The war in Iran reportedly cost about 246-million dollars per day in its first five months. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report on Tuesday estimating the war with Iran cost the U.S. over 38-billion dollars from late February to early August, and could cost up to three-billion dollars for each additional month. The report said over half that cost has come from replacing all the munitions used in the fighting. The war has also led to higher fuel prices around the world.

The Oroville Police Department is investigating after the body of a woman was found at an homeless encampment on Feather River Island. Tuesday morning The reporting party told law enforcement that a deceased individual was at an homeless encampment Officers located the body of a middle aged female. The Oroville Police Department says there are no indications of any foul play associated with the individual's death.

The Chico City Council discussed protests over a sewer rate hike and a third-party review of the Chico Police Department's audit of its automated license plate reader program at its meeting Tuesday night. The council decided to continue the hearing on November 17th after the city received protest letters from property owners. The protest letters are part of the Proposition 218 process, which limits local governments from increasing property-related fees without specific taxpayer consent or voter approval. The council also discussed whether to create an ad hoc committee to look at Chico Police Department's upcoming report on its use of automated license plate readers, or ALPR. Ultimately, the council unanimously voted to postpone further discussion on the creation of an ad hoc committee until after they hear the presentation from Chico Police.

Assembly Bill 2700 (AB 2700), known as the Wildfire Victim Restitution Bill, has officially passed the California Legislature and is now on Governor Gavin Newsom's desk for his signature. The bill cleared the California State Senate unanimously with a 40-0 vote before the Assembly concurred in the final Senate amendments on August 31, 2026. Aims to resolve the remaining ~30% gap that Fire Victim Trust claimants still face and Ensures that all recommended financial mechanisms route funds directly to wildfire victims rather than generating attorney fee streams. If signed by the governor, the bill takes effect and shifts the issue to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). By January of 2028 This is the hard deadline for the CPUC to complete an official report calculating the exact unpaid claims for victims wildfires that occurred before July 12, 2019 (such as the 2018 Camp Fire).In that same report, the CPUC must outline specific restitution mechanisms, timelines, and benchmarks for utilities (like PG&E) to pay out the missing funds

Butte County residents will soon have a new option for electricity — Pioneer Community Energy. The city of Chico is moving closer towards starting service with Pioneer Community Energy, a non-profit community choice aggregation program. A CCA allows not-for-profit agencies, like Pioneer, to purchase electricity and use an existing utility company's infrastructure, like Pacific Gas & Electric, to distribute it. Assistant City Manager Eric Gustafson said right now, everything looks good to start service in October of 2027. Consumers could save 10% on their current bills 

Former City of Biggs Mayor Robert Bassett was sentenced on Wednesday to more than four years in prison for multiple sex crimes involving a foreign exchange student. The Butte County District Attorney's Office says in addition to the prison sentence, Bassett was ordered by Judge Deems to register as a sex offender for ten years after he was released.