The Davis Enterprise Sunday, May 7, 2023

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erprise

Stabbing suspect pleads not guilty

Judge denies bail at arraignment

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

WOODLAND — The former UC Davis student suspected of killing two people and wounding a third in a nearly weeklong stabbing spree pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that could bring the death penalty.

Wearing what appeared to be a protective smock used for inmates on suicide watch, 21-year-old Carlos Reales Dominguez stood with his eyes downcast as Yolo Superior Court Judge Daniel Wolk read the four-page complaint prosecutors filed that morning, charging him with two counts of premeditated murder and one count of premeditated attempted murder, all of which carry enhancements for use of a deadly weapon.

Dominguez also faces the special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which if found true makes him eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office said it would decide whether to pursue

capital punishment “at a later date.”

Another case enhancement says Dominguez’s alleged crimes “involved great violence, great bodily harm, threat of great bodily harm or other acts disclosing a high degree of cruelty,

viciousness, or callousness.”

After appointing the public defender’s office to represent Dominguez, Wolk denied bail in the case and set a pre-hearing conference for 9 a.m. May 22.

Several members of Dominguez’s family attended the brief

Neville looks headed to victory in council race

By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

Donna Neville appears to have won the special election for the District 3 seat on the Davis City Council, though results are not yet final as the Yolo County Elections Office will still count ballots that were received via the postal service by 5 p.m. on Friday.

As of Friday morning, there was just one uncounted ballot, however, and Neville had a 491-vote lead over Francesca Wright.

A total of 2,319 votes had been counted through the end of Thursday and Neville had received 60.59 percent of them, to Wright’s 39.41 percent.

hearing but declined to speak with reporters. Prosecuting attorney Matt De Moura also declined comment, as did Deputy Public Defender Dan Hutchinson, who accepted the

See SUSPECT, Page A4

Neville is a member of the Davis Planning Commission and previously chaired the city’s Budget and Finance Commission. She has also been active in other roles in the community, including Yolo NAMI, a school district bond oversight committee, and more.

Wright has also been actively involved in city issues, particularly through her work on public safety reform through Yolo People Power.

See COUNCIL, Page A4

Hundreds come out to honor victim at UC Davis

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer

Hundreds of friends, family, and UC Davis community members remembered the life of UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm on Friday afternoon at a public memorial held on campus at the International Center.

Abou Najm was born to Majdi Abou Najm and Nadine Yehya in Lebanon.

Before moving to the US in 2018, he attended International College in Beirut, Lebanon. He joined Davis Senior High School and graduated with high honors before getting accepted to UC Davis. Karim was six

weeks away from graduating with honors with a bachelor’s in computer science. While in college, he was also a full-time software engineer and interned at multiple companies.

Abou Najm was working on a program that would help the hearing impaired in noisy environments. UCD and Abou Najm’s family have honored him by setting up a scholarship in his memory. While the initial goal was $50,000, $87,000 had been raised from 731 donors by Friday afternoon.

Known as a compassionate, smart, and caring young man, Abou Najm was a son, brother and grandson.

Family friend Sara Alayli set the stage for Abou Najm’s parents by asking those who have known Abou Najm personally to hold up their cell phones with the flashlights on. “Parents, please look around,” Alayli said. As she asked similar questions, hands raised to the sky, ending with the statement, “If you're inspired by what Karim has done in his legacy, and everything that you've heard of him in the past

sweet and past 20 years.”

“Now look around,” she said, “In one way or another, he has touched all of it.”

Friday

Speakers cited his accomplishments. He took pride in helping others from lessons he learned through his studies and work. He mentored undergraduate computer science students and onboarded student researchers to Miller Lab at UC Davis. He always gave a shoutout to his colleagues and supported them in finding opportunities on campus and beyond.

Abou Najm’s father, Majdi Abou Najm, regretted not telling his son how much he loved him. “One of

my biggest regrets is that we did not express our feelings enough. I'm stuck in a loop staring every time I saw Karim in the last two weeks. Forgive me, Karim: Why I said ‘I love you many times to you in my mind, I did not say it out loud to you.’”

Majdi Abou Najm had those in attendance at the memorial take out their phones and call their loved ones to tell them they loved them. “Take it from that devastated father; don't take love for granted.”

Speaking directly to the family, UCD Chancellor Gary S. May stated that nothing can ease the pain

See HONOR, Page A5

Fred Gladdis/enterprise photo

Davis double-homicide suspect Carlos Dominguez, left, confirms his name to the judge during his arraignment hearing Friday. At right is Deputy Public Defender Daniel Hutchinson.

NAJM Remembered

Celebrate Davis will go on

The arrest Thursday of a suspect in the recent stabbings in Davis means Celebrate Davis will go on as originally planned after all.

The chamber had announced some changes earlier this week aimed at protecting vendors and participants while a suspect was still at large. Those included increased security and an earlier ending — before dark.

But now the event will proceed on Friday, May 12, from 4:30 to 9 p.m. in Community Park as it has in the past.

“We are grateful about the recent news concerning the arrest of a suspect,” the chamber posted on social media.

“Special thanks to the Davis Police Department for their tireless work, other law enforcement personnel who assisted and residents who provided tips that led to this arrest. Your community thanks you.”

Based on this news, the chamber announced, “Celebrate Davis will go forward as planned. The safety of our attendees and vendors continues to be our top priority. As is our usual custom, Davis police officers will attend the entire event and be visible.”

Celebrate Davis is a community gathering every year that features food and drink vendors, business booths, live music, bounce houses and more, capped off with evening fireworks.

About us

The sound and the fury of pickleball

In our increasingly divided world I knew it was only a matter of time before the "sport" of pickleball was declared Public Enemy No. 1.

And I'm not talking about the simmering feud between tennis players and picklelodians over the conversion of tennis courts to pickleball courts. That one will ultimately be decided in the courts. As well as on the courts.

No, the major war now concerns the noise generated when a pickleball is whacked over and over again at a decibel level considerably higher than that created by the tender strings of a tennis racket striking a much softer tennis ball.

Pickleball noise makes Davis' zipline controversy in Arroyo Park look like child's play.

"The sound and disruption from pickleball, America's fastest growing sport, is driving some neighbors, tennis players, parents of young children and others crazy," said the opening paragraph of a recent CNN story under the byline of Nathaniel Meyersohn.

"Homeowners groups and local residents in dozens of towns and cities have rallied to limit

pickleball play and block the development of new courts. They are circulating petitions, filing lawsuits and speaking out at council and town hall meetings to slow the audible spread of pickleball frenzy across the country."

Pickleball may be growing by leaps and bounds and taking over tennis courts at a breakneck pace, but opposition to pickleball is growing just as quickly.

At first the opposition was polite, as if pickleball was just a passing fad that would quickly pass away as people moved on to the Next Big Thing.

But it's now been proven that pickleball is addictive, makes many people feel like athletes for the first time in their lives and will continue to grow until every square inch of concrete in North America has been converted into a

pickleball court.

The opposition is now openly hostile and increasingly well organized.

Notes Meyersohn, "The game became more popular during the Covid-19 pandemic as people looked for safe, socially distanced ways to exercise outside."

Exercise? Given that a pickleball court is half the size of a tennis court, with a game of doubles featuring four players practically rubbing elbows and stepping on each other's Nikes, you could get more exercise bringing four people together to play canasta.

"Pickleball can be noisier than tennis because the game can fit more players onto the same space as a tennis court. Hits during a pickleball rally are also more frequent than tennis. And it's a more social sport, so the games tend to be louder with players bantering during and after points."

Maybe so, but friendly banter is not the problem here. The noise that's driving opponents crazy is the jarring sound of a glorified Whiffle Ball being struck by a rock-hard, oversized ping pong paddle.

Police applauded at school board meeting

By Aaron Geerts Enterprise staff writer

Thursday’s school board meeting began with a sigh of relief at the capture of the alleged serial killer who murdered David Breaux and Karim Abou Najm and attempted to murder Kimberlee Guillory. Although he lamented the emotional toll these horrific crimes have had on the community, Superintendent Matt Best highlighted the perseverance of the DJUSD staff, students and families and gave thanks to the police officials who put an end to the terror gripping Davis.

“We know how terrifying this past week has been for everyone and our hearts remain heavy with the loss of two amazing individuals, David Breaux and Karim Abou Najm and for the harm that was caused to Kimberlee and our Davis community over this past week,” Best said. “I know we’re all feeling a huge relief now that the suspect has been apprehended, but this journey is not over as our community begins to heal and struggle to understand why this happened and how we move forward.

“I’m really grateful for the Davis Police Department and our many law enforcement partners who came to aid our community this past week and to the hundreds of community members who called in with tips that helped lead to the arrest of this suspect. I also want to thank our DJUSD staff. This was a lot to carry looking at your faces and looking in the mirror all week. I also want to thank our district safety coordinator, Marc Hicks. This past week, Marc worked tirelessly to assist

our team and law enforcement in supporting our campuses and community. With more than 30 years in our district and a Davis High School graduate, Marc has devoted his career to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our entire DJUSD and Davis community.”

The meeting itself transitioned smoothly into the Music and Proposition 28 Program update presented by associate superintendent of instructional services Troy Allen. She touched on how Prop 28 has dedicated funds towards art and music and that the DJUSD will receive $1 million in funding with 80% going toward staffing and 20% going toward training supplies and materials.

Allen also touched on the large quantities of community and staff feedback regarding the music

programming, the district’s vision and structures. The feedback highlighted that some of the district’s greatest strengths include the legacy of a wide breadth of choices, the ability to play at elite levels and the committed staff that makes it all possible. Improvements highlighted in the feedback include a stronger elementary program that would create more access and representation of all student groups as well as the need for overall improvement in communication about the program with non-English speaking families.

“The proposed elementary program draft for next year is where we see the most shifts,” Allen said.

Even a well-struck tennis ball off the racket of a Wimbledon singles champion makes no such noise.

Adds Meyersohn, "Rob Mastroianni, a resident of Falmouth, Mass., sold his house and moved after the town's recreation department built pickleball courts 350 feet away from his home in a residential area."

"It's a percussive pop," said Mastroianni. "It pierces the air and carries."

Turns out Mastroianni and some of his neighbors filed a lawsuit against their hometown, alleging that pickleball play caused "daily injurious and obnoxious noise levels" that was "substantially impacting their quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their respective homes."

Said Mastroianni, "It's a tough sell to be against pickleball, but at the end of the day it was creating mental and physical health problems with neighbors butting heads."

Note to city of Davis Parks and Rec: Do not put pickleball courts in Arroyo Park.

— Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.

Crash snarls I-80 traffic

Three people were injured Friday morning in a four-vehicle crash on eastbound I-80 near Mace Boulevard that caused a truck to overturn onto its roof. The California Highway Patrol’s traffic website said witnesses reported seeing a one motorist driving recklessly just before the 6:55 a.m. crash, which backed up morning commute traffic through the area.

Lauren Keene/enterprise photo

Nordstrom Rack in, Regal 5 drops curtain

Davis’ newest theater, Regal Cinemas 5, closed without warning on Thursday.

A note on the door says, “Thank you! It has been our pleasure to serve you at this theatre. Regal Davis is now closed. We invite you to visit Regal Davis Holiday or any of our other area locations.”

The theater was at 420 G St. The compact cinema had stadium seating and smaller screens than the older Regal Davis Holiday 6 at 101 F St., which will remain open. It was unusual to have three movie theaters (including the independent Varsity Theatre) in our small town, and all downtown, but we seemed to support it. That is, until the pandemic.

In January, the company announced it was closing 39 more theaters after an earlier round that closed a dozen others. I checked the closure lists both times, and Davis was never included. The move follows parent company Cineworld’s filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The building is owned by the Yackzan Group of Davis.

