Today’s Davisville interviews Mary Lou Rossetto, the new director of Grace in Action, a Christian, Davis-based service for the homeless that began in 1999. We talk about the organization and its activities, plus the number of local homeless, what they need, what Davis could do for them, what they could do for themselves, the limits of mental health laws, and more. Rossetto, formerly an elementary school teacher, has lived in Davis since 1976.

 In his latest book, retired UC Davis physics/atmospheric science professor Tom Cahill imagines an asteroid slamming into the Earth. He has it strike far from Davis, but the distance doesn’t matter—Davis is wiped out (by a huge flood) anyway, as is most of the world in an ensuing ice age. This sets the stage for a tale about climate change, and how survivors adapt.

At the end of 2012, Davis Vanguard owner David Greenwald wrote and posted an essay about “the other Davis,” or the aspects of our town not necessarily reflected in Davis’ college-educated, affluent image. On today’s Davisville we talk about what he means, as well as the nearly 7-year-old Vanguard itself, which he says has about 6,000 core readers and took in about $50,000 last year.

Davis voters elected Lucas Frerichs, left, and Brett Lee to the City Council in mid-2012. On the current Davisville they discuss what they’ve learned and observed from their first six months, on subjects including the pace of change, the upcoming water rates election, and downtown retail. The interview appears in two halves: part one airs Jan. 21-Feb. 2, and part two (now available at http://www.kdrt.org/node/11443) will air Feb. 4-Feb. 17.