Motoring through Eskaton
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
Classic cars parade through the village. News, Etc., B1
Volume 169 • Issue 106 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, September 11, 2020
Photo by Mike Peron/Tahoe Daily Tribune
The Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has put up closed signs.
All National Forests in California are closed Democrat staff SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — The U.S. Forest Service has taken unprecedented action in closing all 18 forest regions in California, including those surrounding Lake Tahoe — Eldorado National Forest, Tahoe National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Due to historic fire risk conditions throughout the state, the U.S. Forest Service has announced the temporary closure of all National Forests in California. Eight National Forests were shut n
See Forests closed, page A8
Main Street crime spree lands man in county jail Pat Lakey Staff writer A 40-year-old Placerville man was booked into the El Dorado County Jail last week on suspicion of multiple charges, Ramono Philemon including sexual battery, after Montes he reportedly assaulted several people on Main Street in downtown Placerville and resisted arrest by police. Ramono Philemon Montes remained in custody Wednesday, nearly a week after he was arrested at the end of a short foot chase with police. Montes, reportedly known to officers due to previous contacts, allegedly had vandalized private property, assaulted someone causing injury and lifted the skirt of a woman who told police the suspect also deliberately touched her buttocks. Police were called shortly before noon Thursday, Sept. 3, to respond to reports of a man creating all sorts of havoc on Main Street. Officers saw it was Montes who was at the center of the conflict, they ordered him to comply with arrest procedures. He refused, taking off on foot. Once officers caught up with him, he remained combative, with police reporting that the suspect was “noncompliant.” No further details regarding the reported assault that caused injury were available at press time. Montes was booked on charges of sexual battery, attempted petty theft, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, vandalism and defacing property and resisting arrest. He remained in custody Wednesday in lieu of $13,000 bail.
Mountain Democrat photo by Dawn Hodson
Winemaster and owner of Nello Olivo Winery Nello Olivo and neighboring Highway 50 Brewmaster Gary Ritz fire up a military-grade generator.
Power shutdown
generates creative solutions
n Locals find their
rhythm in new ‘normal’ Dawn Hodson Staff witer
S
howing great resilience, business owners and managers are coping with PG&E public safety power shutdowns by coming up with creative ways to work around having no electrical supply. Susan Cross, who runs a unique gift shop in Pollock Pines called Pony Express Shipping, where she sells a variety of decorative items for the house and garden, does shipping, offers notary service, live scan service, printing, faxing and copying, said she was running her business using a small generator. To handle shipping orders, she turned to a hot spot on her cell phone to connect to the internet once phone
service went out. Business was slow on Tuesday, she admitted, but part of that was because of road work taking place on Pony Express Trail. Down the road at Safeway in Pollock Pines, the store was bustling with shoppers. The manager said in the past they brought up refrigerator trucks when faced with a power outage. But now that power shutdown events have become “normal,” he said, they have a generator to keep the power on. At Nello Olivo Winery in Camino they still had power but owner Nello Olivo said he wasn’t taking any chances and bought a 100-kilowatt surplus military generator capable of keeping the electricity on at his winery and tasting room. “I bought it after last year’s outages,” he said. “We knew there would be more of those.” On Tuesday electrician Tyler Kull was busy hooking the generator up
to the building’s electrical system so when the power does goes down, Olivo’s entire operation stays open. “(This is) probably one of the few wineries open despite the power shutdown combined with COVID-19related restrictions,” he said, adding that at staff meetings they discuss a lot of “what-ifs” to prepare for different scenarios.
Microgrid future Because of the vulnerability of some areas of the county to having their power cut off, PG&E is in the process of building two microgrids — one in Georgetown and another in Pollock Pines. They are designed to provide electricity to certain customers and shared community resources during future power shutoffs. The microgrid backup generation n
See Solutions, page A10
Generator fire scorches house in Pollock Dawn Hodson Staff writer A blaze in Pollock Pines Tuesday left behind no more than charred remains after a generator caught fire and flames quickly took to a portion of the two-story house on Hazel Street. The fire was called in around 1:30 p.m. by Maryal Baumann, a tenant living on the top floor. A next-door neighbor said he also notified the fire department. Boumann said she was upstairs working when she heard the generator on the back porch skip a beat. She smelled smoke and saw the generator was on fire. Rushing downstairs, she pulled the generator away from the house and then got a fire extinguisher. Once the fire extinguisher’s contents were exhausted and with the fire still raging, she said she called 911 with fire crews responding within five minutes. El Dorado County Fire Protection District n
$1,000
See generator fire, page A9
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Mountain Democrat photo by Dawn Hodson
A house on Hazel Street in Pollock Pines took significant damage Tuesday when a generator running outside caught fire. Firefighters were able to put the fire out in 15 to 20 minutes, preventing it from spreading to the rest of the home or to neighboring homes.
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