enterprise THE DAVIS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2022
Partida, Vaitla maintain big leads in vote update By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer
In solidarity, some professors canceled classes, fire trucks honked as marchers walked by, community members donated mounds of food and coffee,
Davis City Council candidates Bapu Vaitla and Gloria Partida both extended their leads in the latest update from the Yolo County Elections Office. Vaitla is seeking the District 1 (West Davis) seat on the council and Partida the District 4 (East Davis) seat. A total of 3,949 votes have now been counted in District 1 — 1,429 of them since the last update — and Vaitla has received 2,375 or 60.14 percent of them. His opponents in District 1, incumbent Councilman Dan Carson and fellow challenger Kelsey Fortune, remain well behind. As of Tuesday afternoon, Carson had 26.61 percent of the vote and Fortune had 13.24 percent. Over in District 4, a total of 3,911 votes have now been counted and Partida, who is seeking a second term on the council, has received 2,396 of them (61.26 percent) to challenger Adam Morrill’s 1,515 (38.74 percent). Both Vaitla and Partida saw their leads grow slightly since the elections office last updated the vote counts a week ago.
See STRIKE, Page A4
See VOTE, Page A2
Striking UC Davis grad-student workers picket at the corner of Russell Boulevard and Howard Way on Monday morning. Monica Stark/ Enterprise photo
Student workers strike for better pay, benefits By Monica Stark
scholars,” according to a statement provided by organizers.
Enterprise staff writer UC Davis workers began striking on Monday, calling an end to the University of California’s “unlawful behavior,” which they say prevents agreements on fair contracts. These include living wages to address “rent burden, increased childcare subsidies for parent scholars, sustainable transit benefits, and greater rights for international
The elected bargaining teams of academic student employees, postdocs, academic researchers, and student researchers called for the strike after 36,558 academic workers voted for strike authorization by a margin of 98%. Represented by the United Auto Workers, this strike will be the biggest academic-worker
strike in the history of the nation and its first-ever postdoctoral-scholar and academicresearcher strike. In a collective effort to “shut the university down,” by 10 a.m., about 1,000 picketers lined up along Russell Boulevard at College Park and along La Rue and Hutchinson, exceeding expectations so early in the morning. By the afternoon, there were at least double that number of
supporters. Two marches during the day went through campus, with a rally at the earlier one at Mrak Hall, where UCD Chancellor Gary May’s office is located on the fifth floor.
Virus season has county officials worried Man kills wife in rural By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer Yolo County’s health officer is urging residents to protect themselves as cases of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19 increase. “We are seeing higher than usual influenza and RSV activity for this time of year,” said Dr. Aimee Sisson. “We are also seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases. “I encourage everybody in Yolo County to take actions to protect themselves and others from what looks to be a rough respiratory virus season ahead by washing their hands often, getting vaccinated and boosted against
VOL. 124 NO. 138
INDEX
Calendar ����������� A6 Forum �����������������B2 Obituaries ��������� A5 Classifieds ���������B4 The Hub �������������B1 Sports ���������������B1 Comics ���������������B3 Living �����������������A3 The Wary I ��������� A2
flu and COVID19, wearing a mask indoors, covering their cough, and SISSON staying County health home officer when sick.” RSV activity is especially high this year, Sisson reported, with hospitals across California straining to care for large numbers of ill children. UC Davis Health said Monday that there are “15 children in our hospital who are very ill with RSV or flu. “Of those 15, seven are in
WEATHER Thursday: Early frost, clouds. High 63. Low 38.
the pediatric ICU; most are toddlers and one is just three weeks old,” UC Davis Health reported on social media. “Please mask up, wash your hands and get vaccinated to slow the spread of illness.” According to the California Department of Public Health, RSV activity usually rises in December and peaks in February, but this year began rapidly rising in October. Shortly after Sisson urged precautions on Monday morning, the California Department of Public Health announced the first death this season of a child under the age of 5 due to flu and RSV.
See VIRUS, Page A2
Winters home, then himself By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer
A man killed his wife in rural Winters on Sunday shortly before taking his own life, according to the Yolo County Sheriff ’s Office. Sheriff ’s officials said they performed a welfare check at about 11 a.m. inside a recreational vehicle at Canyon Creek Resort, located on Highway 128, in response to a call from a friend of the couple. That person “advised a friend called him and stated he had killed his wife and was going to kill himself,” the Sheriff ’s
HOW TO REACH US
www.davisenterprise.com Main line: 530-756-0800 Circulation: 530-756-0826
Office reported in a Facebook post. “Once on scene, deputies located a deceased adult female with a fatal gunshot wound inside of an RV.” Investigators identified the suspect as the victim’s husband, 56-year-old Alfonso Hernandez Jr. of Sacramento, and issued a be-on-the-lookout bulletin for law-enforcement agencies along the Highway 50 corridor, where Hernandez was believed to be headed by car. At about 1 p.m., reports came in that authorities had located Hernandez’s vehicle on Icehouse Road,
http://facebook.com/ TheDavisEnterpriseNewspaper http://twitter.com/D_Enterprise
See KILLS, Page A2
WED • FRI • $1