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Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:00

Amador County News TSPN TV with Alex Lane 4-22-10

Published in Video

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 06:18

AWA to Look at Draft Water Conservation Plan

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board is expected to hear a presentation on its draft water conservation plan Thursday, which could cost more than half a million dollars to implement over 5 years, but could save as much as 35 million gallons of water in that time frame. AWA Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said they would have to pay about $100,000 the first year to be able to use less water, but it would be good to be able to get grant funding to finance the conservation plan. Leslie Dumas of RMC will give a presentation Thursday on the latest draft of the conservation plan. Dumas said Tuesday that California is working on rate recovery and the state is about to put out “project solicitation packages” for funding grants through its Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. She said AWA’s conservation plan could be eligible for funding for an IRWMP grant, through the Amador-Calaveras region. But IRWMP would depend on passage of a bond ballot initiative for additional funding. She said a bond proposal is being pushed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be placed on the November ballot. Dumas said the bond measure would include funding for water use reduction and “best management practices” that were part of the governor’s “20 by 2020” plan. The plan looks at implementing a state-wide 20 percent reduction of water usage by the year 2020. Dumas said the “state’s gotten more interested in water conservation,” and the “AWA would be in a good position to get funding for the project.” RMC’s draft 5-year plan could cost more than $100,000 a year to implement, but it could save 19.7 acre feet of water its first year, and more that 20 acre feet a year the next 4 years after that. The reduction of water usage would also reduce revenue from water sales by $13,000 to $15,000 a year. The 5-year plan’s total implementation cost was listed as $627,000, including $71,000 in lost revenue from water sales. The plan could save 108.5 acre feet of water over 5 years. The term “acre foot” is the volume of water that would cover one acre to the depth of one foot. An average Amador County family uses 1/3rd to ½ an acre-foot a year. An acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons. A savings of 108.5 acre feet of water equates to 35.4 million gallons. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in News Archive

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 06:16

Stockton Exec. Pleads Guilty To Bid Rigging

Sacramento – The U.S. Department of Justice last week announced a guilty plea in a San Joaquin County real estate bid rigging case. The Justice Department announced in a release Friday said Anthony B. Ghio, 43, of Stockton, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia. Ghio pleaded guilty to “conspiring to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County.” U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner said “charges arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation of fraud and bidding irregularities in certain real estate auctions in San Joaquin County.” Prosecutors said “Ghio admitted in his guilty plea that he conspired with a group of real estate speculators who agreed not to bid against each other at certain public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County.” Authorities said the “primary purpose of the conspiracy was to suppress and restrain competition and obtain selected real estate offered at San Joaquin County public foreclosure auctions at noncompetitive prices.” Court documents showed that after the conspirators’ designated bidder bought a property at a public auction, they would hold a second, private auction. Each participating conspirator in the private auction would submit bids above the public auction price. The conspirator who bid the highest amount at the end of the private auction won the property. The difference between the noncompetitive price at the public auction and the winning bid at the second auction was the group’s illicit profit, and it was divided among the conspirators in payoffs. Ghio participated in the bid-rigging scheme from April to October of 2009. Ghio is charged with bid rigging, a violation of the Sherman Act. It carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victim, if either amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. Story by TSPN TV News staff. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in News Archive

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 06:22

Ione Police, Local Agencies Defuse Suicide Threat, Disarm Man

Amador County – The Ione Police Department over the weekend responded to its second gun-related suicidal threat of the year, and for the second time helped to safely disarm a suicidal subject. A man with a loaded handgun reportedly threatened to end his life Saturday, prompting a call to authorities by his wife. On Saturday (April 17th) at about 11 a.m., Ione Police Department personnel were dispatched to the 1400 block of West Marlette Street for the report of a suicidal subject. Ione Police Sergeant Rocky Harpham said: “A distraught male reportedly was threatening to take his own life with a handgun.” The man’s wife called 9-1-1 to report the incident. Harpham said: “Ione Police responded and quickly took control of the scene. A perimeter was established and the neighboring residences were evacuated for their own safety.” Harpham said the “incident was eventually resolved peacefully and without incident,” and the “loaded handgun was recovered from inside the residence.” Several other firearms were also removed from the dwelling and were being held for safe keeping. The male was taken into custody and was transported to the emergency room at Sutter Amador Hospital in Jackson, where Harpham said “he was evaluated by mental health professionals.” This was the second suicidal incident in Ione this year that involved firearms. Harpham said the “Ione Police Department has done an exceptional job responding to these potentially volatile confrontations.” The Ione Police Department received support in the West Marlette incident Saturday from personnel from the California Highway Patrol, Jackson Police Department, Sutter Creek Police Department and Amador County Sheriff’s Office. Harpham said the “cooperative efforts of all local law enforcement agencies have served as the ideal model to serve the community resulting in safe and peaceful resolutions.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in News Archive

