There she sits, alone in the weeds, without purpose, and unattended. Her paint is faded, her cab is rusting, and her headlight is but an empty shell. No reason to worry; she has no place to run. She sits on a lonely stub of track, near an auto racetrack, not the saw mill she served from 1907 to 1953. No engineer to open her throttle, no fireman to raise her steam, not even a kid happens by to play engineer and head east to Caldor.
The Diamond and Caldor No. 4 sat for many years on the El Dorado County Fair-grounds. Eventually, concerned management decided to bulldoze a pit and bury the locomotive.
There She Sits Alone - D&C No 40
INRMP RFP open to Bid
INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN AND
ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT PREPARATION
The El Dorado County Development Services Department is seeking proposals from qualified consultants to conduct the development of the El Dorado County Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP) for the west slope of the County at 4000’ elevation and lower. This request for proposal (RFP) defines the scope of services and outlines
Guest Bartender Night at Wine Konnection
Proceeds Benefit Our Boys & Girls Club
Enjoy a wonderful selection of wine and delicious appetizers while supporting the Boys & Girls Club. It's a great way to meet and get to know others from the El Dorado Hills community. Bartenders will be Barbara Winn and gang!
When: Monday May 18, 2009
Live broadcast from Haunted Placerville
A special broadcast from The Bookery, a bookstore in the middle of haunted Placerville. Placerville is a very haunted gold-rush city located about 12 miles from Coloma, where gold was discovered in 1849. GRI has captured EVPs in the past from this location and we'll be talking about the history of the two bookstores here in the town center while our investigators conduct a live investigation. We will spend the entire night in the bookstore and will detail findings on a later show.
C.J. Humphreys of Placerville returned to victory lane
PLACERVILLE, California — After nearly a year and a half long dry spell, sprint car driver C.J. Humphreys of Placerville returned to victory lane Saturday night during the fifth Red Hawk Casino Championship point race of the season at ASA Sanctioned Placerville Speedway on the El Dorado County Fairgrounds.
Joining Humphreys in the Carl’s Jr. post race celebration were Pure Stock driver Tom Tilford who posted his third win of the year and Dan Brown Jr. of Nevada City who won his second feature in the Limited Late Model-Pro Stock class.
Casino's first-ever look at the health of Red Hawk
Weakened by the recession and the malaise in the gambling industry, Red Hawk Casino is off to a slow start and is reducing employment.
Staffing at the Shingle Springs casino has been reduced to 1,500 full-time equivalents so far, the company that manages Red Hawk said Thursday. Red Hawk employed 1,750 full-time equivalents when it opened in December.
Crystal Basin Cellars founder Joins Octus
John Argo has joined Octus Energy (OTCBB: OCTI) of Davis as director of energy projects and finance.
BOS Endorses Reopening Joe's Skate Park
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors has enthusiastically endorsed a proposal to restore to full-time use a popular Placerville skate park that since September has been operated Saturdays by volunteers from Green Valley Community Church.
Joe's Skate Park at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds was closed in May 2008 for public safety after a teenage boy was severely beaten near the site.
Since September, more than 720 people have signed up to use the park, said volunteer coordinator Diana Pecorilla.
Standing Still During Cougar Encounter Might Not be a Good Idea
A new study on sometimes fatal encounters between people and mountain lions suggests one conventional wisdom -- never try to run from one of the big cats -- might not always be the best advice.Staying put might make a person more desirable as potential prey and prompt an attack, said researchers at the University of California, Davis.
"Immobility may be interpreted by the mountain lion as a sign that you are vulnerable prey, either because you are unaware of its presence, or because you are disabled and not capable of escaping," said the study's lead author, psychology professor Richard Coss.
"Even though we found evidence that pumas will indeed chase and capture people who run, we also found that people who stand still are possibly more endangered," said Coss, an expert on predator-prey relationships. "There are more serious injuries when you're standing still."
The study's findings has raised the eyebrows of some wildlife experts in Nevada and California, who stand by previous recommendations when it comes to encounters with cougars. Among them: Do not run. If attacked,
EID Authorization of Shops, Warehouse, and Parking will Await Election Results
Several El Dorado County contractors eager for work will have to wait until after the May 19 special election on state budget-related propositions.The El Dorado Irrigation District will purchase the building permit for new shops, warehouse additions and parking improvements at its Placerville headquarters.
But board members said they will wait for election results before deciding whether to authorize $1.7 million to begin construction.
District officials fear that if voters reject the measures, the state will take property taxes from local agencies to balance the state budget. If that occurs, General Manager Tom Gallier said, money budgeted for the headquarters project might have to be used to meet other district needs.
Trip to London Via Placerville
Without anything else pressing for today anna suggested a quick road trip. our destination:
placerville, aka old hangtown, in the historic fields of california gold. the town is about 45 miles or so east of sac and is also on the way toward lake tahoe. placerville is also, i shit you not, the hometown of thomas kincaide, the self-styled 'painter of light', and should i make a comparison of u.s. art to food then kincaide would be a twinkie.It's been raining all weekend. and as we headed into the hills the downpour got heavier. it's not unusal for it to rain in may but every year we tend to forget that fact. still, it was warm and by the time we parked the car on main st the rain let up and finally stopped completely giving us an overcast but beautiful day.
