Downstroke

Hey, Mickey… Mickey Taylor, who for 11 years headed up The Esplanade House, a transitional shelter for homeless families, is on to new things.

Her last day was Aug. 31, but she will continue to write grants for The Esplanade House and serve on special projects.

Taylor saw the shelter, first located in an old motel, through its new construction on Shasta Avenue amid NIMBY neighbors’ outcry.

“I had the privilege of bringing the project to where it is today, but the challenges of serving five times the number of families with extreme difficulties as well as managing a facility five times the size of the old facility was a challenge I elected not to accept,” Taylor said. She was also frustrated by “upward battles” inherent in such a role, including: “funding shortages, lack of available resources to provide adequate services, becoming enmeshed in the lives of clients to the point that it follows you home, etc.”

Taylor said she’d like to do something a little less stressful for a while. “I really will miss working with the clients, watching their progress and seeing successes,” she said.

The shelter, overseen by the Community Action Agency of Butte County, is seeking a new executive director.

Rockin’ the vote: If college students don’t get out and vote in the November election, it won’t be for lack of trying by student government leaders.

Chico State University’s elected student officials are among students nationwide who have vowed to register half a million of their peers in time for the vote.

“Chico’s doing well compared to other campuses,” said Nicole DeMartini, director of legislative affairs for the Associated Students. She said the campus volunteers, who have set a goal of 3,000 new registrants, have challenged their counterparts at Sonoma State for the highest percentage of new voters above their target. The loser has to wear the winner’s school logo at the November meeting of the California State Student Association.

The students have also met with university administrators for ideas on how to “institutionalize” voter registration—somehow get the university to register new voters.

Only 32 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the last election. For more information, go to www.newvoterproject.org.

Chico’s Mr. Baseball: Longtime local professional baseball advocate Bob Linscheid (pictured) has been chosen by the Golden Baseball League to head Chico’s new pro team. Considering his experience in that capacity with the old Chico Heat team—not to mention his fanaticism for the sport (he travels to Scottsdale, Ariz., every year to watch spring training)—Linscheid would seem the perfect choice for G.M.

That connection to Arizona baseball will serve the team well as efforts begin to organize in time for opening day at Nettleton Stadium next May. Tryouts begin sometime in November, and, perhaps more important, the “Name Your Team Contest” is accepting entries through Oct. 15. For info, check out the team’s Web site: www.goldenbaseball.com.