The Davis Enterprise Sunday, February 5, 2023

Cloudy future?

Council OKs revised Housing Element

Document is just the beginning

By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

The Davis City Council on Tuesday adopted version 2.0 of the Housing Element, a plan that outlines for the state how the city will meet its housing needs through 2029.

It was the second goround for the council, which approved an initial version in August 2021 that was rejected by the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Home market emerges from topsy-turvy 2022

By Jeff Hudson Enterprise correspondent

Steadily rising mortgage interest rates and chronically low number of existing homes for sale in Davis at any given time during recent years combined to push local home prices higher during the first half of 2022. And then prices came down a bit during the final months of the year. When the Federal

Reserve Bank — seeking to cool rising inflation — started raising interest rates in March, some prospective buyers decided to try and buy a house (and lock down a comparatively low mortgage interest rate), before the Fed acted to raise interest rates again.

Economists say that when market demand exceeds available supply, prices start to rise. And

that's what happened during the first half of 2022 with Davis home prices. During the first half of 2022, as prospective buyers looked at the limited supply of homes for sale, quite a few prospective sellers received multiple offers on their property, sometimes leading to bidding wars between prospective buyers.

The final sales price often

ran higher than the seller's asking price, sometimes around 110 per of the original asking price. Many Davis homes for sale zipped from “new listing” to “pending sale” in just one or two weekends. This keen competition among buyers pushed the average Davis home price from $829,394 in 2021, up to an average price of $913,953 in 2022. And the average price per square foot rose from $464

See MARKET, Page A5

Music highlights school-board meeting

By Aaron Geerts Enterprise staff writer

Students from Korematsu Elementary gave Thursday’s school board meeting a musical intro before the trustees got an update on the district’s music program, as well as a budget review.

After some opening announcements, the Korematsu students serenaded the meeting with their school song, “What Can a Little Person Do?” The song provided a natural segue into the musicprogram update.

The update came from he director of secondary education and leadership, Troy Allen, who shared

data and feedback gathered from recent public forums regarding the music program including the one from Jan 12.

Data from a five-year overview shows the pandemic’s impact on the overall decline in enrollment in the music program. When delving into music enrollment by site, on the elementary level, Allen said the participation rate from fell from 52% to 38% as fourth-graders moved to an all-inclusive Education Through Music model and delayed enrollment in the band and strings programs until fifth grade.

At the junior-high level, distance learning continued to play a part in

decreasing participation. She also mentioned — with the exception of Holmes — sites saw a decrease in enrollment this year as well. On the high-school level, similar trends remained prevalent. The update continued to cover enrollment by race and ethnicity and other student groups including English learners, students with disabilities and students who are socio-economically disadvantaged.

Allen went on to discuss Proposition 28 which will likely yield the DJUSD $1 million. Of those funds, 80 percent will be used for certificated or classified

See MEETING, Page A4

That version was sent back with a letter outlining what changes were needed for certification.

Absent state certification of the Housing Element, the city could lose out on funding streams from the state.

City staff and consultants told the council Tuesday that they have been in discussion with HCD for much of the last year to ensure the revised version would meet with approval and are optimistic it will be certified.

Under state law, local jurisdictions must

provide a certain amount of housing serving all segments of their populations and the Housing Element lays out the plan for doing so.

The city of Davis, which is required to provide 2,075 additional dwelling units through 2029 under the Regional Housing Needs Allocation, must demonstrate to the state via the Housing Element that sufficient land is zoned to provide that housing and, where there is not enough land, to identify an inventory of potential sites suitable and available for re-zoning.

Among the issues raised by HCD in declining to certify the original Housing Element 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.

See HOUSING, Page A4

Hearing date set for latest Daniel Marsh appeal

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

A panel of appellatecourt justices will hear arguments later this month in a Davis doublehomicide case as Daniel Marsh continues to seek sentencing relief under a 2019 state law.

The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 24, at the Third District Court of Appeal in downtown Sacramento, with Associate Justices Louis Mauro, Elena Duarte and Jonathan Renner currently slated to preside.

Last summer, the California Supreme Court sent the case back to the

appellate court to review its September 2021 ruling — which dismissed Marsh’s appeal — in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in a similar case.

Marsh was 15 years old when he brutally stabbed local attorney Oliver “Chip” Northup, 87; and his wife Claudia Maupin, 76; in their South Davis condominium in April 2013, later telling authorities the carefully planned crime gave him an “exhilarating” feeling.

Tried as an adult, Marsh received a state prison sentence of 52 years to life, although his

See MARSH, Page A5

EntErprisE photo

Gray skies hang over the Bretton Woods construction site in West Davis, part of an uncertain housing scene in Davis.

FrEd Gladdis/EntErprisE FilE photo

Convicted killer Daniel Marsh took the stand at a 2018 hearing in Yolo Superior Court, where a judge later rejected his bid for resentencing in juvenile court.

Briefly

Police nab alleged thief

Davis police arrested a Woodland man suspected of stealing from the local Target store nearly a dozen times.

Lt. Dan Beckwith said Target loss-prevention officers summoned officers to the Second Street store at about 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, saying a man who had shoplifted there “up to ten times before” was at it again.

Officers followed the man as he left the parking lot and stopped his vehicle on Mace Boulevard, reportedly finding $600 worth of store property inside the car.

Robert James Richey II, 42, went to the Yolo County Jail on a felony charge of organized retail theft, Beckwith said.

Nominate for environment

Nominations are open for the city’s 29th annual Environmental Recognition Awards.

The deadline to submit a nomination is Wednesday, March 15.

Every year, these awards recognize a business, individual/ group and nonprofit organization that have contributed to the environmental quality of life in Davis.

For more information or to submit an award nomination, contact Kerry Loux at: kloux@cityofdavis. org.

Mind your p’s and q’s in this court

Iam not an anti-vaxxer or an election denier, but after growing up in the Sacramento Valley, I do believe the Earth is flat.

Be that as it may, I was struck by a headline in The Bee over a story by Stephen Hobbs that said “Federal judge pauses enforcement of law targeting doctors who share COVID-19 misinformation.”

Probably a Trump-appointed judge, I figured. But wait, wasn’t Trump the one who appointed a COVID Task Force under Mike Pence, held daily nationally televised COVID press conferences, introduced Dr. Fauci to the world and bragged that Operation Warp Speed would produce an effective vaccine in record time? Why is the MAGA crowd now so dead-set against getting vaccinated, wearing masks and washing their hands?

“A federal judge paused enforcement of a new California law that punishes doctors for spreading false information about COVID19 to their patients,” the story begins.

“In doing so, Senior Judge William Shubb said the measure’s definition of ‘misinformation’ was

‘unconstitutionally vague’ under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.”

And who knew the 14th Amendment even mentions COVID? Maybe we should mix little bits of the Constitution into that syrup they inject into our arms to give us added protection against any and all new variants.

“A group of doctors, along with two organizations, are suing state officials in separate actions in the United States District Court in Sacramento,” the story goes on.

“The law went into effect January 1. It says doctors who share false information about COVID19 treatment options and vaccines, whether they did so deliberately or not, could be disciplined for ‘unprofessional conduct.’ ”

Boy, 14, arrested after stolen-car chase

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

Police in Woodland arrested a 14-year-old boy suspected of leading officers on a vehicle pursuit in a stolen car.

The incident began Wednesday evening when officers spotted the Kia Sol reported stolen out of Davis and attempted a vehicle stop, but the driver failed to yield, triggering the lengthy chase, according to a Woodland Police. Department Facebook post.

Eventually, the Kia pulled into an apartment complex on West Lincoln Avenue, where the underaged driver ditched the car and led officers on a foot chase before he was taken into custody, police said.

The teen, a Woodland resident whose name was not released because he is a minor, was booked into Yolo County juvenile hall

on felony charges of possessing a stolen vehicle and reckless evasion.

Davis police issued a warning earlier this week that certain models of Kia and Hyundai vehicles are at high risk of being stolen, in part due to a social media challenge showing the cars being hot-wired using a USB thumb drive and screwdriver.

About 15 Kias and Hyundais were stolen from Davis between Jan. 15 and 31, with some of them later recovered in Woodland, police said. Davis police arrested an 18-year-old Woodland man in connection with one of the thefts early Tuesday.

“In an effort to to deter criminals from stealing your vehicle, we highly recommend installing any type of steering wheel locking mechanism,” Woodland police said in the Facebook post.

Book ’em, Danno.

In his order, “Shubb criticized the law’s definition of ‘misinformation,’ which is ‘false information contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care.’ “

And here I thought we have always been urged to get a “second opinion” about our health decisions, which strongly hints that two completely competent doctors might have disagreements about what constitutes the proper standard of care.

If we go back three years to when this nasty virus began circulating in California, there were all sorts of sincere medical opinions floating around that today we realize were a bit off the mark. Some, unintentionally, were way off the mark. Imagine if we’d had this law back then.

Shubb went so far as to label the definition of “misinformation” as “nonsense,” which it clearly was. But, here’s the best part. He also said that the definition was “grammatically incorrect,” which thrills me to no end.

As far as I’m concerned, the No.

1 requirement for any new law is that it should be grammatically correct. The California bar exam should also have a section on grammar so lawyers and judges know the difference between “lay” and “lie, “affect” and “effect,” “discreet” and “discrete,” and “imply” and “infer.”

Are you inferring that the defendant was not at the scene of the crime, counselor?

No, your honor. You are the one inferring. I’m merely implying.

Shubb also cast a wary eye at the phrase “contemporary scientific consensus,” noting “The statute provides no clarity on the term’s meaning, leaving open multiple important questions. For instance, who determines whether a consensus exists to begin with?

If a consensus does exist, among whom must the consensus exist?”

This judge does have a way with words, and more importantly, he had absolutely no trouble taking apart poorly written legislation.

Better brush up on your English before you set foot in his courtroom.

— Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.

WCC gets interim president

By Jim Smith Enterprise staff writer

An interim president has been named for Woodland Community College.

The appointment of Dr. Santanu Bandyopadhyay is pending final approval by according to the district’s interim chancellor Dr. James Houpis.

Bandyopadhyay began serving as interim president this past Tuesday, according to an email sent by Houpis to Woodland college staff. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Dr. Santanu Bandyopadhyay brings with him a wealth of needed

experience,” Houpis said. “He has been a transformational leader in three community colleges, Cypress, Columbia and Modesto Junior College. His most recent assignment was as the president of Modesto Junior College.

