Pray for JuniPEr

Eric Jaramishian

Staff writer

As five children recover from their injuries, including one fighting for her life in the ICU with her family asking for the community’s prayers, community members packed the multipurpose room at Pinewood Elementary School in Pollock Pines Monday evening for a California Highway Patrol-led meeting regarding the May 31 crosswalk incident in which the children were struck by a van.

CHP Commander Lt.

Rick Hatfield shared the latest information on the investigation into why an appliance van traveling down Pony Express Trail near Oak Street struck the preschoolers. Hatfield said the driver of the van, 21-year-old Jacob Glen Rose, was not suspected to be under the influence at the time of the crash. CHP investigators are considering if distracted driving may have played a role.

“Urgency is not on our radar right now,”

Hatfield said. “It is more important for us to conduct a thorough investigation versus speeding through this to get a faster resolution. We do not want to leave things uncovered.”

“To date we don’t have any reason to believe there’s any gross negligence,” he added.

“Outside of that we’ve got some great video surveillance so we are off to a good start. As far as the investigation goes, oftentimes we do not have that luxury. Normally cameras are not in the right angle or there is no Wi-Fi or witnesses, especially in our rural county, so I think those are all good starting points. We are confident about this investigation.”

Hatfield noted Rose has cooperated with investigators.

El Dorado County Department of Transportation Deputy Operations Manager

Brian Mullens was also present at the meeting to answer road-related questions. Many at the meeting called for better signage and reduced speed limits on that stretch of Pony

Express Trail. Mullens noted an upcoming road enhancement project between Sanders Drive and Sly Park Road, which includes where the children were struck. That project has been in the works since 2018 and is expected to go out to bid this July.

“We should know by the end of July who the successful contractors for that project are so we can get started on that soon,” Mullens said, adding the project would likely go into next year’s construction season. Mullens mentioned his staff is looking into moving the crosswalk in question farther east on Pony Express Trail and adding activated flashing LED lights at all crosswalks on Pony Express Trail.

“As far as speeding and stop signs, we will be internally reviewing all that this summer, just to make sure something hasn’t changed like state regulation,” Mullens said. “It can be considered for a three-way stop sign, but we will look at all the data.”

Mullens said his staff will also examine reducing the speed limit on that stretch of Pony Express Trail.

Every five years DOT staff takes speed radar data and applies the 85th percentile, which means the county can legally reduce the speed

A group of residents from El Dorado County met May 24 at the El Dorado Community Hall to discuss a newly devised plan to split a state off California. Rather than the State of Jefferson or New California State plans that aim to carve off a third or half the state, this new plan aims much smaller — making El Dorado County into El Dorado State.

It is a truth longdocumented that as long as there have been Californians, there have been people who wanted to stop being Californians without the hassle of moving.

“We want control of our government, of our schools and of our way of life. We’re pioneer stock around here and we have that indomitable spirit.”

— Sharon Durst, El Dorado State proponent

California was officially granted statehood Sept. 9, 1850; legislative records show that less than two years later, on April 5, 1852, Assemblyman N.R. Wood introduced legislation that would have separated California into two states. Wood’s legislation ultimately failed to gain traction, setting a pattern that would repeat itself time and again; in California’s 172 years as a state, more than 220 documented attempts to split it up have occurred, according to California State Library archives.

Sharon Durst, a Somerset resident, is well aware of the tradition of state-splitting, having been involved with the most recent State of Jefferson movement. Though signs and flags in support of Jefferson still adorn some lawns and flagpoles along the foothills and in Northern California, false starts at statehood attempts have slowed the movement’s traction significantly. Durst explained she too had moved on from the “dead” movement and thought she was done with any other statehood attempts, but the ideas kept coming along until she had a “eureka moment.”

“I just thought to myself one day, it would make just as much sense to just turn El Dorado County into a state,” Durst said. “And then it clicked; why couldn’t we be a state? We already