City News

It only took about an hour and a half to change the Davis City Council's opinion of the fate of two 6,000 square foot lots in East Davis.

The city had planned to give the land to Habitat for Humanity, but the council decided with a 4 to 1 vote to give the Solar Community Housing Association to build cooperative housing.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently proposed a new way to remedy California's budget crisis - cutting the Cal Grant program, which provides financial aid to college students.

Under this proposal, no new Cal Grants would be awarded beginning fall 2009, but students already receiving Cal Grants would continue to receive them.

Schwarzenegger has said the cuts are necessary to help close California's $24.3 billion budget deficit.

The city of Davis is looking to cut corners to balance its budget for the coming year.

Some city facilities could be cleaned less often due to a reduction in custodial services. Funding for the city attorney will probably be slashed, reducing time for legal analysis. And it may be easier to get away with parking violations as the city discusses eliminating one of its four parking enforcement officers.

California bans text messaging while driving

Sept. 30, 2008

California became the seventh state to ban texting while driving when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 28 in September. The law, which took effect Jan. 1, created a $20 fine for the first offense and a $50 fine for each subsequent offense.

For many Davis bicyclists, yard waste on the side of the road can be a potential safety hazard and a troublesome obstacle. Yet, following a meeting at the Davis Bicycle Advisory Commission, there is little reason to believe the obstacles will be cleared away any time soon. The City of Davis Public Works department presented to the BAC the results of a Yard Waste and Bike Lanes Survey Project, a yearlong study of yard waste "pile placement" on a dozen Davis streets, to establish the degree to which they obstruct the path of cyclists.

The key word Monday night was trust, and many Davis citizens were still apprehensive, including El Macero Homeowners Association President Stephen Cole.

"You've asked me to go out on a date," Cole told Transmission Agency of Northern California, or TANC, officials at the Davis Veterans Memorial Hospital. "You haven't treated me very well, you didn't call me back and now you want to go on another date. I don't trust you."

While the economic crisis has caused a shortage of many services, there is surely no shortage of students looking for teaching experience.

The Teach For America program received more than 35,000 applications for 2009, a 42 percent increase over 2008's number. UC Davis in particular showed a nearly 10 percent increase in applications: 75 applications as compared to 69 applications in 2008.

In business news this week, Forever 21 plans a move to Davis and Fuzio Universal Bistro opens in a new building on G Street.

Out with the old

As Gottschalks prepares to move out of the University Mall this summer, apparel retailer Forever 21 is looking to move in.

Known among young women for its affordable and chic clothing, Forever 21 recently placed bids to take over 16 Gottschalks stores, including the one in Davis. A judge could approve the deal within a week, according to the Sacramento Business Journal.

The U-Mall store is 34,000 square feet, much larger than the typical size of a Forever 21 location, according to reports.

The Davis City Council and Davis Joint Unified School District Board of Education met last week to discuss shared problems and goals for the future.

Members discussed goals for 2008 and 2009, one of them being to find safer means of getting to school for students living on Olive Drive.

Olive Drive is separated from downtown and most of the city by the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. There is currently no safe and direct route for the citizens living here to get to school.

The probability of an earthquake of 6.7 or greater magnitude along the Hayward Fault is currently 31 percent, according to California Geological Survey geologist Chris Wills.

The most recent earthquake of that magnitude to hit the Hayward Fault came on Oct. 21, 1868 and has been described as one of the most destructive earthquakes in California's history, Wills said.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was in Davis on May 27 for a fundraiser hosted by the Yolo County Young Democrats. Newsom, a Democratic candidate for governor in 2010, spoke to a crowd that included Davis Mayor Ruth Asmundson, Davis Mayor Pro Tem Don Saylor, State Senator Lois Wolk, state Representative Mariko Yamada, Woodland Vice-Mayor Art Pimentel, Davis City Councilmembers Sue Greenwald and Lamar Heystek, Yolo County Supervisors Helen Thomson and Jim Provenza, and Yolo County Public Defender Barry Melton.

Those hoping to find a fast and efficient way to get downtown during their lunch hour may soon be in luck.

Unitrans, in partnership with the Davis Downtown Business Association and other local organizations, is planning to launch a shuttle that would transport people from campus to downtown throughout the day.

In business news this week, Outdoor Davis moves to a bigger downtown location, Black Bear Diner takes over the old location of Baker's Square, and Verizon Wireless opens new retail locations.

Black Bear Diner

255 2nd St.

Davis welcomes Black Bear Diner and its lodge-themed atmosphere as it replaces Baker's Square on Second Street.

Baker's Square recently shut down all of its restaurants. As soon as Baker's Square announced on Mar. 26 that its Davis building would have a vacancy, the owners of Black Bear Diner submitted their offer.

After a little more than a month's preparation, the diner opened its doors last Friday.

"We have been really busy over Memorial Day weekend," said Valerie Coffey, store manager.

President Barack Obama announced an energy efficiency plan on May 19 that would require cars and trucks to average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. The plan would increase the standard and accelerate the requirement from 35 mpg in 2020 set by the 2007 Energy Act.

Concern over fuel efficiency standards in America has taken the spotlight in the media in recent years. With the U.S. consuming a quarter of the world's oil and only 5 percent of the world's population, the Obama administration felt it was time to take action.

al Day weekend began, President Obama signed into law a bill that supporters say will protect debt-ridden students and other consumers from credit card companies that use unfair lending and billing practices.

The aptly named Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act will go into effect in nine months and represents a sweeping change to the way credit card companies do business.