An Amador County Narcotics Investigation resulted in the bust of a large methamphetamine lab in San Andreas over the weekend. The crackdown resulted in the arrest of four Stockton men and another man, according to the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office. Five suspects from the Stockton area were arrested and booked between Friday and Saturday on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance and conspiracy to commit a crime. According to an Amador Police official, this bust was above and beyond the size of an average meth lab crackdown, but details have yet to be disclosed.

The Amador County Narcotics Task Force had been investigating the lab for close to a month and made the bust in cooperation with the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office and the Amador County Sheriff's Office. There was evidence of frequent drug manufacturing, although drugs were not being manufactured at the time of the arrest. Nine 55 gallon tanks were filled with manufacturing waste from meth production. Most of the necessary chemicals to manufacture methamphetamine are readily available in household products or over-the-counter cold or allergy medicines. Synthesis is relatively simple, but entails risk with flammable and corrosive chemicals, particularly the solvents used in extraction and purification. Clandestine production of meth is therefore often discovered by fires and explosions caused by the improper handling of volatile or flammable solvents.

A dramatic non-injury accident Tuesday night on Highway 88 near Columbia Road in Pioneer left a vehicle overturned and temporarily closed the road. Workers briefly closed the highway while emergency personnel cleared the roadway Tuesday night around 9:00PM. The driver of the vehicle reportedly lost control of his car and end up spinning and flipping. There is no report as to whether any intoxicants were involved. The driver of the vehicle was not injured. 

The major topic of discussion in Sutter Creek Monday night was on the future of Amador County’s water services. The Sutter Creek City Council heard a presentation by Gene Mancebo, Amador Water Agency Manager of Engineering and Planning, on the AWA‘s “20 Year Strategic Plan”. The plan outlines a number of infrastructure expansions that the AWA is seeking in order to deal with a projected increase in demand for water services. The plan states that the AWA is currently servicing 5,474 connections into the Amador Water System. With the current system, an additional 16,000 household connections could potentially be made. However, the AWA forecasts that the County’s major water resources will be exhausted by the year 2030 due to a large increase in demand caused by the construction of several large subdivisions.

Three of the County’s largest planned developments, the Gold Rush Ranch, Jackson Hills, and Wicklow Way, will create a need for approximately 2,420 new residential hook-ups total. To deal with the perceived increase in demand for water and waste-water services, the AWA is planning several measures. The first is to increase the use of reclaimed water countywide, with the goal that 20% of Amador’s Water Usage will be reclaimed by the year 2020. A second undertaking will be to raise Lower Bear Reservoir 32 feet in order to “insure a firm supply” of county drinking water. In addition, Mancebo stated that the Agency will seek partnerships with Calaveras County, East Bay Mud, and San Joaquin County to implement an ‘Integrated Regional Conjunctive Use Project’ for a more regional, efficient approach to problems of shortages, over-drafted ground water, and saltwater intrusion. The city council had a mixed response to Mancebo’s presentation. The biggest
complaint from council members about the presentation was that Sutter Creek’s contributions to water service regionalization went largely unmentioned. City Manager Rob Duke stated, “I think we should have it on record that Sutter Creek is firm in its steps towards regionalization, and has been since the 1950s.”

At a special Amador Water Agency meeting tonight, the board will discuss the possible elimination of a proposed 1.5 million gallon treated water storage tank as a part of the Plymouth Pipeline project. During recent design reviews, Agency staff learned that the Plymouth Pipeline Project’s proposed storage tank could not be filled during peak water use periods. Agency Staff, working with City Staff, are considering alternatives in order to hydraulically bring water to the tank.

These alternatives included lowering the tank location, pipe improvements to reduce head loss, and elimination of the tank. If the tank is lowered in elevation, benefits to the Agency are dramatically reduced. The Agency will also continue reviewing storage options in connection with the proposed Regional Water Treatment Plant. The proposed tank and associated infrastructure was estimated to cost 3 to 3.5 million and its elimination presents a significant Project cost reduction.

Five students from Amador and Argonaut High Schools competed in front of a packed Teresa’s banquet room Tuesday night for this year’s Amador Rotary Speech Contest. The theme for this year’s county wide Contest was “How Sharing Promotes Peace In The World.” John Young, a junior from Amador High School, took home 200 dollars in cash, a trophy, and the opportunity to compete for a 1,000 dollar prize in Reno during the Rotary District 5190 Conference in May. Amador Senior Claire McCaffrey won second place and 100 dollars.  Third place and 50 dollars was awarded to Hana Casita, an Amador junior.  Katie Hancock of Argonaut and Amador’s Charlie Merritt tied for fourth place and won 25 dollars.

Amador County’s fire protection community is getting closer to placing an initiative on the ballot that would designate funding for the consolidation and modernization of the County’s fire fighting forces. The measure would reserve a half a cent from county sales tax transactions to be placed into a fire fund, which would in turn be disbursed to local fire departments in the form of a one-time 50 thousand dollar allocation, with additional provisions based on population and call volume. The money would be used for the creation of a 24 hour paid fire staff, improved equipment, and upgraded infrastructure to deal with the ever-increasing factors of call volume and population. Last Thursday’s Amador Fire Protection Authority meeting began with an animated discussion lead by county administrative officer Terry Daly. Daly outlined a calendar for the ballot initiative, which would be submitted in time for the November 4th 2008 election.

