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| Image: The big moment. Captured
in all its illegal glory by my wife. I'm not sure how many of you knew that yesterday was the official Aaron Rodgers day in Chico. I only know that because our illustrious Mayor, Ann Schwab, said so at last night's Outlaws game. Rodgers, for those of you that live under a rock (probably a native, threatened rock), is a Chicoan and NFL quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. He was a starter last year, and I assume he'll start again this coming season. My son, much to my chagrin, is a Green Bay Packers fan. I was concerned when he "selected" the Packers as his team, that he would miss out on much I've learned from football. I'm a 'Niners fan, and their decade of consistent losing seasons has really strengthened my ability to enjoy the unenjoyable. I've learned that football is not about winning or losing. It's about losing. It's about watching some other team you could care less about in the playoffs and Super Bowl. I've come to appreciate mismanagement and poor player selection during drafts. I now take joy in seeing the second half collapse of an entire offensive line. Because watching a quarterback run for his life can be very entertaining. As a Green Bay fan I thought my son might get used to winning. After their last season my concern may have been premature. But last night's game did provide us with an opportunity to collect Aaron's autograph on an old rubber football that we toss around in the pool. We thought about getting him to sign our Nerf, but it happens to be in Chargers colors. I'll get David Little to sign that one. So last night my son and I ran around Nettleton Stadium in flip-flops chasing the mysterious figure of Rodgers. He would appear on the field, and then disappear into some secret Outlaws back room. Those guys must have more underground bunkers than Saddam Hussein. I thought at first he was personally avoiding me, that perhaps like BPPC'er Jane Turney he blamed me for years of soil compaction at highway 32. Then I found myself searching for him next to Ann Schwab. She had been ditched as well. She didn't have a pen or football for him to sign, so I think she may have wanted to talk to him about sustainability. After all he does play in Green Bay. At one point during the night I used my army-learned ambush skills and positioned my son right in front of Rodgers. He signed an autograph for a woman and then side stepped my kid as a second wave of fans flooded the scene. He muttered something about "doing this later" and then deftly avoided the blitz of signature seekers. I was distraught. They should have named him Aaron Dodgers. My son was disappointed. I think he felt like he let me down by not getting the autograph. Here was this hometown hero that couldn't take a few moments to sign some footballs. Lame. Of course, I justified it in my own mind. Rodgers couldn't spend his entire life signing kid's stuff. There were adults trying to get brand new footballs signed, probably to sell on eBay, and they also crowded him. Celebrities can't be all things to all people, and maybe this guy was just having a bad day. Maybe he just wanted to spend some time at home without being chased around by 'graph grubbers. Who knows. Later as the baseball game neared its conclusion, they announced that Rodgers would be signing autographs after the game. No pictures though. So at the start of the 8th inning I got in line while my wife and son watched the remainder of the game. I have never met, or known, any true celebrities (well, I take that back, I know Anthony Watts, celeb blogger extraordinaire). I wasn't going to break my my streak of befriending only the unknown by approaching a celebrity like Rodgers. He might instantly like me and want to hang out after the game. I sent my kid up to him, with football and pen. I sent my wife to the bleachers to take a photo (breaking all laws of decency). My son approached Rodgers and spoke quietly his rehearsed line "thanks for signing my ball, I hope you have a good season next year". Just then a guy in the stadium yelled "you should play for the 'Niners". Rodgers responded "I'm glad I don't". Then the football know-it-all in the stands continued rambling about someone coaching something. The exchange stepped on my son's quiet, gracious comments. It wasn't a Mean Joe Green coke moment. It was reality. Rodgers probably gets hounded by ridiculous sports fans his whole public life. Even though it wasn't a precious moment, we did get our ball signed, unlike a host of other families with kids at the game. I appreciate that he stuck around to make that happen. The dirty, rubber, water stained sporting device is sitting on our kitchen table right now. It'll be on display next to some stuffed animals, a couple of golf discs, and some artwork from 2nd grade. During the baseball game I sat in front of Craig Rigsbee, who coached Rodgers while he was at Butte College. Rigsbee has managed to get a number of his players into the NFL. I should have asked for his autograph. He's as much a hometown hero as any player who rises to the top and signs million dollar contracts. I think there's still some room on that football. |
