enterprise THE DAVIS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2020
‘A militant humanism’ Author links police killings to pandemic inequities BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer
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Davis Waldorf will be taking advantage of its spacious campus just east of Highway 113 with outdoor classrooms ready for the return of about 70 students next week.
More schools cleared to open doors BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer Three more private schools in Yolo County have received waivers to resume in-person instruction for students in grades K-6. Peregrine School in South Davis was scheduled to resume classes on Tuesday after being granted a waiver last week and both Davis Waldorf School and Grace Valley Christian Academy were granted waivers on Sunday. They join Woodland Christian School as the only elementary schools in the county
where children may return to classrooms. Under current state rules, schools in counties where COVID-19 activity is widespread — those in the purple Tier 1 — are limited to distance learning except for elementary schools that receive a waiver to resume in-person instruction. Waivers must be approved by county health officers as well as by the state Department of Public Health. Now that its waiver request was approved, Davis Waldorf will be taking advantage of its
spacious campus just east of Highway 113 with outdoor classrooms ready for the return of about 70 students in grades 1-6 on Sept. 14, according to a press release from the school. “(W)e have created outdoor educational spaces for each class on our five-acre campus,” said director Jennifer Slater. “Several of our subject classes are typically held outdoors including games and movement, gardening and woodworking. In our new outdoor spaces children will learn everything from geology and
math to music and handwork. “Over the last couple of months, our community has pulled together to create outdoor classrooms, which will support the children in deepening their connection to the natural world and each other while maintaining best health and safety practices,” said Slater. All students and employees will wear face coverings and 16 new outdoor hand washing stations have been installed, the school
SEE SCHOOLS, PAGE A3
On Aug. 25, British author and journalist Gary Younge spoke with UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May in a virtual program titled “Going Viral: Race, Racism and Rebellion in the Midst of a Pandemic.” The event was the first of the 202021 Chancellor’s Colloquium Distinguished Speaker Series. Younge, 51, is an award-winning journalist and professor of sociology at Manchester University in the United Kingdom. He spent several years in the United States covering American politics for The Guardian during the Obama era. In March, a couple of weeks before UC Davis suspended operations due to the coronavirus pandemic, Younge spoke at the Mondavi Center about his book on gun violence, “Another Day in the Death of America,” which was chosen for last year’s Campus Community Book Project. Speaking from London, Younge returned virtually last month to talk about the Movement for Black Lives and the coronavirus pandemic with Chancellor May. The conversation was
interrupted by technical problems and was later completed and posted online last week. After living for some years in the U.S., Younge said police killings of Black people came to feel as inevitable as natural disasters. “The decades, like hurricanes, seemed to have names. Not first names, like Katrina or Maria, but full names, like Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown,” Younge said. “Their arrival was both predictable and predicted, and yet somehow, when they landed, the effects were still shocking.” Even the death of George Floyd, whose killing earlier this year by police in Minneapolis sparked a global protest movement, “doesn’t contradict what we think and know about relations between African Americans and the police but confirms them,” Younge said. “We know this because we’ve seen it happen again and again.” If Floyd’s death was a tipping point, it was in part because the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery in the months prior, as well as a white woman’s 911 call reporting a Black birdwatcher in
SEE LINKS, PAGE A4
Filmmaker battling for Swanson seeks return to City Council the best days of his life BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer
Special to The Enterprise Yolo County filmmaker, TV producer and author Chris Hennessy was diagnosed with prostate cancer in June 2009. Fast-forward to June 2020, and a specialized scan at the Stanford Cancer Center revealed the dreaded news. The prostate cancer has spread into his lungs. One would never know by his recent achievements. Hennessy is currently on a creative tear. He has been busy producing his award-winning TV show, “Yolo YoYo’s,” writing his upcoming memoir book, “Touched by Hannah,” and acting in a play. “Yolo Yoyo’s” was recently awarded, “Best New TV Series 2019, Sacramento Channel 18” (the second season is slated for
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Chris Hennessy and his daughter, Hannah, paused for a photo earlier this month in between their creative projects. Despite battling cancer, Hennessy has been busy producing his award-winning TV show, “Yolo YoYo’s,” writing his upcoming memoir, “Touched by Hannah,” and acting in a play. October). An excerpt from his “Touched by Hannah” is earning rave reviews on its Facebook Page (fb.me/touchedby hannah). Hennessy’s depiction of the evil Warden Snyder in Disney’s theatrical production,
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“Newsies,” brought him a nomination for a coveted Chesley award from the Woodland Opera House. “The brutal circumstances have been been a blessing in disguise,”
SEE LIFE, PAGE A4
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When Rochelle Swanson decided not to seek reelection to the Davis City Council in 2018, she never intended to walk away from elected office forever. Rather, after two terms on the council, she wanted some time away to focus on her youngest son, Cameron, and his approaching graduation from high school. “I called it my semiretirement,” she said last week, “because I would be willing to step up and serve again in the future. “Little did I know it would be so quickly though.” A combination of factors landed her back in the hunt for a council seat. Her son graduated, for one. Then the switch to district elections, which would enable South Davis to finally have a representative on the council, prompted community members to approach
her, she said, to get her thoughts on running. Of the three disSWANSON tricts up Back for more for election in November, only District 5, encompassing all of South Davis, would have no incumbent on the ballot. “Then the pandemic hit and the economy was already getting shaky and I had more folks asking, ‘Would you consider coming back?’” Swanson said. There’s a reason why, she explained: the learning curve that comes with becoming a City Council member is steep. There was an enormous amount of reading and learning that came with the job when she first joined the council in 2010, and ultimately Swanson helped steer the city through a
recession and recovery, while also forming regional partnerships and collaborations. And getting through what lies ahead, she said, will require all of that experience. “It’s a perfect storm of things that have come together that I’m uniquely qualified for,” Swanson said. “I understand the budgets, I’ve been in front of them, the regional collaborations … and that’s what it’s going to take. “This is a very different recession. It wouldn’t surprise me if we lost 25 percent of our local businesses. So we have to look at things fresh, and understand the core responsibility of local government.” The top issues, she said, are economic sustainability and viability. “I think that’s going to be very important: what must we retain, what must we
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