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Principals share site assessment data News, Page 2
Meet the acting city manager Features, Page 1
Volume 140, Number 38 — Locally-owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, October 18, 2023
The hometown paper of David & Kathleen Callison
Winters not immune to fentanyl epidemic By Angela Underwood Express correspondent The Drug Enforcement Agency calls fentanyl the single deadliest threat our nation has encountered. Those are the agency’s exact words — single deadliest threat. And the illicit drug is here, according to Winters Police Chief John P. Miller, who said in the last two weeks, fentanyl took a man’s life and ripped a family apart. “We knew this was coming; that’s why we were the first in the county to have Narcan,” Miller said. “You could see the trend sweeping across the United States.” But sometimes Narcan is not enough, as seen with the recent death. Though the male victim’s dog got saved by Narcan, he was not. The death of
the victim, who overdosed before, did not surprise Miller. “Even his family said it was just a matter of time,” Miller said. The chief said both Winters Police Department and the Yolo County District Attorney do not consider his overdose an “unintended death” but “a fentanyl overdose death investigation” in hopes of tracking down the person who sold him the fatal dose. Miller says the department has responded to calls about other drugs possibly laced with fentanyl. “We have had calls of people smoking marijuana who have effects similar to opioids,” Miller said. “However, we don’t do field tests because we don’t want the officers exposed to it.”
See FENTANYL, Page 3
Council discusses Paseo Park design By Amelia Biscardi Express staff writer
EXPRESS
Multiple Paseo Park designs have been left abandoned, with the city council and Winters public wanting it to be much more than what it currently is. The vacant lot on Main Street, next to Pacific Ace Hardware has a lot of potential. However, the exact details of what to do with this lot remains up in the air. On Oct. 3, the Winters City Council and public took another stab at this vacant lot, but were not able to come to any agreement on exactly what this lot needs. One of the primary issues is that back in
1892, during an earthquake, a building collapsed and as Mayor Pro Tempore Albert Vallecillo explained, this limits some of the options available for the space. “What they did was they just took the rubble of the building and pushed it into the cellar and covered it with dirt,” Vallecillo said. “So the subterranean conditions may not support any kind of structure of any substantial nature, and may not support tree roots of any sizable tree.” With designs proposed, ideas floated and the potential of a stage, the city council and public continued discussing the history of this lot. Part of its history was a back-and-forth between former city manager Kathleen
Courtesy photo
Winters Superintendent Rody Boonchouy, Kayla Mederos, Sterling Davis, Carrie Green, Najwa Burdick-Yahya, Donnie Whitworth, Lucilla Escamilla, Cathleen Olson, Daniel Ward and Yisenia Gonzalez at the awards ceremony.
YCOE honors seven educators By Angela Underwood Express correspondent There is good, and there is excellent. Yolo County Office of Education governs five school districts, acknowledging each one for its annual accomplishments. This year’s 2023 Excellence in Education honorees include seven individuals at Winters Joint Unified School District on Sept. 25. To be honored, Winters JUSD presented each nominee and program to the county board of education, detailing how the employees set the bar high, beginning with an
Index
We at he r Date
Rain
High
Low
Oct. 21
TRACE
75˚
54˚
Oct. 22
.00
73˚
55˚
Oct. 23
.00
73˚
45˚
Oct. 24
.00
72˚
45˚
Oct. 25
.00
82˚
53˚
Oct. 26
.00
84˚
56˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Oct. 27
.00
84˚
54˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: TRACE Season’s total: 0.08 in. Last sn. to date: 0.99 in.
Community .................. A-2 Eventos hispanos ....... A-2
Sports ........................... B-7
See EDUCATORS, Page 5
Express staff
See COUNCIL, Page 5
Classifieds ................... B-4
Olsen says the honor provides a sense of accomplishment and validation but, more importantly, provides motivation to continue promoting change for early childhood nutrition and education. “Nutrition plays a crucial role in children’s education and overall development,” Olsen said. “Children who have balanced diet are more likely to perform well in school, concentrate better, and have a better memory.” According to Olsen, good nutrition helps maintain a healthy body weight, which
Baker named outstanding professional Lisa Baker was one of three recipients recognized at the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials Outstanding Professional of the Year award. On Oct. 8, NAHRO awarded its highest honor to Baker, Yvonda Bean and Peter LiFari at its national conference and exhibition in New Orleanse, Louisiana. Baker is an affordable housing and community development consultant and educator. She is the vice chair of the Winters Planning Commission and has been an active volunteer and advocate within the Winters community.
Features ........................ B-1
Individual Award of Honor to Nutrition Services Director Cathleen Olson. The Winters JUSD school board started Olsen’s recommendation, noting her 17-year career for the district’s 1,550 students, stressing her influence outside the school lunchroom sets her apart. “Cathleen and her staff learn every student’s name, and they encourage students to sample new and interesting foods that they may not have tried before,” according to the nomionation letter. “They also provide recipes for students to take home to their families.”
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/23. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
Courtesy photo
Lisa Baker speaks at the NAHRO conference in New Orleans where she was awarded its highest honor. This includes her work on the city of Winter’s Blue Mountain Terrace senior housing and in Yolo County her efforts on Woodland’s West Beamer Place, providing mixed-income workforce and extremely low-income housing; West Sacramento and Yolo County’s Bridge to Housing, providing permanent housing to a community of unhoused persons; the Step Up program of interim housing and services for post-incarceration social reintegration; and the Yolo Housing Migrant Center Pandemic Response, implementing comprehensive plans to support vulnerable farmworker populations.
Throughout her career, Baker has spearheaded successful initiatives including the Kinston Avenue Pride Strategy, which addressed neighborhood improvement and countered gang influences, and the Rosemead Senior Housing Development, which combined senior housing, a community center and an intergenerational preschool. Baker has written multiple articles for the Journal of Housing and Community Development and serves as NAHRO faculty to create and teach courses on implicit bias, equity/inclusion and community readiness. “Lisa’s wide-ranging expertise in af-
fordable housing development and management is matched only by her ability to share her knowledge with others,” said NAHRO CEO Mark Thiele. “She’s a practitioner, an advocate, a teacher, and so much more. I’m thrilled to be able to present her with this well-deserved honor.” Baker also served as the CEO of Yolo County Housing and as president of Baker Street Associates, which provided grants management, policy, and interim staffing services to local governments. She is a member of the NAHRO International Research and Global Exchange Committee and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee. The Outstanding Professional of the Year Award is NAHRO’s highest and most prestigious award given to honor an exceptionally qualified person who has made outstanding contributions to the quality of life through service in the field of housing or community development. The award is made on the basis of extraordinary accomplishments and contributions.
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Contact David DeLeon at David@WintersExpress.com