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Several local radio personalities including Chico State alum A.J.

Kirsch, Redding's Mark Wright, and Action News Now's Ryan Ketcham and Robert Sheridan are competing in iHeartRadio's Top Host Contest for a $25,000 prize, a national guest spot and six iHeart-produced podcast episodes. Vote on NewsLinks at Action News Now.

Downtown Chico Plaza closes today so crews can install the 2026-2027 Chico Ice Rink, which will open Thursday, Nov.

12 at 132 West Fourth Street (Downtown Chico Plaza) and will offer public skating, group outings, field trips, private rentals, and Adult 3v3 Ice Hockey.

Chico State held its annual Pumpkin Drop Friday at Trinity Commons, drawing about 300 local elementary students to watch pumpkins fall from a cherry picker and learn physics from the Society of Physics Students (chemistry demos included).

Chico’s Day of the Dead Festival will return for its fourth year on Sunday, Nov.

1 at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, with more than 100 vendors + 25-plus food trucks and stalls, a lowrider car show, a Catrina Pageant, and live performances throughout the day.

For the eighth year, Jerry Bertagna (known as Mr. Pink Pumpkin) brought pink pumpkins to Enloe Cancer Center in Chico to honor his late wife and to thank the caregivers who treated her.

The Broom Closet moved from Red Bluff earlier this year and is marking its first Halloween as a Chico retail shop today, offering tarot, palm readings, cleanses, classes, and a walk-in magic bar while centering rituals rooted in Peruvian, Caribbean, and Southern Black traditions (off Cohasset Road).

New Two Farms in Oroville trains teens and adults with disabilities in hands-on agriculture and animal care and offers seven-day-a-week training to build job skills and independence, and founder Courtney Ellington was honored with the Far Northern Regional Center Committee Award for her inclusion work.

Chico Unplugged showcased singer-songwriters Thursday, Oct.

29 at Madison Bear Garden. The Broom Closet hosts a Witch Market and haunted house today at 2:00 p.m., and the 4th Annual Day of the Dead Festival will be Sunday, Nov. 1 at 11:00 a.m. at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, free to attend.