Court Finds Plastic Bag Ban Constitutional
Across the state, counties and cities have passed various ordinances against the provision of single-use plastic bags. Those ordinances have also faced a series of legal challenges.
Recently the Second Appellate District affirmed the judgment of a Los Angeles County judge who upheld the law. Challenging it was a group of litigants supported by the Council on State Taxation and the California Taxpayers Association, and defended by not only Los Angeles’ County Counsel, but also by representatives from the League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties (CSAC), along with a number of environmental organizations.
By Vanguard Court Watch Interns
Move Demonstrates Davis is Serious About Economic Development – Davis has a reputation for being unfriendly to business, but it is working hard to change that perception. Last week, the city of Davis and techDAVIS launched what is being described as “a unique public-private partnership to enhance connections between the city and the technology industry.”
“In both cases, the mistreatment of residents stemmed from Davis police officers assuming crimes had taken place and they knew who was guilty – before conducting investigations,” Rich Rifkin writes in his Wednesday, March 6, 2013 column in the Davis Enterprise.
During the last month of the campaign, we believed that the Measure I campaign was in trouble. They were getting pounded in the press. In the last month of the campaign, Davis Enterprise columnist Bob Dunning ran negative column after negative column, attacking the fairness of the rate structure, attacking the proportionality of the rates, attacking the city for not paying for their water, on and on.
The issue of High School reconfiguration has emerged in the community as a contentious issue. The school district, as is often the case, has done itself little favor by delivering mixed messages.
The idea has come up that the city’s road needs amount to “filling in a few potholes.” When one hears of a few potholes, one figures this is an aesthetic need or a mere nuisance.
Say what you want about the last council, but they knew they had their three-vote majority bloc on each vote – and if it was going to be a 3-2 vote, they did not fret it. And so by a series of 3-2 votes, they passed their agenda whether it was the 3-2 vote not to read the Aaronson report, the 3-2 votes to pass the budgets that kicked the can down the road, or the 3-2 vote to kick the water can down the road, as well.
On Thursday afternoon, the Vanguard received a letter from the Holmes Junior High PTA, stating that they have learned that the Davis Joint Unified School District’s Board of Trustees intends to move the 9th grade to the high school for the 2014-15 academic year.
The Davis Joint Unified School Board met in closed session on Thursday evening to decide the fate of two district employees. School Board President Sheila Allen announced at the beginning of open session Thursday, “In a unanimous vote, the board took action in closed session to send a notice of release and reassignment which the reassignment goes into effect on July 1, 2013, to two administrative employees in resolution number… 3313.”
On Thursday the legislature passed a slew of bills that would reduce gun violence. The State Senate voted 24-10 today to approve a measure by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Davis, urging Congress and President Barack Obama to enact a comprehensive gun violence prevention policy that includes prohibiting the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and strengthening criminal background check requirements.
Davis residents have been increasingly alarmed by a string of burglaries this year. A few weeks ago, the Davis Police reported on Sunday, February 10, that four residential burglaries and one attempted residential burglary occurred between 4:30 am and 9:30 pm.
For several years now, the Vanguard has been warning the Davis community that the fiscal condition is far worse than most people have been led to believe. At times, citing our unfunded liabilities in retiree health and pensions, we have suggested that Davis might not be far from bankruptcy.
By Jeff Boone