The Davis Enterprise Friday, November 18, 2022

Council members publicly slam developer

By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

Davis developer David Taormino got an earful Tuesday evening from Davis City Council members who criticized his behavior and comments to the community in recent months as he has sought revisions to the Bretton Woods senior housing com munity currently under development in west Davis.

Approved by voters in November 2018 (when it was called the West Davis Active Adult Community), Bretton Woods will bring 560 hous ing units to 74 acres of land north of Covell Boulevard and just west of Sutter Davis Hospital. Groundbreak ing on the project was in July.

But Taormino has since sought amendments to the conditions of approval while also criticizing city staff and, according to City Council members, blaming the city for delay ing the project, something that has clearly rankled council members as well as some city commissioners.

The changes Taormino was seeking before the council on Tuesday included reducing the width of

UCD grad-student strike goes on

Students keep up pressure while having fun

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer

From the front lines of the UC Davis grad student strike: Pole dancers, Hula Hoopers, a

bike parade, bike repair, more food, Theatre of the Oppressed workshops, and university classes filled the field at the intersection of Hutchinson Drive and La Rue Road on Wednesday.

After two full days of splitting the picket line across campus with one on Russell Boulevard and Howard Way and the other on La Rue Road and Hutchin son Drive, Davis organizers of

the historic UC academic worker strike threw together a “Big Queer Picket Day” on Wednesday to raise attention to the fact that housing and home lessness disproportionately affect young LGBTQ+ people.

“It’s expensive to live in Davis. It’s expensive to live in every city that has a UC campus. And so, what we’re here is to support our bargaining team who are trying to work with the university to

Legislature sees boost to diversity

By Ariel Gans and Ameea Kamal CalMatters

Leading up to Election Day, advocacy groups were predicting — or at least hoping — that California voters would elect record numbers of women and LGBTQ people to the Leg islature.

Based on the results so far, it appears that history will be made — and that the state Assem bly and Senate will look more like California than ever before.

With eight openly LGBTQ candidates winning, includ ing four potential new law makers, plus four holdovers, the Legislature is on track to

have at least 10% LGBTQ representation for the first time ever, according to Equality California. If that happens, California would be the first state to achieve

give us a fair contract and living wages,” said Wednesday’s event organizer, Jeremy Rud, who is a striking teacher’s assistant and Ph.D. candidate within the Department of Linguistics.

UC Davis workers began striking on Monday, Nov. 14, calling an end to UC’s “unlawful behavior,” which they say prevents agreements on fair

Downtown holiday festivities return Dec. 1

By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

The city of Davis will kick off the holiday season on Thursday, Dec. 1, with the 41st annual candle light parade and holiday tree lighting downtown.

Festivities begin at 6 p.m. when the candlelight parade will depart from the Davis Food Co-op parking lot at 620 G St. Walkers, strollers, wagons and decorated bicycles are all welcome to join the parade to the E Street Plaza.

Parade participants are encouraged to park in the free parking structure behind the Signature

Stadium 5 Theatres at Fourth and G streets since no parade parking will be available in the Food Co-op parking lot or in the E Street Plaza parking lot.

At 6:30 p.m., Mayor Lucas Frerichs and the rest of the City Council will light the tree in the E Street Plaza.

There will be music and entertainment both before and after the tree lighting, including per formances by the Davis Youth Choir (at 6 p.m.); the Davis High Jazz Choir (at 6:15 p.m.); the Davis

proportional LGBTQ+ rep resentation in its legisla ture — and the number could go as high as 14 of the 120 legislators.

Miguel gutierrez Jr./ CalMatters photo

A rainbow flag decorates a desk in the California Assembly.

Striking UC Davis grad-student workerss picket near the Teaching and Learning Complex on campus Wednesday.

MoniCa stark/ enterprise photo

Briefly

Crash leads to DUI arrest

Davis police arrested a Winters woman on impaired-driving charges Monday follow ing a parking-lot mis hap.

Lt. Dan Beckwith said officers were dis patched at about 9:30 p.m. to reports of a sin gle-car collision in the Save Mart lot on Anderson Road, arriv ing to find a Subaru Outback toppled onto its driver’s side.

The driver, Krysteen Rose Terlouw, 30, was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Just waiting for those hordes of tourists

The other day I dared to sug gest that even though Yolo County is doing its level best to become a tourist destina tion, we will never be the Napa Valley.

Not that we don't know how to grow grapes or make wine.

The reaction to my disparaging remarks was swift and certain.

Wrote Bruce on the Bird Streets in response to my claim that all Yolo County roads are straight as an arrow, "Bob, I'd like to meet you at the intersection of A and B Streets sometime to talk about the straight streets and right angles in Davis!"

It's a date, Bruce. The intersec tion of A and B is the exception that proves the rule. This is an "Only in Davis" intersection that is a worldwide tourist attraction all by itself, rivaling Lombard Street in San Francisco.

But I dare you to find a 13th Street in Davis between 12th and 14th. Superstition reigns supreme, even in the City of All Things Right and Relevant.

And then there was Brendan on Oeste (rhymes with toasty) who claims that North Campus Way also has a curve.

Given that I played hide-andseek on that street, I'll admit that's true, but again, the exception proves the rule.

Little known fact, North Cam pus Way and South Campus Way, which are not connected, both used to be known simply as Cam pus Way.

That ultimately became confus ing to tourists, not to mention Howard the Famous West Davis Mailman, and the current "North" and "South" designations were added.

Rumor has it that Hunt Way in East Davis also has a curve.

Sandra on Sycamore likes my story about our Kids vs. Adults tomato fight with the leftovers from a just-harvested field, but wonders where exactly this might be.

Well, Sandra, it's most definitely

not in one of the thousands of almond, walnut and pistachio orchards that have replaced sugar beets and tomatoes in this county, but you can still find numerous acres of tomatoes just waiting for a good fight.

Our family used to have a favor ite field up near Knights Landing, where a nearby 90-degree turn by a double-barreled tomato truck would leave bright red fruit all over the roadway.

The kids, when they were lit tle, called this Ketchup Cor ner as we'd roll the car's tires back and forth over the spill age, giving each child a turn at the wheel while sitting on a parent's lap.

"Good evening, Sheriff, the kids are just making ketchup for our family picnic. Would you care to join us?"

As for the long-lost sugar beet, there used to be roadway corners where they spilled as well, but if you landed one of those behe moths in a beet fight it might just be fatal.

Which brings me to Bertie on the College Streets who had a proper West Davis upbringing but has now embraced the charms of

the East Side.

Bertie included a long list of things she likes about East Davis, none of which are on the radar of the folks in charge of promoting Yolo County tourism.

"Older, bigger trees and resi dents," she begins.

Yes, Bertie, we do tend to have bigger residents on my side of the tracks.

"Free stuff in front yards."

It's not always free, Bertie. Might just be that someone forgot to put it away.

"Dollar Tree, Grocery Outlet."

Yes, but inflation has hit the Dollar Tree big time. It's now the Dollar and a Quarter Tree.

"Davis cemetery."

Ah yes, the original East Davis greenbelt.

"El Macero Country Club."

Bertie, you'd better sit down. El Macero may well be east of the railroad tracks, but it is in no way a part of East Davis, El Macero property values just plunged at the mere hint of such a connection.

"Bohemian attitude."

I think Pabst Blue Ribbon might be more accurate.

— Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.

BOOST: Redistricting has its effect

From Page A1

And the number of female lawmakers is headed toward at least 43, a record, and as many as 52, according to Close the Gap California. This past session, women made up 39 of 120 legislators — up from a recent low of 26 seats in 2017.

The likely surge in diver sity is partly due to new districts and open seats that created a window of opportunity for new can didates.

HOLIDAY: Diverse lineup of events planned

From Page A1

High Madrigals (at 6:35 p.m.); Mariachi del Valle (at 6:50 p.m.); Davis Local Vocals (at 7:05 p.m.); and Davis Musical Theatre Compa ny’s Young Performers’ Theatre (at 7:20 p.m.).

Festivities include:

n Free screenings of the short film “Shrek the Halls” at the Varsity The atre, 616 Second St., at 6 p.m., 6:40 p.m. and 7:20 p.m.

n Santa and Mrs. Claus from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

n An activity station to write letters to Santa

n Roaming mascot characters available for photo ops

n Horse and carriage rides sponsored by city of Davis employee groups PASEA, DCEA, PDOA

and Firefighters Local 3494

n The 11th annual win dow decorating contest sponsored by the Davis Downtown Business Association as part of “December to Remem ber” activities (informa tion is at https:// davisdowntown.com)

Parking will be limited downtown due to street closures and residents are encouraged to walk, bike or take the bus to the event. For more informa tion, contact Carrie Dyer at cdyer@cityofdavis.org

“We look forward to celebrating with families and community mem bers,” said Frerichs. “This Davis tradition is a great way to reconnect with others and reflect on the joys of the holiday sea son.”

In the June primary, an unprecedented 113 women ran for legislative seats, 38% of all candidates, and 80 made it to November. In districts without an incum bent, 61% of female candi dates advanced out of the primary — nearly double the success rate of 33% in 2020, according to Close the Gap, a political advo cacy group that works to elect Democratic women. Nine legislative races on the Nov. 8 ballot featured two women running against one another, including Jasmeet Bains, a Democratic state Assembly candidate in Bakersfield, who would become the first South Asian woman in the Legislature.

“The reality is women win just as often as men when they run,” said Susan nah Delano, Close the Gap’s executive director. “What we’re seeing now is more women running, therefore competing on the field and getting elected in equal numbers.”

Also this year, a record number of LGBTQ+ candi dates ran for office in Cali fornia — 178, more than any other state, according to the LGBTQ Victory

Fund. That wasn’t by chance, said Samuel Gar rett-Pate, managing direc tor of external affairs for Equality California, a polit ical advocacy and civil rights group. It spent the past two years working to recruit and support LGBTQ+ candidates, and pushing for new districts that would empower LGBTQ+ voters.

