Downstroke

Look, up in the aero… Aero Union, which is best known for its fire-fighting air tankers, has been sold.

The buyer is the Seattle-based Lake Union Capital Partners, and the deal is expected to close in early April.

“It’s a win-win situation for the company and the community and the customers and the suppliers,” said Terry Unsworth, who will stay on as Aero Union’s president and CEO for at least five years. Also expected to stay are the 183 employees.

Aero Union, based at the Chico Municipal Airport, weathered government contract cancellations last summer that kept its planes out of the air while crashes unrelated to the company were investigated.

Unsworth said the business wasn’t in any financial trouble; it just wanted more working capital. “We’re looking to expand the fleet size,” he said, along with aircraft maintenance and manufacturing.

The former owners, Vic Alistur and two brothers by the name of Newton, will no longer be involved with the business.

You li’l Rascal: Rascal the Raccoon is en route, says Rory Miller, director of media relations for the Chico Outlaws pro baseball team.

The Outlaws are unveiling the official mascot today (March 31) at 3:30 p.m. in front of the Safeway on Mangrove Avenue. Rascal will sign autographs and hand out schedule posters to those who attend.

Miller said the organization was still waiting for the costume to arrive yesterday, but once he gets into town baseball fans will see the cuddly guy all over promoting the Outlaws’ inaugural season set to begin May 27.

Jail bait: Beware the creepy bait shop owner. After being arrested last week at his shop, Fisherman’s Cove bait and tackle on The Esplanade, Mark Andrew Corrie, 37, pled not guilty Tuesday to child molestation charges.

Corrie, a convicted sex offender who was able to avoid being listed on California’s Megan’s Law database because his last crime was a misdemeanor, is accused of plying teenaged boys with liquor, showing them porno and then sexually assaulting them. Corrie is suspected of fondling boys on at least three different hunting or fishing trips that he had taken the kids on with their parents’ permission.