Other notable stories in 2012

City takes stand against ‘corporate personhood’

Heeding a request from longtime former city Planning Commissioner Jon Luvaas, the City Council agreed to consider a resolution calling on Congress to initiate an amendment to the U.S. Constitution overturning to the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United decision and ending the concept of “corporate personhood.”

Dozens of cities and counties, including Los Angeles, have passed similar resolutions, Luvaas stated.

The issue was immediately controversial, with some parties arguing that it was beyond the scope of the City Council and a waste of time.

Not true, Luvaas argued: It’s a local as well as a national issue because policies favorable to corporations have caused the budget crises local governments face, and besides “the only way to battle corporatism is for millions of people to speak up.”

In May the council passed the resolution and also agreed to put it on the Nov. 6 ballot as an advisory measure. It passed with 58 percent of the vote.

Plastic bags banned—maybe

Another controversial issue that generated some heat was the City Council’s effort to regulate single-use carry-out plastic bags, as numerous other jurisdictions have done, in an effort to reduce their use.

Beginning with a Sustainability Task Force recommendation in January and a subsequent City Council hearing in early March, followed by an Internal Affairs Committee review in June, the council finally passed an ordinance in early September.

At that last hearing, it was clear that most council members preferred to require large retailers to charge a small amount—a dime, say—for both plastic and carry-out bags. Experience elsewhere has shown that this encourages shoppers to bring their own reusable bags.

State law at the time prohibited charging for plastic bags, but a bill was waiting for Gov. Jerry Brown’s expected signature that would lift that prohibition. Two council members, Mark Sorensen and Bob Evans, wanted to hold off on passing an ordinance until Brown signed the bill. The rest of the council was eager to move forward, however, and voted to authorize the city attorney to write an ordinance banning the use of plastic carry-out bags.

Within days, however, the governor had signed the bill. In a phone interview, City Attorney Lori Barker said she was holding off on writing the ordinance on the assumption that the council would revisit the issue. That has yet to occur.

Fighting discrimination

Becky Barnes-Boers made a big impact in 2012 by publicly pointing out to Chico officials the multitude of ways in which the city is out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Locals may recognize Barnes-Boers, who uses a battery-operated wheelchair for transportation and is often seen with her kindergarten-age son, Gabriel, on her lap or at her side.

Barnes-Boers attempted to work with city staff to correct the violations for years, in fact, but began showing up at public meetings more often after being shut down over and over again. In March, she filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, over dozens of alleged ADA violations within the city.

The outcome of that investigation will be interesting, as Barnes-Boers has successfully forced ADA compliance from other entities, including the Chico Unified School District.

Meat on the front burner

Pink slime—aka “boneless lean beef trimmings” or “lean finely textured beef,” as it is called by the meat industry—made the news when the widely unpopular fatty burger-filler was axed by fast-food chain-restaurants Taco Bell and Burger King, and supermarket chains Albertson’s, Lucky and Safeway.

Similarly, Chico Unified School District Nutrition Services Director Vince Enserro made the decision to cease purchasing textured-beef products for the school-lunch program starting July 1, stating, “We will use the USDA’s option of not using [textured beef]. If you’ve got the choice of ‘use it or don’t use it,’ nobody would take the choice to use it.”

In another meat-related controversy, Chico State College of Agriculture Dean Jennifer Ryder Fox was put on the spot about an email she sent to ag students deriding the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in the midst of a flap about the A.S. Dining Services’ proposed “Meatless Mondays,” aimed at giving students meat-free alternatives to the many existing meat options.

Going, going, gone!

Chico was left without professional baseball last summer, after the Chico Outlaws club was unable to renew its lease at Chico State’s Nettleton Stadium.

Joe Wills, Chico State’s director of public affairs, cited scheduling conflicts with the university’s baseball team and noise complaints from residents living around the stadium as factors in the negotiations. The Outlaws were also a member team of the struggling North American Baseball League, which, hindered by extensive travel costs, shortened the 2011 season by a week. Following that season, Outlaws General Manager Mike Marshall reported he had been laid off and the team office was closed.

It was the first time Chico baseball fans were unable to catch a pro game since 2005, when the Outlaws began operations. The Outlaws were league champions in 2007 and 2010, and saw a host of their players move on to higher levels.

