Downstroke

Enjoy your $7: Federal workers traveling to Butte County on business can live it up in swanky hotels and dine at fabulous eateries thanks to a recent readjustment of the per diem reimbursement rates offered by the government.

The federal General Services Administration (GSA) reviews , and while most of the nation falls under a standard rate based on the Consumer Price Index of $60 for lodging and $39 for meals and incidental expenses, most large cities and a few smaller ones merit higher reimbursements.

The GSA decided last week that $60 wasn’t enough to cover workers’ lodging costs while staying in Butte County, specifically Chico and Oroville, so the per diem was boosted to $67. (Except for the period from Oct. 1 to Nov. 19, when it will remain $60.) The change takes effect Feb. 1.

Butte was one of only 12 areas shifted from the standard rate this year.

Also this month, the GSA adjusted the mileage reimbursement rate for federal workers who use their own cars down 4 cents to 44.5 cents per mile.

PARK AND RIDE: A proposal to close the stretch of Bidwell Park’s South Park Road from park’s Fourth Street entrance to just past Caper Acres was shut down this week on a 4-3 vote by the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission. The commission is reviewing the park’s master management plan and the proposal to close the road to vehicle traffic was part of the effort to try to balance park access with park safety issues.

The pro-car crowd argues that closing parts of the park to cars makes it more difficult for the elderly and the disabled to reach areas of the park like the picnic benches that sit near Big Chico Creek. And limited access will also lead to an increase in the number of creepy people slithering into hard-to-access areas of the park. Anti-car people say car traffic in the park endangers pedestrians and bicyclists and should be reduced as much as possible.

Their word is their bond: The Chico Unified School District got exactly the news they wanted to hear last week when a legal expert told a district subcommittee that the bond money voters approved in 1998 to build a new high school could be used for other projects instead.

Which other projects? According to Sacramento attorney P. Addison Covert, the ballot language voters approved was broad enough to include anything related to reducing overcrowding, renovating facilities, replacing heating and cooling systems, repairing playgrounds, wiring for technology, and more.

Voters approved a $48 million bond to build Canyon View High School and make various improvements, but delays kept the main project from going forward, and now the district says the school is unnecessary. The district issued $18 million in bonds, spent $9 million and still has the authority to issue $30 million more. It can even use bond proceeds to pay itself back for some past projects paid for by developer fees.