melanie Bassett, executive director of the DCBA, said in an email response to a request for comment that the organization does not have an official position on a homeless camp.

“There are many unknowns at this time,” she wrote. “We are participants on the Mayor’s Task Force, the Clean & Safe Committee, the Greater Homeless Task Force and also were a part of the 10-year Continuum of Care set of workshops. We realize there are no easy solutions and we want to be a part of a solution that meets everyone’s needs.”

For her part, Johnson, in a post-meeting interview, said every community has an obligation to address the problem of homelessness.

“We hope that our plan will be successful, and other communities will follow suit and will take responsibility for those without any resources in their own cities and towns,” she said.

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Leslie Johnson, local attorney and member of the Chico Housing Action Team, which is looking into creating a campground for the homeless.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LESLIE JOHNSON

CHAT will continue looking for a suitable piece of property.

“We are hoping for a place that is at least an acre or two, and has access to water and sewer and electricity, and is on a bus line,” Johnson said. “However, we will have an adjustable plan in the works that will enable us to be flexible. In the meantime, we are continuing to talk with everyone we can think of in our community, developing the support and guidance we will need in undertaking this project.”

She said CHAT members are also planning to visit existing camps in California, Oregon and Washington “to continue learning more about what works best.”

—TOM GASCOYNE tomg@newsreview.com

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• Get a map at any participating Local Nursery • On Saturday and Sunday, March 8-9, visit the nurseries and collect stickers • Visit 6 or more nurseries and receive a free Local Nursery Crawl Chico Bag while supplies last!

Visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/LocalNurseryCrawl February 27, 2014

CN&R 11

EARTH WATCH

GREENWAYS

Llano Seco drops organic label

FRACKED TO THE LAST DROP

Most of the hydraulic fracturing going on in the United States occurs in drought-stricken areas, a report finds.

Fracking companies used 97 billion gallons of water in the process of stimulating almost 40,000 wells from January 2011 to March 2013, according to a recent article at Grist.org. And “[n]early half of the wells hydraulically fractured since 2011 were in regions with high or extremely high water stress, and over 55 percent were in areas experiencing drought,” according to the report issued by sustainability-focused coalition Ceres. “In Colorado and California, 97 [percent] and 96 percent of the wells, respectively, were in regions with high or extremely high water stress.”

Citing the Ceres report, the article noted that Texas-headquartered Anadarko Petroleum Corp. “is the worst offender when it comes to tapping parched regions for water used in fracking operations.”

Rancho Llano Seco’s Saturday morning farmers’ market stand advertises the last of the organic pork the farm has for sale. In November, Llano Seco abruptly dropped its organic certification.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE G.K. LAPADO-BREGLIA

EPA OVERHAUL EYES YOUNG BLOOD

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is getting ready to offer $25,000 buyouts and “early outs” to almost 1,400 employees in an attempt to overhaul its national workforce.

The workforce reduction comes in the face of hefty EPA budget cuts, limits on new hiring, and advances in technology, according to EENews.net. The EPA recently outlined—in paperwork submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management—how it intends to get rid of certain highly paid employees in favor of new, younger, cheaper ones.

“These changes are part of our effort to embrace [the] EPA as a high-performing organization,” said Bob Perciasepe, the EPA’s deputy administrator.

Specific aims include cutting 30 jobs in the agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, hiring more technologically savvy workers, and closing two of the EPA’s four Biological and Economic Analysis Division labs.

GOOD NEWS FOR THE MODOC SUCKER!

The population of a little fish found only in certain high-desert creeks in Northern California and Southern Oregon has recovered enough to be taken off the endangered species list.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed that the Modoc sucker (pictured)—which grows to be about 7 inches long and lives up to five years—be delisted after almost 30 years on the endangered species list, according to The Associated Press.

“The Endangered Species Act has not only helped prevent the Modoc sucker from going extinct, it has also promoted its recovery to the point that today, [and] we believe that federal protections are no longer needed,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe.

In 1985, when it was first listed as endangered, the Modoc sucker was present in only seven streams covering 12.9 miles; today, it inhabits 12 streams covering 42.5 miles.

Send your eco-friendly news tips to Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia at christinel@newsreview.com.

12 CN&R February 27, 2014

Local pork producer says health of herd and rising feed costs are behind recent changes by

Claire Hutkins Seda

C generation owner of Rancho Llano Seco, is a vocal advocate of food certificaharlie Thieriot, the sixth-

tions. So it came as a big surprise to many customers when the 17,700-acre rancho just south of Chico—one of the biggest organic pork producers in the country— abruptly dropped its organic certification in November. By January, Llano Seco products—pork chops, Italian sausage, etc.— trickling into local stores like S&S Organic Produce & Natural Foods and the Chico Natural Foods Cooperative were no longer stamped with the USDA organic label.

“We always had a hard time charging what we need to. I defended the organic protocol for a very long time, when I thought we could figure out a way to keep the pigs comfortable and stress-free under the organic certification,” said Thieriot, via phone from his San Francisco office, adding that he has struggled to maintain organic certification since Llano Seco began raising organic pigs about seven years ago.

Given the rising cost of organic feed, Thieriot was looking at an increase in prices “as much as 30 [percent] to 40 percent [higher] than they are now,” even

though 80 percent of his pigs’ feed is grown on the farm.

Additionally, the herd was struggling health-wise, he said. Organic certification forbids the use of chemical medications, including antibiotics, hormones and chemical dewormers, according to the USDA’s standards. The Llano Seco pigs were “constantly struggling with a parasite in their stomach. It wasn’t killing them, [but] that stressed them,” he said. Organic-approved remedies like diatomaceous earth did not sufficiently work, either. Now, the pigs receive a chemical dewormer after weaning. The farm will continue to prohibit other chemical medications, though.

“It’s not that I don’t think [organic certification] is a valuable thing. I do think that it doesn’t fit our system,” Thieriot said.

The ramifications of Llano Seco’s

move away from organic certification are being felt throughout the country. “We’ve had lots of calls from interested people, curious chefs and curious customers” Rancho Llano Seco online:

Go to www.llanoseco.com to learn more about Rancho Llano Seco. Llano Seco meats are available at the Chico Natural Foods Cooperative (818 Main St.) and S&S Organic Produce & Natural Foods (1924 Mangrove Ave.), and at the Llano Seco booth at the Chico Certified Farmers’ Market.

wanting to find a new source of organic pork, said Jude Becker, farmer at Becker Lane Organic in Dyersville, Iowa—possibly the largest single organic pork producer in the country now that Llano Seco has dropped out.

Becker Lane, on the surface, appears to be a Midwest mirror to Llano Seco. Becker is the sixth-generation farmer there, too, harvesting roughly the same number of pigs per month as Llano Seco. But he says that he hasn’t struggled against parasites for some time.

While the organic certification provides some guidance in how a certified-organic farm must operate—with stipulations that the feed must be organic and non-GMO, for instance, and pigs must have access to the outdoors—each farm’s style varies according to location, tradition and philosophy, which may point to the differences in parasite levels.

Becker credits a “closed system” of breeding—which Llano Seco also shares, in which sows are chosen from within the herd—for reining in parasites on his farm.

Becker uses a rotational grazing method in which pigs are moved to fresh paddocks regularly, a style of animal husbandry popularized by famous Virginia farmer Joel Salatin. Llano Seco’s system of large perGREENWAYS continued on page 14

February 27, 2014

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manent barns and outdoor paddocks is not pasture-based. Other factors, such as the effect of colder Iowa winters, and Llano Seco’s proximity to wildlife as a result of its conservation easements and preserved riparian habitat, might also result in differences in parasite presence.

Thieriot points to the notable absence of large organic pig farms in the U.S. as evidence of the difficulty in maintaining a healthy large herd without the use of deworming medications while covering the higher costs of feed.

He does not believe changes in herd size or grazing strategies are necessary at this point in Llano Seco’s system, saying, “What’s important to me is managing the pigs’ environmental stress.

Without organic certification to back him up, Thieriot is spending a

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continued from page 12

customers.

“I think of ‘too many pigs’ as: Are they stressed by the proximity to one another? And they’re not,” Thieriot assured. “There’s plenty of room for them to fully express their needs to root, and to play, and to define their social hierarchy, which is a very important part in herd dynamics.”

Without organic certification

to back him up, Thieriot is spending a lot of time describing the farm’s techniques to customers (the Llano Seco website describes its pork as “responsible and humanely raised”). He stands behind deworming once when young pigs are first weaned, as the website states, but said he wouldn’t throw out the idea of administering a second dose of dewormer should older pigs struggle with parasites again.

And Thieriot’s pigs are now eating 20 percent of less-expensive, nonorganic feed grown off the farm, which Thieriot explains will be “clean” and GMO-free, but not protected by the organic label.

But in January, the farm’s pig herds did pick up a new label: Global Animal Partnership (GAP),

a five-step label (six steps, if one includes GAP’s “5+” distinction) whose standards were initially developed by Whole Foods, which then handed it off to the independent nonprofit to manage the standards. The majority of Llano Seco’s beef herds had already dropped organic certification last year, and were GAP-certified, after they discovered GAP-certified beef fetched as good a price as organic at auction, likely due to Whole Foods’ buying power.

The Llano Seco pig herd has received GAP Step-2 certification, which, according to the website, means the ranch “prohibits cages and crates” (Step 1) and “requires environmental enrichment for indoor production systems” (Step 2), in addition to other requirements regarding animal handling, management, breeding, feed, health and housing. Steps 3 through 5+ go from providing “enhanced outdoor access” to “the entire life of the animal spent on an integrated farm” (only two pig farms currently have a GAP 5+ rating). Llano Seco’s weaning practices restrict them from moving to Step 3 certification, despite meeting other requirements in the third step, said Thieriot.

The farm plans to explore additional labels that announce the humane treatment of its herd, as well as certifications of its green practices (such as maintaining riparian habitat and operating more than 10,000 acres under conservation easements). But, Thieriot hopes that he can find certifications

ECO EVENT AMPHIBIANS APLENTY! The Chico Creek Nature Center (1968 E. Eighth St.) is offering yet more nature-lovin’ goodness in the form of its upcoming Frogs, Toads and Salamanders, Oh My! program on Saturday, March 1, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Learn about the activities of amphibians and take a guided walk in Bidwell Park looking for toads, tree frogs and salamanders. Suggested donation: adults, $10; children, $5, Call 891-4671 to register.

that reflect the work already being done on the farm, rather than the farm changing its practices to fit the certification. That said, minor adjustments to the farm’s techniques that would not stress the pigs would be considered, he said.

In the meantime, Thieriot is thrilled with the changes he immediately saw in the herd upon moving away from organic practices.

“The pigs are more robust. Their fat-to-lean ratio is better. Their weight is better,” he explained.

“Imagine if you were constantly struggling with some parasite in your gut.” Ω

UNCOMMON SENSE Go native!

By now, it should be obvious to each and every Californian that water conservation is imperative to sustaining our way of life. There are many creative ways of cutting down on use, and one of them, as we approach springtime, is to cut down on the type of plants that require large volumes of water. So, this year, instead of picking up the same annuals to plant, consider purchasing drought-tolerant native species. Your best bet is to visit a local nursery. But here are a few options to get you started:

California poppy (pictured) Ceanothus Common woolly poppy Deer grass

Lavender Sage Western yarrow

reen HOUSE

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

ONE HUNDRED BOWLS On Feb. 14, Chico All Fired Up clay studio (830 Broadway), now part of the

IN PRAISE OF WATER Diane Suzuki-Brobeck sent me a piece of writing recently, about her

11-year-old granddaughter, Ramona, when she was 8 years old. As Suzuki-Brobeck explained, “I thought of sending this … to Fiction 59, but didn’t want to cut it.”

You Must Be Waterable “Now, class, we’re going to learn about healthy waters and how you must be ‘waterable.’”

“What is waterable?” we ask.

She jumps off her stool and illustrates with her hands, body and spirit: “You see the water going past you and you don’t say anything. Then the water stops.

“Then you see the water go past you and you say ‘Thank you!’”

She slightly bows and closes her eyes.

“Then the water keeps going and going!” she exclaims.

“That is what ‘waterable’ is,” she so eloquently coins.

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Work Training Center, was abuzz with people making lots and lots of bowls—100, to be exact—for the Torres Community Shelter’s March 13 Empty Bowls event. Empty Bowls, for the unfamiliar, is an annual fundraiser for the shelter during which attendees choose one of hundreds of handmade bowls in which to enjoy the many soups on hand (and they get to keep the bowl!).

“The [studio] members and Work Training Center clients who now work at All Fired Up wanted to make a contribution this year to the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Torres Shelter,” wrote All Fired Up Interim Business Manager (and former owner) Janice Hofmann, a talented ceramicist who teaches classes at the clay studio, in an email.

“We decided to set a goal of making 100 bowls on Valentine’s Day to show our love and support.”

One woman was particularly busy that day: “Longstanding member Dianne West [pictured] took the day off from her job with PG&E to throw more than 40 bowls using our house-made recycled clay,” Hofmann said, adding that “Dianne sells her larger bowls, platters and wonderful sculptures in the gift shop in front of Chico All Fired Up.” She was keen to point out that even though the Work PG&E employee Dianne West took Valentine’s Day off of work to make Training Center has taken over more than 40 ceramic bowls for the Torres Community Shelter’s the reins of All Fired Up, all upcoming Empty Bowls fundraiser. members of the public are invitPHOTO BY CHRISTINE G.K. LAPADO-BREGLIA ed to paint pottery and work with wet clay, as in the past; the facility is not reserved only for WTC clients.

Go to www.chicoshelter.org/news-events to learn more about Empty Bowls. Go to www.allfiredupchico.org for more information about Chico All Fired Up.

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“The granddaughter of [AquAlliance water-policy analyst] Jimmy Brobeck [and Diane Suzuki-Brobeck] has grown up with talk about saving our precious groundwater her whole life,” wrote Suzuki-Brobeck. “And Ramona herself is a ‘water baby,’ swimming as an infant, laying in puddles of rainwater as a toddler, and enjoying summers in Big Chico Creek.”

CCA & FOOD SECURITY: ROUND 3 Cultivating Community Advocates (CCA) has announced the

third and final funding cycle for its Food Security Competitive Grant Program, which involves up to $45,000 being awarded to local projects promoting food security within “access-challenged populations,” as a CCA press release put it. Previous grant recipients include Chico’s Work Training Center (to create a vegetable garden and orchard as a teaching tool for adults with developmental disabilities) and Jesus Center Community Garden, as well as the African-American Family and Cultural Center in South Oroville (to expand its community garden).

Go to www.ccadvocates.net to learn more about CCA’s grant program. Applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. on April 1. Two grant-proposal workshops will be held on Feb. 27 (tonight) and March 24; both will be held at 1161 East Ave. and will begin at 5 p.m.

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

coming soon!

February 27, 2014

CN&R 15

THE PULSE

HEALTHLINES

MORE LATINOS, PLEASE

As the Affordable Care Act’s March 31 deadline for enrollment draws near, Covered California is making a push to sign up more Latinos.

Officials with the state’s health-insurance exchange said they will spend $8.2 million on Spanish-language advertising through the end of enrollment, and plan on hiring more bilingual call-center employees and hosting more enrollment events in areas with dense Latino populations, according to SFGate.com.

Latinos are uninsured at higher rates than other ethnicities in the state, but also tend to be younger—and therefore, healthier—than the general population. As such, their participation would help lower insurance rates for everyone.

Given the importance of Latino enrollment, Covered California has received criticism for failing to hire a sufficient number of bilingual insurance agents and enrollment counselors, and for presenting parts of its website only in English.

MORE USING DOC-RATING WEBSITES

More so than in the past, Americans are looking to online ratings to choose their doctor, a survey finds.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School surveyed more than 2,100 Americans, finding that more than two-thirds of respondents were aware that such physician-rating sites exist, and one-quarter had used the sites in the past year, according to HealthDay. Most important, people use the sites to make decisions: 35 percent of those surveyed chose a doctor based on a good rating, while 37 percent avoided a physician with a poor rating.

Sites vary greatly in how users rate their experience at a doctor’s office. For example, on general sites like Yelp.com, doctors and restaurants alike are rated on a star system, while sites such as Healthgrades offer more comprehensive surveys.

The researchers noted that, since only a few of a doctor’s patients are likely to rate their experience online, the ratings can be skewed by one bad review.

BMI TIED TO FAST-FOOD SALES

New research has linked the rate of fast-food consumption in the world’s wealthiest countries to body-mass index (BMI)— a widely used indicator for obesity—for the entire population.

Defining “fast food” as anything purchased from chains like McDonald’s or Taco Bell and certain independent restaurants and convenience stores, researchers at UC Davis used a globalmarket database to collect fast-food transaction records between 1999 and 2008, according to SFGate.com. Over the study period, the average number of per capita fast-food transactions increased from 26.6 to 32.8 annually, while average BMI increased from 25.8 to 26.4.

The study was the first to compare BMI and fast-food transactions rather than relying on self-reported consumption levels, which depend on memory and reporting honestly.

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

16 CN&R February 27, 2014

Jeff Lobosky, a local neurosurgeon and author of the 2012 book It’s Enough to Make You Sick, maintains that the federal Affordable Care Act won’t clean up California’s Medi-Cal mess.

FILE PHOTO BY KYLE DELMAR

Obamacare and the docs Are there enough local physicians to meet the need?

by

Robert Speer

I Make You Sick, about the American health-care system, Chico neurosurgeon n his 2012 book, It’s Enough to

Jeff Lobosky warns that the Affordable Care Act has serious problems.

To mention just one flaw Lobosky sees: The ACA moves millions of low-income people into Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California), but there aren’t even enough doctors for current Medicaid patients. “It will get them a card,” he said in an interview, “but it won’t get them care.”

As of Jan. 31, more than 1.6 million Californians had signed up for either Covered California health-insurance plans or low-cost or no-cost Medi-Cal. Locally, some of those patients are finding health care, but many aren’t.

Julie Light is one of the lucky ones. A part-time substitute teacher, the Corning woman had been getting care at a local clinic that accepted cash payments on a sliding scale. When she signed up for Obamacare insurance, she continued to use the clinic.

On her one visit since getting her insurance card, she saw a physician assistant and got some lab work done. Her co-pay was $3.

The clinics are rapidly filling up, however, as more and more people obtain ACA coverage. In Chico, Northern Valley Indian Health’s East Avenue clinic is seeing six to eight new patients a day, Beya Villegas, its site manager, reported in a phone interview. The clinic is “close to capacity,” she

said, and the pressure to see more people “has taken a toll on the clinic. ... I wonder where patients will go when we fill up.”

