The city of Davis will hold a community forum this Saturday (June 27) on two innovation district proposals — but it won’t be your typical forum, say, like one held in a large meeting hall.

This forum will be in two places at once, 9-11:30 a.m., at Informational Pop-Up Workshops near the project sites:

• Mace Ranch Innovation Center — Ikeda’s Market, Mace Boulevard and Second Street.
• Nishi Gateway Mixed-Use Innovation District — Putah Creek Trail at the end of Olive Drive.

Community members will be able to visit the properties, meet the applicants, ask questions of the applicants and city representatives, and learn about the proposal concepts.

For more information, contact Gladys Cornell by phone, (916) 442-1168, or email.

MU chimes go silent for the summer

Wondering what happened to the hourly chimes that rang out from the top of the Memorial Union?

As a result of work on the fifth floor, the hourly bells have been disconnected. They will return after the work is complete at the beginning of the fall quarter, according to the UC Davis Memorial Union Renewal Facebook page.

Alum, faculty member nominated to lead state agency

Gov. Jerry Brown on June 18 appointed David Bunn, a UC Davis alum, faculty member and administrator of international programs, to become director of the state Department of Conservation, which manages and regulates the state’s agricultural lands, open space, mines and oilfields.

He is slated to assume the new post on July 6, pending Senate confirmation.

Bunn holds an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Animal Science and serves as the director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Genomics to Improve Poultry, established in 2013 with a $6 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

He would retain his faculty position and transition to the technical advisory committee of the poultry innovation lab.

He joined UC Davis in 2003 as a project director and researcher in the School of Veterinary Medicine, where he has been affiliated with the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center. He has been associate director of the Office of International Programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences since 2011.

Read more.

TECHNEWS: Wireless projects postoned

Information and Educational Technology announced that it has postponed the implementation of two projects having to do with campus wireless service. Word of the delay came today (June 23), which is when the projects were set to take effect.

IET had not yet announced a new implementation date or dates for:

• Installation of a new electronic security certificate, including advanced encryption technology for increased security. When the installation happens, your device might accept the new certificate automatically, or you might need to accept the certificate after you receive the prompt. The experience varies, depending on your device, model, and operating system.

• A switch from moobilenetx to eduroam in the residence halls. The campus will retire moobilenetx as soon as next year, and starting new students on eduroam when they move into the residence halls this fall will save them a little transition time down the road.

New memorial to organ donors

“For transplant recipients like me, donors are our rock,” says Gary Narberes, explaining why a 2-ton inscribed rock — newly installed at the UC Davis Health System — is a fitting memorial to organ, tissue and eye donors.

The rock, unveiled June 18, sits amid walkways, benches and trees near the corner of 45th and X streets. One side is inscribed with a poem titled “My Final Gift.”

“What a wonderful tribute, to provide this place of serenity for those who have lost their loved ones,” said Narberes, who received a kidney at UC Davis in 2014.

Sierra Donor Services, and the UC Davis Medical Center and UC Davis Transplant Center teamed up on the memorial project. Rich and Deanna Santana of Placerville led the design and construction.

The Santanas’ 17-year-old son, Scott, saved five lives as an organ donor after a car crash in 2011. “We see this rock as a symbol of generosity and hope,” Deanna Santana said. “We are honored to be involved in a monument that attests to the fact that there is something good — a legacy of life — that can emerge from a tragic situation. Scott’s donation continues to bring us comfort, knowing he left this world a better place.”

Complete news release and photo.

Follow Dateline UC Davis on Twitter.