News Archive (6192)
Amador County – Sutter Creek received 2 rebuttals Monday regarding Measure N on the June 8th ballot. Passage could overturn city council approval of the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort project. The filings are rebuttals to statements previously filed in support of, or against the ballot measure, and all statements will be printed on the ballots. Both of the filings were signed by city council members. Mayor Pro Tempore Tim Murphy signed a “rebuttal to Yes on Measure N,” with Planning Commissioner Cort Strandberg, and residents Nancy Nasiatka, Mike Sweeney and Elsie Casagrande. Councilwoman Sandra Anderson signed a “rebuttal to the argument against Measure N,” with Planning Commissioners Robin Peters and Frank Cunha, Fire Chief Butch Martin and resident Ed Swift. Gold Rush foes argued that the “city’s threat of 1,800 dwelling units is pure speculation” that is “technically possible,” but “is so unlikely that it has no credibility.” They say the “most likely and desirable outcome of a ‘no’ vote on Measure N would be that the citizens and officials” could “immediately begin work on a smaller, less invasive plan” for the site. The filing says a “smaller development could be required to provide significant community benefits with less traffic, noise and risk to the small town quality of life.” The filing says the city’s support statement “oversimplifies and therefore misrepresents the most likely outcome of a no vote;” and community benefits promised by Gold Rush are “required” to bring the project into compliance with the city General Plan, or to mitigate “significant negative impacts.” The pro-Gold Rush filing says a yes vote on Measure N will “preserve historic Sutter Creek.” It says the Planning Commission and City Council “completely rewrote the developer’s proposal,” and approved “a plan that represents managed and responsible growth.” It says that “because of the project’s unique location, traffic and other impacts will not affect the heart of the city” as other scenarios would. The filing said “the council determined that Gold Rush Ranch is a better plan for growth than what current zoning allows” on property “already zoned for high density development.” The filing says council approval “forces the developer” to build a new sewer treatment plant and community park, and pay for open space and historic preservation, amenities that would otherwise be financed by “increased sewer rates and higher taxes.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Wednesday, 24 March 2010 02:15
BOS Contracts Out For Representation in Labor Negotiations
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors announced Tuesday that they have entered into a contract with the Industrial Employers and Distributors Association (IEDA) to provide representation in upcoming labor negotiations. County Administrative Officer Terri Daly said the non-profit will assist the county in “several important situations,” including new contracts and consideration of extending the 36-hour work week. Currently, the County’s Human Resources Department is operating at about half the staff it did two years before. “We simply don’t have the internal resources to dedicate staff to negotiations; we evaluated the most cost-effective alternative to providing sufficient staffing to negotiations and determined that hiring IEDA as the County’s representative in the coming negotiations would be the most effective solution,” said Daly. She said the County will save about half of what it would have spent in hiring the staff full time. Daly noted that “the County has maintained positive relationships with the employee unions over the years and wants to keep the best interests of the employees in mind when entering negotiations and feels having a qualified negotiator with the time to the effort will be beneficial.” A TSPN TV Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County – A head-on collision between two vehicles Tuesday left one person dead and sent three others to the hospital, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol. The collision took place just after 8 a.m. near Blue Sky Road on Highway 88 between Ione and Martell. The CHP report said a man driving a Honda CRV on westbound Highway 88 drifted into oncoming traffic and struck an truck. The report said the driver of the Honda was killed while the other driver, a 34-year-old woman, along with her two children, were taken to the hospital. The extent of their injuries has not been released. Traffic on Highway 88 was shut down for more than an hour. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County – The Pine Grove California Youth Authority (CYA) Camp is being targeted for closure as a way to help solve the state budget crisis, but many camp staff and supporters have vowed not to go down without a fight. For 65 years, the camp has offered a way out for troubled youth by mandating continuous education combined with specialized programs and community service, not to mention training to assist in fire fighting across California. In an open letter to the “citizens of Amador County,” Pine Grove CYA Advisory Council member Laura Imperial said the good deeds and assistance from these youth throughout the county “save this county hundreds of thousands of tax dollars.” Imperial said the camp is a “shining star” because the youth who leave there experience a low rate of recidivism. “With that closure comes the loss, not only of the opportunity for youth offenders to learn a trade, and finish high school, but the chance to give back to the community in the many hours of service they work,” said Mary Vogt, another Citizens Advisory Council member. She said she has “never ceased to be amazed at the thousands of hours of community service the wards have performed.” The state is still considering whether to close the Pine Grove camp or a camp located in Ventura, California. If the Pine Grove camp is chosen, fire protection services would continue under Cal Fire using only adult prisoners, and no community service would be performed. Currently, the youth work 8 hours a day, five days a week, then go to school for 4 hours in the evening. Supporters are encouraging people to attend the camp’s 65th anniversary open house on Friday, March 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The CYA camp is located on Aqueduct Road off of Pine Grove-Volcano Road in Pine Grove. Information will be available there for people who wish to write letters of support. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Wednesday, 24 March 2010 02:11
Public Health Investigates Probable TB Case at Jackson Junior High
