enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2023
UCD professor kicks off lecture series
For the birds
By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer
placed in various locations around town. The goal is to establish several “bird highways” in local parks, along Putah Creek, also up north in Woodland, and in eastern Glenn County, to help certain native bird species re-establish
After pounding away on a typewriter, Geerat “Gary” Vermeij, 76, a Dutch-born paleoecologist and evolutionary biologist in the department of earth and planetary sciences, takes each page and scans it into his computer. Then someone can make all the corrections that are necessary. “Fixing my errors which are often numerous,” he chuckles on camera. Behind the lens, Walter Leal, a distinguished professor in the department of molecular and cellular biology, was preparing for the winter New Emeriti Distinguished Lectures, airing Wednesday from the Putah Creek Lodge and online with about 170 viewers. Vermeij’s typewriter routine was part of the process of how he wrote his book, “The Evolution of Power,” which is expected out this year and was the topic of his featured talk at Wednesday’s lecture. According to the Princeton Review, the publisher of “The Evolution of Power,” the book “takes readers on a breathtaking journey across history and the natural world, revealing how the concept of power unifies a vast range of phenomena in the evolution of life — and how natural selection has placed humanity and the planet itself on a trajectory of ever-increasing power.”
See BIRDS, Page A6
See LECTURE, Page A4
Jack Donaldson/Courtesy photos
Davis resident Jack Donaldson was inspired to use his carpentry skills to make nestboxes for bluebirds. At right, a bird checks out the new digs. Bluebirds prefer their next boxes be a certain size, at a certain height and with the right-sized opening.
Local volunteer builds homes for native bluebirds By Jeff Hudson
read an article in The Enterprise about a project known as the Davis Nestbox Network ... a partnership formed in 2019 between the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife & Fish Biology, the city of Davis, the
Enterprise correspondent Longtime Davis resident Jack Donaldson started making boxy homes for bluebirds about four years ago, when he
Friends of North Davis Ponds and the UCD student chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology. The Davis Nestbox Network was looking for volunteers to help build nestboxes, to be
School threat weighs on board meeting Coroner identifies man By Aaron Geerts Enterprise staff writer Thursday’s school-board meeting kicked off with profound gratitude in the public comment section from a district parent. Harper Junior High had received a bomb threat earlier Thursday, and the parent was at the meeting to express her thanks for the district’s communication during the incident as well as the efforts of the Davis Police Department and Harper Staff to ensure the safety of the students. She also thanked Superintendent Matt Best for his eagerness to create a public forum to address future incidents such as these. Then the trustees got
VOL. 125 NO. 22
INDEX
Business �����������A5 Forum �����������������B2 Obituaries ���������B7 Classifieds ���������A4 Living �����������������B4 Op-Ed �����������������B1 Comics ���������������B5 Kid Scoop ���������B8 Sports ���������������B1
down to business featured a number of important updates regarding the health benefits committee, bond facilities program and the 2021-22 financial and performance audits. Laura Juanitas, associate superintendent of student services, gave a healthbenefits committee update. The committee itself is comprises unions, administrators and confidential staff who meet once a month to provide advisory information on cost-effective medical benefits options, information used in collective bargaining, as well as weighing the pros and cons of leaving CalPERS. Juanitas dove into specifics of the committee’s
WEATHER Today: Early frost, then sunny. High 67. Low 37.
considerations and provided information on CalPERS, what it provides, its costs and what it would take to leave if the district decided to do so. “As you can imagine, CalPERS does not make the process of leaving easy for districts. In order to leave, we will need to submit formal notice of intent to withdraw and a board resolution within 60 days of CalPERS’ releasing their Jan. 1, 2024 renewal rates,” said Juanitas. “The rates will be released this summer — likely in early July. So, the intent to withdraw and the board resolution would have a firm deadline
See BOARD, Page A7
fatally shot by SWAT officer By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer Yolo County coroner’s officials identified the Dunnigan man fatally shot by police last week as Hector Valdez Perez. Perez, 63, died at the scene of Tuesday’s shooting in the 3000 block of County Road 88C in Dunnigan, where members of the Yolo County SWAT team arrived that morning to serve a felony arrest warrant. Police said Perez, who lived in a trailer on the property, refused commands to surrender for more than four hours, the standoff followed by a
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confrontation during which Perez allegedly was armed with a kitchen knife.
According to police, the arrest warrant charged Perez with committing sex acts with a child. It remained unclear Friday whether the alleged crimes occurred in Yolo County.
Yolo Superior Court online records show several prior cases under the name Hector Valdez Perez. They include two from 2017 involving charges of assault on a peace officer, use of a
See FATALLY, Page A4
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