The Chico Children’s Center, the pediatric clinic formerly run by Enloe Medical System but now part of NVIH, is similarly filled up. “We’re probably booked out six weeks for some providers,” Villegas said.

The number of patients these clinics can see depends on the number of providers—doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners—on staff. But it’s not easy to find qualified people who want to work in a clinic setting. “God, no,” Villegas said. “Normally it takes six months to a year [to fill an opening].”

The largest federally qualified clinic in the Chico area is the Ampla facility on Cohasset Road, which offers dental as well as medical care. It recently underwent a major remodeling and expansion, but even so, it’s now at capacity.

That doesn’t seem to faze Ampla’s Yuba City-based CEO, Benjamin H. Flo-

res. Ampla has 12 clinics spread among rural towns such as Orland, Willows and Gridley, and many of them are not yet at capacity. Besides, Flores said during a phone interview, “We will continue growing and expanding services as demand requires.”

Flores’ optimism echoes that of Anthony Wright, executive director of the consumer-advocacy group Health Access. The hope, he told the California Health Report last June, is that “[i]f you create a lot more paying customers by getting them insured ... the market will adjust in terms of having more [doctors] there.”

Maybe so, maybe not. Richard

Thorp, who in addition to being a primarycare doctor in Paradise is president of the California Medical Association, points out that the historic problem with MediCal—its low rate of reimburse-ment—has

APPOINTMENT A CHICO CLASSIC Chico Running Club’s annual Bidwell Classic, which offers both a half-marathon relay and a 5K run/walk, will start at the One-Mile Recreation Area in Lower Bidwell Park at 8 a.m. on Saturday (March 1). Register online at www.tinyurl.com/bidwellclassic or during packet pick-up at Fleet Feet Sports (241 Main St.) on Thursday (Feb. 27), from 3 to 7 p.m., or Friday (Feb. 28), from noon to 7 p.m.

HEALTHLINES continued on page 18

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HEALTHLINES

continued from page 16

been carried forward under the ACA. An office visit is valued at $23 or $24, he said, “about what you’d pay for an extra-large pizza.” The rates are so low, he added, that every Medi-Cal patient is a money loser for his or her doctor.

The rates under Covered California’s insurance plans aren’t any better, Thorp said. The most affordable “bronze” plan reimburses at 70 percent of the same insurance company’s commercial rate, which in turn is lower than the Medicare reimbursement rate.

Is it any wonder, he asked, that doctors aren’t eager to accept new Medi-Cal and Covered California patients? “Doctors are in business,” he said. “They have significant overhead. They have to make decisions that enable them to stay in business.”

California has faced a shortage of primary-care doctors since long before implementation of the ACA. This is especially true in rural areas, where many old-style family docs are retiring and not being replaced. Unfortunately, most young doctors are not attracted to working in small towns.

Indeed, most young doctors aren’t attracted to being family doctors, period. A specialist’s hours are better and so is the pay.

The trend is to make increased use of doctor surrogates—physician assistants and nurse practitioners—to compensate for the physician shortage by handling uncomplicated cases under a doctor’s supervision. This is especially true

in clinics, where a team model is often used to provide the most efficient and effective care possible.

Even if the shortage of pri-

mary-care physicians is solved—a huge “if”—it won’t make specialists any more willing to accept Medi-Cal or ACA patients.

Just recently, Lobosky and his partners at Northstate Neurosurgical Associates received five or six referrals from the Redding area in one week. All were Medi-Cal patients who had been turned away by local neurosurgeons.

As the Redding doctors knew, the NNA neurosurgeons are the only ones in the area who accept Medi-Cal. In these cases, however, they too turned away the patients.

They can barely afford to take Chico’s Medi-Cal patients, Lobosky explained.

Is Obamacare going to work?

He’s doubtful. “Obamacare is counting on the doctors to say, “Oh, screw it. I’ll see them. The costs are going up, up, up, and they’re going to stick it to the docs and hospitals.”

If Obamacare fails, he said, one group will benefit: supporters of a single-payer system, or Medicare for all. “But it’s far too early to tell,” he said.

In contrast, Ampla’s Flores is upbeat. “For us, it’s an exciting time,” he said. Ω Independent reporting for this story was made possible through a grant from HealthyCal.org.

WEEKLY DOSE Aiding sleep, naturally Sleepless nights are no fun. About.com offers some natural remedies to help one catch some much-needed Zs, including: • Valerian root: Capsules of this herb, which is not believed to be addictive or leave one feeling groggy in the morning, are available in the supplement section of drug stores and natural-foods stores.

• Relaxation techniques: Yoga and visualization (such as vividly imagining oneself on a tropical island) are excellent methods of relaxation, thus helping one fall asleep faster and sleep longer.

• Diet: Cutting out caffeine and sugar can have a positive effect on sleeplessness, as can eating foods containing tryptophan and magnesium, a natural sedative.

18 CN&R February 27, 2014

2014 CAMMIES s e e n i m o n

The CAMMIES selection committee has spoken.

Here are the nominees for the 2014 Chico Area Music Awards (voting begins March 6):

Singer-songwriter

Rap

Punk / Ska

Bran Crown Fera Kyle Williams Lisa Valentine Lish Bills Mandalyn May

Big Slim Himp C The Hooliganz Resonators Twisted Strategies TyBox

In the spirit of the all-inclusive CAMMIES punk showcases that the Pyrate Punx host, every local punk/ska band has again been nominated:

Folk / Americana / Country

Rock

Bunnymilk Gordy Ohliger Michelin Embers The Railflowers Three Fingers Whiskey

Aubrey Debauchery & The Broken Bones Gentlemen’s Coup The Persian Skirts The Rugs Surrogate

Jazz Bogg Christine LaPado-Breglia Trio Holly Taylor Jonathan Stoyanoff Shigemi Minetaka

Blues

The CAMMIES Music Festival

is taking over Chico this spring with another marathon of the best local music: 3 nights, 7 venues, 12 shows—April 3-5.

And we’ll return the following week for the all-day

CAMMIES Awards Show:

Sunday, April 13, at the Chico Women’s Club

The Amy Celeste Band The Growlers Ira Walker Mark Porkchop Holder Sapphire Soul

Jam / Funk Alli Battaglia & The Musical Brewing Co. Black Fong Gravybrain Jeff Pershing Band Sofa King Swamp Zen

World Stay tuned for the full schedule of shows and details on purchasing festival passes.

Visit us online at www.facebook.com/chicocammies and www.newsreview.com/cammies.

Ha’Penny Bridge Los Caballitos de La Canción Los Papi Chulos Soul Union Wolf Thump

Hard Rock / Metal Amarok Armed For Apocalypse Cold Blue Mountain Into the Open Earth Sorin Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy

Indie / Experimental Clouds on Strings French Reform Pageant Dads Sisterhoods West by Swan

Badger Big Tree Fall Down Blaster Dead Boss 501 Criminal Wave Fight Music Filthy Luke Frankie Doppler’s Nuclear Sunrise Gigantes Gorilla X Monsoon Guerrilla Gorilla Gyro Spazzers Icko Sicko Jay Decay Jorge Jonze Kasm Mom & Dad Nothing Left The Oisters Outside Looking In The Pushers Ryan Davidson Season of the Witch Severance Package

Electronic (two categories: producer & DJ) Best producer A.L.O. Billy the Robot Playboy Smooth Best DJ DJ Becca Eyere Eyes KO-DE-AK

February 27, 2014

CN&R 19

Strong-arming the budget

Vallejo $110,905 Chico $99,585 Desert Hot Springs $96,605 Beverly Hills $90,969 Stockton $82,095

Chico’s public safety devours the vast majority of dollars in a city whose employees are among the highest paid in the state time are just one chapter in a much bigger story of a city budget that is now largely dedicated to compensating those employees that most citizens value most: police and fire personnel. Their compensation consumed a lofty 82 percent—$29.1 million of $35.4 million— of last year’s general fund, the only money over which the City Council has spending discretion.

“That’s pretty high [for just publicsafety compensation],” said Chris Constantin, the city’s director of administrative services. “It depends on the priorities of the city. Parks and quality-oflife issues are almost as close in importance, so we cannot neglect that.”

In the aftermath of deep city

BY DAVE WADDELL

B

rian Nakamura was Chico’s highest-paid city employee last year. That’s no surprise, since he holds the city’s top post of city manager.

But for the four years preceding 2013, Chico’s top

administrator was not No. 1 on the city compensation chart. From 2009 through 2012, that distinction went instead to Dave Main, one of the city’s 18 fire captains and lieutenants.

From 2007 through 2013, as Main worked thousands upon thousands of overtime hours, his annual compensation averaged $282,000. The city manager in Chico during the same period averaged $283,000—just $1,000 more a year in pay and benefits, according to calculations by the city Finance Department.

20 CN&R February 27, 2014

While Main has worked staggering sums of overtime for many years, his numbers in 2010 seem almost unbelievable: • Overtime hours: 2,366.

• Total work hours: 5,278.

• Overtime pay: $122,616.

• Total pay and benefits: $314,000.

Main averaged working nearly 14 1/2 hours a day—every single day— for all 365 days of 2010. His overtime pay alone that year was nearly three times what the U.S. Census Bureau says is Chico’s average annual household income: $43,000.

This past year, Main once again led the city in overtime, logging 1,350 hours that earned him more than $78,000 in extra pay and bumped his total compensation to nearly $286,000.

The city was reimbursed for 317 hours of that overtime because he was working state or federal fires outside Chico.

Hefty levels of public safety over-

spending cuts—and with Mayor Scott Gruendl’s recent warning of more bad financial news ahead—Chico dentist and self-proclaimed moderate Michael Jones says he would like the community to have a debate about budget priorities. But such a debate is pointless until dollars are freed up by further police and fire contract givebacks, he argues.

Jones, along with Kelly Skelton, a proposal writer for a consulting firm, created what the mayor called a “very fascinating” graph the two have been parading around town in recent weeks (see it at their website, “Moderation is no Vice,” at www.chicopolitics.com).

Using 2012 data from the state Controller’s Office, the graph shows Chico to be 25th among the state’s 482 cities for highest-compensated employees. The average city of Chico employee that year earned $99,585 in wages and benefits.

Jones said the controller’s data suggest to him the city provides “Cadillac” retirement and health benefits to its employees, with Chico ranking 44th in pay but all the way up to 15th statewide in benefits. Chico’s staff in 2012 averaged $67,645 in wages, or about $5,500 more than the statewide average. Much more striking is the almost $32,000 average in benefits

provided to Chico city workers, which is about $14,500 more per employee than the state average for municipal workers of $17,500, according to the controller’s data.

The Jones-Skelton chart shows Chico paying its employees more than workers earn in Stockton and San Bernardino—cities whose bankruptcy filings some have attributed to employee pay and pension obligations. In order to move to the midway point on the state chart, Chico city workers would have to average $40,000 less in annual compensation.

Constantin says two factors influence Chico’s high ranking on the controller’s pay list: large amounts of overtime in public safety and relatively few lower-paying jobs. Beverly Hills, whose city workers average $90,969 in pay and benefits ($8,600 less than Chico’s), likely has many more lowerpaid parks and recreation workers than Chico, he said.

Still, Constantin thinks the controller’s report, because it considers “Medicare-only wages,” actually underreports city compensation. His calculation has Chico workers averaging $108,593 in 2013. According to Constantin’s numbers, Chico’s average police officer made about $136,000 in total compensation, while its firefighters averaged about $159,000.

Jones said that for some fire personnel to work so many overtime hours “does imply that the job is not all that demanding.” And he thinks it’s “really weird” that, during dire financial times for the city, the fire union local paid for its own so-called “forensic auditor” to scour the budget for dollars.

“They’re acting like it is a marriage

About the author:

Dave Waddell is a Chico State journalism instructor, former Redding RecordSearchlight reporter and editor, and occasional CN&R contributor.

San Bernardino $80,517 Merced $79,033

data from California State Controller’s Office www.publicpay.ca.gov

Sausalito $71,348 Redding $71,047 Paradise $68,375

and the money is community property,” Jones said. “It’s not their money.”

Jones and Skelton’s website is often critical of Chico’s public-safety unions. In one post, Skelton blasted the city’s pension costs as excessive: “We cut services to poor, homeless, women and children, no Caper Acres, so 50-year-olds can retire 15 to 20 years before their fellow citizens, receiving 90 percent salary, without a meaningful contribution toward their own pensions. What’s wrong with this picture?”

median city

Carmel $62,102

bankrupt cities

Arroyo Grande $59,742

very wealthy cities

Laguna Beach $55,978 San Luis Obispo $54,325 Out of 482 incorporated California cities and towns, Chico ranks 25th for highest-compensated employees.

Davis $48,948 Red Bluff $37,638

The picture is beginning to

change—though not as much or as quickly as Jones and Skelton would prefer. On Feb. 18, the council settled with its three police bargaining groups, including the Chico Police Officers’Association. The CPOA agreed to a one-year deal that will save the city $831,000 in reduced benefits to union members.

Those savings, as well as firefighter concessions that will total $1.8 million over three years, were mostly achieved by ending the politically out-of-favor practice of paying the employees’ share of pension costs to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

Under the state Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2012, employees must pay their own pension contributions by 2018.

At recent City Council meetings, Assistant City Manager Mark Orme has stroked the public-safety unions big time, using such terms as “amazing,” “incredible,” and “stepped up huge” to describe their givebacks.

Firefighters accepted a pay reduction that the union pegs at about 8 percent, including the end to a $350-amonth health fund contribution from the city. In the police deal, a city health fund contribution to employees was reduced from $300 to $100 per month.

California City Employee Average Wages and Benefits, 2012

0

20k

In total, city employee concessions this year exceed an “astounding” $3.4 million, Orme told the council last week. “Candidly, it’s rare that you ever see this happen in a municipal agency,” he said. “The dire circumstances unfortunately predicated that we had to move this forward in the way we did.”

Jones is not as enamored with the union concessions, roughly pegging the recent reductions in police and fire compensation at 5 percent to 6 percent of their total pay and benefits packages. “I think they were overcompensated about 30 percent, so I think they are still overcompensated,” Jones said. “All city services are suffering because we overcompensate police and fire, and that includes police and fire, which are understaffed since we pay the existing employees too much.”

At that Feb. 18 meeting, the City Council also put an end to a remarkable benefit that has served to jack up city employees’ retirement pensions for many years. In the past, whenever the city paid the employees’ shares of the PERS contribution, that amount

40k

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Chico Fire Capt. Dave Main made $122,616 in overtime alone in 2010.

PHOTO BY MELANIE MACTAVISH

was treated as “pensionable pay” for those employees. For police and fire workers, the PERS employee contribution is 9 percent of salary, so the impact of such pension padding on a retiree’s lifetime income is significant.

For example, when Mike Maloney retired as Chico police chief on or about his 50th birthday in April 2012, he had worked more than 30 years in law enforcement. From CalPERS, he was entitled to 90 percent of his highest yearly salary for life. Maloney’s salary in 2011 was $158,000. Adding 9 percent to that figure—just because the city was willing to pay his CalPERS share for him and treat the amount as “pensionable pay”—elevated Maloney’s highest salary for pension calculations to at least $172,000.

Further, as a result of CalPERS cost-of-living adjustments, the 51year-old Maloney’s annual pension “CITY BUDGET” continued on page 22 February 27, 2014

CN&R 21

Strong-arming the budget

Vallejo $110,905 Chico $99,585 Desert Hot Springs $96,605 Beverly Hills $90,969 Stockton $82,095

Chico’s public safety devours the vast majority of dollars in a city whose employees are among the highest paid in the state time are just one chapter in a much bigger story of a city budget that is now largely dedicated to compensating those employees that most citizens value most: police and fire personnel. Their compensation consumed a lofty 82 percent—$29.1 million of $35.4 million— of last year’s general fund, the only money over which the City Council has spending discretion.

“That’s pretty high [for just publicsafety compensation],” said Chris Constantin, the city’s director of administrative services. “It depends on the priorities of the city. Parks and quality-oflife issues are almost as close in importance, so we cannot neglect that.”

In the aftermath of deep city

BY DAVE WADDELL

B

rian Nakamura was Chico’s highest-paid city employee last year. That’s no surprise, since he holds the city’s top post of city manager.

But for the four years preceding 2013, Chico’s top

administrator was not No. 1 on the city compensation chart. From 2009 through 2012, that distinction went instead to Dave Main, one of the city’s 18 fire captains and lieutenants.

From 2007 through 2013, as Main worked thousands upon thousands of overtime hours, his annual compensation averaged $282,000. The city manager in Chico during the same period averaged $283,000—just $1,000 more a year in pay and benefits, according to calculations by the city Finance Department.

20 CN&R February 27, 2014

While Main has worked staggering sums of overtime for many years, his numbers in 2010 seem almost unbelievable: • Overtime hours: 2,366.

• Total work hours: 5,278.

• Overtime pay: $122,616.

• Total pay and benefits: $314,000.

Main averaged working nearly 14 1/2 hours a day—every single day— for all 365 days of 2010. His overtime pay alone that year was nearly three times what the U.S. Census Bureau says is Chico’s average annual household income: $43,000.

This past year, Main once again led the city in overtime, logging 1,350 hours that earned him more than $78,000 in extra pay and bumped his total compensation to nearly $286,000.

The city was reimbursed for 317 hours of that overtime because he was working state or federal fires outside Chico.

Hefty levels of public safety over-

spending cuts—and with Mayor Scott Gruendl’s recent warning of more bad financial news ahead—Chico dentist and self-proclaimed moderate Michael Jones says he would like the community to have a debate about budget priorities. But such a debate is pointless until dollars are freed up by further police and fire contract givebacks, he argues.

Jones, along with Kelly Skelton, a proposal writer for a consulting firm, created what the mayor called a “very fascinating” graph the two have been parading around town in recent weeks (see it at their website, “Moderation is no Vice,” at www.chicopolitics.com).

Using 2012 data from the state Controller’s Office, the graph shows Chico to be 25th among the state’s 482 cities for highest-compensated employees. The average city of Chico employee that year earned $99,585 in wages and benefits.

Jones said the controller’s data suggest to him the city provides “Cadillac” retirement and health benefits to its employees, with Chico ranking 44th in pay but all the way up to 15th statewide in benefits. Chico’s staff in 2012 averaged $67,645 in wages, or about $5,500 more than the statewide average. Much more striking is the almost $32,000 average in benefits

provided to Chico city workers, which is about $14,500 more per employee than the state average for municipal workers of $17,500, according to the controller’s data.

