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Pop-up art gallery extends opening dates News, Page 3
Capstone Project supports library Features, Page 1
Volume 139, Number 49 — Locally-owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, January 4, 2023
The hometown paper of Christy McCray
City prepares for storm By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief In preparation for a Category Five storm heading toward Winters, City Manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa announced a Flood Watch is in effect from 4 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4 through 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 6. “Rainfall will be very heavy at times. While Winters has fared relatively well in recent storms, other areas of the County have already experienced localized flooding and power outages,” Trepa said. “The County will/has proactively declared a local state of emergency to prepare for potential emergency response activities.” Trepa encouraged residents to take action to “batten down the hatches and make sure all lighter objects are moved against buildings or inside.” It’s advised to bring outdoor patio furniture and
tools inside or to place them against structures. Community members are advised to watch for downed tree limbs and utility lines and call 911 if they observe downed utility lines. Motorists are encouraged to not drive through flooded roadways. Trepa noted, “only six inches of swift water can move a car” and emphasized the importance of using caution when out walking around town or driving. Public Works can be reached during the day to report downed limbs, plugged drains, or issues in the public right of way requiring immediate assistance at City Hall’s main line 530795-4910. To contact Public Works after 5 p.m., call 530-7954561 and the dispatch will contact Public Works staff. Winters Fire and Police Departments posted sandbag announcements on
their social media accounts. The City of Winters Public Works Department has provided sandbag materials at the dead end of East Street (between the Corpyard and Yolo Federal Credit Union buildings). Residents will need to bring their own shovels to create sandbags. Public safety officials posted the following instructions on filling and using sandbags: • Fill the provided sandbags one-half to two-thirds full. • Tie the filled sandbag toward the top to transport them. • Fold over the top of the sandbag. The fold should be on the bottom of the bag when placing them around a property. • After each row of sandbags, tamp down the wall by walking along the layer. To build rows, stagger the sandbags similar to how bricks are layered.
Chamber extends Toast of Winters nomination deadline to Jan. 6 By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief
EXPRESS
The deadline to submit 2022 Toast of Winters nominations to the Winters District Chamber of Commerce has been extended to Friday, Jan. 6. The Toast of Winters awards gives the opportunity for the community to nominate and celebrate residents and businesses who have made an immense impact or contribution to the community for the past year. The Chamber has award plaques for the Citi-
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zen of the Year award which dates back to 1951 with LM Ireland as the first name listed. Annually, the Chamber hosts the Toast of Winters awards event to celebrate and formally honor recipients of the Winters Citizen of the Year, the Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year, the Winters Senior Citizen of the Year and the Theodore Winters Awards. The 2022 Toast of Winters event is on Friday, March 31 at the Winters Community Center. More event information details will be released soon. The criteria to nominate a community member or business for each of these
awards are: Citizen of the Year: A Citizen of the Year is someone who has made significant contributions to the betterment of the Winters community. The ideal candidate will have served the community and gone above and beyond the defined capacity as a volunteer. This is a person who is involved in a variety of activities and has been dedicated to the community for a long period of time. The activities would have required a considerable selfless expenditure of time and energy. The Citizen of the Year is selected by a committee of past Citizens of the Year recipients.
See TOAST, Page 5
Index Features ........................ B-1
We at he r Date
Rain
High
Low
Dec. 28
.00
58˚
35˚
Dec. 29
.00
55˚
41˚
Dec. 30
.00
52˚
46˚
Community .................. A-2
Dec. 31
.00
67˚
49˚
Jan. 01
.00
56˚
43˚
Opinion ......................... B-5
Jan. 02
.00
60˚
38˚
Jan. 03
.00
46˚
38˚
Classifieds ................... B-4
Real Estate ................... B-2 Sports ........................... B-3
Rain for week: 3.18 in. Season’s total: 10.99 in. Last sn. to date: 16.60 in. Winters rainfall season began 7/1/22. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m.
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The world of Winters sports exhibit on display at the museum By Jacob Hoffman Express staff writer A new exhibit graces the Winters Museum walls, celebrating the history of sports in Winters, and the museum’s Vice President, Tom Crisp, talked with the Winters Express about what this exhibit entails. Discussing how this exhibit came to be, Crisp ran through the process of how the Winters Museum decides on the area of focus for each exhibit. “What we do is we
find a topic, and then we have an exhibit for that topic — and the group knew that I had already done a lot of research on sports in Winters from the books I’d written on the various sports of Winters High School and also some other town sports — they figured that was going to be a straightforward work,” Crisp said. Crisp was also specific in expressing his gratitude to Gloria Lopez, who he said, “was the one who really organized the
thing, I supplied the information and some artifacts, but she was the one that got us to include other sports other than baseball, since that’s my main area of research, and then put it all together.” This newest exhibit, which is up now but will celebrate the grand opening in February, features a plethora of sports-related history, biographies, and showcases, ranging across
See SPORTS, Page 5
Top Winters news of 2022 By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief As we continued to transition from one COVID guideline to less, the past year brought a multitude of changes, from start to finish. In 2022, the Winters community experienced heartache and grief, applauded (or spoke out against) new endeavors, celebrated local youth achievements and brought back many community events.
Shift in school leadership Winters Joint Unified School District experienced a shift in leadership, again. In May, Superintendent Diana Jiménez accepted a position to be the new Superintendent at Merced City School District. Jiménez had served as Superintendent since July 2020, following the departure of former Superintendent Todd Cutler. Jiménez unanticipated move came a little over two weeks following the Board of Trustees’ unanimous approval to extend her contract an additional year, scheduled to terminate in June 2025. Phoebe Girimont-
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Newest councilmembers Albert Vallecillo, Carol Scianna and Richard Casavecchia share congratulations after taking their oath of office on Dec. 13. ed was appointed to serve as Acting Superintendent during the interim as Trustees brought on a search firm to lead the Superintendent search efforts. Winters JUSD families and local community members were invited to engage in a series of in-person engagement sessions and to fill out an online survey — in English or Spanish. In October, Trustees selected Dr. Rody Boonchouy to serve as the next Superintendent. Boonchouy officially began the role Nov. 30 and immediately embarked on what Boonchouy called a “whirlwind listening tour” where he met with school
leaders, staff, students, and members of the community to learn more about the Winters and the school district’s culture.
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Tom Crisp worked with Historical Society of Winters members to create the new Wide World of Winters Sports exhibit at the Winters Museum. The museum feature will open up again to the public on Thursday, Jan. 5 following the museum’s holiday closure.
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New councilmembers The November General Election brought the opportunity for residents to elect three new Winters City Councilmembers. Mayor Wade Cowan and Councilmembers Harold Anderson and Pierre Neu had collectively served in Winters city governance for decades. Anderson had served as a councilmember for 28 years, beginning council tenure in 1994. Both Cowan and Nue were elected
See NEWS, Page 5
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