Mountain Democrat, Friday, May 13, 2022

Page 1

All about home

LEAGUE WINNERS

2022

HOME

Check out great ideas in our Home Improvement magazine.

Track and field athletes medal in post season.

Improvement

8 Designer’s touch ▲

Get decorating tips from a professional.

30 Water storage ▲

Is a water storage tank right for you?

39 Grass-free yards ▲

Inside

171

Check out beautiful lawn alternatives.

SPORTS, A6

Cover photo by Martin Beebee Photography

C ali forn ia’s Olde st Ne w spaper

st

– E s t. 18 51

Volume 171 • Issue 57 | 75¢

mtdemocrat.com

Friday, May 13, 2022

DUI driver pleads guilty in fatal hit-and-run Thomas Frey Staff writer Anthony B. Smith pleaded guilty Tuesday in the DUI hitand-run that killed Camino teenager Julianna Abballo. Julianna, 14, was walking along Carson Road Feb. 8 when she was struck by Smith’s SUV. Smith, a Pollock Pines resident, drove off after the collision. It was Smith’s second DUI in four days. Smith pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated with an enhancement for fleeing the scene; felony hit-

and-run resulting in death; and a third count related to the earlier DUI with an enhancement for driving with a blood alcohol level higher than 0.15%. Smith’s maximum sentence is 16 1/2 years in state prison, according to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office. He will be sentenced June 14 at 8 a.m. in Department 7. It was a Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. when Smith — 23 at the time — was driving along Carson Road east of Barkley Road. According to California Highway Patrol investigators, he veered off the roadway and onto the north

shoulder, where his 2018 Honda CR-V hit and killed Julianna. He fled the scene and when he turned himself in four hours later, his blood alcohol level was still a 0.14. In Smith’s first court appearance Feb. 14, where he pleaded not guilty, Judge Mark Ralphs had to verify what he had just heard from Michael Pizzuti, representing the people. “Four hours later and still a 0.14?” Ralphs asked. “Yes,” Pizzuti confirmed. Moments later when Ralphs n

See DUI, page A2

Mountain Democrat file photo by Thomas Frey

Anthony Smith pleaded guilty Tuesday in the DUI hit-and-run death of Camino teenager Julianna Abballo.

Courtesy photo

Eileen Burke-Trent, chapter president of the League of Women Voters of El Dorado County, far left, moderates the April 28 forum of El Dorado County Assessor candidates Daniel Tuning, center, and Jon DeVille at Placerville Town Hall.

2 candidates for assessor quizzed Thomas Frey Staff writer Jon DeVille and Daniel Tuning are running to fill El Dorado County’s assessor role Karl Weiland will leave behind when he retires at the end of 2022. The two candidates answered questions April 28 at a non-partisan forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of El Dorado County ahead of the June 7 election. Tuning, who lives in Rescue, has been a licensed certified public accountant in California for more than 30 years after obtaining a master’s degree in PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE

taxation from Brigham Young University. Upon graduation he joined the accounting firm Ernest & Young. DeVille is also a resident of Rescue and graduated from California State University, San Francisco’s business school before going to work for Fortune 100 companies Sony and Oracle. In 2013 he joined the El Dorado County Sheriff ’s Office as chief fiscal officer. “I know it’s a very challenging job but with my background and many of the challenges I’ve had to face I believe it’s something that I can contribute to the county and do the best job I can to be a fair assessor,” Tuning said in his opening statement. “I feel like this is right down my wheelhouse and that I’ll be able to do a great job.” In DeVille’s opening statement he said he “understand(s) El Dorado County” and is familiar with the residents, real estate market and business community. “I believe it’s vital for an assessor to have a deep understanding of the community they serve n

See candidates, page A2

Photo by Michael Raffety

Syblon Reid Construction General Superintendent Paul Harlow walks along Flume 5 on a tour May 2 of repairs to El Dorado Irrigation District’s canal system.

EID flume repairs

A race to replace

Michael Raffety Staff writer

T

ouring El Dorado Irrigation District’s flume replacement projects May 2 it was clear water would be flowing again soon. Flumes 4, 5, 6 and 30 took damage last year when the Caldor Fire scorched the steep upcountry slopes where the canal system captures water for EID customers and for power generation. Total repair costs came in around $25 million. The original contract with Syblon Reid was to construct 6 miles of roads this season and then rebuild Flume 30 the following season for $8 million. Instead, both the roads and concreting Flume 30 at the exit of the Mill-to-Bull Creek Tunnel needed to be done in one season to get the destroyed flumes working for EID in time to capture spring rain and snowmelt. Syblon Reid was awarded an emergency contract to concrete Flumes 4, 5 and 6 for time and materials not to exceed $17 million. EID hydro crews rebuilt

Foaming concrete is filled in behind Flume 6. 147 feet of Flume 4 as a wood flume because the structure was reasonably intact. Syblon Reid’s total concrete canal construction was 1,085 linear feet of steel-reinforced U-channel canal. When EID General Manager Jim Abercrombie brought the emergency contract to the board Sept. 13, he called it “the largest and most costly effort to restore that portion of our water supply.” On a tour of project progress Feb. 17 the future site of the concrete section of Flume 4 was

about 30 feet below the repaired wooden section of Flume 4. That concrete U-shaped canal was completed and connected to the wooden flume that El Dorado Irrigation hydro crews had reconstructed. The reason for digging down so far at the junction with the wooden Flume 4 section was the discovery of an old slide that had to be removed to find a solid base from which to build back up. Two tasks were under way May n

See flume repairs, page A7

SOLAR + BATTERY IS NOW AFFORDABLE! • Roof and Ground Mount Installations • Includes Premium US made 400 Watt solar panels and Premium microinverters each with 25 year manufacturer and labor warranty

Financing with as little as

ZERO

Act NOW to Avoid Higher Costs when NEM 3 Passes!

Down or Out Of Pocket!

(530) 344-3237 • 3867 Dividend Drive, Suite C, Shingle Springs • info@SolarSavingsDirect.com • solarsavingsdirect.com


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Mountain Democrat, Friday, May 13, 2022 by mcnaughtonmedia - Issuu