Bullfight

This seems like a great forum to hear what current college students consider important topics of interest and ways they think people should help deal with these challenges.

Today's Scrabble word is badinage, or playful teasing.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2007

Backup

In September The News & Review reprinted a feature on local PVHS and Butte College standout Aaron Rodgers and his experience serving as backup, heir apparent to Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

The writer, Charles Robinson from Yahoo! Sports, wrote very favorably about Rodgers.

It's not surprising that USA TODAY's Chris Colston picked up a similar theme with his latest feature, "Stuck behind a legend, Packers QB Rodgers waits."

The best Rodgers quote:

"Rodgers would love to give Green Bay back-to-back Hall of Fame quarterbacks. 'But if my legacy is being a good teammate and friend, that's more important to me than any records,' he says. 'Think about it: if you play 10 years and live to be 70, that's only one-seventh of your life. What matters are the relationships you take with you.'

Given the way Favre and the Packers are currently playing, it might be awhile before we ever see Rodgers start a pro football game.

The 49ers should have drafted Rodgers, but then again Rodgers would have been beat up by now playing for the dismal San Francisco team.

Today's Scrabble word is ramekin, a cheese dish.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)

November 26, 2007

Cornucopia

This week’s City Council meeting is packed with interesting, diverse issues - at least interesting to the 20 of us who pay attention to City government.

Usually these meetings are mostly filled with mundane, routine items, along with one or two controversial land-use hearings.

But this week the City Council will discuss a cornucopia of items, including:

1. Making “camping” in trailers and RVs unlawful, or at least defining the terms better for the occasional enforcement purposes. Anyone know what is the local Wal-Mart's policy towards camping?

2. Authorizing $410,134 for acquisition and site clearing costs to purchase County land on Hicks Lane and Eaton Road which will serve as the future site of Fire Station 7. This step is further validation that the City is preparing for growth in northwest Chico.

3. Discussing Councilor Mary Flynn’s request to create an ad-hoc Downtown Study Group for a specified period of time. As part of the General Plan update, a Downtown Element will already be completed, which would involve a few community hearings and stakeholder interviews. The question before the City Council is whether they want to hire the General Plan subconsultant, Downtown Solutions, to conduct additional services related to downtown planning.

4. Discussing whether the City should add the "requirement of a 'planning background' when appointing several of the City of Chico’s Planning Commissioners.” Personally, I don’t think implementing additional requirements is worth the trouble. The City’s planners conduct analysis and make recommendations. Developers and their planners present their case to the City staff, appointees, and eventually the City Council. I see no reason why there should be a requirement to supposedly “professionalize” appointees.

5. At Mayor Andy Holcombe’s request, the Council should definitely consider additional alternatives to the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC). The Council recently appointed nine GPAC members with one alternate. It makes sense to appoint several alternates now, rather than just one alternate, in case more than one GPAC member drops out due to the significant time commitment the committee service requires. If the City Council adds more alternates, I suspect many of them will be women considering some of the criticism they've received about the initial appointments lacking more women.

And most importantly, the City Council will make the important decision to start 2008 with a bang – by voting to cancel the first regularly scheduled Council meeting in January of 2008, which happens to fall on New Years Day.

Who wants to attend a meeting on New Years Day? I'd love to see a Councilor fight to keep this regularly scheduled meeting. This person would be the most unpopular person at City Hall - a definite party pooper.

Today's Scrabble word is gorget, a piece of armor for the throat.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2007

Green Business

Chico-based Greenfeet.com was recently honored as a top-10 finalist for the People’s Choice for Green Business of the Year from Co-op America.

This is great recognition for a wonderful local company.

According to the press release from Co-op America:

”Based on 7,000 ballots submitted by consumers across the U.S., the top-10 finalists for the most popular environmentally-friendly business were: ReusableBags.com, San Francisco, CA.; UsedCardboardBoxes.com, Montebello, CA; Greenfeet.com: The Planet’s Homestore, Chico, CA; Flexcar.com, Seattle, WA; Pizza Fusion, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Only Natural Pet Store, Boulder, CO; YogaNine/Buddha Body Fair Trade Store, Smithville, NJ ; Green Living Now, Huntington, VT; and MountainsOfTheMoon.com, Camby, IN."

The People’s Choice for Green Business of the Year is ReusableBags.com, which sells a variety of, well you guessed it, reusable bags - including our very own ChicoBag.

Today's Scrabble word is sudd, a floating mass of vegetation.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)

November 24, 2007

Museum Location

In the E-R’s editorial, “Museum great for Chico, but ...” the editors applaud the efforts to build a new Northern California Natural History Museum near Bidwell Mansion.

