enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2021
Schools gear up for students’ gradual return If it’s not one thing it’s another. Farmworkers in Davis worked through heavy smoke while fires burned nearby last August. These days, they’re working through the coronavirus pandemic and neglect from employers and the government.
BY JEFF HUDSON Enterprise staff writer
NATALIA DEEB-SOSSA/ COURTESY PHOTO
Left behind, once again Farmworkers recount fear, exclusion during pandemic BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer She left Mexico for the United States three decades ago, driven by the need to pay off her father’s debts and provide for her sick mother. “Since I arrived, I have worked in the field,” said the Yolo County farmworker and mother of six. She is one of about 3 million farmworkers in the U.S. who have risked illness to continue working throughout the past year. During the pandemic, the
U.S. has largely failed to protect the low-wage workers who have maintained many of the country’s most vital functions. Black, Latino, American Indian and immigrant communities that make up much of the essential workforce are overrepresented — locally and across the country — in the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths. Meanwhile, essential workers have been excluded from resources and relief meant to address the pandemic’s impact — sidelined by their zip code, language barriers and the
digital divide, or disqualified because of their immigration status. This is especially true for California farmworkers, roughly 60% of whom are undocumented immigrants. The workers are treated as “essential but disposable,” said Natalia Deeb-Sossa, a professor in the Chicana and Chicano Studies department at UC Davis who has researched local farmworker communities for years. Since the start of the pandemic, Deeb-Sossa and a group of her students have interviewed 80 essential workers,
more than half of whom are farmworkers and most of whom work in Yolo County. The interviews paint a vivid picture of the challenges food and agriculture workers in Yolo County have encountered during the pandemic. In a presentation of her research this week, DeebSossa highlighted hazards farmworkers face, including exposure to the virus at work, lack of protective equipment or appropriate safety measures, shared transportation, overcrowded housing, denial of paid sick leave, loss of income and exclusion from benefits and resources.
SEE LEFT, PAGE A5
Suspected DUI crash orphans West Sac children BY LAUREN KEENE Enterprise staff writer As two young children continued to recover from a West Sacramento vehicle crash that killed their parents last week, their community rallied to raise more than a half-million dollars toward their future care and education. Family members say an aunt plans to adopt Jannah Afzili, 3, and 7-month-old Azaan Afzili, who were in the back seat of the family vehicle that a suspected drunk driver struck on Jefferson Boulevard late Monday night. The children’s father, Rasul Afzili, 37, died at the collision
VOL. 124, NO. 23
scene, while their mother Anila Afzili, 29, succumbed to her injuries shortly after arriving at an an area trauma center. “My family is grieving and heartbroken over the loss of my brother and sister-in-law because someone chose to be irresponsible and selfish,” Naeema Afzili, Rasul’s sister, said in a statement on the GoFundMe crowdfunding website. “My niece and nephew are now orphans because somebody chose to get behind a wheel after drinking.” As of Saturday afternoon, the GoFundMe account had raised
SEE CRASH, PAGE A6
INDEX
Business . . . . . A4 Forum . . . . . . . .B4 Op-Ed . . . . . . . .B5 Classifieds . . . .B7 Living . . . . . . . . A7 Sports . . . . . . .B1 Comics . . . . . . .B2 Obituary . . . . . . A5 The Wary I . . . . A2
More than $2 million invested in ŽƵƌ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƟĞƐ over the last decade.
COURTESY PHOTO
Jannah Afzili, 3, and Azaan Afzili, 7 months, lost their parents Rasul and Anila in a suspected DUI crash Monday in West Sacramento.
WEATHER To Today: Sunny and ni nice. High 67. Low 42 42. More, Page B6
www.davisenterprise.com Main line: 530-756-0800 Circulation: 530-756-0826
BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Yolo County’s Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution on Tuesday condemning acts of intolerance against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and pledging to combat such behavior going forward. The board’s action comes as reports of violence against Asian Americans continue to grow across the country and locally as well. Nearly a dozen people — including Lisa Yep Salinas, wife of Yolo County’s assessor/clerk-recorder/registrar of voters, Jesse Salinas — described to the Woodland City Council last week being subjected to verbal and
SEE VIOLENCE, PAGE A2
SUNDAY • $1.50
http://facebook.com/ TheDavisEnterpriseNewspaper http://twitter.com/D_Enterprise
Shop safe. Shop local.
We are accepting same-day and next-day appointments to repair or replace furnaces, air conditioners & water heaters. We have technicians standing by to help you with any problems. Call to schedule.
We’re Here For You!
MARTHA BERNAUER Senior Real Estate Specialist
530.304.4947
CA #365955
Equal Housing Lender | Member FDIC
Resolution against anti-Asian violence goes to supervisors
HOW TO REACH US
kimeichorn.com keichorn@golyon.com thatsmybank.com
SEE SCHOOLS, PAGE A6
Enterprise staff writer
WE’RE OPEN! Love Local. Bank Local.
With the number of new COVID cases ebbing around Yolo County, the Davis school board discussed several aspects of the eventual return to campus by students, during the course of a six-hour meeting last Thursday night. Among the many news nuggets that emerged: As part of an agreement between the Davis school district and Healthy Davis Together (the community partnership sponsored primarily by UC Davis and Davis city government), at-school COVID saliva testing (aka the “spit test”) is getting underway on the campuses of the Davis public schools. Currently, the testing program is being used by some 286 students with special needs who are already attending some class activities at schools. The program will gradually expand to serve all of the district’s 8,000 students as well as hundreds of teachers and staff members as they start coming to campus regularly as part of the hybrid education program — part in-person instruction in a classroom with a teacher, part online distance learning — that the Davis school district is beginning to roll out. Two representatives of Healthy Davis Together — Dr. Brad Pollock, an epidemiologist and the associate
Davis/Winters: 530.753.1784 Woodland: 530.666.1784
www.iTrustGreiner.com
CA DRE# 01196250
REALTOR®, CalDRE# 01273735
Wednesdays: 3-6 Saturdays: 8-1
530-304-4208 marthabernauer.com marthabernauer@yahoo.com
Central Park DavisFarmersMarket.org
GoLyon.com