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PLACERVILLE • 85 Placerville Drive (530) 303-8962 • JACKSON 705 S. State Highway 49 • (209) 560-6676 C ALI FORN IA’S OLDE ST NE W SPAPER
– E S T. 18 51
– Weekend Edition – VOLUME 174 • ISSUE 54 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2025
NEW PATHS TO WANDER
Mountain Democrat file photo by Thomas Frey
ORHS head coach Steve White, right, hugs senior Teagan Brown as other girls celebrate their Division 1 Sac-Joaquin Section championship victory at Golden 1 Center in February 2022.
Mountain Democrat photos by Shelly Thorene
David Conrad rides his mountain bike past brush piles from recent work completed by the Cal Fire crews on an access road for the Silver Pine claim behind the Stamp Mill in Gold Bug Park on June 30.
Steve White steps New trails add more recreation space at Gold Bug Park down as ORHS athletic Shelly Thorene director, teacher, T coach after 30 years Staff writer
■ Will remain on campus as assistant
girls basketball coach Thomas Frey
Mountain Democrat correspondent Since 1994 Steve White has been an encouraging presence who led Oak Ridge through exponential growth as athletic director, head girl’s basketball coach and math teacher. Now, the leader is stepping down from those three positions and will remain on the El Dorado Hills campus as an assistant girl’s basketball coach. Former head football coach and current flag football head coach Eric Cavaliere will take over as athletic director. “I’ve got big shoes to fill,” Cavaliere said. “He just set an incredible example for me on how to lead a program like this.” White became the head girls varsity basketball coach in 1995 and won 704 games, four section
PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
■ See WHITE, page A4
hanks to the recent efforts of Cal Fire Amador-El Dorado Unit’s Ponderosa Fire Center crews, several new walking trails have been added to the existing trails at Gold Bug Park in Placerville, adding another half-mile for hikers with the added benefit of making the park more fire resilient. The new trails connect with the existing Stamp Mill, Spring Hill, Deer Hollow, Big Canyon and Vulture Claim trails. They now have a combined length of around 2.5 miles. The Ponderosa Fire Center crews began reducing ladder fuels in May 2024 and have treated approximately 30 acres of brush and dead hazard trees. Some of the areas they worked on were along the old flume lines in the park. Crews also added steps to steep sections of the trails. The Ponderosa pine and mixed oak and manzanita woodland
Gold Bug Park maintenance worker, blacksmith and historian Pat Layne, 82 of Shingle Springs draws the new trails on the old park trail map to show the areas added after Cal Fire Amador-El Dorado Unit Ponderosa Fire Center crews worked on the 62.7 acre property. Layne said he and the staff at the park are working on naming the new trails and he plans to make new signs for visitors to help them find their way along the trails. had received treatment from masticating machinery 10 years ago and more recently, goats.
Gold Bug Park maintenance worker, blacksmith and historian ■ See TRAILS, page A4
New EDH Fire Engine 91 gets a celebratory ‘push’ into service Richard Edelman
El Dorado Hills Fire Department
Photo by Nick Sharples
The El Dorado Hills Fire Department placed in-service its newest apparatus, Engine 91, during a special push-in ceremony at Latrobe’s Station 91 on July 1. which serves the communities of Latrobe, El Dorado Hills and El Dorado County. EDH Fire Chief Mike Lilienthal was joined by community members, fire department staff and EDH Fire Board directors for the momentous occasion. The push-in ceremony is a tradition where firefighters and community members physically push the new apparatus into the fire station bay. This practice dates back to the days of horse-drawn fire engines, honors the history of firefighting and welcomes the new engine into service. There was also a symbolic water transfer from the old Engine 91 into the new Engine 91. This symbolizes a “passing of the torch” to the new apparatus that will be responding to emergency calls out of Station 91.
Engine 91 gets its ceremonial push into Station 91 in Latrobe. The new engine is well-equipped to handle many different types of emergency calls.
■ See ENGINE 91, page A4