The Jones-Skelton chart shows Chico paying its employees more than workers earn in Stockton and San Bernardino—cities whose bankruptcy filings some have attributed to employee pay and pension obligations. In order to move to the midway point on the state chart, Chico city workers would have to average $40,000 less in annual compensation.

Constantin says two factors influence Chico’s high ranking on the controller’s pay list: large amounts of overtime in public safety and relatively few lower-paying jobs. Beverly Hills, whose city workers average $90,969 in pay and benefits ($8,600 less than Chico’s), likely has many more lowerpaid parks and recreation workers than Chico, he said.

Still, Constantin thinks the controller’s report, because it considers “Medicare-only wages,” actually underreports city compensation. His calculation has Chico workers averaging $108,593 in 2013. According to Constantin’s numbers, Chico’s average police officer made about $136,000 in total compensation, while its firefighters averaged about $159,000.

Jones said that for some fire personnel to work so many overtime hours “does imply that the job is not all that demanding.” And he thinks it’s “really weird” that, during dire financial times for the city, the fire union local paid for its own so-called “forensic auditor” to scour the budget for dollars.

“They’re acting like it is a marriage

About the author:

Dave Waddell is a Chico State journalism instructor, former Redding RecordSearchlight reporter and editor, and occasional CN&R contributor.

San Bernardino $80,517 Merced $79,033

data from California State Controller’s Office www.publicpay.ca.gov

Sausalito $71,348 Redding $71,047 Paradise $68,375

and the money is community property,” Jones said. “It’s not their money.”

Jones and Skelton’s website is often critical of Chico’s public-safety unions. In one post, Skelton blasted the city’s pension costs as excessive: “We cut services to poor, homeless, women and children, no Caper Acres, so 50-year-olds can retire 15 to 20 years before their fellow citizens, receiving 90 percent salary, without a meaningful contribution toward their own pensions. What’s wrong with this picture?”

median city

Carmel $62,102

bankrupt cities

Arroyo Grande $59,742

very wealthy cities

Laguna Beach $55,978 San Luis Obispo $54,325 Out of 482 incorporated California cities and towns, Chico ranks 25th for highest-compensated employees.

Davis $48,948 Red Bluff $37,638

The picture is beginning to

change—though not as much or as quickly as Jones and Skelton would prefer. On Feb. 18, the council settled with its three police bargaining groups, including the Chico Police Officers’Association. The CPOA agreed to a one-year deal that will save the city $831,000 in reduced benefits to union members.

Those savings, as well as firefighter concessions that will total $1.8 million over three years, were mostly achieved by ending the politically out-of-favor practice of paying the employees’ share of pension costs to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

Under the state Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2012, employees must pay their own pension contributions by 2018.

At recent City Council meetings, Assistant City Manager Mark Orme has stroked the public-safety unions big time, using such terms as “amazing,” “incredible,” and “stepped up huge” to describe their givebacks.

Firefighters accepted a pay reduction that the union pegs at about 8 percent, including the end to a $350-amonth health fund contribution from the city. In the police deal, a city health fund contribution to employees was reduced from $300 to $100 per month.

California City Employee Average Wages and Benefits, 2012

0

20k

In total, city employee concessions this year exceed an “astounding” $3.4 million, Orme told the council last week. “Candidly, it’s rare that you ever see this happen in a municipal agency,” he said. “The dire circumstances unfortunately predicated that we had to move this forward in the way we did.”

Jones is not as enamored with the union concessions, roughly pegging the recent reductions in police and fire compensation at 5 percent to 6 percent of their total pay and benefits packages. “I think they were overcompensated about 30 percent, so I think they are still overcompensated,” Jones said. “All city services are suffering because we overcompensate police and fire, and that includes police and fire, which are understaffed since we pay the existing employees too much.”

At that Feb. 18 meeting, the City Council also put an end to a remarkable benefit that has served to jack up city employees’ retirement pensions for many years. In the past, whenever the city paid the employees’ shares of the PERS contribution, that amount

40k

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80k

100k

120k

140k

Chico Fire Capt. Dave Main made $122,616 in overtime alone in 2010.

PHOTO BY MELANIE MACTAVISH

was treated as “pensionable pay” for those employees. For police and fire workers, the PERS employee contribution is 9 percent of salary, so the impact of such pension padding on a retiree’s lifetime income is significant.

For example, when Mike Maloney retired as Chico police chief on or about his 50th birthday in April 2012, he had worked more than 30 years in law enforcement. From CalPERS, he was entitled to 90 percent of his highest yearly salary for life. Maloney’s salary in 2011 was $158,000. Adding 9 percent to that figure—just because the city was willing to pay his CalPERS share for him and treat the amount as “pensionable pay”—elevated Maloney’s highest salary for pension calculations to at least $172,000.

Further, as a result of CalPERS cost-of-living adjustments, the 51year-old Maloney’s annual pension “CITY BUDGET” continued on page 22 February 27, 2014

CN&R 21

“CITY BUDGET” continued from page 21 “CITY BUDGET” continued from page 21

will soon be higher than his highest will soon be it higher than his highest salary—and will continue to grow salary—and it will continue to life. grow with each passing COLA. For withWhile each passing COLA. For life. city officials have While cityon officials havefor heaped praise the unions heaped praise on the unions for diftheir recent concessions, a very their concessions, a very ferentrecent posture toward labor was difon ferent toward labor was on displayposture in October when Nakamura display in October when Nakamura and Constantin fielded questions on and Constantin fielded questions on the state of city finances at a Chico the state of city finances at a Chico Tea Party meeting.

TeaPart Party of meeting. the difficulty of cutting Part of the difficultytold of cutting the budget, Nakamura the the budget, Nakamura told negotithe group, is that the city must group, is that the city must negotiate with police and fire workers ate fire workers whowith are police backedand by powerful who are backed by powerful national and international unions. national and international unions.

“It’s not just the little [Police Offi“It’s not just the little [Policeit’s Officers’Association] of Chico, the cers’Association] of Chico, it’s the POA national that will come in and POA national that will come in and say, ‘OK, we’re gonna fight.’And say, we’re then‘OK, you look at gonna us andfight.’And say, ‘We then you look at us and say, ‘We don’t have the legal resources to don’t have the resourcessaid. to fight that,’” thelegal city manager fight that,’” the city manager said.

Constantin, who said he has Constantin, whoofficer said heinhas worked as a police Hayworked as a police officer Hayward, suggested that policeinunions ward, suggested that police unions try to scare the community when try when cutstotoscare copsthe arecommunity contemplated.

And cuts to cops are contemplated.

Nakamura made reference to “aAnd Nakamura made reference to “a From left: City Manager Brian Nakamura, From left: City City Manager Manager Mark BrianOrme Nakamura, Assistant and Assistant City Manager Orme and Administrative Services Mark Director Chris Administrative Services Director Chris Constantin during the special Chico City Constantin during the this special City Council meeting early yearChico to set Council meeting early this year to set objectives for 2014. objectives 2014.MACTAVISH FILE PHOTO BYfor MELANIE

room full of red shirts” whenever room fullare of proposed red shirts”that whenever changes may changes are proposed that may eliminate jobs in the fire service. eliminate jobs in theTea fireParty service.

Constantin told memtold Tea Partythat membersConstantin he was amazed to find bers he was amazed to find that when he first sought to pay his when he first soughtshare to pay own entire pension in his Chico, own entire pension share in Chico, he was prohibited from doing so he prohibitedwith fromone doing so by was an agreement of the by an agreement with one of the city’s nine employee bargaining city’s nine employee bargaining groups.

When asked at the meeting groups.

When asked at meeting whether city employeesthe would be whether city employees would be required to pay their own pension required to payConstantin their own pension contributions, chose his contributions, Constantin chose his words carefully: “We are looking words carefully: “We are looking for all of our unions to live within for all ofthat our what unions liveinwithin a reality wetohad the a reality that what we had in the

FILE PHOTO BY MELANIE MACTAVISH

Chico’s Chico’s top top 20 20 highest-paid highest-paid employees, employees, 2013 2013 other Title and name fringe other pay Title and name fringe pay 1. City Manager Brian Nakamura 102,561 5,525 1. City Manager Brian Nakamura 102,561 5,525 2. Fire Capt. David Main 85,912 3,424 2. Fire Capt. David Main 85,912 3,424 3. City Attorney Lori Barker 85,468 3. City Attorney Lori Barker 85,468 4. Fire Division Chief Keith Carter 94,657 26,524 4. Fire Division Chief Keith Carter 94,657 26,524 5. Fire Capt. Aaron Lowe 84,117 5. Fire Capt. Aaron Lowe 84,117 6. Fire Capt. Ray Silverman 83,984 1,557 6. Fire Capt. Ray Silverman 83,984 1,557 7. Police Chief Kirk Trostle 96,339 725 7. Police Chief Kirk Trostle 96,339 725 8. Fire Capt. William Hack 84,226 2,197 8. Fire Capt. William Hack 84,226 2,197 9. Fire Apparatus Engineer 9.

Fire Apparatus Engineer Peter Houtman 76,848 Peter Houtman 76,848 10. Fire Division Chief 10.

Fire Division Chief Jared Lauderdale 87,814 15,591 Jared Lauderdale 87,814 15,591 11. Fire Lt. Bryan Hagan 79,487 2,446 11. Fire Lt. Bryan Hagan 79,487 2,446 12. Fire Capt. Stephen Harrison 82,387 1,781 12. Fire Capt. Stephen Harrison 82,387 1,781 13. Fire Capt. Dominic Sanfilippo 78,108 3,424 13. Fire Capt. Dominic Sanfilippo 78,108 3,424 14. Fire Lt. Michael Watner 80,216 14. Fire Lt. Michael Watner 80,216 15. Police Sgt. Scott Ruppel 77,447 386 15. Police Sgt. Scott Ruppel 77,447 386 16. Police Lt. Linda Dye 72,351 37,994 16. Police Lt. Linda Dye 72,351 37,994 17. Police Lt. Jennifer Gonzales 79,053 29,037 17. Police Lt. Jennifer Gonzales 79,053 29,037 18. Public Works Director 18. Public Works Director Ruben Martinez 72,455 3,125 Ruben Martinez 72,455 3,125 19. Police Capt. Lori MacPhail 87,990 280 19. Police Capt. Lori MacPhail 87,990 280 20. Police Sgt. Ted McKinnon 77,474 2,168 20. Police Sgt. Ted McKinnon 77,474 2,168 Source: Chico Finance Department Source: Chico Finance Department 22 CN&R February 27, 2014 22 CN&R February 27, 2014

overtime overtime pay pay 78,043 78,043 60,341 60,341 53,172 53,172 37,454 37,454 61,831 61,831 44,976 44,976 33,701 33,701 30,996 30,996 37,917 37,917 46,493 46,493

28,831 28,831

regular special regular special pay pay pay pay 217,000 217,000 103,871 14,599 103,871 14,599 184,922 184,922 123,397 23,516 123,397 23,516 103,871 12,028 103,871 12,028 103,871 14,023 103,871 14,023 154,000 154,000 103,873 18,692 103,873 18,692

total total compensation compensation $325,086 $325,086 $285,978 $285,978 $270,390 $270,390 $268,123 $268,123 $260,386 $260,386 $256,674 $256,674 $251,064 $251,064 $246,451 $246,451

89,748 89,748

12,377 12,377

$240,859 $240,859

117,980 117,980 98,921 98,921 103,871 103,871 103,871 103,871 98,921 98,921 95,638 95,638 112,797 112,797 112,797 112,797

17,281 17,281 10,791 10,791 14,042 14,042 14,599 14,599 13,280 13,280 8,816 8,816 4,504 4,504 4,505 4,505

$239,167 $239,167 $236,832 $236,832 $235,973 $235,973 $231,026 $231,026 $230,362 $230,362 $229,151 $229,151 $227,646 $227,646 $225,391 $225,391

149,647 149,647 132,463 132,463 95,638 95,638

4,073 4,073 17,264 17,264

$225,226 $225,226 $224,805 $224,805 $221,599 $221,599

past can’t be something we’re past be something we’re goingcan’t to have in the future.” going to have in the future.”

While paying overtime is generpaying overtime is generallyWhile cheaper for the city than hiring ally cheaper for the city than hiring new employees, Constantin says it new employees, Constantin says it can come at a price. can“The comemore at a price. hours [an employee “Thethe more hours [anofemployee works], higher risk fatigue works], the higher risk of fatigue and … of making mistakes and … and … of making andsaid … of impacting your mistakes family life,” of impactingwho yournoted family life,” said Constantin, that the Fire Constantin, who noted that the Fire Department’s occasional closures Department’s occasional closures of certain stations have helped keep of certainhundreds stations have helped keep overtime of thousands of overtime hundreds of thousands dollars under budget for the first of dollars under budget half of this fiscal year.for the first half of this fiscal year.

Firefighters in Chico work Firefighters in Chico work

56 hours a week before being paid 56 hours aAweek before being paid overtime. common shift is 48 overtime.

A common shift is 48 hours on duty, 96 hours off. Fire hours on duty, 96 hours off.overtime Fire personnel willing to work personnel willing overtime put their names ontoa work list. Once an put their names list. Once an employee workson 16ahours of overemployee works 16 hours of overtime, his or her name drops to the time, hisoforthe herlist. name drops to theas bottom A captain such bottom of the list.

A captain such Main is paid his regular overtime as Main is paid hissubbing regular overtime rate even when for a rate even when subbing lower-paid firefighter. for a lower-paid firefighter.

“How the overtime is dealt out, “How the overtime is dealt out, Dave Main has very little control Dave Main has very little control over who gets picked,” said John over who gets picked,” said John Kelso, president of Chico local Kelso, president of Chico local No. 2734 of the International AssoNo. 2734 theFighters.

International Association of of Fire “He makes ciation Fire Fighters.

“He makes himself of available.

So as crazy as you himself available. crazy you and I might think itSois,ashis workasethic and I might think it is, his work ethic is ‘never leave a seat unfilled.’” is ‘never a seat unfilled.’”

Main,leave 54, has worked 25 years Main, 54, has worked 25 years for the Chico Fire Department.

A for the Chico Fire Department.

Chico High graduate, he servedAin Chico HighSpecial graduate, he served the Army’s Forces beforein the Army’s Special Forces beforeas becoming a firefighter. In 1991, becoming a firefighter.

In 1991, as a reservist, he was called up to the aGulf reservist, he was called up to the War, where he lost a ring finGulf War, where he at lost a ring fin-2 ger. He is stationed Fire House ger.

He is stationed at Fire House 2 on Fifth Avenue, across The on Fifth Avenue, across The Esplanade from Enloe Medical Esplanade Enloebusiest Medical Center. It isfrom the city’s staCenter.

It is the city’s busiest stationhouse and the “hub” of the tionhouse and the “hub” of the department, Kelso said. department, Kelso said. married Main, who has been Main, who has been marriedsat 25 years “to the same woman,” 25 years “to the same woman,” sat down at Station 2 on a recent Sundown at Station 2 on a recent day evening to discuss his jobSunand day evening to discuss his jobon and his pay.

Sixteen hours earlier, his pay.

Sixteen hours earlier, on the same 48-hour shift, he was disthe sameto48-hour shift,DUI he was dispatched the alleged crash patched to two the alleged DUI students crash that killed Chico State that killed two Chico State students and left a third hospitalized with and left a third hospitalized with major injuries. It was a complicated major injuries.

It was complicated accident to work and aa sickening accident to work and a sickening scene to witness—even for a war scene to witness—even for a war veteran and longtime firefighter. veteran and longtime firefighter.

“They’re more slides you have “They’re slides you have in your tray”more of haunting images in your tray” of haunting images witnessed on the job, Main said. witnessed the job, Main said.

Besideson increasing his income, Besides increasing his income, Main said he works so much for Main said he First, workshesowas much for to two reasons. raised two reasons.

First, he was raised to believe that “a person should work” believe that “a person should work” when work is available. Second, his when work istoavailable.

Second, his commitment the fire service commitment to the fire service “supersedes” personal pleasures. “supersedes” personal pleasures.

“If you don’t have relief, you “Ifgo you don’tThat’s have relief, you don’t home. the pact you don’t go home.

That’s the pact you make with the city when you put make with theMain, city when you to puthis this on,” said pointing this on,” said Main, pointing to his badge. badge.

He said Fire Department records He said records indicate he Fire wentDepartment on about 1,200 indicate he went on about 1,200 calls in 2013. Those calls included calls in 2013.

Those calls included working two fires outside Chico on working two fires outside on assignments that typically Chico last days assignments that typically lastthe days or even weeks and for which or weeks andhis forpay, which the cityeven is reimbursed plus city is reimbursed his pay, plus 10 percent for administrative costs.

10 percent forheadministrative costs.

Main said does not believe his Main said he does not believe his pay of $37.30 an hour is out of line pay of $37.30 an hour is out of line after 25 years as a firefighter and after years highly as a firefighter and “three25highly, competitive “three highly, highly competitive promotions” to captain. He receives promotions” to on captain.

He receives $55.95 an hour overtime. $55.95 hour on overtime.

In allanhis years on the job, Main hisbeen yearsout onon theworker’s job, Main saidInheallhas said he has been out on worker’s comp for “for less than one shift” comp “for less than one shift” due tofor injury. dueWhile to injury.

Main may have no peer While Maintomay have no peer when it comes working overtime, when it comes to working overtime, he has plenty of company among he plenty of company Firehas Department managersamong near the Fire Department managers the top of the city’s 2013 list ofnear highesttop of the city’s 2013 list of highestcompensated employees. Three of compensated employees. of the top six earners are fireThree captains, the top six earners are fire captains, while a fourth is acting Fire Chief while fourthNo is acting Fire Chief Keith aCarter. fewer than 11 of Keith Carter.

Noearners fewer than 11 of the city’s top 14 in 2013 the city’s top 14 earners in 2013 were Fire Department employees. were Fire Department employees.

Police Chief Kirk Trostle ranks PoliceinChief Kirk Trostle ranks seventh compensation behind seventh in compensation behind Nakamura, City Attorney Lori Nakamura, Attorney Lori Barker (thirdCity place) and the four Barker (third place) and the fire managers. After Trostle,four the fire After Trostle, nextmanagers. police employee on the the list is next policeRuppel employee on 15. the Ruplist is Sgt. Scott at No. Sgt. Scott Ruppel at No. 15.

