News Flash

Summer program registration opens March 2, and there are summer programs for everyone! Registration opens for Swim Lessons, Summertime Fun Club, Woodland Wreckers, special camps like Lego Engineering and Play-well Teknologies. Whether your child wants to stay active, learn new skills, or just have a blast with friends, our summer lineup is packed with opportunities to make the most of the season. Don’t wait—popular programs fill up fast!

myWoodland Citizen Problem Reporter can be used by the general public to submit non-emergency problems or requests for service in our community.  The application is responsively designed to be used on most digital devices including smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.

myWoodland Citizen Problem Reporter presents one or more maps that can be used to report a problem or observation. Users can anonymously submit new reports, review existing reports, and comment on reports or observations submitted by other users. 

All seventh through twelfth-grade students in Yolo County are invited to attend “Adulting 101: Life Skills for Teens” hosted by the Woodland Public Library and Yolo County Office of Education. This free event will be held on Saturday, March 7 from 9 AM – 3 PM at the Woodland Community & Senior Center. Attendees can choose up to four workshops to learn about life skills not typically taught in school, including how to use tools, perform basic car maintenance, and ace an interview.

Adulting 101 will begin with a welcome from the Woodland Public Library Teen Advisory Board President Jimena Campa and Woodland Mayor Tom Stallard. Maria Jimenez Olmedo, the owner of Casa del Pan and a Trustee in the Yolo County Board of Education, will serve as the keynote speaker.

Samuel Hobart, an eighth-grade homeschool student, said “I can’t wait to learn all the fun stuff there will be at Adulting 101!” 

Free breakfast and lunch will be provided. Lunch is sponsored by the Yolo County Office of Education and catered by Woodland Community College’s Culinary Arts Catering program. 

You can register online at cityofwoodland.gov/adulting101. Students that attend the entire event will earn six hours of community service. For additional questions or information, contact the Woodland Public Library at (530) 661-5980.

The following non-profit organizations, government agencies, individuals, and businesses will host workshops:

Turning Passion for the Planet into a Career—City of Woodland Environmental Services

We will discuss finding jobs in the broad environmental field, pulling from our team's knowledge and experience. Students can learn about local opportunities to get started, whether looking to explore higher education or entering the work force. Presenters will encourage open conversations about advice and lessons learned. 

Your Financial Journey: Plan, Save, Invest, and Protect—Travis Credit Union 

This workshop helps youth understand key money skills: setting financial goals, budgeting wisely, saving regularly, starting to invest, and building strong credit. Through hands-on activities and real-life examples, participants learn how to take control of their financial future. All students present will have a chance to win a gift card!

Ready, Set, Breathe! Youth Disaster and Air Safety Workshop—Catholic Charities Yolo Solano 

Join us for an interactive workshop where youth learn how to stay safe during disasters and protect the air they breathe. Through hands-on activities and games, participants will discover practical tips for emergency preparedness, understand the importance of clean air, and gain the skills to keep themselves and their community safe.

LGBTQ+101—CommuniCare+OLE-Elevate Queer Yolo

Our workshop will teach participants the basics of gender identity, sexuality, pronouns, and other queer essentials!

Making Decisions: Figuring Stuff Out—City of Woodland Mayor, Tom Stallard  

Learn from Woodland Mayor Tom Stallard about making tough choices and being a leader. Mr. Stallard will share lessons from his extensive public service and private business expertise.

How Credit Affects your Life, How to Achieve Your Financial Goals, Financial Trivia—Schools First Credit Union

This hands-on workshop will help participants understand credit scores and how financial decisions impact their lives. Explore the difference between banks and credit unions, set financial goals, and learn how budgeting helps achieve them. Interactive and competitive, this session will also reinforce key financial literacy concepts in a fun way.

What a Tool!—Woodland Public Library

Learn what you need in a toolbox and how to use them!

Mexican Tin Art—Woodland Public Library

Self Defense Class—Vitality Martial Arts 

In this interactive session, teens will learn practical self-defense and situational awareness skills to help them stay safe and confident in everyday life. Participants will explore how to:

• Recognize and avoid risky situations
• Use their surroundings for protection
• Apply simple, effective techniques to escape or defend when necessary
• Build confidence through awareness, movement, and mindset

The focus is on empowerment, preparedness, and developing the calm awareness that helps teens make smart choices in real-world situations.

Caught in the Cycle: How Conflict Escalates and How to Stop It—Yolo Conflict Resolution Center

This workshop breaks down how emotions, assumptions, and reactions can intensify conflict. Students will learn tools to build awareness of their own patterns and practice techniques to de-escalate and repair relationships.

