Sports
Beets make a great salad — Page B3
Green Page
Aggie women struggle against Santa Barbara — Page B5
Good news from a trio of sources — Page A6
Food
enterprise THE DAVIS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2023
Thompson holds pair of Davis meetings
Fabricated by Woodland’s Cutting Edge Modular, the tiny homes at the East Beamer Neighborhood Campus Project are for those working to improve their circumstances.
By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and nearly his entire office held two community meetings back-toback in Davis on Feb. 14 as part of a districtwide tour billed as a weeklong staff retreat. At each of his meetings, his staff THOMPSON introduced themselves, including Meeting Davis voters their titles and where their home base is located. The team first met at the UC Davis Walter A. Buehler Alumni Center, where University leaders, Associated Students UCD, and community members had an opportunity to meet Thompson’s district and Washington D.C. teams to discuss local issues. Following the UC Davis engagement, Thompson and his team came to The Davis Veteran’s Memorial Center, where about 50 Davisites gathered.
See THOMPSON, Page A3
Anne Ternus-Bellamy/ Enterprise photo
‘Tiny homes’ improve lives in Woodland By Anne Ternus-Bellamy Enterprise staff writer Paul’s Place is not the only new permanent-supportive housing development welcoming Yolo County residents experiencing homelessness. The vertical tiny-home village on H Street opened in Davis last week (though residents will not begin moving in for another month or two) and was celebrated by hundreds of community members and elected
officials. The facility will be operated by Davis Community Meals and Housing and also includes emergency and transitional housing, as well as a service center. But north of Davis, the city of Woodland is celebrating a similar accomplishment. Sixty tiny homes are now fully occupied at the East Beamer Neighborhood Campus Project, a development that includes different types of shelter and
services for the homeless. Fabricated by Woodland’s own Cutting Edge Modular, and opened at the end of 2022, the tiny homes there are for those working to improve their circumstances. “Living in the tiny homes has gotten me back on track in my life,” said one resident, Sabrina Truelove. “Living here allows me to love myself more deeply while I apply for employment within the neighborhood.”
The units come fully furnished along with support from on-site staff and regular case management from project partners Fourth & Hope, Yolo County and its service partner, Hope Cooperative.
Evidence suggests that permanent supportive housing is one of the most effective interventions to reduce homelessness, the city of Woodland
Coroner: Woman found at Recology died accidentally
Dad’s text, son’s art make book
By Lauren Keene
Enterprise staff writer
Enterprise staff writer Hours before she arrived in Davis, Mercedita Madison-Villar made several urgent posts on her Facebook page. “I’m being followed by people who apparently think I am for sale,” the Washington woman posted from an Arco gas station in Ashland, Ore., during the early hours of Friday, Sept. 23. “This is not a f—ing joke. I will not be leaving this lot, because I do not trust my safety alone, as I am.” But Madison-Villar did leave, heading south on Interstate 5 and making
her way to Davis, where employees of a Madson Place automotive center recalled seeing her acting erratically that afternoon in a nearby parking lot. By that evening, Madison-Villar was dead, apparently after climbing into a nearby cardboard receptacle whose contents were collected and compacted by a Recology Davis recycling truck. Workers at Recology’s Second Street facility found her body the following Monday morning. Yolo County coroner’s officials determined that Madison-Villar, 45, died
See CORONER, Page A5
By Aaron Geerts Much like the bicycle that represents the town, the people of Davis are never idle and always moving forward in unique, creative enterprises (if you will) that reflect their passions. Local father and author Jeff Kubiak is a prime example of this, as he and his son created a picture book together that was published on Feb. 1. Born in Sacramento and raised in Davis, Kubiak went through the town’s schooling progressions and left sporting the horns of a DHS Blue Devil. After graduating, Kubiak got his undergraduate degree from Cal State Northridge
and his master’s at Sonoma State. He went on to teach, coach swimming, met his wife along his life path and lived in Sonoma for a number of years. However, Kubiak returned to Davis in 2017 to be with his sick father, who passed away in 2019. Although the reason to move back to Davis wasn’t ideal, Kubiak’s happy to be living back in his hometown and working as a vice principal in Elk Grove. “School was hard for me. I was a typical ADHD kid, just hyper and the class clown. Then I had this amazing sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Sherry, who made reading fun. She read out loud every day, had picture books and novels and I all-of-thesudden loved to read
VOL. 125 NO. 20
See HOMES, Page A3
INDEX
Business Focus A5 Forum �����������������B2 Living �����������������B3 Classifieds ���������A4 Green Page �������A6 Sports ���������������B6 Comics ���������������B4 The Hub �������������B1 The Wary I ���������A2
WEATHER Thursday: Frost, mostly cloudy. High 56. Low 36.
HOW TO REACH US
www.davisenterprise.com Main line: 530-756-0800 Circulation: 530-756-0826
because of her,” Kubiak explained his infatuation with reading and inspiration for writing. “As a teacher, I wanted to make education better for kids than what I experienced. Even when I taught sixth grade, I believe picture books are so important for any kid. Time went by and I felt like the world needed more kindness. So, I wrote my first book and it was published in 2019 (“One Drop of Kindness”). “Then, a year-and-ahalf later, I wrote my second book (“It’s Me”), which was basically vignettes written by kids and adults who have been marginalized and I
http://facebook.com/ TheDavisEnterpriseNewspaper http://twitter.com/D_Enterprise
See BOOK, Page A5
WED • FRI • $1