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Local artists embrace nature’s beauty and their free time.
Sports, A6
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170
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
th
Volume 170 • Issue 95 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, August 13, 2021
Woman pleads guilty to mail theft, bank fraud News release
Courtesy graphic
SACRAMENTO — A Contra Costa woman who was arrested last year in El Dorado Hills with five trash bags full of stolen mail pleaded guilty Monday to bank fraud and possession of stolen mail, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, between April and August 2020 Desiree Brianna Bello, 27, and co-defendant Richard Beldon Waters III, 29, perpetrated a mail theft and bank fraud scheme throughout Northern California. The scheme involved stealing U.S. mail from residential mailboxes and harvesting bank cards, identification documents, financial
The new bridge to Mosquito will tower some 400 feet over the historical Mosquito Bridge used today to travel over the South Fork of the American River to get from Placerville to Mosquito.
New bridge to Mosquito to be
‘engineering feat’ Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
will cost $8.5 million and actual construction of the The El Dorado bridge $62 million. County Department Most of the funds of Transportation is — 99.9% — will another step closer to come from the beginning work on a state’s Highway ridgetop-to-ridgetop Bridge Program bridge that will and the Sacramento connect Placerville Municipal Utility to the community of District will provide Mosquito and take the rest. vehicle traffic off of Construction is the current one-lane expected to take Mosquito Bridge two to three years to constructed in 1939. Mountain Democrat file photo by Thomas Frey complete. Smeltzer So far, the design The Mosquito Bridge, which can be traced back to 1867 and was completely said road closures and permits have rebuilt in 1939, will remain in place for cyclist and pedestrian use. will be necessary to been finalized, a tie the bridge in with high-cost agreement construction management services, executed and a request for proposal existing roads. Closure periods will which was approved unanimously. has been filed for construction be similar to those required each management support. year to maintain the existing bridge. What’s next? DOT will go through Jacobs Quincy Engineering has been Engineering for construction Transportation staff anticipates contracted to design the bridge. management support. The company beginning construction in spring The design calls for a balanced will will be responsible for advisory 2022, said Matt Smeltzer, DOT cantelever segmental construction. services regarding the new bridge, deputy director of engineering. “There’s a heck of a lot of at a cost of slightly more than $4.5 Construction funding is expected reinforcement and prestressed, million for services. to be authorized by December and high-strength steel that goes into DOT staff took the proposal the project put out to bid around these structures … they call it the same time. to county supervisors Tuesday, n See bridge, page A9 Total construction management asking they award the request for PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
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See Guilty, page A9
Homeless man suspected of sparking fire Mountain Democrat staff A transient man was arrested Aug. 3 on suspicion of starting a wildland fire off Quartz Mountain Drive in Placerville that same day. Placerville Police Department Homeless Outreach Team officers spotted smoke coming Daniel Dwaine from the Spreier area, private property frequented by transients where years ago there was an encampment, and headed up to the scene where they saw Daniel Dwaine Spreier, 43, running from the fire, according to Police Chief Joseph Wren. Spreier was detained and interviewed by officers who determined there was probable cause to charge him with unlawfully causing a fire, a felony offense. Spreier was also reportedly carrying a n
See Suspect, page A9
10 arrested in South Tahoe meth ring bust Bill Rozak Tahoe Daily Tribune SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Local and federal authorities arrested several South Lake Tahoe residents Tuesday, including four that were allegedly involved in drug trafficking in and around South Lake Tahoe and Stateline. Federal arrest warrants were executed for four South Lake Tahoe residents alleged to have trafficked narcotics and illegal weapons in the area —
Frank Ray Bacon, 53, Patricia Louise Ekizian, 69, Joshua Daniel Wilson, 34, and Lindsey Marie Ketchen, 25. Wilson was also arrested for dealing firearms without a license, according to a press release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The four were held Wednesday morning without bail in the Sacramento County Jail. In addition to the federal arrests, six South Lake Tahoe residents were arrested on
state narcotics or weapons charges as a result of the investigation — Thomas Adams, 51, Kayla Cheyene Carver, 26, Timothy Austin Pannel, 28, Angelina Monique Perez, 29, Jordan Eli Poyner, 26, and Derek Ryan Silva, 24. Those six suspects were in custody Wednesday morning in the El Dorado County Jail. Adams was arrested for a felony fugitive warrant and also misdemeanor driving on a suspended license and has bail listed at $1,500.
Carver is being held on $160,000 bail for transporting a controlled substance and also being a felon in possession of a firearm. Austin is being held with a bail of more than $200,000 for five felonies, including two weapons charges and a charge for selling narcotics. Perez is being held on multiple felonies and has a bail of $135,000. Poyner and Silva each have a $160,000 bail n
See Bust, page A8
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