Written by Tom
Amador County – Amador County Public Health announced Monday that it has identified a “probable” adult case of contagious tuberculosis (TB) at Jackson Junior High School. In conjunction with administrators and school officials at the Amador County Unified School District, Public Health is evaluating all students, staff and faculty who may have been exposed. Officials are in the process of contacting parents of all children that were potentially exposed. Amador County Public Health Officer Dr. Bob Hartmann in a release Tuesday said: “Because TB is caused by a germ that is spread through the air, Amador County Public Health will be testing those students, teachers, and other school staff who had close contact with the probable case of TB.” TB can be treated and cured, Hartmann said, and “the most common way to become infected with TB germs is by spending a lot of time with a person who has active TB in an enclosed space.” He said it “is important to recognize that there is a difference between TB infection and TB disease.” People with TB disease “are sick from the germs that are active in their body.” They may cough a lot, feel weak, have a fever, lose weight, cough up blood, or sweat a lot at night. People with the TB disease may transmit the infection to others. People with a TB infection (without the disease) “have the TB germ in their body, but are not sick because the germ is inactive. They cannot spread the germ to others. About 1 out of 10 people with TB infection become sick with TB disease.” Hartmann said Public Health representatives will host an informational meeting, including a question and answer period, for all interested parents and school staff 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 24th at Jackson Junior High gym. “Although it may be a new experience for the parents, students, and school staff involved, communicable disease investigation is a regular activity for Amador County Public Health,” Hartmann said. Any students or staff who test positive for infection will receive further testing and medication to ensure that they do not develop the active form of TB disease. Parents with immediate questions or concerns may also call a school district nurse at 257-5377 or Public Health at 223-6407. 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 Regional Transit System board of directors last week heard an abbreviated update on its staff’s concept “Grapevine Express” winery touring trolley route. Terry Grillo, advertising consultant for ARTS, asked for 5 more minutes for an item not on the agenda, and showed 3 logo concepts for the proposed Grapevine Express. ARTS board members in a previous meeting were concerned about liabilities in using a transportation vehicle in the winery row route along the Shenandoah Valley. Supervisor Richard Forster last week said he was further concerned that they were using the new trolley busses, which do not have seatbelts, and could increase liabilities. ARTS Manager James Means told the board that the busses are designed with a taller passenger area, to be above traffic, and therefore safer that regular traffic. He said the trolley busses are designed to be ridden without seatbelts. Means said if they get to the point where they have to worry about seatbelts on the Grapevine Express, then they should probably end the program. Grillo also presented a handout with advertising sales data, on billboard sales on busses. Board Chairman Greg Baldwin said it would have been nice to get the information before the meeting. Amador County Transportation Commission Executive Director Charles Field said the he has asked Means to present such information to him, so that he can oversee the propriety of the agenda packet, and so that the board can be “able to read it before the meeting.” Means said he would provide full “Grapevine Express” information in the next agenda packet. Councilman Pat Crosby asked if there would be alcohol consumption on the Grapevine Express, and Means said that there would not be, though there might be alcohol consumption at the wineries along the way. The board said ARTS should expedite the implementation of a “Compressed Natural Gas” filling station in Amador County, if the new trolleys are to be used on the Grapevine Express. The trolleys operate on both natural gas and diesel fuel, but must get the natural gas fueled at a station in Roseville, the nearest place to do so. Forster said they did not want to have the trolleys running weekend routes along the Shenandoah Valley while only half-filled with fuel. Means said opening a CNG fueling station could be handled in the next 30 days. 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 County Transportation Commission discussed funding areas and programs last week, and looked a partnership that is booming on Sutter Hill. Executive Director Charles Field said ACTC is trying to get funding for solar power collectors to be placed atop Park & Ride structures, but he told the commission not to get its “hopes up,” because the “state is having trouble selling bonds.” Supervisor John Plasse said he would like to see an April 21st “Transit Service Workshop” put on hold, until Amador Regional Transit System and the commission can see if unmet transportation needs are taking funds away from road maintenance and repair. Plasse said so much money has gone into unmet transit needs that there is no money left for streets and roads. Supervisor Richard Forster agreed, saying he would like to see that come back after they talk discuss the commission budget. Field said the workshops on transit needs “may still be required” by funding sources. The ARTS board had 2 “blue slip” items brought by Field, with one seeking permission to put up a banner for Amador Council of Tourism on the new Transit Center building in Sutter Creek. The blue slip was used because ACT wanted to put up the banner by the end of last week. Forster said the issue did not actually require a blue slip, because there was no imminent danger to public health or safety. Forster said Field has the power to approve a temporary sign agreement. Maureen Funk, executive director of Amador Council of Tourism, presented the ARTS board of directors with a check for a “year’s rent,” totaling $12. The rent should have been $1 a year, but the contract was written for $1 per month, to rent office space in the new Transit Center in Sutter Creek. ACT also will staff a visitors’ center there. Funk said: “My membership is growing just from the 1 month being there.” She said the visitor’s center and ACT are already getting frequent visitors, even without signs. Forster said “we keep duplicating our mistakes of not getting our signage up before the building opens.” Rebecca Brown, an ACT volunteer, lauded the new facility, where the “structure blends in with the setting,” and where the sounds of cows help add to the tranquility of the location. 