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Volume 137, Number 25 — Locally owned since 1884
The hometown paper of Jade Wilson
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Yolo County gyms, churches and personal care services ordered to close Bars and indoor dining services across the state included By Anne Ternus-Bellamy McNaughton Media
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
City Council approved 54 units to be built where the almond orchard at the end of Walnut Lane currently is.
Council approves 54 lots in Walnut-10 By Rodney Orosco Staff Writer The Winters City Council unanimously approved what an organized and determined group of neighboring citizens hoped to postpone or reshape: a housing development at the end of Walnut Lane. At their July 7 meeting, council approved the project’s so-called Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Walnut-10 project, dashing the neighborhood effort’s hopes at helping to sculpt the housing development plan for the abandoned 10-acre almond orchard nearby. HCD’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), which sets the state’s housing production quotas, was adopted last November by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), a regional governance body, and set the town’s required new housing units to 552 by 2025, with over half of those new units mandated to sell at a below-market rate. The new Walnut-10 project had two below-market units approved, with “in lieu” fees in place to offset a handful of additional, required, below-market housing units. At the meeting, the council listened to the public voice their concerns anew, concerns with a focus on flood-
I ndex Features ........................ B-1
ing and emergency vehicle access to the proposed development. The council felt satisfied, however, that the developer had addressed possible flooding issues and emergency vehicle access to the future 54-lot sub-division. The council discussed a season for land grading to avoid the kind of rainfall and surface flooding issues seen in a recent housing project last year at the former Valadez property. It also stipulated that the would-be builder maintain a drainage ditch designed to move water away from the entire Walnut Lane area and notify neighbors when some black walnut trees will be removed in order for horse owners to keep their animals out of the area. Black walnut trees are toxic to horses. Yolo County Registrar of Voters Jesse Salinas shared some news with the council—the city will get its own Voting Assistance Center (VAC) this November. The VAC, a more COVID compliant space, will replace all the polling centers in Winters. “The VACs will be open Saturday, Oct. 31; Sunday, Nov. 1; and Monday, Nov. 2
See COUNCIL, Page 2
Weather Date Rain High Low .00
90˚ 60˚
July 09
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July 10
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Community .................. A-3
July 11
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July 12
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Opinion ......................... B-2
July 13
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Real Estate ................... B-6 Athlete of the Week..... A-3
Courtesy photo
Local business Green River Brewing & Taproom was able to pivot to utilizing their outdoor eating area and fulfilling to-go orders when indoor dining was closed. been given the green light to reopen at the end of May after two months of being shuttered under a shelterin-place order. Fitness centers and gyms reopened along with bars and movie theaters in mid-June, followed by nail salons, spas and tattoo parlors a week later. Now all will be closed indefinitely, though the governor
noted that counties go on and off the state’s watch list which could impact when these businesses reopen again in Yolo County. Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s secretary of health and human services, said Tuesday the decision to close those businesses and activities was based on data coming from county health of-
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 0.00 in. Last sn. to date: 0.00 in. Winters rainfall season began 7/1/20. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m.
By Lauren Keene
Courtesy image
The suspect shot from this vehicle, captured on video, which has passenger-door damage and a different-colored front bumper.
Winters homicide victim ID’d; killer remains at large By Lauren Keene McNaughton Media Nearly three months after the victim’s death, the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office has publicly identified a Woodland teen killed in an April drive-by shooting near Winters as the search continues for his alleged killer. David Sanchez, 17, died two days after being struck by gunfire on the afternoon of April 24 while sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle traveling on County Road 89 north of Winters. Two other male juveniles in the car escaped unharmed, sheriff’s Lt.
Matt Davis said Monday. One of them, the driver, initially transported Sanchez to Sutter Davis Hospital, where staff alerted the Davis Police Department that a male had arrived with a gunshot wound to the head, according to the agency’s online crime log. Sanchez was transported to an area trauma center, succumbing to his injuries on April 26. Sheriff’s investigators said the suspect shot from a small, dark-colored sedan, images of which were captured on a security camera on the same day as the
1:30 p.m. shooting. Davis said the video shows “distinctive damage” to the bottom rear passenger door, as well as a front bumper color that differs from the rest of the vehicle. “The motive for the shooting does not appear to be a random act or a road rage incident,” Davis said in a news release. “Based on video footage, it is believed that the suspect(s) were lying in wait for the victim’s vehicle prior to the shooting. It is also believed that suspect(s) knew one or more of the victims.”
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Woodland police seeking sex-battery suspect
Voting Center
July 08
Classifieds ................... B-4
Churches, gyms and hair salons in Yolo County were ordered closed effective immediately on Monday unless they can be modified to operate outside. The order came via Gov. Gavin Newsom and applies to all 29 counties on the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list, a list Yolo County joined last week due to rising coronavirus cases and diminished hospital and ICU capacity. Also ordered closed were personal care services (such as nail salons, cosmetology, tattoo and piercing), indoor malls and offices used for non-essential purposes. Additionally, all counties in the state were ordered to shut down bars and indoor services including restaurant dining, movie theaters and more. Hair salons and barbershops, places of worship and dinein restaurants had all
ficials. “We have continued to lean on the science, lean on the transmission patterns that our local public health partners are reporting to us and allowing us to guide these statewide decisions,” Ghaly said. “We know that generalized mixing outside of your household, movement where you are mixing with others, any of those events and activities creates an opportunity for transmission.” The state’s move comes amid surging cases of COVID-19 as well as increasing hospitalizations and deaths. That surge is occurring in Yolo County as well. On May 23, just before places of worship, hair salons and indoor restaurant dining were given the OK to reopen, the county had reported 190 total COVID-19 cases, 43 hospitalizations and 22 deaths. By Monday, those
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McNaughton Media Police are on the lookout for a suspect who sexually battered a woman and a teenage girl after sneaking into their homes. Sgt. Dallas Hyde said the latest offense was at about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, when a woman woke up to discover a man inappropriately touching her in her bedroom. “The male fled out the upstairs window and was gone before police arrived,” Hyde said. “A review of a video doorbell showed a male in front of the residence.” Officers took a similar report in December, when a man climbed into a 14-year-old girl’s window “and committed a similar act,” Hyde said. Physical evidence linked the two incidents, he added. According to Hyde, the suspect has been identified as 36-yearold Lot Guerra of Woodland, who is now wanted on an arrest warrant. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact the police tip line at 530-661-7851.
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