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| Image: Chico 2030? The city has a General Plan Housing Element staff report on its ftp site. The report is 212 pages long (roughly 16MEG pdf file). Download at your own peril (here it is). The report has adjustments to the housing element of the General Plan update requested by the Department of Housing and Community Development (an arm of some California bureacracy). This is in attachment "B" starting on page 14 of the PDF. Some of the revisions requested are interesting. For example, there is a suggestion that the plan address energy audits on private homes offered for resale. On one hand this bothers me because it's presented as necessary to prevent climate change. It could certainly drive up the cost of housing but wouldn't necessarily reduce energy use. However, I don't see anywhere where it's mandated by this agency or in the city report. There is just a suggestion that the city could promote retrofits and energy audits on existing housing stock. On the positive side of things, a significant ongoing cost of home ownership can be energy costs. It would be useful to buyers if a home came with an energy audit that was similar to a MPG rating on cars. I might go for the pool/hot-tub/floodlit yard because I've got the big-bucks to pay for it. Or I might decide to buy the thatched hut with the single 12VDC outlet powered off solar. That would keep my monthly cash flow in the black. Then again, who is going to do the audit, and how will it be ensured to be genuine? When would the government start giving credits for social changes, once again directing how people live. Would you have to buy carbon credits to offset your historical energy use before a sale is allowed? These things are just plain creepy. Also, did you ever notice that house appraisers can generally appraise a house for exactly what the owner wants to sell it for? Very convenient. Government requirements tend to just be another expensive service that gets in the middle of private transactions. They rarely serve their purpose, except to introduce new costs. What's really kind of funny is that at the end of the Department of Housing and Community Development's suggested changes to Chico's housing plan is... The housing element should contain programs which "address, and where appropriate and legally possible, remove government constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and development of housing" (Section 65583(c)(3). I'll have to read through the report to see where that last suggestion is addressed. But seriously, this report and attachements have a wealth of information, so I'll likely be blogging about its contents for a few days. |
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| Image: Turmoil at Butte Environmental Council. Leslie Layton writes a detailed article on her Chicosol (www.chicosol.org) web site related to BEC's board of directors firing of long time director Barbara Vlamis. See the entire article here. From the article... A non-profit, BEC is governed by a seven-member board of directors. Supporters become BEC members or "angels" by making a sliding-scale donation. For several years, there have been rumors of conflict between Vlamis and some BEC supporters, and at times, high turnover on the board even though the organization was enjoying strong community support. Several of BEC's board members could not be reached for comment. Board members Mike McLaughlin and Lynn Barris said they could neither confirm nor deny the firing. ChicoSol was told by sources who asked not to be identified that Vlamis had been fired in a unanimous vote. Board member Robin Huffman, contacted June 29, said only that Vlamis had been "removed" from her post, and that BEC was undergoing a "transition." "She's been stressed and overworked and has been telling the board that," Huffman said of Vlamis, "and it showed." The board hoped it could split the functions of the executive director's post that Vlamis held until recently. The idea was to hire a new executive director who would assume administrative responsibilities, and keep Vlamis on in an advocacy position, Huffman said. Vlamis was apparently let go on June 25th after declining to take an advocacy position. Mentioned in the article is the fact the BEC's board of directors has resigned en-masse in times past. Employees have left as well. It's been said that Vlamis used tactics against her board that might have been better directed toward opponents of BEC. It would not be out of the question to see BEC's board subjected to legal threats over this decision. It would be a positive sign to see the board of this non-profit hold its ground. BEC has become synomomous with law suits and legal threats. This public face does a disservice to many supporters who understand the rare need for litigation, but recognize the more common appeal of cooperation with regard to environmental issues. |
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| Image: Two days that will live
in infamy. The Outsiders held our second annual Summer Solstice Slam tournament this weekend. It's a travelling circus of disc golf. Last year we played 4 disc golf courses in two days, which nearly killed me (Oroville, 2 in Grass Valley, and Penn Valley). After the '08 tourny we figured we should scale it back to two rounds at one course and a third round on day two. This would get us home in time to recover for work. Unfortunately, we picked the two first rounds to be played at Toney's Mountain Golf. This is a great, but brutal disc golf course. It took 5 hours to play the first round. I came off the course looking like a cougar attacked me. Nobody finished round two, so we scratched it from the record book. I think as a group we lost something like 5 discs on the course, with two getting stuck 100' up in the same pine tree about 20' from each other. Damn you hole 4. The average score for this course was around 18 over par. The second round at Penn Valley's course went a little better. Gregg took first place overall after placing 3rd at Toney's and then blowing everyone away at Penn Valley shooting 1 under par. The rest of the field was sitting around +7 at Penn Valley. Preston received the glorious DFL trophy for last place. Last place deserves a trophy since it means you played the most disc golf of anyone else in the field. In mid July we're holding a free tournament at Lave Creek in Paradise open to the first 60 people that register (members or not). Late in July we have a member only backpacking/safari disc golf weekend scheduled for the Trinity Alps. In addition to playing a little disc golf this trip is designed to introduce kids to backpacking with a short 2 mile hike to a mountain lake. Image below: Hole 4 at Toney's. The tee shot is a 250' drop into the "bowl". The target is right of the dirt road that shows up as a tan spot just in front of the tee pad. And if you throw down 250' you've got to throw back up that distance. Holes 5 and 6 are serious inclines. Hole 6 has had steps installed, but used to be traversed with knotted ropes tied between trees. |