Doctor and wife accused of killing child

On July 18, Dr. James Yhip and his wife, Edelyn, were arrested on suspicion of murder and felony child-endangerment and abuse charges relating to the April death of their 2-year-old adopted son, Benjamin. Infanticide is generally regarded as a particularly heinous crime, and this case was made all the more shocking by his parents’ professional status: James is an Enloe Hospital cardiologist and his wife an oncology nurse.

The unresponsive child was taken to Enloe Medical Center April 18 after Edelyn dialed 911. He was later airlifted to Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento, where he was declared dead the next day. The cause of death was determined to be blunt-force trauma to the head, allegedly caused by a blow from the mother, and the child also allegedly had signs of ongoing abuse.

The Yhips are out on bail, awaiting a February trial. In the meantime, court rulings in August have allowed them to continue working. The couple’s other children, including Benjamin’s twin brother, are currently under the care of Butte County Children’s Services.

The wandering wolf

This summer, Butte County played host to a very special celebrity—the Oregon-born wandering gray wolf, aka OR7, that made its way into Butte County this past summer.

Nicknamed “Journey” by some, OR7 is a 2-year-old male born into the Imnaha Pack in Northeast Oregon. The wolf’s technical name derives from his being the seventh in his pack to receive an electronic tracking device.

OR7 went solo in September 2011, beginning a journey that continues today. He crossed the border to California late last December, becoming the first known wild wolf to grace the Golden State since the last was killed in 1924. He arrived in Butte County on June 28, and was tracked just outside Chico in early July.

According to the California Department of Fish and Game, which posts regular updates about the wolf’s whereabouts (left intentionally vague for his protection), OR7 was last pegged in Butte County Aug. 28. He’s stayed close since, wandering the wilds of adjacent Tehama and Plumas counties.

Smokers banned near doorways

Further limiting the places where people can legally smoke tobacco, the Chico City Council passed an ordinance in October that prohibits smoking within 20 feet of a doorway, unless the smoker is just passing by.

None of the people who spoke at the two public hearings on the issue, in August and October, had anything good to say about smoking. And groups such as the American Lung Association came down strongly in favor of the ordinance, calling it a public-health issue.

But doubts were raised about the city’s ability to enforce it. Local businessman Michael Reilley reminded the council that smoking was already prohibited in City Plaza and Children’s Playground, but people smoke there anyway, both cigarettes and “medicine.”

Enforcement wasn’t the issue, Councilwoman Mary Goloff said. An ordinance, combined with education outreach and signage, would give local businesses the tools they need to police their doorways. On the other hand, neither the Chico Chamber of Commerce nor the Downtown Chico Business Association backed the proposal.

On Oct. 16 the council approved the ordinance, 5-2, with Bob Evans and Mark Sorensen opposed. Evans earlier had said, “Smokers have a right to be unhealthy.”

Rev. Robert loses his appeal

Local musician, inventor, entrepreneur, artist and reverend Robert Seals lost his fight for his beloved Goddess Temple on July 31, as the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to deny Seals’ request to use the 80-acre parcel east of Chico as a church and chapter of the Universal Life Church.

Events held at the temple, a space dedicated to the “worship of motherhood and the feminine,” were the subject of noise complaints from neighbors, most notably regarding a wild Earthdance celebration that got out of hand four years ago. It also became apparent many of the $4 million facility’s buildings were constructed without proper permits.

Supervisor Larry Wahl, who moved to deny the permit, said “It would be ludicrous to give this outfit permission to do what they want to do, in addition to the fact that they’re depriving their neighbors of their quiet enjoyment of their own property in a residential neighborhood.”

City takes over animal shelter

The city of Chico took over operations of the Butte Humane Society animal shelter in February. Then-Police Chief Mike Maloney told the City Council the change was a mutual agreement that would have the city running the animal intake while the BHS would maintain responsibility for marketing, adoptions and the newly built spay-and-neuter clinic.

This change, the council was told, would come with no increased costs to the city. But during a July budget meeting the council learned operations of the shelter had gone up $134,000. And local animal advocates claimed the shelter was actually euthanizing more animals than ever, because it made money by selling their carcasses to a rendering plant.

The latter accusation was not true, and in fact euthanasia is down and animals are piling up at the shelter. And the increased costs were attributed to a leaning curve as the new administration took over.

Cogeneration plant burns out

A south Oroville cogeneration plant that burned biofuel to produce electricity closed in October. The Pacific Oroville Power Inc. plant (POPI) was owned by New Jersey-based Covanta Energy and had been under the scrutiny of the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.

