On Saturday, October 24, 2026, Reform California candidates and supporters gathered at Riverfront Park, next to the Sundial Bridge, for a free community event focused on voter turnout. Organizers framed the afternoon around the message that “elections belong to those who vote,” urging attendees to complete full ballots—from statewide offices down to school boards—and to encourage low-propensity voters among friends and family. Speakers repeatedly noted historically modest loc

SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. — Voters in Shasta County’s District 5 will choose between incumbent Supervisor Chris Kelstrom and Anderson City Councilman Mike W. Gallagher in the Nov. 3 general election. Neither candidate secured a majority in the June 2 primary — Gallagher received approximately 49% of the vote, Kelstrom about 41%, and challenger Gary Oxley roughly 10% — sending the race to a runoff. District 5 covers southeastern Shasta County, including Anderson, Cottonwood and Sh

Part of a slide presentation to the Board of Supervisors on March 18, 2025, by then-Director of Public Works Troy Bartolomei. (Click on photo to enlarge.) SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. — More than 18 months after the Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted (4-1) to demolish the Old Courthouse complex and replace it with a parking lot, a public records request has turned up no formal independent assessments, internal emails, meeting notes, or cost estimates supporting the options pr

New California State (NCS) will host a Shasta County Town Hall on Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel Redding, 1830 Hilltop Drive. Organizers say the meeting will cover the past, present, and future of the New California State movement and provide the latest updates on activity in Shasta County. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions. According to the group’s website, New California State is a movement seeking to form a

SHASTA COUNTY, CA — Shasta County voters opening their November 3 general election ballots have discovered that the uncontested race for Redding City Clerk is missing, despite state law requiring it to appear. The omission, which Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis has attributed to a misunderstanding of election code, is prompting city officials to prepare for a special election that could cost taxpayers $200,000 to $300,000. Incumbent Sharlene Tipton, who was appointed to the

Free to Read and Paid for by the People Who Read It REDDING — A year ago, five people decided the North State deserved a paper that would publish news worth reading without charging people for the privilege of reading it. Gary Peyrot, Kari Chilson, Elisa Ballard, Margaret Cantrell, and Jerry Sanchez started Shasta Unfiltered in September 2025. No corporate newsroom. No grant from a liberal NGO with a preferred viewpoint stapled to the check. A small crew of patriots, a websi

County IT and HR Departments are Slow to Respond to Requests REDDING — Remaining staff in the Shasta County Elections Office are working under heightened pressure to prepare for the November 3 election while short-handed, according to confidential sources inside the office. Five employees are out on sick or medical leave, and two more have recently left their positions. Two of those on leave abruptly took sick leave after security video showed them involved in entry into the

Political Cartoon Shasta County is Involved in a Possible Unlawful Destruction of Public Records Redding, CA October 2, 2026 On the morning of September 30, while a shredding company employee stood ready to wheel ballots to the shredding truck parked behind the Elections Office, Shasta County Registrar of Voters opened sealed ballot boxes for the November 2024 election and found log sheets in the boxes. Those log sheets should not have been commingled with the ballots and

Shredding truck parked behind the Election Office on September 30, 2026 September 30, 2026 Redding, CA REDDING — A shred truck was already parked behind the Shasta County Elections Office on Market Street on Wednesday morning when Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis stopped the destruction of November 2024 election materials. Curtis, in front of staff and local reporters, began opening sealed boxes so the vendor could start feeding them into the truck. Curtis opened 10 boxes and

September 27, 2026 Redding, CA On Sunday morning’s “Jefferson State of Mine” on KCNR (1460 AM / 96.5 FM), hosts Terry Rapoza, Janet Chandler, and Win Carpenter interviewed Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis and his wife, Jody Curtis, about the federal review of June 2, 2026, primary ballots and what Curtis described as additional problems in that election. A federal grand jury subpoena issued Sept. 10 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Californ

Opinion There is hardly any aspect of American life that the government does not now touch. Some of that involvement is the work citizens have long expected: delivering water, regulating or supplying power, building and maintaining roads, providing a safety net for the poor and the elderly, policing and locking up criminals, fighting fires, educating children and young adults, and defending the country. The problem is how far that reach has gone beyond those core duties — tel

Registrar Clint Curtis says a private shredding company is booked for 8 a.m. Wednesday, September 30. He wrote that the job “covers both” the sealed 2024 ballots and the office logs, sign-in sheets, and video from December 3, 2024 — the same file the county closed without producing. He also wrote that “this county is much more concerned with covering up election issues than addressing them.” A separate lawsuit did not fix that records request. Curtis, Sept. 23, 2026: the shre

Shelter has only 10 kennels and is full. Lex, Scrappy, Luthor, Bodie, and André need adopters or experienced rescues now. They do not know what kennel space or a calendar date means. They only know that when someone walks toward their kennel, it might finally be their turn. Donations have reduced several adoption fees to as low as $5–$45. Households with resident dogs must complete a meet-and-greet. Older, respectful children are suggested for most of these dogs; cat compatib

REDDING — On Thursday morning, Sept. 17, Judge Benjamin L. Hanna denied Arne E. List’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked Shasta County from destroying November 5, 2024 federal-election materials still in official custody. The ruling does not mean the ballots no longer matter. Hanna said the emergency ask was too extraordinary: telling the County not to follow California Elections Code section 17301 after the 22-month retention period. The under

California does not invite observers as a favor. Elections Code § 15104 says vote-by-mail observers get notice and sufficiently close access—close enough to see envelopes, signatures, and whether staff are following the rules. Chain-of-custody rules exist so a ballot can be followed from the drop box to the sealed bag.

On September 9, Measure B proponents Laura Hobbs and Richard Gallardo appeared on Kim Yeater’s Take Your Power Back show and described the lawsuit in plain terms: citizens wrote a charter amendment, collected signatures, won at the ballot box, and Sacramento sued them while their own county board stepped aside. That is the public record. It is also the story they told on air. Photo credit: TakeYourPowerBack.com What voters passed Measure B, approved June 2, 2026 with about 55

Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis has been ordered to appear before a federal grand jury in Sacramento on September 24, 2026, and to bring original paper ballots and related records from the June 2 primary election. The subpoena, issued September 10 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, commands Curtis to testify at the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse and to produce materials held under California Elections Code Se

Are County Management and Labor Unions Covering Up Potential Crimes by Employees in the Elections Office? Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis has released video evidence he says shows entrenched Elections Office employees bypassing security protocols to enter secure rooms without logging their presence—actions he calls a form of break-in and potential interference in election processes. Curtis presented the footage during an August 19 appearance on Catherine Engelb

REDDING, Calif. — Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis and his wife, Jody, described a hostile work environment, deliberate sabotage efforts by longtime Elections Office staff, and a recent security breach at the county Elections Office during an appearance Sunday morning on the “Jefferson State of Mine” radio show on KCNR. Curtis was appointed Shasta County Registrar of Voters on April 30, 2025, and assumed the office May 13, 2025, to complete the unexpired term that runs throug

Shasta County Registrar of Voters and Clerk Clint Curtis has confirmed plans to bring on Tina Peters, the former Mesa County, Colorado, Clerk and Recorder, in a consulting role. Curtis stated that the arrangement would begin after an existing staff member’s sick leave ends on September 4, 2026. He indicated he intends to use that salary allocation to fund the position.