‘Representation is power’

More women in the Leg islature will help shape policy priorities, which Delano believes will include reproductive health care, pay equity and family eco nomic issues. More than half of the projected new class will be women of color, and the vast majority will be Democrats.

“Representation is power,” Tony Hoang, execu tive director of Equality California, said in a state ment.

Garrett-Pate said that the shift in the Legislature will impact “any number of issues impacting the

LGBTQ+ community.” This past session, the LGBTQ caucus successfully pushed landmark legislation to make California a refuge for transgender health care.

“There’s a lot of work for us to do to achieve full equality. It’s not as simple as just passing civil rights protections,” Garrett-Pate said. “It’s tough work that takes a long time, but we know that we can make greater progress when we have more people in the room helping make these decisions.”

Matt Lesenyie, an assis tant professor of political science at California State University, Long Beach, agreed that for real change to happen, it’s not just more diverse people in the room, but more in charge.

“What’s actually going to get a committee hearing is really determined by party leadership,” he said. “And so, you would like to think that having more diversity is going to change how we look at problems and all that — but the gatekeeper is still the Democratic Party leadership within either house.”

EntErprisE filE photo

A Christmas tree lights up E Street Plaza as 2021’s holiday celebration gets underway.

Briefly

Sci-fi author visits DCC

The Avid Reader will host best-selling science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson at Davis Community Church on Friday, Dec. 2, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Robinson will discuss his newest book, “The High Sierra: A Love Story,” followed by a Q&A and author sign ing. The church is at 412 C St. in downtown Davis.

Tickets are on sale for $10 on The Avid Reader website and instore at The Avid Reader. Ticket sales will benefit Empower Yolo. Capacity is limited, so get your tickets before they sell out.

Pads with love from Woodland

The Woodland Rotary Club announced the completion of its most recent interna tional philanthropic project. In January, members of the Wood land High School Inter act Club took on a project that would cre ate a number of reus able sanitary pads for female students attend ing junior high School in Kenya.

The pads were shipped on Nov. 9 and are on their way to Nai robi, where they will be picked up by local Rotarians.

Obituaries

Mercer Clinic collects goodies for homeless pets

The Mercer Clinic Holiday Pet Baskets program is proud to announce its 28th year helping the pets of the homeless at the monthly Mercer Clinic in Sacra mento on the Loaves and Fishes campus.

The gift “baskets” have switched to eco-friendlier bags for the past few years, distributing the pet treats and toys in a reusable and recyclable semi-fabric shopping bag for the clients with the Mercer Clinic logo. The pet gift bags will be distributed at the Saturday, Dec. 10, Mercer Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless. Mercer Clinic has man aged to serve the pets of the home less despite the pandemic impacts for the past several years, with vol unteers taking the necessary pre cautions including getting vaccinated for COVID and con tinuing to wear masks at the clinic.

Mercer Clinic is one of the lon gest running clinics like it in the country, but relies primarily on monetary donations from the pub lic to continue. Historically, the Mercer Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless was started in 1992 by a few UCD veterinary students supervised by veterinarians to cre ate a clinic for the pets of the homeless, which was so needed. It made the most sense to locate it near the Loaves and Fishes facility in Sacramento, which has been main “soup kitchen” to help the homeless for many years.

Mercer Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless monthly clinic provides an important community service including vaccinations, flea and tick control, endoparasite treat ment and helping to provide spay and neuter services.

These special animals are much more than pets to the homeless. For many, these pets are their own ers only source of love and com

panionship since, sadly, many of the homeless have been abandoned by their families. These pets are their family and are helping to keep them from falling into depres sion and substance abuse.

The Mercer Holiday Pet Basket Program started in 1995 by a group of UCD VMTH employees. Due to the growing need, our pet baskets distributed have grown from 25, to 50, to 70, and 130 for years now (100 dog and 30 cat baskets annu ally).

In 2012, we added the Winter Pet Coat and Sweater program. We became aware of the critical need for coats and sweaters for these pets of the homeless because, unfortunately, often pets are not permitted inside homeless shelters. Providing these pets coats and sweaters helps them to get through the cold and wet winter elements, particularly the smaller, older, and more frail animals. UCD under grad volunteers help with the dis tribution of the December pet baskets for over 275 pet coats and

275 pet sweaters annually.

Recently, Mercer started a Davis-based satellite clinic, coordi nated by UCD faculty member Dr. Janet Foley D.V.M. Ph.D. Davis Pet Advocacy and Wellness (DPAW) has a monthly clinic located at the city of Davis Respite Center at 530 L St. for the home less.

Its outreach now is for monetary donations to any, or all three of three individual funds: Mercer Clinic Holiday Pet Baskets and Winter Pet Coat and Sweater pro gram; the Mercer Clinic nonprofit organization; or DPAW, for the Davis-based satellite clinic.

All are invited to see what Mer cer Clinic is all about by visiting https://www.mercerclinic.com/. It is especially helpful to view the three videos at https://www. mercerclinic.com/videos-andinterviews. The videos show how much Mercer meant to the client and their pets and include “A Day at the Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless,” “Happy

Holidays at Mercer Clinic” and “More Happy Holidays at Mercer Clinic.” There is a photo gallery reflecting the Mercer Clinic mis sion as well.

To donate to the Mercer Clinic Holiday Pet Basket and the Winter Pet Coat and Sweater Program, checks can be mailed to Mercer Holiday Pet Baskets, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 1167, Davis, CA 95617-1167, or donations can be made directly online at https://give.ucdavis.edu/ GO/MercerVet

To donate to the Mercer Clinic nonprofit organization to help with supplies and operational costs, you can donate online via PayPal at https://www.mercerclinic.com/ donations or send your check to Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless, P.O. Box, 297, Davis CA, 95617. Other ways to help the Mercer Clinic include donating at GoFundMe, purchas ing a Nugget Market script card, or shopping on “Amazon Smile,” where pennies from a purchase help by going to the Mercer Clinic if it is selected as your charity of choice.

To donate to DPAW specifically, you can via the DPAW PayPal link at https://www.mercerclinic.com/ support-us-mojave. To learn more about DPAW please see https:// www.mercerclinic.com/services or DPAW’s Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/davisPAW clinic or see Instagram at @davis. paw.clinic. To contact DPAW call 530-746-8262 or email DPAW at davispawclinic@gmail.com.

For more information, contact Eileen Samitz at emsamitz @ucdavis.edu or call 530-7565165.

Malcolm Roff MacKen

zie died at home on Oct. 6, 2022, at the age of 87.

Born in Oakland in 1935 to Roberta Wells and Sher win Clarence MacKenzie, Malcolm attended school in Oakland, where he pur sued his sports interests running track and playing football in high school, and his musical interests play ing trombone in the high school band and the Bay Area Young People’s Sym phony. He continued these diverse interests as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, running track and singing in the Glee Club.

Another interest, ball room dancing, led to his meeting his wife, Natalie. This was the start of a lifelong enthusiasm for danc ing — they loved to waltz at weddings — and of a long life with Natalie, with whom he shared 63 years of marriage.

From UC Berkeley, Mal colm moved on to study medicine at UC San Fran cisco, where he also com pleted his internship and residency in internal medi cine. He completed his first post-doctoral fellowship in physiological chemistry at the University of Wiscon sin, Madison, then returned to UCSF to com plete his second postdoc toral fellowship, this time in hematology.

Malcolm’s goal of com bining research and clinical work, seeking new and bet ter treatments for his patients, led him to his career in academia. He served as an instructor and as assistant professor in residence in the Depart ment of Hematology and Immunology at UCSF and was an attending physician at San Francisco General Hospital. He then became an assistant professor in the division of immunology at the University of Cincin nati and was an attending physician at Cincinnati General Hospital and a consulting physician at Cincinnati Children’s Hos pital.

Returning to California, he joined the faculty at the nascent School of Medicine

at UC Davis as a professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, where he spent the rest of his academic career, teach ing, seeing patients and doing research. Malcolm retired from UC Davis medical school at age 60. He then became director of the Center for Blood Research of the Sacra mento Medical Foundation Blood Center for 10 years before he (once again) retired.

Moves for his career also coincided with expansion of his family. Oldest daugh ter Leslie was born in Wis consin, daughter Tracie in California and son Kenneth in Ohio. The final move to Davis added a dog to the family.

As a leading oncologist and hematologist, Malcolm played an important role in the development of the field of immunology. Mal colm was extremely pas sionate about his research, which he saw as helping to inform his treatment of his patients, and which he pur sued in the laboratories he maintained on the UCD campus and during his research sabbaticals in Melbourne, Australia, Southampton, England and Uppsala, Sweden.

Although most of his research involved cancer studies, he also published papers on identifying mark ers for simian AIDS with the UC Davis primate center, to help further understanding of treatment of human AIDS patients. A pioneer in the study of mul tiple myeloma, he pub lished many papers identifying the markers on specific types of blood cells. Often ahead of his time, he had the satisfaction of see ing several of the concepts he had developed become part of standard theory and protocol.

Malcolm was a lifelong devotee of music, as evi denced by his vast and eclectic collection of records and his passion for attending concerts and opera performances with his wife, even long after mobility became more dif ficult. He and Natalie sang

in the Davis Community Church choir for many years, and he was the bari tone soloist for many of the DCC choir concerts. Mal colm was an early and enthusiastic member of the Davis Comic Opera Com pany, performing in many roles over the years, where he was noted for his come dic timing.

His love for social inter action, which he shared with his wife, could be seen from the numerous DCOC cast parties held at their home. This same hospital ity was exhibited on many occasions, professional and personal. Holidays were often enriched by the inclu sion of friends or acquain tances who were far from family, and there was always a seat at the table — be it a fancy meal or the infamous “refrigerator clean-out” — at the MacK enzie house for anyone who stopped by around dinner time.

Possessed of a great thirst for knowledge and culture, Malcolm was always quick to support the efforts and accomplish ments of others. One of his proudest moments was when his son, Kenneth, joined him among those who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout. As a Boy Scout growing up, Malcolm had been introduced to camping and hiking, both of which became passions he went on to share with his family. Summers would find the MacKenzie family in Yosemite or Lake Tahoe, camping, hiking and, of course, singing around the campfire.

