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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

  • The Water that Makes Local Food Possible is at Risk.

    Yolo-waterBy Scott Steward

    Add your voice. Contact your County Supervisor and our Water Board (YSGA). Best to make your request before Monday May 19th to place a moratorium on wells in the Yolo focus area that includes Hungry Hollow.  But don't stop making this request on the 19th.

    Everyone's hands are tied except the most important hands, yours. The public needs to insist on a well moratorium in the Yolo focus area in order to greatly speed the legal considerations that the county must make at the Department of Environmental Health and with County Council to develop the legal language (based on water table drop data from the YSGA) and other criteria to declare a moratorium.  Here is the problem: this cannot take years as the water and the west Yolo farms are drying up. 

    The county, through our elected Trustee/Supervisors, has the ONLY authority (not the YSGA) to place a moratorium on the Hungry Hollow focus area. The county will not do this on its own – we need public pressure, or we will lose the ability to water our own food. The majority of Supervisors welcome the pressure to enact a sustainable water policy.  We can win this. We need to speed it all up!

    The Yolo County Supervisors are governed by the State Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), requiring local agencies to form groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs).  SGMA makes it clear….

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  • Burrowing Owl Habitat Restoration Event on May 24

    (From press release) Please join the Burrowing Owl Preservation Society and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for a Burrowing Owl Habitat Restoration Event at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area on Saturday morning, May 24.

    Burrowingowlevent

    What: Volunteers are needed for a few hours of burrowing owl habitat restoration work. We’ll be restoring/resetting artificial burrows for our beloved feathered friends and removing surrounding vegetation for their security.

    When: May 24, 8 am – 11 am (only 2 hrs maximum work time is requested).

    Where: Yolo County, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=yolo+bypass+wildlife+area&atb=v315-1&iaxm=maps&source=places).

    Bring: Plan to bring Gloves, Hat, Sturdy Shoes, and Water. Note that there is no toilet at the site.

    Contact: Please email Catherine Portman (DuskBuster07@gmail.com) for site location details and directions.

  • YIIN community dinner and fundraiser

    YIIN(From press release) The Yolo Interfaith Immigration Network (YIIN) will host a fundraising dinner on Saturday, June 14 at the Yolo County Fairgrounds. The dinner will raise urgently needed money so YIIN can support local immigrants requiring funds for rent, legal assistance, and fees for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications. The dinner is also an opportunity to join with our immigrant neighbors and celebrate working together as a community for all. This will be YIIN’s first fundraiser since 2019, due to the precautions brought on by Covid.

    This special evening will begin at 5:30, and guests will be treated to an Indian dinner served buffet style with Mexican desserts made by immigrants who wish to show their appreciation to the community. The program includes a silent auction and music performed by Mariachi Puente. The Chief of Staff at UC Davis Global Affairs, Andrea Gaytan, will be the keynote speaker.

    Suggested donation: $75 per adult; $30per student; free for 12 youth. Tickets are available on Eventbrite or send a check to: YIIN P.O Box 74295 Davis, CA 95616. Questions can be directed to jckatonah@icloud.com.  

  • Ada Vox headlines 2025 Davis PrideFest

    Ada Vox publicity photo 2025

    Ada Vox was a Top 8 contestant on ABC’s “American Idol,” and runner up in 2022 on the Paramount+ drag queen singing competition “Queen of the Universe.” (Courtesy photo)

    Drag queen Ada Vox will be the headline performer at the 2025 Davis PrideFest on June 7. The event is just one of a month’s worth of local activities to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride, including a fun run, skate and comedy nights, and plenty of drag queens.

    The activities share the theme “Forever Loud and Proud!”

    The 11th annual Davis PrideFest is at Civic Center Park, at Sixth and B streets, behind Davis City Hall. The community-focused, family-friendly event includes a music festival, resources, vendors, food, drinks and more – from 3 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 7.