Prior to that, he served as president of Columbia College (a rural community college) within the same district from July 2018.”

Houpis noted that before moving to the Central Valley, Bandyopadhyay worked as executive vice president at Cypress College in Southern California from July 2013 to July 2018, where he was responsible for instructional programs and

student services. Bandyopadhyay replaces Woodland Community College President Dr. Art Pimentel, who left on Dec. 22 to assume the presidency of Folsom Lake College in the Los Rios Community College District. Pimentel had been president of the Woodland school since 2019. Before being named president of WCC, at 2300 E. Gibson Road, Pimentel served as a Woodland city councilman and as mayor. As college president, he oversaw the start of construction of the new $42 million, 36,859-square-foot Performing Arts and Culinary Services Facility.

Courtesy photo

Woodland police say a 14-year-old boy led officers on a vehicle pursuit in this Kia Sol stolen from Davis.

Get The Dirt on local culture

What’s there to do around here? The Dirt is glad you asked.

In recent years, Yolo County has needed a comprehensive source to find entertainment opportunities. Thanks to an Arts & Cultural Affairs grant from the city of Davis, a once-struggling publication is filling that niche.

Founded in March 2010 by four Davis women, The Davis Dirt began as a small monthly paper with a grid calendar of events, trying to meet a need that even The Enterprise couldn’t fill.

Then UC Davis alumna Ashley Muir Bruhn — known for her travel and lifestyle blog Hither and Thither (https://hitherandthither.net) — took it over in October 2019, and published her first online edition that November. The former book editor brought a hip new vibe to the publication.

“I started working on rebranding — The Dirt got a new logo, new print design, updated social handles, and a new website where event hosts can submit their events directly,” she said via email. She removed Davis from its name to include all of Yolo County.

Timed to coincide with its 10-year anniversary, The Dirt launched its redesigned print edition — in March 2020. The all-color, 16-page magazine format now includes stories and a comprehensive event calendar.

It was a beautiful magazine

but terrible timing for the launch.

“Unfortunately, that issue was out for just a few days when word came that we would be sheltering in place — and all events would be canceled.”

During the COVID, Bruhn kept The Dirt’s website up to date and shared events and stories online. But it wasn’t until two months ago that the print edition could return, with the support of the city grant and some loyal advertisers.

“I really struggled to keep it going during the pandemic, but I felt strongly about being a resource for the arts community and our local businesses, and The Dirt has been a way for me to lend support.”

So how can you get The Dirt?

It’s at https://thedirt.online/ and the Feb. 1 edition is at local bookstores, City Hall, the Senior Center and the Stephens Branch Library. Readers can subscribe to a free weekly email newsletter too.

Bruhn’s hope is to keep the publication free for the community, as a platform supporting

100% local music, art, food and culture, she said.

Shelley Dunning’s B’twixt & B’tween vending machine recently moved from Dixon to Davis. It’s now inside the new Woodstock’s Pizza at 238 G St.

I mentioned this fun concept in this space last year, when the machine was placed at the Ruhstaller Farm taproom in Dixon.

“This vending machine doesn’t offer Snickers or Cheetos. It sells locally made art, jewelry, crafts, game cards, toys, bakery cookies and more,” I wrote. “Prices ranged from $2 to $50 but the credit card reader allows purchases of up to $99. Each item fits nicely into the 5-inch slots.”

Dunning said she moved the machine because it was too exposed to the weather elements at Ruhstaller. She may add additional machines in other locations in the future.

The ASUCD Aggie Reuse Store reopened on Jan. 17 with a new business model: free everything, for the benefit of all.

The store is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — in a new location. It used to be in the Silo; now it’s at Memorial Union 154, next to the food pantry and information desk.

“Everything is free,” student employee Paloma Casillas told The California Aggie. “We know that with the reopening, Aggie Reuse has become a much more accessible, affordable and

UC Davis establishes Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics

By Andy Fell

Special to The Enterprise

UC Davis has launched the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics to advance basic knowledge about the mechanisms of psychedelics and translate it into safe and effective treatments for diseases such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, among others. The new institute will bring together scientists across a range of disciplines and partner with the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that key discoveries lead to new medicines for patients.

“Psychedelics have a unique ability to produce long-lasting changes in the brain that are relevant to treating numerous conditions,” said David E. Olson, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at UC Davis. “If we can harness those beneficial properties while engineering molecules that are safer and more scalable, we can help a lot of people.”

Olson will be the founding director of the new institute, with John A. Gray, associate professor in the Department of Neurology, serving as associate director. In 2018, Olson and Gray published an influential study in Cell Reports demonstrating that psychedelics promote neuroplasticity — the growth of new neurons and formation of neural connections.

“Neuronal atrophy is a key factor underlying many diseases,” said Gray, “and the ability of psychedelics to promote the growth of neurons and new connections in the brain could have broad therapeutic implications.”

Historic investment

The UC Davis institute will be funded in part by a contribution of approximately $5 million from the deans of the College of Letters and Science and the School of Medicine, the vice chancellor for Research, and the Office of the Provost. While other psychedelic science centers have been formed across the country with gifts from philanthropists, the UC Davis institute is notable for also being supported by substantial university funds.

“We wanted to put our money where our mouth is and demonstrate our commitment to this space,” said Estella Atekwana, dean of the College of Letters and Science overseeing the new institute. Additionally, philanthropic donations as well as grants and sponsored research agreements from the federal government, private foundations and industry partners will support the mission of the institute.

“UC Davis has been leading the development of new medicines based on psychedelic research, and together with philanthropists,

granting agencies and industrial partners, I’m confident that we can produce major benefits for society,” Atekwana said.

Leveraging strengths

The institute will leverage the extraordinary breadth of expertise in the neuroscience community at UC Davis, which includes nearly 300 faculty members in centers, institutes and departments across the Davis and Sacramento campuses. Researchers will be able to work on every aspect of psychedelic science, from molecules and cells through to human clinical trials.

“Combining the considerable expertise of UC Davis’ pioneering basic research teams, worldclass neuroscientists and our nationally recognized medical center is a formula for success that we trust will result in groundbreaking discoveries that will help patients regionally and worldwide,” said Susan Murin, dean of the School of Medicine who partnered with Atekwana to support the new institute.

— UC Davis News

sustainable resource for everybody and anybody. We are here for you, and it’s a completely free resource on campus, so why not take it?”

The wine bar Wines in Tandem opened Jan. 24 at 222 D St. I wrote about this a few weeks ago, before it opened. The soft opening features tastings only. They are still finishing up additional rooms in the back, which have large windows facing the courtyard. In a few months, once that phase is complete, owner Ryan Crosbie plans to add small bites that pair well with that day’s wine flights.

The wine bar offers flights of three to five wines, with themes such as California Chardonnays or Old Vine Zinfandels. The focus is on small, independent, family-owned wineries, from the U.S. and Europe.

Initial hours are noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays. After a grand opening (sometime in mid-February), Crosbie plans to keep it open from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays, and noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

Learn more at its new website, https://www.winesintandem. com/.

Ikeda’s Country Market reopened on Tuesday, four days after a customer tried to turn the farm stand into a drive-thru.

Owner Steve Ikeda told Enterprise reporter Lauren Keene he was glad no one was hurt. In the incident, a man attempting to park his red sedan ended up plowing into two produce tables and pushing them through Ikeda’s front doors. From appearances, it looks like he thought it was in reverse.

The farm stand is at 26295 Mace Blvd.

I wrote last week about the restaurant MT BBQ House, which was closed by county health inspectors on Jan. 20 for “insect/rodent infestation.”

It remains closed but now there’s a sign in the window saying it’s “Closed due to reconstruction. See U guys soon. (Est. 1 month).” The restaurant is at 229 G St.

A request: Before you message me about the status of an ongoing project, check my paywallfree Google spreadsheet, which includes more than 325 Davis businesses coming or going. It’s at https://bit.ly/DavisBusinesses. Look for the tabs for Restaurants Open, Restaurants Closed, Coming Soon and more.

— Wendy Weitzel is a Davis writer and editor. Her column runs on Sundays. Check for frequent updates on her Comings & Goings Facebook and Instagram pages. If you know of a business coming or going in the area, email news tips to wendyedit@ gmail.com

Thompson, Newhouse reconstitute Congressional Wine Caucus

Special to The Enterprise

WASHINGTON — On Feb. 3, the co-chairs of the Congressional Wine Caucus, Reps. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash. announced the reconstitution of the Wine Caucus for the 118th Congress.

“Agriculture is important to our district and to every state across our country,” Thompson said.

“Wine grapes are grown in all 50 states and generate $276 billion for our economy while creating nearly 2 million jobs. I founded the Congressional Wine Caucus to develop a line of communication between winegrape growers and vintners and Congress. During the 118th Congress, Rep. Newhouse and I — and the entire Wine Caucus — will continue this work to support our

wine community.”

The Congressional Wine Caucus was founded in 1999 by Congressmen and wine-grape growers Thompson and California Republican George Radanovich to provide a connection between winegrape growers and Congress. Today, the Caucus brings together a bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress and is chaired by Thompson and Congressman Dan Newhouse.

“As a proud grape grower, I know firsthand the strong economic contributions made by the grape and wine producers and the issues our industry faces,” Newhouse said.

“I am honored to represent the flourishing, highquality wine region of Central Washington. I look forward to continue working with Rep. Thompson to ensure that

our nation’s wine industry – from wine grape growers to winemakers and sellers – can continue to thrive and grow.”

Wine is produced in all 50 states and generates jobs and revenue in rural and urban communities. The wine community contributes an estimated $276 billion to the U.S. economy annually and creates the equivalent of almost two million fulltime jobs. The more than 10,000 predominantly family-owned wineries in the U.S. attract more than 49 million tourists each year who enjoy the wines, cultural activities, and scenic pastoral landscapes in wine country. In 2022, the California wine community created a direct economic impact of $88.38 billion with over 25 million tourism visits, 513,000 jobs, and nearly 4,800 wineries.

HOUSING: Council seeking more action from UC Davis

On Tuesday evening, the council unanimously adopted the revised version of the Housing Element containing the additional information sought by the state.

But a slew of UC Davis students who turned out for public comment expressed concerns that the Housing Element doesn’t go far enough in ensuring more housing is built, especially affordable housing.

City Council members, however, noted that the document is just the beginning.

“We need to be mindful of where this fits into the process,” said Mayor Will Arnold.

