AVALANCHE AWARE
Soup’s on
Caution needed when venturing into snowy backcountry. Sports, A6
Empty Bowls drivethru to fill empty stomachs. News etc., B1
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
Volume 170 • Issue 20 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
City farmers markets may lose a day Thomas Frey Staff writer Change appears to be coming to Placerville farmers markets in 2022. A proposal would shrink the three farmers markets that happen each week on city property down to two. It would move the Wednesday farmers market at the Bell Tower to the Fox Lot at the intersection of Main Street and Sacramento Street and eliminate the market held Sundays at the Tetrault Lot. “While each of these markets has managed to stay afloat with their small size and limited items, the community would be better served by consolidating vendors and offering farmers markets restricted to two locations and two days a week,” said Placerville Director of Community Services Terry Zeller. Zeller said they would like to move the market to the Fox Lot because “the Bell Tower does not allow for the number of vendors to operate safely or allow for expansion.” When the topic was first mentioned at the Feb. 9 Placerville City Council meeting, council members and Zeller were considering making the changes this year. After Zeller read the proposal, the topic opened up to the public and the council quickly learned how much of a financial strain it would be on farmers if the changes were implemented this year. Greg Rockney, owner and operator of Rockney Farms in Camino, talked about how losing or moving a farmers market on short notice has hurt his farm in the past. “We saw our profits cut in half,” Rockney said. “That was detrimental to us as farmers because we had grown crops for a previous year’s market and then we were also throwing away a lot of that crop because we do only sell at small markets. It’s scary because it is my sole income for my farm and it’s scary to me to think that I’m gonna have my profits cut in half again.” Rockney also said that each time n
See Farmers Markets, page A7
Courtesy photo
Alexandra Klintobe, on ladder, along with Arnold Peters, Rolling Hills Community Services District Director Gordon Fawkes and James Albertoni, left to right, paint the El Dorado Hills sign on the south side of Highway 50. Vandals have recently damaged the sign several times.
El Dorado Hills’
iconic sign
Sel Richard Staff writer
A
n emblem of the area, the El Dorado Hills monument sign displayed to the south of Highway 50 is getting a makeover. In early February eight volunteers sanded and repainted the monument letters and cleaned up the surroundings with personally donated materials — what they hope is only the beginning of a full renovation. Initially alerted to the structure’s disrepair by a Nextdoor post, resident Wade Klinetobe decided to form a group last December to engage the community in an effort to restore the monument. It sits on land owned by the Rolling Hills Community Services District, enclosed by a chain link fence that is routinely ignored. “The sign has been vandalized with paint in the last few years — but more recently the rocks in the wall have been
gets some
TLC
pulled down or destroyed by people climbing on it,” said resident and volunteer John Davey, describing the area as littered with trash beneath mutilated no trespassing signs. In just the few days before, the monument fell victim to two separate instances of defacement. Klinetobe said he hopes to do much more than the painting his group accomplished this month. “If done right, we believe this work could carry the sign forward for the next 50 years or more,” he said, adding that they are seeking quotes for the restoration project. While he offered several ideas to prevent future damage, such as security cameras or permanent security fencing, Klinetobe admitted that harm will be nearly impossible to extinguish. “You cannot prevent all vandalism so we would like to see some community buy in,” he said, proposing n
See EDH sign, page A3
Tahoe groups work to clean homeless camps n Services, housing
coordinated Laney Griffo Tahoe Daily Tribune
Courtesy photo
Clean Tahoe staff members clean up a camp near Montreal Road in South Lake Tahoe.
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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Efforts by local agencies are under way to not only clean up homeless camps in South Lake Tahoe but to get help for the people living in them. Clean Tahoe is a South Lake Tahoe nonprofit that works on litter and trash management and public outreach. It was started in 1988 to address illegal dumping issues that became more prevalent. Since then Clean Tahoe has morphed and one of the things it’s had to do more of is cleaning up homeless encampments. Clean Tahoe is contracted with the city of South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County so it coordinates with
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whatever agency’s jurisdiction the camp is in. But before Clean Tahoe can go into the camp to clean it up the residents of the camp must be given two weeks to evacuate. That’s where STACS comes in. The South Tahoe Alternative Collaborative Services is a collaboration between the city’s public health and safety groups, including the South Lake Tahoe police and fire departments, Barton Hospital and the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless. South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Dave Stevenson said he will coordinate with the homeless coalition before giving the eviction notice so the coalition is able to reach out and get those people connected with services. Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Cheyenne n
See Homeless camps, page A6
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