ANNUAL YOUTH DAY PANCAKE BREAKFAST
Sponsored By Rotary Club of Winters Community Foundation Benefits Community Services Projects, Winters Senior Foundation, and Winters Fire Department Volunteers
Saturday, April 27, 2024 • 7am - 9:30am WINTERS COMMUNITY CENTER $15 Adults • $10 Children under 10
Free for children under 6 or who don’t eat very much
$1
including tax
Benefits of walking meditations Health, Page 5
Rominger fifth grade revives Angel Island trip Features, Page 1
Volume 141, Number 11 — Locally-owned since 1884
The hometown paper of Kathy Lester
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Middle school proposes FLEX schedule change By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief Winters Middle School Principal Jose Bermudez proposed a new schedule that would provide more flexibility to support students with intervention and enrichment opportunities and a chance to engage in a chosen elective class. At the April 2, Winters Joint Unified School District Board
of Trustees meeting, Bermudez and other WMS staff compared the current model and the differences the new FLEX schedule would bring. The FLEX schedule would add a 25-minute block for all grade levels three to four days a week after the second period. FLEX would be offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays that are on the Early Release sched-
ule. In the current WMS schedule, classes are run in a trimester model and all students have a wheel class. Students who need intervention support are assigned to a workshop class instead of an elective and are sometimes pulled out during class to get individual, specialized support. The proposed FLEX
See FLEX, Page 2
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
WMS celebrates new turf Winters Middle School student body President Julian Bermudez (center) cut the official red ribbon on Friday, April 12, finalizing the new turf installation project.. SEE STORY ON PAGE 6.
13 nonprofits collaborate for BDOG Local News Briefs Express staff
EXPRESS
This year’s Big Day of Giving is Thursday, May 2, and local nonprofit organizations are participating. The opportunity early giving opens up to the public on Thursday, April 18. The Big Day of Giving is hosted by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, is an annual 24-hour giving challenge. Funds raising make a big difference in Winters. BDOG is a critical opportunity for donors to rally to uplift and support the nonprofits operating in and serving our community. This year, 13 non-
profit organizations from Winters are partnering again to prepare for and publicize the Big Day of Giving. This year’s collaborative group of nonprofits are Winters Education Foundation, Winters Farm to School, Winters Friends of the Library, Winters Museum, Winters Participation Gallery, Winters Senior Foundation, Winters Healthcare, Winters Youth Day, Winters Music Boosters, Winters Theatre Company, Winters Robotics Inc., Putah Creek Council and Meals on Wheels Yolo County. While their missions are varied, each participating nonprofit contributes to the community’s character, spirit and quality of life. Winters Farm to School’s mission is
to raise funds to provide fresh, local produce, fruits and nuts for Winters school food program; educate children about the positive, longterm health benefits of healthy eating habits and to reconnect children to the rich, deeply rooted agricultural heritage in the community. Winters Education Foundation raises funds to ensure continued educational excellence and equal educational opportunities for every child in a Winters public school classroom. Last year WEF provided more than $20,000 for teachers to use in their classrooms, but the need was double the amount requested. Teachers in Winters do amazing work with a very slim budget — BDOG donations will
Index
We at he r
Features ........................ B-1
See BDOG, Page 2
Rain
High
Apr. 10
.00
80˚
41˚
Apr. 11
.00
82˚
50˚
Apr. 12
.00
85˚
55˚
By Todd R. Hansen
Apr. 13
0.30”
74˚
44˚
McNaughton Media
Eventos hispanos ....... A-3
Apr. 14
0.14”
58˚
42˚
Apr. 15 TRACE
63˚
46˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Apr. 16
71˚
46˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.44 in. Season’s total: 22.95 in. Last sn. to date: 36.99 in.
The Solano County Water Agency board this week accepted an $825,000 planning grant from the state Department of Fish & Wildlife to help salmon better navigate around, or over, the Los Rios Check Dam. “There’s been a version of the (check dam)
Community .................. A-2
Sports ........................... B-5
.00
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/23. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
Express staff
Winters State Preschool event The Winters State Preschool Center will host its annual enrollment fair for the 2024–2025 school year on Friday, April 19, from 5 to 7 p.m. at 200 Baker St.
Seasonal road closure In his April 12 update, City Manager Jeremy Craig announced that the city’s seasonal road closure schedule would start up over the weekend. The Sunday Farmer’s Market will return to the closed area of Main Street from Railroad Avenue to the crosswalk at Paseo Park on April 28.
Medicare event The Winters Senior Foundation will host “What you need to know about Medicare” on Thursday, April 18 at 2 p.m. in the City Hall large conference room (318 First St. — Abbey Street entrance.) The presentation will cover the 2024 changes and how to get the best coverage. The event is free for senior citizens to attend.
Youth Day updates The Winters Youth Day Committee will be rescheduling the Duck Derby event scheduled for Friday, April 26, due to the high input of water in
See BRIEFS, Page 6
SCWA receives state grant to support salmon at Los Rios Check Dam
Date
Classifieds ................... B-4
Low
support WEF’s grant program. Winters Friends of the Library promotes literacy, fosters a love of reading, enhances the community’s cultural life and encourages involvement in the library and its programs. This year, WFoL is raising funds for library programming and collections, as well as replacing library furniture and supporting WFoL programs and community events. Winters Music Boosters is dedicated to providing financial support and volunteer assistance to help maintain the music programs in Winters public schools. WMB is raising funds to expand the performance
going back before the 1960s,” Max Stevenson, the Putah Creek streamkeeper, said in a phone interview Friday, the morning after the board’s action. “The problem is it blocks fish passage.” The dam boards can keep adult fish from coming up into the creek to spawn, and keep juvenile fish
from reaching the toe drain, which flows into the waters of the Cache Creek complex, into the Delta and eventually out to sea. The vision is for those fish to return to the creek with each new generation, creating a specific Putah Creek race of salmon. “There have been a
See SALMON, Page 6
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