Category: Uncategorized

By Eileen M. Samitz

This Tuesday, at 7pm the City Council meeting will include a presentation by Dr. Ron Chapman the Yolo County Public Health Officer.  The meeting will be televised and public comment will be allowed via voice-mail in and email since public attendance cannot be allowed due to COVID-19 precautions (details below).

What needs to be addressed at this meeting is the need for UCD to help with the control of the COVID-19 outbreak like UCLA is doing by planning now, ahead of a surge in the disease spread.  This needs to include utilizing campus facilities including UCD vacant dorm and student apartment spaces. Several weeks ago, Governor Newsom stated that he was communicating with UC and the State Universities to plan ahead for use of their student housing and other campus facilities to help with space needed for quarantine and hospital overspill.

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A book review by Nathan Hendrix

            In 2012, truck driver Kristopher “KC” Clarke disappeared from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.  Yellow Bird:  Oil, Murder, and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country by Sierra Crane Murdoch is the story of his disappearance, the reservation he disappeared from, and the woman that spent years searching for him.  Lissa Yellow Bird has led a colorful life; she has struggled with addiction, worked as a stripper, and spent time incarcerated.  

When she heard about KC’s disappearance, she decided it was up to her to find him.  This search became an obsession that damaged her relationship with her children and put her in conflict with the powers that be in the reservation.  Clarke worked as a truck driver for a company that hauled water to and waste water from drilling sites.  He had told people he was going to visit family, turned in his company credit card, and then disappeared.  He didn’t take any of his belongings and his truck wasn’t found for months. 

            Beyond the disappearance of KC Clarke, the history of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is also covered in this book, including how their original homesteads were flooded when the government dammed the river that passed through the reservation. Crane describes the poverty that was rampant in the reservation prior to the oil boom that brought in millions of dollars. The oil money meant financial security to some, but it also brought drug addiction and tragedy to others. The reservation is shown as a kind of Wild West, where reservation police have no jurisdiction over non-Indians on the reservation and local police have no jurisdiction on reservation land.

            Yellow Bird is a glimpse into a culture that not many have experienced and clearly shows the danger that lax regulations pose to people and the environment.  The history of the reservation is fascinating and the damage done by oil companies is horrifying, but the book drags when the author delves too deeply into Lissa’s family life.  I enjoyed Yellow Bird and I look forward to Ms. Murdoch’s next book.

Nathan Hendrix is an avid reader and paramedic who grew up in Davis, but now lives in Rocklin with his wife and daughter.

By Dunn Bobbing

Davis School Children Demand Schools Reopen.

Kids claim parents are terrible roommates and explain they are tired of trying to teach them how to do Common Core math.

“My dad is an idiot. I can’t imagine what they taught in school back then. He can’t do even the really basic stuff I learned like last year,” said one third grader. “He kept muttering something about ‘carrying’?  What does ‘carrying’ have to do with math?”

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…thoughts from home quarantine

By Christy Corp-Minamiji

I had to take a Facebook break for a few days. My rage meter was spiking equally at the “It’s no big deal; I’m going to do all my usual shit” posts and the “PEOPLE ARE IN THE PARK!! HOW DO I REPORT THEM?!?” posts.

We all know this, but weird stuff happens when we are afraid. We dig in deep, often to the positions that most fuel our guilt, shame, and anger.

I get it. I’m a stubborn perfectionist. You ain’t seen digging in until I’m on a rant or feeling betrayed.

But, here’s the thing. Nature (aka a virus, let’s call it SARS CoV-2) really doesn’t care about our thoughts, emotions, or opinions. It doesn’t give a shit about politics or the economy. It doesn’t care about graduations or weddings. It doesn’t really even care about toilet paper. It just wants some cells to attach and replicate. Human cells.

I spent 15 years of my career thinking about diseases in populations — first in vaccine research then in livestock medicine. And the one truth about population medicine is that the comfort of individuals is irrelevant in the face of disease.

We’re well beyond individual needs and comfort now. Ask Italy. Ask Spain where an ice rink has become a morgue.

And yes, that means I’m saying all the things you’ve been hearing about social distance, isolation, flattening the curve, etc.

It also means I’m saying, hold back when you want to lash out, when you want to shame someone for doing it wrong. I get that urge. It’s an individual comfort thing. It’s the desire for control when faced with something over which we have little control.

But, as Brené Brown says, you can’t shame people into changing their behavior. Only solid info and compassion are going to get us to a place of looking beyond our own fears to the health of the population.