But the editors question whether the location is appropriate and the number of parking spots planned is appropriate.

This is a question more people are beginning to ask.

One scenario I’ve heard people suggest is for the university to work with the County of Butte to eventually utilize the property across the street currently occupied by Chico Supervisors Jane Dolan and Maureen Kirk, along with a few other County offices.

The County is currently in the process of evaluating land options to build new County offices in Chico, which means the County will likely want to sell or lease the current property on Memorial Way Drive.

This option may not work because of timing, property configuration, and also since there has already been a lot invested into planning for the current, proposed location near Bidwell Mansion.

Today’s Scrabble word is cosset, or to fondle.

Posted by dan_nt at 11:34 AM | Comments (2)

November 23, 2007

Fox News Porn

Fox News Porn is brilliant social and news commentary. All the video clips are actual footage aired on Fox News.

The collection of Fox News Porn by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films is not only a critique of Fox News, but raises interesting questions about "indecency" on our public airwaves and on various popular Internet websites.

Some of the most intelligent commentary and debate involves Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford Law Professor who is one of the leading legal minds on issues related to the Internet.

Initially, the Fox News Porn video was banned from Digg (the ban has been lifted) and YouTube flagged the video for 18+ year olds, even though all the clips were considered "decent" by FCC standards when aired on Fox News.

Lessig asks: "So it's ok to broadcast this content to kids for the purpose of driving ratings and ad revenue, but banned for purposes of criticizing the (yet again) hypocritical Fox network."

I wouldn't go so far as saying those Fox broadcasts are for kids, but his point is well-taken about the purpose of airing these videos and stories - to drive ad revenue and ratings. We all know sex sells, even in our so-called news.

I think what bothers some people is that some Fox News commentators, like Bill O'Reilly, present themselves as moralists yet peddle the same images, behavior, and ideas they like to critique.

Today's Scrabble word is muon, an elementary particle in the lepton family.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2007

Turkey Song

Enjoy this old Adam Sandler performance.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time to reflect - to give thanks to people you take for granted in life.

I'd like to thank the City's Planning Commission for giving the E-R editors a regular topic to criticize. Without you, this year's editorials would be boring.

I'd like to thank Dane Langston for making comments that boil Chuckles' blood and vice versa.

Thank you City Finance staff for putting together great budget presentations and information.

Thank you to all our public servants who take the hits, but who keep working hard on behalf of our community.

Thank you President George W. Bush for making President Richard Nixon look good.

And thank YouTube for keeping me entertained.

By the way, if you plan to carve a turkey today, watch this video:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today's Scrabble word is toile, a shear linen fabric.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2007

Bag Monster

Recently The SF Chronicle featured the above photo, taken by Carlos Avila Gonzalez:

"Benn Davenport of Chico walks around Market Street in San Francisco on Monday dressed as the "Bag Monster" to raise awareness about how plastic bags pollute the environment. A ban on plastic grocery store bags takes effect today in San Francisco, where officials estimate 180 million plastic bags are handed out each year. Stores will face fines for breaking the new law."

Andy Keller and his ChicoBag team are riding, and in certain cases, leading this environmental movement.

All I know is Davenport is likely getting many funny stares similar to the confused look on the woman's face on the left side of the photo. But then again, it's San Francisco so maybe he's just normal.

Many other cities have begun the process of implementing a similar plastic bag ban. We'll see if the City of Chico moves forward on a similar measure before the California State Legislature steps in with a statewide mandate.

Today's Scrabble word is listee, someone on a list.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (6)

November 20, 2007

Kitchen Heat

This clip shows a strong Hillary Clinton moment in the last debate.

Today's Scrabble word is lah, the syllable naming the sixth note of a major or minor scale.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:16 AM | Comments (1)

November 19, 2007

Virginia Press

The Daily Press in Hampton, Viriginia mentioned local artist Gregg Payne's murals in an article about Hampton's efforts to beautify its riverfront.

The article, "Beautifying a corner on the riverfront," states:

"Cities have gone to similar lengths to enliven neighborhoods with more permanent public art. In Chico, Calif., a project was started three years ago to have bridge abutments painted with murals to cover, and discourage, graffiti. The city's arts organization has commissioned 25 underpass murals since 2004, and none has been ruined by graffiti."

I recall this project by Payne took years to get off the ground, which involved the painful process of getting Caltrans' permission to paint murals on state property.

I also remember recommending that Payne paint a scary person wearing a hood and sunglasses standing behind a tree as part of the mural, but that idea didn't go very far. I challenge you to come up with a worst idea.

