Highlights and lowlights from the week’s news | Editorial

In a reverse of recent offerings, today is one big hit and three misses:

HIT — The 49ers had “The Catch.” The Denver Broncos had “The Drive.”

We think the Pleasant Valley girls basketball team will forever remember “The Shot.”

In a play that looked like something out of a Larry Bird highlight film, the Vikings won their NorCal semifinal playoff game last Saturday on a play that must fit into the “one in a thousand” category.

With a half-second to go and the score tied 62-62, PV’s Ava Dunn threw an inbounds pass three-quarters of the length of the court toward the right corner. The Vikings’ leading scorer, AJ Gambol, outraced her Oakland Tech defender and let the ball bounce, since touching it would have started the clock. Then, just as the ball got high enough to grab, she caught it and, in the same motion, turned and shot from the corner. The ball hit nothing but net at the buzzer, sending the Varley Gym crowd into a frenzy.

In a town that has made “postseason highlight” a rule rather than the exception, this was truly one for the all-time highlight reel.

The Vikings lost the NorCal title game to Colfax on Tuesday but, with every player except one returning next year, we suspect the highlights may be just beginning.

And speaking of postseason highlights, the Butte College women’s basketball team will play host to Cosumnes River at 6 p.m. Saturday in a Sweet 16 playoff game. The top-ranked Roadrunners are 28-1 on the season.

Well done, all!

MISS — Yes. Again.

Do a search for “PG&E rate increases PUC” and you may be surprised by how many stories pop up — but you’ll be even more surprised by how often the word “again” appears in the headline.

Well, we already have our second “again” of 2024. The always-reliable rubber stamp of the Public Utilities Commission has approved yet another PG&E rate hike (again) Thursday, this one scheduled to slap customers across the pocketbook in April.

And get this: This time, the topic wasn’t even open for debate (not that the PUC pays attention anyway). It was on the consent agenda.

How insulting. Just one more reason why this farcical, governor-appointed commission needs to be replaced with one chosen by the voters.

MISS — It was the most hotly contested topic in Chico in many years — and many voters shrugged it off.

Through Friday’s update, the numbers show just 35.13% of Butte County’s 120,112 registered voters cast a ballot in the primary election. For Chico voters, that included Measures O and P — in other words, the future of the Valley’s Edge development.

Two years ago in the June 2022 primary, about 40% of voters turned out. And in the general election that fall, a whopping 83.28% completed their ballots — even though California’s Democrat-heavy voter base makes the presidential race pretty much a foregone conclusion very four years.

It’s never been easier to vote. The United States Postal Service places the ballot right in your hands. All you have to do is fill out and drop it back into the mailbox.

Yet, barring a surprising number of late-arriving mail ballots, it looks like fewer than 20,000 people in Chico bothered to cast a ballot to voice their opinion on Valley’s Edge, and two-thirds of voters in Butte County didn’t bother to vote at all.

That’s just sad.

MISS — We were horrified by the car crash early in the morning of March 1 on The Esplanade that left an 87-year-old woman dead and an entire community with a whole lot of questions.

Barbara Ferris, a well-known and beloved member of the neighborhood, died from injuries suffered in a house fire started by the crash.

The suspect, identified Thursday as Jose Guadalupe Cervantes-Ayala, 24, is still being sought by police. He allegedly ran off after crashing the car into the house, leaving two female passengers trapped in the burning vehicle. They were rescued by passers-by.

The horrific scene unfolded after a University Police officer observed a vehicle driving in an unsafe manner on Warner Street and began pursuit.

The topic of police chases is literally a deadly serious one with a history in Chico. “Kristie’s Law” was proposed (but never adopted) after Kristina “Kristie” Marie Elena Priano, 15, of Chico was killed when her family’s minivan was hit by a vehicle being chased by Chico police in 2002.

It’s important to note the March 1 chase was initiated by University Police, not City of Chico police — and the ultimate responsibility for this tragedy lies in the hands of the driver who crashed the car and then fled the scene. But, we’ll also note that in a press release issued the morning of the crash, Chico State said “per UPD policy, the department will conduct an administrative review of tactics and procedures related to the pursuit.”

We expect the department to be forthcoming with the results of that review. The public deserves to know.

Hits and misses are compiled by the editorial board.