The Amador County Unified School District has been working to incorporate language into the County’s General Plan that will provide some assurances that the district’s future growth needs will be met by developers. Superintendent Dr. Mike Carey explained that Senate Bill 50 adopted in 1999 “pretty much took schools out of the business of being players when developers come in and counties and cities are looking at building infrastructure to meet the new residential growth.” He said unlike the Amador County Recreation Agency we cannot come to a City or County and ask that money be provided per residential units for the district, because supposedly the school district is already guaranteed the money from SB 50.

The Jackson Police Department conducted aggressive enforcement actions this week on the “Do Not Block Driveway” signs posted at the driveway exit from the Police Department on Hwy 88. Officers issued a total of thirty nine citations, mostly between the hours of noon and 1 pm and 3 to 5 pm. In addition to the driveway violations, five seat belt tickets, and one red light running violation was also issued. During peak traffic hours, it has been difficult for patrol officers to exit the driveway. Patrol Officers are blocked in by motorists who do not heed the “Do Not Block Driveway” and “Emergency Access Do Not Block” signs or the “Keep Clear” painted on the pavement of the highway. In 2005, after the installation of the traffic signal, CalTrans was made aware of the problem. After surveying the intersection, an additional sign “Emergency Access- Do Not Block” was installed in addition to the already posted “Do Not Block Driveway”. The Jackson Police Department will be out again aggressively enforcing the clearance of the driveway. The JPD is asking all motorists to please obey the posted signs. Minutes DO matter when responding to an emergency.

The controversy over nearly 6 million dollars in traffic mitigation fees is now a saga as the Supervisors once again heard the appeal of those fees by the developers, Jack Stewart and Phil Longacre. Although it was clarified that the fees will be lower than the 6 million dollars discussed, the actual fees have yet to be determined.  The proposal is to convert the zoning of the property from a residential zoning to a special zoning that would allow for multiple commercial, residential and light industrial uses on 3.6 acres in Pine Grove. The developers plan to develop a 12 unit business condo type complex to serve the needs of upcountry residents. The catch- almost 6 million dollars in traffic mitigation fees required from the developers under the new Regional Traffic Plan adopted by the Supervisors last April. This is the first project, since that time, which has triggered the “Tier 2” fees assessed when a project asks for further entitlement under current zoning restrictions.

The Sutter Creek Police Department responded to a bomb threat yesterday afternoon at 18 Bryson Drive. According to Chief of Police Rob Duke an unidentified male voice called the Law Offices of David Foyil at approximately 2:30pm and said there is a bomb on the premises and this is not a prank. The Sutter Creek Police Department was immediately contacted and the building complex was evacuated as well as the cars in the parking lot. Calaveras County’s Bomb Squad team responded to the scene and after searching the premises and making all the precautionary checks determined that the call was a hoax. Duke said that the Department did try to call the anonymous caller by the use Star 69 an automatic call back feature, however the number was blocked. Duke said the investigation is continuing.

Amador County is among the 10 "Best Places to Live in Rural America," according to Progressive Farmer magazine. In a ranking released today, Amador placed ninth on the magazine's list based on quality-of-life indicators such as household income and spending, home and land prices, crime rates, air quality, education and access to health care. But what the magazine's senior editor, Jamie Cole, recalls most vividly is the diverse environments to be found within the county 592 . "You've got these small, sort of Gold Rush towns in one corner. You've got the wine country in one corner. Then, when you drive to Tahoe, it's cold and snowy," Cole told the Stockton Recors Wednesday from his magazine's offices in Birmingham, Ala. Cole was surprised to see a mild 70-degree day in Jackson, where he stayed in September, quickly give way to a "full-on deep freeze" upon driving east on Highway 88. 

On Saturday February 3rd the Radiology Department, Laboratory, and the registration will be closed to all outpatients. Thursday, March 1st and Friday March 2nd Endoscopy and Infusion will be closed to all non-Emergency scopes. There will be no disruption to emergency services or to those admitted to the hospital. Sutter Amador Hospital has done their best to try to keep closures and interruption to patient care at a minimum while moving some of their services to the Outpatient Services Center and are sorry for any inconvenience these closures may cause. These service interruptions are temporary only. All services will be open and operating by Monday morning. Watch for more information to follow with details about the new Outpatient Services Center. SAH thanks the community for their understanding.

An accident that occurred on Monday should remind us that icy roadways are still a concern even though temperatures have warmed up over the last couple of weeks. According to CHP Officer Patrick Ong’s report, Angela Jones, 40 and of Ione, was traveling on Hwy. 88 east bound west of Aqueduct Volcano Road, at 50 mph descending down a hill grade and approaching a curve to her right. Jones encountered black ice ON THE ROADWAY and as she braked for the curve she lost control of her vehicle. Her 2003 Chevy Tahoe ran off of the south side of the Hwy. and collided with an embankment which caused it to overturn and strike a sign. Jones had her two young children in the vehicle and thankfully everyone, including Jones was seat belted properly and no injuries were sustained as a result of the accident.

After midnight last night it was be official- this January was the driest since 1889. Rainfall accumulation for the month is was at 0.07 inch, which broke the record set in January 1889 of 0.15 inch. The normal amount of rain for the month is 4.18 inches. In 2006, 3.07 inches fell on the city. Today will be the 27th dry day in a row, well short of the longest winter dry spell, which was 44 days from Nov. 15 to Dec. 28, 1976. Temperatures are expected to reach the low 60s in Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto. Lake Tahoe will see a high of 43 degrees. The snow pack is also well below normal, at about 48 percent in the northern Sierra, 43 percent in the central Sierra and 40 percent in the southern Sierra. Last year at this time, the snow pack was 111 percent of normal in the northern Sierra, 123 percent in the central Sierra and 135 percent in the southern Sierra. The department of Water Services will conduct their next measurement of snowfall this Friday