Category: Uncategorized

Dear Friends,

Heard this VERY interesting news segment recently which described an 8 week research project in three counties in California regarding transmission of COVID-19 in elementary schools.

The study is funded by a foundation and is located in three counties in California:  Merced, Los Angeles, and San Mateo in the Bay Area.

The idea is to test students and staff twice a week to see if there is an arrival and spread of the coronavirus.  Really good community-based public health!

See more below, including an interview with a prominent physician.

https://abc7news.com/covid-19-coronavirus-testing-schools/10374077/ 

This is the kind of public health work which is done to keep STAFF and students healthy.

Have a great week!

John

Dear Folks,

Thought you might like to hear this clip, it is really a gold nugget.  Dr. Wilkes (the guy with BOTH a medical degree and a doctorate in public health) answers questions and shares tips about what is and is not safe to do sports wise at this stage of the pandemic.  The topic is "Youth Sports"…..

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LRd7llDnwvDtJb1ess0LYqHGaUIc7dd5/view?usp=drivesdk

Cheers!

John

PS  Did you hear the UCD Mini-Medical school talks yesterday?  They were great!  Just register and you can hear all previous talks, as they are recorded.

Rush Limbaugh

Ethan Miller/Getty Images – https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/opinion/rush-limbaugh-women.html

I am reminded first of all that the date of death rather than birth is the one to remember for Jews as it demarcates the time in which we can be judged. This is the day we commemorate this person, and then also the yearly anniversary of that day.

 

For millions of Jewish victims in the Shoah – those killed in ghettos, on the way to or in concentration or death camps… and many others – there is no known precise date of death. For many it was decided that the day of their deportation would be the effective date, as at that time their fate was sealed.

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Dear Friends,

Oh my, yes, we are pretty much all stressed by this long term pandemic.  There is a saying that you should be nice to people because you do not know what burdens they are carrying…… a message that is twice as important during this public health crisis.

What to do?

Well, one thing you can do is to tune in to the UC Davis Mini-Medical School each Saturday.  This is such a special gift from the University to the public, it cannot be overstated how wonderful it is!  

Over the years, I have attended a couple of times and am back at it this year.  Next Saturday, Dr. Yellowlees, a psychiatrist is going to talk about mental health during a pandemic.  I'm confident it will be an excellent talk.

Below you can see the schedule for the whole series.  The sessions given have been recorded and are available.  Upcoming ones will be recorded as well.  They start at 9 a.m. Saturday morning and go to about 11:15. You have to sign up on line to join the class, the class is free, and you can ZOOM from the comfort of your home (or wherever).  

I STRONGLY recommend you check these out.  And thanks again to UC Davis for offering this wonderful resource to the community!

Best regards,

John

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Dear Friends,

Dr. Haydee Dabritz, a UC Davis graduate with a PhD in Epidemiology has recently left Yolo County Health Department after 8 years to work for the California Department of Public Health.  

Yolo County's loss is California's gain as Dr. Dabritz is a well regarded epidemiologist/scientist with a practical bent for data and pragmatic program design and evaluation.

Dr. Dabritz was the lead epidemiologist in helping Yolo County respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

She will be missed (although if you look at her LINKEDIN page she is being congratulated by a number of people)….. 

Below is a description of the work of the PhD in Epidemiology that you may find useful…. schools and programs of public health are experiencing a HUGE increase in applications as an educational response to the Pandemic.  Brown University's School of Public Health has experienced a 75% increase applications in one year!

Regards,

John

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(From press release) Valley Clean Energy announces the hiring of Edward Burnham as Director of Finance and Internal Operations. He will be responsible for oversight of finance and accounting tasks as well as VCE’s treasury, enterprise risk, information technology and audits.

Prior to joining the local electricity provider, Burnham worked for Yolo County’s Treasury Division, overseeing all revenue, treasury and finance activities, including handling investments for all county pool participants (county, local school districts and special districts), endowments and other investments. The pool was valued at an average of more than $500 million last year.

Additionally, Burnham spent 12 years abroad, working in finance for private and publicly traded companies in the energy sector. His duties took him to China, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Cyprus, West Africa, and the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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Dear Friends,

LOTS of good news!  

What is the headline?  

SACRAMENTO COUNTY NETS $60 MILLION WINDFALL FROM FEDS. HOW IT WILL HELP FIGHT COVID-19.

Sacramento County nets $60 million windfall from feds. How it will help fight COVID-19

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article249136850.html?ac_cid=DM382849&ac_bid=-588765852

But what about Yolo County?  And why wasn't Yolo in the headline (See Davis Enterprise, not Sacramento Bee).  We get $10.4 Million!!!!

That quickly brings up a question… what is Yolo County going to do with it?  Well, let's ask the experts, ok?

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Dear Friends,

Supervisor Provenza ran on a ticket of BOTH fighting COVID and supporting local businesses.  And…. he is following through on his campaign promises!

Please see the press release below for details …. TODAY is the first day that restaurants can apply for this help.

Meanwhile, everybody, to the extent that you are able, please personally support local restaurants and markets…… get some healthy take out and LEAVE A TIP!  That is what I do on a regular basis.

Take care, be safe, and hang together.

John

Yolo County Announces Restaurant Fee Waiver

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Dear Friends,

Today is Dr. Michael Wilkes last official day as a member of the Yolo County Health Council. ***  A celebrated physician and public health expert, Dr. Wilkes is board certified in Internal Medicine and has both a Masters in Public Health (Columbia) and a PhD in Public Health (UCLA) which made him the most highly educated member of the Yolo County Health Council and because of this dual training, one with particular expertise in the COVID pandemic.

On the UC Davis School of Medicine web site, Dr. Wilkes clinical expertise is described like this:

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Jesse Loren

Dan Carson

(From press release) As a new year dawns, Valley Clean Energy announces a change in leadership for the not-for-profit local electricity provider.

Dan Carson, a Davis City Councilmember, was elected to chair the VCE board for 2021, and Winters City Councilmember Jesse Loren was elected to the position of vice chair. Both votes were unanimous.

The VCE board is composed of two representatives from each of the communities it serves — the cities of Woodland, Davis and Winters and unincorporated Yolo County. Loren’s appointment couldn’t be more timely, as the community of Winters is currently enrolling customers for VCE service.

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