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Help clean up Lake Berryessa News, Page 2
Class of 2029 heads to high school Features, Page 1
Volume 142, Number 18 — Locally-owned since 1884
The hometown paper of Olga Cavaliere
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Congratulations Graduates! The future holds endless possibilities for you. Wishing you every success as you embark on this exciting new chapter. copies of the Graduation section are available at the Winters High School office and Winters School District office
Commissioners OK liquor license despite oversaturation limit By Sonora Slater Express staff writer
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
The Yolo Food Bank has moved its weekly food distribution at Winters High School from Wednesday afternoons to Saturday mornings for the summer.
Wednesday community food distribution shifts to Saturdays By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief
EXPRESS
Starting this weekend, the Winters Wednesday food distribution will move to Saturday mornings to help protect community members and volunteers from rising summer temperatures. The Yolo Food Bank confirmed that the schedule change begins Saturday, June 7, at 11 a.m. in the Winters High School student parking lot. Last year, the distribution date was adjusted in July amid triple-digit heat. This
year’s earlier shift aims to provide relief sooner. The usual Wednesday 3:30 p.m. time slot is expected to return in August when students head back to school.
Get updates Residents are encouraged to sign up for FreshText, a free Yolo Food Bank service that sends distribution reminders and cancellation notices via text message the day before each event. To sign up, text your community’s designated keyword to 888777: • Winters residents text “Almond” • Capay Valley residents text “Walnut” • Davis residents text “Tomato” • West Sacramento, Clarksburg residents
text “Grape” • Woodland residents text “Olive” • North Yolo residents text “Rice”
Distribution info Participants can walk up to the distribution table in the gym parking lot or drive through via the student lot entrance on Railroad Avenue. Walk-up guests should bring a large bag, cart, or wagon to carry their items. An additional food distribution takes place in Winters on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 10 a.m. at RISE, Inc., 417 Haven St. This is a walk-up distribution, and participants should plan to transport their items themselves.
See SHIFT, Page 5
We at he r Date
Rain
High
May 28
.00
92˚
55˚
May 29
.00
90˚
53˚
May 30
.00
93˚
58˚
May 31
.00
100˚
63˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-3
Jun. 01
.00
102˚
60˚
Jun. 02
.00
93˚
54˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Jun. 03
.00
92˚
57˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 19.27 in. Last sn. to date: 23.29 in.
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2
Sports ........................... B-5
Low
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/24. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
See LIQUOR, Page 5
Yolo County seeks rural residents for Prop 47 steering committee Express staff
Index Features ........................ B-1
The Winters Planning Commission moved quickly through their sole agenda item on the evening of May 27, with the four commissioners who were present voting unanimously to approve a Type 21 liquor license for the Chevron gas station on Grant Avenue. Commissioners Lisa A. Baker, Judith Arce, Ramon Altamirano and Jessica Smith attended the meeting, while commissioners Eric Dye, Matt Stone and Gregory Contreras gave word ahead of time that they were unable to attend. With four of seven commissioners present, a quorum was reached. The Chevron location already sells beer and wine for consumption off premises, licensing that was approved by the commission back in 2016 with the stipulation that the use permit would have to be amended if they ever wanted to begin stocking hard liquor. Now that the gas station has chosen to move forward with pursuing a Type 21 license, the process begins with obtaining a new use permit. However, in this case, there was also an added step. A review by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control found that Winters has oversaturation of the market when it comes to Type 21 licenses, which means that in order for the commission to approve the permit, they had to first make a finding stating that proceeding despite oversaturation is in the best interest of the city for the sake of public convenience. According to city planner Kelly Mumper, oversaturation is tied to
population density, with one Type 21 license typically issued for every 15,000 residents or so. Winters has a population of about 8,000, meaning that oversaturation was quickly reached. The police department, fire department, public works team, and property owners within 300 feet of the gas station were notified of the application, and no comments were received from any party in favor or against the permit. However, Richard Buscher, general manager of the Fairfield Hotel, which is directly behind the Chevron, attended the meeting to speak in favor of permit approval. He explained that they often have guests wanting to sit around the pool and drink liquor that the hotel doesn’t sell, and thought it would be beneficial for them to be able to purchase that at the nearby convenience store. Mike Ali, the owner of the Chevron, said that the decision to move forward with a Type 21 license was in response to customer feedback. Chevron is able to buy quality liquor in bulk and sell it at a lower price than other current liquor vendors, serving consumers who Ali says complain about the quality and price of current options. “We do good business and good service in the community, and we’ve never had any violations for alcohol sales in the past 20 years that we’ve been selling it,” Ali said. Altamirano expressed support for the idea, noting that there haven’t been any issues in the area historically that would be a cause
At the June 3 Winters City Council meeting, representatives from the Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency announced their search for rural community members to serve as stakeholders on a steering committee for an upcoming Proposition 47 grant application. Christopher Bulkeley, a member of the Yolo County Local Behavioral Health Board, provided an overview of Proposition 47, its purpose, and how the county YOUR
hopes to use upcoming funds to support residents facing behavioral health challenges and involvement with the criminal justice system. Bulkeley emphasized that the team is actively seeking feedback from residents— including those with lived experience of homelessness and recovery—on how Prop 47 funding could benefit their communities. Community input will be gathered at upcoming public meetings, which will outline grant priorities for Proposition 47 – Cohort 5 and offer a
forum for public comment. Proposition 47, also known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, was passed by California voters in 2014. It reclassified certain low-level drug and property offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, redirecting state-level savings into prevention and support services. Sixty-five percent of those savings are allocated annually to the California Board of State and Community
See SEEK, Page 5
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