Amador County – Authorities say a 63-year-old Oakdale woman was killed Tuesday afternoon on Highway 4 in Calaveras County when she was ejected from a motorcycle on which she was riding as a passenger.

The California Highway Patrol San Andreas Unit released details of the crash this morning, saying Marvin E. Gregory, 69, of Oakdale was driving the motorcycle, a 2004 Harley Davidson Road King, east-bound on Highway 4. Gregory was approaching a sharp right curve, just west of Pool Station Road, at approximately 45 mph. CHP said: “Due to his unsafe speed he entered the curve too fast and had to apply his brakes sharply.”

The motorcycle “began to skid and then went down on its right side.” It then “slid on its side into the west-bound lane and overturned.”

CHP said the passenger, Janet Gregory, 63, of Oakdale was ejected from the motorcycle “and sustained fatal injuries due to the collision.” Marvin Gregory sustained moderate injuries and was flown to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.

CHP said “an initial report that a van had been involved in the accident was unfounded based on the investigation.”

Both the passenger and the driver were wearing helmets at the time of the crash, which was reported at about 2 pm Tuesday, during clear weather.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Authorities say a 63-year-old Oakdale woman was killed Tuesday afternoon on Highway 4 in Calaveras County when she was ejected from a motorcycle on which she was riding as a passenger.

The California Highway Patrol San Andreas Unit released details of the crash this morning, saying Marvin E. Gregory, 69, of Oakdale was driving the motorcycle, a 2004 Harley Davidson Road King, east-bound on Highway 4. Gregory was approaching a sharp right curve, just west of Pool Station Road, at approximately 45 mph. CHP said: “Due to his unsafe speed he entered the curve too fast and had to apply his brakes sharply.”

The motorcycle “began to skid and then went down on its right side.” It then “slid on its side into the west-bound lane and overturned.”

CHP said the passenger, Janet Gregory, 63, of Oakdale was ejected from the motorcycle “and sustained fatal injuries due to the collision.” Marvin Gregory sustained moderate injuries and was flown to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.

CHP said “an initial report that a van had been involved in the accident was unfounded based on the investigation.”

Both the passenger and the driver were wearing helmets at the time of the crash, which was reported at about 2 pm Tuesday, during clear weather.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - With the start of the new legislative session, Assemblymember Alyson Huber has introduced a bill that would halt the planned closure of Preston Youth Correctional Facility. AB 8 was the first piece of legislation Huber introduced after taking the oath of office for her second term as the representative for the 10th Assembly District.

AB 8 would prohibit the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities from closing any youth correctional facility during the six-month period following the effective date of the legislation. It also directs that activities levels at any facility will remain at effectively the same levels as when the closure of Preston was first announced.

“The proposed closure of Preston came with no justification or consideration of the effects on the employees, wards or surrounding community. The process by which Preston was selected for closure remains unclear despite numerous public hearings and requests for information,” said Huber. “This bill will put a temporary halt to the process that CDCR seems intent on barreling forward without clear regard of the impact of the decision. It will give the Legislature and Governor the time necessary to look deeper into how CDCR is making decisions about how to meet the needs of a dwindling youth offender population and a shrinking budget.”

The introduction of AB 8 comes only days before the next scheduled public hearing on the planned closure of Preston Youth Correctional Facility. The hearing is being held on December 8, 2010 at 5:30 pm at the Amador County Board of Supervisors Chambers in Jackson. Representatives from CDCR will be present to answer questions. The public is invited to attend the hearing to voice their opinions on the slated closure and discuss what impacts the closure will have on Amador County.

The text of the bill will be available online soon at www.leginfo.ca.gov and copies will be available at the hearing.

For more information, call (916) 319-2010 or visit www.asm.ca.gov/huber.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Former Amador County Administrative Officer Teri Daly has been promoted to the same role in El Dorado County.

Daly resigned from her duties in Amador after accepting the position of Deputy CAO for El Dorado County last May. On Monday, the El Dorado Board of Supervisors announced they have promoted her to replace Gayle Erbe-Hamlin, who resigned from the head CAO position three weeks before.

Daly’s primary duties will be to oversee and prepare the county’s budget, a strong similarity to her years serving Amador County. El Dorado County, which is roughly three times the size of Amador, has made some drastic budget cuts and faces more in the upcoming fiscal year.

Daly began as Amador County CAO in 2007. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University and a master’s in business administration from San Francisco State University.

“I appreciate both the opportunity and responsibility the Board has given me as CAO,” said Daly in a prepared statement. “I am prepared to help the Board confront the challenges ahead, and eager to help plan and build a future for El Dorado County.”

Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council on Monday approved several responses to the 2009-2010 Grand Jury report that are due by the end of the year, along with a contract extension for related finance work.

Among the responses due December 31st was one to a finding that suggests Sutter Creek sewer enterprise funds were transferred to the general fund, “once in the amount of $24,250, another in the amount of $220,000.” The report said there was “no evidence that either of these transfers were paid back, as required” by the state Constitution.

A draft response was approved by the council without discussion Monday. It said: “Due to ongoing issues within the finance department, this issue has not been addressed by the new finance director.” It said the “finance director will research and respond to this issue by the first meeting in January.”

New Finance Director Joe Aguilar also received an adjustment to his contract adding $18,000, which the council approved after discussion.

Mayor Pro Tempore Tim Murphy said the “scope of work is clearly defined” and is related to audit recommendations and Grand Jury items, which are “not being taken care of quickly enough,” and Aguilar is “already overextended.”

Councilwoman Linda Rianda said Aguilar “can’t get to day-to-day items” because of the work he is doing. City Manager Sean Rabe said Aguilar is constantly finding more problems that must be addressed.

Aguilar said bank statements are tied up in the accounts, by “variances” that date back to July 2009. He is “basically redoing work that should have been done in the prior year.” He said he did not do that work, “and can’t vouch for it.” He did not mean that it was in error, but it was still work that needed to be done.

As an example, he said one accounts payable lists $100,000 owed for June to the Public Employees Retirement System, but that was not actually owed. Aguilar said “other accounts accumulate amounts, and we don’t know why it’s occurring, and we won’t know why it’s occurring until we do this reconciliation.”

The council approved the contact change, and directed staff to bring back the necessary budget amendment for approval.

Councilwoman Sandra Anderson said: “We’re doing what the public and the Grand Jury wanted us to do, which is to find bigger problems.” She said “we’re still saving money,” once “we get this cleaned up.” Murphy said he would recommend funding come from contingencies, and the council agreed in making the direction.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.