The Davis Enterprise Wednesday, June 21, 2023

WCC fostercare students overcome hurdles to graduate

— Page A6

t ‘I’m guilty’

Carlos Reales Dominguez, who is charged with fatally stabbing two men in Davis and wounding a third victim, appeared in Yolo Superior Court in Woodland on Tuesday, June 20, with courtappointed public defender Dan Hutchinson. A court-appointed doctor has determined that Reales Dominguez is not mentally competent to stand trial after a psychiatric assessment.

Doctor rules stabbing suspect mentally incompetent

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

WOODLAND — “I want to apologize, and I want to say I’m guilty, and forgive me.”

Accused Davis killer Carlos Reales Dominguez spoke those words Tuesday in Yolo Superior Court, seconds after a judge

revealed that a court-appointed doctor found Dominguez mentally incompetent to stand trial on murder and attemptedmurder charges.

Dominguez’s public defender, Dan Hutchinson, asked for a brief recess to speak with the former UC Davis student, who

stands accused of fatally stabbing two people and seriously injuring a third during a weeklong crime spree in Davis earlier this spring.

Hutchinson announced at a May 22 hearing it was his “firm opinion that my client is not mentally competent,” which

Parched family farms struggle to survive

By aaron geerTS

Enterprise staff writer

Local family farms are in a fight for survival against droughts and largescale growing operations that have rooted themselves throughout Yolo County the past many years — more specifically, the unchecked drilling of new wells for irrigation.

Regardless of an abundance of rainfall this past year, these small –local – farmers are fighting tooth and nail to help establish sustainable underground water use policies and practices so all in the area can continue to farm and thrive together for years to come.

suspended Dominguez’s criminal proceedings until he could undergo a psychiatric assessment.

When they returned to the courtroom Tuesday, prosecuting attorney Matthew De Moura disputed the doctor’s findings and requested a jury trial on the competency issue, a

See SuSPeCT, Page a4

Essentially, if one purchases land, they have the right to do with it as they please. In this case, large-scale growers such as Australian-owned Cobram Estate Olives and Investment Ag entities such as Davis 190, LLC, have legally purchased plots of land throughout Yolo County and have planted an abundance of orchard crops that necessitate an abundance of water. The issue, however, lies beneath the surface as See FarMS, BaCK Page

UCD student wins National Geographic Wayfinder Award

By MoniCa STarK Enterprise staff writer

Botswana-born Goabaone Jaqueline Ramatlapeng, a current UC Davis Ph.D. candidate, was recently named a National Geographic Society Wayfinder Award recipient.

As a Motswana who grew up near the Okavango Delta — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world’s largest wetlands — she has always had a passion for fresh water. That led her to UC Davis, where she’s pursuing a Ph.D. and focusing on spatial changes in the Delta’s water chemistry. Last year, she put that research into practice, joining a team of scientists from Botswana

and the region to study the Okavango Delta’s water quality and flow as part of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project’s annual Delta crossing. And as California faces drought, she brings an interesting perspective — what could Sacramento Valley communities learn from Botswana, a nation with a history of outstanding stewardship of its natural resources?

Growing up in a small village called Kopong, about a 10-hour drive from the Okavango Delta, Ramatlapeng’s passion for freshwater was ignited by her childhood experiences of the water shortage in her village.

UC Davis Ph.D. candidate Goabaone Ramatlapeng visits the Okavango Delta in her native Botswana. See WayFinDer, Page a4

Hattie Weber marks Davis activism

The Hattie Weber Museum, 445 C St., will host two speakers and a book sale on Sunday, June 25, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The subject is civilrights activism in Davis from the 1960s through the ’90s. Speakers will be Dick Holdstock, who organized and took part in Davis' 1965 bus trip to Montgomery in support of Martin Luther King Jr.'s protest march; and Cynthia Kellogg, longtime head of Davis's Sister-City program with Rutilio Grande, El Salvador. They'll describe their work as activists for social justice and peace.

They'll also be talking about Andrew Mills' recent memoir, “Reporting For Duty.” The book contains a vivid account of the Davis group's participation in the Alabama protest, and also of Mills’ experiences in Nicaragua and Cost Rica as a Quaker "Witness for Peace."

Although Mills, who today lives in Pennsylvania, can't be the event, the museum will have copies of his book for sale. (Holdstock will sign the photo of himself, posed in front of the bus.) Refreshments will be served.

About us

There’s compassion, and then there’s this

The Bible is full of references for how we should treat one another; the most relevant to today's world being Matthew 25, which states, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

The governor of Florida is apparently so taken with welcoming strangers that he's willing to use taxpayer money to fly them all over the country on private jets for free. His compassion and kindness know no bounds.

Now, the Bible doesn't specifically mention El Paso, Texas, or Sacramento, California, but the good governor, using funds authorized by the Florida Legislature, decided it was time for 36 migrants — who came across the U.S. border with Mexico into El Paso — to experience the wonders of Sacramento. This, even though none of the migrants had requested such a trip and none of them knew anything at all about the capital city of California.

Plus, the Kings had already been eliminated from the playoffs, so we know they weren't here to watch basketball.

Given the Florida governor's

obsession with all things Disney, it's a wonder he didn't fly the migrants to Anaheim, but maybe the steep price of admission to Disneyland was not authorized by the Florida Legislature.

The migrants, many of whom had experienced a long, arduous and sometimes dangerous journey from their home country to the United States, were approached by the governor's representatives in El Paso with an offer they couldn't refuse. They were then put on a bus to New Mexico where they boarded a plane to Sacramento. There were two flights, several days apart, transporting 36 migrants in all.

No one in Sacramento was notified the migrants were coming. While Matthew 25 instructs you and me to welcome the stranger, it doesn't say we have to tell anyone else to welcome the stranger after

the stranger is put on an airplane and sent far, far away.

Fortunately for everyone involved, the migrants were indeed welcomed by some very good and generous people when they arrived in Sacramento, people who provided them with food, drink, shelter and an overwhelming concern for their welfare.

The last time I checked, El Paso is not in Florida. The state does have swamps and alligators and theme parks and acres and acres of oranges, but it does not have a common land border with Mexico or any other foreign country.

Given the Florida governor's intense obsession with the plight — and flight — of migrants, he took matters into his own hands and pretty much declared that El Paso was suddenly in his jurisdiction. There is nothing in the United States Constitution that specifically bans the governor of one state from meddling in the affairs of another, especially if he's offering free bus rides to another state and free airplane rides to yet another state.

While the governor of Florida was in the business of welcoming the stranger, he did require all 36

UCD brain-injury research could lead to therapeutic treatment

Kathy KeatLey Garvey Special to The Enterprise

Most studies of traumatic brain injuries focus on the pathology of the injured brain, but newly published research indicates that the liver plays an important role in TBI, and a soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitor discovered by UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock could lead to therapeutic treatment.

The research, led by Professor Xinhong Zhu of the School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, and tested in the Zhu lab, appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Youngfeng Dai, PhD., is the first author.

“Using animal models, we found that the liver has a neuroprotective effect in the pathophysiology of TBI, although its role was very weak,” Zhu said. “Our data suggest that enhancement of this neuroprotective role of the liver could provide novel strategies for developing treatment of TBI.” Plans call for “moving toward a clinical study to detect whether hepatic sEH manipulation benefits patients with TBI.”

Their results highlight the neuroprotective role of the liver in TBI and suggest that targeting this neuroprotective role may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for TBI. Earlier clinical studies report that the overall mortality in patients with TBI and cirrhosis is nearly twice that in patients without cirrhosis.

In the paper, “Enhancement of the Liver's Neuroprotective Role Ameliorates Traumatic Brain Injury Pathology,” the authors describes TBI as a “pervasive problem worldwide, for which no effective treatment

is currently available,” and “as a devastating injury that often results in longterm neurological deficits, including locomotor function and memory impairments.”

“Blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption is a hallmark feature of TBI and is associated with brain edema and neuronal death,” the authors wrote.

“Studies have shown that sEH inhibitors protect the BBB from brain injury. Therefore, we investigated whether deletion of hepatic Ephx2 protected the BBB following controlled cortical injury (CCI).”

In the United States alone, annual statistics show that 1.5 million people a year are diagnosed with TBI; 230,000 are hospitalized; and 52,000 die. Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali estimated that he received 290,000 blows to the head during his 21-year professional boxing career. But more commonly, TBI results from falls, statistics show. The National Institutes of Health defines TBI as being “caused by forceful bump, blow or jolt to the head or body, or from an object that pieces the skull and enters the brain.”

“TBI leads to a breakdown of the blood brain barrier,” said co-author Hammock, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors and whose pioneering work on sEH inhibitors spans 50 years. “We see from cases like Muhammad Ali that repeated TBI can lead to chronic central nervous system injury, dementia and other issues.”

“In the study from the Zhu laboratory, one of the exciting basic discoveries is that mammals have a natural mechanism to partially address traumatic brain injury,” said Hammock, who holds a joint appointment

Bank robber remains at large

By Lauren Keene

staff writer

downtown bank robbery. Lt. Dan Beckwith said officers responded at about 4:40 p.m. to Banner Bank, 333 F St., where the suspect had just fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

“Employees told officers that a man had entered the bank and demanded money,” Beckwith said.

“After getting the cash, the

man left on foot and was last seen walking northbound on F Street.”

Witnesses described the suspect as a Hispanic male, about 5-foot-8, last seen wearing a black backwards baseball cap, black sweatshirt with a white shirt underneath, black pants and black-and-white shoes. He also wore a cloth mask that covered the lower portion of his face.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Davis Police Department at 530-747-5400.

with the Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The research drew financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Scientific and Technological Innovation, and partial support from Hammock's grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' RIVER Award (Revolutionizing Innovative, Visionary Environmental Health Research) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

strangers to sign a waiver saying they were getting on the bus and the airplane voluntarily and wouldn't sue the governor if the plane accidentally crashed in the Grand Canyon or someone tripped on the stairs and bumped his head while getting off the plane in Sacramento.

It's not clear if the migrants were represented by counsel, were under any sort of duress from their long overland journey or fully understood American contract law before hurriedly signing this 978-word document.

But one thing is certain. Every migrant who landed in Sacramento was in this country legally. Each one had been processed and released by the United States government and was free to travel about the country while awaiting a scheduled court hearing.

In short, they were not "illegal immigrants" and were not doing anything in violation of the laws of our country. They were going about this the "right" way and praying that their wish of U.S. residency would one day be granted.

As I read Matthew 25 again, my prayers are with them.

— Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.

Courtesy photo Professor Xinhong Zhu of South China University of Technology and first author Yongfeng Dai.

