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Month: September 2026

  • Out of the Basement, Into the Light: KDVS’s New Home is a Victory Over Systematic Administrative Disrespect

    By David Kupfer

    Walking across the UC Davis campus today, the sight of the new KDVS facility at Temporary Building 24 (TB-24) brings a profound sense of relief. For those of us who spent the 1980s down in the subterranean basement of Freeborn Hall—breathing in dust, spinning vinyl, and defending student autonomy—seeing the station above ground is a triumph. But let’s be entirely clear: this new studio is not a monument to administrative generosity. It is a hard-fought trophy won in spite of a university apparatus that treated a legendary media institution with utter disrespect, dragging its feet for over a decade in the hopes that KDVS would simply fade away.

    The timeline of this transition exposes a shocking pattern of institutional disregard. Freeborn Hall was condemned for seismic issues way back in 2014. For twelve long years, the administration engaged in a masterclass of bureaucratic foot-dragging, stalling, and closed-door planning. Rather than treating KDVS as the invaluable cultural archive and public trust that it is, university real estate planners viewed the station’s massive footprint as an inconvenience. They repeatedly prioritized administrative office space, enrollment growth, and corporate-friendly campus branding over a fiercely independent student sanctuary.

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  • “Village Farms” vernal pools have been leveled

    California Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating and an open letter is gaining signatures from concerned citizens

    By Shannon Hickey

    The city’s last remaining vernal pools—the ones on the Measure V (for Village Farms) property that supported a local population of the federally endangered vernal pool tadpole shrimp as well as two rare plant species (alkali milkvetch and San Joaquin spearscale)—were potentially filled, disced, and graded in the week of September 13, 2026.

    The attached photos were taken early Saturday morning, September 19, showing the area where the largest pool existed, now a level surface. To give a little back story, this pool was on a property that has been proposed for development since the early 2000s and actively farmed since circa the late ’60s, according to historical aerial imagery. Despite regular discing, this vernal pool continued to pond because it was protected on two sides by a railroad berm to the west and an irrigation channel berm (Channel A) to the north. The developer has known about this vernal pool and the extremely rare species in it since the last time this project went up for a vote by the citizens of Davis back in 2005. At that time, it was known as the Covell Village project and it was voted down then as well. For both the Covell Village project and the Village Farms project, the associated environmental surveys supporting the EIRs revealed that these species were present.

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  • It’s Time To Give Youth A Chance

    By Bertie Brouhard

    Maybe for our U.S. House of Representatives 4th California Congressional District Seat? Time for us on November 3rd to elect Eric Jones as our new representative?

    So … who are we? And who are the incumbent, Mike Thompson, and his opponent in the midterm, General Election, Eric Jones? Soon we need to decide. 

    “We” of the “newish” 4th District (one of California’s 52) with its 760,000 population have an ethnic breakdown of 51.3% white, 31.4% Hispanic, 7.6% Asian and 5.3% two or more “other.” We’re solidly of the Democratic Party persuasion with a median income of $98,000 and median age of 39.9 years.

    Thanks to the passage of Prop. 50 in 2020 our district’s boundaries changed again. What were new district boundaries in 2012 which shifted the population centers to the south and east were shifted again in ‘20 to the west and the Bay Area adopting the bulk of District 5. Today our district is all of Lake and Napa Counties, most of Yolo and parts of Solano and Sonoma County. It includes the cities with populations greater than 10,000 of Santa Rosa, Vacaville, Napa,Woodland, Petaluma, West Sacramento, Rohnert Park and our home; Davis.

    Democratic Party candidates win most seats in our district. In 2024 Mike defeated Republican John Munn 66% to 33%. But sadly only about half our population is registered to vote and of those registered only about 50% cast a ballot. In June’s Non-partisan Primary election Thompson received some 84,000 votes to Jones’s 46,000. 

