The Davis Enterprise Friday, April 7, 2023

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‘Ignite Our Moment’

City Council won’t hear U-Mall appeal

By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

The Davis City Council will not hear an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of the University Mall redevelopment project.

Councilman Bapu Vaitla filed the appeal in March, arguing the commercial-only project approved by the commission is not consistent with the vision of the city’s General Plan, in part due to its lack of housing, and the council on Tuesday was asked to decide whether to hear that appeal at a future date.

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff

writer

Uplifting the talents, passion and creativity that the area has to offer, the entertainment at April 15’s UC Davis Picnic Day promises to showcase a variety of performers, many of whom are locals to Davis and Yolo County, says Jillian Monyon, entertainment director.

Last year there was some

Brazilian Capoeira Angola, left, and Local Vocals will be among the entertainment at UC Davis’ Picnic Day on April 15.

seating by the World Stage at California Hall, and since there will be performances on the UCD Quad, people can bring picnic blankets to sit and watch.

The Enterprise got in touch with a few of the performers to talk about their music and their upcoming Picnic Day gig.

The Brazilian Capoeira Angola group invites Brazilian artists to teach students

Brazilian Folkloric Arts. In a collective statement, the group wrote, “We decided to perform at Picnic Day because we think it is a great opportunity for students and the community to see and experience the unique arts of Brazilian Capoeira Angola and Brazilian drum rhythms.”

They will perform at the Sciences Lab Building Patio at 2:20 p.m.

UCD students start driving-safety campaign

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer

Following the freeway collision that took the lives of three UC Davis students on Friday, March 31, volunteers from SF Zion Church launched a communitydriven initiative called “Safe Drive, Save Lives” to promote safe driving practices and raise awareness about the dangers of reckless driving.

A campaign table at Central Park had brochures, cell phone holders, stickers, and tire pressure gauges free of charge to those in need on Wednesday during the Davis Farmers Market.

Pointing at the tire pressure gauges on the table, organizer and UCD biostatistics graduate student Jonathan Fernandez said, “Some people don’t know what this is, or they might know what it is but don’t typically use it as much. We want a plan of action to come in that these little habits are what’s going to make the difference of allowing one to drive more safely.”

After hearing the news, Fernandez remembers thinking, “Again?”

“You know, one time is already too much, and it

See SAFETY, Page A3

The Liquid Hotplates say that, just like every a capella group will tell you, they sing a variety of genres. Their emphasis, however is rhythm and blues, soul, alternative and pop.

“All the arrangements are student-made, and so we try to have a healthy mix of styles that all of the members of the group enjoy,” they said in a

See IGNITE, Page A3

But with the council composed of just four members until a May special election fills the District 3 seat, and with Vaitla himself unable to participate in the vote since he had filed the appeal, all three remaining council members needed to vote in his favor. And while Mayor Will Arnold and Vice Mayor Josh Chapman did, Councilwoman Gloria Partida did not.

Noting that the redevelopment of University Mall has gone through multiple public hearings with heavy public input dating back several years already, Partida said she did not see how hearing Vaitla’s appeal “is going to put us in a place that the community needs.”

The original plans for the University Mall redevelopment were for a vertical mixed-use project that

See APPEAL, Page A6

Brixmor plan impacts city’s Housing Element

By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

The approval of the University Mall redevelopment project without a residential component will require the city to identify other parcels in the city where future affordable housing units can be built.

The state Housing and Community Development Department notified the city in a letter on Monday that the Housing Element approved by the City Council in February and submitted to the state cannot be certified until that is done.

See HOUSING, Page A6

Courtesy photos

MoniCa stark/enterprise photo UC Davis grad student Jonathan Fernandez offers brochures, cell phone holders, stickers, and tire pressure gauges free of charge at Wednesday’s Davis Farmers Market in Central Park.

Cops arrest same man twice

A Winters man found himself under arrest not once, but twice, following separate incidents last Friday, Davis police reported this week.

Lt. Dan Beckwith said officers responded shortly after 8 a.m. to reports of two people passed out in a truck in the 2100 block of Cowell Boulevard. The vehicle left the scene before police arrived, but later was spotted and pulled over at Fifth Street and Pole Line Road.

“After an investigation, it was believed that the driver was under the influence,” Beckwith said. “Officers located methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle.”

Police arrested Alejandro Peña, 31, on suspicion of driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

His passenger, 40-yearold Victor Manuel Canchola of Dixon, also was arrested on drugrelated charges.

Later Friday, a citizen reported that someone had drilled a hole in their vehicle’s gas tank and stole fuel that morning in the 2800 block of Cowell Boulevard.

Beckwith said investigators linked Peña to the incident and booked him on additional vandalism and theft charges.

We’re feeling left out until June

Iknow there's going to be a special Davis City Council election in May in just one of Davis' five districts, but I don't know for sure if our household of six eligible voters is in the lucky district where voting will take place.

I think we are, because ever since Lucas Frerichs left his council seat vacant on Jan. 3 of this year to take a spot on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, I feel as if we've had no one to advocate for our East Davis neighborhood on the City Council.

After all, why should the other four councilmembers care whether or not the mistletoe on our city-mandated front yard hackberry tree has been properly removed before it leafs out this spring?

They have their own constituents to worry about, right? I mean, isn't that what district representation is all about?

So, from Jan. 3 until someone is sworn in sometime in June, we'll have no one to represent our side of town on whatever issues pop up on the council agenda that might affect us directly.

Is this any way to run a city?

It's one of those little glitches that comes along when an elected official moves to another city or takes another job or is forced to resign for some scandalous action or steps down to spend more time with the family.

Or, heaven forbid, breathes their last in front of God and community while sitting in the highback chairs with council in session and cameras rolling.

The council will now take a 15-minute recess.

When that happens, it's a fairly long process to set a date for a special election and let candidates come forward and on and on.

Meanwhile, one lonely district is without representation of any kind. In a highly contentious city, with all sorts of factions battling for power, it can be a window of

opportunity for bad behavior.

You'd think it might be wise to appoint a caretaker of some sort to keep the departed council member's seat warm until a replacement can be duly elected, but our council decided not to go that route.

I know, I know, every current council member and every candidate who wishes to become a council member claims they will represent all Davisites equally no matter where they live, but that actually defeats the stated purpose of going to district elections in the first place.

District elections — supposedly — have been adopted by our esteemed leaders because different areas of our city have different demographics and hence different needs and desires.

It's a way — again, supposedly — to give a voice to the voiceless, power to the powerless and fertilizer to the grassroots of a community.

A councilmember who does not take care of district concerns first will not be a councilmember for long.

Let's just suppose the city needs to build a maximum security jail

to hold the thousands of bicyclists who are arrested for running stop signs in Downtown Davis.

And let's suppose every council member from Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4 favors putting the jail on a vacant piece of property in District 5.

But, every single resident of District 5 is firmly against such a plan.

The bottom line is that Davis desperately needs this jail and logically, the best place for it is on that vacant piece of land in District 5.

Now, do you think the District 5 representative is going to do what's "best" for the city and vote for putting the jail in his or her district, or do you think the overwhelming wishes of the District 5 residents will be honored above all else?

All I know is that our little slice of East Davis Heaven has been orphaned.

And our hackberry tree is desperately in need of pruning.

Maybe I'll call Lucas and see if he can't at least come home on weekends.

— Reach Bob Dunning@ bdunning@davisenterprise.net.

Event shines a light on colon cancer awareness

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer

Colorectal cancer is common. This year, about 150,000 Americans develop CRC, and 50,000 die from the disease, increasing in young adults. Precancerous polyps grow silently inside us. Unless we look, we will not know that they are present. Prevention is done through screening; one-third of eligible Americans have not been screened. Screening now starts at age 45.

That’s the message Dr. Ronald Hsu, a physician in Sacramento and clinical professor of gastroenterology at UC Davis who has served this community for over 32 years, wants the public to understand.

Working with the California Colorectal Cancer

Coalition, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, and Fight Colorectal Cancer, he teamed up to organize an awareness rally: Light the Capitol Blue on Thursday, May 18.

These public health organizations will convene at the Capitol at 11 a.m. with exhibits on colorectal cancer prevention. The main ceremony, including an introductory orchestra prelude, will begin at noon. The main session will begin at 12:30 p.m. with a tribute to Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson. He authored Assembly Bill 342 (2021), co-sponsored by ACS-CAN and C4, to eliminate cost-sharing (surprise billing) for normal-risk patients who are commercially insured and

require a colonoscopy after an abnormal non-colonoscopic screening test. He is a true champion of screening for colorectal cancer and is the recipient of the California Colorectal Cancer Coalition Legislator Award in 2023.

Featured speaker Dr. Daniel ‘Stony’ Anderson calls the fact that this year, 16,420 Californians got the terrible news that they had colon cancer, and 5,530 died a "tragedy" because the most effective cancer screening is screening for colorectal cancer. “One can get a colonoscopy every 10 years or do a stool test at home every year and mail it to a lab. Either of these methods is excellent,” he said.

“We know that a colorectal cancer screening

program can reduce your risk of suffering and dying from colorectal cancer by at least 60%. Yet 33% of Californians who need colon cancer screening are not screened. As a result, 49% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed after they have spread. Get screened for colorectal cancer. It could save your life.”

Dedicated to raising awareness for colon cancer prevention, this event will also feature:

n Local expert speakers and advocates

n A display of 5,530 blue flags in honor of this year’s colon cancer victims in California

n An educational journey through an inflatable giant colon

n The Davis High School Baroque Ensemble will be

featured in recordings from previous live performances Hsu initiated a colorectal cancer awareness outreach program called Bridging Medicine and Music.

The inaugural seminar and concert were held on Feb. 19, 2022. With the goals of revamping in-person interactions and participation in the medical and musical fields, reminding everyone that CRC screening saves lives, energizing young students to engage in community service, not letting COVID stop them, and connecting two broad disciplines that have the power for healing. This year, violinist Rachel Barton Pine endorsed the initiative Bridging Medicine and Music — Colon Cancer Awareness 2023.

Caltrans closes part of Highway 128 Driver sought in minor Winters hit-and-run

McNaughton Newspapers

On Wednesday morning Caltrans District 3 announced a full closure of State Highway 128 for emergency work due to a landslide.

Traffic will be closed in both directions to motorists. Winters City Manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa said only drivers who have proof of residency in the closure zone will be allowed to pass the barricades. Residents allowed through will be escorted to their homes.

Caltrans estimates the closure would last a week so an emergency contractor can work to remove debris from the slide and work to stabilize the slope at post miles 1.75 and 2.24.

The storms from that past weekend caused the saturated soil to slip from underneath the roadway in the early morning of Saturday, April 1. The road was initially closed in both eastbound and westbound directions in different locations from Pleasant Valley Road to the Solano County line.

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

Winters police are seeking the driver in a hitand-run incident that caused minor injuries to a small child.

The vehicle-versuspedestrian collision occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday in the 400 block of Abbey Street, where emergency personnel arrived to find the 4-year-old child with injuries to their foot, according to a Winters Police Department Facebook post.

Courtesy photo

Storms caused a landslide on a portion of State Highway 128 in the early morning of Saturday, April 1.

See updates about road conditions from Caltrans on Twitter @CaltransDist3 and on Facebook at Caltrans

District3. For real-time traffic, visit Caltrans QuickMap at quickmap.dot. ca.gov or download the QuickMap app.

“Officers determined that the child had been under the supervision of a parent but abruptly ran in between two vehicles and into the street as a vehicle was passing westbound on Abbey Street,” police

said. “Unfortunately, the vehicle ran over the child’s right foot, causing what appeared to be minor abrasions.”

Witnesses described the vehicle’s speed as “slow to normal” as the driver continued traveling westbound, leading authorities to believe the motorist was unaware of the contact with the child.

An ambulance transported the child to an area hospital as a precaution.

