placerville

In Placerville today the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors unanimously
appointed Pamela Knorr as the Chief Administrative Officer for an interim period of one year. She replaces Terri Daley who resigned after the Supervisors voted to remove her from the position in November, 2014. Daley reached an agreement with the county that paid her nine months of her annual salary of $204,692.

In 1865, an immigrant from Goteberg, Sweden, with a grand vision for music opened a modest cabinet-making shop at 24th and Mission streets in San Francisco.

John Bergstrom wouldn’t be long known for cabinets. He became renowned as a designer and manufacturer of exquisite pipe organs. They were towering creations – virtual cathedrals of sound – that reached toward the heavens with gold-leafed hardwood and intricately stenciled and painted musical pipes.

Employees from the El Dorado County Probation Department were recently honored for the public safety services they provide to the community.

The award categories and recipients were as follows:

Bob Bensen Memorial Award for Deputy Probation Officer of the Year: Deputy Probation Officer II Brian Dolcini (Shingle Springs Field Office)
Employee of the Year: Administrative Technician Jackie Walker (Shingle Springs Field Office)
Special Award Presentation: Deputy Probation Officer - Institutions: Matt Flager (Posthumously)

The South Lake Tahoe area of El Dorado County now has a new supervisor, officially. Sue Novasel won the election for Area 5 County Supervisor back in November and has jumped right into the job of representing her constituents which cover the area from Pollock Pines to Tahoma to South Lake Tahoe.

She was officially sworn in on Monday in Placerville, then again at their first Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, then again in South Lake Tahoe on Thursday.

If anyone ever needed proof that every vote counts, they could look to the recent elections in South Lake Tahoe. In June, the County Supervisor District 5 primary election ended up with just 14 votes separating the second, third and fourth positions. The top two, Sue Novasel and Kenny Curtzwiler advanced into this week's election.

If you have an absentee ballot and have not mailed it in, there is still a way to make sure your vote is counted! You can turn in your ballot at any precinct location on Tuesday. All precincts are open from 7 am to 8 pm. You can also hand deliver your ballot to the El Dorado County Elections Department, 2850 Fairlane Ct., Placerville or the El Dorado County Recorder-Clerk's Office, 3368 Lake Tahoe Blvd., Suite 108, South Lake Tahoe. Ballots must be received by the Elections Department no later than 8 pm on Tuesday.

Below is a list of all locations in El Dorado County's District V:

After witnessing the Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District (TPRID) meeting last week I starting thinking how the residents of Meyers and Tahoe Paradise could be better served.

What happened at the TPRID meeting was a sad display of a board in action. There was yelling, arguing and, what one person witnessing everything said, “don’t air your dirty laundry in a meeting like this.”

The El Dorado County Planning Commission will be holding a public hearing and workshop on the Meyers Area Plan at the South Lake Tahoe City Council Chambers on October 16 from 9 a.m. to noon.

The public has a chance to give input and share ideas on the plan which will be an update of the existing 1993 Meyers Community Plan.

The plan's goal is to:
1) Be a comprehensive land use plan for Meyers;
2) Realize Meyers’ Community Vision;
3) Provide consistent and simplified rules;
4) Assist in achieving Tahoe
Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Thresholds;

Wayne Allen Huntsman, the accused King Fire arsonist, is sitting in the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe awaiting his next court date on October 28, 2014.

Huntsman was arrested on September 17 on felony charges of Arson on Forest land with a Special Allegation of Arson with Aggravating Factors. He was arraigned in Superior Court in Placerville on Friday and transferred to the county jail in South Lake Tahoe. His bail was set at $10,000,000.

El Dorado County will host a Grant Development Program informational meeting on Monday, September 29, 6:00 p.m., 2850 Fairlane Court, Building C, Placerville, CA 95667, Hearing Room. All County non-profit agencies are invited to attend. Seating is limited and additional meetings can be arranged if needed to accommodate all interested organizations.

Wayne Allen Huntsman, 37. was arrested Wednesday on felony charges of Arson on Forest land with a Special Allegation of Arson with Aggravating Factors. Law enforcement officials held a press conference Thursday at the Cal Fire base in Camino, announcing the arrest.

Huntsman is being held in lieu of $10 million bail.

Arraignment is scheduled for Friday, September 19, 2014, at 1:00 p.m. in Department 7 of the El Dorado County Superior Court in Placerville.

There is one week left to turn in paperwork necessary to run for the two open seats on the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board of Education.

