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Volume 172 • Issue 8| $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Monday, January 23, 2023
White ousted Eric Jaramishian Staff writer Todd White is now out as District 2 Supervisor George Turnboo’s assistant. The decision came during an El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting Jan. 17, where supes voted 4-1 in closed session to remove White from his Todd White position. Turnboo cast the only “no” vote. While county spokeswoman Carla Hass noted county officials cannot comment on personnel matters, White, who is also chairman of the El Dorado County Republican Party Central Committee, maintains the action was politically motivated. He told the Mountain Democrat his employment became jeopardized after flyers were sent out by the El Dorado County Republican Party in opposition of the county’s proposed homeless navigation center/shelter. White claims he was told by a high ranking county official Aug. 23, 2022, that the Board of Supervisors had discussed terminating his employment. Minutes n
See White, page A6
New supervisor on Eldorado National Forest Mountain Democrat staff
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Joe Stout is the new Eldorado National Forest supervisor. His first day on the job was Jan. 17. Based in Sacramento, Stout has served as the associate state director for the Bureau of Land Management in California since May 2015. Stout replaces Jeff Marsolais, who accepted an associate deputy chief position in Washington, DC. “I am excited to take on this new leadership role with the Eldorado National Forest and look forward to actively engaging with our staff, partners, organizations and local communities in the shared stewardship of the forest,” Stout states in an Eldorado National Forest news release. His leadership experience includes serving as acting BLM California state director from fall 2018 to early 2020. Prior to coming to California Stout spent six years in BLM’s Washington Office as the acting chief of staff for the Director’s Office, chief of the Decision
Joe Stout Support, Planning and National Environmental Policy Act Division and as a legislative affairs specialist. He also worked in Colorado as the acting associate state director, state office planning and NEPA coordinator and acting assistant field manager in the Kremmling Field Office. As forest supervisor, Stout will lead a team that oversees four ranger districts and manages programs in natural resources, fire and aviation management, public services and engineering. The Eldorado National Forest includes more than 600,000 acres within major watersheds of the American, Consumnes and Mokelumne rivers. These lands provide many ecological, economic and recreational benefits. Stout holds a master’s degree in public administration (environmental policy, management and law) from the University of Colorado in Denver. His undergraduate work was in sociology and environmental studies at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Along with his wife and two boys, Stout loves spending time in the outdoors, including backpacking, fly fishing and skiing.
Mountain Democrat photo by Sel Richard
Long-haul COVID has caused many struggles in El Dorado Hills resident Rich Downing’s life but he remains optimistic thanks to excellent care he has received at home and in medical offices.
The long haul
EDH resident fighting COVID complications Sel Richard Staff writer
“W
ithin a couple of hours, I couldn’t breathe and we rushed to the ER,” recounts El Dorado Hills resident Rich Downing. “My chest hurt like crazy. It was like an elephant was sitting on me.” Downing, owner of Window Screen Solutions & More, has been installing screens in the area for 25 years. Formerly from Pleasanton, he and his wife Gina visited close friends for dinner one evening. They were so enamored with El Dorado Hills, they bought a house in the same neighborhood the very next day. An active member
of the community, Downing has volunteered at the EDH Chamber of Commerce for 17 years, winning Ambassador of the Year multiple times. Then, in November 2020, Downing’s life turned upside down. After contracting COVID19 a week after his wife came down with the virus, his initial symptoms were nothing serious. But within days, he developed what is now known as COVID lung. Downing’s lung nodes had swelled to a degree that it made it impossible for him to cough anything up and clear his lungs. That was the beginning of Downing’s journey into what has become an unusually severe case study for long-haul COVID.
“I was taking three breaths for every normal breath,” he said. Hooked up to an IV for hydration and pain, his condition worsened with ulcerations on his tongue. “If I ate anything other than water, my tongue felt like it was on fire and at that time I would physically cry,” he said, describing lacerations so deep, they penetrated almost his whole tongue. In addition, Downing’s shortand long-term memory were deteriorating. “I don’t remember much of my childhood,” he said, describing old photos of his family in which he does not recognize himself. “We n
MORE fun MORE Executive Director Susie Davies, surrounded by live auction items, speaks at the Art and Wine with Something MORE event that returned to the El Dorado County Fairgrounds this year for the first time since the pandemic. The auction brought in tens of thousands of dollars for the nonprofit. The auction highlight — three in-home dinners for eight each offered by local community-minded chef John Sanders. They went for $6,000 a piece. Mountain Democrat photos by Noel Stack
Dapper gents Nello Olivo aka The Grapefather, left, and Lee Holifield, left photo, take a break from pouring wine at MORE’s event. Dozens of local wineries and restaurants participated in the Jan. 14 fundraiser. MORE artist Randy R., right photo, works on a new piece while attendees check out finished art on the gallery wall.
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