The other big news of the week is that Nordstrom Rack is coming to Davis. A recent new release from Nordstrom announced that a 25,000 square-foot store will be part of The Davis Collection, the redeveloped version of what is now University Mall. It says it plans to open in spring 2025.

This news came as tip from subscriber Kate Bowen. The press release posted on the Nordstrom website is dated April 13. The company didn’t bother to send it this way. The release also announced upcoming stores in Elk Grove, Gilroy, Oceanside and San Mateo.

Bowen “was just reading (and mourning) the pending closure of the Nordstrom in downtown San Francisco, when I stumbled upon this tidbit,” she said. (She and her husband Bob, former public relations manager for the city of Davis, are big San Francisco Giants fans, and frequently travel to the city for games).

I shared the Nordstrom Rack news on the Comings & Goings Facebook page, and it was picked up by other news outlets before it officially made it into this weekly column.

The release included a statement from the mall’s owner and redeveloper, Brixmor Property Group. Bill Brown, executive vice president of its development and redevelopment division, said, “Nordstrom Rack is a key addition to the redevelopment of The Davis Collection, adding highly desired off-price retail.

(It) is known for exceptional quality, selection and customer service, and appeals to the Davis community we serve.”

The news release continued, “Nordstrom Rack is the off-price retail division of Nordstrom Inc. and plays a critical role in the company’s Closer to You strategy, which focuses on delivering customers a more convenient and interconnected experience across its stores and digital platforms.

(It) offers customers up to 70 percent off on-trend apparel, accessories, beauty, home and shoes from many of the top

brands sold at Nordstrom stores, as well as core services like online order pickup for Nord strom.com and NordstromRack. com, easy returns, and altera tions at select stores. Rack customers to complete, Nordstrom 68 23 strom asos

businesses shortened their hours in the last week, opting to open after sunrise and close before

dark. The Davis Farmers Market chose not to have a Wednesday market. I expect business hours will revert to normal following Thursday’s news of a suspect’s arrest in connection with three brutal stabbings in Davis. We’re all breathing a little easier.

Bull ’N Mouth, the American restaurant coming to the former De Vere’s pub site at 217 E St., is still on track to open this spring.

On Thursday, I heard from CEO Brandon Keith. “We are hoping to open in the coming weeks, and are currently in the hiring process. Once we get our team onboarded and trained, we will be opening our doors.”

I did not hear back this week from Mamma, the Italian restaurant and market coming to the former Bistro 33 site at 226 F St., but its status is similar, if not slightly ahead of Bull ’N Mouth.

A GameStop is coming back to Davis. This one will be in Second Street Crossing, the center anchored by Target. The address

is 4625 Second St., Suite 120.

but halted by pandemic financial constraints. Kalisky started a GoFundMe, asking the community to help fund the patio project. That way, once the insurance money comes in for the damage, the storefront will be protected from a similar incident.

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 290 people had donated more than $17,000 combined. To view the GoFundMe, visit: https://gf.me/ v/c/dd6b/upper-crust-bakingsafe-outdoor-patio

A spokeswoman for Wayback Burgers said Thursday that the restaurant’s opening date has been pushed to late this year. However, no exact timeline has been set.

The restaurant is at 640 W. Covell Blvd., Suite A in Anderson Plaza. That date could be optimistic.

Casablanca closed at the end of March. Ibrahim Zabad, one of the owners, said kabobs are less labor intensive than the Mediterranean and Moroccan cuisine they previously served.

Upper Crust Baking was temporarily closed in Davis after an SUV crashed through its front windows on April 30. The crash not only damaged the store, it sent four people to the hospital with minor injuries. The bakery, at 634 G St., reopened on Sunday.

“This accident underscored the need to build the patio as quickly as possible,” owner Lorin Kalisky said. “Having the patio will significantly reduce the risk of an accident like this ever happening again – with a barrier of heavy concrete planters, and by keeping humans away from the direct path of parking cars."

Plans for the patio were already designed and approved,

The burger joint is coming to 1351 W. Covell Blvd., Suite A, in The Marketplace.

No word back from Orangetheory Fitness, taking over the former Round Table Pizza space in South Davis, or Estelle Bakery & Pâtisserie, filling the former Konditorei space. It’s not for lack of trying.

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

Aggie Square hits milestone with ‘topping off’ ceremony

By Erin Garcia

Special to The Enterprise

UC Davis, the city of Sacramento, and Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, on Thursday celebrated the full structural completion of the first phase of Aggie Square, an emerging innovation district on the UC Davis Sacramento campus. The topping off ceremony — a long-standing building tradition — comprised nearly 200 guests, including local tradespeople; community leaders; architecture, engineering, and construction firms; university partners; and elected officials. Guests were invited to sign graphic renderings of Aggie Square that will hang within the completed buildings and symbolize the community’s significant contribution to Sacramento’s groundbreaking innovation district.

“Aggie Square will build on the Sacramento region’s intellect and ingenuity and help build a brighter tomorrow, with job opportunities and substantial benefits to our economy for generations to come,” said UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May. “Building a project of this magnitude is good for the economy, the business community, students, faculty, and residents.”

Construction phase

Construction of the first phase comprises 728,000 square-feet and includes a life science, engineering, and technology research and academic building; a building focused on lifelong learning and public

scholarship, which also includes spaces for startup companies and community programming; a six-story parking garage and a student housing building to support UC Davis’ growing Sacramento campus and programs like “Quarter at Aggie Square.” Construction on the first phase began in the spring of 2022 and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

“We are incredibly proud

of the tremendous efforts of our project partners, including hundreds of workers from the surrounding community and the numerous local firms that have enabled Aggie Square to reach this important milestone,” said Thomas Osha, executive vice president, Wexford Science & Technology. “The result of their hard work is clearly visible on the Sacramento skyline.”

In April 2021, UC Davis, Wexford and the city of Sacramento agreed on a Community Benefits Partnership Agreement based on three years of input from local residents. The agreement provides a framework for access to and training for both the short-term construction jobs, and longterm permanent jobs created by Aggie Square, as well as directs $50 million toward affordable housing in the surrounding neighborhoods. The construction of Aggie Square will generate an estimated one-time economic impact of $2.6 billion within the six-county region.

“I am thrilled we are so close to opening Aggie Square. This is a

transformational project for Sacramento, for our local economy and for our community. It creates affordable housing, transportation improvements and good high-paying jobs for our residents,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

Additionally, several elected and community leaders attended and participated in the event to offer their support: U.S. Representative Doris Matsui, Sacramento Vice Mayor Eric Guerra, Councilwoman Caity Maple, and Councilman Jay Schenirer.

Wendy Weitzel/Courtesy photo

Regal Cinema 5 at 420 G St. closed as of May 4.

Courtesy photo

UC Davis Chancellor Gary May speaks Thursday at Thursday’s “topping off” ceremony for Aggie Square in Sacramento.

COUNCIL: Turnout down for election

From Page A1

Neither candidate weighed in Friday on the status of the vote count.

The turnout for Tuesday’s special election appears to be significantly lower than the last time the District 3 seat was on the ballot and 6,628 votes were cast. That was, however, the November 2020 presidential election, which produced high turnout everywhere, and this was a mail-only special election with just the one council seat on the ballot.

The final days of the campaign were also marked by the community’s shared fear and grief over the three stabbings in Davis.

Former mayor Lucas Frerichs was elected by District 3 voters to represent them back in 2020 and held the seat until he vacated it in January of this year after being sworn in to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors.

Tuesday’s special election was held to fill his seat, which Neville will apparently do, finishing out the remainder of Frerichs’s term, which ends at the end of 2024.

The next update to the vote tally will be Tuesday and include all ballots received through the mail by 5 p.m. on May 5.

Jesse Salinas, the county’s clerk-recorder/assessor/registrar of voters, said Friday that he projects the election will be

SUSPECT: D.A. adds enhancements

From Page A1

case on his office’s behalf.

certified and official results provided on Wednesday, May 17.

Meanwhile, unsigned identification envelope and signature verification statements have been mailed to voters whose signatures on the vote-bymail return identification envelope was challenged by the elections office.

Challenges occur when the envelope is missing a signature or the signature does not match the signatures on file in the voter record. The Unsigned Identification Envelope Statement and Signature Verification Statement forms must be returned to the elections office by 5 p.m. on Monday, May 15. Find the forms here:

Unsigned Identification Envelope Statement: https://www.yoloelections.org/voting/yolocounty-unsigned-ballotstatement.pdf.

Signature Verification Statement: https://www. yoloelections.org/voting/ yolo-county-signatureverification-statement. pdf.

The forms may also be submitted online at https://sites.omniballot. us/06113/app/home.

— Reach Anne TernusBellamy at aternus@ davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.

663072989

408-310-3948

A sophomore from Oakland majoring in biological sciences, Dominguez “was separated for academic reasons” from the university on April 25 — two days before the crime spree began — campus officials said. The specific reason wasn’t disclosed.

Davis police announced his arrest Thursday, a day after detaining him a block east of Sycamore Park, the scene of the second stabbing that claimed the life of UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm, 20.

That attack occurred two days after the slaying of 50-year-old David Henry Breaux, Davis’ affectionately named “Compassion Guy” who for years preached kindness and tolerance in the community. A third victim, Kimberlee Guillory, 64, survived a stabbing Monday night through her tent at Second and L streets.

Multiple witnesses reported seeing Dominguez in the park and surrounding neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, with one man following him on foot to The Marketplace shopping center and back.

Officers ultimately detained Dominguez on the corner of Pine Lane and Colby Drive, where he agreed to go to the Davis

police station for an interview.

At a news conference announcing the arrest, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said officers found a large, hunting-type knife in Dominguez’s backpack, along with biological evidence on him and injuries that would be consistent with victims fighting back.

Pytel also characterized Dominguez as an alleged serial killer “based on the information that we have” and the “very strict definition” of the term, which the FBI describes as “the unlawful killing of two or more people.” His motive remains under investigation. Pytel said police have no indication that he knew

DAVIS JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NOTICE OF TAX EXEMPTIONS and REDUCTION FOR THE 2023-24 TAX YEAR

MEASURE H PARCEL TAX

Senior Citizens Tax Exemption: Property owners who can provide evidence that they reside in a home which is their principal residence and one owner is 65 years or older may apply for a tax exemption of the special tax to be levied by filing an application with the Davis Joint Unified School District by June 15 2023

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Exemption: Property owners receiving Supplemental Security Income for disability, regardless of age and who own and occupy the property as their principal residence can qualify for an exemption by filing an application with the Davis Joint Unified School District by June 15 2023 S o c i a l S e c u r i t y D i s a b i l i t y I

o s e a n n u a l i nc o m e d o e s n o t e x c e e d 2 5 0 p e r c e n t o f t h e 2 0 1 2 f e d e r a l poverty guidelines issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services can qualify for an exemption by filing an application with the Davis Joint Unified School District by June 15, 2023

MEASURE G PARCEL TAX

Senior Citizens Tax Exemption: Property owners who can provide evidence that they reside in a home which is their principal residence and one owner is 65 years or older may apply for a tax exemption of the special tax to be levied by filing an application with the Davis Joint Unified School District by June 15 2023

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Exemption: Property owners receiving Supplemental Security Income for disability regardless of age and who own and occupy the property as their principal residence can qualify for an exemption by filing an application with the Davis Joint Unified School District by June 15, 2023 S o c i a l S e c u r i t y D i s a b i l i t y I n s u r a n c e ( S S D I ) E x e m p t i o n : P r o p e r t y o w n e r s r e c e i v i n g S o c i a l S e c u r i t y D i s a b i l i t y I n s u rance ben efits regardless of age who own and occupy the p r o p e r ty a s th e i r p r i n c i p a l r e s i d e n c e a n d w h o s e a n n u a l i nc o m e d o e s n o t e x c e e d 2 5 0 p e r c e n t o f t h e 2 0 1 2 f e d e r a l poverty guidelines issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services can qualify for an exemption by filing an application with the Davis Joint Unified School District by June 15 2023

D J U S D E m p l o y e e T a x E x e m p t i o n : P r o p e r t y o w n e r s w h o can provide evidence that they live in a home that is their principal residence, and one owner, as of July 1 of the tax year for which an exemption is sought is an eligible DJUSD employee can qualify for an exemption by filing an application with the Davis Joint Unified School District by June 15, 2023

COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT NO 1

any of the victims.

