Do you change your own oil?  Do you have used oil filters?  Did you know that you can recycle them along with your motor oil at ATI Parts? Bring your used oil filter to A-T-I Parts in Sutter Creek on Saturday, August 25 between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and receive a FREE oil & filter recycling container and $6 off your purchase of a new oil filter! 

The steps of the National Hotel in downtown Jackson hosted a ceremony last night. The informal ceremony was in the form of the Skeleton Crew Motorcycle Club handing over a generous donation to Operation Care. The check, in the amount of 6-hundred dollars, was raised by the local motorcycle club during the Buster Westfall Memorial Run. Buster’s son John explains the gift. Next the President of the Skeletin Crew spoke Operation Care’s rep explains what this donation means to the local support services group.

Saturday the Great Sutter Duck Race was also the scene of a simple procedure that may help people in need of a bone marrow transplant. Jim Archer of Inventex, sponsor of the event, states that over 130 people received the simple swab procedure. According to BloodSource who administered and will be handling the swabs, the samples will now be tested and the results are put on a registry that is has become international. A BloodSource Marrow Specialist, Liz Ustick who was present on Saturday says, “Doctors who have patients with leukemia (and other cancers) will look at the registry to see if they (the samples) match their patients. If they are a match there is further testing that is done on the (donors) blood. If they are the perfect match they will go on and donate the marrow.”

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.

Changes to the Amador County Fair Board were announced this week that will bring two new faces onto the local Board. Both Laurie Forster of Ione and Jeanne Deaver of Plymouth were appointed to the Board by Governor Schwarzenegger. The women will replace former Directors Tim King and Connie Mason.

The Public Comment period on the adequacy of the Draft EIR for the City of Jackson’s Land Use, Circulation and Zoning Project was discussed by the Jackson Planning Commission this week.

This weekend was the 126th Annual Italian Picnic and Parade. The Italian Picnic grounds were packed with thousands of Amador County Citizens and out of towners that enjoy the festivities on the first weekend of June every year. The rides and games kept the kids busy leaving the adults to the music, dancing, bingo, food and more.(SUE VIDEO) The Italian Picnic grounds will continue to be occupied until next weekend when hundreds of high school kids turn out for the popular Sober Grad event.

The General Plan Advisory Committee has been looking into how the General Plan for the future of the county will impact the county’s economy. The group’s “Working Paper” on the subject of the local economy takes a look at some of the available data concerning the economic conditions here in the County. The analysis focuses on trends in employment, labor force characteristics, average wages, population, educational attainment, and other economic factors to provide background information that will assist the County in addressing these issues through the General Plan Update.

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.

One more step forward for three Historical projects, located within Amador County, on their quest for state historical funding grants. The Fiddletown Preservation Society, the Kennedy Mine Foundation, and the Knight Foundry in Sutter Creek have made it through round four of the California Cultural and Historical Endowment and now have some dollars reserved by the state for their projects.