The Davis Enterprise Wednesday, May 31, 2023

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Memory stirs the heart

The Davis Cemetery hosted its annual Memorial Day commemoration on Monday, May 29. Hundreds came out to honor those service members who have died in America’s military conflicts over the years, and their families.Below, former Army Sgt. Kurt Roggli gives the keynote speech at Monday’s Memorial Day ceremony at the Davis Cemetery. Reflecting on the occasion, Roggli said, “This is the day we pay homage to those who didn’t come home.” Below right, the Davis High School Madrigal Singers perform the anthems of each of the service branches. At right, the playing of Taps closed a reverent ceremony on a beautiful Northern California spring morning.

EntErprisE photos

Local Chinese community key to Gam Saan Trail’s development

*Editor’s note: Due to a printing error, the second part of this story did not run in Sunday’s edition.

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer

Retracing the steps of Gold Rush-era Chinese who navigated across the Pacific and landed upon Gam Saan (Gold Mountain in Cantonese), members of the local Chinese community recently gathered at a new California State Park trail head near where James W. Marshall found specks of gold in 1948 about 36 miles up the American River from Sacramento.

Run by California State Parks, new interpretive signs at the beginning of the trail share the message: “News of the California Gold Discovery started in Coloma and reached as far as China.

Tens of thousands of Chinese were inspired to come here to seek their fortune and began calling California, Gam Saan. Although subjected to severe racism, through their perseverance and ability to adapt to change, Chinese people continue to make contributions to the rich and diverse fabric of America. In honor of those seeking Gold

Mountain, this trail segment is named the Gam Saan Trail.”

While the 2.5-mile trail is now over a year old, back in February, members of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association Davis Chapter, which serves UC Davis and Yolo County; the Locke Foundation, the Chinese Benevolent Association, and the APAPA Delta Chapter honored their ancestors with a Ching Ming Festival, which includes visiting and sweeping ancestral tombs.

Aaron Wedra, Mary Yin

UCD

students plan protest to block Pepsi contract

By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer

Concerned about the health and environmental impacts of PepsiCo’s operations and products, a group of student activists at UC Davis are protesting against efforts to procure a new exclusive pouring rights contract with PepsiCo, according to a press release from the group Pepsi Off Campus UC Davis.

They are planning a demonstration on Thursday at noon on the East Quad, concluding with a march on Mrak Hall.

Leo Hecht, the spokesperson for Pepsi Off Campus UC Davis, said, “As students, we must show the administration that we will not stand for a contract that limits student choice and supports the second largest plastic polluter in the world.”

A new PRC would lock UC Davis into another decade-long contract that limits beverage choices on campus to only Pepsi products. “A PRC allows Pepsi to promote unhealthy products packaged in wasteful single-use plastic while calling itself the official soft drink of UC Davis,” Hecht Without an exclusive contract, Hecht

See PEPSI, Page A2

Hyder stepping down from school board

By Aaron Geerts Enterprise staff writer

Davis School Board

Trustee Betsy Hyder, in a May 23 letter to her fellow trustees, announced her resignation from the board, effective June 30.

The board will carry out a discussion at its meeting Thursday about how to deal with the trustee vacancy. The trustees have the option of making a provisional appointment, hold an election or take no action, in which case the County Superintendent of Schools will call for an election.

Hyder cited health and personal reasons for her decision.

“Please accept my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to serve Davis Joint Unified School District and the Davis Community in this important role alongside all of you,” she wrote.

HYDER Announced resignation

“It’s been an honor. Above all, I am grateful to each

See TRAIL, Page A4 See SCHOOL, Back page

Briefly

City hosts sixthgrade party

The city of Davis Parks and Community Services Department’s annual Sixth-Grade Grade Party will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 8, the Veterans Memorial Center, 203 E. 14th Street in Davis.

All graduating sixthgraders are invited to this celebration, which continues a longstanding tradition of welcoming elementary school graduates to the seventh grade. Participants will celebrate their accomplishments and the start of a fun summer by hanging out with friends, dancing to music, playing video games, capturing memories in a photo booth and more.

Registration for this event will begin on Wednesday, May 31, at 8 a.m. and is likely to sell out. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the Parks and Community Services office, located at 23 Russell Blvd, or online at: www.cityofdavis.org by clicking on the “Recreation Online” Button and then selecting activity 8700 after picking “Teens.”

Register early bring receipts to the event as proof of purchase.

Financial assistance in the form of a Fee Subsidy Scholarship is available at: https:// www.cityofdavis.org/ city-hall/parks-andcommunity-services/ forms-and-publications #Fee-Subsidy-Scholarship-Application.

Provenza gave a lot to this community

ATRUE MAN OF THE

PEOPLE

... I was sorry to hear that Yolo County Supervisor Jim Provenza has decided not to run for a fifth term.

The good news is that he still has 20 months left on his term and has no plans to step down early.

His accomplishments have been many, but above all else, he was incredibly accessible and always willing to listen to other points of view. He was driven by finding solutions to everyday problems, not by an unyielding ideology.

I looked up "Public Servant" in the giant Merriam-Webster unabridged dictionary my dad gave me when I graduated from college and there was Jim's photo smiling back at me. He will be missed.

ON THE OTHER HAND ... The good news here is that great candidates have emerged to replace Provenza, with Sheila Allen and Antonio DeLuera-Brust both announcing their candidacies.

It will be an interesting race, to say the least, with more

candidates likely to emerge.

ELECTORAL NONSENSE

In the recent Davis City Council special election, we all learned about the state law that dictates the order of how names appear on the ballot.

Presumably, there's a Ph.D. thesis somewhere that concluded having your name first on the ballot enhances your chance of winning.

The California Secretary of State draws letters of the alphabet, with the first letter drawn placed next to the number 1. This is done until all 26 letters have been assigned a number.

You then go to the first letter of the last names of the candidates

City, UCD collaborate for Day of Reflection on Thursday

As the Davis community continues to heal from the recent tragedies, UC Davis and the city of Davis invite the public to pause and write messages sharing their feelings of grief or compassion, privately or publicly on Thursday along the Davis Reflection Route, which can be found online at https://healthy.ucdavis. edu/reflections.

Fully accessible, the route will have stops between Shields Library and the Student Community Center, in Redwood Grove near Wyatt Deck, and the Arboretum GATEway Garden. The Compassion Bench (Third and C streets) and Sycamore Park (1313 Sycamore Lane), will also be stops along the route.

According to a press release, Aggie Mental

Health Ambassadors will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for discussions and activities, and representatives of Health 34, the UC Davis Fire Department's team of health care educators and providers who can connect participants with wellness resources and counseling. Yolo County mental health professionals are also expected. Drop boxes will be provided for those wanting to submit private messages. Chairs from the Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship’s Chair Share Program will be available. Digital submissions will also be welcome. Reflections can also be submitted digitally by scanning QR codes along the route.

The Day of Reflection may become an annual event.

Project Linus gathers June 14

Enterprise staff

Do you enjoy quilting, knitting or sewing? Join Project Linus to make blankets for children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need.

Come to the gathering at the Davis Senior Center on Wednesday, June 14, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. to share ideas, patterns and lots of good conversation. All are welcome to attend the meeting and help sew Linus labels on handmade

blankets that will 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.

and whichever candidate has the lower number is listed first and so on through all candidates. If there's a tie, you go to the second letter of the last name.

Since there were only two candidates on the ballot in the most recent election, it was an easy process.

But wait, there's more.

According to the Yolo County Elections Office, "To further ensure fairness in our election process, per California Elections Code section 13111, the random alphabet is supplemented with rotation. Because the 2019 City Council District 3 is divided between the 2nd and 4th supervisorial districts, we can use the districts for rotation. The candidate appearing first on ballots issued to voters living in the 2nd Supervisorial District will be last on the ballots for the voters living in the 4th Supervisorial District."

