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Friday, May 18, 2012

VIDEO: Council Candidate Gets Dunked by Young Davisite

This kid won't be able to vote for many years. For now, he lets his arm do the talking.

Many local public figures were invited to participate in a dunk tank at Celebrate Davis! yesterday. Among them were the five city council candidates.  While I spent most of the day working the Davis Patch booth, I took a quick stroll around the park to snap some photos. I showed up at the dunk tank just in time to watch candidate Lucas Frerichs get dunked by a kid with an impressively accurate arm.   Here's our full City Council election guide. (This is the only story about dunk tanks, I promise). To follow the eletion: 

Election Issues: Should the City Regulate Residential Wood Burning?

What restrictions, if any, on residential wood burning would you support, or how would you otherwise address this problem?

Here's our full City Council Election Guide. Share your thoughts below.  "Many Davis residents experience significant air quality problems in winter months due to nearby residential wood burning. Davis currently has no mandatory restrictions on wood burning unlike most Central Valley cities and the entire Bay Area. What restrictions, if any, on residential wood burning would you support, or how would you otherwise address this problem?" -Sierra Club Yolano Group Stephen Souza The problem is that many Davisites burn wood in old, dirty devices. Traditional fireplaces are so inefficient they don't heat a room unless they've been retrofitted with a wood or pellet insert. Swapping out older wood stoves for newer EPA Phase 2 fireplace inserts …

Thursday, May 17, 2012

$40K Donated to Davis's Library by Former Librarian's Husband

"If [Elizabeth Stadler Simoons] had known that the Davis branch of her day would become the Mary L. Stephens Library, Liz would have wanted the books to go there, a library dedicated to someone she greatly admired."

By Beth Gabor The Yolo County Library is honored to accept a generous $40,000 donation from Frederick J. Simoons in memory of his wife, and former Yolo County Library branch manager and assistance county librarian, Elizabeth Stadler Simoons.  The donation will be used to enhance the Mary L. Stephens Davis Branch Library’s history, geography and related biography collections.  Mrs. Simoons served as the branch manager and assistant county librarian at the Mary L. Stephens Branch Library.  She began her career at the Yolo County Library in January 1970 and retired in 1981.  Throughout her career, Mrs. Simoons also worked at a variety of libraries from Madison, Wisconsin to Austin, Texas.  She was a dedicated traveler, much of it abroad in …

Teachers Turn Away From School Budget Presentation

"Several dozen teachers and supporters stood up, turned their backs, and remained that way throughout his presentation."

POLL: Which Davis ‘Celebrity’ Would You Like to See Dunked Under Water?

Vote in the poll and then come to Celebrate Davis! and dunk them in real life.

You’ll have a chance to dunk some of Davis’s most public figures into a pool of water today at Celebrate Davis! between 5-7 p.m. We’ve listed the Davis “celebrities” in the poll below. Which one would you most like to see dunked under water? The Dunkin' Davis booth will be located next to the Family Fun Zone (which will feature a bounce houses, pony rides, petting zoo, Rocknasium's climbing wall and Gizmo's Rolling Video Games). Here is how it will work: three chances from 30 feet for $5, three chances from 20 feet for $10, three chances from 10 feet for $20. For each turn of three chances, maximum one dunk.  Alternatively, if the citizen has a bad throwing arm and money to burn, then they can run up and hit the dunk arm for $100. Full …

Election Issues: How Should the ConAgra Site be Developed?

How much should be residential and how much should be business? Should the development be a zero net-energy development?

Here's our full City Council Election Guide. Share your thoughts below.  "What percentage of the proposed Con-Agra development should be for residential vs. business use? Do you support a net zero energy development at the Con Agra site like the UC Davis West Villages development?" -Sierra Club Yolano Group Brett Lee Net zero energy? Yes, absolutely.  The year is 2012, not 1992.  The fact that the current proposal moving forward for this site is not even close is really tragic. No solar panels on the residential component? Really? Unbelievable. Stephen Souza The Con-Agra development should be close to a 3 to 1 residential use to business use. Yes I support the target of zero net energy use, meaning that all of the buildings make as much…

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Expect a Passionate Crowd at the School Board Meeting Tonight

If you attend the meeting, please email your thoughts to justin.cox@patch.com or comment below this story.

Before the last school board meeting, teachers and community members marched through downtown with picket signs in opposition to various proposed budget cuts. During the meeting that followed, many classes -- including foreign languages and yearbook class -- were cut.  Davis Patch has received multiple emails and had spoken with several teachers since those decisions -- aimed at cutting $3.5 million from the budget -- came down. There has also been talk of salary cuts.  Teachers are expected to show up again tonight to voice their opinion about the cuts. I won't be able to attend the meeting. If you're there, please feel free to email me your thoughts at justin.cox@patch.com so I can follow up on the story. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at …

Poll: What do You Think of Gov. Brown's Budget Proposals?

Tell us what you think about his proposed cuts and initiative.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday released a revised state budget that he said protects funding for education and public safety while slashing $8.3 billion from government to close a $15.7 billion deficit. "This budget reflects the fact that the nation’s economic recovery is proceeding more slowly than anticipated,” Brown said in a released statement. “Lower tax revenues, coupled with federal government obstructions that blocked billions in necessary cuts, have created a deeper budget hole. More painful reductions will be necessary as a result, but education and public safety must be protected.” The governor has placed an initiative on the November ballot that will increase money for schools and provide constitutional protection for public safety…

Did the UC Just Take a Major Step Toward Privatization?

"...UC will no longer be held accountable for its priorities in the use of any of its resources (public or private) — and especially for making it a priority to educate Californians."

Shortly after Gov. Jerry Brown presented his latest budget proposals, which he says will slash $8.3 billion from government spending to close a $15.7 billion deficit, UC faculty delivered a bold response.  The Council for UC Faculty Associations is an umbrella association that binds the faculty associations on each UC Campus. They posted the following on their website the day after Brown's announcement. Some have suggested that the UC is headed down a road toward privatization. What do you think?  UC President Mark Yudof and Governor Jerry Brown are working out a deal behind closed doors that will loosen the most important ties between the university and the state. Although they will both praise the deal by saying that it “stabilizes” …

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Justin Cox

10:11 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012

Good point. I myself went to CSU Monterey Bay for undergrad. I think it's easy to get swept up in all of the UC stuff here in Davis, because that's what we have in town. But we have a high school filled with many kids who will eventually want to go to college... so yeah, it is worth looking beyond the UC.   more ›

Election Issues: How To Handle Davis's Water Supply & Wastewater Issues?

Davis has big challenges ahead when it comes to water. Here's how each candidate plans to approach the issue, according to Sierra Club Yolano Group.

Here's our full City Council Election Guide.  Lucas Frerichs I believe that Davis/Yolo County needs a diversity of options when it comes to water supply.  Mark Twain famously quipped, “in California, whiskey is for drinkin’, and water is for fightin’.”  There is a long history  in California of outside interests coming in, and sucking out groundwater and sending it southward for both the needs of customers in the LA Basin, and for the “big Ag” interests in the San Joaquin Valley.  These interests don’t care about the well-being and future of Yolo County- they’re only interested in the water for their customers. It is important for us to prepare for our collective future, and to secure a stable source of surface water…the aquifer Davis …

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