At least 165 structures have been destroyed with more endangered and more than 1,000 residents were evacuated ahead of a massive wind-driven blaze raging in the south Lake Tahoe area near Angora Lake Ridge, between Meyers Lake and Fallen leaf Lake. Linda Curran of the Camino Interagency Dispatch Center in California said the Angora Fire has destroyed 165 homes or outbuildings. “I can confirm 50 structures have been destoyed by fire, but I can’t tell you yet how many of them were homes and how many were outbuildings,” Curran said.

Last Friday 06-22-07 law enforcement officials on the other side of the river in Calaveras County made a bui discovery that resulted in Deputies from the Calaveras County Narcotic Enforcement Unit and Federal Agents from the Bureau Of Land Management serving a search warrant onto land located near Highway 26 in the Mokelumne River Canyon. Deputies discovered and then removed over 3600 marijuana plants from the area, and had observed one Hispanic male adult running from the area during the investigation. It is believed that several persons had been living inside of the Marijuana Garden. Although the marijuana plants were not fully grown, it is believed that the plants were being tended to on a daily basis. If each plant had been allowed to grow until maturity, each plant could have produced over 2,500 lbs of marijuana, which would have resulted in a crop valued at over 9 million dollars.

The month of July is synonymous with Patriotism and one local business is making sure your helping to beautify the local community in a patriotic fashion. Goin’ Postal, located in Martell, will offer free replacement flags to anyone who brings in tattered, torn or faded American Flags during the month of July. The local business has 300 American Flags on hand to give out as free replacements, limited to one per family. Goin’ Postal state wide will be offering this throughout the month of July so be sure to tell your friends and family about the project so they too can beautify their towns and cities by proudly displaying beautiful vibrant American Flags. Goin’ Postal is located at 11310 Prospect Drive Suite 10 in Martell across from the Feed Barn.

Next week the Amador Air District Board will be holding a public hearing on proposed rule changes to district regulations that directly impact 110 local businesses that operate equipment that generates and or controls contaminants. Amador Air District’s Air Pollution Control Officer, Jim Harris, explained, “These proposed rule changes are related to the fees we charge permitted sources for permits to operate equipment…” He added that he is proposing that those fees be raised this year.

The Board of Supervisors donned another hat on Tuesday as they served as the Board of Equalization to make a  determination on whether the Revenue and Tax Code was applicable to the situation that came before them. The issue before them stems from an application that was submitted for a change in property tax assessments by Charles Howard, III Trust’s for the assessment of a mineral rights interest that had changed ownership back in 2000. That is when Unimin Corp. acquired the mineral rights from the former owner of the sand mine located on Rancho Arroyo Sec, also known as the Grant.

A report recently released from the Labor Market Division of California's Employment Development Department shows there are a total of 13,020 employed people in Amador County and about 88 percent of those are employed in a service providing industry. The May 2007 Labor Market totals for Amador County show little change in employment figures with categories of Local Government, State Government, and Service providing industries. Most categories showed about a two percent growth rate, with the exception of construction and information related jobs which both showed declines in employment numbers. Local government employment was down 10 employees from 3290 to 3280, while state government jobs rose about 3 percent. The report does show, however, that the employment rate in Amador County remains below that same rate in Calaveras and Tuolumne County. Amador County’s unemployment rate is about 5.6 percent. Tuolumne County has a rate of 6.1 percent with Calaveras just slightly higher at 6.2 percent. The full report can be viewed at http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/

The Council of Western State Foresters is reporting that California is a leader in the use of best management practices for forest water quality protection. “Well managed forests provide for the clean water necessary to maintain and enhance biodiversity in the watershed,” said Crawford Tuttle, Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).

Senate Leader Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez announced today that they had merged their competing health care reform proposals into one bill AB8- now, setting the stage talks between the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perata stated yesterday “At every step in this process, we have proved the critics wrong. We are showing that we can tackle a problem as big and complex as health care – and improve the lives of millions of Californians,” Perata said. “I look forward to finishing what we have started and delivering to the Governor meaningful health care reform.”

District Attorney Todd Riebe announced yesterday that the number of workers’ compensation fraud investigations and convictions handled by his office’s Workers’ Compensation Fraud Unit dramatically increased from the previous year. The Fraud Unit’s continued success in combating fraud has resulted in additional grant funding for the Unit which investigates and prosecutes workers’ compensation fraud, not just in Amador County but also in Placer and Calaveras Counties. Last week, the California Department of Insurance awarded a $445,000 grant to the Amador County District Attorney’s Office to help reduce workers’ compensation fraud in the three counties.