The Davis Enterprise Sunday, February 19, 2023

For the birds

UCD professor kicks off lecture series

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer

After pounding away on a typewriter, Geerat “Gary” Vermeij, 76, a Dutch-born paleoecologist and evolutionary biologist in the department of earth and planetary sciences, takes each page and scans it into his computer. Then someone can make all the corrections that are necessary. “Fixing my errors which are often numerous,” he chuckles on camera.

Behind the lens, Walter Leal, a distinguished professor in the department of molecular and cellular biology, was preparing for the winter New Emeriti Distinguished Lectures, airing Wednesday from the Putah Creek Lodge and online with about 170 viewers.

Vermeij’s typewriter routine was part of the process of how he wrote his book, “The Evolution of Power,” which is expected out this year and was the topic of his featured talk at Wednesday’s lecture.

Davis resident Jack Donaldson was inspired to use his carpentry skills to make nestboxes for bluebirds. At right, a bird checks out the new digs. Bluebirds prefer their next boxes be a certain size, at a certain height and with the right-sized opening.

Local volunteer builds homes for native bluebirds

By Jeff Hudson Enterprise correspondent

Longtime Davis resident

Jack Donaldson started making boxy homes for bluebirds about four years ago, when he

read an article in The Enterprise about a project known as the Davis Nestbox Network ... a partnership formed in 2019 between the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife & Fish Biology, the city of Davis, the

Friends of North Davis Ponds and the UCD student chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology. The Davis Nestbox Network was looking for volunteers to help build nestboxes, to be

placed in various locations around town. The goal is to establish several “bird highways” in local parks, along Putah Creek, also up north in Woodland, and in eastern Glenn County, to help certain native bird species re-establish

See BIRDS, Page A6

School threat weighs on board meeting

By Aaron Geerts Enterprise staff writer

Thursday’s school-board meeting kicked off with profound gratitude in the public comment section from a district parent.

Harper Junior High had received a bomb threat earlier Thursday, and the parent was at the meeting to express her thanks for the district’s communication during the incident as well as the efforts of the Davis Police Department and Harper Staff to ensure the safety of the students. She also thanked Superintendent Matt Best for his eagerness to create a public forum to address future incidents such as these.

Then the trustees got

down to business featured a number of important updates regarding the health benefits committee, bond facilities program and the 2021-22 financial and performance audits.

Laura Juanitas, associate superintendent of student services, gave a healthbenefits committee update. The committee itself is comprises unions, administrators and confidential staff who meet once a month to provide advisory information on cost-effective medical benefits options, information used in collective bargaining, as well as weighing the pros and cons of leaving CalPERS. Juanitas dove into specifics of the committee’s

considerations and provided information on CalPERS, what it provides, its costs and what it would take to leave if the district decided to do so.

“As you can imagine, CalPERS does not make the process of leaving easy for districts. In order to leave, we will need to submit formal notice of intent to withdraw and a board resolution within 60 days of CalPERS’ releasing their Jan. 1, 2024 renewal rates,” said Juanitas. “The rates will be released this summer — likely in early July. So, the intent to withdraw and the board resolution would have a firm deadline

See BOARD, Page A7

According to the Princeton Review, the publisher of “The Evolution of Power,” the book “takes readers on a breathtaking journey across history and the natural world, revealing how the concept of power unifies a vast range of phenomena in the evolution of life — and how natural selection has placed humanity and the planet itself on a trajectory of ever-increasing power.”

See LECTURE, Page A4

Coroner identifies man fatally shot by SWAT officer

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

Yolo County coroner’s officials identified the Dunnigan man fatally shot by police last week as Hector Valdez Perez.

Perez, 63, died at the scene of Tuesday’s shooting in the 3000 block of County Road 88C in Dunnigan, where members of the Yolo County SWAT team arrived that morning to serve a felony arrest warrant.

Police said Perez, who lived in a trailer on the property, refused commands to surrender for more than four hours, the standoff followed by a

confrontation during which Perez allegedly was armed with a kitchen knife.

According to police, the arrest warrant charged Perez with committing sex acts with a child. It remained unclear Friday whether the alleged crimes occurred in Yolo County.

Yolo Superior Court online records show several prior cases under the name Hector Valdez Perez. They include two from 2017 involving charges of assault on a peace officer, use of a

See FATALLY, Page A4

Jack DonalDson/courtesy photos

About us

Council may work with DART to operate Community Pool

By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

The Davis City Council on Tuesday will consider approval of a contract with Davis Aquadarts (DART) for operation of Community Pool.

The contract, according to city staff, will save the city more than $196,000 annually in operating and capital costs.

Community Pool is one of four city-owned pool complexes and one of two that does not offer public programming. Both Community and Civic pools are used by competitive aquatic users, whereas Arroyo and Manor pools offer a mix of recreational and competitive activities.

R. Burt McNaughton

The future of Community Pool has been the subject of ongoing discussion for more than a decade, including back in 2011 when the facility was closed to the public as part of the annual budget adoption.

At that time, the city began discussions with aquatics groups and ultimately leased the complex to Davis Aquadarts, an arrangement that has continued for more than 12 years.

During that time, the city has employed consultants to examine operations, partnership opportunities and programming and facility use at all its aquatic complexes.

A 2018 report found the cost to provide aquatic facilities and services to the public will continue to

increase because of the increased cost associated with labor and utilities. Meanwhile, the city has a below average cost recovery rate for Community Pool and, in order to maintain or increase the cost recovery rate, the city will need to continue to evaluate program fees, along with admission and passes to ensure they are aligned with an appropriate fee structure policy and cost recovery expectations.

“Given the age and state of the pool, which has been identified as approaching structural failure in less than 10 years, staff recognize the importance of capturing cost savings now while planning for the future of our aquatic facilities as a whole,” the staff report prepared for Tuesday’s meeting noted.

The city issued a request for proposals in December for use and scheduling of the Community Pool complex and received three responses, two of which were by “out of state organizations (that) were deemed non-responsive to the RFP,” according to city staff.

The remaining proposal was from DART.

That proposal received high scores, including for DART’s approach to programming, staffing, financials and quality assurance, according to the staff report.

“Although not required for the proposal, it should be noted that the DART proposal included letters of support from many aquatic groups in the community

(including) Davis Water Polo, Davis Aquatic Masters, Team Davis and Aquastarz,” the report said.

The proposed contract with DART would be for three years and bring Community Pool into costneutral operation for the city absent any significant capital repairs, staff said.

DART would assume full financial obligations for the pool and assume all revenues generated from programming and sub-leases.

The staff report notes that Community Pool has been unavailable for recreational swim and lap swim for many years and that would continue under this contract, as neither are projected to bring in enough revenue to cover DART’s operational expenses.

“While there will be no net loss in programming to the community under this arrangement, DART has agreed to open the pool for community use on the 4th of July, during Celebrate Davis, and have suggested additional community programming ideas such as movie nights, parents night out and Friday fun meets,” according to the staff report.

Such events have yet to be scheduled and will be dependent on DART’s summer schedule.

Meanwhile, DART’s plan for offering pool time to outside entities would continue as it has in the past, prioritizing in the follow ways:

n Priority 1: Historical usage

based on groups that have consistently rented Community Pool. This includes groups that specifically require access to an “all deep” pool such as Davis Aquastarz and Davis Water Polo.

n Priority 2: City of Davis cosponsored groups that specifically require access to an “all deep” pool.

n Priority 3: City of Davis cosponsored groups

n Priority 4: City of Davis youth groups

n Priority 5: City of Davis adult groups

n Priority 6: All other rental requests

“In this plan, intentional emphasis for priority access is given to Davis-based groups and youth are prioritized over adults,” city staff said. “Staff feel confident that this schematic will work for the majority of aquatic users in the community, and will reasonably complement city-facilitated programming.”

The council will consider whether to approve the contract at Tuesday’s meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in the community chambers, 23 Russell Blvd. Council meetings are held in person but can be viewed remotely either via livestream at http:// cityofdavis.org/city-hall/city-council/city-council-meetings/meetingvideos or on city of Davis Government Channel 16 (available to those who subscribe to cable television).

Genealogy Club looks at probate records in hybrid meeting

The Davis Genealogy Club invites the public to a free presentation by an experienced genealogy instructor and family history specialist, Glenda Gardner Lloyd, as she explains the basics of an important record set for genealogists, probate records.

This merged (hybrid) program, “Probate Records: The Alphabet Soup of Probate,” will untangle these records, which are sometimes intimidating to researchers. Lloyd will speak in person and via

Zoom on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Davis Senior Center, 646 A St. Refreshments by members will be served following the talk.

Probate is one of the most important record sources available to genealogists to prove family relationships, and it can reveal much more.

Researchers need to explore all parts of the probate process, not just the will. Lloyd will explain how to use probate records most effectively in your genealogy research.

A fourth-generation

Californian, Lloyd grew up on a cattle ranch in northeastern California and attended a one-room country school.

She received her bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara and her master’s degree from Sacramento State University. She taught elementary school and worked as a reading specialist for 38 years.

All in-person attendees must register in advance by Feb. 20. Email President@ davisgenealogy.org or call Lisa Henderson at 530753-8943. Masks are strongly suggested.

Zoom guest passes also available via email. The Club’s Genealogy Library within the Davis Senior Center is open to the general public on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 3:30 p.m. when a

volunteer can answer questions.

It’s the other library in Davis that may hold the key to your family tree. Visit DavisGenealogy.org for more about the library and club programs.

Bob Dunning is on vacation. The Wary I will be back on Wednesday.

Metro/Stock photo

Homeowners can renovate their homes when they see fit, but various signs may warn that it’s time consider updating or remodeling a home.

Prevent poisoning

Metro

Special to The Enterprise

The average home is full of potentially poisonous items. From cleaning products to medications to foods and beverages, a host of items around the house can make a person sick or prove fatal.

WebMD indicates almost all poison exposures occur in homes, and 80 percent of all poisonings affect children between ages of one and four. Accidental poisonings are scary, but largely preventable. These tips can help prevent injury or fatalities.

■ Lock up: Install locks and childproof latches on cabinets and other places where dangerous substances are kept, including cleaning products and medications.

■ Original containers: Keep all substances in their original containers,

Signs it’s time to renovate

Metro

Special to The Enterprise

Homeowners renovate their homes for a variety of reasons. Renovations can increase the value of a property and make homes safer and more comfortable for their occupants. Improvements also can be made to stay current with the times or to give a home a new vibe.

including medicines. Individuals can accidentally ingest the wrong medication if products are moved into other containers.

■ Install alarms: Maintain carbon monoxide detectors throughout the house.

■ Discard old food: Check expiration dates and examine canned or boxed foods for spoilage. Eating food that has spoiled or is not cooked to the right temperature can result in food poisoning.

■ Don’t mix chemicals: Never mix chemical products, which can produce fumes or dangerous reactions.