Four things the state can do as home insurers retreat

By Grace Gedye CalMatters

After State Farm declared in late May that it wouldn’t sell any new home insurance policies in California, people shopping around for new insurance had one fewer option.

When days later it was revealed that Allstate had quietly made the same decision last year, Californians are now left wondering: How bad is this? And how should the state respond?

The “crisis” in California’s insurance market was caused by “a laser focus only on affordability,” said Nancy Watkins, a principal at Milliman, an actuarial firm, at a legislative hearing on Wednesday. The companies are operating with “very crude tools” at the expense of availability and reliability, she said.

She said the current regulatory system is too rigid. “It’s like you’ve got your steering wheel locked straight ahead, you’ve got your speed set on cruise control, and now you find yourself on the Pacific Coast Highway,” she said. “What insurance company would agree to that?”

Home insurance premiums in California are a little cheaper than the national average — and much lower than premiums in other disasterprone states like Florida and Louisiana. That’s without accounting for the fact that California has some of the most expensive housing in the country.

California still has about 115 companies offering home insurance, said Michael Soller, a deputy commissioner for the state’s insurance department. As for whether more companies are likely to follow State Farm and Allstate, “we don’t think that will

happen,” he said.

Consumer and insurance industry groups and other experts have ideas for what they’d like to see California do in the wake of the news — few of which they agree upon. Here’s the debate over four of those ideas.

Require State Farm to stay

There’s disagreement whether this idea, backed by the group Consumer Watchdog, is legal.

The idea hinges on how insurance prices are regulated in California. Under current laws, insurance companies can’t just charge whatever they want: They have to submit their proposed rates to the insurance department, which they back up by explaining their projected costs, losses, revenue and more. State regulators can approve a company’s proposed rates, or deny them, if they think, for example, the rates are unjustifiably high, or so low that they could put the company’s finances at risk.

Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog, said if a company suddenly says that it’s not going to take the same number of customers that it had projected when it got the department’s approval, then it has changed the assumptions on which the approval was based.

“They granted themselves a de facto rate increase by reducing the risk” in a state where that’s illegal, said Rosenfield. The department could issue a notice to State Farm, he said, and tell the company it needs to keep selling new home insurance policies until it submits new rates and those rates are approved.

The insurance department disputes that it has

the power to do this. “Their claims are not supported by law,” said Soller, the deputy commissioner. “There’s a reason why it hasn’t been done by any insurance commissioner before.”

Use forwardlooking models

The kinds of data and statistical models insurance companies can use to set prices may sound like a nighttime sleep aid, but it’s a matter of lively discussion in insurance circles.

When a company tries to justify rate changes, it is required to rely on past losses to project future losses. It can’t use factors like the locations of new homes it is covering — whether they’re in downtown San Francisco or rural wine country — or the increased risk of wildfires due to climate change.

“We do it in a very oldfashioned way, and it needs to be updated,” said Rex Frazier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, an insurance industry group that counts State Farm as a member. He supports the use of forwardlooking models, which are generally provided by other private companies. California already permits insurers to use models for earthquake insurance.

If a company is trying to figure out how much it should charge for earthquake coverage, it would look at proximity to fault lines, Frazier said, but for wildfire insurance, California doesn’t do that.

“For wildfire it just says ‘Well, looking backward, what have you paid over the last 20 years for wildfire clients?’” he said.

Consumer groups generally oppose letting insurance companies use models, fearing that com-

panies will use them to justify extreme price hikes, and that complex math will make scrutiny a challenge.

“They’re just very sophisticated crystal balls,” said Amy Bach, executive director for United Policyholders, a consumer group. Modeling companies generally see their models as intellectual property, which can pose a challenge for transparency. “Our fear is that they overstate risk,” said Bach. About a week and a half after State Farm’s announcement, the insurance department said it would host a public workshop on use of models in insurance pricing, ahead of considering regulations. The workshop will take place on July 13

On Wednesday, the Assembly’s insurance committee held a hearing on models. When asked by a legislator whether the department was moving toward incorporating catastrophe models, a department representative confirmed that it was.

“Historic losses do not fully account for growing wildfire risks, or risk mitigation measures taken by communities,” said Michael Peterson, a deputy commissioner at the insurance department, during the hearing.

Address the increasing costs

Insurance companies are just like us: They buy insurance! When insurance companies buy it, it’s called “reinsurance.”

The cost of reinsurance has risen dramatically, and State Farm cited “a challenging reinsurance market” as one of the reasons it decided to stop selling new home insurance policies in California.

When insurance companies explain their costs to the insurance department as part of the process for justifying their prices, they aren’t allowed to include the cost of reinsurance. The department hasn’t historically permitted it, Soller said, because it doesn’t regulate reinsurance.

“What are insurers supposed to do when, on the one hand, the Department of Insurance is telling them ‘maintain your solvency’ and then, on the other hand, when their costs go up, you can’t charge for it,” said Frazier. Insurance industry groups say it would help if they could incorporate the cost of reinsurance into their prices. But consumer groups say that the move would cause premiums to spike.

“Californians would see immediate massive rate hikes — both as soon as that went into effect and ongoing,” said Carmen Balber executive director of Consumer Watchdog. A reinsurance provider regulated by California would address problems she sees with the reinsurance market, Balber said, but that doesn’t exist currently.

Reduce the risk of disasters

The underlying problem is that disasters happen in California — at an increasing rate thanks to climate change — and that homes are at risk. They’re in the middle of the woods, or surrounded by flammable grasslands, or on the edge of bluffs that are expected to erode. Making homes less likely to burn, flood or collapse would be good for homeowners and would also make California feel less risky to insurers.

There’s no shortage of

ideas for how to reduce risk, and there’s been action on this front in recent years. The insurance department, for example, has required insurance companies to consider whether homeowners take certain steps to protect their homes — like installing fire-resistant vents and clearing out vegetation under decks — in their prices.

California has set aside $2.7 billion for wildfire resilience over the past three years, according to the insurance department. When the department convened a group of environmental advocates, researchers, and public policy and insurance experts to make recommendations on how to reduce the risks of climate change, they came up with a long list. Among the recommendations:

n Create statewide hazard maps so that future risks are more clear to the public

n Increase funding to retrofit homes

n And apply fire-resistant building codes in areas with moderate to higher fire risk.

Cutting greenhouse gas emissions would ultimately be the best way to reduce the risk, said Alice Hill, chair of the group convened by the department and a senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. But the world will get warmer even if we reduce emissions, she said, so focusing on where and how homes are built remains important.

“That could mean not building in areas that are just becoming too risky,” Hill said.

California budget 2023: Key dates toward a final deal

By Sameea Kamal CalMatters

California’s state budget is the product of a multimonth, multi-step process that involves the governor, the Legislature, lobbyists, interest groups and the public — with lots of debate, number-crunching and negotiation along the way.

This year, those deliberations are especially strained because the state is facing a budget deficit of at least $31.5 billion, a whiplash following two years of record budget surpluses.

CalMatters reporters are tracking those steps and conversations. Here’s what has happened so far — and what still lies ahead before the 2023-24 budget is final.

Jan. 10: The governor's proposal

The governor is required by the state constitution to introduce a budget proposal by Jan. 10.

You can think of the January proposal as a rough draft. The budget relies on knowing how much money the state is going to have from federal funds, state taxes and other sources, but we don’t have as clear of a picture of its finances until income taxes are filed.

This January, for example, the governor’s office predicted a budget deficit of $22.5 billion. We know now that it’s larger. And this year, that picture is even less clear because the income tax filing deadline was extended from April to October for many Californians due to the devastating winter storms.

Still, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s January “rough draft” set the baseline for responses by the legislative budget committees, party caucuses in the Assembly and Senate and advocates

and lobbyists for a multitude of interest groups. For instance, environmentalists quickly blasted proposed cuts to climate change programs.

March/April: Legislators and interest groups respond

Until the next deadline in May, the Democratic and Republican caucuses in each chamber of the Legislature respond to the governor’s proposal with their own ideas for how to slice the budget pie — programs where they want to spend more, and priorities they don’t want cut. Assembly Democrats, for instance, championed $1 billion more for childcare providers.

Also, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office weighs in with its analysis of the governor’s revenue estimates and spending proposals.

And while at this point the final revenue picture may still be fuzzy, conversations during this time are early indicators for how negotiations may proceed.

For example, this year, Senate Democrats proposed hiking corporate taxes by more than 2 percentage points and making other changes to avoid some of the cuts Newsom proposed. The governor quickly shut down any idea of a tax increase.

May 12: Newsom's revised budget State law requires the governor to issue an updated budget proposal by May 14, by which time, income taxes are typically filed.

This year, Newsom unveiled that update — known as the “May revise” — on May 12, with a more dire budget outlook than January.

determined that

the projected deficit had grown by $9 billion since January, bringing the total to about $31.5 billion. (The Legislative Analyst’s Office separately estimated the deficit at $34.5 billion, partly using different assumptions.)

In his May proposal, Newsom called for shifting an additional $3.3 billion in existing commitments out of the general fund than he had proposed in January, including paying for $1.1 billion in climate spending and $1.1 billion in college student housing projects with bonds, and pulling back another $1 billion in unused money from programs such as middle class tax refunds and utility bill support for low-income residents.

June 11: The SenateAssembly deal

Before the Legislature reaches an agreement with the governor, the Assembly and Senate must decide what to present.

This is typically the stage, after the May revision, when the Legislature makes decisions on major programs such as education, corrections, and health and human services.

This budget was published June 11, representing agreement between the Democratic caucuses of both chambers, who can use their supermajorities to pass budgets without any Republican votes.

The Democrats’ $312 billion spending plan largely aligns with Newsom’s on avoiding major cuts to ongoing programs, increasing core funding for some, including schools, public universities, welfare payments and health coverage; and expanding some others, including $250 million more for flood protection

But the plan differs from

Newsom in some significant respects, including by offering a temporary lifeline to struggling public transit agencies. Other areas also remain to be worked out. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office highlights some key differences.

June 15: The Legislature's vote

Following the deal between the Senate and Assembly, budget committees and subcommittees meet and discuss the spending plan. But those discussions mostly frame ongoing negotiations with the governor.

By midnight on June 15, the Legislature must approve the budget bills — otherwise, they don’t get paid. That happened on the morning of June 15 for the 2023-24 budget, despite Republican objections.

But the approved plan is far from final. Legislative leaders will continue to work out specifics in conversations with the governor, as well as through “budget trailer bills,” which are sometimes controversial follow-up bills that flesh out specifics.

