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Volume 139, Number 1 — Locally owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Trustees consider upcoming housing projects in area redistricting maps
Youth Day committee seeking volunteers to plan event By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief The Winters Youth Day committee is looking for community members to step up to help plan the 2022 event. Winters Youth Day was originally founded in 1933 to teach young people the aspects of city government. It has since grown into popular event hosted annually to celebrate youth with a parade down Main Street and activities at the City Park. The coronavirus pandemic caused the committee to make the decision to cancel the event in both 2020 and 2021. Now, the committee is hopeful that Winters Youth Day will make its return on April 30, 2022. However, without more volunteers to help plan the events the 2022 celebration may fizzle. Carol McMasters-Stone, Winters Youth Day committee treasurer, said they don’t have enough
volunteers to hold the event. Ideally, they have a few people to help plan the different activities including the Main Street parade, and official chairpersons to coordinate the Duck Derby and City Park vendors and activities. “If we don’t get enough help we are hoping to at least have the parade, but that may be all we can do,” said McMasters-Stone. McMasters-Stone said they also are in need of additional volunteers for the big events on April 29 and April 30 to help with set up, clean up, and more. The Winters Youth Day committee is currently meeting once a month via Zoom. But come March, meetings will bump up to twice a month, and then every week in April. McMasters-Stone said they do their best to schedule the meetings to accommodate everyone who is volunteering and plan-
The hometown paper of Richard & Margaret Stuart
ning events. In a letter to the community, McMasters-Stone said many of the current committee members have been serving for more than 10 years. She noted that long-time Youth Day volunteer Mike Sebastian has attempted to retire from the committee twice, but is back again this year in hopes of bringing the event back in person. McMasters-Stone said that they are in need of new volunteers with new ideas to help keep the Winters Youth Day event going. Community members who are interested in volunteering, who have questions, or who would like to attend the month meetings should send an email to wintersyouthday@ gmail.com for more information. More information about Winters Youth Day can be found on the Youth Day website at https://www. wintersyouthday. com/.
By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief The Winters Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees were presented with a fourth Trustee area redistricting map option at the Jan. 20 school board meeting. As counties are currently reviewing area maps, so too are school boards as they look at any potential changes from the 2020 Census data. Previously, David A. Soldani from the law firm Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo (AALRR) and Carolyn Scholl from Cooperative Strategies had presented
the results of their evaluation of the Census data from 2010 to 2020 on Nov. 18 Scholl presented that the current Winters JUSD voting areas (Trustee Areas) reflected an overall population growth of 569 (6.5 percent) and that the total overall variance difference of 22.8 percent put them out of compliance with the allowed 10 percent. In 2010, the overall variance had been 6.8 percent. The largest population of growth specifically was seen in Trustee Areas Four and Five. The amount is determined by subtracting the population of the
Trustee Area with the lowest density (1,695) from the Trustee Area with the highest density (2,121), and dividing the resulting number by the ideal Trustee Area population number (1,866). “The initial snapshot tells us that we are going to have to make some changes and shuffle some things around too. Frankly, I’d like to see a single digit,” Soldani said. “That’s the headline, that we are going to have to make an adjusted map.” Scholl also presented demographic data that showed the
See MAPS, Page 5
Agency approves groundwater sustainability plan By Rick von Geldern Express staff writer
EXPRESS
The Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency (YSGA) met on Jan. 24 for a special public hearing and adopted the 378-page draft of the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan, (PLAN) and submitted it to the California Department of Water Resources by the statutory Jan. 31 deadline. The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) mandates
local groundwater sustainability agencies develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) in high and medium priority groundwater basins. With an emphasis on local management, the Act established requirements to protect groundwater resources. “The Yolo Subbasin appears to have a robust groundwater system that has recovered quickly after various periods of dry and critical WYs (water years), including single and multiyears,” the Plan noted. The Plan calls for monitoring and documenting groundwater conditions to
establish management standards and to identify courses of actions to achieve and maintain sustainable groundwater management by 2042. It also establishes goals, thresholds, and measurable objectives to achieve 20-year goals through project development and action. Development of the Plan began in 2017 and included public meetings, workshops and 280 comments were received as the Plan was established. “The Yolo Subbasin is a relatively stable basin, with groundwater levels maintaining a relatively consistent
See PLAN, Page 5
Index Features ........................ B-1
We at he r Rain
High
Jan. 26
.00
69˚
33˚
Jan. 27
.00
63˚
32˚
Jan. 28
.00
66˚
32˚
Jan. 29
.00
65˚
32˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-6
Jan. 30
.00
67˚
33˚
Jan. 31
.00
63˚
37˚
Opinion ......................... B-5
Feb. 01
.00
65˚
39˚
Community .................. A-3
Real Estate ................... B-2 Sports ........................... B-7
Baby Renee is Winters first 2022 baby Express staff Press Release Renee Bing Thomas officially holds the title of the Winters Express’ first 2022 Winters baby. Renee arrived on Jan. 19 at 7:43 a.m. to parents Helene and Matt Thomas of Winters. She was born at the Sutter Davis Hospital. At birth Renee weighed nine pounds, one ounce and was
Low
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 17.09 in. Last sn. to date: 5.95 in. Winters rainfall season began 7/1/21. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m.
measured 21.75 inches. At home, Renee joins her big brother Charlie. Her maternal grandparents are Kathy Millon of Winters, Lee Millon and Lauren McNees of Winters. Paternal Grandparents are Barbara and Mike Thomas of Kirkwood, Mo. Mother Helene said Renee is namesake to her late aunt Julia Rene and great grand-
Special to the Express The Winters Joint Unified School District and school staff members have been hard at work ensuring the effective implementation of their COVID safety protocols. Winters JUSD staff has continued to prioritize in-person learning for scholars by “keeping safety at the center.” They know that the return
to school has been extremely difficult for many school communities, and they will continue to do everything in their power to ensure that scholars have safe, healthy places to learn. Winters JUSD recognizes that things are shifting quickly, but as a team, they are working very hard to ensure that their classroom doors remain open and that amazing learning continues. Winters JUSD
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mother Bing. As the Winters Express first 2022 Winters baby, Renee is receiving a welcome basket of gifts from Pacific Ace Hardware, Caliber Home Loans, El Pueblo Meat Market & Taqueria, First Northern Bank, Pizza Factory, The Baby Shop and Winters Friends of the Library. The Express 2022 First Baby Contest was sponsored this year by Caliber Home Loans.
Winters JUSD shares latest COVID-19 safety protocols, actions By Diana Jiménez
Date
Classifieds ................... B-4
Courtesy photo
Renee Bing Thomas is the first Winters baby born in 2022.
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thanks all of the employees for taking on these additional roles with such commitment and grace. Here are a few of the things Winters JUSD is doing to “keep safety at the center.”
Safety Protocols This includes daily cleaning and disinfecting of classrooms and school facilities, distributing appropriate PPE for scholars
See SAFETY, Page 5
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