Both of the park attacks occurred within a mile of Dominguez’s residence on Hawthorn Lane, in a neighborhood populated by many UCD students as well as longtime Davis residents.

Police served a search warrant at the house Thursday morning, the evidence-collecting process lasting well into the night.

No one answered the door Friday at the house, which Dominguez reportedly shared with two roommates.

Neighbors interviewed

e r i e n c e d c a r egivers for your elde r l y l o v e d o n e s , p l e a s e c a l l u s a t S i e r r a S e n i o r C a r e W e c a n f ac i l i t a t e m o s t o f your in home careg i v i n g n e e d s W e o f f e r m i l i t a r y a n d first responder discounts Please call f o r a n e s t i m a t e 5 3 0 - 3 1 2 - 7 7 3 2

PROFESSIONAL

Thursday by The Davis Enterprise expressed surprise and concern that a suspected killer lived among them, with no apparent sign of anything amiss.

Prior to Friday’s arraignment, Wolk disclosed that he lives a half-mile from Sycamore Park and, about 40 minutes before Najm’s killing, his wife called police after spotting a suspicious person while walking her dogs on a nearby greenbelt.

“No follow-up has occurred,” Wolk said.

Public Notice NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Notice is hereby given that the County of Yolo General Services Department will receive sealed bids for the 100 W e s t C o u r t S t r e e t , R o o f R e p l a c e m e n t P r o j e c t ” b e f o r e

: 0 0 p m o n T h u r s d a y J u n e 1 2 0 2 3 a t 1 2 0 W e s t M a i n Street, Suite G, Woodland, CA 95695 and promptly thereafter the bid opening will follow at 2:15 p m in the conference room at 120 West Main Street S uite G Woodland CA 95695 Bidders must attend the mandatory pre-bid conferences to be held at the project site 100 West Court Street Woodland CA 95695 at 10:00 am on May 10 2023 in order to submit bids for this project

Each bid must conform to the requirements of the Contract

Documents which can be downloaded along with all bid documents at www bidsync com It is the bidder s responsibility to register at www bidsync com to ensure notification of all add e n d a a n d i s s u e d p r o j e c t i n f o r m a t i o n I t i s t h e b i d d e r s r esponsibility to arrange for printing services For more information, send questions through www bidsy nc com

Note to General Contractors; Joint Apprenticeship Committee Participation Requirement: The County adopted a policy that one of requirements to be deemed a responsive bidder is that when submitting a bid at or in excess of one million

S e n i o r C i t i z e n s T a x R e d u c t i o n : S e n i o r C i t i z e n s w h o c a n provide evidence that they reside in a home, which is their principal residence and one owner is 65 years or older may apply for a 50% tax reduction of this special tax to be levied by filing an application with the Davis Joint Unified School District by June 15 2023

Low-Income Rental Housing Exemption: Owners who can provide evidence that their property constitutes low-income rental housing have the option of applying for a low-income rental housing tax exemption from the special tax by filing an application with the Dais Joint Unified School District by June 15, 2023

COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT NO 2

Low-Income Rental Housing Exemption: Owners who can provide evidence that their property constitutes low-income rental housing have the option of applying for a low-income rental housing tax exemption from the special tax by filing an application with the Dais Joint Unified School District by June 15 2023 FURTHER INFORMATION

To apply for the Senior Citizens SSI SSDI Employee Exemptions and Reduction, or the Low-Income Rental Housing Exemptions

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

N o ti c e i s h e r e b y g i v e n th a t th e C o u n t y o f Y o l o C o m m u n i ty Services Department Division of Integrated Waste Managem e n t , w i l l r e c e i v e s e a l e d b i d s f o r c o n s t r u c t i o n o f W

Each bid must conform to the requirements of the Contract Documents which can be downloaded along with all bid documents at www bids ync com at no cost It is the bidder s responsibility to register at www bidsync com to ensure notification of all addenda It is the bidder’s responsibility to arrange fo r pr in ti n g s er v i c es Fo r mo r e i n fo r m ati o n , se n d q u e s ti o n s through www bidsync com There will be a pre-bid meeting at 10AM on MAY 9TH, 2023 at the Yolo County Central Landfill located at 44090 County Road 28H, Woodland Each bidde r shall be a licensed contractor pursuant to sections 7000 et seq of the Business and Professions Code in the following classification(s) throughout the time it submits its bid and for the duration of the contract: a valid A License and DIR Number The successful bidder shall furnish a payment bond and a p e r f o r m a n c e b o n d e a c h i n t h e f u l l a m o u n t o f t h e c o n t r a c t price These bonds shall be executed by a surety specified in California Code of Civil Procedure Section 995 310 Pursuant to Public Contract Code section 22300 the successful bidder m a y s u b s t i t u t e c e r t a i n s e c u r i t i e s f o r f u n d s w i t h h e l d b y t h e C o u n t y t o e n s u r e i t s p e r f o r m a n c e u n d e r t h e c o n t r a c t

Pursuant to Section 1773 of the Labor Code the general prevailing wage rates in the County in which the work is to be done have been determined by the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations These wage rates are set forth in the General Prevailing Wage Rates for this project a v a ila b l e fo r r e v i e w at Yo l o C ou n ty C e ntr a l L an d fi ll 4 4 0 9 0 County Road 28H, Woodland, California and available from the California Department of Industrial Relations internet web site at http://www dir ca gov/DLSR/PWD The successful bidder shall pos t a copy of the prevailing wage rates at each job site It shall be mandatory upon the bidder to whom the contract is awarded, and upon any subcontractors, to comply with all Labor Code provisions which include but are not limited to t h e p a y m e n t o f n o t l e s s t h a n t h e s a i d s p e c i f i e d p r e v a i l i n g wage rates to all workers employed by them in the execution of the contract employment of apprentices hours of labor and d e b a r m e n t o f c o n t r a c t o r s a n d s u b c o n t r a c t o r s P u r s u a n t t o Labor Code section 1725 5 and 1771 3, contractors and subcontractors who intend to bid on be listed in a bid proposal or e n t e r i n t o a c o n t r a c t t o p e r f o r m p u b l i c w o r k m u s t b e r egistered with the Department of Industrial Relations No proposal will be accepted nor any contract entered into without proof of the contractor s and subcontractors current registrat i o n w i t h t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f I n d u s t r i a l R e l a t i o n s t o p e r f o r m public work This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations

Note to General Contractors; Joint Apprenticeship Committee

Participation Requirement: The County adopted a policy that one of requirements to be deemed a responsive bidder is that when submitti ng a bid at or in excess of one million dollars the b i d d e r m u s t t h e n b e p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a j o i n t a p p r e n t i c e s h i p committee on public works projects The California Departm e n t o f I n d u s t r i a l R e l a t i o n s d e f i n e s a j o i n t a p p r e n t i c e s h i p committee as a committee made up of equal number of members from labor and management Bidders submitting bids at or in excess of one million dollars must complete a Califor nia D e p a r t m e n t o f I n d u s t r i a l R e l a t i o n s D A S - 7 f o r m t h a t d o c uments the bidder’s participation in a joint apprenticeship committee Bids that are

Double-homicide suspect Carlos Dominguez enters the courtroom for his arraignment Friday.

Fred Gladdis/ enterprise photo

HONOR: Family offers heartfelt tribute to slain UC Davis student; memorial award to support research

of the loss they have experienced. “I know that as a parent, but know that you have the compassion and support of your entire Aggie community. You are a true Aggie family, one that's connected to our students, our staff, and our faculty. We see that through your own work as well as valued members of our faculty and staff. We're here for you.

Obituaries

Please reach out if you need anything.”

Lee Miller, who directs the Auditory Neuroscience and Speech Recognition Lab at UC Davis and who worked with Abou Najm, expressed that in the last few years, he has been his mentor, research colleague, business partner, and friend.

He described Abou Najm as “brilliant, creative, driven, cocky,

Leon Louis Francois Wegge

Leon Louis Francois Wegge, 89, of Davis, passed away peacefully on Feb. 4, 2023, after a multi-year battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma (Waldenström’s disease). He was surrounded by his loving family when he passed.

Leon was born in 1933 in Breendonk, Belgium. After attending primary school, junior high and high school in Breendonk and nearby communities, he spent two years at a junior college in Antwerp before transferring in 1953 to the Catholic University of Leuven, graduating in 1958 with several degrees, including one in economics. After military service in the French section of the Belgian army, he spent six months working on economic models at the Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis in the Netherlands.

In 1959, a Fulbright Scholarship provided for the boat trip across the Atlantic Ocean to the U.S., where he went on to study economics at MIT with Professor Robert Solow. In 1962 Leon met Beate, and they married that same year. Leon graduated with a Ph.D. in economics in 1963.

Leon’s first academic position was at the University of New South Wales in Australia. In 1966 he was recruited by the department of economics of UC Davis to develop their new graduate program. What followed were some of his most prolific years, during which he published many academic papers, taught graduate courses in econometrics, international economics and trade theory, and served on various faculty committees on the UC Davis campus.

“Let the battle begin,” ordered librarian Annette Parker, and the Battle of the Books teams dove into the questions that would determine the winner for the year. This was a favorite program started by Annette in 1974. It spread to the elementary schools, then junior highs and finally the high school in Davis. She initiated other incentive programs including family reading programs ending with ice cream socials.

She was the second child of Frank and Ruth Burnell Dietsch, with an older sister, Marietta and younger brother, Burnell. She was born in Portland, Ore., on July 4, 1927, and spent her first four years in Beaverton, Ore., where her father was a high-school principal.

The Great Depression forced them to move to the Los Angeles area, where there were more job opportunities. Annette graduated from Franklin High School in Highland Park in 1945. She attended L.A. City College, where she met Hal and received an associate’s degree, then on to UC Berkeley where she received a bachelor’s degree in 1949.

She and Hal were married on July 16 of that same year. Hal was attending what was then the University Farm for UC Berkeley in Davis as a pre-veterinarian, so Annette moved here, and they lived in a little cottage on Russell Boulevard. In those days, there were 3,500 people living in Davis, and there were sheep pastures just past their backyard.

Annette got a job teaching fourth grade at Dingle Elementary School in Woodland. She had no teacher training or experience and had to figure things out as she went along.

After Hal graduated from Vet School, they moved to Watsonville to start up a large- and smallanimal hospital with one of

fierce, yet cocky,” and “joyful.” His hunger for knowledge and experience was palpable.

Miller called out three lessons that he learned from Abou Najm. First, impatience is a virtue when you're pursuing something important; second that some rules are dumb; and third, “Karim is always right.”

For the first lesson, Abou Najm wanted to build a new assistive

In their early years in Davis, Leon and Beate regularly hosted Thanksgiving meals at their home with foreign graduate students or visiting professors as guests. He spent sabbatical years in Leuven (Belgium), Bonn (Germany) and Wassenaar (Netherlands), which allowed him to focus on research and expose his children to different European cultures as well as help them strengthen bonds with extended family.