MacKENZIE

Having spent his childhood summers going to the Santa Cruz beach, Malcolm taught his children to love and respect the ocean. But no one could out-body-surf Malcolm, a 6-foot man who could ride a wave all the way to the ankle-deep water on the beach.

Malcolm’s final days were spent where and how he had hoped: he was at home, surrounded by his music, his books, and his loved ones. Malcolm is sur vived by his wife, Natalie; daughter Leslie and son-inlaw Jonathan Blackie; daughter Tracie and sonin-law Augusto Sarti; daughter-in-law Heather K. MacKenzie; grandchil dren Lindsay and Stuart Blackie, and Alexander, Sean and Kevin Sarti; and brother Sherwin MacKen zie. He was preceded in death by his son, Kenneth MacKenzie.

His wife and family invite all who knew Mal colm to a memorial cele bration at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30, at Davis Commu nity Church. The service will also be livestreamed on the church website.

Donations may be made in Malcolm’s memory to Yolo Cares Hospice, Davis Community Church Music, the American Cancer Soci ety, or a charity of your choice.

Brent Miille, beloved fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Valley Oak and Korematsu elementary schools, passed away on Nov. 9, 2022.

Brent was born on Oct. 29, 1958, in Wichita, Kan., to Bob and Anne Miille. He is survived by his siblings Michael, Susan and Ellen. He is preceded in death by his sister Christine.

Brent grew up in Fall brook, where he starred in high-school athletics. After high school, Brent attended UC Davis.

For more than 30 years, Brent worked tirelessly for Davis students. “Mr. Miille” or “Coach” was well known for his football tourna ments and spirit-day assemblies.

Brent spent decades coaching baseball includ ing many years with his beloved Davis Blue Devils. Brent’s motto was to work hard and be a good teammate.

In 1982, Brent met the love of his life, Sue Brandow.

won

children. Jed fol lows in Brent’s footsteps as “Mr. Miille,” teaching fourth grade at Willett. Ema is a therapist helping children in Davis. Jake is a fire fighter for the city of Chico.

Brent has one grand daughter, Tori, who was the light of his life. Tori would often run into the house yelling “Bubba!” to which Brent would respond, “who loves you baby?”

A small family service will be organized at a later date. For a full obituary or to write memories of Brent, please visit: https://www. smith-funerals.com/obitu aries/brent-miille.

In lieu of flowers, dona tions can be made to the Carlton Staff Holiday Fund https://gofund.me/ 04c39328.

For obituary information, call 530-756-0800.

Malcolm MacKenzie 1935 — 2022

Brent and Sue have three

derful

Brent Robert Miille Oct. 29, 1958 — Nov. 9, 2022 MIILLE

— Eileen Samitz is the coordina tor Mercer Veterinary Clinic Holi day Pet Baskets and Winter Pet Coat and Sweater program.

COurtesy phOtO

Mercer Clinic workers hand out holiday goodie bags in 2021.

SLAM: Walking paths, wildlife-protection measures at issue

multi-use paths in Bretton Woods from the city stan dard of 12 feet with 2-footwide shoulders to 10 or fewer feet with no shoulders, as well as constructing those paths out of asphalt instead of concrete. Asphalt is less expensive and, according to a number of individuals urg ing the council to approve the change, a softer surface that is easier on seniors as they’re out walking.

An earlier change Taor mino sought was related to wildlife crossings at Bretton Woods, specifically a requirement for ledges in drainage culverts so animals can cross even when the cul verts are full of water.

That issue was resolved in negotiations between the city and Taormino in Octo ber, but damage was already done before that resolution was reached.

An op-ed Taormino wrote over the summer criticizing the requirement for wildlife crossings, which he likened to toad tunnels, took aim at city staff in particular, describing “six years of wrangling with Davis City staff,” and saying, “the actual election process was easy compared to finalizing details with Davis staff.”

Taormino argued that the conditions of approval were altered by city staff after the election saying, “the ‘wildlife connectivity culvert’ was intentionally changed by the staff, not me, from what the development agreement envisioned in 2018.”

He subsequently appeared during public comment at the August City Council meeting accompanied by someone wearing a frog cos tume, and appeared to mock city staff’s requirements for wildlife crossings.

Among those critical of his behavior was Patrick Huber, a member of the city’s Open Space and Habitat Commis sion, who said Tuesday that he appreciated Taormino working with staff to come to an agreement on the wild life shelves in the culverts, but, “what I don’t appreciate is the very public disinfor mation campaign that the developer launched trying to influence this conversation.

“As a commissioner, as a citizen of Davis, I have zero tolerance for the kind of nonsense I heard coming from him trying to poison

both this conversation and potential future conversa tions about wildlife develop ments for the city,” Huber said. “So I hope that if, as he moves forward on this proj ect, and potential future projects, he remembers this. I certainly will.”

Davis planning commis sioners shared that senti ment in October when they voted 7-0 to turn down the amendments to the condi tions of approval Taormino was seeking.

“I thought it was appalling tactics taken by the devel oper and I don’t think it added anything whatsoever to the debate and public dis course,” said Commissioner Darryl Rutherford.

Commissioner Cheryl Essex added that, “it degrades trust in govern ment to make statements that aren’t true.”

And Commissioner Emily Shandy expressed frustra tion that the project was coming back before the Planning Commission at the request of the applicant and then “being spun” as the city causing delays.

She also questioned the precedent being set — “this idea that an applicant can simply return to us as many times as they like until they get the answer they prefer.

“I don’t believe that’s how this process should work and how we should be making use of the valuable staff time for the city and our valuable time as commissioners.”

Shandy then made a motion for planning commissioners to reject Taormino’s requested changes except for the agreed upon resolution to the wildlife crossings. The commission voted 7-0 in

favor of that motion.

On Tuesday, Taormino was before the City Council appealing the Planning Commission’s decision.

Specifically, he was seek ing two changes: to substi tute the required concrete pavement surface with asphalt and reduce the width of paved paths to less than the city’s standards; and to transfer ownership and maintenance of some of the neighborhood streets (which are less than the city’s stan dard for street widths) from the homeowners association to the city.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted to allow use of asphalt on paths within the development but turned down everything else on a 5-0 vote. They, too, had some sharp words for Taor mino.

“(T)hese were conditions that the development team had agreed to two years ago, was good with, let the time for an appeal pass, and then finally when the bill came due, the determination was made to try and pay that bill for the price of a cheap frog costume,” said Vice Mayor Will Arnold.

The council, Arnold said, “takes very seriously the promises we make to our community when we put these development propos

als in front of the voters and we say you’ve got to trust us…

“And when we are asked to go back on some of those promises, that has implica tions going forward for any one who is asking for the community’s trust,” Arnold said. “My hope is that will not be something that we experience again should any future development propos als come forward from this applicant.”

Taormino does have other proposals coming forward, most notably the Palomino Place project, which would bring 164 housing units to the 26-acre site known as Wildhorse Horse Ranch, just east of the Wildhorse subdivision.

Councilwoman Gloria Partida on Tuesday echoed Arnold’s concerns about community trust being bro ken when development projects are changed follow ing approval.

“As I was recently walking a lot of streets and knocking on a lot of doors,” she said, “I heard more than once that developers are going to come back and try to change what they’ve agreed to. And it was pretty hostile.

“I think we’ve been pretty good about holding develop ers to their agreements and I think that’s an important thing, especially if we’re try ing to build more housing and we’re trying to have the community trust us,” she said.

Other council members weighed in on Taormino’s actions Tuesday as well.

Mayor Lucas Frerichs said the length of time it has taken to develop Bretton Woods “is not on the city.”

“It’s on the developer,” Frerichs said. “At nearly every turn you have seen the applicant repeatedly, pub licly and privately, aim, shame, insult, insinuate or outright mislead the public (and) perspective buyers about why this project hasn’t been able to be actually built.”

Councilman Josh Chap man, meanwhile, referenced the incident with the frog costume, saying, “what hap pened in these chambers … was unprofessional.

“I think it was unbecom ing of a person who has been in this community for a long time, who has projects before us currently and pos sibly in the future. And what happened that evening and the continued discourse in this community was not helpful and did not further

the relationship between a decision-making body in this community and the trust that needs to be built with the people in our com munity that elect us to do the work.”

Ultimately the council on Tuesday voted unanimously to uphold the Planning Commission’s decision with the exception of allowing asphalt to be used on the greenway instead of con crete.

In response, Taormino on Friday said, “As a resident of Davis, I’ve been successfully proposing and building resi dential neighborhoods in Davis for nearly five decades. I am passionate about the Bretton Woods vision which the voters approved. I have a strong sense of personal responsibility to deliver the project I promised. That is the ultimate in building trust. Comfortably sized asphalt paths were prom ised.”

Courtesy photo

Davis developer David Taormino brought a costumed companion along when he spoke during public comment at a City Council meeting in August where he mocked staff recommendations for wildlife crossings at his Bretton Woods development.

STRIKE: Students stay engaged as negotiations continue

contracts. These include living wages to address “rent burden, increased childcare subsidies for par ent scholars, sustainable transit benefits, and greater rights for international scholars,” according to a statement provided by organizers.

The elected bargaining teams of academic student employees, postdocs, aca demic researchers, and student researchers called for the strike after 36,558 academic workers voted for strike authorization by a margin of 98%. The num ber of striking students have grown to nearly 50,000.

Represented by the United Auto Workers, this strike will be the biggest Academic Worker strike in the history of the nation and its first-ever Postdoc toral Scholar and Academic Researcher strike.

Discussing the impact of the rent burden on the queer community, Rud said many young people who might want to go to college or go into the graduate school pipeline are kicked out of their homes when they come out. “They don’t have that parental financial support that a lot of young people have when they’re 18, 19, and 20. This keeps queer people out of aca demia. And so, if the UC wants equitable working conditions and an equita ble and diverse faculty and student body, then they need to address this issue,” Rud said.