■ Recognize poisonous plants: Research which plants may be poisonous if touched or ingested. Philodendrons, dieffenbachia, oleander, and golden pothos are some of the indoor plants that can be dangerous to children and pets.

Statista projects $510 billion will be spent on home improvements in 2024. The home improvement market is generating significant revenue. In fact, nearly a quarter of Americans opting to renovate their homes will spend an average of $10,000 on their projects.

Kitchens and bathrooms often get the most attention when it comes to home improvement. However, every room and space in a home may need a renovation at some point, and the following are five signs it’s time to renovate.

Age

The National Association of Home Builders states that 50 percent of U.S. homes are over the age of 40. That means that age alone could dictate a need to renovate, particularly if some materials are original to the home. For example, asphalt roofs typically last 25 to 30 years, while window frames can last 20 to 50 years depending on how well they have been maintained.

Metro/Stock photo

Homeowners can renovate their homes when they see fit, but various signs may warn that it’s time consider updating or remodeling a home.

Inconvenient layout

Some homeowners scratch their heads when faced with awkward floor plan layouts. While one may live with the inconvenience for some time, typically a floor plan that isn’t working for the home-

owner is a major driver of renovations.

Outdated looks

A home can look dated even if it is a relatively recent build. That’s because trends change quickly. For example, dark, cherry cabi-

nets that were popular just a little while ago have now been replaced by lighter color palettes. Homeowners whose homes do not match the looks emulated in design magazines may consider a change, particularly if they’re planning to sell soon.

Deterioration

Signs of water, storm or structural damage should be addressed as soon as possible. Any deterioration should be a strong indicator that it’s time to renovate.

Efficiency

Escalating utility bills could be indicative of an inefficient home. Homeowners can conduct energy audits and then improve the areas where energy loss may be occurring, such as windows, doors, siding, and insulation.

LECTURE: Science, natural history always held attraction

Interested in how predators and prey evolve together, especially among marine mollusks, and in how evolution, ecology, and morphology interact, Vermeij argues the many problems arising from the extreme concentration of power can be solved by broadening our exclusively human-centric perspective. He asks how much of evolution is influenced by enemies and the agency used to survive.

Countering arguments that history as a whole has no direction and structure other than one event after another, Vermeij says they’re correct at one level: “We cannot predict who is going to do what and when.” But, he says when we step back, we can identify a general increase in power, even in biological processes.

To illustrate, the largest animal living today in the oceans is the blue whale, and yet blue whales have been hunted by schools of sharks, smaller predators than, say, the extinct Otodus megalodon (“big tooth”). In other words, “social hunting,” an evolutionary shift from the brute strength of one large predator has demonstrated agency and collective survival strategies.

Are humans that different from every other life form? “Yes, humans are unique. Importantly, we are of course social, but more importantly, we exert both individually and collectively, a vast amount of power far more than any before our time,” he said.

In the clip recorded by Leal, he noticed a large card catalog type of cabinet inside Vermeij’s office, and says, “That’s lots of drawers.”

Organized and filled with natural treasures like fossils and shells, Vermeij’s museum-grade research collection has been gathered mostly by himself. Curated and labeled in Braille, he also copied all his Braille labels, so that eventually when it goes to a museum, they will have ready access to what’s there. This research collection, for which he has gained much inspiration, is the beginning of his process. “You know, I love handling beautiful objects, most of which these are and it’s just great aesthetic pleasure.”

Blind since age 3, science and natural history have always attracted him. In a YouTube video, Vermeij said despite disadvantages, like not having enough literature available in Braille or audio formats, he’s used his sense of touch to discover features of shells that “others who are sighted have overlooked, or just simply never bothered to record.”

Leal noticed that besides the research collection, Vermeij had a large collection of books and papers which amounts to about 30,000. Every day, Vermeij reads scientific papers, a reason he attributes to the variety of topics he has written about — “everything from human uniqueness to extinction to biomineralization, molluscum taxonomy and so forth.” It’s also a reason why his papers are heavy on citations.

Rather than reading in Baille, he finds it more convenient to have somebody read him papers because then he can ask them to skip certain parts or flip to the abstract.

Born in the Netherlands, Vermeij immigrated to New Jersey as a child and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1968 and received his Ph.D. in Biology from Yale University. Soon after graduation, he joined the faculty at the University of Maryland College Park first as an instructor, then as an assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor.

He joined the UC Davis faculty back in 1989 when UC Davis tuition was $1,531 and the campus led the nation in the number of PhDs awarded in the biological sciences. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1992 and the

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in 2000. In 2004, Vermeij received one of the highest honors bestowed on the UC Davis faculty, the UC Davis Academic Senate Faculty Research Lecture. Vermeij is a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and a member of the Academy’s Board of Trustees and received the Academy’s Fellows Medal. Vermeij was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. He has published more than 255 scientific papers.

In a first-person article published by the National Federation of the Blind, Vermeij asks how a skeptic might wonder how a blind person could ever hope to be a scientist. “After all, science is difficult if not impenetrable even for many sighted people; and, in

FATALLY: Officers were wearing body cameras

From Page A1

deadly weapon and domestic violence, resulting in a four-year state prison sentence.

Coroner’s officials had not yet conducted an autopsy as of Friday evening to determine Valdez’s specific cause of death.

However, the West Sacramento Police Department disclosed one of its officers, a 7½-year veteran of the agency, fired two shots at Perez during the incident

and was the only officer to discharge their service weapon.

Members of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office and Woodland Police Department also comprise the SWAT team. The officers used body-worn cameras during the incident, footage of which is required under state law to be released to the public within 45 days.

The Davis Police Department, which is not part of the SWAT team, is leading

The Davis Police Department is hiring two Community Service Officers Pay begins at $15 50 for approx 20 hours a week Tasks vary from vehicle coordinator to data entry Please see our website for position details and how to apply https://www cityofdavis org/city-hall/police-department/ recruitment

PROFESSIONAL OFFICE FOR LEASE Central Davis location on Kennedy Place, at J Street near Covell Great parking Beautiful wood built ins 600 square feet Call (530) 759-0200 or email rent1105kennedy@gmail com

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF WILLIAM SHAW CASE NO PR2023-0015

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate or both of: WILLIAM SHAW WILLIAM A SHAW

A Petition for Probate has been filed by:

ELIZABETH RAFAEL in the Superior Court of California County of: YOLO

The Petition for Probate requests that:

ELIZABETH RAFAEL be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent

The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval Before taking certain very important actions however the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action ) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: 03-16-2023 Time: 9:00 A M Dept : 11 Room:

Located at 1000 Main Street, Woodland, CA 95695

If you object to the granting of the petition you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney

If you

any case, there is almost nothing in the way of books about science available to the blind. How would one carry out experiments? How would one gain access to the huge scientific literature? Perhaps a blind person could be a physicist, at least a theoretical physicist, but surely not a biologist. Why would the blind willingly choose biology, that most visual of all the sciences?”

In the article, he wrote that science is “absolutely fascinating. Someone is actually paying me to study shells — some of the most beautiful works of architecture in all of nature — in the expectation that broad principles with implications for our own species will emerge.

“What is more, I get to travel to exotic places, to read the scientific literature in all its fantastic diversity, to see my own papers and books published, and to teach others about science, that most powerful of all ways of knowing. What more could one ask of a profession?”

After Vermeij’s talk, Dr. Estella Atekwana, the dean of the College of Letters and Science announced the formation of an Emeritus Club. “Emeriti faculty really have a rich experience that should not be allowed to sunset just because they’re transitioning to what I call another phase of their lives.”

“And so I really want to say thank you to Walter for this really amazing initiative to keep our emeriti faculty engaged and active with our UC Davis community.”

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

TO AWARD AN ENERGY CONSERVATION CONTRACT PURSUANT TO CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 4217

a criminal investigation of the shooting with assistance from the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s

Office and two police departments must conduct internal probes to determine whether their officers acted within the agencies’ use-of-force policies.

GW6CALLE6938B Label/Insignia Number CAL345810/CAL345811, and stored on property within the Westwind Estates at

The Davis City Council will conduct a public hearing at the City Council meeting at 6:30 p m on Tuesday March 7 2023 i n t h e C o m m u n i t y C h a m b e r s a t C i t y H a l l 2 3 R u s s e l l Boulevard Davis California to consider awarding an Energy

Conservation Contract to Echo-Green Solutions for the design and installation of energy-related improvements and a on-bill financing contract with Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the implementation of certain energy-related improvements to City Facilities

DESCRIPTION:

California Government Code Section 4217 10 et seq authorizes the City to enter into agreements to finance and to procure and install energy conservation measures without having to follow otherwise applicable loan and procurement procedures provided the City Council holds a public hearing and makes certain findings related to financing and funds for repayment are projected to be from sales of energy from the facility or funding otherwise used for energy purchase, and the anticipated cost will be less than the marginal cost of energy consumption by the public agency

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

All i nte r es te d p ar ti e s a r e i n v ite d to p ar ti ci p a te in th e p ub l ic hearing or send written comments to John Alexander City of D a v i s P u b l i c W o r k s U t i l i t i e s a n d O p e r a t i o n s D e p a r t m e n t 1 7 1 7 F i f t h S t r e e t D a v i s C a l i f o r n i a 9 5 6 1 6 ; o r v i a e m a i l a t jalexander@cityofdavis org by the end of the public hearing

For questions please call the Public Works Utilities & Operations Department at (530) 757-5686

Payment is due and payable immediately following the sale No exceptions The mobilehome and/or contents are sold as is, where is with no guarantees

This sale is conducted under the authority of California Civil Code 798 56a and C ommercial Code 7209-7210

DATED: January 31 2023

Stephanie D Rice LAW OFFICES OF JOSEPH W CARROLL Attorney for Westwind Mobile Home Park LLC 610 Fulton Avenue, Suite 100 Sacramento CA 95825 (916) 443-9000

Published February 19 26 2023 #2161

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF Delilah Schelen CASE NO PR2023-0027

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate or both of: Delilah Schelen

A Petition for Probate has been filed by: Yolo County Public Administrator in the Superior Court of California County of: Yolo

The Petition for Probate requests that: Yolo County Public Administrator be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent

The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval Before taking certain very important actions however the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action ) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority

A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as fol-

lows: Date: 03-07-2023 Time: 9:00 A

The City of Davis does not transcribe its proceedings Persons who wish to obtain a verbatim record should arrange for attendance by a court reporter or for some other acceptable means of recordation Such arrangements will be at the sole expense of the person requesting the recordation Individuals wishing to challenge the action taken on this matter in court are notified that the challenge may be limited to only those issues raised at the public hearing described in this notice or in written correspondence delivered to the City Clerk at or prior to the public hearing

Stan Gryczko Director Public Works Utilities & Operations Department

February 10 2023

Published February 19 2023 #2179

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF Robert Charles Schelen CASE NO PR2023-0028

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate or both of: Robert Schelen

A Petition for Probate has been filed by: Yolo County Public Administrator in the Superior Court of California County of: Yolo

The Petition for Probate requests that: Yolo County Public Administrator be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent

The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval Before taking certain very important actions however the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action ) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: 03/07/2023 Time: 9:00 A M Dept : 14 Room:

Located at 1000 Main Street, Woodland, CA 95695

If you object to the granting of the petition you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing Your appear-

Courtesy image

UC Davis professor Geerat Vermeij, goes online Wednesday from the Putah Creek Lodge for the UCD Emeriti Lecture series.

