Devils’ streak over
Special edition inside Are you ready for Valentine’s Day? — Page B1
— Page A10
Living
Sports
What’s the best way to say hello? — Page A6
enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020
Council to look at Airbnb
Trustees hear latest on parcel tax
‘Horrible tragedy’ ...
BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise Residents of a South Davis neighborhood have been complaining to city staff for several months now about an Airbnb operation they say has diminished the quality of life on their cul-de-sac with increased traffic and parking, people coming and going at all hours and “the commercialization of an otherwise residential neighborhood.” And while city staff say that situation appears to be an outlier, with only sporadic complaints about similar short-term rentals elsewhere in the city, they will bring options to the City Council on Tuesday for mitigating the impact of short-term vacation rentals on all Davis residents. Currently the city has an agreement with Airbnb — the largest provider of short-term rentals in the city — that brings in about $180,000 a year in transient occupancy taxes. Airbnb voluntarily entered into the agreement in 2017 and has been collecting a 12-percent tax that it has passed on to the city ever since. The council has also
SEE AIRBNB, PAGE A4
Flavored tobacco on the agenda BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer The Davis City Council will weigh in Tuesday on whether the city should ban the sale of flavored tobacco products. Doing so would bring the city in line with the county as well as the cities of Woodland and West Sacramento which have already voted to do so. The Yolo County Board of Supervisors voted back in 2016 to ban the sale of flavored tobacco under the county’s Tobacco Retail Permit Ordinance, affecting tobacco retailers in unincorporated areas of the county. Supervisors did so because of concern that flavored tobacco products are marketed primarily to youths. The cities of Woodland and West Sacramento followed suit with bans that
SEE TOBACCO, BACK PAGE
VOL. 123, NO. 18
BY JEFF HUDSON Enterprise staff writer
Davis police officers secure the scene of a shooting Thursday in East Davis. The victim, 19-yearold Jarred Vargas of Davis would die overnight.
that right and you haven’t missed anything.” No arrests have been made, and Doroshov said the matter likely will be forwarded to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office for a decision regarding further actions, if any. The brother, who also
On Thursday night, the Davis School board heard from several teachers and community members who are working on the campaign supporting Measure G — the proposed local school parcel tax that is on the March 3 ballot, which would raise about $3 million annually in order to equalize salaries for Davis teachers and staff, bringing them up to a level competitive with other nearby school districts. David Plaut, a sixthgrade teacher at César Chávez elementary (and the parent of two students attending Davis public schools), said, “I want my children to have the best teachers possible, and that’s not going to happen when we are paying lower salaries for teachers ... we have recently been unable to hire some of the new teachers that we recruited. So I’m knocking on doors and delivering Measure G yard signs. People have been overwhelmingly positive — I am reminded that Davis people really appreciate their teachers.” Roxanne Deutsch, a teacher at Birch Lane Elementary (and the parent of a 2011 local high school graduate), said, “I personally have knocked on around 150 doors in the Birch Lane community. Along the way, I met the very first Birch Lane PTA president, and many others. It’s really invigorating, and I’m enjoying it a lot. I’ve found that in Davis,
SEE TRAGEDY, PAGE A7
SEE TAX, BACK PAGE
Below, memorial candles mark the walkway to Vargas’ apartment on Saturday. LAUREN KEENE/ ENTERPRISE PHOTO
Davis High senior dies in apparent accidental shooting BY LAUREN KEENE Enterprise staff writer Dozens of candles line the walkway and form a heart outside the East Davis apartment where a Davis High School student was fatally shot Thursday in what police are calling a “horrible tragedy.” “Imma miss all those classes with you,” a grieving classmate wrote on one of the candles, lit in memory of 19-year-old Jerred Leroy Vargas. Vargas, a senior on track to graduate in June,
passed away several hours after arriving at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento with a gunshot wound to his chest, Davis Deputy Police Chief Paul Doroshov confirmed Friday. “It’s almost surreal. He was only 19,” Doroshov said. “It’s horrible for the whole family.”
the Tuscany Villas Apartments, 2526 E. Eighth St., according to the Davis Police Department’s online bulletin.
Investigators on Saturday were continuing their probe into the shooting, reported at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday as a “male shot in the chest, accidental gunshot by brother,” at
“That’s the information we got initially,” Doroshov said. “But it will be a pretty substantial investigation. Whether or not it was an accident, you want to make sure you’ve got
What happens if California takes over PG&E? BY JUDY LIN CalMatters Calling the bankruptcy of California’s largest investor-owned utility a “godsend,” Gov. Gavin Newsom has threatened a public takeover of PG&E unless it can transform into a provider of affordable, reliable, clean and — above all — safe energy. That means no more ferocious wildfires sparked by PG&E equipment. That means no more fire-season blackouts that drag on for days or weeks, disrupting the state’s $3 trillion economy. It has been a little over a year since PG&E sought Chapter 11 protection, fearful that it might be locked out of the capital market by mounting wildfire liability
INDEX
Business . . . . . A5 Forum . . . . . . . A8 Op-Ed . . . . . . . . A9 Classifieds . . . . A7 Living . . . . . . . . A6 Sports . . . . . .B10 Comics . . . . . . .B4 Obituaries . . . . A4 The Wary I . . . . A2
ANNE WERNIKOFF/ CALMATTERS PHOTO
PG&E CEO Bill Johnson testifies before the California Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee about power shutoffs and wildfires. and a fire-prone, climate-driven future. Reorganization was intended to give the company breathing room, keep utility workers employed — and keep Northern California’s lights on.
WEATHER To Today: Windy. High 64. Low 42. H More, Page B7 M
PG&E hasn’t been without lifelines. Last year, the state created a fund to help utilities deal with the rising risk of wildfires. If PG&E emerges from bankruptcy by June 30, it can qualify for that assistance — something it desperately needs to get out of a hole created by nearly $25 billion in settlements with wildfire victims and insurers. One by one, as the current reorganization has proceeded, those victims, insurers and bondholders have signed on to PG&E’s plan, in order to be repaid. But PG&E also has a long, bitter history with Californians, from the lax maintenance that led to eight deaths in a 2010 San Bruno gas explosion to the groundwater contamination that
prompted a class action lawsuit in the 1990s to the role its aging equipment has played in recent wildfires. Only Newsom, speaking for a distrustful public, now stands in the utility’s way. Newsom has resolved to block the electricity provider unless it overhauls its corporate governance, refocuses on safety and opens itself up to state control if conditions become dangerous. He can do that: PG&E’s reorganization plan requires approval from Newsom’s appointees on the California Public Utilities Commission. PG&E has pledged to bring in some new board members and a safety monitor. But the utility
HOW TO REACH US www.davisenterprise.com Main line: 530-756-0800 Circulation: 530-756-0826
http://facebook.com/ TheDavisEnterpriseNewspaper http://twitter.com/D_Enterprise
SEE PG&E, PAGE A2
SUNDAY • $1.50