Bit of yapping

By Sara ThompSon Special to the Enterprise

Another summer camp season has come and gone, and we all had a blast! Campers attended our camps between June and August and learned about plants, animals and space. With the generous donation of air purifiers by First Five Yolo we were able to hold our camps safely in our classroom, with plenty of time spent outdoor activities and walks through Mace Ranch Park.

Need for Seeds had our campers learning about all thing’s plants, how they grow, what they need to survive, and about different varieties right in our backyard. Campers dissected seed sprouts, observed pinecones, counted tree rings, made oak gall ink, and planted their own seeds and sprouts to plant at home.

Out of this World! took campers beyond our skies as they learned about our solar system. Campers learned about our planet and others, what makes comets different from asteroids, stars, as well as learning about the challenges of humans living in and exploring space.

Fur, Feathers, and Scales taught our campers all about different animal groups. Participants met several of our resident animals. Campers observed invertebrates, such as insects, arachnids, and worms.

They also learned about mammals by looking at various pelts, skulls, and tracks.

Campers observed birds in the park and looked at eggs and nests in the classroom, learned about what makes fish and amphibians different, and painted their own camouflaged snakes and floating turtles.

Explorit especially wants to thank our crew of dedicated volunteers, without whom we could not have had a successful camp season. A huge thank you to Alex Chen, Angelo Lopez, Ben Rabin, Braden Alston, Carson Schmidt, Chloe Jaffe, Chloe Vu, Clara Szego, Cole Hanstad, Darby Rose, Dylan Jayalath, Ellen Ferguson, Emily Li, Heather Li, Jackson Friend, Jefferson Wright, Jordan Kim, Neha Dalal, Nicole Dalal, Pratyush Bharadwaj, Punya Uppal, Renata Ferry, Rohan Baxi, Sean Gao and Vik Prasad.

Exploit’s coming events:

n Explorit will be closed from Saturday, Aug. 20, to Friday, Sept. 2, for installation of our next exhibit. Grand Opening of our new exhibit is Saturday, Sept. 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. n We are honored and excited that we have been chosen to participate in a special charitable giving campaign, sponsored and funded by Target. And you have the chance to help direct a portion of Target’s donation to us! Now through Sept. 30, vote for us through the Target Circle program to help determine how Target’s donation will be divvied up. Find out more about

AnnA FAntAsiA/Courtesy photo

Explorit campers complete an activity outside in Mace Ranch Park. explorit sCienCe Center

Target Circle at www. target.com/circle. n A Membership to Explorit grants the recipient free visits to Explorit’s regular public hours, discounts on events, summer camps and workshops, and gives you ASTC benefits to visit other museums throughout the world. To purchase or for more information visit https:// www.explorit.org/membership or call Explorit at 530-756-0191. n Now is a great time to donate and help Explorit continue to educate and inspire the scientists of tomorrow: https://www. explorit.org/donate. — Explorit Science Center is at 3141 Fifth St. For information, call 530-7560191 or visit http://www. explorit.org, or "like" the Facebook page at www. facebook.com/explorit.fb.

Assembly approves Dodd’s climate legislation

Special to The Enterprise

SACRAMENTO — The California Assembly approved a proposal from state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would address the effects of climate change, including sea-level rise and wildfire, through creation of local resilience districts to undertake and promote conservation efforts.

“California must confront the numerous challenges posed by our rapidly changing climate to make our state safer and more resilient,” Dodd said. “My bill will help communities take direct action, focusing on problems most relevant to their region. It represents a significant step toward addressing this pressing, existential threat.”

Senate Bill 852 would allow cities, counties or special districts, either alone or in combination, establish climate resilience financing districts to undertake projects and programs to address climate change including wildfire, sea level rise, extreme heat and cold, drought, flooding, and related matters. The districts would be able to raise revenue through tax increment funding, voter-approved supplemental property taxes, property benefit assessments or fees.

SB 852 passed the Assembly Monday with overwhelming support. It heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature following Senate concurrence.

“The intensifying effects of climate change demand swift and comprehensive action,” said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who is co-sponsoring the bill.

“The clear and present danger of climate change impacts — extreme heat, drought, wildfires — only serves to underscore the urgency to provide local governments additional tools to respond to this crisis,” said Roger Dickinson, policy director of Civic Well, formerly the Local Government Commission, which is also sponsoring the bill. “SB 852 will give local governments the authority and flexibility to meet the climate challenge.”

By anne TernuS-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

Yolo County will participate in a tri-county mass notification exercise on Thursday, Aug. 25, at 10:20 a.m.

Residents and businesses are encouraged to use this opportunity to prepare for hazards that threaten the community and to take proactive steps to ensure receiving timely information during those emergencies. "Emergency exercises play an important role, allowing emergency responders throughout Yolo County to practice and be ready for future emergencies," said Yolo County Emergency Services Manager Dana Carey. "On Aug. 25, Yolo County will hold two emergency exercises – testing the emergency alert system and responding to a delta flood scenario,” Carey said.

