Local Officials along with Congressman DOug Lamafa have been pushing the IRS to exempt any settlement monies or payouts from the Camp Fire be Deemed non taxable, and Tuesday The IRS confirms that awards for physical injury and emotional distress are exempt from federal taxes. Settlement money used to pay for personal expenses or funeral expenses linked to a federally declared disaster and money used to repair or replace homes are exempted.

 

 

 

Due to the increase in access to COVID-19 vaccines, Butte County Public Health (BCPH) says the vaccination clinic at Chico Community Clinic will be permanently closing this week. Public Health Offcials say the clinic located at 560 Cohasset Road will be permanently closing on Thursday at 5 p.m. As of Monday, public health says 56.7% of Butte County residents are fully vaccinated and 5.73% are partially vaccinated.

(From Action News Now) The City of Chico is working on clearing Comanche Creek as its next target for illegal homeless camp. Interim City Manager Paul Hahn hopes all the homeless camped there will move into the Pallet or Torres Shelters. First, the city needs the green light from the original eight homeless people who sued the city. That is because under the settlement agreement they can only clear 50 homeless people at a time, but there are at least 100 at Comanche. Hahn is asking the plaintiff if the city can clear all of Comanche at once instead of in 50 people segments. Hahn hopes to have answers for the attorneys representing the Advocates by this week

(AP) California voters will decide in November whether to guarantee the right to an abortion in their state constitution. State lawmakers on Monday voted to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot this year. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, which let states decide whether to allow abortion. California is run by Democrats who support abortion rights, but the legal right to an abortion in California is based on a right to privacy in the state constitution. The amendment would prevent the government from interfering with a person's right to an abortion or contraceptives.

Caltrans has reopened Highway 70 under one-way traffic control fourteen days after a series of mudslides blocked parts of the highway. Caltrans has a mile-long segment of Highway 70 under one-way traffic control, starting at three miles west of Belden and continues to two miles west of Belden. Motorists who plan on traveling on Highway 70 west of Belden can expect a 10 to 15 minute delay.

Many Californians will be getting relief checks soon. Governor Newsom announced 23-million residents will receive payments of up to one-thousand-50-dollars as part of the state's 17-billion-dollar relief package. The Governor is also suspending the sales tax on diesel fuel along with adding funding for rent and utility assistance. The state says the priority is getting dollars back into the pockets of residents who are dealing with high prices due to inflation.

(AP) Governor Newsom signed legislation to protect abortion rights. The Governor signed an Assembly Bill protecting California residents from civil liability for providing, aiding, or receiving abortion care in the state. A 125-million-dollar Reproductive Health Package has also been proposed to expand access and prepare for the increase of women seeking care from other states. Newsom joins the Governors of Oregon and Washington in a multi-state commitment to defend access to reproductive health care.

President Joe Biden has signed off on giving federal wildland firefighters a hefty raise for the next two fiscal years. The move announced Tuesday affects more than 16,000 firefighters and comes as much of the West braces for a difficult wildfire season. Pay raises for the federal firefighters had been included in last year's $1 trillion infrastructure bill, but they had been held up as administration officials studied recruitment and retention data to decide where to deliver them. Agencies are authorized to increase the base salary of federal wildland firefighters by $20,000 per year or 50% of their current base salary, whichever is lower.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) said today that its Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) now protect approximately 3 million people, or more than 1 million customers, who live in high fire-risk areas within the company's service area. The safety settings turn off power within one-tenth of a second when a fault, such as a tree limb coming into contact with a powerline, is detected. Last year, on 170 circuits with safety settings enabled, there was an 80% reduction in CPUC-reportable ignitions in High Fire Threat Districts that could result in a wildfire, compared to the prior three-year average. Based on EPSS's success in 2021 as a proven wildfire prevention technology, PG&E has expanded the program to more than 1,000 circuits encompassing more than 25,000 distribution line miles in high fire-risk areas this year as well as approximately 18,000 line miles in adjacent portions of the system. These circuits are generally in foothill areas and all are in high-fire threat areas.

(AP) California lawmakers say they'll investigate why the state's gas prices are the highest in the U.S. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced a bipartisan committee on Monday to investigate gas price gouging. The average price per gallon was $6.40 in California on Monday compared to the national average of $4.98. Republican leaders say gas prices are high because Democrats refuse to suspend the state's gas tax. Democrats say they fear suspending the tax would just boost oil company profits. Instead, they want to send rebates to taxpayers. The Western States Petroleum Association blamed bad energy policy as the cause of the state's high gas prices.

This past May, Tri Counties Bank partnered with the Community Foundation of the North State to give over $100,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors. Ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 each, scholarships were awarded to 55 students from all over Northern California. The 2023 scholarship application cycle begins November 1, 2022. For more information about the scholarship program ...visit tcbk.com

(AP) CAL FIRE released their final report on the Dixie Fire ..the report found the fire was started when a damaged tree fell on a PG&E electrical distribution line. PG&E claims the tree was alive and vital. More than 900,000 acres burned, 1,300 structures destroyed, and the Town of Greenville was destroyed ..In their final report published Friday, they say the company had an "excessively delayed response" and it took about 10 hours for a troubleshooter to arrive on the scene. By that time, CAL FIRE says the fire was too large to contain.

