The Davis City Council will receive an update Tuesday on its Housing Element, two weeks after the state notified the city that the document still lacks the information needed to be certified.
and style, said Alexandra Serna, a fourth-year UC Davis Neurobiology student, and publicity chair for Danzantes del Alma.
By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writerThe classic mariachi music of Jalisco, the fast and intricate steps of Michoacan and traditional dances with machetes of Nayarit will hit the Mondavi Center on Saturday, April 22, as
UC Davis’ Danzantes del Alma
will present their 44th annual show, “Historias de Nuestra Tierra” (Stories of our Land).
To include dances from Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit and Guerrero, as well as dance pieces dedicated to the Mexican Revolution, Danzantes will represent each uniquely beautiful region with music, wardrobe,
Costumes are traditional and bought from stores in Mexico. Most of the costumes have been in their wardrobe room for generations, and new ones have been purchased as needed, Serna explained.
Formed in 1977 as a student initiative to fight against discrimination, UCD’s Danzantes is now a retention program
dedicated to promoting cultural competency through many generations, according to Serna. Students from different experience levels, backgrounds, majors, and experiences come together to practice nine hours per week to create an amazing show for Davis, Sacramento, and nearby communities, including families and friends from many different places in California.
See COLORS, Page A7
Absent state certification, the city could lose out on funding streams and possibly lose some authority over development projects via the Builder’s Remedy, which strips cities and counties of their right to deny housing projects with at least 20 percent affordable units if their Housing Elements not certified.
There is a caveat to the Builder’s Remedy, however, as it would not apply to projects proposed for land zoned agricultural and surrounded on at least two sides by land being used for agriculture or resource preservation, a caveat that applies to most of the peripheral developments proposed thus far for Davis.
However, Dave Taormino, the developer of Palomino Place, a proposal for 170 residential units east of Wildhorse, announced Friday he is amending his application pursuant to that remedy.
See AGENDA, Page A6
By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer
The UCD Aggies are a proud herd of alumni who gallop onto their respective career and life paths after graduation. Luckily, the Enterprise was able to wrangle alumnus Taylor Brickey and chat with him about life after UCD.
Hailing from just down the road in the charming little town of Winters, Brickey grew up frequently visiting Davis. In Sept 2009, however, Brickey officially made it his home
UC Davis grad Taylor Brickey, originally from Winters, credits a rigorous Aggie education with his success afterward.
away from home as he became a freshman at UCD.
“It was the best college,
for what I was looking for that, I got accepted to,” he
See ENGINEERING, Page A7
A Sacramento attorney who targeted thousands of businesses for disability discrimination — including several in Davis — received his sentence last week for filing false tax returns.
Scott Norris Johnson, 61, underreported his income from lawsuits he filed alleging noncompliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Philip A. Talbert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California.
Johnson, a quadriplegic
who uses a motorized wheelchair, named himself as the plaintiff in the federal suits.
The omissions, which occurred in 2012, 2013 and 2014, caused more than $250,000 in losses to the Internal Revenue Service, Talbert said in a California Department of Justice news release.
Johnson pleaded guilty to the allegations last fall and was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to 18 months of home detention as part of a 30-month probation term. He also
See SENTENCED, Page A2
group puts on annual show at Mondavi
As one who has scraped out a luxurious lifestyle by typing for a living, I have long felt that if your words don’t exclaim something all by themselves, no amount of punctuation can save them.
That statement, of course, is aimed solely at the highly offensive, totally irrelevant and massively overused exclamation point, a useless piece of punctuation that has absolutely no place in the written language.
I recognize the need for other forms of punctuation, such as question marks and quotation marks and commas, with the exception of the silly Oxford comma that seems to be sweeping the nation.
Apostrophes, whether they signal a possessive or a contraction, are also fine, even if 95 percent of the population is uncertain of the difference between “its” and “it’s.” Those are the same folks who aren’t sure if it’s “his and her” or “his and hers.” I’m not sure either.
And I’ll buy a steak dinner, with
baked potato and sour cream, for the first person who can explain to me why the famed “Cattlemens” in Dixon does not have an apostrophe.
After all, “cattlemen” is already plural, so it doesn’t need an “s” at the end, thus an apostrophe would indicate that the restaurant is owned by more than one cattleman, which may or may not be true. But maybe when you get a whole bunch of cattlemen together in the same room, the number is so overwhelming that added an “s” at the end is sort of like an exclamation point to indicate the size of the crowd.
Or maybe, just maybe, the
Cattlemens brass realized long ago that on printed menus and correspondence, that little apostrophe would consume extra ink and cost valuable dollars.
I remember having to pull off the road on a Sunday drive with my family up near Knights Landing when I started hyperventilating after we came upon a farmstand that was selling “Melon’s.” The colon may be overused, but it does have its place. The semicolon, however, is totally meaningless and should be avoided at all cost. (Full disclosure: I had to go back and take the apostrophe out of “its” before the word “place.” I guess I could have said I did it on purpose to be funny, but that’s not funny.)
As a housewarming present years ago when we moved into our humble East Davis starter home, my mom gave us a sign that said simply “The Dunning’s” to hang above the front door.
I did not like the possessive sound of that, as in “This is our
house, not yours,” and would have preferred “The Dunnings,” which would indicate there was more than one Dunning residing therein.
That sign is now out of sight by the side of the house with discarded bicycles and parts of the back fence that came down during last winter’s storms.
Our kids know not to use exclamation points when I’m in the room, especially on Father’s Day. “We love you, Dad” is much closer to the heart than “We Love You, Dad!!!”
Our daughters know that “It was a beautiful day at the beach” is not made more beautiful by saying “It was a beautiful day at the beach!” And our sons know that “I hit a home run” cannot be made more exciting by an exclamation point.
Just a few simple ways to keep everyone happy at the home where “The Dunnings” live.
— Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.
From Page A1
pay $250,000 in restitution and a $50,000 fine.
An attorney since 1993, Johnson had his law license suspended in January and may not reapply for reinstatement to the California Bar during his probation term, Talbert said. He’s also prohibited from leaving home in order to seek ADA violations and file suits in federal or state courts during his home probation.
U.S. District Court documents and in-court statements showed that Johnson, who owned and operated Disabled Access Prevents Injury Inc., used that corporation and later a law firm to file more than 4,000 ADA lawsuits in the Eastern District of California, which
includes the Sacramento region.
The defendants in the complaints included multiple Davis businesses, including the former Redrum Burger and the Olive Drive Market, whose owner Suresh Kumar paid $6,000 to settle his lawsuit.
In an 2013 interview with The Davis Enterpirse, Kumar said his concern was not with the ADA law, but rather the lack of warning over his violation.
“I’m in no way against any of the regulations,” Kumar said. “But I’m just asking to be tactical, and have some time to fix it. There’s a slogan, ‘Small business is the backbone of America,’ and we have to strengthen it, not weaken it.”
Another of Johnson’s targets, the longtime familyowned Redwood Barn Nursery on Fifth Street, revamped its parking layout and signage to meet ADA compliance.
“I’m actually happy to comply, and pleased with the results, but not happy about the way it came about,” owner Don Shor said at the time. “We were lucky. Some businesses simply won’t be able to fully comply at a reasonable cost.”
According to Talbert, payments related to lawsuit settlements and awards are taxable under the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, unless they’re paid on account of personal physical injury or physical sickness.
Johnson — himself a
former IRS attorney — would have been required to report the taxable portions of the lawsuit settlements he received.
“He nonetheless intentionally underreported this income on his 2012, 2013 and 2014 tax returns,” Talbert said in the DOJ news release. “By understating the lawsuit settlements and awards, Johnson and DAPI paid little to no income tax for tax years 2012, 2013 and 2014.”
Malcolm Segal, Johnson’s defense attorney in the federal matter, has said his client didn’t deliberately omit the income, but rather used an imperfect methodology “to determine whether the income was taxable or not.”
“He has acknowledged the returns that he filed were not entirely accurate,”
Segal told The Enterprise following Johnson’s guilty plea. He added that Johnson attempted to rectify the errors, “but a lot of this was a judgment call, and it’s clear the IRS disputes the judgments that he made.”
As for Johnson’s numerous ADA lawsuits — which some have characterized as “frivolous” — Segal said they stem from Johnson’s own accessibility challenges.
First rendered paraplegic following a vehicle accident 35 years ago, Johnson became quadriplegic in the 1990s after being run over by a truck while trying to use his wheelchair to gain access to a restaurant.
“People don’t like the fact that he sued them to make them comply with the ADA, but the law is there for a purpose,” Segal said.
Watermelon Music is asking for donations. Owner Jeff Simons launched a GoFundMe fundraiser on Tuesday, hoping to raise $104,000 to pay off debt and keep the store open. As of Friday morning, he’d raised nearly $72,000.
“Though it makes me very uncomfortable to do so, I need to ask the community for help,” Simons’ plea begins.
The music store is at 1970 Lake Blvd. It moved from downtown in 2017. “Our new location has allowed us to continue selling, renting, repairing and teaching, while providing opportunities for new sources of revenue including rent and ticket income from our performance venue, The Melon Ball.”
But the pandemic, along with less foot traffic, took a toll.
“During 2020 and 2021, nearly every aspect of the business was hit — our showroom was closed to the public for a time. We were unable to provide in-person lessons and our studios were shuttered. We could schedule no performances or recitals in our venue. The closing of schools meant virtually no instrument rentals to students and their families. Add to all this the near impossibility of getting sellable product from manufacturers and huge increases in freight/shipping charges.”
He suggested other ways to help, besides donations: “If you are a musician, please consider shopping at our store. Not just for large instrument purchases, but for reeds, strings, picks, music — it all adds up and helps pay our bills.”
And, “Please come to our shows and events. Tickets help support the artists, but also
bring revenue and traffic to the store.”
Donations may be made at https://gofund.me/59dab02a.
The store’s website is https:// watermelonmusic.com/.
I am heading on vacation for a bit — blissfully without my laptop. I won’t have a column next week but will try to have one for the April 30 paper.
Meanwhile, there’s a decent chance that Mamma, the Italian restaurant and market coming to the former Bistro 33 site at 226 F St., will open by the end of the month. It will feature pizza and pasta, and an Italian market in the former City Hall Tavern side.
June & Simple, a jewelry and gift store in University Mall, announced Monday it will close its store at the end of April.
It began as a holiday pop-up, with owner and maker Hadas Kol planning to keep it open for a month-and-a-half. A year-anda-half later, she says she’s proud of what she’s done “but it’s time to move on.”
Her statement on social media echoed a similar announcement on March 31 by Musette, a grainbowl restaurant that plans to close on or before April 21. Kol cited the stress of waiting and the uncertainty on not knowing when the mall redevelopment will start. Like the owners of
Enterprise staff
Lenya Quinn-Davidson has been named director of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Fire Network, effective April 1.
UC ANR’s statewide Fire Network will build connections and capacity among UC ANR scientists, practitioners, land management and regulatory agencies, policymakers, and communities to work toward fire resilience in California.
Wildfire has become more frequent and intense in California with climate change. To meet the challenge of wildfire, UC ANR has hired several new UC Cooperative Extension fire advisors and staff to study issues related to wildfire and to assist Californians with their preparations.
Quinn-Davidson and the Fire Network will provide critical coordination and connection across geographies and disciplines ranging from forestry to food safety to livestock to water.
“Lenya has more than a decade of work in fire
science and has carried out her work through partnerships and community engagement,” said Glenda Humiston, UC vice president of agriculture and natural resources. “Her experience and successful track record will enhance how we coordinate our many layers of research and education related to fire prevention, recovery, public policy and workforce development.”
Quinn-Davidson has served as a UC Cooperative Extension fire advisor for the North Coast since 2016. During her threeyear term as the Fire Network director, she will continue her research program and continue to build capacity among landowners, tribes and other communities to use prescribed fire throughout the state. Quinn-Davidson also leads the national/ international WTREX program, focused on empowering women and other underrepresented people who work in fire.
“I’m honored to take on
Musette, she’s looking for a new location but doesn’t have one. I noticed that The Wardrobe is carrying some of her jewelry. Her website is https://juneandsimple.com/.
The Chinese food restaurant Shanghai Town recently closed. It opened in 2005 at 1260 Lake Blvd., Suite 111, in Westlake Plaza.