Meanwhile, on Wednes day, Michael T. Brown, Ph.D. Provost and Execu tive Vice President for Aca demic Affairs released a four-page letter to col leagues, released by the Los Angeles Times, stating that several areas separate UC from the proposal from UAW, the United Auto Workers union that is rep resenting the nearly 50,000 academic workers across the UC system. The first area of concern Brown writes, “is a proposal by the union to tie compensation directly to local housing costs. We are clear that housing costs are a signifi cant challenge for many Californians.”

Brown stated they will be working to “provide sup port to our students in this area through below-market housing programs and other means.” He said that tying compensation directly to housing costs, however, could have over whelming financial impacts on the university. One review of the union’s pro posal predicts an annual unfunded obligation of “at least several hundred mil lion dollars, with inflation ary pressure and no cap.”

In supporting UAW’s proposal, Rud said that about 90% of the eligible union members are rent burdened, meaning more than 30% of their income is

spent on rent. “I think, in addition to the wage arti cle, (the housing article is) an incredibly important and necessary demand,” he said.

In response, the UAW released a statement that the four bargaining units are asking for amounts to 4.5% of UC’s total budget. “That’s a fair price to pay for world-class teaching and research. And UC, as the state’s largest landlord, has helped drive the hous ing crisis that impacts its workers.”

The release adds that UC’s new proposal to SRs Wednesday night included raises of $132 per month. “This increase will leave entry-level SRs paying an average of 56% of their income on rent,” according to the release.

The release asserts that by calling some earnings “student support,” the UC would be blocking a por tion of UAW pay from being covered by its union contract. “By doing this, the university is trying to cir cumvent the collective bar gaining process while avoiding addressing rent burden.”

Keeping up action

During a Wednesday noontime march that headed east on Hutchin son, about 2,000 picketers blocked two blocks of the street. Meanwhile, Uni trans buses parked in wait. Unitrans announced on social media that some routes had to be detoured around the area and for passengers to “expect delays and possible crowd ing on all Unitrans buses.

The MU Bus Terminal remains CLOSED until further notice.”

Graffiti sprayed early in the week on the large UC Davis sign on the corner of Russell Boulevard and Howard Way with the F-word, stating: “F- You; Pay Us,” was still visible on Thursday, with more that had been added since then. “I came here for an educa tion,” it says, “not to be a wage slave.”

Directing traffic on Wednesday morning to protect the protest activi ties, Sierra Durham, a post doc in Food Science and bargaining team represen tative for UAW 5810, said one of the goals for Wednesday was to talk to more of their colleagues who are still going into work and help get them to come out and join the movement.

While Monday and Tues day included two picket lines, one at Russell Boule vard and Howard Way, and the other at Hutchinson and LaRue, Wednesday and Thursday were focused solely on the latter. Dur ham said the reason for one location rather than two was to contact those coworkers who hadn’t joined the picket. “We have more contact with them at

the Hutchinson location, so we’re bringing all the power out to try to get a bunch more people out to strike with us.”

Emily Weintraut, a Ph.D. student in the Glen Fox Lab (malting and brewing sciences), rounded up the few thousand picketers sit ting on the lawn Thursday afternoon with some strong words on a microphone before leading them to march through campus.

“We have ourselves, but we also have so much other support. There was some one from a Nurses Associa tion this morning. The Sacramento Labor Council came out today. Legislators have been on our side. We have the legal advantage. We have so much support. Davis community members are with us. Undergrads are with us. We have the power.”

Behind the large crowds listening to Weintraut and others on the mic stood CJ Borges and Evan DiTo maso, Davis natives who supported the strike by providing frothy teas off their electric trike.

“We built this for our selves, but we want to help. Plus, no one else can get here (on the lawn), said Borges, who, with DiTomaso, graduated from Davis Senior High School in 2006.

The excitement from the first two days of protest inspired the last-minute “Big Queer Picket Day,” Rud said. On the picket line on Monday, Rud donned a yellow picket cap tain. And, as he was stand ing there, and people were streaming around him, he said he saw hundreds of familiar faces. “I think everyone’s had that same experience on the first day. When we had a huge show ing,” he said. “And that was inspiring to me and every one, you know.”

Rud added that graduate workers are frequently so isolated in their labs and overworked; meanwhile, they are often stuck at home because of their low wages. “Because of that, I think it’s incredibly moving and inspiring for everyone to be out here to see each other, to realize how

diverse our coalition is, and that we’re all fighting for the same thing.”

That historic third day of academic workers striking at UC Davis boasted 1,500 sign-ins, repeating the trends from the first two days, organizer and spokes person Sarah Gooding said.

Gooding said she’s “up against the clock” with a baby due in December. My imminent need for reason able parental leave, childcare subsidies, and dependent health coverage is what keeps me motivated.”

Talks go on

Durham said that on Tuesday afternoon, the uni versity proposed to improve alternative transportation benefits in their parking and transit article for the very first time. “And they stated that they intend for those benefits to be similar for not just academic researchers, but also for postdocs, grad student researchers, academic stu dent employees.”

She said the UC proposal had several of the core union concepts in it, including the transition to free transit passes and

discounts for E-bikes.

But, Durham said the union is asking UC to pro vide fully subsidized public transit for academic work ers and more support for bike commuters. “I think being Davis, this is some thing we especially under stand since a lot of us are commuting and on bikes.”

Durham said that the union feels the pressure is working because UC came back to the table on Tues day after they had sched uled to meet a day later.

“Our strike is successful,” she said.

“We think (Tuesday) was a promising sign and we’re asking the UC to continue to come to the table and bargain with us in good faith,” Durham said.

Becca Nelson, a P.h.D student in Ecology, said since the strike began, ecol ogy students have walked through Wickson Hall and have texted and phonebanked their peers. “There are very small numbers of people still in the building that we talked to, some of whom were down to come out this afternoon and join.” She said that members of the Ecology Department have been

walking the lunch line at the pickets to encourage contact with elected offi cials.

Nelson said the move ment has garnered support from Assemblymember

Aguilar-Curry of Winters and California Senator Alex Padilla (D-Los Angeles).

Sociology lecturer Brian Halpin brought his Wednesday afternoon class to the picket. A class focused on the “organiza tion of politics and how unions play a decisive role with politics in the United States,” Halpin said it seemed “really important for me to have them down here.”

He said he felt it impor tant that his students see how labor union organiza tions manifest themselves and try to organize their power vis-à-vis their employer. Halpin added many of his undergradu ates are looking to attend graduate school in the future and have been inter ested in supporting the people who teach most of the classes they take at UCD.

“I figured it was a good opportunity for them to come down and see what’s going on, but it was also up to them. If they weren’t interested in having class down here, then we would have had class somewhere else,” Halpin said.

Also, on Wednesday afternoon, but across cam pus, undergraduate stu dent Tevin Liyanarachchi was studying outdoors. Feeling some relief that one of his classes was canceled for the week, Liyanarachchi said he’ll be able to catch up on his other courses and have some time at home for Thanksgiving. “It’s kinda nice,” he said. He also sup ports the strike because he knows how it feels not to get paid for your worth.

“Being underpaid really sucks,” he added.

Cecilia

Monica Stark/EntErpriSE photo

A bike parade of striking UC Davis grad-student workers gets going Wednesday near the Activities and Recreation Center on campus.

Thankful for our furry friends

As Thanksgiving approaches, what are you thankful for? Family? Friends? Pets? Did you adopt a pet from an animal shelter or rescue? If so, what about giving a thankful donation to it? Here are a few ways to give thanks to these agencies and the people who run them.

Money is always wel come, but there are other items that animal shelters and rescues need too. Wet and dry pet food, towels, blankets, kitty litter, and puppy pads are always welcome.

Many animal shelter and rescue websites include “Wish Lists” to purchase and send needed items directly to them.

Here are a few local options:

n Friends of Yolo County Animal Services at https://www.friendsof ycas.org/donate

n Hearts for Paws at https://www.heartsfor pawsrescue.com/donate

n Rotts of Friends Animal Rescue at http:// rottsoffriends.com/donate. php

Paws for thought

n Yolo County SPCA at https://www.yolospca.org/ donate.html

You can also find “Wish Lists” for local animal shelters and rescues regis tered at Chewy.com by going to https://www. chewy.com/g/animalshelters-and-rescues and keying in your zip code.

AmazonSmile provides a convenient way to donate a portion of eligible pur chases to nonprofits you’ve selected at no cost to you and also includes “Wish Lists” for animal welfare organizations.

Another way to help: donate items or buy some fun Holiday gifts at Yolo County SPCA’s Thrift Store at 920 Third St. in Davis.

Small change can add up too. At the end of each day, family members can put their change in a glass jar. Teachers can organize small-change campaigns for animal wel fare organizations that their students agree to

support. It’s surprising how quickly the jars fill up.

What about giving some time? Volunteers are always needed to help with a wide range of tasks such as cleaning kennels and cages, washing dishes, doing laundry, transport ing animals, socializing dogs and cats, clerical work, grant writing, fund raising and event coordi nating.

Then there’s a thankful post on Facebook that doesn’t cost a thing.

Finally, what about pets? If you have a pet, give it a little extra TLC and maybe a special outing or treat. Make sure it isn’t overly stressed when folks come to visit during the holidays and be sure it doesn’t over indulge at the Thanksgiving feast.

You could also foster a pet and give it a temporary home for the holidays. No doubt that pet would give you plenty of thanks for giving it love and helping it find its forever home!

Happy Tails

Jenkins and his new

Pets of the week

Special to The Enterprise

Lots of animals are waiting for “forever homes” at the Yolo County Animal Shelter, 2640 E. Gibson Road in Woodland.

Among them is Roscoe (A197452), a 1-year-old ener getic, playful husky pup who has been in foster with other dogs.

Sweet Roscoe is sometimes clumsy, always silly, loves adven tures, going for car rides and bike rides, long walks and plays hide and seek, too. Roscoe had painful paws when he arrived, so he recovered in foster, where he even learned to swim as part of his therapy.