The photo above is taken from Payne's website.

Today's Scrabble word is hie, to go in haste.

Posted by dan_nt at 11:19 PM | Comments (2)

November 18, 2007

Shopping

The Chico Beat's Josh Indar's extensive article, "Winning the War on Christmas," takes a hard look at issues of globalization and buying patterns.

Indar's article reminded me of the upcoming movie, What Would Jesus Buy?, which is playing in select theaters around the country.

The docu-drama is produced by Morgan Spurlock, who made Super Size Me. According to the movie website:

"What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt....Through retail interventions, corporate exorcisms, and some good old-fashioned preaching, Reverend Billy reminds us that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas. What Would Jesus Buy? is a journey into the heart of America – from exorcising the demons at the Wal-Mart headquarters to taking over the center stage at the Mall of America and then ultimately heading to the Promised Land … Disneyland."

The movie is currently expected to play in the Crest Theater in Sacramento, but perhaps will play in Chico if enough move watchers make a local push.

Today's Scrabble word is comport, to conduct or behave in a particular manner.

Posted by dan_nt at 01:46 AM | Comments (11)

November 17, 2007

Overtime

Here's my musical tribute to City employees working overtime.

Maybe Fire Captain Dave Main's colleagues should play this song when he retires.

Main logged in an extra 30 hours each week in overtime, if you spread his 1,599.5 overtime hours evenly over the course of 2006. He makes Diana Ross proud.

Today's Scrabble word is fen, or a marsh.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2007

Names

Without a doubt, I think the E-R and the City of Chico has done a great service to the community by providing and publishing the total compensation of City positions in an easy format to digest.

This type of transparency is critically important in government.

Nevertheless, I am still unsure as to the purpose of listing names of City employees, as opposed to simply listing City positions and their commensurate wages.

According to the E-R: “Following a state Supreme Court ruling, the Enterprise-Record has released the salaries and wages of all city employees, by name, in an effort to give residents a more informed picture of the city's budget.”

I've underlined the key phrase that I believe is worthy of debate.

What is the intent or significance of listing personal names of City employees next to their total compensation, instead of only listing positions along with total compensation?

E-R Editor David Little is quoted saying:

"I hope people don't use these salaries as a way of saying government employees are overpaid or underpaid, but rather they use the information as a tool to figure out whether the city government is running efficiently and whether departments are being funded correctly.”

If the purpose is to provide information to help the public determine whether the City is operating efficiently or whether departments are appropriately funded, then I don’t see how listing names adds any further education to the public – besides providing gossip about how much individuals make.

However, if someone wanted to learn about compensation for senior managers or department heads, it’s quite easy to find that information. Now the E-R has made it even easier.

For example, Debbie Presson is the one and only City Clerk. And Jennifer Hennesy is the only Finance Director.

Before the E-R published its searchable database of City government salaries, someone could easily review the City’s budget and find the line item expense for the City Clerk or City Finance Director.

But now, thanks to the E-R’s searchable database, I’ve also easily discovered that Information Systems Technician Norman Westlotorn made a whopping $20.96 in 2006 – barely enough to buy a steak.

And we can now learn that the City pays its interns $10 per hour with superstar, hard-working intern Ricky Samayoa making $10,810 from working 1,081 hours in 2006.

Public employees who I know have mixed reactions about personal names listed with salaries. Some are quite angry because they see no public purpose being served by listing names, as opposed to just positions and salaries.

Others don’t have any strong opinion, feeling quite comfortable defending their salaries to anyone who questions their job responsibilities or performance.

But what’s missing from this debate over compensation and its role in the City budget is an analysis of the various contracts the City has with various employee unions.

Almost all City positions are governed by a union contract that is negotiated every few years.

Any changes in compensation - including labor rules governing overtime - likely means new or additional contract negotiations, which can take quite some time.

Today’s Scrabble word is mete, to distribute by measure.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:20 AM | Comments (8)

November 15, 2007

Opposition

Can someone tell me why the community at large needs another casino that also happens to be proposed in an environmentally-sensitive area?

I can understand why the Mechoopda tribe wants a casino.

And I can understand why Las Vegas-based Stations Casino wants the management contract to operate the casino.

But with the exception of Chico gamblers who can cut their commute in half, I’m at a loss as to the community benefits associated with yet another casino in Butte County.

Maybe more jobs, but at what cost in terms of traffic, infrastructure costs, and more social services?

Even though the approval process for the proposed Mechoopda casino is largely out of local jurisdiction’s hands, at least Butte County is aggressively lobbying against the proposed casino location.

