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Volume 169 • Issue 90
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County eases restrictions on outdoor dining, retail Dylan Svoboda Staff writer
and Retail Sales Program, the emergency ordinance eases parking and sidewalk El Dorado County is restrictions and authorizes the allowing restaurants and use of shade structures given other retail establishments establishments follow social to expand outdoor distancing guidelines. operating options. The initiative permits — Debbie Manning, El Dorado Hills restaurants and retail outlets After nearly five months Chamber of Commerce president to take 50% of private parking of closures and economic devastation amid the and sidewalk spaces and convert coronavirus pandemic, many businesses can now them for dining or retail use “when the lot is take it to the streets given they follow county and immediately adjacent to the parent property,” state health and safety guidelines. according to the item brought forth to the board. “We need to keep our businesses active and “This ordinance really focuses on private Mountain Democrat photo by Dylan Svoboda open,” said Brett Sampson of the El Dorado parking spaces and sidewalks where the Wally’s Pizza Bar in Cameron Park is one El Dorado County restaurant County Office of Economic Development during businesses have permission from the owner to be to have taken over adjacent sidewalks and parking lots as businesses Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. adapt to the new reality brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. n See Restrictions, page A6 Dubbed the Temporary Outdoor Dining
“The more restrictions that we can lift on our small businesses, restaurants and retail stores, the more we will give them a chance.”
Mountain Democrat photo by Dawn Hodson
The new Target store in Prospector’s Plaza off Missouri Flat Road in Placerville plans a soft opening Aug. 12 and grand opening Aug. 16.
Target set to open Aug. 12 Mountain Democrat photo by Kevin Christensen
Visitors turned out in large numbers at the Confluence of the American River in the Auburn State Recreation Area last weekend. State Parks planners are looking to accommodate increased visitation by creating more parking, campsites and areas for recreation that can be maintained and monitored.
Proposed development in Auburn State Recreation Area scaled back n Residents say area doesn’t have
to accommodate more people Kevin Christensen Staff writer
Plans to expand development within the Auburn State Recreation Area have been scaled down after area residents’ concerns of fire risk and traffic safety sent them back to the drawing board last year — but some are saying it isn’t enough. California State Parks’ and Bureau of Reclamation’s final environmental impact report and general plan/ resource management plan were released to the public last year in July. The assessment and plans serve to
guide future development and management of Auburn State Recreation Area and Auburn Project Lands to accommodate more visitors as population grows in surrounding El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento counties, as well as the Bay Area. Planners proposed 235 new campsites, raising eyebrows for members of the American River Community Coalition (formerly known as the Divide Action Coalition) and moving hundreds of stakeholders to write letters and emails bringing attention to what they say are added fire, traffic and river safety risks. Last month plans came back some 93 campsites less. The campsites spread across the eight management zones of the Auburn State Recreation Area. n
Dawn Hodson Staff writer Eager shoppers get ready to start your engines because the new Target store in Placerville is set to open. Target management is planning a soft opening Aug. 12 and a grand opening Aug. 16. Details on a possible grand opening celebration were not available by press time. Already sporting a Starbucks bar near the entrance, the shelves were in and mostly stocked Wednesday — although the mannequins still needed clothes. The department store is in the process of hiring employees with applications taken at a desk inside the front entrance. The former location of the old Kmart store (in Prospector’s Plaza on Missouri Flat Road), extensive renovations of the building have been going on since October. The shopping center was sold to Gryphon Capital and Rich Development last June for an estimated $24 million.
See scaled back, page A7
n
See Target, page A7
Demonstrators rise up against human trafficking Kevin Christensen Staff writer “Kids are not for sale,” and similar messages were painted on signage on display in downtown Placerville Thursday. Demonstrators gathered at the El Dorado County Superior Courthouse steps July 30 — World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly officially in 2014; Thursday’s event was organized locally by Pollock Pines resident Megan Sweeney through the nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad that helps citizens and organizations fight human trafficking. Mountain Democrat photo by Kevin Christensen “I have two young children and this topic Demonstrators gather on the El Dorado County Superior Courthouse steps in really pulled at my heartstrings the more I downtown Placerville Thursday — World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. learned about the severity of the problem,”
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said Sweeney. “With children increasingly using electronics and the internet and predators guilty of human trafficking not at work amid the health crisis, it’s important to bring awareness to this worldwide issue.” Operation Underground Railroad was founded in 2013 by Timothy Ballard, a man who spent over a decade working as a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security where he was assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and deployed as an undercover operative for the U.S. Child Sex Tourism Jump Team. Sweeney said she helped organize Thursday’s event through Operation Underground Railroad’s national effort and finds Ballard to be a true inspiration. n
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See Trafficking, page A2