Ruppel’s 636 hours in overtime at a pel’s 636 hours in overtime at a cost of $46,500 topped the departcost of $46,500 topped the department in 2013. ment in 2013.

Police Lt. Linda Dye, who Police Lt. Linda Dye, retired in December at agewho 50 after retired in December at age after 26 years with CPD, was the50city’s 26 years with CPD, was the city’s 16th-highest-paid employee last 16th-highest-paid employee year. Dye’s $227,664 in totallast comyear.

Dye’s $227,664 in total compensation included a $24,600 pensation included a $24,600 “cash award” to settle a claim for “cash award” settlefiled a claim for damages.

The to claim, in Febdamages.

The claim, filed in February 2012, cites unspecified civil ruary citespay unspecified rights 2012, and equal violationscivil that rights and equal pay that she was “ordered” atviolations the time not she was “ordered” at the time not to discuss. to discuss.

In fall 2012, Nakamura took In fall 2012, Nakamura took

the reins of a city government that the a city hadreins spentofitself to government “the brink ofthat had spent itself to brink of insolvency,” in the“the words of Couninsolvency,” the words of Councilman Markin Sorensen.

Various city cilman Various city reserve Mark fundsSorensen. had been depleted by reserve been since depleted by a total offunds $20.5had million 2007. a total $20.5 since Theofdepth ofmillion the fiscal hole2007. was depth of Constantin’s the fiscal holearrival was notThe known until not known until Constantin’s arrival to head up city finances last March. to head aupfew citymonths, finances March.

Within thelast council Within a few months, the council had made $4.8 million in budget had million in budget cuts made that hit$4.8 every department. cuts that $800,000 hit every department.

Another in cuts would Another in The cuts only would follow in$800,000 November. follow in November.

The only employees exempted from layoff employees layoff were those exempted who wore from badges, which were those who wore badges, which

Self-described moderate Republican Kelly Skelton and moderate Michael Jones have teamed up to shed light on what they see as exorbitant city salaries.

PHOTO BY MELANIE MACTAVISH

served to increase public safety’s portion of the general fund pie.

Trostle issued a strongly worded press release in June in which he said Nakamura’s plan “bulldozes the police department.” Eliminated were the police’s mounted enforcement team, riot response force, Street Crimes Unit, community policing team, Gang Unit, Traffic Unit, and school resource officers.

The Detective Bureau was cut from nine to five detectives. Only the Gang Unit has since been restored.

As the recession hit in 2008, Chico had about 80 officers on its police force. That number had fallen to 62 officers by mid-2013, but is back up to 66. To restore all of the police programs cut last year, Trostle said Chico needs 83 officers. The City Council wants to add five new officers in the 2014-15 budget, to a force of 71, if finances are stable.

Late last year, Constantin brought to the council a 10-year plan to pay back the $15 million in remaining debt at the rate of about $1.5 million annually. The fire union preferred a longer payback period in order to “salvage some services,” Kelso said.

Only one council member opposed the strategy: Sean Morgan.

A lecturer in management at Chico State, Morgan was backed

for council by the Chico Police Officers’Association, the city’s most combative employees union.

Some council observers perceive Morgan as close to CPOA—a perception he expressed surprise over.

At the Dec. 17 council meeting, Morgan noted that the city’s principal spending goes for “pensions and salaries” in the police and fire departments.

“I don’t think we can afford to cut from those two places,” he said.

Morgan proposed that instead of committing $1.5 million to debt repayment each year, that amount be split 50-50 between eliminating the debt and public safety “until we get our 83 cops.”

Randall Stone, who claims to be the only council member elected without the endorsement of at least one public employees union “in recent decades,” argued during budget meetings last year that Chico could not afford its levels of public safety compensation.

In November, Stone filed a complaint with the Police Department after he found what he considered racist and homophobic content on Police Officer Todd Boothe’s Facebook page. Boothe also was accused of writing that Stone was an “asshole” and “incompetent” on the councilman’s Facebook page.

Stone copied some of Boothe’s 2009 content to his own Facebook page and was criticized by both the police union and Trostle for at least indirectly tipping the news media to a confidential investigation. Officer Peter Durfee, president of the CPOA, quickly called a press conference to blast Stone, accusing him of putting Boothe’s safety at risk and violating his free-speech rights.

To Juanita Sumner, president of the Chico Taxpayers Association, the Chico Police Officer Peter Durfee, president of the Chico police union, held a press conference in November to defend a fellow officer who’d been accused of posting racist and homophobic comments and images on his Facebook page.

PHOTO BY TOM GASCOYNE

Stone-Boothe controversy was less about racism or free speech than about cops not wanting to pay their own CalPERS contributions.

Some observers were surprised that Councilman Morgan, whose campaign the CPOA backed with a $5,000 contribution, showed up at Durfee’s press conference.

Morgan was interviewed off camera, making this statement quoted on that night’s TV broadcast: “It’s unfortunate an elected official would make the identity of a police officer known, thus endangering the officer and his family’s safety.” Morgan declined to be interviewed for this article, citing negotiations.

Durfee also spoke on behalf of the CPOA at the Nov. 19 City Council meeting. His criticism of Stone, if anything, intensified as he urged the councilman to recuse himself from all dealings involving the police union.

“This association protects your streets, your families and the city,” Durfee told the council. “It’s hard to protect from the front while you’re getting stabbed in the back.”

The seemingly ever-present Durfee was back before the council Feb. 4, criticizing its decision to increase the amount the city is paying a “hired gun” to negotiate with unions. Councilman Sorensen called Durfee’s comments “beyond hypocrisy” since CPOA hires its own outside negotiator while not wanting to have one protecting taxpayers.

Durfee said in a recent interview that most other city services are “frills” if they come at the expense of community safety. He described the gang problem in Chico as “running rampant” while the Gang Unit was down.

“It’s nice to have all these extra things that we’ve had in the past—the art, the parks, the leaf service—that stuff’s great,” he said. “It’s nice to have a beautiful park, but if it’s not safe to walk in, what do you have?”

Jones and Skelton see it differently. They say “elitist” city compensation levels, especially for police and fire personnel, not only hurt public safety but serve to crowd out other services. For that to change, citizens will have to “stand up” to the police and fire unions, Skelton said.

“I think they have a mob mentality,” she said. “They’re holding us hostage.” Ω

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February 27, 2014

CN&R 23

Arts & Culture Programmed to party

THIS WEEK

Dubstep DJ and producer DATSIK rides robo-tunes to the top

L cian DATSIK began experimenting with extreme sounds—the glitchy, oscillating electronic os Angeles-based electronic musi-

squeals and divebombs associated with dubstep today—on his laptop around 2008, which turned out to be precisely the right time to start a by career in the production of robotHoward ic noises.

Hardee Having first gained a foothold howardh@ in the underground electronicnewsreview.com music scene, dubstep became enormously popular in college circles by the end of the last decade, and has since gone on to become a PREVIEW: ubiquitous element in Top 40 DATSIK will perform radio. Riding that wave, the once at the Senator Theatre Thursday, completely anonymous laptop March 6, 9 p.m., as jockey became an internationally part of the Digital famous dubstep DJ and producer in Assassins Tour. a few short years. (His 2009 single Heroes and Villains, “Nuke ’Em” has had more than and MUST DIE! open. 10 million views on YouTube.)

While rooted in danceable hipTickets: $26, available at hop and house techno, DATSIK’s www.ticketweb.com music has a distinctly dark undercurrent. As with most dubstep, it Senator Theatre 517 Main St. offers a somewhat jarring listening www.jmax experience, a balls-out party with productions.net convulsive bleeps and screeches interspersed throughout. With the over-the-top emphasis on electronic sounds in his music, and (judging by his busy tour schedule) his unfathomable ability to party every night, one might suspect that DATSIK is a robot.

But, as the CN&R was able to ascertain during a recent phone interview, he’s just a dude.

In fact, he has a musical background most dudes of his generation can identify with. Originally from Kelowna, British Columbia, DATSIK (real name: Troy Beetles) grew up listening to gangster-rap albums he stole from his older brothers. “Old-school Snoop Dogg albums, Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, all that typical ’90s dope hip-hop shit was totally my jam,” he said, adding that he began making music by building hip-hop beats on his laptop.

By his account, his eventual success was a matter of luck. “Honestly, I never really intended on any of this; it kind of just happened,” he said. “When I was younger, I just made music for fun. I started making dubstep, throwing it on the Internet and getting a positive response from it. Before I knew it, people 24 CN&R February 27, 2014

27

THURS

Special Events Troy “DATSIK” Beetles PHOTO COURTESY OF DATSIK

were hitting me up, trying to book me for shows. I was like, ‘Well, I don’t really know what to do [on stage]; I guess I should probably learn how to DJ pretty quick.’

“That’s how a lot of these younger kids enter the scene as well,” he continued. “They start by becoming a good producer; then they start playing shows because people want to see them. These days, anybody can be a DJ because it’s so accessible. But to become a good producer, you have to really work for it, and the payoff is getting to travel around and play your music for people.”

While playing live, DATSIK strives to “take as much control as I possibly can,” using a MIDI controller to manipulate his mixer’s digital soundcard on the fly. “Sometimes I’ll take a hip-hop riff and mash it with a really heavy dubstep riff, and come up with something completely original and fresh,” he said.

“With a DJ, you typically don’t get that much creative freedom. With the way I do it, you end up with something unique and crazy each show.”

As for waking up in new cities and summoning the energy to party every night of a tour, he said it’s a matter of falling into a routine in which “you figure out how to balance yourself.

“It’s really easy to get sick on the road with a bunch of other people. If one person gets sick on the bus, other people get sick, too. That really sucks, so you have to be super careful and constantly try to eat healthy.

“It’s tough, though, when you wake up in some city, it’s 3 or 4 p.m. and there’s no food around except McDonald’s.”

DATSIK’s upcoming show in Chico (Thursday, March 6) will feature a mighty fancy stage prop: the Vortex Lumen, a 3-D visualizer shaped like a giant old-timey horn speaker and designed for maximum levels of hypnosis. Having played the Senator Theatre in 2012, he’s anticipating “a super-fun, wickedcrazy crowd. California crowds are always amazing, so I’m really excited to come back.” Ω

RENT PARTY: An homage to the parties staged by Harlemites in the 1920s and 1930s to raise donations to pay their rent. Dress up as your favorite figure from the era, have dinner, dance and help raise funds for Chapman Elementary School. Th, 2/27, 6pm. $5. Harlen Adams Theatre, Chico State, (530) 898-6333.

WINE TASTING: A wine-tasting fundraiser to benefit child-abuse prevention in Butte County.

Th, 2/27, 5-7pm. $5. The Crystal Room, 968 East Ave.

Art Receptions ARTIST LECTURE: Bay Area artist Colter Jacobsen’s lecture is titled One Always Fails to Speak of the Things One Loves. His work incorporates found materials, both discarded or lost, and includes drawings, paintings, photography and installations, and deals with themes of memory, longing, blindness and seeing. Th, 2/27, 6pm. Free. Ayres Hall, Rm. 120, Chico State, (530) 898-5331.

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.

28

FRI

Music KZFR’S MARDI GRAS PARTY: A benefit show for KZFR’s Power to the Tower fund. Enjoy a night of rock, blues and gospel music from Curtis Peldo’s Bahapki, plus blues/R&B/jazz from The Karma Kings and samba drumline Wolf Thump.

F, 2/28, 7pm. $10. Chico Women’s Club, 592 E. Third St., (530) 894-1978, www.kzfr.org.

THE LIVING EARTH SHOW: Honoring Alfred Loeffler: New Music Symposium. Day two features S.F. electro-acoustic duo The Living Earth Show. F, 2/28, 7:30pm. Free. RowlandTaylor Recital Hall, Chico State.

Music STUDENT COMPOSERS: Honoring Alfred Loeffler: New Music Symposium. Day one features original music from student composers and musicians. Th, 2/27, 7:30pm. Free. RowlandTaylor Recital Hall, Chico State.

INSPIRE GALA: BALANCE Saturday, March 1 CUSD Center for the Arts

SEE SATURDAY, SPECIAL EVENTS

FINE ARTS

4

TUES

Music NICKI BLUHM AND THE GRAMBLERS: Two nights of California country/soul from the Big Room favorites. Tu, 3/4, 7:30pm, W, 3/5, 7:30pm. $29.50 per day. Sierra Nevada Big Room, 1075 E. 20th St., (530) 345-2739, www.sierranevada.com/bigroom.

Theater CREATION STORIES: The creation of Earth and

CREATION STORIES Opens Tuesday, March 4 Wismer Theatre SEE TUESDAY, THEATER

1

SAT

Special Events INSPIRE GALA: BALANCE: The 4th annual schoolwide gala featuring exhibits and performances by the Inspire Orchestra, Musical Theatre Tour Troupe, Choir, Dance Company, and both the visual arts and engineering programs. Sa, 3/1, 2-7pm. CUSD Center for the Arts, 1475 East Ave., (530) 8913050.

Music BEER PAIRING DINNER: Enjoy the brand new 4Way IPA variety pack with dinner from chef Micheal Iles. Sa, 3/1, 6-9:30pm. $50. Sierra Nevada Big Room, 1075 E. 20th St., (530) 3452739, www.sierranevada.com/bigroom.

THE GOLEM/PULL-STRING DUO: Honoring Alfred Loeffler: New Music Symposium. Day three features the Pull-String Duo, premiering a live musical score to the 1920 masterpiece of silent cinema, The Golem. Sa, 3/1, 7:30pm. Free.

Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall, Chico State.

Theater HEAVEN CAN WAIT: Pro boxer Joe Pendleton arrives in Heaven 60 years too early when his spiritual ‘escort’ pulls him from his body prematurely. Sa, 3/1, 7:30pm. Continues Th-Sa, 7:30pm, & Su, 2pm, 3/6-3/16. $12-$20. Chico Theater Company, 166-F Eaton Rd., (530) 8943282, www.chicotheatercompany.com.

2

SUN

Special Events TOUR DE ED: A light 20-mile ride through the orchards between Chico and Durham. Funds from the event will benefit local injured bicyclists and educational efforts. Su, 3/2, 8am.

Starts at Chico Municipal Center parking lot, 411 Main St.

3

MON

Poetry/Literature WORD PLAY: A freestyle poetry reading open mic ending in a two-round slam. First M of every month, 7-9pm. Opens 3/3. Free. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.wee bly.com.

humanity based on myths of different world cultures and traditions. Told in abstract, serious, and comic physical theater. Directed by Sue Hargrave Pate. 3/4-3/8, 7:30pm, Su, 3/9, 2pm, 3/11-3/13, 7:30pm. $6-$15. Wismer Theatre, Chico State, (530) 898-6333, www.csuchico.edu/upe/boxoffice.html.

5

WED

Art Receptions THE CANS: A reception for the new photographic works by undergraduate Ryan Voigtman. W, 3/5, 5-7pm. 3rd Floor Art Gallery, BMU, Chico State, (530) 898-5489.

Music NICKI BLUHM AND THE GRAMBLERS: See Tuesday.

Sierra Nevada Big Room, 1075 E. 20th St., (530) 345-2739, www.sierranevada.com/ bigroom.

Theater CREATION STORIES: See Tuesday. Wismer Theatre, Chico State, (530) 898-6333, www.csuchico.edu/upe/boxoffice.html.

ARTIST LECTURE: COLTER JACOBSEN Tonight, Feb. 27 Ayres 120

SEE THURSDAY, ART RECEPTIONS

for more Music, see NIGHTLIFE on page 28

Art 1078 GALLERY: Jacob and the Angel, figurative painter and art instructor Sal Casa showcases new work. Through 3/1. 820 Broadway, (530) 343-1973, www.1078gallery.org.

3RD FLOOR ART GALLERY: The Cans, new pho-

tographic works by Ryan Voigtman. Ongoing.

Opens 2/27. BMU, Third Floor, Chico State, (530) 898-5489.

ANGELO’S CUCINA TRINACRIA: New Works, mixed-media abstract paintings by Valerie Payne. 2/27-3/31. 407 Walnut St., (530) 8999996.

AVENUE 9 GALLERY: P.S. We Love You, original works in various media by 18 Avenue 9 Guild artists in celebration of the gallery’s 10th anniversary. Through 3/1. 180 E. Ninth Ave., (530) 879-1821, www.avenue9gallery.com.

CHICO ART CENTER: Art Building Community:

From the Depot to the Veterans Building., the Chico Art Center hosts an exhibition for the Museum of Northern California Art (monCA) that focuses on Chico people, places and buildings in anticipation of the museum’s permanent move to the Veterans Memorial Hall. M-F through 3/14. 450 Orange St., (530) 895-8726, www.chicoartcenter.com.

CHICO PAPER CO.: New works, drawings and paintings by the recent Chico State graduate, Mariam Pakbaz. Through 3/31. New works, metal-infused prints by Larry Leigh.

Through 2/28. California Rivers, Jake Early’s latest series. Through 3/31. 345 Broadway, (530) 891-0900, www.chicopaper company.com.

HEALING ART GALLERY: New works, mixedmedia work by Northern California artist Machelle Conn. Gallery highlights works of those touched by cancer. Through 4/17. 265 Cohasset Rd., inside Enloe Cancer Center, (530) 332-3856.

JAMES SNIDLE FINE ARTS & APPRAISALS:

Recent paintings, Jerry Frost’s new oil paintings provide a visual journey across the large canvases. Through 2/28. Mabrie Ormes, a longtime Chico artist’s figurative paintings of colorful leaf patterns. Opens 3/3. 254 E. Fourth St., (530) 343-2930, www.jamessnidlefinearts.com.

MANAS ARTSPACE & GALLERY: Everything Blue, mixed-media group show featuring works inspired by the color blue. Through 3/7. 1441C Park Ave., (530) 588-5183.

SALLY DIMAS ART GALLERY: The Way of the

New Year, original art by local makers, plus J. Daniel Walker’s holocaust memorial painting. Through 2/28.Northern Beauties, An eclectic group show by local artists Carol Preble Miles, Jerril Dean Kopp, Ann Pierce, Amber Palmer and more. 3/1-4/5.

493 East Ave., (530) 345-3063.

UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY: Garbology, Luke Matjas’ large-scale digital/analog prints create a world of man-made objects and consumer excesses with diorama-like views of the natural world. 3/3-3/28. Trinity Hall, Chico State, (530) 898-5864.

UPPER CRUST BAKERY & EATERY: World

Photography and Paintings, Ayse Taskiran’s nature, architecture and street scenes from Turkey, Greece and California. Through 3/2. 130 Main St., (530) 895-3866.

