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Volume 169 • Issue 68
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El Dorado County Fair canceled n Livestock auction still in the
works — with safety precautions Dylan Svoboda Staff writer The coronavirus pandemic scrapped yet another local event. This time, one of El Dorado County's biggest. For the first time since World War II the El Dorado County Fair has been canceled. “We are very frustrated that we were unable to host the fair this year,” El Dorado County Fairgrounds deputy manager Kathy Dunkak said.
“We had hoped that by July we would have been in Phase 4 of the COVID-19 recovery, but that is not the case. After postponing the fair once already, we didn't feel that another postponement to August would be successful. There is a year's worth of work that goes into planning and preparing for the fair, so the board and staff did not make this decision lightly.” El Dorado County is entering Stage 3 of California's economic reopening plan Friday, but the timeline for Stage 4 of the plan, which includes large-scale events like sporting events, concerts and fairs, is still unknown. “Without our county in Phase 4 we would be
unable to obtain licenses and permits for food and alcohol, nor would the carnival rides be able to be inspected by the state,” Dunkak added. “Additionally, while we have a commitment to our community to host the fair, we also need to be mindful of the safety aspect.” Several other counties across California, such as San Joaquin and Orange, have also called off their events for 2020. The annual fair is the out-and-out breadwinner for the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. Each year the fair brings in about $650,000, which is roughly half of the fairgrounds' n
See Fair canceled, page A9
Family mourns SMUD to Placerville on city’s young man who drowned trying request to switch from PG&E: ‘No’ to save others n Fire risk liability among factors dissuading Sacramento utility company Dylan Svoboda Staff writer
Pat Lakey Staff writer
Last month a 24-year-old Sacramento man dove into the turbulent waters of the Cosumnes River in Evan Ishima Somerset in a heroic attempt to “Evan died a save a couple hero and then of struggling some with no swimmers. But the hesitation or fast-moving current proved second thoughts to jump in and too strong, sweeping Evan rescue these two Ishima away along with the strangers ...” — Anjelica Ishima, two strangers. sister of Evan Ishima The tragic event took place Thursday, May 28, around 4 p.m., when Ishima plunged into the North Fork of the river near Happy Valley Cutoff Road to rescue two 20-year-old Sacramento men from drowning. Evan had been trying to create a human chain with his friend to save the other two men from the water when he lost his grip and fell into the river below. According to a Facebook post from his sister, Anjelica Ishima, the three
It’s not that Placerville city leaders didn’t try — they did — but SMUD doesn’t wish to annex Placerville or any other part of El Dorado County into its service area. In fact, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District likely won’t seek to annex any area, anywhere in the greater Sacramento region, into its service area, despite a recent clamor of municipalities and other entities wishing to be served by that utility instead of staying with PG&E. That’s the bottom line heard by the Placerville City Council this week as its city manager, mayor and a councilman involved in presenting the city’s request to SMUD recapped a letter that summarizes the chances of that happening. The request for SMUD as a power provider came in the wake of last year’s highly unwelcomed public safety power shutoff events by PG&E “They said no,” City Manager Cleve Morris said bluntly during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “It (annexing into SMUD’s
n
See drowning, page A6
territory) has to make sense for them (to do that).” And it doesn't, according
government entity in the spot where it says “city of Placerville” and the result would be the same.
out: “We expect that PG&E would oppose any potential annexation
Democrat photo by Krysten Kellum
Lalo Rodriguez of Doug Veerkamp Construction Co. operates an excavator that makes good-sized trees appear as pick-up sticks Wednesday as he clears property near the Cottonwood subdivision off Clay Street in Placerville. Veerkamp purchased some 40 acres of the property and reportedly intends to complete phases 4 and 6 of the Cottonwood apartments sometime in the future — for now he is being a good neighbor by clearing the land of incendiary fuels in anticipation of hotter days to come as fire season heats up. to SMUD. City Councilman Mark Acuna, who was one of the city leaders who met with SMUD officials to pitch the possible annexation, said the rejection letter sent to the city by SMUD could have had any other city or
And judging by past such efforts in other jurisdictions, City Manager Morris said, “PG&E most likely would fight that very strongly.” The letter from SMUD’s CEO and General Manager Arlen Orchard spells it
and employ delay tactics similar to strategies that it has used in the past to drag out the process and unnecessarily drive up the costs of obtaining necessary approvals. n
See smud, page A11
Placerville Speedway gets the green flag to race Gary Thomas Placerville Speedway
Courtesy photo
Drivers will hit the track Saturday at Placerville Speedway — but the grandstands will seat no fans.
at! e tr ad d
Russell Motorsports will launch its 55th season of competition at Placerville Speedway Saturday — but the stands will have no fans. Like many tracks across the country, the first race will be held without attendees but fans can catch the action exclusively on live pay-per-view via Speed Shift TV. Winged 360 sprint cars, pure stocks and limited late models will all be competing for full, weekly paying purses. “The COVID-19 situation has certainly made everyone stir-crazy, so we are very thankful and excited to take the next step in the re-opening process,” said track promoter
Scott Russell. “We are going to take this race by race and see how everything works out but I know all the race teams are looking forward to finally hitting the track.” Rounding out the night will be the Bay Cities Racing Association midget lite division. The grandstands will be closed to the public and no tickets will be sold for the event. The June 13 showcase was originally scheduled to be Kids Bike Night, which will not be part of the program due to the restrictions still in place. The pit gate will open at noon with pit passes $40 for members and $45 for n
See Speedway, page A7
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