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It seems like only yesterday that I took the oath of office to represent the people of El Dorado County and the rest of the vast 5th Assembly District in the Legislature. But time flies as the end of May marked six months in office for me as your assemblyman. The big-city folks who work [...]
It’s been a long road and there are plenty of twists and turns left, but Hangtown Haven, Placerville’s only legal camp for the homeless will soon be relocating. Since last August, the camp has been located on Broadway in Placerville, down the street from the Upper Room Dining Hall and the Community Resource Center, both of which serve the needy and the homeless in the community.
The camp functions successfully on 1 acre owned by the Wilkinson family, with a temporary use permit that is good until November. But, by November, the camp needs to find a new location and according to Hangtown Haven Inc. founder Art Edwards, they might have done so. Even better, they have a plan to make the camp financially self-sustaining.
“Well, how do you get paid?” It wasn’t the first time I had been asked that question. The couple was in their late 20s and was making an offer on their first home, a modest 2-bedroom home in Pollock Pines. Before reviewing the purchase contact, I prepared an estimate showing the buyers an itemized list [...]
The El Dorado Irrigation District has been raising rates so fast our heads are still spinning like some horror movie. Water rate hikes add up to a 37 percent increase between 2012 and 2015. Now, EID is talking about raising hook-up fees to as high as nearly $41,000 for new water service. That’s a figure [...]
An increasingly vocal number of county residents showed up at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting to present their views regarding the outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana and access or lack thereof to shops or collectives dispensing their medications. At issue is county government’s intention to craft a permanent amendment to the County Code regulating such [...]
We are so lucky to live in a beautiful county, rich with outdoor activities. With the kids out of school, families will enjoy activities that El Dorado County communities are known for: the El Dorado County Fair, Fourth of July barbecues, hikes, picnics and days on the river. As families pack up the car, there [...]
May 18 5:45 p.m. The Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding information about a possible marijuana grow in Shingle Springs. A search of the area revealed approximately 50 mature plants and a large amount of indicia that indicated a large amount of marijuana plants either exist now or had existed. 9:09 p.m. Two adult males [...]
Congratulations to the Food Bank of El Dorado County for coming up with a clever idea — a food truck. It’s not a taco truck, but a grocery delivery van bringing Food Bank groceries, especially to seniors in need. The Food Bank truck has some regular stops, such as the parking lot of the Veterans [...]
The judge assigned to the case regarding an El Dorado County Supervisor recused himself and rescheduled the arraignment in a new courtroom.
Judge Daniel B. Proud recused himself from the matter as Ray Nutting had been Proud’s son’s wrestling coach. “It’s my decision to recuse myself,” he told a packed courtroom. He then said that they could proceed with the arraignment, but it would be improper to do anything else. The other option would be to send the case to Presiding Judge Suzanne Kingsbury for reassignment.
Deputy district attorney James Clinchard, joined by Peter Williams of the state Attorney General’s office, said …
Despite the Internet, cell phones, e-mail and modern communications, every year whole regions find themselves in the dark. Tornadoes, fires, storms, ice and even the occasional cutting of fiber optic cables leave people without the means to communicate. In these cases, the one consistent service that has never failed has been Amateur Radio. These radio [...]
The Firefighters’ Union feathers its nest by recruiting, campaigning for and getting elected to the Fire Board other firefighters who will give salary increases to the union members. Here is a real example of how it works: The El Dorado County Fire Protection District firefighters were given raises during the last five years by a [...]
The temperatures soared well beyond the triple digit mark in El Dorado County Saturday afternoon for the sixth championship point race at Placerville Speedway. One thing proved hotter though: Placerville’s own Andy Gregg picked up his third win in the Red Hawk Casino-Hoosier Racing Tires Championship series and fourth overall victory at the track he [...]
Supervisor Ray Nutting will face additional charges going into today’s arraignment, joining the original ones brought about by an investigation of a fire that broke out from a burn pile on his property — one of a number of similar fires at his ranch responded to in the past decade. The El Dorado County District [...]
“Post-consumer” carpet — the gnarly, old, dog-stained stuff from our tired dens and bedrooms — is clogging the nation’s landfills. Much of it consists of poly-something synthetics that are nearly impossible to recycle. There are currently 550 tons of it shredded into neat piles at the old Wetsel-Oviatt lumber mill site in El Dorado Hills, part of [...]
El Dorado County’s District 2 Supervisor Ray Nutting kept an agreement he’d made with County Counsel Ed Knapp by sitting as a board member on some agenda items and sitting in the audience on others. In an unusual move, Knapp read a prepared statement prior to the beginning of Tuesday’s regular board meeting that advised [...]
Confusion over organizations with similar names and similar interests has led to misunderstanding of El Dorado County District 2 Supervisor Ray Nutting’s relationship with various councils and special districts, some of which administer grant funds alleged to have benefited him and some of which do not. Chuck Mitchell, president of the El Dorado Resource Conservation [...]
El Dorado County supervisors rushed to meet a June 10 deadline for requesting a public hearing regarding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to list the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog and a portion of the population of mountain yellow-legged frogs as endangered species. The Yosemite toad is also under consideration as a threatened species [...]
“To us, ‘local and organic’ is not a fad, style, or diet, but a way of life and conducting business. We provide our services out of a real necessity to scale back and re-introduce ourselves to the countless delights of locally produced seasonal food grown as nature intended.” Kimberly Medici and Andrew Tannehill, owners of [...]
With the relocation of the Mountain Democrat to the Placerville Drive area, new commute routes are being tested. The early morning drive down Main Street to Forni Road to Ray Lawyer Drive is a pleasant choice and is a nice chance to check out activity on Main Street. It is nice to see that most [...]
If it weren’t for the prosthetic leg replacing her right leg from the knee down, one would never know that Carly Bray had been in accident last year. She’s a cheery, bubbly teenager who, at the time of the interview, was looking forward to Safe and Sober Grad Night — now having graduated — and [...]