The heat wave that's hit our area, and most of California, continues today, and power officials are concerned about the electricity supply as the state continued to see triple-digit temperatures. Power managers were concerned that with people heading back to work, the demand could actually surpass the state's power supply. Thursday's demand was about 44,500- around 2500 under the anticipated 47,000. That's only about 5,000 megawatts less than the record set last year during the July heat wave, but this year there is less power available because the dry winter has meant less water to power hydroelectric generators.

Local Amador County resident Mikayla Hirschel of Jackson was one of 4000 applications for the National American Miss Pre-Teen Pageant held this last weekend in Santa Clara. Of the 4,000 girls, only 85 were picked as State finalist for the competition. The girls competed in formal wear, verbal interviews, modeling, acting, photogenic, public speaking and community service. Mikayla and seven other contestants were chosen as State Ambassadors to represent California. The State Ambassadors all received invitations to the National pageant to compete for the National title in November. Mikayla is an honor student at Jackson Middle school and hopes to become a Super Model someday. Congratulations and good luck Mikayla.

The Amador County Unified School District Board of Trustees recently gave a raise to the substitutes utilized by the district. According to Executive Director of Personnel Rosalie McProuty, the district has conducted a survey of the surrounding, and therefore competing counties, including El Dorado and Calaveras. What the survey found is that the ACUSD rate of $90 dollars per day for short term subs was much lower that the surrounding counties which paid anywhere from 125 to 209 dollars per day. McProuty emphasized the importance of having a “good” pool of substitute teachers on which to call when the need arises. The Board, after some discussion, approved the rate increase to $110 per short term substitutes and $150 dollars per day for long tern subs.

Governor Schwarzenegger has reached an agreement with legislative budget writers on a plan that would stop sending less-serious and nonviolent juvenile criminals to state institutions, beginning this year. If the full Legislature goes along with the plan, the decade-long population decline at the Division of Juvenile Justice would continue, dropping over the next two years from 2,600 currently to 1,500, according to the agency's projections. Instead of being housed in the state's eight juvenile facilities, less-serious juvenile offenders would be retained at the local level.

Today a study is being released in Science magazine. The study proves that the assumption that women talk more than men is just myth with no factual merit, according to he studies authors- a team of researchers who studied the conversational habits of 396 men and women for six years. Although, women did use more words than their  male counterparts, an average of 546 more words a day than men in the study, researchers state that it is not a statistically significant number.

The Ione City Council had quite a bit to discuss at their meeting on Tuesday. The first item on the table was on the consent agenda, approval of the metal railing for the Safe Routes to School Pedestrian Bridge, which would be constructed by the Ione Pharmacy. Mayor Jerry Sherman had performed a quick survey asking local residents their thoughts on the railing, and was informed that the public was not very happy with the prospect of the fence, as people had been using that walkway for quite awhile.

Today is the Mother Lode Community blood drive sponsored by the Jackson Rotary. Anyone who gives a pint gets a pint today! If you donate blood you will receive a coupon for a free pint of Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream and T-shirt. Blood donations help patients being treated for accidents, routine surgeries and diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and hemophilia. Thanks to the generosity of local donors when you receive care at Sutter Amador Hospital or at Sacramento-area hospitals such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Sutter or Mercy hospitals, the blood you receive comes from BloodSource donors. Giving blood is easy, safe and takes less than one hour, but only five percent of the estimated 60 percent of eligible Americans donate blood. To give blood, you must be in generally good health, free from cold symptoms for at least 48 hours; be at least 17 years old (16 years old with parental consent); and weigh at least 110 pounds. There is no upper age limit for donating blood. If you’re interested in donating blood please don’t forget a photo ID. The Blood drive is going to be held from 11am to 6pm at the Jackson Civic Center located at 33 Broadway. For more information about the Mother Lode Community blood drive please call Jody Boetzer at 257-7619. For donor eligibility questions call BloodSource at 1-800-995-4420.

Caltrans has announced that they will be closing Hwy. 104 in Ione to resurface the existing pavement in downtown Ione. The work is scheduled to begin Tuesday, July 10th at 9am. This will be an ongoing 36 hour project that was agreed upon by the City of Ione and the local businesses in the area. Access to business will not be restricted during the 36 hour period. Motorist should expect minimal delays, however a detour will be available. Caltrans said alternate routes should be taken whenever possible. And please remember for the safety of workers and other motorist, please slow for the cone zone.

A bill that would remove the power from the California State Legislature to approve new childhood vaccine mandates and hand it over to state public health officials appears to be gaining ground in the capitol. The bill, AB 16, would require that all new vaccines recommended by the Center for Disease Control for children would be automatically mandated in California five years later. Citizens would not be able to speak through their elected representatives and stop a new vaccine mandate, such as the Human Papillomavirus vaccine, or stop any other new vaccine recommended by the CDC from being mandated.