MEMORIAL DAY
Aiming very high
May 25 ceremonies to be broadcast on local TV and streamed online.
ORHS alum headed to U.S. Space Force. News, Etc. B1
Inside, page 3
C a l i f o r n i a ’ s O l d e s t N e w s pa p e r – E s t. 18 51
FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020
Volume 169 • Issue 54 | 75¢
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Pollock Pines hotel used to protect homeless from COVID-19
Getting back to work
Dylan Svoboda Staff writer
Dawn Hodson Staff writer
After weeks of planning El Dorado County has moved some Western Slope homeless individuals from the streets and encampments into a Pollock Pines hotel. Ten people are staying in the Best Western Stagecoach Inn on Pony Express Trail, the first hotel the county has rented to protect the vulnerable homeless populations from the coronavirus outbreak. The hotel could soon shelter up to 16 homeless individuals, Dr. Martin Entwhistle, a member of the county’s COVID-19 homeless community response team, said during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. The county is focused on sheltering and providing services to those at highest risk of suffering from the coronavirus, which includes the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions. “We have a selection process that is fairly stringent,” Entwhistle said. “We’re identifying the people who are most vulnerable and best fit for that service.”
Frustrated at having to close up shop due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many local business owners are glad to see Gov. Gavin Newsom finally lifting some restrictions. While curbside service is still the order of the day for many, certain retail outlets will be allowed to open as of Friday such as bookstores, flower shops and toy stores. Restaurants may open for dine-in service once the county submits a “containment plan” to the state. Don Rood, part owner of Mosquito Creek Outfitters in Placerville, said he reopened May 1. “It hurt us a lot. Not being able to do business for a month and a half is pretty hard on all my employees, on all of us and our business,” Rood said. Rood applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan but like a lot of other business owners is still waiting to hear back. He said the fund was out of money before he even turned in his application. Eager to get back to business, Rood is playing by the rules with staff wearing masks, wiping surfaces down constantly and limiting customers to four at a time, even
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See homeless, page A6
One new COVID19 case reported Dylan Svoboda Staff writer El Dorado County public health officials reported one new coronavirus case in the Cameron Park/ Shingle Springs area Wednesday evening. That moves the countywide, confirmed COVID19 case count to 54. With no new recoveries, the number of known active cases sits at nine. The county reported 178 additional tests Wednesday evening. About 2,675 tests have been conducted on county residents to date, according to the data. No residents are known to have died from COVID-19 in El Dorado County. The Cameron Park/Shingle Springs area now has reported six cases of COVID-19. Over the weekend four additional South Lake Tahoe area residents tested positive for the virus, bringing the number of known infected patients there to 20, the most in the county. El Dorado Hills n
See new covid-19 Case, page A3
n Business owners ready as governor’s restrictions lifted
Democrat photo by Dawn Hodson
Don Rood, part owner of Mosquito Creek Outfitters in Placerville, is open for business again and loaded for bear, or buck, so to speak. Staff is taking extra precautions to keep high-traffic areas in the store sanitized and they are wearing masks. though the Mosquito Road store is rather spacious. “My main objective is to keep my employees safe and customers feel safe enough to come in,” he said. Rood said he thinks a lot of people are fed up
with the rules and some businesses are going to go ahead and open up because they have no other choice. “So far no one has come in angry that the store has reopened,” he laughed. “Instead people are very happy
we have opened.”
Off Broadway Down the road, Off Broadway has been doing online sales ever
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See Ready page A9
Team spirit still alive despite senior season lost Thomas Frey Staff writer
playing a game since taking care of Granite Bay handily 17-7 March 10. While graduating senior student Morgan Thomason would have athletes are traditionally led onto the liked to pitch to Folsom on what field by their families to be honored would have been Oak Ridge High before their last regular season game School softball’s final home game of at home, these Lady Trojans on the season May 5. Thomason would Tuesday were instead escorted across have been on the mound, surrounded El Dorado Hills by the El Dorado by her fellow Hills Fire seniors — Emily “I know that the season got cut DepartThompson ment. short, but the seniors still have a at first base, The big place in all of our hearts and Madison Steele seniors in the middle they definitely have had an impact followed the of the infield, fire truck Katelin Eccles in on each and every one of us.” and didn’t the hot corner at – Genna Ghidossi, Oak Ridge High School junior know where third base and they were Hayden Greene heading. in the outfield. “I thought we were meeting at Instead the five seniors, along with school to take a picture,” Greene said. team manager Michael Hawkins, “That was the whole plan then we who’s also an Oak Ridge senior, were decorated our cars,” Thomason said. celebrated on their senior day by their n See seniors, page A10 families and teammates after not
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CWLS*, CFLS**
* Child Welfare Specialist Certified by National Association of Council for Children Accredited by California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization **Certified Family Law Specialist Certified by California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization
Democrat photo by Thomas Frey
Oak Ridge High School senior outfielder Hayden Greene hugs fellow senior and team manager Michael Hawkins at a celebration for graduating Trojan softball players Tuesday.
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