City News

OnTuesday night,the DavisJointUnified School District schooldistrict held its first “virtual town hall meeting.” Superintendent James Hammond,Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Bruce Colby and School Board President Sheila Allenaddressed questionsparents,teachers and members of the community submitted beforehand.

Though Proposition5was defeated in November by a margin of20percent,there are still other state-run programs that use drug treatment as an alternative to prison. Prop36is one such program.Voted into law in2000,this proposition gives a limited number of people sentenced to shorter prison terms the option to receive drug treatment instead of prison.

The owners of the largest plot of undeveloped land in Davis want to develop it into a mix of housing and industrial office space.The Davis City Council,however,is not so keen on the idea of giving it up for housing.The roughly100-acre site,known as Cannery Park,is located north of Covell Boulevard and east of F Street.For38years it was the site of a cannery operation but has been vacant since1999.Lewis Planned Communities,the current owner,has been working for four years on a plan to construct610residential units and20acres of business park offices.

A missing UC Davis professor was found dead Monday after an apparent suicide in Sonoma County,police said. The body of Richard Walker,Jr.washed up at a campsite on Salmon Creek State Beach in Bodega Bay on Monday evening,said Davis policeSergeant Scott Smith.

A thick and lingering fog blanketed Davis and most of the Central Valley on Monday and part of Tuesday,drastically reducing visibility and marking the start of “fog season” in the region. Widely known as“tule fog,“ the fog in Davis is different from the kind of fog seen in San Francisco and the Bay Area.While the fog there blows in from the ocean,fog in the Central Valley is a“radiation“ fog,said atmospheric science professor Kyaw Paw U.

In a city known for its premium home prices and focus on education,homelessness is not frequently on the agenda.With complaints from neighbors and attention from city staff,however,it is becoming an issue indowntownDavis. Neighbors on D Street and the surrounding area downtown have become increasingly frustrated about the impact of homeless services located in the area,according to a city staff report.

In an annual survey releasedinNovember,the Chronicle of Higher Educationstatedan increase in executive compensation for top national public and private universities. The average compensation rate,which includes salary,car and housing benefits,and retirement benefits,was$427,400for184top national public universities,according to the Chronicle.This represents a7.6percent increase from last year.The compensation figures included the fiscal year ending on June30,2008.

Hope they got that2-day lease paperwork Tenants in an apartment on Drake Avenue reported that a male subject responding to an ad on Craigslist.org in regards to renting out a room arrived Nov.21has refused to leave. Wait till they see Pippi Longstockings A female subject on East14th Street was reported as appearing disoriented and having two different colored shoes.

The Davis City Council will meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Chambers at 23 Russell Blvd. The following are brief descriptions of selected topics that will be discussed at the meeting. The full agenda can be viewed online at cityofdavis.org/meetings.

San Francisco is currently studying a congestion pricing plan which could generate $35 to $65 million annually and reduce transportation-related greenhouse gases by 15 percent. Such a system would impose a toll on downtown drivers. Proceeds from the toll would most likely be reinvested directly into comprehensive transportation improvements for public transit users, drivers, bikers and pedestrians in and around San Francisco.

Although he was reelected for a sixth term last month, State Representative Mike Thompson may be leaving the U.S. House of Representatives when the new administration takes over on Jan. 20. Davis’s congressional representative is being considered for the post of Secretary of the Interior in President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet.

A recent string of Southern Californian fires forced thousands to evacuate their homes and businesses. The most significant fires were the Sayre Fire,the Montecito Tea Fire and the Freeway Complex Fire,all of which have been100percent contained.Together,those three fires threatened and destroyed over1,010building structures – most of them residential – leaving hundreds of people homeless.