Amador County – With more than 150 years in service, the Ione Fire Department passed the milestone of getting its first paid fire fighters Tuesday, when two volunteers took oaths of service, then were pinned and given collar brass.

Chief Ken Mackey said the Ione Fire Department was formed in 1849 and operated since then as a volunteer brigade, then on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, they “have finally added two paid fire staff.” He said “it shows how far we have all come.”

City Clerk Janice Traverso administered the oath of office for Cody Gold and James Bennett, who were then ceremonially pinned by family members. IFD Fire Captain Troy Gold pinned his son, Cody, and Smokey Bennett, pinned his son, James. Mackey said the elder Bennett, a 12-year assistant chief at the Jackson Volunteer Fire Department “beat a lot of sense into me,” as a member of the JVFD.

Mackey said the younger Bennett and Gold will take the position and titles of “fire apparatus engineer.” The first of Ione’s paid fire staff, after passage in 2008 of Measure M, a sales tax for fire and emergency personnel.

He told city of Ione staff that “without your help, this would have never happened,” and he also thanked the Amador County Board of Supervisors, and other fire brigades and cities in the county for supporting the Measure to finally “see this night happen.”

Mackey said he was also asked to make a statement about the Ione fire Department. He said “these two individuals add to the 35 current volunteer fire fighters” and officers, who continue to operate the department. He said there are 56 total personnel involved in the department, including 21 total made up of youth cadets and administrative staff. He said Gold and Bennett “came from within our own ranks (of volunteers) and were trained and ready to hit the road from the beginning.”

Mayor David Plank said “we’re proud of you.” A standing-room only crowd took pictures and video as Gold and Bennett were pinned, and Mackey affixed each man’s collar brass, a bugle, symbolic of old days when fire fighters called each other with the horns.

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

Amador County – The Sutter Creek Duck Race reported Monday that it had given away $6,125 in prizes this weekend races, including $2,500 to Judy Sparks of Pine Grove, who was the first place winner in the Final Heat.

The Edwards Family of Sutter Creek won second place in the Final Heat, to take home $1,500; and another Sutter Creek resident, Tommy Sellers took third in the Final Heat to win $1,000. Amador County Recreation Agency, which runs the fundraiser, released the list of winners, of which 11 of 12 heat placers (first through third) were from Amador County.

Merchant Duck Race winners were Pizza Plus in first place, Perkos second, and Gold Trail Natural Foods third. Operation Care won the Merchant Duck Beauty Contest.

Sutter Creek residents took six of the total 12 heat awards, including Red Mathia, third in Heat Number 1; Sutter Creek City Councilwoman Linda Rianda, second, and Carol Salinas, third in Heat 2; & Jago Landgraf, winner of Heat 3.

Alan Roberts of Plymouth won Heat 1 and Eileen M. Hard of Jackson was second; and Joanne Kerner of Plymouth was second in Heat 3, while Brenda Walker of Pine Grove was third. The only non-county placer was Helen Porter of Carmichael, winner of Heat 1.

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

Amador County – Caltrans will detour Highway 50 traffic to Lake Tahoe through Amador County for two weeks, starting May 11, while repair is done at Echo Summit.

Caltrans District 3 announced that the temporary detour is needed to replace a rock wall at Echo Summit in El Dorado County. U.S. Highway 50 will be closed at Echo Summit for approximately two weeks, depending on weather, beginning May 11.

Jody Jones, District 3 director, said the “closure is part of the first stage of a safety enhancement project that will remove damaged rock walls and replace them with a barrier that meets current safety standards.”

The project was partly funded with $1.9 million from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Caltrans Director Cindy McKim said “the project is a great example of how Caltrans is putting Recovery Act funds to good use, providing jobs and at the same time making U.S. Highway 50 safer for the public.”

Jones said California has obligated nearly $2.6 billion in Recovery Act funds to nearly 1,000 local street, highway, and job training transportation projects statewide.

The detour includes one-way traffic control May 9-10, and then for up to six weeks after Highway 50 is reopened. The highway will be open with no restrictions on Memorial Day weekend.

Jones said alternate routes around the closure take travelers through the “scenic gold country of El Dorado and Amador counties.” Motorists should allow one hour extra travel time to reach South Lake Tahoe, during the two-week full closure.

Three alternate routes were recommended for Highway 50 travel to Tahoe. From Sacramento, exit at Power Inn Road, take Highway 16 east to Highway 49 south into Amador County. At Highway 88 in Jackson, turn left, taking it east to Highway 89. Go north on 89, follow it back to Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe.

From Placerville, exit 50 at Missouri Flat Road and take Highway 49 south through Plymouth. Go east on Highway 88 in Jackson. At Highway 89 turn north and follow it back to Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe.

Motorists coming through Stockton can exit 99 as usual at Highway 88 east, continuing onto 88/49. In Jackson, turn left to continue on 88 east, then take 89 north to 50 in South Lake Tahoe.

Electronic message signs at key positions will direct travelers on the highways. Jones said the “alternate route through El Dorado and Amador Counties is a good way to go any time there are closures or substantial delays on Highway 50 due to weather, collisions or construction.”

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

Amador County – Amador County Environmental Health Department is seeking a grant to clean up an illegal dump site near Ione with as much as 800 cubic yards of solid waste and numerous tires.

Ione City Manager Kim Kerr submitted a letter of support for Environmental Health, which is seeking a “Farm and Ranch Cleanup Grant.” She said staff verified that “the property owner agreed with applying for the grant.” Kerr in a report to the Ione City Council for today’s meeting said she sent the “letter in support of the grant application.”

The City received a letter from the Amador County Environmental Health Department and Tony Maris, Amador County Registered Environmental Health Specialist, with the county “Solid Waste Local Enforcement Agency.” Maris said in the letter to the city that site contained “approximately 800 cubic yards of solid waste and many waste tires.”

Kerr sent a letter April 20th in support of the grant application to assist cleaning up the Brickyard Road Dump Site, located between Highway 124 and Brickyard Road, in rural Ione. The letter, in part, said the “years of dumping at this site” may encourage more dumping, and that “rainfall may be contributing to the movement of pollutants to the broad seasonal drainage in the area.”

The letter, a form letter sent by Maris, said the “accidental burning of this dump and waste tires would create a variety of public health nuisances.” It also noted that “there may be adverse public health impacts” to the junior high and elementary schools, located about a mile from the site. It also worried about property values in the area being “diminished by the existence of this threat to public health.”

Amador Environmental Health said the support letter would “bolster our grant application to the state of California – Cal Recycle.”

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