The first shall be last and the last shall be first, just like it says in the Good Book.

The only problem with that bit of "fairness" is that there are not equal numbers of voters from

those supervisorial districts when it comes to a District 3 city council election.

If you want fairness in an election with just two candidates, have one listed first on half the ballots and the other listed first on the other half.

My advice is free.

BAN ALL BOOKS ... After learning new information, I've changed my opinion about the efforts of governors DeSantis of Florida and Abbott of Texas.

At a highly informational and entertaining Arbor Day event sponsored by Tree Davis, I learned that paper is made from trees, and books are made from paper. Who knew?

Putting two and two together, it is now obvious that these two governors are not censors at all. They're simply worried about all the trees that have to be chopped down to make the paper to make the books. Indeed, they're conservationists. Tree huggers, both. Dare I say they're even "woke"?

— Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.

Sheep trim greenery at preserve

Jim Smith

Special to The Enterprise

A herd of living lawnmowers are now devouring high grasses at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve.

Perennial Gazing of Capay Valley brought in 575 sheep this past week to perform “grazing maintenance” on the waist-high grasses in the oak savannah and grassland habitat of the preserve located west of Woodland.

The sheep help keep native perennial grasses healthy by controlling annual invasive plants, such as common vetch and black mustard. Nature Preserve staff will also be able to see how the grasses react to the grazing.

People can see the sheep at work but they should keep their distance. The animals are being protected by an electric fence and Schoen, an Anatolian Shepherd dog, as well as Perennial Grazing owners Christian and Shannon Cain, who live on site during the work.

Perennial Grazing is a 100-acre farm in the Capay Valley, which in addition to providing sheep for grazing and slaugh-

ter, also raises ducks, turkeys and table grapes.

Christian explained that the business has been in operation since 2016 and this is the second year it has brought the sheep to the Nature Preserve, although the couple has visited the preserve of many years.

The first three years of the business, Christian said, were spent proving the concept “and the ecology of what could be done with sheep in orchards and vineyards.”

“We were (providing) sheep and goats for neighbors so it wasn’t a crazy leap to take the business on the road,” he added.

The sheep will be allowed to graze on 10 acres of the 130-acre preserve, munching through just over an acre a day through this coming Monday, May 29.

Asked the distinction between sheep and goats (which are also commonly used for controlling brush), Christian said, sheep are “grazers” and goats are “browsers.” Both animals hold their heads at a 45-degree angle but sheep will look down toward the ground and goats will look up.

Some 575 sheep go to work at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve trimming waist-high brush on 10 acres.

Jim Smith/ Courte Sy photo

Degree-planning app wins top prize in UCD business competition

By Marianne Skoczek

Special to The Enterprise

A team of two UC Davis MBA students and a senior computer-science major received the $20,000 first prize for the best innovation in the 23rd annual Big Bang! Business Competition on Tuesday, May 23. Davis-based SchedGo’s intuitive platform leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to create personalized, easy-to-follow degree plans for college students overwhelmed by the seemingly countless number of complex options to graduate on time.

Students at four UC campuses are already using the app, according to the SchedGo team.

The team also won the $10,000 People’s Choice Award, selected by online voting that was open to the public. Between the two

prizes, the creators won $30,000.

$92,000 in prizes

The UC Davis Big Bang!, organized by the Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has been helping entrepreneurs start or grow business ventures for more than two decades through the competition, workshops, mentoring and networking opportunities. This year the Big Bang! was open to teams with a founder or team lead affiliated with a college or university in California. The prizes are funded by corporate, nonprofit and various other sponsors. The annual awards ceremony celebrated the contestants and announced the winners of $80,000 in cash awards and in-kind prizes valued at $12,000 for innovations in food and agricul-

ture, education, energy/ sustainability, health and social enterprise.

Seventeen finalists — out of 52 qualifying teams in this year’s competition — pitched their ventures before six judges in an eight-hour marathon judging session. Judges considered the teams’ integrated strategy, steps toward implementation and market opportunity to determine prize winners.

Chatbot assistant

SchedGo founder and CEO Henry Yu experienced firsthand the challenges of creating a class schedule each quarter. A natural problem solver, he built himself a tool to make the process less onerous and more efficient.

“I had my lightbulb moment when I realized that most undergrads had similar struggles and often

complained about the outdated, unintuitive class search and registration system,” he said.

Yu joined forces with graduate business students Dillon Hill and Akshaj Aravind Raghavi, and SchedGo was born.

The team was inspired by findings from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center that undergraduate enrollment fell nearly 6% from 2019 to 2021, with first-year enrollment dropping 13% over that period — and by a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation report noting that a major reason for dropping out is student uncertainty about a degree path.

“SchedGo makes college students’ lives easier by allowing them to focus on their academic growth and personal development. We automate and optimize the class scheduling and degree planning process, helping

students save time, reduce stress and graduate on time with a degree that’s most valuable to them,” Raghavi said.

The startup will invest the prize money in product development, marketing and customer acquisition efforts, he said. “Specifically, our goal is to finish our degree planning system and offer it to 10,000 students at universities across the country by this time next year,” Raghavi said.

Transforming ag

As an undergraduate at Makerere University completing an internship in eastern Uganda, UC Davis biological systems engineering Ph.D. candidate Ismael Mayanja observed the laborious, time-consuming processes that smallholder farmers and maize processors used to clean harvested maize

grain, with sub-optimal results.

Knowing there had to be a better, affordable alternative to screening, hand sorting and winnowing the maize, he designed a prototype for a seed cleaner that operates through a simple pedal system and requires no electricity or fuel.

Mayanja and Oluk Isaac, a doctoral student in environmental engineering at the University of Kentucky, are co-founders of fabrication company Badaye Technologies Ltd., based in Kampala, Uganda.

BTL’s flagship product, the SUNSULA, uses rotary sieves to efficiently clean maize in seconds and produce quality grain for safe and longer storage, easy processing into other foods, and healthy consumption.

The team anticipates selling 100 SUNSULA over the next year.

— UC Davis News

Outlier wines for the coming summer season

As the temperatures soar, my craving for spicy, warming reds quickly recedes. Instead I long for a nice cool glass of crisp chilled white. I don't have a preferred grape; in fact, the more varied the varieties in my wine rack, the more inspired I am to make a good meal — even as the hot afternoons sap my energy and initiative.

Asked to name a few whites, most of us would immediately mention chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and pinot grigio — you know, the ones that dominate wine store shelves. These grapes can, of course, all produce wines that are wildly different. Compare, for example, an oaked Napa chard to a Chablis (100% chard by French law) or a New Zealand sauvignon blanc with a French incarnation like Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé.

Some winemakers, like Kathy Joseph of Fiddlehead Cellars with her half-dozen different sauvignon blancs, make several styles of the same variety — lush, crisp, steely, fruity, bone dry, medium dry. Each of these ubiquitous grapes has numerous possibilities. Enough to get us through an entire summer without burnout.

But hundreds of other varieties beckon and vie for attention — often failing in the face of the more familiar. You can, though, get through a spring/summer without any of the top three (not that there's any reason to ignore them — they can be fabulous). A good warm-weather resolution: try something different.

To start, how about a grenache blanc? GB, which probably originated in Spain, is best known as a blending grape in the Rhone Valley and in white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. But some winemakers like to experiment with single varieties, and often these attempts yield surprising (and surprisingly excellent) results. Like the 2021 Groundworks Grenache Blanc — 100% GB. Groundwork is a project of Curt Schalchi of San Liege. Amy at The Pip insisted that I try it — she had a bottle open in anticipation of the visit that afternoon of winemaker Curt.

