Up to 40 million board-feet of logs ultimately bound for Sierra Pacific Industries' Standard sawmill is still sitting on the ground in the Eldorado National Forest.

Mule Creek State Prison remains in partial lockdown in the wake of an attack on prison guards last Thursday at the Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, north of Los Angeles. Two Hispanic gang-affiliated inmates rushed three guards and stabbed them, putting them in the hospital, officials said. The mandatory lockdown is part of a statewide operation and a standard procedure to avoid gang repercussions. All state prisons were locked down as a precaution.

As of  yesterday, Mule Creek’s lockdown was still in effect for roughly 1,100 Hispanic inmates, or almost 32 percent of the prison’s population. The Tehachapi victims, two sergeants and an officer, remain stable in the hospital. The two inmates are affiliated with Southern California prison gangs. Certain State prisons will remain locked down until corrections staff can determine whether the stabbing was isolated. Tehachapi prison was built to hold about 2,800 inmates but had about 5,900 as of last year, according to the Department of Corrections Web site. Its custody staff numbers about 1,400. In April 2005, two Tehachapi guards were stabbed by a prisoner using a homemade weapon, but both recovered. State corrections officials said the Tehachapi prison will remain on lockdown indefinitely. (end) am APP contributed to this story.

Amador County saw its fair share of big rig problems yesterday. Around 9:30 am this double hauler moved too close to the edge of Climax Rd approaching Highway 88 and its rear trailer, literally, fell off of the roadway. Yesterday afternoon a hay hauler also lost its rear trailer causing about a 35 minute closure of one lane of Hwy 88. The mess was cleaned up and the truck, with an expired registration out of Nevada, was impounded. A drama of another sort also played itself out on Hwy 88 yesterday when law enforcement received calls about a vehicle passing in an unsafe manner near Cook’s Station, with the driver flashing a badge and a gun at other drivers.

Emergency meetings being held in Tahoe to address the current emergency situation are revealing anger. That anger aimed squarely at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency or TRPA. In all, a crowd of nearly 2,000 people gathered at the South Tahoe Middle School auditorium Monday night, wanting to be heard after the losses from the Angora Fire. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is considered a powerful bi-state environmental land use agency that charged with managing the resources of the Tahoe Basin area for both California and Nevada. Even the name of the agency brought scorn and jeers according to officials in attendance.

Cal Fire has announced that the Amador-El Dorado Unit of Cal Fire will conduct Hand Crew Exercises in the area of Marble Valley (the Parker Development) for three days. The exercises began May 1st and include conservation crews from Pine Grove, Growlersburg, and Washington Ridge. The Conservation Camps will conduct a four-mile hike, construct hand cut fire lines and chain saw training. The exercises, will prepare hand crews for the upcoming fire season. Cal Fire is currently authorized to operate 39 Conservation Camps statewide that house nearly 4,000 inmates and wards. These camps are operated in conjunction with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Through these cooperative efforts Cal Fire is authorized to operate 196 fire crews year-round. These crews are available to respond to all types of emergencies including wildfires, floods, search and rescue, and earthquakes. When not responding to emergencies, the crews are busy with conservation and community service work projects for state, federal, and local government agencies. Fire crews perform several million hours of work statewide each year.

A vegetation fire was reported Monday afternoon around 3pm behind an apartment complex located at 300 New York Ranch road. Upon arrival on scene by Jackson fire Chief Mark Morton he discovered that a burn pile that had been unattended had burned out from its parameters igniting an approximately a 50 by 20 swath of vegetation. Jackson Fire Crews and Calfire crews quickly extinguished the blaze. Today’s fire was a reminder that even though we recently had rain the vegetation is still very dry and burn piles must be attended at all times until they are dead out.

Local fire and emergency calls continue to keep both our local volunteers and Calfire crews busy. The Amador Fire Protection District responded to 125 total incidents in March 2007. This includes both Battalion 10 and Battalion 20 units.  68 medical aid & 23 vehicle accidents accounted for 73% of the total incidents.  18 of the incidents were fire related: 8 structure fires, 1 chimney fire, 1 cooking fire, 2 vehicle fires, 1 heavy equipment fire and 5 grass fires.  51% of the total calls occurred between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. Similarly Sutter Creek Fire was also busy answering 58 calls. Of those calls 46 were for emergency medical services and rescue operations. 4 were for fires.

A Pacific Gas and Electric truck was involved in a traffic collision this afternoon around three o’clock just east of Red Corral Rd on Hwy 88 in the Pioneer area. According to witnesses on scene the 82 year old driver of a SUV wagon for an unknown reason drifted into on coming traffic near Raven Rd on Hwy 88, crossing over the center line and striking a PG&E line truck. After scraping down the side of the line truck the driver of the SUV wagon also hit the vehicle behind the line truck- a PG&E pickup truck. The driver of the SUV wagon was transported to Sutter Amador Hospital. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.

Yesterday morning at approximately 7:30 am scanners across the County sounded with reports of a vehicle versus pedestrian accident. The accident occurred at a construction site at 19610 Lockwood Lane across from Shakeridge Road. It was reported that a 42 year old male. Later identified as Mike Burchard of Pioneer was doing electrical work on site and was apparently hit by a vehicle pinning him between the house and the vehicle. Burchard suffered a laceration to his leg, pain to his left ankle and also a possible broken hip, as medical personnel on scene reported that there was deformity in his the area of his right hip. Amazingly, after such an ordeal the man remained conscious and was walking a bit after the accident.

Last night around 6:45 pm Amador County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the Hwy 88 and 104 intersection for what was reported to be a fight on the side of the road. With one deputy on scene- a second Sheriff’s department deputy arrived for back up and as he approached the scene the deputy, with his emergency vehicle lights activated, attempted to turn to the scene. As the deputy turned his patrol unit the car following him appears to have attempted to pass the deputy on the left colliding with the deputy. The vehicle that collided with the deputy was then rear-ended by yet another vehicle causing an accident scene that shut down Highway 88 for approximately one hour. The Amador County Sheriff’s Department Deputy was unhurt, however one passenger of the car that struck the sheriff’s department unit was transported by REACH air ambulance to UC Davis Medical Center. Three other passengers in that car were also transported to Sutter Amador Hospital by American Legion Ambulance. The California Highway Patrol is investigating this accident.