(AP) Regulators are fining California utilities more than $22 million for what they call the "poor execution" of widespread power shutoffs two years ago that were designed to prevent devastating wildfires. The state's Public Utilities Commission announced fines Wednesday against Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and PacifiCorp. The regulators said they found multiple violations of public safety and notification requirements during more than two dozen planned power shutoffs in 2020. The shutoffs were designed to deactivate power lines to keep them from sparking fires during hot, dry, windy conditions. Power lines have been blamed for about half of the most destructive wildfires in state history.

(AP) A government advisory panel has endorsed a second brand of COVID-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens. The expert panel agreed Tuesday that the vaccine made by Moderna is safe and effective enough to give to U.S. kids ages 6 to 17. A vaccine made by Pfizer has been available since last year for those ages. The Food and Drug Administration will consider the panel's advice and decide whether to authorize the shots. The same FDA panel will meet Wednesday to consider shots from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids, those under 5.

(AP)California officials have agreed to pay $51 million to settle lawsuits against the state stemming from a shooting at a home for veterans in Northern California where a former patient fatally shot three mental health workers and himself. On March 9, 2018, Albert Wong took hostage three staffers with The Pathway Home. The nonprofit operated a program at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville that treated veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars with post-traumatic stress disorder. Officials said Wong shot Jennifer Golick, Christine Loeber and Jennifer Gonzales and then killed himself. Golick and Gonzales were counselors and Loeber was the program director. The money will settle the lawsuits brought by the women's families.

Chico Police report a person was discovered dead in a vehicle parked at One Mile in Lower Bidwell Park on Tuesday Night...there was no other information provided on the person other than reports came into the Department reporting the person was unresponsive...no identity or cause of death was released

Microsoft has officially sent Internet Explorer into retirement. As of Wednesday, Microsoft will no longer support the once-dominant browser that legions of web surfers loved to hate — and a few still claim to adore. Its launch in 1995 signaled the beginning of the end of the web's first widely popular browser, Netscape Navigator. IE's market share peaked in the early 2000s at over 90%. But it began to fade as users found faster, less crash-prone alternatives. Today, Google's Chrome browser dominates with about 65% of the worldwide browser market share. IE's heir, Microsoft Edge, lags with about about 4%.

Caltrans crews continue to clean up damage from a failed drainage pipe that caused a landslide in the Feather River Canyon between Rock Creek Dam and Belden . State Route 70 remains closed from Jarbo Gap to the Greenville Wye as the work to reopen the Highway continues..there is no word on the reopening date

Millions of Americans on Social Security could see another record increase next year. The Senior Citizens League projects the annual cost-of-living adjustment will be eight-point-six percent based on the government's latest inflation figures. Social Security beneficiaries received a five-point-nine percent bump in their monthly checks this year. That was the biggest increase in about 40 years.

(AP) California lawmakers have passed their own version of a $300 billion operating budget. Lawmakers voted Monday to send the bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk. But Newsom does not support the bill. Lawmakers sent him the bill anyway because the California Constitution requires them to pass a budget by Wednesday or else they don't get paid. Newsom and legislative leaders will continue negotiating. They hope to come to an agreement before the start of the fiscal year on July 1. The biggest disagreement is how to return billions of dollars to taxpayers to help account for record-high gas prices.

A man was arrested Friday at around 10:30 p.m. after trying to steal parts of a Chico Unified School District (CUSD) van in the Chico High School/Inspire School of Arts and Sciences parking lot on W. Sacramento Avenue. A Chico Police Sergeant found Austin Teeter, 22, sitting inside a CUSD van after the officer noticed a bike in between the vans. During an investigation, it was discovered that Teeter was not a CUSD employee and had removed items from the van he planned to steal. Teeter was arrested and taken to the Butte County Jail on the charges of theft and tampering with a vehicle.

The CHP says a man is dead after crashing his car while evading arrest. It happened in Tehama County early Sunday while he was trying to get away from deputies on Highway 99E near Arch Street. The CHP said the 45-year-old Red Bluff man was speeding southbound when he lost control and hit a tree. He was thrown from his vehicle and later died. No word on why authorities were trying to stop the man.

Cal Trans Officials report a Portion of Hwy 70 remains closed due to mudslide one mile west of Belden There is no expected time of reopening, according to CHP ,the mudslide possibly happened due to a failed drainage pipe on Sunday Caltrans advises drivers to take a different route.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey reports the teenager charged with attempted first-degree murder following an attack at the Chico High School track on Thursday night, The 14-year-old faces the possibility of being sentenced to Butte County Juvenile Hall until he is 25 years old if convicted. He is being held without bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned and assigned an attorney Wednesday afternoon. The teenager cannot be charged as an adult due to recent legislative changes to California law that prohibits anyone under the age of 16 to be tried as an adult.

Chico City Council has decided on a second alternative site for homeless people who are not accepted into the Pallet Shelter or Torres Shelter. The new site is an 11-acre plot of land that will only have a small ½ acre portion fenced off for homeless at Eaton and Cohasset Rd, across from the existing alternative site During the city council meeting on Tuesday, the council voted 5-2 to keep the site open at Eaton and Cohasset West. A 3rd site was not voted on at the meeting