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In The Studio - All the possibilities of Chamber Music

"Making a Splash for Natalie" - August 16, 2025

In The Studio - Four Decades of Dance

In The Studio - Bringing out the Poet in Everyone

In The Studio - Jammin' on A St.

Davis Parent University presents Ned Johnson, on October 30, 2024

COVID-19 Community Report 2020-21

Starting in March 2020 in the beginning of the pandemic shutdown, Davis Media Access Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault started producing and hosting live radio shows on KDRT 95.7 FM airing Tuesdays 12-12:30pm and Fridays 12-12:30pm to help update the community about COVID-19. This show became a compendium of local resources with check-ins from local officials and other community leaders and represents an example of the importance of local community media centers serving as a hub for vital local information. Over 50 episodes aired.

Yolo County Leaders Stand Together with Survivors

DAVIS--March 18, 2026--For many years, Davis Media Access (DMA) has partnered with the City of Davis on the annual Cesar Chavez celebration. In light of that, we are choosing to share this statement from a coalition of Yolo County's elected leaders.

Yolo County Leaders Stand Together with Survivors

Women's History Month and recent news about survivors of sexual abuse — including statements from Dolores Huerta and other women — calls us to speak.

We, past and present elected, leaders of Yolo County stand together in support of survivors and against sexual abuse and harassment. Huerta's statement does not condemn movements working to better humanity, nor does it diminish them. Rather, it illuminates the troubling ways that those with less power are forced to confront and navigate abuse within the very spaces meant to uplift them. We must continue working towards unity and collaboration.

As current and former elected officials, we commit to respecting and maintaining appropriate boundaries in both public and private spheres, and to holding one another accountable for our behavior and actions. No matter who the abuser is, accountability must extend across all systems and spheres. We honor the courage it takes to come forward, especially fromm communities fighting injustice, and encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses sexual abuse or harassment to do so. We also want to ensure that survivors and victims in our county know that support is available. And may we continue to work together toward gender equity and other forms of justice for farm workers and all in our schools and in our society.

In Service,

Norma Alcala, Shelia Allen, Angel Barajas, Laura Brubaker, Lea Darrah, Elizabeth Esquivel, Lucas Frerichs, Kandice Fowler, Cecilia E. Greenwald, Bibiana Garcia, Martha Guerrero, Hiram Jackson, Garth Lewis, Jesse Loren, David Moreno, Melissa Moreno, Julian Munoz, Elizabeth Moon, Donna Neville, Maria J. Olmedo, Jesse Ortiz, Gloria Partida, Xóchitl Rodriguez, Don Saylor, Albert Vallecillo, Mayra Vega, Rogelio Villagrana, Oscar Villegas, Bapu Vaitla, Jackie Wong, Mariko Yamada, Shelton Yip and Deborah B. Zavala

Empower Yolo — 24/7 Crisis Line: 530-662-1133 | 175 Walnut Street, Woodland: 530-661-6336. Free and confidential crisis intervention, shelter, counseling, legal help, and advocacy. The abuse does not have to be recent to qualify for services.

Yolo County District Attorney Victim Services — Resource counseling, referrals, and advocacy for survivors navigating the justice system. yoloda.org/victim-assistance-family-protection. Includes Cameron's Place (Yolo County DA's Office) — Trauma-sensitive services for child survivors, including forensic interviews, medical exams, therapy, and advocacy.

California Victim Compensation Program (CalVCP) — Financial assistance for crime-related costs. Apply through the Yolo County Victim Witness Assistance Center or at caldoj.ca.gov/calvcp.

RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline — 1-800-656-4673, available 24/7

National Domestic Violence Hotline — 1-800-799-7233, available 24/7

Yolo Local, Abridged announce partnership

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Community media center and public media organization forge innovative partnership

I am thrilled to share the news of Davis Media Access’s groundbreaking partnership with KVIE-–our region’s Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) station.

Last September, KVIE launched Abridged, a daily local newsletter for the Sacramento area. Now they are teaming up with DMA’s Yolo Local initiative to launch a weekly newsletter for Yolo County. You can sign up for it here!

When I stepped into the role of executive director at Davis Media Access (DMA) almost 20 years ago, it was with a clear vision there was a different path for our organization, one based on centering our work through community partnerships versus focusing solely on bringing people to our facility.

I saw the media center as a hub, with its work carried out through various projects, and with support from many, I’ve driven the organization in pursuit of that goal, resulting in partnerships with the City of Davis; Davis Joint Unified School District; Woodland Community College; local musicians and businesses; elected officials, and nonprofits around the county.