Froyo, charcuterie on their way

Afrozen-yogurt shop is planned for the corner of Second and D streets, in a building owned by the Davis Odd Fellows

Realtor Jin-Ying Shaw leases about 1,300 square feet of office space at 425 Second St. It houses her RE/MAX Gold real estate office and her Elite Property Management company. She plans to turn a corner section of that — about 800 square feet — into the frozen yogurt store.

As of Wednesday, Shaw had yet to submit plans to the city of Davis. She’s hoping to open it as soon as June, but realizes that may be optimistic.

“I want to do it when it’s hot,” she said. “We’ll see if we can make it happen.”

Shaw’s still deciding on what to call the shop, but hopes to incorporate Chinese culture into the name. Like the other yogurt shops in town, it will be self-serve. Davis already has two dedicated frozen yogurt shops — Cultivé and YoloBerry — both less than two blocks away. If you include ice cream and frozen custard, there’s also Davis Creamery Baskin-Robbins and Sweet & Shavery. All of them are downtown.

Shaw wants to offer about nine yogurt flavors at a time, and an array of toppings. The menu of specialty frozen yogurt flavors will change each week.

“The location is great,”

Shaw said, noting floorto-ceiling windows on both sides of the corner. She imagines patrons sitting next to the window, or on a bench outside, and watching what’s going on downtown.

I’ve written about Shelley Dunning’s B’twixt & B’tween vending machine, now inside Woodstock’s Pizza, and her charcuterie business called Mabel’s Farm Box. The big news now is that Mabel’s will soon have a store of its own, filling the former Shu Shu’s Clothing space at 227 E St., Suite 3. There, she plans to sell premade charcuterie boxes and separate ingredients. “Almost like a little picnic shop,” she said. “My sister used to work in Seattle, and she used to stop at Pike’s (Place), the market, and pick up a little of this and that, and a bouquet of flowers.” That’s the concept for this store but in one, easy stop.

The retail space is less than 300 square feet. “It’s like a little market where you’d stop and grab a little picnic lunch or dinner, or a hostess gift,” she said. Items will include

baguettes, salami, small cuts of cheese, fresh flowers, picnic baskets and blankets, jams, jellies, mustards and sparkling waters. She’s trying to source most of the items from Northern California. Eventually, she may apply for a permit for to-go sales of wine and beer, but that can wait. Meanwhile, it will be a good option for those heading to a nearby brewery, or wine or beer bar that doesn’t serve food.

The shop is a logical next step for Dunning. “From the very beginning when I started doing Mabel’s Farm Box, I knew I wouldn’t feel completely comfy until I had a home base,” she said. She likes to meet people face-to-face, to share her enthusiasm about her products. After all, the name MABEL is an acronym for Mothers Always Bring Extra Love.

The Mabel’s Farm Box store is classified as a market. Everything is prepackaged and prepared in a commercial kitchen in Winters. There’s no onsite kitchen, so don’t expect made-to-order sandwiches or food service. But that also should simplify the city and county approval process. She hopes to have it open as early as mid-March.

Hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays. A website is under development at

https://www.mabelsfarmbox.com/.

MT BBQ House has a new owner — with plans to spiff the place up. Health inspectors closed the restaurant on Jan. 20 for an infestation of roaches. It’s at 229 G St.

Allison Lo, who owns Pho Tasty, a Vietnamese restaurant down the street at 301 G St., took over the Chinese barbecue restaurant on Feb. 1. She said the previous owner was looking to sell it before he received the health citation.

“It’s a good location,” Lo said by phone on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of potential, you just need to make sure you run it right. … That place really needs a lot of cleaning — in and out.” She said Davis is notorious for its cockroaches and rats. She has a pestcontrol service that comes monthly to Pho Tasty, and said she took a lot of extra precautions before opening that restaurant.

When MT BBQ House does reopen — hopefully between late February and mid-March — Lo plans to keep the name and concept. Its specialty is to barbecue skewered meats, veggies and tofu. Diners can do it themselves at their table, or ask for it to be prepared by the restaurant.

Lo is of Chinese and Vietnamese descent, and it shows in her eateries. She also owns a Pho Tasty

in Berkeley, and Asian Blossom in Granite Bay, which specializes in Chinese and Vietnamese food.

The community entertainment publication The Dirt is changing hands. Hanna Nakano will assume the editor’s role as of its March publication.

I recently wrote how Ashley Muir Bruhn, who took over The Davis Dirt in October 2019, rebranded it and launched a new print edition in March 2020. When the pandemic canceled entertainment events, it halted publication. It took almost three years before the print edition returned.

“Now that it has some good momentum, I’m excited to say that I’ve found someone who will be taking it over as owner for its next chapter,” Bruhn said via email. “I feel like I’m leaving it with a really strong foundation to succeed.”

Nakano is a Davis resident who is the mom of two young daughters. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Marshall University in West Virginia, and is a former TV news reporter and producer. Today, she writes blog posts and web copy, especially for parenting sites.

Local Inspirations, a gift shop and artisan gallery in downtown Woodland, announced Monday that it plans to close.

YCF scholarship applications due March 10

Special to The Enterprise

The deadline for Yolo Community Foundation scholarships is fast approaching. The following scholarships are currently accepting applications:

■ The Saylor Family Scholarship, YCF’s newest scholarship, provides support for promising students who have experienced significant life challenges, including but not limited to foster care, death of a family member during high school years or other family trauma, teen parenthood, behavioral health challenges, involvement with the juvenile justice system, or financial needs that resulted in the student working during high school.

■ The Mary Ellen Dolcini Scholarship is made in honor of a long-time community leader. This scholarship may be up to $10,000 and supports high school seniors of Mexican American descent from Davis, Woodland, and the surrounding area in Yolo County to pursue a college education.

■ The Julia R. Millon Memorial Scholarship was created to honor the spirit of Julia Millon, a Winters

resident who was dedicated and passionate about all of the activities that encompassed her existence, especially life outdoors, ultra-trail running, reading, writing, science, health and wellbeing. To be eligible, the applicant must be a high school student living in the boundaries of the Winters School District, have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, planning to attend post-high school education for four years, and demonstrates financial need.

The awardee will receive a scholarship of $1,500. The student must be enrolled full time at the college, university, vocational, trade or technical school during the academic year the scholarship is awarded.

■ Roy and Cynthia Kroener Family Scholarship: Roy

and Cynthia Kroener are longterm residents of Davis. They have enjoyed both professional and artistic careers in the Davis community.

Their goal with this scholarship is to give something back to the Davis community while providing an opportunity for young adults to pursue a college degree.

To apply, the student must be a graduating high school senior from a high school in Davis, must reside in Davis, have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0, plan to attend an accredited college or university, and demonstrate financial need. Awardees will receive up to $5,000.

■ The Yolo Youth Service Award Scholarship promotes youth volunteering and encourages Yolo

County nonprofits to engage with young volunteers. YCF seeks applications from high school seniors who have volunteered with a Yolo County nonprofit for at least 60 hours during their junior and/or senior years of high school.

YoYoSA student awardees will receive a $1,000 scholarship to support post-high school education, which may include college, vocational or technical school.

In addition, a $500 grant will be awarded to the nonprofit agency sponsoring each YoYoSA student scholarship winner. For details and application information, go to

http://www.yolocf.org/ scholarships/. For information, visit www.yolocf.org or info@yolocf.org or 530312-0593.

It’s hosting a going-outof-business sale, which includes furnishings used for displays at its store at 524 Main St.

“The pandemic and its continued fallout have changed the retail landscape for all, and we feel bad for all of those that are enduring these chaotic times, especially our friends and neighbors in downtown Woodland,” the Facebook post said. “Even after we are gone, we urge you to shop local.”

They thanked their shoppers, vendors and landlord Steve Venables for their support. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, while supplies last.

— Wendy Weitzel is a Davis writer and editor. Her column runs on Sundays. Check for frequent updates on her Comings & Goings Facebook and Instagram pages. If you know of a business coming or going in the area, email news tips to wendyedit@ gmail.com.

BIRDS: Big trees gone from area

themselves in areas where they were once more common.

Donaldson — a handy guy who enjoys gardening and making things with tools — read in the article that a few slabs of wood nailed together and hung in trees could replace the natural tree cavities that wild birds had relied upon for millennia. Unfortunately, in recent decades, big trees with natural cavities have become increasingly scarce — lost to the axe, the plow and invasion by introduced species. As a result, the population cavity-nesting birds was declining in the California.

Donaldson realized that he had the tools, the woodshop experience and (being retired) the time, as well. “It sounded like a fun thing to do,” Donaldson said. So he contacted the Davis Nestbox Network — which is also informally known as “The Bluebird Project.” Donaldson soon learned that bluebirds have certain preferences when it comes to setting up a nest in a tree cavity or a box.

“The bluebirds like a box set at a certain height, 10 to 20 feet off the ground.”

Sometimes, this means a nestbox hanging from a tree branch. Other times, it means a nestbox mounted on a tall post.

“They have a certain size box that they like, about 4.5 inches by 5.5 inches.”

And the bluebirds prefer a certain size hole for entering and exiting the nestbox ... the hole needs to be big enough to admit an adult bluebird, but small enough

to prevent predators from getting in.

“You know what they say ... ‘If you build it, they will come,’” Donaldson added.

Donaldson usually builds his nestboxes out of old fence boards he gathers (with the homeowner’s permission) following a windstorm. A big storm in early 2020 set Donaldson up with a good supply of weathered fence boards. “I picked the boards that were good, and pulled out the nails,” he said. Then he cuts up the boards to preset sizes to make components for nestboxes.

In March 2020, the pandemic hit. Like many people, Donaldson and his spouse “sheltered in place” at home, giving him even more time to hang out in his garage and build nestboxes.

He estimates that by now, he’s completed about 125 nestboxes, and he’s repaired and restored a number of old nestboxes as well. You’ll spot several of them hanging in various parts of town, including Slide Hill Park, near the Donaldson home.

Donaldson grew up in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, specifically the San Gabriel Valley. He came north to attend Santa Clara University and Humboldt State, planning to become a teacher. But in the early 1970s, the public

schools were laying off thousands of teachers in California, so Donaldson decided to become a registered nurse. He came to the Sacramento area in the late 1980s to work at the UC Davis Med Center, and settled in Davis in 1991.

