Tales of travels
WINTER IS COMING
Sierra-at-Tahoe readies for opening day amid COVID 19.
Writer relates travel adventures and discoveries.
Sports, A6
Prospecting, B2
HOUSEHOLD HA Z ARDOUS W ASTE E V E NT Saturday
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Friday, September 18, 2020
mtdemocrat.com
4th COVID-19 related death reported in the county
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Thank you
Volume 169 • Issue 109
Hazy days
| 75¢
*oil filters accepted
Thank you
site at www for further information .edcgov.us/emd .
Thank yo u
*oil filters accepted
Democrat staff Two more El Dorado County residents have died of complications of the coronavirus, officials announced Tuesday. A man between 50 and 64 years of age from the Lake Tahoe region and an El Dorado Hills woman 65 or older were the two victims. The woman died in a hospital out of county Sept. 2, according to county data. The death of the Tahoe man was reported Monday. The county has now had four virus-related deaths. The county reported three new COVID-19 cases Wednesday along with nine assumed recoveries, putting the active case count at 80. One resident remains in the hospital in intensive care. The state still considers the county to be in the red tier or “substantial” level of its COVID-19 risk assessment but the most recent positivity rates have dropped the county into the yellow “moderate” tier, with many areas in the green “minimal” tier, according to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard. The colors are determined based on the rate of new cases over the previous 14 days. The positivity rate is 1.8% from specimens collected between Sept. 2-7.
Mountain Democrat photo by Noel Stack
As California wildfires rage throughout the state smoke has taken the place of sunshine and blue skies. Sunday afternoon one could barely see the hills in El Dorado Hills. Health officials warn people to stay indoors when possible as breathing all this smoke is quite unhealthy.
Smoke fills county skies
Pot store near school gets break from city commission
Dawn Hodson Staff writer More than two dozen wildfires burning across the state have made it tougher to breathe and turned skies a dowdy gray. Measurements taken by the El Dorado County Air Quality Management District on Thursday morning showed readings averaging 150 to 170 parts per million (particulate matter) in most of the county and more than 200 ppm in parts of south county. Air quality Friday and Saturday is forecast to be in the range of 101 to 150 ppm — unhealthy for sensitive groups. People are advised by the Air Quality Management District to avoid all physical outdoor activity. Given the unhealthy air, until the fires are out everyone is advised to reduce physical activity, spend more time indoors or in a vehicle and use indoor air purification with either a portable indoor air purifier and/or by running their HVAC on recirculate mode.
Pat Lakey Staff writer Although according to Placerville’s city ordinance a planned recreational marijuana store on Main Street is located too near an elementary school and a church, the city Planning Commission voted 3-2 Tuesday to approve a variance so Sacred Roots may open for business. The vote did not come without objection from the principal of Sierra School on Thompson Way, which “as the crow flies” lies 186 feet from the cannabis sales site at 651 Main St., some 64 feet over the city’s limit of 250 feet, according to city Director of Development Services Pierre Rivas. The Federated Church is 190 feet distant “as the crow flies,” added Rivas, some 60 feet over the limit. But that busy crow isn’t the only measure considered by city staff in making its recommendation to the Planning Commission to grant a variance that would reduce the distance required — staff also took a look at the surrounding topography and determined that an adjustment in the allowed distance could be made. Rivas in his report to the commissioners, all of whom were present for the Zoom-assisted meeting Tuesday, said a hillside covered with trees that lies between Sierra School and Sacred Roots’ site precludes school kids from accessing the Main Street location directly. In fact, he pointed out, the students won’t even be able to see the marijuana store due to the n
Photo by Mike Peron/Tahoe Daily Tribune
A smoky Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe is pictured Wednesday afternoon.
Containment on Fork Fire at 34% Dawn Hodson Staff writer
Courtesy photo
Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4 Operations Section Chief Buck Wickham gives an update on the Fork Fire in a briefing Thursday morning.
See Pot Store, page A9
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Slowly but surely firefighters are getting a handle on the Fork Fire, which has been burning since Sept. 8 near Gerle Creek and Wentworth Springs Road in the Eldorado National Forest. The fire has remained at 1,752 acres over the past few days and firefighters now have the blaze 34% contained, according to a Wednesday evening update from the incident management team. The El Dorado County Sheriff ’s Office has lifted the evacuation warning for residents of Quintette, Volcanoville and Stumpy Meadows. With the weather improving somewhat, yesterday fire crews were able to use aircraft to drop water on the hottest portions of the fire. The western edge of the fire has been the most active as it burns a pathway n
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See Fork Fire, page A7
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