College Readiness 101—Woodland Community College 

This workshop will cover essential study skills and readiness for future college students based on expertise from the Woodland Community College Student Success Center. Presenters will also discuss independent learning and critical thinking skills that will be important in higher education. Not sure if you are going to college? You can still come to the workshop and hear why some folks choose to go to college and help decide which path is best for you.

Mental Health for Youth—NAMI Yolo County

Vision to Reality: Identifying Goals and the Steps to Achieve Them—Queens Empowering Queens

Participants will learn the fundamentals of SMART goals: what they are, why they matter, and how they can provide direction and clarity. Together, students will complete a SMART goal worksheet to identify a personal goal, followed by a group discussion on the first steps needed to begin working toward that goal. This session is designed to help participants gain confidence, clarity, and a practical starting point for achieving their aspirations.

Buttercream Flower Cupcakes—Zest West Bakery

Learn several techniques for making buttercream flowers for cupcakes and cakes. Attendees will have the opportunity to use multiple piping tips and tools to practice these techniques as well as the opportunity to create their own designs.

Resumes, Applications, and Interviews, Oh My!—City of Woodland Human Resources

Trying to land your first job? Get practical advice for completing a job application, resume building and tips for job interviews from the experts at Woodland Human Resources. 

Studying 101: Methods. Time Management, and Myths—Katie Metelitz

Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? Does Pomodoro sound more like a pasta dish than a way to manage your time? Knowing how to study and what to study is a necessary skill for academic success, but it doesn't always come naturally. Learn how to improve these skills as well as ways to organize yourself with efficient, science-backed methods.

Things to Know as a Nursing Student: Challenges and Rewards of Working in Healthcare—Sarah Wisniewski Coaching

This workshop will discuss:

• Stress levels to expect as a nurse and nursing student 
• How to cope with the emotional toll of nursing school, from exams to caring for sick people
• Taking care of yourself while learning to take care of others
• Q&A session: What are you most curious and concerned about for nursing school? Are you worried someone will throw up on you? Do you wonder what area of nursing to go into? Bring questions you haven’t asked anyone out loud and put them in the anonymous Q&A box.

How to Maintain Your Car—Dave Cubberly

The session will include an overview of basic items associated with minor car care. All topics introduced will enable participants to experience a hands-on introduction to:

• Using a tire pressure gauge
• Inflating tires
• Checking engine oil
• Identifying tire size and tread wear
• Reference material (owner's manual)
• Replacing wiper blades
• Jacking up a car
• Removing a wheel and putting on a spare

Knowing Your Rights—Yolo County District Attorney

Learn about teen rights and receive an overview of the juvenile justice system.

Mark your calendars for a ribbon cutting celebration of the new Woodland Aquatics Center on Saturday, February 7 at 2:00 PM! This new facility, located at 2001 East Street adjacent to the Community & Senior Center, brings much-needed pool capacity for Woodlanders of all ages and interests. Ribbon cutting attendees can jump into the new pool and enjoy hotdogs provided by Kiwanis. 

Charles Brooks Community Swim Center alone currently serves Woodland’s more than 60,000 residents, heavily impacting the well-loved public facility and limiting access for community members. A typical summer afternoon features the Woodland Wreckers, the Woodland Swim Team, swim lessons, public swim, and public lap swim all competing for pool space. In fact, the City’s swim lesson slots are often fully subscribed well before summer programming even begins. In addition, Brooks lacks many key amenities that make swimming and aquatic activities more accessible, such as shallower depths and engaging play features.

In addition to more pool space, the new Aquatics Center will provide Woodlanders with improved amenities, including a ten-lane competition pool with a shallow “learn to swim” lane, an activity pool with interactive features and “zero-entry” accessibility, and locker room facilities featuring indoor and outdoor showers. The new Aquatics Center will also feature spacious shaded lawn and pool deck areas.

“More than a decade of community insistence has led to the completion of a remarkable new swimming facility for Woodland. Everyone will be welcome here for almost any water-related purpose,” says Mayor Tom Stallard. “We will teach swimming to kids; seniors will be able to do water aerobics; swim teams and water polo teams will practice and have competitions; and adults will be able to swim laps for fitness and recreation.”

Beginning Monday, February 9, residents will be able to use the Aquatics Center daily for Lap Swim and Water Exercise with expanded hours Monday through Friday. Pioneer High School will also begin practices for its 2026 swim season at the facility. Summer programming starts in June and will include public recreational swim and expanded swim lessons.

