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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.

  • Regenerative agriculture and the role of UC Davis

    Ministries-for-the-futureBy Roberta Millstein

    Yesterday, I attended a wonderful event on the UC Davis campus.  The purpose of the event was to celebrate the new Environmental Humanities Designated Emphasis at UC Davis, and it brought together in conversation two renowned scholars, Donna Haraway (a Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department and Feminist Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz) and Kim Stanley Robinson (an award-winning science fiction author who lives in Davis; the title of the event, “Ministries for the Future,” is also the title of one of Robinson’s recent books).  It was a wide-ranging, fascinating conversation – so popular that it was literally standing room only – that I can’t begin to summarize here (but you can watch online). 

    Instead, I want to highlight two important and related points that Robinson made: one was about the purpose of the University of California and one was about regenerative agriculture.[1]

    (more…)

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  • Don’t lose the opportunity for housing at University Mall site

    By David J Thompson

    Without a doubt, the University Mall site will be the greatest lost opportunity for housing in Davis in this ten year RHNA cycle. At 14+ acres, no other site presents the capacity for affordable housing as does University Mall. In terms of a real (not imagined) site that the developer wishes to re-develop, the closest proximity to the UCD campus of any site, the opportunity to reduce student traffic, an option to swap parking spaces for housing, with thoughtful site planning an ability to accommodate additional stories of housing, a valuable site for affordable housing, the possibilities are endless and the benefits accrue to many of us that envision the future projects that Davis must foster. 

    There will be no bigger loss to Davis’s needed future if a retail only plan is the regretful permanent outcome. There is no other site within Davis that provides such immediate and real value for the changes we need in land use.

    However, it seems like Brixmor is intent on replacing a mall with a mall. In this era which requires a radical rethinking of city planning can we really be so bankrupt of options that a redone mall is the only outcome? We need big changes where we have big opportunities. So the City must turn down the Brixmor plan.

    What could change the outcome?

    1. The City should pause the application process and enter into negotiations with Brixmor as to the best way for the City and the neighborhood to achieve a mixed use project. Every reasonable effort and inducement by the City should be looked at to encourage Brixmor to withdraw this present application and return with a mixed use application.
    2. Could the City use eminent domain to obtain the site for a housing only proposal that would eliminate the parking structures needed for the commercial site and replace it with housing? Repurposed as just housing at 40 units per acre the site can accommodate 560 apartments of which at 20% around 112 units would be affordable. The most ever affordable units in the history of Davis.

    What an achievement that could be for the Davis future many of us want to build.

    To the Planning Commission and City Council I ask you to pursue anything except a re-done mall.

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  • Davis youth represents in the Global Day of Climate Action

    Climate-march

    (From press release) On Friday, youth in Davis walked out of school to make their voices heard! On this Global Day of Climate Action, during a time when hundreds of thousands of youth marched for climate justice Davis youth joined them. Youth from Davis Senior High School, UCD Davis as well as adult allies of Fridays For Future Davis and Davis community members joined together to demand climate action and the end to fossil financing.

    Youth climate activists and organizers Eliot Larson, Mattias RowenBale and Desmond Beach led the march from E 14th & B Street down to Central Park where youth participated in a die-in. Youth between the ages of 13 and 25 years old staged a ‘death from climate change’ as a visual example of what will happen if our leaders continue down a path of inaction. 

    Die-in

    After the die-in youth were invited to speak and share their thoughts, concerns and hopes with the Davis community. There were powerful speeches and heart wrenching calls for action demanding our world and local leaders take action today.

    We were then led in song by freshman at UCD, Sam Saxe-Taller who brought our voices together as one before we gathered for a round table discussion with Davis City Council members Gloria Partida and Bapu Vaitla. Ms. Partida and Mr. Vaitla were led by youth in productive and inclusive conversation  discussing proactive ways the community can come together to fight the climate crisis as well as listening to the concerns of youth in this uncertain time.

    Going forward, Fridays For Future Davis will continue to strike every Friday at the corner of 5th and B Street from nooin-1. Today was their 176th week of striking on Fridays.

    A huge thank you to the many organizations and adult allies who join Fridays For Future Davis to help make this Global Climate Strike possible in Davis. And congratulations to all of the youth who bravely stepped up to take action!

     

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  • Gather for Good at downtown bars month

    Lavender-cocktail-1-10-removebg-preview

    The nonalcoholic Live Your Dream Lavender Lemonade, being served by Woodstock's Pizza all month

    (From press release) Soroptimist International of Davis celebrates Women’s History Month with a series of fundraisers at downtown bars and restaurants.