July 1: The new fiscal year starts

By law, the Legislature must approve and the governor must sign a budget before July 1, the start of California’s fiscal year. Otherwise, the state can’t pay its expenses, such as

salaries or some vendor payments.

Based on recent history, it’ll be very close to the final deadline before Newsom and legislative leaders announce their final deal.

Last year, that announcement came on June 26, a Sunday night, and the budget bill wasn’t signed until June 30.

This year, the deadline is June 27, according to Jason Sisney, budget advisor with the Assembly speaker’s office.

Sept. 14: Deadline for budget trailer bills

This year, Sept. 14 is the deadline for the Legislature to pass any bills. That means any budget trailer bills — follow-up bills that flesh out specific programs in the main budget — must be approved by that date.

Amendments to the budget are in bills referred to as “budget bill juniors,” which can also include trailer bills. Critics say that too many major policies are determined in these trailer

bills, without sufficient review. Newsom has a month, until Oct. 14, to sign or veto bills. But adjustments to the budget could still be made well into 2024.

two- to three-day proceeding that Judge Samuel McAdam scheduled to begin on July 24.

At trial, the burden falls on the defense to prove a defendant’s mental incompetency. If the jury agrees he’s not competent, Dominguez would undergo hospitalization until his competency is restored. If not, the criminal proceedings resume.

Hutchinson protested De Moura’s request, saying that jury trials on competency are “extremely unusual” and would prevent Dominguez’s entry onto a wait list for state hospital placement until the competency issue is resolved. He sought a court trial instead, where a judge decides the matter.

Prosecution seeking jury trial on competency

McAdam, however, noted that the court’s hands are tied.

“If one party wants a jury trial, that’s where we’re at,” McAdam said. “I think expediting it is prudent.”

Dominguez, 21, made no further court outbursts, other than to say “thank you” to the judge as the hearing concluded. Previously, he interrupted a hearing to declare he didn’t want an attorney and preferred to represent himself.

When Dominguez spoke out earlier Tuesday, McAdam reminded him of his Fifth Amendment right protecting him from self-incrimination, adding that “nothing he says during the process of a suspended criminal

proceeding shall be used against him, and it has no bearing on these matters.”

But relatives of Karim Abou Najm, the UC Davis student Dominguez allegedly stabbed to death in Sycamore Park as he biked home from an April 29 awards ceremony, said they heard Dominguez’s admission clearly.

“I hope everybody heard that. I couldn’t stop myself from crying when I heard it,” said Nadine Yehya, Abou Najm’s mother, whose family on Sunday attended what would have been her son’s graduation ceremony. Instead his father, UCD professor Majdi Abou Najm, walked the stage in his place to accept his posthumous computer science degree.

“We were there for Karim, and we also were there for Karim’s friends,” Yehya said. “This is not the way we wanted to celebrate this milestone, and we know we’re going to miss many milestones.”

Maria Breaux, whose brother David Breaux allegedly was slain by Dominguez in Central Park two days before the attack on Abou Najm, said she’ll be present for the competency proceedings.

“I’m trusting in the process and making sure no stone is left unturned,” she said, adding that like her brother — who for years preached the importance of compassion in the Davis community and beyond — she feels empathy for those involved in the case.

That also goes for Dominguez’s family, “who were blindsided by this unexpected thing to happen to their child,” Breaux said. “There’s enough compassion to go around for everyone. That’s what David would have wanted.”

In addition to the murders Breaux and Abou Najm, Dominguez is charged with the attempted killing of Kimberlee Guillory, an unhoused woman stabbed through her tent on L Street on the night of May 1. Police apprehended him two days later near the Sycamore Park crime scene.

— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene

WAYFINDER: Getting to know Okavango Delta in a roundabout way

From Page A1

“This challenge of shortage of water cuts across many places in Botswana due to limited water resources. And so because of this water scarcity, I developed the desire to one day contribute to the preservation of water resources in my country,” Ramatlapeng said.

Growing up in Kopong, Ramatlapeng only knew the name “Okavango Delta” and that it was important and beautiful. She had never been there. Her graduate studies allowed her to see and study this delta.

“It has been a fulfilling journey that fulfills my childhood desires of helping my country preserve water resources.”

Ramatlapeng said one of the highlights of her journey has been the opportunity to

see the Okavango Delta in its entirety during the 2022 Okavango Delta expedition with the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project team. It was her first time on a “mokoro,” a dug-out canoe commonly used as a mode of transport in the delta. Seeing the complex nature of this delta and how it supports a rich ecosystem of flora and fauna gave her a whole new way of viewing the Okavango Delta and its different components.

“I gained a further understanding of how the water behaves in the delta. At the same time, I managed to conduct experiments that will help us gain an indepth understanding of the processes driving the changes in the water chemistry across the Delta. I am grateful to the National Geographic Okavango

I need female caregivers for: 10-11am 4pm to 5pm & 8:00-9:30 pm I need all 3 shifts every Sat & Sun I need a shower every Weds or Thurs: morn or aft and on Sat or Sun It takes about 2 hrs I pay $25/hour I need diaper change, household tasks, etc I a m a 7 8 y e a r o l d w o m a n h a v e A L S & a m i n a wheelchair fulltime I live at University Retirement Comm u n i t y a t 1 5 1 5 S h a s t a D r i v e I a 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

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME

Case Number: CV2023-1146

To all interested persons: Petitioner: Emma Ann Larson-Maynard filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows:

Present name a Emma Ann Larson-Maynard to Proposed name Emma Ann Larson McFadden

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

NOTICE OF HEARING

Date: August 10 2023 Time: 9:00 a m Dept : 14 Room: T h e a d d r e s s o f t h e c o u r t i s S u p e r i o r C o u r t o f C a l i f o r n i a , C o u n t y o f Y o l o 1000 Main Street Woodland CA 95695

A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at l east once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation printed in this county:

The Davis Enterprise

Wilderness Project team for the opportunity to see the Delta at that huge scale and for the great collaborative work we have been doing.”

Botswana has a history of excellent stewardship of its natural resources, ranging from managing mineral resources to water resources. The discovery of diamonds in Botswana around 1967, just a year after Botswana gained independence, dramatically changed Botswana’s economic status. As of 2020, Botswana was the world’s second-largest producer of diamonds.

“Water is also precious to us. About 80% of Botswana is covered by the Kalahari Desert, so we really value water. It is great to see places like the Okavango Delta not only being

protected by policies in Botswana but also being recognized and protected as the Ramsar wetland of international importance.”

Ramatlapeng said Batswana also play a significant role in caring for their natural resources. For instance, the Batswana living in and around the Okavango Delta have historically been good custodians of the Delta and the plants and animals in the Delta. “Over many years, Batswana have ensured that the Delta remains vibrant and intact through their sustainable practices that do not harm the Delta.

So, both the government and Batswana have done an amazing job of working together to preserve Botswana’s natural resources.”

PUBLIC NOTICE

In accordance with Sec 106 of the Programmatic Agreement, T-Mobile West LLC proposes to install a new antenna structure at 757 Russell Boulevard Davis CA Please direct comments to Gavin L at 818-898-4866 regarding site SC06783A

LEGAL NOTICE

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Yolo County Board of Supervisors will be conducting a public hearing on Tuesday June 27 2023 beginning at 9:00 a m or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard, in the Yolo County Board of Sup e r v i s o r s C h a m b e r s 6 2 5 C o u r t S t R o o m 2 0 6 W o o d l a n d California The purpose of this hearing is to consider amendm ents to the 2023-24 master fee resolution; and to approve t h e p r o p o s e d f e e c h a n g e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/Elections Community Services Library and Sheriff departments All i n te re s te d p ar ti e s a re in vi ted to atte nd the me e tin g a n d p r o v i d e a n y c o m m e n t s t h e y b e l i e v e a r e a p p r o p r i a t e S e n d written comments to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors at 625 Court St Room 204 Woodland CA 95695 or by email to clerkoftheboard@yolocounty org List of proposed fees are on file with the Clerk of the Board for public review

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Date: June 8, 2023

David W Rosenberg Judge of the Superior Court

Published June 21, 28, July 5, 12, 2023 #2325

o o f M a i n t e n a n c e & C o a t i n g Project before 2:00 p m on Thursday July 13 2023 at 120 West Main 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 Str eet Suite G Woodland CA 95695 Bidders must attend the mandatory pre-bid c o n f e r e n c e s t o b e h e l d a t t h e p r o j e c t s i t e 1 4 0 C T o n y D i a z D r i v e R o o f M a i n te n a n c e & C o a ti n g Pr o j e c t Wo o d l a n d C A 95776 at 9:00 am on June 22, 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 dollars ($1 000 000) the bidder must then be participating in a joint apprenticeship committee on public works projects

The California Department of Industrial Relations defines a joint apprenticeship 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 ($1,000,000) must complete a California Department of Industrial Relations DAS-7 form that documents the bidder’s participation in a joint apprenticeship committee Bids that are not accompanied by such proof of participation will be rejected The County will verify participation prior to the award 6/21 6/28 #2324

Notice is hereby given that the County of Yolo Department of C o m m u n i t y S e r v i c e s P u b l i c W o r k s D i v i s i o n w i l l r e c e i v e sealed bids for 2023 Pavement Rehabilitation Project until 2:00 PM on July 6 2023 at 292 West Beamer Street Woodland, CA 95695 Each bid must conform to the requirements of the proposal forms which can be downloaded along with all bid documents at https://www bidsync com/bidsync-cas/ at no cost, beginning on June 9, 2023 It is the bidder s responsibility to register at https://www bidsync com/bidsync-cas/ to ensure notification of all addenda It is the bidder’s responsibility to arrange for printing services to obtain printed copies of the bid documents 6/14 6/21 #2315

resources, the community has also to be playing its role in protecting natural resources through adherence to the policies and sustainable and environment-friendly practices (e.g., avoiding pollution of the Sacramento River). There is great long-term value in coordinating between the government and the people in preserving natural resources.”

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NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ROBERT WOOLLEY CASE NO PR2023-0137

To all heirs beneficiaries creditors contingent creditors and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate or both of: ROBERT WOOLLEY A Petition for Probate has been filed by: NIKKI D EFIGENIO in the Superior Court of California County of:

Yolo The Petition for Probate requests that: NIKKI D EFIGENIO be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent

The petition requests the decedent's will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court

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

lows: Date: July 21 2023 Time: 9:00 A M Dept : TBD

Room: Located at 1000 Main Street Woodland CA 95695

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

If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the decedent you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate

WCC foster-youth graduates overcome life’s hurdles

By Jim Smith Special to The Enterprise

Nearly 20 young adults were recognized for graduating from high school with one person earning a Dental Assisting Certification.

