I caught Bob Dunning’s column this morning, in which he gave press to some guy name Greg who is ranting about a representative government that represents nobody. He is speaking of the Davis City Council.
This Thursday at King Hall, John Thompson, who spent 14 years on death row before he was exonerated one month before his scheduled execution, based on the prosecution’s withholding of exculpatory evidence during trial, will speak at King Hall and discuss his experiences with the criminal justice system.
For whatever reason, this seemed a good day to launch a new feature that may or may not become a regular feature. These are some more or less random musings that really did not make for a good full column…
At a November 10 open house, PG&E acknowledged that there had been 42 gas leaks in its distribution lines since 2006 in the Stonegate subdivision in west Davis.
One of the most poignant parts of the recent county realignment discussion was when Debra Shelton, who works for CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) as an educator, talked about Marco Topete and the fact that we simply failed to provide him with the resources he needed to be able to survive on the outside.
When the new council was elected last June and they replaced Mayor Don Saylor eventually with Dan Wolk, it appeared that the city was about to turn the corner after nearly a decade of irresponsible and wasteful fiscal policy.
A piece of legislation that may have the most impact on the fiscal solvency of cities like Davis is Governor Jerry Brown’s public pension reform plan. Earlier this week, analysis from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) showed a mixed review.
It was not supposed to happen this way. But a juror’s shocking request to be removed from the penalty phase of the Topete trial has thrown a monkey wrench into the system.
I am always interested in reading Rich Rifkin’s take on the city’s fiscal and labor issues, mainly because he comes from a very different starting place than I do. And that is, I think, a problem for people attempting to demonize the pushback against employee compensation, pensions and retirement in municipal government.
As we await the jury’s verdict, I will save you the suspense, this case has been over for a long time, and during District Attorney Jeff Reisig’s brilliant closing, he buried Marco Topete.
After three years of waiting, and three months in trial, then a conviction of first degree murder with four special circumstances, the jury in the Topete case now has the unenviable task of determining whether Marco Topete should spend life in prison without parole or get the death penalty.
Last week the Vanguard reported that the Public Employment Relations Boards (PERB), in a tentative decision, had ruled that the city had violated labor laws in imposing the last, best and final offer to the Davis City Employees’ Association (DCEA).
Vanguard Believes Rate Hikes Will Be Disastrous To Local EconomyThe Davis Enterprise is reporting today that the Yolo County Elections Office has yet to complete their count and yet to have verified the 3705 signatures necessary to certify the referendum.
Last spring at Picnic Day, the Vanguard decided that one of the best ways to follow what was going on was to drive around, spot law enforcement vehicles pulling people over and film the encounters.
Last month, the Vanguard reported on the “boycott” of Westlake Market by the Davis Firefighters. It remains to be seen what will happen as the result of those revelations, but one thing of interest is the response from perhaps city employees, perhaps the firefighters, on an otherwise obscure website.
This past summer Governor Rick Perry of Texas signed into law a simple measure that would require the state to test DNA evidence if it is available. But as Governor Perry struggles on the Republican presidential campaign trail, he has thus far denied Hank Skinner, a death row inmate, a DNA test that has the potential to prove his innocence, or at leats remove any doubt as to his guilt.
On Thursday night, the Vanguard had 285 people show up to our wildly successful event. Despite that showing, we had a massive amount of leftover food that we could not store. So my wife decided it was a good idea to donate it to those more needy than ourselves.
She posted on Facebook: “Just took 2 trays of delicious tortellini to Occupy folks so they could have a delicious lunch/dinner tomorrow.”
A few minutes after Mr. Souza and a small handful of supporters took off on their bicycles to tour the city, four fire engines pulled up to the Davis Bicycle Hall of Fame.
Just as Stephen Souza was pushing off from his announcement at the steps of the Bicycle Hall of Fame, fire engines and emergency vehicles were rolling in. First, UC Davis’ fire engine and hook and ladder truck, then Station 32 from Davis rolled in.
The notion that the city could solve its employee compensation through the use of impasse and an imposition of last, best, and final offer finally comes crashing to the ground in the wake of the Pubilc Employee Relations Board tentative ruling.