“This is the beginning of the real work of actually providing the housing … and it’s a living document so adoption tonight doesn’t… preclude us from taking on new initiatives or pursuing even amendments to this document over its life as we did in the last iteration.”

He noted that two council subcommittees are already working on two key housing issues — the city’s

inclusionary housing ordinance and guidelines for peripheral development.

“At the end of the day,” said Arnold, “the city (has) a long history of taking on the challenges of housing, the housing crisis we’re in and taking it head on.”

As for student housing, Arnold also noted that the city has approved a number of projects geared toward university students and joined his colleagues in voting for an amendment to the Housing Element that encourages UC Davis to increase housing density on campus through new buildings at least seven stories high.

The Davis Planning Commission earlier in January had recommended encouraging a minimum of five stories for on-campus housing but the council urged the university to go even higher.

Arnold noted that the city has approved seven-story buildings and more are allowed in the city’s core under the recently approved Downtown Specific Plan.

“Higher density housing … is more sustainable, it makes more efficient use of the land,” said

Arnold, “and there are successful high-density housing projects that have been undertaken at other University of California of campuses.”

His colleagues on the council concurred.

“I agree that we should have a conversation with UC Davis about their density,” said Councilwoman Gloria Partida. “Maybe it’s time to revisit our (memorandum of understanding) with them to ask that they build taller buildings. We’re willing to build taller buildings. I think they have that ability to do that.”

In that memorandum of understanding, reached between UC Davis, the city and county several years ago, the university committed to building enough on-campus residential units to house 100 percent of enrollment growth in addition to commitments to help pay for the impact of enrollment growth on city services.

But density remains an issue.

“There’s no harm done in the document by pushing UCD as much as we can,” said Councilman Bapu Vaitla. “It’s simply a

recommendation, a request. I do agree that we should optimize that story requirement, that density requirement …”

But Vaitla noted there are other “hard political discussions” ahead for the city when it comes to housing, including talking about affordable housing on the periphery.

“It’s time to talk about an affordable exemption for Measure J/R/D,” he said. “It’s time. So let’s open the community conversation, let’s hear about it. But we know we have limited viable peripheral sites. We know that we want to protect as much agricultural and open space and habitat as possible, so we need to use every one of the sites we have available judiciously. To me, that’s maximizing the amount of affordable. To me, the pathway to do that is to open the conversation about an affordable exemption to Measure J/R/D.”

Additionally Vaitla said, revenue needs to be addressed.

“We need to again engage the hard conversation about how we get adequate funds … into the Housing Trust Fund so we can actually build those units.”

MEETING: Passionate input on music program’s future

From Page A1

employees to provide arts education with the remainder allocated toward training, supplies and arts educational partnership programs.

The update went on to include the music forum that took place on Jan. 12 and the “World Café Questions” posed there.

“Participants at this community forum heard a brief overview of data and the purposes of Prop. 28 before participating in a World Café protocol with the questions that you see here (referring to the slide in her presentation which include: What are the current

Obituaries

strengths and challenges in the DJUSD Music program? What experiences do we want students to have in our music classes K-12?

What skills do we want students to build through enrollment in our music classes? What barriers do we need to anticipate or consider? How might DJUSD invest future funds?),” Allen said.

“What we heard was voluminous and varied as well as passionate. We heard that one of the greatest strengths is the legacy of a wide breadth of choices, the ability to play at elite levels in travel and that our committed and skilled staff made this possible. While

Frances Reynolds

March 14, 1936 — Jan. 17, 2023

On Tuesday Jan. 17, 2023, Frances Reynolds passed away at the age of 86, at home surrounded by family, after a short illness.

Fran was born in New Mexico in 1936. She lived in California throughout her adult life, spending many years in San Francisco and Daly City, and most recently with family in Davis after moving from Lincoln in 2017. With a career in title and escrow, Fran worked for City Title followed by Transamerica Title for more than 40 years.

Karen A. Cassel

this is not an exclusive synthesis of what was shared, when analyzed, the feedback told us the DJUSD music program could increase or improve in the areas you see here (referring to another slide which showed access and opportunities for students and families, program funding and supports, training, experience, compensation for staff as well as communication and education to students, families and community about the DJUSD music program).”

One of the main feedback topics for the music program to improve on was equitability and more access points for all student

groups to engage in the renowned music program.

The meeting then transitioned to the governor’s budget update which was given by associate superintendent of business services Amari Watkins. She detailed the 2023-24 costof-living adjustment (COLA), a mid-year reduction of one-time funds, program investments and multi-year cost pressures.

The update also included local issues like declining enrollment, implementing, sustaining and expanding program investments, plan completion, spending deadlines and unrestricted General Fund reserve projected at 3% minimum.

The city is moving forward on the Housing Trust Fund. On Tuesday evening, the council approved establishment of a donation fund through the Yolo Community Foundation and provided $10,000 in seed funding.

The fund will serve as an easy way to accept private donations for affordable housing efforts.

“Community members have approached the city, offering to make donations to an affordable housing fund, however the city has not had in place a good mechanism to accept such donations and ensure that they are spent directly on services or to benefit the low/ moderate income household,” according to the staff report prepared for Tuesday’s meeting.

“Setting up a separate fund with the Yolo Community Foundation enables the city to promote the opportunity to community members who are interested in assisting, allows individuals or organizations to make donations with ease, and ensures that the city can only draw on the funds for the purposes set forth in the funding agreement with the foundation.”

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including clothes, shoes and jewelry, with a particular fondness for pins during her work life. She also loved animals, with dogs (especially dachshunds) and cats sharing her home.

REYNOLDS

Fran had a big personality, vitality and energy, a wicked sense of humor, and an interest in and strong connection to family. She was an exceptional family historian, the one you could always ask if you wanted to know what was going on with other family members. She was very active, traveling internationally with her sister Marge, and running for fun and competitively, with her favorite race being Bay to Breakers. She had a love of fashion,

Sept. 15, 1941 — Jan. 19, 2023

Karen, bride of Ron for 60-plus years, mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother, fluttered her wings and flew toward The Lord on Jan. 19, 2023, from a hospital in Santa Clara. Karen passed peacefully knowing her family was there and together.

Karen was born in Oakland on Sept. 15, 1941, to Dr. Lauren E. Rosenberg and Marion L. Palm Rosenberg, both native to Galesburg, Ill. She married the love of her life, Ron Cassel, on Feb. 3, 1962.

She is survived by her husband Ron; children Douglas A. Cassel (Gillian) of Lincoln and Deborah L. (Shawn) Smith of Tehachapi; grandchildren Kimberly, Nicole and Kristen; one great-grandson.

Karen and parents moved from Berkeley to Davis when Karen was 5. Karen and Ron met in a first-grade classroom,

dated in high school and married during college years. Karen attended UC Davis for two years, majoring in home economics and received a degree in catering and food services from a local college. She loved to experience different foods and cultures. Karen travelled to more than 30 countries and across the United States twice via a fifth-wheel travel trailer with her husband by her side.

Karen was the first Creative Memories representative in Silicon (Santa Clara) Valley. She gave many classes in preserving family photos in an archival environment. She was an administrative assistant for 15 years at SBC (a subsidiary of IBM) that worked with the Dallas Cowboy football team, Los Gatos Christian Church (now Venture) in Missions, Los Gatos High School,

and West Valley College.

Fran is preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Gordon Reynolds, and her siblings Leonard Valerio, Margaret Brooks, Bernice Quintana, Fernando Torres and Emil Torrez. She is survived by siblings Theodore Torrez and Casilda Ruef, and many nieces and nephews. She was a loving sister, aunt and friend, and will be greatly missed. For full obituary and guestbook, see www.smith-funerals.com.

clothes

Published Jan 29, Feb 5, 2023 #2155

Bond # 0342850

(2005-06) and Trustee of Inner Wheel USA Foundation — Myoelectric Limb Project for children and teens. One of her greatest talents was bringing people together. She showed love in all she did for and with others.

CASSEL

During her teens, she was a 4-H member for nine years achieving the level of Gold Star. She produced a coat in 4-H that was awarded second overall in California in 1958. Later in life, her passion was being an active quilter up to her passing, having quilted more than 15 quilts of various complexities — several with a Hawaiian theme. She was a member of Santa Clara Valley Quilt Guild.

She was president of Los Gatos Rotary’s spousal auxiliary — Inner Wheel — for two years, was co-chair of District 517 Inner Wheel

A memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Saratoga Federated Church, 20390 Park Place (near Highway 9 and Saratoga Avenue) in Saratoga.

Contributions can be sent to Saratoga Federated Church in her memory or to the national Arthritis Foundation.

MARKET: Fed focusing on inflation

per square foot in 2021 to $504 per square foot in 2022 — a nearly 10 percent increase, according to statistics provided by Kim Eichorn of Lyon Real Estate.

But as the Federal Reserve repeatedly nudged interest rates higher and nigher — making total of seven increases to interest rates from March through December — the market began to cool.

By the end of 2022, mortgage interest rates, which had hovered in the 3 percent range from 2020 into 2021, gave way to mortgage rates a bit over 6 percent. The competition among buyers became less frantic during fall 2022, as the higher mortgage interest rates deterred some prospective buyers. In many cases, homes started selling for less than the seller’s asking price, rather than more. As the year ended, some prospective sellers reduced their asking prices, in an effort to sell their property before 2022 turned into 2023.

Sales down

When all was said and done, the number of existing homes sold in Davis actually declined in 2022 as compared to the three previous years. During 2022, some 425 homes sold in Davis ... roughly 20 percent fewer homes than had sold during 2021 (530 sales). In 2020, 471 homes sold; in 2019; 502 homes); and 2018 , 489 homes.

Many observers say that home prices softened a bit during the last six months of 2022. Currently, average Davis home prices appear to be running in the $890,000 range, which (if the trend were to continue through the year) could lead to a drop in the average home price for 2023 as compared to the $913,953 average price during 2022.

And what about those mortgage interest rates? On Feb. 1, the Federal Reserve Bank raised interest rates yet again ... the eighth consecutive increase since March 2022. But this time, the increase was just 0.25 percent, rather than the 0.50 and 0.75 percent interest rate increases that the Fed announced at intervals during 2022.

Financial forecasters are now predicting that the Fed will increase rates a few more times during 2023, probably by about 0.25 percent each time, and there may sometimes be a

month or two between those rate increases ... the Fed won’t say for sure at this point.

