The Davis Voice

New Cell Phone Law

Enter the Age of DWT's: Driving While Talking (on your cell phone)

Beginning tomorrow, July 1st, two new laws regarding driving a motor vehicle while talking on your cell phone will go into effect.  If you are under 18, then you may not use a cell phone at all while driving.  If you are 18+ years of age, you may use a wireless device (e.g. Bluetooth over-the-ear) while you are driving.

Fines are $20-$50 and ticketing is at the discretion of the officer.  And yes, an officer may pull you over simply for this infractions. 

For your downloading pleasure, find the FAQ sheet from the CHP.

Download cell_phone_faq.pdf

No word yet from my crack team of legal eagles, but I don't believe that there are any regulations prohibiting bicyclists from "Biking While Talking".  And once again, legislation is behind the times: looks like "Texting While Driving" is still very dangerous and very legal.

Climate Action Team Public Forum

Ladies & Gentlemen, the CAT is In the Building.

If you're worried about global climate change, your carbon footprint, peak oil, and/or sustainability issues, then tonight is the perfect opportunity for you to share your ideas, comments, and suggestions with a group that has been tasked to help reduce our community's carbon footprint.

City of Davis Climate Action Team Public Forum
TONIGHT, Thursday, June 26th 2008
6:30pm-7:00pm - Background Presentation
7:00pm-8:30pm - Open House: Drop-in format to share your ideas
Veterans Memorial Center MPR

Click here for our first post on the CAT.  After the jump, a little more information about tonight's proceedings.

This Weekend in the People's Republic

June in Davis is a magical time. It is a time of transition and of celebration. For some, it means graduation and the beginning of a life elsewhere...for others, it means incorporation into the Davis community. Whether you're departing, arriving or sticking around, discover your love for our idyllic town for the first time or all over again.

Summertime means less people. Take advantage of the barren streets and go for a bike ride, or read up on the events I think you'll love; they're after the jump. 

Google Street View Launched in Davis

Is that a GPS-enabled panoramic camera or is GoogleMaps just excited to see Davis?

A little over a year ago, my buddy Brian and I attended the Where2.0 Conference.  It's the annual mecca for all things GPS/GIS related.  We were stoked to be in the audience when the good folks at Google announced the launch of 'Street View' on their GoogleMaps platform.  At the time, you could simply type in an address in SF or NYC and get a 360 degree, panaromic, street level view rather than a tired old map.

Now, to little or no fanfare Google has added this option in our own little burg.

Direct your web portal browser thingy to: maps.google.com and type in a Davis address, click on "Street View" in the upper right hand corner, then click on the little yellow man on the map and prepare to be amazed. 

ALSO, in the directions portion of the site, be sure to also check out the "Public Transit" option.  Google will tell you how to get from Point A to Point B in Davis via public transportation.

After the jump, more musings about this fancy new technology.

Election Roundup: 7 Days Later

Let them eat wedding cake and drink Shiner Bock.

Greetings and salutations from across the country.  Ten hours after the polls closed on Election Day I was safely ensconced in an airplane that took me quickly away from the exhausted environs of our Right & Relevant City.  Since then, the Gmail vacation responder has been on and I've ignored all calls from "Dirty 5-Thirty."

But, for those of you who don't read The Enterprise and are wondering what happened to all of those lawn signs around town... I have results, and a little commentary for you.  For those of you that are ecstatic, angry, morose or simply bored and want me to create some pithy punditry, tough luck.

My endorsements went 3 for 6 this time around.  Following are our new (or returning) elected officials.

State Senate: Lois Wolk (won the Democratic primary)
State Assembly: Mariko Yamada (won the Democratic primary)
Yolo County Supervisor, 4th District: Jim Provenza
Davis City Council: Don Saylor, Stephen Souza, Sue Greenwald

After the jump, find a very small amount of commentary (a couple of little ones are begging to go play on the swing set.)

This Weekend in the People's Republic

Did you know that there is something interesting going on every day of the week? Every weekend, there are at least a dozen activities that might interest any given person. There are so many resources at our fingertips (literally...it's all over the internet!). If you're into music like I am, undietacos.org and the Mondavi Center's and Sophia's music calendars are great places to check for performances. If you're into Davis politics and would like to attend Planning Commission and City Council meetings, dcn.org is the best place to check. My favorite place on the web for all things Davis?  The daviswiki.org Events Page! With all of these wonderful opportunities for entertainment and community involvement at such a close distance, what are you waiting for?

Stay with me until after the jump, and I'll tell you about my picks for this weekend.

League of Women Voters Forum

City Council Candidates are Questioned.

This is the fourth forum that I’ve covered for The Davis Voice.  This forum took place on May 8th. I would have liked to post it earlier, but as you can tell by reading the Sierra Club information, we are providing you with a lot of information. The format for this event was three questions to all of the candidates and some questions from the audience.

Also, by now you can see the forum on our local Davis Media Access station on Cable 15.  The election is on Tuesday, June 3rd.  Be sure to vote!

After the jump, find all of the details from this Candidates’ Forum.

Editor's Endorsement

It's my soap box & I'll shout from it if I want to.

CA Senate - Lois Wolk

CA Assembly - Christopher Cabaldon

Yolo County Supervisor - John Ferrera

Davis City Council
Stephen Souza, Sydney Vergis, Don Saylor

I have spent many years of my life advocating for increased civic engagement by younger voters.  From middle school thru college, I was an active force in student government.  When I turned 18, I began registering my fellow students.  In my 20’s, I helped start and lead a non-profit whose mission was to bring young voters become regular voters by engaging them on public policy matters in a non-judgmental and rational monthly forum.  Then, I worked for two years as a national staff member of the non-partisan, young voter registration group "Rock the Vote".

