And finally, some good news for Amador County commuters. A stretch of I-5 that runs through downtown Sacramento has reopened after months of extensive infrastructure repair work. There were some delays in the repairs of the southbound lanes, but now both directions are open to commuters. The repairs, which included repaving, were needed after water seepage from the nearby Sacramento River damaged the roadway.

A mysterious call from a motorcyclist who crashed last Thursday off Highway 26 resulted in a two-county search. TSPN’s contributing photographer Bill Lavallie was at the scene of the accident to bring you these dynamic images. 911 Operators received a call early Thursday morning from a man who claimed to be lying in the bottom of a ditch somewhere off the highway. The initial call went out to Amador fire and emergency personnel, who subsequently called for an air ambulance service. A California Highway Patrol helicopter joined in the search shortly thereafter. As the search continued with no evidence of a crash, Fire units from West Point Calaveras CHP joined in.

With precious minutes passing and no evidence of an accident, the situation could have turned tragic. Fortunately, the rider was able to inform 911 operators when he heard the helicopter passing above him. Officials located the scene of the accident off the road on Hwy 26 many miles south of West Point. The rider had skidded off the road at a high rate of speed and ricocheted off a tree before the motorcycle plowed into two adjoining trees, becoming tightly wedged between them. The momentum of the impact launched the driver about 30 feet down an embankment. With a broken leg and possible broken arm, all the rider could do was wait for help. Rescuers on the scene considered it fortunate that the rider’s cell phone held out long enough to maintain contact with the search party. A CHP officer at the scene stated that earlier that morning he had observed the motorcycle speeding on Hwy 26 traveling in the direction of Westpoint. The rider was transported by helicopter to a Stockton area hospital.

After multiple complaints from local mine operators, the County of Amador is set to terminate its contract with Resource Design Technologies Incorporated, the agency who performs annual surface mine inspections in accordance with the California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, or SMARA. Amador County contracted with Resource Design three years ago to perform the surface inspections and reporting to the State for the 26 active or idle mines in Amador County. Prior to that, the county contracted locally to perform inspections, but became unable to manage State reporting requirements as laws regulating mining reclamation activity have become much more stringent in the last three years. Recently, the County Planning Department has reportedly received numerous complaints from local mine managers regarding the quality of Resource Design’s work.

Complaints primarily centered around the issue of a low quality of work performed during inspections and “sloppy reporting” at a considerable cost to the mining companies. According to one local mine manager, at the end of this year’s reporting period, he received a phone call from the State Mining and Geology Board pointing out numerous errors on his mine’s surface inspection report. He was able to correct the errors, but his faith in Resource Design was shaken. The County is looking into a contract with a new inspection firm, Pacific Municipal Consultants, or PMC. According to County Planner Nathan Lishman, the County hopes to contract with PMC for two years for a cost of $47,000 per year. After the two year period which will include training with PMC, the County Planning Department will look into performing its own inspections and reporting which will save local mining operators a considerable cost and will also, according to Lishman, serve to help circulate revenue within the County.

Recent statistics released by the Amador Council of Tourism shed a bright light on an industry that has traditionally helped gauge the economic state of Amador County. According to the optimistically titled report, “Amador Council of Tourism Accomplishments 2008”, the tourism council has been taken big steps towards promoting and nourishing Amador County’s tourism industry. These steps included hiring a part-time tourism director, opening a visitor’s center in Plymouth and tripling funding from 2006 to 2007. Many residents are familiar with the tourism council though there many appearances at travel shows, which this year included the Sunset Show Celebration, Amadoropoly, the Orange County Show and the Los Angeles Travel Show. Advertising played a big part in the council’s promotional campaign, with colorful ads featured in Sacramento magazine, the California Visitors Guide, Sunset, and Sactown Magazine. The Council ahs also qualified for an additional 14,000 dollars in Measure E funding which will be used for advertising.

State officials say California's unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percent last month to 6.9 percent as the slumping housing market continued to take a toll on the economy. The Employment Development Department says in its report released late last week that the number of Californians out of work rose by 19,000 people during the month to 1.28 million. The construction industry has posted the biggest job losses, shedding 164,500 jobs over the past year. California's unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent in June 2007.

Caltrans District 10 has announced its participation in a new initiative that aims to reduce emissions through the valley and foothills and subsequently improve the health and quality of life for residents. Entitled Healthy Air Living, the initiative was inspired by a recent statewide Healthy Air Living Week, and has additional support from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. “We understand the seriousness of the valley’s air quality status and are committed to doing our part by joining residents in cleaning up our air,” said Kome Ajise, Caltrans District 10 Director.