What can i say. our neck of california is filled with historic gold rush towns. placerville got its nickname, old hangtown, because locals were quick back in the gold rush era to summarily execute folks from an old tree. that tree's long been cut down but there is a marker attached to the building where it once stood.
Even more exciting is a little used bookstore located on main st called the bookery. a maze of shelves and stacks of books
Census Bureau is Hiring in Placerville
The U.S. Census Bureau is looking to fill management positions in its offices in Elk Grove, Sacramento and Placerville as it prepares for next year's count.In all, 36 positions are available, ranging from office manager to assistant managers for administration, field operations, quality assurance, recruiting and technology.
The pay ranges from $19.25 an hour for the assistant managerial positions to $27 an hour for the office manager slots. The jobs last 18 months.
But you have to work fast: The application deadline is Tuesday.
Placerville Breeder-Trainer says Animals Not Abused in Donkey Basketball
MORAVIA, Iowa (AP) - A California woman who has been breeding and training donkeys for 30 years says donkey basketball is not cruel.Donkey basketball remains popular in Iowa, Nebraska and other rural states. The events often are held as school fundraisers.
Animal rights groups decry the games, saying the donkeys are mistreated by participants who ride them while shooting hoops.
But Crystal Ward of Placerville, Calif., says donkeys aren't harmed by being pulled if a halter and lead rope
Bag limit can have Gray and Fox Squirrels
Q: I used to have nothing but gray squirrels here in Placerville (about 2,000-foot elevation), but over the past two to three years, my gray squirrels began disappearing and now I have the eastern fox squirrels living in the same trees. It looks like they ran the gray squirrels out. Are the fox squirrels more aggressive than the gray squirrels and are they expanding their habitat? Sure looks like it. Which brings up another question: I've read they're good eating and am wondering if any considerations are being made for hunting them? If so, would they be included in the gray squirrel bag or is the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) considering a separate bag for them? - Bill K.
State Route 49 Realignment Study
The El Dorado County Transportation Commission invites the public to attend the State Route (SR) 49 realignment study open house 6 p.m. April 30 to learn about the project, and provide comments on the process and elements of the study. $1.8 MILLION JACKPOT WON AT RED HAWK CASINO
Life-changing
progressive jackpot is the largest in Northern California history
Sandi M. regularly visits Red Hawk Casino with her two best friends to play the wide-area progressive jackpots. She played Fa Fa Fa Fortune King™, an Aristocrat Technologies penny slot machine, on Sunday, April 19, while qualifying for the “100 Chances to Score” a Cadillac®
CTS giveaway. She returned to Red Hawk Casino on Monday, April 20, to try her luck on the same slot machine and hit the Hyperlink® progressive jackpot for $1.8 million after inserting only $20.
Sandi said that she plans to donate a portion of her winnings to her local food bank,
THEY ARE NOT REAL TAX BILLS
Placerville, April 21, 2009: A Los Angeles based company is trying to get your check for $179.00….. or $209.00 if you pay after May 27th. For this “service fee”, the company entices the property owner with an offer to submit paperwork and act as your agent. The most recent version charges an additional amount if a deadline has passed. Services they want to charge you for are provided by the Assessor’s Office or Assessment Appeal Board for FREE. Others, such as filling out a form, can be easily done by the property owner. These solicitations appear like a real tax bill, or an official notice, but they’re not.
Hundreds of alarmed local taxpayers are calling and visiting the Assessor’s Office about these misleading mailers; many of which contain false information. El Dorado County Assessor Tim Holcomb wants to alert the public that this and other private companies are not affiliated with any government office. The Assessor’s Office has already begun
Placerville Medical Pot Dispensary is Denied Permit
A medical marijuana dispensary in Placerville has been refused a permit to continue operation because of what city officials characterized as shoddy bookkeeping that raised questions about the business's legitimacy.
Mahala & Jamie to Wed in Lotus
So, Jamie created this blog after we met to chronicle our time together. For those of you who don't know our story, it's a fun one. Jamie and I were friends back in high school - he was a senior when I started 10th grade after we moved to Maryland in 1987 and after he graduated we lived a couple of blocks from one another. He says he had a huge crush on me then, but we were both shy an nothing ever came of it. We lost touch after I graduated high school.Plane Crash in El Dorado Hills Kills One
On April 17, 2009, at about 5:10 p.m., El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office personnel responded to a report of an airplane crash in El Dorado Hills.
Responding law enforcement and Fire/Rescue units located the site of the crash on
Crown Drive just west of El Dorado Hills Boulevard. This area is a moderately
developed residential sub-division and the impact was in-between two residences. No structures where damaged or involved. The wreckage was of a single engine Sportsman GS-2 Experimental aircraft. One person was pronounced dead at the scene. No other persons are believed to have occupied the airplane at the time of the crash.
The identity of the decedent will not be released until identification has been made and next of kin have been notified.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and will, in conjunction withthe El Dorado County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Unit, conduct an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Greg Michael, a local Federal Aviation Administration official, examines the wreckage of the plane that crashed into an El Dorado Hills driveway Friday.
The first sound was of an engine sputtering and trees snapping.
