Smoke from the Butte Lightening Complex fire and other fires burning north of Sacramento is being blamed for the thick blanket of haze that has settled over Amador County. After a slightly windier 4th of July weekend that brought hope for clearer skies, the interminable haze has returned, stifling the sunshine and ratcheting ozone quality back up to ‘Very Unhealthy” levels. Particulate matter readings are registering very high at many of the monitoring sites throughout the local network. The Air Districts of the Sacramento region and our local public health department are advising residents to limit or avoid outdoor activities if they see or smell smoke. Exposure to smoke is unhealthy for everyone. Due to the high number of visits to the SpareTheAir.com web site, certain pages have been temporarily disabled. According to the Sacramento Air District, this is being done as part of an effort to restructure the site so more visitors can have access to the forecast, air quality maps, current conditions and health information pages.