According to the Los Angeles Times with just over five weeks before election day, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger holds a commanding lead over his Democratic challenger, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, who has built scant support beyond a core base of liberals, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll.

The Amador Fire Safe Council has announced a Defensible Space Home Contest and the public is invited to participate. The contest is to highlight those in the county that are meeting, or exceeding, defensible space requirements on their own property. You may either enter your own home in the contest or the home of someone else in Amador County that you believe meets the Defensible Space criteria. The contest will be running every quarter this year and the winners will have a yard sign they can display proclaiming their community awareness to Be Fire Safe!

This weekend the community gathered together in Volcano to see alternative energy options at the well attended Mother Lode Fall Energy Expo presented by the Volcano Community Service District in partnership with PG&E.

Last week TSPN brought you the news regarding a possible suspension of new will serve agreements for waste water services connections within the Amador Water Agency’s Wastewater Improvement District 12, the Martell area. This could lead to a stopping of new commercial development in what has become the commercial hub of Amador County. The Martell area’s waste water needs are currently served by the Amador Water Agency through the Amador Regional Sanitation Agency, or ARSA. ARSA also includes the cities of Sutter Creek, Amador City and Ione.

As a light rain fell over the county last night a transformer fire near the corner of Charleston Rd and Shakeridge Rd was reported to local firefighters. Lockwood Fire and CDF crews responded to the 7pm transformer fire that caused the closure of Charleston Rd from downtown Volcano through the Shakeridge Rd intersection. No word yet on the cause

Sunday afternoon around 1 pm a motorcycle versus vehicle accident was reported 3 miles east of Ham’s Station.

A former California Dept. of Correction and Rehabilitation correctional officer pled guilty to two felony counts of insurance fraud in Amador Superior Court according to a press release from District Attorney Todd Riebe. September 21st 35 year old Steve Andrew Felter was sentenced to 100 days in jail, placed on five years formal probation, and ordered to pay restitution in an amount that is still to be determined, however the amount is expected not to exceed $100,000.

A high speed pursuit of a suspect that robbed a bank in Valley Springs yesterday ended in a movie like fashion at the intersection at the entrance of Jackson. According to the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Dept. at approximately 4pm they received a report of a bank robbery that had just occurred in the Umpqua Bank in Valley Springs. Undercover Deputies spotted the vehicle, which was a white Dodge Magnum and initiated a vehicle pursuit. The suspect, who has now been identified as 38 year old Joe Luis Resendez of Oakdale, was chased on Hwy. 49 at speeds reaching in excess of 95 miles per hour.

The final word on the controversial Brusatori subdivision near Sutter Creek came to a conclusion Tuesday afternoon after a lengthy public hearing at the BOS chambers’. Roger Stuart of Amador County Public Works Agency and Susan Grijalva Planning Director met with the Brusatori’s and representatives of the city on three separate occasions. During these meetings the city identified several areas of concern and those included:

 

• The height of the cut bank along the road due to the County’s requirement for a 26 ½ foot wide roadbed and a 20 foot wide paved road
• the potential visual impact on the ridgeline
• Landscaping/screening of structures
• The scale and color of structures and location of the structures on the property.

Information regarding Community Facilities Districts for Fire Department funding was presented to the Jackson City Council Monday night. City Manager Mike Daly presented the item and explained that, “(the Facilities district) is basically like a benefit assessment district that is applied to new subdivisions to allow the city to provide funding to enhance services in order to provide the service level needed to meet demands.” Daly also said that the county has adopted the district for the unincorporated areas of the county. He said that the Communities Facilities District (CFD) must be approved by a two-thirds margin of qualified voters within the CFD area.