autumn's blog

Have questions about the upcoming Smarter Balanced testing for students in grades 3 – 8 and 11 or want to learn more about assessment in our schools?

It’s the time — and the season.

Year round, Davis Media Access (DMA) and its projects —DCTV, DJUSD.tv and KDRT 95.7 FM—provide our community with a wealth of local content. It's spring, which means it's time for our annual funding appeal. This is where we ask you to step up and support the work that DMA does.

There are various ways to support the work of community media this spring, and many of them are coming up quickly.

We’re having a huge celebration and dance party on Saturday, April 25, featuring the music of The Smoke Shovelers, Gravy Nation, and Boca do Rio at the Davis Odd Fellows Hall. 

KDRT, “Where the Grass Roots Grow” was launched as a non-commercial community radio station on Sept. 24, 2014 and is enjoying a yearlong celebration of its growth and success over the ensuing decade.

DMA will participate in the Big Day of Giving (BigDOG) on 5/5/15, a regional effort aimed at stimulating charitable giving to our region’s non-profits. By giving a tax-deductible donation of $25 or more online that day, you can help DMA win prizes and incentives.

From 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on 5/5/15, log on to davismedia.org/bigdog, type in Davis Media Access & donate safely. Your BigDOG donation helps support our radio station, KDRT 95.7 FM and its efforts to inspire, enrich, and entertain listeners through an eclectic mix of music, cultural, educational, and public affairs programs and services.

KDRT programmer Rod Moseanko (The Grapevine, The Golden Road) sent the following our way: “According to Grateful Dead history, the first paid gig by the original five members of the band under the name of The Grateful Dead was May 5, 1965 at Magoo’s Pizza Parlor in Menlo Park (we Dead Heads LOVE minutia!).  Verily thus, we are all set to do a special broadcast to commemorate that date and the past 50 years of GD sounds on Friday, May 8, 2015."

Piece of home: When I first moved out here for school, I was feeling very homesick. After I heard your show on the radio, I sat in my car in the middle of a parking lot
and embraced every moment of it. Makes me feel like da ‘aina is not so far
away. Now I listen every Sunday I can.  Mahalo!
 - Dan (writing in about Na Mele O Hawai'i)

Registration is now open for DMA's popular summer camps for kids aged 10-13. In the production camps, participants will learn how to produce a program in DMA's television studio, including storyboarding, operating cameras and sound equipment, and media literacy training.  New this summer, campers will be able to take advantage of DMA's brand-new HD Field Cameras. They will also get an introduction to the radio booth at KDRT 95.7 FM, DMA's low-power community radio station.

Underwriters promote their businesses via brief announcements on KDRT. This is a vital form of community support, and we appreciate our underwriters! Please thank these fine local businesses for sponsoring KDRT next time you stop in:

DMA congratulates Randy Van Dalsen, a Sacramento-area producer who produces “Media Edge,” a video magazine series presented on many cable access channels in the United States. Most of its episodes since 2009 can also be watched online.

Cool Davis invites the public to hear Kathleen Dean Moore on The Moral Urgency of Climate Action…Because It’s Wrong to Wreck the World.”

In a talk that is equal parts anger and love, Writer/philosopher Kathleen Dean Moore speaks about the nature of change and calls us to radical truth-telling and courageous citizenship. Friday, March 6, 2015, Reception - 6:30 pm, Program at 7:15 p. Veterans Memorial Theater (203 E. 14^th St. in Davis). Fee; Suggested donation of $5-10 includes reception.

Some days I pause and think, “10 years? Has it been 10 years?” It has been 10 years! In September, Davis Media Access (DMA) kicked off a yearlong celebration of KDRT-LP 95.7 FM’s 10^th year on the air. That decade has brought much growth and change, and some growing pains. These days, there’s a renewed spirit of excitement about radio in general, and KDRT specifically. We’re pleased to welcome a new batch of programmers, thrilled about the growing collaboration between the KDRT and DCTV studios, community programmers and local musicians, and bouncing around ideas for some benefit concerts to properly celebrate this milestone. Looking forward to sharing specifics next month.

Tuesday, May 5 is the BIG Day of Giving in the Sacramento Region. DMA will once again participate in this 24-hour geared at growing online philanthropic giving. We learned quite a bit through our participation last year, and are hard at work on ways to make this year even more fun and engaging. You can find out more about the overall effort at http://www.givelocalnow.org, and we’ll be posting regular updates as well.

Orientation: DMA asks all new participants to attend a General Orientation.   These 1 hour sessions happen the third Tuesday of every month, and include some history and background, examples of media produced, and a tour of the facilities. The date for March is the 17th, from 6:30-8pm. Anybody is welcome to attend an Orientation, but to use the facility regularly, you need to live, go to school, or volunteer at an organization in Davis, California.   DMA does not charge for the use of our equipment and facilities and attending a General Orientation is the first step for getting involved.  Sign up for the next General Orientation here.

Andrew Montano produces “KID Perfect,” a show about three kids who perform “amazing and awesome trick shots." Airs Tuesday nights at 6 p.m.


Sam Hawk and Pieter Pastoor bring us “Artist Connection,” a monthly series hosted by journalist and singer-songwriter Kevin Fagan. The program features topic-driven interviews of artists, with each show featuring three artists at different stages of a career: Green, Experienced and Seasoned. Tues night at 9pm, Thurs at 7pm, Sat at 5pm, Mon at 3pm.

DMA's latest release “From the Vault” provides a poignant memoir of noted veterinarian and animal behaviorist Dr. Sophia Yin, who passed away in Sept. 2014.

Long before she developed a professional website highlighting her work, Yin  produced videos through the facilities at Davis Community Television, the original name for DMA. Most of the videos date from the late ‘90s-2000, and occupy the Non-Profit/Activist subsection of DMA’s archives.

“Some of the value of a community archive dwells in its ability to remind us of those who are no longer here,” said Autumn Labbe-Renault, DMA’s executive director. “We share these videos with respect for Dr. Yin’s work and life, and fond memories of her time with us here at the media center.”