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Special Home & Garden section News, Page 4
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Volume 138, Number 6 — Locally owned since 1884
Yolo County case rate low, closing in on orange tier range By Anne Ternus-Bellamy McNaughton Media Yolo County’s COVID-19 cases remain low but the county narrowly missed meeting the orange tier metrics in Tuesday’s update of the state’s blueprint for reopening. The county’s adjusted case rate for the week ending Feb. 27 was 4 per 100,000 residents while the threshold for the orange tier is between 1 and 3.9 cases. Moving from red to orange would allow businesses in the county to increase
capacity indoors, including restaurants, gyms and movie theaters. The earliest the county can now make that move is March 24. The county’s health equity quartile rate of 4.3 percent met the orange tier metric and the countywide test positivity rate of 1.1 percent met the least restrictive yellow tier metric. However, the state’s blueprint will be undergoing changes in the future that will allow counties to progress more quickly through the tiers as vaccine equity goals
The hometown paper of Rob Coman
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, March 10, 2021
are met. The state plan is to dedicate 40 percent of vaccine doses statewide to the most disadvantaged communities. Zip codes that fall into the lowest quartile of the Healthy Places Index, which measures a slew of socio-economic indicators, are the beneficiaries. In Yolo County, those communities are in the Broderick neighborhood of West Sacramento as well as the towns of Brooks, Guinda, Madison and Dunnigan.
See TIER, Page 7
City seeking input on housing plan By Edward Booth Express staff writer Winters is starting up the process of updating its Housing Element this year, a mandatory component of a city’s general plan that looks at housing needs and conditions within the city and identifies goals, programs, policies and actions related to housing that will be pursued over the next eight years. To begin, the city is offering a virtual workshop, available on its website through April 2, to inform the community and gather public input on the plan. The virtual workshop, available
in both English and Spanish, includes a 15-minute video presentation and a subsequent survey. The video defines what a Housing Element is and covers relevant demographic and housing data, while the survey gives community members a chance to provide direct input. “A Housing Element is designed to provide an analysis of the City’s housing needs for all income levels, along with strategies to provide for those needs,” according to the city’s website. “This includes addressing the existing and projected hous-
ing needs for people of all incomes – very low, low, moderate, above moderate; and the needs of special populations, which include seniors, farmworkers, persons with disabilities (including developmental disabilities), single parents, large families, and homeless.” Winters plans to release the draft Housing Element for public review in mid April, according to a city press release. The draft will be open for public comment for 30 days and also be submitted to the State Housing and Com-
See HOUSING, Page 3
School district releases COVID Safety Plan for Walk-up services opening Athletics with sports season moving forward at HHSA Winters branch By Rick von Geldern
By Crystal Apilado
Express staff writer
Editor-in-Chief As high school sports continue to jump back into activity, Winters Joint Unified School District and Winters High School administrators worked to get an athletics safety plan drafted. WHS released their COVID Safety Plan for Athletics online on March 5. Athletics Director Daniel Ward announced to families that in order to ensure WHS teams remain active and the sports season open, safety guidelines had been established in coordination with the most recent health guidelines from the California Department of Public Health and the Yolo County Health Department. The Winters JUSD COVID-19 Safety Plan for Athletics provides direction and limitations on outdoor and indoor youth sports activities in the Winters school district to support a safe environment for all participants. Regardless of the sports setting (outdoor or indoor), COVID-19 case rate or sport
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
The Winters High School bleachers will not be packed this season. Only two spectators (parents/guardians) are allowed per an athlete. All other spectators are not allowed. played, the following general guidance requirements must be adhered to at all times: Masks: Face Coverings must be worn when not participating in the activity (e.g., on the sidelines, bench, dugout, etc). Face coverings are required during athletic play to the greatest extent possible. Exceptions may include high contact sports where it may become a hazard, or for sports that require very high
Index
Weather
Features ........................ B-1
Date Rain High Low March 03 .00
74˚ 37˚
March 04 .00
73˚ 39˚
March 05 .00
69˚ 36˚
Community .................. A-2
March 06 .04”
72˚ 42˚
March 07 .00
65˚ 35˚
Opinion ......................... B-2
March 08 .00
68˚ 43˚
March 09 .02”
62˚ 38˚
Classifieds ................... B-6
Real Estate ................... B-7 Sports ........................... A-8
Rain for week: 0.06 in. Season’s total: 6.67 in. Last sn. to date: 11.37 in. Winters rainfall season began 7/1/20. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily.
exertion and a face covering would restrict breathing. Face coverings must be worn by coaches, support staff and parents/ guardians at all times. Transportation: Students riding on Winters JUSD provided transportation are required to wear face coverings the entire time and will be spaced out at least 4-6 feet apart. Windows will be down the entire trip for maximum ventilation unless it is not feasible. Parents/
guardians are allowed to drive their athletes to and from competitions, but will not be allowed to transport any other athletes at this time. No Spectators: Under the current guidance from the Yolo County Public Health Officer and CDPH, no other spectators are allowed at this time. However, up to two parents/guardians per athlete may attend competitions in order
See SPORTS, Page 8
The Winters branch of the Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) reopened to the public on March 8 to provide in-person assistance. Walk-up services had been suspended due to COVID-19. Yolo County assistance recipients and applicants can now come to the Winters HHSA location to obtain information, apply, and certify for assistance, as well as pick up and drop off documents. The office is open daily Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and COVID-19 precautions are in place. Winters Branch Director Nolan Sullivan said the most pronounced changes are that people can now pick up and drop off documents, obtain replacement EBT cards onsite and have the convenience of speaking directly to a person for faster assistance. The Winters location also has Spanish speaking staff available. Sullivan provided
Winters HAC achieves non-profit status By Katherine Simpson Express correspondent After 15 years of service to the Winters community, the Winters Hispanic Advisory Committee (HAC) filed and achieved a 501(c)3, non-profit status for a new organization, Winters Community Corazon. Now celebrating its 15th year of service as the longest standing advisory committee to the city, the HAC’s new legal status will allow it to separate philanthropic giving and advisory work.
“When Festival de Comunidad started, it was just a potluck, which grew into a carnitas cooking competition,” said Winters City Councilmember and HAC City Liaison Jesse Loren. From there they started selling food and donating the proceeds to community members, but as the festival grew, the began making $30,000 to $40,000 in profit. With all of the donations they collected to fund the event, “we were no longer function-
ing as a committee we were functioning as a non-profit,” Loren said, “because we were so darn successful…it became bigger than the scope of the HAC.” “It makes sense to stay true to the Hispanic Advisory Committee Mission…but also raise money to support the Festival and provide financial support to Munchkin Camp and other community needs,” said Loren.
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data revealing that eight percent of Winters residents are considered living below the federal poverty line; a number that is comparable countywide. He added that the need for services has increased 10 percent since COVID-19. During the last few days of the month, Sullivan cautioned, service volume doubles or triples and should be avoided if possible. To avoid delays or disruption in service, new income and status changes should be proactively reported as programs are based on income. The Winters HHSA branch assists with the Medi-Cal, Cal Fresh, Cal Works programs and more and is located at 111 E. Grant Ave., Winters, 530-406-4444. For additional county resources and referrals to services, residents can call 2-1-1 or toll free at 855-866-1783. HHSA service centers in Davis, West Sacramento and Woodland are now also open to the public for walk-up services.
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