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Davisite Banner. Left side the bicycle obelisk at 3rd and University. Right side the trellis at the entrance to the Arboretum.

Author: davisite2

  • Sheila Allen, Deputy to Supervisor Jim Provenza Has Officially Launched Her Campaign for Yolo County Supervisor

    Sheila_Allen(From press release) Sheila Allen, RN, Ph.D., currently serving as Deputy to Supervisor Jim Provenza, has officially announced her campaign for Yolo County Supervisor (District 4). The Primary Election will be held in March 2024. Supervisor Provenza, who was first elected to the Davis Joint Unified School Board in 2003, announced in late April that after 45 years in public service; he will not seek re-election.

    Sheila and her husband, Mitch, moved to Davis to raise their family. Sheila immediately became active in the community and has been an energetic and effective advocate over the years. Sheila’s enthusiasm is clear when she says, “I am excited to bring my nearly three decades of successful local experience supporting Davis families, a rich understanding of the community I love, and a tenacious optimism to county-level decision-making. My passion and life’s work are to bring people together to address local problems and needs. I care about and have served the youngest to the oldest in our community. As we plan for our future, we always have to remember that our choices impact residents' day-to-day lives, and that is really what matters. I thank Supervisor Provenza for his 4 terms of service to Yolo County, his endorsement, and the opportunity to serve as Deputy Supervisor for District 4.”

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  • Yolo Holds Its Breath on Water Policy

    By Scott Steward

    Yolo County Supervisors placed a temporary pause on new Yolo ag well water permits until the local regional water agency can put the data and analysis together to, more certainly, tell the story about the water under our feet.

    WaterThis is the story about the water that we depend on for thriving local ag and the precious remainder of our beleaguered biome in Yolo, and the greater Sacramento valley.   On July 11th farmers and residents testified to the Yolo Board of Supervisors about their experience (Davisite 7/2023) with receding well water and wells going dry.  The principal cause identified as newer/bigger wells drafting water for previously unirrigated land for perennial trees (nuts) and vines.

    On September 12th, the Board consider options that included a moratorium on new well applications. Between the July BOS meeting and the 9/12 meeting, staff and the Director of the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency were to help the Board with more Data.  At this last meeting we found out that the data is just not ready and so, in absence of any evidence not to act more conservatively, the Board unanimously chose a 45 day moratorium option. 

    Supervisor Frerichs brought the final motion "I have heard from farmers and many many residents who are supportive of this (the moratorium option)." The moratorium is not blanket, specifying Clarksburg and other areas as exempt, but generally placing the restriction on the areas experiencing water table drops.

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  • Biberstein Social Action Fund Grants Available

    21st Annual Request for Proposals

    Proposals due October 20, 2023

    (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 21st 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. “In light of all the budget cuts in social services, we hope that grants like ours can make a difference,” Hannah Biberstein had said. “It means a lot to us that real individuals benefit from our grants.” 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, Shoshana Zatz, and Rabbis Bess Wohlner and Jeremy Simons.

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

    Grant proposals must be submitted no later than October 20, 2023. Questions may be directed to the Biberstein Social Action Fund at: cbhbibersteinfund@gmail.com. Awards will be announced in December 2023.

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  • Down for maintenance

    Under-maintenancePlease accept our apologies, but the Davisite needs to go down for maintenance. We hope to be back by the end of the weekend. 

    The weather is going to be lovely this weekend – we hope you are able to get out and enjoy it.

  • Upstander Carnival teaches anti-bullying tools

    UpstanderPost(From press release) Upstander Carnival, a free event for elementary-age children, will return to Davis’ Central Park on Saturday, Oct. 21. As part of National Bullying Prevention Month, the annual fair teaches youngsters to identify and stand up to bullying.

    The Davis Phoenix Coalition launched the carnival in 2015. This year, it’s from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the sycamore grove of Davis’ Central Park, Fourth and C streets. The popular event draws hundreds every year.

    Participants go through six stations of brief, interactive lessons, where they practice inclusion, deal with cyberbullying and learn helpful skills. After getting a stamp at each station, students get to enter the fun zone, where they may play in a bounce house, get snacks like popcorn or cotton candy, play games, and get their face painted.

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  • A Better Week for Climate Action

    By Scott Steward

    It was more than a coincidence that California's Attorney General announced that the State is suing the big 5 oil companies this past Saturday.  Oil companies are being sued for "impairment and destruction" and for a remedy of preventing further misleading statements about the contribution of fossil fuel combustion to climate change." 

    Newsom timed the announcement for his appearance at the International Summit on Climate Change in New York going on this week ahead of protests.  The pressure from the climate labor coalition is definitely on.

    Picture1

    Sacramento "End the Fossil Fuel Era" banner drop on the Tower Bridge – Photo by Peg Hunter

    It is our own and our regions own climate justice advocates, made of youth, educators, racial justice and indigenous, immigrant, blue and white collar labor – the works – that have joined together to make a fearsome coalition locally and nationally. 

    Picture2

    Davis Fridays for Future, and allies, take to the streets this past Friday.  Picture by Johan Vernick

    The climate strikes and labor strikes coincide and are complementary as the UAW is fighting for fair wages as capital sees ICE (internal combustion engines) demise written on the wall (EV's hit price parity with ICE vehicles).  Labor is finding harmony with climate action as we watch the necessary acceleration away from the fossil fuel economy (and fossil fuel electoral power).

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     Sacramento "End the Fossil Fuel Era" Labor Network for Sustainability – Photo by Peg Hunter

    Locally, September has been a better month for climate justice and the world is going to need our resilience because climate tragedies, like the one in Libya, and other parts of the world are unrelenting.  It is very clear…. hay hay ho ho Fossil Fuel has got go!  The path forward is locally made, fair wages, locally distributed, locally clothed, soil to skin, locally fed, farm to fork and locally entertained.

