City News

California Representative Charles Calderon introduced Assembly Bill 1956 to the Board of Equalization on Feb. 13. This tentative bill may implement a sales tax on all digital property, including media, books and movies in California. “Sales tax is generally not charged on products purchased over the internet,” said Daniel Simmons, professor at UC Davis School of Law. “[The bill] is trying to eliminate the unfairness, but of course, consumers won’t like it because it finds a way to enforce sales tax on downloaded products.” Although this may make consumers upset, it will make online transactions fair, he added.

Despite average precipitation this year, Californians might be experiencing a water shortage. As snow melts in the Sierra Nevadas this spring, that water collects in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, which traverse the state to the San Francisco Bay. Pumps at the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta supplies water to the California Aqueduct, which provides water to agricultural fields in the Central Valley and large parts of Southern California. However, the pumping stations have been limited this year by a court order, the result of a legal case brought against the federal government by the Natural Resources Defense Council. In December of last year, a judge in Fresno ordered restrictions placed on pumping in 2008 to protect the delta smelt.

On Mar. 31, a lawsuit was filed against the Apple Corporation for allegedly deceiving the public and customers by exaggerating and ultimately falsely advertising the capabilities of its new 20-inch iMac monitor. The class-action suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Jose by Los Angeles based law firm Kabatek Brown Kellner LLP, a plaintiffs-only firm that is “always on the consumers’ side.” In a press release about the suit, Kabatek Brown Kellner claims that Apple has “grossly inflated the capabilities of its monitor” even though it is inferior to previous generations and the new 24-inch iMacs. Apple told consumers the 20-inch iMac and 24-inch iMac displayed “millions of colors at all resolutions,” which is only true in the case of the 24-inch iMac and previous generations of the 20-inch iMac. In actuality, the new 20-inch only displays 262,144 colors, 98 percent fewer than the 16,777,316 colors on the 24-inch.

hat if someone told you that you were emitting hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide per year? Say, 225,200 tons of carbon dioxide? That’s the question the city of Davis is currently facing. According to figures developed by the city’s Climate Action Team, Davis emitted 225,200 equivalent tons of carbon dioxide in 1990. By 2015, if things were to continue without change, the number would jump to 313,006 tons. These numbers were presented to the Davis City Council on Apr. 1 as part of a greenhouse gas emissions inventory. The inventory found that 57 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Davis come from transportation. Another 23 percent of the emissions come from the residential sector and an additional 20 percent from commercial activity. So far the projections are only based on data from 1990.

While Proposition 215, passed by California voters in 1996, allows patients to possess and cultivate marijuana for medicinal use, not all counties in the state are accepting of the discrepancy with federal law. In a 3-2 vote last month, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors rejected a medical marijuana identification card program, mandated by Senate Bill 420 in 2003 to address vague provisions of the initial law. The county is one of 18 in the state that has not yet adopted the state program. Advocates say the ID cards help all parties involved by identifying patients who have a legal right to possess medical marijuana based on a physician’s recommendation. “What the ID card does is give a legal patient an easy way to identify themselves, should they be questioned,” said Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. “It’s simply something that makes life easier for both patients and police.”

The Sacramento Municipal Utility Districtunveiled a new solar-powered hydrogen refueling station on S Street on Apr. 1 for use in the district’s participation in a Department of Energy program. The station boasts $1.7 million worth of solar panels paid for by SMUD as well as another $1.7 million in hydrogen refueling equipment paid for by the DOE and British Petroleum. The renewable energy source will refuel hydrogen fuel cell vehicles driven by SMUD employees on district business. “The solar ray is keeping with SMUD’s history of supporting solar,” said Bill Boyce, supervisor of SMUD’s electric transportation group. “We’ve been a strong solar utility for over 20 years.”

FRIDAY The Harder They Come Two subjects were seen smoking marijuana on F Street. Hitchhiker’s Guide to Sacramento Individual was seen trying to hitch a ride to Winters or Sacramento on Second Street. Bills, bills, bills Individual reported her son cashed her assistance check and did not pay the bills on East Eighth Street. A little bit of PMS Individual was banging on bedroom door threatening to break all of the reporting party’s things on Glacier Drive. Sexy time Loud subjects were reported in the hot tub on Alvarado Avenue.

t’s that dreadful time of year already – allergy season. According to the National Allergy Bureau, pollen count is a lot higher than usual. An allergic reaction occurs when the body’s immune system reacts to a foreign substance, called an allergen. This causes the immune system to release chemical “mediators” such as histamine, which produces symptoms such as sneezing, wheezing, coughing and other reactions, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology website. “It is an amazing dry season that coincides [with] the flowering of many different species of trees,” said Dr. Suzanne Teuber, professor of medicine and training program director of the Allergy and Immunology Fellowship program at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

In the Apr. 3 article “The Pepper Peddler pedals bike-roasted coffee,” it stated “Planning a sustainable business has been of utmost importance but easy for Pepper Peddler…” when in actuality it has been difficult for the Pepper Peddler. They have spent a lot of time and resources to start the business. The Pepper Peddler also hopes to be approved to be in the Whole Earth Festival.

Eighteen individuals were arrested at D-Q University Mar. 31 for trespassing. Two more were arrested Wednesday when police were on a regular route patrol. This is the second round of arrests this year since three students were arrested Feb. 20 on the same charges at the state’s only tribal college. Students are fighting to continue classes and programs after the college lost its accreditation in 2005 as part of an ongoing struggle involving the D-Q Board of Trustees. Michele Wallace, public information officer for Yolo County Sheriff Department, said the individuals were booked and cited under a misdemeanor charge. Unless they had other warrants, they were released to see a judge. “There was one female up in a tree who refused to come down,” Wallace said. “We checked with the fire department. They deemed it was best not to seek action for us to climb the tree and get her.”

As one door opens, another may soon be closing. Employers in Davis and across the nation are looking to online websites such as facebook.com and myspace.com to evaluate prospective employees. Approximately 77 percent of employers use search engines to evaluate candidates and nearly 35 percent of them have revoked a position based on the information presented, according to NBC Nightly News statistics in a Wesleyan University article. It is becoming a more common phenomenon that requires more caution, said Internship and Career Center project manager Chris Dito.

The Cache Creek Conservancy in Woodland will be hosting their annual Fun Run along with other special activities on April 19. The Fun Run events start in the morning and include a 10k run and a 5k run/walk through country routes in the Cache Creek Nature Preserve. Prizes will be given to the top three male and female finishers, to the oldest and to the largest family finishers and to all children 10 and younger. The proceeds from the Fun Run benefit the Cache Creek Conservancy scholarship fund for a high school student pursuing an environmental or natural science major.