City News

Ending nearly two years of searching, the skeletal remains of former UC Davis professor emeritus John Finely Scott were discovered in a shallow grave near his home west of Davis last week, the Yolo County Sheriff Department announced Monday.

After receiving information regarding the possible location of the professor's body, investigators went to the site in question and dug up the skeletal remains Apr. 12, said Michelle Wallace, public affairs officer of the sheriff department.

At that point, forensic anthropologists from California State University, Chico working with the investigators took the remains to a lab at the university. DNA analysis performed by the deputy coroner of Yolo County confirmed that the remains were Scott's, Wallace said.

College students across California are organizing statewide demonstrations against education budget cuts.

A coalition group, Students for California's Future, is organizing demonstrations on Monday, Apr. 21 in Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego.

In Sacramento, students will march from Raley Field in West Sacramento to the steps of the State Capitol, where they will hold a rally and press conference.

"This is something that everyone needs to hear, whether or not you're a student," said Stephanie Chan, president of Students for California's Future. "Education just isn't something we can afford to scrimp on."

On Mar. 28, Sacramento and 11 other U.S. cities were awarded with a $200,000, two-year Solar America Cities grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

"It's a very prestigious award we got from the Department of Energy," said the assistant planner with the Sacramento Development Services Department, Jamie Cutlip. "It's a great honor and with this money we'll be able to work on bringing different solar initiatives forward in Sacramento."

Sacramento was chosen as a solar city out of a pool of over 30 applicants because it had been working on a number of policies that support solar power indirectly within the past year, in addition to having solar panels on a number of buildings in the city.

While the complaint is often heard that Davis drinking water is not the tastiest beverage around, the city has not come close to violating any health standards.

Meanwhile, the situation in sub-Saharan Africa is a much different story: 1.1 million people die in the region every year from water-related diseases, including cholera and malaria.

The 1000 Wells Project Davis chapter is working to raise awareness and funds in order to build wells and infrastructure in various African communities. The organization's main two weeks of fundraising begins Apr. 19.

"Clean water is a fundamental human right and it hurts us to know that there are 1.1 billion people out there that don't have access to clean water," said Tiffany Tao, a senior psychology and communication double major and head coordinator of the project.

In the Monday Apr. 14 article "California bill may ban helium-filled metallic balloons," the first sentence was misleading. Although the bill was passed in committee, the ban will not come into effect unless it is passed by the legislature and signed into law. The Aggie regrets the error.

A public hearing will take place May 6 regarding Davis Proposition 218, a proposed utility rate change that would take effect Aug. 1.

"The staff will present why the increase in utility rates is necessary," said Davis city clerk Margaret Roberts. "They will open a public hearing, and they can speak for or against the hearing. They make their decisions based on the information."

Whenever there is a rate increase, a public hearing is one of the specific steps required by state law, said operations administrator Sue Gedestad.

The State Assembly Education Committee voted earlier this month to hold a bill sponsored by California State Representative Lois Wolk (D-Davis), which aimed to give school districts more flexibility in balancing their budgets during difficult years.

As California's $16 billion budget deficit trickles down into schools, most districts are scrambling to find ways to balance their budgets. Assembly Bill 1908 would allow school districts to transfer unspent funds reserved for specific programs - categorical funds - into the unrestricted general fund for use in balancing the budget during difficult budget years.

"While the bill would not provide districts with a complete solution to the huge budget cuts proposed by the governor, it would provide districts with immediate, modest budget flexibility to assist them in difficult budget times such as California is experiencing now," said Wolk in a press release.

The fifth-annual Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event Celebrate Davis will take place May 15, as a means of informing the community of different businesses, nonprofits and services Davis has to offer.

Between 4:30 and 9 p.m. at Community Park located at 14th and F streets, there will be approximately 150 business booths where the expected 8,000 community members will have the opportunity to speak to business owners about their services.

"It gives Davis business a chance to get out in the community and talk to Davis residents and consumers," said Celebrate Davis coordinator Nancy Cole. "Booths will have information on what they do, and it's just for visibility so people can get to know what services and shops are available in Davis."

The mood at Emerson Jr. High's Carnival at Cannery Park this weekend was especially jovial in light of the school board's Apr. 3 decision to keep the school open.

In order to help make the necessary $4 million in budget cuts for next year, the school board recently considered the option of reconfiguring secondary schools, which would have involved closing Emerson and redistributing its students.

At the urging of Emerson parents and students, the school board voted 3-2 to keep all three junior highs open and maintain the same 10-12 grade configuration in the high schools.

"Everyone was kind of tense and stressed before the decision," said Frances McChesney, co-president of the Emerson Parent Teacher Association. "After [the decision], people were really enjoying themselves at the carnival."

FRIDAY

Fight Club Part II

An intoxicated subject was reported outside wanting to fight on Bidwell Street.

Natural born killer?

Individual had two shotguns, a pistol and ammunition to turn in for destruction on Fifth Street.

I wanna be like Jewel

Individual believes people are living out of a vehicle on West Covell Boulevard.

Leave the bottles to the carnies

A report was made about bottles thrown at an apartment on Drew Circle.

What about the hunchback?

Pitbulls in area keep getting out on Notre Dame Drive.

SATURDAY

Wanna take this outside?

Subjects were heard fighting near the bike path on Secret Bay Street.

Brotherly love

A group of intoxicated males were seen on Colgate Drive.

Don't burn your bridges

Individual reported receiving harassing phone calls from a former friend on East Eighth Street.

Hope that's not my boyfriend

A male with a dark suit and light colored shirt was seen at the entrance of a lot watching employees enter on E Street.

Talk about a tantrum

Individual reported an unhappy customer in the store that was throwing things on West Covell Boulevard.

As Picnic Day approaches, local businesses prepare for students, families and alumni to swarm the campus and downtown areas.

For Soga's, there will be an increase in staff, and the restaurant will open 11 a.m. on Saturday instead of its usual 5 p.m. opening time.

"It's the Mother's Day for the bar," said Soga's manager Cliff Mohr. "If you know what Mother's Day is like for restaurants, that's what it's like for the bar."

Since 90 percent of customers are college students coming into the bar, business will be extremely busy, Mohr said.

For businesses such as Soga's, the Graduate, Chipotle and other bars and restaurants alike, "that's one of the busiest days we have of the year," Mohr said.

The Davis Downtown Business Associationconducted a survey among its membership a month ago to find out more about the Picnic Day experience.

"We did the survey in hopes of having an impact," said DDBA administrator Joy Cohan. "We are having a dialogue with our members to continue to enhance the impact Picnic Day has upon downtown."

California became the first state to ban helium-filled metallic balloons under a bill unanimously approved by a California state senate committee Tuesday.

The bill's sponsor, state senator Jack Scott (D-Altadena) implemented this bill to prevent further power outages caused by metallic balloons tangled in power lines.

Lorinda Ferrell, a partner at Continental Sales, a professional wholesale balloon distributor, said she is against the bill and believes it won't solve the problem.

"All that Senator Jack Scott is trying to do is prevent power outages," she said. "It's something we would like to do, but outlawing sales on helium-filled metallic balloons won't accomplish that."

Although as much as 75 percent of the total oil spills in the state occur on inland waters, there are currently no penalties and a severely limited response structure.

California State Representative Lois Wolk is working to change this with two bills she has introduced to the state assembly.

"Right now no agency is responsible for command authority," Wolk said. "There are civil and criminal penalties for marine spills, but they don't apply to inland spills, which are more common."

Josh Basofin, a California representative of Defenders of Wildlife, a cosponsor of the bills, also said there is no command structure for inland oil spill response.