In early March, I spoke with the manager, who said they were looking for another business to take over the lease. He mentioned a group of UC Davis students who wanted to offer some Asian foods and hot pots, but the prospective tenants needed the landlord’s approval.
He would only give his first name (Jeremy), but said, “My mom just wants to retire. Me and my brother want to make our own path.”
There’s a new chiropractor in town, and his business model is to offer services on a donation basis.
Sano Chiropractic opened in January at 129 C St., Suite 1. Dr. Ryan Cason has been a chiropractor for seven years.
Cason explained his payment system. “The only set fee in the office is the initial assessment fee. After this appointment, all care is based on an individual’s generosity and what they can afford.”
He had a practice for 4½ years in Benicia. The Movement chiropractic “was the opposite business model, based on care plans, and insurance and personal injury cases. I ended up hating it, and sold it to travel full-time with my wife and two kids for the past two years.”
He hopes the Davis practice will be different. “The idea is to
this new role, and I can’t wait to further grow, connect and support our fire efforts within UC ANR,” Quinn-Davidson said.
“There are currently dozens of UC ANR people working on fire issues throughout California, including four new UC Cooperative Extension fire advisors and a new academic coordinator who were hired in the last year,” Quinn-Davidson said. “We also have plans to hire more fire advisors and firefocused staff in the coming year.”
be a servant of the community. I believe that the solutions to our problems all exist at the community level. I am really looking forward to serving the community of Davis and building community here.”
Hours, by appointment only, are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Visit https://sanochiropractic.com/.
A Davis 15-year-old started his own business this year. He cleans solar arrays on residential roofs to increase the panels’ production.
Felix Fuglei is a Davis High School sophomore who built a bike trailer to haul his cleaning equipment.
“I first started cleaning other people’s solar panels (a couple of years ago) when I was cleaning my own and looked around and saw that most of the panels on neighboring houses were very dirty,” he said. After reading about the benefits of doing it multiple times a year, he turned it into a business.
“Solar panels can lose up to 25% of their efficiency in a fourto six-month period, depending on weather conditions,” Fuglei said. “I’m passionate about this business … because it’s honestly for the good of the fast-growing green energy industry, and by keeping their panels at their full production, homeowners can shorten their solar payback period.”
Felix Solar Cleaning has a website at https://www.felixsolarcleaning.com/.
Davis Language Academy opened in February at 231 G St, Suite 23, above Three Mile Brewing
It offers language instruction
in Spanish, French and Italian. Lead Spanish instructor Monica Frahm said they hope to offer Korean and American Sign Language soon. It offers conversation groups for teens and adults, summer camps for children, private coaching and tutoring, learning in a small group setting with children or adults, and various levels of instruction. Learn more at https://www.davislanguageacademy.com/.
Huku Japanese Bistro, 417 Mace Blvd., Suite D, has a notice in its window that its beer and wine alcohol license is transferring ownership. Don’t worry, though. It “just changed business entities,” not owners, I was told by email.
A reader reports that a Philly cheesesteak shop called He’s from Philly Cheesesteaks is going in where the old Bella Bean Coffee was in downtown Woodland, at 726 Main St. I didn’t have time to go check it out in person and couldn’t find anything online by that name. I’ll let you know if I learn more.
Before messaging me about the status of an ongoing project, please review my paywall-free Google spreadsheet, which includes more than 325 Davis businesses. It’s at https://bit.ly/ DavisBusinesses. The most active tabs are Restaurants Open, Restaurants Closed and Coming Soon.
— Wendy Weitzel is a Davis writer and editor. Her column runs on Sundays. Check for frequent updates on her Comings & Goings Facebook and Instagram accounts. If you know of a business coming or going in the area, email news tips to wendyedit@ gmail.com
Special to The Enterprise Davis Mayor Will Arnold will deliver the “state of Davis” address at the Davis Progressive Business Exchange meeting on Wednesday, April 19.
The meeting is from noon to 1 p.m. at Lamppost Pizza, 1260 Lake Blvd. in
West Davis. Also speaking will be Francesca Wright, candidate for Davis City Council District 3. Contact Bob Bockwinkel at 530-2191896 or e-mail G. Richard Yamagata at yamagata@dcn.org for more information.
We live in one of the best places in the world to grow tomatoes. Why? Tomatoes do grow very well anywhere it’s warm in the summer.
■ We have a very long growing season.
■ It’s one of the sunniest places on earth from June through September.
■ We have no summer rainfall, so foliar diseases are scarcely ever a problem.
■ We have deep, fertile agricultural soils. Our issues are sometimes excessive summer heat, the need for deep watering, and occasional diseases and pests.
Botanically they are Lycopersicon esculentum, in the plant family Solanaceae (the nightshade family). Recently tomatoes have
been reclassified into the genus Solanum.
Fruit or vegetable? In a tax case, as well as by common usage, the tomato has been defined as a vegetable because it is used (usually) for salad or cooking rather than for dessert or snacking.
The plant is a tender perennial grown as an annual. Sometimes they overwinter.
Are the plants poisonous?
Lots of references describe them as containing solanine, which is what is in green potatoes and is toxic, but that is incorrect. Leaves and green fruit of tomatoes contain tomatine, not solanine. It is not very toxic.
Hybrid tomatoes are grown from seed created by hand-pollinating carefully maintained parent lines, chosen for the specific traits they convey to the seedlings: vigor, size of fruit, early
ripening, resistance to specific diseases. Their fruit will be consistent and predictable.
Heirloom tomato seed, saved from open-pollinated parents, is passed down for generations. Touted for flavor, unique appearance, or an interesting history, these regional favorites are mostly from the mid-Atlantic states or the upper Midwest. Many are not suited to our high summer temperatures, and heirlooms may not have disease resistance.
Open-pollinated varieties include heirlooms, but there are some new ones as well. Seed from heirlooms doesn’t come true 100% of the time. Local farmer Brad Gates, who grows heirloom tomatoes for sale to Bay Area restaurants, began selecting these unusual seedlings from his farm when they had unique flavor, interesting color, and good yields, and has introduced them in his Wild Boar tomato plant line.
Heirloom hybrid. Some breeders have used heirloom tomatoes as one parent line in creating
some hybrids, leading to “oldfashioned” flavor combined with better yield and disease resistance.
GMO? There are no genetically modified tomatoes (in the sense of gene insertion) in garden centers.
Meaty is a term heavily used by seed companies to refer to big fruit with large amounts of ‘meaty’ connective tissue, and small juice areas. A slice holds up well on a sandwich. The classic ‘meaty’ tomato is Beefsteak.
What is a beefsteak tomato?
Beefsteak was an actual heirloom variety in the late 1800’s, then disappeared from the nursery trade, and returned as a specific hybrid tomato but also as a marketing term. It seems that this was the classic tomato of the Midwest.
True beefsteak tomatoes won’t pollinate above 85 degrees F. So, you get huge vines but very few fruit.
One exception: Big Beef, an award-winning variety released in 1994, sets fruit early, holds well
in cool weather, and develops great big “slicers” by early July.
Flowering and fruit set begin about four to six weeks after planting. Those first fruit will be ripe for picking 7 to 10 weeks later.
Tomatoes planted in late April produce ripe fruit in July, more heavily in August. Early fruit is often susceptible to blossom-end rot, a disorder that causes the fruit to spoil on the bottom.
Plants that grow in consistently warmer soil, and which are watered deeply, rarely get this problem. This is a good reason to avoid planting early.
A vigorous tomato plant can grow to twelve feet or more, continuing to initiate new growth and flowers, and set and ripen fruit if weather conditions favor it, all summer. This growth habit is referred to as indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes grow for several weeks, then flower and set fruit as they slow or stop new growth. The fruit ripens all at once, and then the plant is done. This has been useful for commercial production as the whole field is harvested at once to send to the cannery for processing.
Dwarf indeterminate tomato plants have very short internode distances, a common mutation in plants that is further selected by breeding. These plants stay very compact but continue flowering and fruiting all season. Miniature tomato varieties are great for containers and even hanging baskets. Do they need bees? No. The flowers self-pollinate via vibration, so motion of the plant in the
breeze achieves it. Bumblebees and carpenter bees do visit and vibrate the flowers, but they aren’t necessary.
Do tomatoes take our heat? With some exceptions, temperatures above 90F will prevent pollination.
It’s common for flowers to fail to set during hot spells in July and August, but they will set when our delta breeze keeps temperatures moderate. Continue deep waterings through the summer and you’ll get great yields in October.
Heat waves as the fruit is ripening can scorch the fruit. You can pick fruit early and ripen it indoors when a heat wave is in the forecast.
How many plants should you grow? A well grown plant with adequate sun can yield 20 to 40 lbs. of tomatoes. A good rule of thumb is to plant one tomato plant per household member, and a couple more if you want to freeze or can extras. Five to six plants of a mix of varieties should give plenty, all the way through October.
When to plant tomatoes? For best results, we plant tomato seedlings from late April through June.
Where to plant tomatoes? Full sun is best: direct sun on the plant for several hours per day.
Do you need to amend the soil for them?
No.
Organic matter does retain moisture and nutrients and makes soil looser and easier to work. Just put it on the surface of the soil as a mulch and it will “self-amend” into your garden.
How about fertilizer and other additives? Ignore all homespun notions!
Typically, nitrogen is the only thing that will be needed.
Epsom salts, Tums tablets, lime, calcium, bone meal, sugar (?!), etc. None of those is necessary, though fortunately most are harmless.
Ignore recommendations for “balanced fertilizer” or high-phosphorus plant foods. Soil tests here show phosphorus almost
always quite high, sometimes excessive. Don’t worry about soil pH.
Just add a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer at the time of planting or use a soluble fertilizer such as fish emulsion shortly thereafter.
Bottom line: Tomatoes aren’t fussy about soil or nutrients in our area.
Garden bed, or raised planter? Soil used to fill raised planters typically drains fast and requires frequent irrigation. Raised beds also need nitrogen each season.
The most common problem is drought stress due to inadequate watering. Vegetables are not drought tolerant. Stress reduces yield. A raised planter may need daily watering. In a regular garden bed, you can water much less often because the soil retains water in the root zone.
Can you grow tomatoes in containers?
The key is the volume of soil. The bigger the pot, the better. It takes at least 1.5 cubic feet of soil, about the amount in a 15-gallon nursery pot, to grow a normal tomato plant. There are miniature varieties that have been created specifically for container cultivation. In any case, you’ll need to water daily in summer.
Get them up off the ground! Options:
■ Pound stakes in the ground and tie the vines up until they reach the top.
■ Buy tomato cages. Look for the heaviergrade ones that are at least 48” high.
■ Make cages from concrete reinforcing wire with a 6” grid (available from feed stores and hardware stores), preferably sixfoot height. Six feet? Yep. An indeterminate tomato fills the cage by mid-July, and cascades back to the ground by September.
Do you need to prune the vines? No. The more total vine you have, the more flowers and fruit you get. Pruning and pinching the plants reduces overall yield.
Garden soil here, typically silty loam or clay loam, can hold several days’ worth of water: water deeply every few days. Containers and raised beds need watering every day or so.
Plants need 3 to 5 gallons of water each week in early growth stages, and indeterminate types use 10 gallons or more per week by mid-summer.
You can reduce the irrigation and get adequate results. You will be sacrificing yield but may improve the flavor.
There’s quite a range of preference about tomato flavor, mostly with respect to acidity and sweetness. Red and pink tomatoes have rich flavor with a good balance of sugar and acid. Yellow and orange tomatoes are usually considered sweeter and less acidic; some people feel they are more digestible.
Heirloom tomatoes are often touted for having better flavor, but hybrids bred for the home garden market are carefully selected for flavor, color, ayield, ability to hold on the vine, slicing, etc.
Bottom line: any tomato you grow in your garden, heirloom or hybrid, will have amazing flavor if you harvest it fully ripe.
■ Early Girl — reliable hybrid with outstanding flavor and yield.
■ New Girl — a new contender that’s out-yielding Early Girl!
■ Champion — big plant, big fruit, heavy producer, good heat tolerance. Better Boy is very similar.
■ Bodacious — new introduction with huge, dense, meaty fruit. Good consistent yields so far. Closest you’ll get to a beefsteak tomato here.
■ Ace — reliable old variety that produces large, sweet, less acidic fruit on a compact plant.
■ Juliet — Miniature plum type with very meaty fruit, great for sauces, salsa, and freezing.
