October 2011 - Page 4 of 4

Jury Convicts Topete On All Charges and Special Circumstances, Setting Up Death Penalty Phase

By David GreenwaldOctober 5, 201114 comments

Topete-Defense To the surprise of no one, the Yolo County jury charged with deciding the guilt phase of the Marco Topete case came back in less than a day and convicted Mr. Topete on all charges, special circumstances and enhancements.

Those convictions include first degree murder for the 2008 shooting death of Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Diaz, with four special circumstances – murdering a peace officer, murder in order to avoid arrest, lying in wait and a gang special circumstance. He also faced an enhancement for the use of the gun to commit murder.

Council Will Study Parking, Tackle Low-Hanging Fruit, Before Proceeding With Huge Parking Project

By David GreenwaldOctober 5, 201151 comments

The issue of the parking garage to be built with redevelopment money was pushed back, at least temporarily, as the council passed staff recommendations to implement focused parking and access improvements in the downtown, commission streetscape improvement and return to council by the end of 2012 with an updated comprehensive utilization analysis and conceptual plans for downtown streetscape improvements and preliminary designs for the mixed-use structure in the 34EF block.

However, Councilmember Stephen Souza’s motion to include the staff recommendation to continue with design efforts for a mixed-use structure on the city parking lot in the 34EF block died for lack of a second, as Rochelle Swanson sat out the discussion due to a conflict because of her husband’s downtown business interests.

City Does Not Believe a Variance is the Answer to Water Issue

By David GreenwaldOctober 4, 201197 comments

In the continuing debate on water, that has now extended beyond the Prop 218 process and moved into a period of signature-gathering for a potential referendum or initiative, the issue of applying for a variance has surfaced as critical.

Councilmember Sue Greenwald has expressed disappointment that the council did not at least second her motion to look into getting a variance from the state in order to delay the necessity of the project, to give the city more flexibility as it works out the costs of the project.

Topete Trial Goes to the Jury in the Guilt Phase

By David GreenwaldOctober 4, 201134 comments

Analysis of Closing Arguments Part One: Prosecution and Defense’s Discrediting the Gang Charges

After over three years of waiting, and months of trial, the case of Marco Topete accused of the shooting death of Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy, Tony Diaz, finally went to the jury. And while the odds may be clearly stacked against the defendant in this case, his defense made a surprisingly strong case for second degree murder.

Mr. Topete faces, among his seven charges, murder in the first degree with four special circumstances – murdering a peace officer, murder in order to avoid arrest, lying in wait and a gang special circumstance. He also faces an enhancement for the use of the gun to commit murder.

Davis Bicycles! Respond on Parking Garage

By uptownstudiosOctober 4, 201136 comments

by Steve Tracy

Davis Bicycles! began to survey the two parking structures downtown last March so the community could have a respectful and well-informed discussion about the need for more parking supply, particularly very expensive additional supply in a third structure. A few members of our organization’s Board set out to collect some data. Most of our counts until September were done when we were downtown for miscellaneous errands, shopping, eating, going to movies, or for other entertainment. In other words, times we might be looking for parking spaces for our own cars except we were generally on our bicycles.

We continued taking counts for a few weeks in the spring, until the decision was made to proceed and sell bonds, with the new parking structure set to consume the lion’s share of the available funding.

Firefighters Union Targets Struggling Westlake Market in Retribution For Advertising on the Vanguard

By David GreenwaldOctober 3, 201157 comments

Westlake Market has been struggling to stay afloat in a tough economy as a small neighborhood grocery store. Those hopes have been dealt a blow, as they became victims of an unknown boycott by the Davis Firefighters union.

The Vanguard, while making a routine public records request, stumbled upon an email dated June 28, 2011, from Eric Nelson of DANG (Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Grocers) to Mayor Joe Krovoza and Mayor Pro Tem Rochelle Swanson, alerting them that Union President Bobby Weist had instructed the firefighters “union to not shop at Westlake because Westlake had run an ad on the Vanguard website.”

Davis Suffers First Murder Since 2004

By David GreenwaldOctober 3, 20112 comments

According to a report from the Davis Police Department, on Saturday, Davis Police officers were dispatched to 945 J Street, an apartment in the College Square Apartments on J Street, to a report of a dead body.

Upon arrival, officers found that the victim, a 42-year-old male, was deceased on his bedroom floor.

Closing Statements Begin in the Topete Trial Today

By David GreenwaldOctober 3, 20119 comments

The Topete trial’s guilt phase will likely end today as both the prosecution and defense are expected to give their closing statements.

Last week brought an interesting twist, as Marco Topete unexpectedly pondered whether or not to testify on his own behalf. His defense attorneys were clearly caught off guard by the possibility of their client testifying.

Sunday Commentary: A Look into an Unseemly Election Battle For Judge

By David GreenwaldOctober 2, 201115 comments

There is just something not right about an election involving judicial candidates. Part of the problem is that judges by their nature should not exercise their opinions, they should be listeners and they should take steps to make sure that the law is being followed and that all sides are given a fair chance to present their perspective.

I bring this up, because what is emerging in Yolo County is a full-on pitched battle between the bench and the prosecutor’s office.

New Davis City Council Candidate Seeks to Bring Fresh Ideas To the Council

By David GreenwaldOctober 2, 201144 comments

Davis has its first candidate for June of 2012’s City Council Campaign. Brett Lee announced his candidacy in front of the US Bicycling Hall of Fame National Bike Museum on Third and B in Davis.

“I am running for city council because Davis faces some serious challenges ahead,” Brett Lee told a group of supporters on Saturday morning. “I believe my work experience and background uniquely puts me in a position to help find solutions to our challenges while maintaining the character and values of our town.”

Commentary: Is the Choice Between Evil Large Companies and Higher Water Rates?

By David GreenwaldOctober 1, 201128 comments

Can We Be Both Cost Conscious and Socially Responsible? And what if we cannot?

The Vanguard yesterday met for nearly two hours with city staff and Mayor Krovoza on the water issue. There will likely be follow-up meetings, as well. The Vanguard’s focus at this meeting was not in rehashing the debate so far, but in trying to understand the process moving forward.

One of the big issues that is in progress now, and will become larger as it moves forward, is with the DBO process of accepting and evaluating bids.

Commentary: City Needs to Slow Down on Parking Garage and Fix Other Parking Issues in the Downtown

By David GreenwaldOctober 1, 201138 comments

The city council this week is doing what it should have done to begin with, evaluating the entire downtown parking landscape. Some interesting ideas and directions arose out of the staff report, that suggests perhaps the opposite conclusion than they intended – wait and see how parking develops as other critical changes are implemented.

At the same time, an editorial from the Davis Enterprise this week demonstrates a critical misunderstanding of the nature of the funding, which, while well-intentioned, pushes policies in the wrong direction.

Month: October 2011