Since I moved onto the Ridge in 2000, there was one stop sign on Skyway between Chico and Inskip. That was a very convenient landmark for me, as i could tell people to turn at the stop sign and get to my house.

The march of time and technology has finally changed that. While the powers that be declare that the intersection is now safer, once more Paradise has lost something that has made it special.

photo by Gary D. Brune copyright (c) 2008

When a bank replaced a video store on Clark and Wagstaff a few years ago, they quickly leveled an old wooden bus shed. The Town of Paradise helped them by promising and building a metal bus stand, under the reasoning that modern is better.

What this shows is that the voice of the people does not matter around here. Money is all that counts, and it is better to move money faster than help people. Only when it is convenient for the rich to do a thing does it get done for the poor.

Just like the dog and pony shows that were BCAG's Unmet Transit Needs meetings, where the people came to speak to their needs, only to find that BCAG ruled that there were no needs that they could do reasonably, this is an indication of how Butte County deals with the poor folks.

We have no voice, so why bother?