I loved it at first sip — intense citrus (lemon, lime), green apple, a touch of salty sea and spring grasses. I bought a bottle on the spot ($22). I hesitate to write about a wine until I've actually consumed a couple of glasses with food, so I constructed a meal meant to challenge that initial sip. How about roasted baby broccoli (from Farm Boys at Farmers Market) with EVOO, garlic, spring onions, sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan over pasta shapes? The grenache was just as happy with this pairing as I was. A common lament of wine

critics is that in our collective love for the big three whites, we overlook an almost universal wine critic favorite: riesling. We avoid it in part, because to some riesling equals sweet. But a few of the world's best whites are sweet(ish) rieslings. That said, I prefer mine dry and there are many wonderful examples. While you're picking up that grenache from The Pip, check out the tall and elegant bottle of Karthauserhof “Bruno” a dry riesling from the Mosel region (also $22) that will convince riesling skeptics or avoiders of the excellence and food-friendliness of this grape.

Karthauserhof estate is so named for its history as a Carthusian monastery. Winemaker Christoph Tyrell makes a series of “Bruno” rieslings in honor of Bruno of Cologne, the founder of the Carthusians. Very citrus-y (think Meyer lemon), zesty, and minerally, this energetic Bruno smells as delicious as it tastes. Crisp and versatile, it's perfect for summer sipping on the patio but is also a wonder with food. We drank it with a typical hotweather meal chez nous — an array of small plates: mixed green salad topped with steamed beets, roasted carrots with carrot-top pesto, asparagus frittata, a chunk of aged gouda with onion confit, a tin of smoked mackerel, and a loaf of sourdough bread. Perfect. And cool. The winery suggests trying it with linguine and clams in a roasted garlic-wine-reduction sauce. Sounds delicious. Maybe

next time ... Besides being elegant, the bottle is feather-light. Very impressive and offsetting to my worries about imported wine's carbon footprint. I wish all wineries would follow Karthauserhof's example.

Another alternative to the big three white varieties is a blend. I'm currently enamored of the Manincor Reserve della Contessa blend — of Weisburgunder (aka pinot blanc), chardonnay, and a bit of sauvignon blanc — from Alto Adige. Although the area's in Italy, a large majority of its dwellers speak German, not surprising given that the area borders on both Austria and Switzerland, and the wines reflect that proximity. Though Alto Adige is Italy's smallest wine region, it has a centuriesold history of cultivating wine grapes — at least since 600 BC (at which point it was not, of course, 'Italian.')

Manincor (“hand on heart”) is a highly respected small producer there. Vintners Count and Countess (hence the “Contessa”)

Michael and Sophie GoëssEnzenberg are passionate advocates of biodynamic farming, and this beautiful (“flawless,” one critic gushed) blend is fermented with naturally occurring yeast in old oak barrels. The grapes come from two different vineyards, both in the Terlano AVA, an area known for its asparagus as well as its wine. Thus, Contessa is the perfect bottle for the last of the season's asparagus.

We actually drank it not with asparagus but with another

tricky-to-pair dish — Pasta Con Sarde. Tricky because of its combination of sweet (currants), salt (both sardines and anchovies), fat (lots of EVOO and pine nuts), and savory herb (coriander and fennel). The dish really loved this elegant rich-but-crisp wine with its pear, apricot, and citrus notes and long stony finish. Thank you to Ryan at Wines in Tandem for this excellent recommendation.

At $35, it's a special occasion wine for us, but sometimes a special occasion just means a sunny Sunday evening and one of our all-time favorite meals, like that pasta. Next bottle I plan to try with simply-prepared fresh sea scallops, a seafood risotto or a baked salmon filet.

All three of these off-thebeaten-track whites will enhance your summer dining; they make excellent gifts, too — something your host will probably not have tried. And something sure to encourage interesting conversation at the table.

If you haven't yet been to The Pip (downtown Dixon) or Wines in Tandem (downtown Davis), visits to both should be your second summer wine resolution. You'll be as inspired as I always am after perusing the shelves and talking wine with Amy and Ryan. Both charming places offer newsletters, wine clubs, tastings, snacks, special events, pleasant seating, and excellent company. We're lucky to have them.

— Reach Susana Leonardi at vinosusana@gmail.com. Comment on this column at www. davisenterprise.com.

Perez to assume presidency of Chico State university

Enterprise staff

The California State University Board of Trustees has appointed Stephen Perez of Davis to serve as president of Chico State University. Perez currently serves as the university’s interim provost and vice president of academic affairs.

“I consider it an honor and a privilege to be selected to lead Chico State,” said Perez. “In my time at the university, I have been taken by the ‘Chico Experience’ — a palpable climate of caring and belonging, as well as a deep respect for culture and the natural environment. Chico State is the North State’s educational center, and I will work energetically to strengthen partnerships across the University and region that will allow us to reach new heights as a student-centered, college-town institution that changes lives and connects us all.”

Perez becomes the university’s 13th president and succeeds Gayle E. Hutchinson, who will be retiring at the end of June.

“Dr. Perez’s progressive leadership experience and steadfast dedication to

Name Droppers

inclusive excellence and student success make him the right person to continue, indeed amplify, Chico State’s strong legacy,” said CSU Trustee Lillian Kimbell, chair of the Chico State Presidential Search Committee. “He has a proven track record of strong fiscal management, community building and advocacy for faculty and students.”

Perez has spent most of his 30-year career in higher education with the CSU system. For 20 years, he served in academic and administrative roles at Sacramento State, including professor, department chair, interim dean, vice provost and provost. As provost, he led efforts to increase Sac State’s fouryear graduate rates from 9 percent to more than 25 percent while working to eliminate equity gaps.

In January 2022, Perez was appointed interim president at San José State. In that role, he led the implementation of strategies to close equity gaps and increase enrollment, worked to strengthen a culture of

care on campus, build community relationships, and fortify the university’s reputation for academic excellence. As that role concluded, he accepted his current position at Chico State. Since January, he has led

the Enrollment Continuum effort to focus on growing enrollment and helped close a $20 million budget gap.

Previously, Perez also held faculty positions at Virginia Commonwealth

University and Washington State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from UC San Diego, and a master’s and doctorate in economics from UC Davis.

Perez will assume the

university presidency on July 1.

— Do you know of someone who has won an award or accomplished something noteworthy? Email it to newsroom@davisenterprise.net.

TRAIL: Volunteers look to establish more complete history

Liu, and Alan Wei represented the Davis APAPA Chapter, where former Mayor Ruth Asmundson is chair and Carla Datanagan is the chapter president.

Sloping toward the setting sun against the American River, the “feng shui” landscape of Gam Saan near Coloma and Lotus, was idyllic for those who perished there during the Gold Rush era. As it was believed that when they died, their spirits would not rest until they received a proper burial in China, bodies were buried in graves for future exhumation.

California State Parks have developed a “Through Our Reexamining Our Past” initiative to become more inclusive and accessible of some of the stories they've been telling, and the Chinese mining story was one that we felt needed a bit more understanding and interpretation, explained Steve Hilton, Supervisor of the Cultural Resources Program at California State Parks.

“We’re also looking at the Black experience, the Native American experience, and anybody else who isn't in mainstream literature, especially about things like the Gold Rush,” Hilton said.

“We feel like the world rushed in where we say that everybody came to Marshall for gold, and so we

view this as an opportunity to expand on all those stories.”

The Gam Saan Trail meanders through heavy oak woodland, poison oak and blackberry bushes — natural deterrents that obscure the exact location of the exhumed graves and persuade people to stay on the trail.

