City News

Two senior care facilities in Davis are working with Yolo County health officials to contain a suspected outbreak of norovirus, a gastrointestinal virus that is believed to have affected as many as 80 senior citizens in the past several weeks.

"We know that one case for sure is norovirus," said Bruce Sarazin, director of the county health department's Environmental Health Division. "And, we know that other people at the facilities have similar systems."

Go take a hike - in Sacramento.

Earlier this month Prevention Magazine, a monthly healthy-living magazine, ranked Sacramento as the nation's 24th best walking city in their list of "25 Best Walking Cities." San Francisco ranked number one.

It's Davis!

Local leaders announced Friday that Davis has been selected as the new permanent home of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame.

"There's a huge excitement in the air about it," said City Councilmember Sue Greenwald. "I was ecstatic."

It turns out that peanuts are not the only food consumers should be wary of due to salmonella contamination.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued recalls of pistachios as well as a certain brand of frozen egg rolls due to Salmonella contamination.

The contaminated pistachios came from the Terra Bella, Calif.-based company Setton Pistachio. They announced their recall on Mar. 30.

As joblessness approaches 11 percent in California, the Employment Development Department has been swamped by a continuous surge in unemployment insurance claims.

It now has State Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez to contend with as well.

Unlicensed taxi drivers stopped at airport

Regional law enforcement officials announced Wednesday they were engaged in an effort to crack down on illegal taxicabs at Sacramento International Airport.

"Operation Road Runner," which concluded this week at the airport, identified two illegal taxi companies operating three unlicensed operators. It also found 19 licensing and regulatory violations, according to a press release. Cab drivers found in violation were ordered to halt operations.

In the Apr. 2 issue of The Aggie, the article "Government rewards people who bike to work," failed to mention that the $20 bike-to-work voucher is not available to UC Davis employees. The act passed by Congress only applied to employers who pay federal corporate taxes. Since the University of California does not pay federal corporate taxes, UC employees cannot receive this tax benefit. Furthermore, UC has not indicated that it would be willing to use its own funds to subsidize bike commuters. The Aggie regrets the omission.

In business news this week, Hunan moves across the street, Davis gets its own motorsports store, 2K Thai prepares to open KetMoRee and Burlington Coat Factory takes over Target's old Woodland location.

Hunan

209 D St.

Members of underrepresented minority groups interested in the sciences may have met a stroke of luck.

The Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate is an organization founded in 1998 devoted to helping underrepresented minority groups gain doctorate degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

By the end of June, the Gottschalks store at the U-Mall will be gone completely.

The Fresno-based department store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 14, and bankruptcy court Judge Kevin Carey signed a liquidation order Apr. 1 in Wilmington, Del., according to the Associated Press. A liquidation sale began last Friday, and could last from 45 to 90 days according to the Sacramento Bee.

The California sales tax went up 1 percent last Wednesday, and local businesses are worried.

"We have so many other things going on that are negative, sales tax really doesn't help," said Richard Luna, owner of de Luna Jewelers in downtown Davis. "I don't care if it's a penny extra."

An agricultural pest that caused an environmental uproar on the California coast in 2008 may have made its way to Davis.

Yolo County officials announced last week that they found a single light brown apple moth in a monitoring trap in South Davis.

The Yolo Business Ascent Challenge is looking for young entrepreneurs to test the ability of their company to survive in a struggling economy.

The challenge kicked off in early March, and continues to look for new and developing businesses to participate. It is sponsored by Golden Capital Network, a company that aims to introduce innovative entrepreneurs to capital, expertise and resources.

A parasitic disease associated with backpackers drinking brackish water has recently been on the mind of the animal community in Davis.

At the end of last month, Yolo County warned in a press release that giardia, an intestinal parasite found in humans and animals, had been found in four dogs from a Davis rescue shelter kennel.

The UC Davis Fire Department has been designated as a Yolo County Safe Haven for the surrender of newborns.

Although UC Davis is the latest part of Yolo County to join this campaign, the program has existed in the county since September 2003. Other safe haven locations include the fire departments in Davis, West Sacramento and Woodland.