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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.

Category: Events

  • Aid organization is topic of Soroptimist talk

    (From press release) Koen Van Rompay of Sahaya International will speak at the Wednesday, Dec. 2 meeting of Soroptimist International of Davis. The event is free and guests are welcome.

    Van Rompay is volunteer founder and executive director of the Davis-based nonprofit Sahaya International (www.sahaya.org). The organization does grassroots work in developing countries, including India, Uganda, Kenya and Vietnam. Programs support orphan care, healthcare, education, socio-economic development and conservation. Van Rompay, a native of Belgium, is a UC Davis veterinarian specializing infectious diseases.

    The meeting is from 11:45 to 12:45 at Sacramento City College Davis Center, room DCS 114. Snacks will be provided. Guests are welcome to bring their own lunch.

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  • Eric Jones’ Chilling Foreign Policy Position

    By Sue Greenwald

    “We need to use our strengths. That’s intelligence and that’s projecting kinetic force all across the world to accomplish our military objectives.” — Eric Jones

    “We should be seeking always to mitigate nuclear risk from Iran. But we can do this with tactical strikes every 3 months, every 6 months.” — Eric Jones

    So Eric Jones was supposed to be a progressive, but his website said nothing at all about foreign policy, Gaza or the Iran War, or about universal health care.  This was my first impression of Eric Jones.  After digging a little, I found that Jones was a wealthy venture capitalist with absolutely no political background. No elected office, no appointed position, no activist history – not even a letter to the editor.  He had stepped down from his partnership in Dragoneer Investments only a month before he started to run.  His long-term partners and a spouse at Dragoneer had set up a Super PAC to support Jones’ candidacy five months before Jones left the firm to run for office.  That Super PAC now weighs in at $6 million.  I learned that this firm, Dragoneer Investments, had been a big investor in Israeli tech, and had recently moved heavily into AI, with massive investments in Anthropic and Open AI, and into defense industries with major investments in SpaceX and Helsing.  And Jones had 756 entries on his FEC filings of individual donations of $3,500 or more – mostly from a network of partners and top executives at high tech companies and their venture capital, hedge fund, and private equity financiers from the tech and financial hubs across the country.

    As the weeks and months rolled by, the platform on Eric Jones’ website started to shift, twist, and turn.  He soon became opposed to “unnecessary wars”.  He was in favor of building AI data centers “here and not abroad”, pre-empting states’ rights to regulate AI, and federal subsidies for AI and AI infrastructure.  Then he had “always been against data centers”. 

    I was concerned about Jones’ foreign policy position, given his public reticence and given the interests of his donors, so I looked forward to the first debate between Jones and Mike Thompson.   I wanted to see what Jones would have to say in public, where his donors could hear it.

    Eric Jones has finally come out with a specific foreign policy statement, and it’s chilling.  During the KCRA debate, Eric Jones declared:

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  • Local groups to demand justice at Woodland “ICE out” March and Rally on Oct 27

    Woodland resident Antonio Moreida, who was hit by an ICE vehicle earlier this week, speaks at the Woodland City Council meeting Tuesday night.

    (From press release) Local residents are invited to join the ICE Out Demand Justice rally and march on Oct. 27 at 4pm in Woodland. In response to the recent ICE surge in Woodland, including the hit-and-run crime committed by an ICE agent on Woodland resident Antonio Moreida, participants will march from the Yolo County district attorney’s office at 301 2nd Street, to Rep. Mike Thompson’s office and then to the Woodland Courthouse. For more information: https://yolo.chapters.dsausa.org/ICE-OUT/. 

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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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  • Good Fire, Living Water: The Gifts of a Marsh Economy  

    Public Invited to New Exhibit on Native Californian Stewardship

    Promotional Flyer for Good Fire, Living Water; Illustration by Ooti Maxine

    (From press release) Over 90% of the Sacramento Valley’s wetlands have been destroyed over the past 150 years, contributing to today’s interrelated extinction, climate and water crises. Naturalist, artist, and Maidu/Wintun Cultural Practitioner Diana Almendariz is working diligently – with plants such as tule and cattail, and with artists, youth, land managers, and scientists  – to reverse this significant loss.

     A leader in revitalizing Native Californian stewardship through cultural burning and Native plant restoration, Almendariz brings to life indigenous knowledge that was once targeted for erasure and genocide. In a sign of changing times and attitudes, the Sacramento Bee recently recognized Almendariz as one of the region’s top change makers. She praises tule – a keystone wetland species — for renewing her cultural traditions.

    “Tule has been my creative muse for 30 years. This important reed is at the heart of the marsh economy – drawing down carbon from the atmosphere, creating rich soil, cleaning water, and cultivating the valley’s rich food web. By restoring wetlands, we can revitalize the  natural systems that are key to a livable future,” explains Almendariz.

    A new exhibit, Good Fire, Living Water: The Gifts of a Marsh Economy, opening on September 20th at the Davis Art Center, showcases Almendariz’ multifaceted eco-cultural practice that spans the arts, education, Native homeland culture, and environmental stewardship. The exhibit highlights how she is passing on this vital  knowledge to the next generation of Native cultural practitioners – her daughters Ooti Maxine and Christina Almendariz.

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  • Rep. Mike Thompson Participates in Debate With Eric Jones in Marysville Hosted by the Yuba Sutter Farm Bureau

    (From press release) Yesterday, Congressman Mike Thompson participated in a candidate forum with his opponent, Eric Jones, at the Yuba County Government Center in Marysville. The event was hosted by the Yuba Sutter Farm Bureau. Congressman Thompson, himself a small farmer that grows grapes, hay and olives, discussed a variety of issues facing the Yuba Sutter community in front of a crowd of 250 people. Congressman Thompson and Eric Jones debated for 45 minutes about issues facing Yuba and Sutter Counties and our agriculture community.

    “I was honored to be invited to participate in a debate by the Yuba Sutter Farm Bureau. I was proud to discuss my record of delivering for our ag community and strengthening our rural economies,” said Congressman Mike Thompson “Right now farmers are hurting with reckless and illegal tariffs and I am proud to have worked with the Administration to deliver $9 million dollars in relief to peach growers hit by the cannery closure and will continue to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars for our district for flood control projects.”

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  • Sept 10th Event: Working Together to Protect Our Neighbors

    (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.

  • Davis Farmers Market Celebrates 50 Years of Community, Connection and Local Food

    (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.”

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