“The John & Eunice Davidson Fund is proud to support this project,” says fund co-trustee Carole Pirruccello. “More aquatics facilities will help many generations of Woodlanders experience the health, social, and happiness benefits of a day spent at the pool.”

This community priority was supported by a variety of funding sources, including local sales tax dollars (Measure J, Measure R, and Measure F), the City’s General Fund, Housing Development Agreements, and philanthropic gifts from our community. In particular, the City would like to thank the John and Eunice Davidson Fund, Nugget Markets and Food 4 Less, Dowling Family Foundation, Woodland Clinic Medical Group, Pacific Coast Producers, and Tom and Meg Stallard for their leadership and generosity. 

A Yolo County partnership has been awarded a $27,999,100 grant from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program to transform a 2.4-acre underutilized site in Woodland into a vibrant mid-rise affordable housing community with 73 units across a diverse mix of unit sizes. This transit-oriented development, currently referred to as Tupelo, represents a longstanding collaboration between the City of Woodland, Yolo County Housing, and Yolo Transportation District—alongside development partners Brinshore and Operative Office—to address critical housing needs while providing affordable and accessible transportation options.

The proposed housing project is all-electric, net-zero energy, and features thoughtful climate adaptation strategies to mitigate extreme heat risks. Located on Lemen Avenue near Yolano Drive, Tupelo is within walking distance to key destinations including the Woodland Public Library, Woodland City Hall, the Post Office, North Valley Indian Health's Mobile Medical Clinic, YMCA Yolano Recreation Center, and Head Start of Yolo County’s childcare facility. Resident amenities will include a community room which can also serve as a place to cool down and clean air refuge during extreme weather events, secure bicycle storage, playground, and outdoor gathering areas. On-site services will focus on health education, financial literacy, and housing stability.

“This project truly represents the ‘Yolo Way,’ where partners step up to address needs collaboratively,” says Ian Evans, Executive Director of Yolo County Housing and President/CEO of New Hope CDC. “The City, YoloTD, our development partners, and multiple partners throughout the County all coming together to advance a fantastic project in such a deserving neighborhood that will bring additional affordable housing online and make walking, biking, and public transit not only safer, but more accessible is truly wonderful. The first housing in this community was built 75 years ago. We promised the community we would invest in this neighborhood and this is a great first step towards realizing that promise and preparing this community for the next 75 years.”

“A great project for the City of Woodland and Yolo County Housing as they celebrate their 75^th anniversary. In time Tupelo will be transformative for YCH residents with improvements to greenspace, transportation opportunities, and a beautiful environment. So very proud to be a member of the team to bring this project to life,” says Woodland City Councilmember and Housing Authority board member Rich Lansburgh.

Transportation improvements funded under the grant include new electric buses and bus shelters in the vicinity. This will enhance public transit service for Yolo County, helping increase the frequency of Yolobus Routes 42A and 42B to 30 minutes all day between Woodland, Davis, West Sacramento, downtown Sacramento, Sacramento International Airport, and more. The project will provide residents with free membership to the Yolo Commute program, as well as unlimited transit passes for 15 years. Additionally, new sidewalks and bike lanes will provide safe paths throughout the neighborhood.

“Not only will this project help provide much needed affordable housing for so many deserving households and transform this neighborhood, it will assist the County in reaching its climate goals by helping purchase twelve zero emission buses for YoloTD, adding bike lanes and sidewalks, and providing free transit passes for the residents making alternative modes of transportation much more accessible for them,” says Mary Vixie-Sandy, Yolo County Housing Chair and Yolo County Board of Supervisors Chair.

“This grant will enhance mobility for everyone who lives, works, and shops in central Woodland,” says Woodland City Councilmember and YoloTD Board Member Mayra Vega. “From making our streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists to providing new, state-of-the-art buses and bus shelters, I couldn’t be more thrilled for the transportation improvements this grant will support.” 

This project builds on the work of the Armfield/Lemen Neighborhood Framework Plan which began in 2022 thanks to a Regional Early Action Planning grant from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Robust community engagement including surveys and public workshops has shaped every aspect of the project to ensure that Tupelo addresses local priorities while advancing the neighborhood transformation envisioned by residents. The project also builds on the community engagement and contributions of valued local partners including the Yolo County Office of Sustainability and their work on the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP), Davis Community Action Network’s Community Voices Series, and the Yolo County Office of Education’s Roadmap to the Future engagement. The partners are grateful to Northern California Construction Training and the Yolo County Workforce Innovation Board for their commitment to local workforce development strategies. Development is anticipated to begin as early as 2027. 

