On Monday, UC President Mark Yudof appointed 12 members of the task force that will be headed up by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, a professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Law.
Radio Tower proposal threatens wetland birds. Bright, white strobes would bring impacts on communityBy Eileen M. Samitz, Pam Nieberg and Alan Pryor
On December 6th, the Davis City Council will consider a resolution by the Open Space and Habitat Commission strongly opposing a proposal by Results Radio, a Santa Rosa radio conglomerate, to build a new tower at the Yolo County Central Landfill. The proposed tower, at 365 feet, will be taller than the Statue of Liberty. This massive structure will be 30 feet at its base and have three extremely bright white strobe lights (one at the top and two at the 200 foot level). These strobe lights are required by new FAA regulations, and would create much more visual pollution than any other tower in Yolo County. Each of the three strobes would flash 40 times per minute, 24 hours a day at an intensity of 20,000 candelas during daytime, dawn, and dusk, and 2,000 candelas at night – creating unacceptable blight on the northern border of Davis.
Opponents of a 365-foot radio tower, that in September 2010 the Yolo County Board of Supervisors approved to be located at the county landfill, argue such communications towers kill millions of birds annually.
In yesterday’s column “viewpoints,” I wrote something that I think needs clarification in light of the response to a statement: “Call me a cynic, but I don’t see any way at this point that the findings from an investigation will be such that she has to step down.”
This statement was meant to express skepticism and cynicism that the process set forth by UC President Mark Yudof will bear fruit. Some took it to mean that I have made up my mind and no finding would be adequate to change my opinion.
In the recent multi-defendant case in which five youngsters were alleged to have jumped, assaulted and robbed an individual, the Yolo County District Attorney aggressively pursued gang charges despite very thin evidence of gang involvement for the youths.
Two pieces on the UC Davis situation warrant some discussion. First, we will look at Daniel Filler’s op-ed that appears in the Davis Enterprise, “Policing’s ‘new normal’ doesn’t work with white folks,” which focuses on an issue that has long troubled me, that police get away with certain tactics on minorities that would outrage the white community if it happened in middle America.
In a way it is unfortunate that the announcement by Mayor Pro Tem Rochelle Swanson and Councilmember Dan Wolk came immediately on the heels of the budget discussion on Tuesday. On Tuesday night, the council discussed the budget, fixing what has been a tremendous oversight – the failure to include unmet needs in budget calculations.
Jon Stewart Compares Linda Katehi to Hitler
As the Sacramento Bee’s Stuart Leavenworth notes, “[John] Stewart has remained remarkably steady. In my mind, there’s never been a comedic talent as consistently funny, informative and influential as Stewart.”
A friend of mine at lunch this week tells me a story that happened in Yolo County recently. A man is being followed by an undercover police officer. How he knows this, I’m not sure. I’m not sure the guy was undercover, he may just have been off-duty. After awhile, the man has enough and starts snapping pictures out of the side of his car, toward his back.
A remarkable thing happened Thursday on one of the more polarizing issues facing the City of Davis in recent years – the water supply project and the water rate hikes. In the face of the proposal by Mayor Pro Tem Rochelle Swanson and Councilmember Dan Wolk, there was relative calm.
In early 2010, the Vanguard reported on the case of Robert Ferguson, who faced life in prison for stealing a package of shredded cheese from the Nugget Market. Ultimately, after unfavorable press, the District Attorney dropped pursuit of the third strike and Mr. Ferguson for his minor crime, and he was instead was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison.
While the Vanguard welcomed the news that Cruz Reynoso, a former California Supreme Court Justice, would head up the UC Davis Task Force that will review the independent investigation led by William Bratton, a retired Police Police Chief with the Los Angeles Police Department, the key to any inquiry will be the ability of that team to have access to crucial information.
In a sweeping proposal released on Wednesday, ahead of the December 6 meeting that will address the issue of the referendum that qualified for the ballot last month, Mayor Pro Tem Rochelle Swanson and Councilmember Dan Wolk are bringing back their motion from the September 6 meeting, with some critical revisions.
“It is clear a significant portion of the community needs more information as reflected in the referendum, as well as the number of protest votes,” Mayor Pro Tem Rochelle Swanson said in a statement to the Vanguard on Wednesday.
Just a quick note to let you know about an exciting new feature on the Vanguard –…
Just a quick note to let you know about an exciting new feature on the Vanguard – our bulletin board
Here you can discuss topics that are off-topic and you can post your own discussions and announcements.
Entomology Professor Walter Leal’s letter, signed by over 206 other professors, backed Chancellor Katehi in the face of strong public and student sentiment that she ought to resign, sentiment bolstered by those such as English Professor Nathan Brown, the English and Physics Departments and the board of the Davis Faculty Association.