enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
COVID cases, hospitalizations up in Yolo BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer
The sight of Bob Bowen on an old-fashioned highwheel bicycle has been a staple of events all over Yolo County (this is Woodland’s Stroll Through History). Now the longtime city of Davis public relations manager is riding off into retirement. COURTESY PHOTO
Bowen says he’s riding off After decades of service to Davis, city’s biggest booster is retiring BY BRUCE GALLAUDET Enterprise staff writer When things get back to normal — and community events like Celebrate Davis!, the Fourth of July fireworks and Picnic Day are back on track — local residents always figured they’d have one more chance to tip their collective hats in thanks to town icon Bob Bowen. But Bowen has announced his retirement as the city’s public relations manager, effective
the end of 2020. The 1970 Davis High graduate has spent his life ensuring that civic pride and a sense of value have been the very blood that courses through the veins of a city that has been around since the mid-19th century but wasn’t incorporated until March 28, 1917. To longtime Davis residents, it feels like Bowen has been the center of activity ever since that birthdate. “As it relates to our city, Bob keeps things going,” Davis
Mayor Gloria Partida told The Enterprise. “A lot of little things in the background that people don’t think about that make our city special ... a lot of those things have been his doing. “On his own, he’s always been very thoughtful about what would make our experiences in Davis more meaningful and better. He does that because of his (love) and commitment for the city.” Partida’s disabled son Steven has been part of a Davis employment program for adults. Bowen has been Steven’s immediate supervisor. “Bob is incredibly patient ... supporting Steven as a
contributing member of the crew. So I am very appreciative, on a personal level, what’s he’s done for my son, too,” reported the mayor. Bowen created “The Children’s Nutcracker,” a holiday production that since its debut in 1977, has featured thousands of local kids and provided production experience for hundreds of prep and college students. But Bowen’s brilliance knows no bounds. His concern for the welfare and well-being of Davis residents has included his creation of that annual “Nutcracker” and the Warm
SEE BOWEN, BACK PAGE
Activists target contributions to Dodd campaign State senator becomes focal point in push against police-union influence BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer In late May, after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, protests sprung up in Davis and across the country. In Central Park, an altar of flowers, candles and artwork memorialized Black Americans killed by police. The streets filled with marchers demanding justice. Police in America kill about
VOL. 123, NO. 133
Roughly 80% of Californians favor passing laws to make it easier to prosecute police for violent misconduct, according to a recent poll from UC Berkeley’s Institute for Government Studies.
1,000 people per year, according to a database maintained by The Washington Post, but DODD repercussions are rare. Despite public opinState Senator Since 2005, fewer than ion, elected officials 50 officers nationwide have dragged their feet on have been convicted of a crime police reform. In response to for fatally shooting someone on the summer uprising, California the job. Only five were conlegislators wrote nearly a dozen victed of murder. public safety bills, some of them There is broad public support cheered by Rihanna, Robert De to make police more accountable. Niro and other celebrities. But
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Business . . . . . A9 Forum . . . . . . . .B4 Op-Ed . . . . . . . B5 Classifieds . . . .B8 Living . . . . . . . .B9 Sports . . . . . . .B1 Comics . . . . . . .B3 Obituaries . A6-A7 The Wary I . . . . A2
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on Aug. 31, the final day of California’s legislative session, the Democratic-controlled legislature decided not to call the most significant of the bills for a vote.
Yolo County reported 28 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, the highest one-day total in six weeks. Cases were spread across the county, including 10 in Woodland, eight in West Sacramento and seven in unincorporated areas of the county. The city of Davis reported three new cases. Of the 28 cases countywide, 18 were in individuals under the age of 35, including seven under age 25. Meanwhile, the county’s test positivity rate continues to climb and the 28 county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 on Saturday may be the most since the pandemic began. The county will find out on Tuesday whether its daily new case rate from a week ago met the metric for the red tier or if the county has entered a possible two-week countdown to a return to purple. Yolo County has been in the red tier — where a number of businesses have been able to provide indoor services at limited capacity — since Sept. 29. Moving to the less-restrictive orange tier, where restaurants, gyms, places of worship, theaters and more could expand their indoor capacity will require the county to get its daily new case rate below 4 per 100,000 residents and keep it there for two consecutive weeks.
SEE COVID, PAGE A7
School district launches survey to help plan return BY JEFF HUDSON Enterprise staff writer
Sen. Steven Bradford, DGardena, who introduced a bill, SB731, making it possible to decertify police officers fired for misconduct, was blunt about why it failed. “The problem was the union,” he told CNN, referring to police unions that opposed the bill. “It forces people many times to move away
Acknowledging that “we are receiving many questions” regarding when students and teachers will return to school campuses, the Davis school district issued a statement on Thursday evening (Oct. 29) outlining the process that lies ahead. “Students and staff should plan to (continue to) engage in our distance learning format for the (remainder) of first semester of the 2020-21 school year, perhaps longer, and that remains the current indicator to use
SEE DODD, PAGE A8
SEE SURVEY, PAGE A7
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