The Davis Enterprise Friday, April 16, 2021

Page 1

enterprise THE DAVIS

FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2021

Parents, teachers wary about five-day schooling

Brazilian P.1. variant turns up in Davis By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

By Edward Booth

“The bar is set very low to qualify, because the purpose of the disaster

Healthy Davis Together has discovered another variant of concern through its genome sequencing: the P.1 variant, which first emerged in Brazil, was found in a Davis resident who had not yet been vaccinated. This is the third variant of concern to turn up in Davis, following the B.1.351 South African variant last week and the B.1.1.7 UK variant in February. “All three variants have higher transmission rates — meaning they spread more easily and increase in prevalence quickly,” a press release from Healthy Davis Together stated. “B.1.1.7 is now becoming the most common strain locally, similar to the pattern observed elsewhere.” According to the county, two-thirds of positive cases genetically sequenced during the first week of April were the B.1.1.7 variant. Every positive COVID-19 test conducted by Healthy Davis Together is automatically screened by the UC Davis Genome Center for all

See DROUGHT, Page A7

See VARIANT, Page A6

Special to The Enterprise Abundant excitement was present on school campuses Monday as the Davis Joint Unified School District’s five-day in-person learning model launched. The new model, even with a heavy presence of masks and other safety measures, appears much closer to normal schooling after a strenuous year of distance learning in the COVID-19 pandemic. But as more infectious COVID19 variants appear and increase in prevalence, and as local case numbers begin to rise even while vaccinations increase, some parents, teachers and community members have concerns about the five-day learning model and how the truncated process of implementing it went. The Davis school board voted 3-2 on April 1 to implement the five-day model with a start date of April 12. The model represents Phase 4 of the district’s five phase reopening plan, which is designed to

Anne Wernikoff/CalMatters photo

An irrigation system does its work near Adin, a small town in Modoc County, in July 2019. In response to increased drought risk, farmers and ranchers in all 58 California counties will become eligible for loans to assist with loss of crops, trees, land and livestock.

Feds bring drought relief By Rachel Becker and Julie Cart CalMatters Stop if you’ve heard this before: California is in the grip of a severe drought. Again. Now the federal government is stepping in to help. To assist California, which is the nation’s largest food supplier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently declared a drought disaster for 50 counties. That makes growers throughout the state who have been struggling with parched conditions eligible to seek federal loans. “This declaration emphasizes the

See SCHOOLING, Page A7

devastating and far-reaching impact of climate change on the agricultural producers that feed and power America,” Under Secretary of Agriculture Gloria Montaño Greene said in an emailed statement. Here’s what you need to know about the disaster declaration and its effect on California: There’s a big difference between a drought emergency and a USDA disaster In March, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack wrote to California Gov. Gavin Newsom designating 50 California counties

Friends rally to aid fire victims By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer Friends of a Davis family who lost their belongings in a house fire last month have rallied to their aid, raising more than $46,000 to help them get back on their feet. Fungai and Dzokerayi Mukome and their three young children were renting the South Davis home that sustained heavy damage in the March 27 blaze. The fire rendered the house uninhabitable, the smoke and water damage destroying most of the

VOL. 124 NO. 46

belongings inside. The Mukomes did not have renter’s insurance. “They’re so amazing, so resilient,” said Sarah Zimmerman, one of 12 locals who teamed up to help the family through a GoFundMe page and other fundraisers, doing so because the Mukomes have given so much to the Davis community, they say. Fungai Mukome is an assistant chemistry professor and former postdoctoral scholar at UC Davis, while Dzokerayi created the Tese Foundation, a Davis-based nonprofit organization that

INDEX

sponsors children, most of them girls, to attend school in Zimbabwe. Together, they run ZimCuisine, a pop-up restaurant specializing in authentic African soul food. They currently are operating at the Saturday Davis Farmers Market. Despite the family’s own hardships, they recently donated 50 meals to Davis educators for Teacher Appreciation Week because, in their words, “we value the gift of education, and we want to honor those

See FIRE, Page A6

Saturday: Sunny. High 87. Low 57. More, Page B6

A drought disaster sounds alarming, but officials say the reality is more mundane: It simply opens up emergency federal loans to California farmers who are struggling with back-to-back dry years. Growers in the 50 counties but also in all the counties next door (including 16 in Oregon, Arizona and Nevada) are eligible for loans.

City: No authority over Bretton Woods rules By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer The city has no authority to approve or reject a revised version of the Bretton Woods Davis-based buyers program that departs significantly from what many voters thought they were approving back in 2018, city officials said this week. What was marketed in 2018 as a requirement that 90 percent of all buyers in the proposed West Davis Active Adult Community have a pre-existing connection to the city of Davis has been revised to allow all prospective buyers to decline to state whether they have that connection or not. The revised version of what is now called the Davis-connected buyers program was brought before the Davis Planning Commission on Wednesday evening,

WEATHER

Arts ������������������B1 Forum ��������������B4 Picnic Day �������� A3 Classifieds ������B5 Obituaries �����A6-7 Sports ��������������B3 Comics ����� B2, B7 Pet Tales ���������� A5 The Wary I �������� A2

as “primary natural disaster areas” due to drought.

www.davisenterprise.com Main line: 530-756-0800 Circulation: 530-756-0826

CA DRE# 01196250

REALTOR®, CalDRE# 01273735

530-304-4208 marthabernauer.com marthabernauer@yahoo.com

Voted Best Bank of Yolo County

We’re Here For You!

530.400.5643

18 Consecutive Years

ELITE PROPERTY CA #365955

Central Park DavisFarmersMarket.org

JIN-YING SHAW

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.

Senior Real Estate Specialist

Wednesdays: 3-6 Saturdays: 8-1

WED • FRI • $1

http://facebook.com/ TheDavisEnterpriseNewspaper http://twitter.com/D_Enterprise

WE’RE OPEN!

MARTHA BERNAUER

kimeichorn.com keichorn@golyon.com

See RULES, Page A6

HOW TO REACH US

Shop safe. Shop local.

530.304.4947

but purely as an informational item, with commissioners told by city staff they have no authority to accept or reject the plan. Nor does the City Council, for that matter. “This is not an enforceable obligation in the development agreement as between the city and the developer,” City Attorney Inder Khalsa told planning commissioners. “The development agreement specified that the developer elects to do this program and he will present it to the city and that he will comply with all applicable laws. It does not give the city any approval or disapproval authority over the program.” Assistant City Manager Ash Feeney noted Thursday that the developer elected to create the program “versus

thatsmybank.com GoLyon.com

Equal Housing Lender | Member FDIC

Davis/Winters: 530.753.1784 Woodland: 530.666.1784

www.iTrustGreiner.com

MANAGEMENT Voted #1

jyshaw8@gmail.com www.jyshawhomes.com Lic.# 01471258/02071505


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.