Absentee Voters: be on the look out for your ballot in your mailbox. Yesterday was the first day of mail outs for Absentee ballots and according to the Amador County Elections Office those absentee ballots are being mailed today to voters here in Amador County. The Amador County Elections Department is the primary election service provider and sole voter registration custodian for approximately 25,000 registered voters here in Amador County. The Elections Department administers these duties in a non-partisan manner. This is essential, according to election officials, to maintain the integrity of the system and the confidence of the electorate. And you can be confident that if you are an absentee ballot voter here in Amador County your ballot will be arriving shortly. If you have any questions for the elections department they can be reached at 223-6465

Speaking of smoke and fire, it’s that time of the year again when homeowners are warming up around the comfort of their fireplaces or wood stoves, many times with out a thought in their minds about the condition of their chimney. However, if you don't give some thought to it before you light those winter fires, your enjoyment may be very short-lived as chimney fires can be deadly.

The search for a suspect in the Oct. 27 killing of Sacramento County sheriff's deputy Jeff Mitchell is now looking at two strike parolees.

Sadam that began more than a year ago, a combative Hussein and two other defendants Sunday were sentenced to death by hanging for a brutal crackdown in 1982 in the Shiite town of Dujail. One other defendant was sentenced to life in prison, and three received 15-year sentences.

Parents, teachers and school administrators have been invited to attend a statewide series of forums on the federal No Child Left Behind Law. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced Monday that he wants to gather comments on ways to modify the law which is due for reauthorization in 2007. The biggest concerns for California and 16 other states that have complained about the federal law are accountability, interventions, corrective actions, the highly qualified teacher requirement and English-learner issues. Accountability tests determine how well students are learning. The test results generate a school's state Academic Performance Index, which shows how much schools and student subgroups improved over last year, and the federal Average Yearly Progress, which shows whether schools and student groups are meeting minimum objectives.

Beginning last Wednesday, Amador County Sheriff's deputies participated with the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department in a sting of known sex offenders. The sting was in accordance and cooperation with several other law enforcement agencies. In addition to Amador County and Tuolumne County Deputies, the sting included officers from San Joaquin, Calaveras, Stanislaus, and Merced. Wednesday kicked off the three day operation to increase federal prosecutions of violent sexual predators and to reduce the number of Internet crimes against children, including child pornography. In the course of Thursday's and Friday's operation, called Valley Predator, law enforcement officers contacted 160 people required to register as sex offenders, according to a press release. During the operation, detectives raided pre-selected homes of registered sex offenders living in several counties. The purpose was to ensure that the offenders are in compliance with the terms of their releases and to search for any evidence relating to additional crimes.

Two Special Ceremonies were held yesterday by the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwok Indians for new additions to their gaming complex and tribal lands. The first ceremony was held yesterday morning for the opening of the newly constructed driveway that will serve as the main entrance to the Jackson Rancheria Casino, Hotel and Conference Center. The new entrance is located off Hwy 88 between Ousby and Rossbridge Roads. It took the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwok Indians years of wrangling with the state and federal government to construct this roadway to create a separate entrance for the thriving gaming establishment, an entrance other than the entrance located off of the heavily traveled New York Ranch Rd and Ridge Rd corridors.

The Amador County Child Abuse Prevention Council has announced that an “All Candidates Forum” will be held Tuesday October 17th. The Council has invited all candidates for city council, board of supervisors, school board, state legislature and congress are invited. The public will have an opportunity to ask the candidates questions concerning a variety of issues. Jack Mitchell, Publisher of the Amador Ledger Dispatch, will moderate the discussions. The Forum will be held Tuesday Oct. 17th from 6-8pm at the Amador County Administration Center at 810 Court Street in Jackson. For more information call the Amador County Child Abuse Prevention at 223-5303.

A new law passed late last month now increases the amount of time a driver’s license is suspended for persons convicted of Driving Under the Influence, including those with commercial licenses and juveniles. The bill, SB 1756 written by Senator Carol Midgen, D-San Francisco, was signed by the Governor on September 29th. This bill further strengthens California’s drunk driving and driving under the influence laws closing more loopholes that allowed offenders to be back on the roadways quickly.The new rules include 10 month suspension of driving privileges, instead of the current 6 months, as well as increasing the offense for juveniles from a civil offense to a criminal one. Commercial drivers are also impacted by the law which increases suspension times to 6 months.