Also hoping for a good home

is Camille (A172737), an incredi bly sweet and affectionate 3-year-old cat who has been waiting to have her very own person to love. Camille is a little shy but loves pats and will roll around purring loudly once comfortable. She is also content sitting in a window, bird-watch ing. Camille will do well in a calm, quiet home.

For information on adopting, contact adoptycas@gmail.com.

All shelter animals are up-todate on vaccinations, micro chipped, and spayed or neutered.

Staff is available to assist via phone during business hours at 530-668-5287. Shelter hours are

family have a lot to be thankful for this Thanks giving. Back in May, Alexis Cristiano’s boyfriend phoned to say there was a dog hiding in his backyard.

As a Front Street Ani mal Shelter volunteer, Alexis writes, “When I got there, we found a small, black, senior Chihuahua hiding behind a shed among the weeds. As a shelter volunteer, I knew all the things I was sup posed to do to find his family — post online, check for a chip, go around asking the neighbors, put ting up flyers. None of these brought us any closer to finding his family, so I kept him with me over night and planned to bring him to the shelter the next morning.

“I found myself growing attached to him and cried a bit in the parking lot after dropping him off at the shelter. I spent the next few days trying to convince my family to adopt him, but they just laughed at my attempts and brushed it off.

“The day his stray hold was up, I got a call from

Jenkins gets a thankful hug from

to adopt him.

my dad, who surprised me with the news that they wanted to make him a part of the family! We named him Jenkins (after old man Jenkins from ‘SpongeBob’) and he has been an amazing addi tion to the family ever since. His personality has

continued to blossom and we are falling more in love with him every day!”

Evelyn Dale of Davis is a volunteer and advo cate for shelter animal welfare. Contact her at pawsforthought.comments @gmail.com. This column appears monthly.

The next Rotts of Friends adoption event is from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at 34505 County Road 29 in Woodland. Come by 10 a.m., as it takes at least an hour to meet and adopt a dog; everyone who will be liv ing with the dog should come out to meet it.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Fri day, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sat urdays. To meet any adoptable YCAS animals, visit friendsofycas. org. To volunteer, sign up at tiny url.com/yolovolunteerapp. Fol low on at @ycas.shelter and Ins tagram at @yoloanimalshelter.

At Rotts of Friends Animal Rescue, you’ll find Agate, a 6- to 8-month-old-spayed female black Chihuahua. Little Agate is sweet and friendly, and loves being held and fussed over.

Agate plays great with other dogs and is a silly, playful girl. She is up to date on vaccines and microchipped.

Help an older dog this holiday season. Whiskey is an adorable neutered male pit terrier, about 10 years old, but he thinks and acts like he’s only 5. Whiskey grew up in a loving home but due to losing his owner, he is seeking a new place. He is great with kids, housebroken, loves to play ball and loves to swim.

Bring proof of homeownership, such as a mortgage statement or property tax bill. If you rent, please bring proof that you are allowed to have a dog in your home, such as a pet clause in your lease or a note from your landlord.

All dogs adopted from Rotts of Friends are healthy, micro chipped, up-to-date on their vac cines and come with free lifetime obedience-training classes. For information, visit facebook.com/ rottsoffriends.

Courtesy Photo

Alexis Cristiano after her dad agreed

ROSCOE

CAMILLE AGATE WHISKEY

‘She Said’: Impressively inspiring

Powerful acting highlights this mesmerizing, factual saga

By Derrick Bang Enterprise film critic

We assume, when one of the victims finally agrees to share her story with New York Times investigative journalists Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan), that this will be the most har rowing moment of director Maria Schrader’s richly compelling and superbly acted drama.

The speaker: nervous, soft-spoken, embarrassed and ashamed, the words emerging haltingly amid tears and choked-off sylla bles, as she so vividly recalls what happened to her in the privacy of Harvey Weinstein’s hotel suite.

The listener: appalled, silent, eyes growing wider by the second.

The story moves on; we exhale shakily, thinking OK, the worst is over.

But no: Twohey and Kantor soon reach another victim, sit quietly as another — mercilessly similar — confession emerges, this time made even more intense by the performances, and the way Schrader cuts back and forth between framed oneshots of the two actresses.

And then another. Even more awful, in part because of the repetition, the famil iarity, the by-now recog nized patterns of an apex sexual predator.

This is smart and savvy filmmaking. “She Said” deserves place of pride alongside its all-time best cousins: “All the President’s Men” and “Spotlight.”

When done persuasively — and Schrader’s film is very persuasive — nothing beats a well-constructed investigative journalism drama. They’re part mys tery (just how deep and widespread IS this story?), part puzzle (how does one finesse details, acknowl edgments and confessions from people unwilling or unable to talk?) and part building suspense and rage-fueled anticipation (what will it take to nail this bastard?).

Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s sharp script is based on

Twohey, Kantor and Rebecca Corbett’s monthslong New York Times investigation into the shocking behavior of Wein stein — and the winkwink-nudge-nudge Hollywood attitude that tolerated and even con spired to maintain it — and their subsequent 2019 book, “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement.”

This film is rigorously authentic: Names are named — to an often

surprising degree — dia logue is lifted from tran scripts, progress unfolds as it occurred (if, perhaps, accelerated a bit to accom modate a two-hour film).

Events begin in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, as Megan pursues and pub lishes a series of stories about the sexual miscon duct of candidate Donald Trump (who responds as one would expect).

When Trump nonethe less wins the election, Megan is crestfallen:

stunned that these revela tions apparently made no difference at all. A bit of time passes; she and hus band Jim Rutman (Tom Pelphrey) become new parents, and Megan spirals into postpartum depres sion, likely exacerbated by her disillusionment.

The transition is heart breaking, this once-feisty crusading journalist, so sure of herself, reduced to Mulligan’s wan, uncertain smiles and loss of purpose.

Meanwhile, newbie Times journalist Jodi —

shepherded by assistant managing editor Corbett (Patricia Clarkson, at her steely best) — has begun to pick at the threads of a rumored Hollywood sex scandal. Megan returns to work and agrees to partner with Jodi on what has become a rapidly expand ing collection of allegations … but with no firm evi dence, nobody willing to speak on the record. This new pursuit proves just the catharsis Megan needed.

DMTC’s ‘Christmas Carol’ a holiday treat

By Jennifer Goldman Enterprise theater critic

It’s time to start getting into the holiday spirit with a visit to Davis Musical Theatre Company to see Alan Menken’s musical version of the classic “A Christmas Carol.” The story is based on the famous book by Charles Dickens and is set in England in the mid-1800s.

The old miser Ebenezer Scrooge (Scott Minor), is visited by the ghost of his dead business partner Jacob Marley (Marin Greenwood) in the night. Follow ing that visit, he is confronted by three ghosts: the ghost of Christ mas past (Danette Vassar), the ghost of Christmas present (Omar E. Huerta) and the silent ballet dancing ghost of Christmas Future (Felicia Dunn). After this sleepless and terrifying night, Scrooge’s heart is finally opened and his character is transformed.

Although this is a Christmas show, it does have universal themes that may resonate with people of all faiths. The story reminds us of all the poor and lonely people who need help to survive. It brings up continuing battles for compassion and

equality, that are as evident today as they were is 1844 Lon don. Right here in Yolo County, we can look around and see the same issues of homelessness, overworked employees, unacces sible healthcare, food insecurity, and lack of work-life balance.

DMTC has brought this story

to life with effective acting, lively dancing and beautiful music.

Scott Minor was an excellent choice as Scrooge. In his bio, he recounts his near death experi ence of landing in the hospital in 2020 for several months fighting for his life. I could actually feel Scrooge’s mental anguish as he

came to terms with what an unkind man he had been become.

His jubilant revelation after his ghostly visits was truly emo tional. Danny Beldi who played both young Scrooge and Bob Crachit gave a solid performance.

The other standout in the show was Marin Greenwood as the

ghost of Jacob Marley. He led the most memorable song on the show, “Link by Link” which had the ensemble dressed as zombie like ghosts all wearing chains. The choreography was fantastic! This one scene was worth the price of admission alone.

Also notable was Danette Vas sar who played the ghost of Christmas past, Mrs. Cratchit, and the lamplighter. Even though she is very recognizable on stage, her portrayal of her three such different characters had us hang ing on her every word and we enjoyed her beautiful voice.

Another impressive part of this this show was the lighting design by Steve Isaacson. DMTC has improved year by year with the latest technology. The period cos tumes were pleasing and the ensemble blended beautifully when they sang. Director and choreographer Jan Isaacson should be proud of her cast and crew. The whole family will surely enjoy the show.

Shows plays now through Dec. 4, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Buy tickets at dmtc.org.

Rating: R, for profanity and explicit sexual candor

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton, Angela Yeoh, Tom Pelphrey, Adam Shapiro

Available via: Movie theaters

Courtesy photo

Investigative journalists Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan, far left) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan), along with assistant managing editor Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson, far right), listen with admiration as executive editor Dean Baquet (Andre Braugher) crisply puts an irate phone caller in his place.

Scott Minor is Ebenezer Scrooge in DMTC’s production of Alan Menken’s “A Christmas Carol.”

Courtesy photo

New, familiar faces at WTC holiday fest

By Jim Hewlett Special to The Enterprise

The wonderful thing about a 10-minute play festival is that it pro vides an opportunity for many actors to get in on the fun, whether they choose to perform in one play, or in multiple ten-minute plays. It also provides an opportunity for newcom ers to get involved, and that’s just what is happening with the Winters Theatre Company (WTC) holiday play festival.

One of these WTC newcomers is Haley Carpenter, who has performed in several productions, including “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Carpenter will be performing in four of the plays or, put another way, in half the plays in the festival. At auditions, Carpenter indicated that she was up for playing an elf … she definitely came to the right place.

When asked why people should see the show, Carpenter said, “People should see the show because the plays are very funny, entertaining, enrap turing, and fun for the whole family.” And when asked specifically why she enjoys playing the part of an elf in the various plays, Carpenter answered, “What I like most about playing an elf

is that I can be myself: cheerful, happy, and overall joyful about every thing.”

