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Davis Enterprise, The (CA)
Violence, development named year's top stories
Cory Golden Enterprise staff writer
Published: December 31, 2004
Some of the top local stories of 2004 are striking for how out of place
they are in Davis — like incidents of violence — and those that are the
norm — like tussles over development schemes and skyrocketing home
prices.
Each
year, The Davis Enterprise's editorial staff reviews 12 months of
headlines, selecting those stories with the greatest impact on the
community.What follows are this year's Top 10.1. Gun violenceIn
the span of 27 days, the city saw its first murder in nearly seven
years and UC Davis its first-ever police-involved shooting death.On
the foggy morning of Nov. 18, police found 35-year-old Dennis Edward
Thrower shot to death in the doorway of apartment No. 62 of the Tennis
Club Apartments.While
en route, after a neighbor called 911 to report an argument, police
received calls that multiple shots had been fired. Thrower's killer
fled and remains at large.The
investigation is ongoing, but police believe Thrower knew the shooter
and that the incident may be tied to an earlier burglary reported by
the victim.In
a very different, but equally jarring incident outside the UCD Student
Housing office Dec. 14, 26-year-old Martin Louie Castro Soriano of
Antioch brandished a semiautomatic handgun, then opened fire on campus
police but missed.At least one officer shot back, killing Soriano.Eyewitnesses
told UCD police Soriano was speaking irrationally and approached at
least one student in a threatening way, prompting the student to call
police. Witnesses also said officers tried using Tasers, which deliver
an electric shock, to subdue Soriano, without success.Media
reports have since indicated that Soriano, who was not a UCD student,
may have gone to campus distraught over a breakup and intent on finding
his former girlfriend.UCD
Police Chief Calvin Handy called the officers' actions "highly
responsible" and "very appropriate." The three involved were placed on
leave pending an investigation.Administrators
sent some 4,000 e-mail messages to parents providing more information,
Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef sent another to 48,000 students, staff and
faculty members and counseling was made available to students, who were
in the midst of finals.Said UCD junior Sarah Gounder, "It was a shock to me. Davis has always been a safe place."2. DevelopmentsThere's
no mistaking the current flash point in Davis' long-running growth
debate — the fate of property north of Covell Boulevard bordered on the
east by Pole Line Road and on the west by F Street and the former
Hunt-Wesson cannery site.Covell
Village Partners, a group of local developers, has proposed a
neighborhood of 1,515 housing units for the land, along with a
commercial center, parks and habitat and sites for a hospice facility,
fire station and school district use.The
proposal surfaced for debate prior to the March City Council election.
It has led to sometimes heated public meetings during the second half
of this year.City officials are scheduled to review and vote on the controversial neighborhood proposal early next year.If
they give the project a green light, it will trigger Davis' first use
of Measure J since its passage in 2000. The measure requires voter
approval of projects converting farm land and open space around the
city to urban use.The site proposed for Covell Village would have to be annexed into the city.The
second proposed project: a complementary, mixed-use development
proposed by Lewis Planned Communities. It's still in the preliminary
stages, but the company has floated the idea of some housing, an office
or research area and shopping on 100 acres where the Hunt-Wesson
cannery site once operated.3. ExpulsionIn
a case sparking intense community debate, police arrested 18-year-old
Davis High School student Adam Liston after witnesses reported seeing a
shotgun on his pickup truck's gun rack Jan. 14, when he dropped off a
friend at school, and again the next day when he inadvertently left the
gun in a cardboard box on the truck's back seat in the school parking
lot.In
addition to his arrest, Liston was suspended pending an expulsion
hearing. On Feb. 19, the Davis Board of Education expelled Liston, and
then suspended that expulsion, allowing Liston to enroll at either King
High School or the Davis School for Independent Study. Liston enrolled
at DSIS a week later.His
family appealed the Davis school board's decision to the Yolo County
Board of Education, which overturned Liston's suspended expulsion and