Things are going to happen over which you have no control. You’re going to feel guilty, angry, terrified, even hateful.

I get it. I like to think I was ahead of the crowd in social distancing and caution. My kids certainly thought so — yeah, guys, I know I’m a pain. But, here I am, officially on home quarantine with a cough and chest congestion. No fever yet. Could be allergies, could be “just a cold,” could be COVID19. There’s no way right now to know since I am privileged not to be a high risk patient.

When the cough started, I felt deeply ashamed. What had I done wrong? Was I a hypocrite? I’d been going on for days about flattening the curve, and here I am, sick. Finally, yesterday, I remembered.

The virus doesn’t care. No virus cares. The pollens don’t care either. And my lungs have absolutely no opinion on how good a person I am.

So, it’s uncomfortable, even for an introvert, not knowing when I’ll be 72 hours symptom free, not knowing when I get to go for walks again, not knowing how long until my kids can come back. But, my comfort matters way less than the population. So, I’ll sit here and sip my tea, and pour myself a cup of compassion.

Interview with Matt Wieland

By Colin Walsh Photos by Matt Wieland and Iggie Walsh

Q: How long have you been skateboarding?

Matt:  I started skateboarding seriously in 1985. Bought my first board from Pet Cetera in downtown Davis.  Pet Cetera was a pet store that sold bikes and skateboards on the side.  At that time, Davis had several places to buy skateboards and equipment.  There was The Davis Sport Shop, Mountain Sports, Pet Cetera, and Brett For Sports over on Covell.

My first board was a Sims Blaster. Our favorite spot to skate was Whaleback Park because it had a circle embankment. It was our neighborhood skatepark and still kind of is.  The skate location there hasn't been taken of by the city. The wood is falling off the roof overhang and the cement is cracked and uneven.

Every time we ask city workers to move the picnic table that’s been chained in the middle of it they tell us that we have a skatepark we should be skating at.  That's the ignorance of people who just don't know what's up.  Skateboarding is a way of life.  The skateboard itself can be seen as a tool or example of how to progress with other things in life. How do you fight your fear? Do you face it?

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What is UCD doing to support students with COVID-19 ?

By Eileen M. Samitz

On March 27^th, Chancellor May sent out a press release which is important for the Davis community to be aware of in case they have not seen it. The link to the entire article is at:

https://www.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/news/checking-in-with-chancellor-may-we-are-resilient

The most relevant information in this article by UCD Chancellor May is the following section:

“Before I bring you this week’s updates, I must share that we have learned that a member of our faculty has been confirmed as positive for COVID-19. They were traveling in Europe and developed symptoms March 19 after they returned. They have been at home since returning to the U.S. and have not been on campus since March 5. For privacy reasons, we cannot release personally identifying information, but the faculty member has informed their departmental colleagues of the diagnosis and is currently self-isolating at home.

Earlier this week, in Dateline, we reported that a UC Davis student had tested positive for the coronavirus after returning home from a UC Education Abroad Program in Spain. They had been studying abroad since summer last year apart from a brief visit to campus in early January. The student is currently self-isolating at home.”

Since important and time sensitive details are not included in this press release by the Chancellor, I have sent him the following letter and asked for a response to these relevant questions.

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Meanwhile our Major Arterial Roadways Deteriorate into 3rd-World Condition

by Alan Pryor

The following email was sent to the Davis City Council prior to last Tuesday's Council tele-meeting requesting that SB1 gas tax monies be only spent on main arterial roadway repairs in Davis because budgetary shortfalls will probably eliminate other needed roadway repairs of these critical main roadways and streets in Davis. The email was in response to a posted Consent Calendar item in which Council was asked by Staff to approve sending their proposed "wish-list"of neighborhood streets to be repaired in FY 2020-21 to the state as a pre-condition to receiving $1.3 million in SB1 gas tax monies for such repairs.

The list of streets to be repaired was prepared solely by the City  's Public Works Department and not ever vetted by the Bicycle, Transportation, and Street Safety Commission (BT&SSC) nor by the Finance and Budget Commission (F&BC) nor was there any indication in Staff's Report that these streets selected were in any worse state of disrepair than other neighborhood streets or major arterial roadways in town. It was simply a wish-list put together by Staff and there was no way of knowing if there was any quantitative basis for their selections.

Further, since the list to be sent to the State was not due until May 1, there was ample time for the consideration of the list of selected streets for repair by the appropriate Commissions prior to the submission deadline.

