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Volume 137, Number 15 — Locally owned since 1884
Yolo County: Curbside retail pick-up and non-essential manufacturing to resume
Slow-growth initiative process gains momentum By Rodney Orosco Staff Writer A slow-growth group hoping to place Winters’ future growth directly in the hands of the city’s citizens is one step closer to getting their goal. Keep Winters Winters hopes to subject any future growth of Winters outside an established boundary to a city-wide vote. Thus, they are hoping to put an Urban Growth Boundary initiative on November’s ballot. The next step for KWW was getting the required number of qualified signatures to put the initiative on the ballot, and they seemed to have achieved it. KWW chairman Bob Polkinghorn and steering committee member Peter Hunter submitted a nearly two-foot-high stack of signatures to city hall on April 29. Of the 814 signatures the pair submitted to city clerk Tracy Jensen, only 388 are actually required to be valid. The validation will be conducted by the Yolo County Registrar of Voters, which has 30 business days to conduct the process. However, before
shipping the stack off to the county, Jensen did a cursory examination of the stack. And, before she got to the tenth signature, she found a person who had signed twice. Of course, having a few extra signatures ensures any zealous signer is accounted for, Polkinghorn said. The fact KWW was able to obtain so many signatures during a citywide shelter-inplace is testament to not only the organizations logistical skills, but also the desire by many to have a say in how the city grows. “First and foremost, this number is a tribute to the citizens of Winters, who even in the face of COVID, stepped up to support the KWW campaign,” said Polkinghorn. Polkinghorn added, “People care about the future of this town and are not about to allow any development scheme to go forth on a business as usual basis—meaning: citizens give input, the city manager negotiates, the council decides.” If passed by a majority vote of Winters’ citizens in November, the initiative would create an Urban Growth Boundary
The hometown paper of Kevin Fox
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, May 6, 2020
By Anne Ternus-Bellamy McNaughton Media
Rodney Orosco/Winters Express
Winters City Clerk Tracy Jensen looks through the list of signatures turned in from Keep Winters Winters. (UGB) beyond which any development would require the approval of a majority of voters in a special or regularly scheduled election. The UGB for Winters would be drawn at the city’s existing boundary lines. It would amend the city’s General Plan and remain in effect for 30 years. Joe Martinez, President of the Yolo County Farm Bureau (YCFB) said, “Residents in an agriculturally oriented community know what an
exceptional living experience they have: Keep Winters Winters is fighting the real possibility of the ‘sell out’ of their community’s identity to benefit out of area landowners/developers. YCFB supports the KWW efforts.” KWW was founded last year after the public learned that city officials had held discussions with the agent of a developer seeking to subdivide nearly 800 acres of farmland just north of the city limits.
Non-essential retail and manufacturing likely will receive the green light this week to resume some operations on Friday. With the state preparing to allow curbside retail pickup and manufacturing under phase two of the state’s reopening plan, Yolo County is preparing to follow suit. “As early as this Thursday, the local Yolo health order will be amended to allow curbside pickup of retail and manufacturing to resume on Friday, consistent with what we expect the state to do,” County Administrator Patrick Blacklock said Tuesday. Additionally, under the plan outlined by Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, the county will begin preparing a “local readiness plan” that will come to the Board of Supervisors for approval next Tuesday. That plan will outline how the county is doing on five public health metrics that must be
met before the county can move even further into phase two and allow additional activities to resume. Just what those future activities will be remains to be seen. “We’re hoping to get additional guidance from the state this Thursday,” Blacklock told county supervisors at their meeting Tuesday morning. However, Eric Will, an analyst in the county administrator’s office, said those activities may include limited-seated dining in restaurants as well as some offices reopening. All activities would still require physical distancing and face coverings and the county expects to have safety protocols available for businesses resuming curbside retail and manufacturing by Friday. As for moving forward into phase two, the county will look at its performance in five areas to determine whether it can safely reopen some activities. Currently the coun-
See UPDATE, Page 4
Winters homicide victim ID’d, but not publicly Detectives seek public’s help with investigation By Lauren Keene McNaughton Media Yolo County sheriff’s officials say they’ve identified the man killed in last month’s drive-by shooting near Winters, but haven’t made that information public due to the ongoing investigation. “The detectives aren’t releasing it at this time because doing so could jeopardize the investigation,” sheriff’s Lt. Matt Davis said Friday. He declined to elaborate. The victim died April 26 from his injuries in the shooting, which occurred at about 1:30 p.m. April 24 on County Road 89 north of Win-
In d e x Features ........................ B-6
ters. Sheriff’s officials said the suspect fired from a small, dark-colored sedan at the victim, who was a passenger in another vehicle. The driver who accompanied the victim took him to Sutter Davis Hospital before his transfer to an area trauma center, where he succumbed to his wounds. Detectives continue to seek the public’s help in finding and arresting the suspect, who was last seen traveling northbound on County Road 89. Anyone with information is urged to contact sheriff’s dispatchers at 530-666-8282 or leave an anonymous tip at 530-668-5248.
Weather Date
92˚ 59˚
April 30 .00
87˚ 55˚
May 01
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86˚ 53˚
May 02
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85˚ 57˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-5
May 03
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77˚ 46˚
May 04
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77˚ 48˚
Opinion ......................... B-1
May 05
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83˚ 49˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 13.06 in. Last sn. to date: 36.38 in.
Community .................. A-6
Athlete of the Week ..... A-6
Driver takes out tree, flees on foot On Wednesday, April 29 the Winters Police Department assisted California Highway Patrol officers as they pursued a vehicle into Winters city limits. The driver crashed into a tree in the Winters Community Center parking lot and fled on foot. The driver was located and arrested as officers searched the area.
Community coronavirus testing available in Woodland
Rain High Low
April 29 .00
Classifieds ................... B-4
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/19. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m.
By Anne Ternus-Bellamy McNaughton Media Two Yolo County cities are among the 80 locations selected by the state for community coronavirus testing. Testing will be available in Woodland from May 5-30 and in West Sacramento from June 2-20, Tuesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. by appointment only. To make an appointment, call 888-634-1123 or complete an online application at https:// lhi.care/covidtesting. The ad-
dress of the testing site will be provided upon completion of the application. COVID-19 testing is open to anyone in the community, including agricultural workers, the homeless and the undocumented. OptumServe will be able to test up to 135 people a day with test results available within 48 to 72 hours. This is not antibody testing; rather it is testing to see if an individual currently has COVID-19. Gov. Gavin Newsom an-
nounced plans to add 80 community testing sites in underserved areas last month. To select the sites, the state’s Testing Task Force, in conjunction with OptumServe, looked at both rural and urban areas of California where people have to travel between 30 and 60 minutes to reach an existing testing site or hospital. Sites were selected based on underserved populations, known disparities and medi-
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