I wonder when the community will actually start organizing against the proposed casino location, like they’re doing in opposition to Wal-Mart’s expansion plans.

Today’s Scrabble word is mig, a type of playing marble.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)

November 14, 2007

Challengers

Next year’s Butte County Supervisor elections may be competitive.

Paradise Town Councilor Robin Huffman is already raising money and organized a campaign website to challenge incumbent District 5 Supervisor Kim Yamaguchi.

It’s likely that former Oroville Mayor Gordon Andoe, who lost re-election as Mayor to Steve Jernigan in 2006, will challenge District 1 Supervisor Bill Connelly.

The Andoe-Connelly race may shape as a race pitting City interests (Andoe) versus unincorporated County interests (Connelly).

These interests are not always mutually exclusive, but this anticipated race may play off the sometimes competing urban versus rural issues.

It doesn't appear that anyone is seriously planning to challenge District 4 Supervisor Curt Josiassen, although several people, like former Paradise Mayor Steve Lambert, would like to replace Josiassen if he does not seek re-election.

Today's Scrabble word is rah, used to cheer a team or player.

Posted by dan_nt at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2007

Fired Up

This is the latest Barack Obama stump speech with many not-so-subtle criticisms of Senator Hilary Clinton.

He's in the Bay Area again this week speaking in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Today's Scrabble word is pap, a soft food for infants.

Posted by dan_nt at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)

Hotel Oaks

This is the Hotel Oaks on the corner of Salem and Second Street circa 1920.

Image courtesy of Nora Mootz and Special Collections Dept. Meriam Library, CSU, Chico.

Here's an old article in The News & Review about the Hotel Oaks.

Today's Scrabble word is puna, a cold, arid plateau.

Posted by dan_nt at 07:12 PM | Comments (3)

November 12, 2007

Remembrance

Today's Scrabble word is verdure, or greenness.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2007

Everyday Activists

Local activists have organized "Everyday People, Everyday Activists: Working for Peace” for this coming Tuesday.

The event on the Chico State campus is this Tuesday, November 13th at 7pm in Siskiyou 120.

Two speakers are featured - Cathy Webster, a local activist who has organized 1000 Grandmothers, and Eddie Falcon, a college student who is an Iraq War veteran for peace.

The Chico Peace and Justice Center recently recognized Webster, along with Emily Alma, as the 2007 recipients of the Chico Peace Endeavor Award for their contributions to the community.

Today's Scrabble word is hoary, or white or gray with age.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2007

Profiles

Evan Tuchinsky from The News & Review wrote two excellent features on Councilors Tom Nickell and Mary Flynn, along with Mayor Andy Holcombe.

The headline “An officer and a gentlewoman” is hilarious.

Tuchinsky captures some of the essence, differences, and similarities of Nickell and Flynn quite well, along with good quotes from Holcombe, Scott Gruendl, and Steve Bertagna.

In "The other rookie” about Holcombe, Councilor Larry Wahl is quoted saying: "Andy has done, I think, a great job."

I think Holcombe should consider taking Councilor Larry Wahl's quote and using it for his re-election mailers to Republican voters.

I had fun with the photos that N&R's Meredith Cooper took:

Today's Scrabble word is inion, the part of a skull.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2007

Worse

The latest E-R editorial, "Appointments not too shabby," could have been worse.

I've read worse editorials over the years so this one could have been worse. In short, the editorial on the latest Planning Commission and General Plan Task Force appointments wasn't too shabby either.

E-R editors could only muster a backhanded compliment to the City Council.

Instead of framing the editorial by wholeheartedly applauding the appointments, the E-R chose to frame the issue in negative terms by using its editorial to point out the flaws it perceives with the current City Council and Planning Commission.

Despite the E-R editors liking the appointments, their obvious disdain for the current City Council prevented the newspaper from printing a headline like "Council makes wise appointments" or "Council makes good choices."

Instead of a positive editorial headline, we're left with a not too shabby headline - and a mostly critical editorial wrapped up in a bow of backhanded compliments.

By the way, the E-R noted that the City Council chose seven people to serve on the General Plan Task Force and none of them are minorities.

The Council did appoint Dave Kim to serve as the Architectural Review Board representative on the General Plan Task Force. Kim, who I believe is Korean-American, will join Planning Commissioner Dave Kelley as the eighth and ninth members of the Task Force.

And the E-R keeps perpetuating this myth that Planning Commissioners quit because of their colleagues and "several planners left" because of the Planning Commission.

Former Planning Commissioner Steve O'Bryan was burned out and Kirk Monfort wanted to serve on the General Plan Task Force.