ordered him readmitted to Davis High School.The
county board cited insufficient evidence regarding the Jan. 14 incident
and also cited the presence of Davis schools Superintendent David
Murphy during a closed-session discussion of the Liston case, without
Liston or his attorney being present.Liston
ultimately pleaded no contest in March to a misdemeanor charge of
carrying a loaded firearm in a public place. In exchange, the Yolo
County district attorney's office dismissed two felony charges.Liston re-enrolled at Davis High School after entering his plea.4. Huge partiesDavis
police scrambled to respond to several out-of-control parties during
the spring, provoking examination of police staffing plans as well as
much community discussion.Most
notorious among the events: A pre-Picnic Day incident at the Sterling
University Apartments where police were pelted with more than 100
bottles, fruit and other items after several smaller parties converged
to total 500 to 800 people.While
Davis police have been called out to large parties in the past, "we've
never had to amass that many people" to disperse them, said Lt. Darren
Pytel, a 20-year department veteran. "Another difference was the
chanting, and the number of items thrown at police."5. Finally, an arrestIn September, 55-year-old Richard J. Hirschfield was charged with the 1980 murders of UC Davis sweethearts John Riggins and Sabrina Gonsalves.The
two 18-year-old Davis High School graduates were abducted as they
headed to a surprise birthday party for Gonsalves' sister. Their bodies
were later found in a ravine near Aerojet Road in Sacramento.Sacramento County homicide investigators first named Hirschfield
as a suspect in June. He was identified in September 2002 through a
"cold hit" DNA match using a semen stain found on a blanket in Riggins'
van.
Hirschfield,
serving a 16-year sentence for child molestation and child rape at the
McNeil Island Corrections Center in Washington state, unsuccessfully
fought extradition to California.John Riggins' parents attended the September hearing."He
is locked up, and that's what we hope for — that he is prevented from
harming or killing another person's child," Kate Riggins said.Court hearings for Hirschfield, who is charged with rape and two counts of murder with special circumstances, will continue in January.He could face the death penalty if convicted.6. ElectionIn
what became a tug-of-war fraught with controversy in the final days of
campaigning, Davis voters re-elected Sue Greenwald, promoting her to
mayor pro tem, and selected Don Saylor and Stephen Souza as councilmen.Voters
also approved a half-cent sales tax increase, presumably injecting a
few million dollars more each year into the city budget.In
the few days before the March 2 election, Sacramento developer Steve
Gidaro, who has ties to property on the outskirts of Davis, reported he
spent more than $21,000 on phone banking, polling and consultants in
support of candidates Saylor, Stan Forbes and incumbent Mike Harrington.The
three candidates denied involvement in the activities, but the infusion
of money in the Davis race by an outsider sparked outrage among many
and, later, prompted the newly seated City Council to tighten its
campaign reporting and disclosure rules.7. Expensive housesDavis
home prices continued their superheated rise, with the median home
price reaching $514,000 in July and $545,000 in August, according to
the Yolo County Association of Realtors.The median home price six years ago: $170,000.The
rising home prices in Davis and Woodland ($349,000 median price in
July) mirrored the trend throughout the state, where prices were up 18
to 25 percent from a year ago.A
UC Davis survey released this month found rental vacancies in Davis up
3.4 percent, due to a small dip in UCD enrollment and the opening of
new apartment complexes — but also from renters heading to Sacramento
and elsewhere in search of cheaper bills.A
recent report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found a
Yolo County resident must earn $16.37 an hour to rent a two-bedroom
home at the fair market rent of $851 a month.In
response to the outcry from workers such as firefighters and teachers
unable to afford the prices, the Davis City Council voted in October to
become the first city in California to require 25 percent of a new
housing project's for-sale units (not rentals) be sold to
"middle-income" households: those who earn between $72,241 and $96,320
(120 to 160 percent of the Yolo County median income for a family of
four).That
comes in addition to a requirement that 25 percent of for-sale housing
go to households in designated "low" and "moderate" income categories.8. ShoppingNeighbors