Call for Artists ART AT THE MATADOR: ChiVAA invites artists to apply for booths at the 4th annual Art at the Matador: A Living Gallery event taking place May 9-10. For more information visit website. Ongoing. Call for details, www.ChiVAA.org.

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: Reverie: Interpretations of

Nature, new abstract paintings by Dennis Leon. Through 3/31. 141 Salem St., (530) 8914336, www.chicomuseum.org.

GATEWAY SCIENCE MUSEUM: Explore Evolution, investigate evolutionary principles in organisms ranging from smallest to the largest, with interactive exhibits giving the viewer an opportunity to experience how scientists conduct research on evolution.

Ongoing. 625 Esplanade, www.csuchico.edu/gateway.

VALENE L. SMITH MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY: Into The Blue: Maritime Navigation and the Archeology of Shipwrecks, featuring artifacts recovered from the Frolic shipwreck and the story behind the ship’s history. TuSa through 7/24. Meriam Library Complex, Chico State.

NAKED LOUNGE TEA AND COFFEEHOUSE: VUL-

TURUS, new series of B&W medium-format photographs by Kyle Forrest Burns. Through 3/12. Gallery hours are Open daily. 118 W. Second St., (530) 895-0676.

Riding for Ed

FREE LISTINGS! 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.

Part of the reason Chico is such a great city for cycling is because of the tireless efforts of the late Ed McLaughlin. As organizer of the city’s annual Wildflower Century Ride and executive director of the Chico Velo Cycling Club, McLaughlin was an avid cyclist and cycling advocate who lobbied for improvements to make riding bikes on the EDITOR’S PICK streets of Chico safer and more rewarding. A 2007 cycling accident left him paralyzed and unable to ride, but his support for the sport was undiminished up until his death in May 2012. Bike lovers can pay homage to the man with the Tour de Ed, a light 20-mile ride through the orchards south of town this Sunday, March 2. Proceeds raised from the ride benefit local injured bicyclists and educational efforts.

February 27, 2014

CN&R 25

IT’S TIME TO

DISCOVER CHICO

A FREE Guide for Visitors and Locals, too.

THE NEWEST EDITION IS COMING SOON! Advertising in Discover Chico will enrich the stay of visitors to Butte County by directing them to the best places to shop, eat and stay. Most importantly, it can help them find you and your business.

To be a part of the next Discover Chico, call your Chico News & Review advertising representative today.

BULLETIN BOARD Community AFRICAN DANCE CLASS: A workout set to the sounds and rhythms of West Africa. Call for info. M, 6pm. $10. Chico Grange Hall, 2775 Old Nord Ave., (530) 321-5607.

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.

BIDWELL CLASSIC: The 38th Annual Bidwell Classic 5K fun run & half marathon sponsored by the Chico Running Club. Last day to register: Feb. 28. Sa, 3/1. Bidwell Park, OneMile Recreation Area, (530) 865-4875.

Call your News & Review advertising representative today, (530) 894-2300 26 CN&R February 27, 2014

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.

CAREER BUILDERS: A monthly counterrecruitment meeting for the community’s youth. Th, 3:30pm. Free. Chico Peace and Justice Center, 526 Broadway, (530) 3433152, 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.buttecounty.net/ bclibrary.

COLLECTING CHICO’S HISTORY: The Chico Heritage Association hosts its annual meeting. Collecting Chico’s History will be presented by Randy Taylor. Su, 3/2, 2pm. Old Municipal Building, 441 Main St.

DANCE SANCTUARY WAVE: 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.

DANCING FREEDOM: A weekly open dance with

the elements. F, 6-8pm. $6-$12 sliding scale.

Subud Hall, 574 E. 12th St., (530) 532-1989.

EVENING DANCE JAM: A weekly meditative dance session. F, 7:15pm. $10. Yoga Center of Chico, 250 Vallombrosa Ave., Ste. 150, (530) 342-0100.

FANCY FEET DANCE: Beginning to experienced 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.

FARMERS’ MARKET: CHAPMAN: A year-round 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.

FARMERS’ MARKET: SATURDAY: Chico’s weekly 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.shalom freeclinic.org.

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

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. $10. Yoga Center of Chico, 250 Vallombrosa Ave., Ste. 150, (530) 342-0100.

INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCING: All levels wel-

come. No partner needed. F, 2/28, 8pm. $2.

Chico Creek Nature Center, 1968 E. Eighth St., (530) 891-4671, www.bidwellpark.org.

Publication Date: March 21

10am-noon. $8-$15 sliding scale. Dorothy Johnson Center, 775 E. 16th St., (530) 891-6524, www.chicorec.com.

THE NATIVE AMERICAN IN HARMONY WITH NATURE Saturday, March 1 Patrick Ranch Museum SEE COMMUNITY

THE NATIVE AMERICAN IN HARMONY WITH NATURE: Iola Gibson shares native-made tools, baskets, dolls and cocoon rattles. Plus, nature walks, tours of the farmhouse and more. Sa, 3/1, 11am-3pm. $5. Patrick Ranch Museum, 10381 Midway, (530) 342-4359.

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.

WORLD DANCE: CARD offers line, circle and partner dances from around the world. No partner needed. Th, 7pm. Opens 2/27. $7 per class. Pleasant Valley Recreation Center, 2320 North St., (530) 566-6711, www.chicorec.com.

For Kids AMPHIBEANS PRESCHOOL PROGRAM: Go for a short walk to explore amphibians in the area, make clay salamanders and meet Hubert the friendly toad. F, 2/28. $12. Chico Creek Nature Center, 1968 E. Eighth St., (530) 891-4671, www.bidwellpark.org.

FROGS, TOADS AND SALAMANDERS, OH MY!: Venture to the park and explore local amphibians, plus meet live frogs and salamanders. Sa, 3/1, 10-11:30am. $5-$10. Chico Creek Nature Center, 1968 E. Eighth St., (530) 891-4671, www.bidwellpark.org.

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.

SAMARITAN FREE CLINIC: This clinic offers free basic medical care and mental-health counseling. Call for more information. Su, 2-4pm.

Free. Paradise Lutheran Church, 780 Luther Dr. in Paradise, 872-7085.

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,

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.

CHOW

FREE!

Market-ready fungi.

PHOTO BY RUSSELL TROW

From truffles to shiitakes

Fountain dRink

The fun guy among us shares his love of mushrooms

M

on père, Etienne Bour-

ride, often lamented the cultural abyss in the small Midwestern village of Henri’s youth, particularly in terms of the by availability of Henri 1) decent wine; Bourride and 2) cooking ingredients. No doubt things have improved some—in fact, in addition to the “Midwestern Food Movement” (I can hear my father scoffing), drinkable wine is now made in small towns throughout the Midwest. Plus, the Internet has made it easy to order just about anything you need to cook just about any dish and have it delivered the next day.

But in the 1960s and ’70s, it was cheese curds, fried chicken, gravy and Jello. Brought my father to tears.

Thankfully, we had an occasional visitor who sympathized with our plight. I’ll never forget the time my father’s brother, Guy Alain Bourride, visited and, upon walking through our front door, unwrapped a small packet of fresh black truffles and then pulled from his suitcase a bottle of Bordeaux from his hometown along the Dordogne river.

Brought my father to tears.

That night, he made a truffle risotto, which he served with a leg of lamb, that I recall to this day as one of the finest side dishes I’ve ever had. In fact, it was that dish that led Henri to a lifelong love of fungi, not only of my beloved truffles, but also their American cousins—mushrooms.

So I’m thrilled by the variety of

mushrooms available here in the North State, and I’m greatly anticipating the annual spring bounty (though dependent on rainfall and general dampness, mushrooms could be another victim of the drought). And as Colette frequently points out, mushrooms have surprisingly high nutritional value, recent research suggesting that they might even help prevent cardiovascular disease and strengthen the immune system.

We frequently purchase mushrooms from the Saturday Chico Certified Farmers’ Market, where vendors usually have plenty of the fresh button-like crimini as well as our favorites: shiitakes and oysters. (We were shocked to read the recent editorial in Chico’s daily “newspaper” about Chicoans avoiding the market, and how those who do shop there have a miserable time—that has certainly not been our experience.)

We love them sliced in salads, sautéed in butter and wine and served over beef and chicken, and also mixed into creamy pasta sauces. Colette recently developed a recipe for quinoa risotto (modified from one on a bag of quinoa from Trader Joe’s) that we absolutely adore. Would that mon père were around to try it. Might bring him to tears.

Colette’s Quinoa Risotto Ingredients: 5 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth 4 tablespoons olive oil 6-8 ounces mushrooms, sliced 2 shallots, diced 3 garlic cloves, diced 1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed

1/2 cup white wine 1/4 cup parmesan, grated 1/4 cup crème fraîche

In a small saucepan, heat stock or broth until warm. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until soft (3-5 minutes). Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside. Lower heat and add shallots and garlic; sauté until soft (3-5 minutes). Increase heat to medium high, add quinoa, and stir for 2-3 minutes. Lower heat to simmer, add wine, and stir until absorbed. Add 1/2 cup warm broth, and stir until absorbed.

Continue adding broth and letting it absorb, 1/2 cup at a time, until quinoa is creamy. Stir in parmesan, remove from heat and cover for 2 minutes. Stir in sautéed mushrooms and crème fraiche, and salt and pepper to taste.

Fresh versus dried While fresh mushrooms are exquisite, they keep just just 5-7 days (store them in a brown paper bag in the fridge). Dried mushrooms, on the other hand, have the advantage of a longer shelf life and in fact will keep in your pantry for a couple of years in a properly sealed air-tight container.

The most common varieties— morels, porcinis, and chanterelles— are all packed with flavor.

And there’s a bonus: The water in which you reconstitute dried mushrooms (slice thinly, soak in room-temperature water for about a half hour, rinse) makes for a delicious addition to stocks, soups, stews. Ω

With purchase of Marinated tri-tip or Marinated Grilled ChiCken entrees. 11am - 2pm. expires 03/06/14.

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cornerstone of our maRkeTiNg.”

In Motion Fitness has been advertising with the Chico News & Review since we opened in 1992. Every week the CN&R provides a professional and impressive product that delivers our message with clarity and style. The full color ads really showcase the pools and water features, the palm trees and gardens, the Mediterranean architecture and the bodies In Motion. From kids’ activities to senior programs, the CN&R effectively targets and reaches all demographics. It seems like everybody in Chico views the CN&R. We would highly recommend the CN&R to any business in Chico.”

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February 27, 2014

CN&R 27

NIGHTLIFE

THURSDAY 2/27—WEDNESDAY 3|5 SURVIVAL OF THE KINDEST: Bogg benefit.

Th, 2/27, 8pm. Café Coda, 265 Humboldt Ave., (530) 566-9476, www.cafecoda.com.

28FRIDAY BASSMINT: A (mostly) weekly electronic

27THURSDAY CHICO JAZZ COLLECTIVE: Thursday jazz.

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

INDIE POP HAPPY HOUR: With Joanna

Rutzky and friends. Th, 2/27, 5-7pm.

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

JOHN SEID TRIO: John Seid, Steve Cook and Larry Peterson play and eclectic mix of The Beatles, blues and standards. Th, 2/27, 6-9pm. Grana, 198 E. Second St., (530) 809-2304.

LOS MARIJUANOS: Local hip-hop from The Resonators, plus Las Vegas, Nev., hemp-hop crusaders, Los Marijuanos.

Th, 2/27, 9pm. Lost On Main, 319 Main St., (530) 891-1853.

MUSIC ON THE PATIO: Matt McBride and the Evening Trio perform. Th, 2/27, 69pm. LaSalles, 229 Broadway, (530) 893-1891, www.lasallesbar.com.

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.

KZFR’S MARDI GRAS PARTY

HIPPIE TRAP AND BLACK FONG: Local

SEE FRIDAY

IRISH-MUSIC HAPPY HOUR: A Chico tradi-

supergroup Hippie Trap, plus funk from Black Fong. F, 2/28, 9pm. $5. Lost on Main, 319 Main St., (530) 891-1853.

Friday, Feb. 28 Chico Women’s Club

tion: 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.

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

KZFR’S MARDI GRAS PARTY: A benefit show for KZFR’s Power to the Tower Fund. Enjoy a night of rock, blues and gospel music from Curtis Peldo’s Bahapki, plus blues/R&B/jazz from The Karma Kings and samba drumline Wolf Thump. F, 2/28, 7pm. $10. Chico Women’s Club, 592 E. Third St., (530) 894-1978, www.kzfr.org.

STEVE TRUSKOL: Blues you can dance to.

Th, 2/27, 7pm. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.we ebly.com.

STUDENT COMPOSERS: Honoring Alfred Loeffler: New Music Symposium. Day one features an evening of original music from student composers and musicians. Th, 2/27, 7:30pm. Free.

Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall, Chico State.

THE LIVING EARTH SHOW: F, 2/28, 7:30pm.

Free. Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall, Chico State.

MARK JOHNSON: Johnson performs with

cellist John Mescall. F, 2/28, 7-8:30pm. $5. Chico New Thought Center for Spiritual Living, 14 Hillary Ln. (530) 8958395.

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

OPEN MIC: All singer/songwriters welcome. F, 6-9pm. LaSalles, 229 Broadway, (530) 893-1891, www.lasallesbar.com.

PAPERBACK WRITER: A tribute to The

Beatles. F, 2/28, 9:30pm. $5. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.feath erfallscasino.com/brewing-co.

QUASIMOFOS: A six-piece band playing an eclectic mix of danceable rock/ pop/R&B/ska. F, 2/28, 9pm. Maltese Bar & Tap Room, 1600 Park Ave., (530) 343-4915.

ROCKIN’ THE MIC: A monthly open mic open to performers young and old.

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

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

TWO STEPS DOWN: Northern California

country. F, 2/28, 9pm. $2. Tackle Box Bar & Grill, 375 E. Park Ave., (530) 3457499, http://tackleboxchico.com.

ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS: A full album tribute to David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust featuring local musicians Aubrey Debauchery & The Broken Bones, Bogg, Gentlemen’s Coup, Io Torus and more. F, 2/28, 7:30-11pm. $12 -$15. 1078 Gallery, 820 Broadway, (530) 343-1973, www.1078gallery.org.

1SATURDAY ACOUSTIC MUSIC JAM: A jam hosted by Butte Folk Music Society and led by local musician Steve Johnson. First Sa of every month, 2-5pm. Free. Upper Crust Bakery & Eatery, 130 Main St., (530) 345-4128.

LIVE FROM EARTH

The headlining act for the annual Honoring Alfred Loeffler: New Music Symposium at Chico State is San Francisco-based experimental chambermusic group The Living Earth Show.

The duo’s sound has been described as “a fantastically distorted perpetual motion of awesome,” and you can check them out for free Friday, Feb. 28, in Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall, sandwiched between the symposium’s Thursday-night Student Composers recital and Saturday’s performance by Chico State music professor David Dvorin’s Pull-String Duo premiering his musical score for The Golem.

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NIGHTLIFE

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

2SUNDAY BEARCUBBIN: PDX instrumental math rock from Bearcubbin, plus noisy indie-rock from locals The Americas and Sacramento’s Ghostnote. Su, 3/2, 9pm. Maltese Bar & Tap Room, 1600 Park Ave., (530) 343-4915.

3MONDAY AFROFUNK EXPERIENCE: An all night soul/funk/dance party with the Bay Area’s Afrofunk Experience, Sacramento’s Joy and Madness, and locals Sofa King. Sa, 3/1, 9pm. $5. Lost On Main, 319 Main St., (530) 891-1853.

LOS MARIJUANOS, THE RESONATORS Tonight, Feb. 27 Lost on Main SEE THURSDAY

BEAR LINCOLN: Funk from Berkley’s Bear Lincoln, with Failure Machine (soul/ R&B, Reno, Nev.,) and locals Ugly as Hell. Sa, 3/1, 8pm. $5. Café Coda, 265 Humboldt Ave., (530) 566-9476, www.cafecoda.com.

BEER PAIRING DINNER: Enjoy the brand new 4-Way IPA variety pack with dinner from chef Michael Iles. Sa, 3/1, 6-9:30pm. $50. Sierra Nevada Big Room, 1075 E. 20th St., (530) 345-2739, www.sierranevada.com/bigroom.

THE GOLEM / PULL-STRING DUO: Honoring Alfred Loeffler: New Music Symposium. Day three features the Pull-String Duo, premiering a live musical score by David Dvorin to the 1920 masterpiece of silent cinema, The Golem. Sa, 3/1, 7:30pm. Free. RowlandTaylor Recital Hall, Chico State.

1ST MONDAY JAZZ: This month’s regular jazz showcase features an evening of funk/jazz by Big Sky, with Arlyn Anderson, Jonathan Stoyanoff and Barry Eldridge. First M of every month, 7pm. Opens 3/3. $10. Café Coda, 265 Humboldt Ave., (530) 566-9476, www.cafecoda.com.

JAZZ HAPPY HOUR: Live jazz happy hour 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.

THE RECKONING: Bi-monthly Deadgrass.

Sa, 3/1, 7-10pm. $5. Café Flo, 365 E.

Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveat flo.weebly.com.

with the Carey Robinson Trio. M, 3/3, 57pm. Free. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.weebly.com.

4TUESDAY CHRISTIAN MISTRESS: Heavy metal from

REUNION: A tribute to 1970s radio hits. Sa,

Seattle, Wash., plus locals Shadow Limb and Amarok. Tu, 3/4, 8pm. $5.

Monstros Pizza & Subs, 628 W. Sacramento Ave., (530) 345-7672.

Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.featherfalls casino.com/brewing-co.

OPEN MIC: Open-mic night with Aaron

3/1, 9:30pm. $5. Feather Falls Casino

and friends. Tu, 3/4, 7-10pm. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.weebly.com.

NICKI BLUHM AND THE GRAMBLERS: Two nights of California country/soul from the Big Room favorites. Tu, 3/4, 7:30pm; W, 3/5, 7:30pm. $29.50 per day. Sierra Nevada Big Room, 1075 E. 20th St., (530) 345-2739, www.sierranevada.com/ bigroom.

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.

5WEDNESDAY LAURIE DANA: Soul, light rock, blues, country, Tin Pan Alley, jazz and more.

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

METAL NIGHT IN THE WHISKEY ROOM:

With DJ Loomis. W, 8pm. Opens 2/26.

LaSalles, 229 Broadway, (530) 893-1891, www.lasallesbar.com.