Donaldson estimates that over the past four years, dozens of nesting pairs of bluebirds (and some pairs of flycatchers, who like the same-size box) have built nests, laid eggs (usually four per nest, sometimes three) and raised hatchlings in the nestboxes he’s built. Donaldson also enjoys watching birds in the garden at his home, and encourages them to linger by setting out nestboxes, water, etc.

He considers himself “more of a naturalist than a birder ...” He’s not the sort to plan a trip specifically to glimpse a rare bird species. “My father was a hunter and a naturalist. I grew up outside. So my philosophy is leave a light footprint. Don’t use pesticides or herbicides. Try to create a nice habitat for the birds. And grow plants for the (migrating) monarch butterflies.”

— For more information about the Davis Nestbox Network online, go to https://mwfb.ucdavis. edu/research/california/ nestboxes/davis.

DONALDSON Keeping busy

Jack DonalDson/courtesy photo Donaldson’s woodworking skills came in handy for the project.

BOARD: New facilities under construction across district

which is likely the first week of September.

“Also, CalPERS carriers are not allowed to provide us any proposal information with plan rates until we have formally given notice to CalPERS in September. One of the largest deterrence is that if we leave CalPERS, we cannot change our mind or return for five years. So, the decision has to be made carefully and knowledgeably.”

David Burke, executive director of capital operations, gave an update on bonds and facilities. Burke detailed the bond program’s history before discussing the project phases, which include

programming, design, DSA review, bidding and contract approval, construction, and finally completion and occupancy. He spoke on the completion of a few signature projects, including the early-learning center at Korematsu Elementary, the science labs at Emerson and Da Vinci Jr. High Schools and the Pamela Mari Tech Hub at Da Vinci High School — along with their costs, which came out to approximately $78 million.

“We are currently under construction with three career techeducation pathways over at Davis High School,” Burke said. “They’re engineering/robotics, transportation and agriculture. Agriculture is essentially complete and they’ve

taken beneficial occupancy. They’re also using most of the new facilities over at transportation. We’re just waiting on some interior finishes on the new restroom and the new vehicle lift. Robotics will be completed in April.”

Burke also mentioned the STEM building and Aquatic Center being built at DSHS and broke down the next phases for the district’s solar implementation as well.

Finally, there came the district’s 2021-22 financial and performance audits by Jeff Jensen — a representative of the audit firm, Crowe LLP. Jensen gave a summary of the external audit’s report which included findings on improperly reported financial

DHS hosts concert

statements, continuation attendance reporting, independent study agreements and expanded learning grants.

“When I reflect back on that period of time in the summer of 2022, we should have taken a step back and said, ‘we’re short-staffed, we know there are issues that are going to play out,’” Best said. “As time rolled forward, we should have just stopped, been late on the adopted budget and made sure those mistakes were rectified right from the get-go.”

The board then voted to approve the audit report.

With that, the meeting came to an end, with the next scheduled for March 2.

Special to The Enterprise

The Davis High School strings tutoring program presents its second annual Winter Concert at 2 p.m. today, at the Brunelle Performance Hall on campus, 315 W. 14th St. in Davis

The concert is free to the public, but donations are accepted at the door. All proceeds support the tutoring program. Contact dhs stringstutoring@gmail. com for information.

Cheerleading

Blue Devil squad shines at nationals in Vegas

Enterprise staff

Two, four, six, eight — the Davis High competitive cheerleading team did really great.

The DHS squad recently competed at the JAMZ Cheer and Dance Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev. The Blue Devils won the large varsity level one division, nontumbling.

Overall, the Blue Devils finished in ninth place out of 148 schools in their division.

“At nationals, teams are split based on team size and with 19 athletes we were in large (division),” said Davis head coach Tamara Reed.

Davis competed against competitive cheer squads from Central Valley High of Ceres, Garfield High of Los Angeles, Will C. Wood High of Vacaville, Dayton High of Dayton, Nev. and Silver Creek High and Evergreen Valley High, both of San Jose.

“We were in first after day one by over one point, which is pretty significant at Nationals and were the only team to hit our routine both days,” said Julia Bohn, who is the assistant coach. Teams from California, Hawaii, Texas,

Do you want more football games?

If you thought football season was over, guess again.

The third reiteration of the XFL kicked off this weekend. The previous seasons were 2020 and 2001.

Eight cities, new rules, many players known only by player personnel people.

But it’s football and any kind of football is the sport of choice for TV networks. ESPN will televise the bulk of XFL games. The USFL, meanwhile, returns for its second season in mid-April on FOX.

The eight franchises stretching from Seattle to Washington D.C. and points in between.

Among the notable XFL head coaches are Wade Phillips, Bob Stoops, Rod Woodson and Jim Haslett. Haslett’s first professional coaching job was with the World League Sacramento Surge. He was an NFL head coach with the New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Rams.

n It took a definitive, totally conclusive shot by an NFL Films crew to prove that Philadelphia Eagles defensive back James Bradberry did indeed hold Kansas City wideout JuJu SmithSchuster in the waning moments of last Sunday’s Super Bowl.

The official, John Jenkins, who hails from Sacramento but now lives in Dallas, made the correct call and should be applauded for it.

n Tim McCarver, a four-decade catcher primarily with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, has died at age 81.

Following his baseball retirement, McCarver forged a second career as a highly respected TV analyst. He worked for all four major networks from 1980 to 2013.

McCarver was the regular catcher for two of See GAMES, Back page

Oregon and Nevada competed at JAMZ.

“We won against these teams, and then overall had the ninth highest score of the entire competition,” Reed said. “In previous competitions, we won our division, but then won level champs against all of the teams in our same level.”

Davis High and other competitive cheer teams had to qualify at regional competition in order to attend the nationals in Las Vegas.

“The team was led by an amazing senior class, including Cristina Kim, who cheered all four years on our competition squad and served as team captain,” Bohn said. “Their leadership and encouragement throughout the season set a positive tone for the year, and the team progressively improved throughout the season to peak at nationals.”

Members of the Blue Devil cheer squad are Kim, Aidan Cribari, Aine Walsh, Angie Cripe, Bella Pires, Bella Dolcini, Deanna Turner, Emily Leon, Emma McReynolds, Jessyca Soto-Hernandez, Kaia Perkins, Kaycee Cordodor, Lauren McGilvray, Lizzie Fiarman, Lorelei Kahle, Bella Gratwohl, Violet Watts, Yazmeen Bayan and Zuria Horning.

girls soCCer uCd rounduP

Brown tosses no-hitter at invitational

Enterprise staff

LONG BEACH —

UC Davis softball pitcher Kenedi Brown tossed her second career no-hitter, leading the Aggies to a 4-0 victory over Louisiana Monroe at the Wilson Invitational on Friday.

The Aggies improve to 6-1 on the season. Brown, a junior, improved to 4-1 on the season. The righthander struck out six and walked one en route to the tournament-opening victory.

The no-hitter is the second of her collegiate career as she blanked Utah State on March 11 of last season.

Sarah Nakahara led the way offensively for the Aggies, going 2-for-3 in the ballgame with a double, a walk and an RBI.

DHS’ success was playing unselfishly

By Bruce Gallaudet Enterprise correspondent

When the Davis High girls soccer team set sail on its 2023-24 campaign, the nation’s prep pundits knew right away that something special was afoot with these Blue Devils.

Gliding through their first four foes by an aggregate score of 20-0, the Blue Devils put its brilliance on full display early.

While navigating a Delta League that would send five schools to the postseason, by playoff time DHS was 12-0-2 — all the while allowing just one goal.

West of Tracy fell to the Devils in the first CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I first round, and it looked like Davis was cruising to port — a ninth Sac-Joaquin Section title on the horizon.

Hitting an iceberg

But Wednesday night, with the temperature dipping below 42 degrees as 250 faithful fans watched at Ron and Mary Brown Stadium, the Blue Devils hit an iceberg.

“Tough loss,” understated DHS coach Sara Stone, who had just seen her girls fall to McClatchy 7-6 on penalty kicks.

But a day after watching the persnickety soccer gods turn their backs on the Blue Devils, Stone was collected and able to put the season in perspective:

“This was a group that made my job easy and fun,” the veteran coach said of her girls. “They were all coachable and smart, wanted to learn, liked to complete, lead, played hard for one another — cheered for their teammates at all grade levels — and, maybe most importantly, were genuinely happy for one another … (showing) in their unselfish play for one another.” Davis had just the right mix of team captains — Reese Quick, Una Keller, Sabrina Hazel and Lindsey Fitzpatrick — to keep things headed in the right direction on and off the field.

Before Wednesday’s game, Fitzpatrick addressed one of the Devils’ big intangibles.

‘Like to laugh’

“The key? I would say my one word is ‘chemistry,’” the senior striker/midfielder said. “(We) liked to laugh, were loyal to (our) teammates and had a positive outlook on life.

“This is a group that proved what being on a team is all about: the friendships that have been created; the traditions that continue; playing for and representing (our) school; having friends and peers be able to watch you play; and doing something you are passionate about with others who feel the same way is special.”

There were some watershed moments during the season.

The two ties with St. Francis (1-1 and 0-0) were intense; topping powerhouses Del Oro, 1-0, and Montgomery, 3-0, on the road got the season off to a fast start; and getting by West in a squeaker was a successful way to open the playoffs. Then, outscoring your opponents 49-1 is pretty heady stuff.

Quick and Keller helped anchor a backline that included Mia Williams and Charlotte Lee-Smith; all are seniors. In front of them was a midfield staffed by defensive standout senior Laura Lemmo and attacking specialists Audrey Aguirre and Mia Simmons, both sophomores.

Up front was a combination of Fitzpatrick, Olivia Johnson, Grace Fabionar and Miya Alamares.

Fabionar and Alamares return next year.

Off the bench

First off the bench were Sabrina Hazel, Tory Agnew, Madison Lujan and Kailani Thompson. All are underclassmen, providing hints at how strong these Blue Devils are expected to be again in 2024.

On the rare occasion that a foe should get a shot off, there in front of the cage stood either freshman keeper Aubrey McLin or junior netminder Skylinne Avalos.

“I don’t think too many teams can say they only gave up one goal in the

See DHS, Back page

Grace Kilday put together her best performance of the season, going 3-for-3 with a double.

Anna Dethlefson, also a junior, went 2-for-3 for with two RBIs.

The Aggies took the lead for good in the second, scoring for the first time in the inning. UC Davis put together a three-run frame, culminating in a runscoring single from Dethlefson.

The Aggies also added a run in the sixth inning to complete their scoring in the ballgame after another Dethlefson RBI.

UC Davis completed tournament play with two games Saturday. The Aggies faced Warhawks Pac-12 foe Cal.