Officers searched the area for the car, described as either a gray Honda Civic or blue Audi sport-utility vehicle, but were unable to find it.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Winters Police Department at 530-795-2261.

Chatting about chatbots

Artificial-intelligence chatbots are computer programs that simulate human conversation through voice or text.

Learn about the relatively short history of chatbots — from Eliza, who simulated a therapist, to Watson who won the first prize of $1 million on the quiz show “Jeopardy,” to Tay the teen who quickly turned offensive on Twitter.

Host Rohan Baxi kicks off the latest episode of “Timeout Radio” by chatting with chatbot Chat GPT who tells him how it got so smart and if it can do his homework. Then his next guest, Dr. Andy Jones from UC Davis' Academic Technology Services, shares how chatbots are rapidly changing the world of education.

In this episode’s travel segment, listeners will learn about New Hampshire where the term "artificial intelligence" was coined. Find out why it is nicknamed The Granite State and go on a 6,200-foot high windswept hike that ends with apple-cider doughnuts.

“Timeout Radio” is a radio show and podcast based in Davis for youths. It airs on KDRT 95.7 FM from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 to 8:30 a.m. Saturdays.

All episodes are archived at https:// kdrt.org/program/ timeout-radio. You can follow Timeout Radio on Instagram @time out.radio and Facebook @TimeoutRadio.

Photographer details journey

The Photography Club of Davis will meet on Tuesday, April 11 at 7:10 p.m. at the Blanchard room of the Stephens Branch Library, 315 E. 14th St. in Davis. All are welcome.

Beth Savidge is a local photographer who enjoys capturing the beauty of the region, whether landscapes, agriculture, wildlife or botanicals. Her work has been published and won awards locally and nationally.

She'll share the journey of her growth as a photographer and how the experience has enriched her life.

IGNITE: Voices warming up for Picnic Day music

statement. “Some examples of songs we’ve done in the past are ‘Ain’t Nobody’ by Chaka Khan mixed with Dua Lipa’s ‘Don’t Start Now,’ a Doja Cat Medley, as well as ‘Take Me to Church’ by Hozier.”

Formed in 2000, The Liquid Hotplates have been around ever since and apply to perform at Picnic Day every year.

“These past few years have been tough for us with the COVID-19 pandemic,” they said, “so for all of our current members, this will be our first time performing at Picnic Day! We’ve seen and heard from our alumni how much fun it is to perform, and we’re looking forward to finally upholding the tradition.”

The Hotplates will be perform on the East Quad Stage from at 12:20 p.m.

From 3:30 to 4 p.m. on Picnic Day, Kat and Matt will share the East Quad stage with Davis Local Vocals for blend of harmonies to “Ignite Our Moment.”

Katherine Berdovskiy and Matthew Vallero are 13-year-olds who met while performing musical theater four years ago and have been singing together ever since. They love to create harmonies into duets for Broadway, pop and classical opera. They currently are competing as state finalists for a classical voice for the Music Teachers Association of California.

This duet performed at Davisphere and the

International Festival Davis last fall.

Matt performed last year for Picnic Day and loved it. He wanted to share the experience of performing this special venue with friends. Regarding his performance with Katherine, he said, “Performing brings me peace and I am so fortunate to do it with my best friend.”

Matt and Kat are also members of the youth a capella group, Davis Local Vocals. The young vocalists are excited and honored to be selected for Picnic Day.

Local Vocals are coming up on their 1-year anniversary singing together. They

have performed for various local events in Davis, such as Davisphere, the Holiday Tree lighting, and at retirement communities. Most recently, they sang the National Anthem for a UCD basketball game versus UC San Diego.

Singer Charlotte Del Favero, 13, of Harper Junior High School says the group plans on performing a set of five songs, including two they will debut at Picnic Day. One of them is an arrangement of Molly Tuttle’s “Crooked Tree,” arranged by music director Krissy Schwerin.

“‘You Will Be Found,’ from ‘Dear Evan Hansen’

is especially exciting,” Del Favero said, “because it was arranged by our very own Local Vocals member, Matt Vallero.”

Ruby Schwerin, 15, of Da Vinci High School said she enjoys how fun it was to learn the songs they are performing and how they have brought the group closer together.

Ella Del Favero, 16, of Davis High School, added, “I most enjoy the songs in our set because they have been a fun challenge. I am less experienced in performing songs a cappella or holding harmonies myself, so the learning experience has been great.”

UCD identifying tomorrow’s trees today

Special to The Enterprise UC Davis is home to 20,000 trees that offer cooling shade under a mature, leafy canopy. But a majority of the trees on campus may be vulnerable to climate change and unsuitable to grow here by the end of the century.

A UC Davis multimedia feature story, “How UC Davis Is Growing a Tree Canopy for Tomorrow’s Climate,” shows how a team of

researchers, planners, landscapers, students, employees and community volunteers are helping to be part of a solution. UC Davis is a living lab in a process that just might help our region find new favorite trees in climateready options that have rarely been grown here before.

Read the full story, and view photos for download, to see how a small research plot on the

west side of campus is testing trees from Texas to find out how they hold up in California climate — including extreme weather events.

“How a tree grew in the past is no longer a good predictor of its future success,” said Emily Griswold, senior staff horticulturalist for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.

— UC Davis News

She is “especially excited about performing at Picnic Day because it is such a beloved Davis event!”

“The Picnic Day performance excites me because it is a chance to share who we are with other people in our community, and for the community to share something with us as well,” says Matt Vallero, 13, of St. James School.

Emerson Jr. High’s Katherine Berdovskiy, 13, said, “The members of our group have grown very close over this last year, and it is exciting to share the experience of performing at Picnic Day with such amazing friends.”

SAFETY: Students react to tragedy

From Page A1

was heartbreaking to see it happen again to other UC Davis students. Many might not personally know the students, but the very fact that they’re part of the community that we are a part of, that’s where the connection comes in, and our heart can only be up for that.”

Fernandez was an undergraduate student when UC Davis freshman Trisha Yasay, 19, was killed when a garbage truck hit her on May 25, 2022, on the corner of Hutchinson Drive and Dairy Road.

“A lot of us might not personally know the students, but the very fact that they’re part of the community that we’re a part of. That’s where the connection comes in, and our heart can only be up for that,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said the campaign also encourages drivers to report people who are potentially driving under the influence. “If someone were to recognize that drunk driver earlier and reported them, maybe something else could have happened.”

For more information about the “Safe Drive, Save Lives” campaign, contact Fernandez at 858-6639354.

— Contact Monica Stark at monica@davisenterprise.net.

Courteys photo

A cappella group The Liquid Hotplates sing a variety of genres, but they emphasize rhythm and blues, soul, alternative and pop. Catch them at Picnic Day on April 15.

uC Davis arboretum anD publiC GarDen photo

A team of UC Davis students, employees, planners, researchers, landscapers and community volunteers are helping adapt the campus tree canopy for the next 100 years.

Overworked, stressed-out California firefighters struggle with PTSD effects

By Julie Cart CalMatters

The morning sun warms California’s high desert, launching a clear spring day. Behind high walls at The Nurturing Nest, across from a burbling mineral pool, a small group of men and women roll up yoga mats and arrange themselves in a semi-circle. Their week at this tranquil retreat is ending and a counselor seeks final thoughts from each of them.

“Why are you here?” the counselor asks a young woman sitting alone on a small sofa, hugging a pillow to her chest. She stares into the middle distance and lets out a deep breath.

“Death. So many deaths,” she said.

The men and women at the retreat are steeped in death: All but one work for Cal Fire, dispatched to the desert as a last resort, seeking release from the never-ending pain and fatigue brought on by their jobs.

Defensive and defiant at the beginning of the week, the California firefighters and a dispatcher break down their emotional walls by the end of it, laughing, weeping and recounting once-secret stories about death, terror and fire. They recall horrific sights of friends trapped by flames and reveal their urges to take their own lives.

For firefighters battling California wildfires, these emotional

injuries are a workplace hazard.

Longer and more intense fire seasons have taken a visible toll on the state, leaving a tableau of charred forests and flattened towns. But they’ve also fueled a silent mental health crisis, including an alarming rise in post-traumatic stress disorder among the ranks of Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting service.

Fifty-four California firefighters have died in the line of duty since

2006, according to the Cal Fire Benevolent Foundation, and nationally, more than 3,000 firefighters have died from jobrelated injuries and illnesses since 1990.

But when they race into wildfires, it’s not just their bodies that are at risk, but their psyches, too. Wildland firefighters arguably face more psychological stress than most, since their battles are prolonged and their personal risks

are high.

“I would be willing to bet that there’s suicidal ideation in half of our employees right now, and half of them have a plan to do it,” said Cal Fire Captain Mike Orton, a former Marine who recently transferred to a Los Angeles County inmate fire camp.

CalMatters interviewed several dozen California firefighters — including many high-ranking battalion chiefs and captains — as

well as mental health experts and family members, revealing an expansive and unaddressed problem that suggests a broken and depleted fire service is operating in a state that seems in perpetual combustion.

Firefighters, who in the past were stoic and suffered in silence, told CalMatters their emotional and personal stories, revealing their fears that their lack of sleep, long hours and stress could lead to poor decisions on the fire lines — which would endanger not just their crews, but the public, too, as California’s wildfires intensify.

California’s wildfire statistics read like the losing side of an arms race: 2020 was the state’s worst fire season on record, with more than 8,600 blazes taking 33 lives and burning 4% of the state.

Once-feared megafires are now dwarfed by the state’s million-acre “gigafires.” Climate change has forced wildland firefighters, trained to be nimble problemsolvers, to do a hard pivot. With too few firefighters to cover all the fires, they are on the front lines longer, with shorter respites at home. Some battle fires for months at a time.

The state’s much-admired fire service has only recently tried to come to grips with the scope of the mental health problems among its 6,500 firefighters and support personnel. Cal Fire’s behavioral health program began in 1999 but four years ago had only eight employees, reaching 27 now.

Their work is mostly reactive — sending those who actively seek help for their pain, trauma and suicidal throughts to retreats or therapists under contract with the state.

Fatigued, traumatized and frustrated, some California firefighters, including captains and battalion chiefs, say Cal Fire must do more: Staffing shortages create punishing shifts, forced overtime and long deployments. Cal Fire keeps crews on fires for 21 days without respite, while their counterparts with the federal government work 14-day shifts. Those deployments frequently go much longer.

Many suffering from PTSD recount troubles receiving benefits and health care coverage under the state’s workers’ comp system. And some say family members cannot collect survivors’ benefits for a firefighter’s suicide because it’s not classified as a line-of-duty death.

The job strains their marriages and families. One Cal Fire battalion chief in Riverside County, Jeff Burrow, said 80% of his station house crew got divorced in a single year. Sleep deprivation, alcohol and drug abuse are on the rise, firefighters and therapists said.

Many fire station leaders around the state told CalMatters they see an unaddressed epidemic of PTSD and suicidal thoughts among their crews. Yet CalFire does not collect any data on suicide or PTSD within its ranks.

“There’s a lot of people here hurting,” said Tony Martinez, a 29-year veteran Cal Fire captain in Napa County. “It’s an absolute epidemic, it’s not a cliché…The last several years, I’ve had so many coworkers either kill themselves or attempt to kill themselves — in some cases, multiple times.”

Martinez said he “didn’t know it was possible to have PTSD in the fire service. It wasn’t a word that we knew of.” He said he “never saw” PTSD among his colleagues in his first 20 years as a firefighter but he now realizes many of the older veterans’ erratic behavior was the result of years of trauma.

“When I reflect back, I think they had PTSD. I think people forever have been suffering in silence.”

Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, whose agency oversees Cal Fire, called the mental health of California’s firefighters “a growing challenge. At times it feels like a crisis.”