“Inflation has eased somewhat,” according to the Fed’s February 1 announcement, but “ongoing increases (in interest rates) will be appropriate” during the months ahead as the Fed seeks to reduce inflation to a roughly 2 percent level. Asked by reporters, Fed chairman Jody Powell confirmed “I just don’t see us cutting (interest) rates this year.”

At the same time, it is unlikely that a significant number of newly built homes in Davis will be ready to go on the market during 2023. There is pre-construction activity at Bretton Woods (a 500-home development located on West Covell Bloulevard just west of Sutter Davis Hospital ... many of those homes are earmarked for residents age 55-plus). But actual home construction hasn’t yet gotten underway at Bretton Woods. Much the same can be said of the Chiles Ranch property on East Eighth Street (a 96-home development that, like Bretton Woods, was approved several years ago, but has yet to begin construction).

The 2023 market for existing homes in Davis could also be swayed by other factors. In the San Francisco Bay Area, which has been the most expensive part of the country in terms of home prices during recent years, home prices have dipped in recent months, and this might (or might not) influence home prices in Davis to a degree. Some economists worry that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates too aggressively in 2023, and tip the nation’s economy into a deep recession, triggering a rise in the unemployment rate, which could prove a drag on home sales.

What next?

The Enterprise turned to two veteran real estate agents — who have each worked with local home buyers and home sellers for decades — and invited them to “read the tea leaves” in terms of upcoming trends in 2023.

Steve Boschken, of Coldwell Banker Select Real Estate, took a long view of recent changes in mortgage interest rates. “Some people got used to the 3-percent mortgage interest rates” that prevailed in 2020 and 2021, and hoped the low interest rates might continue a bit longer, Boschken said. “Those days are gone.

But 6 to 7 percent is still a pretty good rate by historical standards,” noting that “my first mortgage was at 13 percent.” (In the early 1980s, mortgage interest rates topped 15 percent for a time, and the Fed raised interest rates repeatedly to tame stubborn high inflation.)

Boschken observed that “there people who have a mortgage between 2 percent and 4 percent that are not quite ready to give that up,” even if they recognize that they’d kind of like to get a different-sized house due to their changing needs.

“They tend to live with their current house a little longer,” Boschken said. “There are families with kids that are outgrowing the house they currently have. But they hate to give up that 3-percent mortgage.”

Kim Eichorn of Lyon Real Estate said that while prospective buyers can be skittish at the prospect of high mortgage interest rates, many of them also realize that “rents are going up” and “want to stabilize their housing cost” by buying a house, rather than renting. She added that the current inflation rate of around 7 percent gradually dilutes the buying power of money that stays in a bank account, being saved toward an eventual down payment on a house.

“We are hearing from the lenders that a lot of prospective buyers are coming in to get pre-approved” for a mortgage, Eichorn said. She also feels there is still some “post-Covid pentup demand” among prospective buyers who held off on purchasing a home during the pandemic, and are now ready to enter the market.

Eichorn and Boschken both mentioned that some current Davis homeowners are looking into whether they are eligible to take advantage of 2020’s Proposition 19, which allows certain homeowners (who are over 55 years of age, disabled, or victims of a wildfire or natural disaster) to transfer their lower assessed property value of their current primary home to a newly purchased or newly constructed replacement principal residence in California, under certain circumstances.

Qualifying longtime homeowners may be able to move some of the tax advantages of their current property to a new primary residence in-state, which could make “buying up” or “downsizing” more financially advantageous under certain circumstances.

MARSH: Families worn out by appeals

From Page A1

juvenile status at the time makes him eligible for a parole hearing in 2037.

Then came Proposition 57, approved by voters in 2016, which stripped district attorneys of the ability to directly file juvenile cases in adult court — as was permitted at the time of Marsh’s arrest — and instead required a judge’s ruling following a fitness hearing.

In light of that measure, Marsh underwent a retroactive hearing in Yolo Superior Court to determine whether his case should have been tried in juvenile court and sentenced accordingly, making him eligible for release from prison at age 25.

Marsh, who is serving his sentence at the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, turned 25 last May.

Judge Samuel McAdam rejected Marsh’s resentencing bid in October 2018, his ruling later upheld by the Third Appellate District.

Marsh pursued a new opportunity with Senate Bill 1391, which repealed existing legislation allowing 14and 15-year-old youths to be tried as adults in California, regardless of the circumstances of their crimes. Marsh was a month shy of his 16th birthday at the time of the Davis murders.

At issue: whether the judgment in Marsh’s case was final when SB 1391 took effect on Jan. 1, 2019, more than four years after his Yolo County conviction.

The appellate court dismissed Marsh’s appeal in September 2021, ruling his judgment became finalized back in 2018, making him ineligible for resentencing in juvenile-court jurisdiction.

Marsh’s appellate attorney, Mark Greenberg, petitioned the California Supreme Court to review the matter. The court granted a

review but set the case aside pending another matter, People v. Padilla, an appeal of a 1982 murder case that also explored the issue of finality and whether recent law should apply retroactively.

The Supreme Court punted the Marsh case back to the Third District Court of Appeal to reconsider its prior ruling in light of the Padilla decision, which in June 2022 granted the now40-year-old defendant a juvenile-court fitness hearing under Prop. 57.

Greenberg welcomed the order, telling The Davis Enterprise at the time that “the Supreme Court decision on Padilla supports Mr. Marsh’s argument for retroactivity. We’ll see if the Third District agrees.”

But the development came as grim news to Yolo County prosecutors and the victims’ families, who thought Marsh’s appeals were finished.

“While our father raised us to believe that due process was very important in allowing all avenues of appeal to be exhausted, it’s very difficult to be the victim in a situation and have this constant churn of a process,” Mary Northup, Chip Northup’s daughter, said in an interview following the court’s decision.

“It’s hard enough to go through it once, but to continually remember the facts and have them publicized, it has an impact on our lives,” she said.

“When do the families ever get a break? It’s nonsense that a criminal of this nature should ever be allowed to walk the streets again,” added Sarah Rice, Maupin’s granddaughter. “We just want to move forward and heal, and these court appeals and reconsiderations don’t allow for it properly. Let him serve his time.”

Lots of programming on DCTV & KDRT

By Autumn Labbé-Renault

Special to The Enterprise

Programming is on my mind today, so I thought

I’d take a few minutes to highlight some of the current programming available on DCTV Comcast 15 in Davis (and on YouTube) and KDRT 95.7 FM in Davis, https://kdrt.org worldwide.

Community media and technology center Davis Media

Access grew out of the public access movement of the 1970s, but has transcended its original mission of do-it-yourself access to technology. Today, we’re a highly engaged community nonprofit that offers a wide range of services and content. Via staff and community volunteers, DMA provides a lens into what’s relevant in our community now; highlights community issues; lifts up marginalized voices, and documents important meetings and moments in our shared history. Here’s a look at some of what you’ll find on the airwaves and online:

n 29th Annual Dr. Martin

Davis MeDia access

Luther King Jr. Celebration

The city of Davis and the Human Relations Commission held the 29th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Jan. 16, 2023 at the Veterans Memorial Theatre. DMA live streamed the video and also recorded it. You can watch it at https://youtu.be/2Wbmkw

IZ3bw and on DCTV Comcast Channel 15 in Davis.

The theme of this year’s event was “It Takes a Community,” which acknowledged the need, importance and service of communities to create social change and justice. Speakers included Asantewaa Boykin RN, author of “Love, Lyrics & Liberation” and founder of the Mental Health First Community Response in Sacramento; Laurissa M. Wells, MPA, NAACP Environmental Justice Chair and Senior Director of VisionsOne Environmental Equity & Policy (VEEP), and Davis Social Services Commission Vice-Chair Rachael FulpCooke.

The event also featured a reading by City of Davis Poet Laureate Julia Levine, and performances from local singers and dancers, including Hip Hop Artist M’ster Lewis. Event Emcee was NJ Mvondo, chair of the Human Relations Commission. Umoja, the African Diaspora Work Group of Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency sponsored the event.

n The News Cycle covers candlelight vigil

The Davis Senior High School's Blue Devil Hub produces a weekly podcast called The News Cycle for the Davis community that dives into issues relevant to students and residents. This week they cover a candlelight vigil for the recent victims of the Monterey Park shooting. They also cover a new restaurant in Davis, as well as the recent Yo Yo Ma concert.

The News Cycle airs on 95.7 KDRT FM at 8 a.m. on Mondays and noon on Tuesdays In addition to KDRT, you can find the show at https://bluedevilhub. com. News segments by Max Davis-Housefield, Naneh Grigor,

and Alex Miyamoto. Produced by Maria Anderson and Naneh Grigor. Music by Daniel Ruiz Jimenez. https://kdrt.org/audio/ news-cycle-jan-30-2023-davismourns-victims-californiashootings.

n Maurice Tani on “Silver Nine Volt Heart”

In a lead up to the First Thursday Live! Show at the Davis Odd Fellows on Feb. 2, DJ Rodriquez interviewed Bay Area musician Maurice Tani on the Jan. 26 edition of “Silver Nine Volt Heart” on KDRT. This broadcast highlights the sounds from Tani’s new album, All In, on the Little Village Foundation record label.

After a long career playing with legendary Bay Area bands such as The Flamin' Groovies, Big Bang Beat and the Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra, Dani has embarked upon a new trail of solo creativity he calls "Americana, without limits." https:// kdrt.org/audio/silver-ninevolt-heart-speaks-mauricetani-jan-26-2023.

n Kim Stanley Robison on “Taking Point”

Volunteer Lin Weaver

produces a series of interviews for her show, “Talking Point.”

Her most recent episode features Davis author Kim Stanley Robinson discussing his latest book, “Sierra Love Story.” https://dctv.davismedia.org/ content/talking-point-highsierra-love-story.

n Organizing for the Arts

Volunteer Tim Gaffaney hosts Shelly Gilbride, chair of Arts Alliance Davis. They discuss what the organization’s history, current happenings and a support system for the arts. Gilbride also discusses her role as chair and how it aligns with her position as the executive director of International House Davis.

For information about Arts Alliance Davis, visit https:// artsalliancedavis.org, and watch the interview here https://youtu. be/-giMnkKbWj0.

— Autumn Labbé-Renault is executive director of Davis Media Access in Davis, where she uses local media as a tool for strategic community engagement and doing good. Reach her at autumn@davismedia.org.

Cleanup continues weeks after severe storms ripped through

By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer

Debris removal continues throughout Davis in the wake of severe storms in late December and early January.

