Amador County Unified School District is not only the district currently embroiled in labor negotiations with their teachers union over salaries and benefits. Many of the districts’ so called “comparable districts” are facing the same issues; negotiating in tough financial times. Amador County teachers were offered salary increases of 3.5 percent. The local teachers unions, Amador County Teacher’s Association (ACTA) and the Special Educator’s Association (SEAC) both rejected the offer. In Calaveras County the picture is similar in some districts with teachers in the Vallecito Union School District rejecting a 6.5 percent increase.  In Tuolumne County the Twain Harte-Longbarn district, a district plagued with declining enrollment the teachers asked for 4.5 percent but according to district officials maybe only looking at 2 percent and in the event the district receives more state funding the agreement would funnel some of that to the teachers.

Last week’s victory in funding from the California Transportation Commission was hard fought behind the scenes by our elected officials Senator Dave Cox and Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi. One of the major issues with this Corridor Mobility Improvement Funding under Prop 1B is a funding issue seen through out all state funding, transportation to education, the battle between rural and  urban areas in the state. Senator Dave Cox comments on the vital funding allocation made last week and the urban versus rural issue.(59 second audio)end am Slide 1,Cox2)265 Million 3) LA.SF 4) Rebuild 5)CTC applauded if you opt to drive a SUV, instead of a more environmentally friendly car, in California you may have to pay extra for the privilege. If passed new legislation by Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, (D)Redwood City, would add a surcharge to the price of new vehicles sold in California based on the car's carbon emissions. The surcharge would range from $100 to $2,500 depending on the carbon emission level. The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which experts say contribute to global warming.

Although it’s more of a nuisance than a catastrophe in the making, but older computers, PDAs and DVRs may not automatically update their times when daylight-saving comes three weeks early this year — on March 11. The date change was established by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was passed to get Americans to cut energy consumption. The thinking is that less energy will be used toward the end of the day if the sun’s out later. For years, most of the nation has set clocks ahead on the first Sunday of April. Few computer experts think the new date will make a big difference. Consumers can prepare for the change by using a rule of thumb: If a computer or device is a bit older, it may not correct the time automatically. Any Microsoft operating system older than Windows XP may not recognize the new time change come March 11. For more information, customers can visit http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst. Older personal digital assistants or digital video recorders, for example, may not adjust and you might have to set those manually; you should consult the manufacturers of their devices for instructions.

State Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, has proposed legislation that would reimburse college tuition for students who attend a California community college before they enter the University of California or California State University systems. The bill is designed as a pilot program, that would  first apply to students enrolling from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2013. In order to receive the erimbursments, the students must graduate from a California university and do so within five years of starting junior college. After they receive their diplomas, students would get a reimbursement from their university. Cogdill stated to the Union Democrat that the bill, SB 347, has several benefits. First, the state would save money overall by encouraging students to attend junior colleges, Cogdill said.

Chemicals leaching from some brands of baby bottles has parents all over the nation evaluating their feeding strategies tonight. Several popular baby bottle brands have been found to leach potentially harmful levels of a toxic chemical linked to developmental, neural and reproductive problems, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental policy group. Even before the study was released, independent experts from the National Institutes of Health had already planned to meet next week to discuss the issue.The independent laboratory study was conducted in cooperation with the Environment California Research and Policy Center to test whether bisphenol A, a chemical used to make clear plastic for consumer products, including baby bottles, was released into the liquids the bottles contained, Environment California spokeswoman Rachel Gibson said.

Drivers got the green light for the Sutter Creek bypass yesterday morning around 10:30.  The road closed sign was removed and Caltrans activated the lights.  It did not take long for drivers to take the new 3.5 mile stretch of road that bypasses Sutter Creek and Amador City which will cut several minutes off of their trip between Highway 16 and Sutter Hill, as well as save the side mirrors of many vehicles that are parked along the old Hwy. 49 stretch in Sutter Creek. The new road also provides a spectacular view when headed north toward the old Hwy 49 junction. TSPN was there yesterday morning as the bypass officially opened to traffic. The Bypass was expected to significantly reduce the amount of commercial vehicle traffic through Amador City and Sutter Creek. The County and ACTC is still working on getting funds from the state to bring the old section of Hwy. 49 up to standard before it is transferred to County and Cities.

 

In December of 2004 the Jackson City Council adopted a Resource Constraints and Priority Allocation Policy per the Planning Commission’s recommendation, therefore making Jackson the first of it’s kind in the County to do so. The policy is the City’s growth management program designed to control growth at a rate that can be supported by the infrastructure and service demand created by new housing units. In January of 2005 the city allocated 116 Housing Equivalent Units (HEUs) for that year. Those HEUs were allocated to three different developments; Stonecreek received 8 HEUs, the Shealor Trust Property was allocated 26 HEUs and Jackson Hills was given 82 HEUs.

Jackson City Police are looking for a stolen car, stolen from the Water Street apartments early yesterday morning around 3 am. The car is described as a blue Oldsmobile Sedan with the license plate 2VNG375. If you have any information contact Jackson Police Officer Mark Harmon at 223-1771.

The California Transportation Commission announced yesterday that it will not fulfill Amador, Calaveras and Alpine Counties funding request from Corridor Mobility Improvement Account to help cover cost overruns on the Angels Camp Bypass, thus leaving the Tri-Counties Alliance on their own in finding a solution to cover the $12.8 million of cost overruns on the project.  Amador County Transportation Commission Executive Director Charles Field said that the alliance had indications last week that that the request would be turned down by the California Transportation Commission. “We saw the writing on wall the week the before CTC meeting…(which was held) Tuesday February 20th,” said Field. The CTC’s recommendations, which were released yesterday, include projects already rejected by voters on a ballot, such as the Willet’s Bypass, Sonora Extension, and Brawley Bypass, all of which apparently were not what the voters requested, and yet they remain in the CTC’s recommendations. Field said the rural projects range in the 1,2,3, and 4 hundred million dollar cost range. For instance the Willets Bypass is a whopping 300 million dollars. Fortunately, Field revealed that the Tri-County’s have had a Plan B all along just in case their CMIA funding request was not granted by the California Transportation Commission. Field said the Tri-County’s have agreed to ask Cal-Trans to help fund the cost overruns.