Plight of Mentally Ill Woman Illustrates the Shortcomings in Our System
Last year Davis Enterprise columnist Rich Rifkin wrote a piece that generated as much attention and criticism as any he has written. In his column, Mr. Rifkin describes a rather horrific and senseless crime, where an individual pulled out a knife and stabbed another individual without warning several times.
From that he picks his bone against the ACLU, arguing that the these stories are “the product of successful lawsuits decades ago by the ACLU that “freed” the mentally ill from psychiatric hospitals.”
As most who have traveled into the Davis Downtown know, 
In the third interview with a school board candidate, the Vanguard sat down to talk to Gina Daleiden, the local Davis High Graduate who was first elected to the board back in 2005. Given the challenges that lay ahead, Ms. Daleiden called this a critical time in our school district and said that she loves this school district and will work hard to keep the district on the right path despite the challenges.
We have spent a lot of time on these pages looking at issues like burden of proof and burden shifting, the overcharging by prosecutors, the overly-stringent and harsh mandatory sentencing laws, but for the average person who ends up in the system, the most likely outcome is some sort probation and a fine.
There are a couple of noteworthy editorials in this morning’s Sacramento Bee pertaining to the issue of pensions and state workers. I have long supported both unions and public employees. However, we have allowed, particularly at the local level, the pension system to run out of control. Local entities simply cannot support the rate and length of pension benefits, particularly to non-unionized upper management and those otherwise rank-and-file making over $100,000 per year.
The Vanguard sat down with Sheila Allen, who is finishing up her first term on the Davis School Board and will be running for re-election this fall. Sheila Allen’s time on the board has been tumultuous, as she has served now with four different Superintendents since 2005, and lived through school closings, pink slips, budget cuts and huge numbers of late night meetings.
By E. Roberts Musser – 
Tomorrow night, another opportunity for the Davis City Council to work to begin to forestall the budget crisis in the city will slip by as they continue to vacation. Many area residents will undoubtedly not be able to afford to vacation this year as the region continues to suffer from high unemployment, furloughs and other cutbacks that will make money scarce, forcing many who still have employment to continue to work.
At a time when teachers and schools are being cut to the bone, the Governor’s idea of taking $65 million out of the state’s general fund to construct a new wing with 1152 beds for San Quentin’s death row is drawing fire from newspapers and columnists across the state.
I have read a couple of commentaries opposed to Proposition 19 which would legalize marijuana in California. As I read these things, I wonder if people really understand the extent to which drug laws clog up our court system and make it difficult to deal with more serious crimes. For the cost of incarcerating one individual in California for one year, we can put perhaps two people into residential treatment for two years each. To me that seems not only more cost-effective, but it seems more effective.
by Adrienne Kandel – 
On 
Earlier this week, the Davis Downtown Business Association released Five Downtown Action Items for Davis. These ideas are conceptual and the DDBA is seeking considerable community discussion and feedback about them.