The Amador County Fairgrounds yesterday became the recipient of a large check courtesy of Pacific Gas and Electric Company for a “green” project.

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!

Globally, wild Salmon numbers continue to fall. There is even some talk in scientific circles that the popular fish could be headed for extinction if radical efforts are not taken on behalf of saving the fish species and its habitats.

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.

According to the Associated Press, California county prosecutors and state lawyers on have further narrowed their interpretation of the voter-approved crackdown on sexual offenders, Jessica’s Law.

El Dorado County officials have now announced an agreement with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians announced that will allow construction of a casino in exchange for at least $190 million in payments to the county over 20 years. The county had fought the tribe in state and federal courts for years to block the casino and hotel project, which is planned off Highway 50 in Shingle Springs.

A new name in groceries may soon becoming to the county with the announcement yesterday that Save Mart Supermarkets is buying up 132 Albertson's grocery stores in Northern California and Nevada, a purchase that doubles the Modesto-based supermarket chain to 256 store according to both companies.

The indoor marijuana-growing operations busted this month throughout the valley in successive raids in several residential neighborhoods will now become part of a larger federal probe in the region. On Thursday A federal grand jury in Sacramento handed down indictments on four San Francisco men arrested Sept. 13 in the first of the raids in Stockton, said Gordon Taylor, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency assistant special agent in charge.

An accident this past weekend threatened the life of an Amador County Sheriff’s Deputy.

The Amador Water Agency and the City of Ione are looking at creative ways to avoid another winter disaster such as last year’s over flows at the Ione waste water treatment plant. Recently, on the Water Agency’s consent agenda one such project appeared. The project offers to both reduce the waste water flows to the Ione treatment plant by realigning the dumping of Ione water treatment plant backwash from the wastewater system, as well as freeing up more capacity for the current developments under construction in the city.