When it was first fired up in 1983, POPI burned wood chips from timber harvests. It then added agricultural waste to help meet the 28 tons of fuel the incinerators consumed per hour to produce enough energy to power 20,000 homes. That electricity was sold to Pacific Gas and Electric.

In the end it was burning “urban waste,” which consisted of demolished buildings. Ash piles from the plant were dumped in a number of places, including north Chico.

Tests of the ash revealed levels of dioxins, and though the ash pile in Chico has been removed, there are reportedly more piles on ag lands in both Butte and Glenn counties.

Is something wrong with Butte Hall?

The deaths this year of two relatively young and healthy Chico State employees raised concern because both of the deceased worked in offices on the top two floors of Butte Hall and both succumbed to lung-related disease.

Professor Andrew Dick, 47, died on May 16, and Tami Harder Kilpatric, 51, died four months later.

Many on campus, particularly those working in Butte Hall, took notice and began asking questions. The building, like many on campus, contains asbestos that was sprayed on its metal framing when built in 1972.

The school administration held a meeting to address concerns and explain that the building was safe, and the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration is now looking into the case. A report is expected sometime next spring.

Teeter’s upset victory

Despite losing the June primary by a healthy margin, Doug Teeter won the race to replace longtime Butte County Supervisor Kim Yamaguchi in the District 5 supervisorial seat on Nov. 6.

In the primary, Paradise Town Councilman Joe DiDuca gained 5,040 votes (39 percent), while Teeter followed with 3,275 (25 percent). But Teeter subsequently whipped DiDuca in the general election with a popular vote of 9,658, compared to DiDuca’s 5,814.

While DiDuca ran on a conservative platform focused on limiting local government’s interference in small business, Teeter presented a more moderate viewpoint emphasizing the protection of public lands for recreational use and stabilizing the economy through increased tourism on the ridge.

Teeter suggested his success may have been the result of going door-to-door on the ridge and holding his own campaign signs on street corners.

Sierra Nevada hops coasts

Soon, it’ll be a little easier for East Coast craft-beer aficionados to get their hands on a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Chico’s famous brewery announced in late January it will expand production by opening a location in Mills River, N.C., sometime in early 2014. It’s planning to invest $107.5 million in the new brewery over the next five years, employ 90 people (not including workers for the attached restaurant) and beginning production at 300,000 barrels a year, compared to the Chico location’s 800,000 barrels.

Brewery founder Ken Grossman cited Mills River’s beer culture, water quality and quality of life as reasons the location makes for a good fit.

Sierra Nevada distributes in all 50 states, so the East Coast brewery will reduce shipping costs and the company’s carbon footprint. Grossman said he “felt the most responsible thing to do was build a brewery on the other side of the country to lessen our impact on the environment while continuing to place great craft beer into the hands of our consumers.”

New chief and manager hired

On March 30, City Manager Dave Burkland announced he was appointing Capt. Kirk Trostle as Chico’s interim police chief effective April 21, the day after Chief Mike Maloney was to retire and take a job at Butte College.

Burkland then appointed Trostle to the permanent position, a move that was approved by the City Council on June 19. Trostle had previously served as chief of the Oroville Police Department and also worked for the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.

Burkland stepped down on Aug. 31 after five years on the job. He was replaced by Brian Nakamura, who was hired from a similar position in the Riverside County town of Hemet, after the council had conducted a number of closed-door interviews.

Word of Nakamura’s interview was leaked and reported in this paper, and he took some heat from certain folks in Hemet for his apparent betrayal.

A win for the girls

Cindy Wolff was vindicated in 2012 over her complaints years earlier to the Chico Unified School District about the gender inequities she found in the district’s sports programs, violations of Title IX, the landmark 1972 educational amendment prohibiting gender discrimination in federally funded educational programs and activities, including sports.

Over the course of two years, Wolff, a Chico State professor and director of the university’s Center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion, says her charge that the high schools’ programs favored boys was repeatedly ignored by coaches, principals, school board members, and finally the top administrator, Superintendent Kelly Staley.

Eventually, in October 2010, Wolff, as a member of the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. On June 22, the day before the 40th anniversary of Title IV, the OCR released a letter of findings in which CUSD agreed to resolve many of the issues Wolff had brought to light.