Leon very much enjoyed traveling to other countries for professional conferences. Perhaps the most memorable trip was Leon and Beate’s visit to Taiwan in the year 2000. At the invitation of Paul T. Mu (the founding president of National Dong Hwa University, Hua-Lian, and a former Ph.D. student of Leon’s at UCD), Leon presented his research to the Economics Department at National Dong Hwa University as well as at the Economics Research Institute of Academia Sinica, the highest academic research institution in Taiwan.

Leon retired from UC Davis in 1994 and remained very active with his research and interests. He presented his last conference paper in 2019 in Singapore. Until a few years ago Leon was a regular fixture on the UC Davis tennis courts.

Twice he completed the Dodentocht walk (“March of the Dead”) in Bornem, Belgium, the longest walking race in Europe, which requires participants to walk 100 kilometers

Hal’s classmates. Both Rebecca and Lorie were born there. Although Pajaro Valley Veterinary Clinic was thriving by then, the hard physical labor of constructing a hospital took a toll on Hal’s health.

The family moved back to Davis, where Hal enrolled in a Ph.D. program in physiology and eventually became a full professor at the Veterinary School. They built a home on Linden Lane, where three more daughters were born – Cindy, Judy and Susan.

Annette returned to work in 1970 to create an enrichment program at West Davis Elementary (now César Chávez) using parent volunteers. At its peak, there were 84 volunteers who taught so many enrichment classes that every one of the over 400 students was in at least one enrichment class during a given year.

That program resulted in an Activity Center at WDE which lasted for several years. When that funding ended, she was asked to take over the library. She went back to school to get her School Librarian Credential.

When West Davis Intermediate School (now Willett) was built, she became the librarian for both schools. She eventually spent all her time at WDI,

within 24 hours.

listening device for people with hearing loss, and there were no excuses for the delay. “We had an opportunity to make an impact in the world, right? So why to wait?

Let's go,” Miller said. For the second lesson, if rules were ill-considered, with a “cheerful defiance,” Abou Najm would find a way to change them, or he would find a way to work around them. Miller said that Abou Najm possessed an

He enjoyed harvesting his organic almonds, listening to the music of van Beethoven and Handel and getting together with friends in a local gourmet club. He was a devout member of the Saint James Catholic Parish for nearly 60 years. He was an enthusiastic bridge player until the end. He was also an avid sports fan of all kinds of sports, but especially of grand slam tennis tournaments and the exploits of Belgian athletes.

Leon had a keen sense of familial history, and long before genealogy became popular, he engaged in rigorous research of the Wegge family tree as well as other family surnames that culminated in a small book on his findings, written in both English and Flemish.

He was a one-of-a-kind individual and will be greatly missed. Leon was predeceased by his parents Petrus and Alberta, his sister Rosa, and his brother Frans. He is survived by his wife Beate; brother Jos Wegge; children Simone (Victor Valdivia), Robert and Elizabeth (Jason Bennett); grandchildren Jane, Leo, Jacqueline and Victor; godson Dr. Leon Andries and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of his life was held in his hometown of Breendonk, Belgium on April 2. A Memorial Mass will be held on June 9 at St. James Church in Davis with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the International Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation (https://iwmf.com/ ways-to-give/), or to a local charity like Yolo Cares (Yolo Hospice), https://yolocares.org/.

where she also took on the special reading program. Once again, she returned to school, this time to get her Reading Specialist Credential. She worked at WDI until her retirement in 2004, at the age of 78.

After Hal died in 2003, she remodeled the family home, which enabled her to entertain large groups. She became instrumental in bringing Young Life, a program for adolescents, back to Davis and hosted gatherings for Young Life volunteers, including weekly meals for the college-aged leaders. She purchased a house on Hawthorne Lane to serve as a residence for YL leaders and a meeting place for students.

She was social to her core and had a party at her house for any excuse she could conjure. There were parties for new and longtime neighbors, bridge and potlucks, celebrations of every kind and sometimes just because.

After retirement she enjoyed traveling and bridge. She loved her bridge community and the friendships that developed through that connection. Over the decades, Annette developed wonderful friendships with a wide range of people in this

community.

A celebration of life will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the University Covenant Church. Friends are encouraged to bring photos or stories of their memories of Annette to display on a wall during the reception and then incorporated into a scrapbook.

To honor Annette and her strong commitment to literacy development, a fund has been set up in her name at Golden 1 Credit Union to support the reading program and library at Dingle Elementary School in Woodland. Please consider a donation to this fund.

“iron conviction a few of us have to defend what he believed.”

In honor of the legacy Karim has left behind, the Karim Majdi Abou Najm Memorial Undergraduate Student Research Award will provide stipends to support undergraduate UC Davis students doing research. The endowment will exist in perpetuity donate at https:// give.ucdavis.edu/Donate/YourGift/125342.

Michael Gass

Dr. Michael Gass, 90, of University Retirement Community in Davis passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, from vascular dementia. He was born on Dec. 10, 1932, in Tilda, India.

Dec. 10, 1932 — April 18, 2023 GASS

He is predeceased by his parents, Herbert and Zola Dell (Harris) Gass, his brother, Eric Gass; sister and brother-in-law, Judith (Gass) and Jim Shearer. Michael (known to some as Mike) was a proud member of the Kodaikanal International School (Kodaikanal, India) class of 1950; Elmhurst College (Illinois) class of 1954, where he was captain of the men’s tennis team; and Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine class of 1958. He did further medical training at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and Gorgas Army Medical Center in Panama City, Panama. His specialties were tropical medicine, dermatology and pathology.

Born to Swiss medical missionaries, Michael was raised in India then furthered his education in the United States. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen while proudly maintaining his Swiss citizenship. Following medical school and internship, he trained at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and went on to work in Ghana, West Africa, with his former wife Ruth (Gumper) Gass.

They served in Ghana, Panama and then he continued service by working at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Later he moved to Davis, where he met and married Carol Bliss, and he continued his service at the Community Clinic of Davis and Student Health Services at UC Davis.

Michael was a deeply spiritual Christian man who strove to live life as simply as he could thereby

giving much to others. He was a devoted and loving son, husband, father, stepfather, brother, grandfather (O’pa) and friend. He served others throughout his life using his skills as a physician, teacher and mentor. An avid tennis player, Michael also loved camping, canoeing and hiking, and was a staunch protector of the environment.

Michael is survived by his beloved wife, Carol; daughters Julia (Dade) Phillips, Leila Gass and Rebecca Gass; Carol’s daughters Pam (Steve) Stanley, Wendy (Kelly) Nelson and Katrina (Kevin) Benson; and grandchildren Michael and Sam Phillips, Hailey and Christopher Nelson, and Joshua and Zachary Benson. Also surviving are his sister-in-law Patricia Gass, niece Sandra Gass, nephew Robert Gass and great-niece Sonia Gass. Plans for a memorial service are pending. Michael selflessly donated his body to UC Davis, as a means of honoring others whose donations advanced his own medical education.

The family wishes to thank the staff at URC skilled nursing facility for their gentle, loving and high-quality care throughout Michael’s stay there, and to YoloCares hospice nurse Karen and aide Karla for outstanding care and communication with the family. Additionally, we are indebted to Michael and Carol’s URC neighbors who provided so much support, care, and love during the final months of his life. Memorials may be made to American Leprosy Mission, https://leprosy.org/, and Christian Medical College, https://giving.cmchvellore.edu/.

d. Feb. 4, 2023

WEGGE

Annette D. Parker

July 4, 1927 — April 17, 2023

Calendar

Today

n To help celebrate May is Bike Month, the city of Davis invites everyone to get on their bikes for the 13th annual Loopalooza from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In partnership with Bike Davis, this beloved family-friendly tradition is a community bike ride event along the 12-mile Davis bike loop. There will be 11 interactive stations along the loop, Access the event map at https://www. cityofdavis.org/Loopalooza For information, contact city of Davis Safe Routes to School Coordinator Daniela Tavares at dtavares@cityofdavis. org.

n Manfred Kusch, an emeritus professor at UC Davis, will lead a Yolo Audubon tour of his garden in Winters. He has cultivated his home garden, which borders on Putah Creek, into a true birding extravaganza. Kusch attracts a wide variety of birds in the gardens around the house, especially hummingbirds and orioles. The multi-layered vegetation on either side of the creek hosts spring migrants and residents such as grosbeaks, tanagers and a variety of warblers and vireos. Space is limited for this trip. Contact John Hansen to reserve a spot at jjhindavis@yahoo.com.

Wednesday

n Join Project Linus to make blankets for children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need. The next gathering is at the Davis Senior Center, 646 A St., from 1:30-3 p.m. All are welcome to attend the meeting and help sew Linus labels on handmade blankets that will

Citrus Circuits takes division win at Worlds

be given to Yolo County organizations that serve children in need. Project Linus members may take home donated fabrics and yarn each month to complete a blanket. Finished blankets can be brought to the next monthly gathering or to the Joann Fabric store in Woodland. For general information, drop-off location questions or fabric and yarn donations, contact Diane McGee at dmmyolo@gmail.com.

Friday

n The UC Davis Arboretum hosts a Folk Music Jam Session from noon to 1 p.m. Folk musicians can bring their acoustic instruments and play together informally during this jam session at Wyatt Deck (next to the redwood grove). Pull out your fiddles, guitars, mandolins, penny whistles, pipes, flutes, squeezeboxes (you name it) and join your fellow musicians for a little bluegrass, old-time, blues, Celtic, klezmer and world music over the lunch hour. All skill levels welcome and listeners are invited. Short-term parking is available in Visitor Lot 5 on Old Davis Road at Arboretum Drive. Hourly rates start at $1.75.

Friday, May 19

n The Davis Friends Meeting will show the movie, “The Most Dangerous Man in America.” The film is about the life of Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers to the public during the Vietnam War. The free screening begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Friends Meeting House, 345 L St. in Davis.

Enterprise staff

Davis robotics team 1678

Citrus Circuits once again earned their place as one of the best teams in the world at the 2023 FIRST World Championship in Houston, Texas. Making their 11th appearance at the World Championship, the team won their division for the ninth consecutive year, the only team in FRC history to do so.

A total of 44 students from 1678, along with parents and mentors, attended the event with their robot, named Tangerine Tumbler. The team competed in the Galileo Division, which included 77 teams from Canada, Mexico, Israel and the Netherlands. Over 10 matches, Citrus Circuits went undefeated and had the highest average score overall.

Citrus Circuits then advanced to the Einstein Field as one of eight alliances to play for the championship out of the 619 teams competing. Their alliance included Team 3476, Code Orange, from Irvine; Team 461, Westside Boiler Invasion, from West Lafayette, Ind.; and Team 59, RamTech, from Miami, Fla.

In the double elimination tournament, Citrus Circuits lost their first match before coming back to win convincingly in the second round. The team was elimi-

Citrus Circuits supporters cheer after the team won the Galileo Division at the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston.

Courtesy photo

Championship

nated in the third round, losing by only three points. Overall, the Citrus Circuits alliance finished fifth out of 619 teams at the event, all of which advanced to the championship from the more than 3,300 teams competing this season.

“This team has shown incredible drive and resiliency all season,” said 1678 head coach Mike Corsetto. “We were excited to be in the championship finals for the ninth year in a row, but even more excited to see how much our students have done this season to continuously improve and be a role model for teams around the world.”

Held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston from April 19 to 22, the FIRST World Championship brought together more than 50,000 participants from 59 countries. In the FIRST Robotics Competition program for high school students, teams competed in eight different divisions, each named after a famous scientist, with the winners facing each other on the Einstein Field.