Hilton said when the burial ground was first identified, even archaeologists back in the ’80s who looked at it didn't know exactly what it was. It wasn’t until around 20072008 that State Parks came across it. “We didn't know what we were seeing, exactly, but then we did a little bit more research,” he said. They were able to identify this area that has about 30 exhumed graves in there.

m a r e t i r ed D a v i s t e a c h e r I a m f r i e n d l y & d o n t c o m p l a i n o r c r i t i c i z e

Please write a letter of intro to me Please send letter and resume to dnpoulos@urcad org Debbie Nichols Poulos

Prior to establishing the trail, State Parks had three or four forensic canines sniff out the soft tissue remains that ended up in the soil.

According to a State Parks press release on the Gam Saan Trail, through research and a historical report completed in 1991 for a real estate sale in the area, it was revealed that a Chinese miner by the name of Toy Kee purchased a few acres near the project area in 1875 for a $55 gold coin.

A few years later, in 1881, the Lin Hing and Man Lee Companies purchased additional acreage and operated businesses, stores, a bank, and mining companies in the area from the 1870s through the early 1900s.

According to State Parks, the Man Lee building and the Wah Hop Store, once leased to a Chinese merchant of that name, are the only two remaining structures used by the Chinese that remain in Marshall Gold Park today, which houses exhibits of gold mining techniques and mercantile goods.

In April, Locke Foundation President Douglas Hsia said the Wah Hop Store “got its first taste of a Chinese docent telling its story.” As said docent, Hsia says his opening line is: “The real gold mine is to sell provisions to the gold miners. You are entering the gold mine of the gold mines.”

As Hsia notes from the park, there is the Monroe Ridge Trail that connects to the Gam Saan Trail on the other side of the hill. “We will construct a continuous story from Coloma to Lotus to the American River.”

“We really appreciate the time and the care provided by the Cultural Department at the California State Parks,” APAPA’s National President Mary Liu, of Davis, said. “And we thought it was really heartfelt and a moving ceremony because our community has really struggled with finding identity and acknowledgment of our contributions.”

Hsia said the Chinese

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miners did not see themselves as immigrants. “They saw themselves as people who came here for gold, so they were always saying they were going back to their village. So when they die, they want the remains to go back to China.”

As part of the Ching Ming ceremony, Liu said they marked the area with red lanterns. “And we brought our brooms and rakes and shovels to clean the area and sweep and just trimmed the brushes while still keeping it very natural looking.” She said the special gathering also recognized Marcus Marino and Adrienne Fortini from Design M Group, who constructed a train float for this year's Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco. The train was constructed as a scale replica of the Jupiter train from 1869, which many Chinese immigrants built.

Hilton said the trail was designed in a curvilinear direction to ensure the graves’ safety, as part of the belief system is that if the spirits don’t make it back home to China, then they could affect those living there at Gam Saan. “We cleaned up the trail and the general area and paid that respect but didn't do anything to reveal where those actual grave sites are.”

He said Chinese would come to California carrying

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their own eating utensils and bowls, some of which may have been in the graves before they were exhumed. “We were aware of that. However, we didn't find any of that stuff. There is some broken glass and broken ceramics over there. And I don't know whether those came from the graves, but they were close to the gravesite.”

Before the Ching Ming Festival, Hsia managed to correct Google Map's coordinates of the Gam Saan Trail so that those who rely on the website can now find the trail easier.

“The idea is to get more publicity so people will go to the Gam Saan Trail organically. So, we’re going to keep doing the (Ching Ming Festival) for 3, 4, or 5 more years, not indefinitely. For me, for the Chinese, it's nice to have a place to call home, so that's the story.”

The Gam Saan Trail is at 950 Lotus Road in Lotus.

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CITY

intent of this article to establish requirements for possession of catalytic converters

This ordinance provides that, it shall be unlawful for any person other than a core recycler as defined in section 21610 of the California Business and Professions Code to possess any catalytic converter that is not attached to a vehicle unless the possessor has valid documentation or other proof to verify that they are in lawful possession of the catalytic converter and provides the same to any law enforcement officer upon request

The ordinance also provides that, it shall be unlawful for any person to falsify or cause to be falsified any information in any

Courtesy photo

Members of the Davis chapter of APAPA headed to the Gam Saan trail to honor ancestors with a Ching Ming Festival, which includes visiting and sweeping ancestral tombs.

James Albert Eaton

Jim Eaton, 74, died on March 22, 2023, at home, with his wife, life partner and soulmate Wendy Cohen by his side. He was content and peaceful.

Interrupting his parents' best fishing trip of the year, Jim was born at Mare Island Naval Shipyard on Sept. 15, 1948. His love of the outdoors was first instilled by his parents, Claud and Lillian Eaton. He learned his love of rocks from his mother, who would take him and his brother Bud Eaton on frequent trips searching for elusive gemstones.

Jim’s involvement in conservation began in 1966 at UC Davis where his Aggie Villa roommate Bob Schneider suggested Jim work to protect wilderness so Bob could go climbing.

As Jim said “Working on wilderness issues was eminently more pleasurable than reading, studying, writing and taking tests.”

Despite all odds, Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from UC Davis in 1970.

In 1976, Jim co-founded the California Wilderness Coalition, a grassroots organization dedicated to permanently protecting wilderness areas in California. He travelled the State organizing wilderness groups, teaching grassroots organizing, and leading trips to wild areas. His zeal for wilderness, humor, genuine warmth, and willingness to teach others inspired a generation of passionate conservationists. A love of storytelling, intimate understanding of the land, remarkable memory, unparalleled ability to connect with others, and jovial nature made him an indispensable figure in every major California wilderness protection battle from the late 1970s through the 1990s.

Jim met Wendy at a Sierra Club meeting in Oakland in December 1977.

Jim invited Wendy on a group backpack trip in the desert, but the others dropped out so it was just the two of them and Jim’s dog Stickeen. So began a lifetime of meaningful work, companionship, and travel, plus three more great dogs (Inyo, Coso and Yuki) and a cat (Whitney).

They backpacked in many wilderness and roadless areas in California during their first 25 years. In 2003, they got a popup camper and drove it to Alaska on a 4-week, 7,800mile trip and saw many wild places. Over the next 20 years, they explored and camped throughout the West. They also travelled farther afield to Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Galapagos Islands, and Hawaii.

Jim was especially connected to a few special areas. He discovered the magnificent Point Reyes

National Seashore in college and spent more time there than any other wild place. He worked with other activists in the late 1960s to get the funding to finish buying the seashore, fight schemes to develop the land, and preserve half the park as wilderness. Jim helped stop Forest Highway 100 from Fresno to Mammoth, now blocked by the Ansel Adams Wilderness. He was instrumental in passage of the California Wilderness Act of 1984 that included the Snow Mountain Wilderness, another place he loved. He was a key leader and organizer for the 1994 Desert Protection Act, the largest land conservation bill ever in the continental US, protecting more than 9.6 millions acres of desert wild lands and establishing Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Mojave Natural Preserve.

Jim “retired” in 1997 at age 48 and then continued his conservation work as a volunteer. He helped found Tuleyome, which works to conserve and restore lands and waters in northwestern California. He was involved in the Rewilding Institute, whose mission is to explore and share tactics and strategies to advance continental-scale conservation and restoration in North America and beyond. He served on the Board of the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, where he provided expertise and advice in spending a $150 million grant over 5 years to protect California wild lands and waters. Jim was close to and spent quality time with his sister-in-law Lenore Cohen and his 5 nieces (both born and chosen) Melanie Eaton, Rachel and Miriam Cohen, and Allie and Emmie Gunther. Uncle Jim was supportive, eager to teach, genuinely interested in their lives, and always there for special occasions. The nieces also shared his love of rocks! His Village Homes neighbors appreciated his friendship and cooking at countless potlucks and yappy hours. With his passion for wilderness, music, gardening, cooking, and so many other wide-ranging interests, Jim was a true Renaissance man. To honor Jim, we ask that you plant a tree, shrub, flower, or other vegetation to benefit wild creatures of all kinds. To share your memories of Jim, visit his memorial page at memorialsource/memorial/jimeaton. Jim’s spirit will be with us always!