Those storms brought wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour and more than 10 inches of rain to the city, causing localized flooding and hundreds of calls for service, particularly for downed trees and limbs.

City crews and contractors are actively removing debris several weeks later and city staff estimates it may take another month or two until all debris is removed and longer still to

deal with remaining tree stumps. Private property owners have also been busy clearing their own trees and debris, the city noted in a press release Friday.

“Our top priority is always community safety,” said Davis Mayor Will Arnold. “When the storms first hit, city staff immediately triaged issues and addressed public safety concerns as quickly as possible. We thank the community for its patience as crews continue to work on clearing the remaining debris and resuming normal operations.”

According to city staff, the public works department received more than 350 calls for service over 18

days between late December and mid January, with more than 200 of them related to fallen tree branches, hanging branches and split or fallen trees.

The city’s fire department was busy as well. During the height of the storms, calls to the Davis Fire Department increased by 2.5 times the usual number for that period, including 47 calls on New Year’s Eve when much of the city was plunged into darkness and 46 calls on Jan. 8.

The total number of 911 calls to the fire department between Dec. 26 and Jan. 13 was 399 — 100 more than the same time frame a

year before, the city reported.

The fallout from the storms included the closure of parks, greenbelts and certain intersections and

roadways. All have since reopened, as has Toad Hollow Dog Park.

“As a stormwater detention pond, Toad Hollow is frequently closed prior to,

during and following heavy rain events,” said Stan Gryczko, director of Public Works Utilities and Operations. The site will open once the area has dried.

His legacy will always be remembered

My random thoughts as we enjoy the first weekend of February.

n The Sac-Joaquin Section will hold its second public meeting on the 2024-28 league realignment cycle at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton Tuesday at 9 a.m.

At the first meeting, which was also at The Reserve on Jan. 17, has Davis High proposed to join the Sierra Foothill League that is Division I. Davis has been a part of the Delta League, also D-I, since 2014.

The proposed look has Davis and current Delta schools Jesuit and St. Francis joining the SFL. The trio would join Del Oro, Folsom, Granite Bay, Oak Ridge, Rocklin and Whitney of Rocklin.

The current Delta League has Davis and Elk Grove schools Cosumnes Oaks, Elk Grove, Franklin, Pleasant Grove and Sheldon.

The proposed Delta would include all of the Elk Grove schools, plus its fellow

city schools in Laguna Creek and Monterey Trail. The latter two schools are currently in the Metro Conference, which is D-II.

There are two meetings scheduled this month, which is Tuesday and Tuesday, Feb. 28.

n Pete Saco leaves behind a legacy.

The former section commissioner died on Jan. 29 from stomach cancer. He was 70.

Saco became the section’s third commissioner in 1993, and stayed at that post

until he retired in 2014. Mike Garrison has been the current commissioner since Saco’s retirement.

Saco is the reason why the California Interscholastic Federation started state football playoffs in 2006.

He also started the Dale Lackey Scholarship, the Women in Sports Leadership Conference and the Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame.

The section office in Lodi bears Saco’s name.

Before being named commissioner, Saco was the Lodi High athletic director from 1982 until 1993. He was the school’s boys and girls basketball head coaches at two different times.

Anyone associated with Davis High who met Saco knew he was a man who was compassionate toward high school student-athletes. He was a tall man with a great personality.

Saco presided over the section’s media day meetings, which are held on

LocaL roundup Soccer

Thursdays before the start of the high school football season in mid-August. Those meetings also started in the early 2010s. I started attending the meetings since the start, during my first tenure at McNaughton Media when I was a staff writer at the Mountain Democrat in Placerville for half of the 2010s.

Saco was always easy to approach and have conversations regarding high school athletics in the section and state. He was always a pleasure to have conversations.

n The San Francisco 49ers are planning to move forward without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

No question Brock Purdy is the future of the 49ers. But the question becomes is how long it is going to take him to recover from his torn UCL in his right elbow that could sideline him for six months. What if the recovery time is longer?

Based on the transcripts I received via See LEGACY, Page B6

fiLe pHoto UC Davis pitcher Kenedi Brown high-fives teammates during a 2022 home game.

UCD women’s hoops post win on the road

Enterprise staff

HONOLULU, Hawaii — The UC Davis women's basketball team got another big performance from the conference's leading scorer in guard Evanne Turner to take down Hawaii 57-47 and earn its fourth win in the last five games.

UC Davis (6-5 in the Big West Conference, 10-11) returned to the win column after another dominant defensive display that saw it hold the Rainbow Wahine to a season-low 25 percent from the field and 2-for-23 from 3-point range.

Turner dropped a game-high 23 points while grabbing a season-high seven rebounds. She took over in the final period and contributed 11 fourth-quarter points to carry her team to victory.

Aggie Tess Sussman came through with a solid showing, notching 13 points and nine boards, just one shy of a double-double. She knocked down three of her six 3-point attempts while making plays on the defensive end with her two steals and one block.

Tova Sabel returned to the Aggies' starting lineup after missing some time due to injury and buried two shots from long range in her seven-point display.

The Aggies return to Big West action at the University Credit Union Center on Thursday, Feb. 9 against UC Riverside. Game time is 5 p.m.

Aggie softball

IRVINE — UC Davis junior pitcher Kenedi Brown was named to the Big West Softball Preseason Coaches' Team, the conference office announced Friday.

Brown, a two-time All-Big West first-team selection, is coming off a 2022 season in which she posted a 13-18 record and sported a 1.73 ERA. The righthander held opposing batters to a .194 clip and struck out 224 in 190 innings pitched. The Elk Grove native added 19 complete games and three shutouts, including a no-hitter.

In conference play, Brown was 7-10 with a 1.78 ERA. She held the conference to a .189 batting average and struck out 129 in 114 1/3 innings.

Brown's 1.73 ERA, three saves, and 190 innings pitched paced the conference, while her 224 strikeouts were second.

The Aggies start their 2023 season at Causeway rival Sacramento State on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Youth football skills camp

The Davis High football program will host its annual Youth Super Bowl Sunday football skills clinic.

The clinic will be on Sunday, Feb. 12 at Ron and Mary Brown Stadium from 10 a.m. until noon.

The camp is open for youth in third to eighth grades. For more information, contact Paul Hasson at phasson@djusd.

DHS boys are all in the family

By Bruce Gallaudet Enterprise correspondent

While there is no such thing as an “easy out” in Delta League boys soccer, as the final week of the regular season has dawned, it could be that Davis High goes into the playoffs riding an 11-game win streak.

Blue Devil coach Alex Park doesn’t want to put the cart before horse, but when asked if he thought his veteran team — featuring 15 seniors — can go all the way, he said this:

“I think so. For one thing, being at this point in the season and having a healthy squad is pretty special.

“We have a team that’s had a lot of bonding. The boys hang out together and have had a lot of (club play) in common. We’ve really come together as a team.”

Standing at 12-0-2 and running away with the Delta crown (no other school has more than four wins), Davis has already handled each of its next three conference stepping stones, beating both Franklin and Pleasant Grove, 5-1, and Jesuit, 2-0. DHS travels to PGHS on Monday and entertains Jesuit on Wednesday at Brown Stadium.

State and nationally

How good are these guys?

MaxPreps puts the Devils at No. 3 in California and No. 9 nationally.

Other ranking services put Davis as high as No. 5 in the U.S.

Park says the veteran aspect of his team has provided “a sense of pride that has made my job pretty easy. The three team captains have done a good job blending the new

players together, making everyone feel part of the team.”

Those captains — Caleb Yoon, Holt Klineberg and Nicolas Montano — weighed in.

“Going into the season we had lofty goals; after losing last year in the semi-finals of sections, we knew that we could do better,” Klineberg, a defender, told The Enterprise. “We lost in disappointing fashion, feeling that we didn’t reach our potential or showcase how good a team we were. This year’s goal is to win sections and truly display our talented team.”

In 2022, Modesto knocked out Davis, 1-0, before losing to titleist Whitney, 5-0.

Part of the chemistry Park mentioned is dissected by Montano when he says: “The amount of s upport and encouragement each player gives one another — no matter what role they play on the team — is special.

Trust

“We trust each other and distribute weight evenly among the team,” Park said. “Instead of getting down on one another when something goes wrong, we pick each other up and move on together. We are all a family off the field as much as we are when we are playing.”

And midfielder Yoon sees his brethren upping their games each day, saying, “We have started to push the level in practice and our training has gotten really competitive.”

Yoon understands the importance of the final regular-season games, adding, “And we also know that playoffs are right around the corner, so we have just continued to

push ourselves to get even better. Win league, win sections, win states — and go undefeated.

“We know those are some very big goals, but we know that we have such a good team with so much potential.”

Solid numbers

Davis has outscored its opponents, 40-11, going into last Friday’s contest.

A 3-3 season-opening tie at defending section champ Whitney (now 10-1-5) means the Blue-andWhite juggernaut has allowed only eight net-benders in the last 13 games.

“You watch us play and you know our offense is very good,” imparts Park, whose team is led in scoring by Simon Vaca-Lorenzi (his 28 points with 11 goals are tops in Delta play).

Rigo Guerra also keeps the pressure on with 18 points thanks to nine assists.

But Park and Company understands if opponents can’t score, they can’t win.

Beginning with a pair of stout goalkeepers — starter Declan Fee and Joey Clark — Davis’ foes rarely get to test the ultimate defenders.

Center backs Andrew Yang and Zayn Dmieri are fronted by midfielders Klineberg, Emanual Tames-Kaimowitz, Yoon and Montano, just in case the busy forwards relinquish control.

As serious as prep soccer is, it’s Montano who directs the attention back to how much fun he and his colleagues have:

Even though many of the 15 seniors have played with or against See FAMILY, Page B6

Mark Honbo/courte Sy

the story.

PAGA labor law needs reform

By Jennifer Barrera Special to The Enterprise

Eight billion dollars. That’s the amount of money trial attorneys have leveraged from California employers over the last six years in Private Attorneys General Act settlements.

Employees rarely see that money, though.

They generally take home a minimum amount while attorneys keep hundreds of thousands of dollars for themselves.

The Labor Commissioner’s office agrees.

In a 2019-20 budget disclosure, the agency noted that “the substantial majority of proposed private court settlements in PAGA cases reviewed by the (PAGA) Unit fell short of protecting the interests of the state and workers.”

So why does the California Legislature continue to defend this law?

In simple terms, PAGA is an 18-year-old law that allows aggrieved workers to file any labor code violation claims on behalf of a group of employees — even if no one has been harmed. Since it is not classified as a class action, they avoid class certification rules.