This year, teams played

FIRST’s 2023 game

Charged Up presented by The Gene Haas Foundation. In this game, each match begins with a 15-

Courtesy photo

second autonomous period where teams cannot manually control their robot and must instead run an autonomous program to score cones and cubes into an upper, middle, and lower goal located at the end of the field. After the first 15 seconds, teams gain control of their robots to continue scoring and in the last 30 seconds attempt to balance up to three robots on the Charging Station.

Founded in 2004, Citrus Circuits has grown to become one of the top teams in FRC. The team consists of 90 students from high schools and junior high schools within the Davis Joint Unified School District. Major sponsors include UC Davis, DJUSD, TechnipFMC, Lockheed Martin, Bayer, and Intuitive. Members of Citrus Circuits not only compete with their robots, but also volunteer to put on RoboCamps each summer for younger students, Women in STEM Empowerment events for young girls, and Davis Youth Robotics league, as well as supporting robotics classes in Davis schools.

Citrus Circuits’ 2023 competition robot, Tangerine Tumbler, runs across the competition field at the FIRST Robotics World

in Houston.

BasketBall

Former Ag reaches for the Sky

Enterprise staff

Morgan Bertsch, the all-time leading scorer in the UC Davis basketball programs — men or women —reported to the Chicago Sky camp this week after another noteworthy campaign in Europe.

Bertsch, drafted 29th overall in the 2019 WNBA draft by Dallas, has played in Russia, Poland and the last couple of seasons in Belgium.

Thanks to her 17 points-per-game average in 2023, Bertsch’s Mechelen Kangoeroes last week captured the Belgium Top Division League crown with a 73-66 victory over Castors Braine — yet another series sweep for the 25-1 Belgian juggernaut. Bertsch scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and had a handful of assists in the title tilt.

Arriving in Chicago on Saturday, the Santa Rosa native will try for the third

Bring relief pitcher on motorcycle

Ihave no idea why this is happening, but there is a non-stop push to speed up our national pastime.

Yes, Major League Baseball is pulling out all the stops in its obsessive desire to make the game we love shorter.

Why this is the case is anyone’s guess, but the powers that be are scrutinizing every inch of the game in the hope of saving a second here and a minute there. Pretty soon the game will be over before you have even had time to buy a hot dog and take your seat, which is apparently the goal.

I’ve complained about this before, wondering who it is that’s actually complaining about the length of games, but things are now bordering on the ridiculous.

Can we speed up the game by bringing a relief pitcher in from the bullpen on a motorcycle?

How about no warmup pitches at all between innings? What if we have the home plate umpire just say “ball,” instead of “play ball?” These things all add up, you know.

The latest folks to come under the commissioner’s suspicious eye in this game of beat the clock are the bat boys and bat girls who populate the major leagues, delighting fans from coast to coast with their ability to quickly retrieve a bat near home plate without interfering with the action on the field. Batman may also come under scrutiny.

According to the commissioner’s directive, “New standards will be enforced for bat boys and bat girls,” who will be evaluated, then replaced, if their performance is considered substandard.

I am not making this up.

Okay, there’s nine innings to a game of baseball, 54 outs in all, or 51 outs if the home team is leading when the top of the ninth is over. Counting hits and walks and errors and home runs, that’s likely to be several hundred opportunities for the bat boy or girl to race out, grab the bat, and run back to the dugout.

If they can perform that duty two seconds faster

See PITCHER, Page B6

time since graduating from UCD to make a WNBA roster. In addition to Dallas and Chicago, Bertsch was invited by Connecticut to try out in 2022.

The 6-foot-3 power forward rewrote the Aggie record book. In addition to most points — 2,422 (711 ahead of No. 2 Carol Rische, a 1983 graduate) — Bertsch left Davis as the all-time leader in 21 other individual statistical categories.

Bertsch will now compete with 17 other Sky camp hopefuls for one of 12 roster spots.

Ironically, Bertsch’s first preseason action should come on Friday at Dallas — the Wings being the franchise that made her the only WNBA draft pick in UCD history.

The Sky tips off its 2023 league campaign on May 19 at the Minnesota Lynx.

Golf

Champions!

DHS boys team wins war on the course

By Henry Krueger Enterprise

The Davis High boys golf team fell short of winning the Delta League Championship, but the group still had reason to celebrate at WildHawk Golf Club on May 1.

Despite finishing No. 2 in the match, the Blue Devils were awarded the Delta League Champions banner for ending the conference season with a one-point lead in the standings.

“We lost the battle but won the war,” said Davis first-year head coach Kelly Hammond.

Jesuit took first place at the match after scoring 362 as a team, 10 strokes better than Davis. Pleasant Grove shot a 377 to round out the top three. Now Jesuit, Davis and Pleasant Grove advances to the Division I Sac-Joaquin Section Tournament, which is on Monday at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento. The competition includes nine schools, with six other programs coming from the Sierra Foothill League and the Tri-City Athletic League.

As the Blue Devils fight to keep their season alive, it’ll be doing without one of its top players.

Josh Galindo, Davis’ second-best individual performer at the league championship, will be qualifying for the California Amateur Championship on Monday.

This isn’t a new obstacle for Hammond, who’s dealt with a shorthanded roster at various points of the season.

Hammond has adapted to this reality by ensuring all members of his team are ready to step up, something he achieved by forcing his players to qualify for each match every week.

“Everyone has to win that spot every week, except the two guys that scored the best in the match prior to that week,” Hammond said. “So there are only four spots left for everyone to qualify for.”

Hammond even allows non-varsity players to qualify, including for high-stakes matchups and tournaments.

The Delta League Championship saw two players get called up.

“(Junior varsity) is like the farm club of the varsity and therefore it gives these players a chance to experience what it’s like playing in these tournaments in varsity,” Hammond said. “We’re building them so when they do become varsity players, they’re already used to the pressure and what to expect.”

Hammond, who was an assistant before taking over the Blue Devils’ program, finds enjoyment in passing his knowledge to the next generation.

However, even after 57 years of experience playing the sport, he says he’s always learning.

“Hopefully I’ll be learning until I die,”

Hammond said. “That’s just this game. Like they say, ‘You never own the swing. You only get to rent it for a certain period of time and then you gotta go find it again.’”

If the Blue Devils finish in the top three at Monday’s competition, they will advance to the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament, which will be held at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton on Monday, May 15.

Last season’s team won the masters tournament and advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal Regional Championship, where it tied for fourth.

Hammond is hopeful this year’s Blue Devils can match the 2022 squad, but winning anything beyond that will require a tremendous performance.

“If we get by this coming week, I think we have a good chance of getting into NorCal.” Hammond said. “But whether we’ll get past NorCal or not, I don’t know. All the competition that’s out there, I know it’s going to be good.”

— Henry Krueger is a sophomore at Gonzaga University and is working as a correspondent for The Enterprise this spring and summer. He interned at The Enterprise last summer. Follow him on Twitter: @henrykrveger.

Chrissy Bennetts/Courtesy photo

Members of the Davis High girls swimming team pose for photo, holding their Sac-Joaquin Section Division I banner they captured at the section’s swimming championships Friday at The Center at District 56 in Elk Grove. A story and action photos of Blue Devil girls and boys competing at the finals will be on The Enterprise’s website and print Wednesday.

Christoph lossin/enterprise photo

Davis High golfer Blake Schimmel watches his shot during practice at Wildhorse Golf Club on Wednesday.

correspondent

Tech companies try to block data-privacy law

By Justin KloczKo Special to CalMatters

Getting denied a home loan, never hearing back from that job you applied for – these things happen all the time, but more and more it’s likely an algorithm making the decision. And increasingly it’s making unfair ones, instantaneously and out of view.

Throughout this decade, 85% of algorithms will provide false analysis due to bias, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2019, an algorithm denied mortgages to high-earning Black applicants with less debt more often than highearning white applicants with more debt, The Markup reported. Even when living in the same areas, people of color were more likely to be denied loans than white people with similar financial profiles.

It’s usually low-income individuals, people of color, females, religious groups or those with disabilities who suffer the most because of automated decisions. But why?

Algorithms are everywhere, and we don’t know a lot about them. Even Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, only broadly understands the lender’s algorithmic logic. Until recently, companies didn’t have to disclose how these automated decisions were being made.

Under Proposition 24, which voters approved in 2020, the California Privacy Protection Agency, or CPPA, is required to issue regulations that would disclose the logic behind algorithms and the ability to opt out of automated decisions. Those regulations are in the beginning stages of being drawn.

If effectively drafted, California residents will be able to stop algorithms that profile them and impact their financial situation, access to education or employment. For example, a job application algorithm used by an employer to automatically assess and rank job applicants according to names, addresses, gender and disabilities is profiling, and Californians should be able to opt out of that automated decision-making.

Or, say a financial lending company uses a certain age bracket as a reason for not having a credit application further analyzed. Since the age of a person doesn’t matter when applying for credit and denial significantly affected applicants, such criteria should be stopped under automated decision-making regulations.

Under the new law, Californians will also be able to pull back the curtain on algorithms and learn about their logic. They have the right to know the personal data processed, the automated decision’s consequences for the subject, and any assigned categories, labels or rankings. Consumers deserve not just meaningful information, but meaningful explanation. If an employer is creating an algorithm to make predictions about potential employees’ behavior and reliability on the job, applicants deserve to know about it, as well as be able to stop their personal data from being used to automatically categorize and predict things about them.

But the law is under attack by large corporations seeking to delay and spread misinformation. The California Chamber of Commerce, which counts Amazon, Google and Meta as members, filed a lawsuit to delay the implementation of the law. On another front, CTIA and TechNet, trade groups pushing the interests of these very same tech companies who hold a monopoly over our personal data, said the CCPA doesn’t force businesses to honor automated decision-making, opt-out requests at all.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the most powerful lobbying arms in the country, wrote in recent comments to the privacy agency that the agency is not statutorily authorized to create opt-out rules regarding automated decision-making.

However, California voters who passed Prop. 24 were clear on what the law requires. Interpreting otherwise is antithetical to the voter’s intent: to give people more control over their data, not less.

— Justin Kloczko is the tech and privacy advocate for Consumer Watchdog. He wrote this for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.

Pols should look before they leap

Decisions by governors, legislators and bureaucrats have consequences, some intended and some not.

Were politics a rational exercise, decision-makers would fully explore potential effects before acting, thereby minimizing chances that what they have wrought would backfire.

However, politics and politicians tend to act in the here and now, rather than worry about what might happen in the future when their decrees collide with the real world.

Examples of short-term decisions that have turned sour abound. One obvious one is California’s ill-starred bullet train project, which has limped along year after year, and still lacks enough money even to complete one initial segment, much less a complete financial plan.

If we had known then what we know now, would voters, governors and legislators have so willingly begun a project that seems to exist merely to exist, but serves no discernible purpose?

Several other notions kicking around the Capitol currently could use some critical thinking about potential consequences.

One is that California should pay reparations to its

Black residents for many decades of discrimination and repression. A task force created to study the issue has pegged potential damages as much as $1.2 million per person, although it has not yet said how much should actually be paid.

“Rather, it is an economically conservative initial assessment of what losses, at a minimum, the state of California caused or could have prevented, but did not,” a task force report states. “The Legislature would then have to decide how to translate loss-estimates into proposed reparations amounts.”

No one should question that Black Californians have been ill-treated in many ways, but even if awarded cash, would claims for reparations end there?

Latinos suffered many of the same indignities and economic damages and might easily make similar claims.

What about California’s

Native Americans? They were enslaved and hunted down during the state’s first decades, with bounties to encourage more killing. Couldn’t today’s descendants claim reparations for genocide?

Another issue being floated in the Capitol these days is a constitutional amendment to make housing a civil right.

Advocates say Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10 is needed to spur greater efforts by officeholders to end California’s housing shortage. Were ACA 10 to be enacted, it would give advocates for the poor and others who lack adequate housing a legal basis for suing state and local governments.

