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Winters Express: Wednesday, July 24, 2024

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Summer home improvement projects Special Section, Page 6

including tax

New leadership at First Baptist Church Features, Page 1

Volume 141, Number 25 — Locally-owned since 1884

The hometown paper of Teri Murphy

Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Council approves sending liens list to county, MOU on I-505 overcrossing was correct. Public shares public confirmed Council member Carol Scianna said she appresafety concerns ciated that staff has been

By Crystal Apilado and Raymond Purscell Express staff On July 16, the Winters City Council met to take action on delinquent accounts on utility and waste charges and to approve an MOU regarding the I-505 crossing project.

Delinquent accounts

EXPRESS

Cathy Mathews, Director of Administrative Services, shared information regarding the process of notifying residents who had delinquent accounts for services for solid waste (contracted through Waste Management) and water and sewer (handled through City Hall). She said that city staff communicates with residents and business owners in multiple ways including letters with details of current and past charges as well as notices published in the Winters Express. Waste Management also similarly communicates with account holders by sending out letters. According to Mathews, customers with delinquent accounts had until July 18, to pay the amount or to contact city staff regarding payment plan opportunities for financial hardships. “We haven’t rejected any reasonable request to prevent a lien,” Mathews said. As of the meeting, there were $24,879.62 in delinquent water and sewer utility bills and $25,049 in delinquent Waste Management solid waste charges. Mayor Pro Tempore Al Vallecillo asked for clarification that “when it’s liened it means that it gets attached to the property tax bill,” which Mathews

working to communicate with residents to create payment plans, which Mathews said had not been happening as regularly in the past couple of years since COVID. “Hopefully with good communication and some of the changes that we’re going to be implementing — related to the new software that allows for great communication with the community and payment opportunities — we can really improve even more,” Mathews said. No comments were made during the public hearing session. Council members unanimously approved the staff recommendation to move forward and file the reports with the Yolo County Auditor/Controller office on the delinquent accounts listed for the water and sewer accounts and the solid waste accounts.

Courtesy photo

Student muralists began adding details and the bordering boxes by end of the day on Friday. The 2024 Kate Humphrey Historical Mural Project can be viewed on the side of the Mariani Nut Company’s building along Railroad Avenue between Edwards and Abbey streets.

Newest mural focuses on community connections By Logan Chrisp Express staff writer The Winters Participation Gallery and student artists are hard at work on Railroad Avenue painting the new summer mural on one of the Mariani Nut Company’s walls. This is the eighth mural WPG has organized, led by local, professional artist Jaime Montiel. “We were looking at emerging artists and trying to figure out how to support them in empowering themselves into being professional artists,” said Valerie Whitworth, past chair and a WPG founder. One of WPG’s goals is to feature the history of Winters. After a visit to the Historical Society of Winters and with the guidance of Winters High School art teacher Holly Smith, who facilitates the students’ design, students combined their ideas with input from this year’s client Mariani Nut Company to create a design concept. The mural will highlight the family business’s roots within the Winters community and with those who work there. “The Marianis emphasize their employees, their growers and the community. They didn’t want to see themselves” said Montiel. The mural consists of two large gears at the center. In one, the employees of the Mariani Nut Company will be represented, showcasing the industrial and

Resident concerns about public safety Two audience members spoke up about their dissatisfaction with how the city council has handled public safety agencies in Winters. Resident Alexander Mercer spoke on the proposed Prop 218 assessment, saying the “assessment is a direct reflection of the city’s failure to adequately provide for fire protection and life safety for the residents of the city of Winters.” Mercer referenced the fires from earlier this month at Mariani Nut Company’s property on Buckeye Road, stating that while the Winters Fire crew was able to respond to the incident “in an adequate fashion, the only reason we were able to get it extinguished” was because neighboring fire crews were able to assist. “At its lowest point, every Winters structural fire fighting apparatus was out of service in this city. We had to rely on our mutual aid partners to loan

See COUNCIL, Page 5

Index Features ........................ B-1

We at he r July 18

employees who have been here for 40-plus years,” said Montiel. “It is a family-owned company, but the employees feel like family, and their family members work for the company or are from the community.” The other gear will represent the Winters community and the interests of the students working on the mural. FFA, the robotics team, sports teams and other community interests will be represented in

See MURAL, Page 5

Winters man denied parole in 2009 murder

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McNaughton Media

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Eventos hispanos ....... A-3

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Opinion ......................... B-3

July 23

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Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 0.00 in. Last sn. to date: 0.00 in.

A former Winters man convicted 15 years ago of killing his wife confessed for the first time last week that he took her life. Felipe Cruz Hernandez, 54, made the admission during his first parole hearing, where a two-member Board of Parole Hearings panel denied his release, according to

Sports ........................... B-6

July 17

agricultural aspects of the company and community. Montiel’s father worked at the Mariani Nut Company for 30 years and representing that connection between the company, its employees and the community is a central theme of the mural. “One of the things we found out interviewing the employees was their sense of community within the company. A lot of them have been here for decades. We interviewed a couple of the

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Community .................. A-2

Rain

Student muralists paint boxes along the border of the mural.

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Classifieds ................... B-4

Date

Courtesy photo

Winters rainfall season began 7/1/24. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.

the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. Although the body of 28-year-old Leticia Barrales Ramos was never found, a Yolo County jury convicted Cruz Hernandez of second-degree murder in connection with her presumed death. He received a state prison sentence of 15 years to life. Barrales Ramos vanished on Easter Sunday in 2009 af-

ter filing for divorce from her husband, who claimed she left town to handle a family emergency. It was her family, friends and employers who reported her missing. Cruz Hernandez raised authorities’ suspicions when he gave conflicting information about his wife’s whereabouts, saying she was

See PAROLE, Page 5

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Family or friends coming to town? Need some extra rooms? Call us!


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