Yolo Local was the next unfolding of this vision, rooted in a belief that DMA has a role to play in addressing the decline of local news and information that meets community needs.

This new collaboration between a community media center and a public media organization is not only extremely rare, it’s proof of both rising to meet the moment, and the need. Bringing the learnings from Yolo Local’s community-engaged needs assessment together with Abridged’s editorial framework, this partnership will serve residents with listening sessions, events and a weekly newsletter dedicated to Yolo County. Importantly, it will be free to access and driven by community input. Read the full story.

We want to get this newsletter to as many Yolo County residents as possible. Can you help? Please sign up for the Abridged Yolo County newsletter, and help spread the news through your own networks. I’m delighted to share that jesikah maria ross, who has served as Yolo Local’s advisor from the start, is on board for the start of this phase.

DMA/Yolo Local faces many challenges, including finding funding to grow this work and our capacity. But in a world where big media is failing to provide information that contributes to the health of our communities, and media at all levels is under duress, we’ve come together with KVIE/Abridged as partners committed in service to Yolo County.

Autumn Labbé-Renault

Executive Director, Davis Media Access

Comcast changes City Channel 16 to Channel 21

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If you've tuned into the City of Davis's Government Channel 16 on the Comcast system in Davis to find religious programming and you're a bit confused--you're not alone!

Conversations with Comcast staff indicate this was a planned move, though it came as a surprise to those in Davis. To date, public access Channel 15 and educational access Channel 17 are unaffected.

Although DMA does not manage the government channel we do have a partnership with the City to record the civic meetings aired on it.

To sum up, you can find City meetings now on Comcast 21. Learn more about city meetings

Celebration of Life, Feb. 15

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With gratitude for our community's generosity, this is a note to say If you happen to be local to Yolo County, you are invited to celebrate Diane's Crumley's life with memories and live music this weekend.

Join us on Sunday, Feb.15 from 1 to 3 pm at the Davis Odd Fellows Hall, 415 2nd St, Davis, CA 95616.

Remembering Bill Wagman

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Armadillo Music and KDRT invite our friends to a special gathering in memory of Bill Wagman, long-time host of "Sometimes Folk" and "The Folk Brothers" on KDRT, as well as "The Saturday Morning Folk Show" on KDVS. If you knew Bill or were a fan of his radio programs and house concerts, please join us in honoring Bill on Monday, Feb. 2, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Armadillo at 207 F St. in downtown Davis.

DMA will record, stream MLK event

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DMA is pleased to once again stream and record this annual community event and touchstone on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 #communityevents #MLKday #communitymedia

In Memoriam: Diane Crumley

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Editor's Note: Diane's Celebration of Life is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026 at 1 pm, to be held at Davis Odd Fellows Hall, 415 Second St. in Davis. Questions can be directed to info at davismedia dot org.

Learn more about Yolo Local

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Our Dec. 15 webinar will include updates about what we've learned and what we hope to accomplish moving forward. Register by sending an email to yololocal@davismedia.org.

Giving Tuesday is Dec. 2

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Giving Tuesday is an annual global day of online giving specifically designed to support the nonprofit sector. It follows Black Friday, Small-Business Saturday, Artists' Sunday, and Cyber Monday, and takes place each year on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving.

A donation on Giving Tuesday helps support the community-focused work Davis Media Access (DMA) and its projects carry out year round. Whether that's streaming and archiving public meetings; documenting high-school performing arts; curating amazing community radio, or working to develop a new and equitable source of civic information in Yolo County, the work of DMA amplifies much of the rest of the nonprofit sector as well.

Thank you for your generosity! You can donate here.

Davis Media Access Releases ‘Yolo County News & Information Ecosystem Report’

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Please note: you can download a copy of the report via a link at the end of this article.

Yolo Local maps sector, outlines challenges and opportunities

Sept. 29, 2025—Davis Media Access (DMA) announces the release of its “Yolo County News & Information Ecosystem” report, which presents ideas for addressing the reduced availability of local information and news in Yolo County.

The 70-page report follows months of research, conversations and contact with people throughout Yolo County to understand how the decline of traditional local media outlets affects both information providers and Yolo residents. DMA calls its effort to address this decline Yolo Local.

DMA worked with Impact Architects, nationally known consultants; jesikah maria ross of Davis, a community-engaged journalist, and the 11-member Yolo Local Working Group. The community engagement, which primarily ran from April to August 2025, included a bilingual survey, direct engagement at events, one-to-one interviews, and roundtable discussions.

