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MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2022
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VOLUME 171 • ISSUE 142 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Winter warming center opens at Benham Park Mountain Democrat staff Scout Hall — the little log cabin that sits between the playgrounds at Placerville’s Benham Park — will serve as an overnight warming center for the local homeless population over the next two months. The warming center will only open if temperatures are below 35 degrees when dry or below 45 degrees when it’s raining, according to a statement from city of Placerville officials. With rain in the forecast and a low of 35, Thursday saw the first night of operation. As with last season’s shelter, homeless individuals will be bused to and from the site. Mountain Democrat photo by Krysten Kellum ■
See WARMING CENTER, page A5 Scout Hall is a meeting hall at Benham Park near downtown Placerville.
Mountain Democrat photo by Kat Mendenhall
An X-Vac hydro excavator uses water and vacuum technology to make way for PG&E lines going underground. Pictured Tuesday afternoon, crews were trying to find their way around a water main.
PG&E lines going under in Georgetown News release
Mountain Democrat photo by Sel Richard
Vance Dokes and mentor Dr. Ron Simms are now coworkers. Dokes joined Simms’ El Dorado Hills chiropractic team after completing a three-year program funded by Fostering Success and Significance, a local organization that provides scholarships and mentors for foster youth.
Local mentors have
GOT YOUR BACK
Sel Richard Staff writer
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ith a smile his face can barely
contain, Vance Dokes’ effervescence is unexpected and refreshing considering his humble beginnings in California’s foster care system. At 2 years old, Dokes was taken by Child Protective Services, his mother deemed unfit to care for him and his baby sister. After a stint in an orphanage, he was separated from his sister and sent to live with foster parent Lula Haynes in Chula Vista, for whom he has high praise. “She is a great mother,” Dokes said of Haynes. “She taught me a tremendous amount about respect and discipline.” While he feels fortunate to have spent
his childhood with Haynes, Dokes admits it was tough knowing he was a displaced kid. “I thought that basically if I’m going to do anything, I’m going to have to do it by myself,” he said. “Eventually you learn that the road is not as dark as it is perceived to be.” One of those lessons arose when his thirdgrade teacher, Mr. Johnson, instead of sending him to the principal’s office where he had spent many an afternoon, sat with Dokes making construction paper space ships and playing space wars. Mr. Johnson subsequently discovered that Dokes was an advanced reader and
encouraged him to test into the gifted program. But it wasn’t until 10th grade that his English teacher, Cynthia Larkin, told him he could go to college. “If it weren’t for those teachers and other caring people around me, I definitely wouldn’t be here today and I definitely wouldn’t be filled with all the love that I have,” said Dokes, the first to attend college in both his foster and biological family. He still talks with Larkin to this day.https://5bb dc6666c928cc4b9b2ba 5a33caa429.safeframe. googlesyndication.com/ safeframe/1-0-40/html/ container.html ■
See MENTOR, page A3
Pacific Gas and Electric Company is undergrounding approximately 2 miles of overhead power lines in downtown Georgetown. The underground power lines aim to reduce wildfire risk, increase reliability and further harden PG&E’s Georgetown distribution microgrid, according to PG&E officials. PG&E’s contractor, Underground Construction Inc., will be both trenching and boring to install all-new underground conduit and power lines and is working along the following roads through the end of January: • Highway 193 between Illinois Canyon Road and Main Street • Main Street between Highway 193 and Harkness Street • Harkness Street between Main and B streets • B Street • South Street between Harkness and Orleans streets Work is taking place from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, except holidays, weather permitting. One-way traffic controls, detours and brief traffic delays will be in effect at times and street parking may be limited. Crews will deliberately work small sections at a time to have minimal impact. Distribution microgrids are designed to support communities by safely isolating from the broader grid and using temporary generators to power “Main Street” corridors, critical facilities and shared community resources during public safety power shutoffs. PG&E’s Georgetown distribution microgrid is located near the South Street/Orleans Street intersection. The microgrid will allow PG&E to rapidly connect mobile generators to the site to power the downtown district (including a fire station, gas station, radio station, bank, community center, markets, hotels and restaurants, among other businesses, facilities and community services). The microgrid energization area includes approximately 50 PG&E customers. ■
See PG&E, page A5