Other newcomers to the WTC stage for the holiday play festival include Sean Gavin, Brandon Frye, Lynn Rolston, Bill Corliss and Mike Denardi. WTC is excited to have so many new faces joining in on the holiday fun and sharing their talents with the community.

These newcomers are joined by several actors who have been involved with the Winters Theatre Company for more than 20 years, including Trent Beeby, Tom Rost and Ann Rost. Beeby is making his second appear ance in a WTC 10-minute festival, after performing in several plays in the inaugural WTC Ten-Minute Play Festival in January 2020.

He has also performed in other WTC productions over the years, including “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “The Sound of Music,” “Leading Ladies” and a number of Shakespeare productions.

Like Beeby, Tom Rost has per formed in many WTC Shakespeare productions over the years, as well as “Greetings,” “The Sound of Music” and “Fruitcakes.” Ann Rost is yet another veteran WTC actor, having

performed in “Fruitcakes,” “Heaven Can Wait” and “Calendar Girls.”

With the talent, energy and enthu siasm of the new actors, combined with the expertise and talent of the veteran actors, the Winters TenMinute Holiday Play Festival will be a fun event for audiences to celebrate the holiday season!

A complete list of each of the plays to be performed is available on the Winters Theatre Company website at https://winterstheatre.org. Shows will be at the Grand Prince Odeum Church at 201 Main Street in Winters at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, through Saturday, Dec. 10; and Thursday, Dec. 15, through Saturday, Dec. 17. There are no Sunday shows.

There will be an intermission after the first four plays, with a variety of snacks and non-alcoholic beverages available. Tickets can be purchased online on the Winters Theatre Com pany website at https://wintersthe atre.org, or at the door on the evening of the event.

Ticket prices are $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 and younger. Email winterstheatre@gmail.com or call 530-795-4014 for information.

Fairfield hosts juried art show

Special to The Enterprise

The Fairfield-Suisun City Visual Arts Associa tion invites the public to visit the 59th Annual NorCal Regional Juried Art Show at the Solano Town Center Gallery through Sunday, Jan. 8.

Artists from all over Central California and as far away as Santa Cruz entered this year’s show, submitting original art work in 14 categories for one of the oldest juried art shows in California.

This year’s jurors are Marc Lancet, professor of three-dimensional art at

Solano Community Col lege; Cheryl Gleason, art director and curator at the Mills Station Arts and Cul ture Center (MACC) in Rancho Cordova; and Janene Whitesell, profes sor of speech and gallery management at Solano Community College. Art ists submitted 174 pieces and they were judged on Sunday, Nov. 6. Jurors selected 104 pieces for the show.

A reception and awards gala will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Solano Town Center Gallery, 1350 Travis Blvd., Suite D-8, in Fairfield.

Artwork was accepted in 14 different categories: oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel/ drawing, sculpture/assem blage, ceramic vessel, mixed media/collage, black-and-white photogra phy, color photography, computer art, fiber art/ textile, printmaking, jewelry, and glass. Each of the three Jurors selected their favorite piece in the show.

During the show, visitors will be asked to vote for their favorite piece and at the end of the show the People’s Choice Award will be presented during the Juror’s Talk on Sunday, Jan. 8, 1 to 3 p.m. The

winner of the People’s Choice Award will be invited to have the winning piece displayed at the Solano Town Center Gal lery during the next show “Patterns” from Jan. 12 through Feb. 17. Solano Town Center Gallery on the second floor of the Solano Town Center outside of Macy’s, next to the AT&T Store. It is open Wednesday through Sun day, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For information, visit www.fvaa-arts.org/juried artshow or contact Dennis Ariza, FSVAA president and STCG director at 707688-8889.

Courtesy photo

SAID: ‘He took my voice’

From

Mulligan and Kazan are a well-matched pair. The for mer’s Megan is seasoned, cynical, self-assured, patient when necessary. Kazan’s Jodi is younger, eager, enthusias tic, more impulsive, and inclined to wear her heart on her sleeve.

Schrader and Lenkiewicz balance the investigative frus trations with welcome sequences of these two women at home: Megan for ever “rescuing” Jim after a long day of his monitoring their infant newcomer; Jodi and husband Ron Lieber (Adam Shapiro) doting on their two young daughters, the elder becoming just old enough to clock the signifi cance of the many phone calls her mother takes.

These moments deftly establish the warmth and love of healthy family rela tionships, as contrasted sharply with the depravity of the daytime investigation.

Jennifer Ehle is mesmer izing as Irish-born Laura Madden, who — in the pro logue — is barely out of her teens when she joins a loca tion film shoot in 1992 (played during this flashback by the equally fine Lola Pet ticrew). All too soon, she has

a life-destroying encounter with Weinstein in a Dublin Hotel room.

A quarter-century later, fighting breast cancer, Ehle delivers this film’s most wrenching line: “He took my voice … before I fully knew what it was.”

Andre Braugher exudes calm, no-nonsense authority as New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet. Watch ing him capably confront Weinstein, during occasional phone calls — unperturbed by the studio mogul’s bully ing nature — is one of this film’s supreme pleasures.

But acknowledgment of service above and beyond goes to Ashley Judd, who — tellingly, bravely, crucially — plays herself.

The most depressing take away — as the end credits begin to roll, and as Tuesday evening’s Sacramento pre view audience burst into applause — is the knowledge that Weinstein robbed the film industry of countless talented young women who might have blossomed into producers, directors and writers of strength, integrity and passion … but who instead retreated to other careers as an act of selfpreservation.

New York Times reporters Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan), left, and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) try to dig into the sordid world of abusive movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in “She Said.”

Grocery-store merger could hurt economy

By Daniel Flaming and Judy Wood Special to CalMatters

Grocery bills are skyrocketing while the essential workers who stock shelves or put out fresh produce face homeless ness and hunger because they are chroni cally underpaid. A proposed merger between the nation’s two largest grocery corporations, Albertsons and Kroger, threatens to make a bad situation even worse.

The nearly $25 billion deal only makes sense for executives and shareholders who stand to benefit from a $4 billion payout.

Federal and state regulators have the power — and the obligation — to prevent monopolies that gouge our pocketbooks. If they don’t, consumers could wind up pay ing even higher prices for essentials while stores shutter.

Attorneys general in California and five other states filed lawsuits to halt the $4 bil lion dividend until regulatory review of the merger is completed, but a federal court denied the petition. Fortunately, a Wash ington court has issued a temporary restraining order, but it’s only a pause on the payment.

Consumers depend on fair play when they go to the grocery store. Elected leaders from the local to federal level must urge the Fed eral Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission to stop this merger to protect shoppers, jobs and communities.

Kroger has become the nation’s largest grocer by relying on poorly-paid, part-time workers with constantly changing sched ules, according to a report by the Economic Roundtable, which partnered with grocery store workers in Southern California.

The company’s corporate culture was laid bare during the pandemic. The company chose to close stores rather than provide socalled “Hero Pay” to essential workers who helped create their record profits. Mean while, Kroger increased executive compen sation, bought back its stock to benefit shareholders, and last year paid its CEO 679 times more than the median employee wage.

As a requirement for the merger, Kroger and Albertsons will have to divest up to 400 stores and — as history shows us — they’ll likely be underperforming stores near others, and in low-income or disad vantaged areas.

In Los Angeles and Orange counties, 115 of 159 Albertsons, or 72%, are within two miles of a Kroger store and are targets for closure. That means 5,750 jobs could be lost in the Los Angeles region alone.

Their lost wages would eliminate pur chasing power from the local economy. Their need for public income and housing support would be an added burden for our already tattered social safety net.

Additionally, millions of customers will face price increases during a time of high inflation because of the lack of competition — which executive suite talking points try to dispute. The companies’ greed also threatens suppliers throughout the supply chain by decreasing competition since the companies would gain even more leverage over the producers that feed our nation.

Profiteering stands out at Kroger and Albertsons, with profits far outpacing worker wage growth or the cost of food. Their outsize price hikes are at least par tially responsible for inflation. Even while they were competing with each other, these companies jacked up prices and had record profits, a consumer watchdog group reported. If they merge and no longer have to compete with each other, they will be less constrained and free to be more rapacious.

It is urgent to act now because Albert sons is providing Kroger with a powerful “failing firm” defense of the merger. The $4 billion dividend Albertsons wants to pay out to its private equity shareholders is onethird of its current value, and sets up a potential Albertsons bankruptcy since the company is ravaged by debt.

This merger will just bring more pain to California’s communities — more families struggling to buy groceries, more under staffed and unsafe stores, and more jobs lost.

— Daniel Flaming is president of the Eco nomic Roundtable. Judy Wood is a cake decorator at Albertsons and helped con duct research that surveyed 37,000 grocery store workers in the West.

GOP’s talk can’t erase irrelevance

California’s Republican Party doesn’t have to be irrelevant, but it likely will remain so for years to come.

That’s because if nothing else, this month’s election returns show that party iden tification matters a lot, and registered GOP voters are outnumbered in this state 47-23 percent, exceeded for the first time by No Party Preference folks, now tallying 24 percent of registrations.

Even with one state Senate seat and four slots in the Assembly undecided a week after the Nov. 8 vote, Republi can legislators could be assured they will have zero influence when it comes to state taxes and other public policy.

That’s because despite hav ing those five seats up in the air, Democrats had already clinched two-thirds majorities in both legislative houses, all that’s needed to levy new taxes, override gubernatorial vetoes and make some pro posals effective immediately rather than waiting until year’s end.

Even when statewide Republican candidates are plainly better qualified, noncontroversial and win endorsements right and left, they still lose. That’s what happened to the GOP’s well liked Lanhee Chen, a Stanford University faculty member who lost handily in his run for state controller this fall despite endorsements from

LettersTeacher under-compensation

every significant newspaper and TV station that bothered making them.

None of this stopped the GOP’s state chair Jessica Mil lan Patterson from sounding like her party won on Election Night. “We’re doing great,” she told a reporter. “Our candi dates are doing better than they have in years.”