This time of year, there are plenty of graduations, but this one was different.

The ceremony held last Friday via Zoom, recognized foster youths who are now going out on their own or continuing on with their education.

Ceremonies were done in partnership between the Yolo County Child Welfare Transitional Age Unit, and Woodland Community College’s Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success, Independent Living.

“Nationally only 58 percent of foster youth graduate from high school, in California generally 62 percent, and for the last several years, Yolo County’s graduation rate has just been under 80 percent –twenty percent higher than the state and national average,” according to Cherie Schroeder, Foster & Kinship Care Education, Independent Living & AmeriCorps Programs director at the college.

Although foster-youth confidentially rules mean that generally the youths can’t be identified, but Schroeder did report that a number of scholarships and awards.

Among the graduates was Athena Soto, who received her Dental Assisting Certificate and is now enrolled at Woodland College for the fall to complete her classes for a Dental Hygienist Certificate. She, who gave permission for her name to be published, is also working full-time at a local dental office.

“We are so incredibly proud of these young

Obituary

July

Joan Helen Gillean passed away peacefully at home on May 25, 2023, after a brief illness. She was 91.

Joan was born on July 8, 1931, in Philadelphia to Maurice and Ester Frank.

She graduated from Pomona High School in 1949. She worked a variety of jobs including being a psychiatric technician, a special-ed school-bus driver for San Juan District, and a cocktail waitress. She spent 25 years working in the dental supply business in Sacramento.

Upon retiring in 1991, with her husband Roy (Red) Gillean, they enjoyed RV-traveling and wintered in Yuma, Arizona where Red played in a country swing band and she helped organize dances, dinners and events.

After her husband of 55 years passed in 2019, she moved to Rancho Yolo Mobile Home Park to be

COurtesy phOtO

Athena Soto received her Dental Assisting Certificate at a recent graduation of foster youths. She is enrolled at Woodland College for the fall to complete her classes for a Dental Hygienist Certificate.

people,” Schroeder reported. “We have several graduates moving on to four-year colleges, such as Chico and Sac State, and UC Davis; well as others who are now enrolled in community college, Job Corps, or are planning to work.

“It is an outstanding group of young people,” Schroeder stated.

One youth received a $5,000 Davis Odd Fellows Scholarship and is attending Sac State, another received a $500 Make it Happen Award for her resilience, two were given $150 Awards from the California Community College Foundation, and fiveall of who are registered for college or universitiesreceived a $500 Award from the Yuba Community College District Foundation Foster Care Fund.

With $8,000 given in community donations, each of the graduates received a check for $300, and another for $150.

Meanwhile, Woodland Sunrise Rotary donated large duffle bags filled with “basic transitional life supplies,” including towels, a sleeping bag, pots, pans, and more. As well, each graduate was given a framed Graduation Photo, and numerous cards, gift cards.

Keynote speaker for the affair was Dr. Danisha Keating, author of “From Foster to Ph.D.,” who shared her foster care journey. She talked about dealing with an abundance of naysayers who included high school counselors and family members.

She said it was an art teacher who gave her inspiration and encouragement to believe in herself.

As a 20-year-old, Keating

was placed and became the caregiver of four younger siblings, between 14 to 20 years old, who were all living in a one-bedroom apartment.

There were many financial and emotional hardships, including struggling to find time to work, study and being a caregiver, Keating recounted. It was not easy, and it took her eight years to achieve her bachelor’s degree and four more years to finish her masters and doctoral degrees.

Keating graduated from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz., with a doctorate in psychology, and now devotes her time to helping other students through their educational goals, and advocating for foster youth.

Schroeder reported that

along the way, Keating found her confidence, and learned to live in the day, not always thinking of what is to come.

Keating opened up in her book about how she came into foster care, homelessness, poverty and getting through her educational goals. She also shared the emotional pain that comes along with raising siblings, finding victory in standing against her abusers, and being able to walk across the stage to get her doctorate.

“’From Foster to Ph.D’ is truly inspirational as it follows the journey of overcoming every obstacle with determination,” Schroeder stated.

Tony Kildare, director of Child Welfare Services, acknowledged the challenges and obstacles each of

the graduates faced as children, including their placement in and through the dependency system.

Kildare stressed the value of college, believing in oneself, and taking advantages of the help and opportunities for higher education and job training.

Also providing encouragement was Meghan Morris, HHSA manager over the Transitional Age Unit, who stressed not letting “the bumps and obstacles that come, to stop your journey for achieving goals and dreams.”

After the event, which had 60 people in attendance, Yolo County HHSA and WCC Foundation were able to take the young people and their guests for a dinner at Sakura in Woodland.

GILLEAN

near her family. She enjoyed the past four years in the park, playing pinochle and poker, being on the board and helping to organize events and activities. She loved the many friends and supportive community she found there.

She is survived by sons Randy Barker, and Gary Barker and daughter-inlaw Berta; daughters Tobi Hayes and son-in-law Jay, and Susan and son-in-law J.R.; seven grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and three great-great grandchildren.

Joan had an outgoing and friendly personality. Her vitality and joy for life was an inspiration for her many friends and family members.

Joan Helen Gillean

8, 1931 — May 25, 2023

FARMS: As wells dry up, farmers seek clarity on process

underground water sources spill beyond property lines and are used by numerous landowners — which include small-scale farmers.

Therein lies the conflict between the small farmers and these large-scale growers, as the small farms allege that these water-hungry orchards are a primary cause of surrounding properties’ wells running dry. This requires landowners to either deepen their well or replace it altogether which comes at great cost these local farmers simply aren’t able to afford.

Making matters worse, of course, is California’s longstanding love affair with droughts, which compound water usage issues both above and below the surface. These issues played an influence on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s release of Executive Order N-3-23 regarding water use and supply conditions in California.

Within the executive order, it states, “To protect health, safety and the environment during this drought emergency, a county, city or other public agency shall not:

A.) approve a permit for a new groundwater well or for alteration of an existing well in a basin subject to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and classified as medium or high-priority without first obtaining written verification from a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SGA) managing the basin or area of the basin where the well is proposed to be located that groundwater extraction by the proposed well would not be inconsistent with any sustainable groundwater management program established in any applicable Groundwater Sustainability Plan adopted by that GSA and would not decrease the likelihood of achieving a sustainability goal for the basin covered by such a plan; or issue a permit for a new groundwater well or for alteration of an existing well without first determining that extraction of groundwater from the proposed well is (1) not likely to interfere with the production and functioning of

existing nearby wells, and (2) not likely to cause subsidence that would adversely impact or damage nearby infrastructure.”

(The full executive order can be found here: https://www.gov. ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023 /02/Feb-13-2023-ExecutiveOrder.pdf?emrc=b12708)

The acting GSA of Yolo County is the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency, which held a board of directors meeting on Monday, June 19. There, local farmer Annie Main of Good Humus produce in Capay gave her two cents.

“There are only a few monitoring wells in this area, and the YSDA does not have enough data to be able to make decisions on groundwater extraction. For the first time, we have an overseeing agency that has the job of investigating new well applications and if they are consistent with the Governor’s Executive Order. If the YSGA has insufficient data while guaranteeing that the aquifer will not be affected, I believe approving new wells on historically non-irrigated land is not consistent with the sustainable groundwater management program,” said Main.

“In my neighborhood, two new ag well applications were recently submitted. I have spoken to 14 of the 23 landowners in the area near those proposed wells. Of those that I have spoken with, 12 have either had to lower or replace their wells in the last 20 years since Investment Ag began changing the landscape. I ask for a pause to new well permitting especially on historically nonirrigated land and in these special concern areas until we completely understand the consequences of your decisions. If you don’t pause now, the many landowners of Yolo County may see a waterless future and have no land value left or ability to continue to farm and live here in the not-too-far-off future.”

In a recent interview with The Enterprise, Main said it’s not just these large-scale growers consuming the groundwater, nor does she believe that the largescale growing operations should be prohibited from farming on the land they purchased. Rather,

she simply calls for more time to collect more data to decide whether or not further drilling is sustainable for all parties involved in these areas.

This is why Main and other local farmers — such as Jackie Lundy of Lomita Farm — are scrambling to gather information along with the YSGA prior to the approval of any further drilling. Unfortunately, it’s proven to be a slog as many landowners are untrusting and uncomfortable sharing their personal well information with the county. This coincides with how difficult it’s been to derive well information from local drilling companies.

“We’re near the West Plainfield fire station, off Road 95, and I’ve owned this farm for 42 years,” Lundy said. “There’s 190 acres of almonds that went in directly south of a group of parcels out here ... Essentially, all the homes that were here before the almonds were here for 4o years or longer, and there’s about 20 parcels that have been impacted by this almond orchard due south of us. Out of that 20, eight of us have had to replace our wells,” said Lundy.

“When I had to replace my well, I had to go down to 500 feet, and the cost is per foot! It’s extremely expensive. I’ve never had trouble getting adequate water from my old well at 225 feet before the almonds moved in. Within two to three years, there was no option to drill further down. This whole idea of sustainability, you only take as much water as can be recharged back into the water table so you have an equilibrium where you take out as much as the water table can endure sustainably on a year-to-year basis. And that’s

not happening!”

Dave Runsten, the Water Policy Director of Davis-based Community Alliance with Family Farmers, also weighed in on the issue with a paper he wrote regarding these water-related issues.

“Although SGMA is supposed to stabilize groundwater and stop overdraft, it will not fully be implemented until 2042, and the planting of these orchards has continued, often fueled by outside financial capital” it says. “For example, in Yolo County in a 10-year span through 2017, 800 new wells were drilled and 47,000 acres of perennial crops (crops that don’t need to be replanted each year) were planted, with 72% of this acreage planted on historically non-irrigated land. The people planting these orchards usually drill deep wells and the constant pumping draws down the groundwater and affects their neighbors, who often have shallower residential and agricultural wells. The well drilling frenzy has driven up the cost of wells due to demand but also due to the need to go deeper as the water table falls. Replacing wells is a cost that small farms are ill equipped to bear.”

Runsten also proposed solutions which include the GSA’s being forced to space wells, better monitor groundwater levels and deny permits that will have negative externalities or force the deep well owners to pay to remedy the dry wells. Runsten also proposed that small farms and rural residents should not have to pay attorneys to be represented in court in adjudication proceedings and that they need class counsel to be appointed by the court, which could be paid by the other parties or by the state.

