enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020
No shift in local races
UCD Health announces quicker virus test
County has 18K ballots to tally
CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer
in the long term, any financial fruits borne out of a Prop. 15 win would not have arrived soon enough to address the immediate twin financial crises facing the state’s public schools: Tense efforts to physically reopen campuses and the state education budget’s looming cliff. California K-12 schools and community colleges, almost a decade removed from the steep Great Recession-era cuts that resulted in more than 30,000 teacher layoffs, were slated to receive a record $84 billion in state funding this year — up from $81.6 billion — before the pandemic cratered the state’s budget forecast.
UC Davis Health has rolled out a “groundbreaking” new test that can check for both COVID-19 and flu viruses at the same time, the UC Davis Health Public Affairs office announced Thursday in a press release. The test yields highly accurate “gold-standard” results within 20 minutes, according to the press release. UC Davis Health is among the first medical centers in the country to use this type of combined molecular test and was one of the institutions that helped evaluate the test’s accuracy. It is also the first University of California health system to use the test. According to clinicians at UC Davis Health, the new rapid test is a gamechanger. “This will change how COVID-19 testing is performed in emergency or urgent care settings,” said Nam Tran, professor of laboratory medicine and UC Davis Health site principal investigator for the clinical validation of the test. “It can be administered right away by doctors or nurses at a patient’s bedside.” With COVID-19 cases rising and flu season on the way, clinicians at UC Davis Health said it will be crucial to be able to test for both COVID-19 and flu viruses at once. Another advantage of the new test is that it produces quick results without compromising their accuracy, a
SEE SCHOOLS, PAGE A4
SEE TEST, PAGE A3
BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer With another 10,000plus ballots counted in the Yolo County elections office last week — and another 18,448 still to go — nothing has changed in local races. Councilman Will Arnold, Vice Mayor Lucas Frerichs and Josh Chapman have all maintained their leads in the three City Council district races while Supervisor Jim Provenza continues to lead challenger Linda Deos in the 4th District Board of Supervisors race. None of those races are particularly close. Measure D remains a clear winner, however, with more than 83 percent of Davis voters favoring their right to vote on development projects on the city’s periphery. Measure D is a renewal of what was called Measure J 20 years ago and then Measure R a decade ago. But Measure B continues to trail in the vote count, with more than half of voters — 52.23 percent — opposing the Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus. No on B had received 13,669 votes as of Friday to Yes on B’s 12,503 votes. There are 3,762 more ballots remaining that could impact that race, according to the county elections office. The other close race on the local ballot remains
SEE BALLOTS, PAGE A3
ANNE WERNIKOFF/CALMATTERS PHOTO
A special education pre-K class that has been permitted to reopen amid coronavirus concerns meets on the Lu Sutton Elementary school campus in Novato on Oct. 27.
What now for schools? Prop. 15’s defeat cuts off possible education lifeline BY RICARDO CANO CalMatters Voters narrowly defeated Proposition 15, the tax measure that aimed to eliminate decades-long protections for commercial properties — dashing hopes of billions of dollars flowing into California’s cashstrapped public schools and community colleges in the coming years. In the second-most expensive ballot fight this election, Prop. 15 supporters said the measure would help right what they viewed as a fundamental wrong in the state’s school funding
system by increasing the share of property-tax revenues going toward schools. Opponents characterized Prop. 15 as harmful to small businesses and the state’s economy at a time when the pandemic has already strained or shuttered several local businesses. “We’re the fifth-largest economy in the world,” said E. Toby Boyd, president of the California Teachers Association, the top benefactor for the Yes on 15 campaign, “and big corporations should be paying their fair share to invest in our students, our public schools, our
families and our communities.” The measure backed by labor unions, community organizations and several of the state’s progressive leaders challenged the state’s still-popular 1978 constitutional amendment, Prop. 13, and had been slightly trailing in the vote count since election night before the Associated Press called its defeat Tuesday by a 51.8% No to 48.2% Yes margin. What happens now? Legislative analysts projected Prop. 15 would have drawn between $6.5 billion and $11.5 billion in commercial property tax revenues, with 40% of the take going to K-12 schools and community colleges beginning in 2022-23. So while the measure would have been a boon
Yolo could go into purple tier this week BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer Yolo County could return to the purple tier as early as Tuesday as a surge in COVID-19 cases in California prompts state officials to reconsider their timelines for imposing restrictions on businesses and activities in order to contain the virus. Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary of health and human services, said Friday the current timeline contained in the state’s COVID-19 blueprint — under which a county will be moved to a more restrictive tier following two consecutive weeks meeting the metrics for that tier — may be changed. “We have always said in our blueprint that we could see things have to shift more quickly,” Ghaly said. “And now may be the time where counties move back a little sooner than just waiting two weeks. Maybe one week is enough, that the data is so compelling.” Ghaly didn’t specify which counties
VOL. 123, NO. 139
Frat hosted party after positive COVID test BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer
could face that abrupt shift, but it is a possibility for Yolo County, according to Jenny Tan, the county’s public information officer.
INDEX
Tan said county officials are preparing for a range of possibilities heading
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Tod Mostly Today: sunny. High 66. su Low 43. Page B7 Lo
SEE PURPLE, PAGE A4
UC Davis learned Thursday that a student who lives at the Theta Chi Fraternity house in Davis tested positive for COVID-19, UC Davis News and Media Relations said Saturday in a press release. Campus officials also received reports that Theta Chi held a gathering of 10 to 20 people at the fraternity house on Thursday evening in violation of campus guidelines and Yolo County health orders. Ten students live at the Theta Chi Fraternity house, which is across the street from campus on
Russell Boulevard and is not managed by the university. Since the start of fall quarter, Greek Life students — along with all on-campus residents — have been screened weekly for COVID-19 with test results typically returned within 48 hours. UC Davis and Yolo County have begun tracing contacts related to the alleged gathering at Theta Chi on Thursday evening. On Friday, Yolo County Public Health sent 10 Theta Chi members a quarantine order. At UC Davis’ request, nine students moved into apartments on campus
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