But the only place the GOP made even slight progress was in Orange County, where redistricting has made some seats easier upset targets than they were as recently as two years ago. Redistricting is the reason Buena Park’s Soo Yoo was only slightly behind incumbent Democratic Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, a former Fuller ton mayor, a few days postelection in a district overlapping the Los AngelesOrange county line.

It is also why Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter was only about 5,000 votes up on former Orange County Republican Chairman Scott Baugh at the same moment, and why two-term Demo cratic Oceanside Rep. Mike Levin was in a closer-thanexpected contest with repeat

challenger Brian Maryott in their district covering parts of both San Diego and Orange counties.

The percentages of folks voting Democratic and Republican had not changed significantly since the 2020 vote even in Orange County, but dis trict lines were different. That led to joy and bragging from the GOP, despite its dis mal statewide performance, in which it continued a streak of failing to win even one state wide office since Arnold Schwarzenegger last ran for governor in 2006. That’s 16 years of constant failure.

And yet, Orange County Republican Chairman Fred Whitaker made this statement the day after the vote, a moment when even there, his party had not flipped a single state or federal office: “Orange County Republicans had an incredibly strong showing in last night’s midterm elections … this was a fight we were ready for.”

But for the most part, even in Orange County, where Republicans traditionally need — and used to get — 250,000-vote margins in order to have a chance at a statewide office, the party did not improve its performance beyond what it was gifted in redistricting.

All of which means Califor nia Republicans have work to do if they want to regain rele vance. If they want to register

lowest paid districts in the region and in the state.

more Californians as GOP voters, they could abandon their steadfast opposition to abortion rights, where Propo sition 1 passed by a 66-34 per cent vote this month, adding such rights to the state Constitution. That percentage is only slightly larger than the proportion by which Demo cratic registered voters out number Republicans. The GOP could change its auto matic opposition to any new tax or social benefit program, no matter its purpose.

It’s also time top Republi cans like Whitaker and Patter son stop their happy talk after elections where Republicans hold what puny influence they have but gain little or nothing new. If you’re satisfied with losing consistently, and your only gains stem from redis tricting, your party will never regain much influence.

Meanwhile, responsible two-party government demands a loyal opposition capable of checking strongly ideological approaches to problems by the majority party.

So far, the California GOP has not come close to becom ing even that.

— Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Govern ment’s Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www. californiafocus.net.

Education is a noble profession and a respectable one, that should be compen sated appropriately.

Studies have shown that the wage gap between teachers’ salaries and other college-educated professionals was 7.9% in 1979, then widened to 19.2% in 2019. This means that as other professions increased salaries over time, teachers’ salaries stagnated and are now paid nearly 20% less than “comparable” col lege-educated professionals, which doesn’t account for the many teachers who hold master’s degrees or higher!

DJUSD pays its teachers 12% below the state average, making it among the

enterprise

A McNaughton Newspaper Locally owned and operated since 1897

Foy S. McNaughton President and CEO R. Burt McNaughton Publisher

Sebastian Oñate Editor

Official legal newspaper of general circulation for the city of Davis and county of Yolo. Published in The Davis Enterprise building, 325 G St., Davis, CA. Mailing address: P.O. Box 1470, Davis, CA 95617. Phone: 530-756-0800. An award-winning newspaper of the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Speak out President

The median home price in Davis is $880,000 — 60% more expensive than the surrounding counties, counties where teachers receive better pay. Edu cators should be able to afford to live where they teach and should not rely on band-aids like affordable housing. They must be able to live within their com munities. We cannot be OK with teach ers being low-income — they are educated professionals!

If we don’t compensate teachers fairly, I fear for the collapse of our public school system. If we don’t close the wid ening wage gap, we will lose our smart and qualified teachers to better paid professions. The under-compensated vacancies will be filled with less qualified individuals, which will result in a degra dation of our educational system. Fami lies with means will pull their children

202-224-3553; email: padilla.senate. gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

House of Representatives

out and send them to private schools, leading to an educational chasm between the haves and the have-nots, causing our public education system to more closely resemble our broken health insurance system with lower expecta tions and unacceptable outcomes for the poor while supplying the rich with bet ter support and opportunities. I am not OK with this divided system for our children’s future. All children should have an equal opportunity for success, and this starts with actually attracting and retaining high-quality educators with appropriate salary and benefits.

If this Board of Education continues to refuse to do so, your teachers will leave you, your community will leave you, and we will elect a board who will take action on this.

Yoni Dayan Davis

We welcome your letters

The Hon. Joe Biden, The White House, Washington, D.C., 20500; 202-456-1111 (comments), 202-456-1414 (switchboard); email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact U.S. Senate

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 331 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3841; email: http://feinstein. senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me Sen. Alex Padilla, B03 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510;

Rep. John Garamendi (3rd District), 2368 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515; 202-225-1880.

District office: 412 G St., Davis, CA 95616; 530-753-5301; email: visit https://garamendi.house.gov/contact/ email

Governor

Gov. Gavin Newsom, State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814; 916-4452841; email: visit https://govapps.gov. ca.gov/gov40mail/

Addresses and phone numbers should be included for verification purposes; they will not be published.

Limit letters to 350 words. Anonymous letters will not be accepted. We reserve the right to edit all letters for brevity or clarity.

Mail letters to The Davis Enterprise, P.O. Box 1470, Davis, CA 95617; bring them to 315 G St.; fax them to 530-756-1668; or email them to newsroom@davis enterprise.net.

By Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Dilbert

By Scott Adams

By Stephan Pastis

Classic Peanuts

By Charles M. Schulz

Blue Devil girls water polo falls in NorCal opener

Enterprise staff

The Davis High girls water polo team saw its season come to an end on Tuesday.

Playing in the first round of the California I nterscholastic Federation NorCal Girls Water Polo Championships Division I, No. 6 Davis (22-9) took on No. 3 Acalanes for the third time this season. But Acalanes came out with a narrow 9-6 win.

Acalanes jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, and. No. 6 seed Davis (22-9) couldn’t recover.

“Acalanes played very well throughout the game,” said Davis head coach Doug Wright. “We dug ourselves a hole and could not climb out.”

The Blue Devils outscored Acalanes 4-2 in the second half.

“But damage already done,” Wright said.

Acalanes held Davis’ top two scorers in Kenzie Walker

and Malaya Wright to only one goal. Walker had the lone goal. Wright fouled out in the third quarter, but had drawn two exclusions.

“The team did well but I feel we did not play to our full potential,” Doug Wright said.

Leila Meraz had three goals for the Blue Devils. Lucie Lapuz, along with Walker and Sierra Johnson, had one each.

Davis, which beat Granite Bay for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I title on Nov. 12, season fell short of returning to the regional title game. The Blue Devils played in 2021 game, losing to Miramonte of Orinda.

But Doug Wright is proud of what this year’s team did in the pool.

“We played a very challenging schedule,” Doug Wright said. “ It was awesome coaching the oldest team I ever had as they are all juniors and seniors. Our senior cap

GAME: Win could get UCD into the playoffs

From

with a fifth loss on Saturday. However, a win over the No. 2 team in the country, combined with what would be a six-game win streak, would logically convince the selection committee that UCD is playoff worthy.

Bids to the 24-team playoff will be awarded Sunday morning, with 11 automatic bids going to conference champions around the country and the other 13 awarded atlarge.

At his weekly press conference, Hawkins allowed that the Hornets are “very good, they’re well-coached and they have some great players.”

Sac State coach Troy

Taylor has been saying similar things about the Aggies.

Taylor, now in his third year as Hornet boss, is no stranger to success. He took over a team that was winless and alone in the Big Sky basement the year before.

All he did in his first year was lead CSUS to a 7-1 mark and a Big Sky cochampionship. In his sec ond season, the Hornets went 8-0 to claim another title, and this year they’re 7-0 heading into Saturday, giving Taylor a remarkable 22-1 record against conference opponents in what many claim is the toughest FCS conference in the land.

The Hornets have a two-headed monster at

quarterback in Jake Dunniway, who can throw, and Asher O’Hara, who can run.

Dunniway has hit 60.4 percent of his passes for 1,698 yards and 16 touch downs, while O’Hara has rushed for 747 yards and 17 scores.

The leading rusher, however, is sophomore Cameron Skattebo from nearby Rio Linda High School, who has slashed and dashed for 1,154 yards and a 7,7 yard per carry average.

Can the Aggies match such sparkling stats? Indeed they can.

Quarterback Miles Hastings is hitting 71.0 percent of his passes for 2,741 yards and 19 touch downs, and has been

intercepted just once in the last five games.

All-everything running back Ulonzo Gilliam has rushed for 1,132 yards, 12 scores and a 6.2 yard per carry average and breaks school records every time he carries the ball.

Gilliam also leads the team in receptions with 48 for 345 yards, while super talent C.J. Hutton has 40 catches for 406 yards and four touch downs. Remarkably, 13 different Aggies have at least one TD reception this year.

For both teams, it’s time to end the talk, and walk the walk.

— Contact Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenter prise.net.

tain leadership was excellent this year under Kenzie, Malaya and Claire (Miller). (Davis goalie) Hailey (Pistochini) stepped up this year and really improved to start in the goal for us.”

UCD women’s basketball

A career-high 26 points from Evanne Turner led UC Davis past the visiting Boise State 69-62 at the Univer sity Credit Union Center on Tuesday.

A late fourth quarter 10-0 run from Boise State threatened, but it ultimately was the Aggies coming out on top as they move to 2-1 on the season.

Now UCD will play Sacramento State in the Cause way Cup at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on this Tuesday. Game time is 5 p.m.

DHS: Title game Saturday noon at ARC

From Page B6

one at 3:36 in which the ball went off the cage for a 5-3 score.

Doughty, who had one goal in the first quarter, recorded his second goal 29 seconds later, thanks to the Blue Devils forcing a turnover. This shot hit the back of the net to make it 6-3.

Valley Christian’s Owen Steckmest responded with a goal at the 2:41 mark, now cutting the Blue Devils’ lead to 6-4.

But Davis got back on the scoring track toward the end of the quarter. Renzo Archer and Brennan Fuchslin put the ball into the net for an 8-4 advantage.