However well-intentioned, PAGA has evolved into an easy way for trial lawyers to shake down businesses at the expense of workers and their employers.

State data shows that it’s taking much longer for workers’ claims to be resolved by trial lawyers than when it’s handled by the independent Labor Commissioner’s office. Wage claim cases should be timely since many employees are working paycheck-topaycheck and can’t afford to wait two or more years for a wage claim.

More than a third of all settlements go directly to the attorneys, who sometimes walk away with millions, while workers end up making substantially less.

PAGA-related court cases drag out for years and are extremely costly, especially for small mom-and-pop businesses and nonprofits. Even good-faith employers who haven’t harmed their employees or improperly paid them are losing millions of dollars because it is easier and oftentimes less expensive for businesses to settle.

The easy incentive for trial lawyers to slap a PAGA claim on their labor-related cases has turned PAGA into a cash cow rather than a tool to hold employers accountable for violating workers’ rights.

Several unions have even sought carveouts because they recognize that PAGA puts “enormous pressure on employers to settle claims regardless of the validity of those claims,” as one bill author puts it.

California voters will have the option to reform this law with the California Fair Pay and Accountability Act initiative on the 2024 ballot. The measure would place wage and hour claims back into the hands of California’s independent regulator, giving workers 100% of penalty payments and protecting their access to the courts if employees were unsatisfied with the regulator’s decision.

In the meantime, the Legislature could do more to improve the enforcement of the labor code and investigations of wage and hour violations. The number of vacancies in the Labor Commissioner’s office makes it clear that they need better tools to hire more staff among other ways to help speed up the ruling process. That means properly funding and outfitting the department.

That is a solution everyone can support, and those positions are funded by employers, not taxpayers.

The numbers don’t lie. PAGA is making trial lawyers exorbitant amounts of money while leaving very little for workers and doing nothing to ensure businesses are complying with the labor code. California can bolster enforcement, stop shakedowns and improve the recovery process for harmed workers.

— Jennifer Barrera is the president and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce. She wrote this for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's Capitol works and why it matters.

Polarized politics more common

Politically speaking, 1998 was a watershed year for California.

The 20th century was drawing to a close – a century in which Republicans had largely dominated the state’s politics, including three iconic governors: Hiram Johnson, Earl Warren and Ronald Reagan.

When Gray Davis won the governorship in 1998, he was the first Democrat to do so in 20 years and only the fourth in the entire century. However, his election marked the beginning of a new political era in which Democrats would become utterly dominant, acquiring all statewide offices and supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature and the state’s congressional delegation.

Although local offices in California are officially nonpartisan, Democrats also became dominant in county boards of supervisors, city councils and school boards.

Meanwhile, the ranks of Republican voters and officeholders shriveled into irrelevancy.

Not only has the Democratic Party achieved hegemony at all levels, but it has moved decidedly to the left — so much so that in 2016 it refused to endorse a long-

Downtown pedestrians

serving Democratic U.S. senator, Dianne Feinstein, for re-election and opted for her challenger, Kevin de Leon.

Self-proclaimed progressives dominate the Legislature and happily partner with history’s most outwardly leftleaning governor, Gavin Newsom, to enact policies and programs he describes as unique and potentially global in reach.

In his spare time, Newsom engages in verbal sparring matches with governors of other states, such as Florida and Texas, which were sliding to the right as California was drifting to the left during the first decades of the 21st century.

While academics and pundits debate the reasons why California politics have changed so dramatically over the last-quarter century, new research indicates that it is not an isolated phenomenon. Political polarization at the

federal level is self-evident — such as the virtual 50-50 split in both houses of Congress between very liberal Democrats and very conservative Republicans — but a new study delves into how it’s also happening in state legislatures.

Boris Shor of the University of Houston and Nolan McCarty of Princeton University assembled a massive bank of legislative voting records and other data to chart the growth of state-level polarization. They discovered that the once-significant ideological “overlap” between legislators of the two parties — the point at which there could be bipartisan cooperation — had vanished in the last quartercentury. Democrats moved to the left, Republicans moved to the right and dominance by one party, such as what happened in California, increased.

“States in the West are both the most polarized and are polarizing the fastest,” the researchers write. “The South began as the least polarized region, but has been polarizing fairly quickly and overtook the Northeast in 2007, which is the region with the lowest growth.”

spaces are indicated online.

“As with the U.S. Congress, all 99 state legislative chambers are polarized, that is, with party medians significantly different from each other,” they continue. “In 88 of those 99 chambers, the parties are getting even more significantly distant from each other over time.” California, not surprisingly, is a leader in what is not a positive trend.

“The five most polarized states in the country in 2020 are, in order, Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas and Washington State,” the study found. “While California was for a long time the most polarized state, it was overtaken by Colorado in 2017.”

Overall, Shor and McCarty concluded, shifts to the left by Democrats, more than shifts to the right by Republicans, account for the increase in legislative polarization — a contrast with the GOP’s dramatic rightward march in Congress.

“The ‘smoking gun,’ however, remains elusive,” they say. “No one ‘cause’ has been identified as dominant, nor is there likely to be one.” — CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters.

The current discussions over the closed portion of G Street offers Davisites a great opportunity to demonstrate the collective intelligence of a university town and introduce some visionary thought. For my money (aka taxes), it would be shortsighted to settle on a solution that allows factions to go away grumbling until the next debate which will surely comes.

I am nearly certain that Davisites have encountered compelling examples in their worldly travels to suggest and support a long term vision of pedestrian access to downtowns. My own personal experience is with Bremen Germany where some pedestrian ways and areas are hundred of years old and are fused with the modern. It is also a bicycle “town” of a half a million souls where bicycle ways take precedence over auto ways. Amsterdam is an extreme example, as well.

Technology has a role in the solution. Current street-level parking, both privately and publicly owned, can provide an opportunity for high tech parking structures bordering or integrated with pedestrian areas and still maintain an attractive setting ( google “parking towers.” Available

Driverless vehicles already prowl campuses in Silicon Valley on programmed routes. Alleyways can become routes for circulators ferrying clients between parking and stores. That includes both cycles and autos.

Economic redevelopments in our commercial community can be stimulated by a long-term plan for pedestrian access commitment

I firmly believe that satisfactory solutions lie in the imagination of our community and I hope this message will trigger others to engage. I plan to continue to research this subject area and be happy to share it in a charette type of setting, possibly online.

Bill Tournay Davis

A psalm for Israel

Doug Walter spoke of specific policies that should be meddled with and tied to our prodigious aid to Israel. Aid which seems ironic to pay to such a well-educated and modernized society.

So early this past Friday morning, before the headline about U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan, visiting the far-right coalition Israeli government, I had hoped to free part of my soul by writing a psalm

about the grief that is Israel’s lethal theocracy and our nation’s complicity with it.

It seemed the Biden Administration, like every administration before (except Carter’s), knew of my intent and sent Sullivan to Netanyahu to say, “I bring greetings from President Biden, and as you know his commitment to the state of Israel is bone-deep and America’s commitment to Israel is ironclad.” Words that strike a blow to democracies everywhere, including our own.

I do not have the clout of Kenneth Roth, former chief of Human Rights Watch, who recently had his Harvard fellowship reinstated after being briefly purged for his former institution’s evenhanded observation that Israel is an apartheid state. I may not be treated with as much dignity as Kenneth Roth, but by speaking out my heart will no longer suffer as much.

Oh Israel, beacon of the east.

Authoritarians across the world rest their gaze upon you.

Your walls, surveillance and weapons are renowned.

Your voter, movement, and marriage suppression are mighty.

Your devotion to contempt strengthens divisiveness in every nation state.

May you turn away from this path and so may we all. So we pray.

Scott Steward Davis

CEO

Outrages drive changes in society’s views

By Llewellyn King

Special to The Enterprise

Police excess gained huge attention after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 and again after the alleged beating death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis last month.

But police excess isn’t new.

A friend, who had been drinking and could be quite truculent when drunk, was severely beaten in the police cells in Leesburg, Va., a couple of decades ago. I have never seen a man so badly hurt in a beating — and I have done my share of police reporting.

That he provoked the police, I have no doubt. But no one should be beaten by the police anywhere, ever, for any amount of provocation. I might mention that my friend — and the officers who might have killed him — are white.

I used to cover the Thames Police Court in the East End of London. That was before immigration had changed the makeup of the East End. It was then, as it

commenTary

had been for a long time, solidly white working class.

Every so often, a defendant would appear in the dock showing signs that he had been in a fight. One man had an arm in a sling, another had a black eye, and a third had bruises on his face. One thing was common: If they looked beaten up, they would be charged with “resisting arrest,” along with other charges like drunkenness and petty larceny. In the press benches, we shrugged and would say something like, “They worked that bloke over.” We never thought to raise the issue of police brutality.

It was just the way things were.

At least nowadays, when social norms don’t allow police to hit suspects, there is a slight chance of redress. Although I would wager that nearly all police violence goes unreported, the “blue wall” closes tightly around it.

People in uniform, men and women, hold dominion over a

prisoner. If there is ethnic bias or verbal provocation, bad things can and do happen.

Yet, I hold a brief for the police. Policing is dangerous and heartbreaking work, especially in the United States, where guns are everywhere. Also, it is shift work, itself a stressing factor.

Wearing the blue isn’t easy, and abuse and danger go with the job. Sean Bell, a former British policeman, now a professor at the Open University, described the police workload in the United Kingdom this way:

“Those in the policing environment can become a human vacuum for the grief, sorrow, distress and misfortune for the victims of crime, road crashes and the plethora of other incidents dealt with time after time.”

Many of the incidents of American police being shot and police exceeding their authority have as their genesis a traffic stop, as with Nichols. These are a cause of fear for both the police and criminals. It is where the

rubber meets the road of law enforcement.

Motorists form our opinions of the police largely through traffic stops, which we rail against.

But to the police, they are a lifethreatening hazard as they approach a car that may have a crazed or dangerous criminal driver with a gun. They face danger and tragedy in plain sight.

The only thing police officers are warier of than traffic stops are domestic violence calls. They are the worst, officers in Washington have told me.

Yet, the traffic stop is an essential police tool, partly for controlling traffic but, importantly, for arresting criminals, fugitives and drug transporters. It is how the police work within the constitutional prohibition on illegal search and seizure.