  • Davis joins in Global Climate Strike

    Davis Climate Strike march(From press release) This past Friday, September 15, Davis joined groups across the world in the Global Climate Strike. After grabbing signs and getting ready, the defiant group of all ages slowly marched down 14th Street, leading chants to alert the Davis public of the climate emergency. At Central Park, some of the youth activists gave speeches, and held a die-in, where the audience helped embody the severity of our future, and the hopes they have for a better one.

    Davis Climate Strike muralThe strikers then painted a mural on the sidewalk, to engrave the message “END FOSSIL FUELS” into the public eye. Nico Novick, in their speech today, said, “…Climate doomism, or the belief that everything is fundamentally hopeless, wastes time, it is giving up without trying, and we must try. We must have hope!”

    More information at https://sites.google.com/view/fridaysforfuturedavis/home?authuser=0

  • Thursdays in The Davisphere canceled for 2023

    (From press release) Thursdays in The Davisphere, the concert series launched in 2022 by Davis Downtown, is on hiatus until 2024.

    The board of the Davis Downtown Business Association decided this month to cancel the 2023 event, planned for Oct. 26 in Central Park. In 2024, the organization is looking to bring Thursdays in The Davisphere further into the downtown core, to add vibrant energy to its downtown member businesses.

    DDBA Executive Director Brett Maresca said several factors led to the difficult decision. The postponement gives the organization time to raise funds and plan for a spectacular 2024 series.

    The inaugural season of Thursdays in The Davisphere was weekly in September and October 2022, thanks to funding from a city of Davis grant to revitalize local businesses emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. A follow-up survey showed a nearly 90% approval rating of the event, citing the energy and vibrancy it brought to the downtown. Davis Downtown provided a designated nonprofit beneficiary to receive a portion of proceeds from beer and wine sales.

    Davis Downtown is recruiting sponsors and vendors. Sponsorships would allow the organization to offer multiple Thursdays in The Davisphere events in 2024. For details, email info@davisdowntown.com.

    Davis Downtown leads and energizes the downtown as the primary business, entertainment and cultural center of Davis. Alive with activity seven days a week, downtown Davis draws locals and visitors alike to experience fine food and beverages, retail, professional services, arts and entertainment in an extraordinary and sustainable gathering place.

    • For more information on The Davisphere, visit thedavisphere.com.
    • Learn more about Davis Downtown events and programs at davisdowntown.com.
    • To stay abreast of activities, sign up for the Davis Downtown email newsletter at davisdowntown.com/subscribe.
    • Follow Davis Downtown on Facebook at @davisdowntown and on Instagram at @davis.downtown.

  • Be a Climate Upstander: Join Friday’s Climate March

    By Alan Hirsch

    We are now in a (not so slow moving) crisis of civilization brought on by climate change.  It trumps all other issues as the earth is the stage all other human endeavors play out on.  Marches, protests gatherings for other issue will fall by the wayside due to heat waves, brown outs, hurricanes, wildfire & smoke. Even the infrastructures that support the food security, housing construction and access to health care is threatened.

    It also clear many good people- even  in Davis — are in denial of the crisis: not in theirs word but their actions that signal climate change is a secondary consideration in their decisions. 

    Planet Upstander gently question all these nice people– friends and local politicians — who mouth words and even pass crisis resolutions, but continue to doing the same old things that are killing our planet: Elected bodies in Yolo county and California are filled with business democrats- the Herbert Hoovers of our era when we need FDR’s and a Green New Deal.

    Consider the case of a Davis Democratic Party leader who proudly posted to her hundreds of Facebook she flew to Antarctica and from there took a cruise.   Upstander might post the gentle question: “Did you buy carbon offsets?”  Or a friend or family member who admires a low MPG car?  You could raise a concerning for them question about cost of gasoline  (and BTW GHG) due to  low mileage?  Or at least roll your eyes.   Or how do to you respond to friend who drives to school to when it is  only 1 mile from their home? You might ask what type of bike they own?

    The Davis Climate March-part of the international climate strike movement –   a chance to show you are one of the growing number of Upstanders for the Planet, It includes march this weekend  In Sacramento and SF this weekend of you can’t make the Davis event.

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  • Top reasons to Join the Climate March

    By Alan Hirsch

    1. The Return of the Urban Firestorm

     What happened in Colorado was something much scarier than a wildfire.

    By David Wallace-Wells LIFE AFTER WARMING  https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/colorado-saw-the-return-of-the-urban-firestorm.html

    2. 244 People died heat related causes in Phoenix: Lose your AC, lose your life? And what about homeless?

    https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/life-and-death-in-americas-hottest-city#:~:text=Phoenix%20is%20the%20fifth%2Dlargest,by%203.8%20degrees%20since%201970.

    3. Heat threatens Children: a fall on blacktop playground on can mean severe burns. Forget about walking your dog.
    Pavement surfaces 140-160o when air temperature over hundred

    4. Farming Deadly to workers as Heat Index Reaches 120 plus in corn fields.

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/22/2188793/-Heat-index-of-150F-in-the-shade-from-Heat-Doom-and-corn-sweat-Climate-crisis-seemingly-everywhere

    “….120 degree heat index in Iowa? Yes, because corn sweats in the heat, just like humans do. A single acre of corn can pull 4,000 gallons of water each day out of the ground and release it into the air, making Iowa feel like Bangkok.” https://t.co/ep1mcWFBLj

    5. Air Quality August 2023: Continent spanning smoke from wildfires again

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