(From press release) The City of Davis Police Accountability Commission invites the community to “Working Together to Protect Our Neighbors” on Thursday, September 10, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Center, 203 East 14th Street. Speakers will discuss local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement, practical family preparedness, and community safety. Live Spanish interpretation will be available.
And how the proposed California Forever project threatens livability in Davis and other parts of the Central Valley
By Dr. Glen Holstein
Covering 18,000 square miles, California’s Central Valley is the largest nearly flat valley on earth. It is almost entirely surrounded by mountains and consequently prone to very high temperatures since winds blowing downhill from mountains compress and heat air. That is why Death Valley, completely surrounded by mountains, has average July temperatures higher than those of any month anywhere else on earth. Its mean July temperature is 100.9 degrees F while the mean July temperature of Aswan deep in the Sahara Desert but not surrounded by mountains is 91.8 degrees F. Death Valley even set the all-time scientifically accepted high temperature record of 134 degrees F in 1913.
But the Central Valley is not entirely surrounded by mountains. They open up at the Golden Gate to permit a cooling air flow from the Pacific Ocean called the Delta Breeze to significantly lower summer temperatures in the center of the Central Valley but much less so in its northern part called the Sacramento Valley and its southern part called the San Joaquin Valley.
The Delta Breeze’s origin is the cold California Current flowing southward from Alaska. Disturbance where it encounters obstructions like Point Reyes and the Monterey Peninsula causes upwelling from depths that cool coastal water even more.
(more…)(From press release) On Saturday, August 1, the Davis Farmers Market celebrated a remarkable milestone: 50 years of bringing farmers, food, families and community together in Davis.
The day was a celebration of the past, the present, and future, five decades ago this market started as a gathering place for local farmers and community members to sell directly to customers and has since grown into a beloved Davis institution — a place where generations of residents come to shop for fresh, locally grown food, connect with neighbors, support local agriculture and experience the unique sense of community that makes the Davis Farmers Market special.
The 50th anniversary celebration brought together market shoppers, farmers, community partners, local leaders and longtime supporters to honor the market’s history and look toward its future.
“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped make the Davis Farmers Market what it is today,” said Randii Macnear, Executive Director of the Davis Farmers Market Alliance. “For 50 years, this market has been more than a place to buy food. It has been a place to meet your neighbors, celebrate local agriculture, build relationships and feel connected to the community. We’re excited to carry that spirit forward for the next 50 years.”
(more…)By Bertie Brouhard
Envious, jealous (“jelly”) of us; 80-plus years of age. We’ve arrived. Been selected and inducted into a very prestigious club. If you’re much younger; not having given it (80) much thought but hopeful to arrive one day far into your future or if you’re perhaps closer to 80 and wonder if you’ll crawl across this finish line, this column is for you. Intended for everyone hoping to age.
You, my reader; fellow octogenarians or those more advanced in age may agree with some or all of my observations. You others, maybe younger, may question my findings. I get that.
I’m thrilled to be in my eighth decade and hopefully you have one or more in your circle; a contented individual in your life; a parent, grandparent, sibling, friend or neighbor. At this age I feel a calm, a quiet not present in my younger years. I get less frustrated, think I’m more patient, less irritating and irritable with fewer mountains to climb and live with less noise, destruction and disappointment. The insignificant minor, many tiresome details and bothersome annoyances of my younger years are gone.
My mother was very secretive about her age until she turned 80. Then she proudly told everyone. She passed at 84 and my dad who lived but five months past his 80th wanted to sail and get in a round of golf the day he died. Those who I learn have passed on gain greater notoriety when you’re their age. How long do we each have? Probably fewer days that we expect.
(more…)By Elaine Roberts Musser
In checking over the Senior Citizens Commission agenda, it was incredibly sad to see that it is “concluding its work”. In other words, it’s disbanding. What is particularly disheartening, is knowing that my successful fight, many years ago, to save this commission (when the City Council was attempting to eliminate commissions at the time), was ultimately unsuccessful so many years later. Does anyone honestly think that senior citizen issues will be addressed, when their concerns are split between three different commissions not designed to handle senior issues? The upshot will be that seniors will no longer have a meaningful voice in Davis.
Because of Councilmembers Vaitla and Chapman and their plan to defang commissions, they have single-handedly destroyed the Senior Citizens Commission, the Tree Commission, and the Utilities Commission. Along with that, they have eviscerated the power of the other commissions – by insisting that no new items be placed on commission agendas without City Council permission. And the rest of the City Council, to their shame, have gone along with this nefarious plot. That controversial commission agenda policy was to be reviewed after a year, but no such assessment ever took place.In other words, we were lied to.
It has become patently clear the current City Council is hostile to public input. They are not interested in independent review or advice from commissions composed of ordinary citizens. We have entered a more authoritarian form of city government, much like what is going on at the federal level, a revolting development.