And the City planners who left the City lately had retirement plans years in the making or left because they were either fired or wanted to pursue other interests like traveling the world.

For example, planner Patrick Murphy sent this message to the Planning Commission by email on May 26, 2007 after he left the City:

“I just want to let you know that despite what you may read or hear, I am NOT leaving the Planning Dept. because of the Planning Commission. I have the utmost respect for each of you individually and as a group and I truly appreciate your commitment to the community.”

Can the planning process improve? Certainly. Is it fair to blame every organizational planning issue on a few Planning Commissioners? No. But it seems like the E-R would rather keep arguing that the problem only lies with a few Planning Commission appointments.

I know this has been a rather shabby blog entry today, but if you've read some of my previous postings, you know that there are worse things I could do.

Today's Scrabble word is myrmidon, a loyal follower.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (8)

November 08, 2007

Salaries

Actually, in contrast to the message on the left, government employee salaries are no secret.

Recently the E-R made a Freedom of Information Act request for salaries, benefits, and pay increases for all City employees.

This request comes at the heels of City budget discussions about how to close the projected budget deficit.

Since personnel costs, particularly related to public safety, represent the greatest share of the City budget, it’s only natural for citizens and media to attempt to gain a better understanding of City employee contracts.

City employee salaries and benefits are public records. They can be found in every budget so the City has not been hiding anything.

But assigning salaries to specific employee names, in addition to their positions, is new - at least for non-managerial positions.

It will be interesting to see how many names the E-R publishes along with their salaries, or will they simply publish positions and their salaries?

This is making some City employees nervous. For whatever reason, we live in a culture where talking about “how much you make” is socially taboo.

Keep in mind that the lowest paid City employees, even if they're only part-time, are the City Councilors, who earn a small monthly stipend and health insurance.

But transparency with government spending is important so I’m not concerned. That's the trade-off you make when you work for a public agency.

At the very least, we’ll see a community debate about government employee salaries and benefits with the usual critics lambasting what they consider excessive pay.

These critics usually work for organizations that won’t pay their own employees decent wages and benefits.

For example, media outlets aren't known to pay the majority of their employees very well, especially as they struggle to find ways to stay financially healthy in the Internet Age.

Today’s Scrabble word is primo, the main part of a musical piece.

Posted by dan_nt at 01:11 PM | Comments (5)

November 07, 2007

Jake Shimabukuro

Ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro will be performing at Laxson Auditorium on Thursday, Nov. 15.

Shimabukuro will be joined by rhythm master Joe Craven.

This is a must-see concert. According to Chico Performances:

"Twenty-nine-year-old ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro has been compared to the likes of guitar legends Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix, and is already renowned for lightning-fast fingers and revolutionary playing techniques. What he plays on the ukulele defies label or category — everything from jazz, blues, funk, and classical to bluegrass, folk, flamenco, and rock n' roll."

Here is the George Harrison original:

And here's another version of the same excellent song, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

Today's Scrabble word is latke, a potato pancake.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2007

Task Force

In addition to making two new Planning Commission appointments, tonight the City Council will consider making appointments to the General Plan Task Force.

This year the General Plan Task Force will be comprised of nine members – one appointee from the Planning Commission, one appointee from the Architectural Review Board (ARB), and seven “generalists."

The seven “generalists” are supposedly individuals who don’t represent any particular industry or interest group.

It’s likely the Planning Commission appointee will be architect Dave Kelley and the ARB appointee will be another architect Dave Kim, who is a recent transplant to Chico.

Kelley and Kim would make two solid appointments. With architecture backgrounds, both of them can offer professional insights to their Task Force roles, as well as familiarity with the land-use approval process.

The only other sure bet will be experienced former Planning Commissioner Kirk Monfort, who resigned with hopes of getting appointed to the Task Force.

This leaves six Task Force appointments remaining.

I’m guessing businessman Scott Winter, who is well-respected by people from different parts of the community, will be appointed.

Winter is known as a consensus-builder so it will be interesting to see if his skills can be put to good use on a task force dealing with contentious long-term growth issues.

Another person with a strong chance is Nancy Ostrom, a long-time Chico resident with university ties who lives in the Avenues.

Sor Lo, who works for Independent Living Services, will likely receive strong consideration given his advocacy for people with developmental disabilities and his ties with the Hmong community.

Here is the list of all 38 applicants. It’s an impressive list of citizens.

I think the City Council has plenty of good choices among the 38 applicants to fill the nine Task Force seats.

Today's Scrabble word is inhibin, a human hormone.

Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)

November 05, 2007

Democratic Halloween