$1
including tax
Youth sports physicals happening this month News, Page 2
Lions Club takes on blood shortage Features, Page 1
Volume 139, Number 23 — Locally-owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, July 6, 2022
The hometown paper of Kristofer Keener
WPNS steps up as Little Pioneers Daycare closes By Rick von Geldern Express staff writer Late last Thursday afternoon, Little Pioneers Daycare Director Gwen Adams and her staff were preparing for parents to pick up the last four children in their care before locking the doors and closing the daycare. After a six-year run, the Little Pioneers Daycare Board was compelled to close its doors, leaving parents of 24 children and six toddlers on their own to find new daycare and employees to find new jobs. Parents and staff were surprised in mid-April when the Pioneer Church leadership delivered a two-week notice to vacate letter to the daycare. Exchanges between Little Pioneer families with the church leadership followed with multiple potential last day dates. The June 30 closure date became official after Pioneer Church’s board con-
sidered and agreed to a short extension to the daycare’s closure to give parents additional time to make childcare arrangements, with a final consideration to remain open until the end of July if parents were able to fulfill a checklist of obtaining an organization to pick up the day care service. “Trying to find childcare that takes CalWORKs payments is definitely a huge struggle,” said Alicia Deanda, a single mother of four who is attending college online and had her 2-yearold enrolled at Little Pioneers. “There is nobody else in Winters that takes it. I’m having to look in Davis and Woodland, but without help paying for gas back and forth. Being a low income single mom, I simply can’t afford that.” Little Pioneers Daycare former administrator Sheri Lester told the Express she had con-
cern on whether the congregation had been given a vote on the decision to close the program as they had in 2015 on the decision to open the daycare program, which was established on Jan. 4, 2016. Lester said at the time, the church wanted to better serve the Winters community and they had a huge building that wasn’t being utilized. Through research they discovered Winters was in dire need of an infant and toddler allday care option. Tom Williams, Pioneer Church spokesperson and board member, told the Express that the church’s congregation is growing — as is the population of Winters. He said their board reached the hard decision to return Wesley Hall, the space dedicated for the daycare, to church-related functions as it had been intended before the
See CARE, Page 3
First responders pull hiker from Blue Ridge Trail, report second drowning at Lake Berryessa Express staff Press Release
EXPRESS
A Fourth of July hike along the Blue Ridge Trail in rural Vacaville turned into a traumatic experience for a hiker Monday. First responders from four agencies responded shortly before noon to a call of a hiker who was down on the trail. The crew of a California Highway Pa-
trol helicopter located the female hiker on the trail as a fire crew hiked in. The hiker was evaluated at the scene, hoisted up to the helicopter and flown to the Canyon Creek landing zone, where she was fully assessed and treated, the CHP reports. She was then transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. Firefighters from the Vacaville Fire Protection District, Winters Fire Department and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit
responded to the call.
Features ........................ B-1
Napa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for a man drowning at the Lake Berryessa Oak Shores area of the reservoir — the second drowning at the lake in six days. The drowning victim was Marciallo Perez, 35, of San Pablo. On a social media post, Napa County Sherff’s Office reported Perez was unable to swim back to shore after saving his son from drowning. The Sheriff’s Marine Unit recovered Perez’s body at 4:17 pm.
We at he r Date
Rain
High
Jun. 29
.00
103˚
57˚
Jun. 30
.00
94˚
54˚
Jul. 01
.00
88˚
54˚
Jul. 02
.00
89˚
54˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-5
Jul. 03
.00
90˚
53˚
Jul. 04
.00
82˚
58˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Jul. 05
.00
89˚
66˚
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2
Real Estate ................... B-2 Sports ........................... A-2
Winters graduate missing after truck veers into Putah Creek By Rick von Geldern Express staff writer An investigation is underway regarding a single-vehicle accident that hospitalized one Winters graduate with non life-threatening injuries and left a second Winters teen missing. Shortly after midnight on Sunday morning, sheriff deputies responded to a call of an accident near the east end of Lake Solano County Park and Putah Creek
Low
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 0.00 in. Last sn. to date: 0.00 in. Winters rainfall season began 7/1/22. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m.
Road, west of Canal Lane. Upon arrival, observed a red truck submerged in Putah Creek. They found an injured young man about 70 yards downstream from the entry point clutching the steep creek bank who told them his friend was still in the truck. Vacaville Fire Protection District firefighters attempted to access the vehicle, but were unable to reach the submerged truck. Members of the Solano County Sheriff’s
Express staff writer The Winters Planning Commission met on June 28 to consider for approval the Barsotti Vacation Rental Project application to permit an unhosted short-term vacation rental home located on Russell Street. The City of Winters defines a shortterm vacation rental as “rental of an entire privately owned house, townhouse unit, condominium unit, apartment or other residence, or any space within a dwelling unit rented independently, for stays of less than 30 days.” Senior Planner Kirk Skierski introduced the item and described the home, located in downtown Winters, as a two-story, 2,469 square feet, four-bedroom, twobath single family residence with a detached garage and accessory dwelling unit (ADU). The garage and ADU were not part of the applicant’s proposal, he said. Approval of a vacation rental is based on the use of the property
and its surroundings. However, the commission could potentially deny an application if finding neighborhood compatibility is not maintained or if it determined there were too many rentals on a given street. Given the size of the Barsotti home, it can accommodate a maximum of 10 guests, Skierski said. The applicant also proposed to limit the number of guest vehicles to two and designate off-street parking in the driveway for those vehicles. Skierski said staff concurred that by limiting the number of guest vehicles to two it would be consistent with the city’s municipal code requirements. Should parking issues arise, the applicant indicated a potential third inside garage parking space could be made available in the future, if necessary. The commission was advised that the Winters Fire Department and Planning Division inspected the property on June 8 and found it to bea public life and safety
WINTERS AGGREGATE
2 Main St., Winters, CA 530.795.4503 buckhornsteakhouse.com
State Contractor Lic# 864483
1 Main St., Winters, CA 530.795.2682 putahcreekcafe.com
We deliver friendly hometown service!
Service all makes & models Accept all major credit cards Family owned & operated
27990 County Road 90 Winters, CA 95694 www.pearcehvac.com
Dive Team responded while deputies searched the creek’s shore, and upon reaching the truck later in efforts, found it unoccupied. The Solano Sherffi’s office identified the missing man as 18-year-old Eduardo “Lalo” Fierros, a 2022 graduate of Winters High School. Solano County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue personnel, with assistance
See SEARCH, Page 3
Planning commission approves downtown short-term vacation rental, discusses concerns By Rick von Geldern
Lake drowning
Index
Rick von Geldern/Winters Express
Office of Emergency Services teams searched the area with dogs on Tuesday morning.
116 D Street Davis, CA 95616 530-798-5500
www.smith-funerals.com FD-992
• Fruit Tree Soil • Moss Rock • Bulk Bagged Perlite • Blended Planting Soil • Large Selection of Flagstone
4499 Putah Creek Rd.
(530) 795-2994
compliant. Vice Chair Lisa Baker said the project seemed “very straight forward” and commended Skierski for including the parking discussion. “I am troubled by the fact that this is a very large property with multiple bedrooms that would build up into an Airbnb style rental at a time when there is very little product available for folks in the community to access,” Baker said. Baker recalled conversations from previous commission meetings concerning the city maintaining a balance between short-term rentals and housing units available in the community. She requested staff report back with a ratio list between vacation rentals and housing stock. Commissioner Judith Arce said she shared Baker’s concerns and added, “I think it’s a great idea and I love the possibility to allow these rentals. I just hate that we are losing the opportunity to house
See PERMIT, Page 3
C U ST O M CLEANERS · Dry Cleaning · Laundry · Alterations 184 E. Grant Avenue, Winters (530) 795-1938