$1
including tax
Baseball shuts out Pierce Sports, Page 5
Celebrating Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Features, Page 1
Volume 141, Number 15 — Locally-owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, May 15, 2024
The hometown paper of Noel Manners
Council moves forward on Prop 218 By Amelia Biscardi Express staff writer With a light agenda but plenty of community events to unpack, the Winters City Council met for 40 minutes and approved moving forward with Proposition 218 on May 7. Fire Chief Jack S. Snyder III shared the results of a survey of the 218 Proposition which was majoritively positioned. However, only 13 percent of residents responded to the survey. Snyder explained that this process, which began in February, gave residents around 30 days to respond to the survey. One of the things
Snyder looks forward to if the process is approved in June is the possibility of the Insurance Service Office (ISO rating) in Winters improving. According to Snyder, that could — and should — bring down prices for commercial buildings insurance rates. “The problem with ISO is that, 1: not every insurance company uses the rating to its full capacity,” Snyder said. “Most use some of it or part of it. But not all of it.” However, for most Winters residents, it may not affect their pocketbook, but there
See CITY, Page 2
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Celebrating Bike Month Winters agencies and residents took to the streets on bikes to celebrate Bike Month. With the unveiling of new bike racks downtown, Bike Rodeo events for students and community fun — the message encourages Winters residents to work on reducing the usage of cars by riding their bikes around town. (Above) Winters Police Department ran a bike obstacle course at Waggoner Elementary school and (right) On Friday, May 10, Climate Action Commissioner Gar House and council member Carol Scianna cut the ribbon on one of eight new bike racks around town.
File photo
Trustees consider new TK, Planning Commission discusses outdoor personal cannabis high school curriculums By Logan Chrisp Express staff writer
EXPRESS
On Thursday, April 18, the Winters Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees was presented with information on a proposed Transitional Kindergarten Curriculum. The curriculum is projected to cost $24,028 and will be funded through the Universal Pre-Kindergarten Planning and Implementation Grant. Assistant Superintendent Phoebe Girimonte and Waggoner Elementary School Principal Chris Marcoux presented information on a new transitional kindergarten curriculum that would be implemented for the tran-
sitional kindergarten classes. “This is a game-changer, opening up transitional kindergarten to a much younger brand of learner with a much different set of needs,” said Girimonte. The district had a pilot team assembled of faculty from Waggoner Elementary to test out full units of two curricula but ultimately decided that the dual-language Frog Street for California TK curriculum was the best fit. “Waggoner’s proposed adoption of a core curriculum for our Transitional Kindergarten is an important step forward for our program. The adoption of Frog Street curriculum allows us to foster critical thinking, creativity, and socialization of four-year-olds in our TK program that is aligned with the Winters JUSD’s Graduate Profile,
mission, and vision. When TK teachers piloted this program, they were especially impressed with Frog Street’s small group literacy and math instruction, childled playful learning, and integration of movement and music across the day.” said Marcoux. Trustees shared Marcoux’s enthusiasm for the new curriculum. “I have a TKer and during the parent-teacher conference the teacher expressed how great this was and how not often do you feel the fresh excitement, you could just tell they were excited for this. I think this is a great program,” said Board President Joedy Michael. The adoption of this curriculum is one of several ongoing efforts of the Winters JUSD to catch up to the increasing
See SLUG, Page 3
Index Features ........................ B-1
We at he r Date
Rain
High
Low
May 08
.00
75˚
56˚
May 09
.00
78˚
58˚
May 10
.00
83˚
61˚
May 11
.00
89˚
53˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-3
May 12
.00
94˚
56˚
May 13
.00
91˚
51˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
May 14
.00
90˚
52˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 23.29 in. Last sn. to date: 37.62 in.
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-3
Sports ........................... A-5
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/23. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
cultivation, commercial zoning
By Amelia Biscardi Special Contributor On April 23, the Winters Planning Commission approved re-zoning while also creating and adjusting an ordinance regarding personal cannabis cultivation and potential limitations. The ordinance will next go to the Winters City Council. Taking on the first reading of creating limitations for outdoor cannabis growth for personal use, the planning commission discussed odor, light pollution and how to enforce it. During the public
hearing, Winters resident Paul Meyers said that while he does not like the idea of allowing outdoor cannabis growth, he found the proposal relatively fair. “The best way to eliminate this is to ban outdoor growing as the majority of cities in California have,” Meyers said. “At the last meeting, you gave city staff quite a challenge, which was to find a middle ground and I would like to compliment them on their work.” The proposed ordinance, which still needs city council input and approval,
would limit the number of plants to six, with only three being allowed to be grown outdoors. The ordinance continues that outdoor plants should not be accessible to the public. The ordinance continued that any indoor cultivation must comply with electrical, ventilation and fire regulations. As well as there must be locks and ways to ensure minors do not have access. Some of the other issues brought up during the discussion were the concern
See CANNABIS, Page 3
Middle school hosts Class Selection Information meeting Monday By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief Winters Middle School is hosting an informational meeting on Monday, May 20, at 5 p.m. in the multipurpose room so families can learn about the new class selection options for the upcoming school year. At the April 18 Winters Joint Unified School District school board meeting, trustees unanimously approved the proposed WMS FLEX schedule. The FLEX schedule adds a 25-minute block for all grade levels three to four days a week after the second period. FLEX would
be offered on full school days, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays not on the Early Release schedule. Other FLEX schedule changes include: • Switch the middle school to a semester model to align with the experience at Winters High School. • Replace the current five-minute break after the second period and Advisory class with a 25-minute FLEX session for all students. • Provide opportunities for all students to choose elective classes. • Allow special edu-
cation students to receive specialized support during the FLEX session. • Provide enrichment opportunities for other students to expand their interests and push them to the next level. The FLEX session offers a group rotation every 10 weeks. Groups would fluctuate based on the students’ needs for support or choice of enrichment. Middle school sixth and seventh-grade students will receive the elective options on Thursday, and fifth-grade students
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