The Central Valley faces unmatched statewide challenges due to meteorological and topographical factors in reaching clean air-standards. Unhealthy air qualities in the valley directly effect ozone levels in Amador County, creating a notoriously unhealthy climate. Because of the valley’s bowl shape, it has a reduced ability to naturally clean itself of emissions from various sources. According to Air Control statistics, cars and trucks are responsible for up to 80 percent of the valley’s air pollution problem. “It is efforts such as these by Caltrans District 10 that will move us even closer to clean air in the valley,” said Seyed Sadredin, the Air District’s air pollution control officer and executive director. The initiative encourages individuals and companies to make clean air decisions a natural part of everyday life. Caltrans has pledged to continue to offer alternative work schedules, telecommuting, links to carpooling and vanpooling resources and subsidize mass transit for employees to reduce trips to work.

Finally, CALFIRE spokesman and representative Tobie Edmonds would like to remind locals of the best way to contact CAL FIRE for the latest fire-related emergency information. Folks in Amador can call the Amador/El Dorado CALFIRE Recorded Fire Information Line at 530-647-5218. This recording will have the most recent updates. You can also visit the CALFIRE website at www.fire.ca.gov. The website has interactive links and a wide variety of maps that provide up-to-the-minute visuals of firefighter’s progress across the state and here in the foothills. You can also find this link through our website at www.tspntv.com.

Health officials received word late Wednesday that a Black-headed Grosbeak bird collected from the Pioneer area has tested positive for the West Nile Virus. This is the first positive bird identified in Amador County this season. According to Dr. Bob Hartmann, County Health Officer, “This was not unexpected. No humans have tested positive for West Nile this year.” Most individuals who are infected with West Nile Virus will not experience any illness. Up to 20 percent of infected individuals will have only mild to moderate symptoms, such as fever, headache and body aches. Less than 1 percent of individuals will develop serious neurological illness such as encephalitis and meningitis. The elderly and those with lowered immune systems are more susceptible to serious illness.

West Nile Virus is generally transmitted to humans and animals through a mosquito bite. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds. There are a number of precautions individuals can reduce their risk of mosquito-borne diseases. These include, draining or dumping standing water in places where mosquitoes lay eggs, checking flowerpots, buckets, leaky water faucets or sprinklers weekly, making sure your doors and windows have tight-fitting screens, and applying insect repellant containing DEET. You can report any dead birds to 1-877-WNV-BIRD or visit www.westnile.ca.gov for tracking of West Nile Virus activity in your area.

A decent turnout of long-time local activists, city council followers, and a handful of curious civilians attended the July 16th Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort public information workshop on the project’s newly released Draft Environmental Impact Report. Residents debated the merits and impacts of the development with the project board and city staff while viewing posters depicting photo-shopped before and after images of the 945 acres of oak woodland and cattle grazing land that may soon be the site of construction. The City of Sutter Creek is a partner in the project, which was initially formulated in order to facilitate the city’s wastewater disposal needs. The project includes major additions to the city’s water infrastructure, in addition to the expansion of local roads and public services.

Later that evening, much of the same crowd reappeared for a joint City Council and Planning Commission meeting to review the document. Mayor Pro-tem Bill Hepworth opened the meeting in the absence of mayor Gary Wooten, but soon thereafter announced that he would have to step down from the discussion due to a potential conflict of interest involving his wife’s business as a realtor. What ensued was a presentation on the DEIR lead by Bob Delp, who is assisting the city in Gold Rush’s environmental planning and review. Delp discussed the projects impacts to population and housing, public services and utilities, transportation and circulation, air quality, noise, location geology and hydrology, historical, biological, and visual resources.

As in previous discussions on the project’s impacts, the hot button topics that became the source of debate centered on traffic impacts and oak woodland mitigation. Planning Commission Chairman Robin Peters pointed out that there is a “distinct and obvious lack” of planning for future connections to properties bordering the project to the north, south, and west. The City, developer, and public will continue discussions on the Draft EIR through August 29th. On August 25th, public comments on the DEIR will be solicited at a public hearing before the Planning Commission. The DEIR is available for review at Sutter Creek City Hall, the Amador County Library, on the City of Sutter Creek’s website and on Gold Rush Ranch’s website.

Ione officials held a pre-application public hearing for the project design phase of the new Community Development Block Grant at their meeting Tuesday evening. The grant, which is the third in a series that the City has applied for, is part of the City’s housing strategy for first time homebuyers who meet the qualifications of low and moderate income families, households, and individuals. The City is currently proposing to use the funds mainly for housing acquisitions; however, the money may also be used for other aspects of housing including new construction, housing rehabilitation, public works, and economic development. As stated in the staff report, “Projects funded with CDBG allocations must carry out at least one of three objectives: benefit to a targeted income group, elimination of blight, or meeting urgent community development needs.”

The proposed national objective to be met by the city is to provide decent housing to those households making 51-81 percent of the median income of Amador County. The city’s consultants for the project, Connerly and Associates, will take the lead in preparing the necessary application and other related documents if the grant is awarded. John Broussard of Connerly and Associates was present at the meeting to field comments made by the public and the council regarding the program. According to Broussard, “the waiting list (for the program) is ever growing; there are currently 18 families on the list as of right now.” If the grant is awarded to the city, the application process will not begin until December 16th of this year. He also stated that “we try to serve members of the community first.” The next CDBG funding cycle opens in January of 2009.