SCHOOL: Trustees mull replacement

From Page A1

and every resident of Area 5.”

Hyder was elected in November 2020, beating out Cecilia EscamillaGreenwald for Area 5, which is centered on South Davis. Her term runs through 2024.

For the rest of the meeting, the docket includes a variety of agreements, program updates, budget discussion and public hearings.

Kicking things off is the approval of the Expanded Learning Opportunity Plan (ELO-P). The ELO-P provides funding for after-school and summer school enrichment programs for transitional kindergarten (TK) through sixth grade.

The district describes ‘Expanded Learning’ as before school, after school, summer or intercessional learning that focuses on academic, social/emotional and physical needs.

The district also maintains the Legislature that expanded learning

programs are pupil-centered, results driven, include community partners and don’t replicate learning activities throughout the regular school year.

Following suit will be the approval of the 2023-24 School Plans for Student Achievement (SPSA). Schools that receive state and federal categorical funding through the Consolidated Application process must annually develop a SPSA. The purpose of these SPSA goals are to “improve academic performance of all students to the level of the performance goals.”

This plan involves a measuring the effectiveness of improvement strategies at school, to seek input from school advisory committees, to reaffirm or revise school goals, revise and improve strategies and expenditures, to recommend the approved SPSA to the governing board as well as monitor the implementation plan.

Another resolution on the agenda is authorizing the lease of

Chromebooks. Approval of Resolution No. 64-23 will authorize a capital lease purchase for Chromebooks under a piggyback contract pursuant to California Public Contract Code Section 100029.

To sustain the DJUSD’s 1:1 device policy in grades 3-12, this lease of 3,750 Lenovo Chromebooks will replace the current fleet of HP Chromebooks and are intended to bolster student learning at home and in the classroom. The total cost of this lease will be $374,489.27.

There will also be bond and facilities agreements during the meeting.

It’s recommended that the board approve the professional services agreement with ARC Alternatives for consulting services regarding the procurement of electrical vehicle chargers. It’s also recommended the board approves the deductive change order and notice of completion for the north field project at

Obituary policy

The Enterprise publishes brief death notices free of charge. These include name, age, city of residence, occupation, date of death and funeral/memorial information.

SCHOOL: Financial questions still need to be worked out by board

Harper Junior High to BrightView Landscape Development Inc.

Further discussions regard the May budget update. On May 12, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his revised proposal for the 2023-24 State Budget. Unfortunately,

there’s a lot of uncertainty in the budget as the Annual State Tax receipt deadlines were deferred from April to October and the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) has a lower estimate for state revenues.

Public hearings will also make an appearance in the meeting. The first will regard the 2023-24

community facilities district No. 1 tax rate. Under the provisions of the resolution establishing Community Facilities District No. 1, the Board of Education is granted the authority to adjust the CFD No. 1 tax rate by a maximum of 4.63% per year. The purpose of the hearing is to allow the public to comment on the proposed

adjustment of 4.63% to the current CFD No. 1 tax rate of $285.15. The proposed adjusted rate will increase to $298.35 per special tax unit.

Next will be a public hearing on the 2023-24 community facilities district No. 2 tax rate. This public hearing will allow the public to comment on the proposed

adjustment of 4.63% to the current CFD No. 2 tax rate of $0.8512 per square foot of residential property and $0.1276 per square foot of commercial property.

The meeting itself is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Chambers, 23 Russell Boulevard in Davis.

UC Davis men pick up transfer from Bears

Enterprise staff

The UC Davis men’s basketball program has added Cal transfer, Marsalis Roberson to its 2023-24 team, it was announced by UCD head coach Jim Les.

The 6-foot-6 guard Roberson makes his way to Davis after spending two seasons as a California Golden Bear.

“We are very excited to welcome Marsalis to the UC Davis Basketball family,” Les said. “He is someone that we are quite familiar with having recruited him out of Bishop O’Dowd High School in 2020. As both a student-athlete and as a young man of high character, he will fit in perfectly with our returning group of Aggies.”

Roberson appeared in 31 of Cal’s 32 games this past season and averaged 12.7 minutes off the bench for the Golden Bears.

He recorded a career-high 11 points against Washington State on Jan. 11, and also holds career game highs of three steals and eight rebounds during his time at Cal.

“Marsalis has great size for a perimeter player and he is a terrific athlete that will

thrive in our up-tempo style of play,” Les said. “We also believe he has the chance to be an excellent defender that can guard multiple positions on the floor.

“We cannot wait to get him here to campus.”

Originally from Oakland, Roberson played high school ball at Bishop O’Dowd and was one of the most highly recruited prospects of his class.

At the time of his commitment to Cal, he was ranked as the No. 98 prospect in the country, according to 247Sports.

Roberson was tabbed as a Max Preps 1st Team All-State and 2nd Team AllState Open Division member during his junior season at O’Dowd while also being recognized as the 2020 Bay Area Preps’ HQ Player of the Year that season after leading his team in points (16.5) and rebounds (6.5).

Roberson and the rest of the Aggies will return to the hardwood in November as UCD will again contend for the Big West Conference title.

track and field

Blue Devil Benjamin Feyrer clears the bar in the boys’ pole vault at the CIF State Track and Field Championships.

Feryer clears bar to earn medal at CIF state meet

Enterprise staff

CLOVIS — Benjamin Feyrer cleared the bar to earn a medal at the California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field Championships.

Sol Bitners was on the mark toward setting a new record.

The two juniors on the Davis High boys and girls track and field teams respectively had good outings at the state meet, which was held at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the Buchanan High campus on Saturday.

Feyrer took eighth place in the boys’ pole vault, clearing the bar at 15 feet, 2 inches.

The Blue Devil was the only junior who earned a medal at the state meet.

The top eight in each field and running events earned a medal.

Bitner had a 13th place finish in the girls’ discus at 134 feet, 4 inches.

She also competed in the girls’ discus, taking 17th

place with a toss of 37 feet, 8 inches. That mark is a new record in the DHS girls track program.

The Blue Devil boys’ 4x800 team, which took first place at the Sac-Joaquin Section Track and Field Masters Championship that were held at Ron and Mary Brown Stadium earlier this month, raced to a 10th place finish with a time of 7 minutes, 56.25 seconds.

The 4x800 race, for both boys and girls, is in its first year of competing among California high school track and field teams this school year.

Members of that relay team were Lucas Tam, Beckett Dolan, Brian Fackert, Jefferson Wright, Liam Lopez, Jay Doctor, Samuel Rosas and Ryan Mitchell.

Noah Dulaney, a senior, took 22nd place in the girls’ 1,600 meters race at 5 minutes, 28.79 seconds.

Weidler punches her ticket

By Mike Bush Enterprise sports editor

SACRAMENTO — Brianna

Weidler followed her instincts.

That led to the sophomore longdistance runner for the UC Davis track and field team earning a trip to the NCAA Championships.

Competing in the women’s 5,000 meters race at the NCAA West Preliminary Round at Fred Anderson Field inside Hornets Stadium on the Sacramento State campus on Saturday night, Weidler, who is the Big West Conference champion, finished the race with a time of 15 minutes, 49.75 seconds to take 12th place.