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 – Amador County Waste Management Department Thursday announced that California Energy Commission is implementing a “Cash for Clunkers” program for household appliances, using $35 million in federal stimulus funds. Jim McHargue, director of Amador Waste Management said the rebate program encourages “replacement of inefficient appliances with new energy-conserving models.” The “Cash for Appliances” program consists of three components. 1 is to purchase a qualifying appliance from an approved list. Qualifying appliances are online at www.cash4appliances.org. Component 2 is to recycle the old unit at a “Certified Appliance Recycler.” Component 3 is to save, by mailing in a rebate application package within 30 days of the purchase, starting April 22nd. California has been allotted $35.2 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds through the U.S. Department of Energy for the program. The funds are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and are expected to go quickly. The launch of the program is April 22nd, to coincide with Earth Day, and will run through May 23rd, or until funds are depleted. Appliances purchased before April 22nd are not eligible for a rebate. Consumers can receive $200 for refrigerators; $100 for clothes washers; and $50 for room air conditioners. The rebate program requires proof that the old appliance has been recycled through a Certified Appliance Recycler. The program does not pay for the cost of recycling, but many appliance retailers will recycle your old equipment at no cost when a new appliance is purchased. Amador County appliance retailers should be contacted for details, or see www.cash4appliances.org. 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 – Public comment at the Ione City Council meeting last Wednesday was overwhelmingly in support of the Ione Police Department and critical of a lawsuit aimed at moving law enforcement services to the county. The petition was deemed illegal and unconstitutional by City Attorney Kristin Castanos, who said previously it “attempts to compel the county” to “take over law enforcement services for the city.” Castanos said “(the petition) is invalid because” the “right of the city to contract for police services is vested in the council’s discretion” and is “not a proper subject for an initiative.” This report led the council to consider pursuing a lawsuit against petitioner Denise Robertson, the subject of last week’s meeting at Evalynn Bishop Hall. Public speakers at the meeting expressed near unanimous support for the IPD. Some went as far as to boo and ridicule the petition backers. Mule Creek Prison Warden Mike Martell said his staff and the IPD have a great working relationship. Resident Laurie Lord said it is ok to go forward with the initiative because “if it makes it to the ballot, it will surely be voted down.” Still others said the city should save any money it would spend on a lawsuit and instead put that money back into the police department, whose officers are paid far less than the Sheriff’s deputies. Councilman David Plank still supported the idea of suing the petition backers because it shows “we’re not going to put up with a frivolous, illegal petition.” He strongly urged the council to back the lawsuit because “if we don’t do it, this will continue again and again and again.” He referred to repeated attempts by citizens in the past, including petition supporter Jim Scully, to seek measures that would reconfigure local law enforcement. Councilwoman Andrea Bonham echoed the viewpoint of the council, saying the IPD is “proactively getting out on the streets and stopping crime before it starts.” During public comment, Councilman Jim Ulm was criticized by citizen Jack Brotherton for not standing up at a previous meeting and saying he will fight to protect the IPD, instead saying he will wait to see how it plays out. Ulm clarified that in his opinion, “the best thing to do is let the people decide.” Ulm seconded a motion by Bonham formally opposing the initiative. Plank’s motion to initiate a lawsuit against Robertson was also backed by Ulm, but was opposed 3-2 by the other council members. Robertson must gather the signatures and file the petition by August 14th. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County – The Plymouth City Council will consider an increase to the city’s Transient Occupancy Tax Thursday, a decision that would ultimately have to be made at the ballot box. The council will consider an ordinance to raise the TOT tax from 6 percent to an as-yet undetermined amount. The increase would be subject to approval by a city-wide vote requiring a 2/3rds majority to pass. City Attorney Steven Rudolph prepared the ordinance, but left out the potential new tax amount. The ordinance would amend Plymouth municipal code to increase the Transient Occupancy Tax on rent charged by hotel operators, with the change subject to voter approval, as required by state law. City Clerk Gloria Stoddard said 6 percent is the current percentage of the TOT tax. She said the new tax rate was left blank by Rudolph at the direction of City Manager Dixon Flynn, so that the amount can be discussed with the city council. According to Rudoph’s background information, the city may hold a general election on a general tax increase once every 2 years. The related timeline said if the ordinance is introduced Thursday, then the council at its first meeting in April could adopt the resolution calling for the election. It would be a special election, combined with the Amador County general election on November 2nd. Stoddard said the steps would include an “impartial analysis” by the city attorney. Following that would be arguments for and against the ordinance and the new TOT tax, which could be printed on the ballot, along with rebuttals from either side. The percentage of a new TOT tax would be at the discretion of the city council to determine, but the final approval power belongs to the city’s voters. Amador County currently has a 10 percent Transient Occupancy Tax, Stoddard said, and most of the cities in the county are 10 percent. Stoddard said the “TOT is to the betterment of the citizens to approve it, because it puts taxes on the visitors here, not on residents.” Plymouth City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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