E-R Reporters' Notebook

By Larry Mitchell

I was in a state office this morning and overheard employees talking about the possibility they might be paid in IOUs soon.

They sounded worried.

“I don’t do this as a hobby!” one woman said.

Someone else said IOUs were issued instead of paychecks about 12 years ago -- something she hadn’t experienced because she’d only worked there for 10 years.

IOUs ... it seems crazy. Can the state Legislature and the governor let things go that far?

Almost makes me think of the pictures we saw in textbooks as youngsters of people in Germany after one of the World Wars, pushing wheelbarrows full of money. The money was next to worthless. It took a wheelbarrow full to buy a can of soup, or something like that.

Speaking to Congressman Wally Herger on the phone this week, I asked him about all the suggestions one hears that the country may be on the brink of terrible disaster.

“Look around,” he said. I think he meant if I looked around I’d see a prosperity that wasn’t about to disappear. We might get really bad inflation. Unemployment might jump to really bad levels. But Americans are productive and resilient and creative, he said. The country is not about to take a huge dive. Yet, he added, that possibility is there, if we don’t take the right actions now.

Here is today's poll question on ChicoER.com:

Do you believe you can understand what your animal's sounds? Related

Please vote on ChicoER.com and discuss it here.

Here is today's poll question on ChicoER.com:

Will the latest rate cut be successful? Related

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By Ryan Olson - Enterprise-Record

CHICO — The disc-golf supporters’ current petition challenging the Chico City Council’s decision on the Bidwell Park Master Management Plan is the fourth such challenge since 2000.

A review of the three most-recent petitions in response to Chico City Council decisions reveals that the efforts have impacted city policy.

Two petitions were successful — one regarding purchasing land to extend Otterson Drive and the other regarding increasing parking meter enforcement hours, according to a review of the Enterprise-Record archives. One failed effort — over the disorderly events ordinance — may have ultimately contributed to the council later passing a revised version.

2000 - Otterson Drive extension — Only the Otterson Drive petition made it to a referendum where voters overturned the City Council’s decision. In 2000, a group called the Neighbors for Fiscal and Environmental Responsibility gathered signatures to overturn the council’s decision to build a $1.5 million bridge over Comanche Creek to connect the Hegan Lane Business Park to Park Avenue.

A divided council scheduled a June 2001 election. After a contentious campaign, voters rejected the proposal, redubbed Measure A, 55 percent to 45 percent.

2005 - Parking fees — The petition led by the group called Friends of the Downtown challenged the City Council’s decision to extend enforcement hours of parking meters to include weekday evenings and Saturdays. One of the underlying issues was that the new funds may have potentially paid for a new downtown parking structure.

When considering the referendum in August 2005, the council opted to backtrack on extending the enforcement hours instead of potentially spending $100,000 to hold an election. A separate proposal to increase hourly parking rates to 50 cents an hour went into effect.

• RELATED: Decision cuts money for parking structure (Sept. 7, 2005)

2007 - Disorderly events - College students and others were concerned when the City Council adopted a disorderly events ordinance. The measure was intended to give police officers the authority to shut down events deemed to be out of control, but opponents viewed it as a possible infringement of First Amendment rights to assemble and peacefully protest.

A group called Chico Citizens for Civil Rights collected signatures, but the effort fell short of the minimum 10 percent of registered Chico voters. Shortly after the petition failed, then-Mayor Andy Holcombe asked the council to reconsider the ordinance which led to a revised ordinance passing in April 2008.

• RELATED: Council approves revised disorderly events ordinance (April 2, 2008)
• ALSO: Petition opposing party ordinance fails (Jan. 4, 2008)

Here is today's poll question on ChicoER.com:

Do you think Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be impeached? Related

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By Ryan Olson - Enterprise-Record

Browsing through the latest update of Street View images on Google Maps has been a fun experience. My write-up is available here. It is interesting how the Street View cameras missed driving on several Bidwell Park roads. That could have made a virtual trip to Chico more interesting.

One thing caught my eye while browsing the photos of West Second Street — Annie Bidwell's face is missing. Well, not the real face of the city's late matriarch. It is the mural of John and Annie Bidwell on the side of the building that currently houses three restaurants.

Here's a look of the Street View of the mural:

View Larger Map

My theory is that Google's technology to blur out recognizable faces went to work on the mural even though it is an inanimate, larger-than-life piece of art. The technology appears to have skipped John Bidwell's face, but his image was already obscured by trees.

I tried to find other examples of murals or billboards blurred by Google, but wasn't too successful. Some images on billboards and murals were pretty blurry to begin with (such as "The Beatles" on Main Street).

The faces on the mural on Camella Way utility station across from the Chico News & Review office were intact (although one may been blurred when viewed slightly further away):

View Larger Map

Looking around the Skyway, there were a couple of billboards that may have been blurred out, but they seemed blurry to begin with.

Click on the jump to see some of the billboards and one possible "winner."

Here is today's poll question on ChicoER.com:

Is your office having a holiday party this year?

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Here is today's poll question:

Do you approve of California's plan to curtail greenhouse gases? Related

Please vote on ChicoER.com and discuss here.

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Here is today's poll question on ChicoER.com:

A recent poll found that more than half of surveyed were cutting back on holiday gifts. What are you doing? Related

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Here is today's poll question on ChicoER.com:

Will you watch Jay Leno's new show in primetime next fall? Related

Please vote on ChicoER.com and leave your comments here.

Here are the results: