$1
including tax
WTC seeks new directors for next season News, Page 2
Local youth qualifies for junior olympics
Features, Page 1
Volume 139, Number 21 — Locally-owned since 1884
The hometown paper of Alex Glaros
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Winters Fire crews respond to fires, rescues Council approves cannabis
growth ordinance, adds sales tax increase to ballot
By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief Winters firefighters have been busy responding to heat-related emergencies and multiple fires across the region. As of Tuesday, that includes a water rescue, two hiker recues and sending crews to assist in grass and structure fires. On Tuesday morning, Winters Fire Department announced a crew of three had been deployed as part of a strike team to the Apache Fire in Butte County. Winters Fire Chief Jack S. Snyder III said over the last few weeks, Winters Fire assisted in grass fires and commercial structure fires in Zamora, Dunnigan and Solano County. “It’s burning everywhere around us,” Snyder said. According to Snyder, two Winters Fire trucks are out of commission and it has posed a challenge.
By Amelia Biscardi Express staff writer With a cold blast of air conditioning, the Winters City Council met on June 18 with a long agenda and significant discussion. The council approved a resolution allowing personal cannabis growth, started the process of potentially raising sales tax, declared some lots a nuisance with weeds and heard a Winters Senior Center update.
Cannabis ordinance
Rescues
Courtesy photo
Winters Fire assisted the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol to rescue of a family whose kayaks capsized in Putah Creek west of Winters last Wednesday. According to Snyder, the family of four (the parents and two juveniles) were each in a separate kayaks in the creek when they encountered brush and vegetation in the water, overturning their kayaks
Firefighter Andrew Love-Fields, Fire Captain Jesus Marquez and Fire Engineer Aaron Mendoza were deployed as part of a strike team to the Apache Fire in Butte County on Tuesday morning. close to 11 a.m. on June 19. A CHP helicopter was called in to the scene and lowered a basket to lift the family to safety. All four individuals were wearing life vests, which Snyder said was a big factor to note. There were no injuries reported from the incident.
Snyder said the majority of water rescues Winters Fire crews respond to are people form out of town who are not familiar with the layout of the area. Putah Creek’s terrain and foliage were impacted by high waters that flowed down
See FIRES, Page 5
Police prepare for fireworks event By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief Winters Police Department is gearing up for the annual July 3 fireworks show with an updated traffic control plan, and a reminder that residents and homeowners found to set off illegal fireworks could face a $1,000 fine under the Winters Municipal Code.
July 3 traffic control
EXPRESS
Police Chief John P. Miller said as soon as the fireworks show begins, eastbound
Grant Avenue traffic will be prioritized: • The traffic control signal lights at Grant and Railroad Avenues will be placed on flashing red lights, and traffic control will be established. • All left turn lanes in this intersection are restricted to avoid cross traffic. • The roundabout at Grant and Walnut Avenues is restricted to eastbound and westbound traffic only to avoid cross traffic. All other cross traffic, turns, and merges are under normal “rules of the road” Miller said. Grant Avenue experiences heavy traffic with traffic delays up to one hour after the event. Attendees are
highly encouraged to utilize alternate routes that include northbound Railroad Avenue (County Road 89) to County Road 29A — which has onramps to I-505 — and westbound Hwy. 128 to Pleasants Valley Road.
Reporting illegal fireworks Miller told the Express that Winters Police are relying on residents to help report illegal firework usage. In May 2022, Winters City Council approved a resolution ordinance and added a municipal code that gives law-enforcement
See SAFETY, Page 5
Index Features ........................ B-1
We at he r Date
Rain
High
Low
Jun. 19
.00
91˚
65˚
Jun. 20
.00
91˚
52˚
Jun. 21
.00
92˚
55˚
Jun. 22
.00
96˚
58˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-2
Jun. 23
.00
102˚
67˚
Jun. 24
.00
104˚
59˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Jun. 25
.01”
102˚
64˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.01 in. Season’s total: 23.30 in. Last sn. to date: 37.64 in.
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2
Athlete of the Week...... B-7
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/23. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
Council member Jesse Loren said that she felt over-prepared for the discussion of outdoor cannabis growth for personal use. Loren even noted that she conducted research by visiting a dispensary in Humboldt with her son, armed with questions for the employees, and brought copies of her findings. The council approved the resolution with a 4–1 vote, with Mayor Bill Biasi as the singular “no” vote. The resolution
was brought up due to concerns brought up by Paul Meyers as the scent of a neighbor’s personal cannabis was, according to Meyers, impeding his enjoyment of his property. Loren brought back specific verbiage for the council to adapt, explaining that in the cannabis plant terpene is what produces the odor. Due to this, the wording of low terpene was added to the resolution. There limit of six plants grown per individual remains, this can be indoor or outdoor. A concern brought up by Biasi was growth near schools. However, Police Chief John P. Miller said that there have been no reported issues with cannabis being stolen out of yards.
Sales tax increase
In the continuation of discussing the city’s budget, city manager Jeremy Craig brought a few options before
See CITY, Page 5
Trustees approve superintendent pay increase, LCAP plans By Logan Chrisp Express staff writer On Thursday, June 6, the Winters Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees approved multiple items during the last school board meeting of the 2023–24 fiscal and academic year. In closed session, trustees voted unanimously to approve a satisfactory evaluation of Superintendent Rody Boonchuoy for the 2023–24 year. With this satisfactory evaluation approved and per his contract, the superintendent could receive a base salary increase of 3 percent. Chief Business Officer Jonathan Feagle later presented the approval of this base salary. Along with the 3 percent increase, the Oct. 6, 2022 contract also states the superintendent is entitled to a 2.5 percent increase in pay which was previously negotiated with the school district. Trustees voted unanimously to approve the salary increase, bringing Boonchuoy’s base salary to $218,646, a $14,260 increase from his previous year. In addition, the superintendent had five
extra work days approved by the board per Section 6 of the Superintendent’s Employment Agreement. This agreement states that the superintendent may work up to five additional days at his regular daily rate. His total working days for the previous academic year was 230.
LCAP Assistant Superintendent Phoebe Girimonte presented data on locally collected data by Winters JUSD. Five local indicators are used to measure the progress of Winters JUSD, local control and to provide information so that local challenges can be met head-on by the school district. This data is then used for the Local Control and Accountability Plan drafting and revision process. These five local indicators include Basic Services and Conditions, Implementation of Academic Standards, Parent and Family Engagement, School Climate, Access to a Broad Course of Study. These indicators are then assigned a “met,” “not met” or “not met for two years” by the Lo-
cal Education Agency. For the 2023-2024 academic year each of the 5 indicators was assigned a “met” by Winters JUSD. During the presentation, the standard and the metric in which the indicators are measured were shown and then Giromonte talked about how Winters JUSD is meeting these standards. The results of the data collection on the five indicators can be found on the California School Dashboard website by searching for Winters Joint Unified. Girimonte followed this presentation with the LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan). The LCAP is a three-year plan that outlines the goals, actions, services and expenditures to support positive student outcomes that address the state and local priorities. The LCAP was previously presented during the June 6 school board meeting as an informational item and was presented to trustees again for approval on Thursday with any submitted alterations. According to Girimonte, aside from
See SCHOOLS, Page 5
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