“We are asking firefighters to fight what are truly catastrophic wildfires,” Crowfoot said. “Every year we are sending thousands of firefighters into intensifying conditions, and more and more dangerous seasons.”

But who will want to battle these fires if these conditions continue?

Several firefighters described high turnover at their stations. And Cal Fire’s statistics suggest that attrition has suddenly worsened: Last year, the number of firefighters and other full-time

personnel voluntarily leaving was nearly twice the four-year average, reaching 691 — more than 10% of the agency’s workforce, according to data provided by Cal Fire spokesperson Chris Amestoy.

Martinez said he “bleeds Cal Fire,” but neither of his young adult sons want to follow him into the fire service, and he understands. “I tell my young firefighters: ‘Don’t work here,’ ” he said.

Statistics gauging the extent of the department’s mental health problem are scant: Cal Fire collects no information on PTSD or suicide among its staff so the agency cannot say whether it’s as rampant as firefighters say.

Cal Fire does track the number of times its employees and family members contact a peer-support team for help with an array of issues, primarily physical and mental health. And those numbers have been climbing: from 1,362 contacts in 2011, the first year Cal Fire began compiling the data, to 17,310 last year. Counselors say a majority of the requests for help are related to stress. So far this year, 24% sought referrals for medical and psychological issues, 12% for grief and loss and about 9% for addiction or substance abuse.

A 2016 report found that nationwide, firefighters are 40% more likely to take their own lives than the general population. In addition, in a 2019 online survey of more than 2,600 wildland firefighters, about a third reported

experiencing suicidal thoughts and nearly 40% said they had colleagues who had committed suicide. Many also reported persistent depression and anxiety.

The survey is believed to be the most extensive research into the mental health of wildland firefighters.

Patricia O’Brien, a former federal firefighter who co-authored the study, said the increasing frequency and intensity of California wildfires, coupled with the fireservice ethos of stoicism, is a formula for severe and unresolved trauma.

“This is humans battling a force of nature. We don’t get to conquer nature,” she said. “And if we try to do that, there will likely be negative outcomes in the form of trauma exposure, tragedy and loss. There are human burdens

that firefighters carry.” California’s firefighters carry a heavier burden than most.

Unlike the majority of the nation’s wildland firefighters, Cal Fire crews are required to be ambidextrous: They staff local fire agencies in 36 of California’s 58 counties, meaning they toggle from responding to wildfires to hazardous material spills, swiftwater rescues, train crashes and medical emergencies.

“We are humans first, not firefighters or dispatchers,” said Ali Wiseman, a Cal Fire dispatcher who reeled off a cascade of colleagues’ deaths while attending the recent trauma camp in the desert. “Even though it’s hard or painful and embarrassing, I have to trust the world and tell my story.”

AriAnA Drehsler/C lMAtters photo

Retired Cal Fire firefighter Jeff Griffith’s structural helmet (left) and wildland fire helmet (right) sit on a table in his living room in Escondido. He retired after 30 years on the job

AriAnA Drehsler/CA MAtters photo Jeff Griffith, a retired Cal Fire captain, says the personality type of firefighters is to “walk it off then get back to work.”

APPEAL: Needed unanimous support

included more than 200 housing units. That project was approved by the City Council on a 3-2 vote back in 2020 with Partida voting in favor (along with former council members Brett Lee and Dan Carson) and Arnold voting against it (along with former council member Lucas Frerichs).

Mall owner Brixmor, however, ultimately determined the project was not feasible with housing, due to costs and an inability to find a residential builder to partner with, and returned to the city last year with a commercial-only plan.

That plan, as approved 5-2 by the Planning Commission last month, involves demolition of the mall on Russell Boulevard, to be replaced by the “Davis Collection” featuring retail and restaurants.

Some planning commissioners, as well as many members of the public, decried the loss of the housing component and Vaitla ultimately filed an appeal of the commission’s decision.

In his appeal, Vaitla said the project does not conform to the visions of the General Plan that call for the city to, among other things, promote “a diversity of housing options that will enable people with a wide range of needs, economic levels, cultural identities and ages to live in Davis.”

He also argued that “a single-story commercial structure oriented towards automobile access does not conform to urban-planning best practices” and the architectural design of the proposed project is not compatible with existing properties and anticipated future developments in the neighborhood.

Because Vaitla is a council member, city ordinance required the rest of the council to decide whether to take up the appeal and schedule a future public hearing. Had a member of the public not serving on the council filed the appeal, the council would have simply been required to hear it.

The fact that Vaitla had to jump through an extra hoop with his appeal troubled Chapman and Arnold.

“If Councilmember Vaitla was not on City Council and filed this appeal, we would not be having this discussion,” said Chapman. “Any other citizen in this town would have the right

to have their appeal heard and I do think that Councilmember Vaitla does have the right to have his appeal heard.

“My desire to grant the appeal has no reflection on what the Planning Commission deliberated on or what they talked about,” Chapman added, “but in terms of fairness across the board, I do think it’s appropriate for us to grant the appeal.”

Arnold said Chapman’s point “is very well taken.”

“If it were anyone else, anyone here in the audience submitting that appeal, this step in the process wouldn’t be happening and it would just be coming in front of us on appeal,” Arnold said, adding that he may want to see a change to the city ordinance requiring that extra step for council members.

Arnold also said that given the “critical, important nature of this parcel in the map of the city of Davis,” a conversation is critical. “And I would be remiss if we were to, by virtue of what I consider a technicality, … not even hear an appeal that was presented to us by a member of our citizenry just because that member of our citizenry happens to also have been entrusted with elected office…

“So my hope is that we will provide the opportunity for our community and for this body to discuss the merits of this proposal.”

“There is clearly a desire among our fellow community members to have a discussion about the proposal itself, about the needs that it meets and the needs that may not be being met by the current proposal,” Arnold added, noting the numerous public comment and emails the council received on the matter in recent days.

But Partida was not persuaded.

“I hear what you’re saying about the community asking for further conversation,” she said.

However, “we have had those conversations,” Partida said. “Those conversations have gone through the Planning Commission and we’ve heard this evening both sides of that conversation around what it is that people are asking for and what they are needing. I don’t know that furthering the conversation one more evening is going to put us in the place that the community needs.

“I think that we can still have that conversation through some other vehicle. We can schedule meetings around how we do development. There’s a lot of ways we do outreach … that we converse with the community.

“I hear absolutely what you’re saying,” she told her colleagues, “that it’s unfortunate that this technicality around the appeal is the way that it is right now and that we would have heard this if it was somebody else, but I do feel like this step here that we are taking sort of substitutes for that conversation that we would have had.”

Arnold disagreed, though, saying, “there’s a lot I want to say and hear from you and staff and in conversation with the development team and members of the community.”

The city attorney prior to Tuesday’s meeting had cautioned council members not to discuss the merits of the commercial-only project proposal but to focus solely instead on whether to hear Vaitla’s appeal.

Arnold noted how careful he had been to do so, but added that he wanted the opportunity to have a conversation on the project’s merits.

“We’re very limited in what we can say tonight … but critically … there’s a separate conversation happening in the community than what we’re able to have now, and that’s, to me, never a good thing,” Arnold said.

“I think when we hear public comment, I typically want to talk about what the public was just interested in talking about and we can’t do that tonight and there’s only one way we can do it and that’s if we allow for it.”

The public comment the council heard Tuesday night was as divided as that heard when the council considered the mixed-use proposal nearly three years ago. There were those urging the council to hear Vaitla’s appeal because they believe a mixed-use project would provide needed housing and those opposing the appeal because they believe commercial-only is a better project for the site.

Ultimately the latter group prevailed on Tuesday.

— Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at aternus@davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.

HOUSING: State needs to clear up data

From Page A1

Under state law, local jurisdictions must provide a certain amount of housing serving all segments of their populations and the Housing Element lays out the plan for doing so.

The city of Davis, which is required to provide 2,075 additional dwelling units through 2029 under the Regional Housing Needs Allocation, must demonstrate to the state via the Housing Element that sufficient land is zoned to provide that housing and, where there is not enough land, to identify an inventory of potential sites suitable and available for re-zoning.

Failure to achieve state certification on the Housing Element can cut off access to state revenue streams.

The Davis Housing Element submitted to the state two months ago included the 264 housing units that were initially planned for the University Commons redevelopment project, some of which were affordable units.

But with mall owner Brixmor removing the residential component and receiving approval from the Planning Commission for a commercial-only project instead, the numbers in the Housing Element were no longer accurate.

In its letter dated April 3, HCD said, “it appears University Commons, a project set to develop 264 units of mixed-income housing, will no longer have a residential component.”

That requires the city to identify additional sites to accommodate those units, HCD said, adding that “the element must be revised to address this shortfall.”

The HCD letter also

requested an updated timeline for the Nishi student housing project approved by voters nearly five years ago but which has yet to break ground, as well as other information.

This is the second time the city has failed to receive certification on the 20212029 Housing Element.

Last year, HCD notified the city that its initial version of the Housing Element needed changes.

Among the issues raised by HCD then were the need for more detail on the suitability and viability of sites identified for redevelopment; more evidence that identified locations could accommodate the need for low-income housing; and more information on how Measure J/R/D might impose constraints on future housing developments, among other things.

Staff worked with HCD to provide the additional information and the revised version was approved by the City Council and submitted earlier this year.

Now city staff have more work to do on what will be the third version of the Housing Element.

A statement on the city’s website said, “the city views this letter as what we would classify as a ‘conditional approval letter,’ meaning that once the items in the letter are completed, HCD will be able to certify the Housing Element.

“It is city staff’s plan to bring forward the rezone approval documents starting this spring 2023 and work toward approval over early summer. With the adoption of the rezoned parcels and the few minor corrections that the city needs to make to the document, city staff feels certain the Housing Element can be certified.”

NOTICE TO DESTROY WEEDS AND REMOVE RUBBISH, REFUSE AND DIRT

Notice is hereby given that on the 4th day of April 2023 the City Council of the City of Davis passed Resolution No 038 Series 2023 declaring that dangerous weeds were growing upon or in front of certain properties and that rubbish, refuse and dirt were upon or in front of these properties in the City of Davis and more particularly described in the Resolution and that they constitute a public nuisance which must be abated by the removal of said weeds rubbish refuse and dirt Otherwise if said weeds are not removed by June 5 2023 they will be removed and the nuisance abated by the City and the cost of removal assessed upon the land from in or in front of which the weeds, rubbish, refuse and dirt are removed and will constitute a lien upon such land until paid Reference is hereby made to the Resolution for further particulars A copy of said

Resolution is on file in the office of the City Clerk

All property owners having any objections to the proposed removal of weeds, rubbish, refuse and dirt are hereby notified to attend a meeting of the City Council of the City of Davis to be held the evening of May 16th 2023 when said objections will be heard and given due consideration Please call 757-5602 between 8:00 a m and 5:00 p m on weekdays for the expected time of this public hearing

Dated this 5th day of April 2023

Michael Webb City Manager

Published April 7 2023 #2236

indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted If no written objection is timely filed the court may grant the petition without a hearing

exterior changes to the property at 61 C o l l e g e P a r k T h e p r o p e r t y i s a C o n t r i b u t o r t o t h e C o l l e g e Park Historic District Changes include replacing the existing windows and doors, re-roofing, rebuilding the chimney, addition of sky lights and decks removal of side entry overhangs replacement of garage doors exterior painting It includes new cladding on the rear elevations and several adjustments to window sill heights and change to the door sidelights and oth-

Boulevard Davis California 95616 Staff reports for the public hearing are generally available five (5) days prior to the hearing date through the city s website at: Agendas | City of Davis CA and are also available by contacting the projec t planner

Public Comments: All interested parties are invited to participate in the meeting a s d e s c r i b e d i n t h e m e e t i n g a g e n d a o r s e n d w r i t t e n c o mments to Eric Lee Project Planner City of Davis Department o f C o m m u n i t y D e v e l o p m e n t a n d S u s t a i n a b i l i t y 2 3 R u s s e l l Boulevard Suite 2 Davis California 95616; or via email at: elee@cityofdavis org no later than noon the date of the meeti n g Fo r q u e s t i o n s , p l e a s e c a l l th e p r o j e c t p l a n n e r a t ( 5 3

Calendar

Saturday

n The Yolo County Library, the Yolo County Library Foundation and Stories on Stage Davis will present an evening of science fiction with author Kim Stanley Robinson at at 7:30 p.m. in the Richard Brunelle Performance Hall at Davis High School (DSHS), 315 W. 14th St. in Davis. Tim Gaffaney will read Robinson’s short story, “Arthur Sternbach Brings the Curveball to Mars,” followed by a question-andanswer period with Robinson, moderated by Dr. Andy Jones. The evening will also include three DHS actors reading Winters High School student Tristan Cooper’s story, “We Made the Afterlife Better,” which won the “Out of This World” high school science fiction writing contest. To register for this free event, visit: tinyurl. com/scifievening2023.