have given a chilly response to Target, which in June submitted a
preliminary document outlining plans for a shopping center on Second
Street near Mace Boulevard.The
plans call for a 126,000-square-foot store with a garden area and
30,000 square feet of additional retail space in nearby smaller
buildings.Opponents,
primarily from southeastern Mace Ranch, complained the development
would bring a drop in property values, increased crime, lights and
noise from the store, a draw for additional retail on Second Street and
a diminished quality of life in the city.Others
say the city needs more stores so that they aren't forced to trek to
Woodland or elsewhere to buy socks or underwear, taking their sales tax
money with them.In
September, the Davis City Council and Planning Commission asked for
design changes, the use of more green building techniques and more
complete information to be included in a formal proposal.Meanwhile,
Mace Ranch owner Ramco Enterprises of West Sacramento proposed a
separate 63,000-square-foot shopping center at Mace Boulevard and
Alhambra Drive. The developer says the feel would be a Spanish-flavored
version of Davis Commons, hopefully anchored by a Trader Joe's grocery.9. Tough timesFacing
a deficit of $14 million, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors in July
ordered employees to participate in a mandatory 60-hour work furlough
from Dec. 20-31, closing up libraries and other offices.The move amounted to a 2.9 percent pay cut for employees and an estimated savings of $2.3 million for the county.Employees who perform critical public services, like law enforcement, are to take their furlough at other times during the year.10. GangsIn
April, three people were stabbed in the head outside Tapioca Express in
Mansion Square. Police and prosecutors said this was the latest in a
growing series of gang-related incidents in Davis.Six
men were ultimately arrested for their alleged part in the crime or
intimidating a victim. Three, Juan Carlos Garcia of Sacramento and
Davis residents Justin Edelen and Leonides Huitron have been charged
with attempted murder; all three have pleaded not guilty.Police
said the victims were not gang members, but had "disrespected" their
attackers. None of the victims in the stabbing were seriously hurt.In
May, police said they had documented 32 gang members living in Davis.
That compared to about 700 each for Woodland and West Sacramento, but
authorities said they see an increase in gang activity in communities
along the Interstate 5 and Interstate 80 corridors."To think it's not coming here or not present here would be sticking our heads in the sand," said Davis police Chief Jim Hyde.Honorable mentionsAlso notable in the news:*
Dog park: After an unofficial off-leash dog park behind the Davis
Cemetery was closed, the city opened a temporary park on Cantrill Drive
and fenced off a second spot at Community Park. Later, a permanent
facility at the Core Area Pond was approved.*
Vandalism: Hate crime enhancement charges were dropped against a Davis
teen who admitted to vandalizing the car of a gay resident and the home
of a black family in October 2003.*
Conaway Ranch: Yolo County is attempting to acquire the resource-rich
ranch northeast of Davis through eminent domain, an effort that will
continue in 2005 despite the property's recent purchase by a group of
area buyers.*
Gay marriage: Several from Davis were among those married when San
Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized issuing marriage licenses to
same-sex couples.* KDRT: Davis launched its own low-power FM station.*
School: Frances Harper Junior High School opened in August, reducing
overcrowding at Holmes and Emerson Junior High Schools. The new
Performing Arts Building at Davis High School was dedicated in November.Meanwhile,
the Davis school board was forced to cut $1.4 million from the district
budget by reducing the hours and cutting the jobs of support staff. The
district also saw a drop in elementary school enrollment for the third
straight year.*
Worship: University Covenant Church and the United Methodist Church of
Davis opened new houses of worship. Congregation Bet Haverim moved in
and began renovations to UCC's former home on Anderson Road.Staff
writers Beth Curda, Jeff Hudson, Lauren Keene, Crystal Ross O'Hara,
Elisabeth Sherwin and Sharon Stello, as well as former Enterprise staff
writer Joel Davis, contributed to this report.— Reach Cory Golden at cgolden@davisenterprise.net or 747-8046.
Copyright, 2004, 2005, The Davis Enterprise. All Rights Reserved.
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