Highlights, lowlights from the week's news
HIT >> There could be few jobs as challenging as that of the president of a university in 2024. The demands and expectations from a wide variety of audiences — faculty, staff, students, parents, the community and more — are often so much in conflict, it's a guarantee that every decision is going to make somebody unhappy.
And then there's the whole role of being “the face of the school.” Most administrators are lousy at that. A select few are fantastic. At Chico State, we've already seen indications that new president Steve Perez is one of the select few.
For proof, all you have to do is take a look at a new video series from Chico State called “How To.” As the first episode shows, the series shows Perez learning from students about projects and experiences outside the classroom that enrich their education.
For starters, he met members of the Baja Society of Automotive Engineers club. They describe how to build and compete in an off-road vehicle — and, lo and behold, the video ends with Perez taking a test spin while apparently having the time of his life.
It's just a lot of fun and fantastic publicity for an institution that could certainly stand an injection of both. We can't help but wonder if a future episode might show Perez in the batter's box; we hear he played a little baseball back in the day. MISS >> It had to happen sometime, and it finally did: The first rescue of the season from Ord Ferry Road, with somebody deciding “Aw, those warning signs that say `Don't drive through the water unless you can see the lines on the road' really don't apply to me.”
Often, the people who try blasting through the deep dips on that road during flooding are folks from out of the area who don't know any better. Most locals see the pictures and the videos every single year; it usually takes only one view of a person trapped in a car floating downstream to make a lasting impression.
This time, we're told, the driver was actually someone who had successfully navigated the waters before, and figured he could make it again. (At least he was able to get out of the truck himself before rescuers arrived.)
We've even heard of folks starting a wagering pool guessing when the first “dip dive” of the year will take place, and what the excuse will be. There's a document we'd like to see.
HIT >> We're happy to see the amount of water in our lakes should be plentiful again for the spring and summer of 2024.
As of Friday morning, Lake Oroville stood at 845 feet, just 55 feet below the top. Last year on this date, it was at 816 feet. Of course, after several years of substandard rainfall, even getting to that mark was a huge deal.
The lake will no doubt fill this year, just as it finally did last year in early June. After a slow start to our rainfall and snow this season, we've been making up ground steadily; last week's storm left snow pretty low on the mountains on both sides of the valley.
It adds up to another year of enough water and full lakes as dam operators at Lake Oroville, Lake Shasta and elsewhere manage the late-winter flows to allow for room for the snowfall melt while keeping things below flood stage in the valley. So far, so good on all counts — and for all of that, we should be thankful.
MISS >> Been a rough couple of weeks for meetings and schedules. We've noted the way the Chico Planning Commission meeting went off the rails last week, both in a story and in Evan Tuchinsky's “City Insider” column. Yes, training seems to be in order.
Meanwhile, efforts to hold a forum about Valley's Edge on the Chico State campus ended following complaints that the panel consisted of nothing but opponents of the project, which meant it was more of a campaign event than a forum. Colleges can't host campaign events. Then opponents' efforts to hold it elsewhere on campus (in a building rented by Smart Growth Advocates) ended when it was pointed out the meeting was too close to a ballot box. So from there they moved to a private, non-taxpayer-funded location — leaving us to wonder why they didn't do that in the first place.
Finally, we're thrilled to see a League of Women Voters “candidate speed dating”style forum (Sunday, 1:30 p.m., Chico Masonic Family Center). Only problem is, it's being held on Super Bowl Sunday — two hours before the game, right around the time a good number of 49ers (and Chiefs) fans will be firing up their parties. There's probably not a worse Sunday on the calendar to plan such an event.
It's an important forum and we hope they get a good turnout anyway.