Both wildfires and storm flooding occur rapidly, forcing evacuations and road closures in neighborhoods. Yolo Alert, the county’s mass notification system — built upon the Everbridge Platform — is a critical link for residents to learn immediately of any required actions like evacuating their homes during an imminent fire, the county said in a press release.

“Yolo County and city partners rely heavily on this communication tool to warn you of potential hazards and the actions you and your family can take to remain safe.”

On Aug. 25, residents of Sacramento, Yolo and Placer counties will receive a call to exercise the Sacramento Region Emergency Alert Notification System. The drill will replicate a largescale, multi-jurisdictional emergency requiring thousands of numbers to be called simultaneously across the tri-county region.

The distinctive feature of Yolo Alert is the ability to register more than one contact method at a specific address. Registrations of cell phones and alternate numbers dramatically increase the ability to reach a significant number of community members within minutes. This enables landlines, cell phones and email addresses to integrate into a single notification system.

The newest system feature is the Everbridge® App, which will send push notifications based on your smartphone’s location during an emergency. The alert can warn you of evacuation areas, flooded road conditions, police emergencies requiring shelter in place and more.

App downloads are available from the Apple Store for iOS devices and the Google Play store for Android.

“Residents can do their part to prepare for emergencies by registering for Yolo Alert,” the county said. “The time is now to self-register cell phone numbers and email addresses and download the App to be a part of the regional exercise.”

For information or to register alternate phone numbers or email addresses, visit www. yolo-alert.org. — Reach Anne TernusBellamy at aternus@ davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.

“Yolo County and city partners rely heavily on this communication tool to warn you of potential hazards and the actions you and your family can take to remain safe.”

Yolo County press release

HOUSING: State wanted details REGENTS: Move not canceled yet

A number of housing developments already approved by the city or in the planning process are expected to provide as many as 2,400 housing units; however, those projects do not provide enough low-income units to satisfy the city’s required allocation.

How and where to meet that shortfall was a key component of the Housing Element, which laid out sites in the city that could be rezoned to meet the requirement.

Among the issues raised by HCD in declining to certify the original Housing Element, however, was the need for more detail on the suitability and viability of those sites for redevelopment. HCD also wanted more evidence that identified locations could accommodate the need for low-income housing and information on how Measure J/R/D might impose constraints on future housing developments, among other things.

The city of Davis is not the only jurisdiction in California that learned its Housing Element had not been certified by the state and city officials have expressed confidence that the months of work between city staff and consultants and HCD would resolve outstanding issues and lead to certification.

And certification is important — a number of state revenue streams are not available to jurisdictions without a certified Housing Element.

“And because of that, we are oftentimes ineligible for funding from the state,” Metzker told planning commissioners.

Now, with an informal blessing in hand from HCD, Metzker laid out a plan for putting the revised Housing Element out for public review, similar to a draft environmental impact report public review, so those interested can see the specific changes that have been made since the council approved the original version last year.

“HCD is requiring us to adopt the new version of the Housing Element before we can resubmit it back to them for consideration of certification,” she said. “So I expect that we’ll do some kind of public review, we’ll collect some comments, then we’ll schedule a Planning Commission meeting and follow that up with City Council and submit it back to HCD and keep our fingers crossed.” — Reach Anne TernusBellamy at aternus@ davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy. From Page A1

meeting, which was held at UCLA’s Luskin Center. “Essentially, what they did was extend it such that authority was with the regents and the president.”

That reading of the policy could enable the UC regents to block UCLA’s exit from the Pac-12, which it announced in June and would take effect in 2024. “One mechanism would be for the (regent) board chair to say, ‘I’m directing you, in this instance, to stand down,’” Robinson said.

On Wednesday, the regents also proposed a new policy that would further limit chancellors’ authority to independently make decisions about their NCAA programs, specifically when the decisions would have a financial impact on other campuses within the UC system or cause systemwide reputational harm, according to a report published by the UC Office of the President.

Since it was announced in June, UCLA’s plan to join the Big Ten alongside the University of Southern California, another Pac-12 school, has stirred controversy. Among other concerns, UCLA’s exit from the Pac-12 would result in lost revenue for UC Berkeley, the other UC campus in that conference, and diminish the conference’s reputation.

It was not clear, however, whether the regents would choose to block UCLA’s move to the Big Ten. Richard Leib, the chair of the board of regents, told The Los Angeles Times this week such a decision would be “premature.”

While it was UCLA’s Big Ten move that prompted the regents to assert its control over UC athletics decisions, the policies pertain to all campuses. As of this week, there were no obvious immediate consequences for UC Davis, which has the system’s third largest athletics department.

In the future, however, the campus would likely need buy-in from the regents before making major decisions about its athletic programs. — Reach Caleb Hampton at champton@ davisenterprise.net.