YSGA executive officer Kristin Sicke told The Enterprise in an interview that there are other variables playing a part in these groundwater issues beyond deep drilling near Yolo County’s special areas of concern, which include the Zamora area, Plainfield Ridge area, northwest of Winters and Hungry Hollow. According the Sicke, there’s a confluence of a high concentration of domestic

wells and very unique subsurface conditions based on the ridge and soil profiles that aren’t conducive water recharging. Sicke also highlighted a need for more voluntary wells around the county for the YSGA to gather information from.

“Groundwater recovery can take multiple years for us to dig ourselves out of the whole we may have gotten in. During dry years, we tend to rely on ground water sort of like a savings account, but we do want to be supportive of exercising the aquifer and making sure we’re managing it appropriately so recovery can really take place. This year, we had significant recovery, but we’re still not where we want to be in terms of feeling like we’ve fully recovered from the drought,” said Sicke.

“We don’t yet know what the impact is of the expansion of land use. In our Groundwater Sustainability Plan, we examine land use up to 2018, and we need to update that and rerun the water budget and say, ‘OK, based on the expansion of acreage being irrigated, do we have enough water underground to meet that, or do we not?’ If we don’t, what we want to talk about is creating a system in which we allocate the water and assign a set quantity assigned to each acre if for any reason you’re not within your sustainable yield. So, if we don’t have enough water to cover all the ground that needs to be irrigated, we’re going to have to have a hard conversation with farmers to say, ‘okay, you can only pump so much groundwater so that we can stay sustainable.’”

Sicke maintains that in multiple conversations with Cobram Estates, the organization has been transparent in their water use, best practices and is trying to be part of the solution to these groundwater problems.

As of now, more data is desperately needed to verify whether or not further drilling in these areas of concern around Yolo County is sustainable. Contact the YSGA by calling it at 530-662-3211, visiting at 34274 CA-16 in Woodland CA or by visiting the YSGA website at www.yologroundwater.org.

“When I had to replace my well, I had to go down to 500 feet, and the cost is per foot!”

Jackie Lundy Lomita Farm

Track and Field

Blue Devils compete at nationals in Oregon

Enterprise staff

Most of the Davis High boys and girls track and field teams who will be competing in spring 2024 competed at the Nike Outdoor National Championships in Eugune, Ore. over the weekend.

“I think the athletes would describe their performances as good not great,” said Davis associate head coach Tim Groth. “It’s been a very long track season as we’ve been going since track began in February.

“One of the deals with qualifying for nationals is first of all achieving a difficult qualifying mark and then agreeing to continue training weeks after the season ended.

Throwing coach Matt Johnson made the trek with Groth and the Blue Devils.

The boys’ 4x800 relay team of Beckett Dolan, Brian Fackert, Jefferson Wright and Lucas Tam took 16th place with a time of 8 minutes, 00.03 seconds.

Thomas Albeck was 19th in the triple jump with a leap of 41 feet.

Tam competed in the 1-mile race, taking 35th place at 4 minutes, 24.97 seconds.

Sol Bitners shined in two field events for Davis.

In the championships in the discus, she took 20th place at 128 feet, 8

UC Davis women make trek to Costa Rica

Enterprise staff

The UC Davis women’s soccer team is starting the season just a little bit early. And outside of the United States.

On Saturday, the Aggies left California soil to embark on the program’s first ever foreign tour to Costa Rica.

UCD will explore Costa Rica for eight days before returning back home toward the end of this month.

“I’m so excited to bring our team to such a beautiful country and to not only celebrate our 2022 season, but to kickstart our 2023 fall,” UC Davis head coach Tracy Hamm. “We’ve been looking forward to this trip for over a year now.”

Upon arrival, the Aggies will have a jam-packed agenda, highlighted by a match against the Costa Rican National Team that was played on Saturday.

“Getting the opportunity to play the Costa Rican national team, weeks before they leave for the World Cup, will be an incredible experience,” Hamm said.

Following the first game, the Aggies had a visit to the Heredia Zoo and spent the afternoon at the Wildlife Rescue Center.

In addition to playing the Costa Rican National Team, the Aggies schedule will also include two more exhibition games against a pair of Costa Rica Primera Division teams; one against Dimas Escazu on Monday, and another against Club Sport Herediano on Thursday.

In between training sessions and the scheduled games, the Aggies itinerary has mapped out plenty of time for tours, day trips and sight-seeing to fully immerse in the culture, and bond together as a team.

Some of these trips and experiences include the aforementioned visit to the Heredia Zoo, a San Jose City tour, river rafting and a tour at La Paz Waterfall Gardens.

inches.

Bitners was 16th in the emerging elite finals of the shot put at 35 feet, 7 inches.

For the girls, Sophia Ramirez was 12th in the discus, also in the emerging elite, at 117 feet, 7 inches.

Sophie Coli was 31st in the discus, and also of the emerging elite, at an event toss of 100 feet.

Fackert graduated from DHS earlier this month. The rest of the competition were incoming seniors.

Albeck is returning to play on the DHS football team.

Tam, Wright and Dolan are competing on the Blue Devil boys crosscountry team.

Groth talked more about the Blue Devils having to compete in track and field for nearly six months.

The three DHS girls only compete in track and field.

“I have a lot of respect for those athletes willing to commit to wanting to prolong their season,” Groth said. “Half the reason we come is so that the athletes can compete at the national level and take part in this incredible experience.

“Our athletes have the chance to compete at the same venue and on the same track that hosts Olympic trials and world championships, there’s nothing else like it.”

soccer

FC Davis men fall in rematch to Napa Valley

By Henry Krueger Enterprise correspondent

If you removed Wumi Aladetimi’s teamhigh six goals, FC Davis would be the lowestscoring club in the Golden Gate Conference by a considerable margin.

Aladetimi was unavailable for Saturday’s match due to his ejection from the previous contest on June 10. The Golden Lions forward received his second yellow card for excessively celebrating his game-tying goal in a 4-4 draw with Napa Valley 1839 FC.

In Aladetimi’s absence, FC Davis (1-6-2) lost 2-0 in a rematch against Napa Valley (6-2-1) at the UC Davis Dairy Complex.

Even without his top goal-scorer, FC Davis head coach Kris Hall did not make excuses for his team’s inability to finish its scoring chances.

“Some people will say we lost because Wumi wasn’t here, but the reality of it is we have enough talent up top,” Hall said. “We had the opportunities, it was just one of those days.”

Napa Valley, which also struggled to find the back of the net, succeeded once in each half. The first goal was scored on a header from Ivan Sakou off a cross from Jose Maravilla in the 30th minute.

One minute later, Napa Valley nearly

extended its lead after Arjan Dosanjh took a shot that sailed just over the crossbar.

Now 1839 FC had several more chances, including a one-on-one opportunity for Dosanjh against the goalkeeper in the 43rd minute, but the club still entered halftime with a one-goal advantage.

FC Davis came out more aggressive in the second half, delivering multiple long passes to streaking attackers in hopes of evening up the score. The club had a shot directly in front of the goal in the 63rd minute but missed just left of the post.

The Golden Lions were called offside several times while making runs downfield, raising frustration from Nick Hyde, who was frequently whistled for violating the rule. He received a yellow card for his complaints.

“Getting called offside is always frustrating, but sometimes it’s a country mile and sometimes it’s a matter of inches,” Hall said. “I’m not on the line, so for me, I’m looking at it and I don’t see it. The officials are right on the line, so it is what it is. We can’t control that.”

Napa Valley added another goal in the 80th minute when Dario Pavon received a pass near the top of the penalty box, before drilling a shot into the back of the net to extend the lead to 2-0.

With tensions running high throughout the match, a scuffle near the scorer’s table ensued

in the 82nd minute, resulting in yellow cards being issued to a player on each team.

FC Davis got one more shot on goal in the 89th minute, but it missed right of the net.

When the final whistle sounded, Napa Valley celebrated with its fans, who call themselves the “Green Army” and had traveled from the North Bay to Davis for the match.

The Green Army used drums, megaphones and other noise-making devices to support 1839 FC.

The win for Napa Valley maintained its firm grasp on second place in the Golden Gate Conference, which is led by undefeated El Farolito of San Francisco. FC Davis is still positioned second-to-last in the division, ahead of only the Oakland Stompers.

The Golden Lions will finish the regular season at home against Las Vegas Legends FC (3-3-2) next Sunday. The match is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Playfields Soccer Stadium.

— Henry Krueger is a Gonzaga University student and working as a correspondent for The Enterprise this spring and summer. He was an intern at the newspaper in 2022. Follow him on Twitter: @henrykrveger.

Fred Feyrer/courTesy phoTo

Davis High runner Lucas Tam (right) runs neck-and-neck in the boys 4x800 relay race.

FC Davis’ Aaron Farnan (9) battles for the soccer ball in Saturday’s game against Napa Valley.

River Cats can’t get past the Express

Enterprise staff

ROUND ROCK, Texas — Trailing by just a run after a solo blast from Armando Alvarez in the fourth, the Sacramento River Cats could come no closer as a quartet of three-run fames led the Round Rock Express to take the opener of a six-game set by a 15-6 final on Tuesday.

Round Rock (41-29) scored in six of their eight trips to the plate, starting with a pair of runs that stemmed from an Elier Hernandez triple to deep center and a Jonathan Ornelas single down the right field line.

Just an inning later they followed that with consecutive hits to start the frame, a leadoff double from Dustin Harris that immediately came around to score on a Diosbel Arias single through the right side with the shift on.

It took until Alvarez’s second homer of

BasketBall

the year in the fourth for Sacramento (3337) to reach the scoreboard, a two-out shot that came following a pair of quick outs.

After a two-out single in the fifth, Sacramento had each of their next eight hitters retired in order until Will Wilson broke up that streak with a one-out single in the eighth.

That inning saw the River Cats score once, though it was not Wilson but rather Bryce Johnson who reached on a fielder’s choice when Wilson was retired. Driving him in was Tyler Fitzgerald, collecting his 30th RBI of the year on a liner to right field.

Meanwhile, the Express started their streak of three-run innings in the home half of the fourth, two of which crossed the plate on bases loaded walks.

Round Rock then matched that with a three-run shot in the fifth from Blaine

Crim, a bases loaded double by J.P. Martinez in the sixth, and finally another pair of homers in the eighth that included a two-run home run by Martinez.

Turning on the offense late, the River Cats built a mini rally during their swings in the ninth with four runs but could not get over the hill.

An Alvarez leadoff walk scored on an RBI double from Clint Coulter, his 11th extra base knock in his past 12 hits. Coulter was joined on base by Wilson with a two-out walk, which allowed Bryce Johnson to mash a three-run dinger over the wall in right field on full-count pitch.

Johnson’s third of the year marked the 18th multi-homer game for Sacramento this season, and brough the game to its 15-6 final.

