News Archive (6192)
Fire Chief Mark Morton then reported that the Jackson Fire
Department finished out the year with 876 calls, which is a 21% increase in
calls over 2005. He also reported that the new year has already been
challenging with 19 calls so far as of Monday, and three of those were calls
involving that all ended in fatalities.
Finally, some satisfaction for some Amador
County residents that have waited patiently for years to resolve property
disputes in the senior community of the Mesa De Oro area of Sutter Creek. The
original developer Sheldon Thompson will be facing justice over what is characterized
as multiple counts of real estate fraud. The case began when the Amador County District Attorney’s
Office received a citizen complaint against Mr. Thompson and conducted a
preliminary investigation.
A dramatic non-injury accident Tuesday night on Highway 88 near Columbia Road in Pioneer left a vehicle overturned and temporarily closed the road. Workers briefly closed the highway while emergency personnel cleared the roadway Tuesday night around 9:00PM. The driver of the vehicle reportedly lost control of his car and end up spinning and flipping. There is no report as to whether any intoxicants were involved. The driver of the vehicle was not injured.
Putting a halt to teen driving deaths is the goal of a new program that will be introduced today at the State Capitol. It's called Impact Teen Drivers. Educators, law enforcement and families of teens who have died in car crashes are supporting the bill. Videos, pictures and an education program for California's high school sophomores will be available online and are designed to reduce injuries and save teens' lives. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell will introduce the program at the State Capitol at 10 a.m. in preparation for teen driving safety week which kicks off next Monday.
According to national statistics, traffic collisions are the leading cause of deaths among American teens. In fact, a teen dies in a car crash somewhere in the U.S. every 70 minutes. California Highway Patrol officers say inexperience makes teens more vulnerable to car crashes. Teens have quick reaction times, but often aren't focused enough on driving. "A lot of times teens are distracted," says Seargent Kinoshita of the CHP. "Cell phones, texting while driving, all dangerous for anybody but especially inexperienced teen drivers." The educational website tailored for High School Sophmores can be found online at http://www.impactteendrivers.org.
The San Andreas CHP are currently investigating
a motorcycle collision that occurred at an unknown time but after 5pm on Saturday, March 22 on
Murphys Grade Road, approximately 2.2 miles east of Lower French Gulch Road.
Earl E. Wiggins, a 61 year old male from Hathaway Pines, was last seen
at his work in Angels Camp at 5pm on Saturday. He was riding a black 1997 Harley
Davidson. He was reported as missing on Sunday when he failed to show up for
work.
The report was filed with the Calaveras County Sheriffs Department. Wiggins was finally located by friends and family members on Tuesday after they retraced his normal routes. A preliminary investigation has revealed that Wiggins was traveling eastbound on Murphys Grade Road when he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway and ran off the roadways edge.
Wiggins and his motorcycle were located approximately 75 feet over the roadway edge and down an extremely steep embankment. Any witnesses to this collision are encouraged to contact the California Highway Patrol, San Andreas Office at 754-3541. This is the third fatal collision that has occurred in San Andreas’ CHP jurisdiction for 2008, and the first motorcycle fatality. In 2007, the CHP investigated 5 motorcycle fatality collisions.
Friday afternoon saw two
wildland fires- one in Amador County and one in Calaveras County- both fires
placing local fire crews on high alert. The Amador County fire broke out around 3:30 pm near Surrey
Junction off of Ridge Rd and Woodside Lane. The fire burned dangerously close to homes
and was contained to less than one acre.
CHP Reports Four Accidents With One Thing In Common- Young Drivers
Written by
According to the California Highway Patrol Wednesday
was a rough day for drivers under 21 on Amador County roadways. Fortunately of all four of the accidents reported yesterday, only one
involved any injury. However,
3 of the accidents have common denominators, young drivers driving at excessive
speeds on wet roadways. Three of the four reports were written by
Officer Mike LeMasters in succession. The first accident was reported at 5:30
am on Stoney Creek Rd 6 miles west of Jackson when 20 year old Heather Ross of
Valley Springs was headed toward Jackson at an excessive speed, according to
the CHP Report. Ross lost
control of her 2004 Chevy, failing to negotiate a curve, and ran of the roadway
and through a fence. She was uninjured.
The Amador County
Sheriff-Coroner’s Office has
received the final forensic pathologist report, toxicology report and
microscopic examination report relative to the January 29, 2007 death of Joshua
Hampton Hoehn, 17, of Pioneer. Hoehn was involved in a physical
altercation in Sutter Creek, before being transported by friends to a residence
in Pine Grove, where he subsequently lost consciousness. Hoehn was transported to Sutter Amador
Hospital by American Legion Ambulance where death was pronounced. The reports document the cause
of Hoehn’s death as “Sudden cardiac death following a physical altercation
associated with acute cocaine intoxication”. The forensic pathologist’s examination
revealed that the superficial injuries sustained from the physical altercation
did not contribute to the cause of Hoehn’s death.
According to the Associated
Press a former state
prison guard from Mule Creek State Prison has plead guilty to smuggling
methamphetamine into MCSP and delivering it to inmates, Sacramento
County prosecutors said. John Charles Whittle, 47, a 22-year veteran of the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, admitted taking methamphetamine to an inmate at
Mule Creek State Prison. Internal affairs investigators said they
intercepted a package mailed to Whittle’s home in the Sacramento suburb of
Citrus Heights on Aug. 17.
The Jackson Fire Department volunteers remained busy
in January with a total of 83 calls leaving the average number of calls fairly
high for the New Year at 2.8 calls per day.
Last year in January there were at total of 73 calls. Medical calls ranked
highest on the call log with 58 calls or 69% of the calls received in January.
Vehicle accidents followed far behind with 13% of the calls or 10 calls. There
were 9 public assistance calls last month with fire related calls ranked at 6%
or a total of 5 calls. Also in the month of January there was one hazardous
materials calls. 18% of the 83 calls were calls volunteers responded to outside
of the Jackson City limits.
