News Archive (6192)
According to the AP authorities in Sacramento County, are looking into the death of a woman who'd competed in a radio station contest. A medical examiner said the woman died of water intoxication. Jennifer Strange, 28, had taken part in a contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom. Strange was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest held by Sacramento radio station KDND FM. The station had promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner. The station's owner said staff members were stunned when they learned of the death. It's not yet known how much water Strange consumed.
Young people from the
Amador County Youth Coalition are joining thousands of kids across the country who are taking part in Kick
Butts Day (KBD), a nationwide initiative that makes kids leaders in the effort
to stop youth tobacco use. As
part of the local Kick Butts Day event, Youth Coalition members are creating a
dynamic display illustrating the 1200 deaths that occur every day in the United
States to tobacco related diseases. This means that here in Amador
County at least 1 person loses their life each week.
Throughout the year, these young advocates take part in a variety of activities to promote healthy living in our community, including working to develop policies that reduce youth tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke and educating their peers about tobacco companies’ deceptive marketing practices.
New Jackson Ford Mercury has generously donated a
portion of their fence line along Highway 49 in Martell for the 17 member Youth
Coalition to construct a display.
Youth Coalition members from Ione Junior High, Jackson Junior High, Amador
High School and Argonaut High School have worked with many local agencies and
businesses to collect the 1200 pairs of shoes. After school, on the afternoon
of April 2nd, Youth Coalition representatives will be along the
fence line beside their display showcasing their message with youth-created
banners and signs. Each empty pair of
shoes represents a life lost every day. For more information about the KBD display along Highway
49 in Martell, contact Diana Evensen at 223-6638 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The
El Dorado National Forest is developing an
application for California Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Cooperative funds for the
upcoming 2007-2008 cycle. The Forest Service anticipates submitting the
application which will include funding requests for several different aspects
of the regulation and support of OHV usage. The application to be submitted
will request funds for OHV and
Over-Snow Vehicle (OSV) Law Enforcement in all four Ranger Districts across the
Forest, OHV Trail Maintenance and repair in Amador, Georgetown and Placerville
Ranger Districts, the
purchase of two snowmobiles for winter patrols on the Amador Ranger District,
the purchase of two motorcycles for summer patrols on the Pacific Ranger
District, and Facility Operation and Maintenance on the Georgetown and
Placerville Ranger Districts.
According to the AP
recordings of Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger reveal the Republican griping about Democratic and
Republican lawmakers alike and expressing sympathy for Mexican immigrants,
but saying they should embrace the United States. In one of the recordings
released Sunday, he complains that Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, with whom he has cooperated on
efforts to rebuild California's infrastructure and fight global warming, was at
times a "political operator" who would tell Schwarzenegger one thing
behind closed doors and say something else in public. He also describes
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, an Oakland Democrat, as "a very sick man."
"Perata is trying to derail everything. He's still fuming, and he's trying
to be obstructionist," the governor said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statewide emergency
proclamation Friday, mobilizing state and regional resources to ensure the
safety of residents and property during the cold snap. The proclamation
orders the California Office of Emergency Services to direct all necessary
state personnel, equipment and facilities to help "alleviate this
emergency." The Governor stated
that "I have directed
state agencies to activate the extreme temperature protocols established last
year to assist the most vulnerable populations in the state and asked local
governments and the people of California to take common sense precautions in
the unseasonably cold weather," Schwarzenegger stated. The
proclamation also provides financial support for local communities and the directs
the California National Guard to open additional armories as temporary warming
facilities.
The Stockton City Supervisor who was involved in a fatal vehicle accident on Highway 88 late last year may serve up to four months in prison. Dino Leonardi, the community and cultural services superintendent for Stockton Parks and Recreation, pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter before the Amador Courts. On top of 120 days in jail, Leonardi agreed to three years of formal probation and restitution to be set by the court.
According to the Stockton Record, Leonardi allegedly caused a fatal two-vehicle accident by cutting in front of another vehicle and causing a driver to lose control. The out of control car caused Ruby Alston, 74, of Stockton to lose control of her vehicle and die in the resulting crash. The case was made all the more bizarre because the occupants of the vehicle that Leonardi cut-off were coincidently involved in local politics. Mark Stebbins, a Stockton councilman in the 1980s, recently declared candidacy for the District 6 council seat. Jennet Stebbins is challenging Davis Assemblywoman Lois Wolk for the Democratic nomination for the 5th Senate District seat. The Stebbinses and Alston were on their way to a Jackson-area casino May 8. Leonardi, who lives in Sutter Creek, was commuting home.
