I have read a lot of deadpanning of the Affordable Care Act before the system has even been implemented. Truth be told, it was not my favored approach. I have no idea if it will work. But I would like to see it fail before we scrap it.
I suspect that many of the people defending the current system, or at least lamenting the new system, have never been in a situation where they have had to deal with health care without medical insurance.
By Charmayne SchmitzOn Thursday, Detective Wilson from the West Sacramento Police Department explained the symbols used by the Northern Riders/Broderick Boys to identify themselves as separate from the Norteños gang. The Playboy bunny, (which turned upside down would resemble an “R” for Riders) is the main identification, along with epitaphs that use the word “ride” and the “$” sign. Another symbol is a broken star to show disrespect for the Norteño gang they broke away from.
Wilson went on to list the members that have been documented to be a part of the gang. This included some prior cases and convictions covered by the Vanguard such as Chris Castillo from the Memorial Park incident. The criminal history of several of the Riders gang was reviewed, along with documentation of 19 incidents that law enforcement used to identify Wolfington as a known gang member. Wolfington’s address book was shown to the jury to illustrate his contacts with other known gang members.
The immediate incident is shocking enough – an 11-year-old girl held down and raped by two boys ages 13 and 14. The individuals involved were all residents at the FamiliesFirst treatment facility on Fifth Street in Davis.
What was more shocking is that as police investigated this complaint, which occurred two weeks before the girl finally reported the assault on June 4, they found a web of sexual assaults and assaults at the facility.
by Antoinnette Borbon It is official now. Deputy DA Martha Holzapfel has decided to re-file on James Elron Mings, who was recently convicted of attempted murder by a jury of his peers. Mings was asked to help end the life of his friend, Kevin Seery, 42, on the eve of October 1, 2011.
Mings, describing himself as a man of “love and charity,” walked a thousand miles to be with the woman of his dreams, he explained on the stand.
Nearly 50 years ago, as President Lyndon Johnson pushed through the Civil Rights Act, he remarked to Bill Moyers, “We just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come.” It was a statement that proved correct.
In fact, the Democrats went through a period of time when they not only slowly lost over the south to the Republicans over the course of the next thirty years, but were completely non-competitive – with the exception of 1976 – in Presidential elections until 1992.
The Vanguard has learned that on Wednesday, June 5, a 13-year-old male and a 14-year-old male were taken into temporary custody by the Davis Police Department after an 11-year-old female reported that she had been held down and forcibly raped by the boys. Both males were taken to the Yolo County Juvenile Hall.According to a press release from the Davis Police Department, “All three of the minors reside at FamiliesFirst, which is a group home in Davis that houses and supports youth. The sexual assault did not occur on the property of FamiliesFirst. Other youth were reported to be present, although their involvement is still being investigated. Each of the youth had left the FamiliesFirst facility without permission, which they were required to have, and they were not under the supervision of the Families First staff, as they were required to be.”
Earlier this week in response to a commentary on the budget, impasse and the firefighter’s union, one of our readers made the comment that the column was akin to gloating. While in some ways I can appreciate that sentiment, I would argue that, more broadly, the column should be read as a fear and not a gloat.
Following several different and unrelated discussions yesterday, my real fear is that governance on the Davis City Council will take a backseat to political ambition and elections. Already, in June, a year out from the next council election, I am talking to people considering running for council.
By Rob WhiteToday I read an article in Government Technology e-Magazine about the newly selected cities that will join Kansas City metro area in getting the next round of Google Fiber… Provo, Utah and Austin, Texas! (The Google Perspective: Gigabit Internet in Local Government, May 28, 2013, by Colin Wood)
Though I am not really surprised that either city was selected – each has been recognized as an emerging tech center – I was surprised that the Google representative interviewed described that one of the leading reasons for selection was that local officials in each city “wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
by Antoinnette Borbon As the morning began, the prosecution’s case-in-chief continued with an audiotape of a key witness in this case. Billy Wolfington and Shannon Silva are the two defendants charged with stabbing a man to death in a West Sacramento motel, in the early evening of September 2, 2011.
Carlitha Gordon was the voice on the recorded audio. I missed the name of the West Sacramento officer who actually recorded her statement. As the interrogation first started out, the West Sacramento police officer began asking her questions. Carlitha seemed to rant on and on about her life and how bad it was at the present.
(PAY PAL OPTIONS NOW AVAILABLE) – Dear Readers,
While Davis will clearly focus on the Mayor Joe Krovoza – Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk battle for the 4th Assembly District, the broader battle sees an interesting breakdown of the five candidates – all Democrats, two of whom are from Napa, two from Davis, and one from Lake County.
