CHP crackdown issues 80 tickets on road that’s had fatal crashes
Bill Lindelof @ March 10, 2010 # Comments Off
The California Highway Patrol handed out 80 citations during the weekend along a stretch of roadway known for daredevil driving.
The special enforcement effort was conducted on Salmon Falls Road and Highway 49 in response to citizen complaints and fatal accidents, according to a CHP news release.
Patrol units and law enforcement aircraft combined to write tickets for violations that included passing over the double yellow lines, failure to wear a seat belt, speeding, drunken driving and cell phone use while driving.
Salmon Falls road, which snakes from El Dorado Hills to Highway 49 in rural Pilot Hill, has been the scene of a number of deadly motorcycle and car collisions during the past two decades.
A Nov. 29 crash on Salmon Falls Road killed two teens and a 20-year-old when a car slammed into a tree.
Several vehicles may have been racing on the road before three young people were killed in the solo car crash, investigators said. The accident remains under investigation, a CHP spokesman said Tuesday.
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Wireless surveillance watches for forest fires
Mark Glover @ March 10, 2010 # Comments Off
El Dorado Hills-based Vicom Wireless said Tuesday that it has deployed its first fire-detection system for the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Over two years, Vicom Wireless designed and built a forest fire surveillance and detection system for use throughout El Dorado County.
“Our system now helps protect over 31 million acres of private and public forests in California,” said James Cinquini, Vicom’s president. The Vicom system employs multiple high-definition pan, tilt and zoom cameras connected to wireless broadband Ethernet radios that transmit high-speed video surveillance data to a command center in Camino.
Compass and elevation information from camera sites enable fire-dispatch crews to pinpoint a fire site. Vicom’s system is billed as a cheaper, high-tech alternative to lookout towers and aircraft surveillance.
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El Dorado County grand jury applications available
Cathy Locke @ March 9, 2010 # Comments Off
Applications are available for El Dorado County residents interested in submitting their names for possible nomination to the 2010-11 El Dorado County grand jury.
The grand jury is not a trial jury. It acts as an investigative body to ensure that county, special district and city governments are effectively run. The judges of the Superior Court select names from among those submitted, as well as other nominees and currently seated grand jurors who wish to continue serving, and place them in a jury pool. Nineteen jurors are selected in a random drawing from that pool, a county news release states.
Jurors serve for one year. Final selection will take place at the end of June, and prospective jurors must be present.
The El Dorado County grand jury generally meets two or more times per month. In addition to the monthly business meetings, members frequently meet in committees to study particular concerns and problems. They also are called upon to confer with government officials and other citizens to gain information and insight on matters under investigation.
Jurors are paid $15 per day of meeting. Mileage expense is compensated at the rate payable to employees of El Dorado County.
Applicants must be United States citizens, at least 18 years old, have lived in the county for at least one year at the time they are sworn in and cannot hold an elected office.
Applications are available at the Superior Court, 495 Main St., Placerville, and online at www.edcgov.us/grandjury. Requests for an application/questionnaire also may be made by calling (530) 621-6451.
The deadline for submitting an application is May 7.
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District attorney to review Folsom death
Loretta Kalb @ March 9, 2010 # Comments Off
The Folsom Police Department has forwarded to the Sacramento County District Attorney the case of a man tied to a fatal encounter in the city’s historic district last month.
John Sandler, 44, of Sacramento died in the early morning hours of Feb. 14 after an apparent fight and a hit-and-run collision outside the City Slickers Sports Bar and Grill, 97 Natoma St.
“At the end of next week,the entire investigation will be submitted to the district attorney” for review and consideration, police spokesman Jason Browning said Monday.
The DA’s office will determine whether charges will be filed.
Police received a 911 call at 1:40 a.m. that morning of the encounter in which the caller said that a pedestrian had been hit by a truck in the sports bar parking lot.
The driver’s identity was not disclosed, and Browning said his name would remain confidential unless or until criminal charges are filed.
The driver of the truck reportedly drove away from the area, and police found Sandler critically injured. Folsom Fire Department personnel declared him dead minutes later.
About 15 minutes after the 911 report, a woman called Folsom police and said her father-in-law had been assaulted outside the same restaurant.
Police responding to her home found a truck parked outside that matched the description of the the hit-and-run vehicle.
The woman’s father-in-law was injured and required treatment at a local hospital, police said.
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Water and sewer rate hikes spark Placerville council recall bid
Cathy Locke @ March 9, 2010 # Comments Off
Hefty water and sewer rate increases have prompted a group of Placerville residents to seek the recall of two City Council members.
Vice Mayor Dave Machado and Councilman Mark Acuna said they were served with recall notices last Thursday.
The notices state that the councilmen “caused great financial and emotional hardship by raising water and sewer rates to unreasonable levels.”
The council, following public hearings, voted unanimously in October to increase sewer rates by 88 percent and water rates by 43 percent. They said the debt service on $45 million in state-required improvements to the city’s wastewater treatment plant and the need to upgrade an aging water distribution system left them no choice but to boost rates.
Machado was elected to his first term and Acuna to a second term in November 2008.