People who have control of other people — drill sergeants, wardens and the police — are in a position to abuse, and some do. A uniform and authority can bring out the inner beast. Remember what went on in Abu

Ghraib prison in Iraq?

After the two terrible incidents of police excess, Floyd and Nichols, all the solutions seem inadequate. But when out on the streets or in our homes, most of us are vitally aware that we feel secure because a call to 911 will bring the law — the men and women in blue who guarantee our safety and wellbeing.

What to do about police violence? Vigilance is the first line of defense, but appreciating the police and holding them to account helps. Not many police officers feel appreciated, and that isn’t good for them or for society.

“The policeman’s lot is not a happy one!” So wrote British dramatist W.S. Gilbert in “The Pirates of Penzance,” an 1879 comic opera, one of his collaborations with composer Arthur Sullivan.

And Gilbert and Sullivan had never dreamt of a traffic stop. Llewellyn King is the executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.

Poem of the month Say no to expanding the death penalty

She Told Me the Earth Loves Us

She said it softly, without a need for conviction or romance.

After everything? I asked, ashamed.

That’s not the kind of love she meant. She walked through a field of gray beetle-pored pine, snags branching like polished bone. I forget sometimes how trees look at me with the generosity of water. I forget all the other breath I’m breathing in.

Today I learned that trees can’t sleep with our lights on. That they knit a forest in their language, their feelings.

This is not a metaphor.

Like seeing a face across a crowd, we are learning all the old things, newly shined and numbered. I’m always looking for a place to lie down and cry. Green, mossed, shaded. Or rock-quiet, empty. Somewhere to hush and start over.

I put on my antlers in the sun. I walk through the dark gates of the trees.

Grief waters my footsteps, leaving a trail that glistens.

— By Anne Haven McDonnell.

From “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis” (One World, 2020) edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson. Used with the permission of the editors.

Anne Haven McDonnell is the author of “Breath on a Coal” (Middle Creek Press, 2022) and “Living with Wolves” (Split Rock Press, 2020). She teaches creative writing and climate justice at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

Any excuse for a love poem and I’m all in! Since Valentine’s day is only a couple weeks away, and since my poet laureateship is focusing on climate change, McDonnell’s poem, “She Told Me the Earth Loves Us,” is a perfect fit.

The title of this poem also functions as the first line as the poem continues on from there. This poem is written in tercets, meaning three lines to a stanza. This is a lovely form for creating order as well as tension, as we can predict where we will take

a breath, and yet, the longer pause between stanzas comes after an odd number of lines. You can see this immediately in the first stanza when the “You” speaks matter of factly about the earth loving us, and the speaker answers with her guilt and shame.

I love the fourth line, That’s not the kind of love she meant. Now we are entering the heart of the poem, where McDonnell begins describing all the amazing and unique aspects of earth and how, perhaps we are loved by it. For example, when she writes a field of gray/beetle-pored pine, snags branching/like polished bone, McDonell is describing trees that are both hurt and beautiful. Already she is leading us towards the idea that the way the earth loves us is not binary, not either/or, but primal, animal, vegetable, chemical. This is a kind of love that we, as creatures of language and thought, do not know as well.

Beginning with the fourth stanza, a poignant description of the interconnectedness with the earth and our species begins. Branches are compared to bone, trees to water and finally we are told that we are breathing in the breath of everything alive around us. McConnell goes even further. Today I learned that trees can’t sleep. with our lights on. That they knit//a forest in their language, their feelings./ she writes and then states this is not metaphor. This is a truth.

The final few stanzas of the poem are filled with sadness. I’m always looking// for a place to lie down/and cry. This grief helps us feel what McConnell states is our need to start over. To return to a different relationship, an older one, with the earth. That is, there is no way to change our relationship to this planet without grieving what has been lost. But our grief is a way towards a beginning, it leaves a trail that glistens.

The idea of what we must unlearn, where we must start over, often comes to us naturally in the many ages and stages of love. We are creatures that can change. We are a species that understands why we must unlearn, and then relearn, all the old things,/newly shined and numbered.//

This month, when you feel a burst of gratitude for the early spring buds and blossoms and blue skies, please remember that we must try to learn how to be good to our one and only planet. It may be that the earth actually loves you for it!

— Julia Levine Davis Poet Laureate

n Ikeda’s Market damaged in vehicle crash: http://wp.me/p3aczg-4gM1

n Student death reported at UCD: http://wp.me/p3aczg-4gCZ

n Davis police arrest alleged serial shoplifter: http://wp.me/p3aczg-4gPH

n Basketball: Former Aggie tearing it up in Europe: http://wp.me/p3aczg-4gJ0

By Laura Finley Speical to The Enterprise

Republican leaders have a death penalty problem. During a time when researchers called 2022 the “year of the botched execution” and when several states have had to place a moratorium on executions amidst failed protocols, several Republic leaders are seeking to expand capital punishment.

It is no surprise that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is pro-death penalty. DeSantis has put himself on the national map by echoing if not extending many of Donald Trump’s most repressive measures.

Just days ago, DeSantis signed his fourth death warrant as Governor and first since the pandemic. It set an execution date for James Dailey, a veteran of four tours in Vietnam and Korea, who has persistently declared his innocence. There is some compelling evidence that he just might be.

His co-defendant, Jack Pearcy, had admitted at least four times that he and he alone committed the murder of Shelly Bogio in 1985. Pearcy received a life sentence and his testimony was the most significant evidence against Dailey. There is also new evidence that confirms that Dailey was not even present at the time of the murder. There is no physical or forensic evidence indicating Dailey’s involvement.

Why would the Governor issue a death warrant in a case with so many potential concerns?

DeSantis has also said he supports the death penalty in cases of child rape. The Supreme Court declared such sentences to be unconstitutional in 2008. Again, this is a regression and is particularly difficult to swallow when public support for the death penalty is among its lowest ever.

DeSantis has repeatedly criticized the jury who failed to send Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz to death. Because Florida currently requires a unanimous jury decision in capital sentencing hearings, Cruz’s life was spared by three jurors who believed his mental issues and lifelong trauma meant he should not be executed.

DeSantis has spoken about

commenTary

moving Florida back to having a non-unanimous jury making capital sentencing decisions, something the state did until 2017 when the Florida Supreme Court required the change. To go back to that implies a stinging rebuke of the Court’s authority.

Further, in the state that has the largest number of people exonerated from death row, any move that makes sentencing someone to die at the hands of the state is risking that more will be exonerated. Or, worse, wrongly executed.

Other remarks DeSantis has made indicate that, if he wins the 2024 presidency, he would carry on Trump’s binge of federal executions. President Biden has pledged to end the federal death penalty, although that has not happened to date.

DeSantis is not alone. At the same time that Tennessee officials admitted that its executioners lied about testing lethal injection chemicals for bacterial contamination, Republicans are sponsoring legislation to expand the state’s death penalty statute to include fentanyl dealers whose product resulted in someone’s death.

Investigations about execution protocols are also underway in Alabama and Ohio.

Arizona’s former Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a staunch death penalty supporter, and Governor Ducey tried to speed up executions and ordered lethal injection drugs that were not appropriate, despite the fact that the state’s last three executions were all fraught with problems.

Florida’s death penalty is a mess, as are all other systems of execution in the US. Yet it is obvious that DeSantis and most of his Republic cronies do not care. As more and more data show that the death penalty in the US is deeply broken and irreparable, it is absurd that Republicans like DeSantis are seeking to expand its use, rather than eliminate it entirely.

— Laura Finley, Ph.D., syndicated by PeaceVoice, teaches in the Barry University Department of Sociology & Criminology and is the author of several academic texts in her discipline.

“It’s

Remarks

n Poetic Pandas float down Hope River: http://wp.me/p3aczg-4gJS

DeSantis has made indicate that if he wins the 2024 presidency, he would carry on Trump’s binge of federal executions

Old friend throws an unusual party

Afew months ago I attended a unique event.

George Hinkle, former resident of Davis, hosted his local friends and his relatives from Oregon for a luncheon and music. He has thrown a party like this five times.

Since his death.

I’m using his real name because I think George would be happy to share what he has done. Before his death in 2016 at age 95, he was an active member of this community and even penned regular letters to The Davis Enterprise.

I met him when he moved here in 2005. I was a driver for Road to Recovery, a program of the American Cancer Society that uses volunteers to take patients to their medical appointments. Then in his mid80s, George had recovered from his second or third bout of cancer, but needed rides for checkups. We hit it off and next thing I knew I was taking him for a different kind of ride with me in my inflatable kayak down the Class 2 section of the South Fork of the American River. I wouldn’t do this with just any person over

80, but George was an athlete. He paddled harder than many of my younger guests.

I’m not sure why he chose Davis for his final years, but it was a match made in heaven. In 2009 he wrote, “If my life got any better, I'd be embarrassed.” He volunteered for several nonprofits, including the Cancer Society where he participated in the annual Relay for Life by walking with other cancer survivors and doing a dance performance.

His dancing was a surprise to me, but he explained that he learned tap at 62, around the same time he got hired by cruise ships as a dance partner to women of his generation who were traveling alone. Before that, he had been a barber, a high school teacher and a real-

tor. At some point he did well financially and became a regular donor to good causes.

In death, he was even more generous, leaving large bequests to local nonprofits. His gift to his friends is his annual party. The organizer has a list of about 20 people plus partners and children. Usually we’re invited for lunch, but one year the group went on a boat ride in Sacramento. At this year’s event, the organizer hinted that we’ll have an exceptionally big, possibly final, event, next year. It depends how long the money lasts.

What is it like to attend a party given by a person who is dead? One thing I’ve noticed is that there is no tradition of what to do. This is the only party of its type I’ve ever been to.

For another, most of the guests don’t know each other; they knew George. I like meeting his friends but it’s hard to remember folks from year to year based on only one brief contact. George is the one who would enjoy this crowd the most. These factors make it a little

harder to socialize, but at certain moments the guests, even those who are strangers to each other, share both grief and laughter, probably more of the latter than at most funerals.

This year, the organizer couldn’t attend due to COVID, but George’s brother Jack welcomed us and spoke about George. He wasn’t the only one moved to tears when he told us about George losing five buddies all at once in a battlefield incident during World War II. He also recalled for us some of George’s hobbies which included fiddle playing, dancing, writing, running and attending reunions of high school classes he had taught. One of the classes that remained actively in his appointment book was the Class of ’65, whom he always called “his kids.”

That’s the year I graduated from high school, so in a way I was one of his kids, too.