Taking the loss in his Triple-A debut was Kai-Wei Teng (0-1), yielding five earned runs on seven hits in just over 3.0plus innings of work while striking out

four and walking three.

Round Rock starter Cole Ragans did not go long enough to factor into the decision, allowing one run on three hits in 4.0 innings, leaving Cole Winn (2-5) to take the victory after going 3.0 scoreless innings with one hit surrendered and a pair of punchouts.

Six of nine River Cats hitters tallied hits, which included multiple knocks from Johnson, Alvarez, and Wilson.

Johnson went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs and three RBI from the leadoff spot, Alvarez finished 2-for-3 thanks to a walk and single in addition to his homer, and Wilson was a clean 2-for-2 with a run scored and a pair of walks Game two between these squads will commence today from Dell Diamond with the first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m. (PT).

New faces for Stockton Kings

Enterprise staff

STOCKTON — The Stockton Kings, NBA G League affiliate of the Sacramento Kings, announced Tuesday that Lindsey Harding as the team’s head coach.

In addition, Anjali Ranadivé was named General Manager of the Stockton Kings, marking the first time in G League history that two women will lead a G League affiliate.

Harding joins Stockton after spending the previous four seasons with Sacramento as an assistant coach/player development coach.

Prior to her time in Sacramento, Harding was a player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers after working as a pro personnel scout for the club during the 2018-19 season.

Harding is also an experienced international coach, currently leading the Mexican Women’s Senior National Team.

In 2021, Harding was appointed head coach

for the South Sudan Women’s Senior National Team and led the team during the FIBA AfroBasket qualifier, the country’s first time entering a women’s tournament.

Harding, a nine-year veteran in the WNBA, was selected first overall in the 2007 WNBA Draft following a standout career at Duke (2002-07) where she was named 2007 Naismith College Player of the Year and had her No. 10 retired and enshrined into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.

The Houston, Texas, native made 270 career appearances in the WNBA while also playing internationally in Turkey, Lithuania, Russia and at the 2016 Summer Olympics for the Belarus women’s national team.

Ranadivé becomes the general manager of the Stockton Kings after serving as the team’s assistant general manager for the 2022-23 season.

Previously, Ranadivé worked for the Sacramento Kings as a coordinator in the social

responsibility department.

A Cal graduate, Anjali was an intern for the Golden State Warriors from 2011-2013.

Before her career in sports, Ranadivé reached the Billboard charts as a singer and songwriter in Los Angeles.

She also ran a nonprofit for animal rescue and wildlife conservation known as Jaws and Paws.

Former Stockton Kings general manager Paul Johnson will remain with the organization in a front office role with the Sacramento Kings.

NBA Draft

The draft will take place Thursday at the Barclays Center in New York City.

The Sacramento Kings have the 24th overall pick in the first round of this year’s draft and two second-round picks.

State power grid at risk of failing

By Mark Specht Special to CalMatters

The Western power grid is going through a major transformation as states and utilities strive to boost reliability and fulfill their clean electricity goals. California legislation that would have been a first step toward enhancing grid collaboration in the West did not advance last month, but that should not stop us from more actively planning for a robust energy future at such a critical juncture. It was encouraging that the governor in May committed to begin working towards greater regional cooperation in sharing energy and upgrading the transmission network. California leadership is essential to achieve a better-connected power grid that would benefit tens of millions of people across the West. Without that leadership, California could be left behind.

In a policy brief, the Union of Concerned Scientists laid out the benefits and risks of grid regionalization. Establishing a western grid operator could expand access to renewable energy, reduce overall costs and help to avoid the kind of power outages we’ve seen in the past during periods of extreme heat.

That was the idea behind Assembly Bill 538, authored by Assemblyman Chris Holden, a D-Pasadena, which stalled in the Legislature last month. It would have allowed California’s grid operator, CAISO, to transition from a politically appointed leadership into an independent governance structure – a move that would enable it to expand across multiple states as a western regional transmission organization, known as an RTO.

While the proposal has been floated in California before, the need for more regional collaboration has become more urgent as climate change continues to stress the grid and we need to build clean energy infrastructure at an unprecedented rate.

But even without passage of the legislation, this is not the time to slam on the brakes. It’s important to recognize that CAISO isn’t the only game in town anymore. The Southwest Power Pool, an RTO in Arkansas that operates in 17 central U.S. states, is moving quickly to expand its operations into the West. CAISO already collaborates with some western utilities, but these and other utilities are considering joining the Southwest Power Pool because they want to be members of an RTO.

They don’t view CAISO as a pathway to RTO membership unless it changes its governance structure. If California loses its grid collaborators, energy costs will go up and grid reliability could be jeopardized. To prevent utilities from flocking to the Southwest Power Pool, California needs to make it clear to them that CAISO governance change could still happen, and continued collaboration could eventually lead to membership in an independently governed RTO.

One way to accomplish that is for the governor, legislators and regulators to work together to shape a western RTO that works for California and the rest of the West. If CAISO is ever going to fill that role, it needs a new, independent governance structure that does a better job than existing grid operators of soliciting meaningful participation from a broad range of stakeholders, including underrepresented communities, and enabling states to pursue their policy priorities. Fortunately, a diverse array of state electricity regulators have already provided a set of governance principles as a jumping-off point.

The added benefit of shaping that structure now is that California legislators would likely be much more comfortable passing a bill changing CAISO’s governance if they knew what the new structure would look like. At the same time, California policymakers should work to address concerns over grid regionalization raised by labor groups and the potential impacts on the state’s renewable energy goals.

California should send a clear signal to the rest of the West that it is actively engaged in shaping a western grid operator that will enable states to achieve their clean energy goals while providing more reliable and affordable electricity to consumers. The difficult work of building a western RTO has only just begun, and now is the time for California to continue charging forward.

— Mark Specht is the Western states energy manager and a senior analyst for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Prior to joining UCS, he was an energy analyst for Ascend Analytics. He wrote this for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture

Did extra school days really help?

It’s a truism by now that children lost a lot of educational opportuni ties during the coronavirus pandemic, forced for many months to stay home and study via Zoom and other long-distance modalities.

But kids and their parents last winter defied the longtime stereotype that they are essentially uncaring about education, showing up in large numbers over the holiday break when school districts including Los Angeles Unified, with the largest enrollment in both the state and nation, offered extra classes designed to start making up for learning missed during the online-only era.

No one can doubt what was lost — some say stolen — from children during those almost two years when virtually no public school in California operated in person.

Standardized tests have proven this, with drops in student performance at almost all levels in reading and math. But under the state’s Expanded Learning Opportunities program, school districts over the last year could add three hours to many school days and extend the school year to help students improve their academics. Since every study shows the poorer a child’s family, the more learning was lost, most districts prioritized

low-income pupils, English learners or kids in foster care for the extra classes. In Los Angeles, the first day of extra classes brought out tens of thousands of students, with many teachers reporting pupils enthused even as they lost free time.

But things did not look as optimistic when that same district tried essentially the same thing during its spring break in early April. Average turnout was almost 15 percent smaller, despite teachers having months longer to recruit students who needed help the most.

Still, the spring turnout of 33,076 students for two days of extra learning was a lot better than nothing, demonstrating that at least some parents and their kids are motivated to learn and try to move ahead.

For the kids who came, there was plenty of individual attention, activities where they practiced basic math and reading skills, got prepped for advanced placement tests or tried to lift their

grades in various subjects. Both students and teachers afterward described a calm atmosphere with a solid learning environment for those who came.

All this, of course, cost plenty, with many hundreds of teachers called in to work extra time. In January, Los Angeles district officials said they spent $36 million on the winter break classes. No figures have yet been reported for the spring effort.

It was essentially a way for the district to get in extra school days in a climate where neither adults nor students appeared to want the school year extended deep into the summer, as was authorized.

One thing the extra days demonstrated, with their smaller classes and far more individualized instruction than normal, was that this kind of instruction produces more interested students and likely better long-term results.

But more than 40 percent of students who registered to attend did not turn up once the extra class days arrived. In both winter and spring, students and teachers reported that while the extra activities and individual attention were nice, “it was work that everyone already

could do.”

Yet, the teachers who offered this and similar observations were not accounting for oft-proven benefits from reinforcing skills already learned. The overall reality, then, is that no one knows – and no one may ever know – how much benefit was really bought with the millions in federal Covidrelief funds used for the extra classes.

Many students pointed to benefits that are difficult to measure, like the added simplicity and ability to concentrate when spending a school day in one classroom, rather than shifting from room to room, floor to floor and building to building every 43 or 45 minutes during a regular school day.

“Much simpler,” some students reported.

Any such benefits, of course, went only to those who showed up. Another sign that education can only be as successful as allowed by the interest levels of both children and their parents.

— Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a softcover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net.

Gloria Partida

I am writing to thank Councilwoman

Gloria Partida for her motion on Tuesday, June 6 to begin processing the Shriners and Village Farms applications. I watched the council meeting and was struck by the 90-minute discussion on homelessness prior to the peripheral housing item. Davis is in a state of emergency when it comes to housing. Each day that there is a delay in the process of providing housing means another day that someone is denied access to affordable housing, another family that is lost to a neighboring city due to not being able to purchase a home in Davis, or worse yet, another person who must remain on the streets without a home at all. Gloria presented a win-win solution that allows the community to undertake a visioning process for the periphery while not slowing down the process of two worthy projects who are ready to provide what Davis needs. It was forward thinking and inclusive.

This is not surprising as Gloria is

President

always a champion for the people she represents. We are lucky to have her as a leader and I appreciate her fortitude, especially since I, myself, struggled for many years to purchase a home in Davis for which to raise my family.

Rachel Heller Davis

Jesus was heterozygous

A recent letter (“On Miracles,” June 16) to The Enterprise reported several miracles over the centuries in which the Catholic Eucharist — which, as an article of faith, is the actual body and blood of Christ — bled.

In one case, the blood type is confirmed to be AB. This is truly amazing; we now know with certainty that Jesus was a heterozygote. As the product of Mary’s virgin birth, another article of faith, the implication is quite clear that God Himself must be either type A or type B. Furthermore, remembering that Mary was female, the fact that Jesus was male is solid evidence that God, his Father, is also undeniably male. So much for questioning whether God should be represented as a paternal figure which has become quite fashionable in modern times. The existence of these miraculous tissue samples is

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

House of Representatives

extremely exciting. They should be immediately submitted to 23 and Me for complete genotyping since half of Christ’s genome is divinely inherited.

