Are Kids Getting Priced Out of Baseball and Softball?

A NY Times article explores the era of the $250 baseball bat

Have you bought a baseball glove for your Little Leaguer lately? Did you pay more than $100 for it? How about a $250 bat? A New York Times story headlined "Big Price Tags Attached to Even the Littlest Leagues," looks at the big business of equipping youngsters for participation in youth baseball and softball leagues, quoting those costs and more. "A batting helmet protects tiny heads for $39.99," the NY Times reports. "A pair of Nike Jordan Black Cat cleats will make your child fast and fashionable at $51.99 until he or she outgrows them." So what do you think? Has the cost of bats and gloves taken our kids too far from the simpler days of sandlot and playground ballgames? Or have you had better luck finding more modestly-priced equipment …

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Review: The Three Stooges Is No Laughing Matter

The trio get a new look with some fresh new faces, and no one is laughing.

From the people who brought you "There's Something About Mary" and "Dumb & Dumber" comes the much anticipated movie about three morons in "The Three Stooges." It's Larry, Moe, and Curly 2.0. This time around Larry is played by Sean Hayes, Moe is Chris Diamantopoulos, and Curly is Will Sasso. Three shorter episodes combine for one 90-minute movie, in which the Stooges try to save the orphanage they grew up in. This movie has been talked about for more than 10 years now and, sad to say, it's pretty anticlimactic. I was never a real big fan of the original Stooges, and it's pretty safe to say that these three were doing impressions rather than a performance. The eye-poking and slapping is so repetitive it's almost sad. This film does not …

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Study: Net-Zero Energy Use in Davis is Possible

The study was conducted by the Climate Action Center, whose goal is to empower "locla action against climate change."

By Mark Braly Davis is the first city in the nation to adopt the goal of carbon neutrality by the middle of this century.  This ground-breaking goal will entail a three-step process – net zero electricity, net zero energy, and finally net zero carbon.  This is a finding of a white paper issued today by the UC Davis Energy Institute and the Valley Climate Action Center. All of these “net zero” goals are achievable through maximum cost-effective reductions in demand for energy, supplemented by renewable energy – solar, wind, bioenergy, and geothermal heat stored in the ground. Read the study here >> “The biggest barrier to achieving a net zero goal,” according to the report, “is the need for timely decisions backed up by credible analysis …

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VIDEO REVIEW: 'The Hunger Games' Leaves You Hungry for More

A best-selling young-adult book becomes a movie and is bound to be a hit. It's a survival-of-the-fittest reality show that leaves you craving for more.

It's one of the most anticipated movies to hit the big screen in some time, and we have the scoop right here. It has all the elements of a big hit—teen romance, violence and action. Mix in some rising young stars and you have "The Hunger Games." Jennifer Lawrence isn't a household name yet, but she will be. Known to this point for her critically-acclaimed role in the film "Winter's Bone," Lawrence plays Katniss, one of two people from her district who must play a nationally televised game, in which there can be just one winner—the last one living. With the players equipped with knives, swords, bows, arrows and other weapons, the massacre begins. This futuristic tale takes place in the country of Panem, after an apocalyptic war. The country…

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Poll: Who’s at Fault for the High Price of Gas?

White House report makes case that the Obama administration is doing all it can. Your thoughts?

The average area price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline dipped Monday to a Sacramento metropolitan area average of $4.263, but the average price is still 51 cents higher than a month ago and 40.7 cents greater than a year ago, according to figures from AAA and Oil Price Information Service noted by City News Service and the Sacramento Bee.  The White House is having its say, notes a Huffington Post story, unveiling a report Monday (attached) that boasts of successes by the administration in making America more energy independent over the past three years.  But why are Sacramento motorists paying so much? Is it possible to assign blame for this kind of thing? Vote in our poll below and let us know whose fault the price jump is. …

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Op-Ed: Public Must Regain Its Power in Open-Government Fight

Attorney and advocate for open government says public agencies are taking advantage of changes in the news business and using excuses for not complying with Public Records Act requests.

Something is wrong.  I see it nearly every day in my representation of reporters throughout California.  Local and state agencies are throwing up excuse after excuse when responding to requests for public records and are unapologetically meeting behind closed doors, chancing that the denial of access will go unchallenged or that a reporter’s resolve will fade with sufficient delay in responding to the request. How would you rate our city government’s openness to public access? Comment below.  Examples are replete. Agencies asserting every known exemption to the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Public Records Act without identifying whether responsive documents even exist.  Agencies claiming that compiling electronically stored data (…

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City Makes Settlement Offer to Resolve DACHA‐Related Litigation

The city council goes public with DACHA history.

By Mayor Joe Krovoza, Mayor Pro Tem Rochelle Swanson and Councilmembers Stephen Souza, Sue Greenwald and Dan Wolk    In response to public interest regarding the Davis Area Cooperative Housing Association (DACHA), the City has decided to release information about settlement offers the City has made to David Thompson, Luke Watkins and the Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation (Twin Pines). Mr. Thompson and Mr. Watkins are the principals of Neighborhood Partners, and Mr. Thompson is the president of the Twin Pines Board of Directors. Neighborhood Partners sued DACHA in 2006. In 2011, Neighborhood Partners filed a new lawsuit against DACHA and the City. Twin Pines has sued both DACHA and the City in litigation that began in 2008. The City has …

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Is This Home Any of Your Concern? (RESULTS)

Is the condition of this home any of your concern? Or is it private property that has nothing to do with you? Vote in the poll.

Like Davis Patch on Facebook or sign up for our newsletter.  Poll Results: So far, 65 percent of votes in this poll suggest that the condition of a front yard is of concern to neighbors. 34 percent of votes say it is not. A front yard is private property, but it must be seen regularly by neighbors. That can create friction when homes occupied by college students exist alongside homes occupied by families. Vote in the poll below this story.  Original Story: This photo is of a home near downtown Davis on a recent Sunday morning. The residents presumably partied the night before and left the remnants (beer-pong table, couch, empty Keystone Light cans) in the front yard until Sunday afternoon, or later. This is private property, so it is not …

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Justin Cox

6:12 pm on Monday, March 12, 2012

And as for the late-night party loudness, you're definitely not alone. Stroll through the daily police logs for a Thursday or Friday night and you'll see how many calls are being made about that. Hint: Lots of them.   more ›

Global Happiness Starts in Davis for Edwin Edebiri

The I Am Happy Project came in response to the recession and now exists in 59 cities in 15 countries.

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life. What you do with it is entirely up to you. Make it a happy day." That’s the first thing you hear when you call Edwin Edebiri’s phone. If you ran into him on the streets of Davis, you’d likely get a similar greeting: “How happy are you, on a scale of 1-10?" To best understand his non-profit I Am Happy Project, it’s best to start with Edebiri’s childhood in Africa.  "Believe" As a nine-year-old boy growing up in Nigeria, Edebiri says he came upon a copy of the book, “The Power of Positive Thinking,” by Norman Vincent Peale. He carried that book with him until he found someone who could read it. That was a profound moment in his life, he says.  “The first word was, ‘Believe,’” he said. It …

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Dunning Predicts 2012's Top Headlines

"Chancellor Katehi names English professor Nathan Brown new UC Davis police chief. Brown immediately fires self."