C ALI FORN IA’S OLDE ST NE W SPAPER
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– Weekend Edition – VOLUME 174 • ISSUE 26 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2025
Honors for ‘Shep’
Courtesy photo
Erin Levinson recites a poem at the El Dorado County Poetry Out Loud event held earlier this year. She went on to impress state judges with an original poem.
EDHS student wins statewide
Mountain Democrat photo by Shelly Thorene
Firefighters from El Dorado Hills, Georgetown, Rescue and Garden Valley fire departments gather on Ponderosa Road with family friends of late firefighter Lucas Shepard, 43, of Rescue to honor the family as they returned home. Shepard died March 14 while on a family vacation in Hawaii. According to Georgetown Fire Chief Glenn Brown, Cal Fire firefighters were stationed near the family’s home and there were mourners on several overpasses between Shingle Springs and Sacramento.
POETRY-WRITING COMPETITION Dealership makes personal, meaningful donation
Mountain Democrat staff
E
rin Levinson, the 2025 El Dorado County Poetry Out Loud Champion, took first place in California’s Statewide poetry-writing competition, Poetry Ourselves. Levinson read her winning piece, “Metaphors,” during the Statewide Poetry Out Loud competition in Sacramento on March 16. She told the Mountain Democrat she wrote her poem specifically for the competition, drawing inspiration from personal experiences. “’Metaphors’ was inspired by my struggle to connect on any meaningful level with my peers,” Levinson explained. “I’m very passionate about global issues such as world poverty and habitat destruction, and very few people I know can relate to these feelings. Most people’s priorities are understandably on a smaller scale. This creates a kind of constant loneliness for me and I wanted to try to communicate that (futile as the effort may have been) with brutal honesty and an edge of satire. “I also tried to allude to the communication gap between all of us; each of us lives on our own little island and can never quite understand what it’s like to be another person,” she continued. “I believe that’s the root of every single one of the evils people inflict on each other.” Levinson said she enjoyed reading her poem live
Shelly Thorene Staff writer
S
hingle Springs Subaru Vice President Bryant McCarver and his family gathered with staff members at the dealership on March 24 to present an $80,000 check to UC Davis Chair of Orthopedic Surgery Lor Randall. The McCarvers have a special relationship with Dr. Randall as he performed surgery on Kate McCarver, removing a lethal tumor in 2018 when she was 15 years old. Half of the $80,000 donation came from Subaru customers through the Share The Love program and the other half Mountain Democrat photo by Shelly Thorene was a match by the dealership. Kate McCarver, 21, holds a trophy for her orthopedic surgeon, Dr. R. Lor Randall, Back when the Ponderosa center, right, along with her family at the Shingle Springs Subaru dealership on sophomore was away at a Monday. Her father, Bryant McCarver, vice president-executive general manager volleyball camp in Long Beach at the dealership, matched customers’ donations of $40,000 to donate a total of she developed pain in her arm $80,00 for the year through the Share the Love program. The dealership has donated and “knew something just wasn’t $495,000 so far to fund cancer research at UC Davis Medical Center. Left to right, Max
■ See POET, page A4
MAIL LABEL
■ See DONATION, page A5
McCarver, Bryant McCarver, Kirsten McCarver, Kate McCarver, Dr. R. Lor Randall, Lolo McCarver, Hunter and O’Connell.
Supervisors opt out of making EDHCSD director appointment Noel Stack Editor
“What a mess.” “Absolutely ridiculous.” El Dorado County supervisors weighed in on the El Dorado Hills Community Services District Board of Directors situation regarding its vacant seat and ultimately decided to take no action at the March 25 meeting. District 1 Supervisor Greg Ferrero asked his fellow supervisors to support a motion initiating the appointment process at the county level with the intention of appointing someone to the
open seat by late April. His motion died for lack of a second, effectively kicking the issue back to the EDCHSD, which will now have to hold a special election to fill the position. Ferrero gave a brief background on the issue, explaining the disagreement over EDHCSD Director Chuck King’s resignation and the remaining four directors’ inability to reach a consensus regarding how to fill the now-declaredopen seat. “I’ve been watching the meetings,” Ferrero said. “I’ve been very apprehensive about getting involved and I wish this wasn’t in front of us right
now. I don’t think the county should have to get involved. I was very hopeful that the directors would reach an agreement.” Noting the time frame — an election would be held in November 2025, leaving the EDHCSD with four directors until December 2025 — and anticipated expense of at least $75,000 to hold a special election, Ferrero advocated for the appointment process, which would have a fifth director on the EDHCSD board this spring. Ferrero said both he and District 2 ■ See APPOINTMENT, page A9
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