Aggie baseball

In a dismal season opener, the new-look UC Davis baseball team suffered an 8-1 defeat at the hands of Utah Valley Friday afternoon before a crowd of 532 at Dobbins Stadium.

The Aggies, 6-35 a year ago, suited up 19 newcomers to complement 13 returnees, but hits were few and far between in the first

See TOSSES, Back page

r T ProduCTions/CourTesy

PhoTo

Members of the Davis High competitive cheerleading show off a routine during their recent performance at the JAMZ Cheer and Dance Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev.

Mike Bush/enTerPrise PhoTo

Davis High forward Grace Fabionar(6) keeps the ball in front of her and away from a McClatchy player in Wednesday’s CIF SacJoaquin Section Division I quarterfinal game. The Blue Devils entered the playoffs as the top seed, but the Lions beat DHS on penalty kicks to advance in the postseason.

Fence out of place at Friendship Park

By Minerva C. Carcaño and Robert K. Ross Special to CalMatters

It goes without saying the national immigration debate is complicated, heartwrenching and divisive. The most cynical and inhumane brand of politics has been in the driver’s seat of this issue for decades.

Talk of towering walls, cries of “Amnesty!” and headlines warning of criminal gangs roaming American streets drive the conversation on conservative news stations, social media and Congress. It debases all of us, it’s malicious and, unfortunately, it’s effective.

This phenomenon is epitomized in the fate of Friendship Park, which has served as one of the most hopeful and meaningful spots in the long and fractured history of migration between the U.S. and Mexico.

The Biden administration is now angling to turn what’s left of the park into a bleak militarized zone, with two, 30-foot, unsightly steel walls replacing the 18-foot wall that marks the border and the 18-foot fence that surrounds the park.

The monument at this historic location was first put in place in the mid-1800s, at the end of the U.S.-Mexico War, to demarcate the new international boundary. In 1971, First Lady Pat Nixon inaugurated the surrounding area in the United States as California’s Border Field State Park, declaring it the first phase of what was to become “International Friendship Park.”

For generations, the park served as a safe, friendly place where families separated by nationality could reunite for a short time.

But in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Friendship Park became the venue for something else: the brutal politics of immigration. The federal government seized state land by eminent domain and erected walls separating the U.S. and Mexican portions of the park. In-person gatherings were restricted, and surveillance towers were installed around the perimeter.

If the construction of the border fence gets completed, what was once a beautiful vista filled with joy, family and love will become an ugly metaphor for the state of immigration policy in this country.

The most appalling thing about this move is that it’s completely unnecessary. Unauthorized border crossings at the park are easily controlled by onsite Border Patrol agents. There is no significant illegal drug trade or other criminal activity when the park is open to the public. And federal officials haven’t provided any evidence of public harm.

Instead, this one spot now represents the Biden administration reneging on its promise not to build new border walls.

The only explanation is politics. With congressional Republicans preparing to investigate and possibly impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden may be looking to appear tough on immigration.

But this move will satisfy no politician, not make anyone safer, and send a message of fear and intimidation to thousands of moms, dads, grandparents and children who simply want to connect with loved ones across the border.

A better solution is to repair the existing infrastructure, which is fully protective of the border and already familiar to families who visit the park. A forward-looking plan for Friendship Park is not just feasible, it’s already in the works.

At a more spiritual and moral level, Californians cannot give into the politics of hate, fear, exclusion and xenophobia. We need to do just the opposite. This is a critical moment in our nation’s history when the spirit and ethos of full inclusion and belonging as a human family must be asserted.

Friendship Park should remain a place where people from the U.S. and Mexico come together to see each other and share time as friends and family.

President Biden must reverse course. Instead of trying to placate the purveyors of anti-immigrant sentiment, love, friendship and family must be the prevailing message.

— Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño is the board chair for The California Endowment. She serves as a bishop for the CaliforniaNevada Conference of the United Methodist Church. Dr. Robert K. Ross is president and CEO of The California Endowment. He previously served as the director of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency and commissioner of public health for the city of Philadelphia.

Economic sectors face headwinds

During World War II, California became the staging point for the Pacific Theater and an industrial powerhouse that manufactured ships, planes and other implements of warfare.

Industrialization, which continued after the war, replaced resource industries such as agriculture and mining in economic importance and fueled California’s postwar population boom into the nation’s most populous state.

However, California’s industrial age was relatively short-lived. By the 1970s, factories were beginning to close, sparking uncertainty about the state’s economic future.

Southern California economic and civic leaders opted for what came to be known as “logistics,” making the region the prime entry point for the goods that a resurgent Asian economy was producing for the American market.

The region committed billions of dollars into upgrading the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and improving transportation facilities to whisk goods from the ports into massive warehouse complexes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Logistics created millions of new blue collar jobs, particularly for immigrants pouring into the region from Latin America and Asia.

Meanwhile, the state’s

Letters

Teacher pay

other major metropolitan area — the counties surrounding San Francisco Bay — opted for exploiting the region’s cutting-edge research into the possibilities of silicon chips.

As high-technology corporations such as Apple, Intel and Facebook exploded, they transformed quiet suburban communities into what came to be known as Silicon Valley.

The Bay Area became California’s most important economic engine, drawing investment capital and ambitious techies from every corner of the globe and creating enormous wealth that, among other things, is the state’s most important source of tax revenue.

Overall, the decisions of the 1970s on post-industrial economy worked out better for the Bay Area than they did for Southern California — especially after the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s nearly wiped out Southern California’s last remaining major industrial sector: aerospace. That said, the economic mainstays of both regions now face existential threats.

Southern California’s logistics industry is being

The Sacramento Bee on Feb. 16 had the sad news that of the 15 school districts in the four-county Sacramento region, Davis Joint Unified has the lowest-paid teachers at $74,000. The highest average was Roseville at $94,500.

Sad and shameful for Davis that prides itself on its schools and their reputation.

Our teachers are suffering.

C.A. Tkach Davis

Changing circumstances

There is a bigger issue in the misplaced presidential documents conundrum.

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

Sebastian Oñate Editor

California’s industrial age was relatively short-lived. By the 1970s, factories were beginning to close, sparking uncertainty about the state’s economic future.

whipsawed by a decline in ship traffic due to tougher competition from East Coast ports, local transportation bottlenecks, new air quality mandates, such as eliminating diesel-powered trucks, that raise costs, and increasing opposition to inland warehouse expansion.

Last month, a coalition of 60 Inland Empire groups sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, asking for a moratorium on warehouse construction, citing environmental degradation from heavy truck traffic.

“We have a right to a life not impacted by asthma, heart disease, cognitive, and reproductive problems related to pollution exposure,” the letter states. “We have a right to not be made sick by the air we breathe.”

Four hundred miles to the north, meanwhile, Silicon Valley is seeing thousands of jobs disappear as major technology firms slash their staffs and a major outmigration of workers who cannot afford to live in the region’s superheated realestate market.

More than 90,000 workers left the region during the first two years of the COVID

Presidents are rapidly changing from being servants of the people to rulers of the people.

Historically, the White House, Secret Service and classified documents have always belonged to the people.

In monarchist England, the palace stays with the king forever, the palace guard is the king’s private army, and royal papers are the property of the king.

Presidents in America are beginning to act like kings who treat all the emblems of power as if they were personal private property.

For example, Mr. Trump did not want to give up the White House. He treated Secret Service agents and government employees like domestic servants. He unilaterally declassified documents and said they were his.

Politicians are leading democratic America down the pathway to monarchy

224-3553; email: https://www.padilla .senate.gov/contact/contact-form/

President

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; 202224-3841; email: http://feinstein.senate. gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

Sen. Alex Padilla, 112 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-

House of Representatives

pandemic, and venture capital has declined sharply.

Last week, a local industry group, Joint Venture Silicon Valley, issued its annual report on the region’s economy, highlighting its transition from a yeasty mixture of start-up companies to reliance on a few giants such as Apple.

“Tech is going through a painful period,” Russell Hancock, president of the organization said as the report was issued, but added, “There is no way to construe what is happening as a crisis” for the tech sector.

Perhaps not, but the fact remains that Southern California’s logistics industry and the Bay Area’s technology industry are facing headwinds they had not experienced previously, and the stakes in their futures are immense for the entire state.

— CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to Commentary.

like Greek and Roman politicians did, and our citizenry are largely unaware and uncaring.

Kimball Shinkoskey Woods Cross,

Utah

We welcome your letters

Letters to the editor make a community newspaper lively, but a few rules must be followed. 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 325 G St.; or email them to newsroom@ davisenterprise.net.

California Senate

Rep. Mike Thompson, 268 Cannon Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515; 202225-3311. District office: 622 Main Street, Suite 106, Woodland, CA 95695; 530-7535301; email: https:// https://mikethomp sonforms.house.gov/contact/

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

Sen. Bill Dodd, State Capitol, Room 5063, Sacramento, CA 95814; 916-651-4003; fax: 916-651-4903; email: visit sd03.senate.ca. gov. District office: 555 Mason St., Suite 275, Vacaville, CA 95688; 707-454-3808; fax: 707-454-3811.

California Assembly

Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, State Capitol, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0004; 916-319-2004; fax: 916319-2104; email: visit www.asm.ca.gov/ aguiar-curry. District office: 600 A St., Suite D, Davis, CA 95616; 530-757-1034

History and a new approach to cybersecurity

By Llewellyn King

Special to The Enterprise

People often ask me who are the most interesting or most influential people I have met. It is easy to say Margaret Thatcher or Bill Clinton, but sometimes the real history makers are never known outside of their specialty. One such was Richard Morley.

A mutual friend took me to meet Morley at his home in New Hampshire about 23 years ago. We spent a delightful afternoon there. He let me move a pile of earth from one spot to another with a backhoe operated by a personal computer.

I didn’t realize that I was in the presence of a great inventor, a member of industrial royalty, who had moved technology a giant step forward and sped up the automation revolution.

Morley did that in 1968 when he and colleagues at General Motors perfected the programmable logic controller. With the PLC, automation had arrived for the car industry and much else.

commenTary

If it is moved, stored, welded, shaped, collated and shoved out the door, a series of programmed controllers ordered all that. In fact, for everything manufactured, PLCs are at work translating the blueprints into products.

They are everywhere, from the factory floor to advanced farms, to city water plants, to oil and gas drilling. They occupy a part of the modern world known as operational technology, or OT.

Vital though OT is, it gets less attention than its big sibling, information technology, or IT.

Matt Morris, managing director of security and risk consulting at 1898 & Co., the consulting arm of Burns & McDonnell, the big architecture, engineering and construction firm, told me, “IT is the ‘carpeted space,’ and OT is the ‘uncarpeted space’ ” In other words, much of industry’s heavy lifting is done by OT, while IT has taken over all of the other more obvious functions of society, from accounting to

airline reservations, from doctors’ offices to designing aircraft.

IT is king, but that is only part of the story.