But then again, our relationship was more complicated than that. We were friends but not intimates. For several years we saw each other regularly, but I noticed an ebb and flow of relations with his children that puz-

zled me. At the time he died, I hadn’t seen him in a while. Then he surprised me with this gift of gatherings, which are sort of in his honor, although I’m not sure that’s what he meant them to be.

I think what he really wanted was to honor his friends. Each of us must have done something for George, something he thought was mighty special.

After his brother Jack completed his touching remarks at the recent luncheon, the guests were invited to speak as well, but few took the opportunity. I’m usually quiet at memorial services, so my silence was not surprising, and this crowd overall seemed on the shy side.

But I wondered if my silence, and their silence, also had something to do with not knowing each other well, with the seven years that have passed since George’s death, and most important, with the fact that George couldn’t attend his party. He would have been the life of it.

— Marion Franck has lived in Davis for more than 40 years. Reach her at marionf2@gmail. com.

Teens promote healthy relationships

Natalia Baltazar

Special to The Enterprise

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM), a national effort to help raise awareness about teen dating violence, provide prevention education, and promote healthy relationships.

Teen dating violence is an adverse childhood experience that affects millions of young people in the United States — about 1 in 12 U.S. high school students reported experiencing physical dating violence according to the CDC. Dating violence can take place in person, online, or through technology, CDC Fast Facts: Preventing Domestic Violence, https://www.cdc. gov/violenceprevention/ intimatepartnerviolence/ teendatingviolence/ fastfact.html, Feb. 28, 2022.

In an effort to raise awareness about teen dating violence and promote healthy relationships, Empower Yolo’s After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) program at Woodland High School, and Empower Youth Service Club at Davis High School are hosting various workshops, activities, and events for students throughout the month.

ASSETs program leaders that work with teens yearround see issues and behaviors regarding teen dating violence, and how social media is affecting relationships. “With the access our youth has to technology and social media now, the way they view relationships has become a bit distorted,” says Brisa Perez, Empower Yolo ASSETs Youth Programs Director, Woodland High School. “There are so many false narratives being showcased on these

platforms that they become normalized and sometimes they even glamorize certain unhealthy behaviors in relationships. This becomes an issue when teens consume this information and are led to believe that this is the way relationships work,” says Perez.

ASSETs will host its annual month-long TDVAM campaign at Woodland High School to help educate local teens on the issues, provide a safe space, and equip them with healthy relationship skills.

The campaign will include weekly workshops throughout the month of February. Various interactive activities are being incorporated into the workshops in order to make them both educational and engaging for the students. This year, Empower Yolo’s Youth Advocate will also be cofacilitating these workshops with the ASSETs team in Knights Landing in order to expand awareness in rural areas where workshops like this might not be normally available.

Program leaders’ goals are to raise more awareness about teen dating violence for this campaign.

“Our goals for this campaign are to educate youths on the importance of this topic,” Perez said. “We believe that even reaching five students can cause a ripple effect and lead to an overall increased awareness in our community.”

The ASSETs program has proven success. In 2022 the ASSETs program served 4,141 students.

During the year ASSETs provides prevention education through its curriculum and fosters healthy

relationships among the students. “Throughout last semester we held a couple of mental health workshops in which we talked about the way our relationships impact our overall well-being. We plan on having these types of conversations with students and inform them about the effects that our relationships have in our lives both short and long term,” says Perez.

Empower Youth at Davis High School

Empower Youth is a community service club led by students that support Empower Yolo and the children at Empower Yolo’s shelter. The club started with 12 local teens in 2020 and since then has expanded to over 100

members at DHS and also a club at Emerson Junior High School with 24 members. Empower Youth at Emerson will be providing the children at the shelter valentine treat bags and cards promoting healthy relationships. Empower Youth at DHS is planning to raise awareness and promote healthy relationships through club activities.

During the month the club plans to have an Empower Yolo youth advocate speak to students about teen dating violence and healthy relationships. Students led by Holt Klineberg, Empower Youth senior leader are creating an informational video, which will be featured on the breakdown for the HUB, the DHS online news source at bluedevilhub.com. Club

leaders also plan to hand out information on services and resources. “Our awareness meetings and events are important for DHS and the community because they help people realize that our town is not immune to teen dating violence. Often, people think of Davis as a little bubble where no harm happens, but in reality, many teens are subject to dating violence, but they don’t realize it because they don’t know what it is. Our meetings are meant to educate people and help them and others realize if they or someone they know are in an unhealthy relationship,” says Tory Agnew, Empower Youth president at DHS.

Empower Youth’s goals are to promote healthy relationships for their campaign. “As members of

Empower Youth, we strongly believe that it’s important to promote healthy relationships with our friends, peers and classmates,” said Sabrina Hazel, Empower Youth vice president.

“Our community plays a major role in educating and guiding our youth. Leading by example is one of the best ways to do this,” Perez said. “When we demonstrate our commitment to youths and are able to foster healthy relationships with them and those around us, we are able to show them what these relationships can and should look like.”

— Natalia Baltazar is the Director of Development and Community Relations of Empower Yolo.

Pickleball over flag football any day

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Former UC Davis point guard

Ezra Manjon broke more than a few Aggie hearts when he left for the bright lights of the SEC this season after getting an offer from Vanderbilt.

Aggie head coach Jim Les admitted he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed, but in any regard, he wished Ezra well after his spectacular run for the Blue and Gold.

Two seasons ago, Manjon led the Aggies with 15.6 points a game and shot a sizzling 86.9 percent from the foul line while starting all 18 games in an abbreviated campaign.

Last season Manjon averaged 15.0 points while starting all 24 games and repeated as the team leader in assists.

At Vanderbilt in the top-heavy SEC that features No. 2 Tennessee and No. 4 Alabama, Manjjon has started 10 0f 22 games for the Commodores, but is frequently the first player off the bench, averaging nearly 27 minutes a game on the floor.

Ezra leads the Commodores in assists and steals while averaging 8.6 points a game.

He’s had 10 double-digit scoring

FAMILY:

From Page B1

performances, with a season-high of 24 points to lead an 84-79 overtime win over South Carolina. He had 19 points in an 85-82 win at Georgia.

The Commodores, 3-6 in the SEC and 10-12 overall, have drawn over 10,000 fans three times in their home Memorial Gymnasium this season, but their biggest crowd was 16,255 on the road at Tennessee.

PICKLEBALL GOES PRO ... In their non-stop efforts to convert all tennis courts to pickleball, promoters of this fastest-growing "sport" in the world have come up with something truly ridiculous.

"Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick and Michael Chang to compete for $1 million pickleball prize," said the

jarring headline on CNN.

The grand event will take place April 2 in Hollywood, Florida, and I’ll bet at least 15 or 20 people will show up to watch it.

All four participants won grand slams - in tennis, not pickleball - with Chang using an under-handed serve at times to win the French Open at the age of 17, the youngest man ever to win a tennis major.

Notes CNN, "Like other racket sports, pickleball involves getting the ball over the net and preventing your opponent from hitting it back."

Sounds simple enough. No first downs, no touchdowns, no controversial pass interference calls. Just hit the ball over the net and pray that it doesn’t come back. Just like volleyball, badminton, ping pong, tennis and tossing freshly pulled weeds over the neighbor’s back fence.

In what can only be described as a head-scratching moment, the promoter of this nonsense calls the pickleball slam "a convergence of culture and sport."

I think I’ll be converging elsewhere that day.

First one to turn an ankle loses.

Go out to dinner and practice barefoot

each other at Davis Legacy FC, Montano knows it’s the camaraderie at the high school that’s made the difference.

“Our chemistry stems from sharing our school experience together,” says one of Davis’ many all-league candidates.

“Fifteen seniors who have been together all four years whether on freshman, JV or varsity (teams). Everyone is very inviting, which makes for a comfortable environment.

“We are all very excited

(for these final games). As a team, we have agreed to create a more intense environment during practice in preparation for tough games.

“But we also believe in having fun and creating a team bond outside of the field. We go out to dinner together after practice, and sometimes even practice barefoot.”

And about those lofty state rankings?

“It’s definitely cool to have, but at the end of the day, a ranking is just a number,” Montano concludes. “Any team can beat any team on any

given day and, as a team, we all understand that.”

“We just focus on the next game and what we can do to win.”

So far, so good.

Notes: There was a time that seeing the Blue Devils make the Sac-Joaquin Section title game was almost a given.

From 1998 to 2010, DHS won six championships and was runner-up twice.

The last time Davis made the finals was 2014, losing to Oak Ridge, 2-1.

Park, who took the program’s reins from Ashley Yudin in 2012,

has been coaching soccer for more than 25 years. He says this squad obviously is one of his best.

A few more wins, and maybe it will sit atop the coach’s pantheon of great Blue Devil ensembles.

— Contact Bruce Gallaudet at bgallaudet 41@gmail.com or call (530) 320-4456.

Gallaudet came to The Enterprise in 1979 as managing editor. In later years he served as sports editor before retiring (for the second time) in 2021.

NONSENSE

SPEAKING OF

... We’ve all known that the Pro Bowl has been a farce for years, but flag football on national television? And we’re expected to get excited about this?

I’d rather watch pickleball.

OH SAY CAN YOU SEE? ... The River Cats, Yolo County’s only professional baseball team, are looking for folks to sing the National Anthem this spring and summer.

The competition is open to all soloists, groups and instrumentalists. Pickleball experience is not required.

One of the guidelines is that the full performance must be completed in under 90 seconds, which is really quick, since the over/under for the Super Bowl Star Spangled Banner is generally right around two minutes and frequently goes over.

Contact marketing@rivercats. com with your best effort.

And remember, it’s "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," not the other way around.

— Contact Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.

LEGACY: Purdy future

From Page B1

the 49ers, who send out emails to members of the media requesting them, head coach Kyle Shanahan clearly sees Prudy and Trey Lance as the future.

Having a veteran quarterback like Garoppolo on the roster was a plus this season when Lance, who is the former No. 3 overall draft pick from 2021, went down with an ankle injury last September.

Should San Francisco consider keeping Garoppolo?

Yes.

But there should be other veteran quarterbacks who the Niners could ink by summer. n I’ve been saying for years that the all-star break gives Sacramento Kings fans an idea of where the team is at in the Pacific Division and Western Conference standings for the playoffs.

Sacramento is 29-21 as of Friday afternoon. The Kings occupy the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference.

— Contact Mike Bush at mike@davisenterprise.net. Follow on Twitter: @MBDavisSports.