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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021
Trial gets going in decade-old Woodland murder case By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer WOODLAND — There’s no question that one man died and others were injured in a shooting at Woodland’s La Finca de Rivera nightclub on the night of March 6, 2011. More than a decade later, a man is standing trial for the crimes. Whether he’s in fact the shooter, however, is for the jury to decide.
Jose Luis Gomez-Arreola, 36, faces multiple felony charges including murder, attempted murder assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the violent melee that killed 30-yearold Gabriel Villereal Ibarra of Williams. Police arrested him in Idaho in July 2020, more than five years after obtaining a warrant for his arrest based on witness statements and other evidence from
that violent night. He was identified as “the man in the pink shirt,” whose group of friends triggered a disturbance soon after arriving at the First and Bush streets venue, Deputy District Attorney Alex Kian told the jury during his opening statement Monday in Yolo Superior Court. Also inside La Finca were Ibarra, his brother Francisco and several of their friends.
“They were just going to have a good time,” Kian said. But trouble began inside the bar and spilled into the street outside, where two of Gomez-Arreola’s friends scuffled with Francisco and one of Ibarra’s friends. At one point Ibarra also ventured outside, and one of GomezArreola’s friends told the defendant, “Hey, go f— up those guys in the cowboy hats,” Kian said.
That’s when Gomez-Arreola allegedly retrieved a .45-caliber handgun from his truck and started shooting, striking Ibarra with fatal shots to his chest and back. Another man got hit in the hip, while one bullet grazed a woman’s leg, according to Kian. The prosecutor said GomezArreola fired more shots at Francisco and another friend as they
Holy solar power!
County to pause use of J&J vaccine
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School campuses open again By Edward Booth Enterprise staff writer
By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer Yolo County has halted use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses until it receives further direction from the California Department of Public Health. The announcement came shortly after Dr. Erica Pan, the state’s epidemiologist, said California would follow the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration to temporarily pause use of the onedose vaccine “out of an abundance of caution” following reports of six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot with symptoms occurring six to 13 days after vaccination. More than 6.8 million Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines have been administered nationally, making the six cases involved a tiny fraction of all doses. “California is following the FDA and CDC’s recommendation and has directed health care providers to pause the use of the
Owen Yancher/Enterprise photo
The Rev. Megan Traquair, bishop of the Diocese of Northern California for the Episcopal Church, was on hand Sunday to bless the solar panels at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin in Davis. With the help of a scissor lift, Tranquair ascended to sprinkle holy water on the panels, celebrating St. Martin’s commitment to reducing its carbon emissions to zero by replacing all gas appliances on its campus with electric ones. Said the Bishop, “In giving thanks to Almighty for the good stewards in this place, I bless these solar panels in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit that they may continue to capture the light of God’s beautiful creation, the sun he placed for us, and that its energy may go to help support the light that he has placed here in this community, county and in this world.” “What this project has shown in a small way,” added Nick
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Buxton, a member of St. Martin’s Care for God’s Creation Committee, “is that despite the scale of the climate crisis, when we unite with others and work collaboratively, it is possible to be both bold and ambitious and to make a difference in caring for God’s creation.” At 4 p.m. Sunday, April 18, Gerry Braun, a clean-energy expert and former chair of the Care for God’s Creation Committee, will share the story of how the church has moved toward net-zero carbon emissions. St. Martin’s has received an Interfaith National Award for its efforts to address climate change. Braun will share the results to date, lessons learned and strategies to maximize cost savings. St. Martin’s has cut its average monthly energy expenditures by two-thirds and inspired a number of parish families to follow suit. Register for the talk at https://bit.ly/coolcongregationevent.
Students began arriving at Willett Elementary School at about 8 a.m. Monday, from all directions, by foot, bike or car. It was a clear, crisp and sunny spring day. Parents and pupils periodically crossed Sycamore Lane with the help of longtime Willett crossing guard Rafael Navarro, who would raise his red stop sign and temporarily halt the procession of vehicles. More students arrived over the next half hour — at one moment they appeared to be everywhere — and eventually they funneled into the school campus to begin their day. The early-day rush carried a jolt of excitement Monday, as it was the first day in over a year that district students could return to in-person learning. “I can’t believe this is happening,” said a student accompanied by a parent as they crossed the street. Many students remain in distance learning, COVID-19 safety measures are obvious and abundant, but the arrival of students at Willett on Monday appeared close to how it would on a typical
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Community out to mourn latest racially charged police shooting Minnesota killing prompts grief, outrage By Caleb Hampton Enterprise staff writer Davis holds vigil for Daunte Wright as city leaders weigh public-safety changes Davis community members gathered Tuesday in Central Park to mourn the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by police in Brooklyn Center, Minn., Sunday. Wright, who was unarmed, was killed during a traffic stop just 10 miles
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from where the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with murdering George Floyd, is being held in Minneapolis. The killing has prompted grief and outrage in Minnesota and across the United States. Shortly before sunset on Tuesday, a crowd gathered at the Solidarity Space in Davis’ Central Park, a memorial site created by community members last year in response to the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others at the
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hands of police. “We keep coming back to this space to grieve,” said Kate Mellon-Anibaba, an artist and community organizer who helped create the memorial. The string of high-profile police killings last spring sparked massive protests in cities around the world and a reckoning with racism and policing that continues to play out. Over the past several weeks, the Davis City Council has considered recommendations made by a subcommittee in its
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Thursday: Sunny. High 76. Low 44. More, Page B5
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Community organizers Suleman Anibaba and Kate Mellon-Anibaba spoke Tuesday at a vigil for Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man killed by police in Brooklyn Center, Minn., on Sunday.
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