City News

A large and colorful crowd gathered in downtown Sacramento on Saturday morning to rally for marriage equality for gays and lesbians. Roughly1,500people took over Cesar Chavez Park across from Sacramento City Hall for a rally and demonstration led by Equality Action Now,a grassroots gay rights group in Sacramento.Many brought homemade signs with slogans like “Equal treatment under the law” and “Protect marriage– ban divorce.“

On Dec. 31, the Davis Indoor Sports Center, better known as DISC, will close its doors for good. The owners of the building where the DISC is located – Sam, Gwen and Jeff Harrison – have struggled to keep its doors open since interest began to waver in 2001.

Gang members convicted in attack Four West Sacramento gang members are facing sentences of up to15years after being found guilty of a number of crimesThursday. The men were convicted of crimes related to an incident in April2006when they attacked the engineer and conductor of an Amtrak Capitol Corridor train.

FRIDAY At least he has good taste An individual came into a store on Anderson Road, took a bottle of Southern Comfort and then left the store.

It was a long ride, but she made it. Davis resident and current Yolo County supervisor Mariko Yamada won the race for California’s 8th Assembly District in last week’s election. The district includes portions of Solano and Yolo counties and Benicia, Davis, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville, West Sacramento, Winters and Woodland.

The average price in California for regular gasoline has fallen to$2.33,which is44.8cents lower thantwoweeks ago and over$2lower than California’s all-time high set in June of this year at$4.588,according to the California Energy Commission. Over the last month prices have sunk92cents in California and$1.00nationally to an average of$2.20,according to a survey released Tuesday by the motorist group AAA.

Several recent studies have shown that university students may not be as vulnerable toliberal indoctrination as some would have you believe. In the politicized atmosphere of the recent elections,some have raised concern that liberalism in universities has caused discrimination against conservative professors and ideas andcreated a disproportionately liberal student body.

It turns out that in Davis,sustainability doesn’t trumpeverything. The Davis City Council voted last week not to overturn a Planning Commission decision that denied a small new housing development on B Street,just south ofThird Street.

Sacramento State University and multiple other California State Universities haverecentlybeen involved in a project to implement solar panels on buildings in order to drive down energy costs and worktowardusingalternative sources of energy. SacramentoState is working closely with SunEdison,a company that specializes in solar energy information and services throughout the state of California.

The Yolo County Board of Supervisors discussed plans for balancing this year‘s$3.5million budget deficit and a projected$19million deficit for2009-2010at a meeting last week. Possible actions discussed at the meeting include voluntary salary savings measures,asking departments to make cuts and possibly layoffs.

Watch out UC – the budget cuts aren’t over yet. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a plan last week to slash$132million in funding for higher education in the current fiscal year. The$132million includes$65.5million in cuts to the University of California system and$66.3million to the California State University system.

The future is looking rather dry forCalifornia. The state’s Department of Water Resources announced last week that it was expecting2009to be an exceptionally dry year.DWR officials told customers that under current conditions,they would only be able tomeet15percent of water needs.