Calaveras County - Calaveras County will host a workshop Thursday to inform the public of ongoing efforts to improve broadband access in the mother lode. The workshop begins Thursday at 10am in the Sequoia Room at the CalWorks building, 509 E. St. Charles St., San Andreas. Michelle Shelton with the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency Central Sierra Connect program has been spearheading the effort to expand broadband access in the region. The federal government cited broadband expansion as a goal with the new stimulus package and set aside funding for rural areas, but so far progress in Calaveras County has been slow. Shelton expressed her frustration before the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors last week. She said residents are asking for broadband, but service providers and government agencies are not cooperating. She said that only 3 of the 25 “shovel-ready” projects created so far have come from Calaveras. Neighboring Amador and Tuolumne counties, on the other hand, have created projects such as creating public wireless Internet zones in libraries and government buildings. In total, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will send about $1 billion in infrastructure funding to California, Shelton said. Central Sierra Connect’s regional broadband project is so far funded with $250,000 in grant funds from the California Emerging Technology Fund Grant. The effort is geared toward Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, Mariposa and Tuolumne counties. The main goal of Thursday’s meeting is to bring providers to the table and create partnerships to put everyone on the same page, she said. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.