Ranger Pipeline, the contractor for the Amador Water Agency on the transmission pipeline project has announced planned blasting for the Upper Previtali Rd / Bosse Rd area about 5 miles east of Jackson off of Hwy 88. The blasting will occur beginning next Monday February 12th with an anticipated completion by the end of the month. The blasting will be conducted Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 5 pm daily during this time period. Jamie Karg, a Ranger Pipeline Representative states that the company will be taking mitigation measures to minimize the impacts of the blasting on the surrounding homeowners. Both noise and dust mitigations will be taken by Ranger. This include the use of blankets to lessen both the noise and dust impacts on the surrounding areas.

One hundred and fifty years ago, Fiddletown merchant Chew Kee sold firecrackers, lanterns and little red envelopes to help Chinatown celebrate Chinese New Year. Sadly, as we enter the Year of the Pig on Feb. 18 in 2007, there are no Chinese residents in Fiddletown to celebrate the festive occasion. Chew Kee's store is still standing, though. It is now a museum operated under the auspices of the Fiddletown Preservation Society. It was occupied by Chinese residents until 1965 when the last owner -- Fong Chow Yow, known to the townsfolk as Jimmy Chow -- passed away. The building stayed vacant until 1987 when the Fiddletown Preservation Society began restoring it for use as a museum. The Chew Kee is open Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. during the months of April through October.

According to the Compact between the Buena Vista tribe of Me-Wuk Indians and the state of California the tribe is required in their Tribal Environmental Impact Report to describe reasonable alternatives to the project, which the tribe has named the Flying Cloud Casino. Currently, the tribe is proposing phasing in a casino and hotel in 3 stages ending the process with a nearly 72,000 sq foot facility with 2000 slot machines and 80 gaming tables.

According to the Farms of Amador the olive production of the Amador Olive Oil Company in 2006 was way down compared to the previous year, 2005. Owner Susan Bragstad reported that in 2005 the harvest yielded three and a half tons from the farm but this year she was lucky to get a little more than a ton. According to the Farms of Amador newsletter production in the Central Valley was almost non-existant this year as well.

According to the AP recordings of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reveal the Republican griping about Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike and expressing sympathy for Mexican immigrants, but saying they should embrace the United States. In one of the recordings released Sunday, he complains that Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, with whom he has cooperated on efforts to rebuild California's infrastructure and fight global warming, was at times a "political operator" who would tell Schwarzenegger one thing behind closed doors and say something else in public. He also describes Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, an Oakland Democrat, as "a very sick man." "Perata is trying to derail everything. He's still fuming, and he's trying to be obstructionist," the governor said.

More children and teens are being exposed to online pornography, mostly by accidentally viewing sexually explicit Web sites while surfing the Internet, researchers say. Forty-two percent of Internet users aged 10 to 17 surveyed said they had seen online pornography in a recent 12-month span. Of those, 66 percent said they did not want to view the images and had not sought them out,

Michael Savage, the nation's third-most listened to radio talk-show host, says he may leave his top rated show to make a bid for the GOP nomination for president. "I know it sounds bizarre but when you consider the people running for the presidency, none . . . seems to be qualified," Savage told NewsMax in an exclusive interview. Savage, based at the San Francisco Bay area's KNEW station, began his syndicated "Savage Nation" show in 2000. Today his network, Talk Radio Network, boasts that Savage is heard on over 370 stations across the country by 8 million listeners a week

The California State Department of corrections and Rehabilitations will soon begin moving inmates involuntarily to prison facilities in Arizona, Oklahoma and Mississippi as per a directive from Gov. Schwarzenegger. Governor Schwarzenegger ordered the transfers of California prisoners last October to ease overcrowding in the state’s correctional facilities.

 Hamid Hayat, 24, was convicted in April of aiding terrorists and lying to the FBI about it after his return to Lodi following a two-year stay to his ancestral homeland of Pakistan. Hayat's attorneys last October filed a lengthy motion for a new trial. In the 106 page document, Hayat’s legal team states there is new evidence that proves Hayat did not attend a terrorist training camp while in Pakistan. The motion for a new trial also states that  U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. made several improper rulings during the trial.

FNP, PA-C.  LaPointe, is now accepting patients at the Sutter Amador Family Practice office located at 817 Court Street, Suite #12 in Jackson, which is scheduled to open Monday, Feb.12. With over 20 years of caring for patients in Amador County, Marianne continues to provide primary care for the entire family, under the supervision of Thomas Bowhay, MD. Most insurance plans are accepted. Hours: M—F; 8 am—4:30 pm For an appointment, please call (209) 223-2034.