Acuna said he thinks the other three council members – Pierre Rivas, Patty Borrelli and Carl Hagen – were not targeted because their terms expire in November, the earliest a recall election likely could be held.
John Nerwinski, leader of the recall effort and a councilman in the 1990s, could not be reached for comment.
Although the rate increases appear to have precipitated the move, the notice of intent to circulate recall petitions also accuses the council members of allowing a conflict of interest to exist by having John Driscoll, a lawyer, serve as both city manager and city attorney.
It also says that they have failed to maintain streets and sidewalks to reasonable standards and have spent taxpayer money on “potential” new projects, rather than protecting existing infrastructure.
“It’s very disheartening, especially in a small town,” Acuna said.
He said he has championed efforts to help provide rate relief for low-income households.
The wastewater treatment plant improvements were critical, he said, noting that in 2006 the state Water Resources Control Board found the plant out of compliance and began levying fines.
Machado acknowledged that the rate increases are painful. But, he said, “If those who are pursuing the recall really dig into the facts and the background as I have … they’ll find there is not a lot of maneuvering room.”
He argues that redevelopment offers the best hope for funding infrastructure improvements and providing rate relief.
City Clerk Susan Zito said recall proponents would have to collect the signatures of 25 percent of the city’s 5,149 registered voters to qualify a measure for the ballot.
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El Dorado Irrigation District nears key financial changes
Cathy Locke @ March 8, 2010 # Comments Off
The El Dorado Irrigation District has completed a bond sale to refinance a portion of its debt and is close to a new agreement with employees to reduce labor costs.
Mark Price, district finance director, said the debt restructuring, completed Feb. 23, allows the district to postpone $12 million in debt payments for the three-year period of 2010-2012 until 2022-2024. It is one of several measures undertaken to reduce the amount of rate increases needed to meet the district’s required debt-service coverage.
General Manager Jim Abercrombie said today that negotiations are nearly complete for a new contract with employees and the final proposal will be discussed during a special meeting March 29. Details are still subject to a confidentiality agreement, he said, but they will be made public the week before the special meeting.
The proposal addresses a number of cost control issues and a tiered pension system for new employees, Abercrombie told the board.
The board also took a preliminary step toward offering two years of extra service credit as an early retirement incentive for up to 53 eligible employs. The maximum annual cost to the district, if all eligible employees participated, would be approximately $198,000.
Robert DiNunzio, human resources director, estimated three to five employees would take advantage of the incentive. Over the past three years, 37 employees have participated in such early-retirement programs, he said.
Some directors questioned whether it would be wiser to offer employees a lump sum of money rather than service credits, but Price said that would affect the district’s current cash flow. Payments related to the service credits would not begin until 2012.
Board members suggested layoffs also are an option for positions that could be eliminated.
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Advisory committee seeks nominations for members
SacBee -- Folsom/El Dorado News @ March 7, 2010 # Comments Off
People interested in taking an active role in Lake Tahoe issues are being sought for membership on the 2010-12 Lake Tahoe Basin Federal Advisory Committee.
Nominations will be accepted through April 2 for the 20-member committee, which alternates its quarterly or more frequent meetings between the lake’s north and south shores.
“Appointments will be made by the U.S. secretary of agriculture to establish a diverse committee membership that reflects Tahoe communities,” said Cheva Heck, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service’s Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
“The committee provides a critical role in advising the secretary of agriculture and Lake Tahoe’s Federal Interagency Partnership on programs and funds to achieve the goals of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program,” Heck said.
One representative will be selected from each of the following sectors: gambling, environmental, national environmental, ski resorts, both north and south shore economic/recreation, resorts associations, education, property rights advocates, science and research, California local government, Washoe tribe, state of California, state of Nevada, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, labor, transportation and Nevada local government.
Two members-at-large will also be selected. There is no pay for the two-year stint, but travel expenses are reimbursed, Heck said.
Committee application forms and other information can be downloaded in PDF format on the management unit’s Web site, http://fs.usda.gov/ltbmu, or may be obtained from Arla Hains of the unit by calling (530) 543-2773 or e-mailing ashains@fs.fed.us.
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Property owners urged to prepare early for wildfire season by clearing property
Cathy Locke @ March 7, 2010 # Comments Off
The El Dorado County Fire Safe Council is encouraging residents to prune trees and clear brush from their property this month in anticipation of a particularly dangerous wildfire season beginning as early as April.
The one certainty in California is that “we will have a wildfire season every summer,” Bill Holmes, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Amador-El Dorado unit, told county supervisors this week.
Damage from a December snowstorm has increased fire risks this year in the mountains and foothills. So-called “ladder fuels,” including downed trees and branches, have increased by 33 percent as a result of the Dec. 7 storm, a Cal Fire report says.
For more information, call the Fire Safe Council at (530) 647-1700 or go to www.edcfiresafe.org.
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U.S. judge sentences Folsom man, 2 other for torture, murder, robberies
Cathy Locke @ March 7, 2010 # Comments Off
A Folsom man and two other men have been sentenced in federal court to lengthy prison terms for their roles in a series of violent crimes, including torture and murder, and robberies.