NICKI BLUHM AND THE GRAMBLERS: See

Tuesday. Tu, 3/4, 7:30pm, W, 3/5, 7:30pm. $29.50. Sierra Nevada Big Room, 1075 E. 20th St., (530) 345-2739, www.sierra nevada.com/bigroom.

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.

SINGLES MIXER NIGHT: Live jazz. W, 3/5,

STEVE JOHNSON: Acoustic “Old School

Americana” W, 3/5, 7pm. Café Flo, 365

E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveat flo.weebly.com.

BENEFIT FOR BOGG

Losing a beloved instrument—something which some musicians spend more time alone with than their family, friends and significant others—is a heartbreaking experience, one that the members of Bogg recently went through when someone broke into a car carrying much of their gear and made off with a 5-string bass, keyboard, guitar and amp.

The local music community is rallying behind the band tonight, Feb. 27, at Café Coda, at an event called Survival of the Kindest, originally billed as a benefit to raise funds for replacement instruments and to “celebrate the kindness and generosity” of those who’ve already helped the band in its time of need.

In addition to Bogg, also performing are Aubrey Debauchery & The Broken Bones, Big Mo, Loki Miller, The Shimmies and members of Decades.

5pm. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.weebly.com.

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Black to the future Comedian Lewis Black puts values before politics

Mquivering bundle of pissed-off nerves from his “Back In Black” segment on The Daily Show, where ost people know Lewis Black as the

the comedian takes aim at everything from technology to the recent anti-gay sentiment surrounding the Sochi Winter Olympics. Truth is, he’s a relatively mellow and truly thoughtful guy.

The 65-year-old Black has been by immersed in politics since he was a Mark Lore kid growing up in Washington, D.C. He knows what he’s talking about.

And, as the Chico News & Review recently discovered, all it takes is a little political talk to get him fired up.

CN&R: What was the political climate like in your house growing up?

Lewis Black: We would sit around the table watching Walter Cronkite. We lived in Washington, D.C., so essentially we were right in the thick of it. It was like an extended civics class.

Did your parents lean more conservative?

They were … well, conservative, you know, God knows what those fucking words mean. At the time, my mother was against the Vietnam War—way early on. And then my father made sea mines. He wasn’t really up for making weapons, but in the ’50s a lot of our major companies shifted from making consumer prodPREVIEW: ucts to weapons, so he couldn’t really Chico Performances find another gig. So he was working presents Lewis for the government. And my mother Black Saturday, kept screaming about the war, and March 8, my father said, you know, “You don’t 7:30 p.m., at really know what you’re talking Laxson Auditorium. about.” But my father, to his credit, Tickets: $37-$57 read the Geneva Accords—he’s the only citizen I know who read the Laxson fuckin’ thing. He finished, and I said, Auditorium “What do you think?” And he said Chico State www.chico that we have no legal basis to be at performances.com war. And they used his weapons in a 898-6333 war that he thought wasn’t legal. And 30 CN&R February 27, 2014

my father said, “Fuck it,” and retired. It was pretty extraordinary. It’s larger than politics. He lived up to his values.

Those values sort of inform your comedy.

Look, if you’re going to have a role model … I mean, [at the time] he’s retiring years before he’s supposed to retire; he’s giving up part of a pension; I’m finishing up college; and my brother’s just entering college. ...

So your material has been accumulating for a long time …

If the people who ran the government then watched these people now, they would be flipping the fuck out.

It’s turned into a circus.

But it’s over shit. They can’t even deal with major issues. What they fight over is meaningless. They should be fighting over immigration—if you wanna fight, that’s the fight.

And news coverage has turned into tabloid …

It’s the mental equivalent of Miley Cyrus twerking.

You consider yourself a socialist, right?

Yeah, I always … since I … yes, for a long time.

Tweak it to socialism with aspects of capitalism. Part of it was every time, along the way, the arguments just don’t work for me, OK? Here we go, “If everybody got money, they wouldn’t work.” No, that’s not true.

Most people really want to go to work; they don’t want to sit around all day. I don’t want to argue with some asshole who thinks that’s the basic tendency of people, to be in sloth mode.

As someone who’s a social satirist, you have to be constantly paying attention—to everything. How do you escape it when you have to?

I go on baby-seal-clubbing expeditions. No, I play golf, I hang out with friends. I really like listening to other people talk. Golf forces your brain to go into stupid mode.

When we see your rants on The Daily Show, is that the equivalent of being a fly on the wall as you react to the news at home?

Yeah, it’s my personality. The Daily Show really decides what I’m going to yell about, and they write a lot of it and then I give some input. You know, it’s Jon’s show, and he shapes it. But it’s certainly the way my personality works.

Do you think you’ve mellowed out over the years? Ω [Laughs] No, I’ve gotten worse.

IN THE MIX Guitar Tango: Más Allá Martín Alvarado & Horacio Avilano Riverboat Records Argentinian tango vocalist Martín Alvarado teams up with fellow countryman and guitarist Horacio Avilano on this passionate album that is devoted to exploring the rich musical genre that is tango.

The opening and title tune, “Más Allá,” showcases Alvarado’s beautiful tenor voice, complemented by Avilano’s sensitive, able guitar accompaniment. Even more pretty is the slow “Mujer Y Amiga,” the third track on this CD (as well as track 13—a live version). On it, Alvarado showcases the range of his lovely voice, again supported by Avilano’s sensitive guitar playing. In fact, there is not a song on this disc—which also features Juan Manuel Avilano on guitarrón—that is not top-notch and profoundly moving. If I had to choose a favorite, though, I would have to pick the gorgeous, contemplative “Viento Dile a la Lluvia,” a piece that showcases Alvarado’s voice in all its nuanced beauty, as well as Avilano’s delicate accompaniment, and the flawless, harmonious teamwork exhibited by the two musicians.

MUSIC

—Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia

That Girl Jennifer Nettles Universal Nashville The lead singer of country duo Sugarland strikes out on her own with an album that lets loose her soaring vocals. The titular track is one of those songs that demands that the listener buy the album. The smoky number paints Nettles as an unstoppable sultry force, an image that the lyrics quickly revoke: “I’m not the scarlet devil/ I don’t want to take your man.” The juxtaposition of the deceptively devious delivery and the angelic actuality bolsters both sides, leaving the song electrified with emotion. Nettles’ evocative voice creates moods and feelings that complement the lyrics and add an extra dimension to the songs. She brings playfulness to the ugly “Jealousy” and turns the Internet-gossip-fueled “Know You Wanna Know”—with its decree of star worship and lack of privacy—into a swinging dance number. Many of the songs feature a more subdued approach, often little more than a simple acoustic accompaniment. On tracks such as “Thank You” and “Like a Rock,” the slower tempos conjure up a bittersweet sorrow that seems all the more powerful interspersed with bursts of Nettles’ strong voice. In its ups and downs, That Girl is fully charged, leaving listeners filled with potential energy buzzing from beneath their headphones.

MUSIC

—Matthew Craggs

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James Armstrong Catfood Records Following up on last year’s acclaimed Blues at the Border (also on Catfood Records), Armstrong and a raft of musicians recorded the 10 songs here, and the results are spectacular. Like his previous recordings, this one features a mix of blues and bluesdrenched pop songs with his remarkably supple voice and guitar-playing suffusing each song with feeling. The opening track, “Grandma’s Got a New Friend,” is a joyous horn-fueled romp that celebrates Grandma’s boyfriend and the pleasures he’s providing her. Among Armstrong’s five originals, the peppy “Bank of Love” is a real standout that describes how he fell in love with a bank teller while getting stuck in her line—“then I saw something that changed my mind, time didn’t matter any more, I saw the beauty I was looking for.” On “Saturday Night Women,” he greets the ladies with the joyous “Won’t you raise your hand?” and offers himself up with “you’ve found your Saturday night man.” Johnny Copeland’s relaxed “Blues Ain’t Nothin’” (“…but feelin’ alone all by yourself; everybody needs somebody, can’t nobody make it by themself”) describes it as well as any. And the slowly paced title track honors the guitar angel who is looking after him. This is one of those rare all-killer, no-filler CDs.

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MUSIC

—Miles Jordan

w w w. n e w s r e v i e w . c o m February 27, 2014

CN&R 31

FINAL DAYS!

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Two hours to kill Fairly tedious take on the action-movie formula

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Tschool of action-movie piffle—3 Days to Kill— feels like an imitation of the sort of movie that’s he latest eruption from the Luc Besson

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“inspired by” a video game which itself was based on a porno comic book/graphic novel and then grafted onto a jokey Kevin Costner project seemingly designed to tweak by Juan-Carlos the formula employed in Liam NeeSelznick son’s Taken movies.

Besson started out rather impressively as a writer-director (Le Dernier Combat, Subway, The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita) in the 1980s, but while he’s directed another 11 features in the 20-plus years since, he’s been much busier as a writer (55 credits overall)

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for future casting directors—violent hero, savvy veteran, cool dad, wounded warrior, lovable divorcee, multipurpose authority figure, blithely sadistic prankster, etc.

Besson’s basic story premise has aging CIA assassin Ethan Renner (Costner) finding himself fatally ill and longing to reconnect with the teenage daughter Zoey (Hailee Steinfeld), whom he’s neglected, and maybe with his ex-wife (Connie Nielsen), too. An absurdly attractive CIA operative named Vivi (Amber Heard) offers him a possible life-saving drug, but only if he will track down and kill a couple of supervillains with comic-fantasy monikers: The Wolf (Richard Sammel) and The Albino (Tómas Lemarquis).

The preposterousness of it all seems more or less deliberate. This, after all, is a movie that jams gonzo Starring: Smoldering Leading Man.

2 3 Days to Kill

FRIDAY 2/28 – WEDNESDAY 3/5 3 DAYS TO KILL (Digital) (PG-13) 11:25AM 2:10PM 4:55PM 7:40PM 10:25PM ABOUT LAST NIGHT (Digital) (R) 2:15PM 7:45PM ANCHORMAN 2 (Digital) (R) 12:55PM 4:05PM 7:15PM 10:25PM FROZEN (2013) (Digital) (PG) 11:20AM 2:05PM 4:50PM 7:25PM 10:00PM LEGO (3D) (PG) 12:55PM (5:55PM*) LEGO (Digital) (PG) 11:40AM 2:10PM (3:25PM*) 4:40PM 7:10PM (8:25PM*) 9:40PM LONE SURVIVOR (Digital) (R) 1:20PM♠ 4:10PM 7:00PM 9:50PM

PHILOMENA (Digital) (PG-13) 12:05PM 2:25PM 4:45PM 7:05PM 9:25PM POMPEII (3D) (PG13) 2:40PM 5:10PM 8:00PM POMPEII (Digital) (PG13) 12:10PM 10:30PM RIDE ALONG (Digital) (PG-13) 12:20PM 2:45PM 5:10PM 7:35PM 10:05PM ROBOCOP (2014) (Digital) (PG-13) 11:15AM 2:00PM 4:45PM 7:30PM 10:15PM SON OF GOD (Digital) (PG-13) 12:50PM 3:55PM 7:00PM 10:05PM WINTER’S TALE (Digital) (PG-13) 11:30AM 5:00PM 10:20PM

(SPECIAL SHOWING) - MET OPERA: MONUMENTS MEN PRINCE IGOR (2014) (Digital) (PG-13) (Digital) (NR) Sat 3/1 11:05AM 1:50PM 9:00AM 4:35PM 7:20PM 10:10PM (SPECIAL SHOWING) - MET OPERA: NON-STOP (Digital) PRINCE IGOR (2014) (PG-13) 12:10PM (Digital) (NR) Wed 3/5 2:45PM 5:20PM 6:30PM 7:55PM 10:30PM Showtimes listed w/(*) NOT shown Wed 3/5 Showtimes listed w/ ♠ NOT shown Sat 3/1

32 CN&R February 27, 2014

KEEPING DANCE ALIVE!

Eclectic Dance Concert (3/7 & 8) JUST ADDED!

Starring Kevin Costner, Hailee Steinfeld, Amber Heard and Connie Nielson.

Directed by McG. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

LEWIS BLACK Comedian (3/8)

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA KREMLIN Dynamic String Orchestra (3/11)

1

WYNTON MARSALIS

Poor

ELVIN BISHOP JAMES COTTON RUTHIE FOSTER

Fair

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (3/12)

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Rock, Blues, & Barroom Boogie (3/15)

Good

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and producer (117 so far). Quantity seems to have overtaken quality in nearly every respect.

Here, he turns the direction over to the TV-oriented producer/director known as McG (Terminator Salvation, We Are Marshall, Charlie’s Angels), who keeps the assembly line moving along efficiently and blithely even as the screenplay (by Besson and Adi Hasak) stumbles and lurches through the usual improbabilities. Meanwhile, it’s also a Kevin Costner picture, with the star less concerned with a coherent characterization than with doing something like demo-reel star-turns

Asian-style shootouts up against the sitcom antics of its father-daughter scenes while assuming a nonchalance that neither winks nor blinks. The battle-weary Renner/Costner, who periodically coughs up blood, kills and tortures with skill and zest while on the path to peaceable domestic bliss. Scenes of torture inflicted upon a Turk (Marc Andréoni) and an Italian (Bruno Ricci), both portrayed as farcical buffoons, play out as roughhouse slapstick.

In the end, rampant facetiousness may be all that 3 Days to Kill has going for it. Much of it glimmers, dimly, somewhere between half-baked parody and retrograde entertainment of an implausibly exuberant sort. Besides, the title amounts to fair warning: This is a mildly energetic time killer (117 minutes, to be exact), and little else. Ω

COLLEGE STUDENTS: Reviewers: Craig Blamer, Bob Grimm and Juan-Carlos Selznick.

Opening this week Non-Stop

Liam Neeson is in action-flick mode, starring as a U.S. air marshal trying to flush out a terrorist on a transatlantic flight who is promising to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless $150 million in ransom is coughed up. Cinemark 14 and Feather River Cinemas.

Rated PG-13.

Son of God

A biopic on the life of Jesus featuring scenes (as well as previously unreleased footage) from the History channel miniseries The Bible edited together to create a standalone film. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

Re-opening this week 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.

Now playing

2

3 Days to Kill

See review this issue. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13 —J.C.S.

About Last Night

The Brat Pack-era flick (based on a David Mamet play) gets an update, with the cast of Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall and Joy Bryant taking over the roles of young lovers struggling with the transition from onenight stands to committed relationships.

Cinemark 14. Rated R.

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 LEGO Movie

A computer-animated adaptation of the iconic kids’ toy pits a team of LEGOs led by an ordinary construction-worker minifigure (voiced by Chris Pratt) against an evil tyrant (Will Farrell) who wants to glue everything in the universe together. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. 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.

3

The Monuments Men

The good news: The Monuments Men is based on a fascinating episode in the history of World War II; it’s agreeably entertaining; and it has a big, attractive cast. The bad news: The film’s version of history feels too much like movie-friendly fiction, and the cast members mostly play versions of themselves, with only the bare minimum of links to the historical figures on whom they are based. Based on the actual exploits of U.S. Army specialists charged with recovering stolen treasures of European art in the late stages of World War II, the film follows a handful of characters through a mildly sus-

penseful adventure that is part secret mission, part cultural commando raid, and part rambunctious caper. There are nods to serious, painful history here, but the script (by George Clooney, who also stars and directs, and Grant Heslov) often seems little more than a spinoff of the Ocean’s Eleven cycle, with Clooney’s version of the Rat Pack (Bill Murray, John Goodman, Matt Damon, etc.) working variations on caper-movie riffs made suitable to the particular circumstances of this tale. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13 —J.C.S.

Philomena

Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity) directs this based-on-real-events story about a British journalist (Steve Coogan) who helps a woman (Judi Dench) find out what happened to the son she was forced to give up for adoption 50 years earlier. Four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actress. Cinemark 14 and Pageant Theatre. Rated PG.

Pompeii

A disaster flick set in the year A.D. 79, with a slave-turned-gladiator trying to save his true love from the clutches of a politician’s son as Mount Vesuvius begins to erupt around them. Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil). Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

Ride Along

An action-comedy directed by Tim Story (Barbershop) about a small-time security guard (Kevin Hart) who goes on a ride-along with his fiancée’s brother, an Atlanta cop (Ice Cube), in an effort to prove himself worthy to marry his sister (Tika Sumpter). Cinemark 14. Rated PG-13.

Got the write stuff?

Attention, students: The Chico News & Review is looking for summer interns with reporting and writing experience. The CN&R is interested in telling stories that get to the heart of a matter, and making a difference in our community. Here, you’ll find an opportunity to take college skills to a professional level. We are seeking writers who are currently enrolled in college. Applicants don’t need to be journalism majors, but must have some experience in the form of published work. Interns are paid per assignment.

For application information, contact CN&R Editor Melissa Daugherty at melissad@newsreview.com with “internship” in the subject line.

3

RoboCop

Normally I’d cry foul at a remake that waters down the hard-R original to a softer PG-13 (because I loved my RoboCop bloody) but the strong cast and a visually sound presentation make for a movie that is, at the least, worth watching even if it pales in comparison to Paul Verhoeven’s insane 1987 incarnation. In the original, after blown-up regular cop Alex Murphy is brought back to life as RoboCop, he starts his crusade against crime not really knowing who he is, with his memories suppressed. The new film drastically diverts from the original, having its Murphy freak out upon waking up as a robot, fully cognizant of who he is. It’s only when his emotional stability comes into question that he’s shot full of dopamine and turned into a robot zombie. It turns out the idea of a man knowing full well that he has been turned into a cyborg is a relatively scintillating cinematic topic, and it’s handled well. In the end, the remake amounts to a decent enough curio, but it won’t be a classic. Cinemark 14 and Feather River Cinemas.

Rated PG-13 —B.G.

3

Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago

Lydia Smith’s good-natured documentary follows a half-dozen folk taking the traditional pilgrimage, on foot, to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Smith’s approach may seem a little reminiscent of reality TV (the trials and tribulations of six lively, spirited people on a 500-mile hike), but with lots of soulfulness and none of the lowbrow sensationalism. The net result is a charmingly lyrical travelogue, with bucolic landscapes, beguiling character sketches, and a quietly poetic sense of the spirituality of long-distance walking. Note: Director Smith will be on hand during screenings on Sunday, Feb. 16, to discusss her film. Pageant Theatre. Not rated —J.C.S.

Winter’s Tale

Colin Farrell stars in this supernatural drama as an early 20th-century thief who falls for a young sick woman (Jessica Brown Findlay), and travels across time to try and save her and to save himself from an evil crime boss (Russell Crowe). Based on Mark Helprin’s fantasy novel of the same name.

