Northern California 60s legend Gary Lee Yoder, of The Oxford Circle, Kak and Blue Cheer, passed away this weekend from numerous health complications. His friend Alec Palao remembers one of the coolest rockers around.

It’s not easy to explain why Gary Yoder was, and is, important. As nonchalant as the man could be, he had that intangible quality that is the sign of true artistry. Gary wrote simple but effective songs and delivered them with disarming confidence and a most soulful set of pipes. A Yoder tune could wistfully ponder ‘I’ve Got Time’, vent full-on hormonal rage in ‘Foolish Woman’, or play the psychedelic nudge-and-wink in ‘Lemonaide Kid.’ His vocal personae could snarl like Burdon or Morrison, extrude vowels like Dylan, or mimic the gentle cadence of Donovan. But these were influences, not imitations: Gary Yoder had very much his own style, and he remains one of those talents whom for whatever reason never made the transition to the big time. Instead, his legacy centres around his role as founder member of two legendary and distinctly different cult acts, time spent resuscitating a San Francisco rock institution, and a subsequent career that saw four decades of solid work as a much respected solo act and bandleader in his hometown of Davis, California.

An army brat who had spent his youngest years in Germany, Japan and various parts of the United States, Yoder ended up in Davis in 1961 when his father got a job at UC Davis. As a musician, he started with the expected folk music, but having always loved rock, he formulated a band together after graduating high school with pals Jim Keylor, Dehner Patten and Paul Whaley. This was The Hide-Aways, who soon shifted from small Davis gigs to take on the much more competitive group scene in nearby Sacramento, where surf was king. “We never did any Beach Boys or any of that kind of crap,” Gary told me. “We played Chuck Berry!” The quartet was equally fired by the British Invasion, and especially the rough soul of groups like the Animals, Yardbirds and Them. By the beginning of 1966 they had become The Oxford Circle, named for the girls’ dorm on the UC campus, and an appellation more than appropriate for the unit’s Anglophilic predilections.

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By Ron Oertel

I've recently learned that the “Davis Vanguard” is not a safe place in which to comment, unless you don’t mind experiencing doxing in violation of the Vanguard’s own policies, which are further discussed below.

When I first started commenting (several years ago), “real” names were not even required.  Some suspected that more than one fake name/account was used, by some individual commenters.  I have always used my real name, and added my last name when the Vanguard changed its policy to require full names.

However, no one “signed-up” for doxing as a result of that change in commenting requirements.  Perhaps this result is predictable on a political blog in which moderation occurs “after” posting of comments – if at all.

In any case, the Vanguard is also a place to avoid if you don’t like having your comments labeled as racist by those intending to discredit others (which I’ve learned to laugh about).  You can see a recent example of the latter responded to here,  from the same commenter who is being defended by the Vanguard in regard to violating their own policies.  So, if the doxing doesn’t discourage you from challenging the Vanguard, perhaps having your comments labeled as “racist” will.

Perhaps it’s not a “coincidence” that the commenter whose name-calling and doxing attempts (also) repeatedly attacks me in regard to development issues that the Vanguard supports.  But this article isn’t primarily about having comments called “racist”, and the example above occurred after I decided to write this article.  Nor is it actually about the commenter himself – it’s about how the Vanguard administers its own policies, especially when its views are challenged.

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Photo of Building on 4th and G

From the Hattie Weber Museum
Submitted by museum volunteer, Aaron Wedra

Digging through historic records, our museum staff came across a great photo of a brick building built around 1868 in what is now downtown Davis.

The building was located at the corner of Fourth and G Streets, formerly Third and Olive (see map of Davisville below).

Original town plat of Davisville, 1868 (redrawn in 1968)

The building served as the post office, bank, store and general meeting place for community members.

It has been said that it was once owned by William Dresbach, Davisville's first postmaster in 1868. The building is said to have lost its usefulness over time, until it stood vacant and was razed from the ground, condemned as unsafe in 1926.

Thanks to John O. and Lillian Rowe for donating a copy of this historic photo to the Davis Historical and Landmarks commission in 1973.

Information for this post was collected from Phyllis Haig’s Portraits of the Past Collection, which contains clippings of articles written by Joann Leach Larkey and published in the Davis Enterprise from 1969-1973 as a supplement to the book Davisville ’68: the History and Heritage of the City of Davis, Yolo County, California (1968).

Come visit the Hattie Weber Museum, open every Saturday from 10am to 4pm, located at the corner of Central Park at 445 C Street in downtown Davis.