However, governments cannot, by themselves, end the housing shortage. At best they can finance a relative few housing units but must rely on private investment to build the millions of additional units the state needs. Making housing a constitutional right would be virtue-signaling that raises expectations with no real world benefit.

A third example of something needing more objective analysis is a bill that purports to raise salaries of teachers

and other education workers by 50% in seven years by increasing the state aid that school districts receive.

If enacted, it would be another bullet train – making promises about doing something wonderful in the future without laying out how it will be financed. One would think politicians would have learned by now the folly of making such open-ended, detail-free commitments.

Finally, there are directives from the Air Resources Board to end sales of gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles, including large trucks, in the not-to-distant future. However, no one has laid out how, as a practical matter, it can be done, given the current state of technology and lack of firm plans to increase electrical energy supplies, charging stations and the other services and devices such a transition would require.

An old adage, “Look before you leap,” could be applied to all of these issues.

— 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.

Get to explicating

Kudos and thanks to Greg Stovall for his April 26 letter “Blame where it’s due.” Of particular import is his observation regarding the lack of intellectually honest political and social reportage among mainstream media. Their mother’s milk, two years out, remains Trump, his supporters and contempt for any disapproved right-of-center opinion.

This has gotten to be rather thin gruel which, dangerously, seems to have trickled down to, and hopelessly infected, the discussion of important issues concerning our state as well as those local to Davis. The Enterprise remains an important organ of civic life in the city and has the obligation to present and explicate, equally, all sides of these issues. The Enterprise might better discharge this responsibility by providing more incisive analysis of contentious issues that are based upon primary-sourced facts and essential detail that many might view as inconvenient or discordant with conventional thinking.

Let’s have the on-the-ground facts that allow us adults to come to our own conclusions, not the usual spin and pap consuming too many valuable column inches in our local paper. An excellent positive example is the letter from Walter Sadler

Speak out President

that appeared in the April 8 Enterprise, “Electrification Element in the City’s Electrification Plan Dead on Arrival.” The topic of the letter should be further explored; perhaps more important, though, its detailed analytical approach should be applied whenever reporting on important issues of the day and certainly not limited to the op-ed page.

As Mr. Stovall suggests, let’s pay attention to all the facts, avoid reflexive endorsement of accepted — if unwise — wisdom, and spread both applause and opprobrium around a little more evenly.

Jon Sugarman Davis

Drums at Whole Earth

My name is Jim Willson and I am an organizer for a large drumming group in Sacramento. We have been around since 2008 and have hundreds of members on our mailing list. Drumming is a wonderful experience for people of different cultures to connect and share a common love of communicating through rhythm.

Open drum circles have been a tradition at the Whole Earth Festival for at least 15 years. The circles are normally held near Hart Hall to keep the noise away from the festival stages.

Last year the organizers canceled these circles, based on a number of factors, including what was called cultural appropriation. I did reach out to the UC Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission to try to

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

get more information about this; however I could not find anybody to speak to. Hopefully it will be possible to get drum circles back at the festival so that everybody can enjoy them. In the past, the circles were facilitated by experienced drummers, among them the legendary Arthur Hull, who pioneered the idea of facilitating drum circles and has trained many people around the world. I reached out to the WEF organizers to recommend that the drum circles again be facilitated by experienced drummers. The facilitator could maintain proper volume levels, watch the playing times, make sure drummers are considerate, etc.

In the Sacramento area there is an African American woman who would be an excellent facilitator. She has taught African drumming and dance for years. The organizers said it was too late to schedule a drum circle this year, but they recommended that we come back and discuss the issue in December when they begin planning for next year. I hope we can bring back the joyful and creative experience that is drumming!

I set up the following website: https:// sac-davis-drums.com. This site is coauthored by a number of drummers from different cultures and includes a history of drumming at WEF. If the university is willing to discuss the matter next year, the site might help provide some useful background information.

Jim Willson Sacramento

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

House of Representatives

Rep. Mike Thompson, 268 Cannon Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515; 202225-3311. District office: 622 Main Street, Suite 106, Woodland, CA 95695; 530-753-5301; email: https:// https:// mikethompsonforms.house.gov/contact/

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

AI has become reality: friend, foe or both?

By Llewellyn King

Special to The Enterprise

Awhole new thing to worry about has just arrived. It joins a list of existential concerns for the future, along with global warming, the wobbling of democracy, the relationship with China, the national debt, the supply chain crisis, and the wreckage in the schools.

Artificial intelligence, known as AI, has had pride of place on the worry list for several weeks.

Its arrival was trumpeted for a long time, including by the government and by techies across the board. But it took ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, for the hair on the back of the national neck to rise.

Now we know the race into the unknown is speeding up. The tech biggies, like Google and Facebook, are trying to catch the lead claimed by Microsoft. They are rushing headlong into a science the experts say they only partially understand. They really don’t

know how these complex systems work; maybe like a book that the author cannot read after having written it.

Incalculable acres of newsprint and untold decibels of broadcasting have been raising the alarm ever since a ChatGPT test told a New York Times reporter that it was in love with him and he should leave his wife. Guffaws all around, but also fear and doubt about the future.

Will this Frankenstein creature turn on us? Maybe it loves just one person, hates the rest of us, and plans to do something about it.

In an interview on the PBS television program “White House Chronicle,” John Savage, An Wang professor emeritus of computer science at Brown University, told me there was a danger of overreliance, and hence mistakes, on decisions made using AI.

For example, he said, some Stanford students partly covered a

stop sign with black and white pieces of tape. AI misread the sign as signaling it was OK to travel 45 miles an hour. Similarly, Savage said the slightest calibration error in a medical operation using AI could result in a fatality.

Savage believes AI needs to be regulated and that any information generated by AI needs verification. As a journalist, it is the latter that alarms.

Already, AI is writing fake music almost undetectably. There is a real possibility that it can write legal briefs. So why not usurp journalism for ulterior purposes and put stiffs like me out of work?

AI images can already be made to speak and look like the humans they are aping. How will you recognize a “deep fake” from the real thing? Probably, you won’t.

We are struggling with what is fact and where is the truth. There is so much disinformation, so speedily dispersed that some journalists are in a state of shell shock, particularly in Eastern Europe, where

legitimate writers and broadcasters are assaulted daily with disinformation from Russia.

“How can we tell what is true?”

a reporter in Vilnius, Lithuania, asked me during an Association of European Journalists’ meeting as the Russian disinformation campaign was revving up before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Well, that is going to get a lot harder. “You need to know the provenance of information and images before they are published,” Brown University’s Savage said.

But how? In a newsroom on deadline, we have to trust the information we have. One wonders to what extent malicious users of the new technology will infiltrate research materials or, later, the content of encyclopedias. Or, are the tools of verification themselves trustworthy?

There will be upsides to thinking machines scouring the internet for information. I think of handling nuclear waste; disarming old weapons; simulating the battlefield; incorporating

historical knowledge; and seeking new products and materials. Medical research will accelerate, one assumes.

However, privacy may be a thing of the past — it almost certainly will be.

Just consider that attractive person you saw at the supermarket but were unsure what would happen if you initiated a conversation. Snap a picture on your camera, and in no time AI will tell you who the stranger is, whether the person might want to know you and, if that should be your interest, whether the person is married, in a relationship or just waiting to meet someone like you. Or whether he or she is a spy for a hostile government.

AI might save us from ourselves. But we should ask how badly we need saving — and be prepared to ignore the answer. Damn it, we are human.

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

The past can bring us all closer My letter to Brock Purdy

By Lulu Zhang Special to The Enterprise

When I came to the United States in 2011, to attend UC Davis, I expected to encounter miscommunication with Americans. After all, my first language is Mandarin (Chinese). American English is my second language. Ironically, I experienced language barriers while coming into contact with Cantonese (Chinese) speakers.

Twelve years ago, when I first tried ordering fried noodles at a Panda Express restaurant, I found myself embarrassed and unwilling to say chow mein. It was because that was not how I would say fried noodles in my native Mandarin language. I could imitate the sound of chow mein. However, I was extremely reluctant to say the word coming from a language in which I was not fluent. I understand that Americans and many people around the world assume that Cantonese and Mandarin are mutually intelligible.

After all, both are Chinese dialects. That cannot be further from the truth, as a matter of fact. Born and raised way up north in mainland China, I do not understand a word in Cantonese; I still insist on saying “fried noodles” in English in place of “chow mein” when ordering fried noodles at Panda Express. Thankfully, Panda Express uses the phrase “fried rice” to mean fried rice!

A few years after “the panda incident,” I had a roommate who was from Hong Kong. Through her, I met several more Hong Kong students. Most, if not all, Americans would imagine I had a smooth time befriending them. After all, we were all Chinese, well, supposedly. Quite the reverse, I had a not-so-smooth encounter with my Hong Kong counterparts. For one thing, I could not bring myself to see them as my type of Chinese. It was primarily because I did not understand a word they were saying in Cantonese.

Moreover, they gave out a vibe that implied to me that they were from Hong Kong, not China. I thought to myself, “It does not matter, because I do not see my kind of Chineseness in you anyway.”

Hong Kong may be part of China, but was more of a distant, historical and mysterious place.

Throughout my childhood and adolescence, Hong Kong appeared much more often in my history books than in real life. For that reason, I could not emotionally or mentally shake off the Opium Wars of the mid-1800s from my impression of Hong Kong.

I visited Hong Kong in 2010 for the first time. When the vehicle was driving through a Hong Kong residential area, when the wind was blowing through my hair, when my eyes were glancing at a few schoolchildren who looked similar to me but spoke an entirely different language, I could not help but wonder:

“When the first British colonist set foot in Hong Kong, blue-eyed and blond-haired, were Hong Kong people curious, confused or scared?” “Did British colonists

treat them with kindness and respect?” “How did British settlers and Hong Kong people gradually come to learn one another’s language?”

My person was traveling in the present, yet my mind was trotting through time. I became fixated on the moment when Hong Kong became a pawn in the imbalanced power struggle between an industrialized empire and a still agricultural empire.

As a result of me being absorbed into historical Hong Kong, I asked the very first Hong Kong person to whom I personally talked if she thought of herself as British. She firmly denied seeing herself as British. At that moment, I could not keep my mind off colonial Hong Kong. The Hong Kong person was more like a living fossil that could potentially tell the story of the British-Sino Opium Wars than a potential friend.

Now let us go back to my interaction with my Hong Kong roommate and her friends. What made both sides feel more alienated from each other came down to two factors. On the one hand, I did not understand Cantonese as a native Mandarin speaker. On the other hand, Hong Kong was spared the Communist push for “Mandarinization (To mandate all mainland Chinese learn Mandarin regardless of their regional dialect).” Thus, Hong Kong people communicated with Mandarin speakers more easily in English than in Mandarin.

For example, some Hong Kong guy once wanted to borrow a pillow from me but he struggled hard to find the proper Mandarin word. He eventually burst out the English word “pillow.” At the time, he and my roommate’s other friends were sleeping over at our apartment. None of his Hong Kong peers came to his rescue by reminding him how to say pillow in Mandarin. I genuinely believed that none of them knew how. “We are so not the same, are we?” I thought to myself. That changed, however, when the same Hong Kong guy asked for hot drinking water at an event my roommate and I were also attending. I was genuinely baffled.

I scratched my head and inquired, “Why hot water?” To my surprise, he responded with an affirmative acknowledgement of his “Chineseness.” I still remember what he said word for word, nearly a decade later: “I am Chinese.” Though he asserted his Chineseness in English (ironically), I immediately felt much closer to Hong Kong people at that juncture. Yes, it was such a quintessential Chinese thing to consume hot water. At that moment, it was as if Hong Kong brushed off its 156 years of British rule and reverted back to an ordinary Chinese village.