Daly stressed the importance of coming up with a specific plan for the funding, stating, “We cannot just go to the voters with our hat in our hand; we need to show exactly why we need this money and where we will be making improvements to services.” The discussion then turned to the possibility of consolidation. Ione City Manager Kim Kerr presented the Authority with a detailed plan for the consolidation of the Ione and Jackson Valley Fire Departments. The plan included provisions for splitting a 24 hour paid fire staff, as well as a shared administration. In turn, Mark Morton, chief of the Jackson Fire Department,  talked about recent discussions between the Jackson and Sutter Creek Fire Departments on the subject of a merger into the Amador Fire Protection District. He said that the two departments were considering the possibilities of either a full merger or a Joint Powers Authority, but that “there was still a lot of work to be done in terms of a detailed plan.” The meeting wrapped up with the creation of a new committee that will meet weekly in order to formulate the details of a fire budget, as well as spending policies for the AFPA.  The next AFPA meeting will be on Thursday, May 1st. 

Mule Creek State Prison remains in partial lockdown in the wake of an attack on prison guards last Thursday at the Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, north of Los Angeles. Two Hispanic gang-affiliated inmates rushed three guards and stabbed them, putting them in the hospital, officials said. The mandatory lockdown is part of a statewide operation and a standard procedure to avoid gang repercussions. All state prisons were locked down as a precaution.

As of  yesterday, Mule Creek’s lockdown was still in effect for roughly 1,100 Hispanic inmates, or almost 32 percent of the prison’s population. The Tehachapi victims, two sergeants and an officer, remain stable in the hospital. The two inmates are affiliated with Southern California prison gangs. Certain State prisons will remain locked down until corrections staff can determine whether the stabbing was isolated. Tehachapi prison was built to hold about 2,800 inmates but had about 5,900 as of last year, according to the Department of Corrections Web site. Its custody staff numbers about 1,400. In April 2005, two Tehachapi guards were stabbed by a prisoner using a homemade weapon, but both recovered. State corrections officials said the Tehachapi prison will remain on lockdown indefinitely. (end) am APP contributed to this story.

The Ione City Council welcomed a new councilmember at their special meeting Monday evening after the sudden resignation of Councilman Jeff Barnhart. There were three major applicants for the position. Each applicant was given an opportunity to share their background with the council and to answer questions. David Plank, Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission, cited his experience with Regional Land Use Planning and Growth Management and his involvement in important Ione projects during his tenure on the Planning Commission. Another candidate,

 Elmer Rhode, was not present at the meeting as he had personal matters to attend to, but his letter of interest was read into the record. Rhode’s letter stated that he intended to “dedicate the time needed to work with the other council members for the good of Ione.” A third candidate,  Chester ‘Skip’ Schaufel, currently serves as the Secretary of the Ione Business Community Association and also of the Rotary Club, and stated that he has a “solid history of producing results within a limited budget.” Councilman Ard commented on the fact that all of the applicants were “of the caliber of experience needed, for the city to make it.” Councilman Sherman then reminded those applicants who were not chosen to “run for election in November.” After deliberation, a motion was made for Plank that resulted in a deadlock 2-2 vote. A second motion was then made for Chester Schaufel with a 4-0 vote. Schaufel was then sworn in by City Clerk Janice Traverso. Councilmember Schaufel will now replace Jeff Barnhart, whose service extended into 2010.

The Olympic torch arrived for its only North American stop in San Francisco amid heavy security yesterday, a day after its visit to Paris descended into chaos and activists here scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to protest China’s human rights record. The torch’s global journey was supposed to highlight China’s growing economic and political power. But activists opposing China’s human rights policies and a recent crackdown on Tibet have been protesting along the torch’s 85,000-mile route since the start of the flame’s odyssey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The flame arrived in San Francisco shortly before 4 a.m. and was immediately put in a vehicle to be whisked away to a secret location. No protesters greeted the flame at the airport, but hours later hundreds gathered in United Nations Plaza, a pedestrian area near City Hall, to call on China to cease its heavy-handed rule of Tibet. Hundreds of Chinese students from Stanford University also planned to board buses for San Francisco early Wednesday to attend the torch relay to show their support. San Francisco officials said they were developing a plan that strikes a balance between protesters´ rights to express their views and the city’s ability to host a safe torch ceremony. San Francisco was chosen to host the relay in part because of its large Asian population. After San Francisco, the torch is scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then to a dozen other countries. It is scheduled to enter mainland China on May 4 for the host country’s portion of the relay.

Yesterday, the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, held a ceremony at the State Capitol honoring Caltrans employees who have died in the line of duty since 1924, including three who died in 2007.  Caltrans workers from Amador County were present. Caltrans observed its  Annual Workers Memorial in conjunction with the National Work Zone  Awareness  Week kick-off on the west steps of the State Capitol.

 

The ceremony honored the 170 Caltrans employees  who  have  died  in  the line of duty since 1924, as well as all roadway work zone deaths nationwide. This year the Sacramento memorial marks the  first  time  in history that the national kick-off event is held anywhere outside the metropolitan Washington D.C. area. “Today  we  honor  the  great  sacrifices  that  highway  workers  made and recognize the tremendous loss that their family and friends suffered,” said Caltrans  Director  Will  Kempton. “Everyday they put their lives in danger just by going  to work.” The ceremony included the release of doves, a bagpiper and vehicle wreckage from which an employee narrowly escaped. The Caltrans Honor Guard performed a special tribute for the workers lost nationwide and dedicated a wreath to those killed in 2007. Top leaders in transportation from the state and federal governments, as well as theIndustry, were also in attendance.