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By Colin Walsh and Roberta Millstein

The Davis Enterprise recently published an “Our View” editorial column arguing that newspapers play an essential role during this COVID-19 emergency.  They encouraged people to write to reporters you appreciate and thank them.  We decided we should take action too.

We agree that the Davis Enterprise plays an essential role in our community now, and for many, years in the past as well (it is our community’s oldest business, founded in 1897).  But it needs our support to continue to do so in the future.  In this article, we make the case for why you should subscribe to the Davis Enterprise  if you are not already. Details are at the end of the article.

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Davis’s first attempt at online democracy has significant, “Kinks”

By Colin Walsh

Last night’s City Council was a hot mess. For the first time the council attempted to hold an interactive online meeting using the Zoom video conference platform, but the meeting was attended by several Zoomers intent on disrupting the meeting. Mayor Brett Lee repeatedly referred to the difficulties faced by the Council and the staff as “kinks,” which may have been more on point than he realized.

Meeting attendees included the profane “Haywood Jablomi,” “aids,” and “Test Test” to name a few of the obvious fake names trolls chose while disrupting the City Council meeting.

The New York Times reported about this rising phenomenon on March 20^th, stating that as Zoom’s “user base rapidly expands, the video conference app Zoom is seeing a rise in trolling and graphic content.” The Times noted that trolls “are jumping into public Zoom calls and using the platform’s screen-sharing feature to project graphic content on unwitting conference participants, forcing hosts to shut down their events.”

In Davis last night, this feature was used to project hard-core pornography on the shared screen in the middle of the council meeting and an annotation feature was used to repeatedly scrawl racist messages, including the n-word, on the shared screen. In one case, an offensive picture of former President Obama was displayed.  There is no doubt that these words and images made many members of the community feel threatened and unwelcome.

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Schools to stay closed indefinitely

By Colin Walsh

On March 20, 2020 the Davis School District announced that they, "expect DJUSD schools to remain closed after Spring Break and for an undetermined amount of time." You can find the announcement here.

The District is working to address the ongoing education at a time when kids can not physically attend school.  they are "focused on the development of an equitable, accessible, and innovative solution to serve all of our students’ academic growth and social-emotional needs through a Distance Learning model."

The District announced, "the launch of our first Phase One of continued learning with a new Learning@Home website for students and families with links to educational websites and our core curriculum that can be accessed voluntarily. These resources are not designed to replace or replicate classroom instruction; they were compiled to build a habit for learning at home, keep students engaged and curious in learning, and provide DJUSD with time to design a thoughtful Distance Learning plan for all District teachers and students, which will launch on April 13, 2020." 

The district is also making efforts to provide computers and internet connection to students who do not have access at home. "If you have a computer that your child can use at home, please provide that access. Our Instructional Technology team has a plan in place to provide Chromebooks and Internet Access to students who lack these resources." 

The District is providing 3 options for students that do not have computers:

Option #1

Fill out the Chromebook Loaner Request Form. Within 24 hours a DJUSD representative will contact you or you can pick up your Chromebook between March 23-27. See pick up locations and hours below. 

Option #2

Call the DJUSD Instructional Technology Department at (530) 757-5300 x117. Leave a voicemail with your full name, student's full name, and a contact phone number or email. Within 24 hours a DJUSD representative will contact you or you can pick up your Chromebook between March 23-27. See pick up locations and hours below. 

Option #3

Show up to the pick up location during the hours below, fill out our Chromebook information and agreement form and be on your way. Please bring your child’s DJUSD Student ID #.

Pick up locations will be at Harper, Montgomery and Patwin. more details can be found here.

The District is also making arrangements for students who do not have at home internet access. They request families of students in need of internet access call, "DJUSD’s Instructional Technology Department at (530) 757-5300 x117 and leave a voicemail with your name and contact information. A DJUSD representative will contact you within 24 hours." 

The District also urges anyone who knows of a student that needs a computer or internet access to also call and inform the district. 

DJUSD will als be providing tech support for DJUSD Chromebooks, just call  Instructional Technology Department at (530) 757-5300 x117.

The District announcement includes no information for specialized instruction for students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) but does promise that, "DJUSD is committed to providing appropriate resources and strategies focused on making distance learning both engaging and accessible for all English Learners and students with disabilities. Our teachers will receive professional development on designing distance learning and instruction with all learners’ needs in mind (Universal Design for Learning)."