Davisville

Davis has interesting people, ideas, connections, and events. On Davisville, host Bill Buchanan presents stories that have some connection to Davis. The program has won 13 Excellence in Journalism awards from the San Francisco Press Club since 2018. Contact: davisville @ dcn.org

Replays Monday 5:30-6pm, Tuesday 12-12:30pm, Friday 5-5:30pm, Saturday 8:30-9am
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Picnic Day—the biggest show in town—returns, on Davisville

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Picnic Day returns on April 21. For the last two years, the event has meant two things. One is the traditional UC Davis open house, with attractions like the chemistry magic show, dachshund races, parade, music, and booths like the splash tank pictured here. The other is a surge in drunken and obnoxious public behavior, mostly in and near downtown. The campus and city have acted to curtail the trouble while preserving the better side of Picnic Day, and although last year still had problems—some downtown retailers reported “a lot of mayhem,” and the number of arrests and citations rose—conditions generally seemed better in 2011 than in 2010. The question now is what to expect for 2012. Two members of the student board that runs the event, Picnic Day chair Jennifer Mappus and publicity chair Achsa Rothe, came by Davisville to talk about the attractions and plans for 2012. The board intends to reduce the bad side while sustaining and improving the good, and Mappus and Rothe discuss how they’re pursuing that goal.

Meet Lindsey Black, a Disney vet who came to Davis for her degree

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Lindsey Black, 20, is a Regents Scholar and transfer student who is studying the classics and history at UC Davis. She’s also a veteran of the Disney Channel series “As the Bell Rings,” a high-school comedy presented in 5-minute episodes. She played Lexi in 2008-09—in the cast photo she’s holding here, she’s third from our right. This year she appears in “16-Love,” a movie that Variety called a “lightweight, tween-targeted indie sports drama.” On today’s Davisville, Black talks about why she chose Davis for college, why history engages her, life on campus, her pursuit of an academic career, advice for others who want a shot at Hollywood—and what it’s like to work in an industry that’s so focused on appearance, she felt it prudent to ask her manager if it was OK to grow bangs.

Meet the man who will make Davis even more bike friendly

yolo archiveToday’s guest is Dave Kemp, Davis’ new bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. He moved to Davis in February from Fort Collins, a Colorado college town where he earned a degree in recreation and tourism. He was bike coordinator there too. So what can “the bicycle capital of the United States” do for bicycling that it hasn’t done already? A lot, Kemp says, and in this edition of “Davisville” he discusses some of those ideas. One possibility is bike boxes—specially marked green zones at the front of a traffic lane to make bikes more visible at certain intersections. He also talks about how he works; his views on the Fifth Street “road diet,” which he says has worked elsewhere; the pedestrian side of his job; and different approaches to bicycle planning taken by vehicularists and facilitators.

Ex-Alcatraz con recalls life on ‘the Rock’ for Davisville

yolo archive Today’s guest is Robert Luke, 84, one of the approximately 1,550 men imprisoned at Alcatraz during its 29 years as a federal prison near San Francisco from 1934 to 1963. Not many are still alive. Alcatraz, now part of the National Park System, is legendary. Difficult prisoners were sent there. Books, TV programs and movies have been created about Alcatraz--Fox recently launched a new fictional TV show set there--and tours of the island often sell out. Since Luke’s release he has been a waiter in San Francisco, helped manage a resort, installed draperies, and worked as a marshal on a golf course, among other jobs. In 2011 he wrote a book, “Entombed in Alcatraz,” from which these photos are taken. And in January 2012, he came to Davis to speak about life in Alcatraz to the campus Entomology Club. To learn his Davis connection--and to hear him describe his five years at Alcatraz--listen in.

Matthew Harral: An emerging artist who paints with coffee

yolo archiveyolo archive Matthew Harral paints – with coffee, at present – and depending on where you buy books or coffee in Davis, you might have seen his art. He first exhibited at Logos Books last summer. From November 2011 through January 2012 he has shown his work at the Cloud Forest Café (the painting shown here, Unsinkable, comes from that display). His work is also available at the Pence Gallery, and more exhibits are pending. Harral, who also plays guitar, has lived a varied life. He left his hometown, Redding, for Davis at 18 to help a friend illustrate T-shirts in Old Sacramento. He has worked as a limousine driver, karaoke host, in radio, in landscape design, and as a cosmetics salesperson at the Arden Fair Sears. After nearly dying in a car crash three years ago, he decided to start showing his work. On today’s Davisville, Harral talks about why he paints, why he uses coffee, his work and themes, what draws him to Davis (he currently lives in West Sacramento to save on rent), and what's coming next.

Davis' first election for 2012: The latest schools tax

yolo archiveOne of the first major civic questions facing Davis in 2012 is Measure C, the latest local tax measure to benefit Davis public schools. If at least two-thirds of voters approve it--the election occurs by mail in February and March--then Measure C will replace two existing parcel taxes that expire in June. The new levy would raise $6.5 million per year. Numbers are a big part of this subject, but the larger story concerns the size, variety and nature of public education in Davis. Susan Lovenburg, president of the Davis school board, comes by Davisville to discuss the numbers, and what they mean for the district’s 8,400 students.

Stories for the end of 2011, on Davisville

yolo archiveyolo archive The mornings are cold. Dusk arrives at a time that would barely qualify as late afternoon in July. The holidays are diverting the usual business of life, bringing people back home for celebrations or visits, in memory if not in practice. It’s a fine time for stories. And so, for the last Davisville of the year I asked three people with some of the best voices in town to read out 2011 with a story, or part of a story, that means something to them. We hear from:

  • Rebecca Plack (right), a classically trained singer and voice teacher who grew up in Davis. She chose part of a story that she often re-reads in December.
  • Jeff Hudson, a freelance reporter whose venues include Capital Public Radio, and who chose poems by California poet Robinson Jeffers.
  • Anne Hance, a co-founder of the Explorit Science Center and former teacher. She selected a recent short story written by an author who is, like her, from Great Britain.

I thank all three for helping Davisville end the year well—and I thank all of you for tuning in. Happy new year, and see you again in 2012.

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Comments

You're a Davis icon, Bill. Keep up the good work of providing local, informative, and quality programming.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 11/15/2013 - 10:07pm

Bill, listen to the first 10 minutes of my show dated 7/7/2010. I hope you approve.
Paul Sheeran

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 7:22am

Just wanted to say thanks for an outstanding interview with Freedom From Hunger's president, Chris Dunford.
Keep up the good work!

Sam Citron

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:39pm

thanks, Sam!

This is the program in question; it aired Jan. 25:

http://www.kdrt.org/node/2689

Bill

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:42pm

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