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172
C ali forn ia’s Olde st Ne w spaper
nd
Volume 172 • Issue 139 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Monday, December 4, 2023
– E s t. 18 51
Caldor Fire pretrial
Defense disputes ‘outlandish’ bullet theory Odin Rasco Staff writer After nearly two years of delays and rescheduling, the pretrial hearing for the father and son accused of starting the Caldor Fire began Tuesday, Nov. 28, in El Dorado County Superior Court. Charges alleging Travis Shane Smith and his father David Smith recklessly started the devastating 2021 fire were first filed in December 2021. Caldor burned 221,835 acres, caused great bodily harm to emergency personnel and residents and consumed more than 1,000 structures — including the majority of the town of Grizzly Flat. Additionally, father and son are charged with illegal possession of firearm silencers and Travis is also alleged to have converted a firearm into, or manufactured, a machine gun. Though the pretrial hearing is primarily focused on the presentation of evidence and interviewing of witnesses to determine if charges against the Smiths hold enough water to be taken to trial, the nascent forms of the cases attorneys on both sides may present began
Mountain Democrat photo by Odin Rasco
Mark Reichel and Linda Parisi, at left, prepare for proceedings in El Dorado Superior Court Department 1, seated with their clients Travis Shane Smith and David Smith, who are accused of starting the Caldor Fire. The pretrial spilled past the two days set aside for the hearing, and will reconvene in late December. to take shape over the course of two days in court. Robert Bossard, a former county resident who moved away in the wake of Caldor, was the first witness brought out to testify by El Dorado County Deputy District Attorney Jay Linden. Bossard had been camping for nearly a week close to Dogtown Creek between Leoni Meadows Camp
and Omo Ranch when the initial embers of the Caldor Fire began to burn Aug. 14, 2021. Bossard shared that he had shared camp with another local, Micheal Patrick, who went by the name Miner Mike, and the two had been recreationally gold panning at the creek while camping off the unpaved road designated 9N60. Being aware of drought
conditions across the state, Bossard explained he and Patrick kept to cold meals or using a small camp stove to make coffee, and had not brought guns or used the fire pit during five days of camping. Bossard claims he had not seen any people other than Patrick until Saturday afternoon, when two men driving a Polaris RZR side-by-side offroad vehicle passed by their
campsite. Shortly after seeing the duo pass over a hill, Bossard said he heard gunshots from what he thought to be a handgun — “maybe five or 10 rounds, rapidfire” — coming from the area the RZR had driven toward. Half an hour or so later, by Bossard’s estimation, the sideby-side drove past the camp again, with the occupants calling out
to Patrick and him, warning of a fire. “They yelled out to us ‘there’s a fire down there,’ and that they had tried to stomp it out but it had gotten too big,” Bossard testified. He added that the passenger of the vehicle had mumbled something and shushed at the driver when saying they had tried to stomp the fire out, and said something akin to “don’t say that.” Bossard saw the two men drive a short distance down the road and overheard them make a 911 call — “you can hear a lot out in the woods” — while Patrick went over the hill to get a look at the fire. “When he came back he said, ‘I vote we bug out of here right now,’” Bossard testified. The Smith’s defense attorneys Mark Reichel and Linda Parisi spoke with reporters Tuesday afternoon in the courthouse lobby, describing the prosecution’s anticipated case as lacking in scientific merit. “We are at the very beginning of the story,” Reichel told reporters. “What we’re starting to see, I think they’re going n See Pretrial, page A6
Tahoe scientists join strike for equal state pay Katelyn Welsh Tahoe Daily Tribune
PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
Striking stateemployed scientists were chanting and holding signs along Lake Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe Nov. 17 as drivers passed by, acknowledging their
hand-written sign that read, “Honk if you value clean water.” Scientists from many agencies, including the Lake Tahoe Regional Water Control Board, California Tahoe Conservancy, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Cal Fire joined a threeday rolling strike that started in Sacramento Wednesday, Nov. 15. They’re seeking equal pay, equal work and salary relationships with supervisors, according to strike captain Adam Henriques. The California Association of Professional Scientists union has been working toward a new agreement with CalHR after the old one expired more than 1,300 days ago in July 2020. Henriques said some colleagues get paid up to 27% more than others
for essentially the same job duties. Some job descriptions only differ by one word. He noted the disparity has grown since 2004. Senior Environmental Scientist Laurie Scribe at the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board added, “We’re hoping to send a message to Gavin Newsom that he should value scientists’ salaries in addition to saying that he values science and he wants California to be a science leader. He’s got to pay scientists a fair wage.” She said scientists do the research and collect the data to keep water, air and human health protected. “We want CalHR and the governor to value science like he says he does,” Scribe continued. Henriques said CAPS has been using legal processes through union
Tahoe Daily Tribune photo by Katelyn Welsh
Tahoe scientists from California state agencies gather on Lake Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe to join a three-day rolling strike Friday, Nov. 17. negotiations with the state over the threeplus years since the last contract expired. CAPS media and communications consultant Jon Ortiz said it felt like the state was asking the union to bargain against
itself, seeming “like the administration just wanted concession.” After about three years of this, CAPS went to the Public Employee Relations Board, which determined the state and union were at an impasse in which
further meetings without the assistance of a mediator were considered futile. According to Henriques, this also meant it nullified the no-strike provision in n See strike, page A3
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