Yolo County Library Foundation and Stories on Stage Davis are accepting donations through the registration link to further support early childhood literacy, literature and theater arts.

Wednesday

n Join Project Linus to make blankets for children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need. Come to the gathering at the Davis Senior Center from 1:30 to 3 p.m. to share ideas and patterns. All are welcome to attend the meeting and help sew Linus labels on handmade blankets for Yolo County organizations that serve children in need. Project Linus members may take home donated fabrics and yarn each month to complete a blanket. Finished blankets can be brought to the next gathering or to the Joann Fabric store in Woodland. Contact Diane McGee at dmmyolo@ gmail.com for drop-off location questions, fabric and yarn donations, or to sign up for the email list

obituariES

to receive detailed information and updated meeting time changes.

n Davis Science Café presents “Biomolecular Condensation: the Chemistry of Salad Dressing and Cellular Organization” from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at G Street Wunderbar, 228 G St. in Davis. Each month, Professor Jared Shaw of the UC Davis department of chemistry hosts the Davis Science Café, featuring scientists studying cutting-edge topics. This month’s speaker is Professor Dylan Murray from the department of chemistry, who works on understanding the physical chemistry of low sequence complexity protein domains and how these properties relate to their macroscopic behavior in cells. The event is free, with complimentary soft drinks courtesy of the UCD College of Letters and Science. Contact Shaw for information at jtshaw@ucdavis.edu or https://twitter.com/ DavisSciCafe1.

Friday, April 28

n The Avid Reader will host award-winning and best-selling author Karen Joy Fowler for a discussion of her most recent book, “Booth.” A former Davis resident, Fowler is also well known for her books “The Jane Austen Book Club” and “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” (set in Davis). Fowler will be introduced by local author Kim Stanley Robinson. “Booth” was voted a Best Book of The Year by NPR, Real Simple Magazine, AARP and USA Today and was longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize. The novel is an epic and intimate novel about the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth. The event will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase both in store at The Avid Reader Davis and online at www. avidreaderbooks.com.

Oct. 23, 1928 — March 29, 2023

At age 94, surrounded by family and friends, Ray Charles Thompson peacefully passed away on March 29, 2023, in El Macero. Ray was born in Reno on Oct. 23, 1928, to Abner and Edith Thompson. Shortly after Ray’s birth the family moved to San Leandro, where his parents lived in the same house for the next 68 years.

Ray was always on the go and during high school he made and sold bronzed baby shoes, delivered newspapers, worked for a bakery and even sold fruit he picked from the neighbors’ trees. After high school, Ray decided to do what he did best — work. With a new wife and baby, Ray began his career in real estate, selling homes in the greater San Leandro/Oakland area.

During the post-World War II boom, Ray was able to work with many veterans helping them to purchase their very first home. Never one to let a day end early, Ray also became a bar owner and often worked as the bartender at the Little Club in San Leandro, where David Brubeck would often play. Ray was an excellent salesman and businessman and never saw anything as a problem, he only saw challenges needing to be solved.

After a few years of realestate sales in the Bay Area, Ray was asked to move to Davis and run the Stanley

Eggs — any way you crack them

By Sara Thompson Special to the Enterprise

Chicken eggs are a versatile ingredient in food preparations. They can be fried, scrambled, boiled and more! They are a good source of protein and are more complex than just white, yolk and shell.

When you see a chicken egg, it is a little wider on one side and narrower on the other. This helps prevent the egg from rolling away if it falls from the nest. The shape causes it to roll back on itself and stop forward momentum. The shell is the outermost part of an egg. It is covered in tiny pores that allow for air and moisture exchange. These pores are also protected by a cuticle that fight against external bacteria or prevent dust from entering the egg.

Inside the egg is much more complex than some people realize. The interior of the egg contains two membranes. One connecting to the shell and the white of the egg, and another between the white and the yolk. The membranes are made up of proteins and keratin and protect the inner egg from bacteria and other microscopic invaders.

The white part of the egg is called the albumen. It is made up of vitamins, proteins, minerals, and water and are absorbed by the chick in a fertilized egg, and when unfertilized, those nutrients pass onto us when eaten. The yolk is the very center of the egg. It can range in color from light yellow to a deep orange. This part also contains proteins, minerals, vitamins and fats.

Eggs are wonders of nature and nutrition.

Explorit SciEncE cEntEr

Helping to stabilize the interior of the egg is the chalazae. It is a stringy, white substance that is attached to opposite ends of the yolk to prevent it from twisting during development. At the wider end of the egg is an air sac. This space develops when a laid egg cools and helps cushion the interior of the egg. It also expands and contracts due to changes in air and moisture both outside and inside the egg.

Different chicken breeds will have slightly different sized and colored eggs, but the structures within them area all the same and serve the same purposes.

Join us for an Eggstravaganza on Saturday, April 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Egg themed crafts and activities include making a spring themed book mark, an egg shaped suncatcher,

bunny ears, handprint art, exploring different experiments with eggs, and meeting some live chicks.

Admission is $5 per person. Explorit Members, ASTC, and those age 2 and under free.

Explorit’s coming events:

n Summer Science Camp registration is open, and spaces fill quickly! Price is $185 Explorit members and $210 for non-members. To join a camp’s waiting list please fill out our online form at https://www.explorit.org/ camps.

n Our exhibit “Explorit Rocks!” is open to the public on Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is $5 per person. Explorit Members, ASTC, and those age 2 and under free.

n A Membership to Explorit grants the recipient free visits to Explorit’s regular public hours,

discounts on events, summer camps and workshops, and gives you ASTC benefits to visit other museums throughout the world. To purchase or for more information visit https://www.explorit.org/ membership or call Explorit at 530-756-0191.

n School Programs are available to schedule for next school year. We have educational programs that travel to schools and options for field trips at our facility. Please call 530-756-0191 for more information or to schedule.

n Now is a great time to donate and help Explorit continue to educate and inspire the scientists of tomorrow: https://www. explorit.org/donate.

— Explorit Science Center is at 3141 Fifth St. For information, call 530-7560191 or visit http://www. explorit.org, or “like” the Facebook page at www. facebook.com/explorit.fb.

Davis High Jazz Choir hosts annual Cabaret performance

Enterprise staff

Enjoy live song and dance performed by the Davis High School Jazz Choir under the musical direction of Amanda Bistolfo, with choreography by Jeff Teague. This is a public event, and all are invited.

The Cabaret is the Jazz Choir’s most elaborate production of the year

and a longtime favorite of the Davis community. The show will feature singing and dancing by the full Jazz Choir as well as breakout solos and duets.

Tickets are available for performances at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 22 (doors open at 6:30 p.m. for appetizers and desserts, plus handcrafted non-alcoholic mocktails) and 2 p.m.

Sept. 30, 1932 — Feb. 28, 2023

Sunday, April 23 (doors open at 1:30 p.m. for dessert and mocktails).

Tickets include food and drinks and can be purchased at: https:// event.auctria.com/fc6d93df-f9694a12-84d6-afb6f576511c/.

The Cabaret will be at the Emerson Junior High School Indoor Commons, 2121 Calaveras Ave. in Davis. Parking is free.

M. Davis Company. So, in 1959, at the age of 31, he moved to Davis, where, for the next 40-plus years, he worked as the managing partner developing land and building homes throughout Davis, Woodland, Vacaville and Fairfield. Ray had an unmatched zest for life and was the epitome of work hard, play hard. He was a member of the El Macero Country Club for 50 years, and belonged to two duck clubs. His other passions included fly fishing and tending to his vast garden. Ray was able to pass down many of these joys to his sons, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.

Ray is survived by sons Dan Thompson of Sacramento, Steve Thompson of Davis, Bob Thompson (Cheryl) of Vacaville and Ian Thompson of Davis. In addition, Ray is survived by his sister Joanne Frasier of Castro Valley, one nephew, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A service and celebration of life will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at the El Macero Country Club. If possible, the favor of an RSVP is welcomed at CelebrateRayThompson@ Gmail.com.

Bruce Ferguson, 90, of Davis, died peacefully at home on Feb. 28, 2023, of congestive heart failure. He was born Sept. 30, 1932, in Longview, Wash., to Wilmoth and James L. Ferguson.

After growing up in Longview and graduating from R.A. Long High School in 1950, Bruce attended Lower Columbia Junior College before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1952. He was stationed in Korea until he returned home in October 1954 to marry his highschool sweetheart, Dorothy Bauer. Two weeks after their wedding, Bruce and Dorothy packed up a ’51 Chevy with their clothes and wedding gifts, and headed for Greenville, S.C., for Bruce’s stateside assignment. During the next 24 months, they moved nine different times with each new assignment in Tennessee and South Carolina. They welcomed their first child, Beverly, on the day after their first anniversary.

Following their time in the military, the young family moved back to Washington state, where Bruce used the GI Bill for further education before beginning a decades long career as a computer engineer with IBM, where he solved complex problems as if they were fun, intricate board games. His career took their family to several trainings in upstate New York; an initial assignment for five years in Albany, Ore., where their son, Daniel, was born in 1960; and an eventual move to Los Angeles, where they raised their family.

Their family time in Southern California included enjoying nearby beaches, Sunday drives, camping vacations, Indian Guides, Boy and Girl Scout trips, and watching jets land at the newly expanded Los Angeles Airport.

Following retirement, Bruce and Dorothy relocated several times before eventually settling in Davis in 2009. Even as his mobility

became limited, Bruce continued to enjoy retirement playing duplicate bridge, reading, going to movies and following the UC Davis Women’s Basketball team. After COVID restrictions halted the bridge games, he took up daily online backgammon games with his son.

Bruce is survived by his wife, Dorothy; daughter Bev Ransom (Ben) of Davis; son Dan Ferguson (Nancy) of Ventura; granddaughters Chelsea Le (Chris) of Davis, Holly Bull (Simon) of London, U.K., and Ellen Ferguson of Torrance; and great-grandsons Theo and Felix Bull, and Ansel and Mattias Le.

Our family is deeply grateful for the wonderful care given by Dr. Radhika

Bukkapatnam, Dr. Kelly Siemens, longterm caregiver Rosy Diaz and everyone at YoloCares hospice.

In recognition of the excellent medical care he received, Bruce was proud to contribute to future medical research by arranging to become a donor upon his passing to both the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center and the UC Davis Body Donation Program.

He was a good, kind man, a devoted husband and dad, and loved being “Papa” to his granddaughters and great-grandsons, with lots of games played, puzzles constructed, and birthdays celebrated. He passed away knowing that he was deeply loved by his family, and that he will be terribly missed.

Friends and family gathered in early April for a celebration of life.

iSabEllE Hurbain-palatin/WikimEdia

James Bruce Ferguson

FERGUSON

Ray Charles Thompson

THOMPSON

Woodland college offers creative outlet for students

By Jim Smith

Special to The Enterprise

Find the right color of paper, cut or tear, glue, repeat.

