City News

City Council members know they have to make cuts. They just don’t want to make all of them— yet.

Has change really come? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California legislature seem to think so.

Gottschalks, Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection under the Chapter 11 law. The company plans to stay open while it seeks a buyer. “While we have aggressively pursued a number of important steps over the past year to improve our performance and reduce costs, the persistent challenges in the economy and recent unexpected reductions to our borrowing capacity as a result of tightening credit markets have left us no other recourse than to pursue a sale of the company under court approval in city as a result of a Chapter 11 proceeding,” said Jim Famalette, Gottschalks chairman and CEO, in a press release.

A batch of contaminated peanuts was the source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak,causing dozens of companies to issue voluntary recalls. The outbreak has been the cause of488illnesses andsixdeaths nationwide as of Jan.23.

By this summer,California Supreme Court judges willdetermine the fate ofsame-sex marriages performed before Proposition8passed last November.UCDavis law professor Courtney Joslinco-authored and submitted a friend-of-the-court briefthis monththat argues that Prop8should in no way affect the validity ofthose marriages.

If you missed itinfall,be sure to catch the historic bike exhibit in Downtown Davis before it closes this February.The display, “Swiftwalkers to Streamliners:Bicycles1823-2008,” features bicycles representing every era of the development of the bicycle.

Change could be coming for colleges and universities in the U.S. – and it’s not chump change.The U.S.House of Representatives is set to vote today on an economicstimulus package that calls for$550billion in domestic spending and$275billion in tax cuts.

A recent Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions study found that44percent of the85top American medical schools surveyed are thinking about increasing the number of open spots for incoming medical students. Of those schools,roughly33percent plan to increase enrollment up to15percent and roughly10percent plan to increase student enrollment by more than25percent.Many of these schools expect to implement these enrollment changes as early as fall2009.

Cal Grant students may be in for a big cut. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released his2009-2010budget proposal earlier this month.The proposal will change Cal Grant policy and cut all new competitive awards.

Davis police arrested the owner of a downtown massage business on suspicion of prostitution Thursday. A sting operation revealed that50-year-old Ping Li was using her business,Spring380Massage,for prostitution,said Lt.Thomas Waltz in a press release.An undercover officer went into the business and Li was arrested immediately after agreeing to perform sexual acts inexchange for money,he said.

Forget beer and pizza.College students are cracking their piggy banks to scrounge enoughmoney for textbooks these days. The average student will spend about$700on textbooks this year alone,according to Student Monitor,an independent research firm that studies the college student market.

The Davis International House hosted a forumlast Thursday to discuss the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The forum,entitled“Peace in the Middle East,Options and Obstacles,“ was meant“to help somebody get one new piece of info that might help them think about this long conflict differently,“ said executive director of Davis International House Elisabeth Sherwin.