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171
C ali forn ia’s Olde st Ne w spaper
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Volume 171 • Issue 130 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Monday, November 7, 2022
Hemp to grow once again Eric Jaramishian Staff writer Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
A Douglas fir is suspended from a Diamond Crane rig as it is slowly set down on a Cal Fire truck and trailer for transportation to the state capitol building where it will be decorated for the holiday season. The tree was cut at the Placerville Ranger District station in Camino Nov. 3.
‘Tree’dition renewed
Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
if tree-cutting crews had not been caught in a blizzard near Whitmore in Shasta County. Everyone involved made it out without harm but a last-minute decision had to be made to use a tree from the Eldorado National Forest, found just outside of the Placerville Ranger District station on Eight Mile Road in Camino Nov. 3.
I
t has been seven years since a Douglas fir was plucked from El Dorado County to serve as the state capitol’s Christmas tree. The conifers were instead pulled out of California’s staterun forests and that would have been the case this year
Tom Anderson, 66, owns Diamond Crane out of Diamond Springs and has had the pleasure of assisting personnel from Cal Fire, the U.S Forest Service and California Department of General Services in cutting down the towering fir each year for the past 35 Christmases. n
See Christmas tree, page A6
Snow arrives, more coming Madison Schultz Tahoe Daily Tribune
PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — On Wednesday morning, Nov. 2, Nick Accordino and his family were spending their first day on vacation in South Lake Tahoe. With sightseeing and shopping on the docket for their first day in town, they were forewarned of snow flurries and potential weather. Shortly thereafter, the snow was
rapidly accumulating and the Accordino family was stuck in Tahoe’s first storm of the season. Tahoe welcomed November back with a strong storm. This storm totaled 8-12 inches of snow at lake level in South Lake Tahoe, according to the National Weather Service report. The storm led to chain controls on all highways and resulted in multiple n
See Snow, page A2
Tahoe Daily Tribune photo by Bill Rozak
With with chain controls in effect, vehicles were being monitored on Wednesday before being allowed to travel over Echo Summit on Highway 50.
Ending a nearly two-year industrial hemp cultivation moratorium, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors approved a two-year pilot program that will grant up to five growing permits. Prospective growers will be able to apply beginning Jan. 1, 2023. The program will be a test drive to see how viable the crop is in the county and if cultivation can be regulated properly per the new hemp ordinance, which allows cultivation on residential or agricultural parcels as long as it is 600 feet away from other parcels zoned residential. The setback is measured from the nearest point of the outdoor hemp cultivation to the nearest outer wall of the structure on the neighboring parcel. Anyone can waive the setback requirements as long all owners of adjacent parcels provide written consent. On the issue of odor from hemp farms, supervisors discussed either only allowing hemp farms on agricultural parcels or implementing the setback for residential parcels. “I believe it allows for us to take a look, as a pilot program should, to look at these options to see what works and take out what doesn’t work, which is why I was worried about taking certain areas out,” District 5 Supervisor Sue Novasel said. Board Chair and District 4 Supervisor Lori Parlin, who cast the lone “no” vote against approving the ordinance, expressed her opinion that because differently zoned parcels are sprinkled randomly throughout the county, having hemp on agricultural parcels near residential parcels without setbacks could cause complaints from neighbors. “We are introducing something different and new and when (the county was) doing all the cannabis hearings, families came in with odor complaints and how they were impacted then. I don’t want that to happen again,” Parlin said. “I don’t support the county making policy that is a nuisance to neighbors.” n
See Hemp, page A6
VOTE KENNY CURTZWILER SUPERVISOR DISTRICT V
KENNY CURTZWILER SUPERVISOR DISTRICT V
The first three words of our constitution are “WE THE PEOPLE.” That is who I will represent, You. Residents will elect me, not agencies, not special interest groups, and not organizations or service clubs. You will elect me and You will finally get a seat at the table. I have real world experience with District V issues and can hit the ground running. Think back to the last people we elected and the promises they made to us. Once elected did they follow through? When you go into that booth or fill out your ballot to mail. Think about past actions taken by the people running. Think about their involvement in our community for the time we have lived here and not just some of the time. I have basically financed my own campaign. I am not endorsed by any of the agencies or endorsed by any of the chambers or their pacs, both here and off the hill. I will not owe anybody political favors. — Kenny Curtzwiler