See if the pattern fits what you have in mind or if you want to build a three-dimensional image.

If not, then start again.

Such are the fundamentals of scrapbooking, a regular program at the Makerspace in the Woodland Community College Library.

Put together under the direction of Librarian Dena Martin, the activity is a way for students to work with their hands and not just their heads. It’s one of many programs through the Library, which includes crocheting, sewing, decorating coffee mugs and

creating rubber stamps.

“Sometimes scrapbooking can get expensive,” Martin tells four students who stop by for instruction, “but it doesn’t have to be. We got most of the things today from Dollar Tree. Paper can get pricy but we got the paper for today on clearance. It can be economical but still be fun.”

“This is all fresh from Michaels, JoAnn’s and Dollar Tree,” Martin tells the students as she crafts her own individual pages.

“Jackson’s feeling ‘red’ today,” Martin notes while looking at Jackson Brooks, a tall red-haired youth, who works quietly on one side of a four-corner table that is filled with colored paper, ribbons, 3D stickers, decals, glitter and

Pets of the week Zippy

Special to The Enterprise

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

Among them is Zippy (A201401), a pocket hamster that is independent and entertaining to watch as he plays all day and entertains himself. Zippy’s adoption includes his hamster enclosure and house.

Also hoping for a good home is Scooby (A199806), a 2-year-old year-old brindle retriever mix who loves life and meeting new friends.

Scooby is a lovable gentle giant who will play ball all

day then spend the night cuddled in your lap for affection. Scooby loves big adventures and will make a great hiking buddy. For information on adopting, contact adopt ycas@gmail.com. All shelter animals are up-to-date on vaccinations, microchipped, and spayed or neutered. Staff is available to assist via phone during business hours at 530-668-5287. Shelter hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. To meet any adoptable YCAS animals, visit friendsofycas.org. To volunteer, sign up at tinyurl.com/yolovolunteer app. Follow at @ycas.

glue — lots of glue. Brooks is cutting and pasting red paper, red ribbon and other material for a book the subject of which is still being considered.

Scrapbooking is a way of preserving or presenting and arranging personal and family history in book form and typically includes memorabilia such as photographs, printed material and artwork. It’s become more popular in recent years by people of all ages.

It may seem odd in today’s digital world that college-age students would create such permanent, tangible collections preserving their memories but it’s an old art that dates back to the 15th Century, according to reference

books, and was commonplace in England where it became a way to compile information that included recipes, quotations, letters, poems and more.

The albums were used much like modern day college and high school yearbooks as keepsakes, sometimes ever evolving.

At Woodland College, students basically create illustrated albums for families and friends that contain photographs, poems and ephemera such as letters and notes.

Martin encourages students to even create a scrapbook explaining how to scrapbook.

“For workshops like these I’m always wondering if I should do a presentation before the making

or just jump in there,” says Martin, whose sparkling, diamondshaped metallic green and blue jacket could serve as a scrapbook backdrop. “It’s probably better to let students jump in and start making, which is probably more compelling because who wants to listen to me tell them what to do?”

She encourages people to take their time and experiment in arranging individual pages, noting she herself moves things around a lot, sometimes wholesale and sometimes bit by bit, until she’s satisfied.

She also urges the students to select bright and lively colors for a more uplifting display.

Button

shelter and Instagram at @yoloanimalshelter.

At Rotts of Friends Animal Rescue, you’ll find Pickles, a 10-month to 1-year-old spayed female Rottweiler. She is a very sweet, squishy, submissive happy girl who loves nothing better than a good old belly rub! Pickles is learning to walk well on leash. She’s playful and loves people. Pickles will make a great family dog or a new

Scooby

best friend for some lucky person.

Button is an adorable 8-year-old neutered male Manchester mix. He was adopted from Rotts six years ago, but his dad just passed away and now he needs a new lap to cuddle up on. He is housebroken, crate- and obediencetrained, walks well on leash and is very sad about losing his best friend. He’s looking for a quiet

Pickles

adult-only home.

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

Bring proof of homeownership, such as a mortgage statement or property

tax bill. If you rent, bring proof that you are allowed to have a dog in your home, such as a pet clause in your lease or a note from your landlord. All dogs adopted from Rotts of Friends are healthy, microchipped, upto-date on their vaccines and come with free lifetime obedience-training classes. For information, visit facebook.com/ rottsoffriends.

When filling up their gas tanks, drivers can avoid topping off, which can prove harmful to vehicles over time.

Keep cars running longer

Metro Special to The Enterprise

The last few years have not proven the most advantageous times for new car buyers. According to the Consumer Price Index Summary from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, buyers paid 12.2 percent more for new vehicles in January 2022 than they had in January 2021. Faced with such a significant increase in price, many drivers understandably want to keep their current cars longer than they might have initially planned.

Data released by S&P Global Mobility in early 2022 indicated that the average vehicle on the road is 12 years and two months old, which marked the highest number in the 20-plus years such information was tracked. A host of variables affect how long drivers keep their cars, but the rising cost of new vehicles has undoubtedly compelled many drivers to aspire to keep their cars for longer periods of time.

Aging cars may require a little more TLC than vehicles that are right off the dealership lot. But the following are three simple tips that can help drivers keep their cars running longer.

Become a more careful driver

A careful approach when behind the wheel is safer than aggressive driving and beneficial for your vehicle.

When starting, avoid revving the engine, which needlessly wears it down. When out on the road, avoid rapid accelerations, which also contributes to needless wear and tear. Even excessive idling can adversely affect the engine, so keep winter warm-ups to around 30 seconds to prevent damage to engine components.

Know when and how to fill up

Every driver has likely visited a filling station when an oil tanker is busily filling the tanks. That’s traditionally been considered a less than ideal time to fill up, as the theory is that filling the tanks stirs up sediment that could then find its way into consumers’ gas tanks, adversely affecting their vehicles. However, that’s often dependent on the station itself and how much its owners prioritize maintenance of the tank and filtration systems. Drivers who trust their local station owners can likely fill up when the tankers are present without

worry. In addition, avoid topping off once the nozzle clicks when filling up. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that topping off is harmful to the planet and the vehicle, as gasoline needs room to expand. When you top off, the extra gas may damage the vapor collection system and cause the vehicle to run less efficiently.

Change oil more frequently as the vehicle ages

It’s true that modern vehicles no longer require oil changes for every 3,000 miles driven. However, as vehicles age, drivers and their vehicles’ engines may benefit from more frequent oil changes than the owner’s manual necessarily recommends. Oil changes remove dirt and metal particles from the engine, potentially contributing to a longer life expectancy. More frequent changes can be especially beneficial for vehicles that are routinely driven in stop-and-go traffic.

Rising vehicle costs have compelled many drivers to keep their cars longer than they initially planned. Some simple strategies can help drivers achieve that goal.

Metro/Stock photo

Nine performances in twelve days at the Mondavi

By Jeff Hudson Enterprise correspondent

There are nine notable performances coming up in Davis during the next 12 days — but tickets are in short supply for several of them.

n There are two performances by the touring “joyful (retro) jazz” ensemble Sammy Miller and the Congregation coming up at the Mondavi Center’s Vanderhoef Studio Theatre — Friday, April 7 and Saturday, April 8, both at 7:30 p.m. But as of Monday, only one ticket remained available for the Friday show, and maybe 20 tickets were available for the Saturday show. $45 general, cabaret-style table seating, MondaviArts.org.

n The annual HellaCappella concert -- a showcase for pop vocal student ensembles from various UC campuses and other universities — is on Friday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall. $38 general, MondaviArts.org and at the door.

n Russian-American pianist Vladimir Feltsman — born and educated in Moscow, and a resident of New York State since the 1980s — returns to the Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall on Saturday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. for a recital featuring shorter keyboard works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert. Feltsman was warmly received by Mondavi Center audiences at two recitals before the pandemic — this performance will complete Feltsman’s three-concert series here. $78-$45 general,

MondaviArts.org and at the door.

n Recovered Voices” is a two-concert project featuring now-neglected music by composers of Jewish heritage who lived in German-speaking countries during the first half of the 20th Century will be featured in two free performances early next week under the baton of the much-admired American conductor James Conlon (currently the music director of the Los Angeles Opera).

On Monday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall, a chamber orchestra program will feature Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s suite of music from his soundtrack for the 1935 Hollywood film “Much Ado About Nothing,” composed after Korngold left Vienna as the Nazis came to power, and settled in Los Angeles.

Also on the program will be Arnold Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 (Schoenberg was likewise targeted by the Nazis, and left Vienna for the United States in 1933), and the Chamber Symphony of Franz Schreker (whose musical career in Berlin came to a sudden halt in the early 1930s, possibly precipitating a fatal stroke in 1933).

On Tuesday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m., there will be a chamber music program featuring music by Alexander von Zemlinsky (who fled Vienna in 1933, taught at universities in Los Angeles in the 1930s/40s, and died in New York in 1942), as well as chamber works by

Arnold Schoenberg and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Performing will be advanced students from the Colberg School in Los Angeles, a prominent West Coast music conservatory. In addition to the concerts, there will be a free symposium at the Mondavi Center on Tuesday, April 11 at 4 p.m. with presentations by conductor James Conlon and UC Davis faculty. Tickets are free, but must be reserved in advance through MondaviArts.org.

Upcoming

n The Chamber Music Society of Sacramento will perform music by Franz Schubert (the Fantasie for

Violin and Piano), J.S. Bach (Suite No. 2 for Flute, Continuo and Strings) and Igor Stravinsky (“L’Histoire du Soldat”) on Saturday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin, 640 Hawthrorne Lane in Davis. $30 General, $25 seniors, $12 students, CMSSacto.org.

n Two performances at Mondavi by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Tuesday, April 18 and Wednesday, April 19, both at 7:30 p.m.) are basically sold out at this point, though there are always a few returned tickets at the box office prior to a performance.

This widely celebrated

Get May Fair exhibits entered by April 14

Enterprise staff

If you took up a new hobby or craft, or practiced your baking this year, it will be fun to participate in the annual competition at the Dixon May Fair from May 11 to 14.

The fair seeks knitting, bread-baking, photos and flower arrangements, along with all the traditional quilts, preserves, art and more.

Details for hundreds of classes are outlined in the 2023 Exhibitor Guidebook for all the ways the community can enter their projects.

Anyone who lives in California can enter their homegrown and home made exhibits in most categories of the Dixon May Fair’s competition, which might earn a prized blue ribbon or a little cash. (Market

animals are restricted to Solano County.)

Entering the fair is easy and can be done online at www.dixonmayfair.com.

The guidebook can be picked up at the Fair Office or viewed online at www. dixonmayfair.com, which also has entry forms (Click on Fair Information, then Entries.)

While entry forms are due April 14, the actual exhibits are not due until closer to the fair as outlined in the guidebook.

The “Spring Has Spring” Dixon May Fair runs Thursday, May 11, through Sunday, May 14, with Special Day discounts for children and seniors. For information, visit DixonMayFair.com and follow their Facebook page for up-to-date information.

dance company will be presenting a retrospective of pieces from the 1960s through 2022 created by black American choreog-

rapher Alvin Ailey (19311989) and contemporary artists affiliated with the Ailey company. MondaviArts.org.

Courtesy photo

Pianist Vladimir Feltsman returns to the Mondavi Center on Saturday, April 8, to play shorter keyboard works by Mozart and Schubert.

Los AngeLes oper

Conductor James-Conlon Dan Steinberg

Courtesy photo

There are hundreds of categories in which residents from all over California can show off their handiwork at the Dixon May Fair. Get entries in by April 14.

Courtesy photo

The Dixon May fair will be jammed up with exhibits. To participate, fill out an entry form by April 14.

‘Air’: Sports saga makes an unlikely perfect swish

Sublime acting highlights dazzling tale

By Derrick Bang Enterprise film critic

Nothing beats a story well told.