There are a few buzz words that are evidently going to be used during the El Dorado County District 5 Supervisor race this summer and fall.

Economic Vitality - An economy with sufficient jobs, products and services to support the community. A sufficient tax base provides citizens with police and fire, parks and recreation and public services needed by the population.

Placerville police are looking for Tyler Demars, an at risk teen who was last seen on July 12.

He is described as 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 160 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, and a tan and brown shirt. He drives a green Honda Civic with a Batman license plate frame.

Anyone with information regarding Demars whereabouts is asked to call the Placerville Police Department at (530) 642-5280.

The El Dorado County Charter was at the center of the Grand Jury's released end of year report last week. Their findings will be discussed at the County Charter Review Committee meeting on Thursday evening in Placerville.

It's that time of year again. The county fair, full of funnel cakes, carnival rides, animals, music, exhibits, wheelbarrow races, wine and beer competition and good old fashioned fun.

The El Dorado County Fair opened on Thursday and runs through Sunday, Father's Day at the fairgrounds in Placerville. The theme this year is "Photos, Fathers and Fairs."

The County Sheriff's Office invites community members to stop by their booth and see the brand new state of art patrol vehicles. They'll have a new SUV and sedan on display so people can see inside and check out their new features.

Updated at 12:05 a.m. Wednesday morning: 100% of the precinct's results are in.

County Supervisor District 5
The top 2 will face off in November.

Kevin Brown – 788 votes, 19.06%
Kenny Curtzwiler – 731, 17.68%
Gerri Grego – 499, 12.07%
Sue Novasel – 1135, 27.46%
Teresa Piper – 235, 5.68%
Angela Swanson – 737, 17.83%

Measure P

Yes - 1271, 68.41%
No – 587, 31.59%

Measure L
Yes - 2552, 78.52%
No – 698, 21.48%

El Dorado County desperately needs climate change – political climate, that is. The county in historic Gold Country stretches from the tony estates of El Dorado Hills to the vacation resorts of South Lake Tahoe, but its government is still stuck firmly in Hangtown.

That’s the old handle of Placerville, county seat of El Dorado. There’s a historical marker noting the old hanging tree just down Main Street from the county courthouse.

It was well before the the cry of "gold" was heard throughout the country that wagon trains full of families and adventurers were making their way west.

In the early 1850's, one of the major land routes to California, traversing what we now know as Echo Summit and the Highway 50 corridor, became known as the "Roaring Road". Travel was so heavy, oftentimes wagon trains were forced to wait for days to have their turn on the road.

The first El Dorado Supervisor Candidate's Forum held in the Tahoe basin this election season was held Tuesday night.

With the June 3rd election just a few weeks away, this was a great opportunity for voters to become informed on the candidate's views on a myriad of topics from teamwork and cooperation to economic vitality and mental health issues.

The South Lake Tahoe office of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) was scheduled to close last month for renovations, but due to stormy weather they postponed the project. The DMV announced today that they will be closing the office for two days in May to replace the carpet.

They are alerting local customers that their office, located at 3344 Lake Tahoe Blvd #B, will be closing for renovations on Friday, May 9, 2014, at 12 p.m.

Incidents of human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) are becoming more prevalent in the County of El Dorado and more and more common throughout the country.

From 2010 to 2012, the El Dorado County Health & Human Services Agency (HHSA) was aware of 3 CSEC cases. From 2013 to present, HHSA is aware of 15 additional CSEC cases, most of which are children in the foster care and/or probation system.

Three Placerville 18 year olds have been arrested in connection with three auto thefts that took place in South Lake Tahoe between 7 p.m. March 31 and 11 a.m. April 1. The trio is also suspected in stealing contents from other cars as well.

Brian Barnes, Elija Kidwell and Sean Murphy were arrested and book into El Dorado County Jail on felony charges of auto theft, possession of stolen property and conspiracy for at least one of the auto thefts and to some of the property thefts.

Two women were found deceased inside a house fire in Placerville on Friday morning. El Dorado County Fire responded to the house fire on Rose Lane at 5:48 a.m. Upon extinguishing the fire they found the women inside. The Coroner's office has determined that their cause of death to be gunshot wounds.

62 year old Carol Hague and 58 year old Crystal Ann Ward have been identified as the victims.

Arson investigators responded to the scene along with Coroner and Sheriff’s Office investigative personnel. An investigation is continuing into the fire and the deaths.