The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services sponsors Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) in our county. CERT is a group of local residents who have volunteered many hours attending training to learn basic skills to save lives and protect property in the aftermath of a major disaster.

Our camera club, El Dorado Camera Club , has been invited to show some of the members photos in the Cameron Park Library. I have the honor of being the first one to show my prints. There is room for 6-8 prints and so I have been poring over my photos trying to find a theme and some photos that would represent me as a photographer. I first thought that I would show my landscapes because it is a library, after all. But, I don’t think landscapes represent what my passion as a photographer really is. I love a beautiful landscape, but in the back of my mind I always think a person would really bring the landscape to life. With that in mind, I’ve chosen several of my portraits for printing and as is always the case, sometimes they look great on the computer screen, but when they are printed, I find things that I don’t like. So, I’m printing a few extra just in case.

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The Food Bank of El Dorado County is once again in need of volunteers.

We are putting together our Hidden Hunger, newsletter tomorrow, Thursday and Friday of this week.

And you guessed it, we need your help!

Do you have any time available you can come in and spend with us?

We are looking for volunteers for both Thursday and Friday, the 18th and 19th from 9-1pm.

Please reply to this email and let me, know if your teenager, aunt, mother, mother-in-law or yourself are available to spend a day with us prepping newsletters. Thank you for your ongoing commitment and support to the Food Bank of El Dorado County.

We couldn’t do it without you! Remember together we are making a difference!

“Graner House” was built in 1854 on the Gold Hill Ranch and will restored and become a museum. The big keyaki tree at right has been growing since the time of the Japanese colonists. (RYOKO OHNISHI/Rafu Shimpo)

By RYOKO OHNISHI
RAFU STAFF WRITER
The American River Conservancy, a nonprofit land preservation organization, announced last week that it has purchased the 272-acre Gold Hill Ranch, the former site of the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony. The ranch in Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif., is known for being the location of the gravesite of “Okei-san,” the first Japanese woman buried on American soil.

Get ready for another “spectacular” event. The Cameron Park CSD has confirmed that it will hold the 9th Annual Summer Spectacular on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at Cameron Park Lake in Cameron Park, California.

El Dorado County Supervisor candidate and local business owner Harry Norris has been endorsed by El Dorado Hills Community Services District board member Tony Rogozinski, library advocate Betty January, community leader Buzz Nunn, and El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) board members John Fraser, Bill George, George Osborne and George Wheeldon.

Placerville, CA . . . At its June 11 meeting, the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) Board of Directors unanimously approved and authorized execution of a cost-share agreement to fund the process of applying for water rights that were reserved long ago for El Dorado County, but are currently held by the City of Sacramento. In initiating discussion of the matter, Board member John Fraser declared, “We need to send a message that it’s time to move forward.

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Argosy E-Cycling Holds Free E-Waste Recycling Event Electronic Recyclers: 

WHAT: Argosy e-cycling in Shingle Springs will hold electronic waste collection events on Saturday and Sunday, May 19th and 20th and on Saturday and Sunday, May 26th and 27th. The collections will run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. both weekends. 

The California Public Employees' Retirement System approved a cost-cutting plan that would increase co-payments for some office visits and allow Blue Shield of California to exit El Dorado County.

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The CalPERS board on Wednesday also approved Blue Shield's proposal to withdraw from parts of El Dorado County, where the health maintenance organization's costs are 39 percent higher than CalPERS statewide average.

In mid-winter of 2006 and 2007, approximately 600 students from the school participated in interactive sessions at several learning stations on the Bass Lake site. The stations focused on the importance and mechanisms of the hydrological cycle, historical and cultural uses of water, how water is treated for human use, and water conservation. The children also read from their own reports and journals to explain what they had found and learned in their school yard as part of the NEST curriculum. Each group spent part of the time digging to the appropriate depth for the hundreds of native seedlings and small plants that went into the ground. As the final step, they watered the new plantings.

Green Valley Community Church, a proud supporter of our local Boys & Girls Club, is offering your child a week of fun while the club is closed for vacation. Powerhouse Kids Camp (PKC) will be located at the Green Valley Community Church campus and is open to all students lst-8th grade. Each day your child will be offered an exciting day full of activities sure to make everyone smile. This will be a week your child won’t want to miss!

On Tour in the Western Mountains • May 14-25
Dr. Herbert Geisler and Nancy Jessup, directors

The Iron Point Connector will add return service, by request, to the Fairgrounds Park & Ride on Armory Dr. in Placerville on its first loop of the day (7:18am). Passengers will now have a “reverse” commute option from Folsom and the Light Rail to the Government Center every weekday morning. The Connector will discontinue Saturday service effective 5/5

With record low rainfall increasing the risk of wildfires statewide, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared May 6-12 Wildfire Awareness Week. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) will host public events throughout the state to educate Californians about wildfire safety and preparedness.

In El Dorado County, the average cost of a hospital stay for a public employee is $7,373 a day. Statewide, the average cost is $4,825 a day for the health plan covering the California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS. What's up?

. Residents Urged to Report Dead Birds and Tree Squirrels and Eliminate Mosquito Breeding Sources

Bureau of Land Management, has scheduled six springtime guided field trips to view wildflowers and other features at the Pine Hill Preserve in western El Dorado County. The Pine Hill Preserve is one of the most botanically diverse areas in California with about 10 % of the California native flora represented in the Pine Hill area ecosystems. In addition, five plant species occurring in the Preserve are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, and three are found nowhere else in the world.

Comcast Launches IP-Enabled Phone Service in Placerville, Sacramento, Roseville, Marysville/Yuba City and Grass Valley Areas Central California becomes the latest region to offer a full suite of Comcast products for the connected home -- television, high-speed and voice

. Over the past four years, EID’s legislative advocacy program, including EID Board and staff meetings with top-level officials, have resulted in $22.25 million in federal funding for District projects and an additional $18.25 million that has been authorized but not yet appropriated.