Nike’s early effort to partner with basketball’s Michael Jordan seems an unlikely topic for a factbased mainstream drama, but in director Ben Affleck’s hands, the result is mesmerizing.

And that remains true, every minute, even though we all know this saga’s outcome.

Credit Affleck’s sublime handling of a cast that dazzles in every scene, along with William Goldenberg’s staccato editing and scripter Alex Convery’s sharp, shrewd and thoroughly absorbing script; it positively roars with captivating, Aaron Sorkin-style dialogue that sizzles when delivered by this roster of accomplished scene-stealers.

Who knew sports endorsements could be so fascinating?

Affleck opens with a lightning-quick montage of iconic early 1980s moments, movies, products, TV commercials and cultural touchstones: the perfect way to establish the struggling effort of distantthird Nike to establish itself as a basketball-branded shoe, running dead last behind Converse and Adidas.

The former had Magic Johnson and Larry Bird; the latter had the “cool” factor that made it the shoe kids wanted to wear. Adidas also had its eyes on draft pick Michael Jordan, a hot-prospect guard from the University of North Carolina.

The problem, as former NBA draft pick-turnedNike exec Howard White (Chris Tucker) explains to

profanity

Starring: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, Julius Tennon, Matthew Maher, Asanté Deshon

Available via: Movie theaters

colleague and basketball scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), is one of image. In a ferociously funny, rat-atat lecture delivered in Tucker’s inimitable style, Howard points out that Nike is “known” for making jogging shoes … and no Black kid would be caught dead jogging.

Up to this point — as the story begins — Sonny hasn’t had much success recruiting top players to the Oregon-based company’s basketball division. The situation has become so dire, the board of directors is threatening to shutter the basketball division.

“I told you not to take the company public,” Sonny laments, to friend and Nike founder/CEO Phil Knight (Affleck).

Sonny — who lives and breathes basketball, and has an instinct for talent — can’t get enthusiastic about any of the other draft-pick candidates; he’s interested solely in Jordan. But the rising young star has eyes solely for Adidas, and doesn’t even want to hear from Nike. Nor will Jordan’s shark-in-thewaters agent, David Falk (Chris Messina) — despite a respectful professional kinship with Sonny — do anything to facilitate such a meeting.

Sonny shares his frustration with longtime friend and Nike marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), who is sympathetic

but similarly stymied. And it must be noted that the dynamic between these four men — Sonny, Phil, Howard and Rob — is strained, as is the atmosphere within Nike’s headquarters.

Even so — even when tempers are so frequently frayed — Affleck and Convery never lose track of the camaraderie, friendship and loyalty that bond these guys.

An early sequence establishes Sonny’s fondness for gambling, along with a tendency toward recklessness. Both will serve him well, when he impulsively decides — based on one of Howard’s perceptive observations — to buck the signing system’s longestablished rules.

But this is a scorchedearth maneuver, which — if it goes wrong — likely would cost not only Sonny’s job, but those of many others.

Damon, sporting a paunch that Jason Bourne never would have tolerated, makes Sonny determined, scruffy, pugnacious and relentless. He also has a gift for impassioned oratory (thanks to the words

Convery’s script puts into Damon’s mouth). Above all else, Sonny is earnest; Damon persuasively sells that trait.

Notwithstanding the engaging arguments and maneuvering taking place throughout, this ultimately is a story about belief: belief not only in one’s self, but also in the universe’s understanding that something is the right thing, at this moment, and must come to pass.

Affleck nails Phil Knight’s unorthodox, Zenlike managerial style, along with his fondness for Buddhist philosophizing. He’ll unexpectedly begin a meeting by leading his fellow execs in breathing exercises, much to the everybody’s silent amusement (Howard, in particular). But the group’s respect never falters; this is, after all, the guy who built a corporation after initially selling shoes from the trunk of his car.

Ironic, as well, that the CEO of a massive shoe company tends to hold court in bare feet.

Bateman’s Rob is the company’s soul: a pragmatist who wears his heart on

his sleeve, and understands Sonny’s passion, but is far too practical to act in kind. At a key moment during the subsequent proceedings, staring into the abyss, Bateman delivers this film’s gentlest, most powerful description of likely personal consequences. (We bleed, on Rob’s behalf.)

Ah, but for sheer, quiet power, nobody beats Viola Davis’ portrayal of Michael’s mother, Deloris Jordan: kind but firm, sympathetic but pragmatic. Damon and Davis share a terrific scene in the back yard of the Jordans’ North Carolina home; Sonny and Deloris clearly understand and respect each other, but that’s not necessarily enough to surmount hard realities.

During this scene — and throughout the film — Affleck too frequently demands tight-tight-tight close-ups from cinematographer Robert Richardson. They’re distracting, and also unnecessary, given the acting caliber of this talented cast.

Speaking of which, Messina has — hands down — the film’s most explosively funny moment, when Falk

rages into full meltdown during a telephone conversation with Sonny. This cinematic hissy fit may never be topped; Damon’s stunned and amused reaction, at the other end of the line, is equally priceless.

I can well imagine the actual Falk having reacted in such a manner, at this moment. Messina truly sells the role.

Julius Tennon has a small but telling part as Michael’s father, James Jordan: a good-natured man whose sharp gaze bespeaks a scholar of human nature, who cheerfully allows his wife to take point in serious matters.

Matthew Maher is equally fine as Peter Moore, Nike’s Yoda-like creative director, tasked with developing a shoe that might win the day.

Asanté Deshon bookends the film, during two droll scenes as a 7-Eleven clerk.

In a clever touch, Affleck never reveals the face of Michael Jordan, played silently by Damian Young: present in numerous scenes, but always off to one side, or with back to camera.

This film doesn’t have a soundtrack per se, but instead benefits from music supervisor Andrea von Foerster’s clever use of pop songs and score elements from mid-1980s movies. Many clips are fleeting — Cyndi Lauper, Dire Straits, Run-D.M.C. (“My Adidas,” of course), Squeeze, REO Speedwagon, the Alan Parson Project — although Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” gets telling exposure.

The overall result is a blast (even if it’s also a 112-minute valentine to Nike). If the actual events weren’t this much fun, they should have been.

— Read more of Derrick Bang’s film criticism at http://derrickbang. blogspot.com. Comment on this review at www. davisenterprise.com.

Arts Alliance meeting will focus on nonprofits

By Wendy Weitzel Enterprise staff writer

The state of Yolo County’s nonprofits will be a point of discussion at next Thursday’s Arts Alliance Davis meeting, set for 10 a.m. to noon at Davis Musical Theatre Company, 607 Peña Drive.

Rachel Smith from the Yolo Community Foundation will share results of this third annual report, designed to understand the needs and concerns of Yolo County nonprofits, and create a call to action so community members can best support them. The report focuses on how nonprofits are emerging from the pandemic, along with their biggest concerns for the next fiscal year.

Arts Alliance Davis meetings are open to anyone interested in or involved with local arts. Its most recent meeting was Feb. 16, when more than 20 members of the arts community gathered to see the newly improved Veterans Memorial Theatre and collaborate about their work. Of particular interest in this conversation will be the growing presence of arts and culture sector organizations among those served through Yolo Community Foundation programs and funding.

Among them was Joseph Fletcher, manager at the city’s Veterans Memorial Theatre, who explained recent upgrades to the city’s aging theater technology in the 1974-built facility. They include updated computer, video, lighting, and other electronics systems and technology.

Fletcher was hired in October 2019 – shortly before the pandemic mandated closure of theater operations for nearly two years – and led the improvements at the facility. Rachel Hartsough, the city of Davis’ arts and culture manager, said, “Fletcher was incredible about using this down time that we unfortunately had from COVID to apply for and receive multiple grants. Nearly $100,000 of upgrades to the theater came from grants, and it’s

really transformed the usability of the theater.”

Fletcher said he and his staff did much of the setup, saving the city what would have cost an additional 25 to 50 percent. Separately, the theater will get a much-needed new roof later this spring.

“The goal is to continue to reimagine the theatre as a more functional, more useful facility in the future,” Hartsough said.

Fees to rent the theater are significant but grants are available from the city, and frequently awarded to local groups that apply.

The theater and adjacent Veterans Memorial Center work under separate reservation systems but can be combined for big events.

Fletcher suggested contacting the theater first (at 530-747-5862), to see if it’s available. The city wants the center to be considered as a holistic complex, Hartsough said, that can be used for conferences, celebrations and other gatherings.

Fletcher said one of the next steps is to push for a remodeling of the area behind the stage, like the dressing rooms. The capacity there is 70 people, which prevents some large dance groups, for example, from renting. A few upgrades could bring that number

to at least 100. Details about the facility are found on the city’s website, https://www.cityofdavis.org/ arts, and selecting the Veterans Memorial Theatre link.

Each Arts Alliance Davis meeting includes introductions and announcements from participants, who share ideas and updates. Those included:

A discussion on artists being compensated for their work in a sustainable way. Shelly Gilbride, executive director of International House Davis and chair of Arts Alliance Davis, said, “Artists deserve to be paid. Facilities, systems and administrators need to be paid. We want to keep it accessible, and recognize that the work we are doing is valuable.”

Sarah Marsh Krauter of Bike City Theatre said, “This is my job. I don’t do work for free. I don’t ask my accountant to work for free.”

Proposition 28, which will put $1 billion into California schools for arts education, was also a topic. Gilbride believes that about $800,000 of $1 million coming to the Davis Joint Unified School District will be dedicated to hiring people, many of whom will be music and art educators.

“It’s a huge deal,” Gilbride said. Since there aren’t enough credentialed arts teachers to fill the

current need, “we are hopeful that the state will work with school districts to hire teaching artists, and create more pathways for arts educators to work in the schools.”

At the Davis Arts Center, Executive Director Stacie Frerichs was excited to offer spring classes and regular summer camps. Registration began March 1. “We’re really proud that we’ve been able to figure out how to do summer camps. We’ve talked with many organizations that have not been able to in the post-COVID environment.”

Frerichs also led a move to ask the Davis City Council to declare March as Arts Education Month and April as Arts and Culture Month. She has a draft proclamation available to those who would like to push for such declarations in their jurisdictions.

Jessie Nakahara, arts associate with the city’s Arts and Cultural Affairs program, said there is a lot of demand for arts programming for children and teens, especially for middle- and low-income families. She encouraged the group to consider the use of under-utilized spaces in town to provide more programming.

The outgoing editor of the entertainment calendar publication The Dirt introduced a new editor. Hanna Nakano assumed that role as of the March publication, taking over for Ashley Muir Bruhn, who led it since 2019.

Bruhn rebranded The Davis Dirt, and launched a new print edition in March 2020. When the pandemic canceled entertainment events, it halted publication but kept up with online listings until resuming print a couple of months ago. It invites the community to submit and preview upcoming events on its website, https://thedirt.online/.

Sculptor Jord Nelsen spoke about his efforts to maintain Third Space art collective as a resource for emerging artists. It completed the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and has a facility at 17 Arboretum Drive, Unit C. It charges a $50 annual membership, and fees for use of

workshop or music spaces. There are two resident artists, with room for two or three more. Contact Nelsen at jord@thirdspacedavis. org.

James Williams from Community Mercantile, a Davis business that opened in September, spoke about how it helps people reuse household items and keep them out of the landfill. It’s at 622 Cantrill Drive. “We get some really beautiful things,” he said. “We’re looking for people to come teach about reuse.”

Natalie Nelson, director of Pence Gallery, discussed the Second Friday ArtAbout in downtown Davis, which on Feb. 10 had its best turnout since the pandemic. She and other organizers help match artists with businesses willing to display artwork for the event.

