El Dorado County supervisor candidates will be featured in a forum at 7 tonight at the Pavilion, 1021 Harvard Way, El Dorado Hills.
John Knight and Harry Norris are vying for the District 1 seat, and Ray Nutting and Barbara Smiley are competing in District 2.
Paula Lee of the League of Women Voters of El Dorado County will moderate the forum.
Candidates will make opening and closing remarks, and respond to written questions from the audience.
Meeting set on prison project
The public will have an opportunity to comment on the potential environmental effects of a medical facility for state prisoners proposed for construction on Folsom Prison grounds.
A meeting is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Folsom Community Center, 52 Natoma St.
The California Prison Health Care Receivership Corp. announced that it is preparing an environmental study for a medical facility with up to 1,400 beds. It is proposed for a 70- to 80-acre site on the north section of the prison property.
It would employ about 1,600 medical professionals and correctional officers distributed over four eight-hour shifts, according to the project description.
The Folsom facilities would be part of an $8 billion program that calls for building seven such complexes statewide to improve health care for inmates. The program comes in response to a federal court ruling that the medical system in California's prisons is deficient.
The notice of preparation for the Folsom project is available online at www.cphcs.ca.gov/ project_const.aspx.
Written comments on topics to be covered in the environmental study will be accepted until 5 p.m. Oct. 15. They should be addressed to Traci Michel, CEQA Project Manager for the California Prison Receivership, URS/ Bovis Lend Lease Joint Venture, 2400 Del Paso Road, Suite 255, Sacramento, CA 95834, or e-mailed to traci.michel@ursblljv.com.
Safety series targets seniors
The El Dorado Hills Senior Center will present a program on "Seniors and Fire Safety" at 1 p.m. Oct. 7 as part of its Senior Health and Safety Series.
Teri Mizuhara of the El Dorado County Fire Protection District will discuss fire safety specifically as it relates to seniors.
Information packets will be provided.
Those attending also will have an opportunity to learn about the free smoke detector program offered by the El Dorado Hills Fire Department.
To make a reservation for the free program, call (916) 358-3575.
The Senior Center is at 990 Lassen Lane, El Dorado Hills.
Concert to aid injured Pollock Pines man
A benefit concert for Michael Misch, a Pollock Pines resident injured in a 2007 auto accident, will be held Saturday at the Pollock Pines-Camino Community Center, 2675 Sanders Drive, Pollock Pines.
The program, scheduled from 6 to 10 p.m., will feature bluegrass tunes by the band Natural Drift, cowboy music by Horse Sense and the acoustic guitar playing of John Green.
Tickets are $8 at the door. Refreshments will be provided along with a no-host bar.
Misch has used a wheelchair since the June 2007 accident and is in Placerville Pines Convalescent Hospital. His return home is contingent upon making the residence wheelchair-accessible. Funds from the concert will go toward those modifications.
Donations also may be sent to Michael's Recovery Fund account at Sierra Vista Bank, 1710 Prairie City Road, Suite 100, Folsom, CA 95630.
For more information, call Vicki Yorty at (530) 647-1098.
Council endorses parkway plan update
The Rancho Cordova City Council has endorsed the updated American River Parkway Plan.
City spokeswoman Nancy Pearl said the plan generated considerable discussion during the council's Sept. 15 meeting, but in the end, council members supported the document as presented.
Sacramento County and the cities of Sacramento and Rancho Cordova began work to update the plan for the 23-mile-long parkway in 2003. If supported by all three agencies, the update will be forwarded to the state Legislature for adoption.
The plan would allow several new uses in the area of Rancho Cordova's Hagan Community Park, including interpretive nature trails, a sensory garden, a bike trail extension from Chase Drive to the parkway and restoration of the Clifton's Drain stream bed.
The Sunriver Neighborhood Association had sought less intensive uses in the area west of Sunrise Boulevard. Those revisions are not included in the parkway plan, but a city staff report says the neighborhood concerns may be addressed in the future in the Lower Sunrise Area Plan.
Development Services director named
Roger Trout, an 18-year veteran of El Dorado County Planning Services, has been appointed as the new director of Development Services.
Trout has a bachelor's degree in environmental planning and management from UC Davis. He has served as a principal planner with the county for the past seven years.
As Development Services director, Trout will oversee the county's planning and building services.
– Compiled by Cathy Locke
