Mountain Democrat, Monday, August 2, 2021

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Hands4Hope celebrates the grand opening of its Placerville youth center.

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550 Main Street Ste D Placerville, CA 95667 530-626-8651 ® ®

Stacey M Caso-Turk, AAMS , CRPS Financial Advisor 550 Main Street Ste D Placerville, CA 95667 530-626-8651

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Volume 170 • Issue 90 | 75¢

mtdemocrat.com

Monday, August 2, 2021

Oak Ridge grad Mefford fourth fastest in backstroke Thomas Frey Staff writer

Mountain Democrat photo by Jana Rossi

Bryce Mefford fans at a near-capacity watch party at El Dorado Saloon in El Dorado Hills surrounds a big screen for the Tokyo Olympics 200-meter backstroke final Thursday night.

second faster than he did in the semifinals the day before, but it wasn’t As Bryce Mefford enough and Greenbank and Luke Greenbank picked up the bronze sped through the final medal by finishing .77 lap of the 200 meter seconds ahead. Olympic backstroke Murphy, the 2016 gold final in Tokyo Thursday, medalist in the event, it was clear they were finished second while in a race of their own. Rylov won gold with a Russian Evgeny Rylov time of 1:53.49 — an and American Ryan Olympic record. Murphy were ahead. Mefford competed in Bryce Mefford Mefford, a 2017 graduate the 2016 U.S. Olympic of Oak Ridge High Trials in Omaha as a School, and Greenbank, a 23-year-old state champion 17-year-old. This year Englishman, were fighting for the final he found his way back to Omaha for spot on the Olympic podium. n See Mefford, page 3 Mefford, 22, swam nearly a full

Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian

The Best Western in Pollock Pines has been used to house medically vulnerable homeless people since April 2020 as part of Project Room Key.

El Dorado County plans to extend Project Room Key Eric Jaramishian Staff writer El Dorado County will extend its contract with the owners of the Best Western hotel in Pollock Pines to continue to house the local homeless population. The discussion of the initiative, called Project Room Key, took place at the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday meeting. The topic was pulled from the consent calendar to make room for further clarification and discussion. No proposals were made to purchase the property but rather to extend existing contracts first signed in April 2020. Renting out the Pony Express Trail hotel’s rooms was a response to the COVID-19 crisis and orders to house medically vulnerable homeless PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE

individuals. Lifting of COVID-19 restrictions triggered termination of the 16-month contract. The new contract will have a six-month timeline but is meant to be flexible, depending on how rampant COVID-19 becomes, said Daniel Del Monte, deputy director of county Health and Human Services. COVID-19 homeless grant funds and HHSA funds are used to pay for the rooms. Health and Human Services Director Don Semon said about 55% of homeless individuals who utilized Project Room Key went through an exit program and into temporary or permanent housing. Thirty-five are in permanent housing and 18 are in n

See Project room key, page 6

File photo by Cecilia Clark

At National Night Out festivities in Pollock Pines last year, 4-year-old Ryder Premock of Placerville takes on El Dorado County Fire Protection District firefighter Derek Duncan in a jumbo Jenga challenge. NNO parties will be in full swing this year throughout El Dorado County as first responders and neighbors come together to build community and enjoy a little barbecue, fun and games as part of the annual, nationwide event.

National Night Out parties are back Eric Jaramishian Staff writer The much-anticipated National Night Out returns this year to El Dorado County, bringing back neighborhood block and community parties Aug. 3. Established in 1984, National Night Out is a day to bond communities

with their local law enforcement and first responders at family-friendly events the first Tuesday in August. Last year was different for Placerville National Night Out because of COVID-19, transforming it into National Night Eat Out, with other communities still holding n

See NNo, page 6

CDC: Mask up, no matter vaccination status Mountain Democrat staff Coronavirus cases are on the rise in California, forcing officials to reconsider restrictions. On Thursday, 53 new COVID-19 cases were reported by El Dorado County, with 40 of those cases being on the West Slope. On Tuesday, 48 cases were reported countywide and on Wednesday, 27. This brings the total number of cases reported in El Dorado County since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 to 11,063. There have been 120 deaths, none this past week. Ten people were in the county’s two hospitals as of Thursday,

including seven in intensive care units. With cases rising every day, and 11 of them confirmed to be of the Delta variant in El Dorado County from early May to mid-June, county officials are advising those who are not yet vaccinated to continue wearing a mask in public settings, continue social distancing and to maintain similar protocols to when COVID-19 first appeared in the U.S. Carla Hass, director of communications and outreach for El Dorado County, said while cases of the Delta variant are rising, it’s hard to know as quickly which cases are the variant due to longer testing times. “It takes a long time for us to get that information because the specimens are

randomly sampled and it’s taking two to three weeks to get that information back,” said Hass. As restrictions continue to fluctuate across the country, the larger issue of vaccination and tracking the spread of the virus is one that El Dorado County has yet to fully get a handle on. “The state has two different systems with which they collect and provide cases,” said Hass. “The two systems don’t talk well with one another. We are also dependent on people’s willingness to talk to our contact tracers, so when a case is reported to us, a contact tracer calls that person and basically n

See Mask up, page 6

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