Now here’s a creative idea to make Halloween more fun and easier on the pocketbook. Jackson Girl Scout Troop 360 has planned a Halloween Costume Exchange for Monday, October 8th in the Jackson Elementary School cafeteria. Costumes for the whole family – infants to adults -- are being collected for Monday night’s event. Families are invited to come to the costume exchange and find costumes for the big night – and it’s all free – no charge, no donation required.

Amador County put its best paws forward Saturday at the annual A-Pal Humane Society fundraiser to benefit homeless animals in the county – at the pooch-packed Paws in the Park. Margaret Blair of Twin Cedar K-9 was on hand to describe some of the action: Contests, games, the classic Strut Your Mutt Dog Walk, snacks for humans and canines, Vincent Van Dogh dog painting booth, even a live band – to quote Dr. Suess, it was a BIG dog party! The Italian Picnic Grounds was filled with mutts and blue bloods, competing for best costume, loudest bark, shortest tail, most senior and more. Dogs demonstrated their agility, their good citizenship, their best trick, and their knack for getting their owners to look just like them. Human participants paid a registration fee for the action-packed morning and all proceeds benefit A-Pal and its animal-related charities. Woof!

This morning there will quite a bit of emergency crew action around Sutter Amador Hospital as the hospital continues part of a three day emergency training drill. The Disaster Drill planned for today will test the surge capacity of the hospital as well as emergency responsiveness to a disaster from other county agencies, including the Office of Emergency Services and Public Health. American Legion Ambulance and the Jackson Police Department will also help in the drill scheduled for 8 am to noon.

 

There seems to be no end in sight to the ongoing repairs at the historical Amador CountyMuseum. What began as a roof repair soon escalated into a full construction overhaul after serious deficiencies in the 150 year old structure were discovered. In a presentation Tuesday before the Board of Supervisors, General Services Director Jon Hopkins outlined the updated plan of attack and urged the Board to waive the formal bidding procedure and approve a contract addendum for the sum of 113,955 dollars in additional repairs. The Board also agreed to purchase glass from the Glass Architects company in the amount of 22,600 dollars and Youngdahl Consulting Group in the amount of 5,200 dollars.

“We’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to formulate the best method of attack with the carpenters and engineers,” said Hopkins. After comparing proposed construction bids between a number of competing companies, the County decided upon Otto Construction, one of the few contractors who specialize in the restoration of older buildings. The Board had initially considered putting the additional repair work back out for bid so the contractors could compete for the lowest offer. Hopkins also urged the Board to consider the many other structures in Amador County that need repairs. “When I look at the total here, we’re going to spend 450,000 dollars just on this (museum). We need to eventually think about stopping and diverting that money to other properties that need it,” he said. Supervisor Ted Novelli congratulated Hopkins and all others involved on the effort they have put into this project. Hopkins will continue to update the Supervisors on the progress of the project during future Board meetings.