U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb in Sacramento sentenced John That Luong, 38, of Folsom to life in prison, plus 80 years. Kevin Lattanaphom, 32, of Oakland, was sentenced to life in prison, plus 45 years, and Hoang Al Le, 39, of Daly City to 28 years and four months, according to an FBI news release issued Friday.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Stockton Police Department.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys William S. Wong and Jason Hitt, who prosecuted the case, evidence during the trial showed that between December 1995 and January 1996, Luong’s criminal organization planned and carried out four armed robberies, and attempted a fifth, of computer chip companies and a Stockton jewelry store.
Two of the robberies included an “action” team that conducted home invasions of owners from targeted businesses to extract burglary alarm codes, security information and keys to the business. Once the information and keys were obtained, a second “transport” team would drive to the business and steal the property.
During the invasion of Stockton jewelry store owner Vuth Hong’s home, Hong and his family were tortured for approximately four hours. The robbers used a blowtorch, a hot iron and firearms to extract information, according to the news release. Lattanaphom eventually shot and killed Vuth Hong, whose brother Srun Hong was shot four times but survived.
The defendants were found guilty on Dec. 14, 2007. Luong was found guilty on nine counts for his part as the leader and organizer of four violent armed robberies, one of which included the murder of Vuth Hong and shooting of Srun Hong. The jury returned seven guilty verdicts against robbery crew member and gunman Lattanaphom, and two guilty verdicts against Le.
Another defendant in the case, robbery crew chief Minh Hunh, 37, received nine guilty verdicts. His sentencing was continued, according to the news release.
In an earlier trial in 2003 arising from the same indictment, robbery crew members Thy Chann, 34, Bao Lu, 30, and Son Van Nguyen, 34, all of Oakland, were convicted of the same armed robberies and sentenced by Judge Shubb to life in prison.
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Folsom Lake Crossing eases traffic congestion in city
Cathy Locke @ March 7, 2010 # Comments Off
Folsom residents and business owners are well versed in the adage “no pain, no gain,” and none more so than those in the city’s historic district.
After enduring years of traffic congestion caused by the closure of Folsom Dam Road in 2003 because of security concerns, they hailed the opening of the Folsom Lake Crossing last March.
By most accounts, the new bridge just below Folsom Dam has provided traffic relief in its first year. Now business owners face a new challenge as work begins on an $8.4 million Sutter Street face-lift.
Mark Rackovan, public works director, said that as of November, approximately 18,000 vehicles were traveling Folsom Lake Crossing daily. That’s up from 15,000 shortly after the bridge opened but less than the 22,000 anticipated.
The poor economy has affected traffic, Rackovan said, noting that traffic figures are down 10 percent to 15 percent throughout the Sacramento region. About 25 percent of the vehicles crossing the American River in Folsom use Folsom Lake Crossing, and he expects that will increase to 33 percent.
Currently, Folsom Lake Crossing is closed from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. weekdays to allow blasting for an auxiliary spillway at Folsom Dam. The temporary closure began last summer and is expected to continue for several months.
Erin Whatley, co-owner of Folsom Bike and Folsom Grind at the intersection of Folsom Lake Crossing and Folsom Auburn Road, said traffic often backs up along Natoma Street from the historic district east to Green Valley Road during the daily closure.
The new bridge and nearby bike trail were the reason Whatley and her fiancé, Wilson Gorrell, opened their bicycle and coffee shops in the Folsom Gold Rush Plaza shopping center in October. Whatley said two customers, from Loomis and Carmichael, park their cars at the shop and bicycle to jobs in El Dorado Hills.
Sutter Street business owners say congestion on Riley Street and Rainbow Bridge has eased since Folsom Lake Crossing opened, but they cite residual traffic effects of the Dam Road closure.
“It’s improved. I’m not sure how much,” said Darrell Trimble, co-owner of Planet Earth Rising, a shop on Sutter Street east of Riley. “Traffic still seems to want to go on Riley.”
He thinks many commuters diverted to Rainbow Bridge when Folsom Dam Road closed decided they liked the route through the historic district.
The city installed temporary barriers on some residential streets to discourage cut-through traffic, and Rackovan said some people want them to remain.
“We’re trying to assure residents that removing the barriers won’t open the floodgates into their neighborhood,” he said.
The City Council is expected to decide the matter. If barriers are to be permanent, Rackovan said, they will be designed to match features planned as part of the Sutter Street face-lift.
The project to revitalize a four-block section of Sutter Street involves removing the landscaped median, replacing shed roofs on many buildings, widening sidewalks and adding ramps to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.
Work began in earnest Monday and is to be largely completed by Thanksgiving.
As jackhammers sounded outside their shops, several merchants said they expect the work to have less impact on business than the Dam Road closure. City officials have promised to phase construction to reduce disruptions.
“I think ultimately it will be an improvement,” said Judy Conroy, manager of Folsom Mercantile Exchange, which features antiques and collectibles. “It was time a lot of that needed to be redeveloped.”
Gabrielle Stark, an art consultant at American Visions Art Gallery, said she expects construction activities will take a toll on businesses.
But, she said, “Hopefully, it will give a fresh new look.”
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