    Downtown venues will designate a day in March to donate a portion of proceeds to the service club, which is part of a global volunteer movement to educate and empower women and girls. At some locations, patrons will have the chance to order special drinks for the occasion, but proceeds from all sales will benefit the service club. No flyer is necessary but please mention the fundraiser when you order.

    So far, venues include:

    • Three Mile Brewing on Wednesday, March 8. For International Women’s Day, the brewery, at 231 G St., Suite 3, will donate a portion of all sales to SI Davis. Hours are 4 to 10 p.m.
    • Woodstock’s Pizza, 238 G St., will donate a portion of proceeds from food and drink sales on Wednesday, March 22, from 5 to 9 p.m. It will also offer a special nonalcoholic Live Your Dream Lavender Lemonade this month to celebrate. Orders must be dine-in or pickup. Please mention the fundraiser.
    • Sophia’s Thai Kitchen and Bar will join in on Wednesday, March 29, from  4 p.m. to midnight. It’s at 129 E St., Suite E. Donations will come from food and beverage sales at the restaurant and bar.

    If you’d like to add your downtown restaurant or bar to the Gather for Good event this month, email Maggie Memmott at sidavis@soroptimist.net. Watch @soroptimistdavis on Facebook and Instagram, especially the tags #GatherforGood2023 for updates.

    SI Davis offers cash Live Your Dream Awards to female heads of household seeking education or training, and assists King High students through its Dream It, Be It: Career Support for Girls program. It also funds high school scholarships, grants to nonprofits that align with the Soroptimist mission, and anti-trafficking efforts.

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  • Council Election Forum Coming March 29

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    (From press release) Join the League of Women Voters Davis Area and Davis Media Access for a candidates’ forum for the upcoming Davis City Council election for a new representative from District 3.

    The free Zoom event will be held from 7 to 8:15 p.m. March 29. District 3 represents residents in Central Davis. The elected councilmember will replace Lucas Frerichs, who was elected to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors in November. The all-mail ballot special election will be held May 2.

    The forum will feature candidates Donna Neville and Francesca Wright. Local LWV board member Michele Van Eyken will moderate the event.

    Audience members will be able to submit questions before and during the forum. To submit a question before the forum email your question to info@lwvdavisarea.org.

    The LWV is a non-partisan organization committed to voter registration and education. To learn more about the League and to sign up to this event, go to: www.lwvdavisarea.org.

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  • Culture Wars in Education: March 12 Forum

    (From press release) Culture wars have been waged for decades in the U.S. but recently the battlefield has shifted dramatically to schools and education. Transgender children in school bathrooms and sports, critical race theory, the history of slavery, College Board AP course on African American history – – why are these topics suddenly so salient and controversial? What are the bounds of academic freedom and who decides school curriculum? We will explore these questions at the Contemporary Issues Forum at the Davis United Methodist Church on Sunday, March 12. The discussion will be led by Marty West, professor emerita from the UCD Law School. Marty also served on the Davis Board of Education for eight years. Come with an open mind to explore culture wars March 12 at 11:15 at Davis United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road.

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  • Free Tree Circus show at Davis Central Park, March 11th, 11:45am

    (From press release) You’ll never look at trees the same. Join Tree Davis and their friends from Tree Circus at 11:45am on California Arbor Day, Saturday, March 11 at Central Park to see the award-winning TreeCircus perform. The City of Davis has graciously agreed to sponsor the event at the park.

    Tree Circus members, Chad Brey – Two time North American Tree Climbing Champion, and TreeCircus arborist, Grayson Keating – TreeCircus naturalist and the first Naturalist at NC’s Gorges State Park. And, modern-day Johnny Appleseed, Tim Womick, is ringmaster.

    TreeCircus asks the question, “What do trees give us?“ And fast-paced hilarity and science collide to help audiences better understand the role trees play in our daily lives. Young and old alike delight in humorous TreeCircus antics. Trees are the oldest, hardest working members of most communities and shown to help urban residents live longer, happier, and healthier. “TREECIRCUS / TREESCIENCE / TREEFUN.”

    The Tree Circus show is a part of an all-day event sponsored by the Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, starting with a tour and discussion at the State Capitol Arboretum, a bike ride across the causeway, and a tour of Davis Great Trees lead by Tree Davis Board President, Dr. Greg McPherson.

