News Archive (6192)
Amador County – The California Legislature is considering an assembly bill that would overturn current law and allow rural hospitals the freedom to directly hire employees. Public Health Officer Dr. Bob Hartmann says this would be a great benefit in helping to attract doctors to Sutter Amador hospital in Jackson. Assembly Bills 646 and 648, currently being reviewed as companion legislation, will allow publicly run hospitals to hire doctors and rural hospitals to become direct employers of their own physicians, respectively. Both are being pushed by the California Hospital Association. AB 648 would also require a rural hospital to develop and implement a policy regarding the independent medical judgment of the physician. Under current California law, rural hospitals are banned from making direct hires. Sutter Amador currently relies on contract arrangements with private-practice physicians to assist in its servicing needs. Under the current structure, Sutter Amador doctors practice as consultants. Hartmann previously told the Sacramento Bee that “physicians in rural areas make significantly less money than doctors in the urban areas.” He hopes the new legislation will allow Sutter Amador the flexibility to attract doctors with the promise of a steady income. “Physicians coming out of medical school are hesitant about the risks of operating their own business,” said Sutter Amador Hospital CEO Anne Platt, before the Board of Supervisors last year. “If a hospital is able to employ a physician, it can provide security and health insurance that would be difficult to obtain otherwise,” she added. The Amador County Commission on Aging told TSPN that attracting quality care to our area is all the more important because we have one of the highest county populations over age 65. But the California Medical Association (CMA) is arguing that this legislation will give hospitals the power to control doctors’ medical decisions. Platt said she has “never seen that situation” and “if there were a situation where a physician were being dictated to, the physician would leave.” Hartmann said the “concern is finding younger doctors to replace us.” He said 90 percent go into larger, more established groups like Kaiser Permanente. AB 646 is currently before the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, while AB 648 is expected to be discussed shortly. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:00
Winemaker Dolan to Speak On Environmental, Economic Issues
Written by Tom
Amador County – Paul Dolan of Paul Dolan Vineyards will be the keynote speaker at an upcoming Motherlode Wineries & Vineyards seminar. The event takes place April 28 from 8:45 am to 5 pm at the Amador County Fairgrounds in Plymouth. Dolan’s presentation is titled “Legal, Environmental & Economic Challenges for Facility & Land Management.” The seminar will guide winery and vineyard owners and operators through cost-effective strategies to
address current environmental, legal and technical challenges, including sustainable practices, planning for water supply and wastewater discharge and permitting, local land use permitting issues in the Motherlode, and permit obligations related to ongoing operations and expansion. Faculty also includes principals and associates from Abbott & Kindermann, LLP; Morton & Pitalo, Inc.; and UC Davis Extension. The registration fee for this event is $35, plus a bottle of wine to share at reception. The fee includes Continental Breakfast, Lunch & Wine Reception to follow. To register, contact Abbott & Kindermann, LLP at (916) 456-9595 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Make checks payable to Abbott & Kindermann, LLP and mail to 2100 21st Street, Sacramento, California 95818. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:00
Jackson Rancheria Donates $16,525 to Dameron Hospital Foundation
Written by Tom
Amador County - Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel has donated $16,525 to the Dameron Hospital Foundation through Strike Out for Charities in conjunction with the Stockton Ports baseball team, class A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. Each time the Ports struck out an opposing batter during a home game last season the donation pool increased $25. Ports pitchers recorded 661 strikeouts for a total donation of $16,525. The funds go to Dameron Hospital Foundation’s Sweet Success Program which focuses on diabetes and pregnant women. Taking part in the presentation were, from left, Diane Vigil, Dameron Foundation Executive Director; Ron Olivero, Jackson Rancheria Vice President of Marketing; Pat Filippone, Stockton Ports President, Carolyn Sanders, Dameron Community Relations; and Ports mascot Splash. Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel is located at 12222 New York Ranch Road, Jackson, CA 95642. For more information, call 800-822-WINN or visit JacksonCasino.com. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County – The Ione City Council on Tuesday discussed a letter from Howard Properties that stopped a 107-acre business project application, pending possible action by the council. The council also discussed an e-mail request by Howard Properties Resource Manager Tim Smith to postpone council discussion until he could attend. The city council obliged, placing the issue on its May 4th agenda. City Manager Kim Kerr said the e-mail sought a more productive dialog on the related issues. Kerr received the e-mail, addressed to Mayor Skip Schaufel, who was out of the office. Kerr responded that she would share the e-mail with the council. She also advised Smith that staff practice is to place correspondence on the agenda, which she did with Smith’s April 14th letter to the city council. The letter said Howard Properties had discontinued its 107-acre project application for Ione Business Park, asking the city for a partnership on environmental costs. Councilman Lee Ard said the $300 million company acts as though the city should be glad it wants to do a project, but he thought the company “should follow the law.” Ard called the issue a “sore spot for the majority of the city.” City Planner Christopher Jordan said staff asked Howard Properties for application information, and gave the company 3 pages of comments. Howard Properties also wanted a cost estimate on all work. That included city and state requirements, including California Environmental Quality Act. Area agencies reviewed the information, including Amador Water Agency, ACTC and Caltrans. Vice Mayor David Plank said: “Our process isn’t any different than any other cities.” He said “there shouldn’t be any surprises for him. It’s all spelled out.” Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said: “I think the surprise was the cost.” She said she could see Smith’s point on some of his comments. Jordan said the Howard Properties project could be compared with permitting costs of Wildflower and Castle Oaks. Councilman Jim Ulm wanted the council “to sit on it for another meeting and let Tim comment.” In public comment, one man urged support, saying the city gets a lot more money on industrial projects than it gets on housing projects. Debbie Timmins of Howard Properties asked the council to table the issue to May, so Smith could speak. Kerr said she would analyze Smith’s, addressing the issues in a staff report, which she “will share with Tim.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County – Work continued this week to repair an 8-foot by 10-foot sinkhole on Spanish Street at Key Street in Sutter Creek, with the city and the Amador Water Agency sharing part of the costs. The Sutter Creek City Council declared an emergency April 5th to get work started, and last week the AWA board authorized paying $4,000 as its share of repairing the sinkhole. The board also authorized up to $20,000 in work by its construction crew to relocate water lines. Sutter Creek Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe attended the AWA meeting last week and got reassurance from the board on repairs. The hole exposed a Knight Foundry water line, an AWA city water line, a gas line and other utilities at the intersection. At the April 5th meeting, the highest concern was the high-pressure natural gas line. The Sutter Creek council voted to declare the sinkhole “a danger to the public health, safety and welfare, due to the exposed” gas line and also due to “disruption of vehicular movement on this major city street.” The location was under construction this week. The emergency declaration allowed the city to proceed with repairs without bidding out the work. Rabe said he would approach AWA about cost sharing, because it was suspected a leaking water line may have created the problem. Amador Mechanical estimated repair costs at $55,000, for a concrete box culvert. The cost was to be paid from the city “street and road fund,” and Rabe would check into the possibility of using FEMA funds from the Broad Street repair project. The council authorized Mayor Gary Wooten to execute a contract with Amador Mechanical for the repair, and also possibly with AWA for construction service or monetary contributions. AWA Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said the cost split for repairing where the sinkhole occurred was based on the leak. He said when digging into Spanish Street, crews found that the whole portion of the ground “across the road was ready to cave in at any minute,” and had nothing to do with the leak. Mancebo said PG&E will relocate its gas line, and AWA’s water line will go underneath a city storm drain system also at the location. The location had 2 other lines owned by AWA, including a raw water line to the Ione Canal, and an old 6-inch line that is abandoned. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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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.
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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.
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Wednesday, 21 April 2010 06:22
Ione Police, Local Agencies Defuse Suicide Threat, Disarm Man
Written by Tom
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.
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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.
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Wednesday, 21 April 2010 06:20
Supervisors Approve to Continue Executive Management Council
Written by Tom
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.
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