Carl Schmid Prof. emeritus, genetics

Dirty war

I am writing to express my concern regarding the urgency of addressing climate change and the importance of adopting a comprehensive approach to tackle this global issue. In recent discussions on environmental impact, two distinct matters have caught my attention: While US and UK use of depleted uranium emanation in Ukraine directing public attention on reducing cow emissions is hypocrisy.

Firstly, the use of depleted uranium emanation in Ukraine raises serious environmental and health concerns. It is crucial for authorities and international bodies to thoroughly assess the impact of such practices on local ecosystems, communities, and long-term public health. Potential risks associated with depleted uranium are irreversible.

Karahan Mete Davis

California Senate

Editor

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.

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

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

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

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

Pick up the best cookware you’ll ever create

n Editor’s note: I wrote this column in 1998, when my Dad was still around for midnight feasts. My love of food, writing, and cast iron are very much a tribute to his parenting. Incidentally, the cast iron used to cook the French fries below is now in the custody of my youngest sibling, and I had a lovely Father’s Day message one year from one of her childhood friends telling me that they’d gone camping and cooked dinner in Pat’s skillet.

Hot iron on the stove

Iwent up to visit my family in early December, which means that at 11:30 on a Friday night I was discussing cast iron skillets (well, gloating over them, really) in preparation for a midnight feast of hamburgers and french fries.

For the uninitiated, let me explain that a cast-iron skillet is the best possible form of cookware. While it does require some care (and the occasional fight with new roommates or partners over that care) for a relatively small investment in cash and time you can get a cooking utensil that will work perfectly for the rest of your life and beyond. It will also heat evenly on almost any type of heat, including a campfire, and develop a virtually non-stick surface that is entirely scratch resistant. If you're putting on your coat to run out and buy one before another day passes, hold on for just a minute more. The truth of

the matter is that you can't buy a cast-iron skillet that works the way I've just described. Such things are created with patient work, or inherited, or, just possibly, swiped during a breakup. What you're going out to buy is the raw material, which comes in two forms. At the hardware store, you can get a set of three skillets (the big one is for main dishes; the medium one is for sautéing onions; the small one is a complete mystery) for a reasonable price — just about what you'd pay for one thin, nasty, stainless-steel pan. At the thrift store, you'll eventually find those same skillets, slightly abused, for a much lower price. Having obtained them, you can set about treating them for use, a process called seasoning.

If you buy a cast-iron skillet at the thrift store, you'll probably find that it is (a) burned black on the bottom inside (b) scratched on the burned part and (c) rusty everywhere it isn't burned. All of these problems are correctable with a bit of elbow grease. Using hot water, scouring powder and either steel wool or a heavy scouring pad, strip the skillet down to the bare metal. Don't skimp on this job; the future of your fried eggs depends on

getting an absolutely smooth surface. When you think you've got every bit of rust and burned grease off, dry the skillet with a white cloth towel. Invariably you'll find a streak of rust on the towel; figure out which part of the pan it came from and scrub that bit some more.

If you buy skillets new, you can skip the scrubbing part. Do wash them well with soap and hot water to remove the protective rust coating put on at the factory. No matter where your skillet has come from, the next step is to dry it thoroughly and coat it liberally with vegetable oil. This is the only use that I have for solid vegetable shortening, but in this one case I strongly recommend it. Liquid oils, when used to coat cast iron, tend to get gummy and shortening does not. While you're at it, buy the large can. It will keep for a year or so, if your kitchen is cool enough, and you'll want it to oil the pans when you've been a bit rough on them. Put your greasy skillet in the oven and bake it at 350 degrees for about two hours.

Unless you have a great oven, rotate the pan once or twice to make sure it cooks evenly. Cool completely. Your skillet will be dark brown.

What you have now is a usable, but not great, cast-iron skillet, which will become better with each use. For the next year or two, avoid cooking liquids, especially tomato sauce, in your skillet. Do as much frying or sautéing in this pan as possible. To clean, wash while still hot with cold water and NO soap. Dry carefully. Wipe the inside of the

skillet with shortening after each washing. Once the skillet is well seasoned, you can reduce the greasing to once in a while — certainly after you've cooked liquids in the pan, and any time it looks particularly dry. Although we've all been raised to wash every dish after every use, in some cases (grilled cheese sandwiches come to mind) you may not wash the pan at all, but just wipe out crumbs with a paper towel.

Every once in a great while you'll find a thrift store skillet which is a flat, dull black with no rust. This means that the skillet has been properly seasoned, but hasn't been taken care of. Snatch it up, even if you don't need another skillet, because it's much less work to get this sort of thing in shape. You don't need to reseason a skillet like this. Just wash it and wipe it out with shortening.

Although I've talked about skillets here, you can also find cast-iron Dutch ovens and griddles, corn bread pans and even bread pans. All of them are well worth buying, and should be treated in pretty much the same way. If you bake much bread, keep an eye out for the bread pans, which produce a really superior crust.

While taking care of cast iron is more work than washing out a non-stick pan, it's well worth doing. Aside from the fact that cast iron cooks better than any of the alternatives, I like the idea of using something that will last, literally, forever.

Cast iron is particularly wellsuited for deep fat frying, and

the hot fat helps to keep the skillet in good shape. Be warned, however, that deep fat frying is one of the trickier and more hazardous cooking methods. If you're not experienced in the technique, consult a reputable cookbook, such as “The Joy of Cooking,” for safety precautions before deep fat frying.

— Email Julie at jacross@ dcn.org or visit her on Facebook at The New Home Ec.

Homemade French fries

Ingredients:

2 small organic russet potatoes per person

Enough vegetable oil to fill the skillet half-full

Putting it together:

Scrub, then boil, potatoes until tender but not mushy. Let them cool completely. Cut into wedges lengthwise, about 8 per potato, trying to keep them all close to the same size for even cooking. Heat oil in cast iron skillet to 365 degrees on a deep fat or candy thermometer. Slip the potatoes into the hot fat very carefully. Do not overcrowd the skillet. When the furious bubbling dies down, check potatoes for browning. Remove from the skillet just before they're brown enough for you, as they will cook a little more while standing. Drain on paper towels. Salt. Eat immediately.

If you're cooking a second batch, be sure to let the oil come back up to 365 degrees. Oil can be cooled completely, strained through a coffee filter and saved for reuse.

Making beer into money — that’s not why we do it

Many years ago, I attended an Institute of Brewing lecture in Edinburgh or Manchester or somewhere. The speaker was an executive recently appointed to a senior posi tion at a major brewery though his experience was in finance.

He quickly came to the point of his lecture:

“Gentlemen, (no women present in those days) let me remind you we are not in the business of making beer; we are in the business of making money.”

Now brewers always have been, are now, and always will be very proud of the fact that brewers make beer. It is the central focus of brewers’ art and science and endeavor; it gets no better for brewers than to know that they make a superior pint that is enjoyed and appreciated by their customers who return to it time and again because they enjoy it and gain pleasure from it. For brewers to submerge their commitment to beer quality and excellence under the rubric of making money, and to define making money as the objective

of their labor, is an insult. The senior executive who thought brewers make money, not beer, did not last long and doubtless soon returned to the stock exchange where he could regale his colleagues with the quaint commitment of brewers to what they proudly do: make beer.

The senior executive has a point, however.

Brewing companies and brewers are in business to make money. Brewers make large investments in technology and infrastructure and skilled labor to take relatively cheap raw materials (malts, hops and water) to make beer and put the product on draft in their taprooms or (even more expensive) put it on supermarket shelves in bottles or cans. Of course, this must be done at a profit for the brewers, the wholesalers and retailers

otherwise the whole system grinds to a halt.

Unfortunately, making a profit has become an increasingly difficult quest recently with beer sales flat or, worse, trending down, especially for the major brewers (Bud Light in particular). I don’t feel too sorry for the major brewers, and the biggest craft brewers as they still make and sell a lot of beer and offer a variety of other alcoholic beverages; they are far short of broke.

It’s harder for the minor players, beer-makers, who represent a big chunk of the craft industry, who struggle for space and attention in a crowded field. That is perhaps part of the problem: too many breweries making too many products for too little shelf space in stores and too few consumers. A brewpub has advantages here because it can create an experience that attracts and holds its customers.

Craft beers are also not quite as cute or interesting or different as they once were, and brewers have

May Fair backers announce scholarships

Enterprise staff

The Friends of the Dixon May Fair has awarded a total of $15,500 in its Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarship Program to four college students majoring in agriculture.

The scholarship program was named the Donnie and Tootie Huffman Scholarship Program earlier this year in honor of its founding president and treasurer. Including this year, the Friends have awarded a total of $248,750 in college scholarships since 2000, announced Carrie Hamel of Dixon, the scholarship chair.

This year, Sam Esperson, a 2022 graduate of Rio Vista High School and a student at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis

Name Droppers

Obispo, received the top award, the newly created $5,000 Donnie Huffman Scholarship.

Bridget de Flores, a 2023 graduate of Rio Vista High School, who plans to attend either Chico State or Cal Poly, won the $4,000 JoAn Giannoni Scholarship. Giannoni, of Dixon, is a founding member, and inaugural secretary and scholarship chair of the Friends of the Fair.

Natalie Victorine, a 2021 graduate of Dixon High School and a student at Cal Poly, won the $3,500 Ester Armstrong Scholarship. The award memorializes fair industry veteran Ester Armstrong of Rockville, a former director of the California Division of Fairs and Expositions who served as

interim CEO of the Dixon May Fair from 2006-2009. She died in May 2009 of cancer.

Molly Feins, a 2021 graduate of Vacaville High School and a student at Cal Poly, won the newly established $3000 Joe Gates Memorial Scholarship. Gates, a Rio Vista resident and longtime auctioneer of the Dixon May Fair’s Junior Livestock Auction. Gates, a victim of COVID, died in February 2021.

Hamel presented the awards at a recent ceremony in the Friends’ Plaza, fronting the Leber Stage, Dixon May Fair.

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

explored every version of beer that can be thought of to maintain the interest of their customer base.

A beer that may be that kind of cri de coeur came to my attention recently. It was sent to me by the marketing department of the Deschutes Brewery of Bend Oregon. It’s called Symphonic Chronic which might illustrate the difficulty of coming up with new names for new beers.

Deschutes describes the beer as “melodious … harmonious … symphonic … tropical fruit …resinous … juicy … and … dank.” It is a smooth and balanced beer, and I don’t doubt those descriptors are appropriate. But dank? For me that is the smell of a longclosed damp cold musty basement and not quite the aroma I would like in beer.

However, this beer is listed as “double-dank.” Turns out “dank” in modern slang means excellent and high quality and perhaps a bit weird. Apparently, this word migrated from marijuana appreciation to beer descriptor because hops are in the same Cannabaceae family

of plants. Who knew? Well — the target market knows and obviously I ain’t in it.