Elaine Roberts Musser is Former Chair, Senior Citizens Commission and Former Chair, Utilities Commission
By Judy Tipple
[Reposted with permission of the author. See original at https://rosietheboomer.substack.com/p/eric-jones-red-boxing-and-the-ai]
OK, I admit it… I’m a political nerd. Many years of campaigns, more FEC filings read than I’d like to admit. And I had never heard of “red-boxing” until a friend flagged it to me last week. Wait till you hear what it means — because once you see it, you can’t unsee it on every campaign website you visit.
Before I get to that: credit where it’s due. Roberta Millstein at Davisite already dug up the core of Jones’s Dragoneer ties and his Super PAC connections. Read her full series here: Who is Eric Jones? A summary of the series. This piece adds a few new pieces to her picture.
Jones’s campaign site has a page — not in the main menu, you have to know where to look — that reads less like a pitch to voters and more like a memo to an ad-buyer. It tells you what you “need to see,” what you “need to hear,” on what timeline. That’s a known, legal-but-gray tactic called red-boxing: campaigns aren’t allowed to privately hand a Super PAC their ad copy, so instead they post it publicly and let the PAC “discover” it — no phone call required, no coordination on paper. It’s used by both parties nationwide, so it’s not unique to Jones. What is fair to point out: he’s built his brand on refusing PAC money, while his own site is doing PAC-facing work in plain sight. That is red-boxing.
By Bertie Brouhard
So do we humans; some more than one; a few having many. Today or soon might be one for you. However the subject of this article is not good fortune or having a great day. It’s about dogs; a subject I approach cautiously having been accused of “fat shaming.”
Once I took and then posted on Instagram a photo of several round, young women shoveling into their mouths tasty creamy treats from gigormous cups standing in front of a shop sign that read “Fat Free Yogurt.” At the time I found it humorous and later suffered the blowback. I try not to make the same mistake twice.
I appreciate, admire and respect dogs and their owners, keepers – family members. Please do not accuse me of dog shaming.
Currently I am dogless but growing up our family included “Sandy,” a cocoa colored Cocker and “Curious,” a nervous Dalmatian. Raising young sons we loved two Bassets; “Floyd,” a French and “Sophie,” a British. My last two were both Jack Russell Terrier mixes – “Teddy” and “Lea.” Kind, gentle, quiet and endearing to their very end. Each of our dogs was different; leaving mostly wonderful memories.
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(From press release) For 50 years, the Davis Farmers Market has brought together local farmers, artisans, families, and neighbors, becoming one of the region’s most cherished traditions. Saturday’s celebration will feature special anniversary activities, live entertainment, community partners, and opportunities to experience the vibrant atmosphere of this landmark event.
Event Details:
What: Davis Farmers Market 50th Anniversary Celebration
When: Saturday, August 1, 2026 | 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Where: Central Park, Davis | 301 C Street
Funds will help sustain and expand program for local youth amidst growing demand
(From press release) The Kelly Foundation has granted local nonprofit Make It Happen for Yolo County $20,000 each year for two years for its program that equips underserved local young adults with essential furnishings and household goods to create safe, stable homes as they move into independent living. The two-year grant will help sustain and expand the organization’s work to address furniture poverty in response to significant growth in demand as well as rising prices of items.
“We are grateful to the Kelly Foundation for recognizing that having a fully furnished, safe and functional home is a fundamental need,” said Cathi Schmidt, executive director, Make It Happen for Yolo County. “The resilient young adults we serve have often experienced foster care, the juvenile justice system, homelessness or all three. Working together, we can turn their empty living spaces into places of comfort, dignity and belonging.”
(more…)By Bertie Brouhard
As our monthly poker game winds down about 9 PM someone may ask a defining question, “Let’s play this last hand ‘All In?’” Which is to say everyone wanting to play this last hand will wager their entire bank – be it several tall stacks of chips or sadly a few – on the next, the last seven cards dealt. Winners can become instant losers and vice versa. Life is much like our simple game of Seven Card Texas Hold-Em.
Every day’s a gamble. Surely Julie Veress when she pedaled off on her bike or when Brent Leuschen started his Stebbin Canyon hike did either think it would be their last day. Neither did my friends, Bill, Bruce, Marilyn and Ed who also like Julie succumbed to bike accidents. As I look back I remember the sudden loss of friends Gary, Chris, Doc, Bob, Mickey and Francie. Names no doubt come to mind when you think of tragic, unexpected, sudden deaths. The day before he recently passed Senator Lindsey Graham was in Ukraine. Go figure!
To be successful at poker like the game of life it’s best to acquire some skill and maybe more precious, some luck. I like you know several who struggle as adults having grown up in loving families, with highly supportive parents providing the best possible opportunities. And others who were raised in foster homes, homeless perhaps, or with alcohol or drug addicted parents offering little, grew into happy, well adjusted, productive adults and parents. Mysteries abound.
Some hopefully more today than in prior generations have the needed drive, motivation, ambition, determination to play the game well. The who, what, why, when, where and especially “how” of this needed IT fascinates me. I do know as in poker there’s skill and luck needed and there’s limited time to win in life.
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Davisite 