Sutter Creek – Vandals struck twice in 3 days at the Sutter Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant last week, damaging 4 city-owned trucks and an old police car. Public workers arrived Friday morning at the plant, at the end of Mahoney Mill Road and found windows broken an out-of-service police car, which previously had been wrecked. They also slashed all 4 of its tires. They found a building’s window opened and a screen removed, and called the Sutter Creek Police Department. City Manager Sean Rabe said the perpetrators took keys to 2 city public works trucks, Dodge and Chevy half-ton trucks. They drove one through a locked gate, and then drove both down a dirt road. They left the trucks, about ¼ mile down a dirt road, a service road to the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority system. Rabe said the vandals broke a windshield on a GMC dump truck, using a rock, a tree branch and a car battery. Rabe said vandals went to the wastewater treatment plant sometime Saturday night and drove a different truck, through the locked gate. They left the 2-ton sludge truck by the gate. Damage estimates were not yet made. Rabe said “the police car was already wrecked, but it had not been declared ‘totaled’ by the insurance company.” The gate was damaged, repaired, then broken again Saturday night, so it had to be repaired again. He said vandals stole the keys to the trucks, and city workers could only locate one truck’s keys, so it will have to be rekeyed. Rabe said police are still investigating. He said the “good thing is, they did not do any damage to the actual sewer treatment plant.” He said the vandals “gained access to the whole plant by going through that gate.” So far, the city found no damage to the plant. The first day’s damage was found early Friday, September 11th, and the second day’s damage was discovered and reported by the public works crew Sunday morning, September 13th. Rabe assumed the vandals could face charges of breaking and entering and vandalism. They caused mild to moderate damage on 4 trucks and the police car. They caused pretty good sized dents on the front of one truck and the door of another, but both are still drive-able. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jackson – Pioneer resident Kerry Lynn Cook, 45, was sentenced to state prison Tuesday for 16 years and 4 months after violations of probation for a previous conviction of vehicular manslaughter, according to a release from Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe. The initial incident took place on April 28, 2004. According to reports from the California Highway Patrol, Cook, then 39, was travelling westbound on Highway 88 when she collided head-on with a vehicle driven by Amador school teacher Suzette Arnese. It was later discovered that Cook had drifted into oncoming traffic while under the influence of prescription medications. Cook, who suffered a fractured leg, was flown via air ambulance to the University of California, Davis, Medical Center and subsequently listed in fair condition. Her five-year-old daughter was also in the vehicle and survived the crash. Arnese, who died shortly after the crash, was popular and well-known throughout the community. She taught English at Jackson Junior High school for 26 years. After pleading guilty, Cook was sentenced to 13 years and 8 months in state prison, but her sentence was suspended and she served only a year in county jail and was placed on probation. Cook was arrested again on June 18, 2009 in Sonora for suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. She again pled guilty, this time for the transportation of a controlled substance and felony DUI, as well as admitting to a prior strike under California’s Three Strikes law. Amador’s Probation Department filed a revocation of Cook’s probation and Cook admitted in court that she had once again violated the law. According to Riebe, Chief Deputy District Attorney Melinda Aiello told Amador County Superior Court Judge Susan Harlan on Wednesday that Cook had “blown her opportunity to change her criminal behavior and, to protect the public…requested that Judge Harlan lift the suspension and sentence Cook to the maximum sentence allowed. Riebe said Cook sat “impassively with her attorney.” Arnese’s twin sister read a poem written by Arnese and reminded the court of the “positive impact that her sister had in shaping the lives of so many people.” Judge Harlan said the only good thing resulting from this matter was that Cook will be taken off the streets for a long time. Harlan lifted the original prison sentence suspension and re-sentenced Cook on her convictions in Sonora, resulting in 16 years and 4 months in prison. Cook must serve 85 percent of that sentence before she is eligible for parole. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Plymouth – The Plymouth City Council last week shelved a discussion of a city “right to farm” ordinance, and heard of a staff plan to put together a volunteer board to assess applicants for a new city planner contract. The council had a brief discussion on the “right to farm” issue, before reaching a consensus to shelve it, with Councilman Mike O’Meara suggesting 6 months. Councilwoman Pat Fordyce said the issue “doesn’t need to be dealt with,” because of state and county law that the city can use. City Attorney Steven Rudolph said that county ordinances generally don’t apply to cities, but the “city can pass an ordinance saying that the county law applies.” But Rudolph said “it is not automatic.” Vice Mayor Greg Baldwin said: “I don’t want Big Brother in the city, and I don’t want Big Sister, either.” He said if it can be resolved a better way, while protecting the city, he would support it. City Manager Dixon Flynn said before the issue comes back to the council, he would like to take it to the planning commission. He said city administration is now interviewing planning firms for the City Planner position. He said he will form a panel with 2 city council members, 2 planning commissioners, 3 developers, and public invitees. Flynn plans a September 26th meeting of the 3-panel assessment board, with each panel separately interviewing 3 finalist firms in the City Planner search. Flynn said he would have the panels rank the firms first, second and third, and then he would “probably come back with that recommendation.” Flynn said Mayor Jon Colburn volunteered to be on the assessment board. Councilwoman Pat Shackleton agreed to be the second member, with Baldwin as alternate. Flynn said he wanted to invite Stephanie McNair, of Plymouth Rock Partners LLC, to be a developer member of the panel. The city has sent out a Request For Proposals (RFP) from planning firms, and the city’s latest contractor, Development Impact Incorporated of Elk Grove sent a letter August 24th to the city saying that the company would not be answering the request. Paula Daneluk of Development Impact said the company “decided that responding to this RFP is not the direction that our firm should go at this time.” The firm had been working for Plymouth for 3 years, including work on the city General Plan update from start to finish. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jackson – The Board of Supervisors addressed the question of how to divvy up funding Tuesday between the Amador Council of Tourism (ACT) and the Amador Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau (ACVB). The heated discussion highlighted what some present perceived as longstanding tensions between the agencies. County Administrative Officer Terri Daly said there is a total budget of $28,109 allotted for funding and county promotion in the current fiscal year budget, $20,000 of which is strictly relative to ACT and ACVB. In past years, the two organizations had split a funding budget of up to $47,000, but the economic depression combined with the closure of major business sponsors like Prospect Motors has strained funding limits. The Supervisors were presented with the options of giving the entire $20,000 to one entity or another, adding additional money to the expenditure line, or choosing to fund neither organization. Each of the competing organizations was given the opportunity to present their case for funding. ACVB Executive Director Jacqueline Lucido said hers is “recognized as the leading agency in the county, the mothership.” She said “over 86 percent of business in this county is affected one way or another by tourism.” She said ACVB only “requires recognition” and the “necessary financial support”, but instead they have to “negotiate a handout.” In reference to methods of advertising, she has chosen not to run ads in the newspaper because “print media is the low man on the totem pole.” Maureen Funk of the Amador Council of Tourism said over 60 percent of her organization’s budget is used to promote tourism. “For every advertising dollar, we get a six time return on our investment,” she said. The two presenters were followed by a parade of audience members involved with various aspects of local tourism who voiced their support for one or both agencies. Jack Mitchell, Publisher of the local newspaper, followed Lucido’s earlier comment about print media by saying, “I’ve put funding towards (ACVB) and ACT as well…we need to fund both organizations.” Supervisor Plasse said these were “two agencies that have had a rather contentious relationship over the years.” Supervisor Richard Forster agreed with Plasse’s assessment and said “both organizations play a valuable role.” He said that while he thinks the Chamber is valuable, ACT is doing a great job of keeping up relationships with everyone in the community. He proposed funding ACT with $20,000 and taking $10,000 out of the contingency fund to give ACVB. This spurred Lucido to stand up and ask Forster to what contention he referred, to which Forster replied: “If you want me to air dirty laundry, I can.” After being further pushed by Lucido, Forster gave a specific example of his complaint by stating he does “not believe chamber employees should be talking to people at events and using swear words.” Supervisor Plasse recommended an additional $5000 be drawn from the contingency fund for each organization. “I am about the most fiscally conservative of anyone in the room…but I see the value from an economic standpoint and I see the value in trying to encourage tourism,” he said. Forster agreed to the amendment of additional funding. The board passed the motion unanimously. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.