The top 12 in each running and field events earn a trip to the national championships.

That earned her the final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Austin, Texas from June 6-10.

“My coach told me to stick with the top five as much as I could, and just try to go with any moves that

they made,” said Weidler, who is from Temecula.

Weidler and the rest of the women competing in the race ran as a pack for one-fourth of the race.

Then the Aggie and the top runners broke free from the pack.

“I just followed my instincts with those moves,” Weidler said. “I followed them as much as I could.”

Weidler felt she had a strong finish toward the end of the race, reaching the finish line on the home side of the stadium.

“(My coaches) were telling me to stay strong and stick with them (top runners) as much as I could,” Weidler said. “I just went for it.”

Everlyn Kemboi, out of Utah Valley, won the race at 15:30.25.

Now Weidler shifts her focus toward competing against the best in the country in the long-distance event at the NCAA Championships.

“That was an unreal experience,” Weidler said. “It was great to have all of my teammates there with me, supporting me. I was really surprised.

“My coaches told me that I could

qualify, and my teammates did too. But I didn’t want to put much pressure on it... I’m really excited.”

Last fall, Weidler, on the UCD women’s cross-country team, took 51st place at the NCAA Championships. She ran the 6k course in a time of 20 minutes, 17.2 seconds.

Other Aggies competing at the four-day meet at Hornets Stadium were freshman Elizabeth Churchill, from Santa Cruz, who placed 38th in the high jump at 5 feet, 5.75 inches.

Kerrington Smith, a junior from Rancho Cucamonga, was 48th in the triple jump with a leap of 38 feet, 1.50 inches.

Sierra Atkins, a junior from Santa Rosa, took 43rd in the 10,000meter with a time of 34 minutes, 39.12 seconds.

For the Aggie men, Corey Moore, a junior from Las Vegas, Nev., took 42nd place in the discus with a toss of 171 feet, 4 inches.

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

Mike Bush/enterprise file photo

UC Davis men’s basketball head coach Jim Les watches his team move up the court in a Big West Conference game against UC Irvine at the University Credit Union Center on Jan. 5.

Bill GreGG/courtesy photo

Mike Bush/enterprise photo

UC Davis’ Brianna Weidler (No. 1416) runs with the pack in the women’s 5,000 meters race at Hornets Stadium on the Sacramento State campus at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Saturday. To view more photos, visit www.davisenterprise. com, click on the Sports tab and look for the story.

Davis High says goodbye to experienced educators

By Alex MiyAMoto HUB Staff

It’s not just the class of 2023 that’s leaving Davis High this June; six teachers are also leaving. Carin Pilon, David Van Muyden, Sherri Sandberg, September Larson, Linda Preciado and Dan Ariola all left their impact on hundreds of students, and are taking away unforgettable memories and lessons.

SHERRI SANDBERG has been working at Davis High for 27 years, teaching a variety of science classes.

“It’s just been a privilege to work with high school students… I enjoy being with young people, and my colleagues and department are great. We all worked well together,” Sandberg said. Something that she has grown to value over the years is getting to watch her students grow throughout the year, especially the occasional field trip Sandberg supervises during the year.

Sandberg’s Chemistry in the Community students work on various habitat restoration locations and her ZoologyBotany class experiences a three-day trip to Catalina Island.

“Watching kids stretch themselves to go snorkeling (at Catalina Island) is always fun,” she said.

DAN ARIOLA has been working in the Davis Joint Unified School District for 34 years.

He has taught physical education at both Holmes Junior High and Davis High.

In addition to teaching he has also been coaching sports in Davis since 1978.

His resume includes coaching 30 years of baseball, nine seasons worth of basketball, and five years of golf. “I’ve been here a while,” Ariola said.

He originally got into coaching baseball his sophomore year of high school, teaching youth in the Davis Babe Ruth League. He’s coached every year since then, racking up a total of 44 years as a coach, only missing one year during the pandemic.

Ariola reminisced on winning three section championships with his varsity baseball team in 2000, 2004 and 2014.

“That was probably the biggest highlight of all my coaching times,”

Sandberg is excited for the future due to her classroom experience.

“People are often worried about the fate of our world, but I’m just so impressed with the thoughtfulness of the young people, and it gives me inspiration for what our world will be like in the future.”

Ultimately, Sandberg wants her students to take away an awe of nature in the world and to always be conscious about the environment. In her career she impacted lots of students, making sure that they knew how much she truly cared for them, oftentimes finding out what students are interested in outside of the classroom and connecting with them in that manner.

After the school year ends, Sandberg is going on a trip with her friends on a one-week walking tour through the Dales and enjoying a couple days in London at the end.

She is looking forward to more traveling, gardening and hanging out with her yellow lab, Abbow.

Ariola said.

What he described as the cherry on top was his son, John Ariola, being on the 2014 championship team. “It was great to have him on the team.”

Along with John, his second son, Joe Ariola highlighted his teaching years. “I loved having Joe in my strengthening class, those were the best times,” Ariola said.

Ariola attended DHS himself, winning senior homecoming royalty and hitting game winning shots right on the campus that he teaches at today.

“I still have a picture of me hitting a shot here,” Ariola said, pointing to a spot in the south gym.

He has had his share of “good memories, both as a student and as a teacher. It’s been a lot of fun, I’ve really enjoyed it,” Ariola said.

After CARIN PILON’s near decade of teaching at Davis High, she is taking away profound friendships and bonds with her colleagues and students.

One of the most fond memories Pilon reflected on during her working career was when she had just started working at the high school and a group of students, whom she’d previously taught at Harper Junior High, carried over an inside joke.

“On my first day of classes at DHS, I entered my room to find several little red rocks, from the landscaping around Harper, placed in random places around the room… on the thermostat, the book cases and my desk. It made me laugh and I returned the favor a couple of years later when I went with Mr. Achimore and several of the same

Counselor LINDA PRECIADO has been working at Davis High for 17 years. Starting off her career as a teacher in Southern California, she figured, “I could help a wider range of students by becoming a counselor.” So she did just that, moving to Davis shortly after.

Preciado has always been one for questions; learning knowledge from her students is something she is taking with her into retirement.

From students teaching her about different pieces of farm equipment to different business proposals, Preciado absorbs it all.

“The student body is so diverse in their passions… I’ve learned a lot from them.”

While Preciado values the knowledge she gains from her students, she also gives her students wisdom.

students on a trip to Ashland.”

“It was also great to come over to the high school and have 450 former students on campus,” Pilon said.

Moving into the next chapter of her life, the English teacher feels a sense of completion.

She began her teaching career at the age of 25, starting out in the Bay Area. Recently, a student who Pilon had taught in her first years of teaching reconnected with her, and what came to Pilon as a surprise was that this student, who is now in her mid-adulthood life, has a son at UC Davis.

“That was just a part of the closure, to have one of my first students have a student at UCD; it was just crazy,” Pilon said.

Pilon wants her students to remember that, “language is powerful, amazing and that words matter. Pay attention to them and what’s underneath the words themselves.”

“I want (my students) to have a passion for learning, find what you’re interested in and go for it,” she said.

Preciado is a believer in that every student has a gift: something that they can teach to someone else. “I hope I’ve imparted that in my students: you can always learn something from someone and always be kind; you can never lose if you are kind.”

Although Preciado is ending her career as a counselor, she wants to become a student during her retirement.

“I just want to keep on learning,” Precadio said. “I want to learn Korean, Chinese, I want to go to pastry school… and take art classes at Sac State.”

After 30 years of teaching science at Davis High, DAVID VAN MUYDEN is proud of the influence he’s had on his students. He gets a sense of completion when “kids tell me they did well in chemistry in college, or that they liked the class.”