Regarding cybersecurity, OT and IT differ, but both have their vulnerabilities. When we say cybersecurity, we mostly mean IT. OT is different, and the threats emanating from attacks on it are usually more strategic and harder to identify.

Attacks on OT aren’t necessarily as immediately detectable as those on IT. They can be very subtle but also highly destructive and expensive.

The classic example of what can be done to OT was provided not in an attack on the United States but by the United States in 2007 (and revealed in 2010) when the nation’s cyber-warriors were able to slow down or speed up uranium enrichment centrifuges in Iran. The Iranians didn’t know that their operating systems had been fooled surreptitiously. Their engineers were at a loss.

Now, 1898 & Co. is taking a

Stirring humor into ‘old age’

By Robert C. Koehler Special to The Enterprise

No doubt everyone grows old in their own way.

But once you actually hit it — that three letter word, “old” — watch out: “An aged man is but a paltry thing,/A tattered coat upon a stick ...”

So wrote William Butler Yeats, back in the last century, conjuring a mystical journey to the spiritual city of Byzantium in order to escape his entrapment in that word, and in the world that values only youth. Hey Bill, how does it feel to be so old?

I confess that, back in the day, when I was smart and young, I had no actual empathy for the aging generation one notch ahead of me. For instance, I once wrote a column about my Aunt Sophie after she died — it was meant to be about her moxie and perseverance, but I started out by calling her “a wrinkled old lady.” At the time, I thought it was simply an objective description, but it truly annoyed one of her surviving siblings. Today I cringe. I can’t stop groaning and apologizing (to myself, of course).

Hey, where did I put my empathy? Has anyone seen it?

But no, I don’t think of myself as a paltry thing, a tattered whatever on a stick. Even at my worst I don’t go that deep into self-denigration and despair, but I get it. When I feel the certainties of my life tremble ... when I start to feel clueless and, yes, stupid, not to mention rickety, I wonder if there’s still space on Yeats’ boat to Byzantium.

But I’m still here, in the so-called real world, struggling to stand up every time I sit down on a couch.

My thighs, my knees — I used to take them for granted. Now they can barely do the job, thanks to this mystery menace that has attached itself to me, known as peripheral neuropathy: a growing disconnect (so a doc once

commenTary

described it to me) between my brain and my lower extremities. A friend recently suggested I give it a more poetic term. He suggested “geezergait,” which I’m pondering. Perhaps everyone in Byzantium has geezergait.

Another aspect of “old” for me has been the hideand-seek game my memory has been playing with me over the last half-dozen years.

What was the name of that movie? Who was that guy I worked with back in the ’80s? Who was the civil rights leader they killed in Mississippi?

I started going nuts over all the disappearing — and occasionally reappearing — names, and finally, with the help both of my sense of humor and my love of lists, I started keeping what I call the Geezer Memory List, with varying subtitles such as Lost Bananas and Gone with the Noodles.

Every time I lose a name, and then find it (often with the help of the Internet), I plunk it onto the list, which, as of today, is up to 859 items — lots of them repeats.

I guess what I’m saying here is that humor helps. So does turning “old” into a game, and playing that game defiantly, even as the younger generation (occasionally) rolls its eyes.

Another list I started keeping is something called The Strange Bin. This is a list of the ever-increasing number of absurd, strange and sometimes incomprehensible things that happen to me these days, which somehow seem to be related to getting “old,” e.g.: waking up one morning with two bleeding scratches on my right calf, and eventually figuring out that I cut them during the night with my left toenails, which are no longer easily trimmed (see the movie “Goodfellas”); or that time

the windshield wipers on my car stopped working and I was told, by the mechanic who dealt with the problem, that there was a rat’s nest in my car engine.

I even turned one Strange Bin occurrence into a poem, called “Old Man on the Phone”: Words if they’re too smart can hide so much.

So I sing only of bent steel, a wobbly office chair, a cup of coffee on the floor (because there was no room for it on my cluttered desk) and a telephone receiver in my hand.

I lean toward the coffee and the chair careens sideways, snapping at the base and dumping me into a world of crumbs and dust and incredulity at what’s possible.

I grasp the spinning receiver and blurt to my pal of 50 years: “Sorry, you were saying ...?” There’s also wisdom and solemnity in the process of aging, but much of the time I’m not aware of it. And, yes, there is the approaching end moment. I learned of the passing of a longtime friend just as I was starting this column.

In an email he had composed before he died, he wrote: “They say that people die, but the love they shared never does. I’ll be happy to live on in your heart, if you’ll keep me there.”

Oh yeah. The collective heart grows large indeed.

— Robert Koehler (koehlercw@gmail.com), syndicated by PeaceVoice, is an award-winning Chicago journalist and editor. He is the author of Courage Grows Strong at the Wound.”

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bold step into the world of critical infrastructure resiliency with the creation of a new service aimed at offering full-time, proactive cybersecurity at critical infrastructure sites, like utilities, embracing IT and OT.

The company and its parent have enormous experience in utilities and other critical infrastructure, including oil rigs, refineries and water systems. Through a program they call “Managed Threat Protection and Response,” their aim is to take critical infrastructure defense and response to new levels. The capability is an addition to its existing Managed Security Services solution.

To implement this, the company has set up its program in Houston, far from its home base in Kansas City, Missouri, to be near the customers — much critical infrastructure has links to Houston — but also, as Mark Mattei, 1898 & Co. director of cybersecurity, told me, to avail itself of the talent in the area.

The company is opening up a

new horizon in cybersecurity, focusing on OT.

With IT, you would want to throw a switch, avert or stop the attack as fast as possible. But with OT, a more measured response might be called for. You wouldn’t want to shut down a whole plant because one pump had had its controller attacked or bring down part of the electricity grid because a single substation had evidence that it was malfunctioning because of an attack in one component.

The more one learns about cybersecurity, the more one appreciates the unsung heroes who take on unknown enemies 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

We are on the threshold of something big in defending critical infrastructure. I am sure that Richard Morley would have approved of this new approach. He died in 2017.

— Llewellyn King is the executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.

U.S. presidents show up overseas commenTary

By Stewart McLaurin Special to The Enterprise

Presidents’ Day provides a moment to reflect on how America’s chief executives have shaped and reflected our history. But our presidents and first ladies have also been history-makers overseas, symbolized by dozens of statues and monuments to American presidents in countries large and small around the world.

This Presidents’ Day, the White House Historical Association is partnering with U.S. embassies around the world for international wreath-laying ceremonies at many of these statues and monuments.

Last year we were honored to set a wreath at the Abraham Lincoln statue in the Old Calton Burial Ground in Edinburgh, Scotland, the first erected in Europe to honor a U.S. president, in 1893. Lincoln did not live to visit Scotland as he hoped, but he loved to quote Robert Burns and other Scottish writers and poets. The statue, created with the support of John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, also honors the many Scots who volunteered for the Union Army during the Civil War.

Statues of Lincoln can also be found in several cities in Mexico, honoring his opposition to slavery, his antipathy as a Congressman to the U.S. annexation of Mexican territory, and the 16th president’s support for Mexican democratic reformist Benito Juárez (sometimes called “the Abraham Lincoln of Mexico”).

And in 2011 — to mark the 150th anniversary of Russian Czar Alexander II’s liberation of the serfs, which coincided with Lincoln’s efforts to abolish slavery — a statue was unveiled in Moscow depicting a fanciful emancipators’ handshake between Lincoln and the czar.

Most of the more than 40 statues of U.S. presidents abroad can be found in Europe, frequently honoring the U.S. contributions to freedom in their countries. A 30-foot statute of Woodrow Wilson stands at the entrance to Prague’s largest train station, marking Wilson’s role in championing Czech independence after World War I. Nazi Germany destroyed it after seizing Czechoslovakia, and the Communist regime removed a plaque put in its place, but a new edition of the statue was installed in 2011.

In Athens near the U.S. Embassy, a 12-foot statue honors President Truman and his administration for providing $2 billion in aid to Greece to resist efforts to install a communist regime there as the Cold War began after World War II.

Statues of President Ronald Reagan were erected across Central and Eastern Europe after the Cold War, including in

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Bulgaria and at Freedom Square in Hungary’s capital. One of two in Poland commemorate Reagan’s meeting with Polish Pope John Paul II, whose visits to his homeland in the late 1970s and 1980s increased pressure on its communist rulers.

Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a statue of Reagan — who was made an honorary citizen of Berlin — was unveiled at eye level with the Brandenburg Gate, near where Reagan stood as he called on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall.

Kosovo unveiled a statue of Bill Clinton for launching NATO’s air campaign to halt killings of ethnic Albanians by Serbian troops in 1999. And George W. Bush, the first president to visit Albania, is remembered there with a 9-foot statue showing him with his sleeves rolled up.

London is home to half a dozen statues commemorating American presidents, including one of George Washington overlooking Trafalgar Square, leaning on 13 rods to represent the American colonies. A memorial to Franklin Roosevelt — funded by British citizens in less than a week despite late 1940s rationing and hardship — stands in Grosvenor Square. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s statue shows him clad in his general’s uniform, facing the building where he commanded Allied forces in World War II.

John F. Kennedy’s lineage and tumultuous visit to Ireland just five months before his assassination — a trip that he called “the best four days of his life” — are commemorated by a statue at a family homestead in Bruff. A bust of Kennedy in Cameroon was also unveiled in 2007 to commemorate the anniversary of the Peace Corps arrival there.

Even a lesser-known president, Rutherford B. Hayes, is remembered in Paraguay with a statue and other honors memorializing his decision resolving the nation’s land dispute with Argentina following a bloody war. When diplomats from the two nations came to Washington asking him to help resolve the dispute, Hayes’s decision gave Paraguay 60 percent of its present territory and helped guarantee its survival as a nation.

The wreaths to be laid on Presidents’ Day remind us of how intertwined our history is with that of other nations. Understanding how and why other nations have honored our presidents can help us better understand our history, our country, and the world.

— Stewart McLaurin is president of the White House Historical Association. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.

From Jen Ward Neta In response to “At the Pond: Twenty years of writing about local wildlife”

What children really like to do

“Would you like to push the buttons in the elevator?”

This is a line my son-inlaw uses when a toddler isn’t warming up to being a research participant in his lab, located at Princeton University. My son-inlaw and his students study language development in babies and children, but their work also offers know-how in an underresearched field of discovery: What activities do kids really like?

The elevator example is part of a longer list. Not every child loves every activity — one of my own kids was afraid of elevators — but the vast majority do. In fact, a positive reaction is almost guaranteed.

Over the holidays my son-in-law and I brainstormed about activities that nearly every young child enjoys. Here’s the list we generated:

■ Pushing elevator buttons ■ Watching a Slinky go down a staircase ■ Knocking down a block tower

■ Going into a fort

■ Playing games with objects in nature, like sticks

■ Watching an adult put something on their head that isn’t a hat, asking, “Do you like my hat?”