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| Image: A map. 1 of many. Preliminary flood insurance rate maps and a preliminary flood insurance study related to Butte County have been released by FEMA. If you would like to find out if FEMA thinks you are about to be washed away you can do so at this web page. The maps are not well organized, so you'll have to hunt to find your neighborhood. But now you know what the City Council knows, before some of the City Council even knows you know what they know, you know. That's got to make you feel good. |
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| Image: The applicants for the new
Chico Police Chief position? In the last week or so I've written 5 blogs. And then I deleted them. Someday those blogs will come to be known as the "lost blogs". They were masterpieces of self-perception and represented a complete and nuanced understanding of the universe. I would not be surprised if they form the foundations of a new religion. They were good. Damn good. 4 were about Jessica Alba, the 5th was a reprint of a Chico Beaver story with updated Flash animation. But today I'm faced with the reality that I must blog, and post, about local events of momentous importance. I know, you're thinking I'm going to delve into the fact that Chico Unified's adopted budget leaves a $4.7 million sink-hole followed by nearly double that in the following year. I don't have time for minor concerns like the education of our children. Here's their budget web page if you feel a need to learn more. That budget shortfall is only $316 per student. To do my part I'm going to direct the state of California to forward my child tax credit to the local school district in its entirety. But that's not the story I want to write today. Neither will I jump on the celebrity media bland wagon and it's never ending reporting on the passing of talented yet creepy Michael Jackson or the lovely Farah Fawcett. On a slightly Fawcett related tangent I would like to direct all readers to this Youtube video of Lee Majors fighting Sasquatch in a titanic 6 Million Dollar Man episode. And you thought 300 had gripping scenes of violence. Nope. I must write today in fond pre-remembrance of the soon-to-be former editor of the CNR, Evan Tuchinsky. Tuchinsky writes in yesterday's In My Eyes column that he will be leaving that organization after next week. I had an exclusive interview with Evan to find out what was next for him. Tuchinsky informed me of a number of career opportunities that have presented themselves. He felt he owed his family and future an honest attempt to reach beyond mere editor-of-weekly-paper status. First, he has applied for the city position of Police Chief. Being a solid golfer, and having shot several bears while living in Paradise, pads his resume for this position. He also looks smashing in his commemorative Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band uniform, which is identical to the new Chico Police outfits being prepared for 2010 (these new uniforms were Chief Hagerty's last policy change). Second, as an accomplished paint-by-the-numbers artist Evan has considered opening a paint-by-the-number art studio. As a grand master of paint-by-the-numbers art he once completed a Thomas Kinkade piece that had more than 35 different colors. Truly astounding. The studio will be called Cafe Burnt Sienna harkening back to Chico's deep past. Lastly, I've heard that Tuchinsky is considering starting his own weekly paper called the Paradise Beat. It'll include hard hitting news pieces and not be all cluttered up with paid advertisements. This is something nobody's tried before... in Paradise. Now that you've got the back story I'll provide you all with a moment of splendid and glorious candor. I'm sorry to see Evan go. He was a fair minded and accessible editor for the News and Review. I don't know the nature of his exit, other than to say that he told me he planned on staying in the area. Chico (and Paradise) have a lot to offer for families, but employment opportunities are not in abundance. So I'm sure he moves out of the CNR with some real financial concerns during a time where everyone has real financial concerns. Let's wish him the best in the coming months. At times Tuchinsky, Speer, and Ek represented a moderate version of Chico's dominant left politics. The center-left appeals to many quiet citizens and offered a contrast to the green-hype that tends to promote unrealistic living requirements and permeates California's media. It provided balance and actual news to the local weekly. With the passing of Richard, and Evan moving on, I'm left wondering where the CNR is headed. One thing is certain. Since Evan Tuchinsky is likely to have a lot of spare time there's one activity that must be calling to him. You can make friends (not those friends), get some exercise, and enjoy the splendor of the outdoors. So here's my advice to Evan, and he's already half-way there. |
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| Image: Getting ready for the night