Cinemark 14. Rated PG-13.

February 27, 2014

CN&R 33

ARTS DEVO

by Jason Cassidy • jasonc@newsreview.com

CAMMIES: YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED Every year, as we barrel into spring riding high on our giant Chico Area Music Awards season (see page 19), the Chico News & Review and Arts DEVO (who adds a promoter hat to his Energy Dome during CAMMIES) receive questions and concerns (and plenty of compliments—thanks, friends!) that we do our best to respond to as they come up. With the 2014 nominees newly announced, let’s get the most common questions out of the way so we can focus on rocking out:

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w w w. n e w s r e v i e w. c o m 34 CN&R February 27, 2014

Who chooses the CAMMIES nominees? Each year, we ask 50-or-so people who have been actively involved in the local music scene for the past year to be on our selection committee—promoters, bookers, soundpersons, music fans, radio DJs, musicstore employees, club owners, music writers, and musicians from every genre. (Note: Musicians on the committee are still eligible for nomination; they just can’t personally nominate any act they’re a part of.)

Why do you keep the identities of those on the selection committee a secret? We want those on the committee to feel safe to choose the musicians who they think deserve a nod, not those who are simply popular or who are their friends. Being anonymous frees them up to do so, and it protects them from undue influence and any sass from jerkfaces.

How can my band get nominated?

Play lots of shows and let people (friends, other bands, the media) know that you’re playing them. If you’re putting energy into both your art and the sharing if it, chances are the wide-cast net of our selection committee will catch your vibe.

Don’t the CN&R writers just pick the bands they want nominated?

Best New Act Do you see She Fetus, Danny Cohen or Mint Shekels & the Treif Stars on the list?

Then, no, the bands I want are not automatically nominated. Like it or lump it, we go with what the committee chooses as a whole. If an act is active, it’s fair game for nomination. On a whole, the committee has done a great job every year.

But isn’t it just the same bands that get nominated every year? Yes and no. If you measure from one year to the next, then the majority of the nominated acts are the same. But Chico is a small town, and the favorite local acts just aren’t going to be replaced in large numbers over a 12-month period. Active, popular bands like Surrogate and Three Fingers Whiskey are going to continue doing comparable work for years. Nonetheless, if you map it out over time, there’s actually an average of two new nominated bands per genre per year. This year, the new blood is at about 20 percent, with a dozen first-timers on the list: Lisa Valentine, Mandalyn May, The Growlers, Mark “Porkchop” Holder, Sofa King, The Persian Skirts, The Rugs, Sorin, Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy, Sisterhoods, Playboy Smooth and KO-DE-AK. Plus, there are bunch of new names on the open-to-all punk-nominee list for 2014.

Aren’t the CAMMIES just an excuse for the Chico News & Review to make a bunch of money? We wish!

The cold facts are: The CN&R has just broken even or lost money every year producing the CAMMIES. The sponsors pay for the production and promotion, and the venues pay the bands (yes, the bands get paid!). So, why do we continue to do it? To have fun, and to support and stay connected to the local music scene.

But art shouldn’t be about competition. Maybe not, but competition can provide a good spark.

The nominations, the voting and the awards are tools we use create a buzz. And it works.

But in the end, for those who attend the packed shows—and this is something that’s reproven for me every year—it’s not the winners we remember, it’s the fun we had at the roaring parties.

I’ve taken off my promoter hat to write this column, so I can say that I have never liked the voting/popularity-contest part of the CAMMIES. And my personal feelings and concern for the health of the music community are a big reason why the people’s-choice portion of the awards show is shoved into the last 30 minutes of the day-long finale—almost an afterthought. We tip our hats to those who worked hard and to the fans who voted for them, but we reserve the bulk of the event for just rocking out. I think we can all live with that.

www.chico.newsreview.com

Find Us Online At:

BUTTE COUNTY LIVING Open House Guide | Home Sales Listings | Featured Home of the Week

Free Real Estate Listings

www.chico.newsreview.com

Find Us Online At:

LOVE’S REAL ESTATE Technology and Time

T

echnology has evolved to the point of perfection. We can now complete a real estate transaction, start to finish, without the use of a single piece of paper, a pen or a stamp. It wasn’t long ago we stood awestruck in the presence of an electric typewriter and a piece of carbon paper. The speed! We were so dumbfounded we dropped our hammers, chisels and stone tablets. Carbon copies never looked right, though; all blue and fuzzy. At least with the hammers and chisels every copy had the same quality as the original.

“It’s a what?” somebody asked. “It looks like a typewriter.”

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The fax machine was a wonder unto itself.

“It’s a fax machine, a typewriter-telephone,” said somebody else. “Just don’t answer it when it rings.”

But as often as not, somebody answered it.

“Yeow!” they’d say, pulling the receiver away from their head, “what’s that awful screech?”

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“Somebody’s trying to fax.”

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Location:

• • • 1001 Willow St. • Chico • Community Housing • Improvement Program, Inc. • Community Housing Improvement Program, Inc.

“Hey,” said the receiver of the fax, “I’m just receiving your fax.”

“I know,” said the sender, “but I was only 10 miles away. I thought it would be faster if I brought you the original.”

“Yeah. Can’t beat that technology, though, right?”

These days, there’s no need to fax, copy or mail. No paper! Everything is electronic—just send, send, send.

The technology of social media is unparalleled.

We can keep clients informed instantly with all aspects of the real estate market, at all times. Just the other day I heard two Realtors discussing the wonders of social media.

“Hey, you know the Johnsons over on Camilla Street?” someone said. “They’re my Facebook friend, they follow my tweets, they subscribe to my blog, and they get my e-newsletter every month. So how come they listed their house with you?”

“I knocked on their door,” said the other.

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When a fax document arrived, the machine chattered, rattled and whined. The document would appear haltingly, little by little, letter by letter, word by word, line by line. The sender of the fax would show up at the office.

“You mean, in p-p-p-p-p?”

“Yeah, in person. Can’t beat that technology, though, right?”

DOUG LOVE is Sales Manager at Century 21 Jeffries Lydon Email escrowgo@aol.com or call 530.680.0817

Call 891-6931 or 1-888-912-4663 to reserve a seat or more information CHIP is a HUD approved Housing Counseling Agency.

Open Houses & Listings are online at: www.century21JeffriesLydon.com juSt liSted!

new listing

Decorator’s Dream

two fire places, hardwood, dual pane windows & many other upgrades $239,400

Great opportunity close to CSUC & Enloe. 404 W. Sacramento. Duplex w/ a finished basement.

$325,000

g pendin

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“Springfield Manor” centrally located in Chico $88,500

Brandon Siewert

Alice Zeissler | 530.518.1872

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

Biggs

$266,000

2/ 1

SQ. FT.

979

1788 Estates Way

Chico

$549,500

3/ 2

3407 Kennedy Ave

Chico

$390,000

1675 Hooker Oak Ave

Chico

3167 Middletown Ave

$35,000

530-228-1305

GarrettFrenchHomes.com Specializing in residential & agriculture properties in chico, Orland, Willows.

Homes Sold Last Week 221 Perry Ave

Vacant lot in berry creek on just over 1/2 acre. building area & road in place along w/ 4bd.

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Garrett French

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brandonsiewert.com • 828–4597

Just LIstING!

1083 San Ramon Drive, 4 bed 2 bath, 1829 sqft, newly remodeled, large yard. $315,000 call for more info

EmmEtt Jacobi

Cell 530.519.6333 • emmettjacobi.com

Sponsored by Century 21 Jeffries Lydon TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

1835 Locust St

ADDRESS

Chico

$250,000

3/ 2.5

1589

2290

871 El Dorado St

Chico

$236,000

3/ 2

1636

3/ 2.5

2328

1001 Southampton Dr

Chico

$235,000

3/ 2

1357

$389,000

3/ 2.5

2147

4818 Will T Rd

Chico

$231,000

3/ 2

1696

Chico

$375,000

4/ 3

2132

2134 Honey Run Rd

Chico

$220,000

5/ 2

1781

2712 Escallonia Way

Chico

$360,000

4/ 2

2165

562 White Ave

Chico

$172,500

2/ 1

1004

148 Gooselake Cir

Chico

$308,500

3/ 2

1533

1439 Trenta Dr

Chico

$168,500

3/ 2.5

1290

February 27, 2014

CN&R 35

Come Live on the Ridge in…

PARADISE For all your Real Estate Needs call (530) 872-7653 Cul de Sac Location!!

3BR/2BA + Den, 1778 SF+/$159,000 Ad #554 Dori Regalia @ 530-872-6829

DEER HUNTER’S DELIGHT 10 Acres X Zone $55,000 Ad #322 Donna Cass @ 530-872-6831

PARADISE LISTING 2BR/1BA w/1050 SF+/$125,000 Ad #580 Susan G. Thomas @ 530-872-6847

5220 FALCONS VIEW! GORGEOUS HOME! 3BR/2BA, Newer appliances, roof, heat & air, paint. Private rear yard.

Nice covered deck. Cul-desac location. Must See!!! $269,000 Ad #584 Chari Bullock @ 530-872-6818

5340 Harrison road • Paradise This lovely custom home is located in a beautiful neighborhood of similar homes. It sits on .46 acres, in a park like setting, with manicured landscaping in both the front yard and the fenced back yard, which has a peaceful water feature. The formal living room offers a brick fireplace and built in bookcase. Vaulted open beam ceilings are found in most rooms. A lovely brick wall accents the entry, kitchen, and dining room. Sliding glass doors abound across the back of the house, bringing views of the outside and plenty of light to all the main living areas. The kitchen has an open feel due to the expansive windows over the corner sink and a skylight. An abundance of extra storage is found in the entry closets, huge laundry room and a storage room adjacent to the family room. RV area w. electricity, two driveways and flagstone patios.

listed at: $244,999 “Patty G.” McKee, Realtor(R) | BRE Lic # 01428643 | Century 21 Select Real Estate, Inc.

(530)518-5155 (Cell) | PattyG_C21@msn.com | ParadiseHomeTeam.com

5350 Skyway, Paradise | www.C21Skyway.com | Paradise@c21selectgroup.com

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Great Location 3 bed, 2 bath home with separate living & family rooms, shop off the garage, newer roof & windows!

Asking $259,500, call for a showing

Hard to find 5 bd / 3 ba with 2 master bathrooms

$219,000

Dana W. Miller

Century 21 Jeffries Lydon

mark reaman

(530)571-7738 (530)570-1184 dmiller@century21chico.com

530-228-2229

Mark.Reaman@c21jeffrieslydon.com

Jeffries Lydon

The following houses were sold in Butte County by real estate agents or private parties during the week of February 10, 2014 – February 14, 2014.

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

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

Chico

$150,000

3/ 2

1470

5561 Cherry Ln

Paradise

$318,000

3/ 2

2221

Forest Ranch

$350,000

3/ 2.5

1894

1870 Mosure Ln

Paradise

$235,000

3/ 2

1761

15280 Forest Ranch Way Forest Ranch

$196,500

3/ 2

1596

15021 Jack Pine Way

Magalia

$201,000

3/ 2

1716

625 Sunset Dr

Paradise

$189,500

3/ 3

2024

6490 Boone Ct

Magalia

$130,000

3/ 2

1335

1701 Connell Ln

Paradise

$170,000

3/ 1.5

1292

76 Hope Ln

Oroville

$133,000

3/ 2

1170

1490 Bader Mine Rd

Paradise

$164,000

2/ 2

988

755 Pomona Ave

Oroville

$108,000

4/ 2

1960

443 Apple Ln

Paradise

$162,000

3/ 2

1596

1962 Citrus Ave 7632 Humboldt Rd

36 CN&R February 27, 2014

Print ads start at $6/wk. www.newsreview.com or (530) 894-2300 ext. 5 Phone hours: M-F 8am-5pm.

All ads post online same day.

Deadlines for print: Line ad deadline: Monday 4pm Adult line ad deadline: Monday 4pm Display ad deadline: Friday 2pm

Online ads are

STILL

FREE!

*

*Nominal fee for adult entertainment.

All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. Further, the News & Review specifically reserves the right to edit, decline or properly classify any ad. Errors will be rectified by re-publication upon notification. The N&R is not responsible for error after the first publication. The N&R assumes no financial liability for errors or omission of copy. In any event, liability shall not exceed the cost of the space occupied by such an error or omission. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes full responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as WIZZA TRANSPORT at 355 E Lassen Ave #16 Chico, CA 95973.

FAROOQ IQBAL 355 E Lassen Ave #16 Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: FAROOQ IQBAL Dated: January 28, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000174 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as ORCHARD HOSPITAL FOUNDATION at 240 Spruce Street Gridley, CA 95948.

BIGGS-GRIDLEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION 240 Spruce Street Gridley, CA 95948.

SHEILA CASSIE ENNES 830 Vermont St Gridley, CA 95948.

LISA WEDLN VAN DE HEY 153 E Gridley Rd Gridley, CA 95948.

This business is conducted by an Unincorporated Association.

Signed: SHEILA ENNES Dated: January 21, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000126 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as BUTTE NATURAL DISTRIBUTING at 6244 Pentz Rd Paradise, CA 95969.

RICHARD LEWIS CSER 6244 Pentz Rd Paradise, CA

this Legal Notice continues

➡

95969.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: RICHARD L. CSER Dated: January 2, 2014 FBN Number; 2014-0000005 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as JB CONSULTING, JGB CONSULTING at 333 Crater Lake Dr Chico, CA 95973.

JOSEPH G BACH 333 Crater Lake Dr Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: JOSEPH G. BACH Dated: January 6, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000019 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as AWAKE LASH STUDIO at 1 Williamsburg Lane #D Chico, CA 95926.

DOUGLAS A L SMITH 1027 N Railroad Ave Susanville, CA 96130.

JIMI STURGEON-SMITH 1027 N Railroad Ave Susanville, CA 96130.

This business is conducted by a Married Couple.

Signed: JIMI STURGEONSMITH Dated: January 21, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000131 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as FOR THE FUNK OF IT PRODUCTIONS at 1675 Carol Ave Chico, CA 95928.

SPENCER ROUSE 1675 Carol Ave Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: SPENCER ROUSE Dated: December 31, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001633 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as GMB LANDSCAPE ENTERPRISES at 4 Tilden Lane Chico, CA 95928.

MICHELLE SAMANIEGO 4 Tilden Lane Chico, CA 95928.

SAM SAMANIEGO 4 Tilden Lane Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a General Partnership.

Signed: SAM SAMANIEGO Dated: January 27, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000169 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as KING OF BEASTS at 720 W. 2nd Ave, Apt G Chico, CA 95926.

CALEB J OTT 720 W. 2nd Ave, Apt G Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: CALEB J OTT Dated: January 6, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000020 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as LEKKER TOYS at 2990 HWY 32, Suite 400 Chico, CA 95973.

ELEMENTAL CASTINGS LLC

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2990 Hwy 32, Suite 400 Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by a Limited Liability Company.

Signed: TOM MONCADA, C.O.O. Dated: January 30, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000186 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as COWLICKS HAIR COMPANY at 166 Cohasset Rd #7 Chico, CA 95926.

ROBYN L JOHNSON 9068 Stanford Lane Durham, CA 95938.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: ROBYN JOHNSON Dated: January 23, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000144 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME - STATEMENT OF WITHDRAWAL The following person has withdrawn as partner from the partnership operating under: SATORI COLOR AND HAIR DESIGN at 1224 Mangrove Ave #44 Chico, CA 95926.

JUDITH CHARLENE LOREN-GRACE 3181 Eagle Lake Ct Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by a General Partnership.

Signed: JUDITH C. LOREN Dated: February 3, 2014 FBN Number: 2007-0001410 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as RED BANKS WRITING AND PRODUCTIONS at 1884 Hooker Oak Ave Chico, CA 95926.

JOSEPH RAYMOND JR ASNAULT 1884 Hooker Oak Ave Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: JOE ASNAULT Dated: January 6, 2013 FBN Number: 2014-0000029 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as CASEY’S NATURAL at 498 E 8th Ave Chico, CA 95926.

SEAN CASEY APLANALP 498 E 8th Ave Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: S. CASEY APLANALP Dated: February 3, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000194 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as KP TUTORING at 546 West 9th Street Chico, CA 95927.

KEVIN PARSONS 546 West 9th Street Chico, CA 95927.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: KEVIN PARSONS Dated: January 17, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000118 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as MOORE LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT, SPRINKLER PRO at 819 Black Walnut Way Chico,

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CA 95973.

CINDI R MOORE 819 Black Walnut Way Chico, CA 95973.

DAVID L MOORE 819 Black Walnut Way Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by a Married Couple.

Signed: DAVID L. MOORE Dated: February 4, 2014 FBN number: 2014-0000206 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as BLUETEAM, BLUETEAM REAL ESTATE, BLUETEAM REALTY, BLUETEAM REALTY GROUP, THE BLUETEAM at 7020 Skyway Paradise, CA 95969.

BLUE TEAM REALTY INC 7020 Skyway Paradise, CA 95969.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: TROY DAVIS Dated: January 27, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000171 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME - STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business names: BLUE TEAM, THE BLUE TEAM, BLUE TEAM REALTY, BLUE TEAM REALTY GROUP, BLUE TEAM REAL ESTATE at 7020 Skyway Paradise, CA 95969.

CYNTHIA G HASKETT 1326 Deodara Way Paradise, CA 95969.

TROY J DAVIS 3184 Cherokee Rd Oroville, CA 95965.

This business was conducted by a General Partnership.

Signed: TROY DAVIS Dated: January 27, 2014 FBN Number: 2013-0001264 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as RESCUE UNITED at 406 Vilas Road Chico, CA 95973.

JOHN MARETTI 406 Vilas Road Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: JOHN MARETTI Dated: February 3, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000193 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as SATORI COLOR AND HAIR DESIGN at 627 Broadway Street #120 Chico, CA 95928 DANA BROOKE HOWES 525 Countryside Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: DANA HOWES Dated: February 10, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000235 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6,2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as ROOTS AND LEAVES APOTHECARY at 15984 Wagon Road Forest Ranch, CA 95942.

RONA MIKOLAJCZAK 15984 Wagon Road Forest Ranch, CA 95942.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: RONA MIKOLAJCZAK Dated: February 12, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000255 Published: February 20,27, March 6,13, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as REVOLUTION POND LANDSCAPE GARDEN at 536 W 12th Ave Chico, CA 95926.