A special
panel created after last summer's Lake Tahoe wildfire warned that another catastrophic blaze is imminent
and wants a disaster declaration to hasten fire-protection efforts. Asking for
the emergency status from the presidentrecommendations. Many of them are
intended to resolve the bureaucratic infighting among overlapping agencies that
has hampered fire-prevention efforts for years. The report also
recommended imposing higher taxes on property owners, requiring home owners to
replace wood shingles and upgrading the Tahoe basin's water systems. Members of
the commission
emphasized their alarm at the fragile nature of the basin's environment by
adding the word "emergency" to their report.
The Angora Fire
exposed long-standing rivalries between the local, state, federal and regional
agencies that are charged with protecting Tahoe's environment or promoting fire
protection. Earlier this week, an Associated Press report exposed numerous
examples of bureaucratic backbiting that delayed tree clearing throughout the
basin, sometimes for years. The regional planning agency and the Lahontan water board have been on one
side, with the U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection and local fire districts on the other.
The commission's report says the various agencies must set aside their often conflicting goals and begin cooperating. and the governors of California and Nevada was among dozens of recommendations by the California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission. The commission wants the state and federal governments to free up money quickly, primarily to cut thick stands of trees. The commission gave unanimous approval to a report containing more than 70
The state assembly
tried to send some relief to local governments reeling from higher
interest costs Monday with
approval of a bill that allows cities, counties and other bond issuers to buy back their own bonds. The Assembly approved
Senate Bill 344 by Senator Mike Machado, a Democrat from Linden, on a vote of
67 to 1. The bill affects Amador
County and will now go to the Senate. Markets for two types of municipal bonds
have been hit with turmoil in recent
weeks as a side effect of the
meltdown in subprime mortgages. The bonds are sold at short intervals, from weekly to monthly,
to investors looking for short-term returns.
But when the companies that insure the bonds were shaken by losses
in mortgage-based securities, the municipal market was also rattled, leading to
higher interest rates. Senate
Bill 344 makes it clear that local entities, including governments, hospitals, utilities
and universities – can shelter themselves from the interest rate volatility by
buying back their own bonds without “extinguishing” the debt. The
agencies can then resell the bonds if the market is down, or switch to more traditional
forms of debt. Without
that clarification, bond issuers have lost their bond insurance or been forced
to go back to voters to reauthorize the debt.
The bonds could have been
stripped of their tax exempt status. Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who sponsored the legislation, said that
taxpayer’s don’t create the financial turmoil, “Yet they are the ones who pay
the price.” In the local area, public agencies have been scrambling to
get out of the “auction rate” and “variable rate demand” markets as interest
rates have spiked. Officials say that for years, the little-known markets
allowed them to borrow at unusually low interest rates.
According to the Farms of
Amador the olive
production of the Amador Olive Oil Company in 2006 was way down compared to the
previous year, 2005. Owner Susan Bragstad reported that in 2005 the
harvest yielded three and a half tons from the farm but this year she was lucky
to get a little more than a ton. According to the Farms of Amador newsletter production
in the Central Valley was almost non-existant this year as well.
Gasoline prices in California are due to fall -- significantly -- as long as yesterday’s refinery fire in the East Bay doesn't interfere. Gas prices, after bottoming out in early November, rose about 20 cents before stabilizing last week, a trend that baffled motorists and experts alike. Any sign of a drop would be welcome news for Californians, who paid an average of $2.62 a gallon Monday for self-serve regular, up 6 cents from a month ago, according to AAA. Sacramento's average was $2.59, up a dime from last month. Locally, the gas prices continue to flacuate. Last week the Kwik Serve in Jackson dropped their price on regular unleaded to 2.49 a gallon- and then ran out of gas. Don’t expect the prices to remain the same for long though. By late February, refiners in California will start their annual change-over to summer-blend gasoline formulas. Summer gas is harder to make, causing an almost inevitable increase in prices.
The Sacramento Bee Contributed to this story.
