MyBlog

Dear Congressman Herger,

I just read your email stating the importance of continuing the fight in Afghanistan.

It is my opinion that our presence in these foreign wars of occupation encourages Al Quaida and is what keeps them alive.

Tracy Fauver has been appointed as the new executive director of Yolo County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). The announcement was made by Mila Spengler, president of the Board of Directors, who noted “Tracy brings her integrity and commitment to the Yolo CASA organization, as well as her strong ties to the community. She will further develop our solid base of volunteer advocates, community collaborations, and donor support. We have high expectations of what Tracy will accomplish; and we eagerly welcome her to CASA.”

Fauver previously served as outreach worker and advocate for the Family Transitional Housing Program at Davis Community Meals, providing support to homeless families as they work to regain their independence. She received her master’s degree in social work from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Not to be too lost in the maneuverings over the mayoral vacancy is the fact that there is now a vacant seat on the council that must be filled.

This is an opportunity perhaps for an individual who might normally not want to go through the electoral process to have a chance to serve this community on the City Council.

by Mary M Zhu

Our elections are now driven by massive spending; this is evident in November’s elections, the first to feel the effect of the Citizens United ruling from the Supreme Court.

Of the 74 party shifting contests, 58 benefited from massive contributions from unidentified organizations, corporations and wealthy individuals.

Press Release From City of Davis

A special public forum to solicit suggestions from the community on how to improve Picnic Day 2011 will be held at 7:00pm on Wednesday, November 3 at the Davis Senior Center, 646 A Street, in the Multipurpose Room. The forum is jointly sponsored by the city of Davis, UC Davis, the Davis Chamber of Commerce, the Davis Downtown Business Association, the Associated Students of UC Davis and the student-led Picnic Day Board of Directors.

The purpose of the Forum is to provide an opportunity for the public to share ideas and suggestions on how to improve Picnic Day within the community. These recommendations will be shared with the City Council, university, ASUCD and the Picnic Day Board of Directors, which is entirely student-led.

The manipulation of public policy by corporation generated propositions on our ballots and their deceitful advertising continues.  Last election it was PG&E’s Prop 16. Now we have Prop 23 courtesy of Texas oil and Prop 26 from the oil, tobacco and alcohol industries.

Chevron, Philip Morris, Anheuser- Busch and other oil/gas, food/beverage industries, in order to evade the costs of their toxic wastes and the medical harm and social disruption of their products, devised Prop 26. They paid for signatures to get it on the ballot, then contributed $14.6 million to get it passed with deceitful ads claiming Prop 26 will “stop politicians from raising taxes without a public vote.”

Saving California Communities to Host Journalist Peter Schrag –

Peter Schrag, a former editorial page editor and columnist of the Sacramento Bee, will be offering his perspective on recent efforts to reform state government on Thursday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Odd Fellows Hall, 415 Second Street in Davis.  The event is hosted by Saving California Communities and co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Davis.  It is free and open to the public.

In his long career in journalism, Schrag has taken on some big issues affecting the state, including immigration, globalization, and the impact of California’s politics on its quality of life.  He is the author of many books, including California: America’s High Stakes Experiment and most recently, Not Fit for Our Society: Nativism, Eugenics, Immigration. The Avid Reader will provide copies for signing at the event.

This week, families of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders will have the opportunity to participate in the elementary instrumental music program.  If you are such a family, then I strongly encourage your participation.  All it requires is a parent to attend one of the scheduled afternoon or evening meetings.

Meetings for parents of beginning string students (4th thru 6th grades) take place at Patwin Elementary at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday next week (Sept. 7-9), and at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon at Patwin.  Beginning band student (5th & 6th grade) parents will meet at Emerson JH at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 7 & 8) next week.

By Natasha Minsker

Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer is so broke he breaks into his daughter’s piggy bank, only to find it full of IOUs from himself? Then again, maybe it was Home Improvement… or Family Matters. One thing’s for sure, I don’t remember that scene in The Terminator – not even the third installment. So why is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger so vividly replacing Homer Simpson in my memory of that scene?

On Wednesday, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced that he would be “borrowing” $64 million from the General Fund in order to move forward with one of his pet projects, the construction of a new death row facility at San Quentin. And $64 million is just the tip of the iceberg. Altogether, the new facility is expected to total upwards of $400 million.

The State Water Resources Control Board this week adopted the report on flow criteria that was required by last November’s SBX7 1 on Delta Governance and the Delta Plan. Based on the best available science, the report affirms what people in the Delta have known for decades: You can’t have a healthy Delta when you are sending so much water somewhere else.

Specifically, the report says that “to preserve the attributes of a natural variable system to which native fish species are adapted,” the Delta needs 75% of unimpaired outflow from January through June, 75% of unimpaired Sacramento River inflow from November through June, and 60% of unimpaired San Joaquin River inflow from February through June.