    Dr. McPherson will be leading another Davis Great Trees Bike Tour on April 29th. Those interested in participating can learn more on the Tree Davis website and social media channels.

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  • HOPE Resource Fair on March 4th!

    HOPE Fair + Drive FlyerHOPE@Davis is a student-run organization dedicated to supporting the underserved houseless population in Davis.  On March 4th (from 2pm – 4pm), we are holding a Resource Fair and plan to distribute supplies and resources at the Davis Community Church on 412 C Street, Davis, CA 95616.

    If you would like to help out with this resource fair and want to learn more about it, feel free to take a look at our flyer, attached to this post, and email us at hopeatdavis@gmail.com

    Currently, HOPE@Davis is accepting donations for the resource fair. We accept all kinds of supplies and resources, such as clothes, hygiene products, and more! Please keep in mind we plan to stop collecting donations this Thursday so we can organize all our supplies for this weekend's resource fair.

    For more info, see: https://hopeatdavis.org/

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  • Davis must grow up, not out

    By Judy Corbett, Robert Thayer, Stephen Wheeler and James Zanetto

    The Feb. 5 Davis Enterprise article stating that the City Council will examine ways of pre-approving housing developments on sites at the periphery of Davis in order to meet the city’s long-term “regional housing needs” allocation runs counter to the entire momentum of urban development economics and city finance.

    It is well known that by building dense, vital downtowns, with multi-story housing and walkable amenities, cities may not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but actually build more positive property tax flows. Building at the periphery does the exact opposite by reducing income per acre from property taxes while increasing infrastructure maintenance including roads, water, sewers, flood control, street trees, police, fire and garbage collection.

    Jeff Speck, author of “Walkable City Rules,” (Island Press, 2018) states that “communities that fund infrastructure with an eye to long-term return will invest in compact, mixed-use development — especially in historic districts — and not in sprawl.”

    Beginning with the 1974 “Costs of Sprawl,” considerable research studies have shown that dense urban areas return far more revenue per acre than peripheral, auto-oriented development; the former actually subsidize the latter. (See the case studies website of Urban3: https://www.urbanthree.com/case-study/ )

    Since the new Davis Downtown Plan addresses this, at least in the short term we need to avoid peripheral development that does not pay for its own ultimate financial impact on a wide range of city services. Portland, Ore., and the smaller California cities of Pasadena, Petaluma, Hercules and Lodi are examples of communities where the advantages of building strong downtowns can be observed today.

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  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – March 2023

    image from www.sparkysonestop.com

    March, like February, starts early at Al's Corner.  We'll start off trashing the Davis Vanguard, as common a theme on Al's Corner as housing articles on the Davis Vanguard.  Recently posted:

    Walter Shwe February 26, 2023 at 6:00 pm

    Has anyone at Davis Vanguard lately tried to comment on an article or replied to a prior comment on an iPhone? The experience is atrocious. Articles always load slowly except late at night. Ads interfere with the top page buttons, particularly the Login button. Most importantly to you the Donate button is inaccessible. Earlier today I had to login by first tapping the Register button. Will anyone at Davis Vanguard ever fix these frustrating issues? I realize that ads help pay for site costs, but this is simply ridiculous.

    Moderator February 26, 2023 at 6:26 pm

    We’ll forward this comment to the webmaster and then remove it in a few hours. Thanks for your feedback.

    Funny, myself and I believe RO and KO all pointed out that since the Vanguard added Newsy and other advertising that it has become an annoying, almost unusable piece of sh*t, and most especially on a phone, where you might as well drop your phone in the toilet and flush.  But no, we were ignored.  Maybe because we also, in not so many words, or maybe in so many words, also called the content of the DV sh*t also.   But hey, you should listen to your critics, because we know what is best for you.  But no, y'all wait until a fan-of-the- blog points out the very same thing.  Good going.

    And one bit of housekeeping to our thousands or hundreds or tens or single-digits or negative-number of fans:  In February we ran over the previously-unknown-to-me 100 comment limit.  This caused a "Page 2" to be created that many did not find, and missed brilliant commentary.  To find Page 2, either dig up the corpse of Paul Harvey, or scroll to the bottom of Page 1 and click on the "Newer >>>" button.   Yeehaw

    Happy Early March Everyone!  Happy Easter!  Happy Passover!  Happy Good Friday, if that is a happy holy day otherwise maybe a solemn one!  And then there are other holidays for all the people of the world and I am now going to list them all and celebrate all of them . . . or not!

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