Highlights, lowlights from the week’s news
HIT >> We’ve devoted a fair amount of space to the topic of letters to the editor, especially election-related letters that dominate our page this time of year.
Thus, we decided to pause and give thanks to some of the people who do a great job of writing letters that should set the bar high for others to follow.
We’re talking letters that share the writers’ thoughts on why they’re supporting a certain candidate or issue, and manage to do so without dipping into the mudslinging that all-too-often dominates forums such as these.
We’ll start with the letter from Nancy Park that ran Monday, explaining why she’s supporting four candidates for Chico City Council. She managed to praise something unique about each of the four without once launching salvos against the other side of the ballot, or making subjective claims about why the opponents are such “horrible” people, to mention just one oftenoverused word.
And the letter from Matt Gallaway, explaining why Measure H deserves our support even though conservatives are typically not in favor of new taxes, really hit the high-water mark as well.
In both cases, those writers got past the typical narratives and actually taught many of us something new — while remaining civil. That is a productive use of a letter.
On the other hand, we’ve returned letters to writers for using incendiary terms such as “grand wizard” and multiple counts of “stupid” and “morons” in descriptions of candidates who, for the most part, aren’t guilty of much other than being brave enough to volunteer for public service.
Our thanks to those who are keeping it positive this time around. We’ll highlight some more over the next two weeks as well.
MISS >> It’s horrifying to know there has been yet another shooting at Teichert Ponds.
The timing, too, was of big concern.
On Oct. 16, a man was wounded when shots were fired into his tent. Three people were arrested in that shooting, which happened just a few days after charges were dismissed against a teenager who was suspected in the shooting of two homeless men — one fatal — in 2021. It was ruled that the suspect’s claims of self-defense were strong enough to drop the charges.
Naturally, this latest shooting brought concerns on a number of fronts. Were the shootings connected? (They weren’t.) Did the dropping of charges against the teenager add to a feeling of “It’s OK to shoot at homeless people?” We should all hope not.
Between those shootings, and the shooting of two homeless men at City Plaza last last year, and the shooting of five people at a party in Chico last month (allegedly by a 16-yearold boy), the disregard for human life and the safety of others is sickening.
Our thanks to our police department for quickly arresting three suspects in this most recent shooting.
HIT >> Chico’s Ice Rink in the Plaza is coming back for a second season, and we’re thrilled.
While some continue to portray the rink as some sort of cruel, money-sucking disaster, we don’t see it that way at all. The rink was a beautiful addition to Chico’s downtown square — seriously, could there be a more beautiful location for such an attraction? — and it’s pretty hard to put a price tag on the joy it brought thousands of people.
It also brought a lot of foot traffic (and money) downtown. It’s difficult to tally the additional funds brought to restaurants and businesses and bars, but it was significant.
And yet, some insist on repeating false claims like “The city lost $300,000 because of this” and “It really hurt Paradise’s ice rink.” First, those who repeat that “$300,000” claim are conveniently leaving out the revenue produced by the rink, both in terms of usage fees and sponsorships. It came within $30,000 of breaking even, and now that many of the start-up infrastructure costs have been taken care of, should fare better this year. And we’ve yet to see any proof the rink hurt business in Paradise. If anything it probably got more people interested in skating again.
In any case, we’re happy to see it’s coming back. Opening Day at the rink is Nov. 17.
MISS >> The Chico City Council voted 5-2 to stop allowing “parklets” on sidewalks outside of downtown restaurants and, while we understand the reasoning, we’ll still be sorry to see them go.
Those parklets were an economic lifeline to the half-dozen or so restaurants that began operating them during the height of the pandemic, and they no doubt saved a good number of jobs. They also helped alleviate some of the anxiety people were feeling. It wasn’t the same as sitting inside of a restaurant, but at least people were able to have some relatively safe social experiences again.
On the other hand, the original need for their existence is behind us, and a good number of business owners and others found the parklets “ugly” and won’t miss them one bit.
All things considered, we will.