Amador County – The Ione City Council directed staff to prepare for an ordinance change to allow signing a franchise agreement for trash hauling services, with a majority of the council preferring a non-exclusive agreement. The council also selected a new mayor and vice mayor, in split votes. Skip Schaufel took over as mayor for 2010, on a 3-2 vote supported by council members Andrea Bonham, Jim Ulm and Schaufel. Mayor Lee Ard was nominated to remain in the position this year, but his nomination lost on a 2-3 vote, supported by Councilman David Plank and Ard. Voting no were Bonham, Ulm and Schaufel. Plank was selected as vice mayor for 2010 on a 5-0 vote. Later, the council gave staff direction to modify the city health ordinance from a permit to a franchise system for garbage hauling services. Kerr said the council on a 3-2 majority wanted to go with a non-exclusive franchise agreement, thinking that “they would like competition.” She said they “won’t know until they make the final vote on the ordinance.” She did “expect it will be a franchise” because it gives the city “more leverage.” In a report to the council, Kerr said the ordinance change will allow a franchise, and those “revisions could also include particular franchise terms that the city would require be included in a franchise agreement.” She said the “revisions may provide that a franchise be exclusive or non-exclusive.” Kerr said the council could “set the standard on whether they wanted to do an exclusive,” when it decides the ordinance amendment. Paul Molinelli Junior of ACES Waste Service said he was disappointed with the council’s vote, with Schaufel, Bonham and Ulm opposing an exclusive franchise without a bid, but the company would continue to work with Ione and has “never walked away from a contract.” Molinelli said they would prefer an exclusive contract, which “allows us to borrow money to buy equipment through capital leases.” ACES spent nearly $500,000 to take over service of Ione, after Waste Connections ended its operations there last year. In related developments, Molinelli said Wednesday that ACES recently made a “handshake agreement” to work toward taking over Waste Connections’ 3 remaining contracts in Amador County, including operation of the Buena Vista material recovery facility, Amador County Franchise Area 1, and the city of Plymouth. Molinelli said ACES is in the process of doing “due diligence” toward “final sale of their local assets to us.” He said those acquisitions would first have to be approved by the Amador County Board of Supervisors and the Plymouth City Council, which signed the franchise agreements with Waste Connections. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - As the November election day draws closer, two candidates for major political seats in our region have dropped out. SMUD Director Bill Slaton made it official in late December that he will no longer be running for the 3rd District Congressional seat currently held by Republican incumbent Dan Lungren. Lungren won the 3rd District by a narrow margin in 2008. Slaton said he will put his full support behind Dr. Ami Bera, a UC Davis physician, the only official Democratic candidate for the seat and the likely Democratic nominee. Slaton said, “Ami has demonstrated the kind of leadership we need in Congress to create good-paying green jobs here in our community.” On December 15, Bera also received the endorsement of Bill Durston, Lungren’s Democratic opponent in 2008. According to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics, Bera has so far raised $625,278 in campaign funding- $44,000 more than Lungren. Some reports say this does not include over $200,000 raised for Slaton’s campaign that may also be a contribution. On Tuesday, Republican Paul Hegyi announced that he is dropping his candidacy for Democratic Assemblymember Alyson Huber’s seat in the 10th Assembly District. Hegyi’s departure essentially clears the way for a rematch between Huber and former San Joaquin County Supervisor Jack Sieglock. Huber won her seat by less than 500 votes in 2008, and it is considered one of the most targeted legislative races of this election. Hegyi said his “single most important goal…is to ensure that Republicans take back the 10th Assembly District, and to prevent the Democrats from gaining a 2/3 majority in the State Assembly.” “I want to thank the hundreds of supporters who have helped me thus far. This was a hard decision, and not one that I took lightly, but at the end of the day everyone's first priority should be to help the GOP leadership win this seat,” he said. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency kept a scheduled workshop on the proposed Gravity Supply Line Thursday. Director Debbie Dunn worried last week that nearly $930,000 already spent on the GSL would fall on the “ratepayers” if the agency dropped the proposed project. The line would replace the Central Amador Water Project pipeline that pumps water from the Tiger Creek Afterbay to Buckhorn treatment plant. The pumps cost $250,000 a year to operate, equal to 18 percent of the annual budget of CAWP, which serves 14 Upcountry communities. An informational “white paper” said it would cost $4 million to upgrade the pumps, and replacing the pipeline would cost $5 million. AWA has been working on the Gravity Supply Line to reduce costs of the existing system. The GSL was estimated to cost $13.4 million, including design, environmental review and construction. The agency has applied for a $5.1 million USDA grant and would fund the remaining $8.3 million with a 40-year, 3.3 percent loan. Annual loan payments would be $382,000 and total interest paid would be about $6.9 million. The grants are on a first-come, first-served basis, and “not be available indefinitely.” Dunn worried about the project being shelved, sticking ratepayers with the $930,000 already spent. Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said it was a “valid expense” for the board to approve “money being spent on the Gravity Supply Line,” including making it “shovel ready” as required by USDA. Director Don Cooper said the project was generated by the AWA and constituents. Director Terence Moore said “we have to spend money to get out in front of the funding cycle,” and “when the grant comes through, we pay ourselves back first.” Mancebo said paying back money depends on the program, and some grants only reimburse money spent after the funding is authorized. He said “USDA is pretty flexible.” Finance Manager Mike Lee said if the GSL was delayed past January, rates need to be changed “just to fix the operating deficit” in the Central Amador Water Project. Lee said work on the GSL was a capital expense paid from reserves. Mancebo said they were not intending to get out notices on Central Amador Water Project rate increases,” until a draft financial plan was complete. Cooper said the longer they delay, the longer revenues don’t flow correctly. Director Bill Condrashoff said they “don’t want to get caught with our pants down if we don’t have a GSL.” The meeting is 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the AWA office. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Forty-eight hours after a fire in Alpine County cut electrical power, Kirkwood Mountain Resort announced it has restored 100 percent of its operations and was open Monday to “full mountain skiing.” Kirkwood Senior Vice President Tim Cohee announced the reopening of all access in an e-mail Sunday, saying full operation was planned to be available Monday. A New Year’s Day fire at a local utility power plant left Kirkwood and the surrounding community in both Amador and Alpine counties without electricity, but power at the resort has restored to “100 percent of its operations” and was to be open with “full mountain skiing” on Monday. Cohee said: “It’s been a challenging 2 days, but thanks to a tremendous effort by both the Mountain Utilities (electric company) and resort staff, we were able to bring power back to the entire community, including the resort, commercial core and 600 residential units.” Kirkwood resort was able to provide skiing on Sunday and brought most of its lifts on-line by the early afternoon. Cohee said a “diesel engine exhaust system failure caused the Mountain Utilities plant to catch fire at about 2 p.m.” last Friday, “completely destroying the 6 engines, switch gear and other plant equipment over a 4-hour period.” The electricity provider was able to bring in 3 portable diesel generators by Friday night, with more than double the capacity necessary to run the entire community. Kirkwood is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and has 2,300 skiable acres, a base elevation of 7,800 feet and a top elevation of 9,800 feet. The resort has 14 lifts, including 2 high-speed quads, 6 triples and 4 surface lifts. The Resort reports an “uphill capacity” of 19,205 skiers per hour. Its longest run is 2-and-a-half miles, and it has 50 percent intermediate slopes, 15 percent beginner, 20 percent advanced and 15 percent expert slopes. Kirkwood had sunny, calm skies and 24 degree temperatures Tuesday, reporting 15 to 19 inches of snow in the last week, and between 125 and 174 inches for the season. For more information about Kirkwood, call (209) 258-6000. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Calaveras County – The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office released reports of six additional shooting incidents in the Valley Springs and Burson areas, bringing the total number of random shootings to 13. The first reports of drive-by shootings came 2 days before Christmas, when 4 vehicles were damaged after a string of vehicle-on-vehicle drive-by shootings in the Valley Springs area. Calaveras County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dave Seawell said his office is investigating the incidents as “random shootings.” Doors were damaged and windows were shattered but no one was reported injured. The sheriff’s office is also investigating a drive-by shooting that occurred on or about December 17th at a home on Highway 26 near Vista Del Lago Road in Valley Springs which they now believe is related. On Tuesday, Seawell announced six more separate shooting incidents that have been reported to police as occurring between December 20th and December 31st. On Christmas Day, a victim living on the 500 block of La Contenta Drive in Valley Springs reported two bullets were fired into her residence between December 20th and 25th. The victim's son discovered the bullet holes when he was putting Christmas gifts away in his room. On December 28th, a victim living on the 2700 block of Dale Drive in Valley Springs reported finding a bullet in the tailgate of her vehicle. The bullet penetrated the tail gate and lodged in the passenger compartment. On December 30th, a victim living at the 2400 block of Heineman Drive reported noticing a bullet hole in the wall next to her front door. And on December 31st, a victim living on the 2400 block of Highway 26 reported moving a chair on her front porch where she discovered a bullet hole in the front of her residence. The victim inspected the inside wall of the residence and found a bullet lodged in the wall. She stated hearing a loud bang outside the residence on December 26th between 6 and 8 p.m. So far, no injuries have been reported in any of the incidences. Seawell said investigators believe all the shootings to be related. They also believe the shootings to be random, as there is no link between the victims or clear motive at this time. Seawell stressed that the Sheriff’s office will not “discuss or answer questions regarding the type of weapon used by the suspect (or suspects), caliber of bullet recovered or any other questions that relate to seized evidence.” The Calaveras County Sheriffs Office is seeking any information on these incidents and the series of shootings which began on December 16th. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms & Explosives has announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the rash of shootings. Anyone with information is asked to call the Calaveras County Sheriffs Office Tip Line at (209) 754-6030 or (209) 754-6500. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - A first-of-its-kind study by researchers at U.C. Davis has identified ten regions in California with a higher prevalence of autism, including here in Amador County. The study found autism rates to be higher in families with highly educated, older parents, or in places located near autism treatment centers. Researchers used data collected from 2.5 million births in California between 1996 and 2000 to determine ten geographical areas, identified as clusters, in which there was a higher than usual prevalence of children with autism. The study identified 9,900 children over that five year period who were diagnosed with autism by age 6. Autism is a mysterious disorder of neural development characterized by impaired communication and social interaction and restricted or repetitive behavior. Karla Van Meter, the study’s lead author, told CBS News that “this is the first time anyone has looked at the geography of autism births in California in order to see whether there might be some local patches of elevated environmental risk.” She said this method ignores unknown widespread factors that could increase autism incidence. Parents who lived in these cluster areas were on average older and more likely to be college graduates. Parental age was not linked as strongly with autism levels, said Van Meter. She said the study “confirms what we already knew, which is that highly educated parents are more likely to have children with autism.” The link between a parents education level and autism is unclear, but this and other studies have provided plenty of theories. Van Meter said some believe better educated parents are more successful in seeking services for their children or there could be some physical or chemical exposure in their households. 6 of the ten clusters identified were in Southern California. In Northern California, clusters were identified at the Golden Gate Regional Center in San Francisco, serving Marin and San Mateo counties and the City and County of San Francisco; and at the San Andreas Regional Center in Campbell, serving Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. Two areas of increased incidence were identified at the Central Valley Regional Center, in Fresno, serving Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties; and the Valley Mountain Regional Center, in Stockton, serving Amador, Calaveras, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties. A December report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that national autism rates continue to rise. The report says one in every 110 children in the United States has been diagnosed with autism. The U.C. Davis study is included in the January 6 online issue of Autism Research. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.