■ Squirting a spray bottle with water

■ Popping bubble wrap

■ Sitting in a kayak and pretending to paddle

The last one, as some readers may guess, was my contribution.

After I typed our list, I went to the Internet to see what sorts of items might be missing. I found other lists which included activities such as baking cookies, getting close to an animal, eating sweets, and dressing up.

However, an important difference exists between

the items I found on the Internet and most of the list from my son-in-law. The Internet activities are mostly things that adults enjoy, too. My sonin-law’s list, by contrast, contains almost exclusively items that adults don’t do on their own time.

This contrast reminds me that one of the skills of parenthood — you’re lucky if you have it — is the ability to think of things that young children will enjoy, even if they’re not among your own favorites.

I’m thinking again of my son-in-law whose boys were 9 and 11 during the first year of COVID. He created a game that involves earning 5 or more cents for “impressive” farts. I’m squeamish and haven’t asked for details (apparently there are many complicated standards), but I noticed at Christmas that the boys were still mumbling numbers and giggling at unexpected moments after

unexpected sounds.

When I was a mom I had no special talent for fart jokes, but I came up with faces made out of food. This was how I got my picky eater to eat. A bell pepper becomes much more attractive when used as an eyebrow; raisins make good eyes and a green bean screams nose.

The part that surprised me about my food faces was not how well they worked — they were a consistent hit — but how much pleasure I got out of making them. There’s something about creating an amusement for children that makes an adult feel successful and happy.

Here’s another example, this one from the holidays. My husband and I spent three nights at our cabin in the country with our daughter, our son-in-law and their boys, now 11 and 13. It was bath night for the younger son but he wouldn’t comply. On the contrary, he dug in: “no shower, no bath, nothing, no, no, no.” We happened to be

standing outdoors around 8 p.m. as he articulated his final “no’s.” I looked around. This was before recent flooding and everything looked serene, if chilly, in the star-filled darkness.

Our cabin has one feature that came out of our past as river guides: an outdoor shower. It’s convenient to be able to wash off before going indoors, but it is also an unusual and pleasant way to take a shower, even mid-winter. As soon as I thought of it, I offered it to my grandson with a spark of excitement in my voice, the same spark you might hear if I were offering a younger child elevator buttons to push.

“Would you like to use the outdoor shower?”

“No.”

“It’s really fun in the night.”

“No.”

At this point a new idea, the kind that offers the moment of parental pleasure that I’m trying to describe in this column, popped into my brain.

“How about a shower by candlelight?” I said.

Even in the dark, I saw

his frown melt away. I saw curiosity tiptoe in, along with anticipation and even excitement.

“Yes” he said, his face alight. I rushed into the house and returned carrying matches and two candles on tall candlesticks.

And so the outdoor shower by candlelight happened, and the moment of happy parenthood — grandparenthood in this case — happened too. My grandson even let his dad take a picture of him enveloped in a candlelit cloud of steam. He came back to me smiling.

I felt reaffirmed in my ability to know what kids like to do and a sense of accomplishment that few other achievements provide.

Two days later my grandson told me he was still thinking about the shower he took by candlelight.

I glowed.

— Marion Franck has lived in Davis for more than 40 years. Reach her at marionf2@gmail.com.

Galileo Place provides a safety net for caregivers

By Craig Dresang Special to The Enterprise

Open house Feb. 22

After Betty Mundy’s husband, Jack, received an early diagnosis of dementia she faced a swirl of conflicting emotions that ranged from relief to overwhelming worry about the future.

On one hand, she was grateful for the clarity that his diagnosis provided. She said, “I told myself that I could handle anything if I know exactly what I’m up against.” On the other hand, her husband’s diagnosis raised more questions and concerns than answers. She was afraid of having to watch her partner of 40 years disappear bit by bit, and of not having enough clarity about the resources and support each of them would need to manage the future.

“Each day that I kissed Jack goodbye to leave for work, I felt guilty. Because I have to work, both for my own mental health and for the income, I felt that I was abandoning him every single day. It was killing me,” she said.

Her husband tried to keep busy while she was away at work, but he would quickly become bored and more isolated over time. Then, one day, he tried to warm his lunch in the oven. He turned the temperature to 450 degrees and put a Tupperware container of food inside. “An hour later, he called me to say that I needed to come home because the inside of the stove was on fire,” she said.

“I felt like a failure and a terrible wife,” Mundy says.

“My poor adoring husband was quickly losing his sense of purpose and now, every

day, I was putting him in an unsafe situation. We did not have the finances to hire a home health aide or caregiver.”

A few days later, Mundy’s neighbor told her about an adult day program for families just like hers. “I never knew such a thing existed, but I jumped on the suggestion and called to schedule a tour. I’m so glad I did. It has been a life-changer and a lifesaver.”

Jack was skeptical at first, but he fell in love with the program after two days. He easily made new friends and began socializing over lunch and snack time.

Mundy says, “He has even explored his artistic side by participating in a painting class at the center. His work is lovely. And all these years, I never knew he had an artistic bone in his body. Although I sometimes feel like I am losing him, there are other times when an incredible new side of him is being revealed.” Occasionally, he will sit and listen to a piano recital performed by another participant or help make cookies in the group kitchen.

According to Amy Meier, program manager for Galileo Place (YoloCares adult day program), “Creative outlets like music and art really help our participants feel confident in themselves.”

Dina Jacopi, Galileo Place activities coordinator, says, “Art therapy is a great way for people with dementia to express themselves, stimulate their mind and experience a sense of accomplishment.”

Art is only one of many forms of expression supported at Galileo Place. Meier says a small group of regular participants have formed their own musical

group. “A banjo player, pianist, and vocalist gather at Galileo Place every Friday to make music,” she says. “They elevate the energy throughout the entire building.”

For the first time since her husband’s diagnosis, Mundy feels optimistic. She says, “The center has given Jack a sense of purpose and many new friendships. He feels valued, and I feel supported. I don’t feel guilty anymore. I have the freedom to live my life and to support my husband through this journey.”

Adult day programs like Galileo Place can provide caregivers with a needed break while giving older family members a chance to socialize with their peers and alleviate the isolation and loneliness that they may otherwise experience. It is through Galileo Place that family caregivers who must work during the day or need a break from stressful, ongoing caregiving obligations can get much-needed time to recharge.

Being a caregiver can be physically and emotionally draining. Staying at home all day with one other person can also lead to depression and cognitive decline. Caregivers need time for

Answers: Alphabet’s Google, Ed Sheran, David Beckham, Albanian, myocardium.

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themselves ... whether it is to be with friends or to earn a paycheck.

Traditional community senior centers are a great place for relatively healthy older people to exercise or take classes, however, adult day programs serve individuals with physical or cognitive disabilities who may need more supervision and services.

Evidence shows that older people who attend these centers have a better quality of life. Research published in “The Gerontologist,” found that adult day programs provide health-related, social, psychological and behavioral benefits for participants, particularly those with dementia and other cognitive impairments.

Arranging for a loved one to spend time in an adult day program is also beneficial to a caregiver’s

photo

well-being. Another study published in the journal “Aging & Mental Health” found that both dementia patients and caregivers slept better, with fewer disturbances, on the nights before loved ones attended an adult day program. Moreover, the use of adult day services has a positive impact on dementia caregivers’ mood, health and relationships and reduces their sense of role overload.

Adult day services are ideal for older adults with cognitive impairments, such as dementia, or for homebound seniors who are isolated and need social interaction and some physical activity. Generally, participants in adult day programs are incapable of managing and structuring their daily activities on their own due to cognitive or mobility issues.

A real benefit of

programs like Galileo Place is tied to the possibility of delaying or preventing a move to long-term residential care so that older adults can live at home or in the community as long as possible. Other benefits include:

■ The provision of a safe, secure setting for adults with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or mobility issues who are at risk of wandering from home, falling, or injuring themselves.

■ Social activity and companionship, which can foster better mental and physical health.

■ Activities that strengthen muscles and improve balance, thereby, reducing the risk of falls at home.

■ Enhanced sleep quality as a result of consistent social and physical activity.

■ Reduced caregiver stress, burnout, anxiety and depression.

Among all the options for long-term care, adult day services may be the least well known, even though they are less costly than home health aides or nursing homes.

The community is invited to a Galileo Place Open House on Wednesday, Feb. 22, from 3 to 7 p.m. According to Meier, “It is a perfect time to casually tour the facility and therapy garden, meet some of the staff, and ask questions.” Please RSVP by calling 530-758-5566.

— Craig Dresang is the CEO of YoloCares.

YOLOlaughs

Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Obituaries

Muriel Marie Chiolis

Aug.

Muriel Marie Chiolis, 93, of Davis, passed away peacefully on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, after a short hospice care at the home she shared with her beloved husband Richard. Family and friends were all able to spend time together with Muriel prior to her passing.

Muriel was born on Aug. 3, 1929, in San Jose to Joseph and Sophie (Naucke) Kottinger, growing up first with older sister Dorothy (Wuss) and then younger sister JoAnne (Hogate) in a loving household complete with fish pond and multiple bird cages as family pets. She attended Lincoln High School in San Jose and graduated with an associate’s degree from San Jose State College.

She developed a lifelong set of friends at both high school and college, and they continued to gather together on a regular basis to celebrate that friendship. The group named themselves the “SuKaun” Sisters and met and corresponded on a regular basis throughout their lives, even having their own newsletter and scheduled reunions.

She enjoyed the vacations that the family took together while growing up, and especially liked going to the beach at Santa Cruz, with her close

Ronald Dean Clift, 74, lost his battle to congestive heart failure, and passed away on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023, at his home in Davis with his wife by his side.

Ron was born on March 5, 1948, in Albuquerque, N.M, and was the son of a career Air Force father. As his dad was transferred, Ron lived in Paris, France; Italy; Midwest City, Okla.; Rapid City, S.D.; Gulfport, Miss.; and small towns in Montana.

When his dad retired in Davis in 1963, Ron attended Davis High School, where he played football and graduated in 1966. After, he went to UC Davis for two years. Ron

CHIOLIS

friends, during the summers in the San Jose area and that’s where she met her future husband, Richard in April 1946. They were married in June of 1951 and were together for more than 75 years. She put her husband through Whitworth College and seminary school in San Anselmo by working as a secretary and assistant for a group of attorneys, as well as for the county of Marin in the Social Services Division.

Muriel and Richard went to Alaska as missionaries with the Tlingit people near Juno for two summers, where she helped build a new recreation hall for children from all over as well as teaching Sunday School. She appreciated the time together with the people in Alaska and the experiences captured.

Upon returning to San Jose they lived in a great neighborhood in San Jose before moving to Woodland, where she would spend the majority of her life.

Muriel was a devoted wife, mother and friend to many and together with husband Richard they raised two children, Mark and Eileen, two cats,

March 5, 1948 — Feb. 10, 2023

learned how to code and worked as a manager for EDs and ended his career in technology working for HP.