■ SunGold — amazing yield of tangysweet little golden cherry tomatoes. Sweet Million has huge yields of small red fruit.
■ Wild Boar Farms cherries — Barry’s Crazy Cherry, Blue Boar Berries, Napa Chardonnay all yield prodigious quantities of colorful, sweet cherry tomatoes.
■ Principe Borghese — compact plant produces huge numbers of small elongated fruit used for sun drying. Intensely flavored.
■ Fourth of July — prolific, early producer of small, bright red fruit with great flavor. One of the first to ripen.
■ Chef’s Choice Orange — high yields of very large, bright orange, firm, sweet fruit. Outstanding.
■ Lemon Boy
medium-size bright gold fruit, holds well in heat and cold, high yields, very sweet.
Sauce types
■ Costoluto Genovese — rich flavor, very meaty, beautiful; reliable heirloom.
■ Rugby — new hybrid sauce tomato with very large fruit, huge yields, good heat tolerance.
■ Roma and San Marzano are standard sauce tomatoes for our area. Both yield very well. Roma is a compact plant, good for small gardens.
■ Cherokee Purple — one of the bestyielding heirlooms for our area, with dark purplish-red fruit that is very flavorful.
■ Mortgage Lifter — gives reliable yields most years. Large, soft but sliceable fruit.
■ Pineapple — tangy fruit is golden orange with red striations through the flesh. Generally yields well here.
■ Blue Ribbon — 10 — 15 oz perfect red fruit with good yields, great flavor, good heat tolerance. Itz A Keeper — very productive, lots of 6 — 8 oz fruit that is very firm. Good heat tolerance. Excellent for salsa.
Chef’s Choice Orange.
Courtesy photo
But it is the University Mall redevelopment project, approved by the Planning Commission in March, that has, in part, delayed certification for the city’s Housing Element.
That redevelopment project was originally approved by the City Council as a mixed-use project that included more than 200 housing units and those housing units were included in the Housing Element submitted to the state in 2021.
All told, the city is required to provide 2,075 additional dwelling units through 2029 under the Regional Housing Needs Allocation and 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.
The Housing Element submitted to the state by the city of Davis included the 264 housing units initially planned for the University Mall redevelopment project.
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 fell short.
This was not a surprise to the city — at that March 8 Planning Commission meeting, the city’s community development director, Sherri Metzker, acknowledged those units had been counted in the submitted Housing Element.
Less than a month later, the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development notified the city in a letter that the Housing Element would not be certified until the city accounted for those lost units at University Mall.
The state also requested additional information, including an updated timeline on the Nishi student housing project approved by voters nearly five years ago but which has yet to break ground.
Nishi developer John Whitcombe said Monday that progress has been made on reaching an agreement with Union Pacific for a grade-separated crossing from the site to campus.
Construction on the housing itself cannot begin until that crossing is built, he said, but he expects that to come.
As for the loss of housing units that came with the
Enterprise staff writer
Davis developer David
Taormino intends to invoke the Builder’s Remedy for his proposed Palomino Place housing development in East Davis.
In a press release Friday afternoon, Taormino said the site — the 25-acre Horse Ranch property in Wildhorse — is the only housing proposal in Davis that currently qualifies under the Builder’s Remedy as it located within the city limits and surrounded on three sides by residential neighborhoods.
The Builder’s Remedy, part of the state's Housing Accountability Act, applies in cities and counties that lack a certified Housing Element, as is the case in Davis. The state Department of Housing and Community Development notified the city on April 3 that its Housing Element was not yet certified, in part because of the approval of a commercialonly University Mall redevelopment project.
That project was originally approved with 264 housing units — and those units were included in the Housing Element submitted to the state — but the residential component has since been removed, requiring the city to backfill those units before the element can be certified.
Under the state law, jurisdictions without a certified Housing Element are essentially stripped of their authority to deny housing projects with at least 20 percent affordable units.
There are caveats, however; the remedy does not apply to projects proposed for land zoned agricultural and surrounded on at least two sides by land being used for agriculture or resource preservation.
approval of the commercial-only University Mall project, “(city) staff was optimistic that HCD would afford an opportunity to the city to determine where these units would be backfilled, however, it is clear that HCD is requiring that identification of these backfill units must be completed prior to certification,” according to the staff report prepared for Tuesday’s council meeting.
City staff also believe the HCD letter is a “conditional approval letter,” meaning that once the items in the letter are completed, HCD will be able to certify the Housing Element. However, “the single most complex program remaining to be completed prior to certification of the Housing Element is to complete the necessary General Plan amendments and rezones to make up the difference between our required number of available sites zoned to met our Regional Housing Needs Allocation and what the city already has,” the staff report noted.
“Staff is currently evaluating the need for possible additional sites to make up for the University (Mall) units and will bring forward recommendations as part of the zoning update process,” said the staff report. “The zoning update process, while city initiated, requires notification of property owners, public hearing notices to adjacent neighbors, and a public hearing at both the Planning Commission and City Council.”
The City Council on Tuesday will receive a presentation on the Housing Element and HCD's letter and be asked to direct staff to proceed with steps needed to resubmit an amended Housing Element to the state in order to achieve compliance.
Also on Tuesday, the council will consider final adoption of the city’s 2040 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.
The draft plan was presented to the council in December, with council members requesting some
amendments, including to language related to building electrification. That language says electrification at end of useful life shall be voluntary, at least for the first three years of the plan, and a follow-up assessment should be conducted to determine if the voluntary approach is meeting goal targets.
The Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, city staff note, is a “living document” that outlines how the city will address climate change and collaborate with residents and businesses. It “identifies a measurable, enforceable, equitable and implementable path to carbon neutrality, and will also bring Davis into compliance with state legislation related to climate action and General Plan requirements.”
“While it may not be possible to provide certainty about goal attainment at the outset of implementing actions,” the staff report states, “the CAAP structure is in place to evaluate and
monitor progress, update actions and respond to community input.
“The city anticipates that there will be emerging technology, funding and partnering opportunities from regional, state and federal organizations over time to help Davis accomplish climate action and adaptation goals. We also anticipate that changes to regulatory requirements will emerge from the state over the course of the CAAP.”
Tuesday’s council meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the community chambers, 23 Russell Blvd. Meetings are live-streamed at http:// cityofdavis.org/city-hall/ city-council/city-councilmeetings/meeting-videos and televised live on city of Davis Government Channel 16 (available to those who subscribe to cable television).
— Reach Anne TernusBellamy at aternus@ davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.
Palomino Place is currently zoned for agricultural use but would be bounded by Wildhorse residences on the north and west and Covell Boulevard to the south.
Public Relations Manager in Davis CA Plan, coordinate company activities
Create, maintain favorable public images Raise awareness of services provided by company Mail resume: Carewell At Pistachio LLC
1125 Pistachio Court, Davis, CA 95618
NOTICE OF PUBLIC AUCTION BEGINNING ON MAY 12, 2023 OF TAX-DEFAULTED PROPERTY FOR DELINQUENT TAXES
(Made pursuant to Section 3692, Revenue and Taxation Code)
On November 22, 2022, Chad Rinde, County Treasurer-Tax Collector, was directed by the Board of Supervisors of Yolo County, California to conduct a public auction sale. The tax-defaulted properties listed below are subject to the Tax Collector's power of sale.
The sale will be conducted on the Internet at www. bid4assets.com, beginning on Friday, May 12, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. (PDT) and ending on Monday, May 15, 2023, at 12:00PM (PDT). During this public auction, property will be sold to the highest bidder for not less than the minimum bid as shown on this notice. Due diligence research is incumbent upon the bidder. The winning bidder is legally obligated to purchase the property. Any parcel remaining may be reoffered on the Internet at www.bid4assets. com, beginning on Friday, June 9, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. (PDT) and ending on Monday, June 12, 2023, at close times TBD. Any new parties of interest shall be notified in accordance with Revenue and Taxation Code section 3701.
Interested bidders must register online at www. bid4assets.com. A single deposit of $5,000, plus a $35.00 processing fee, is required to bid on auction properties. The deadline to register and submit the deposit is Monday, May 8, 2023. This is an online auction, and the bidding will take place via the internet. If you do not have internet access, computer workstations are available at most public libraries. At the conclusion of the auction, unsuccessful bidders’ deposits and processing fees will be returned to them by Bid4Assets.
Full payment of all purchases is required within 3 business days of the auction (by May 18, 2023, 1:00 p.m. PDT/4:00 p.m. EDT). A payment processing fee of $35.00 will be added to the final price of every parcel successfully purchased by a winning bidder and will be collected by the internet vendor by the settlement deadline. A California property transfer tax, calculated at $1.10 per $1,000, or fraction thereof, will be added to the purchase price. If a winning bidder's payment is not received by the internet vendor by the settlement deadline, the winning bidder's deposit will be forfeited to the County. Please refer to the conditions of sale posted at www.bid4assets.com for more information.
All property is sold as is. The County and its employees are not liable for the failure of any
electronic equipment that may prevent a person from participating in the sale. All sales are final, with the exception that the Tax Collector reserves the right to rescind the sale in the event that an error is discovered that may have affected the due process rights of the former owner. By participation in the Internet Auction, the bidder agrees to cooperate in the rescission of the sale if such an event occurs within one year of the sale of the property.
The right of tax redemption will cease on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. and properties not redeemed will be offered for sale. If the parcel is not sold, the right of redemption will revive and continue up to the close of business on the last business day prior to the next scheduled auction.
If the properties are sold, parties of interest, as defined in California Revenue and Taxation Code Section 4675, have a right to file a claim with the County for any excess proceeds from the sale. Excess proceeds are the amount of the highest bid in excess of the liens and costs of the sale that are paid from the sale proceeds.
More information may be obtained by calling (530) 666-8190 or online at www.yolocounty.org
PARCEL NUMBERING SYSTEM EXPLANATION
The Assessor's Parcel Number (APN), when used to describe property in this list, refers to the assessor's map book, the map page, the block on the map (if applicable), and the individual parcel on the map page or in the block. The assessor's maps and further explanation of the parcel numbering system are available in the Assessor's Office.
The properties that are the subject of this notice are situated in Yolo County, California and are described as follows:
authority
administer
estate under the
Administration of Estates Act (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval Before taking certain very important actions however the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action ) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: 05/25/2023 Time: 9:00 A M Dept : TBD Room:
Located at 1000 Main Street Woodland CA 95695
If you object to the granting of the petition you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney
If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code or
I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct.
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said. “I also competed in the FFA Ag Mechanics group back at Winters High School that gave me exposure to different campuses like Davis, and I really liked how spread out and all the different options UCD had to offer.
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After years of fighting to perform at the Mondavi, they performed for more than 1,000 people last year. “(It was) something we never expected. Not only was it our first one at the Mondavi Center, but it was also the first performance after the pandemic. It made me proud and happy to see so many people, especially my family, enjoy something our group worked so hard to put together.”
Danzantes brings five new regions to the stage this year, highlighting different aspects of the Beauty of Mexico’s culture. Performing for different areas of Mexico, including Jalisco, Chihuahua, Veracruz, and others, all very different and “especial,” says Serna. “All of us have been working hard to make this show something that
can make us and those watching feel proud of our culture.”
Serna has danced Folklorico since she was a high school junior to connect with her culture. “When I moved from Mexico to the U.S., I did not feel like I belonged here and missed my culture so much. Folklorico allowed me to find my identity and that sense of belonging,” she said.
“When I got into UC Davis, I knew that joining Danzantes del Alma was one of my priorities, and it was one of the best things I did. The community and support it has provided me since I was a freshman have allowed me to grow into the person I am today and find a home away from home.”
Comprising dancers from various majors and backgrounds, Danzantes members are Animal Science, Computer Science, Engineering, and Social
Sciences majors. A retention program housed under the Cross-Cultural Center, Danzantes is focused on community building; therefore, they do not require any experience level. “Everyone is welcome to join and learn.
“We are also really proud to allow people to express themselves as they wish, giving everyone the opportunity to choose traditional female or male dance roles or even both if they desire to. Everyone is welcome to come as they are,” Serna said.
Tickets are on sale right now online at www.Mondaviarts.org. The link is also online on Instagram @ucdavis_danzantesdelalma and Facebook @ DanzantesdelAlmadeUCDavis.
— Contact Monica Stark at monica@ davisenterprise.net.
