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

  • Open Space and Habitat Commission visits new City open space area

    IMG_5897On Saturday, the Open Space and Habitat Commission had an officially noticed "meeting" – really, a stroll through the woods – on City-owned land to the west of the Putah Creek South Fork Preserve.  This land, approximately 10 acres in total, was purchased with Open Space funds in 2017 with the goal of providing more open space access for Davisites.  Most of the trail is already there (recently cleared by volunteers); the City plans to make small improvements like signage, removal of invasive plants, etc.

    This post is my unofficial impression of our morning as a commission member, as documented through my phone camera.  It was a lovely hike and I hope you enjoy these pictures from the City's "backyard," which you can visit yourself if you care to.

    (more…)

    Posted by

    Roberta Millstein

    on

    in

    ,

    |

    10 comments on Open Space and Habitat Commission visits new City open space area
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • Let’s Talk About Housing and Homeless in Davis

    June Programs at Davis Methodist Focus on Shelter

    (From Press release) Across California, affordable housing and homelessness is a huge and growing problem.  Yet solutions proposed by cities and non-profits are often met with neighborhood opposition.  How can we work together as a community to help our neighbors who are struggling to keep or find shelter?  As part of this conversation, Davis United Methodist Church is offering three programs on housing and homelessness on Sunday mornings, June 9, 23, and 30, from 9:45 to 10:50 at the church, which is located at 1620 Anderson Road in Davis. 

    (more…)

    Posted by

    davisite2

    on

    in

    ,

    |

    No comments on Let’s Talk About Housing and Homeless in Davis
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • The need for cheap, abundant, ultra-wide Internet bandwidth

    Fiber-optics-internetBy Robert Nickerson

    Sometimes it seems this town is trying to find its get up and go. If we were taking an auto trip we are getting a lot of constituencies into the car, Ag and Seed, BioTech, New Downtown, Innovation Center, are all getting in and closing the door, putting on our seatbelts, turning the key and not getting anywhere. To our dismay, we look down and see no tires. We are missing an essential element that forms the vehicle that drives our economy to growth, to speed us along our way, that thing is cheap, abundant, ultra-wide Internet bandwidth. Businesses and their employees working in these fields that we are trying to bring to town, require access to the fastest and most reliable transport infrastructure available, fiber optic cable. For three years the City of Davis Broadband Advisory Task Force has been evaluating the feasibility of a community-owned fiber optic network. On June 4th they will deliver their recommendation that it is, and that the City should seriously consider pursuing this opportunity. We agree, and hope the City Council takes the next steps the Task Force recommends.

    (more…)

    Posted by

    davisite2

    on

    in

    , ,

    |

    No comments on The need for cheap, abundant, ultra-wide Internet bandwidth
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • Community Owned Fiber Optic Ring

    DavisGIGGUIDING PRINCIPLES

    By DavisGIG

    The community owned fiber optic project will meet many specific economic and connectivity objectives of its community partners. More importantly its design is guided by certain principles and community values and brings direct substantial benefits to Davis residents. These benefits are referenced from and included in the Feasibility Study Report (FSR), the phone survey, and the DavisGIG online poll. Some of the current needs that the network is designed to address are:

    1. Digital Inclusion – Currently in the marketplace there are areas where residents have no choice, or poor connectivity. There are three specific areas in Davis1 where only one wireline provider offers any service considered by the FCC to have “Broadband.”2 A community owned network that covers all parcels, and methodically expands to future parcels ensures that all residents, regardless of income level will be connected to the network.3

    2. Digital Divide – The network, which will connect to every parcel in the community, can ensure that all residents regardless of income level have at least minimal level of wireline broadband service without data caps or restrictive transfer allowances that come with cell phone plans. Municipal ownership will ensure, through operational policy or specific vendor lease relationships to the municipal fiber, that a low income plan is available.4 Davis residents strongly believe Internet access on the fiber network should be available to all.5

    (more…)

    Posted by

    davisite2

    on

    in

    , ,

    |

    No comments on Community Owned Fiber Optic Ring
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • The Sustainable Living and Learning Communities

    SLLCA future focused interdisciplinary institution grows from the deep roots of UC Davis’s alternative communities.

    By Annika Forester and Colin Walsh

    In the middle of Saturday afternoon at the 50th anniversary Whole Earth Festival a throng of die-hard festival goers left the UC Davis Quad and headed west. We gathered together with others at the Student Farm, a place on campus that showcases many of the values and ideals the Whole Earth Festival has celebrated for five decades. As special as the festival’s golden anniversary was, we were headed to something more important focused on the next 50 years.