For the past four years, I have gladly given many of my nights to our City and School District by serving on the Open Space & Habitat Commission, the Grande Site 7/11 Committee, and the Climate Action Team.  To this day, I still encourage people to register and vote.  I started this blog because I think that our community needs to do a better job of engaging the citizenry about the facts, difficult decisions, and realistic consequences and benefits of our public policy choices.

So, my frame of reference for choosing candidates is focused on their ability to promote: positive civic engagement, open space protection, innovative measures to preserve our natural resources, a more diverse tax base, and affordable housing for young families, civil servants and seniors.

After the jump, find all of the reasons that I encourage you to vote for some candidates and also (gasp!) reasons to NOT vote for candidates.

Sierra Club Candidates' Forum: Part Three

Third in a series of three.

After the jump, find answers to questions about Measure J, relations with the County, how to assist the School District, encouragement of bicycling and others.

Sierra Club Candidates' Forum: Part Two

Part two in a series of three.

As you are reading, think about how it felt sitting there with a laptop and two recording devices trying to take down what the candidates were saying, praying that you do not drop anything, and hoping that some weird noise does not emanate from one of the machines.  Now imagine all of those things happening because the did to me that night.

However, people were kind, even if they wondered, “Why doesn’t that person put all those tools on the table in front of him and free his hands?"  The only answer I have is….ummm I didn’t want to interrupt the proceedings.  Of course by trying to do that, I probably interrupted the proceedings even more.

After the jump, learn all about how the candidates feel about Neighborhood Shopping Centers and  the water challenges that face Davis in the coming years.

 

 

Sierra Club Candidates' Forum: Part One

We've been posting thorough coverage of all of the City Council Candidate Forums thus far and today we bring you the 1st installment on the Yolano Sierra Club/Davis Neighborhood Coalition/Davis Bike Club Forum.

The Sierra Club just announced  a grade (NOT an endorsement) for all of the candidates.  Two candidates, Escamilla-Greenwald and Greenwald received an "A" while Saylor, Souza, Vergis, and Roy received a "B".  It seems that this grading was a very contentious project that exposed a stark divide in the leadership of the club.  Also, some have argued that the candidates were not judged on their answers to these questions, but mainly by the personal preference of each voting Sierra Club leader. (-Ed. Note)

 

It has been over two weeks since I have posted on the election, but that does not mean we have not been following it.

I continue to maintain that this year it appears that The Enterprise has decided to lessen its coverage of local politics. This was affirmed by Claire St. John when she told a number of people that The Enterprise has decided not to cover any of the forums this year. I do not understand that. In a town as politically active and concerned with civic affairs as ours, to not cover at least some, if not all of the forums, simply does not make sense.

Since I last wrote on the elections, five forums for city council candidates have been held. On April 30^th at the Community Chambers, the Yolano Sierra Club/Davis Neighborhood Coalition/Davis Bike Club was held. On May 8th, the Davis League of Women Voters Forum was held and at 8 am! in the morning on May 13, the Downtown Business Association held a forum at the Varsity Theater.  Also, Tree Davis held a meet and greet and the ASUCD held a straw poll.

After the jump, find all of the details to help you pick your candidates for City Council on June 3rd.

 

This Week in YOUR Government

We hope that you enjoyed that invigorating Spring Sweat over the weekend.  Quite polite of Summer to send its calling card before its arrival, don't you think?  Spring or Summer, our local government's wheels never come to a halt.  After the jump, get all of the details on when, where, and how your local elected and appointed officials are taking care of our business.

This Weekend in the People's Republic

With the weather heating up fast, Davisites are likely finding themselves keeping indoors with the AC rocking. You know what else is rocking? This weekend's event calendar!

Stay indoors during the day if you want, but as the daytime heat yields to warm breezy nights, come out and enjoy what this weekend has to offer. My picks are after the jump.

This Weekend in the People's Republic

Whole Earth Festival weekend is my favorite weekend of the year. Every year I anticipate this weekend more than my birthday, Hanukkah, and Halloween; Craft vendors from all over sell their ecologically responsible wares, musicians big and small entertain the masses, children frolic with wonderment and mirth...it really doesn't get any more 'Davis' than this.

While I plan to spend the majority of the weekend dancing at the DJ Stage or relaxing with out-of-town friends in a shady spot and indulging in gourmet 'good-for-yous,' others can find entertainment and enrichment at any of the other various events going on around town this weekend. Find out my picks after the jump.

Whole Earth Festival

There is a Hippie Inside All of Us

Do you like hand crafted, artisan products?  How about folky, jam band music played by an amorphous collection of families that live in a bus half of the year?  Do local, organic foods cooked to order and served on reusable plates in the great out of doors turn you on?  Have you ever dreamed of having dreadlocks?  Do you enjoy learning about progressive issues in temporary geodesic domes? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then get ready for a fantastic weekend in The People's Republic.

Whole Earth Festival (WEF) is many things to many people.  For your editor, it's better than Picnic Day because there is little in the way of schedule and the expectation of hosting a killer house party is much lower.  Also, it is a chill, blissed-out weekend to embrace the inner hippie in us all.

WEF is a cooperative event that can only run with the help of volunteers.  So, point your browser thingy here and sign up for a couple of hours.  Your editor will be washing dishes on Sunday.

For all of the details for some funky fun in the sun, click here.