The following is the Sept. 16 edition of the Abridged by PBS KVIE Yolo County email newsletter, by reporter Daniel Hennessy and the team at Yolo Local. Want it sent directly to your inbox? Sign up here.
Sign Up for the Yolo County Newsletter
Stay in-the-know on all things Yolo! Weekly email with stories and insights from Yolo County reporter Daniel Hennessy.
Hey, it’s Daniel! Let’s dive in.
Yesterday morning, I found myself standing on top of a levee in a rural part of Yolo County. It was a beautiful, sunny day with a light breeze keeping the heat at bay. To my west came the sound of chirping birds and rustling bushes in the Fremont Weir Wildlife Area. To the east, screeching hawks drifted over fields of actively cultivated farmland, interrupted periodically by the sound of passenger airplanes making their approach to SMF.
Standing there, I thought about Yolo County’s crucial place in this state. As California has marched ahead, this county has been there to bolster its progress — feeding its people, educating its students, hosting its infrastructure and protecting vulnerable pieces of its environment.
Now, as climate change and development increase flood risk in the region, the state and federal governments are once again looking to Yolo County for a solution. At the end of August, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a tentative plan to widen the Yolo Bypass, potentially flooding more than a thousand acres of currently farmed land.
Also, our reporting intern Annie Biebl has an informative piece on a region-wide bump in West Nile virus cases. It had me searching my backyard for anything that could hold standing water.
Finally, it’s our birthday over here at Abridged, and we’re celebrating the only way we know how — writing stories. Through the end of the month, we’re highlighting people across the region who make where we live unique. Keep your eye out for a new, mini profile every day.
We’ve teamed up with Yolo Local, a civic media initiative of Davis Media Access, to bring you this weekly newsletter. Here’s what you need to know today:
STORY OF THE WEEK
To protect Sacramento, the federal government could flood farmland in Yolo County
Most of the benefits from widening the Yolo Bypass would be felt outside of Yolo County.
BY DANIEL HENNESSY | dhennessy@kvie.org
In short: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has tentatively selected a plan to widen the Yolo Bypass in eastern Yolo County. If completed, the project would inundate roughly 1,200 acres of prime farmland in the Upper Elkhorn Basin.
A bit more: The move would place more flood infrastructure in Yolo County to protect populated areas in the Sacramento region.
NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
What to know about West Nile virus in the Sacramento area as California cases hit 5-year high
‘Meet your neighbors’ with this series of stories and faces of the Sacramento region
Free outdoor yoga classes stretch across the Sacramento region
DISPATCHES FROM THE FARM
Agriculture is a central part of life in Yolo County, so I’ll be checking in each week with a farmer, rancher or other industry player for the latest ag updates. What are the people who help produce our food thinking about?
In addition to the Yolo Bypass expansion, Yolo County officials, farmers and residents are contending with the state’s update to the Bay-Delta Plan, which regulates water flows into the Delta for the benefit of wildlife.
- In their presentation to the Board of Supervisors, county staff said that the plan could have implications for Yolo County, as many of the habitat restoration projects being considered by the State Water Board would fall in Yolo County.
HEARING FROM YOU
The best way to learn about a place is to listen to the people who know and love it. Tell us something interesting or ask a question about Yolo County!
| This week, we got an update from the Yolo County Central Landfill and Yolo Foodbank, who partnered to cut food waste going into the landfill by almost 200 tons over the last two years.
By sorting and unpacking packaged foods so they can be composted, the landfill now buries 64% less food than it did in 2023.
UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS
It can be hard to keep up with local government and community events, so we’ll continuously feature a few below. Have something you think we should highlight? Email me.
- YoloArts annual Art Farm exhibition will open with a reception from 5:30-8 p.m. Sept. 17 at The Barn Gallery in Woodland. Art Farm is the yearly culmination of YoloArts’ Art & Ag project, which invites local farmers to open their land to artists. More information can be found here.
- Good Fire, Living Water: Gifts of a Marsh Economy exhibit opens Sept. 20 at the Davis Arts Center. The exhibit explores Native Californian ecological knowledge, cultural burning and wetland restoration through works by Native cultural practitioners. More information can be found here.
- CommuniCare+OLE is providing free health screenings at Westfield Park in West Sacramento Sept. 18. Residents can receive blood pressure checks, diabetes/A1c screenings and basic health screenings. More information can be found here.
Want to discover more events across the Sacramento region, in Yolo County and beyond? Check out Abridged by PBS KVIE’s new searchable events calendar with things to do across the four-county area.
BEFORE I GO,
Thanks for coming back (and signing up) for this newsletter. Remember: I’m accountable to you. If you read a story and think there’s an angle I’m missing, I want to hear about it! Please reach out with your feedback and know that I take it seriously.
See you around,
