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Volume 171 • Issue 18 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, February 11, 2022
Third cannabis business misses city’s deadline Andrew Vonderschmitt Staff writer Reserve House, one of three adult-use cannabis businesses approved to operate within Placerville city limits, was required to open by Jan. 15 as part of the terms of three permits issued in 2021 but that didn’t happen. An extension request from the owners, citing a loss of investors and supply chain difficulties as reasons for failing to meet the one-year deadline, was denied by the Placerville City Council at its Jan. 25 meeting. City Manager Cleve Morris detailed the progress and history of the proposed Placerville Drive business up to the first of the year. “For the most part we feel that they had the same opportunity that any of the other businesses had,” he said. The other two dispensaries granted licenses, Chuck’s Wellness Center on Broadway and Sacred Roots on upper Main Street, were able to work through challenges and open their facilities before the deadline, noted Morris. He did state that the fact that Reserve House had lost an investor might be considered in granting the extension. The initial investor in Reserve House pulled out, apparently due to a lawsuit challenging the city’s cannabis permit selection process. Further information about the lawsuit from city officials was not available as of press time. Councilwoman Patty Borelli asked if Morris had been aware of the delays. “I was curious to know, through this whole process, whether you had been in touch or they with you?” she questioned. Morris said he had been in contact with the applicants in August and had expressed his concern over the lack of progress. “It wasn’t until November that they realized, we both realized, there was no way they were going to meet that Jan. 15 deadline,” said Morris. At that time they asked for the extension and Morris told them to put it in writing to bring to City Council. “It doesn’t seem like they have done much but ‘prepare to commence to proceed,’” said Councilman Dennis Thomas. “But they haven’t n
See Cannabis, page A6
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
Flowers lay at the site of the Feb. 8 hit-and-run on Carson Road near Barkley Road in Camino that resulted in the death of a 14-yearold girl.
Hit-and-run takes life of Camino teenager Devastated community pulls together vigil, fundraiser for family
n
Mountain Democrat staff The community is heartbroken after 14-year-old Julianna Abballo was killed in a hit-and-run Tuesday afternoon in Camino. Driving a 2018 Honda CR-V, suspect Anthony Baron Smith of Pollock Pines fled the scene but he and his vehicle were later located by authorities and arrested, according to the Placerville office
of the California Highway Patrol. Felony charges listed against Smith, 23, include voluntary manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury. The tragedy took place on Carson Road east of Barkley Road at about 4:15 p.m. The Camino teen and her best friend were walking along Carson Road to a nearby Chevron gas station to get snacks, Julianna’s mother Jolene told the Mountain Democrat Wednesday morning as she visited the site along Carson Road where her daughter took her n
See Hit-and-run, page A3
Julianna Abballo
Bear treed in Placerville shopping center relocated Krysten Kellum Editor Getting a 400-pound bear out of a tree is no easy task, even if it’s PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
tranquilized. That’s the situation California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lt. Bob Pera and four other wildlife officers found themselves in Saturday morning at the Missouri Flat Village shopping center in Placerville. Pera said he got the call at about 4:30 a.m. that a bear was treed near the TJ Maxx. The bear, a female estimated to be between 8 and 15 years old, is thought to have come through the Weber Creek drainage to the east of the shopping center where there is “a lot” of wildlife, according to Pera. The bear reportedly made her way through a homeless camp under the Highway
50 Weber Creek Bridge, disturbing a few individuals there before climbing out of the canyon and into the shopping center parking area. It was there the bear was frightened by someone yelling at her, sending the bear about 12 feet up an oak tree on the east side of the parking lot. The bear remained in the tree. To ensure public safety and get her out, she needed to be tranquilized. Once adequate CDFW staff was on scene and ready to mobilize the bear using a bear trap, the drugs were administered. Described as a “fat” n
See Bear, page A8
E OAKS SENIOR CARE VILLAG
Photo by Emese Szijarto
Personnel with Cal Fire and California Department of Fish and Wildlife prepare to take a bear out of an oak tree near TJ Maxx in Placerville Saturday morning.
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