A former Amador County woman, who has been serving a life sentence in state prison for the 1980 murder of her 5-year-old stepdaughter, was recently granted a parole date – and the local DA’s office is seeking to have that decision reversed. According to the Amador County District Attorney’s office, Gina Sargent, now 49, was convicted of second degree murder, corporal injury to a child and child endangerment after Ilana Sargent died from complications caused by massive head trauma.

ACRA Amador County Recreation Agency had their first meeting of the New Year. discussing some good news and some bad news. For the good news, ACRA’s executive director, Tracy Towner-Yep was happy to announce a transfer of 80 acres in Pioneer by Fred Joyce to ACRA by the end of the month. The acquisition will be named the Joyce Environmental Center. The property is exempt from taxes, so maintenance should be the only costs of the acquisition.

The Amador County Election Department has begun mailing out vote-by-mail, or “absentee,” ballots. If you would like to vote by mail, the last day to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot is Tuesday, January 29.  The deadline to register to vote in the February 5 Presidential Primary Election is Tuesday, January 22. The state pamphlet on the first three ballot propositions was mailed to voters in December by the Secretary of State’s office. The supplemental state pamphlet for the four gaming compact propositions will be mailed to voters soon. If you have any questions about vote-by-mail, voter registration or the location of your polling place, please call the county Elections Office at 223-6465.

The Sonora office of the American Red Cross has announced its class schedule for January and February. The Red Cross offers a variety of first aid and CPR classes which satisfy job requirements for workers in many fields. Most classes are held on Satudays or evenings at the Sonora Red Cross office. Licensed day care workers are required to take the California Child Care CPR and First Aid class – the Red Cross has scheduled that all-day class on Saturday, February 16. The Red Cross also offers a shelter operations class scheduled for Saturday February 9 at 2 pm. Those interested in attending any of the Red Cross classes should call ahead to register – to register or for a complete schedule of classes call the Sonora office of the Red Cross at 533-1513.

The 3rd Annual Backcountry Film Festival will be held tonight at Pioneer Elementary School. Each year, the Snowlands Network hosts this film festival of grassroots backcountry films and shorts of winter wildlands and muscle-powered snowsports on public lands. This year’s films focus on the backcountry skiing lifestyle, sustainability, and the history of telemarking in China. Tickets are $7 at the door, doors open at 6:15 PM and the show begins at 6:45 pm. The Snowlands Network is a nonprofit organization promoting backcountry skiing, snowshoeing and snowboarding. Also associated with the Film Festival are a backcountry ski tour on Saturday, and a backcountry snowshoe tour on Sunday. For details about all these activities, see www.snowlands.org.

Can you sew? Do you need a fun outlet for your creative urges? Main Street Theatre Works is looking for costumers for their 2008 season. Main Street Theatre Works director Susan McCandless says this season’s shows are great ones for costume designer “wannabes” to get their feet wet on -- not too big or too complicated. A small stipend is offered to costume designers. And you can volunteer your services in some other way.  Help is always needed and there's something for everyone, says McCandless. Main Street Theatre Works is also looking for a number of pieces of dark wood Victorian furniture and accessories to borrow from March 7th to April 14th for the company’s spring production.  If you can help, contact Susan McCandless at (209)295-4499.

Delivering his annual State of the State address before a joint session of the California State Legislature Tuesday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger asked legislators to work with him to tackle some of California's most pressing challenges, including reforming the state budget system.  "This coming year will test us in very hard ways. In any number of areas, we've tackled politically risky things that no one in the past wanted to touch. To me, this is progress.

Tuesday night’s Economic Development Workshop with the Jackson City Council and the Historic Jackson Business Association resulted in a new strategic planning committee that will actively pursue improving Jackson economic outlook. Over 60 citizens showed up for the 2-hour meeting to document economic issues facing Jackson and come up with a vision and strategic plan for moving forward. Shannon Lowery, Executive Director of the Amador Community Foundation, acted as facilitator and walked attendees through a 3 step process. First step was validating the economic issues that face downtown Jackson and the City at large.