“Just growing up in Winters and going to Davis from time to time to go bowling on a Friday night, seeing the freedom people had or watching everybody scoot around on bicycles, it really got my attention. After working with the UCD Veg Crop group and getting exposure that way, it really expanded my horizons on what I thought you can do in school. All that considered, I thought it would be a really cool place to go to school.”
Like many who come from small towns, Brickey wanted to get away to experience something different in life. Although Winters is just 15 miles away, it took only a quarter before this biosystems engineering major felt as if his hometown were 300 miles away.
Along with the renowned rigor of a UCD
curriculum, Brickey also got involved with the club rugby team. “Rugby was a blast, and that’s another cool thing about UCD. They have a bunch of intramural sports like soccer, rugby, baseball, triathlons, you name it and a lot of clubs too. I played my first two years at school, and it was a great way to meet people. But in the winter quarter of my Sophomore year, I was on academic probation,” Brickey explained his UCD experience. “That shook me and scared me, but it was a big turning point in my college experience. I really committed to it because I didn’t want to lose out on this opportunity.”
From the diversity of people he interacted with on a daily basis, to the excellence UCD demanded, Brickey changed the trajectory of his educational career so the college and all it offered wouldn’t slip through his fingers. He ended up switching his major to chemical engineering at the end of his junior year and spent almost more time in the library than he would at home.
After a handful of
internships and participating in engineering clubs, Brickey graduated in June of 2014. Nowadays, he’s a project and gas transmission manager at PG&E and maintains the best place to eat in Davis is the Segundo Dining Commons.
“My advice for people coming into Davis is to look at what gives you the most options. Especially in a place like Davis, you’re committing your time and resources, so look at what gives you the most for your time and effort. Be open to pushing yourself to where you’re uncomfortable and then some. Also, be kind and humble so you’re teachable, and be open to those around you because there’s so much you can soak in,” said Brickey. “It’s a time in your life to be open and it’s a beautiful opportunity to be in a college where there’s so much exposure and diversity and a chance to challenge what you think is possible.”
One last warning from this Aggie Alumnus is that one should always be careful because one might just meet their significant other at UCD, as he did.
Special to The Enterprise
Eighties tribute band Tainted Love will headline the June 4 Davis Pride Festival. The music is part of a weekend of activities in downtown Davis that celebrate International LGBTQ+ Month.
“A Tainted Love performance is like reliving the ’80s,” its promotional material states. “The band will take you back in time while keeping the party going.”
Based in San Francisco, Tainted Love — the Best of the ’80s Live performs at major clubs, ballrooms and rock venues across the country. Its high-energy show has a loyal fan base, and is appreciated by every generation.
The band’s name is inspired by the 1981 Soft Cell hit “Tainted Love,” but it plays a wide variety of hits from the 1980s, including “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, “Jesse’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, “Don’t you Forget About Me” by Simple Minds, and “Beat It” by Michael Jackson. Other covers include songs by Billy Idol,
Bon Jovi, John (Cougar) Mellencamp, Madonna, Phil Collins, Prince, The Police, Van Halen and others.
The music festival, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. that Sunday, includes several local and international bands, choirs and a drag queen revue. It’s just part of the ninth annual Davis Pride Festival and related events. The community-focused, family-friendly weekend includes a skate night, fun run, music festival, drag queens, vendors and more – June 3 and 4.
The events, produced by the Davis Phoenix Coalition, follow the theme “I am Davis Pride.”
This year, Davis Pride’s presenting sponsor is BluPeak Credit Union. The highlights of the weekend include:
n Skate with Pride, starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 3. The free night will include a disc jockey, disco lights and food trucks. Skating will be under the Davis Farmers Market Pavilion in
Tainted Love will bring the best of 1980s music to the Davis Pride Festival on June 4.
Central Park, Fourth and C streets, downtown.
n Run for Equality at 8 a.m. on Sunday, June 4. It includes a 5K and 1K run/walk from Central
The Lisa Project, a multisensory exhibit that tells the story of child abuse from a child’s perspective, is coming to Yolo County.
The Yolo County Children’s Alliance Child Abuse Prevention Council is bringing the project to three locations this week, including Thursday, April 20, from noon to 6 p.m., at the Veterans Memorial Center in Davis.
Participants will listen to an audio narration of a child as they tell their story of abuse and, while listening, walk through several rooms where they will be able to experience the different environments where abuse can happen.
“(P)articipants learn that child abuse does not dis-
criminate against age, gender, race, or socioeconomic status; it tends to be generational, cyclical, leaves life-long scars, and often remains a secret,” a press release announcing the project said.
The goal of bringing The Lisa Project to Yolo County “is to raise awareness of child abuse and help illustrate the need in our community for us to collectively take responsibility and better protect our children, together,” according to the Child Abuse Prevention Council.
In addition to the Davis date, The Lisa Project will also be at the West Sacramento Community Center on Wednesday, April 19, from noon to 6 p.m. and Woodland Community College on Friday, April 21, also from noon to 6 p.m.
The Lisa Project experience will be accompanied by a resource fair in each city so that participants will be able to reflect on their experience, learn about and utilize local organizations’ supports and resources, and know how to take action if needed.
According to The Lisa Project website, the experience is rated PG-13 due to some mature content. Children under the age of 13 accompanied by guardians are allowed to walk through the exhibit but will not be given an audio device. “Visually there is nothing disturbing or grotesque in any way,” the web site advises.
Learn more at https:// thelisaproject.org.
Park. Registration is $25 until May 28 and $30 after.
n A community fair kicking off the Davis Pride Festival at 10 a.m. on June 4. It continues until 5
p.m. in Central Park with educational booths, food, drink, and vendors coordinated with the assistance of Davis Craft and Vintage Market.
n A Ride with Pride bike party ride starting at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 23, from Central Park.
Other activities taking shape, include:
n Volunteers painting rainbows crosswalks around Davis’ Central Park early on the morning of Sunday, May 28.
n An LGBTQ+ job fair, happy hour, pride brunch and other events in May and June.
n Businesses hosting local pride events, to raise money for and promote Davis Pride. To host an event at a business or to learn more, visit https://www. davispride.org/host.
For more information about the event, becoming a sponsor, exhibitor or volunteer, visit https://www.davispride.org.
To learn details as they unfold, follow Davis Pride on Facebook and Instagram.
Enterprise staff
NORTHRIDGE —
Sarah Nakahara andAnna Dethlefson delivered for the UC Davis softball team Friday.
The Aggie players combined for four hits in their sweep over CSU Northridge in a Big West Conference doubleheader.
UCD (10-4 in the Big West, 24-12 overall), which entered Friday’s games in second place, posted 3-1 and 3-0 wins over CSU.
Nakahara, a junior, had two of the Aggies’ seven hits. The Matadors had six hits in the contest.
Dethlefson, also a junior went 2-for-4 at the plate in the 3-0 win over against CSU Northridge.
Seven was a lucky number for the Aggies, as they had that number of hits in this game.
Bella Pahulu, along with UCD teammates Grace Kilday, Sarah Starks, Rylie Costa and Sommer Kisling, had a hit each.
In the circle, Kenedi Brown continued her dominance for the Aggies. The junior struck out 11 Matador batters, tossed a onehitter and walked three.
Brown improves her record to 13-5 this season.
The Aggies and CSUN wrap up their three-game series Saturday at noon.
Elijah Pepper has prepared his journey for a career as an NBA player.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound junior guard on the UC Davis men’s basketball team for the last three seasons has a strict schedule that allows him to continue working hard toward his dream and still attend classes.
“He’s had a dream from being a young kid,” said UC Davis head coach Jim Les, who played in the NBA during the 1990s. “I know that when we recruited him, he had talked about... one of his goals and dreams as a basketball player was to give himself a chance to play and compete on that level.”
Les referred to a conversation he had with Pepper after the 2022-23 season ended in March, when the Aggies fell in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament in
Henderson, Nev. UCD finished its season with an 11-8 in conference and an 18-14 overall record.
“We talked about where he was, and where he was at and what his future looked like,” Les said. “We both came to the conclusion that this is a realistic chance and opportunity. And, what can we do to put him in the best light to get over that chance of fulfilling his goal.”
Part of that goal is for Pepper to enter his name into this year’s NBA Draft, which will be June 22. He could go undrafted, and still play his senior season for UCD for the 2023-24 season.
“The new NBA rules give him that opportunity to declare, keep his eligibility and get some chances to work out for some teams,” Les said.
After a long collegiate season, Pepper is back in the basketball workout mode.
Pepper is in the school’s gym at 8 a.m. during the week. Then he attends his classes throughout the morning.
As the afternoon hits, Pepper hits the UCD’s weight room and back in the gym to work on his craft.
“I’m really pleased with how it’s going so far,” Les said. “I think he came back after spring break energized. Now he’s got about three, four weeks to get himself ready, get in great shape and fine tune his game when he does get those calls and those opportunities.”
Les noted that NBA teams expressing interest in Pepper may hold individual and team
See PEPPER, Page B8
As an immigrant student and eldest sibling, navigating the higher education system felt like stumbling alone in the dark with nobody to guide me. Facing the numerous hurdles in an inexplicably murky transfer process was no easy feat.
Thankfully, with hard work and some luck, I made it through. Last year, my dreams came true when I graduated from UC Davis with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Yet, the transfer path for so many of my friends and peers is defeating, with only 2.5% of us transferring within two years and 23% within four.
I experienced firsthand how current transfer processes fail to center students. After high school, I began taking classes at Mission College and De Anza Community College in order to save money. I graduated from Mission with an associate degree for transfer, or ADT, in psychology and another in liberal arts with an emphasis in natural sciences and mathematics.
When I began researching transfer requirements to schools within the University of California and California State University systems, I quickly discovered that it’s confusing and difficult to understand what courses count for different schools, especially when attending multiple community colleges. It’s hard to find accurate transfer information. And while individual colleges have requirements specific to major, general education and number of units, information about each is found in different places.
Ultimately, mapping out the transfer credit process — as a student — was overwhelming, unclear and stressful.
Despite meeting with advisors in person, many students end up taking longer to earn a degree and transfer because even their advisors are unclear or confused about the requirements they needed. As I was exploring which four-year university I wanted to attend, I found myself having to complete separate major requirements for each school I was applying to, on top of the different general education requirements for UC and CSU schools. This packed my schedule and needlessly increased costs.
Even with all the additional work, time and money — when it came time to apply and get admitted to universities — I didn’t meet the requirements for every school.
A more streamlined process with a clear set of courses that shared the same numerals across campuses would have helped me avoid taking extra classes or applying to universities that couldn’t accept me. And the students who received incorrect advice wouldn’t have had to take additional semesters to complete unnecessary courses.
We all could have applied to every school we were interested in, instead of being limited because of a convoluted transfer maze.
The stressors of my transfer experience motivated me to become involved in transfer student advocacy after I was accepted to UC Davis. Through the Office of the Transfer Student Representative, I learned about other students’ difficulties and discovered that many of their experiences were worse than mine.
It is important they understand the challenges faced by transfer students and work to improve transfer. That could begin by fully implementing Assembly Bill 928, the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2021. This law, authored by Assemblyman Marc Berman, creates a streamlined transfer pathway that supports students from the moment we enroll at college and helping provide the curriculum, resources and tools needed to succeed.
Transfer students know firsthand why change is needed and why a clearer pathway will help millions of young people entering California’s higher education system. There are many forms of pressure placed on college students, and getting students to where they want to be — or where they deserve to be — shouldn’t be one of them.
— Momina Nadeem is a former transfer student who graduated from Mission College and UC Davis. She wrote this for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a 2023-24 budget in January, he acknowledged that the revenue estimates made six months earlier were way too optimistic and that the state had evolved from a nearly $100 billion surplus to a $22.5 billion deficit.
Never mind. Nine months into the current fiscal year, it’s evident that revenue, principally from personal income taxes, will fall well short of that downward revision. The deficit could hit $30 billion as he and legislative leaders begin to focus on a final version for adoption in June.
Through February, the administration reported, revenues were running nearly $5 billion below expectations and they fell short by nearly $1 billion more in March.
The numbers bolster contentions by the Legislature’s budget analyst, Gabe Petek, that the state’s fiscal situation was unhealthier than Newsom was admitting. In his initial response to the January budget, Petek said, “Our estimates suggest that there is a good chance that revenues will be lower than the administration’s projections for the budget window, particularly in 2022-23 and
2023-24.”
