Emergency meetings being held in Tahoe to address the current emergency situation are revealing anger. That anger aimed squarely at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency or TRPA. In all, a crowd of nearly 2,000 people gathered at the South Tahoe Middle School auditorium Monday night, wanting to be heard after the losses from the Angora Fire. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is considered a powerful bi-state environmental land use agency that charged with managing the resources of the Tahoe Basin area for both California and Nevada. Even the name of the agency brought scorn and jeers according to officials in attendance.

Last night’s Jackson City Council meeting focused on law enforcement as Chief of Police Scott Morrison explained to the Council last that the Sheriff’s Office and the local Police Departments are pursuing the re-implementation of the Amador Narcotic Enforcement Unit or ANEU. The Sheriff’s Office historically has taken the lead on the joint narcotics taskforce in Amador County. Morrison said that between 1993 and 2001 the Jackson Police Department assisted with the ANEU program by assigning personnel to the special unit. Morrison said the unit was very successful in the apprehension of narcotics dealers and associated criminals; however 6 years ago the Jackson Police Department withdrew from the program for two main reasons, staffing and funding. Sheriff Martin Ryan and Under Sheriff James Wegner also attended the meeting last night to further explain the taskforce and the funding.

Last week’s meeting of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality control board included an executive officer report regarding a Notice of Violation and draft Cleanup and Abatement Order, filed against Sierra Pacific Industries for their facility in Martell. Sierra Pacific Industries owns property where lumber processing was historically performed. Under Waste Discharge Requirements, Order No. 98-094, the Discharger, SPI, is required to close and remediate a wood waste landfill, ash disposal area, and fungicide dip area. On May 5 2007, the Discharger was issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) for discharge of waste to the surface water and groundwater, in violation of WDRs Order No. 98 094

Ralph Stephen Garbarini, former Jackson resident pleaded guilty today to fatally gunning down a businessman at a popular dessert cafe in an apparently random act. Garbarini, admitted in Court today to shooting San Diego resident Michael Fineman at point-blank range Dec. 30, minutes after being thrown out of the restaurant by staff. Fineman, a 44-year-old father of three, had complained to restaurant staff that Garbarini was staring at him while he was having dessert with his wife and two friends and it was making them uncomfortable.  Garbarini returned just minutes later with gun in hand, headed directly for Fineman's table, shot him and the other male at the table, then calmly walked out and vanished and a statewide man hunt ensued.

Last Friday an accident that looked nothing short of devastating was reported around 9:30 pm on Hwy 88 near the Pioneer Lodge. This car was split in half after the driver lost control, skidded sideways into a large cedar tree, uprooted the tree and chopped the bottom off. Then the rear of the car skidded back onto the lane he was traveling in, west bound, and the front of the car continued about 300 yards down the road in the east bound lane, and wound up in a field. According to the CHP the driver was arrested for suspicion of Driving Under the Influence and released to medical personnel. He was airlifted to a Valley Hospital.

Wide disparities in children’s well-being from county to county are presented in a new report by Children Now, a leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children thrive. Released last week, the 2007 California County Data Book is an online, public resource providing the most comprehensive county-level data on children’s health, education and family economic status. It also provides county rankings for key indicators. These data illuminate the vast differences between counties that are masked by statewide figures.

The Amador Water Agency’s proposed rate increase has continued to dominate discussions at the Jackson City Council, and the meeting tonight will be no exception. Tonight, Jackson City Manager Mike Daly is expected to provide information on the analysis of how the proposed increase will impact Jackson’s ratepayers. The City of Jackson currently purchases treated water from the AWA.  Traditionally the AWA has proposed rate increases of about 7% so when the City received the Agency’s Financial Plan and Water Rate Study in April that proposed an initial 22% raise and a yearly 12% increase for the next three years, they were shocked.

Last week the Local Agency Formation Committee met and passed a resolution determining a sphere of influence for the City’s of Plymouth, Jackson, Sutter Creek, Ione and Amador City. Executive Director Roseanne Chamberlain described the items as more of a formality, as the spheres of the Cities were not changed. “We re-affirmed existing spheres,” said Chamberlain and went on to explain that “Different cities had different maps that were all made at different times by different people and by accepting the sphere of influence action it confirms a multitude of actions.” Recently Chamberlain took on a huge task of researching LAFCO meetings and minutes and found that many times a motion was made to change a sphere but that action never appeared on a map.