Speaking of Chinese, I recently discovered a fantastic restaurant called Dah Bao in East Davis. I initially thought that it was a Vietnamese restaurant. It was because the letter “h” at the end of the word “Dah” sounded Viet-

namese to me. Then you can guess how astonished I was when I discovered that Dah Bao actually served Chinese food!

According to man’s new best friend Google, Dah Bao was a Chinese word which was not initially supposed to be understood by mainland Chinese. Interestingly, we now frequently use the word in mainland China. Using my native Mandarin phonetics (Pinyin), Dah Bao would be spelled as Da Bao. Da Bao means to “pack up leftover restaurant foods and take them home.”

Da is a verb that describes multiple hand movements involved to put leftovers into a takeout (or togo) box. Bao is a noun that means box or bag. I remember my parents used the word Da Bao quite often when I was a young child. Therefore, Dah Bao is a Chinese restaurant called “To Go.” What is funny about the name Dah Bao is that you can dine in as well as take out Amusingly and very merrily, I later came across an American eatery called Togo’s Sandwiches in North Davis; I genuinely believe that Togo is the long-lost American cousin of Dah Bao!

The funny discoveries led me to notice a similar occurrence in French. At our Hattie Weber Museum of Davis, I found a piece of balcony railing taken from a demolition site near the LaRue farmhouse (2727 Russell Blvd., Davis, CA 95616). While it has not been definitively concluded that this fragmentary railing was part of the original LaRue farmhouse, it did remind me of LaRue Road on campus. I always had a question mark in my mind about the word “LaRue.” I was excited to find out LaRue meant The Road in French, thanks to our co-director, Merrily. LaRue Road was named to honor Jacob LaRue, one of the founding advocates for the University Farm School (the presentday UC Davis). LaRue Road intersects with Russell Boulevard and immediately connects with Anderson Road. Anderson is a last name. LaRue is a last name. Therefore, it makes perfect sense. What does not make sense is that LaRue Road literally means The Road Road.

The balcony railing comes from a demolition site close to the historical LaRue farmhouse built and expanded between 1867 and 1918. 1867? Does it remind you of something? Queen Victoria was still living! The railing surely represents a distant yet remarkably real piece of history. Have you been intrigued to view it in person since I told you the story about The Road Road? If so, we welcome you with open arms. When you gaze upon the historical balcony railing, you are getting on a time machine and traveling back to the tumultuous yet pioneering years of California. Who can say history is boring? :)

— Lulu Zhang graduated UC Davis with a bachelor’s degree in history. Her passion for history and writing led her to volunteer at the Hattie Weber Museum, where she hopes she can spark more interest about the museum among Davis residents and UCD students.

By Lally Pia Special to The Enterprise

Ihave a sign by my fireplace that reads “We Interrupt this Marriage for Football Season.”

Most people think it’s for my husband, but it’s for me, the wife. I’ve been a diehard 49ers fan since the ’80s, and like many, I thought this year was our chance for the Super Bowl.

And then there was that fateful day, Jan. 29, 2023, when you, Brock Purdy of the 49ers, took that hit. I couldn’t believe it. Simply couldn’t believe it. My world came crashing down. Everything clouded over, because like millions of other fans, I was devastated — and so scared for you. Nothing seemed real.

But minutes later, when the edge of the television screen got blurry, life got weirder still.

A quick call to my daughter, a child neurology resident in Rochester, N.Y., confirmed my worst fears. I was having a stroke.

I found out later that my left internal carotid artery had jammed up. In an instant, the blood supply to the left side of my head was gone.

Like someone thumbing through a flipchart, only fleeting memories remain. In the ER, everything was cloudy and jumbled. My words tripped over each other. I’ll never forget my absolute terror when I stared stupidly at the clerk and blanked on my birthdate. There was the stinging jab of a clot-buster. Everywhere they took me, the comforting, sanitizing aroma of alcohol was in the air.

I said yes to everything I was asked. Like a nodding taxi doll, every option sounded absolutely perfect. If someone had suggested head removal, I’d likely have acquiesced. The shock and disbelief on my husband Tim’s face played back as I was loaded into an ambulance to Sutter in Sacramento.

I’ll never forget the concern and kind words of the young man who sat with me in the ambulance as the siren blared. He did his best to keep me engaged and awake. On that terrifying ride, he would never know just how much I appreciated this intense connection with another human, while everything I knew to be true or real was gradually slipping away — vanishing from my consciousness.

Other vivid images remain — the solemn faces of the team of blue-coated doctors who faced me at the hospital. Their voices were hushed, but they did their best to reassure me. A smiling nurse shaved my left thigh and I learned that a tube was going to be placed into my femoral vein. The speech therapist asked me to repeat, “Babababa... kakakaka”. She smiled back at me, so I knew I must be doing it right.

A short time later, I was profoundly relieved to hear that I didn’t need my skull cracked open and emergency brain surgery. Hallelujah to that!

Miraculously, I learned that my collateral vessels—a bunch of other blood vessels— jumped into action to nourish the poor starved brain cells on the left side of my brain. This intrepid collection of fetal blood vessels and other “spare” vessels, was recruited to play their part for my recovery. They blazed through triumphantly, in a symphony of support, without hesitation. There were casualties. I’m pretty sure several million brain cells keeled over and called it quits.

But thank goodness we’re endowed with a few billion spares!

Three weeks after the stroke, I couldn’t figure out what a cup was, except that it was something used to measure flour. I had to ask where jam would be stored, finally deducing that it was made of fruit so would probably be in the refrigerator. Simple computation such as subtraction was difficult and digits such as “9” somehow morphed into other numbers. For example, 9:30 somehow became 5:30, making scheduling my patients tricky (yes, I’m a physician). The notes on the open page of my Mozart sonata had morphed into hieroglyphics. I now played piano like a kindergartener with tears rolling down my face. That was hard. It was like I lost a part of myself, Brock. Lost part of my identity. Like I was suddenly stripped of a skill I owned — that no one had but me. Brock, you tore your ulnar collateral ligament, and shortly after that, my left internal carotid artery clogged up. But this world we live in is a caring world inhabited by beautiful, skilled, selfless people with hearts full of love. They are our collaterals. Like my hardworking vessels, our collaterals stepped forward without hesitation in our time of greatest need. Isn’t it wonderful that we both benefitted from the wonderful collaboration of hundreds of skilled humans, all waiting in the wings to help out?

Everyone from my ambulance driver to the neurosurgeons to the hospital dietician, who made sure I had a lowsugar menu, to the cheery man who swept around my bed daily. Those are my heroes. They jumped in without hesitation to put me back together and support me. I can play piano again, Brock, thanks to my collaterals. You know what, Brock? I think we’re going to make it. — Lally Pia is a Davis resident.

This might be my most ill-advised column

n Editor’s note: Tanya Perez is taking the day off. She weirdly decided to run this column from October 2012, where she looks like a complete idiot for her defiant stance against doing the safe and proper thing. She hopes that by re-running it people will admire her for not being this senseless and irresponsible any longer..

Acouple weekends ago I was talking on my cell phone while driving. Shocking, I know, that I would blatantly break the law and admit it here.

Here’s what happened.

I was driving our GEM car, which is open on all sides, and talking to my friend on the phone. I pulled up to a stoplight, and glanced at the car beside me in the left turn lane. I thought, “Hey, look! It’s (my friend) Dennis!”

I made a goofy face at “Dennis” in response to what I perceived was his jokey, stern, shaming face related to my being on the phone. I then kind of shrugged, as if to say, “I know, I’m being bad, please forgive me.”

About 30 seconds later, still stopped at the intersection, I saw

in my peripheral vision that “Dennis” continued staring and glaring at me. I uncomfortably told my friend on the phone that this light needed to turn green so I could stop being evil-eyed.

As I looked back over, “Dennis” was sort of miming writing something … what is he doing? Writing a pretend ticket? Making a mock citizen’s arrest?

On closer inspection, I realized I didn’t recognize his car, and it dawned on me this wasn’t actually my friend.

In fact, when I got where I was going, I called the real Dennis to ask if he had just seen me driving in the GEM car. Nope, he hadn’t seen me for weeks. I told him the story of his nosy doppelganger and we laughed about his dogooder evil twin.

But in the days since, I haven’t laughed about it. I’ve found myself wondering why the guy

got worked up about this. Was he an off-duty police officer trying to do me a favor and save me from incurring a huge fine? Had somebody he was close to been in a car accident because of a cellphone-talking jerk? Or was he just a busy-body?

I’ve imagined seeing him again and asking, “Why do you care?! Why is this your business?

If I want to get a ticket for talking on the phone while driving, that’s my poor choice!”

And, not-Dennis, the real problem is “distracted driving” if you want to aim your punishing glances at the proper audiences. According to AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety (reminder, this is from 2012):

“Distracted driving contributes to up to 8,000 crashes every single day.

n More than 1 million people have died in car crashes over the past 25 years in the United States, with 33,788 lives lost in 2010 alone.

“

n Using a cell phone while driving quadruples your risk of crashing.

n Eating, smoking, adjusting music or rubbernecking while driving can be just as dangerous

as texting, emailing or talking on a cell phone.

n Passengers are one of the most frequently reported causes of distraction, with young children being four times more distracting than adults and infants being eight times more distracting.”

So I hope you’re aiming your glares at mothers with infants in the back seat, or people on their way to the bark park with an excited dog romping in the back of the car. They need your helpful shaming, too.

Putting aside the political tirades by various ranters that we live in a nanny state thanks to the government and blah blah blah, I would like to point out to the average “do-gooder” that most adults don’t want unsolicited advice about, well, anything.

It bugs the crap out of us. (This includes you, lady who biked by my husband and me and whiningly yelled out “Where are your helmets?” It took all of my selfcontrol to not snottily yell back, “Up your butt!”)

My main point here is to advocate for a friendlier approach, such as when someone flashes

his headlights as dusk turns to dark to let you know you need to turn your headlights on. Thank you!

Or maybe you’re on a ski lift when someone starts a conversation with you, asking, “When did you decide to start wearing a helmet? Is it comfortable?” This person is gathering information on whether to start wearing a helmet and is soliciting your opinion. How friendly of you to offer it!

Shaming glares and whiny shout-outs are rarely the way to convert others to your way of doing things.

By the way, I’ve imagined how “Dennis” frothed to his wife about me when he got home. “You wouldn’t believe this reckless, horrible scofflaw I saw at the intersection today. She was — you’re not going to believe this — talking on the phone!” To which his wife shrieked, “You’re kidding! I’ve never seen such a thing!” Sigh.

— Tanya Perez lives in Davis with her family. Her column is published every other Sunday. Reach her at pereztanyah@ gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter at @californiatanya.

Get to know the many clients of Empower Yolo

By Natalia Baltazar and Sandra Clark

Special to The Enterprise

Empower Yolo’s recent Big Day of Giving campaign’s theme — Empower Yolo supports your well-being: your neighborhood, community and county — exemplifies the agency’s commitment to serving survivors and families in need; and shows how extensive Empower Yolo’s programs are to the community. During the campaign, Empower Yolo highlighted various client stories, which showed the diversity of the population served and the breadth of services provided for clients.

“Every client that comes to Empower Yolo is different. Clients come from different countries with different backgrounds,” says Josie Enriquez, program manager. Clients also have different racial, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds, gender identities, and family compositions.

Empower Yolo supports survivors including victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other crime victims, the unhoused, and families in need. Services include a 24-hour crisis line, safe shelter, legal advocacy, counseling, and support groups, CARE Team, housing services, food distribution, clothing closet, resource centers throughout Yolo County, benefits enrollment,

By Andy Jones

Special to The Enterprise

1. Mottos and Slogans.

The brand names Acadia, Terrain and Yukon are all made by a company that has used the slogan “We are professional grade.” Name the company.