The next stop for the annual budget process will come in May, when Newsom must unveil revised revenue estimates and appropriations. The worsening revenue data set the stage for what could be contentious negotiations with a June 15 constitutional deadline for passing a budget.
The essential problem is that when Newsom was forecasting an immense surplus and bragging that “no other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this,” he and the Legislature spent much of it on rebates to taxpayers and expansions of programs, especially those benefiting the poor.
Although Newsom insisted at the time that much of that spending was one-time in nature and therefore wouldn’t make unsustainable longterm commitments, it nevertheless raised expectations of
permanency. Thus, when Newsom offered a new budget in January, he clawed back many of those allocations, particularly those that hadn’t yet been spent, sparking complaints from wouldbe recipients.
As revenues continue to fall short, expectations will have to shrink further, the competition for money among budget stakeholders will become more intense and the pressure on Newsom and legislators will increase.
They may be tempted to do something that Newsom says he doesn’t want to do and that Petek says would be foolhardy: tap into the state’s “rainy day” reserves to relieve stakeholder pressure.
The reserves are meant to be used during a severe economic downturn, but California’s fiscal problem is occurring during a relatively prosperous post-pandemic recovery. The shortfall in revenues is occurring because of the state’s narrowly based revenue system, one that is largely dependent on earnings of high-income taxpayers, particular in the shaky technology sector.
The stock market has reacted negatively to the
to address these challenges. Leadership that can collaborate effectively, build coalition and community engagement in order to successfully steer Davis through some difficult decisions needed to secure our collective futures.
Federal Reserve System’s interest rate increases, which are meant to combat inflation. Declines in the market manifest themselves in lower taxable earnings by investors who are such a large factor in the revenue stream. The system is so narrowly based that lower incomes for just a handful of wealthy Californians can have a big effect on revenues.
Dipping into reserves to cover the revenue shortfall would weaken their ability to cushion a recession if and when that occurs, which is why Petek strongly discourages Newsom and legislators from succumbing to stakeholder pressure by using them.
A deficit north of $30 billion, which is a real possibility, is no joke and coming after such huge — and probably irresponsible surplus estimates — poses a serious political dilemma for politicians who would much prefer to be showering money on their constituents as they did last year.
CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to Commentary.
Donna Neville on May 2 to the Davis City Council.
Norb Kumagai DavisLeading by listening – that summarizes why I am supporting Francesca Wright for Davis City Council District 3.
When looking at the candidates for city council, at first blush, it appears that both candidates have agreed on what are the major issues on the minds of voters and have taken many similar positions on matters of policy. But what sets them apart more than policy differences is their approach. Francesca is a successful change agent, leading the successful police reform program as cofounder of Yolo People Power. Her ability to build consensus by finding common ground was proven when she worked with then Mayor Robb Davis and others in the community to reimagine public safety and policing, and the result of those efforts include both greater transparency and accountability for our policing as well as the new Social Services and Housing department.
Davis is at a crossroads where the same old, same old isn’t working to address our faltering infrastructure, lack of affordable housing and meet the challenge of climate change. New leadership is needed
President
Leadership that starts by listening to its citizens. A leader like Francesca Wright.
Vote for Francesca Wright.
Steve Murphy DavisAlthough I don’t reside in District 3, I strong support Donna Neville who is running to fill Lucas Frerich’s vacant City Council seat.
I’m impressed with Donna’s fierce advocacy for our mentally ill population who reside in Davis, through her leadership on The Board of NAMI here in Yolo County. My longtime dear friend, Bobby Schelen, was also a fierce advocate of the mentally ill as well.
Donna strikes me as a “problem solver” with her experience in The California Legislative’s Analysts’ Office making recommendations and developing programs for local governments throughout our state to functionally more effectively and efficiently.
Please join me and The city of Davis Firefighters Local 3494 in electing
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
Every year, the U.S. government writes Israel a blank check for at least $3.8 billion to fund Israel’s violence against the Palestinian people. The Israeli military then uses our tax dollars to kill Palestinians, destroy their homes and steal their native land, in violation of U.S. laws.
How much of this annual $3.8 billion in military funding do people in our city pay through federal tax dollars? What are the community needs that it could fund instead? In Davis, Calif., $919,158 to Israel’s weapons could instead fund:
n 109 Households with public housing for a year
n 319 Children receiving free or lowcost healthcare
n 10 Elementary school teachers
n 2,616 Households with solar electricity produced for a year
n 24 Students with their loan debt cancelled
n 799,268 N95 respirator masks
(Source: US Campaign for Palestinian Rights)
Sherrill Futrell DavisBuilding, 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/
Sometimes I dine in fancy restaurants with starched white tablecloths, napkins and professional waiters; waiters who don’t ask me throughout the meal, “How is your food so far, sir?” To pestering waiters, I want to say, “If I am capable of ordering a meal, I am also capable of calling you to the table and telling you if the soup is cold, the fish is old, or the bread is stale.”
That is an occasional indulgence and reminds me of the time when, between journalistic gigs, I worked at a high-end restaurant in New York. It even featured a big band, Les Brown and His Band of Renown.
My wife and I frequently dine somewhere local, usually a pubtype eatery. After a while, you learn what they are good at and order accordingly. You are resigned to vinyl tablecloths and flimsy paper napkins.
And I resign myself to being asked at least three times some variant of “How is it so far?” The answer, which like other diners I never have the moral courage to voice, should be, “Go away! You are spoiling my dinner with an insincere inquiry about the comestibles. I am eating, aren’t I?”
Maybe these waiters should ask the chef how the food is for starters — it is too late by the time it gets to the table.
The other dinner-spoiling intrusion, if you don’t have a professional, is the young waiter who wants you to be their life coach. It begins something like this, “I am not really a waiter. I am studying sociology. Do you think I should switch my major to journalism?”
I am tempted to reply, “I don’t know anything about sociology and it is damn hard to make a
living in journalism these days. But there is a huge shortage of plumbers. You might try an apprenticeship somewhere and give up college.”
Give up waiting tables, too, I hope.
Please don’t misunderstand; I love restaurants. It cheers me up to eat out. I rank towns with a vibrant restaurant culture as high on the quality-of-life scale.
Iam writing this from Greece, where a cornucopia of restaurant choices beckons everywhere, from avgolemono soup to taramasalata. I am all in. When your mouth is full, the awful business of asking you how the chef’s skills are that day doesn’t seem to be part of the continental culture. That, I find, is an egregious weakness of the English-speaking nations. But the business of interrogating you about your breakfast, lunch or dinner isn’t confined to when you are at the table. If you
make a reservation online, using one of the booking services, you will be pursued afterward, sometimes for days, by annoying questions about the restaurant’s food and ambiance, and the service.
The multiple-choice questions follow a formula like this, “On a scale of one to 10, how would you rate your dining experience?” How do you explain that you loved the meal except for flies diving into your plate? Is that a one because of the flies, or a 10 because of the food? Splitting the difference with a five explains neither the failure nor the success.
A restaurant in Washington once specialized in delicious roast beef sandwiches. They were the creation of the man who owned the restaurant, and he had cuts of beef, a sauce, and rolls all made for the purpose.
But once I can remember, there was a distinct problem: A
rat appeared next to a colleague when he was tucking into the sandwich.
How do you rate that dining experience when Yelp sends its questionnaire? Do you rate the food as a resounding 10 but the ambiance as one? How would the number-crunchers rate that in the overall dining experience?
Knowing how they like to seek averages, my suspicion is the roast beef eatery would have rated a five.
I read somewhere that during the Siege of Paris in 1870-71, an entrecote (a sirloin steak) was a slice of a rat. For years, I wondered about that place in Washington and its excellent roast beef sandwiches.
I would rather eat with an annoying server than a fraternizing rodent. Bon appetit!
— Llewellyn King is the executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Special to The Enterprise
Since our founding 10 years ago in response to a brutal anti-gay hate crime, the Davis Phoenix Coalition has been working to stop hate crimes in our region and promote a world where everyone is safe and supported in who they are. Our mission is to bring traditionally marginalized communities into the center and increase understanding of their experiences and struggles.
Recently, we have been caught up in a campaign of disinformation about our trans community, and especially our trans children. Because we facilitate peer-support groups for LGBTQ+ parents, parents of LGBTQ+ kids, and LGBTQ+ teens, we have been portrayed as imposing “gender ideology” on children, holding sinister “secret” meetings, and “luring” children down a path to unsupervised medical interventions.
This local campaign is closely tied to a national attack on trans children’s rights, which seeks to cut off these children’s access to life-saving, genderaffirming care, bar these children from sports teams that match their gender
By Mel Gurtov Special to The Enterprseidentity, and even prosecute parents who affirm their trans children for child endangerment.
In states such as Texas, Florida, Idaho, and Iowa, families with trans children have been essentially made outlaws. Children risk punishment for using the bathroom that matches their gender identity. Parents risk losing custody of their children for seeking gender-affirming care to alleviate their kids’ depression and lower their risk of suicide.
This campaign against trans families is accompanied by a flood of “alternative facts”: unscientific studies that seek to undermine established science, testimonials from “detransitionsers” that wildly inflate their numbers (without examining the role of transphobia in these “detransitions”), myths about children starting hormones before puberty and undergoing surgeries without parental consent, and fearmongering tales that misrepresent Drag Queen Storytimes at libraries and schools as weirdly sexual bacchanals.
French President Emmanuel
Macron and European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen just visited China. You can bet Joe Biden and his national security team are gnashing their teeth over Macron’s Gaullist diplomacy.
So are many Europeans. It’s not just the predictably fruitless attempt to persuade the Chinese to help negotiate an end to the war. It’s also Macron’s touting of French strategic autonomy, in tune with Xi Jinping’s longstanding aim to drive a wedge between Europe and the US.
Macron allowed Xi to get away with saying nothing consequential on Ukraine—no criticism of Russia, no commitment to a peace process, not even a promise to make a phone call to Zelensky—while simply repeating the mantra about how awful use of nuclear weapons would be and how essential is humanitarian aid to war victims.
Washington must be particularly chagrined that Macron would give Beijing the gift of promising to stay out of the tensions over Taiwan. Macron had the audacity, moreover, to speak for Europe when he said “the great risk” Europe faces is that it “gets caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy.”
In an interview, he was quite
Amoment at Feb. 6’s Board of Education meeting perfectly encapsulated the disconnect between this antitrans narrative and the reality of trans kids’ lives. At the podium, parent who represents a small group of Davisites opposed to gender-affirming policies railed against DPC’s teen group, accusing us of having a “secret” Discord server and exposing kids without their parents’ knowledge to a drag workshop that was “sexual” and featured “adult entertainment.”
In the audience, teens who had participated in this workshop (and were seated in Community Chambers next to their parents) looked at each other in wide-eyed astonishment, then broke into giggles. This parent’s description of the drag workshop in no way resembled the event they attended.
In her two-minute public comment, the parent got several facts wrong.
The Discord server is, in fact, run by the Sacramento LGBT Community Center and is supervised by qualified employees. The drag workshop was supplied with wigs and costumes by a teen’s
specific: “The question Europeans need to answer … is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] on Taiwan? No. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.” That unqualified support of the One China principle was surely music to Xi’s ears.
Fortunately, von der Leyen is not on the same page as Macron — not on world order, not on Taiwan and Ukraine, not on human rights. Prior to the trip, she issued a blunt statement about China’s efforts to establish a “new world order.” As reportedby the Wall Street Journal: “Citing China’s backing for Russia in the Ukraine war, its Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative and its assertiveness in multilateral bodies, Ms. von der Leyen said the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘clear goal is a systemic change of the international order with China at its center.’”
And in that new order, “individual rights are subordinated to national sovereignty. Where security and economy take prominence over political and civil rights.”
She’s on the mark: Xi Jinping’s
parent, and many others asked how they could help. While drag, like dressing up for Halloween, can be sexual, responsible adults do not allow drag — or Halloween — events for children to be sexual or inappropriate.
Our teen group meetings are teen-only spaces to help kids feel their privacy is protected, therefore all adults who work with the kids undergo standard vetting of fingerprinting and reference checks. All meetings must be supervised by two qualified adults who, like teachers and counselors, are obligated mandated reporters if our teens indicate they may be in danger. To accuse us of endangering children is patently false.
