City News

Suicide ranks as one of the leading causes of death for American youths, but state officials hope to change that.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Jason Flatt Act this month to help prevent teen suicide by providing suicide prevention funding to schools.

Approved resolution accepting the California Office of Traffic Safety "Avoid the 8" continuation grant, a program intended to create coordinated regional traffic enforcement teams to provide sobriety checkpoints, DUI enforcement, public information campaigns and holiday traffic enforcement. The Davis Police Department will receive $291,404 for office overtime funding and equipment related to the program.

The Davis City Council held a public workshop before its Tuesday meeting to review the Planning Commission's updates to the Housing Element Steering Committee's recommendations about the future of housing growth in Davis.

One of the most controversial issues in Davis politics, the subject of new building, drew a nearly packed house into the chambers two hours before the regularly scheduled meeting. Principal city planner Bob Wolcott began the workshop by giving an overview of the steering committee's report along with changes recommended by the Planning Commission and city staff.

The portion of Interstate 80 that travels through Solano County is getting some much-needed attention.

The project, known as Pave 80, consists of replacing failed pavement areas, providing new asphalt concrete surface, and upgrading the median barrier at various points along I-80 between Vacaville and Vallejo.

There may be a new restaurant in the works downtown, but not without the approval of the Davis City Council.

With Togo's leaving its current location in the Anderson Bank Building on Second Street, co-owner and building manager Jim Kidd is hoping a new restaurant will find a home in his building.

After months of research, deliberation and argument, the Davis City Council has decided to let the voters decide.

The council voted 4-1 Tuesday to put a city charter measure before voters in November - one that does not include choice voting or any other alterations to the way the city currently operates.

Thursday's article, "Housing crisis may extend to Davis," stated that Sarah Mohler is the economic development director for the city of Davis. The article should have referred to Sarah Worley, the city's economic development coordinator. The Aggie regrets the error.

SATURDAY

Music make you lose control

An individual called police to report a party on East Eighth Street that sounded like it had gotten "out of hand."

Woodland Community College has come into its own.

The college, 10 miles north of UC Davis, received full accreditation on July 1, making it the 110th community college in California and the second college in the Yuba Community College District.

Closed-session meeting

The council met in closed-session for labor negotiations with Firefighters Local 3494.

Local officials have taken the first steps toward developing an off-road bikeway between the cities of Davis and Woodland. The Davis City Council voted Tuesday night to help fund a study examining the possibility of an alternative transportation corridor between the two cities.

Amid a national housing crisis that has hit California especially hard, one might ask how the Davis market is doing - and the answer is debatable.

"I don't think Davis is immune to the housing bust at all," said economics lecturer Erick Eschker. "You just have to look at the rest of California and the Bay Area.

The city of Davis responded last week to the Yolo County Grand Jury's investigation of the Davis Fire Department by announcing its intention to hire an independent investigator to evaluate the jury's report of inconsistent promotion practices stemming from a close alliance with the union.

Davis residents seeking refuge from the heat have another option this summer: Manor Pool.

Despite the community's best efforts to help, the Davis Joint Unified School District is still looking for money to avoid losing teachers and programs.