The state’s budget problems continue to shape and degrade the education available to Davis students. The district is relatively OK for now, thanks to cuts and extra taxes repeatedly OK'd by Davis voters. But the schools face major financial decisions in the new instructional year that starts Aug. 23 – and a lot will depend on the state’s hopeful gamble that California’s economy is improving. On this Davisville, return guest Jeff Hudson – he writes about education for the Davis Enterprise -- discusses the budget and decisions facing the Davis school district in 2011-12. Two of the topics we covered had significant developments after KDRT recorded this interview. The federal government
The regional job market is looking better, says employment market analyst Rick Reed on this edition of Davisville. Reed has surveyed area employers several times a year since 1992 for what is now a quarterly employment forecast, the Pacific Staffing Employment Trends Survey. Among other questions, he asks his contacts if they’re hiring, as well as why or why not. In our talk, Reed discussed trends, what he thinks employers want to see before they accelerate hiring, fields with the best job prospects, how agriculture helps the area job market, and more. Davis’ unemployment rate of 7.6 percent for May falls in the middle of regional cities, as measured by the state Employment Development Department. Davis’ rate is better than
I was on vacation in early July, so we're re-airing this program from spring 2011 when Stan Forbes discussed the state citizens' redistricting commission. Forbes, former Davis City Council member, is the only member of the commission from our part of the state. If you've wondered what the commission does, and why it matters to the average Californian, tune in for an explanation.
Basic civic infrastructure usually attracts scant popular interest, but the triple-your-rates impact has made the proposed city water project an exception this summer. The prospect of the average Davis household paying another $700 to $800 per year for water by 2016 has brought the issue front and center in Davis. On the current Davisville, Bob Clarke, interim Davis public works director and city engineer, and Diane Phillips, public works engineer and Davis’ project manager for the surface water project, discuss what’s behind the cost, some alternatives, city water quality, and why Davis concluded that it needs the project. Clarke and Phillips also discuss project details, prospects for savings, the possible ratepayers’ protest vote that would block the rate increase, and what comes next.
John Oda has been pastor of the Davis United Methodist Church for two years. On the latest “Davisville” he talks about the role of a Christian church in Davis; Christianity and gay rights; different ways of interpreting Scripture; last month’s failed prediction of the Rapture by Harold Camping, which became a nationwide story; and Oda's impression of the town he is about to leave, among other subjects. Oda will depart Davis UMC for a church in Oakland at the end of June, the time each year when United Methodist pastors usually receive new assignments.
A print newspaper for college students might seem anachronistic, but The Aggie made $50,000 more this year than it expected. On the latest Davisville, two students who edited the UC Davis paper for 2010-11 discuss how it continues to find its audience despite the shift to digital media. The guests are Mark Ling, editor for 2010-11, and Becky Peterson, who was city editor and will return as managing editor in 2011-12. The Aggie earns much less than it did several years ago, but cuts in expenses, easy access to copies on campus, and a steady focus on its audience have kept the paper a solvent part of UC Davis student life.
Joy Cohan, who steps down as director of the Davis Downtown Business Association on July 1, discusses the state of the city's main commercial district and what she has learned from four years on the job on the current “Davisville.” Among other subjects, she talks about initiatives to draw more people downtown, the “Community Covenant” to reduce the drunken excesses of Picnic Day, the gift card program that has so far produced $125,000 in sales, paid parking, and what she’s doing next.
Alex Pacheco and Daniel Watts, whose “Davis State of Mind” spoof has made “middle class in the middle of nowhere” a local catchphrase this spring, talk about the video, why they made it, life in Davis, the reactions they’ve heard, and more on the latest episode of “Davisville.”Pacheco and Watts graduate from the UC Davis School of Law this year. Their video, which parodies
Author Peter Grandbois, formerly of Davis, returns to “Davisville” this month. Grandbois, now an assistant professor of creative writing and contemporary literature at Denison University in Ohio, read from his new book at the Avid Reader on Picnic Day. Called Nahoonkara and set in 19th century Wisconsin and Colorado, it presents dozens of characters but focuses on three brothers as they work to remake their lives. On “Davisville,” he also discusses how the places where he has lived show up in his work, and looks ahead to his next projects, including a book told from the perspective of the creature in the 1950s science-fiction movie “The Creature from the Black Lagoon.”
The Davis Enterprise rebuilt its website and took down its paywall, at least temporarily, in February. Online Editor Jonathan Edwards called the changes part of a “giant leap into digital relevancy,” and on this edition of “Davisville” he discusses the revisions and how they’re working out so far.
The new approach steps up the Enterprise’s presence online, with the aim of making it more competitive in the increasingly digital news business.
Among other goals, the Enterprise wants to attract more comments and discussions involving online readers, plus draw in UC Davis students who are unlikely to ever pick up a printed copy of the newspaper.