Unfortunately, not only is our organization being attacked in this anti-trans campaign, but the antitrans group has also been badgering numerous local leaders and public servants over the past months. Our city council, our public library, our teachers and school district, and even our police chief have been bombarded with a stream of emails either demanding information about every LGBTQ+-affirming policy or action that takes place in our city, or
“Global Security Initiative,” announced several months ago, proposes a development model in which regime security, internal controls, and divorce from Western commercial and financial institutions are central to a country’s stability and prosperity. The model would seem to be China’s answer to Joe Biden’s democracy-vs.-autocracy framework, which Xi explicitly rejected when they held their summit meeting last November.
On Taiwan, von der Leyen again departed from Macron’s hands-off statement. She told Xi: “The threat of, or the use of, force to change the status quo is unacceptable, and it is important that the tensions that might occur should be resolved through dialogue.”
Neither her declaration nor Macron’s stance kept China from carrying out a three-day military exercise near Taiwan, evidently in retaliation for Kevin McCarthy’s hosting of Taiwan’s president.
As for the war in Ukraine, von der Leyen took a much tougher and more principled stance than Macron. In the same speech I mentioned, she was critical of China’s peace plan, saying that any proposal “which would in effect consolidate Russian annexations” of Ukrainian territory — and that is precisely what China’s proposal does — “is simply not a viable plan.”
“How China continues to interact with Putin’s war will
repeating the same talking points about how children in Davis are under threat of “gender ideology” and a sinister campaign to lead them into gender transition. This obsessive stream of correspondence has taken up enormous time and labor to address, diverting these public officials from their regular duties.
We strongly object to this ongoing false information about our work, and the familiar strain of homo- and transphobia that underlie it. The LGBQ+ community has needed to overcome decades of prejudice and an accusation of “the gay agenda” to “turn” everyone gay in order to access basic civil rights such as the right to marry, to raise and adopt children, and to be out in the workplace without discrimination. The insistence that we have an “agenda” to “turn kids trans” is nothing but these old biases rebranded for the 21st century, as if supporting trans kids in a world full of transphobia is pushing cisgender kids into a trans identity.
We are grateful to the many, many Davisites who have stood by us as we advocate for LGBTQ+ kids in our district — as we would for all marginalized
kids — and who continue to show up by the dozens when this small group organizes an anti-trans demonstration at our school board meetings. We are similarly grateful that our local leadership continues to stand by the LGBTQ+ community.
In Roseville, the Board of Education withdrew support for The Landing Spot, a group that supported LGBTQ+ youth and was founded by the pastor of the Loomis Basin Congregational Church of Christ, under pressure from anti-trans activists.
We are proud to be part of a city that consistently rejects bigotry and instead embraces and defends difference.
We invite any members of the Davis community who are unfamiliar with our work to learn more about what we do for all under-represented people, and we will continue to serve our LGBTQ+ community based on truth and science, and with the wellbeing of children as our top priority.
— Anoosh Jorjorian is the director of The Davis Phoenix Coalition’s Yolo Rainbow Families. She wrote this on behalf of the board of the Davis Phoenix Coalition.
be a determining factor for EUChina relations,” she added. That was not at all Macron’s message to Xi, probably because he and the many business executives who accompanied him are more concerned about trade and the EU’s trade deficit with China (topping $400 billion) than about human rights. Reportedly, Macron said nothing about Xinjiang or Hong Kong.
In short, the Chinese have plenty of reasons to believe their lavish attention to Macron paid off. They drew him to their side on the war and Taiwan without giving anything of substance in return.
From China’s standpoint, the EU visit marks another diplomatic win over weak links in the U.S. chain of partners — such as Saudi Arabia, whose normalization of ties with Iran was brokered by China, and Brazil,
which has agreed with China to use their own currencies rather than the dollar in trade. Now Beijing can add France to the list.
But we should not exaggerate China’s diplomatic achievements, as some observers are doing. It has had plenty of setbacks. Its Belt and Road Initiative has increasingly made China a merchant of debt, for lender and borrower alike; its hopedfor investment treaty with Europe is a dead letter; its attempt to disrupt US security alliances in Europe and Asia has failed; and its abuses of human rights have been widely condemned.
So, while the French fared poorly in China, let’s also point out when China has fared poorly, in Europe and elsewhere.
— Mel Gurtov, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Portland State University and blogs at In the Human Interest.
‘Strategic autonomy,’ French style Commentary
Very soon my husband and I will leave on a trip that is intriguing and unexpected and will probably make us cry.
We will fly to Salt Lake City and then drive three hours to Rock Springs, Wyo., population 23,000, to visit an empty building; specifically, its basement.
I’ve seen pictures of the site, so I can tell you that the building, a former eatery, is far from imposing. The second floor has been a small hotel and the main floor a modest restaurant. I’ve seen photos of the basement, which is windowless and dark.
The structure is currently for sale.
Our interest in this building sparked a month ago when our daughter, a historian specializing in Chinese immigration to the U.S., was contacted by a fellow researcher regarding Wing Lew’s service for America in World War II.
Wing Lew, who died in 2002, was the much-loved grandfather to my daughter and father-inlaw to me.
Because American immigration policies disfavored the Chinese, Wing got a hard start in this country. He was held on Angel Island alone in 1931, at age 9, for 34 days before being
released to his father, Lew Fook. His father brought him to Wyoming, where Wing was again left alone, at age 13, after Lew Fook took ill and died.
The researcher located Wing’s draft card which offered a new piece of data: the Rock Springs address where he lived before he joined the army.
We knew he had spent his teen years washing dishes and living in the basement of a restaurant owned by distant family members, part of his sad struggle to survive in America, where his schooling ended after only three years. Now we knew exactly where that was: 118 K St., Rock Springs, Wyoming.
“I washed the dishes,” he told my daughter in an interview. “I would stand on a milk carton and wash the dishes. We didn’t have dishwashers then. I would then move the milk carton, climb up and rinse the dishes. I would move the milk carton to
dry the dishes. I was short. I had to use the milk carton.”
And, after the dishes, I imagine he went to sleep in the basement with no one even to say goodnight.
Deprived children sometimes grow up to be angry at the world, but Wing was the astonishing opposite, a person of great kindness, devoted to his family, willing to work nonstop to help them thrive. By the time I met him, he had secured a comfortable living by working as a cook and then a restaurant owner. All three of his children graduated from college, my future husband from UC Davis.
My husband, who would have made a good historical researcher himself, quickly looked up the address in Rock Springs and discovered that the restaurant where Wing spent his hardscrabble teen years is currently for sale. $239,000 will buy you a building dating from 1911 that has been incarnated as a restaurant at least three times by different owners.
My contribution to this story was a suggestion.
“Let’s go there,” I said.
“I might cry,” my husband responded, looking hesitant, but within five minutes he was composing a friendly email to the
realtor who listed the building. He explained that although we do not want to buy the restaurant, he hoped the realtor would let us look at it.
Then he waited. Two days, three. What realtor ignores his email? Finally, Bob asked me, “Do you think race might have something to do with it?”
A few minutes later he said, “We don’t need to use the listing agent.” He started paging through photos of realty companies in Rock Springs and chose one that looked female-dominated and friendly. One of their people promptly agreed to let us in.
Chinese immigrants have major history in Rock Springs. One of the most horrifying incidents of violence against Chinese occurred there in 1885. White settlers murdered 28 Chinese, injured 15 more, and pushed most of the Chinese population to flee, after which they burned their homes.
Some returned.
As my husband continues to research the town, he has discovered three current residents with his last name including one person, a restaurant owner, who has both the same first and last name as my father-in-law.
We plan to visit the restaurant building, especially the basement. We will also visit a memorial related to the massacre and a couple of local archives staffed by folks who have been very welcoming via email. We might even meet some of the people named “Lew” but if they are relatives, they would be very, very distant.
The history of Rock Springs is lengthy and complex. I think of the Chinese Massacre of 1885; of Butch Cassidy, who supposedly got his name after working as a butcher in Rock Springs; of the coal industry that was celebrated in 1929 by a special town arch; and of life there today, where three restaurants in town seem to be owned by Chinese.
Rock Springs is a small town. Wyoming is a big state but our least populous and possibly most conservative. I hope we’ll feel comfortable during our visit.
I’ve traveled to Wyoming before to enjoy the outdoors at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
This time will be different, personal and, if we are lucky, a moment of discovery.
— Marion Franck has lived in Davis for more than 40 years. Reach her at marionf2@gmail. com.
Death is inevitable, but it does not always need to become a tragic string of crises.
More often than not, people living with a life-limiting illness will say, “I wish I knew about hospice earlier.”
Healthcare systems are accustomed to caring for patients with a combination of life-altering illnesses including cancer, Alzheimer’s, renal or liver disease, AIDS, and congestive heart failure. Often, physicians reach a point where they cannot cure a person with multiple chronic serious illnesses.
When those curative approaches are no longer effective, the person may become weaker and weaker, less mobile, and unable to keep up with appointments. They may slowly lose their appetite. They begin having falls, infections, or mini-crises which land them in the local emergency room.
Eventually, they return home or are admitted to a nursing facility for rehab or other therapy.
Typically, these patients never really get better.
Because they are never fully cured of illness, the cycle of hospital to home to hospital begins. This cycle is not only costly, but emotionally, physically, and spiritually draining.
Still, both the doctor and patient can be reluctant to contact hospice because they feel like they are giving up. Sometimes, they simply do not understand what hospice is really about. Physicians do their patients a disservice when they say, “There is nothing more I can do.” There is always something more. It is called hospice . . . an alternative approach to care that is
Andy Jones
BySpecial to The Enterprise
1. Space Travel. When the space station Skylab lost its orbit and then disintegrated in 1979, its debris scattered across which of the following areas: Western Australia, western China, western Europe, or the western United States?
2. Great Americans. Born in South Carolina in 1965, what nationally known comedian taught us that
focused on helping the patient live fully and comfortably for as long as they can.
If a physician waits too long to talk about hospice with a patient, the patient may miss out on all of the benefits that hospice can provide. Patients should not wait for their doctor to bring up the topic of hospice. If you live with advancing chronic illness and are thinking about how you want your life to go, you might turn the table and ask: “Hey doc, would you be surprised if I died in the next year?” This is a bold and proactive way to open an honest dialogue with your doctor and get the kind of support you need.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, only half of Medicare recipients who die receive hospice care.
Contemporary research conducted by academic medical centers including Harvard Medical School, Stanford University, and the National Institutes of Health have clearly illustrated the benefits of hospice care for patients who access this level of support earlier in their diagnosis. In brief, studies have brought to light the following set of facts:
n With hospice, you may live longer.
Usually, a person begins to feel better once the pain and symptoms of illness are better controlled. According to a study in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, hospice extended life an average of 29 days. Some patients who initially received a six-month prognosis begin to stabilize with good hospice care and have lived an additional two or three years while remaining
Former hospice patient and Davis resident, Jim Northup, lived with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for 40 years. He originally said the decision to come onto hospice in 2017 was difficult at first. “I connected the word hospice with the certainty of dying,” he said. “I would tell others who may need hospice to get over the stigma and sign up for care sooner.”
on hospice.
By careful management and treatment of symptoms, and care for physical and emotional well-being, patients felt better, which may have given them the will and fortitude to live longer.
n Hospice is a fully covered benefit.
Hospice is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans. YoloCares provides care for hospice appropriate patients, at no cost, regardless of their insurance coverage or ability to pay.
Hospice patients receive physician services, nursing support, a nursing aide, social worker, spiritual support (if wanted), a professionally trained volunteer, all prescriptions related to their diagnosis, durable medical equipment (oxygen, hospital bed, adult briefs, etc.), and 13 months of grief support for loved ones ... all at no cost to the patient or family.
n Hospice is not just for
people with cancer.
Care is available for a wide range of people who have decided to no longer pursue a cure for their illness, and instead seek comfort, symptom management and quality of life. These patients have lifelimiting illnesses such as end-stage heart, lung or renal disease; dementia; ALS; stroke, and neurological disorders, among others. Less than half of hospice patients have a cancer diagnosis.
n Most hospice care occurs at home.
Hospice is not a place, but a philosophy of care that involves the patient’s entire support system.