I was greatly disturbed to learn that the Planning Commission has given Sutter Davis Hospital the green light to remove 205 mature trees from its parking lots, ostensibly to make room for solar panels. While producing renewable energy is critically important, it does not need to be done at the expense of existing trees, which have been providing shade, habitat and health-promoting natural beauty for years. Instead Sutter should demonstrate responsible environmental leadership by installing solar panels on its abundant flat rooftops and other largely treeless sections of its property. The City Council should reject the Planning Commission's blanket approval of this misguided project, about which neither the Tree Commission nor Tree Davis were consulted, and insist that this and all future proposals of this type receive robust public review and discussion. 

by Lili Ma

Courtesy Sonoma Independent

PG&E’s sudden July 21 announcement to initiate what it called a Marshall Plan level effort to spend more than $15 billion to bury 1,000 miles of fire-causing overhead power lines a year for ten years marked a stark reversal of the utility giant’s argument that such an effort would be impossibly expensive. 

Potential liability for the Dixie Fire prompted the company’s recently hired CEO, Patricia “Patti” Poppe, to unveil the plan.“We know that we have long argued that undergrounding was too expensive,” Chief Executive Patti Poppe said. “This is where we say it’s too expensive not to underground. Lives are on the line.”

The announcement came two months after the Sonoma Independent, allied with the Davis Community Vision Alliance, launched a grassroots Bury Power Lines Now! Campaign.

The effort began with this article in the Sonoma Independent describing how climate change-induced high winds, hot weather and drought have caused overhead power lines in a relatively tiny area of the state to spark four of the six most destructive fires in the state since 2017.

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UC Berkeley just agreed to pay $86 Million for impacts on the City of Berkeley.

UC Davis, in comparison, agreed to contribute significantly less to the City of Davis –  $2.2 million, mostly in city and county transit infrastructure and analysis in 2018.

By Colin Walsh

Davis and UC Davis are like sister cities with a razor thin border drawn between them that runs the path of the old Lincoln Highway – 1st street, A Street and Russell Blvd. Each side of the line has its own police department, fire department, administration, and tax implications. But, what happens on one side of the imaginary line has impacts and repercussions on the other side.

No tax revenues flow from UC Davis to the City of Davis.

So what are the impacts of the 40,000 UC Davis students on Davis? What are the impacts of having o the fifth largest employers in California nestled in close with just an imaginary dividing line? What are the impacts of UC Davis’s 23,000+ faculty and staff?

It was announced last month that the City of Berkeley is to receive $86 million in a settlement to pay for the impacts from a “construction project on the northeast edge of campus” and “continued increases in UC Berkeley enrollment. The money will be paid “over the next 16 years to cover the city’s added costs in police and fire safety and other services.” (link)

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By Eileen Samitz

Yolo County Spay and Neuter Group (YCSNG) is asking for donations to help make a dream come true.  A dream that will help the entire community!

Yolo County Spay and Neuter Group is a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal welfare organization and is solely donation based and volunteer run. 100% of all funds raised go to animal care and welfare and offers a variety of services including trap-neuter-return for community cats ensuring health and welfare, low cost spay/neuter for both feral and rescue cats and dogs, and adoptions for animals that otherwise would remain abandoned or be euthanized. In 2020 YCSNG adopted out over 200 animals to loving, forever homes!

From its inception, a primary goal of the organization has been to own and operate its own low-cost mobile spay/neuter clinic.

It is exciting that this dream can now become reality with the help of community members! The organization is asking the public to help by donating monetary contributions (see how below).  The group’s leadership has identified a fully functional, well stocked, mobile veterinary vehicle that is for sale for $180,000. This fundraiser is time-sensitive because the agreement to secure the funding was limited to 90 days and there are 75 days remaining and complete the purchase, so donations are needed as soon as possible.

The clinic would be open at least three days a week, and it would be used to spay or neuter up to 30 animals a day. “This type of fully equipped unit is uniquely challenging to locate.  This is especially true for one that, like the one we have been offered, is reasonably priced and in excellent condition,” explained Amanda Hartman the YCSNG Board President.  “There is such an overwhelming need for reliable low-cost services.  The health and well-being of the entire region would benefit if we can get more dogs and cats spayed and neutered. This mobile unit is crucial to making that goal a reality.”

To make a tax-deductible donation please make your check to “Yolo County Spay/Neuter Clinic”, and mail your check to:

Yolo County Spay/Neuter Group
P.O Box 577
Woodland, CA 95776

Or donate on-line via:

1)  PayPal email ycfspayneuter@gmail.com 

Or

2) Venmo-Amanda-hartman-40 (with last digits of phone number 6585)

For more information, please see our website at ycfspayneuter.com or contact Amanda Hartman at (530) 383-6585 or email ycfspayneuter@gmail.com