enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020
UC Davis community debates future of policing on campus BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer As conversations about the future of policing and public safety rippled across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death, UC Davis faculty and campus leaders have voiced urgent — and differing — demands for local change. On June 14, The California Aggie student newspaper
published a guest editorial titled “Disband the UC Davis police force now,” which was signed by more than 30 faculty members and addressed to campus administrators. “We, the undersigned faculty, call for the abolition of the UC Davis police force, the ending of all contracts between UC Davis and local, county and state police, and private security organizations and the replacement of
Council to decide Tuesday on DISC
policing with anti-carceral forms of accountability, including restorative and transformative justice and community-led public safety,” the editorial stated. On Tuesday, UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May responded to the faculty’s demands in an editorial that was also published by The Aggie. Acknowledging many of the faculty’s criticisms of the police, May signaled a willingness to making significant changes but
pushed back against the faculty’s calls to entirely disband the campus police force. “The history and persistence of racism, and especially anti-Black racism, touches me deeply and personally,” May stated. “I clearly understand the police are one of several critical institutions, including our justice and penal systems, that have perpetuated and continue to perpetuate systemic racism in the United States.”
May continued: “I acknowledge that the signatories of the guest opinion advocate for a radical break, not just reform,” he stated. “While I question their approach, I share a belief that we have today an opportunity for significant and truly meaningful change, and that we must seize it.” Earlier this month, May assembled a task force, called the “Next
Woodland man granted clemency for 2007 gang shooting
Street scenes
BY LAUREN KEENE Enterprise staff writer
BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY
the course of the pandemic, Yolo County rarely reported more than one or two hospitalizations at any given time until last week when that number spiked to 13 hospitalized on Friday. Hospitalizations, as well as deaths, are lagging indicators of a surge, following an increase in cases by two or more weeks, county health officials have said. “The occurrence of hospitalizations underscores the seriousness of
A Woodland man who has spent nearly half his life in custody for his role in a 2007 gang-related shooting gained a swifter opportunity for parole Friday after Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted his state prison sentence. Andrew Kenneth Aradoz was 14 years old when Woodland police arrested him in June 2007 for shooting at a group of rival gang members from a stolen vehicle on Pioneer Avenue, injuring a 15-year-old boy. Prosecuted as an adult, as state law permitted at the time, Aradoz later admitted to charges of attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and vehicle theft for the benefit of a criminal street gang, which along with various sentencing enhancements resulted in a prison sentence of 24 years and 8 months, to life. Now 27, Aradoz may soon be released from Avenal State Prison after Newsom issued the commutation, citing his “strong commitment to his rehabilitation and ... exemplary discipline record.” A commutation allows an inmate to appear before the Board of Parole Hearings to determine whether they are suitable for release. Aradoz previously hadn’t been eligible for a parole hearing until June 2026. “Mr. Aradoz earned his GED and is currently enrolled in college classes,” Newsom wrote in his clemency certificate. “He participated in self-help programming and completed vocational training. Mr. Aradoz has been praised by his supervisors for his work ethic and positive influence on others.” Convicted at age 16, Aradoz served his time in a juvenile detention facility until his transfer to the
SEE HOSPITALIZATIONS, PAGE A3
SEE CLEMENCY, PAGE A6
Enterprise staff writer The Davis City Council is expected to decide Tuesday whether to place before voters in November an innovation center and housing development proposed for east Davis. The Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus (formerly known first as the Mace Ranch Innovation Center and more recently as the Aggie Research Campus) would bring 2.64 million square feet of business and innovation space as well as up to 850 residential units to the northeast corner of Mace Boulevard and Interstate 80. The developers — Ramco Enterprises, the Buzz Oates Group and Reynolds & Brown — say the project would provide muchneeded research and innovation space to businesses
SEE DISC, PAGE A3
School board narrows field for empty seat to six BY JEFF HUDSON Enterprise staff writer During Thursday’s meeting, the Davis school board trimmed the list of applicants to fill the remainder of departing trustee Cindy Pickett’s term (as she moves to Chicago as an associate provost at De Paul University). The field of 15 applicants was reduced to six finalists, with a vote to appoint a new trustee to fill Pickett’s term (which runs through December 2022) expected at the school board’s next regularly scheduled meeting
SEE BOARD, PAGE A6
OWEN YANCHER/ENTERPRISE PHOTO
Diners hit the asphalt on G Street in downtown Davis, as restaurants expand into the closed roadway for the weekend, part of a new program, called Open Air Davis, which launched Friday, closing part of the street to traffic, and allowing restaurants and stores to expand onto the sidewalk and street. For more, see Comings & Goings on Page A5.
COVID hospitalizations still rising BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer Religious gatherings, workplace exposures and community spread of unknown origin have each accounted for about 10 percent of Yolo County’s new coronavirus cases, a county spokeswoman said Friday. Household gatherings — involving three or more households, often of extended family members — have accounted for about 35 percent of recent cases. Just 1 percent of the 127 new cases reported between June 10 and 23 were traced to recent protests, according to county spokeswoman Carolyn Jhajj. However, more than 30 percent of those recent cases were still under investigation as of Friday when the county notched another 30 cases, plus another 20 more on Saturday. Yolo County’s surge brings to 210 the total number of cases in the last two weeks. The county’s hospitalizations have increased as well, with 13 residents hospitalized on Friday for COVID-19, an all-time high. As is the case across much of California, increased testing has brought increased positive test results. But the percentage of test results that are positive has also increased, topping 6.2 percent for the last week. For most of the pandemic, the county’s positivity
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Get the latest COVID-19 data from Yolo County at https://www.yolocounty.org/ health-human-services/adults/communicable-disease-investigation-andcontrol/novel-coronavirus-2019/dashboard-and-documents. rate has hovered closer to 3 percent. Under state attestation benchmarks, a county’s positivity rate should remain below 8 percent. Yolo County has blown past another metric, however, with those 210 new cases in the last 14 days. State guidelines call for no more than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents in the previous 14 days, which for Yolo County would be no more than 55 cases. The metric for hospitalizations is no more than 20 on any single day in the last two weeks. Throughout
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SEE POLICING, PAGE A3
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