City News

California saw a record increase in the number of marijuana plants eradicated this year. Nearly5.3million plants were seized from private and public lands through the combined efforts of several state and national drug control departments in2008.

In a town known for shutting down early,restaurants that stay open past10p.m.are in high demand for college students. The popular nightlife spot Soga’s recently went through a menu and facility remodeling transformation.The restaurant and bar recently reopenedas21and Seven Bar and Grill by Chaat Café.

THURSDAY Turn that frown upside down A subject was sitting in the park on Hamel Street with his face in his hands. Dee-runk.in.Pub-lik. A female was yelling at people onL Street.

Now that Proposition1A passed in California,officials are faced with the task of getting the high speed rail project off the ground. The greatest challenge at this point is finding sufficientfundingto jumpstart the project,said Quentin Kopp,chair of the California High Speed Rail Authority.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently upheld a lower court’s ruling against a group of academics that had challenged restrictions affecting academic travel to Cuba. The approximately 200 study abroad programs in Cuba before the restrictions were put in place have since decreased to only a handful.

According a survey released this month by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) titled “Californians & higher education,” Californians have a high opinion of the state’s higher education but are concerned about the impact of the budget deficit. The survey said that all three branches of California’s higher education system enjoy high approval rates. Fifty-one percent of respondents rated community colleges “good” and 15 percent said “excellent.” California State University received 52 percent “good” and 10 percent “excellent.” For the University of California, 50 percent said “good” and 15 percent excellent.

Low income senior citizens, the blind and disabled will not be receiving their annual check for homeowner or renter assistance in the mail this year. Due to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to eliminate funding for the Homeowner and Renter Assistance programs in the state budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, 2008 claims cannot be paid by the Franchise Tax Board.

The city of Davis is currently discussing possible options for the renovation of Fifth Street between A and L streets. The four-lane corridor currently serves several modes of transportation, including bikes, pedestrians, automobiles and delivery trucks. Many community members have complained about bike safety – there are no bike lanes – and traffic and pedestrian flow problems.

Fecal fury An individual was in the process of picking up the feces after his dog defecated on a lawn on D Street when people came out of the residence and started screaming at him and threatening him.

The City of Davis took a step forward in its quest to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the city on Tuesday night.TheDavisCity Council unanimously approved a resolution establishing emissions reduction targets for the city and community through2050.The reductions will be gradual,with a target of cutting emissions to1990levels by2010and a target of complete carbon neutrality by2050.

English can be a tough language to learn,but the federal government hopes to make it easier with a free website intended to improve access to language instruction for immigrants. The website,usalearns.org,is a free and easily accessible resource available to anyone seeking basic English language instruction.Sponsored by the U.S.Department of Education,it meets one of President George W.Bush’s immigration reform pledges from2007.

California’s community colleges might be just a little less accessible to students in the very near future. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a$332.2million mid-year budget cut to all California community colleges as part of abudget cut package he announced two weeks ago.This newly proposed reduction,along with a$290million cut enacted earlier this year,brings the total to a potential$622.2million cut fromCalifornia community colleges.