The Blue Devils scored five more goals in the

third quarter to extend their lead to 13-6.

Fuchslin had two goals in the quarter. Doughty, along with Christian Davis and Archer had one each.

Davis’ Bo Brown had an assist on one of the shots. Blake Fuchslin set up Brennan’s goal.

The Warriors seemed to have settled down from the defensive standpoint at the start of the final quarter.

But Doughty continued finding the net and help ing the Blue Devils extend their already comfortable lead. He fired the ball three more goals into the net.

“In the second half, particularly, he was really on it,” said Stapleton of Doughty. “That was great to see.”

Valley Christian scored three more goals in the final seven minutes of the game. But Doughty’s fast start was too much for the Warriors.

Davis goalie Ryan Barr had six saves and four steals in the game. He had two blocked shots in the third quarter, when the Warriors were passing and moving the ball from inside to outside and back to inside to get their offense going.

“When the players in the field know on a difficult shot the goalie is going to get it,” said Stapleton of Barr. “Ryan did a very good job of that.”

Doughty had 11 shots on goal in the game.

Brennan Fuchslin followed with three goals,

Archer two and Davis one. Steckmest had three goals for the Warriors. Davis had 25 shots on goal in the game. Valley Christian finished with 24. Now comes Davis’ opportunity of winning a regional title for the first time in the program’s history. But first, Friday’s practice and then Satur day’s game.

“I’m happy for the ath letes,” Stapleton said. “As a coach, you’re constantly talking to the athletes. You work hard. They have a lot to be proud of.

“On Saturday, they’ll play the game and we’ll see what happens.”

— Contact Mike Bush at mike@davisenterprise. net. Follow on Twitter: @ MBDavisSports.

STARKEY: Area teams playing with supreme confidence

From Page B6

FIVE EASY PICKS: This week’s sure winners (no Bitcoin allowed) are Georgia (over Kentucky), Missouri (over New Mexico State), Brigham Young (over Utah Tech), Penn State (over Rutgers) and Florida (over Vanderbilt). (FEP record: 54-1).

FUTILE GAME OF THE WEEK: Oklahoma vs.

Oklahoma State ... Two teams going in the same directionnowhere. After eight overtimes, this one will still be scoreless and declared a draw.

AGGIES over SACRA MENTO STATE ... Two teams playing with supreme confi dence in one of the biggest Causeway Classics ever. Take the Ags by 3.

OTHER GAMES: Michigan over Illinois, Florida State over Louisiana, Wisconsin over Nebraska, Purdue over Northwestern, Michigan State over Indiana, Mississippi State over East Tennessee State, Central Florida over Navy, Jackson State over Alcorn, Holy Cross over Georgetown, Memphis over North Alabama, Incarnate Word over Northwestern

State, Texas-San Antonio over Rice, Kansas State over West Virginia, Appalachian State over Old Dominion, Ohio State over Maryland, Clemson over Miami (Fla.), Texas over Kansas, North Carolina over Georgia Tech, Tennessee over South Carolina, Mississippi over Arkansas, LSU over Ala bama-Birmingham, Air Force over Colorado State, Fresno State over Nevada, UNLV over

Hawaii, Boise State over Wyoming, San Diego State over New Mexico, North Dakota State over North Dakota, Weber State over Northern Arizona, and Idaho over Idaho State.

Last week: 37-7, season: 372-83, percentage: .818.

— Contact Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise. net.

Mike Bush/enterprise fiLe photo

UCD football head coach Dan Hawkins walks down his team’s sidelines during the Nov. 20, 2021 Causeway Classic game at UC Davis Health Stadium.

Mike Bush/enterprise photo

Blue Devil goalie Ryan Barr goes up to block a shot in Thursday’s NorCal semifinal game at American River College.

sports

Water polo

DHS boys advance to NorCal title game

By Mike Bush Enterprise sports editor

SACRAMENTO — A close game turned into a blowout.

J.T. Doughty paved the way for his Davis team mates in Thursday’s Cali fornia Interscholastic Federation NorCal Boys Water Polo Champion ships Division II game against Valley Christian at American River College’s swimming pool. Top-seeded Davis broke open a tied game in the second quarter to post a 16-9 win over No. 5 Valley Christian, out of San Jose.

Now DHS advances to the CIF regional champi onship game against No. 3 San Ramon Valley, which edged No. 2 Campolindo 9-8, also on Thursday.

The regional title game will start at noon Saturday at American River Col lege.

No matter if the Blue Devils or San Ramon Valley win, the high school

water polo season — boys and girls — officially will end Saturday with the regional championship games.

The NorCal region covers Bakersfield north to the California-Oregon border. Southern California high school water polo teams play their season in the winter.

Davis (28-5) broke a 3-3 tie halfway through the second quarter against Valley Christian (15-16). Doughty, a junior attacker who had 10 goals in the game, beat out the Warriors’ goalie for con trol of the ball and fired it into the back of the net for a 4-3 score.

“J.T. is a character, but I’ve always said he’s a gamer,” said Davis head coach Tracy Stapleton of Doughty. “Arguably, one of his best games.”

Doughty wasn’t done scoring for the Blue Dev ils.

His next goal were on penalty shots. The first See DHS, Page B5

Cause Way ClassiC

Final call for Starkey

This week’s picks are as follows:

CAL over STANFORD ... The “Big Game?” Please. It will be hard to get either of these teams to come out of the tunnel.

Never has there been less interest in this oncegreat contest. It will, however, be the final Big Game for the great Joe Starkey, Cal’s longtime radio voice. That will be a loss for college football fans every where.

USC over UCLA ... The Bruins was cruising right along toward the Pac-12 title game and then lost to Arizona. Yes, the woeful Wildcats. USC still thinks it will land in the College Football Playoff. It won’t.

UTAH over OREGON ... How on earth did the Ducks lose to Washington last week? Let me count the ways. No playoff berth for the Ducks either.

WASHINGTON over COLORADO ... The Buffs applied for membership in the Delta League for next year and were turned down for not being “competitive.”

WASHINGTON STATE over ARIZONA ... The Cougs will not Coug it.

OREGON STATE over ARIZONA STATE ... After holding Cal to just nine rushing yards last weekend — yes, nine yards — the Beaver defense is under standably playing with a ton of confidence. That should be enough to put the Sun Devils away.

NOTRE DAME over BOSTON COLLEGE ... The collegiate version of the Holy Bowl will be strictly no contest.

TEXAS CHRISTIAN over BAYLOR ... Sonny Dykes is having the time of his life leading a bunch of Frogs to the Promised Land.

MONTANA STATE over MONTANA ... The Brawl of the Wild goes to the boys from Bozeman.

UPSET OF THE WEEK: Texas Tech over Iowa State ... The Techsters may be the most overlooked team in the country. (Upset record: 2-9).

ROUT OF THE WEEK: Alabama over Austin Peay ... Can’t accuse the Crimson Tide of dodging the big boys. (Rout record: 11-0).

DON’T BET ON IT, BUT: Texas A&M over Massachusetts ... The Aggies’ $75 million head coach finally finds someone his team can beat. (Don’t bet record: 5-6).

This year’s game could be the biggest

By Bob Dunning Enterprise staff writer

Is this the biggest Causeway Classic ever?

Different folks will have different answers to that question, but with a rivalry this intense that stretches uninterrupted all the way back to a 14-0 Aggie win in 1954, fans and players alike have their own “great est” game in the series.

For those locals who have been living under a rock and paying no attention to the comings and goings of college football, the Causeway Classic is the annual game between Sacramento State and UC Davis, this year scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hornet Stadium on the Sac State campus.

A sellout crowd of 21,000 is anticipated.

One of the reasons partisans on both sides of the Yolo Causeway claim this may be the biggest or best of most meaningful Classic ever is that this is very clearly the best team in Sacramento State football history. To be sure, there have been good Hornet teams in the past, but none

that have entered this game 10-0, ranked No. 2 in the nation, winners of 18 straight Big Sky Conference games and chasing a third league title in a row.

Another reason is that the Aggies, despite a much less lofty 6-4 mark, are on a five-game roll unlike any in their long and storied football history that dates back 107 years.

While they haven’t proven it yet, the Aggies seem to be fulfilling head coach Dan Hawkins’ preseason prediction that this could be the best Aggie team ever.

So, we may just have the Best vs. the Best going at it Saturday after noon in the state capital. Add to all that the prospect of playoff bids for both schools and it’s a slam dunk. Yes indeed, this is the biggest Causeway Classic ever.

Win or lose, Sacramento State is certain to get a playoff bid. Even a 50-0 whitewash cannot undo all the great wins Sac State has in a fall like no other.

Put simply, the Hornets are loaded, but what really sets them apart is their ability to win the close

ones, even when they trail late in the fourth quarter.

CSUS trailed Montana by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but roared back to tie the game, then won by a touchdown in over time. They trailed Idaho, 28-24, in the fourth quarter, but scored late for a 31-28 win. And they held off Weber State in a 33-30 victory.

In the early season against a rigorous schedule, the Aggies lost two of those close ones. They fell 24-22 to No, 1 South Dakota State when a two-point conversion attempt failed.

And they dropped a 17-12 decision to Weber State when a last-minute drive fell just short.

Since that 1-4 start, however, it’s been lights out for UCD. In the last five games, all lopsided wins, the Aggies have averaged a nation-lead ing 52 points a game.

In order, UCD has wins of 56-27, 58-10, 59-17, 43-3 and 44-26.

Still, with those four losses, a playoff bid would be questionable

Mike Bush/enterprise photo

Davis attacker J.T. Doughty unleashes a shot in Thursday’s NorCal semifinal game against Valley Christian at American River Col lege. Doughty finished with 10 goals. To view more photos, visit www.davisenterprise.com, click on the Sports tab and look for the story.

Mike Bush/enterprise file photo

Aggie running back Ulonzo Gilliam (34), seen here finding room to run against the Hornets at UC Davis Health Stadium on Nov. 20, 2021, and his teammates make the short trek to Sacramento on Saturday for this year’s game.