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Nominations open for Toast of Winters awards News, Page 2
Community engages with first responders Features, Page 1
Volume 141, Number 41 — Locally-owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, November 13, 2024
The hometown paper of Pinky Dahn
Honoring veterans
Courtesy photo Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Firefighters, including former Fire Chief Brad L. Lopez, filled the Winters City Council chamber on Tuesday, Nov. 5, to celebrate Fire Captain Matt Schechla’s achievement in completing the National Fire Academy’s Managing Officer Program. Schechla is the first to receive the certificate in the Winters Fire Department’s history.
Joe Bristow (top left) met with a group of local veterans to put flags up for Veterans Day, however, they were unable to due to the rain in compliance with the United States Flag Code. Instead, the group went out to breakfast. The group of veterans included Ray Boone, U.S. Air Force (Vietnam); Roy Jones, U.S. Army (Vietnam); Tom Ehnat, U.S. Navy (Vietnam); Tom Sedlack, U.S. Air Force (Vietnam Era); George Elrod, U.S. Army (Vietnam); Gail Wingard, U.S. Navy (Korea); Winston Jamison, U.S. Marine Corps (Vietnam) and Oscar Barraza, U.S. Army (Vietnam).
Schechla earns prestigious School district to implement Fire Academy honors Youth Truth Survey, honors Aguiar as merit scholar By Sonora Slater
Express staff writer
EXPRESS
The National Fire Academy’s Managing Officer Program has only 27 graduates from the state of California, and just more than 600 altogether — and as of earlier this year, one of them is from Winters Fire Department. Winters Fire Captain Matt Schechla was recognized at the Nov. 5 City Council meeting for his achievement in graduating from the program, which is the culmination of classwork geared toward leadership and data analysis, as well as an independent capstone project. He’s been working in Winters since 2015 and has been a firefighter since he was 17 years old, and says he tackled the Management Officer Program for the sake of a personal challenge. “It’s a good way to really take a look at yourself, the department and the community,” Schechla said. “It gives you a whole different perspective
By Logan Chrisp Express staff writer The Winters Joint Unified School District had a packed agenda at its Nov. 7, meeting. Trustees heard about the upcoming Youth Truth Survey and recognized the first Winters National Merit Scholar, as well as international exchange students.
Youth Truth Survey
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Fire Captain Matt Schechla’s wife, Marissa, hugs him after placing the pin he received for completing the National Fire Academy’s Managing Officer Program on his jacket. because right now, our guys are all about fighting fire and going to calls. This is one of those things where you step back and you’re actually looking at data.” Before applying, Schechla had to complete a series of prerequisite coursework, including ‘Introduction to the National Incident Management System,’ ‘Introduction to Emergency Response to Terrorism,’
and more. Throughout the program, he took classes like ‘Applications of Community Risk Reduction’ and ‘Analytical Tools for Decision-Making,’ learning to apply data analysis to community issues that the fire department faces, before taking on a capstone project of his choosing. “A lot of the program really revolves
Index
We at he r
Features ........................ B-1
See AWARD, Page 2
Date
Rain
High
Nov. 06
.00
72˚
54˚
Nov. 07
.00
72˚
43˚
Nov. 08
.00
75˚
38˚
Nov. 09
.00
72˚
38˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-5
Nov. 10
.00
72˚
40˚
Nov. 11 TRACE
74˚
48˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Nov. 12
63˚
37˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.07 in. Season’s total: 0.33 in. Last sn. to date: 0.83 in.
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2
Sports ........................... B-5
0.07”
Low
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/24. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
From Dec. 2 to 20, Winters JUSD will distribute the Youth Truth Survey to students to gain insights into the school’s community experience. “Our goal is to use this feedback to drive continuous improvement and to ensure that we’re meeting
the needs of our school community,” said Jenny Pinedo, Director of Special Education & Student Services. This is the second year Winters JUSD has used the nonprofit Youth Truth Survey. Pinedo states that having two years of data will allow the school to compare results from last year, and “with this comparison, we gain a clear picture of how our initiatives are working over time.” This year’s survey will focus on the climate and culture of Winters JUSD schools, with questions geared to examine the student’s overall experience. Questions will be tai-
lored for each grade level, covering engagement, academic challenges, cultural belonging, and relationships. Middle school and high school students will have a survey emphasizing their level of engagement in academic challenges, their sense of cultural belonging and peer collaboration relationships. For elementary students, questions will be similar to the upper-grade levels but include questions on instructional methods being used, as well as questions about students’ sense of culture, belonging and relationships to
See SCHOOL, Page 3
Council designates funds for Senior Center project By Sonora Slater Express staff writer Resolution No. 2024-69 passed with a 4–1 vote at the Nov. 5 City Council meeting, officially designating $1.5 million from development impact fees to potentially be used toward the Senior Center construction project that’s been in the works since before the pandemic. The earmarked funding will help the project seem more attractive in grant proposals, helping the city in its search for alternate funding sources while still presenting a financial commitment
to the development. Designating funds of this quantity to the project makes it possible for the city to move forward toward accepting a proposal from a builder, according to the discussion at the meeting, as well as being a good show of faith of commitment from the city to the project on their grant applications, including for the Community Development Block Grant the city recently applied for. The funds the city directed toward the project came from the reserves of their Parks and Facilities impact fees, with the
caveat that they plan to seek and secure alternative financing resources when the project moves forward. Councilmember Richard Casavecchia, the lone no vote, expressed concern about the high price point, and about taking money originally slated for a different purpose. “I don’t want us to take out a loan, and I don’t necessarily want to spend park money on this when we have unfinished parks,” Casavecchia said. “I’m just not sure we can afford this project.” Winters resident,
See CITY, Page 3
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