Highlights and lowlights from the week in news

We're not sure what the record is for “most items mentioned in a single Hits and Misses column,” but with so much going on (good and bad) the past few days, we're aiming for a new high today:

HIT >> Aaron Rodgers has garnered more than his share of negative attention on the national media stage the past couple of years for reasons ranging from his stance on vaccinations to his comments about Jimmy Kimmel and even his “darkness retreat.”

It's not enough to overshadow all of the great things we see from Rodgers locally, however, and we got another huge reminder of that from him this week.

Rodgers made a $3 million donation to help support Enloe Health's new Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chico, just the latest in a seemingly neverending line of six- and-sevenfigure donations for fire recovery, foundations and athletic programs in Butte County.

Funny thing — we've yet to see his most-vocal critics donate a dime to any of those causes.

MISS >> Speaking of things that never seem to change, the latest news about homelessness in California qualifies as nothing short of a full-blown disaster.

Our state has spent $24 billion on homelessness the past five years. “How has it helped?” seems like a fair question; unfortunately, nobody has a real answer, because an audit released this week shows the state hasn't really been keeping track.

Some people have done rough math indicating if the state had just handed every homeless person a check for several thousand dollars instead of spending the $24 billion, it actually would have come out ahead money-wise — and probably done more good.

What an embarrassment. HIT >> On the flip side of financial accountability, kudos to the City of Chico for literally putting its money where its mouth is in terms of working on our infrastructure.

We can't help but remember that when city leaders were first voicing their support for Measure H, many critics were mocking Chico's estimate that the measure would bring in $24 million its first year. As it turns out, that prediction was spot on. So, too, has been the way the city has spent the money, focusing largely on street and infrastructure repairs but also on public safety.

Meanwhile, as we reported earlier this week, the next round of street rehabilitation in Chico begins next week.

When government does what it says it's going to do with your tax dollars these days, it's worth noticing, and Chico's doing it.

MISS >> If there's one thing we can count on after reading another story about PG&E rate increases, it's this: That will be followed shortly by another story telling us how much PG&E executives got paid thanks to performance-based bonuses

Topping the list as always is CEO Patricia Poppe, who received $16.99 million. The compensation boost was about 20.3% higher than her executive pay for the previous year, and she also received a gain of $24.4 million through the vesting of an award of restricted stock.

This January, PG&E monthly bills reached $294.50 a month on average for the typical residential customer who receives combined electricity and gas services. That was 22.3% higher than the average monthly charges that went into effect a year ago.

How about that.

HIT >> What a monumental week it was for women's college basketball. For the first time in tournament history, the women's NCAA title game — between Iowa and South Carolina — actually drew higher TV ratings than the men, and much of that credit can go to Caitlin Clark, Iowa's star player who has captured the imagination of basketball fans — men and women alike — over the entire globe.

Amazing, then, that while the women outdrew the men, they actually got 99% less TV money than their male counterparts.

We suspect that balance is about to get a long-overdue correction. TV people know ratings, and this will not go unnoticed.

MISS >> Our local gas prices are back over $5 a gallon everywhere you look. What do you know: just in time for spring and summer travel.

HIT >> What a wonderful turnout for last weekend's “Choose Chico” event at Chico State. Thousands of prospective Wildcats from all over the country came to Butte County to see what all of the buzz is about, and a good number of them will no doubt be staying.

Sometimes, the best thing a beautiful campus and community can do to sell itself is just let people come and see for themselves. For a variety of reasons, Chico State is in a better spot in those regards than it's been in quite a while. That is great to see.

MISS >> The pollen. It's truly something to sneeze at.