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  • Top epidemiologist leaves Yolo County …….

    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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  • Letter: Safely re-opening schools in the near future

    The following letter was sent to the Principal of Emerson Junior High School on February 12, 2021

    Dear Ms. Kennedy,

    I am the parent of a 13 year old boy in Emerson J. High School.

    He has been stuck at home or in my law office since March, using Zoom, almost completely isolated from his school and other friends.

    I think the DJUSD has done its best to provide some minimal education to its students and to keep them safe during one of the worst pandemic periods in a hundred years. The fact that Davis' infection and death rates are so low is testimony to how the community has handled the emergency. Thank you for your and the teacher and staff and Board's good efforts. Congratulations to all of you.

    However, have you seen the new CDC Recommendations that came out today as to re-opening schools?

    I think if the DJUSD immediately reviews and adopts those guidelines, our schools can be safely reopened in the very near future, not late spring or even next fall, as it currently looks like the plan is going to be.

    May I ask you to refer this email to the Board, Administrator, General Counsel, and President of the DTA for review and comment?

    I hope our District will immediately and seriously consider an updated plan for safely re-opening our schools as soon as possible, but not later than the end of spring break.

    Thank you,

    Michael J. Harrington
    michael@mikeharringtonlaw.com

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  • Community Celebrates Longtime Local Columnist

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    Bob Dunning writes “The Wary I” column for The Davis Enterprise. Davis Enterprise/Courtesy photo

    (From press release) He’s spent the past 51 years chronicling life in Davis, sharing his opinions, prompting us to examine ours and reflecting on all that makes this town the special place it is.

    Now, it’s Davis’ turn to show its admiration and respect for Bob Dunning with a springtime celebration in honor of his 51 years at The Davis Enterprise.

    Dunning was hired by The Enterprise on Jan. 27, 1970, as a sports writer, and he remembers being terrified of deadlines as he sat down at his typewriter that first day on the job. Now, tens of thousands of deadlines later, he confesses that he never really wanted to be a journalist but admits that he wouldn’t trade his time in newspapers for anything.

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  • Finance Expert Joins Valley Clean Energy Staff

    Edward Burnham(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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  • SCORE! Yolo County gets $10.4 in COVID money! And the Health Council meets tomorrow…..

    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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  • Supervisor Provenza announces restaurant fee waiver program in Yolo County

    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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  • Debrief on Debris in the Bike Lane?

    IMG_20210203_073619

    South-bound Pole Line just south of East Covell. Convenient to pick-up, not so convenient for people who want to use the lane
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    An hour earlier – most bikes are not equipped with headlights and the person on a bike might not see it.

    UPDATE: The piles I've described in this post which were on or near the East Covell corridor have been removed. There are some others in the bike lane on Loyola between the entrance to Korematsu Elementary and Alhambra, and still nothing either here or in general to communicate to people driving motor vehicles that people on bikes may deviate from the bike lanes….

    *****

    Last week's storm was the worst in ten years by many accounts, with serious damage to trees and property, a significant loss of perishable food and other problems caused by lack of power.

    Obviously city staff, private contractors and others had their work cut out for them and certainly we applaud their efforts, though many cheered PG&E field staff and they pooped on their bosses (and shareholders).

    From what I saw, arterial streets in Davis were cleared for the most part by January 28th, the day after the storms mostly ended. When out then to photograph the weird non-standard lane design on Lake at Russell I passed the dangerousafety radar speed sign on East Covell Blvd. that I blogged about last week.

    I noticed that street sweepers had made at least two passes on the traffic lanes of East Covell, because there was a consistent line of debris that started a  foot or two into the bike lane from the number two lane. I noticed the same, um, edging on other arteries.

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  • A local public health and medical hero, Dr. Michael Wilkes, departs the Yolo County Health Council

    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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  • Better main shot cropped_REDCity is blocking bike lanes?

    The City of Davis' only response to recent crashes in the vicinity of Pole Line Road and East Covell Blvd has thus far been Enforcement1. Actively, the Davis Police Department has been monitoring some locations in the area.  Passively, the City has placed a radar speed sign on WB East Covell between Manzanita and Baywood Streets, right about here.

    Why is the radar speed sign in the bike lane? The City places similar signs – and they and private contractors place various construction signs – off to the side on streets when there's space to do so, so they clearly understand the advantage of doing so. But when there's no space, they place the signs on the side of the street, and on most collectors and arterial streets in Davis this means it's in a bike lane.

    "Putting a radar feedback sign on Covell to invite drivers to slow down: good. Putting a sign in bike lane: not good," says Nicolas Fauchier-Magnan, the President of Bike Davis, who usually goes by Nico.

    "Obstructing the bike lane, on a street where drivers routinely go 50 mph or more is simply irresponsible. 

    "Come on, City of Davis," continues Nico. "You should know better, and you can do better. Please fix this terrible blunder before someone gets hurt. There is plenty of space on the grass, outside of the bike lane, to safely place this sign."

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  • Nuclear weapons are illegal

    By Sarah Pattison

    On Jan. 22, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force and becomes part of the canon of international law, after it was ratified by the required 50 states. According to Article 1 of the Treaty, states party to the Treaty are prohibited under any circumstances from any of the following activities:

    1. Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;
    2. Transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices directly or indirectly;
    3. Receive the transfer of or control over nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices directly or indirectly;
    4. Use or threaten to use nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;
    5. Assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;
    6. Seek or receive any assistance, in any way, from anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;
    7. Allow any stationing, installation or deployment of any nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices in its territory or at any place under its jurisdiction or control.

    Because the United States has neither signed nor ratified the treaty, it does not have the force of law in this country. But the treaty was approved by 122 nations in 2017, and has since been signed by 86 nations and ratified by 51. It is a clear reflection of the frustration and impatience of non-nuclear nations with nuclear weapons states that have failed to fulfill the promise they made “in good faith” in the Nonproliferation Treaty in 1970 to negotiate the cessation of the arms race and complete disarmament “at an early date.” While our country and other nuclear weapons states may attempt to sidestep the legal force of the Treaty, we cannot avoid the compelling moral power it carries.

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