ZOOM

Well, my name is Nicole Pothier and I'm the newest member of the Post staff. I have been interning here since the end of May, but starting Monday I will be working full time as a staff writer. Though extremely excited to finally get my journalism career going, I know it will be a lot of work. Beginning in late August, I start my very last semester of college at Chico State. So while working full time at the Post, I will also be managing a full load of classes to finish up college and get my degree in journalism.
Having recently started at the Post, I haven't been able to create any blog entries, but that is all going to change right now. I was on the site and noticed that fellow reporter and friend Robert LaHue had written about a million posts (totally exaggerating, but you get the point). I also noticed that he only had about one or two comments on those posts, which makes me think that no one but he or I have been reading them, which is a shame. So I'm here to add a little flavor!
Lookout for future posts....hopefully I remember to write them.

Posted by Editors at 02:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Let's see. Robert Novak says that Karl Rove was one source is the Plame leak, but not the source. In fact, Novak found her name in Who's who in America. Rove's lawyer says he's been told the prosecutor won't indict Rove.

Plame signs a book deal, but then loses it and then sues everyone in government.

Then Tuesday on Slate.com, Christopher Hitchens argues the yellowcake allegations and investigation has merit.

I wonder if U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has read any of this?

P.S. The Dodgers didn't lose today. Of course, they didn't play, but it's the little victories that matter in life right?

Posted by Editors at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today a court ruled against the ACLU in its suit against AT&T. The ACLU was trying to get court to rule the phone company couldn't cooperate with the federal government any longer in giving them records.
This fight isn't over. Score round one for the Bush administration.

***
The Dodgers keep losing. The Giants keep winning. When will this insanity end?

***
Hezbollah said they were surprised by the Israeli response. Apparently the big plan was to kidnap and then "to swap the Israeli soldiers for three Lebanese held in Israeli jails, with Germany acting as a mediator as it has in past prisoner exchanges."

The leader of Hezbollah said "The truth is — let me say this clearly — we didn't even expect (this) response ... that (Israel) would exploit this operation for this big war against us."

Two things: First, that's what you get for thinking. Second, he sounds like this is a game. We snag two and you give us three and while we talk about it, we'll bring in Germany to work this out. Maybe we'll order pizza.

Perhaps Israel is tired of this game of trading killers for soldiers.

***
Here's a bill we're going to editoralize on Thursday. Give it a look.
--Rick Silva

Posted by Editors at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some would say the Middle East conflict would be a sign the end of times is near. But I think this meeting is the real sign. Wouldn't you love to have been the fly on the wall at a meeting with Rupert Murdoch and Hilary Clinton?

-- Rick Silva

Posted by Editors at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Watching the news right now and seeing the fires in Southern California has to remind us how lucky the Ridge was on Wednesday.

At least 45 homes have burned and 1,500 are threatened. Our columnist Jaime O'Neill points out in today's Post that being careless this time of year can be very dangerous.

The CDF and Paradise Fire got on that pretty quickly and it's good thing they did -- as Southern California is showing us now.

Posted by Editors at 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the game's greatest running backs is set to leave the NFL next week. Marshall Faulk who was one of the main reasons the St. Louis Rams went from a laughinstock to Super Bowl winners in one year. Here's a link showing some of his exploits. -- Rick Silva

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2MGcmcGcMI

Posted by Editors at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

People in Butte County are finally finding their voice online. Craigslist came to Chico last year.

I don't mean literally, like Craig showed up on a campaign bus to kiss babies--the site finally opened a Chico portal, where the burgeoning community of 80,000 and its outlying neighbors can finally get together, sell each other worn-out cars and biohazard sofas, and hurl racial/sexual epithets at each other.

The people have started crawling out of the cracks and testing the basic-text water. The Rants 'n' Raves section has grown some regular contributors. It's still sparse, though, taking weeks for responses to build up. It's desolate discussion, and enough to make a man thirst for denser discourse.

Now The Post has a growing blog colony ("blog colony" sounds kind of like the mildewed spot on the shower ceiling), and we want comments. Comments are currency--proof that someone is reading us. It's the incentive we require to keep pounding out the Movable Type prose.

But with the large senior population on the Ridge, I wonder how many of our readers will be motivated to seek this new outlet online (before you all lay into me about stereotyping seniors, my 76-year-old father spends more time online than I do). Also, with a younger generation entrenched in its own realm of online portals (MySpace, anyone?) and disinclined to subscribe to dowdy old print media, will anyone under the age of 30 feel it worthwhile to visit us here?

Because the blogs have potential, if people read them and respond. Will this become a new, more interactive 49er Speakeasy, with the debates, squabbles and completely out-of-left field ideas of the community bouncing off each other 24 hours a day? Or will it be desolate, like the Chico Craigslist Rants 'n' Raves?

I hope you, our readers, find us and make these posts of ours more than occasional, parched cacti amid a vast desert of discourse.

--Jeremy Walsh

Posted by Editors at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

It was a humdinger of a meeting tonight at the town council. Steve Culleton stuck to his position the process was flawed. Alan White felt the process needed to protected.
It certainly got ugly at times and the same five people will have to get on the same dais on Tuesday night. It will be interesting to see how they co-exist after Monday's meeting.
Those who spoke at the meeting reflected the same thing we've seen here at The Post: The public doesn't want this deal and it doesn't want the companies the town is going to deal with.
And the majority of the town council seemed to say: We don't care what you want say, these are the companies we're going with. It seemed the council was as tone deaf as Kim Yamaguchi has been on the issue.
They may be right -- and they better be because there's a good chance this will be a factor in November when Dresser and Lotter will have to defend this vote at a election time.
And in 14 days the county will have to vote on the same issue. That's 14 more days of politicking -- this time county folks.
The fight has only just begun.

-- Rick Silva

Posted by Editors at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)