Arts Alliance Davis was formed a few years ago as a grassroots effort to give artists and their supporters the opportunity to gather, share ideas and create meaningful impact. Meetings, held at least quarterly at local arts-related establishments, are open to anyone. Other 2023 meetings are June 1, July 20, Sept. 21 and Nov. 9, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, with locations to be announced.

For more information on Arts Alliance Davis, to post an event or opportunity, contact Shelly Gilbride at shelly@ihousedavis.org.

To subscribe to the mailing list, go to http://artsalliancedavis.org/.

Learn more through the following channels:

n Arts Alliance Davis Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ArtsAllianceDavis

n Arts Alliance Davis website http://artsalliancedavis.org/

n City of Davis Arts Instagram @cityofdavisarts, hashtag #cityofdavisarts

n City of Davis Arts & Cultural Affairs Facebook https://www. facebook.com/DavisArtsandCulture

n City of Davis Arts website at https://www.cityofdavis.org/ arts.

The magic moment: Nike creative guru Peter Moore (Matthew Mayer, left) outlines his innovative shoe design plan for sports scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon, center) and marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman).

Wendy Weitzel/Courtesy photo

Joseph Fletcher, manager at the Veterans Memorial Theatre leads members of the arts community on a tour of the upgraded facility at the Feb. 16 Arts Alliance Davis meeting. The Alliance meets again on April 13.

Feds need to step up on high-speed rail

By Ray LaHood Special to CalMatters

Intensifying climate change, worsening traffic congestion and volatile gas prices have affected us all, and it is now clearer than ever that our nation deserves a worldclass high-speed rail network powered by carbon-free energy.

In order to compete globally, decarbonize the transportation sector and achieve longterm energy security, we urgently need to get serious about high-speed rail.

During my tenure as secretary of transportation, one of President Obama’s visions was development of a high-speed rail program and we included $8 billion for high-speed rail initiatives in the economic stimulus bill.

The Obama administration was especially proud to help launch the rail program in California, advanced under the visionary leadership of former Gov. Jerry Brown, with a $4 billion investment.

Opponents of California’s high-speed rail program continue to jeer from the sidelines, as the project reports new cost increases. But the real impediment to progress is a long-term lack of federal support for high-speed rail.

In recent decades, America invested trillions to maintain and expand highways and air travel, while European and Asian nations invested heavily in high-speed trains. Between 1949 and 2017, the federal government invested only $10 billion in high-speed rail with $4 billion of that dedicated to the California project, compared to investments of $777 billion in aviation and over $2 trillion in highways.

Meanwhile, since 2004, China has invested over $1.4 trillion to build a 25,000-mile high-speed rail network, and is pouring billions more into high-speed rail projects worldwide.

Commentary Letters

Fortunately, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which includes $66 billion in funds for passenger rail, is the best opportunity yet to begin to catch up with the rest of the world. More than a decade after the Obama administration made that initial investment in California and the Northeast Corridor, it’s time for the federal government to step up and provide much more funding — resources needed to bring two or three high-speed rail lines into service that can demonstrate this transformative technology to the American people.

Though new federal funding for highspeed rail has been unavailable for over a decade, high-speed rail projects have advanced steadily in spite of the difficult circumstances. Private companies, namely Texas Central and Brightline, have stepped into the breach to take the lead on the development of bullet trains in Texas and the Southwest. Meanwhile, the state of California has shouldered 85% of its project’s costs, compared to only 15% covered by the federal government. Compare that to Interstate Highway Projects, where the federal government covers 90% and has done so in every state across America for decades.

A funding infusion of $8 billion would help California complete a 171-mile operating line in the state’s Central Valley while spreading the burden a bit more — 65% for California and 35% for the federal government. Another $3.75 billion would allow Brightline to raise enough private capital to complete a $10 billion, 218-mile high-speed line linking Las Vegas and Southern California.

For President Biden, a lifelong proponent — and user — of passenger rail, investing robustly in California High Speed Rail and the Brightline West project would constitute an important part of his legacy. These two projects will eventually link up, carrying tens of millions of passengers every year and revolutionizing mobility between Nevada, Southern California and Northern California.

In addition to being remembered for modernizing the Northeast Corridor, the President could be remembered for laying the foundations of a West Coast supermegaregion connected by state-of-the-art high-speed rail.

As we’ve learned over the years, the federal government can’t expect transformative results with piecemeal funding for major infrastructure projects like highspeed rail. To launch America’s 21st century rail revolution, we must go big.

— Ray LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, was the U.S. secretary of transportation from 2009-2013. He represented the 18th Congressional District in Illinois from 1995-2009.

UCD educating the community

Many of you share with me the positive impact UC Davis has throughout Davis, from the vibrancy and cosmopolitan feel our students bring, to the support for community that our faculty, staff and students carry forward in myriad ways.

Another benefit is the university’s positive influence in K-12 schools. Our focus on learning and mentoring is demonstrated regularly through educational field trip opportunities to our campus and UC Davis student-teachers assisting in local classrooms.

You’ll find UC Davis connections on nearly every K-12 campus in Davis. From Birch Lane Elementary, to Emerson Junior High and Davis High School, nearly three dozen teaching credential candidates from the UC Davis School of Education are in the classroom. They student-teach through the entire academic year, working under the guidance of the classroom’s resident teacher and supervised by a School of Education faculty member. And of course, they’re enrolled in classes at UC Davis as they work towards qualifying for their California teaching credential.

Alumni from the UC Davis School of Education are also making a difference. At Marguerite Montgomery Elementary in South Davis, which offers a two-way bilingual immersion program, two-thirds of the teachers received their credential

Wright for Davis City Council

The upcoming May 2 Davis City Council Special Election presents District 3 voters with two objectively well-qualified candidates. Living outside the district, and without preexisting relationships with either, I initially adopted a “wait-and-see” position.

training at UC Davis. Given the shortage of bilingual teachers around the state, UC Davis is having a solid impact at that school alone.

The UC Davis College of Engineering also helps enrich the programming at local schools. We are home to the UC Davis Drone Academy, where local students learn principles in aerospace engineering and aviation. The College of Engineering also offers competitions and camps for K-12 students in robotics and computing through its C-STEM (Computing, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Center.

In another program through C-STEM, the Ujima Girls in Robotics Leadership Project provides mentors that address the significant challenges of inclusion and equity for Black and African American middle school and high school girls in STEM. One of the ways it works is that students learn hands-on coding and robotics in a fun environment and build confidence in their STEM abilities while being mentored by UC Davis students. These middle and high school students then have opportunities to become

mentors to their peers. In addition to our STEM outreach, K-12 students can learn about world class artistry at UC Davis. Each year, caravans of school buses pull up near the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts for a series of school matinees. For the 2022-23 season, these events have included Mexican folkloric dance and Japanese Taiko drumming.

These events fill every seat in Jackson Hall. They inspire young minds and expose them to diverse artistry, all while reflecting California Arts Standards about interpreting their meanings and connecting them with history.

Speaking of the Mondavi Center, it’s also home to “Words Take Wing: Honoring Diversity in Children’s Literature.” This program from the UC Davis School of Education has been attended by more than 18,000 students from the greater Sacramento area since its inception nearly two decades ago. “Words Take Wing” features a children’s author sharing stories that reflect a variety of cultures.

Other favorite outings for area students are the Kids in Garden Spring Field Trips. The field trips are geared for kindergarten through fifthgrade students and hosted by UC Davis’ Agricultural

Sustainability Institute. With our own UC Davis students and staff leading the way, our young visitors learn more about ecology and growing food through hands-on activities like harvesting carrots and inspecting them for beneficial insects.

The free events at our Bohart Museum of Entomolgy are also a hit with kids, helping further their curiosity in science. The museum offers free open houses on weekends. Recent events were dedicated to beetles and “many-legged wonders” including scorpions and millipedes. It’s only here that you can experience a tarantula crawling on your palm while learning more about what makes these creatures so unique.

Finally, Picnic Day is a campus-wide classroom for every age to enjoy, where visitors can learn from UC Davis experts while getting handson with our animals, insects and plants.

As you might imagine, these activities and programs are just a few examples that connect the rich educational experience of UC Davis to students in Davis. There are many others that span across our entire institution.

I hope this has inspired you to find ways to explore your curiosity. As we move more fully into spring, we remain committed to these connections between the university and our neighbors.

— Gary May is the chancellor of UC Davis; his column is published monthly.

One candidate reached out early; to date, the other still has not. Despite my neutral stance, the candidate who asked to meet has maintained nothing but a cordial, respectful, and “try again” attitude. In the meantime, candidate questionnaires, public policy priorities, and political alignments have been instructive as the campaigns have unfolded. Ultimately, beyond the core competencies required of a municipal representative, what distinguishes the candidates for me is in the level and longevity of an authentic commitment to social justice and grassroots advocacy.

Francesca Wright has that edge. Her longtime values-driven leadership is reflected throughout her career, recently acknowledged by the City itself in her 2021 Thong Hy Huynh Award for Civil Rights Advocacy.

As we approach the 40th anniversary of the Huynh tragedy, I trust in Francesca Wright’s thoughtful, analytic, “big picture” problem-solving abilities, and more importantly, her demonstrated courage and consistency in viewing all issues through an equity lens. On May 2, vote Francesca Wright for Davis City Council.

Mariko Yamada

4th

District Assemblymember, Ret.

Vote for Neville

I urge you to vote for Donna Neville on May 2 to fill the vacancy on the Davis City Council. I am an advocate for the unhoused who has worked on homeless and low-income housing issues in Davis for many years, and I am impressed by her understanding of the causes of both

Speak out

President

chronic homelessness and temporary homelessness that results from an unforeseen crisis, such as a medical emergency. Her understanding has led her to propose specific, practical solutions. She understands that Davis can only deal with the issue by working to provide more housing for low-income workers and families.

Her emphasis on updating the General Plan reflects an understanding of the need for our city to plan and to develop a shared vision of what we want our community to look like over the next decades. She also understands that the General Plan is an important part of dealing with our multifaceted housing crisis.

Donna also advocates for an Economic Development Plan where the city takes a proactive approach to determining how it will diversify our revenue and bring in the much-needed funding to take care of city infrastructure and continue to support city services. Her background in public finance will be invaluable in assisting in this economic development effort.

As someone who taught environmental studies for many years, I know that Donna has a real grasp of the need for action to address climate change. She will depend on the best science and will consider how the costs of various actions needed to address climate change will be borne by

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

U.S. Senate

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

Sen. Alex Padilla, 112 Hart Senate Office

different members of the community. Her willingness to listen to everyone in the room will be important in ensuring that the city’s policy is accepted by people living in Davis.

Donna’s considerable professional experience as a government lawyer means that she has the knowledge and the experience to critically evaluating the information put before her. As a city council member, she will clearly, fairly and compassionately weigh the costs and benefits of varying actions before the council.

Helen Roland Cramer Davis

Thanks for Ukraine relief

The Folk Music Folks would like to thank everyone who came to hear us last Saturday at Cloud Forest Cafe. We especially want to thank all who generously contributed to our tip jar. We raised more than $200, all of which will go to relief efforts in Ukraine.

Thank you also to the Cloud Forest Cafe for hosting us and supporting live music. We appreciate the opportunity to share our music and raise money for a worthy cause!

Victoria Davis Davis

Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202224-3553; email: https://www.padilla. senate.gov/contact/contact-form/

House of Representatives

Rep. Mike Thompson, 268 Cannon Office

Building, Washington, D.C., 20515; 202225-3311. District office: 622 Main Street, Suite 106, Woodland, CA 95695; 530-753-5301; email: https:// https:// mikethompsonforms.house.gov/contact/ Governor Gov. Gavin Newsom, State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814; 916-4452841; email: https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/ gov40mail/

By Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

By Jerry Scott

By Stephan Pastis

By Charles M. Schulz

lls suggest assage wa ng. Later stioned fu inkel was egg and ba scientifi munityw

dent was t

Can you make an egg drop into an empty bottle if the neck is smaller than the egg?