“Providing clean, affordable and well-maintained housing should be a goal of any healthy, responsible community,” says Woodland Mayor Tom Stallard. “The City of Woodland is proud to collaborate with Yolo Housing Authority and others to replace very old and tired public housing with brand new units. We are grateful for the substantial funding provided by this grant.”

This is the first time in ten years that a Yolo County jurisdiction has been awarded AHSC funding—and this round, two Yolo County projects are receiving awards, with the City of West Sacramento also among the awardees. The program began in 2015, and in that inaugural year the City of West Sacramento was awarded $6,730,888 for the West Gateway Place Affordable Housing Project.

The AHSC Program is administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development and implemented by the Strategic Growth Council. The program aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by funding projects that integrate affordable housing, sustainable public transit, and active transportation improvements. For more information visit https://sgc.ca.gov/grant-programs/ahsc/.

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More Information on Project Partners:

Yolo Transportation District

 https://yolotd.org/

Yolo County Housing 

 https://www.ych.ca.gov/ 

New Hope Community Development Corporation

https://newhopecdc.org/ 

Brinshore

https://www.brinshore.com

Operative Office

https://www.operativeoffice.com

Contact

Ian Evans

Executive Director

Yolo County Housing/New Hope CDC

147 W Main Street, Woodland CA 95695

ievans@ych.ca.gov | (530) 669-2219

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

8/22/24

Sergeant Ted Ruiz

ted.ruiz@cityofwoodland.gov

530-661-7843

Woodland Police Department Holding DUI Checkpoint 8/24/24

Woodland, Calif. – On 8/24/24, the Woodland Police Department will conduct a driving under the influence (DUI) Checkpoint from 7 PM-2 AM. in central Woodland.  

DUI checkpoint locations are determined based on data showing incidents of impaired driving-related crashes and impaired driving arrests. The primary purpose of DUI checkpoints are to promote public safety by taking suspected impaired drivers off the road.

The Woodland Police Department reminds the public that impaired driving is not just from alcohol. Some prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs may interfere with driving. While medicinal and recreational marijuana are legal, driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal.

Drivers charged with a first-time DUI face an average of $13,500 in fines and penalties, as well as a suspended license.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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For Immediate Release                                                           

December 14, 2023

Contact:  Sgt. Ted Ruiz, ted.ruiz@cityofwoodland.org, 530-661-7843

Woodland Police Department Holding DUI Checkpoint December 16th

Woodland, Calif. – On 12/16/2023, the Woodland Police Department will conduct a driving under the influence (DUI)/ Driver License Checkpoint from 7 PM until 2 AM in Central Woodland.  

DUI checkpoint locations are determined based on data showing incidents of impaired driving-related crashes and arrests. The primary purpose of DUI checkpoints is to promote public safety by taking suspected impaired drivers off the road.

“Impaired drivers put others on the road at significant risk,” Chief Derrek Kaff said. “Any prevention measures that reduce the number of impaired drivers on our roads significantly improves traffic safety."

The Woodland Police Department reminds the public that impaired driving is not just from alcohol. Some prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs may interfere with driving. While medicinal and recreational marijuana are legal, driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal.

Drivers charged with a first-time DUI face an average of $13,500 in fines and penalties, as well as a suspended license.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                   October 6th, 2023         

Ted Ruiz, ted.ruiz@cityofwoodland.org, 530-661-7843

Woodland Police Department Awarded Grant from the Office of Traffic Safety for Traffic Enforcement Program to Increase Safety on Roads

Woodland, Calif. – The Woodland Police Department was awarded a $69,300 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). The grant will support our ongoing enforcement and education programs to help reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on our roads.

“This funding will strengthen our commitment to public safety in our community,” Chief Derrek Kaff said. “We will be able to increase our efforts in making our roads safer for everyone and focus on critical areas such as distracted driving, impaired driving and speeding.”

The grant will provide additional programs and resources, including: 

• DUI checkpoints and patrols focused on stopping suspected impaired drivers.
• High-visibility distracted driving enforcement operations targeting drivers in violation of California’s hands-free cell phone law.
• Enforcement operations focused on the most dangerous driver behaviors that put the safety of people biking or walking at risk. 
• Enforcement operations focused on top violations that cause crashes: speeding, failure to yield, stop sign and/or red-light running, and improper turning or lane changes.
• Community presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, impaired driving, speeding and bicycle and pedestrian safety.
• Collaborative enforcement efforts with neighboring agencies.
• Officer training and/or recertification: Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).

The grant program will run through September 2024.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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