    AdaVox2022

    Ada Vox performs at the 2022 Davis Pride event. This year’s festival is June 7. (Photo by Wendy Weitzel)

    Ada Vox was a semi-finalist in ABC’s “American Idol” in 2018, and the runner up in 2022 on the Paramount+ drag queen singing competition “Queen of the Universe.” She performed at the 2022 Davis Pride event. The San Antonio-based singer lists her influences as Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin and Patti Labelle. Notable performances include The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun,” Jennifer Holiday’s “And I am Telling You I am Not Going,” and Journey’s “Open Arms.” She was the first drag queen make the “American Idol” Top 8.

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  • Market backs down on moving Free Speech out Manager deny responsibility for creating space problem

    By Alan “Lorax” Hirsch

    As announced via an article in the Enterprise, the free speech area will be at least partially returned to previous location and operating rules/customs. There will be a celebration of this free speech victory Saturday, at 8 am under the big tree in the community area. Sparking juice, American flag and copies of the US Constitution will be provided. As well as a bit of speechifying noting the power of community, and how we can’t take our rights for granted.

    Do read the enterprise piece, (link), but note the reporter did not fact check statement by “officials” with source on the other side of this controversy, The result is the Enterprise piece misconstrued what was going on. The Market manager Randii MacNear says the community group use has grown  so it overcrowded with 17-20 community groups, but as the attached photo shows, on 6/2/2018 (typical for that period), the community space accommodated 39 groups. What has happened subsequently to Covid  is that the market manager has allowed food trucks to invade the original space—and the city thoughtlessly added three bike racks taking up other of the precious space.  You can see why this would not be acknowledged by those involved.

    Free speach lottery sign up 39 GROUP 2018 1

    Signup sheet of free speech community group area showing 39 groups can be accommodated in current area.
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    Picture of the three bike racks the city has added to this reduce the table space in the community area. There are many other places for bike racks.

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  • Hundreds Expected for May Day Protests in Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento

    Indivisible-mayday

    By Kari Peterson

    On May 1, local grassroots and labor organizations from across Yolo County will be marching in Davis and rallying in both West Sacramento and Woodland to join the MayDay Strong National Day of Action .

     Who, when and where:

    • Davis, 5:00 – 6:30PM: March begins in Central Park at 5 PM. Marchers will gather near the wall and then march through downtown Davis before returning to Central Park. In addition to Indivisible Yolo, Sister District Yolo, and the Davis Faculty Association, participating groups include Democratic Socialists of America (Yolo), Davis College Democrats, American Federation of Teachers – UC Davis, and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement,Sacramento.
    • Woodland , 5:00 – 7:00PM: Rally is at the Courthouse on Main Street at 6th Street.
    • West Sacramento , 4:30: Rally at the corner of Park Boulevard and Jefferson.

    Why we’re mobilizing on May 1

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  • DAVIS FREE SPEECH THREATENED

    Photos show how community & political group tabling is dying in Farmer Market’s in its new park location.

    By Alan “Lorax” Hirsch  ahirsch@dcn.org

    Community and political groups have been removed from tabling in the Farmers Market along the C street sidewalk to an isolated unshaded part of Central Park. This happened by edict on 4/22/25, a decision made with no community groups’ input. Groups are concerned there would be no foot traffic in new location…and make it a waste of their time to table. The city manager said 30+ people that do the volunteer tabling should just give market manager’s idea “a try.” (LINK  to background piece)

    The results are in from the first week of this experiment. Failure.

    This is a photo at 11am (peak shopping) shows just 3 people visiting at the 7 tables of groups that took the time to set up in the unshaded and unpaved grassy part of the park near B Street. We heard from wheelchair bound shoppers that these tables were no longer accessible, like families with children in strollers.

    2025-04-26 no visitors at community tables

    It’s of note that only 7 groups set up tables compared to an average of 14/week for the previous month. No reason to waste volunteer time if no one comes by.

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  • Free Speech Curtailed in Davis

    IMG_5699

    The market shed is largely empty of vendor on Wednesday— this photo is 4/22. But the city has allow market manager the power to force community group to be table as far as possible from other farm even outside the shed in the Sun or rain. There are 2 community groups tabling behind the photographer in this photo.

     Farmers Market Discourages Community Engagement

    By Alan “Lorax” Hirsch

    (Alan passes out “love your neighbor” signs in the farmer’s market.)