What struck me as interesting is that this beer is 9% alcohol by volume and, because it is sold in 20-ounce cans, the serving contains the pure alcohol equivalent of three standard shots of 80 proof spirits. I wonder under what circumstances a consumer might crack open a beer like this? Sitting down at home wearing a seatbelt seems appropriate.

Curiously, we think of the beer industry as a volume industry. This can contains enough stuff the make about three 12 ounce cans of ordinary-strength beers, which was an option not taken by Deschutes.

Another symptom of changing times, perhaps, is the decision by Anchor Steam, the iconic beer of San Francisco, to limit beer distribution to California only. The brewery these days is now owned by Sapporo of Japan, who make rational business decisions based on the principle of input vs.

benefit. Since more than 70% of sales are in California that is the most productive market, and a national presence is probably not worth the effort required to support it.

It might work well for them. I recall the days when Coors was not yet available in California and that brand acquired a legendary quality image among those who could acquire it. Another craft brewery that successfully limits distribution to their home state is the New Glarus brewery of Wisconsin, owned by Dan Carey, former UCD brewing student, and wife Deb. Anchor Steam, in another decision based on effort vs reward, will no longer make the famous Christmas Ale that the brewery produced every year in a labor of love for nearly 50 years.

The Christmas Ale I am sure will be sorely missed by aficionados who may even have liked it but the beer always had way too much going on for my taste.

Reach Michael Lewis at waleslewis792@gmail. com.

YOLOlaughs

By Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Wind energy innovation here in Davis

The wind blows at different speeds depending on ele vation. Thus far, most wind turbines produce energy at a sort of mid-level above the ground. This article is a about what’s above and below that level.

First, above. Several technolo gies are now being tested to harvest winds that blow above the level of conventional wind turbines. Turbine height has been constantly increasing to accommodate ever bigger/longer blades that sweep a greater area and produce more electricity. While most operate in the range of 300 to 400 feet off the ground there are some now approaching 900 feet where, according to a recent article from the DW Global Media Forum, winds tend to be stronger and steadier.

Building taller turbines can reach wind speeds double the speed of lower elevations and theoretically generate up to eight times more power or, as asserted by the article, “more electricity than we need.”

Though much less expensive than producing electricity from fossil fuels, it’s not a small feat to construct the huge turbines we see driving down to the Bay Area, and their size and structure is already exposing them to significant turbulence. To reach

altitudes above the current level has sparked a lot of creative thinking. Enter kites, balloons, technology, and bright minds. A

U.S. company developed an enormous balloon with a dozen or so huge “innertubes” connected to form what resembles a hollowed-out blimp, but they call it a wind turbine without a heavy base and anchor. It was tested and produced enough electricity for about 50 homes at an altitude of 600 feet.

Google got involved, bringing some excitement and prestige to upper air projects, and bought a company that produced what looks like a small aircraft, or drone, that made it up to nearly 1,000 feet and produced enough electricity for 300 households.

Everyone got excited until one of the devices crashed into the ocean and Google “dropped” the project. Neither of these, shall we say, “conquered the market.”

SkySails Power, designed and tested a kite that looks like a

parachute and can stay aloft for weeks. According to the company, an individual kite can provide electricity to 500 homes and could, if widely deployed, provide electricity to 1.4 billion people who live off the grid. Their aim is to build a high-altitude hub in East Africa and operate offshore kite wind farms.

These feel like early attempts, very early, kind of like the Wright brothers. The airline industry that grew out of the fields at Kitty Hawk, and I’d bet something will come of these efforts. The wind speeds up there are a powerful incentive and there’s money to be made.

Right here at home, a Davisbased company, Wind Harvest, co-founded by long-time Davis resident Kevin Wolf, is taking another approach. Wind Harvest is aiming at the “understory”, winds that blow below the sweep of the gigantic blades of current wind turbines, only 15 to 100 feet above the ground. The big turbines have blades attached to the drive train on top of a tall tower. They’re referred to as Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HVATs), massive pieces of equipment, very good at producing electricity. Wind Harvest is building and promoting a

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine VAWT. It’s kind of hard to describe the difference without drawing a picture but think of a vertical pole around it wind catching blades rotate.

In any case, a VAWT, although it can’t compete with the massive HAWT in terms of electricity production in a one-to-one comparison, nonetheless has several advantages over a HAWT. Really, though, it’s not an either or. In some locations a HAWT is most appropriate, in other locations, a HAWT may not be feasible or affordable, but a VAWT would work great.

And a major part of the Wind Harvest strategy is the synergy of VAWT’s sited under and around HAWT’s. For example, combining the two would dramatically increase energy output from the Montezuma Hills wind resource area near Rio Vista where highly energetic wind blows nearly around the clock from April through September.

The key advantage of Wind Harvest’s VAWT is that it can handle the turbulent wind near the ground that is problematic for HAWT’s. In addition to the flexible and synergistic siting cited above, a VAWT doesn’t have to be pointed into the wind. It can use wind from any direction, something that would be

great in places like Davis where we get strong North winds as well as equally strong southwest winds that burst through the Carquinez Straits and turn into our gentle Delta Breeze.

Not to mention all the wind coming out of our city council chambers. A VAWT doesn’t need a gigantic tower, it’s components can be placed on the ground. They’re relatively simple to install and allow wind farm owners to double the use of the land and infrastructure. They can be installed in series, a long line with blades passing three feet apart.

And this took me by surprise; the folks at Wind Harvest discovered that if two VAWT’s are paired together they can “create a synergistic effect that increases wind speeds through their own and neighbor’s rotors to enhance aerodynamic efficiency and create a 10-20 percent increase in energy output. This physical phenomenon, discovered, proved, and patented by Wind Harvest co-founder Bob Thomas, is called the “Coupled Vortex Effect.”

— John Mott-Smith is a resident of Davis. This column appears the first and third Wednesday of each month. Please send comments to johnmottsmith@comcast.net.

Get away from it all on micro vacations with nature

Davisites are so lucky. We live in a great town with cultural and nature opportunities — but when we get the travel itch, we have easy access to desert, culture, forests, water — whatever we desire within a few hours for an enchanting experience.

Most people think Napa, San Francisco, Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada. But I recently experienced two other getaways on micro vacations.

On Memorial Day weekend, Davis Bike Club members traveled to Etna, a town of 678 people. It is near the Oregon Border at the foot of the Marble Mountain Wilderness in the Siskiyou Subrange of the Klamath (Cascades) Range. Turn off I-5 and drive about 25 miles west through beautiful country to get there.

Our tour was orchestrated by Mark and Maria Tebbutt. And why? There is beautiful, scenic bike riding on good roads with little traffic. Mountains and water are almost always in sight. Surprisingly, for a little town, there is a distillery, a brewery, a bakery and good restaurant food. And the Interstate 5 road getting there is often scenic and not super trafficked. The Sierra Nevada mountains transition into the Cascades. We travel from agricultural land to forests and high desert land.

We passed Lake Shasta with many boaters and impressive Mount Shasta.

This was our third year at Etna. We take over the 10 room motel, reasonably priced at $170 for two nights. Purple lupine and yellow mustard covered many fields. Locust trees bloom with white flowers.

It is the most fragrant bike ride we ever do. We did a late afternoon ride to the town of Callahan with an alternative ride back with few cars. Saturday, we biked 50 miles with a lunch picnic along a river.

Sunday, some of us biked straight through main street and up the winding mountain road that climbs 3,000 feet in 10 miles, with snow beginning halfway up. There’s the sound of water running alongside the road and numerous little waterfalls.

Though I now ride an electric-assist bike, I stopped out of breath many times. And starting up, going uphill, was a challenge. But when I got to the top — it would all be downhill. The view at the top is worth it — right at a point where the Pacific Crest Trail passes the road. The downhill is a thrill with lots of braking. It’s a pay-attention, payattention, pay-attention downhill ride as there are random rocks in the road.

It was a triumphant end to a three day inexpensive trip. The motel, two dinners, lunch snacks from a cooler and beauty to focus on every moment.

The next weekend, we headed north up I-5 again, only this time we left the driving to a great bus driver as we rode with 50 people, part of Sacramento’s Capital Theater tour to

the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. We stopped at Redding’s beautiful Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay for a picnic lunch. It is fun to walk across the structure we drove past many times.

We stayed at the Ashland Springs Hotel, a marvelous, almost 100-year-old hotel placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It was completely restored in 1978. There is nature detail decorating throughout. The lobby has wonder cabinets with curiosities collections. Huge glassed cabinets hold shells, bird eggs, stuffed birds, all identified. Pillars have bird engravings. Elevators, bathrooms, hallways and all rooms display prints, pressed flowers, herbs and leaves. I could enjoy spending more time there.

The plays and musicals were just a block away. Before each show, there was a green show, a free outdoor music show, on a stage with a sloped grass in front of it. We saw the musical “Rent,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Twelfth Night” and “Romeo and Juliet.”

An amazing nature area is half-a-block away. The Ashland Creek, which is the town’s water supply, rushes and burbles along a parallel walking path, a pleasant escape. There are nearby lithium springs. In the 1920s, folks would come from all over America to Lithia Park for Chautauqua lectures on nature study, chorus, cooking, painting in the park adjoining Ashland Creek. They drank the lithium water which was said to induce levity and sense of increased well-being and cure many diseases. Now, a sign next to the always

turned on lithium fountains warns you not to drink daily.

The Shakespeare Theater Festival goes on until Oct. 15, so there’s still time to plan a visit to the enchanting city of Ashland with its many restaurants, creek walks, outdoor art venues. At Burrito Republic., a hole in the wall, I got the best huge burrito ever

that fed two for $15.

Back home, we find migration is ending. Birding is slow at the ponds. On June 3, Joshua Greenfield reported 38 species and noted four great horned owls and baby killdeer chicks running around. Birders also noted skunk parents and two kits. The next guided bird strolls are at 8 a.m.

Lupine and mustard were flowering all around the countryside near the town of Etna making the bicycle rides remarkably fragrant.

Saturday, July 1 at North Davis Ponds, 3500 Anderson Road; and 8 a.m. Wednesday, July 5, at West Pond, Isle Royale and Bryce Lane. Bring your binoculars.

— Jean Jackman is a Davis resident. Her columns appear monthly. Got a story, comment, correction? Contact: JeanJackman@gmail.com

Jean Jackman/courtesy photo

The path along Ashland Creek, just half a block from the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, is a welcoming place with the creek sounds and soft path.

Jean Jackman/ courtesy photo