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  • Biberstein Social Action Fund Grants Available

    24th Annual Request for Proposals

    Proposals due October 16, 2026

    (From press release) Nonprofit organizations are invited to submit applications to the Biberstein Social Action Fund for grants in support of projects addressing poverty, discrimination, abuse and neglect, and the promotion of social justice in Yolo County.

    The Biberstein Social Action Fund was established in 2002 by the Board of Directors of Congregation Bet Haverim to honor Ernie and Hannah Biberstein, who are among the founding members of CBH, and who devoted much of their lives to community service and social justice. Hannah passed away in April 2011. This is the 24rth Anniversary of the Fund.

    The goal of the annual awards made from the Biberstein Social Action Fund is to help Yolo County organizations in their efforts to meet unfulfilled needs. Special consideration is given to new and/or innovative projects.

    An annual Call for Proposals is released each Fall. Grants ranging from $500 to $2,000 are awarded in December. The Biberstein Fund members review the proposals. Current Biberstein Fund members include Congregation Bet Haverim partners Ernie Biberstein, Amy Abramson, Anne Gieseke, Sandy Jones, Joan Sublett, and Shoshana Zatz.

    Information about the Biberstein Award, including a link to the application, is available on the CBH website: https://bethaverim.org/engage/committees/biberstein-social-action-fund/

    Grant proposals must be submitted no later than October 16, 2026. Questions may be directed to the Biberstein Social Action Fund at: cbhbibersteinfund@gmail.com. Awards will be announced in December 2026.

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  • Super PAC supporting Eric Jones spends $1.1 million more on campaign ads in just three weeks

    A new Substack author joins the chorus of people revealing the dark underside of Eric Jones’s run to unseat Mike Thompson

    💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰

    By Roberta Millstein

    This is just a quick little post to let people know about a new Substack author to pay attention to. Regular readers of Davisite articles on Eric Jones already know about the awesome Judy Tipple, who has kindly let us repost some of her articles here. Judy’s articles are always in depth and on point, and she always brings the receipts! Now here comes Bruce Banner with some quick and pointed articles on Eric Jones.

    Both Substacks are free, so give them a follow!

    And I thought I had been tracking the expenditures of the Super PAC that has been supporting Eric Jones, but Bruce’s most recent Substack post caught me by surprise: $1.1 million spent on ads for the Eric Jones campaign in September alone. This from the candidate who is still deceptively claiming not to take corporate PAC money, not beholden to special interests.

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  • Remembering Dick Livingston

    By Scott Steward

    Richard (Dick) Livingston was the kind of educator and citizen who defined what it means to belong to a community. He passed away in June, and a celebration of life will be held this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Rushtallers to honor his legacy.  Mr. Livingston had a whole family side I wasn’t familiar with, and I offer my condolences to them. I knew Mr. Livingston as a Davis Senior High School teacher and social justice activist in 1978.  I would learn much later that he was a jazz musician. There is much to know and remember.  He did not like overwrought accolades, but I’ll do it anyway.

    In a town where roughly 95% of the student body was headed for four-year universities, it was easy for a student running behind the curve to feel out of place. Dick never let that happen to me. He was more than an instructor—he was a mentor who saw potential where others saw performance gaps. He had an infectious joy in meeting students exactly where they were, building confidence, and cherishing their individuality.

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  • Davis Goes Undead on Halloween: Zombie Bike Parade Festival Takes Over Community Park on Saturday, Oct. 31

    Costumed riders at Community Park, 2025 (Photo credit: Action Flipbooks)

    A free, all-ages Davis tradition on bikes, with zombie skydivers at the end, raising money for local kids who ride adaptive tricycles

    (From press release) Davis is a bike town, and on Halloween the bikes come out in costume. The Zombie Bike Parade Festival returns on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Community Park, 1405 F St. It’s free, and everyone is welcome.

