Recently, Cingular Cell Service in the Upper Jackson and Pine Grove areas has become noticeably erratic. For some users of the cell provider conglomerate’s services local service was improved; but for many there was a sudden and dramatic decrease in service. According to Cingular Wireless officials the company is a victim of pure economics regarding their main tower in the Pine Grove area. In 2006, the California Department of Forestry, which owns the Mt. Zion Tower, raised the rent on Cingular Wireless’ Mt. Zion cell site by 10 times making the cost of maintaining the Mt. Zion cell site untenable for the company.  In order to continue to serve customers in the general area, Cingular relocated the Mt. Zion cell site to another location in Pine Grove.

There were only two underage sales this year in a survey of 35 store sample within Amador County. While a sales rate of 5.7 % sounds low … should we be proud or upset?  A sales rate of any amount is in direct violation of the law that prohibits tobacco sales to minors that has been on the books for over one-hundred years.

The Bureau of Land Management is seeking nominations to fill an unexpired term on the 12-person Central California Resource Advisory Council, a citizen’s panel which advises the BLM on the stewardship of Federal public lands. The term expires September 30, 2007. It became vacant in January when Mariposa County Supervisor Lee Stetson left the Board of Supervisors. The vacant position is reserved for an elected official of general purpose government. Each nomination must include the name of the nominee, work and home addresses and telephone numbers, a biographical sketch including the nominee’s work, applicable outside interests, and public service records.

The California Transportation Commission announced yesterday that it will not fulfill Amador, Calaveras and Alpine Counties funding request from Corridor Mobility Improvement Account to help cover cost overruns on the Angels Camp Bypass, thus leaving the Tri-Counties Alliance on their own in finding a solution to cover the $12.8 million of cost overruns on the project.  Amador County Transportation Commission Executive Director Charles Field said that the alliance had indications last week that that the request would be turned down by the California Transportation Commission. “We saw the writing on wall the week the before CTC meeting…(which was held) Tuesday February 20th,” said Field. The CTC’s recommendations, which were released yesterday, include projects already rejected by voters on a ballot, such as the Willet’s Bypass, Sonora Extension, and Brawley Bypass, all of which apparently were not what the voters requested, and yet they remain in the CTC’s recommendations. Field said the rural projects range in the 1,2,3, and 4 hundred million dollar cost range. For instance the Willets Bypass is a whopping 300 million dollars. Fortunately, Field revealed that the Tri-County’s have had a Plan B all along just in case their CMIA funding request was not granted by the California Transportation Commission. Field said the Tri-County’s have agreed to ask Cal-Trans to help fund the cost overruns.