4th Annual FASHION SHOW EL DORADO COUNTY
A CHARITY GALA SUPPORTING A NEW BEGINNING FOR PEOPLE SEEKING A BETTER WAY OF LIFE AFTER INCARCERATION
FOOD AUCTION FASHION FUN
Thursday, June 1st, 2023 ~ 6PM Serene Ranch 5601 Gold Hill Road, Placerville, CA $35 PER TICKET www.newbeginningsgoldcountry.org
PRESENTED BY NEW BEGINNINGS
Dress up in your favorite western attire and join us for an evening of finger foods, fashion, and fun, featuring clothing from many local shops. Models include many of your favorite community leaders! Proceeds benefit our non-profit, helping improve our community by helping people get a chance at a successful life after incarceration.
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Volume 171 • Issue 148 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Monday, December 19, 2022
Alleged sexual predator arrested in sting Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
Placerville police officers take Diamond Springs resident Joshua John Bowen into custody outside of a Broadway motel Dec. 8. Bowen is accused of inappropriate contact with minors.
Placerville police say they took into custody 45-year-old Diamond Springs resident Joshua John Bowen Dec. 8 after a “sting” operation on charges related to inappropriate contact with minors. The Placerville Police Department launched an
Courtesy photo
initiated a “sting” operation, where Bowen was told to meet the juveniles at the National 9 motel on Broadway for “sexual activities,” police officials state. While the Crime Reduction Team kept an eye on Bowen, patrol units moved in to take him into custody as he checked into the motel. Bowen was then interviewed n
See Predator, page A3
From Camino to Kuwait lil’ fir makes the day
Government center to get security boost
Krysten Kellum Editor
Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
U.S. Air Force Col. Veronica “Polly” Raffetto won’t be in Placerville for Christmas with her family this year but she’s feeling a little bit closer to home after receiving a special delivery in the mail — a big brown box containing a 2-foot silver tip cut from a Camino farm. The package arrived in Kuwait Dec. 11, where Raffetto has been deployed since October. Raffetto thanked Gerri Hyder of Indian Rock Tree Farm, who grows the mini conifers and organizes the Trees for Troops program, “It was the highlight of my day to receive (the tree) and made even more special knowing that it came from Camino, just up the road from my home …” Hyder told the Mountain Democrat four boxes were sent to military personnel from El Dorado County who are deployed overseas this holiday season. She is continuing a tradition started by her late husband Larry Hyder and the late Carl Borelli. Inside the package Raffetto also found decorations, letters from school children, snacks and toiletries.
The El Dorado County Government Center in Placerville will soon get security detail due to increased safety concerns in the area such as homeless individuals soliciting and break-ins occurring after dark. The security addition will be provided by the El Dorado County Sheriff ’s Office. Supervisors have collectively recognized issues relating to the Government Center’s security even without the planned navigation center nearby up and running. “We already have homeless around the Government Center but there is a concern we’ll have more and we don’t know what types of impacts that may have, so we want to be as proactive as possible,” said Chief Administrative Officer Don Ashton at the Dec. 13 Board of Supervisor’s meeting. District 5 Supervisor Sue Novasel noted supervisor’s chambers had been broken into after the Sheriff ’s Office moved out of the Government Center in 2019. “That was an eye-opener because I didn’t realize we didn’t have video but there was no one here and we didn’t find that out until days later,” Novasel said. “I do think this is way overdue. I think this is and has been a concern for employees n
investigation after Bowen reportedly contacted two teenage boys on social media, sharing pornographic photographs and engaging in “inappropriate” dialogue, according to a news release. The alleged victims, aged 13 and 16, live in Placerville. After finding evidence of the accusations, PPD’s Crime Reduction Team put Bowen under surveillance and
See Government center, page A5
n
Courtesy photo
U.S. Air Force Col. Veronica “Polly” Raffetto shows her decorated Trees for See delivery, page A2 Troops silver tip adorning her room in Southwest Asia.
Permanent shelter could be built in 2 years Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
El Dorado County is moving forward with
its plan to implement a permanent homeless shelter/navigation center, which staff is confident can be done in two years. Deputy chief administrative officer Laura Schwartz shared a timeline with county supervisors at their Dec. 13 board meeting while presenting a revised capital work plan including a construction budget for the navigation center at 300 Fair Lane, the former site of sheriff ’s headquarters adjacent to the Government Center in Placerville. The revised plan also included tenant improvements for the old juvenile hall at 299
jurisdictions that have built navigation centers. “I think there is value in letting the temporary navigation center get up in running … see how it is going,” said District 3 Supervisor Wendy Thomas. “That may change our mind as to what we need in a more permanent location.” Additionally, the recommendation suggested Health and Human Services appropriations and American Rescue Plan Act funds be transferred to the Accumulative Capital Outlay Fund to help cover navigation center construction costs and improvements
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
The county’s permanent homeless shelter is proposed to go in at the site of the former sheriff’s headquarters at 300 Fair Lane in Placerville. Fair Lane, where the temporary navigation center is on track to open mid-January, Schwartz told the Board. Schwartz also brought forward a
recommendation to direct staff in preparing request for qualifications and request for proposals documents for a designbuild contract for the
permanent facility. These documents will help collect information based on temporary navigation center statistics, along with other information from
n
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