    (more…)

    Posted by

    davisite

    on

    in

    |

    1 comment on The Sustainable Living and Learning Communities
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • Making Biking Convenient

    Is making driving worse our Bike-rack-1 only alternative?

    By Roberta Millstein

    When I read the Davis Enterprise op-ed on roads, driving, and biking last month (“Infrastructure, what is it good for?”), I was sympathetic.  After all, it does seem to make sense to call out the “operative principle” that “if only we make driving (or parking) inconvenient enough, then people will drive less, or slower, or somewhere else.”  Indeed, as the op-ed says, we surely don’t want to rejigger our roads and our parking spaces only to increase car traffic and cars idling if the goal is to reduce carbon emissions.

    But now I am not so sure.

    (more…)

    Posted by

    Roberta Millstein

    on

    in

    , , ,

    |

    24 comments on Making Biking Convenient
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • UC Temporarily Suspends Glyphosate-based Herbicides

    IMG-4152

    By Nancy Price

    On May 14th, 2019 Janet Napolitano, President of the University of California, sent a remarkable letter to the Chancellors of all UC campuses, the Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and the CEOs of all  the UC Medical centers announcing the “temporary suspension of the use of glyphosate-based herbicides.”

    Napolitano cited “concerns about possible human health and ecological hazards, as well as potential legal and reputational risks associated with this category of herbicides.”

    This may be a response to the mounting scientific research linking glyphosate to cancer, or it could just be that the UC system is worried about being named as a defendant in a glyphosate lawsuit like the three Monsanto/Bayer have lost over the last two years. The most recent lawsuit found Bayer responsible for damages of 2 billion dollars.

    (more…)

    Posted by

    davisite

    on

    in

    , , , ,

    |

    1 comment on UC Temporarily Suspends Glyphosate-based Herbicides
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • Surprise! It’s a Bike Party!

    Tunnel swirlBy Carey Ann Hunt

    As I biked through a wooded area on a path headed downtown from South Davis around sunset, I began hearing party music. The music and bright flashing party lights came quickly toward me and then zoomed right past. The speaker and lights were mounted to a bike and the rider was the leader of a long string of cyclists, many with brightly decorated and lit up bicycles. There were perhaps thirty of them that whizzed by me going in the opposite direction.

    One of the bikers caught my eye and said as he past, “Psst, you’re going the wrong direction! Turn around, it’s a bike party”! 

    (more…)

    Posted by

    davisite

    on

    in

    ,

    |

    1 comment on Surprise! It’s a Bike Party!
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • Honoring Dr. Thomas Cahill

    Cahill programA man whose outstanding science was matched by his humanity

    By Roberta Millstein

    On Saturday, a packed St. James Catholic Church paid their respects to one of Davis’s most esteemed and well-loved sons, Dr. Thomas Cahill, better known to his friends and family as “Tom.”

    Tom’s achievements were many; they are outlined in the obituary in the Davis Enterprise.  What most impresses me about his record was his dedication to doing science that mattered.  Trained as a nuclear astrophysicist, he quickly turned to the issue of air quality in California and was one of the small team that successfully advocated for the lead- and sulfur-free gasoline in the early 1970s.  His work on air quality continued throughout his career, even after his “retirement,” working on ultra-fine aerosols (including their impact on first-responders to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack) and aerosol impacts on global climate.

    A few years ago, I was visiting at another university and met another faculty member who worked on air quality.  I asked him if he had heard of Tom Cahill.  The answer?  “Of course, yes!  Tom is the person to talk to about air quality issues.”

    (more…)

    Posted by

    Roberta Millstein

    on

    in

    , , ,

    |

    9 comments on Honoring Dr. Thomas Cahill
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

  • Arroyo Zipline Opens

    fixFirefighters to lock it up at night

    By Colin Walsh

    The City of Davis Parks department delivered as promised and the Arroyo Zipline is back up and zipping. Even so the Change.org petition to reopen the zipline permanently has continued to gather signatures.

    This afternoon I found several Davis Parks employees restoring the zipline to operation. They reattached the swings and I witnessed them squirting large amounts of lubricant onto the tracks. Even Martin Jones, the Superintendent of Davis Parks, was there. They were smiling and clearly happy to be restoring the equipment.

    Interestingly, the lock up mechanism is no more than a beefy chain and pad lock. Jones described the lock down plan for me. A City Parks Employee will unlock the zipline every morning and a Davis Fire Department Employee will lock up the zipline every night.

    (more…)

    Posted by

    davisite

    on

    in

    |

    No comments on Arroyo Zipline Opens
    Davisite logo

    Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.