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Don't let the clouds, wind, and rain keep you indoors this weekend. Get thee outside and frolic with the rest of the humans.
After the jump, more deets... still looking for a cultural correspondent to tell us what to do...
In the Beginning, There Were Photovoltaics
Most political candidates craft a plank in their platform emphasizing the need to diversify the tax base by attracting more business. Our right and relevant candidates for local office are no exception. Indeed, most of them take it to the next level, stating that we need to attract innovative green technology businesses to our fair town.
Is this all talk?
Does our local government actively seek out new green businesses, court them, and then grant them work visas for our People’s Republic?
To answer that question and in order to highlight a local kid gone good, we sat down with Tobin Booth, Founder and President of Blue Oak Energy.
After the jump [Tobin – this is blog term “after the hyperlink, see the full article”], get the details on a local commercial photovoltaic installation company (think big projects, Google campus big) that deserves our accolades, encouragement and business.
Lions, Leaders, and a Line in the Sand, Oh, My!
by Michael P. Bartolic
Over the weeks as we’ve
been watching the impending budget tragedy engulf our schools, an aphorism of
my dear old Dad keeps rising through my subconscious: “Better a lion leading a flock of sheep than a sheep leading a pride of lions”.
I keep hoping and praying the school board will show some gumption,
and step outside the game that the Governor is playing. Instead, we seem
to be condemned to witness what happens when misplaced conformance is
nothing less than thoughtless political cooperativeness.
After the jump, Michael's call to arms.
Spring is here and a time of rebirth and renewal is upon us. This week, resurrect your secular sense of civic duty and participate in some local government meetings.
After the jump, find all of the details.
Spring is here people! Time to take a layer of clothing off and enjoy the Great Outdoors of Davis. On Saturday and Sunday, we'll be approaching the scorching temperature of 74 degrees Farenheit.
As usual, the Davis Farmers Market will be filled to the brim with veggies, artisan foodstuffs, freshly cooked local foods, political candidates and tourists galore (isn't it cute when they take pictures?).
After the jump, find an abbreviated (it's Spring Break) mix of activities to celebrate Easter Weekend.
DJUSD Budget History 101A: Take a Seat
Our People's Republic prides itself on being a well educated city. As is often the case with university towns, the public education system for our community's children is above par. But with declining enrollment (see not enough housing for young families), a state budget crisis and shady dealings and/or incompetence by past administrators, DJUSD is facing one of its worst fiscal crises in recent history.
When we started the Davis Voice in January, we thought that people would be clamoring to get up on our soapbox to comment on all things DJUSD. Perhaps we haven't dialed the right phone number yet, but if you know of anyone who wants to keep us all current of DJUSD happenings in a fair, civil, and semi-regular column, email us at tips@davisvoice.com.
We've only reported twice on DJUSD happenings: once on the 7/11 Nugget Fields Committee and once on proposed long-term solutions for DJUSD's budget. After the jump, find your editor's hazy recollection of DJUSD's budget mess over the past few years. This attempt will be a novel approach relying solely on memory of past events. We're hoping that some enlightened citizen will read this attempt, stare aghast at its inaccuracies, and set forth on a quest to enlighten us all on the challenges that face our local schools.
Over the last two weeks, we've been introducing you to all of the candidates for local office on the June 03, 2008 ballot. We've given you the boilerplate biographies on Don Saylor, Cecilia Escamilla-Greenwald and Sydney Vergis.
After the jump, we'll introduce you to Stephen Souza, Rob Roy, and Sue Greenwald. Also, get the skinny of future City Council campaign coverage and more editorial disclosures.
This week is chock-full of opportunities to do your civic duty.
So, after the jump, find one that strikes your fancy, get on your bike, go to the meeting, learn and participate. The issues: school closings, potential housing developments, the bike path to Woodland, and the future of the GEM fleet... to name but a few.
Mobilizing Our Kicks for Spring . . . We want SPRING! We Want SPRING! WE WANT SPRING!!
Don't let those looming clouds, occasional raindrops and 60something degree temps bully you into staying indoors this weekend.
We must prepare for Spring's triumphant return by watching live college baseball, buying new plants, watching carnival inspired theatre and raising money for our favorite campaign efforts.
If you follow all of my suggestions, you'll probably need to take Monday off to recover... it's a hectic weekend in our People's Republic. After the jump, find all the deets to keep your new spring kicks moving all over town.
Time To Get On The Innovation Train
Our fair city has held the heavy mantle of environmental progressivism in the United States for over three decades.
In that time, we've received commendations, awards, diplomats and laugh tracks from all over our planet (and probably beyond.)
But lately, there has been an overwhelming communal sense that we've been resting on our laurels. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
The time for us to break forth with new innovations in community planning and sustainable policies, successful and otherwise, has come. Earlier this evening, the Climate Action Team (CAT) convened to begin the process of identifying, prioritizing and putting into action new ideas to reduce our carbon footprint.
Forgive the link-free and abbreviated nature of this post, I'm a little tired from a full day of work plus 4 hours of doing my civic duty. Apropos to that disclaimer, don't be surprised by the addition of local advertising to this site next week to help defray the costs of maintaining an active presence in the blogosphere. Hopefully, that additional income will help fund more in-depth, investigative work to improve our civil dialog.
After the jump, a quick wrap up of tonight's proceedings.