    Just when you thought our political rights could not be more threatened, this Trumpian zeitgeist seems to have come to Davis.

    They are dramatically reducing visibility of community/free speech area at the Saturday farmer market by expelling these groups from their traditional tabling area along C street north of the restrooms. They will be displaced 1 block south and 2/3 of a block west to an unpaved part of Central Park.  They will be isolated from commercial vendors currently set on sidewalk next to C Street- community & political groups will be in an unpaved grass area close to B street.  An area that is unshaded and hot, so visitors won’t want to linger. This area is invisible to shoppers on C street as it will be hidden behind vendor’s trucks, banners and awnings. The Net: these Group’s tables won’t get any casual foot traffic.

    The now lively Saturday market community area may go the way of the Wednesday free speech/community tablers. DFMA Market management decided to displace Wednesday tablers from under the awning to a similarly isolated, sunny & hot area far away from the half-empty market shed.  These tablers got no foot traffic in that location – and the sun stressed the volunteers – so now there is little or no community tabling on Wednesdays.

    IMG_5637 1

    One of the alleged reason for moving community group/ free speech areas 1 1/2 block to the shadeless B street side of the park is there is not enough room in current area. Here is one of the three bike racks recently installed by city that takes up shaded space that could be available for community group tabling.

    Dropping the Bomb

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  • Good News: Solid Council Majority Lining Up to Fix Roads and Bike Paths Now

    By Elaine Roberts Musser and Dan Carson

    At the April 15, 2025 City Council meeting, four of the five Davis City Council members declared their support for immediately committing significant additional amounts of upfront funding to fix city roads and bike paths. The funding would come from the recently approved Measure Q sales tax increase and be incorporated into the two-year 2025-27 city budget that will be adopted this June.

    A spending plan labeled as “Scenario 2” was presented at the meeting to Council and recommended for approval by city staff. It would have held pavement spending flat for at least five years and then, in theory, begun accelerating city spending for that purpose in 2030-31 through 2034-35.

    Vice Mayor Donna Neville and Councilmembers Chapman, Partida and Deos made it very clear they found the idea of backloading pavement funding, and putting off any significant increases until five years from now, unacceptable.  Mayor Bapu Vaitla  proposed a much different approach to adding money for roads that we discuss below, that would involve asking Davis voters to approve another new tax measure.

    We are grateful four Councilmembers took to heart our warning against approving Scenario 2. The report staff provided to Council documenting this scenario would escalate the roughly $100 million backlog of city road pavement projects that now exists to almost $150 million, an increase of approximately $50 million over the next decade (see  the chart below, on page 07-50 of city staff report).                             

    Roads-chart

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  • Check The Box, Yolo Capay’s Hungry Hollow Farms are in a Water Crises

    Check the box

    By Scott Steward

    We have a Groundwater Sustainability Agency called the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency (YSGA).  Evidently, the word "Sustainability" is optional when considering well permits in Yolo County, as Annie Main found out after a 2-year struggle to point out the obvious to the Yolo County Supervisors who voted 3 to 2 on April 8th last week to add another high capacity 350 gallons per minute corporate well to further drain Hungry Hollow's already well documented declining water table.  The Boundary Bend well could mean the end of her Good Humus third-generation farm.  What's worse, there are four more deep well applications on the way to Hungry Hollow.

    You can't see our groundwater, but according to our Groundwater Sustainability Agency there are 346,000 acre feet that can be drawn from our 540,000 acres of ag land. That's 2.6 billion bathtubs worth of water.  That's our budget; use more and our invisible mega bathtub might not re-fill as high – ever.  Consider Annie Main, the most recent canary in a long line of canaries in the water coal mine, Yolo County the aquifer of choice for corporate tree crops (olives and nuts) and our County Supervisors, for now, the court of last resort.  

    Hungry Hollow family farmers like Annie Main of Good Humus are under threat of disappearing. Her area of land is in a designated "Focus Area." Focus Areas are so named because of the historical steady Hungry Hollow drop in the water table and because it's taking forever to get decent monitoring wells into place to "understand" what locals have been saying for the last two decades (no more additional well capacity!).  

    State and local water policy that was not enforced on April 8th.

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