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– Weekend Edition – VOLUME 174 • ISSUE 36 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2025
Federal lawsuit NERVES OF STEEL pursued against EDCOE, bus driver Chris Woodard Staff writer
An attorney representing one of the alleged victims of former El Dorado County Office of Education bus driver Tarik Manasrah has filed a federal lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against the accused, EDCOE and several unnamed employees. The federal complaint follows numerous cases brought against EDCOE and Manasrah, who was arrested in 2023. The EDCOE driver who transported students with disabilities stands accused of sexually abusing multiple developmentally disabled passengers. Charges filed by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office include eight felony sex charges and one misdemeanor charge, including oral copulation, penetration, sodomy and sexual battery by force with a person incapable of giving consent. The federal complaint was filed in March by the Los Angeles-based law group Qureshi Law, which currently has ongoing civil cases against EDCOE in El Dorado County Superior Court. The civil trial is ■ See LAWSUIT, page A5
Mountain Democrat photos by Shelly Thorene
Two riggers, one on each end, use ropes to guide the new 180-foot-long pedestrian overcrossing as a 300-ton hydraulic crane hoists it into place between 10 and 11 p.m. on Missouri Flat Road Wednesday night. Clearance under the middle of the span is 17.5 feet and the weathered steel structure will feature recessed lighting.
Fee snafu prompts Pedestrain overcrossing in place on Missouri Flat Road unplanned revision Shelly Thorene Staff writer
Noel Stack
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Spectators on the sidewalk and parking lot nearby watch as rigging is put into place to hoist the new pedestrian overpass into place on Missouri Flat Road at around 10 p.m. Wednesday night.
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pectators enjoyed an engineering feat Wednesday night as crews installed a grade-separated overcrossing where the El Dorado Trail intersects Missouri Flat Road. This overcrossing will allow trail users to safely cross Missouri Flat Road, which averages nearly 30,000 vehicles per day, according to county Senior Civil Engineer Dustin Harrington. The El Dorado County Department of Transportation applied for a grant in 2014 to begin planning studies and design work for this project. Once the design was completed, and after several rounds of additional grant applications, the county was fortunate to finally receive construction funding in 2023, Harrington added. “We were competing with other areas in the state and getting these funds will be more difficult in the future as less money is available,” he shared Harrington said Missouri Flat Road will ■ See BRIDGE, page A8
Editor
The major update to El Dorado County’s Traffic Impact Fees approved in December 2024 after more than 18 months of work will get another overhaul after a computation error was discovered, county officials have confirmed. The El Dorado Count Board of Supervisors approved the new fee schedule at its Dec. 3 meeting, during which many public speakers asked for a delay as they didn’t have enough time to review all the information released with the agenda item. Over protest, supervisors voted 3-1 in favor of the major update and the new schedule went into effect Feb. 1; however, the following month, county Department of Transportation staff discovered the error. “Recently, while reviewing the latest building permit date and during preparation of the annual update to the TIF program. DOT staff identified a discrepancy between the permit data and the baseline growth analysis prepared by the county’s ■ See FEES page A8
Senior day care rates going up; services to consolidate Jo Carrerow
Mountain Democrat correspondent El Dorado County Senior Cay Care program rates will more than double over the next three years and the program will move out of El Dorado Hills, consolidating all services in Placerville. That decision came late last month after several discussions this year between the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, staff and the public. Senior day care rates have not changed since 2016. Enrollment application fees will go from $50 to $144 in year one, $245 in year two and $343 in year three. The senior day care daily rate will go from the $58 per day to $80 per day in year one, $104 per day in year two and $126 per day in year three. Extended hours, 30 minutes will go from $10 to $37 then $66 and finally $94. Late fees will jump from $2 per minute to $5 per minute over the three-year period. The client shower assistance fee will remain the same at $25. The new rates are the result of a fee study and direction of board policy to pursue full cost recovery, Chief Administrative Officer Sue Hennike explained to the board at the April 22 ■ See PROGRAM, page A5
Mountain Democrat photo by Noel Stack
The county has been providing senior day care services at the Gilmore Senior Center in El Dorado Hills since 2014 but a recent decision by the Board of Supervisors will end that program in the community, moving participants to Placerville should they wish to participate.