The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has secured a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration entitled “Statewide Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Reduction Effort.”  This grant will provide funding for DUI enforcement in an effort to remove impaired drivers from California’s roadways.  CHP personnel will be deployed on an overtime basis with the mission of apprehending impaired drivers.  In addition to enforcing DUI laws, officers will also enforce all other traffic safety laws such as, speeding, unsafe passing, and occupant restraint violations. Utilizing project-funded overtime, the CHP will conduct a minimum of 200 sobriety checkpoints, 45 DUI task force operations and deploy DUI roving enforcement patrol operations statewide. 

A group of killer whales has been caught on camera cruising up and down the Northern California coast, traveling unusually far from their feeding grounds, scientists said. Photos taken last week show about a dozen killer whales in two family-group pods swimming off Half Moon Bay. It's a rare sight off the Central California coast -- but why they're here is even more unusual. Killer whales, or orcas, have been seen in this area less than a half dozen times in the past seven years. And when they were here, they were seen feeding on elephant seals. This time, they're after another prey. "These killer whales may actually have followed the Sacramento run of Chinook salmon from the Pacific Northwest down here," said Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. The killer whales in prior visits were just passing through. Biologists said these whales have been positively identified as ones that normally make their home in Washington's Puget Sound.

Recently, on a 6-3 decision, the US Supreme Court struck down California's sentencing laws and affirmed, through that decision, that there are limits on a judges' discretion during sentencing. The result could be shorter sentences for thousands of California state prisoners. This ruling is just the latest in a series of High Court rulings that limit judges' discretion in sentencing defendants. The court has held repeatedly that a judge may not increase a defendant's sentence based on factors that were not determined by a jury. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote for the court stating "This court has repeatedly held that, under the Sixth Amendment, any fact that exposes a defendant to a greater potential sentence must be found by the jury, not a judge, and established beyond a reasonable doubt, not merely by a preponderance of the evidence," Several states have changed their sentencing laws to require prosecutors to prove to a jury aggravating factors that could lead to longer sentences.

A new CHP program is trying to deter teens from drinking and driving. According to the CHP statistics because of the increasingly lower age of alcohol and drug users, motor-vehicle accidents are now the leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 20. This new program, The Right turn Program, is aimed at middle schoolers for an early outreach to educate kids on the dangers of not only drinking and driving, but also how to recognize and handle situations where drinking and drugs are being used around them.

California Highway Patrol Officer Mike LeMasters responded to an early morning accident on Friday January 26th when an Pioneer man fell asleep at the wheel. According to LeMaster’s report Robert Schmidt, 39, of Pioneer was driving his 2001 Ford Van west bound on Hwy. 16 at 60 mph when he fell asleep and drifted off the south roadway edge and subsequently, down an embankment. The van rolled over numerous times until finally coming to a stop. Schmidt received minor cuts and bruises and also had complaints of pain to his back and neck. He was transported to UC Davis Medical Center.

Amador County is deeply involved in the process of updating its general plan. This plan will be the “master plan” for the future development of the county and will aid the county in either keeping the Amador we know or changing into a new place. Now the need for information from agricultural stakeholders cannot be stressed enough. To that end, an Agricultural Stakeholder's Workshop has been scheduled for Saturday, February 3, 2007 at the Amador County Administrative Center, 810 Court, Street, Jackson, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

More teenagers in California are buckling up according to a recent study.  Figures from the study indicate 90.8 percent of the state’s high school students use their seat belts when driving or riding in a vehicle. In the study conducted for the federal government by California State University, Fresno, 100 California High Schools were randomly sampled.  In addition to the 2.5 percent statewide increase in seat belt use from the previous year, the study found that females are more likely to buckle up than their male counterparts.  The high rate for 2006 was 99.8 percent for Alameda County. “There’s still a challenge ahead of us,” said CHP Commissioner Mike Brown.  “Despite the statewide increase of seat belt usage among teenagers, more work needs to be done to increase use among all Californians.”

The Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians released their new draft tribal environmental impact report on Friday. The Flying Cloud Casino, proposed by the tribe in the Jackson Valley, has been scaled back according to the new document, at least in the initial phases. The 448 page draft environmental document states that the tribe’s ultimate goal is a 2,000 slot machine and 80 card table casino project, but that the tribe has elected to look at an alternative phase in plan which will start with a 1,150-slot machine and 40-table casino in an effort to reduce traffic, crime and other impacts on surrounding communities. The Tribe's phased project alternative proposes three phases with initial reductions in the size of the gaming floor.

Former Youth Minister Intern John Magsayo was in court Friday, nearly all day, as his new attorney Robert Schell of Jackson and the District Attorney’s lawyer wrangled over the meanings of several different sexual terms. Magsayo was charged with lewd acts with a minor 15 years of age; oral copulation with a minor under the age of 18; oral copulation with a minor under the age of 16; and contributing to the delinquency of a minors after he was arrested by the Amador County Sheriffs Department after being discovered with the girls on Electra Rd on December 17th.  Amador County Sheriff’s Department Investigator, Sgt. John Oulihon testified that he had interviewed one of the three teenage girls, referenced in the case by only their initials.

The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors once again reviewed their new Administrative Citation Code Enforcement Program at their last meeting. The Board had reviewed the document and waived the reading of the ordinance at their January 11th meeting. The purpose of the Enforcement Ordinance was to allow the Amador Water Agency to impose administrative fines or penalties for any violation of the Agency Ordinance. According to General Manager Jim Abercrombie the subject arose a s a result of complaints received by the Agency Staff and Board members for the unauthorized taking of water from fire Hydrants, the tampering of water meters and the stealing of agency property, just to name a few of the violations.