Thanks to data provided from Meridian Pacific, Supervisor Matt Rexroad’s consulting firm, we have a few observations. First, the seat is Democratic, but not overwhelmingly so. The registration is 45.8 percent Democratic, 26.1 percent Republican and 25.7 percent Independent.
I read through the parking task force’s scenarios to be hammered out. They have developed three strategies, where the main difference appears to be whether existing on-street space downtown should be paid parking or 90-minute spots, rather than the current two-hour limitations.
To be honest, I am not sure that any of these scenarios really gets us where we need to go. As long time readers surely know, I have long favored a very basic concept and a very simple scenario. The idea is that you provide parking on the periphery – divert traffic from going under the Richards Underpass and either turn downtown into a walking/biking only district or allow for very short-term parking on the street.
By Antoinnette Borbon The trial of co-defendants Billy Wolfington and Shannon Silva continued yesterday morning with the promise of a sober witness. Simone Mitchell, who had to be taken into custody on Friday, took the stand once again. She gave testimony about the night of September 2, 2011, only this time she seemed to be much more calm. She was able to answer all questions from both Deputy DA Ryan Couzens and from the defense attorneys.
After testifying on the stand, we heard the audiotape of Simone Mitchell from the night of the incident, taken by police officers. As most of her story stayed consistent with her testimony on the stand, a few things were unclear or rather hard to understand, due to the audiotape and the tone of her voice being low.
While Davis residents have stolen the show locally, Napa County has emerged as an important factor in the newly-formed Assembly District. Together, Napa and Yolo Counties have about 60 percent of the registered voters and are on roughly equal footing, with Yolo having 32 percent to Napa’s 29 percent.
Five Democrats have entered the race in a district that is broken down 47-27 in terms of party registration, with another 20 percent uncommitted. In addition to Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza and Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk, we have Anthony Farrington (whom we interviewed back in March), Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd and District Representative to Senator Noreen Evans, Matt Pope.
When we last saw Simone Mitchell, a key witness in the murder trial of Billy Wolfington and Shannon Silva, we saw a frightened, shaking witness who told prosecutor Ryan Couzens that she was shaking and crying because she knew the defendants were from the Broderick Boys gang and was scared.
Ms. Mitchell then was asked by Mr. Couzens if she were under the influence of anything that day. She replied with a yes, “I had a couple beers and a joint ’cause I was nervous!”
By Ibrahim BaigYesterday in Department 6, Judge David Reed presided over Frank Escobar’s preliminary hearing. This hearing was to determine if Mr. Escobar had violated his probation.
Heavy charges are listed against Escobar, including kidnapping, corporal injury, battery and child abuse.
After years of decline or stagnation, the good news is that revenues are rising in the city of Davis. However, the problem that the city faces is that expenses continue to rise faster than revenues. This is in part due to the fact that, while the city has resolved the contracts for two-thirds of its employees, it still needs to approve new contracts for two bargaining units.
But there are other pressing issues, as well. The city has chosen to undertake not one but two major capital projects simultaneously. Writes the city manager in his message to council: “In the upcoming year, through the joint-powers agency, a new surface water treatment facility will take steps toward construction and the City will be working on a design-build wastewater facility. Most cities have one utility capital improvement project every twenty years: Davis has two underway simultaneously; the surface water and wastewater-treatment projects.”
On the one hand, what do you expect Bobby Weist, President of the Davis Professional Firefighters Union, to say – after all, he is negotiating with the city’s negotiator for a new contract and locked in a standoff that appears likely to result in the imposition of the last, best, and final offer by the city. But on the other hand, his quote, featured in the article by Tom Sakash of the Davis Enterprise, is telling for its sheer audacity.
Mr. Weist told the paper that “he hopes it will not come to imposition.”
It was mid-May when Jerry Brown, a lifelong opponent of the death penalty, met with prosecutors who are seeking to end California’s death penalty moratorium.
As the Sacramento Bee‘s Dan Morain reported on May 15, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos, one of the prosecutors fighting California’s death penalty moratorium, now in its seventh year, after meeting with Governor Brown wrote, “After a respectful discussion about our philosophical differences regarding the death penalty, we discussed what the law is and how the people voted for capital punishment. He understands the vote of our citizens.”
At the outset of the murder trial of Billy Wolfington and Shannon Silva, Deputy DA Ryan Couzens laid out what this case was all about for the District Attorney’s office: gangs and fear. He argued that gangs act as the veritable schoolyard bully, seeking to induce fear in the populace, and that fear brings respect to the gang.
At the same time, he warned the jury that the stories told by the witnesses would not all add up. The witnesses were high on alcohol and meth. This incident occurred at a party – a party which is probably closer to a group of meth addicts smoking their product than anything else.