The report is rooted in Impact Architects’ framework and methodology for large-scale ecosystem reports, and includes key comparative data about Yolo County, such as race and ethnicity, income, and civic wellness data. It describes the community engagement approach and strategies that Yolo Local used, and includes a list of organizations and individuals involved. 

Key findings in the report include:

● The need for expanded Spanish-language and bilingual media: While 36 percent of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino/a and nearly 20 percent speak Spanish at home, no news sources are specifically dedicated to serving Hispanic and Latino/a communities in the county

 ● The need for a backbone institution for the news and information sector: News outlets expressed interest in coordinating with other outlets, but lack a structure to do so. A backbone could act as an “assignment editor,” manage shared resources, and foster collaboration across platforms

 ● The call to cover critical topics, inclusively: Residents want deeper reporting on local governance, agriculture (including farmworkers’ voices), education, and perspectives and experiences of immigrants and people of color, which are often missing or misrepresented

● An opportunity exists to create a central resource hub to connect local residents with community, government and nonprofit resources and services. Models in other U.S. cities show that news outlets can connect communities to vital resources

KDRT turns 21 ! Join us in celebrating the coming of age of our grassroots community station

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WHAT: KDRT 21st birthday bash with live music by The Cantaliers (Latin, Surf, Rockabilly) and live broadcast

WHEN: Friday, October 3, 2025 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

WHERE: Sudwerk Brewing Co. Dock Store and Hop Yard, 2001 2nd Street, Davis, CA 95618

WHY: Celebrating 21 years of community-powered grassroots radio in Davis, CA!

The community is invited to this free, all-ages, outdoor event hosted by Sudwerk Brewing Co., Davis Media Access staff/board, and KDRT volunteers.

Food and beverages will be available at the Sudwerk Dock Store, upbeat live Surf, Rockabilly and Latin music will be provided by Sacramento's The Cantaliers, River City Marketplace vendors will be on-hand for local wares, and our hospitality and outreach tables will be staffed by friendly DJ volunteers. During a time when LOCAL media is especially important, we look forward to gathering with our listeners and supporters.

Still here, still leading

By Autumn Labbé-Renault

This column was originally published in the Davis Enterprise, Aug. 8, 2025

With the rescission vote to pull federal funding from PBS and NPR and the subsequent winding down of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as mounting threats against journalists, the past few weeks have brought many questions my way. How does this affect Davis Media Access? How will DMA move forward? Will you be able to survive?

Welcoming Brianna Menson

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Davis Media Access is pleased to welcome Brianna Menson to our staff as the first-ever Volunteer Coordinator for KDRT, our Low-power community radio station. Brianna joined us last month and has been busy getting up to speed for the quarter-time position.

As a student at the UC Davis School of Law with interests in entertainment law and education policy, Brianna expressed a deep appreciation for the "behind-the-scenes" of creative and informative works. She said she hopes to both contribute to, and learn from, Davis Media Access through aiding in the facilitation of KDRT operations.

Effort to map information needs continues

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This column was originally published in the Davis Enterprise.

It’s been a while since I’ve provided an update here on Yolo Local, Davis Media Access’s project to map news and information assets and needs around Yolo County.

Yolo Local is grounded in the belief that our civic health, democratic traditions and capacity to address community issues are directly related to our ability to access local, accurate, trusted information in Yolo County.

Historically, many communities feel left out and disconnected by media content, especially where it’s not relevant or useful to them. That’s why a prime goal of this assessment is to ensure that we hear from voices that are not always in the room.

So much good work has happened in just a few short months. In April, we convened the inaugural Yolo Local Working Group. Together, we’ve been conducting a countywide survey in English and Spanish, and are engaging with the greater Yolo community directly at community events.

We are grateful to the many organizations that have stepped up to help. In the last couple of weeks alone, we’ve gotten commitments to share the surveys from Yolo County Housing Authority; Mutual Housing; Communicare + Olé’s Promotora program; Yolo HHSA; Yolo County Library — both from branches and Friends groups — and Yolo Works, on behalf of our county’s agriculture workers.

We’re also deeply appreciative of the cities of Davis, Winters and Woodland for sharing the information on their platforms, and for the nonprofits, service clubs, and faith communities that have also helped us get the word out.

We’ve run ads in this paper, the Winters Express and Woodland Daily Democrat, and we’re grateful to Radio Santisimo for their interview with working group member Alejandra Cuevas.

