Joel Davis, 1962-2025: His journalism kept the spotlight on a Davis double-murder that took 32 years to solve

Thu, 05/01/2025 - 4:34pm | Bill Buchanan

Few journalists have had as much impact in Davis as Joel Davis (pictured in 2013).

In 2005 he wrote his book Justice Waits about the then-unsolved kidnapping and murders of two UC Davis students, John Riggins and Sabrina Gonsalves, in December 1980. The killings stunned and terrified the community. His book helped sustain interest in solving the crime, ending in the conviction of Richard Hirschfield for first-degree murder in December 2012.

In January 2013, Joel appeared on Davisville to talk about the book, the effect the murders had on Davis and on him, and finishing his work even as he was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s Disease.

Justice Waits was important, useful, and written with clarity and skill. Joel grew up in Davis. He cared about getting this right. “I knew this would be an unusual case,” he wrote in the preface. “I just didn’t realize how unusual.”

Jazz After Dark, April 29, 2025

Tue, 04/29/2025 - 5:00pm | Don Shor

On tonight’s show:

  • Fats Waller, After You've Gone
  • Bunny Berigan, Black Bottom
  • Billie Holiday, God Bless the Child
  • Red Garland, I Can't Give You Anything but Love (feat. Paul Chambers & Art Taylor)
  • Milt Jackson, Blues at Twilight
  • Nat Adderley, I've Got a Crush on You (feat. Wes Montgomery & Sam Jones)
  • Barney Kessel, New Rhumba
  • Gia Maione, Louis Prima, Sam Butera & The Witnesses, When a Man Loves a Woman
  • Claude Bolling, Sentimentale
  • Butch Thompson, Home (When Shadows Fall - Red Maddock vocals)
  • Hank Jones, Mads Vinding & Billy Hart, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Davisville, April 28, 2025: Yolo Local has a question for you -- 'What do you need to know?'

Mon, 04/28/2025 - 5:30pm | Bill Buchanan

Last year’s idea for a new “civic information hub” in Yolo County has grown into Yolo Local, a budding project to create a new source for local information and news. This spring the project is surveying people throughout the county to get insights on the types of information people want to access about local civic life and events, but don’t necessarily know where to find it, as the old ways of distributing information and news continue to fragment.

Today on Davisville we hear an update about the project from Autumn Labbe-Renault, the executive director of Davis Media Access and the project’s main organizer. What Yolo Local will look like, and how it will operate, is not yet decided. That will come after the survey results are released, probably in September. Meanwhile, Autumn offers two examples of existing civic information sites she likes—Lookout in Santa Cruz and The Oaklandside, in Oakland—during today's review of what's driving this project, who's involved, and how it all might come together.

In the Key of Folk, April 23, 2025

Wed, 04/23/2025 - 1:00pm | Karen Leyse

April is Earth month and yesterday was Earth Day! Therefore, today In the Key of Folk honors mother earth with tracks that cover the good, bad, and little-known aspects of life on our planet. We'll cover tracks by Laurie Lewis, Rita Hosking, Dougie MacLean, and Alien Folklife, among others.

The second half of the hour will be devoted to a sample of favorite contra dance tunes in honor of the 39th Anniversary Contra Dance this Saturday night, put on by the Sacramento Country Dance Society. You'll hear tracks by The Free Raisins, Toss the Possum, the Syncopaths, and String Fire. Tune in at 2 this afternoon, and don't forget to put your dancing shoes on! Right here on KDRT 95.7 FM |  KDRT.org!

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