Calaveras County Chief Probation Officer Michael Kriletich took his place on the podium with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other prominent law enforcement officials on December 21, 2006 as the Governor unveiled his comprehensive prison reform proposal.  Along with the addition of 16,238 beds in state correctional facilities, and 45,000 local jail beds, the proposal includes a proposed $50 million augmentation to adult probation services for the 2007-2008 budget year and $100 million for both the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 budget years.  The proposal also commits hundreds of millions of dollars to juvenile probation programs. 

In response to forecasts for unusually cold temperatures throughout much of California in the coming days, officials with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the California Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), as well as local agencies such as the Jackson Water Department urged Californians to prepare themselves, their family members, and their animals for the possible effects of the inclement weather.

The National Weather Service has reported to OES that temperatures will drop into the 20 and 30s Wednesday night into Thursday, followed by daytime temperatures in the mid 40s in most areas. On Friday and into the weekend, temperatures will drop further, reaching the high teens to low 20s in most areas at night, and continued daytime lows in the mid 40s.

According to the AP authorities in Sacramento County, are looking into the death of a woman who'd competed in a radio station contest. A medical examiner said the woman died of water intoxication. Jennifer Strange, 28, had taken part in a contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom. Strange was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest held by Sacramento radio station KDND FM. The station had promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner. The station's owner said staff members were stunned when they learned of the death. It's not yet known how much water Strange consumed.

Young people from the Amador County Youth Coalition are joining thousands of kids across the country who are taking part in Kick Butts Day (KBD), a nationwide initiative that makes kids leaders in the effort to stop youth tobacco use.  As part of the local Kick Butts Day event, Youth Coalition members are creating a dynamic display illustrating the 1200 deaths that occur every day in the United States to tobacco related diseases.  This means that here in Amador County at least 1 person loses their life each week.

Throughout the year, these young advocates take part in a variety of activities to promote healthy living in our community, including working to develop policies that reduce youth tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke and educating their peers about tobacco companies’ deceptive marketing practices.

New Jackson Ford Mercury has generously donated a portion of their fence line along Highway 49 in Martell for the 17 member Youth Coalition to construct a display.  Youth Coalition members from Ione Junior High, Jackson Junior High, Amador High School and Argonaut High School have worked with many local agencies and businesses to collect the 1200 pairs of shoes. After school, on the afternoon of April 2nd, Youth Coalition representatives will be along the fence line beside their display showcasing their message with youth-created banners and signs.  Each empty pair of shoes represents a life lost every day. For more information about the KBD display along Highway 49 in Martell, contact Diana Evensen at 223-6638 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The El Dorado National Forest is developing an application for California Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Cooperative funds for the upcoming 2007-2008 cycle. The Forest Service anticipates submitting the application which will include funding requests for several different aspects of the regulation and support of OHV usage. The application to be submitted will request funds for OHV and Over-Snow Vehicle (OSV) Law Enforcement in all four Ranger Districts across the Forest, OHV Trail Maintenance and repair in Amador, Georgetown and Placerville Ranger Districts, the purchase of two snowmobiles for winter patrols on the Amador Ranger District, the purchase of two motorcycles for summer patrols on the Pacific Ranger District, and Facility Operation and Maintenance on the Georgetown and Placerville Ranger Districts.

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.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statewide emergency proclamation Friday, mobilizing state and regional resources to ensure the safety of residents and property during the cold snap. The proclamation orders the California Office of Emergency Services to direct all necessary state personnel, equipment and facilities to help "alleviate this emergency."  The Governor stated that "I have directed state agencies to activate the extreme temperature protocols established last year to assist the most vulnerable populations in the state and asked local governments and the people of California to take common sense precautions in the unseasonably cold weather," Schwarzenegger stated. The proclamation also provides financial support for local communities and the directs the California National Guard to open additional armories as temporary warming facilities.

The Stockton City Supervisor who was involved in a fatal vehicle accident on Highway 88 late last year may serve up to four months in prison. Dino Leonardi, the community and cultural services superintendent for Stockton Parks and Recreation, pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter before the Amador Courts. On top of 120 days in jail, Leonardi agreed to three years of formal probation and restitution to be set by the court.

According to the Stockton Record, Leonardi allegedly caused a fatal two-vehicle accident by cutting in front of another vehicle and causing a driver to lose control. The out of control car caused Ruby Alston, 74, of Stockton to lose control of her vehicle and die in the resulting crash.  The case was made all the more bizarre because the occupants of the vehicle that Leonardi cut-off were coincidently involved in local politics. Mark Stebbins, a Stockton councilman in the 1980s, recently declared candidacy for the District 6 council seat. Jennet Stebbins is challenging Davis Assemblywoman Lois Wolk for the Democratic nomination for the 5th Senate District seat. The Stebbinses and Alston were on their way to a Jackson-area casino May 8. Leonardi, who lives in Sutter Creek, was commuting home.

A special panel created after last summer's Lake Tahoe wildfire warned that another catastrophic blaze is imminent and wants a disaster declaration to hasten fire-protection efforts. Asking for the emergency status from the presidentrecommendations. Many of them are intended to resolve the bureaucratic infighting among overlapping agencies that has hampered fire-prevention efforts for years. The report also recommended imposing higher taxes on property owners, requiring home owners to replace wood shingles and upgrading the Tahoe basin's water systems. Members of the commission emphasized their alarm at the fragile nature of the basin's environment by adding the word "emergency" to their report.

The Angora Fire exposed long-standing rivalries between the local, state, federal and regional agencies that are charged with protecting Tahoe's environment or promoting fire protection. Earlier this week, an Associated Press report exposed numerous examples of bureaucratic backbiting that delayed tree clearing throughout the basin, sometimes for years. The regional planning agency and the Lahontan water board have been on one side, with the U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and local fire districts on the other.

The commission's report says the various agencies must set aside their often conflicting goals and begin cooperating. and the governors of California and Nevada was among dozens of recommendations by the California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission. The commission wants the state and federal governments to free up money quickly, primarily to cut thick stands of trees. The commission gave unanimous approval to a report containing more than 70

The state assembly tried to send some relief to local governments reeling from higher interest costs Monday with approval of a bill that allows cities, counties and other bond issuers to buy back their own bonds. The Assembly approved Senate Bill 344 by Senator Mike Machado, a Democrat from Linden, on a vote of 67 to 1.  The bill affects Amador County and will now go to the Senate. Markets for two types of municipal bonds have been hit with turmoil in recent weeks as a side effect of the meltdown in subprime mortgages. The bonds are sold at short intervals, from weekly to monthly, to investors looking for short-term returns.

But when the companies  that insure the bonds were shaken by losses in mortgage-based securities, the municipal market was also rattled, leading to higher interest rates. Senate Bill 344 makes it clear that local entities, including governments, hospitals, utilities and universities – can shelter themselves from the interest rate volatility by buying back their own bonds without “extinguishing” the debt. The agencies can then resell the bonds if the market is down, or switch to more traditional forms of debt. Without that clarification, bond issuers have lost their bond insurance or been forced to go back to voters to reauthorize the debt.

The bonds could have been stripped of their tax exempt status. Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who sponsored the legislation, said that taxpayer’s don’t create the financial turmoil, “Yet they are the ones who pay the price.” In the local area, public agencies have been scrambling to get out of the “auction rate” and “variable rate demand” markets as interest rates have spiked. Officials say that for years, the little-known markets allowed them to borrow at unusually low interest rates.