hike to the observatory last Saturday night. The Outsiders led a night hike to the Kiwanis Chico Community Observatory as part of CARD's Community Campout last Saturday. This is becoming a campout tradition since the hike has happened for 3 of the last 4 years (last year the campout was cancelled because of the smoke in the air). The hike wound its way from Hooker Oak Recreation Area, through 5 mile, and across the main park road to the bike path on the north side of the park road. This route is nice since people with strollers can use it. It's unfortunate that the city has never completed the bike path from the Horseshoe Lake down to Wildewood Park. Because the bike path is incomplete we have to walk people down the park road for a distance of a couple of hundred feet. Luckily Todd, Jennifer, Gregg, Becket, and Nichol were there to herd the hikers. By the time we started hiking the number of people tripled from the photo above. I would guess the group size was somewhere in the area of 100 people. And the end result was an incredible view of Saturn and the universe. Anita and Kris did a great job accommodating the large crowd, with Anita and others running the telescopes and Kris doing a laser pointer constellation tour of from the outdoor planetarium. Since people come back in smaller groups it was much quieter on the stroll home. We heard owls hunting and loads of bullfrogs humming on the way back. It was such a nice night it makes me wonder if monthly night hikes might be a fun thing to organize. Throw in some hot chocolate and I think you've got yourself a party. |
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| Image: Chief, soon to be former Chief, Hagerty The word is that Police Chief Hagerty is retiring from Chico's thin blue line. This would create a search for a new police chief. Current acting chief Mike Maloney is a good choice. The city has spent wads of money recruiting police chiefs from outside of our community. Here's a word of advice. Save the money, end the baloney, be a honey, and appoint Maloney. Update: The ER is reporting this story 2:03 hours after CI. I can only imagine how many people benefited from knowing this information 2 hours before the rest of the world. On a side note, I expect that CI will have also scooped the CNR by something in the area of 7 days. Yeah me. |
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| Image: A highly descriptive reference diagram for better understanding the new blog format I generally enter responses to comments the same way everyone else does. I enter them in the comment form, submit them, and then approve my own comments. David emailed me to say that the Captcha feature seems to not work very well. Captcha is the little box of letters and numbers you have to enter when submitting your comment. It stands for something I can't remember, and don't want to look up. But basically they replace a text code with a graphic, and the graphic is linked to text via a secure database. The text you enter is cross referenced with the contents of the database, and the comment is approved with a match. Well, I'm not sure that's how the ER/Movable Type does it. I created a Captcha element for the Outsiders web site to stop form spamming, and that's how I did it. I've also noticed that a couple of times I entered the correct Captcha code and my comment wasn't accepted. Then there's the whole "out of memory at line 1" error that comes up when you submit a comment. Very la-di-da. I now type with my pinky extended when on this blog. The ER knows about this extended feature set. If these problems cause people to quit commenting I'm afraid I'll lose much of my self-esteem. So much of my life is this blog. Without this blog my friends would not think I'm cool. Strangers wouldn't know just how wonderful I am. I couldn't pretend to know a lot about things that I really know nothing about. I'm hoping the graphic above will convince people to keep trying to post comments and to continue using the free blog service the ER provides. If not though, I may have to take the summer off again. Perhaps I'll give up bloggering and start twittering. |
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| Image: Jenn Klein, super-reporter
for the ER is apparently gone. This leaves a hole in my media heart that
won't soon be filled. Klein is second from the right with the long red
hair. The Outsiders (www.chico-outsiders.com) sent out a monthly e-newsletter yesterday. I received a bounce back on Jenn Klein's email account at the ER stating that as of June 4th she was no longer working there. Klein told me of her plans to leave Chico a few months ago, and apparently those plans have taken flight. What she described to me indicated she was moving on to a different phase of her life, and I'm sure she'll find success where she's headed. While I wasn't friends with Jenn, I was friendly with her. Since she covered CARD and the Council there were a number of times where she interviewed me. She told me once that one of her bosses described Commission Impossible as her competition. If you look at the vast amount of information her columns provided to the public, versus my pictures of Jessica Alba, I probably placed a distant third (out of 2) in providing a public service. I thought she was a solid reporter on local issues. Reporter's don't really have that great of a job. It's hard to do, the pay is not good, if you make a mistake it's in front of everyone, and they're supposed to avoid including their own opinions. Can you imagine presenting a size constrained article on a complex local issue, like the budget, while also providing a balanced presentation of dissenting opinions? Not easy. That's very different from editorial writers. Their job is to express opinion. It's all very different from blogging. I'm not size constrained, I have no editor, no deadlines, and I can express a thoughtful or poorly defined opinion amidst providing information. I'm not sure if the print newspaper industry will survive the coming decades. I'm sure the news industry will, online if nowhere else. One thing that will be lost if everyone becomes a blogger is the reporter's consistent un-opinionated columns. Jenn Klein was a good example of a reporter that remained aloof yet connected to the people she was reporting on. Her city government coverage will be missed. |
Lon
About Me: Fasten your seatbelts for an exhilarating trip through Chico's public policy; I guarantee it's marginally better than public access TV.
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