The Amador Fire Safe Council is very busy this fire season and has announced a special meeting for today at 1:30pm. The meeting will feature CalFire Amador ElDorado Unit Chief Bill Holmes speaking and giving a presentation on remote viewing cameras; which is considered the latest in fire detection technology. The meeting will be held at the County’s General Services Administration building at 12200 B Airport Rd on Sutter Hill.

Due to extreme dry conditions, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is implementing fire restrictions on all BLM-managed public lands within the Folsom Field Office boundary.  This includes BLM-managed public lands in Nevada, Yuba, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Sacramento, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Sutter, and Mariposa Counties, for a total of about 230,000 acres.  The fire restrictions will be effective on Monday, June 18, 2007, and will remain effective until further notice.  These special limitations prohibit all open fires on public lands because of extremely dry conditions.  According to Fire Management Officer Ken Hood, the elevated fire danger level came six weeks earlier than expected.  Campers are urged to be familiar with special limitations prior to visiting any public lands in these counties.

District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred Saturday for his "selfish" rape prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players - a politically motivated act, his judges said, that he inexplicably allowed to fester for months after it was clear the defendants were innocent."This matter has been a fiasco. There's no doubt about it," said F. Lane Williamson, the chairman of the three-member disciplinary committee that stripped the veteran prosecutor of his state law license. Even Nifong and his attorneys supported the decision, though the veteran prosecutor refused to admit to the end that no crime occurred at a March 2006 lacrosse team party.

The U.S. State Department last week temporarily relaxed rules for travelers to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. Under new Homeland Security Measures travelers between the US and those countries and regions could get out of the country- but not back in without a valid US Passport. The result, massive back ups for the passport system with many travelers questioning their travel plans. Last week it was announced that those rules would be relaxed and the US government said travelers who have a receipt showing they have applied for a passport and a government-issued ID would be allowed back in the United States.

In politics a poll released by USA Today/ Gallop shows that New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has regained a double-digit lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama two weeks after the same survey found the Democratic presidential rivals essentially tied. As for the Republicans, the poll finds that former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani remains ahead, but former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson, who hasn't formally entered the race, for the first time edges into second place over Arizona Sen. John McCain. The results show a Republican race that could be roiled by Thompson, who is targeting conservatives unsatisfied with their choices in the field so far.

Yesterday the AWA held a special dedication ceremony for the completed Amador Transmission Pipeline. Many Local dignitaries attended including, Supervisors Richard Forster, Ted Novelli, Louis Boitano and Brian Oneto. Al Nunes from the City of Jackson attended, as well as Peter Tatishi from Congressman Lungren’s office, and Dana Jorgensen from Senator Cox’s office. General Manager Jim Abercrombie kicked the ceremony off at the Tanner Reservoir and began with some history regarding the project, which took 13 years in the making. The 8 mile pipeline was constructed to replace the 23 mile Amador Canal that ran throughout Amador County and that served as an important component of our water supply since 1874.

On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors reviewed the Weights and Measure Fee Schedule increase for registration requirements again. Now the fees would impact any commercial business who uses scales and measures in conjunction with their business practices.  At the previous meeting when the item was discussed Ag. Commissioner Mike Boitano was asked by the Board and public to come back with a variety of different fee schedules instead of implementing the entirety of the new fees in one year.  Boitano developed three proposals.

The Ione City Council announced today the selection of Kimberly A. Kerr as the next permanent City Manager.  Kim Kerr will start work in Ione on July 16, 2007.  Her employment contract with the City of Ione is now being finalized and will appear on the agenda for the City Council meeting of June 19th. Kim Kerr has been employed by the County of Humboldt since 1997 in various capacities and is currently the Risk Management Director and Deputy County Administrative Officer.  

The Amador County Sheriff’s Office has released a press release regarding the stabbing that occurred early this morning. Early this morning around at approximately 2:50 a 17 year old man walked into the Sutter Amador Hospital emergency room with multiple stab wounds. The young man told hospital staff that he had been stabbed after an altercation between the occupants of two of the rooms at the Pioneer Resort Lodge in Pioneer.

Every year the bicyclists of Push America, members of Pi Kappa Phi, ride from the west coast to the east coast making an annual stop here in Amador county. Yesterday the cyclists were welcomed to town for a luncheon at the St. Sava Mission and this morning the headed east on their coast to coast trek. Push America was established in 1976 by Durward Owen, the then Executive Director of Pi Kappa Phi. The idea was to mobilize Pi Kappa Phi members in an effort to create a work force that was the fraternity's undergraduate members. In 1977 Push America was established as a non-profit organization by Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. Ingenuity has allowed for Push America to develop into a collection of nationally recognized programs that promote a greater understanding of people with disabilities.