By BStigers on January 21, 2023.
FRIDAY 1-20-23 KAHI MORNING NEWS
El Dorado County and four other public entities filed a lawsuit against PG&E, this week, on Wednesday Jan. 18, for damages resulting from the 2022 Mosquito Fire.
The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court and includes as co-plaintiffs Placer County, El Dorado Water Agency, Georgetown Divide Public Utilities District, and Georgetown Divide Fire Protection District.
The lawsuit alleges that PG&E’s equipment was the cause and origin of the Mosquito Fire, which caused significant damage to public and natural resources in El Dorado and Placer Counties.
“El Dorado County’s lawsuit seeks all recoverable damages allowed under the law caused by the fire,” El Dorado County Counsel David Livingston said in a statement. “The lawsuit seeks to hold PG&E accountable and to help our community rebuild after this devastating fire.”
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The Loomis Costco project plans to break ground in February, Weather permitting, Loomis town officials have announced.
Loomis Town Manager Sean Rabe said.” Assuming weather cooperates, they’re looking to break ground in February with an anticipated opening date of early fall,”
Loomis Town staff, Costco’s team and PG&E agents have been holding biweekly meetings to coordinate various road improvements on Sierra College Boulevard at Brace Road.
The Loomis Planning Commission will review the Costco environmental document at the regular monthly meeting next Tuesday.
“To the credit of the various stakeholders, great progress is being made,” Rabe announced in the staff report.
Costco will start tree removal with clear weather, according to Rabe, and hopes to finish grading and storm drain work by mid-March.
The right-of-way approved by Loomis Town Council on Jan 10 gives PG&E the land rights needed to start “underground” work required for the project. PG&E work is expected to start April and end May. Costco will begin road widening and new signalized intersection improvements.
“Costco’s hope is to start stocking the warehouse in early August and be open by September.
The town of Loomis is also the lead agency on widening Sierra College Boulevard from Brace Road to Taylor Road.
As part of the development, Costco will widen Sierra College Boulevard along their frontage with a bike lane and a third northbound car lane between Granite Drive and Brace Road, according to the staff report.
A new signalized intersection with dedicated turn lanes will also be built, serving as an entrance to Costco from Sierra College Boulevard.
Beyond preliminary roadwork, staff said work on the actual Costco building should start by May with frontage improvements wrapping up in August.
The Loomis Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Sierra College Boulevard widening study and mitigated negative declaration 7 p.m. next Tuesday at the Loomis Train Depot, 5775 Horseshoe Bar Road.
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For the first time in nearly two ynears, the entire state of California is not experiencing “abnormally dry” conditions — yet most of it is still classified as “Dry”. The U.S. Drought Monitor, in a weekly update published Thursday, reports 99.36% of the state in at least an “abnormally dry” status, as of Jan. 17, down from 100% a week ago. Better news: None of the state is in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought. In the northwest corner of the state, the majority of Del Norte County is drought free. A move, however slight, means the string of heavy rainstorms have temporally improved drought conditions. It does not mean the drought is over. The majority of California, or 92.12% of the land is in at least a “moderate drought,” while roughly 43% of the state is experiencing “severe drought” conditions. This week’s numbers show improvement compared to last week. “Abnormally dry” conditions dropped less than one percentage point and “moderate” and “severe” conditions statuses decreased more than three points. “Extreme drought” conditions dropped less than one point to zero, while “exceptional drought” status remains at zero for the third week in a row.
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A California lawmaker, Assemblymember Chris Holden, a former San Diego State basketball player, and is the type of state-level legislation that the NCAA is looking to federal lawmakers to preempt, introduced a bill Thursday that would require schools that play major college sports to pay some athletes as much as $25,000 annually, along with covering the cost of six-year guaranteed athletic scholarships and post-college medical expenses. The College Athlete Protection Act, sponsored by California, was the first state to pass a law that gave college athletes the right to be compensated for name, image, and likeness back in 2019. That triggered similar action by state legislatures around the country. Holden is eager for the state of CA to be at the forefront again. The NCAA lifted its ban on athletes cashing in on their fame with sponsorship and endorsement deals, however, more than two dozen state-level NIL laws have made it impossible for the association to create detailed and uniform rules of its own.
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