During his time at DHS, the things Van Muyden most enjoyed were teaching students and also the material of chemistry. “Those two things in order,” he said.

Van Muyden describes some of his most fond memories at

SEPTEMBER LARSON has been a speech and language therapist at Davis High for the past 15 years, loving every moment.

Larson relates the high school to a ship: everyone on board is working hard to get to the shared destination of graduation.

“When our students graduate we want them to be able to advocate for what they want, and to have the well being and confidence to do what they want as well,” Larson said.

When Larson works with her students she strives to not only give them the ability to advocate for what they want but also to have the ability to become their own speech therapist.

DHS as getting to know the amazing students he has had the honor of teaching over all the years.

Ultimately, what he wants his students to take away from his class is to always spread more positivity in their lives.

Come June 14, six days after school gets out and the start of Van Muyden’s retirement, he is hitting the road… on his bike.

With the company of two other retired DHS teachers, Peter Reilly and Brian Ziser, he is going to ride from Washington to Maine: a stretch of nearly 4,500 miles over the course of three months.

“I’m looking forward to that first,” Van Muyden said.

She wants them to be able to realize, “when they need to strategize, to look back and figure out what went wrong so the next time they can do it in an improved way.”

Larson earned her license as a speech pathologist when she was 26.

Throughout her career she has been able to grow tremendously and feels, “like I’m leaving (at my) best, and I know whoever is stepping into my position will be able to grow as much as I did,” she said.

Stone’s home run not enough for UCD in finale

Enterprise staff

LONG BEACH — The UC Davis baseball team wrapped up its 2023 season on Saturday.

The Aggies closed out against Long Beach State, which posted a 7-1 win.

UCD ended the season on an 11-game losing skid.

Saving his best for last, Damian Stone had four hits, and accounted for nine hits in the game.

Stone was responsible for the lone run, and RBI of the ball game when he launched his fifth homer of the season in the fifth inning. Long Beach State led 3-0 before Stone launched his dinger.

Making an immediate impact in his debut season with UCD, Stone finished the 2023 with the highest on-basepercentage and OPS among teammates.

He was also being one of two Aggies to hit above .300, with second baseman Alex Gouveia being the other.

In addition to his Stone’s four hits, the Aggies saw contributions from sophomore Riley Acosta went 2-for-3 with a double. Acosta recorded his second

career multi-hit game.

The Aggies stranded 11 runners on the bases in the loss.

Aggie pitcher Nate Freeman, a senior, took the mound for the final time this season. The Benicia product appear in 57 games during his time at UCD, with 123 strikeouts.

Nathan Peng, a senior from Saratoga, also threw in Saturday’s finale. In his career, Peng recorded 68 strikeouts over 77.0 innings pitched.

He also collected 17 hits over his five years in the program with three doubles and one home run.

The Aggies will also miss James Williams III, another senior. Registering almost 300 at bats, Williams III marched his way to 77 career hits, 29 of them going for extra-bases.

UC Davis finished with a 7-23 record in the Big West Conference and 17-37 overall.

One of the highlights for the Aggies and head coach Tommy Nicholson this season were this season was beating No. 19 UCLA 6-3 in Los Angeles on April 16.

season.

River Cats start series on an impressive note

Enterprise staff

TACOMA, Ariz. — Starting the series on an impressive note, the Sacramento River Cats offense totaled 12 hits including a key two-run double from Ricardo Genoves while the pitching staff combined for 12 strikeouts started by the effort of Keaton Winn, leading from start to finish in the series opener against the Tacoma Rainiers for a 4-1 victory on Tuesday.

Ready from the first pitch was the River Cats (24-28), as the bats were hot early to the tune of eight hits through the first three frames. They began the contest by loading the bases with no outs, had the bags full again in the second with one out and put two more aboard in the third.

However, Sacramento managed just one run after a bases loaded walk to Ford

Proctor in the opening inning, and left a total of seven runners stranded.

Meanwhile, Winn was in a groove as he squared off against the Rainiers (25-27) for the first time in 2023, as his early effort helped the River Cats overcome the inability to find the clutch knock. He retired each of the first five Tacoma hitters and faced just two batters over the minimum with three punchouts through his first three innings.

Neither team provided much resistance in the fourth, with both teams going down in order. The final of those outs was the last strikeout from Winn, who exited after 4.0 innings with just the one hit allowed and four total punchouts.

Finally, the River Cats were able to find their timely hit in the fifth, putting the first two batters on thanks to a single from Colton Welker and a walk to

Proctor. Tacoma was able to come up with a pair of quick outs, but both Welker and Proctor initiated a double steal after a strikeout to advance both into scoring position. That play proved crucial, as each scored on a deep double to the left-center gap by Genoves that made the score 3-0.

First out of the bullpen was Tanner Andrews (2-2), entering in the bottom of the frame to begin his 1.2 innings of scoreless work. Andrews did issue a trio of two-out walks, two of which came in the fifth, but with the help of Chris Wright securing the final out of the sixth, left all three runners stranded.

Returning to the mound for the seventh, Wright worked around a leadoff single by Adam Engel, sandwiching a flyout with a pair of strikeouts. That was only the second hit in the contest for the Rainiers, both of which came from Engel.

Battling in the eighth, Tacoma managed to load the bases with a pair of outs against Erik Miller. It was three consecutive two-out walks that did the damage, but Miller was able to compose himself and fittingly blow a 98-mph fastball past Engel to escape the jam.

Sacramento added one final insurance run in the top half of the ninth on an RBI fielder’s choice with the infield in from Tyler Fitzgerald, scoring Will Wilson who had initially reached thanks to his double to center.

The final River Cats hurler to see action in the game was Nick Avila, entering in a non-save situation and preserving a 4-1 victory after allowing the only Tacoma run on a pair of hits.

Both teams will be back in action today at 6:05 p.m. from Cheney Stadium for game two of this six-game set.

UC Davis athletiCs/CoUnrtesy photo UC Davis runner Damian Stone rounds third base during a game at Dobbins Stadium earlier this

State can simplify financial aid for the undocumented

By Leo Rodriguez

Special to CalMatters

Growing up undocumented in this country instilled plenty of doubt and uncertainty about my future, especially while navigating the education system.

Throughout elementary and middle school, I thrived academically and was placed in advanced courses. But when I got to high school, my immigration status began to cast a shadow over my plans for the future. The realization that my dreams were slipping away broke me.

It became abundantly clear that I would need to do more than just work hard to get into a good college. My parents helped me remember that an education — what you’ve learned, read and written — is something that can never be taken from you, no matter how difficult or uncertain the circumstances.

California has led the nation in opening up in-state tuition and financial aid opportunities to undocumented students. However, the reality remains that the path through college for undocumented students in California is daunting, riddled with obstacles and largely unaffordable. According to a new report by the California Student Aid Commission, only 14% of California’s undocumented college students received financial aid in the 2021-22 academic year.

Why are so many undocumented students still struggling to afford college, and what can California’s policymakers do to ensure undocumented students are effectively accessing financial aid?

First, the financial aid process itself is confusing and filled with roadblocks.

In high school, very few counselors have a clear understanding of the California Dream Act Application, the California state financial aid application available to undocumented students. I hardly saw financial aid workshops tailored for undocumented students in high school; most of the information was specific to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which sent mixed messages about whether or not I was eligible for financial aid to begin with.

When I first enrolled at a community college, I was billed $6,000 because I was incorrectly deemed an international student, a common occurrence for undocumented students. I was also not offered financial aid despite attending and graduating from a California high school because I was unaware of the requirements to fill out an AB 540 affidavit form to prove eligibility for in-state tuition, and to separately complete a Dream Act application to be considered for financial aid.

