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Yoga benefits go beyond a daily stretch HEALTH, Page 6
Why Putah Creek is important in the salmon run Features, Page 1
Volume 141, Number 42 — Locally-owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, November 20, 2024
The hometown paper of Amy Sartin
Winters Fire receives grant for cutting-edge extrication equipment By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief Winters Fire Department has upgraded its emergency response capabilities with new, state-of-theart extrication equipment, thanks to a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The equipment is “the latest and greatest jaws of life,” according to Winters Fire Chief Jack S. Snyder III, and was provided at no cost to the city, making it a major win for both the department and the community. The $81,138 grant funded the purchase of four battery-operated electric rescue tools, which not only increased the number of units, but were also a significant improvement over Winters Fire’s older equipment. Unlike the previous extrication unit, which relied on hoses and a generator pump to make it run, the new tools are ready to use immediately upon arrival at an accident scene thanks to battery packs. “There’s no need to hook up hoses; we just grab and go,” Snyder said. “This streamlines our process and drastically reduces the time it takes to
extricate individuals from vehicles. It’s easier, safer for our crews and allows us to get to work without delay.” The equipment, which arrived Nov. 8, has already been integrated into Winters Fire’s operations. Training sessions are underway to ensure all crew members, including volunteers, are proficient in its use. “The tools are more compact, eco-friendly, and eliminate the need for bulky hoses and external pumps, which makes them easier to use and transport, even in rough terrain,” Snyder said. According to Winters Fire’s volunteer coordinator Aide Aguilera, the new tools not only save time but also provide a valuable learning opportunity for volunteers, particularly as other departments transition to similar technology. “It gives them an introduction to what the future holds in emergency response,” Aguilera said. “There is less time for setting up the equipment. On some of our engines, we only have enough for one attachment so it takes a while to connect it to different devices or to swap between different tools.” Winters Fire is also planning future pub-
Courtesy photo
Winters Fire Department’s new extrication equipment, funded with grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, includes four battery-powered units, accessories and extra battery packs. lic demonstrations to showcase the new equipment and its capabilities. As part of the grant agreement, Winters Fire will also engage the community in transportation safety outreach initiatives, such as pedestrian awareness and car seat safety education. These efforts will be coordinated with the Winters Police Department to address specific community needs. Snyder said the department had seen these tools in action with other agencies in the county, solidifying
Courtesy photo
The previous extrication unit required a fueled pump and connections via extension
See GRANT, Page 2 ords in order to utilize it out in the field. The pump proved challenging on some terrain.
School district sees decline City hears findings of Classification and Compensation study in CAASPP test results By Logan Chrisp Express staff writer
EXPRESS
Winters Joint Unified School District presented the results of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) results to the Board of Trustees at the
Thursday, Nov. 17, school board meeting. The data demonstrated that while Winters High School saw improvement in English Language Arts (ELA) and math, the elementary and middle schools saw declines, similar to other local schools. Assistant Superintendent Phoebe Girimonte presented the results from all assessed grade levels in the CAASPP testing
and compared them to prior year results. For ELA, there was a 0.97 percent drop in students who met or exceeded the standard, while mathematics saw a slight improvement of 0.46 percent. In addition to showing how Winters JUSD CAASPP results compared to previous years’ testing, Girimonte also compared data from
See DATA, Page 5
Index Features ........................ B-1 Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2
We at he r Date
Rain
High
Low
Nov. 13
0.01”
65˚
38˚
Nov. 14
0.02”
59˚
41˚
Nov. 15
0.06”
66˚
41˚
Nov. 16 TRACE
63˚
49˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-3
Nov. 17
.00
64˚
34˚
Nov. 18
.00
63˚
41˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Nov. 19
.00
65˚
34˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.09 in. Season’s total: 0.42 in. Last sn. to date: 1.69 in.
Sports ........................... B-5
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/24. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
Information could be utilized to make city job descriptions more accurate, fairly paid By Sonora Slater Express staff writer Winters City Councilmembers heard a presentation on the findings of a classification-and-compensationstudy that was recently done on the city of Winters in order to make sure that each city position has an accurate job description and fair compensation. According to City Manager Jeremy Craig, there is no record of Winters implementing a survey like this in the past — making it a helpful tool for current and future city leaders to have available to understand the work required of employees when hiring and ensure that compensation for local jobs is comparable to what employees are paid for similar jobs in nearby cities of the same size and budget. This helps the city to be more effective at attracting and retaining a high-quality workforce. The survey, which was authorized on Jan. 16 through Resolution 2024-03, was split into two steps: classification and compensation. “The classification study looked at every job classification in the
city and reviewed the work performed by the employees in that job class to ensure it accurately reflected the work performed and adequately documented all duties,” Craig said in an email to the Winters Express. “This step was essential to ensure that when we did the compensation comparison for the study, we were comparing the correct class of work being conducted.” Georgia Cochran, a representative of the firm that completed the study, gave a presentation about the findings at the Nov. 5 City Council meeting, and noted that part of the difficulty of classifying jobs in a city the size of Winters is how broad job positions often are, entailing a broad range of responsibilities. On the other hand, she said that the importance of a study like this in Winters is making sure employees applying for these positions have a good idea of all the tasks that may be expected of them. “In such a small town, the employees we have wear a lot of hats,” Mayor Bill Biasi said during the presentation. “Putting that into job descriptions is tough.” In order to classify the positions, Cochran and her firm reviewed questionnaires completed by current city employees, conducted interviews with staff members, supervisors and managers, and turned it all into data that they
See STUDY, Page 5
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