More to come

I received an email from a reader last week asking me what was taking so long for CN&R to print our endorsements. The short answer is that the ballot is dense; there are 17 state propositions before the voters. Vetting each of them takes a lot of research. If you’re not convinced, check out this year’s Official Voter Information Guide. It’s 224 pages. No kidding.

In this issue, you’ll find our endorsements for those propositions, along with certain state and federal offices, including president of the United States. Unlike our journalism colleagues over at the local daily, which is shirking its duty when it comes to endorsing for POTUS, this newspaper is unequivocally in support of Hillary Clinton.

Unfortunately, that left no room for the local contests. We’ll weigh in on them next week. In the meantime, you can do your own homework in a number of ways. First, check out our Election Issue, which includes stories on Measures L, K and J, the commercial medical marijuana measure and school bonds, respectively, as well as a Q&A with Chico’s City Council candidates. For other election coverage, go to www.newsreview.com/chico and click on the “Election ’16” banner.

Another excellent resource is the League of Women Voters of Butte County, a nonpartisan nonprofit that’s in the midst of holding its candidates forums. In fact, tonight (Thursday, Oct. 20), the 11 folks vying for one of the four Chico City Council seats that are up for grabs are participating in a league-organized forum. For more info, go to www.lwvbuttecounty.org.

There, you’ll also find links to BCAC TV’s video coverage of several of the previous events, including the race for the District 1 congressional seat held by Doug LaMalfa. It’s worth listening to that one, if only to hear the incumbent congressman spreading fallacies about Planned Parenthood, such as the thoroughly debunked claim that the nonprofit is, as he put it, “known to be the seller of baby parts.”

The fact that LaMalfa continues to spread this misinformation means that he believes his constituents are stupid. His insistence that he’ll keep voting to defund the organization—despite the fact that no federal funding pays for abortions—signals that LaMalfa doesn’t care whether those in the district have access to low-cost health services, such as pap smears and birth control. LaMalfa calls himself pro-life, but taking away options for family planning leads to unplanned pregnancies—and, thus, abortions. LaMalfa isn’t pro-life, he’s pro-propaganda. Unsurprisingly, he’s not getting this newspaper’s endorsement. Neither is his understudy, Assemblyman James Gallagher.

So, what’s left to endorse? Plenty. There are those two local school bonds, for example. Then there’s Chico’s City Council and the Board of Supervisors District 5 seat. We’ve had a steady stream of candidates coming into our office over the past three weeks for interviews, and we’re now looking at the candidates forums to lock in our picks.

But don’t expect us to make an endorsement for every race and ballot measure. Again, we urge readers to do their own homework. Speaking of which, Monday (Oct. 24) is the last day to register to vote. For more info, go to www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration.

There’s a lot at stake on Nov. 8, so please do not delay.