Nearly all patients are cared for in their home, or the place they call home, surrounded by the people and things they love. The care team comes to you — in your home, along with the equipment needed, medications and supplies, all covered under the hospice benefit.
n You stay in control. The end of life is a very personal experience with a lot of medical needs. Once in hospice, a patient’s goals and values are incorporated into their care. Patients will be asked, “What brings you joy?” and “What is most important to you?” The care team wants to know what a good day looks like to you. Working together with you, they design the care you want, in the manner you choose, on your terms.
n Signing up does not mean giving up all medical care.
Hospice care provides medications and therapies that better manage symptoms and provide comfort. Hospice means creating the best quality of life for the days you have left. In doing so, you remain in charge of your medical decisions.
n You can change your mind.
Goals and needs may change over time. If you choose to seek aggressive medical treatment, hospice may not be for you. You have to qualify for hospice, but you can opt out at any time for as long as you like. You can opt back in later.
n Hospice is for the
entire family, now and later. The support provided to the family lessens the burden of care and the stressfulness of death. The YoloCares Center for Loss & Hope promotes healing by providing support for 13 months for family and loved ones.
n You have to ask for the hospice of your choosing. Not all hospices are the same, so you have to ask for the hospice you want by name. There are more hospices in Sacramento region (61) than there are in the entire state of Florida. Only two of them are independent nonprofit community providers. The rest are either for-profit companies which tend to have lower quality scores or are part of a large health system.
Healthcare systems can be wired to take every measure to prop up a body indefinitely without much regard for the physical, psychological, spiritual, or financial costs. At some point, the patient may need to say “no” to that next treatment or ask about the trade-offs that come with aggressive curative approaches. As informed consumers of healthcare, it is important that you receive the care that suits you. For more information about hospice or palliative care, or to make a referral, please call YoloCares at 530758-5566 or visit us online at www.yolocares.org.
— Craig Dresang is the CEO of YoloCares.
“You don’t pay taxes — they take taxes”?
3. Pop Culture — Television. On the CBS situation comedy “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961–1966), who portrayed television comedy writer Sally Rogers?
4. Big Cities. The most densely populated city in the world has 76,790 people per square mile. Name this city of over 14 million.
5. Hitchcock Films. What living actress was the female
lead in the film that replaced “Citizen Kane” (1941) as the greatest film ever made in The Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2012 poll?
Answers: Western Australia, Chris Rock, Rose Marie, Mumbai, Kim Novak in “Vertigo.”
— Dr. Andy Jones is the former quizmaster at de Vere’s Irish Pub and author of the book “Pub Quizzes: Trivia for Smart People.” His pub quiz is now seeking a new home. Meanwhile, Dr. Andy is sharing pub quizzes via Patreon. See more at www.yourquizmaster.com.
BBQ @ 12pm Blues, Brews and BBQ, Texas St & Jefferson St, Fair�eld 420 Festival with Reggae band Roots Man Project and others @ 12pm Abide Napa, 1963 Iroquois St, Napa The Dinner Detective Interactive Mystery Show @ 6pm / $124.95
not take your next dinner to the next level? Join us for a Murder Mystery Dinner Show! Le Méridien San Francisco, 333 Battery Street, San Francisco. sfo.info@thedin nerdetective.com, 866-496-0535
Pamela Trokanski Dance Theatre 2023 Spring Concert - Shift Happens, II @ 7pm / $15-$20 Shift Happens II, is an exploration of how we deal with change on multiple levels; as individuals, communities, and nations. Louise H Kellogg Memorial Theater at the Pamela Trokanski Dance Work‐shop, 2720 Del Rio Place, Davis. of �ce@trokanski.com, 530-756-3949
Comedians with Criminal Records @ 7pm / $10 Mayes Oyster House, 1233 Polk St, SF
Comedy of Jes Tom: Less
Lonely @ 7:30pm / $25
Back after a resoundingly hilarious performance in SF Sketchfest, Jes Tom returns to perform an hour of standup comedy on sex in the face of death and gender transition on the brink of oblivion Great Star Theater, 636 Jackson Street, San Francisco. management@great startheater.org, 415-735-4159
Antigone @ 7:30pm Harris Center for the Arts, 10 Col‐lege Parkway, Folsom
Cosmo Alleycats @ 8pm / $15-$25 Blue Note Napa, 1030 Main Street, Napa
The Katie Knipp Trio Supports Lydia Pense and Cold Blood @ 8pm Empress Theatre, 330 Virginia Street, Vallejo
Comedians with Criminal Records @ 9pm / $10 Mayes Oyster House, 1233 Polk St, SF
Baywav: Mora: Live at Temple Nightclub @ 10pm Temple Nightclub, 540 Howard St, San Francisco
The Connor Party: Wedding Band Bridal Expo @ 11am South of North Brewing Co., 932 Stateline Ave Suite B, South Lake Tahoe
FOX MEDICINE IN THE WILD @ 1:30pm Noise, 3427 Balboa St, San Fran‐cisco
Antigone @ 2pm Harris Center for the Arts,
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Abernathy: San Francisco @ The Lost Church @ 7:30pm The Lost Church, 65 Capp St, San Francisco Tiffany Austin Music: Tiffany Austin Quintet @ Community Music Center Gala @ 8pm Community Music Center, 544 Capp St, San Francisco
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Lane @ 8pm The Chapel, 777 Valencia St, San Francisco
@ 8pm The Regency Ballroom, 1300 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco
Dougie Poole with Half Stack @ 8pm / $17 Cafe Du Nord, 2174 Market St., San Francisco FKJ @ 8pm The Regency Ballroom, 1300 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Dining Out For Life San Francisco @ 10am Dining Out For Life San Francisco is a day-long fundraising event when the San Francisco restaurant community invites you to join them in the �ght for health justice. Par‐ticipating San Francisco Restau‐rants, San Francisco. eventinfo@ sfaf.org
Living Trust SeminarPlacerville, CA - April 25, 2023 @ 4pm This is a FREE Living Trust Seminar Round Table Pizza, 512 Main Street, Placerville. info@LearnLiv ingTrust.com, 800-350-6376
Warren Zeiders: Live in the Vineyard 2023 @ 7pm Live in the Vineyard, Napa
Bluegrass @ 7pm The Hotel Utah Saloon, 500 4th St, San Francisco SF Ballet: "Romeo & Juliet" @ 7:30pm / $25-$69
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
FKJ @ 8pm The Regency Ballroom, 1290 Sut‐ter Street, San Francisco
FKJ @ 8pm The Regency Ballroom, 1300 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco Funcheap SF Presents: #HellaFunny Comedy Night @ 8pm / $20.25 Cobb's Comedy Club, 915 Colum‐bus Avenue, San Francisco
Friday Apr 21st
Rocket Girl - onstage drama at Imagination Theater @ 7pm / $17 Imagination Theater, 100 Placerville Drive, Plac‐erville. itplacerville@gmail.com, 530-663-6983
The dramatic true, untold story of Mary Sherman Morgan. The poor farm girl who, despite being refused higher education by her father, became America�s �rst female rocket scientist. She's NASA's best-kept secret, who made America's �rst successful satellite launch possible.
MATTHEW PASSION
@ 7pm / $10
Book talk and signing with author
Karen Joy Fowler. Davis Veterans Memorial Center, 203 East 14th Street, Davis. hello@avidreader books.com, 530-758-4040
Comedians with Criminal Records @ 7pm / $10
Mayes Oyster House, 1233 Polk St, SF
Remy Le Boeuf: Le Boeuf Brothers | Stowe Lake
Boathouse @ 7:30pm
Stow Lake Boathouse, 50 Stow Lake Dr E, San Francisco
Le Boeuf Brothers | Stowe Lake Boathouse @ 7:30pm Stow Lake Boathouse, 50 Stow Lake Dr E, San Francisco
Ian Flanigan: Live in the Vineyard goes Country @ 2pm Live in the Vineyard, Napa Open Mic hosted by Marcus Mangham - in the Callback Bar @ 6:30pm / $5 Punch Line Comedy Club - Sacra‐mento,
City of Vacaville presents Taylor Dayne & Sheena Easton ~ Ladies Night
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@ 8pm / $75
The City of Vacaville pre‐sents Taylor Dayne & Sheena Easton - Ladies Night 2023! Vacaville Per‐forming Arts Theatre, 1010 Ulatis Drive, Vacav‐ille. info@vpat.net, 7070469-4013
Little Hurricane @ 8pm The Green Room Social Club, 251 Main St, Placerville
"Ain’t Misbehavin’"
@ 8pm / $28.20-$30.60
Lesher Center for the Arts - Mar‐garet Lesher Theatre, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek
Comedians with Criminal Records @ 9pm / $10 Mayes Oyster House, 1233 Polk St, SF
7pm / $35 One of the greatest masterpieces of Baroque music, at once monu‐mental and intimate, deeply sor‐rowful and powerful St. Dominic's Church, 475 East I Street, Benicia. info@vallejochoral.org, 707-6536827
"Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" at Solano College Theatre! @ 7:30pm / $20 Revel in our fabulous glittering costumes, cackle with delight at the witty script, and fall in love with our passionate cast! Get tickets to see this funny, heartwarming musi‐cal, just $10-20 a seat! Solano Community College, 4000 Suisun Valley Road, Fair�eld
Antigone @ 7:30pm Harris Center for the Arts, 10 Col‐lege Parkway, Folsom 2023 Night Nation RunSacramento, CA @ 8pm / $34.99-$54.99
The Night Nation Run is the World�s �rst Running Music Festi‐val! Sutter Health Park, 400 Ball‐park Drive, West Sacramento. info @nightnationrun.com
39th Annual Bay Area Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival @ 8pm / $35 The Harmony Sweepstakes A Cap‐pella Festival is the premier Ameri‐can showcase for vocal harmony music. Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco. producerguy101@yahoo.com, 415-419-5509
Remy Le Boeuf: Le Boeuf Brothers | The Mellow Haight @ 8:30pm The Mellow Haight, 1401 Haight St, San Francisco
Le Boeuf Brothers | The Mellow
7:30pm Harris Center for the Arts, 10 Col‐lege Parkway, Folsom
"Ain’t Misbehavin’" @ 8pm / $28.20-$30.60 Lesher Center for the Arts - Mar‐garet Lesher Theatre, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek
Okay Kaya @ 8pm / $20 The Independent, 628 Divisadero St, San Francisco Jimmy B
Table Olives and how to make them @ 9:30am / $150
All about the Olive. The history of the Olive, Har‐vest timing, processing Olives and storing. Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road, Davis. adamicoroxas@uc davis.edu
10th Annual Gardens Gone
Native Plant Tour @ 9:30am / Free 10th annual Gardens Gone Native Tour. Free self-guided tour in the Sacramento Valley region includ‐ing 26 gardens. Sacramento Valley CNPS Chapter Region, 2316 Glen Ellen Cir, Sacramento. gardensgo nenative@gmail.com, 0000000000
Vacaville's Got Talent @ 10am / $20
Talent Competition open to all am‐ateur talent in Northern California
Residents. Journey Downtown, 308 Main Street, Vacaville. Kristina@ starproducers.org, 707-310-5512
La Doña: KQED Fest
A Woodland woman arrived home Thursday evening to find an alleged burglar, resulting in the 34-year-old Galt man’s arrest.
Woodland police Sgt. Victoria Danzl said the woman came home from work to find a burglary underway at her Cleveland Street residence, but was able to leave safely and call 911.
“The homeowner gave dispatch a great description of the suspect, which would lead to his apprehension,” Danzl said. “When officers arrived, they saw a large hole broken out of the residence’s front window.
Officers spotted the suspect walking north on Cleveland Street.”
The suspect, identified as Michael Cello, was booked into the Yolo County Jail on felony burglary charges.
Authorities cleared the Yolo County Courthouse in Woodland on Friday after someone called in a bomb threat, saying two explosives were about to go off.
Court Executive Officer Shawn Landry said the threat was received by a male caller at about 10:25 a.m., prompting the Main Street’s building evacuation for just over an hour while lawenforcement officers searched the building.
Officers cleared the scene following interior and exterior searches, and court operations resumed at about 11:35 a.m., Landry said.
Kevin Robert Perry
Kevin Robert Perry, age 51, passed away at his Davis home on April 2, 2023, after a courageous six-month battle with ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He passed away surrounded by love with family at his side.