Lawmakers can take proactive steps right now to consolidate the AB 540 affidavit process into the Dream Act application so that students only have to fill out one application form when applying for financial aid, ensuring students don’t get stuck or deterred by the process.

California elected officials can also get creative about helping undocumented students offset the financial aid burden we face because we cannot receive federal aid.

Students that receive a federal Pell Grant receive between $5,000 to over $7,000 annually to support their higher education expenses. Undocumented students have to make up for that substantial gap, yet have limited employment options, including work study, due to our immigration status.

Close to 100,000 undocumented students are actively pursuing higher education in California, myself included. We each have dreams to put our education and degrees to good use, as teachers, doctors, writers and countless other professions. We are being prepared for and are eager to contribute to our economy and state. However, we can only do that to the fullest extent possible if we have the same opportunity and access to financial aid as our peers.

I hope our elected officials will recognize the enormous value add of undocumented students and remove the roadblocks that obstruct so many students from securing financial aid and a college education in the first place.

— Leo Rodriguez is a student at UC Berkeley. He previously served on the California Student Aid Commission. He wrote this for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's Capitol works and why it matters.

Why drivers stopped signaling

Until that car ran into me, Tuesday’s morn ing ride was normal.

Pedaling back into town, six of our seven riders headed to Common Grounds Coffee in South Davis. We were going westbound in the bike lane on Lillard Drive when a young man in a small car made two mistakes.

He backed up suddenly without making sure the bike lane adjacent to his house was clear. It wasn’t. And he was wearing headphones, which is illegal and dangerous. When several of us noticed his car moving in his driveway, we shouted, “Stop!” He couldn’t hear us. He didn’t jam his brakes until he felt the back of his vehicle striking my right arm.

Because the driver was going no more than 5 mph, I didn’t fall over when I got hit.

I didn’t realize until later, because I had on riding gloves and sleeves, that the minor collision tore the skin off my hand and forearm in several places. My wrist and arm were sore for a few days.

The young man hopped out of his car to make sure I was OK, and he said he was sorry. I accepted his apology and left quickly for coffee. None of us thought to scold him for driving with headphones on. We were just glad the collision didn’t result in any serious injuries.

After I posted a blurb about this crash on the nextdoor app — asking parents of young drivers to remind them to not drive with headphones — the discussion centered on my observation that police officers can get in trouble if they ticket drivers for minor violations, perhaps including wearing head-

Fairness in sports

The fairness of allowing sports participation by trans individuals is in question. But here is a question I do not feel has been answered.

Testosterone increases neurotransmitters, which encourage tissue growth. It also interacts with nuclear receptors in DNA, which causes protein synthesis. Testosterone increases levels of growth hormone. Estrogen hastens the fusion of growth plates of long bones and leads to secession of growth and does not increase muscle mass.

phones. Although that infraction did not come up when I last did a police ride-along in Davis, an officer told me more than a decade ago there were certain violations of the vehicle code that he was instructed not to enforce.

I had specifically asked why he didn’t pull over a driver who had changed lanes in front of us without engaging his turn signal? The answer was that law enforcement agencies could be sued if they were found to have engaged in what courts deemed “pretextual stops” that disproportionately affected Black and Latino drivers.

This patrol officer, who was not white, said he could be fired if he pulled over too many racial minorities for “minor offenses,” presumably including driving while wearing headphones.

The legal theory is that all races and ethnicities drive the same and obey or disobey the vehicle code in equal proportions. So if, say, Latino drivers are 39% of all drivers in California, and they are 46% of those pulled over for failing to have a registration tag, the extra 7% must be racism on the part of the police.

It is often the case, when a driver is found to have, for example, illegal drugs or weapons, the initial stop was

for a lesser offense. So ambitious attorneys — more than 20 years ago — began defending their clients and suing cops on the theory that the stop was “pretextual,” a fishing expedition to put non-white drivers in jail.

In 2015, the legislature passed AB 953, the “Racial and Identity Profiling Act.” RIPA requires the police log the race, gender and sexual orientation of anyone stopped. It also created the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board, which is tasked with reporting disparities in who is getting pulled over and what is the outcome of the stop.

Their 2019 report showed big differences among ethnic groups in our state. Asians, for example, make up 15% of Californians, yet only 1% of those who are handcuffed consequent to a stop. Blacks make up 6% of residents, but constitute 35% of drivers put in handcuffs. Non-Latino whites are 35% of residents, but only 14% of those detained. Latinos are 39% of the total population, but 46% of detentions.

Under the theory that unequal law enforcement numbers don’t reflect the behavior of those pulled over, but rather the bias of the cops, these divergent outcomes “prove” the truth of this ideology.

Last December, Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) introduced SB 50. It would prohibit law enforcement officers from enforcing certain “low-level” infractions, mostly related to license plate registration stickers and nonfunctioning equipment, such as working brake lights and turn signals, “unless there is

an independent, safetyrelated basis to initiate the stop,” Sen Bradford said.

According to Bradford, “SB 50 builds on recommendations from the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board and the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code to limit enforcement of minor traffic offenses that pose little to no risk to public safety and result in racially biased harms.”

His bill is still several steps from becoming a law. In March, it passed out of the Senate public safety committee, and in May Senate appropriations gave its blessing.

SB 50 will ultimately need to win over a majority of the Senate and the Assembly and then obtain Gov. Newsom’s signature. Not wanting to be called racists for opposing this bill, it seems likely it will get a majority in both houses of the legislature later this year. Gov. Newsom’s approval is less certain. I don’t believe he has commented on SB 50. However, he has shown allegiance to the law enforcement lobby. For example, he vetoed a bill last year that would have made it legal for cyclists to not fully stop at stop signs when the coast is clear.

An old thought experiment asks, “If a tree falls and no one is near, did it make a noise?”

I have a similar question: If we have laws that are prohibited from being enforced, are they still laws? — Rich Rifkin is a Davis resident; his column is published every other week. Reach him at Lxartist@ yahoo.com.

These are science facts about testosterone and estrogen with the outcome of their influences on growth. At puberty, hormones such as testosterone play a role in formation of muscle mass, lean body mass, bone growth while the hormone estrogen can suppress bone growth and does not increase muscle mass. Each causes secondary characteristics unique to the maturing individual.

The question needed to be asked and addressed: Is there an advantage to an individual undergoing or having undergone hormonal changes at puberty and will these changes influence or potentially influence performance? In fairness to all, an answer to this question needs to be addressed.

John Clark Davis

Evidence of house price premiums

Roberta Millstein chastises Davis High School students for misinterpreting

enterprise

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

evidence on why Davis' housing prices are so high. She asserts as a retired UCD professor in philosophy of science that she's better qualified to review that evidence.

With a doctorate in agricultural and resource economics and nearly four decades as a consultant on regulated markets, I can present the deeper analysis that supports the students’ concerns about our housing costs.

Rather than just looking simply as recent price trends, we must look at the persistence of the value premium over neighboring communities such as Woodland and Dixon (as much as 85%) and how that premium grew during the Great Recession as housing markets collapsed in those other places.

Further, looking at only the projects that made the ballot fails to understand that how many other projects were not proposed because of the difficulty and cost posed by Measures J/R/D. The rush of five proposals that followed a change

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

President

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

U.S. Senate

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 331 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202224-3841; email: http://feinstein.senate. gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

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

House of Representatives

in state policy on promoting housing is strong evidence of that latent untapped supply suppressed by our growth controls.

Finally, many recent economic studies are revealing the increased housing costs from local growth and zoning controls. The students are on the right trail here.

Richard McCann Davis

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

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

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

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