START THE ENGINES
Bigs celebrated
Placerville Speedway warms up for season with Test and Tune. Sports, A7
Mentors make a big difference in young people’s lives.
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 29 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
CSD pitches Bass Lake project plan Sel Richard Staff writer El Dorado County planning commissioners had plenty to say during a recent preapplication workshop to review the El Dorado Hills Community Services District’s Bass Lake Regional Park plan. Located north of Bass Lake Road between Serrano Parkway and the new Silver Springs Parkway, the 211-acre future park covers four land parcels the CSD spent several years procuring — 142 acres from the Rescue Union School District includes Bass Lake as well as Sellwood Field; 14.7 acres were purchased from the El Dorado Irrigation District; 41.7 acres from El Dorado County and, most recently, the dedication of Parker Development’s 12.5-acre Village J Lot H was finalized in August 2020. “The park will provide users with two unique experiences,” explained CSD Director of Parks and Planning Tauni Fessler, referring to active and passive uses. The eastern portion offers trails and a 2,500-square-foot education center while the park’s west side houses multiuse sports fields and sand volleyball courts. Also planned is a nature playground with an all-inclusive play area, dog park, bocce ball courts and picnic and barbecue facilities. Along Bass Lake Road an 8,500-squarefoot multi-use event center will sit near the dock and potential launch for kayaks and paddleboards. No motorized boating will be allowed. An outdoor amphitheater and potential campsites were also mentioned. According to county senior planner Gina Hamilton, the majority of the site is currently zoned as recreational facility-low intensity n
Mountain Democrat photos by Thomas Frey
The El Dorado High School football team squares off in practice March 3 in preparation for its first game Friday at 7:15 p.m. The Cougars will host Galt, who they defeated 21-17 a season ago.
Cougars ready to play
unexpected season Thomas Frey Staff writer
See Bass Lake, page A3
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Lake Tahoe sees home sales surge Cheyanne Neuffer Tahoe Daily Tribune While home prices were already steadily increasing in the Lake Tahoe Basin the pandemic and mass exodus from heavily populated areas that followed blew up the housing market. Online real estate platforms show historically low inventory along with skyrocketing prices all around Lake Tahoe. Tahoe area real estate brokers say low inventory and rising prices will continue for the foreseeable future. California has seen six years of double-digit growth in sales, according to Deb Howard, broker and owner of Deb Howard & Co. On the south shore there are currently 51 residential listings with a median home price of $1,275,000, she said. There are 99 pending sales with a median price of $750,000 with the overall median home price at $673,000. This time last year the median home price was $435,000, Howard added. “Much of our current markets in both California and Nevada have been shaped by the lack of inventory, Bay Area business models and changes in the response to the pandemic,” Howard said. Howard refers to the shift of those from out of town coming to the basin last year as the “pandemic migration.” “Impacts of the pandemic and exacerbated by this migration is the absorption of what was already a limited supply of inventory and fueled a huge demand for every realestate product, be it cabins to lakefront and everything in between,” Howard said. The current absorption rate is below 1% and continues to trend lower, which simply put, means there are more people wanting to buy homes than are available, leading to an n
See Tahoe home sales, page A7
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New head coach, QB to lead UM Thomas Frey Staff writer
Mountain Democrat photo by Thomas Frey
Union Mine High School juniors Jaxon King and Aaron Wise push a blocking sled at football practice March 1. The Diamondbacks open their season hosting Truckee Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Shop new Arrivals
New Patients Always Welcome!
Jeff Little, DDS General & Cosmetic Dentistry
“Look For My Column On Page 3 Today!”
See cougars page A6
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Three Years Straight!
Offensive linemen Gabe Teeter, left, and Bodie Steenburgen work on a blocking formation.
fter months of uncertainty the El Dorado High School football team decided to cancel its season early last month. The players had been working on plays and weight training every chance they got, all while not knowing if a football season would be able to happen. Senior quarterback Caelan Bonniksen even organized a “Let us Play” rally at the state Capitol building in November, which saw more than 100 student-athletes attend. As the calendar pages kept turning it finally hit February and it was time for the Cougars to be realistic. Even if there could be a season all games had to be finished by April 16, which left a little more than two months of football at most. In mid-February the decision was made. “We canceled our season,” Bonniksen said. “We had a whole last team bonding thing and they said 99.9% chance it was over. Then the next day, they said we can play.” The team immediately rejoiced and got out to the
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Taylor Duncan is just two days away from making his debut as head coach of Union Mine High School football program. When he leads the Diamondbacks on the field at home Friday it will be against the Truckee High School squad, which has a lot of experience and a playoff win last season. “It’s going to be a huge game,” said Duncan. “If we have a good game against them and we compete, it’ll give us that same impact like beating Colfax did last season. They are a perennial power.” Senior Elijah Thomsen will be taking over the reins at quarterback from Clayton Byer, who is now at Sierra College. Thomsen played defensive end the past two years, where he notched 5.5 sacks before his n
See UMHS, page A6
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