City News

For the most part, the greenhouses at the L. A. Moran Reforestation Center have been empty and quiet since 2003, but a unique arrangement with an environmental group is breathing new life into them.

Interested students, staff and faculty have until May 7 to apply for a grant to fund a project that encourages sustainability on the UC Davis campus.

Approximately $11,500 will be awarded in total - the number of grants will depend on the budgets of the winning projects. Previous awards have ranged from $295 to $4,000.

Have you been feeling the earth moving under your feet? It might be more than your imagination.

California is notorious for earthquakes, and small tremors shake the state everyday, but within the past couple weeks the state has experienced a flurry of quakes that have been increasing in magnitude.

Similarities were more apparent than differences Wednesday night as candidates for the Davis City Council expressed their views on a variety of topics.

All six candidates met at the Community Chambers for a forum organized by the Sierra Club's Yolano Group and the Davis Neighborhood Coalition.They spent two and a half hours answering10 questions written by the sponsoring groups and by community members.

On May 31 the popular Recreation Pool might not be as packed as usual.

The Manor Pool, located at 1525 Tulip Lane at Temple Drive is expected to reopen by May 31. Grand re-opening day admission will be free for everyone. Located in Slide Hill Park in East Davis, ceremonies will take place from 1 to 1:30 p.m. and the pool will be open until 6 p.m.

MONDAY

Suitcase thief

Unknown individual broke into a vehicle and stole a suitcase onCowell Boulevard.

25thHour

Individual reported that subject living with her was on the phone possibly making a drug deal onMenlo Drive.

Davis City Council does not meet on the fifth Tuesday of the month.Inlieu of a regular session,a joint meeting with the Business and Economic Development Commissionwas conducted Monday.The goal of the meeting was toexchangeideas and discussion of city economic development priorities this year.

A fully-involved structure fire broke out Wednesday afternoon around12:30 p.m.at a residence located at 27423 Oakside Drive inSouth Davis.

City ofDavis Fire Chief Rose Conway said there was significant damage made to the home and the familycould only salvage a few items.

"There was a reported fire,and while en route [the firefighters] saw smoke around a fully-involved structure," Conway said.

Holocaust Remembrance Day, also known as Yom Hashoah, is a day to commemorate the millions who perished in the Holocaust.

Bet Haverim, a Davis synagogue, will host this year's congregation today at 7 p.m. The community-wide event will take place at the Mosaic Law Congregation in Sacramento.

Alexander Groth, professor emeritus of political science at UC Davis, will be the featured speaker for this event. Groth is one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust.

Every spring and fall, migrating bats come through Yolo County.

"We have a huge wonderful bypass that's an ideal habitat for bats," said Bruce Sarazin, the director of Yolo County environmental health. "There's a lot of bugs and mosquitoes, lots of food, lots of cover and a wonderful place to live."

Yolo County has one of the largest bat colonies in California. The Health Department of Yolo County warns residents of rabid bats. Now that it is spring, bats are coming out of hibernation, and all residents should avoid contact with bats.

The Davis bike paths are a hazardous place. With high traffic density between classes and frequently messy roundabouts, divine intervention on the road sounds like a good idea.

The Davis Bike Church offered the next-best thing Saturday with a bike blessing. It was the Bike Church's first blessing with more to potentially follow in the future, said Chris Congleton, who helped organize and officiate the event.

The event was based on the annual bike blessing at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York.

On Apr. 11, Yolo County rancher Hank Stone was given the livestock man of the year award during Friday night's performance of the Grand National Rodeo at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Calif.

"The livestock man of the year award is one of the most prestigious awards that only one person gets each year," said executive vice president of the California Cattlemen's Association, Matt Byrne.

Stone, who has been a rancher for 60 years, has owned and worked on his family ranch, Yolo Land & Cattle Co. for the past 20 years. He is a 30-year member of the California Cattlemen's Association and has served on the board of directors for the California Beef Cattle Improvement Association for 20 years. Additionally, he has served on the livestock development board at UC Davis and currently is serving on the animal science committee at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Schools and cities across the country are closing athletic fields in response to reports of a lead threat in artificial turf, but turf manufacturers say there is no health risk.

The wave of field closures began two weeks ago when health officials in New Jersey discovered elevated lead levels in two synthetic turf fields. This prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to begin a national investigation.

"We are in the very, very initial stages of our investigation," said commission spokesman Scott Wolfson. "The key point for all parents and school administrators is that there is not a cause for alarm and panic at this time. It is not an issue where fields need to be shut down immediately."

Candidates forDavis City Council will answer questions and meet with the public at a forumonWednesday.The forum is hosted by the Davis Neighborhood Coalition and the Sierra Club's Yolano Group.Davis Bicycles! is co-sponsoring.

"We're going to be asking them questions about growth issues on our periphery,sprawl on agricultural land versus more growth within the city,parking issues downtown," said Pamela Nieberg,chair of the Yolano Group."We'll also look at whether or not they support the democratic process,like Measure J."

Another goal of the forum is to determine how"green" the candidates actually are,she said.

Californians will likely be able to vote on a $10 billion bond measure to build a high speed rail line stretching from Northern California to San Diego in November.

The state legislature has removed the bond from the ballot on two previous occasions, but proponents are optimistic that a bill currently in committee will increase the measure's chances of staying on the ballot.

Assembly Bill 3034 - scheduled to be heard in Appropriations on May 7 - amends and updates some of the language in the original 2002 bond measure to address some concerns of Governor Schwarzenegger as well as those of environmental and business groups.