What I think will happen:

matches nate joined nfirmation onference ident spok utside the stigated th

Have an adult light the paper and drop it into the glass bottle.

Quickly place the peeled, hard-boiled egg on the opening of the glass bottle.

The fire will eventually burn out.

Describe what happens to the egg.

Explain what this experiment taught you.

To begin with, the air pressure _________ the bottle is the same as the pressure outside the bottle. As the _______ inside the bottle is heated, it expands and some air escapes. The egg on top creates a seal. As the air inside gradually _________, the air contracts and takes up less space. Outside air cannot __________ because the egg now seals the top of the bottle. The air pressure inside the bottle is _________ than the pressure outside and so it forms a partial vacuum. This ______________ the egg to get sucked into the bottle.

No, but I can make a root beer float!

If you gently put an egg into a glass of tap water, it will sink to the bottom. But here’s an experiment that will make an egg float.

Pour water into a glass about half way. Add 10 tablespoons of salt.

Stir gently until salt dissolves completely.

Carefully add plain water until the glass is nearly full, but try not to mix the plain and salt water much.

Gently place the egg in the glass of water. What happens?

ANSWER: The egg drops through the plain water until it reaches the salty water. Now, when it reaches the salt water, it will magically float in the middle of the glass! Why? Salt water is denser than tap water. If a liquid is dense, it is easier for an object to float.

Unscramble the letters underneath each egg to find out what color to make each egg. WEYOLL

Standards Link: Spelling; spell grade level appropriate site words correctly.

Plan a Spring Vacation

Look through the newspaper for places to visit during spring vacation and for a way to travel there. Write a paragraph telling about how you would get to the place, what you would do there and why you want to go there.

How many eggs can you find on this page in 2 minutes? Have a friend try. Who found the most?

With a buddy, look through today’s newspaper for the letters that spell EXTRAORDINARY EGGS. Cut them out. Take turns mixing them up and spelling a new word. A player gets a point for every letter used.

Can you unscramble these scientific words? (They’re on this page!) SUSREPRE

ANSWER: Basket-ball

This week’s word: VACUUM

The noun vacuum means a space from which most of the air or matter has been removed.

Learning cannot occur in a vacuum

Try to use the word vacuum in a sentence today when talking with your friends and family members.

Scientist Fun

If you were a scientist and could invent something to help the Easter Bunny, what would it be? Explain how it would work.

1.

2. 3.

RULPEP RAGONE DRE

UCD beach squad hosting three teams starting today

Enterprise staff

The UC Davis beach volleyball team will host its last homestead of the year today and Saturday.

The matches will take place at the UC Davis Beach Volleyball Courts, where the Aggies will face a total of three teams from today to Saturday.

The Aggies will face Liberty University today at 4 p.m. This is the first meeting between the two clubs.

Then UCD (13-10) take on Boise State, for the first time since 2019, on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Boise State has an 18-5 record.

The final match on Saturday will be against Santa Clara University at 1 p.m. UCD previously beat the Broncos on March 4 by a 4-1 score.

After this weekend’s tournament, UCD will finish up its regular season at the Pacific Tournament on Saturday, April 15 in Stockton.

There are 21 players on this year’s UCD squad.

RALLY: DHS welcomes Pleasant Grove on Monday

From Page B8

Then back-to-back walks to Ella Shorts and Lea Lamoureux sent Cloe Lamoureux and Fox home for a 9-6 score.

“We were having good at-bats for the entire game,” Kalanetra said.

Then DHS’ Sofia Lester singled in between the Troubadours’ second and first basemen and Maia Romero walked. That eventually led to Kalanetra and Shorts scoring to make it 9-8.

Davis scored two runs each in the top of the fifth and fourth innings, which led to a 9-4 score.

Fox and Kalanetra were issued back-toback walks in the top of the fifth. Fox scored on Shorts’ double to right field and Kalanetra scored the first time when Lester reached first base on a Troubadour error.

“Fourth inning we started scratching out runs,” Gibson said.

Shorts and Lea Lamoureux touched home plate in the top of the fourth. Both Blue Devils walked and moved around the bases on passed balls.

“That fourth inning, we just kind of put it together,” Kalanetra said.

Shorts came home on Kaylie Adams’ single to left field. Beatrice Taormino hit a sacrifice fly that plated Lamoureux.

St. Francis used eight hits in its first atbat, which led to its 9-0 advantage. Guerrera and Alexandra Garcia had doubles in the inning, while six different Troubadours singled.

“The body language of our team, and really, including coaches, it was down,” Gibson said.

Lea Lamoureux entered the circle in the bottom of the first inning for DHS. She went 5 2/3 innings, struck out seven and gave up eight hits.

“I think Lea did a good job coming in and kind of like settling down,” Kalanetra said.

Davis finished with nine hits in the game. Fox, Shorts and Lester joined Kalanetra in having two hits each. Shorts had 2 RBIs. Adams had the other hit.

St. Francis had 14 hits in the league game. Guerrera and Garcia had three hits each, while Strange and Isabelle Vela had two each.

Davis will host Pleasant Grove (2-0 in the Delta League, 10-3) on Monday at 4 p.m.

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

UC DaVis athletiCs/CoUrtesy photo

UC Davis beach volleyball players Alicia Letvin (2) watches teammate Sydney Rau-Kim set up the ball during a home match earlier this year.

Mike bUsh/enterprise photos

At top, DHS base runner Ella Shorts (27) arrives safely at second base. Below, Blue Devil third baseman Sofia Lester catches the fly ball.

Proper breakfast for a pentathlon

It looks like 70-plus warm degree days are back. But we have had a freakishly cold winter and I, for one, resent it.

It hurts the most at swim meets where you must wait on deck between your events.

I signed up for the pentathlon (five events) at the new North Natomas Aquatic Center near Sacramento on March 26.

A beautiful day in Davis had turned into a cold and windy one by the time I got there. I turned around and came

home to make a proper breakfast. I heard later that I wasn’t the only one. But there are swimmers made of sterner stuff. Jennifer Phalen, Joanna

LocaL roundup

Griffiths and Helene Nehrebecki swam all five events.

Davis Aquatic Masters head coach Matt Zachan has issued a challenge to his swimmers: Sign up for the Pacific Masters Championship April 14-16 in Morgan Hill and the US Masters Swimming spring nationals April 27-30 in Irvine.

He set some lofty benchmarks recently created in the NCAA national meet recently.

Kate Douglass from University of Virginia broke the NCAA and American

records in the 200 individual medley (all strokes) 1:48.37.

For men it was Leon Marchand of Arizona State with 1:36.34.

We now have Davis Masters water polo two times a week, Mondays and Wednesdays 8 to 9:30 p.m. at Schaal Aquatic Center on campus instead of just Wednesdays.

— Mark Braly’s Masters Swimming column is published the first Wednesday of each month. Contact him at markbraly@sbcglobal.net.

DHS baseball has strong showing at Fresno tournament

Enterprise staff

The Davis High baseball team wrapped up action in the 53rd annual Fresno Easter Tournament with a 3-1 record on Wednesday.

Davis improved its overall record to an 11-5 mark with a 1-0 win over Oakmont. The Blue Devils scored the only run in the top of the fifth inning.

Reyan Islam had two of DHS’ three hits. Alex Kieffer had the other.

Bryson Schelp went five innings for the Blue Devils. He threw a one-hitter, struck out six Viking batters and walked three.

John Schacherbauer tossed the final two innings for DHS. He gave up no hits and struck out one.

On Tuesday, DHS posted a 7-3 win over Garces Memorial, out of Bakersfield.

Davis had 11 hits in the game. Brooks Ochoa and Keaton Carpenter had two hits each. Carpenter also had 2 RBIs.

Other DHS players who had a hit were Houston McCray, Gizaw Baker, John Churchward, Carter Stoltz, Kieffer, Christian Reyes and Schelp.

Kieffer also had 2 RBIs for the Blue Devils.

Blue Devil players Selassie Campos, Ochoa and Stoltz had an RBI each.

Earlier on Tuesday, DHS recorded a 9-5 win over North of Bakersfield.

In the tournament opener on Monday, Clovis East edged DHS 2-1 in eight innings.

The Blue Devils had four hits in the game. McCray, along with Koen Carston, Brian Chin and Reyes, had a hit each.

Davis returns to the diamond at Lincoln on Saturday at 11 a.m.

The Blue Devils continue non-league action next week. Davis entertain Del Campo on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

UCD women’s tennis

MORAGA — The UC Davis women’s tennis team snapped a three-match skid Thursday afternoon with a 4-2 victory over Saint Mary’s College.

UCD (2-4 in the Big West Conference, 7-10 overall) doubles team Michelle Zell and Carly Schwartzberg gutted out their set 7-5 to clinch the doubles point.

Lauren Ko and Olive Maunpau won the Aggies’ other doubles set at 6-1.The first four singles matches were decided in straight sets, with Maunupau and Kristina Evloeva coming out on top for the Aggies.

Aggie singles player Yana Gurevich finalized the contest in dominant fashion after her Saint Mary’s opponent won the opening set in a 7-5 tiebreaker. Gurevich bounced back to win the next two sets 6-3 and 6-0.

UCD welcomes Cal Poly to the Marya Welch Tennis Center for a Big West Conference match Saturday at 10 a.m.

Blue Devils’ rally falls just short

By Mike Bush Enterprise sports editor

SACRAMENTO — Naomi Kalanetra was going to make sure her final at-bat count.

The Davis High softball player, a junior catcher who is a three-year starter, doubled down the third base line in Wednesday’s Delta League game against St. Francis at Schuster Field. Kalanetra moved around the bases and touched home plate when teammate Ella Shorts singled down the first base line.

Kalanetra and the Blue Devils had produced timely hits in the previous three innings. All of their efforts helped in chipping away a huge Troubadour lead that they established early in the game.

But St. Francis was able to slow down DHS’ efforts, escaping with a narrow 12-9 win. St. Francis led

9-0 through three innings.

“We just had to pick ourselves up and say ‘look, we got to fight,’” said Davis head coach Tyler Gibson. “This is a young group, but they are fighters.

Kalanetra’s run would ultimately be the final for Davis (0-2 in the Delta League, 4-5 overall), as it came with two outs.

“It was kind of like getting in a zone after you see the pitcher a couple of times, and make those adjustments,” said Kalanetra, who has already made a verbal commitment to UC Davis after she graduates from DHS in spring 2024.

Shorts remained on first base but would not advance further as Blue Devil teammate Lea Lamoureux grounded out to end the game.

St. Francis (1-1 in the Delta League, 3-6) held a 9-8 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Troubadours used three hits, which led to its final three runs of the game.

Hailey Strange doubled to the right field fence, while Troubadour teammates Francesca Guerrera and Taylor Trafican had singles that generated the final runs.

The Troubadours had not scored a run until the bottom of the sixth inning.

Davis used three hits to score four runs in the top of the fifth inning, which trimmed St. Francis’ lead to 9-8.

Blue Devil Cloe Lamoureux walked and moved to second when leadoff hitter Hannah Fox singled to right field.

Kalanetra, who went 2-for-4 and scored three times in the game, used her speed to beat out an infield single to load the bases.

See RALLY, Page B7

Blue Devil batter Naomi Kalanetra keeps her eyes on the softball in Wednesday’s Delta League game against St. Francis at Schuster Field. Kalanetra, a junior catcher who is a three-year starter, has already made a verbal commitment to UC Davis after she graduates from DHS in the spring of 2024.

Mike Bush/enterprise fiLe photo Blue Devil Brian Chin crosses home plate in a Delta League baseball game at Franklin on March 30. Chin and DHS had a strong outing at the Fresno Easter Tournament.

Mike Bush/enterprise photo Davis High pitcher Kayla Chin goes into her windup in Wednesday’s Delta League game against St. Francis, which had to hold off

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