enterprise THE DAVIS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2022
Few County residents get bivalent booster By Anne Ternus-Bellamy
Local school officials around California were bracing for declines as the state prepared to release student test scores for the first time since the pandemic.
Enterprise staff writer COVID-19 levels in Yolo County are low based on both case rate and wastewater monitoring, but emerging Omicron subvariants could bring a change in the weeks and months ahead. The BA.5 subvariant remains dominant, comprising 72 percent of cases, according to Yolo County Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson, but BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 cases are growing, together making up 14 percent of cases. The county’s public health director, Brian Vaughn, told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 “are more infectious descendants of BA.5. "However," he said, "the good news is that the vaccine appears to be effective against the BQ strain and they do not appear to cause more severe disease.” That vaccine — the bivalent booster — is recommended for everyone over the age of 5, and bivalent boosters for children ages six months to five years are expected in January, Sisson said.
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David Rodriguez/The Californian, CatchLight Local photo via CalMatters
California testing scores plunge By Joe Hong and Erica Yee CalMatters California’s Education Department on Monday released student test scores showing a statewide decline that nearly wiped out the academic progress made since the state overhauled how it funds education in 2014. The gist of the scores, the most extensive measure so far of the COVID-19 pandemic’s
impact on student achievement: The percentage of California students meeting state math standards plummeted 7 percentage points to 33%, and the percentage meeting English language standards dropped 4 percentage points, to 47%. Some scores for students of color and those from lowincome households dropped less dramatically than their counterparts, an indication that the state’s funding formula,
which sends more money to high-needs districts, worked to soften the blow of two years of disrupted learning. The results of the state’s Smarter Balanced test left education officials and experts neither surprised nor hopeless. “It’s useful data, and it gets everybody talking,” said Li Cai, an education professor at UCLA. “Everybody comes up with creative ideas, and they say let’s do it. That’s pretty
Community Mercantile offers new vision By Aaron Geerts Enterprise staff writer The newest addition to Davis’ exceptional list of nonprofits is none other than Community Mercantile. Set to open on Sunday, Oct. 30, this thrift store offers a practical way for the community to save money and the planet, one shopping spree at a time. After the smashing success of their soft opening on Sept. 11, co-founders Stephanie Koop and Larry Fisher are eager to share their store and vision with Davis. Koop, with her background in nursing and a master’s degree in public health combined with Fisher’s 20 years of experience in appliance repair and
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Calendar �����������A6 Forum �����������������B2 Obituaries ���������A5 Classifieds ���������A4 The Hub �������������B1 Sports ���������������B6 Comics ���������������B4 Living �����������������B3 The Wary I ���������A2
fundamentally an American ideal.” As if to prove that pandemic learning loss is not just a California problem, officials released the state data to the public on the same day that results of a different test, nicknamed the Nation’s Report Card, revealed an unprecedented score dive among a sampling of students nationwide.
Former mayor sues city over Arroyo Park zip lines By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer
Courtesy photo
Stephanie Koop and Larry Fisher are eager to share their store, Community Mercantile, and their vision with Davis. expertise in food/construction waste, it’s looking like the soft opening was a sample size of the success to come.
WEATHER Thursday: Sunny and pleasant. High 71. Low 44.
“It’s a long time coming for this to happen,” Koop said. “We’ve tried different
See VISION, Page A4
A years-long battle over noisy playground equipment in Arroyo Park appears headed to court. Former Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza and his wife, Janet, have sued the city of Davis, challenging the City Council’s August decision to keep the Sky Track zip line equipment in the West Davis park, albeit in a different location than it is now. The council voted unanimously to move the Sky Track farther away from residences on the south side of the park where the noise generated
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by the equipment violated the city’s noise ordinance for those households and to a more central location in the park. The decision followed a recommendation from the city’s Recreation and Park Commission. But the Krovozas and others have argued the Sky Track will still violate the city’s noise ordinance in its new location. The lawsuit filed in Yolo County Superior Court earlier this month seeks a writ of mandate ordering the council to rescind its August
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