Month: August 2009

Guest Commentary: Welcome to Davis! – A Free-Burning, Toxic Wood Smoke Laboratory! Part II

Guest Commentary: Welcome to Davis! – A Free-Burning, Toxic Wood Smoke Laboratory! Part II

By David GreenwaldAugust 5, 200918 comments

woodburning.jpgby Alan Pryor –

Previously in Part I of this 2-part series, the general wood burning problem in Davis was discussed and a summary of the latest regrettable City Council decision was presented. Additionally, a detailed chronology of events from the initial Council discussions on the matter through the inception of the recent Cahill-Staff study was presented. This Part II continues with a discussion of the objectives and results of that study and further discusses recent discussions and decisions at the Council level (see Part I).
Fifth Street Project Could Get SACOG Money

Fifth Street Project Could Get SACOG Money

By David GreenwaldAugust 4, 200910 comments

The Davis City Council yesterday met during the morning for their annual August meeting before taking their annual August break.  Council is required to meet at least once per month.  The Council is scheduled to resume in just four weeks on September 1, 2009.  Ordinarily this meeting is ceremonial and has limited items, however this year, due to a backlog of items from last week, the council actually had items to discuss including possible funding for the Fifth Street project.

Members of the community came forward during the item to ask council to include 5th Street among the projects that they would seek money for.

Egghead: Healthcare for the Millennial Generation

Egghead: Healthcare for the Millennial Generation

By David GreenwaldAugust 4, 200932 comments

health-insuranceby Jack Zwald –

While moving back in with mom and dad may be mortifying, the real killer is that recent graduates may no longer have their healthcare covered by their parents or at low cost through the University. The author of this column himself is facing down the prospect of losing his healthcare in a couple of years for just the same reason.

What has been downplayed in the debate over the cost of healthcare and lost in the endless proposals is how this gap in coverage, that more and more young people are experiencing, is going to get patched up. President Obama’s plan articulated during the election campaign included provisions that kept children on their parent’s plan until age 25 and bolstered that with a robust public option. Those policies combined would do much to provide medical services to the young uninsured.

 

Guest Commentary: Welcome to Davis! – A Free-Burning, Toxic Wood Smoke Laboratory!

Guest Commentary: Welcome to Davis! – A Free-Burning, Toxic Wood Smoke Laboratory!

By David GreenwaldAugust 3, 200918 comments

woodburningby Alan Pryor –

Part I –

Two very different philosophies were shown and two very different regulatory actions toward restricting wood burning were taken by two otherwise very similar college towns in 2009 in Davis and Chico  as exemplified by the following quotes.

“I am really interested by this idea that Dr. Cahill could use Davis as a laboratory. I think this would make a tremendous contribution to mankind…This is the type of environmental leadership we are known for…I know this is frustrating to people who have health issues who want a ban right now but it is a sacrifice that might be able to help people later.”
Vanguard Response to Dunning

Vanguard Response to Dunning

By David GreenwaldAugust 3, 200939 comments

enterpThe following is the Vanguard’s response to Bob Dunning’s Sunday Column and has been submitted to the Davis Enterprise as a letter to the editor.

In his August 2nd Sunday column, Davis Enterprise Columnist Bob Dunning refers to the People’s Vanguard of Davis. We want to take the opportunity to introduce the community to The Vanguard and correct some possible misconceptions arising from Mr. Dunning’s column.

Late Meeting on Tuesday Was Entirely Avoidable

Late Meeting on Tuesday Was Entirely Avoidable

By David GreenwaldAugust 2, 2009159 comments
citycatOn Thursday, Davis Columnist Bob Dunning lamented the lateness of the Davis City Council Meeting which ran until nearly 2 am on Tuesday night.  He got it right when he suggested that late meetings compromise democracy.

In fact, I agree with much of what he had to say, although I do believe that ending a meeting at 10 pm is impractical given that councilmembers, or at least two of them, have 9 to 5 jobs meaning that on a regular basis starting a meeting at 5 pm is impractical.

 

State Takes 4.5 million dollars from Davis

State Takes 4.5 million dollars from Davis

By David GreenwaldAugust 1, 200913 comments
statecat.pngThe Sacramento Bee has launched a new database to show how much money the state’s new budget takes away from cities and counties.  Overall the state is taking away 2 billion dollars of direct money from cities and counties along with another 1.7 billion dollars from local redevelopment agencies this fiscal year.

During the budget agreement cities threatened lawsuits against the state if the state followed through with a suspension of Proposition 1A which was passed by the voters to prevent the state from raiding monies that are designated for cities and counties.  While the cities and counties were able to get a devastating take away from transportation funds, the state prevailed in taking monies from redevelopment and also Prop 1A.  Cities and counties are now in the position where they will have to decide whether or not to sue the state.