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News: Civic Engagement

Anti-Abortion Activists Train To More Aggressively Intervene at Local Women’s Clinic
The only Shasta County clinic that provides women with access to surgical abortions was used as a training ground to equip anti-abortion activists for more aggressive interventions to dissuade women from accessing abortions. Local women organizing under the newly-formed Shasta Abortion Coalition say they are prepared to defend women’s right to abortion as clinic defenders, advocates, and escorts.

May 16, 2022
Shasta Scout

Stories that Build Democracy

At Shasta Scout, we believe building a democratic community requires free access to equitable news. Our investigative reporting focuses on Shasta County’s most important stories with the depth and complexity the stories, and our community, deserve. We are a non-profit, independent, civic news organization committed to diversity in the stories we cover and in the perspectives we use to tell those stories.
Guest Opinion

My Abortion Story

Stigma around abortion ends when we can talk about it like any other health care choice we make for ourselves – a surgery, a biopsy, physical therapy, a pill. Compassion emerges on both sides when abortion is associated with the faces and names of people you know, love, and care about.


May 15, 2022
Engagement

What Questions Do You Have for Your Political Candidates?

We’re centering YOU. Tell us what questions local politicians should be answering. We’ll use your ideas to guide our local elections coverage. We hope you’ll take our anonymous survey and share it widely!


May 13, 2022
News: Civic Engagement

“This Is a Misuse of the Pledge”: In Shasta County, Political Candidates Challenge League of Women Voters Forum Tradition

Invoking “patriotism,” county candidates for the positions of superintendent of schools, elections clerk, and county supervisor called on participants at multiple forums to stand and pledge, despite the League’s policy of not doing so. One candidate also released disinformation about his incumbent opponent’s response. The events appear to some to have weaponized the pledge as part of a political agenda.


May 8, 2022
Guest Opinion

My Journey to Recovery Didn’t Begin Because I was Afraid of Jail

Meth gave me the voice that I needed to be heard, the look I needed to be seen, the strength to be fearless, and the power to be strong. I honored and respected meth for what it gave me! Meth controlled every iota of my life. Meth was my mother, father, brother, sister, adviser, friend, and lover. Meth told me where to go, what to do, and how to do. I did not move unless meth said so.


May 7, 2022
News: Accountability

Council Considers Updating Redding’s Thirty Year Old Riverfront Plan 

Redding’s riverfront development was last planned decades ago before the Sundial Bridge, Turtle Bay Museum or the Redding Arboretum existed. Funding an update to the 30 year-old plan would be the city’s first step in deciding how to utilize riverfront land after the council voted against declaring the land surplus last month. The city could take advantage of $1 million or more in federal COVID relief money to fund the planning process.


May 3, 2022
News: Accountability

Public Health Caught Up In National Mistrust Of Government and Science, Ramstrom Says 

Shasta County’s Public Health Officer is facing possible dismissal by county supervisors. Shasta Scout interviewed her after she released a public statement Friday saying she has received no specific information that her job performance has been unsatisfactory. Ramstrom has been the focus of public complaints about county COVID restrictions over the last two years.


May 1, 2022
Video Explainers

Shasta Scout Explains . . . Misinformation

Do we have the power to slow the spread of misinformation? As part of our central commitment to building healthier communities and a stronger democracy, Shasta Scout explains why we’re all susceptible to “information disorder” . . . and how we can fight back.


April 28, 2022
News: Accountability

Public Riverfront Land Will Remain in Public Hands . . . For Now

Redding’s City Council voted to utilize funds to begin a city-led planning process instead of declaring prime riverfront properties “surplus.” The vote followed months of discussion, public workshops, and community surveys about public land close to the Sundial Bridge. The land issue has provoked significant community conversations about who represents a city stakeholder and how local government engages the community in planning and decisions.


April 20, 2022
News: Indigenous Affairs

Some Wintu People Call For “Land Back” During Riverfront Meetings. Here’s Why.

The land we now know as Redding has been a part of Wintu people’s vast homelands for thousands of years. Today, after surviving state-sponsored massacres, violent removals, and discriminatory legal doctrines, Wintu tribes remain almost entirely landless. For some Wintu people, the proposed sale of riverfront land is inseparable from the need to reckon with this often-suppressed history.


April 19, 2022