Kevin truly lived life to the fullest with love and devotion to his
Feb. 26, 1930 — Dec. 31, 2022
Melvin Gagnon, 92, a longtime Davis resident, passed away on Dec. 31, 2022, at a private care facility in Davis, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Born Feb. 26, 1930, to Joseph and Rose Gagnon in Artesia, he grew up in Buena Park, as the youngest of six siblings. Growing up during the Depression, and losing his dad at 9 years old, taught Mel resourcefulness, resiliency and “how to make do.” Later on, he taught himself how to fix, repair or build just about anything. He shared these valuable skills with family and friends throughout his life, always willing to build a shelf, fix a sticky door or help with a remodeling project.
He attended Fullerton Union High School, graduating in 1947. A favorite high school memory was flying to Minnesota in a World War II plane that had been rebuilt by his high school buddies. Mel carried a picture of that plane in his wallet his entire life. Also while in high school (and junior college) he worked weekends and summers at Knott's Berry Farm taking pictures of park visitors and developing a lifelong love of
family and his career. He was a fabulous husband to his wife of 25 years, a devoted father to his three children, a respected landscape architect, and an avid golfer and gardener. He was a graduate of Elk Grove High School (1989) and UC Davis (1996). Kevin became a
photography. After high school he attended Fullerton Junior College and later transferred to San Jose State to study journalism and photography.
Mel married his high school sweetheart, Carol Riley, in 1950 and after graduating from college in 1951, he and Carol moved to Yuba City, where he took a job as a reporter/photographer for the Appeal Democrat in Marysville. In 1955 he moved to The Sacramento Bee, covering agricultural and human interest stories. After one of his photographs of then Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown ran on the front page of The Bee, Mel received a personal letter from the governor expressing his delight with the photo.
Mel and Carol, who now had seven children, moved to Davis in 1962. In 1966, after 11 years with The Bee, Mel began a 21 year career at UC Davis with Cooperative Extension as a communications specialist writing about the research developments of UC agricultural scientists. Mel’s friendly nature along with his curiosity served him well as a journalist, reflecting, “I’m grateful for a wonderful career in writing that
PERRY
nationally recognized landscape architect with an expertise in green stormwater infrastructure. He was able to split his time between Portland, Oregon, and Davis, California, and to enjoy the beauty of both places.
Kevin is survived by his wife, Andrea Carlassare; children Addison, Ava and Mia; mother Darlene Onstad; father Thomas Perry; and sister Heather Boshers.
Kevin created a life intentionally
allowed me to explore — and share with readers — all the beautiful people, places, history and ideas to be discovered in our world.”
Retiring from UC Davis in 1987 gave Mel lots of time to pursue his passions. He traveled the world with trips to Easter Island and the Galapagos being favorites. He enjoyed the arts and was a longtime supporter of the Davis High School Madrigal choir, the Pence Gallery, the Elk Grove Strauss Festival and the Sacramento Theatre Company. Another passion was people. With his outgoing and gregarious personality he was always befriending new people from all walks of life. He treasured relationships and loved visiting friends and family, usually bringing something to share like homemade soup, fruit or veggies from his backyard garden, or a newspaper clipping (or several) of interest.
Of course, his biggest passion was his family. He lovingly and enthusiastically supported them in all their various endeavors, whether it be attending a
lived, thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated, and ever hopeful. He made a lasting impression on the design world and inspired a new generation of landscape architects. Kevin will be deeply missed by his colleagues, his friends, and his family.
A celebration of life will be scheduled for a later date. A full obituary may be viewed at www. smith-funerals.com and www. recompose.life.
grandkid’s talent show, running errands for a son’s business, or getting on board with another son’s plan for an authentic luau (which included digging a pit in the backyard and lining it with lava rock to roast the pig). To him, being there for each other was what family was all about.
Through lots of family camping, backpacking and road trips, Mel shared his love of the outdoors and exploring with his kids while they were growing up. He instilled in his kids the values of hard work and responsibility, a “can do attitude” and a love of life.
You taught us well Dad, you will be missed!
Mel is survived by six of his seven children — Dan
(Jerrie) Gagnon of Cordova, Alaska, Kati (Skip) Mezger of Sacramento, Jeff (Jodi) Gagnon of Marysville, Wash., Andy (Laurie) Gagnon of Woodland, Don (Sally) Gagnon of Woodland, and Marcia (Ted) Parker of Stockton. His daughter Kim (Tom) Graham, predeceased him in 2013. He is also survived by numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, one great-great grandchild, and his ex-wife, Carol Kearney. He was predeceased by longtime companions Dorothy Chichester and Virginia Nordgreen.
A celebration of his life will be held May 13 at 11 a.m. at the California Agriculture Museum, 1958 Hays Lane in Woodland.
Now that March Madness is over and for the 85th year in a row, no one submitted a perfect bracket, it’s time to reevaluate this annual hoopla.
As it stands, we have names for just about every round, from the Sweet 16 to the Elite 8 to the Final Four, but no catchy title for the championship game.
For my money, since this whole thing is called the Big Dance, the championship game should be known as the Last Dance. I will not charge for this sterling advice, but when “The Last Dance” starts showing up on T-shirts and ball caps, I want my fair share of the royalties.
I also think the women’s tournament has it right by seeding the top 16 teams in the country and letting them host the first two rounds of the tournament.
This system puts added emphasis on the regular season and virtually guarantees sold-out arenas for the first two games.
Because teams are forbidden to play on their home court in the men’s tournament, some early-round games are poorly attended, which is no way to
reward these athletes for their body of work over a long season. They all deserve a championship atmosphere from the get-go.
In college basketball, unlike college football, every team except the eventual champion, men’s and women’s, will end its season with a loss. Is that any way to go into spring? (I’m not counting the junior varsity tournaments like the NIT in this assessment.)
True, only 68 teams make it to the Big Dance, but virtually every team that didn’t make it lost its final game in its conference tournament.
In college football, there are 42 bowl games, producing 42 winners in their final game. In addition, there are a whole bunch of teams that didn’t make the post-season, but still won their last game or two or three.
I like the football model much better. Winning is hard and losing is tough. And when you lose your final game, as all basketball teams except one do, it makes for an exceptionally long off-season.
How about in basketball if we take the 300 or so teams that didn’t make it to the tournament and place them in a great big loser’s tournament that also feeds in teams from the Big Dance when they are eliminated?
For ease of math, let’s say there are 256 teams in the draw, which means 128 winners in the first round.
Those 128 winners end their season right then and there and go out as exactly what they are, winners. They’ll have a glow all the way until they start up again next November. Think what this will do for self-esteem all around the country.
The 128 first-round losers move on to
the second round, where there will be 64 more winners, all of whom will be retired on a positive note.
Again, the 64 losers advance to the third round, where 32 more teams will finish their seasons with a win. Glory Hallelujah, is there no end to the joyful endings?
And so on and on and on until there are only two teams remaining in the loser’s tournament.
The loser of that one will be the only team in America to not finish its season with a win, which is far better than the current system where every team — except one — finishes with a loss.
I even have a plan for the one losing team. They get to play an intra-squad game that ends in a tie but doesn’t go into overtime, then even they can say they didn’t go out on a losing note. I plan to spend the off-season making this happen. It’s a plan whose time has come.
— Contact Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.
Maybe by the time you read this, the Tampa Bay Rays will have lost a baseball game.
n Now that the Big Ten Conference has named Tony Petitti its new commissioner, we’ll see if there are any more defections from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. USC and UCLA will make the jump in 2024.
At left, UC Davis men’s basketball head coach Jim Les, who played for the Sacramento Kings for the first half of the 1990s, talks to his Aggie players during a time out in a Big West Conference home game in February. Les is hoping that hard work that guard Elijah Pepper (right, 40) has and continues to put in will results in having his named called in the NBA Draft on June 22.
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workouts.
“He’s got to fly in those situations,” Les said. “I’m excited for him to get those opportunities.”
Les said he’s had conversations with some NBA teams that like Pepper.
“They want to see him in a workout setting, which will probably happen mid to late May,” Les said. “I was really pleased with the response.”
Ranked fourth in
Pepper averaged 22.5 points per game during the 2022-23 season, which ranked him fourth in the country. Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis, a 6’1 senior, averaged 28.2 points per game last season.
The Aggie also made 68 of 211 3-pointers for .322 percent. He averaged 5.9 rebounds per game, and 105 assists.
“He showed the complete player he is,” Les said. “I think people have noticed that. I’m looking forward to him getting those opportunities.”
Should an NBA team pick Pepper, he would be the third Aggie since Les has been running the program entering professional basketball.
Chima Moneke, a forward, is the most recent, having been on the Sacramento Kings’ roster at the start of the current season.
The Kings cut him, but the Stockton Kings, who are the Sacramento Kings’ G-League team, picked him up.
Now Moneke is playing for the A.S. Monaco, which is part of the LNB Pro A
EuroLeague.
Corey Hawkins, a guard, played for the Aggies from 2012-15. He entered the NBA Draft, but was not selected. He played on the 2015 Sacramento Kings summer league team.
He’s now working for the Orlando Magic as a player development/video coordinator.
Pepper has racked up a lot of honors in recent seasons. He was the 2022-23 Preseason All-Big West Coaches Team. He was selected to the 2021-22 All-Big Weste Conference Second Team and, twice, the Big West Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.
Pepper was also the
2021-22 Preseason All-Big West Media Team and the 2021-22 All-Big West Conference Second Team.
Pepper is going to be fully appreciative of any NBA team that gives him an opportunity to display his offensive and defensive skills.
“He’s continuing to grow as a player,” Les said. “He’s always been a guy who is very coachable. He’s a guy who has always responded to criticism in terms of getting better. He wants to hear what it’s going to take to play at that level.
“I think, regardless of what happens, it’s going to be a great experience for him to go through this process.”
— Contact Mike Bush at mike@davisenterprise.net. Follow on Twitter: @ MBDavisSports.
n How much more competitive golf will Tiger Woods be able to play, given his current physical condition?
Watching him gingerly move around last week at the Masters, prior to his subsequent withdrawal, makes one wonder.
n Wednesday marked the 34th anniversary of Sugar Ray Robinson’s death.
Called “pound for pound, the greatest fighter ever,” Robinson fought from 1940 to 1965.
In his autobiography, “Sugar Ray,” written with Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Dave Anderson, Robinson admitted going through four million dollars over the course of his career.
“I have no regrets (about that),” he wrote.
“If I had a chance to do it over again, I would.
“I did what I thought was the right thing at the time. I didn’t gamble away my money. I used it to let people live. I loaned it to strangers to pay bills and often I didn’t get it back.”
At one time, on the same Harlem block, Robinson owned a cafe, a clothing store and a barber shop, mostly staffed by family members and friends.
Robinson was a fivetime middleweight champion of the world.
Over a quarter-century, his career record was 175 wins; 110 by knockout, 19 losses and six draws. He was an active fighter, who once had five bouts in 30 days.
n Our condolences to the family and friends of John Crumpacker, the longtime San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle sports journalist who died at age 67 in Arizona.
Crumpacker, or simply ‘Packer’, ranks as one of the pre-eminent track and field writers ever. He was fascinated by the sport and covered it devotedly. He also was the Examiner’s beat writer on Cal football and later covered the
San Francisco 49ers during their Super Bowl days.
n Considered by many as “the worst owner in sports,” Daniel Snyder is finally selling the NFL Washington Commanders for a reported $6.05 billion. You read that correctly. Billion.
Among Snyder’s many misdeeds are alleged financial impropriety (under investigation), overseeing a toxic workplace atmosphere and paying a million-dollar settlement to a former employee who accused him of sexual misconduct.
The transaction is subject to the approval of the other 31 team owners, who are expected to ratify it in a matter of seconds at the next owners meeting.
They are as tired of Snyder as the team’s longtime fans are.
n As is totally proper and correct, April 15 around baseball is celebrated as ‘Jackie Robinson Day,’ which was Saturday.
It was 76 years ago that the AfricanAmerican born Robinson brought down the sport’s color barrier when he broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Players on every team played Saturday with Robinson’s No. 42 on their backs.
Robinson played for Brooklyn through 1956. He was traded to the New York Giants after that season, but refused the deal and chose to retire instead.
Robinson is the lone UCLA athlete to letter in four sports, baseball, football, basketball and track
The UCLA ballpark is named for him.
In a touch of irony, UC Davis baseball faced UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium in a 3-game series that began Friday. The longtime radio and television color man on UC Davis football broadcasts, Doug Kelly is director of communications for Battlefields2Ballfields and managing general partner of Kelly & Associates. Contact him at DKelly1416@aol. com.
