Highlights, lowlights from the week’s news

HIT >> We hold our elected officials accountable when they do something wrong, so we’re only happy to pat them on the back when they do things that are good for our area.

At the top of our list today is Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who is standing up for wildfire victims in the wake of some disturbing threats from FEMA.

News broke earlier this month that FEMA was seeking $3.9 billion in recovery costs from PG&E and if the utility didn’t pay up, they’d consider tapping into funds already earmarked for fire victims. He rightly says they need to settle their differences in a different arena.

“FEMA to this point has been very good and very helpful but there is some wrongheaded thinking here,” LaMalfa told KRCR recently. “So we will take it all the way to the White House if we need to, to put the attention, say this is not what we really want to do. This is not the message we want to send to victims of wildfires and going forward to others that might need our help and have to trust their government to be helpful for them.”

LaMalfa takes heat for “not standing up to Trump” often enough but, at times, it’s a pretty good thing that he’s kept a good working relationship with our unpredictable president, who is definitely one to hold a grudge over the craziest of slights. This could end up being one of those times.

MISS >> On the other end of the “actions by elected officials” barometer, we’ve got a lot to say about some of the things that went on Tuesday night at the Chico City Council meeting. So much, in fact, we’ll be taking the entire space of Sunday’s Editorial column to say it.

But, today being Saturday, somebody needs another “miss,” and we’re going to put it on the shoulders of the people who got us into this districting mess in the first place.

Let’s never forget this all started because a rich, white Malibu lawyer sued a rural northern California city with a Latino mayor for “not being diverse enough.”

In a true sign of the times, his firm has never lost such a case and, figuring anything would beat paying out millions in legal fees, our city council decided to avoid a lawsuit by going to district elections.

We can excuse that. We can’t excuse a direction it took

Tuesday night. Call this our “preemptive miss” for some jaw-dropping decisions that we’ll review tomorrow.

Oh, and thanks again, Malibu guy.

HIT >> Can’t get better than free, right? How about free equipment, free help, no fees and free fun? That’s just about sums up the guided snowshoe tours in Lassen National Forest. Did we mention they’re free?

Rangers in the Almanor Ranger District in Lassen National Forest are hosting those guided tours on snowshoes. There are no fees for borrowing the snowshoes, and the rangers provide instruction.

On top of all that, the rangers share their knowledge of the tour areas, including snippets about history, geology, fun facts and more.

Tours last one to two hours, and cover a variety of topics including basic winter survival skills, and environmental education too. They are geared to individuals who have no background or are beginners.

The tours are scheduled at various times and locations, but there are three coming up at the end of this month and next. They are Jan. 31, Feb. 8 and Feb. 22, and the good news is there is plenty of snow.

To sign up, call 530-258-2141 or email carlos.holguin@usda.gov.

MISS >> Cyber attacks happen to countries, big corporations or government agencies, but Enloe Medical Center?

Some group targeted Chico’s hospital, plugging in ransomeware to disable the hospital’s phone systems and private network. In the criminals’ minds, if things went well the hospital would pay a ransom to get back to normal.

As any good service provider, the hospital had a backup system and security partners that allowed it to function normally. Just over two weeks after the attack, the restoration of online systems was complete.

Enloe did not release the name of the group it suspected, but an investigation was being conducted.

There are enough challenges in the world of health not to have to worry about data threats. Let’s hope the criminals are found.

“Hits and misses” appears Saturdays. Items are compiled by the editorial board.