California wine patriarch Robert Mondavi, one of the great modern-day benefactors of UC Davis, died Friday at his Napa Valley home. He was 94.

The boy loves words. He reads books constantly. He labors for hours over a creative writing assignment. He reads for the sake of reading, and he writes for the sake of writing because he enjoys these things for themselves, not for any rewards they bring.

In a series the Aggies desperately needed to win in order to stay in the hunt for an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs, the big hit just never came. No. 9 UC Irvine battled neck-and-neck with UC Davis this past weekend at Dobbins Stadium, and came out victorious to put the Aggies’ backs against the wall going into the final Big West Conference series of the year with Cal State Northridge.

Just when you thought it was safe to put down your Twinkies and Coke to go run the track at Toomey, think again. Track season isn’t over just yet.

When UC Davis head coach Rex Peters looked at his baseball team before the season, he didn’t see what his colleagues saw. The Big West Conference coaches picked the Aggies to finish in a tie for last place in the league with Cal State Northridge, a team that had lost 18 of 21 conference games the year before.

On May 12 in an LA district court, Judge Audrey B. Collins awarded the popular social-networking website MySpace a $234 million anti-spam judgment, which is believed to be the largest award of its nature to date.

There will soon be new space for independent coffee downtown. The owners of Mishka’s Cafe are currently negotiating the final terms of an agreement with the city of Davis to construct a new building on land to the west of the Varsity Theatre.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors announced last week their intentions to proceed with plans to expand the Sacramento International Airport. In order to fund the construction, per passenger fees charged by airlines will be raised from $6 on average to $9.

TODAY Math Café 5 to 7 p.m. 104 North Hall Get a good serving of mathematics at this weekly tutoring session with the Women’s Resources and Research Center. Women and men are both welcome.

In aneffort to make Davis greener and more environmentally friendly, Davis Waste Removal is offering free drop-off recycling for rigid plastics at itsrecycling center on at 2727 Second St.

The University of California’s extension program started over a century ago, when UC Berkeley faculty took a boat across the bay to offer classes in San Francisco. Since then, other UC campuses have established extension programs, and UC Davis is no exception.

If you’ve ever dreamed of riding a bike by bouncing up and down on a seat, you’re in for a treat Tuesday.