Ron was an amazing football player and wore his No. 21 for the Blue Devils proudly. In 1965, Ron made a game-winning run that allowed the quarterback to score and beat Woodland High School his senior year.

Ron continued his love of sports by becoming an avid golfer. He and his wife would take trips all over the country to play on the best golf courses. Ron’s humor was contagious.

and many plants and vegetables in their expansive garden. She enjoyed baking and cooking for friends and family and her family said she made the best lasagna, spaghetti, apple pies and several types of cookies. She enjoyed traveling to Netherlands, Greece, China and many places in the United States each year as part of the Sports Leisure travel group.

After raising Mark and Eileen, Muriel went to work at Gibson School, in Woodland as an assistant and secretary, where she developed additional lifelong friendships with school peers and was respected and appreciated by the students and faculty at the school. She enjoyed regular evenings spending time with family, knitting, playing bridge and bunko with friends and most recently doing arts and crafts and playing corn hole at the facility where they lived.

She is predeceased by her sisters Dorothy and JoAnne. She is survived by her loving family; husband Richard, son Mark and daughter Eileen.

A memorial service will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 1, at Davis Community Church, 412 C St., Davis.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, Muriel’s family kindly requests that donations be made to Sutter Health Care Hospice or the Alzheimer’s Association in her memory.

He continued interacting with others in the community by going to all his favorite restaurants, and getting to know the workers at Crepeville, Cattlemens, Paesanos, Tres Hermanas and Café Bernardo.

Ron and Donna were together for 40 years and married for 39 years.

Ron is survived by his wife Donna Clift; son Ryan Clift; daughters Korie Martinez and Rachel Clift; granddaughter Elysia Martinez; grandson Carter Clift; nieces Lauren (Clift) French, Anna Clift, Sara (Clift) Fefferman, Danielle Alvarez, Jenelle Alvarez, Elizabeth Peters, Monika

Peggy Jeanne (Kuyoth) Rutger

Oct. 30, 1939 — Feb. 3, 2023

Peggy Jeanne (Kuyoth) Rutger of Woodland passed away on Feb. 3, 2023, following a four-month struggle with pancreatic cancer. She was born on Oct. 30, 1939 in Boulder Junction, Wis., the third child of Joseph and Lucille Kuyoth. In 1950 her family moved to Flora, Ill., where Peggy, better known as Peg, graduated from high school in 1957.

Soon thereafter she met Neil Rutger, and they married on Feb. 15, 1958.

In 1960, they moved to Davis, where Neil was a graduate student at UC Davis. In 1964, the couple moved to Ithaca, NY and returned to Davis in 1970 for Neil’s U.S. Department of Agriculture career.

Peg graduated from Sacramento State University in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in art and a teaching credential. She became a custom stainedglass artist and community volunteer. Neil’s USDA

Peters and Claire Peters; nephews Michael Peters and Timothy Peters; brother-in-law Jeff Peters (Kathy); and sisters-in-law Cary (Valdrow) Meggers (Jacob) and Cynthia (Peters) Alvarez.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Vernon and Eileen Clift, and by brothers Dennis and James Clift.

Ron’s funeral will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Davis Cemetery, with a celebration of his life immediately following at Tres Hermanas.

Those who wish to sign a guestbook online may do so at www.smith-funerals. com.

to be near family.

career led the couple to move to Mississippi and Arkansas; eventually they returned to California

Peg is survived by her husband of 65 years, Neil; daughters Ann Bohl and Robyn Rominger (Bruce); grandchildren Audrey and Andy Bohl, and John, Rachel and Justin Rominger; and sister Gloria Brown. She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Jackie and Don Kuyoth; and sonin-law Nathan Bohl.

A celebration of life will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to be made in Peg’s honor to Davis Community Meals & Housing or Heart of Davis.

Make submissions to www.davisenterprise.com/ obit-form/. For further information about paid obituaries or free death notices, call 530-756-0800.

Ronald Dean Clift

RUTGER

CLIFT

Mike bush/enterprise File photo

UC Davis quarterback Miles Hastings (7) hands off the football to running back Matteo Perez (19) in a Big Sky Conference game at UC Davis Health Stadium during the 2022 season.

Aggie winter workouts underway

Enterprise staff

The UC Davis football team returned to the field on Tuesday morning for the first of 15 practices this winter.

The Aggies will conclude the allotted practice sessions on Saturday, March 4.

“I thought the energy and the organization was great,” Aggie head coach Dan Hawkins said. “It is nice to be in a program for a while where guys know what to do. Sometimes they know it better than some of the coaches, which is part of the Davis legacy. There was a lot of good teaching today, it was fun to see.”

UC Davis is coming off a 6-5 season in

DHS: ‘Work harder for each other’

From Page B1

season — and for that alone our team should be proud,” Stone told The Enterprise. “I knew the players we had returning and was familiar with how they played with each other.

“I saw this back line as very calm, providing very good defensive coverage for each other; they could read each other and were familiar with their abilities, and complemented each other’s style of play so well.”

Good defense/ offense

2022, marking the fourth winning season in the last five years under Hawkins.

The 2023 Aggies return a lot of pieces from a year ago, including Big Sky Conference passing leader Miles Hastings.

The Aggies also returns All-Big Sky first-teamers Rex Connors, Zach Kennedy and Lan Larison.

Second-team selection Jordan Ford returns and is joined by third teamers in Chubba Maae, Teddye Buchanan and Jehiel Budgett.

UC Davis will open the 2023 season at Texas A&M — Commerce on Thursday, Aug. 31 in Commerce, Texas.

TOSSES: Baseball home game today 1 p.m.

From Page B1

between in the first game of a four-game series with the Wolverines of Orem, Utah.

Aggie starter Nate Freeman struck out the side in both the first and second innings, but ran into trouble in the top of the fifth

double by Weston Peninger.

Wolverine starter Login Gerling, a transfer from the University of Washington, was lights out for five innings, allowing just two hits and no earned runs while striking out five and walking none.

The Aggies managed

the team in hitting last season.

UCD and UVU were scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday.

The series finale takes place today at 1 p.m.

Then UCD will be back at Dobbins Stadium next weekend for another three-game series, this time aginst Santa Clara University’s

Stone has always been a proponent of “good defense gives you offense,” adding: “The pride it takes to being a defender and often getting little praise makes me happy that they will be recognized and remembered as a group that only gave up just one goal this season.”

Backliner Quick sees that playing together for

the high school and being teammates on Legacy club teams offer a great advantage: “We have all played together, off and on, for many years. Knowing this season (would be) the last time we all play together (made) us all want to work harder for each other.”

Added the coach, “While we will be losing four great defenders, all set an example for the program of the importance of defending and the pride that comes with consecutive shutouts.

“Most players are asked by fans, parents, peers, newspapers, etc., ‘Did you score?’ but rarely are players asked, ‘Did you do your job defensively and help prevent a goal?’”

For this season, the collective answer is “Absolutely!”

Notes: Stone’s teams have won four Sac-Joaquin Section titles — consecutively from 2016-19. So where does this team fit in the coach’s pantheon of great squads? “This is a

very good team, and it would be unfair to compare them to other teams,” relays Stone. “In the hierarchy? This team fits in the top for sure.”

Alamares and Aguirre were the Devils’ top scorers. … One thing that buoyed DHS throughout this campaign was the fans. “For the team, seeing that our fans want to win just as much (as we do) is very encouraging,” says Quick. “Hearing cheers from the stands brings so much adrenaline to the field. “Blue Devil soccer has a great history, and playing at home gives even more reasons for the players to not only fight for ourselves, but the program and supporters.”

— Bruce Gallaudet came to town as the editor of The Davis Enterprise in 1979. He was sports editor in later years and, after retiring twice, now writes occasional features for the paper. Contact him at 530320-4456 or bgallaudet41@gmail.com

GAMES: Ghost runner returns to MLB

From Page B1

the game’s greatest pitchers ever, Bob Gibson with St. Louis and Steve Carlton with Philadelphia.

One day, McCarver was catching Gibson, who never minced words. Just before McCarver got to the mound for a visit, Gibson barked, “The only thing you know about pitching is that you couldn’t hit it. Now turn around and get your butt back behind the plate.”

McCarver’s first booth mate was Bob Costas.

“It was a Red SoxAngels game in Anaheim,” Costas recalled in a Sirius XM interview with Christopher Russo.

“We later did at least

one, maybe two others during that 1980 season, I had just started at NBC and Tim actually went back to the Phillies at the end of the season and got into a handful of games (to become a four-decade player, 1959-80).

“In the prime of his career, when he was doing Mets games with Ralph Kiner primarily at his side and others, he was so good in those games, analytically, but also anecdotally. He was a terrific storyteller, he had tremendous insight into the game.”

n Disappointed that Major League Baseball the “ghost runner” rule will be utilized again this season.

If a game is tied after nine innings, a runner is

placed on second base without getting a hit or getting aboard via an error. MLB is trying to speed up the games, but so far the reduction in playing time has been negligible. n Hope springs eternal, especially in baseball. Both the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s held full-squad workouts this weekend. Lots of new faces on both teams, all vying for playing time. The longtime radio and television color man on UC Davis football broadcasts is the director of communications for Battlefields2Ballfields and managing general partner of Kelly & Associates. Contact him at DKelly1416@ aol.com.

If you wanted to approximate the size differences of the planets in our solar system, you could use these foods to do it. Unscramble the letters below each food to reveal which planet is which.

You don’t have to leave town to explore space this summer. You can blast o for fun all summer long as Kid Scoop takes readers on a trip through the Solar System with our mascot, Woodword!

Our Solar System formed in the Milky Way galaxy about 4.6 billion years ago.

The sun is at the center of the solar system. Eight planets and their natural satellites which include Earth’s moon, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets and meteoroids orbit or revolve around the sun because of its gravitational pull. There are billions of other solar systems in our galaxy and there are billions of galaxies in the Universe.

One way to remember the order of the planets in our solar system is to make up a sentence with each word starting with the first letter of a planet, starting with the one closest to the sun. This example worked when Pluto was still considered a planet:

Can you make up a new sentence without a word starting with P?

Space junk is a major problem. Some of it is very large, such as burnt-out rocket stages, dead spacecraft, and a few tools lost during spacewalks. Working satellites can crash into the space junk, creating more space junk. Sometimes space junk falls back to the Earth.

Our solar system has 8 planets. (Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet.) Scientists

Number Game

Each player needs a page from the sports section. In one minute, each player circles as many numbers as they can.

Package from Earth

Pretend you are sending a package into space that, if life on other planets exists, will tell about life on Earth. Find newspaper pictures and articles that you would put into the package. Tell why you selected each.

Standards Link: Research: Use the newspaper to locate information.

Tell other kids about a book you think they should read this summer. Have fun describing the details but don’t give away the ending!