Today the federal district court in Sacramento dismissed the Amador County’s suit challenging the Department of Interior’s ruling that 228 acres of land in and around the City of Plymouth are “Indian lands” and thus eligible for gaming. Amador County Administrative Officer Terri Daly says the court’s ruling is on procedural grounds and the lawsuit can be re-filed. In a press release from the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, chairman Matt Franklin said, “We are extremely pleased with the court’s ruling. Our tribe knew that we would prevail in this suit as we have been in Amador County long before the county even existed.”

Wednesday evening a Ford pickup truck went off Ridge Road just East of New York Ranch road and wound up upside down in a ditch. The California Highway Patrol reported that the driver was distracted by his vibrating cell phone.  When the driver looked up from his cell phone, he noticed his vehicle was going off the south roadway edge of Ridge Road. The vehicle struck several small trees and went down the embankment, rolling over onto its roof. Fortunately the driver was unhurt.

At the Sutter Creek Planning Commission meeting Monday, the commissioners discussed a large piece of land that the City of Sutter Creek is considering annexing, known as the Erickson Annexation. The property includes 187 acres, divided into four parcels, located on the Sutter Creek/Amador City Bypass, between Tonzi and Sutter-Ione Roads. Caltrans purchased the property from Sutter Gold Mining Company in December of 2002, to be a part of a mitigation project that was required by the state as part of the bypass construction. Caltrans spent over 3 million dollars planting oak and cottonwood trees and performing wetlands mitigation on the property, before deeding it to the city this year.

An estimated 6 million tons of trash will be generated across the nation over the holiday season.  In fact, 38,000 miles of ribbon alone will be thrown out this Christmas. That’s enough to tie a bow around the Earth!  The Amador County Waste Management Department has some helpful holiday waste management tips for us all. For starters – you can recycle your Christmas tree! Once the big day has passed and the ornaments are packed, load up your tree and drop it off at one of several convenient locations for recycling. Sponsored by Amador Disposal Service, ACES Waste Services Inc., and Amador County Waste Management Department, free Christmas tree recycling will be available the day after Christmas through the entire month of January. 

Just after midnight last night, a Placerville man was driving north on Hwy 49 south of Bell Road when he entered a 35-mile an hour curve at an excessive speed, left the roadway and struck and embankment. According to the CHP, her received minor injuries and was taken to Mercy San Juan hospital for treatment. On Tuesday afternoon, a 50-year old River Pines woman, driving under the influence of alcohol, ran off Shenandoah Road and collided with an embankment at about 45 miles per hour. Cynthia Sedano was not injured, but she was arrested by CHP officers for DUI.

 

A big rig driver escaped injury yesterday morning when the loaded hay truck he was driving slid on icy pavement, overturned and was hanging off a cliff on Hwy 88. According to the California Highway Patrol, the Fresno driver was westbound on Hwy 88 near Mormon Emigrant Trail at a speed of 35 – 40 miles per hour. The driver said he saw the ICY warning sign and slowed, but it was too late. The truck began to slide and the driver lost control as the trailer flipped on its side. The tractor section of the truck then struck an embankment and overturned as well. The accident occurred at 5 am yesterday morning and the overturned truck blocked both lanes. It took crews a couple of hours to right the truck and clear the road for traffic.  There were several ice-related accidents last weekend, and now this accident yesterday. A warning to anyone driving in the upcountry- The very cold nights we’re having are creating extremely icy conditions on Hwy 88 – please allow plenty of time to reach your destination and driving carefully!

 

 

Jackson City Council met Monday evening with newly appointed Mayor Pryor-Escamilla presiding. The meeting began with the presentation of Robert Cornejo, who became the 12th officer for the Jackson Police Department, and his mother was there to pin his badge. In their first action item, council voted unanimously to grant a 3.3% increase to ACES Waste Services for trash collection rates in the City of Jackson, effective January 1st. The rate request reflects a 3.3 % increase in the Consumer Price Index – allowed under the terms of ACES’ franchise agreement with the city. With the new rates, the rate for a 96-gallon trash cart will increase about 45 cents per month. In a letter to the city of Jackson, ACES president Paul Molinelli, Sr. noted that a small additional increase may be necessary early next year due to an expected increase in fees charged by the Buena Vista landfill where ACES takes trash collected in Jackson.

Two Amador County groups have been awarded grants from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Board for watershed protection projects in the county. The Amador Fire Safe Council received 2 grants of $50,000 each for Community Wildfire Protection Plans in Pine Grove and Pioneer/Volcano areas. The Amador County Watershed Stewardship project received over $173,000 in grant funding. The funding for the grants comes from Proposition 84, the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coast Protection Bond Act passed by California voters in November 2006.