The Davis Enterprise Friday, October 2, 2020

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enterprise THE DAVIS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020

Fall quarter kicks off at UC Davis BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer

How it used to be: Haley Reinl (Minnie Mouse) and Anna Szymoniak (Pluto), at left, give treats to Andy Laguero and Tommy Pickles outside State Farm Insurance in downtown Davis in 2017. WAYNE TILCOCK/ ENTERPRISE FILE PHOTO

Minimize the tricks this year County has tips for safe Halloween BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY

has cast a shadow over this year’s festivities, with fears the virus will spread when groups gather and treats are handed out. The more people interact with those outside their household, and the longer that interaction lasts, the higher the risk of getting and spreading the novel coronavirus. But there are still ways to enjoy the festivities, and Yolo

Enterprise staff writer From picking out pumpkins (and cradling ducklings and kittens) at Impossible Acres to trick-or-treating in neighborhoods throughout the city, the festivities surrounding the Halloween season are much-loved traditions for many Davis residents. But the COVID-19 pandemic

County health officials issued some guidance earlier this week on how to do so. First up: that annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Family-friendly activities this time of year usually include everything from petting zoos to corn mazes; hayrides to pumpkin picking. Not all of those activities will be available this year, but some will be, with local pumpkin patches opening this week. So how to be safe? Step one, as usual, is making

sure to use face coverings. According to the county’s guidance, all customers entering a farm or other agribusiness must wear a face covering unless they are 2 years old or younger or have other exemptions. All staff at such businesses must wear face coverings as well. Businesses themselves should provide protective equipment to staff and equip customer entrances and exits as well as check-out stations

Fall quarter classes at UC Davis began Wednesday, with nearly all of them taking place remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic. It will be the second consecutive quarter of remote learning at UC Davis, after spring quarter was moved online, and possibly a model that will remain in place for upcoming quarters. Last month, the UC system’s top health official said public health modifications, including remote learning, at UC campuses will likely need to continue at least through September of 2021. In the meantime, campus leaders are working with students and staff as well as officials from the City of Davis and Yolo County to minimize COVID-19 transmission. While some students are doing their UC Davis courses from other cities, states or countries this quarter, campus officials said they expected a large subset of the student body to be in Davis by this week. According to a survey conducted in early September, half of all UC Davis undergraduates and 70 percent of graduate students were expected to

SEE QUARTER, PAGE A5

Cullen running to complete school-board term

City extends eviction moratorium through October

BY JEFF HUDSON

BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY

students) return to classrooms by stages.”

Enterprise staff writer

“I am also concerned about the technology gap” he feels is evident in classrooms. “(Our students) are going to be doing remote learning — partially or completely — for a long time. Currently the school district has done a lot with hardware like hotspots and Chromebooks.” But Cullen feels those technological resources aren’t equally accessible to all students, “especially students of lower income (households).”

Davis school board candidate Andrew Cullen is running for the seat with a two-year term, serving on a district-wide atlarge basis, on the Nov. 3 ballot. And Cullen feels that there is one issue in the race that particularly stands out in his mind. “I think the (coronavirus) pandemic is a central issue right now, and many of the underlying issues (that the school board will face in the next few years) are exacerbated by it.” “I’m really concerned to make sure that teachers and students can return to their classrooms safely,” said Cullen. “I want to address the school district’s health and safety plans as (our

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Cullen would also like to see the school district “developing a robust health and safety plan, not just for infectious diseases, but also looking at air quality,” which he feels will likely become

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an increasingly prominent public health concern over the next few years. “We need to keep staff and stuCULLEN dents safe in Eye on learn- the classroom. from-home And there’s a needs lot more to air quality than changing filters” on an HVAC system, he said. Cullen is particularly award of chemical hazards, which is the focus of much of his professional career. “A lot of the district’s buildings were built in the 1950s, but weren’t regulated (for particular chemicals) until

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the 1970s and 1980s.” Cullen said that as a school board trustee, he’d look into “the risk of exposure to harmful chemicals” at school, “and the central role in the safety of students and staff as (our aging buildings) are upgraded” to meet present-day safety standards.

Enterprise staff writer

And Cullen feels there is still something of a technology gap that is often related to household income. “I’ve heard from lots of students from lower income households” that are using their smartphones to do schoolwork, and smartphones weren’t really designed to do this.

COVID-related economic relief measures enacted by the City Council in March will be extended again through the month of October. Both a moratorium on residential and commercial evictions and a latefee waiver on city utility bills will remain in effect for a sixth month. Under the eviction moratorium, residential and commercial landlords cannot evict renters impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during this period of local emergency. The moratorium has affected rent payments since April 1 and will apply to Oct. 1 payments as well. Meanwhile, late fees for city utility payments will be waived for the

SEE CULLEN, PAGE A5

SEE MORATORIUM, PAGE A5

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