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 06:15

Sutter Amador Wins CHART Award

Amador County - Sutter Amador Hospital is among eight hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health to receive the prestigious “Certificate of Excellence” from the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Task Force (CHART). Only 40 hospitals across California received the award – and Sutter Health facilities comprise 20 percent of those honored for quality achievements in 50 categories. CHART is a third-party consumer-reporting agency. Other Sutter Health hospitals to be awarded include those located in Modesto, Tracy, Roseville and Davis. “Across our Sutter Health network, we want every single patient’s care–whether received in one of our hospitals, a physician’s office, over the telephone, or in the patient’s home–to be the absolute best,” said Dr. Gordon Hunt, chief medical officer for Sutter Health. “As part of this steadfast commitment, we routinely participate in quality surveys such as CHART. Doing so helps our hospitals identify opportunities to improve care, increase safety and provide better outcomes for patients in our communities.” CHART presents the “Certificate of Excellence” to hospitals that achieve “above average” or “superior scores” in five of the eight CHART measurement areas; do not receive a “below average” or “poor” score on any measure, and report data for all measurements for which they qualify. These measures include patient satisfaction and experience in common reasons for admissions such as cardiac care, maternity services and treatment for pneumonia. Participating hospitals voluntarily submit data. The not-for-profit Sutter Health network has participated in the CHART process since its inception in 2004. For complete performance information on the hospitals participating in CHART, see www.CalHospitalCompare.org. Published by the California HealthCare Foundation, the user-friendly online report card helps consumers search for quality information about hospitals by location, name or medical condition. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in News Archive

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 06:20

Supervisors Approve to Continue Executive Management Council

Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday “conceptually” approved to continue meetings of an Executive Management Council made up of leaders of Amador County local government agencies. The first such meeting took place March 31, facilitated by Amador Community Foundation Executive Director Shannon Lowery. County Administrative Officer Terri Daly described the council as a way for local leaders to “meet periodically to discuss topics in common to all the jurisdictions” and “bring suggestions back to their groups.” The Council includes the Mayor and Vice-Mayor from each city, as well the Board Chair and Vice Chair from the Board of Supervisors. In a memo to the Board, Daly said “it was agreed that this forum of elected officials and agency managers was a worthwhile venture and as a follow-up, requested that members consult with their respective legislative bodies to ensure support of concept before the next meeting.” She wrote that “managers from these agencies have had meetings for a number of years and felt it was important to include elected officials in some kind of regular communication forum after regularly attending a similar meeting of officials in the Sacramento area.” Speaking Tuesday, Daly stressed that this council will not have decision making authority and the only costs will come from occasional staff support. Supervisors John Plasse and Ted Novelli, both of whom attended the last meeting, were cautiously optimistic about the idea. “The first thing we unanimously recognized at the last meeting was that the last thing we need is another meeting,” said Plasse. He called it a good way to “work through common problems” but “if it is not bearing fruit, I’ll be the first to say it’s over.” Novelli said “if this takes off, I say it is ok to do away with the Regional Planning Committee.” Supervisor Louis Boitano questioned what the RPC has accomplished in the last 2 to 3 years. Plasse said the Council is “a good way to meet up without all the noticing requirements of the Brown Act.” The Board unanimously approved a motion by Boitano to “conceptually” approve of continuing the Council meetings. Daly wrote that Lowery has agreed to “continue facilitating these meetings on an as-needed basis.” Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in News Archive

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 06:25