Organizers are working to get as broad a range of responses as possible from all areas of the county. Completing the survey should take about 10 minutes, and participants are eligible to win one of four $50 gift cards to Nugget Markets.

The survey close date has been extended until July 4.

Community members can complete the English version of the survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YoloInfoNeeds or the Spanish-language version https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YoloLocalInfoNecCast

We’ve also been having a blast engaging directly at community events. Coming up, we’ll hold a series of community roundtables in different communities.

Lastly, everyone is asking what we’ll do with all this info. Part of good community engagement is returning to the community to share what we’ve learned, and we’ll do that via a report to the community and further engagement this fall.

I need to really shout out 100+ Women Who Care Yolo County. On May 15, I had an opportunity to pitch Yolo Local, and happily ours was the winning pitch. An assessment process is expensive, and their $10,000 donation makes a tremendous difference in our ability to do this work. Learn more about this group here.

— Autumn Labbé-Renault is a journalist, community engagement strategist, and executive director of Davis Media Access (DMA). She’s currently working to map information needs across Yolo County via Yolo Local. She can be reached at autumn@davismedia.org.

Effort to map information needs continues

This column was originally published in the Davis Enterprise.

It’s been a while since I’ve provided an update here on Yolo Local, Davis Media Access’s project to map news and information assets and needs around Yolo County.

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KDRT Highlights

IMPLOSION! – 25 March 2026

It's a new week and a new time for IMPLOSION! Tune in Wed. at 4 p.m. for tunes and stories from the inimitable NIck Saloman of Bevis Frond fame. Hear tracks from Velvett Fogg, Country Joe & the Fish, Little Milton, the Stones, the Eyes of Blue, and so much more. Listen live on KDRT 95.7fm + KDRT.org. Stream anytime via the web + podcasts!

KDRT Suds & Sounds – March 25, 2026

KDRT invites YOU to Suds & Sounds at Armadillo Music in downtown Davis on Wednesday, March 25, from 4 to 6 p.m. Meet K-DiRT friends and fans and perhaps even win a pair of tickets for Pat Metheny, in concert in Sacramento, on May 2! Beverages for all ages are available at the Bootleg Bar. This gathering repeats every month on the last Wednesday — mark you calendars!

In the Key of Folk, March 25, 2026

It is sure getting warm in California, so join us at In the Key of Folk to hear some cool tracks. And speaking of turning up the heat, Joe Troop has a new project with The Truth Machine; that makes you want to listen to more and then speak out! We'll hear more from Emily Scott Robinson and also hear tracks from Che Apalache, Alex Radus, Jerry Douglas, Dave Alvin, Crooked Still, and more. We'll end with some energetic contra dance music to keep your feet moving.

Jazz After Dark, March 24, 2026

On tonight's show:

Count Basie, Dance of the Gremlins
Lester Young and His Orchestra, Back to the Land
The Complete Illinois Jacquet, Jumpin' At The Woodside
Sarah Vaughan, Street of Dreams (78 rpm Version)
Sarah Vaughan, Black Coffee
Helen O'Connell, All of Me
Tiny Grimes, Annie Laurie (Jerome Richardson sax)
Jerome Richardson, Candied Sweets
George Lewis, Mecca Flat Blues
Kai Winding, Michie (Slow Version)
Kai Winding, Michie (Fast Version)
Charlie Byrd & Stan Getz, Samba de Uma Nota So
Stan Getz, Night and Day
Dick Wellstood, Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
Ben Webster & Teddy Wilson, Take the 'A' Train

Davisville, March 23, 2026: Insights from decades of reporting overseas … plus Americans tolerate too many chatbots

Pat McDowell (pictured) grew up in Northern California. I worked with him at the Fairfield newspaper 40 years ago before his career took him all over the world, working for the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. The experience helped shape his views on journalism, on how well Americans know the rest of the world, and how the United States has changed. We talk about this, plus one of his harrowing field reporting assignments in Iraq, on today’s Davisville.

Compared to the 1980s, McDowell says, “I feel like [in the United States] we don’t talk to each other as much, easily, now. There’s a little more default hostility, like in political discussions.”

Also, things don’t work as well. "Our relationship with the corporate world and the service world has changed,” he says. “I am amazed at the level of service that people accept as OK here. You can’t get anybody over the phone, everything is a chatbot, things don’t work …. I just find it appalling that we’ve sort of let ourselves be put through what I think is the meat grinder of the MBA system where no money is allowed to be left on the table.”

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