grizz win
Smart moves
Small but mighty Golden Sierra routs North Tahoe in 35-6 win at home. Sports, A6
The ORHS Academic Decathlon team does well in state competition. News, Etc., B1
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Volume 170 • Issue 44 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
3 dead, 13 live dogs found in man’s SUV Thomas Frey Staff writer Photos by Sagar Upadhyay
Zjar Uruluzu, 57, was arrested Friday afternoon when El Dorado County sheriff ’s deputies investigating a suspicious Zjar Uruluzu vehicle parked at Bridal Veil Falls reportedly discovered three dead dogs and 13 live dogs inside an SUV. Uruluzu was taken into custody on n
Sailboats stretch across Folsom Lake Saturday in the 54th Camellia Cup Regatta. Pictured are boats competing in the Thistle class, which was won by Steven Hale of the Lake Washington Sailing Club out of the Port of West Sacramento.
Oregon sailor rides a Banshee to win 54th Camellia Cup John Poimiroo Special to the Mountain Democrat
See animal abuse, page A3
Bader trial scheduled for May Dawn Hodson Staff writer The trial of Shingle Springs veterinarian Dr. Dean Bader will go ahead as scheduled May 11. Bader previously pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of animal abuse plus one misdemeanor count of failure to report animal abuse in what’s said to be the largest case of animal hoarding in El Dorado County history. In May 2019, 300 animals were removed from a Shingle Springs property rented by Alma and Charel Winston. Uncertain how long the trial will last, at Friday’s readiness and settlement conference Bader’s attorney Dain Weiner said he had more than 104 people willing to be character witnesses for the veterinarian. The deputy district attorney for the case maintains Bader was the veterinarian of record for the Winstons and a search of the Winston home in 2019 found prescriptions for different animals that were treated by Bader. Alma and Charel both pleaded guilty to five counts of felony animal cruelty and were put on probation in 2020.
S
miles as bright as the California sun lit the waters of Folsom Lake Saturday as the 54th Camellia Cup Regatta, canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was finally sailed in fresh breezes that varied from four to eight knots. Winning the venerable trophy and the centerboard perpetual trophy was Bend, Ore.’s Bruce Edwards (formerly of Santa Cruz) who had recently purchased his Banshee (a 14-foot, single-handed, racing dinghy) from a local sailor. Edwards dominated the seven-boat Banshee class with four firsts and a second, but it wasn’t a run-away win. Shadowing him throughout the five races was Sacramento’s Charles Witcher, a former Camellia Cup champion. Edwards had long known about the Camellia n
See Camellia Cup, page A7
Camellia Cup champion Bruce Edwards maneuvers his vessel in the Banshee class at CamCup54 Saturday on Folsom Lake.
2 PG&E microgrids coming online Dawn Hodson Staff writer One PG&E microgrid has come online in El Dorado County and another will be soon. The microgrids are designed to provide electricity to certain customers and shared community resources during future public safety power shutoff events. The microgrid in Pollock Pines was completed and operationally ready as of January and will provide power to more than 60 customers along Pony Express Trail, extending between North Street and Center View Drive. It is based at the First Baptist Church of Pollock Pines on the corner of North Street and Pony
Express Trail. The site will allow the downtown district (including a fire station, bank, markets, hardware store, electric vehicle charging stations and restaurants) to remain energized. The microgrid substation in Georgetown, currently in the final stages of development and anticipated to be completed in May, is located near the intersection of South and Orleans streets. PG&E will be able to rapidly connect mobile generators to the site and provide the downtown district (including a fire station, gas station, radio station, bank, community center, markets, hotels and restaurants) with electricity. The Georgetown temporary
microgrid energization area includes approximately 50 PG&E customers in the general vicinity of Main Street, extending between Harkness Street and Georgetown Road. PG&E officials warn that weather conditions and other operational considerations may prevent the utility from guaranteeing electricity to all customers potentially served by these temporary microgrids if high fire-risk conditions or scenarios arise. Customers who are within the temporary microgrid energization zone will receive a separate communication from PG&E notifying them of their inclusion in the microgrid and informing them n
See PG&E, page A3
Man pleads guilty to 2018 murder over loud motorcycle Tahoe Daily Tribune SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — A South Lake Tahoe man who shot and killed another man during an altercation over a loud motorcycle in 2018 has pleaded guilty to murder. Roy Figaro, 62 at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty to firstdegree, premeditated murder March 19 and will be sentenced May
Roy Figaro 7, according to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office.
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directly across from the crime scene, states a press release. Officers, fearing more violence, placed Kitchen in a patrol car and transported him to Barton Memorial Hospital where medics were waiting. Shortly after arriving at Barton, Kitchen was pronounced dead. Figaro was eventually arrested after a standoff with officers. The release states
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that as part of the investigation officers interviewed witnesses who saw the events leading up to the shooting. It was determined Figaro walked out of his home and proceeded to get into an argument with a resident over a loud motorcycle. Authorities said at some point Kitchen joined the argument and pushed Figaro to the ground. In response
Figaro pulled out a gun and shot Kitchen twice. After the shooting Figaro, said, “He backtalked me and deserved it” and then walked back to his home, states the release. The case was prosecuted by deputy district attorney Casey Mandrell, investigated by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department and presided over by the Hon. Suzanne Kingsbury.
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