    The parade (11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.). Zombies, skeletons, witches and whole costumed families ride nearly five miles from Community Park to Mace Ranch Park and back, at an easy pace. Any bicycle works, including e-bikes, cargo bikes and tandems. Helmets are required for riders under 18.

    The festival (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.). Back at Community Park there are more than 25 activity stations, train rides, music, bounce houses, crafts, costume prizes, carnival food, a BMX stunt show and the Zombie Kingdom Quest. The Davis Skateboarding Group hosts a Monster Skate Jam at the Community Park skate park from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Early risers can start the day with the Monster Run Laser Run Challenge from 8 to 10 a.m., a free, timed run with laser target shooting from Davis Fencing Academy.

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  • OCT. 17: No Kings — Vote Early

    Davis No Kings Yolo event to focus on early voter power

    Local residents encouraged to bring ballots to submit

    (From press release) Indivisible Yolo invites Davis residents to No Kings Vote Early from 2-4pm on Oct. 17 at G Street Plaza, 301 G Street in Davis. The mass participation event will build upon the energy of previous mass protests as the group works to turn protest power into early voter action. Participants are asked to bring their ballots to submit. Hosted information booths will provide voter assistance, including voter registration, details on when and where to vote, as well as information on California ballot initiatives and efforts to combat voter suppression. For details: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisibleyolo/event/1029052/.

    The Davis event is one of three No Kings Vote Early events that Indivisible Yolo will host across Davis, West Sacramento and Woodland on Oct. 17. The Woodland No Kings Vote Early event will take place from 10am-1pm at the Old Courthouse, 725 Court Street. The West Sacramento event will take place from 10am-2pm at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1500 Park Boulevard. For more information on all three events, visit https://www.indivisibleyolo.org/no-kings-vote-early.

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  • Eric Jones, a moving target, Part II: The website(s)

    By John Smolenski

             I wrote previously about my disappointing experience at the townhall Eric Jones held in Davis on August 26. I had previously looked at Eric Jones’s website, ericjones.us, before the townhall, simply to get a sense of him and his campaign. This reinforced my impression of Jones. It also caused me to look back at how Jones’s ideas have evolved over time. This made me question Jones as a candidate even more. Jones announced his candidacy for Congress on August 17, 2025. Over the last year, his views have undergone remarkable transformations. He has undergone a significant shift to the right, especially after the June primary. Some major issues he previously championed have disappeared from view. His political values seem like a moving target. I have been left wondering what Jones actually stands for, on key issues.

             This is all drawn from ericjones.us, looking at the website as it now stands and earlier versions that can be found at the Wayback Machine. I have provided links for all screen shots.

             The issues I will explore here are: immigration; taxes; housing and renting; balanced budget amendment and sunsetting programs; and abortion, childcare, and transparency. I know this article is long, so readers can scroll down to find a particular item they might be interested in.

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  • A Win for Measure W – Willowgrove May Be Our Last Chance to Preserve Our Direct Vote on Local Projects

    By Elaine Roberts Musser and Dan Carson

    Measure W -Willowgrove is the latest housing development to come up for consideration under Measure J/R/D.  This measure is the City of Davis law that requires a majority vote of the public to annex farmland or open space to our city for urban development.

    As you assess the merits of this project, it’s important to understand where we stand today. The state has imposed mandatory requirements for communities like ours to rezone the land needed for additional housing. These requisites include additional units of low income housing, as well as housing for moderate income persons who work in Davis but cannot afford to live here.  Our failure to comply with these mandates would, without question, trigger state intervention to force our compliance with state housing policy.

    That state intervention could even result in state action to override Measure J/R/D itself. The last legislative session saw strongly bipartisan approval in the Assembly of AB 2676. This bill would have curbed the use of local initiatives and referenda, that are widely being used around the state to block cities from meeting their state-mandated housing obligations.  AB 2676 did not pass the Senate, but has momentum, and will almost certainly be reconsidered in some form in next year’s legislative session.

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