2. Great Americans.

Who was the most recent U.S. President before Lyndon B. Johnson not to seek re-election as president?

3. Another Music Question. The 1980s songs “Gloria” and “Self Control” were hits for what singer born in New York in 1952?

4. Books and Authors. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, what Russian is often

immigration services, After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens, youth services, financial empowerment services, taxes, community outreach, prevention education, Empower Yoga, and so much more.

We are proud of the work we are accomplishing serving thousands of clients across our programs. In 2022, 272 survivors of abuse, of which 130 were children received shelter or transitional housing for 17,583 bed nights.

“At the resource centers advocates establish relationships with clients that last throughout the years. Clients keep coming back for services, but at the same time we strengthen them in different ways such as encouraging counseling and mental health services. We also provide resources they need for their families including food distribution, healthcare for the children, referrals to education resources, employment and housing services, benefits enrollment, youth services, and so much more,” says Enriquez.

Empower Yolo and the clients we serve are so grateful for your financial support during our Big Day of Giving campaign that we are honored to share some of the stories of the survivors and families in need you are helping.

referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theater?

5. Countries of the World. The world’s 10thsmallest country by area is an archipelago between Italy and Libya. Name it.

Answers: GMC (all SUVs), Harry S. Truman, Laura Branigan, Anton Chekhov, Maltat.

— Dr. Andy Jones is the quizmaster at de Vere’s Irish Pub and author of the book “Pub Quizzes: Trivia for Smart People.” Dr. Andy is now also sharing his pub quizzes via Patreon. Find out more at www.

yourquizmaster.com.

All names have been changed for confidentiality.

Jasmine

“My kids were living in fear. I left my abuser and everything behind.

“Empower Yolo helped me find a place to live, school supplies for my kids starting over at new schools, resources for food, rent, and furniture, help with a restraining order, and custody of my kids.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a second chance and I can start my life over. My kids are so happy to be moving into a new place with just the three of us and it won’t be the same as it was before. Coming to Empower Yolo has changed my life.”

Julio

“My two girls witnessed

enough abuse their mother caused me that they started waking up to nightmares and wetting their beds.

“The love I have for my kids was the reason I gained enough strength to leave my abuser and seek help. Coming to Empower Yolo has helped me turn my life around. They educated me on all the types of abuse there is. I learned that I wasn’t just being abused physically but also mentally and financially. I also learned it’s okay for men to seek help.

“Empower Yolo provided for my kids and me in a time of need. Legal advocates helped me get a restraining order and with the custody process for my kids. Shelter staff helped enroll my kids into new schools and provided school supplies and clothing for them. I ended up finding a job, getting

permanent housing, and having my ID card. Later, housing advocates helped me find permanent housing, helped with the deposit, and furniture for my girls. I felt like I was given a chance to start over and I am grateful that programs like this exist.”

Sara

Sara was carrying heels and walking barefoot with blistered feet on a street known for prostitution. She was 13 years old.

While law enforcement took down her trafficker, Sara received support from a human trafficking advocate, trauma counseling, and a chance to finish high school.

Empower Yolo provided Sara with safe housing, counseling, and financial empowerment services, and helped her set longterm goals for herself. As

Sara received care and grew older, she got a job, permanent housing, movein expenses, and furniture to start a new chapter in her life.

“It’s important to establish relationships with clients and that you don’t judge them for their decisions. Respect their decisions, whether you agree with them or not, so they know they can come back. They often come back and get one step better and one step closer to being free from abuse,” Enriquez said. “Once they get back on their feet, many clients start giving back to the community by donating, volunteering, or working for Empower Yolo. Also, their children grow up with Empower Yolo and then they volunteer and give back as well.”

Thank you to the community for its continuing support for survivors and families in need. Your donations mean a safe home, restraining orders, an escape from human trafficking, school supplies for kids, furnishings for new homes, and a second chance for the most vulnerable in Yolo County.

To donate and learn more, visit empoweryolo. org. For more information on services and events, or to donate any time visit: empoweryolo.org.

— Natalia Baltazar is the Director of Development and Community Relations of Empower Yolo.

Phi Kappa Phi Inducts New Members

Special to The Enterprise

The following people recently were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

Mario Gonzalez of Davis, at San Jose State University; Morgan Graber of West Sacramento, at University of the Pacific; Jeanette Huddleston of West Sacramento, at Purdue University; Alexandra Martin of Woodland, at University of the Pacific; Kaelyn O’Bryan of Woodland, at University of the Pacific; Jennifer Scolari of Woodland, at University of Maryland Global Campus; and Caitlin Thornton of

Name Droppers

Davis at University of the Pacific. They are among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the society has chapters on more than 325 campuses in the United States, its territories and the Philippines. Its mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”

Since its founding, more than 1.5 million members have been initiated into Phi Kappa Phi. Some of the organization’s notable members include former

President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham and YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley. Each year, Phi Kappa Phi awards $1.3 million to outstanding students and members through graduate and dissertation fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, funding for post-baccalaureate development, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives. For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit www.phikappaphi. org. — Do you know of someone who has won an award or accomplished something noteworthy? Email it to newsroom@davisenterprise.net.

Courtesy photo

Empower Yolo supports survivors including victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other crime victims, the unhoused, and families in need.

YOLOlaughs

By Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

DAM swimmers make a splash at nationals

Fourteen swimmers from Davis Aquatics Masters took 36 top 10 finishes and broke 17 DAM team records at U.S. Masters Swimming national short course competition in Irvine last weekend.

Seventeen DAM team records were broken by Tara Halsted - 200 IM, 500 Free, 100 Back; Helene Nehrebecki — 100 Breast, 50 Breast; Matt Roper — 200 Back, 50 Back, 100 Back; Emma Garforth — 100 Breast, 200 Breast, 400 IM, 50 Breast; Sally Guthrie — 200 IM; Leslie Westergaard — 200 Back, 500 Free, 50 Back, 100 Back.

Finishing in the top 10 were Vivian Crow — 200 Back (6th); Tara Halsted — 200 IM (2nd), 500 Free (3rd), 100 Fly (6th), 200 Fly (1st), 100 Back (4th); head coach Matt Zachan — 500 Free (5th), 100 Fly (8th), 200 Free (10th); Helene Nehrebecki 100 breast (10th), 50 fly (6th), 100 fly (9th), 50 free (7th),

LocaL roundup

the lake.

pion, took first in the 100 fly.

You can watch these performances on the USMS YouTube website.

50 breast (7th); Matt Roper - 1650 free (3rd), 1000 free (3rd), 200 back (2nd), 50 back (4th), 100 back (2nd); Michelle Goldberg — 1650 free (4th), 200 IM (7th), 500 free (5th); Emma Garforth — 100 breast (6th), 200 IM (8th), 200 breast (6th), 400 IM (6th), 50 breast (8th); Sally Guthrie — 200 IM (2nd), 100 fly (1st), 50 back (4th), 400 IM (2nd), 200 free (3rd); Leslie Westergaard — 200 back (2nd), 500 free (2nd), 50 back (4th), 100 back (5th). Sally Guthrie, DAM’s national cham-

Congratulations to the following DAM swimmers who won Pacific Masters Swimmer of the Year for 2022: Vivian Crow (25-29 age group), who is the Davis High girls swimming head coach; Helene Nehrebecki (40-44); Brad Winsor (50-54); Amy Rieger (6064); Robert Norris (80-84).

n Berryessa is back: DAM is hosting its 39th annual Lake Berryessa swim on Saturday, June 3.

They are calling for 110 volunteers to man various posts needed for a safe and successful meet. You don’t have to be a member of DAM to volunteer at damfast.org or kmgill135@gmail.com.

Especially needed are people to fill our water safety crew. You will need a kayak, canoe, or standup paddleboard and you should be comfortable navigating out on

DHS squad ground Eagles — again

Enterprise staff

For the second time in a week, the Davis High boys volleyball team played Delta League foe Pleasant Grove.

But the second meeting was in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division I quarterfinal match inside the South Gym on Thursday.

Once again, the match went five sets. Davis came out with a 3-2 victory; the final scores were 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 23-25, 22-20.

The Blue Devils won the previous meeting 3-2 on April 27.

Now Davis (20-6) faces Delta League foe and top-seeded Jesuit (353) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Blue Devil boys tennis

The Davis boys tennis team didn’t break much of a sweat in Thursday’s Sac-Joaquin Section D-I team playoffs against Lincoln of Stockton, posting a 9-0 win.

Davis, which is the No. 3 seed, advances to Monday’s quarterfinals match against the No. 11 Gregori of Modesto-No. 6 River City of West Sacramento match. The final score was not available at press time.

The Gregori/River City-DHS match is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

UCD women’s water polo

IRVINE — The UC Davis women’s water polo saw four members named All-Big West following their fantastic showings in 2023.

Noelle Wijnbelt added to her impressive list of accolades as she was named First Team All-Big West.

Seniors Sophia Noble and Ally Clague received honorable mention recognition.

Gianna Nocetti enjoyed a terrific debut season and was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.

Wijnbelt, a four-time AllAmerican, became the first Aggie in the Division I era to reach the 50-goal

mark in four separate seasons.

She led UCD with 55 goals on the year, tallying eight hat tricks and 17 multi-goal performances as she receives First Team honors for the fourth time.

The senior center was named Big West Player of the Week on March 22 following her outstanding play against two highly-ranked opponents, scoring eight total goals while drawing five exclusions.

Noble also reached a career milestone in her senior season, becoming the UC Davis all-time saves leader, finishing with 748 stops in her five years. The San Clemente native was excellent in the cage, racking up a career-best 254 saves and 24 steals in 2023.

Clague was a force on both ends of the pool as the center defender notched a career-best 30 goals in her senior season. She led the team with 10 field blocks and 27 steals.

Nocetti impressed in her first season at UCD, scoring 26 goals and dishing out 14 assists.

You can still do one of the swims, one hour one mile, two hours two miles. Or, swim as far as you can and they will pick you up. That’s my event.

n May event: Albany Armada Aquatic Masters is sponsoring a distance fly challenge May 1 through June 30. It’s all butterfly, 500, 1000, 1500 yards. I’m sorry to say my cracked ribs will prevent me from competing.

n Water polo is homeless: Masters water polo is looking for a new home. Schaal Aquatic Center has been shut down for renovation.

Coach Kandace Waldthaler is looking for a suitable pool, probably not in Davis. We’re awaiting news.

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

PITCHER: 7th-inning stretch

From Page B1

with each opportunity — trimming a second to the way to the bat and another second to the return to the dugout — that could trim up to five minutes off the length of the game.

No doubt, Major League Baseball executives will produce videos showing these eager boys and girls how to scoop the bat cleanly from the dirt at full speed without ever slowing down from start to finish.

Studies show that the National Anthem can be reduced from two minutes to a minute and 23 seconds without sounding rushed or disrespectful, and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” will be shortened to simply “Take Me to the Game,” which has basically the same meaning, but is 1.7 seconds quicker.

The seventh-inning

stretch will become the seventh-inning high-five with fans required to stay in their seats, and “Sweet Caroline” will be played only as people exit the stadium.

Among all this hurry-up nonsense, there is good news for catchers, who easily have the toughest job in baseball while wearing a lousy mitt and 40-pounds of battle gear.

If a catcher, while on offense, ends the inning at bat or on base, the umpire can turn off the 2-minute, 30-second betweeninnings clock to allow the catcher to get properly dressed for his next inning behind the plate.

The catcher will, however, have to make a “reasonable effort” not to abuse the privilege.

There’s more. Much, much more. But since we’re talking about baseball, it’s best to keep this short.