JOEL C RAINEY 536 W 12th Ave Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: JOEL C. RAINEY Dated: February 13, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000263 Published: February 20,27, March 6,13, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as ECOCAB at 2236 Christopher Ln Chico, CA 95926.

BRYAN GABBARD 2236 Christopher Ln Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: BRYAN GABBARD Dated: January 17, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000119 Published: February 20,27, March 6,13, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as CHICO TRUCK AND RV at 5 Three Sevens Lane Chico, CA 95973.

CHICO TRUCK AND RV INC 5 Three Sevens Lane Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: NANCI ALLEN, SECRETARY Dated: January 24, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000157 Published: February 20,27, March 6,13, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT the following person is doing business as NON STOP MOTION STUDIO at 8 Creekwood Ct Chico, CA 95926.

MARK KEITH PULLYBLANK 8 Creekwood Ct Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: MARK PULLYBLANK Dated: January 31, 2014 FBN Number; 2014-0000192 Published: February 20,27, March 6,13, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as KIRKWOOD ASSOCIATES at 2057 Hooker Oak Ave. Chico, CA 95926.

GALE ALVISTUR 2057 Hooker Oak Ave Chico, CA 95926.

VICTOR ALVISTUR 2057 Hooker Oak Ave Chico, 95926.

NANNETTE CARTER 2372 England Street Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a General Partnership.

Signed: VICTOR ALVISTUR Dated: February 4, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000208 Published: February 20,27, March 6,13, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as SUSHI KING at 2190 Esplanade Chico, CA 95926.

WONDERFUL NATIONWIDE INC 1401 Melody Road Olivehurst, CA 95961.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: RIE MITSUNARI, MANAGER Dated: February 10, 2014

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FBN Number: 2014-0000236 Published: February 20,27, March 6,13, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as AMERICAN RV at 249 Meyers Chico, CA 95928.

DARRYL PARKE MERRIN 6251 Posey Lane Paradise, CA 95969.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: DARRYL MERRIN Dated: February 21, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000294 Published: February 27, March 6,13,20, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as BLISS NAIL AND SPA at 2033 Forest Ave Suite 100 Chico, CA 95928.

MANG LEPHAM 472 Entler Ave Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: MANG LEPHAM Dated: January 24, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000156 Published: February 27, March 6,13,20, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME - STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name: INSPIRE ME CREATIONS at 561 E. Lindo Ave. Suite 1 Chico, CA 95926 KYMBERLY COCO 561 E. Lindo Ave #7 Chico, CA 95926.

TAMARA PATTERSON 8564 Silver Bridge Rd Palo Cedro, CA 96073.

This business was conducted by a General Partnership.

Signed: KYMBERLY COCO Dated: February 20, 2014 FBN Number: 2013-0000762 Published: February 27, March 6,13,20, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as INSPIRE ME CREATIONS at 561 E Lindo Ave. Suite 7 Chico, CA 95926 SOLUTION-ORIENTED THERAPY 561 E Lindo Ave. Suite 7 Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by a Limited Liability Company.

Signed: KYMBERLY COCO, MANAGER Dated: February 20, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000289 Published: February 27, March 6,13,20, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as OPEN PASTURE EVENTS, SOUL HEALING HORSES at 913 Long Bar Road Oroville, CA 95966.

SHANNON PAIGE 913 Long Bar Road Oroville, CA 95966.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: SHANNON PAIGE Dated: February 11, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000254 Published: February 27, March 6,13,20, 2014

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as ADOPTION CHOICES OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA at 1469 Humboldt Rd Ste 200 Chico, CA 95928.

CHICO FEMINIST WOMENS HEALTH CENTER 1442 Ethan Way Suite 200 Sacramento, CA 95825.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: Marikathryn Hendrix, Director Dated: January 24, 2014 FBN Number: 2014-0000160 Published: February 27, March 6,13,20, 2014

NOTICES CITATION FOR PUBLICATION UNDER WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE SECTION 294 To (names of persons to be notified, if known, including names on birth certificate): JASON HOLMES and anyone claiming to be a parent of (child’s name): EH born on (date): November 16, 2004 at (name of hospital or other place of birth and city and state): OROVILLE HOSPITAL OROVILLE CALIFORNIA A hearing will be held on Date: April 8, 2014 Time: 8:30 AM Dept: TBA Room: TBA Located at: Superior Court Of California County of Butte 1 Court Street Oroville, CA 95965 At the hearing the court will consider the recommendations of the social worker or probation officer.

The Social worker or probation officer will recommend that your child be freed from your legal custody so that the child may be adopted. If the court follows the recommendation, all your parental rights to the child will be terminated.

You are required to be present at the hearing, to present evidence, and you have the right to be represented by an attorney. If you do not have an attorney and cannot afford one, the court will appoint an attor-­ ney for you.

If the court terminated your pa-­ rental rights, the order may be final.

The court will proceed with this hearing whether or not you are present.

Signed: S. THOMPSON Dated: January 30, 2014 Case Number: J-36671 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

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NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE WILLIAM R. HARPER, SR To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of: WILLIAM R HARPER, SR A Petition for Probate has been filed by: SAUDA AARIF in the Superior Court of California, County of Butte.

THE Petition for Probate requests that: SAUDA AARIF be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

The PETITION requests the decedent’s wills and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate.

The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representa-­ tive to take many actions with-­ out obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consent-­ ed to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A Hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: April 3, 2014 Time: 9:00a.m.

Dept: TBA Address of the court: Superior Court of California County of Butte 655 Oleander Ave Chico, CA 95926.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal repre-­ sentative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or per-­ sonal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and le-­ gal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a

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ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner JUSTINE MARIE LAWRENCE filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: JUSTINE MARIE LAWRENCE Proposed name: JUSTINE MARIE LEWIS-LAWRENCE THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

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

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: March 12, 2014 Time: 8:30am Dept: TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: STEPHEN E. BENSON Dated: January 24, 2014 Case Number: 161293 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner JOAN FERM filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: PEYTON DONEVON PAIVA Proposed name: PEYTON DONEVON FERM COURT ORDERS that all per-­ sons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

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

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: March 19, 2014 Time: 8:30am Dept: TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: F. CLARK SUEYRES Dated: January 23, 2014 Case Number: 161256 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

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NOTICE OF LIEN SALE Pursuant to CA Business Code 21700, in lieu of rents due.

The unit numbers and names and contents are: Unit 081CC: Leigh Ann Brizendine: Misc items, boxes, etc. (6x10) Unit 242SS: Taylor Forwalter: Misc items, boxes, etc. (6x10) Unit 247SS: Donald Vassalo: Misc items, boxes, etc. (6x12) Unit 319CC1: Michael Maurice: Misc items, boxes, etc. (5x7) Unit 476CC: Aaron T Seamons: Misc items, boxes, etc. (5x6) Contents to be sold to the highest bidder on: March 1, 2014 Beginning at 12:00pm Sale to be held at: 65 Heritage Lane Chico, CA 95926.

Published: February 20,27, 2014

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner PATRICIA JEAN O’BRIEN filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: PATRICIA JEAN O’BRIEN Proposed name: PADDY O’BRIEN THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

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

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: March 26, 2014 Time: 8:30am Dept: TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: SANDRA L. MCLEAN Dated: January 27, 2014 Case Number: 161291 Published: February 6,13,20,27, 2014

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Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250.

A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Case Number: PR40931 Petitioner: Sauda Aarif 3033 Greenville St Oroville, CA 95966 Published: February 13,20,27, 2014

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ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner EDWARD VERN THOMAS filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: EDWARD VERN THOMAS Proposed name: EDWARD THOMAS MCDO-­ NALD THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

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

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: April 2, 2014 Time: 8:30am Dept: TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: SANDRA L. MCLEAN Dated: February 4, 2014 Case Number: 161318 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner VAN WYATT filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: VAN WYATT Proposed name: LARRY EUGENE PIXLER THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

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

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: March 26, 2014 Time: 8:30am Dept: TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: SANDRA L. MCLEAN Dated: February 3, 2014 Case Number: 161323 Published: February 13,20,27, March 6, 2014

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner DEEPIKA TANDON filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: JEVESH TANDON Proposed name: SHUBHANSH VOHRA TANDON THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

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

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: April 9, 2014 Time: 8:30am Dept: TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: ROBERT A. GLUSMAN Dated: February 11, 2014 Case Number: 161369 Published: February 27, March 6,13,20, 2014

THINK

FREE.

battles you’ve been waging these last 10 months have been worthy of you. They’ve tested your mettle and grown your courage. But I suspect that your relationship with these battles is due for a shift. In the future they may not serve you as well as they have up until now.

At the very least, you will need to alter your strategy and tactics.

It’s also possible that now is the time to leave them behind entirely—to graduate from them and search for a new cause that will activate the next phase of your evolution as an enlightened warrior. What do you think?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Life is like Sanskrit read to a pony,” said Lou Reed. That might be an accurate assessment for most people much of the time, but I don’t think it will be true for you in the coming days. On the contrary: You will have a special capacity to make contact and establish connection.

You’ve heard of dog whisperers and ghost whisperers? You will be like an all-purpose, jack-of-all-trades whisperer—able to commune and communicate with nervous creatures and alien life-forms and pretty much everything else. If anyone can get a pony to understand Sanskrit, it will be you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Does Kim

Kardashian tweak and groom her baby daughter’s eyebrows? They look pretty amazing, after all—elegant, neat, perfectly shaped. What do you think, Gemini? Ha! I was just messing with you. I was checking to see if you’re susceptible to getting distracted by meaningless fluff like celebrity kids’ grooming habits. The cosmic truth of the matter is that you should be laser-focused on the epic possibilities that your destiny is bringing to your attention. It’s time to reframe your life story. How? Here’s my suggestion: See yourself as being on a mythic quest to discover and fully express your soul’s code.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The 19th-

century American folk hero known as Wild Bill Hickok was born James Butler Hickok. At various times in his life, he was a scout for the Union Army, a lawman for violent frontier towns, a professional gambler and a performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.

Women found him charismatic, and he once killed an attacking bear with a knife. He had a brother Lorenzo who came to be known as Tame Bill Hickok. In contrast to Wild Bill, Tame Bill was quiet, gentle and cautious. He lived an uneventful life as a wagon master, and children loved him. Right now, Cancerian, I’m meditating on how I’d like to see your inner Wild Bill come out to play for a while, even as your inner Tame Bill takes some time off.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “If I was a love

poet,” writes Rudy Francisco, addressing a lover, “I’d write about how you have the audacity to be beautiful even on days when everything around you is ugly.” I suspect you have that kind of audacity right now, Leo. In fact, I bet the ugliness you encounter will actually incite you to amplify the gorgeous charisma you’re radiating. The sheer volume of lyrical soulfulness that pours out of you will have so much healing power that you may even make the ugly stuff less ugly. I’m betting that you will lift up everything you touch, nudging it in the direction of grace and elegance and charm.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “You miss 100

percent of the shots you don’t take,” says hockey great Wayne Gretzky. In other words, you shouldn’t be timid about shooting the puck toward the goal. Don’t worry about whether you have enough skill or confidence or luck. Just take the damn shot. You’ll never score if you don’t shoot. Or so the theory goes. But an event in a recent pro hockey game showed there’s an exception to the rule. A New York player named Chris Kreider was guiding the puck with his stick as he skated toward the Minnesota team’s goalie.

But when Kreider cocked and swung his stick, he missed the puck entirely. He whiffed. And yet the puck kept sliding slowly along all by itself. It somehow flummoxed the

Mama bear

goalie, sneaking past him right into the net.

Goal! New rule: You miss only 99.9 percent of the shots you don’t take. I believe you will soon benefit from this loophole, Virgo.

by

Katherine Green

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you are the

type of person who wears gloves when you throw snowballs, Germans would call you Handschuhschneeballwerfer. They use the same word as slang to mean “coward.” I’m hoping that in the coming days you won’t display any behavior that would justify you being called Handschuhschneeballwerfer.

You need to bring a raw, direct, straightforward attitude to everything you do. You shouldn’t rely on any buffers, surrogates or intermediaries. Metaphorically speaking, make sure that nothing comes between your bare hands and the pure snow.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In his song “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” Bruce Springsteen mentions a disappointing development. “[T]hat waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me,” he sings. “[S]he said she won’t set herself on fire for me anymore.”

I’m assuming nothing like that has happened to you recently, Scorpio. Just the opposite: I bet there are attractive creatures out there who would set themselves on fire for you. If for some reason this isn’t true, fix the problem! You have a cosmic mandate to be incomparably irresistible.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

“Some people say home is where you come from,” says a character in Katie Kacvinsky’s novel Awaken. “But I think it’s a place you need to find, like it’s scattered and you pick pieces of it up along the way.” That’s an idea I invite you to act on in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. It will be an excellent time to discover more about where you belong and who you belong with. And the best way to do that is to be aggressive as you search far and wide for clues, even in seemingly unlikely places that maybe you would never guess contain scraps of home.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What words bring the most points in the game of Scrabble? Expert Christopher Swenson says that among the top scorers are “piezoelectrical” and “ubiquitarianism”—assuming favorable placements on the board that bring double-letter and triple-word scores.

The first word can potentially net 1,107 points, and the second 1,053. There are metaphorical clues here, Capricorn, for how you might achieve maximum success in the next phase of the game of life. You should be well-informed about the rules, including their unusual corollaries and loopholes. Be ready to call on expert help and specialized knowledge. Assume that your luck will be greatest if you are willing to plan nonstandard gambits and try bold tricks.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Sorry to

report that you won’t win the lottery this week. It’s also unlikely that you will score an unrecognized Rembrandt painting for a few dollars at a thrift store or discover that you have inherited a chinchilla farm in Peru or stumble upon a stash of gold coins halfburied in the woods. On the other hand, you may get provocative clues about how you could increase your cash flow. To ensure you will notice those clues when they arrive, drop your expectations about where they might come from.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Avery, a

character in Anne Michaels’ novel The Winter Vault, has a unique way of seeing. When he arrives in a place for the first time, he makes “room for it in his heart.” He “let himself be altered” by it. At one point in the story, he visits an old Nubian city in Egypt and is overwhelmed by its exotic beauty. Its brightly colored houses are each like “a shout of joy,” like “gardens sprung up in the sand after a rainfall.” After drinking in the sights, he marvels, “It will take all my life ... to learn what I have seen today.” Everything I just described is akin to experiences you could have in the coming weeks, Pisces. Can you make room in your heart for the dazzle?

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

Shelli Quinn is a local artist who creates stuffed “bears and other cheerful things” for her local company Potbelly. She has been bringing her highly collectible creatures to life since 2004, and just recently decided to go full time with her business. She shares a studio in Chico with her husband, local marriage and family therapist Tim Quinn, and mostly sells her creations online to a clientele that stretches across the world.

Visit her site at www.potbellybears.com to see a photo gallery and for info on how to purchase bears.

What inspired you to start making bears?

While I was home with [my sons], being a creative person, I thought, “They’re little boys, and dolls aren’t really the thing for them, so maybe I’ll make a teddy bear.” It was just a whim. So I bought a pattern and I made it. And it was, without question, the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It was awful. I’m a Type A kind of person, so I wasn’t satisfied. I didn’t really want to make another teddy bear, but I couldn’t sit still with the one I had produced.

So I went online, and I found this world that I didn’t know existed of collectible, one-of-akind, artist-made, mohair teddy bears.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHELLI QUINN

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The

by Rob Brezsny

15 MINUTES

BREZSNY’S

For the week of February 27, 2014

determine my prices, and they went up and up and up.

What are the “other cheerful things” you make?

What I currently make in addition to bears are little pincushions. They have little animals on top, usually a rabbit or a mouse, and I’ve just done a few of them. They’re kind of a side thing; I don’t get quite the same price point for them. But they’re easier and quicker to make.

They’re fun. It’s a nice diversion, keeps the creative chops honed. If I want to make something like a skunk or a rabbit, or if I’m inspired, then I can do that.

When did you decide to sell them?

Any new challenges?

By the time I got to a bear I was satisfied with, I thought it was kind of fun. And now that I knew about this industry out there, [I thought] maybe I [could] make some money doing this because I’m home with my kids. So I contacted an online seller and asked if they would sell my work. The first ones I ever sold sold for $200 a piece—two of them. And it went on from there.

I started selling on eBay. I let the market

The new frontier for me is: If I offer bears more frequently, can I maintain the collecting audience and the price points I’ve been getting? I have literally spent 10 years selling everything I make within a day of posting it. I just don’t have anything that hasn’t sold, and I’m so grateful and so lucky. I have loyal collectors who love my work and who, when I send out an email, snap it up.

FROM THE EDGE

by Anthony Peyton Porter anthonypeytonporter@comcast.net

Good cops In a grocery store once, the woman next in line got up in my face and said, “There are good cops, you know.” I think I had written harshly about the police. I said, “I’m sure there are. There must be.” I couldn’t be sure, but I figured that some decent people had slipped through. I didn’t know any, but I haven’t known a cop since I left Chicago, where a handful of guys I grew up with had joined the force.

I’ve encountered cops here and there, but I’ve been law-abiding and increasingly nonthreatening for some years, so they ignore me, and I them.

After all those years of avoiding the police, in the last couple of months I’ve had more contact with law enforcement than in the rest of my life put together.

Having seen and read about cops of various kinds— government agents and others—I have been appalled and disheartened at the way politicians, including the Chico Silly Council and the Butte County Board of Ignoramuses, fall over themselves inventing and approving new powers for their enforcers.

I’ve also written about the way we may tend to attract bullies and sadists to police work because that way they can get away with anything, and then

we train them in violence rather than empathy.

I haven’t changed my mind about any of that. I do want to add to my discussion, though, because there are good cops. I thought there must be, and I’m glad to say I was correct, especially since the worst part of thinking there are no good cops is the thought itself, my having managed to live a nearly police-free life so far and being in no position to know what the actual percentages are.

Now I’ve had some contact with the police, and things aren’t nearly as bad as I’d thought. I’ve run across seven or eight Chico cops and a most helpful Butte County deputy, and there was only one guy who might better serve humanity in another capacity, and he wasn’t terrible, just a little tense and insecure. In a shakier situation, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him. He was the only one.

I see now that there are situations in which one’s best bet is to call the cops, something I’ve never wanted to do. When they showed up, though, they were calm and made sense and were in no hurry to force anything, which worked admirably. Maybe the armed cowards make the headlines, and all those decent cops we don’t hear about just keep doing what they do. Fancy that.

February 27, 2014

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