American Legion Ambulance Company is cutting back on the number of ambulances it puts on the roads in Amador and CalaverasCounties. Al Lennox, President of American Legion Ambulance, says the company’s call volume and revenues are down about 15%. Lennox blames the drop in call volumes on the economy. “There’s less tourism, and less travel on the roads,” he told TSPN. More Medi-Cal ambulance patients are reducing reimbursements for services, Lennox says, “and we’re seeing more and more people who have been laid off and have no health insurance at all.”  Lennox says in the first 6 months of his fiscal year, the company ran a deficit – had they continued with no cost correction, the ambulance service would have shown a deficit of $150,000 for the year. Lennox says he has informed the supervisors of both Amador and Calaveras of the force reduction of about 15%. No one has been laid off – Lennox says they’ve shifted some full time to part time workers and some part-timers to per diem work. “This is the best way to adjust to the drop in revenue, with the least impact on 9-1-1 calls,” said Lennox.

Amador County physician Arnold Zeiderman and 10th Assembly District Member Alan Nakanishi will be speakers at the California Republican Party State Convention in San Francisco, February 22-24. They are featured speakers at a health care forum for convention delegates and legislators on Friday of the convention. According to the Convention website, this is an educational forum designed to provide clarity on fundamental issues and data on issues of health care costs, access, and quality of care, consumer initiatives and patient advocacy.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced earlier this month that two Division of Juvenile Justice facilities will close by July 2008 as a result of a trend of declining ward populations and recently enacted legislation. The two facilities scheduled to close are the El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility, in Paso Robles, and the Dewitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility in Stockton, which includes youth offenders from Amador County. The approximate population at DeWitt Nelson is 259 youth from 18 to 25 years of age.

California’s unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in December, up from 5.6 percent in November, according to the state Employment Development Department. Last year in December, California’s unemployment rate was 4.8 percent. Professional and business services, educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government posted job gains over the year. Six categories posted job declines over the year: natural resources and mining, construction, manufacturing, trade, transportation and utilities; information, and financial activities were down 80,800 jobs. The subprime mortgage crisis and housing slump are being blamed for the biggest increase in unemployed workers.

Friends are invited to attend a funeral service for Wilford “Bud” Roots. Bud was 74, a resident of Ione and lived 69 years in Amador County. The service will be held at 10:00 am on January 25 at the Daneri Mortuary Chapel in Jackson.  The inurnment is private and contributions can be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.

TSPN received a report from a local man regarding a scam that cost his daughter $3,300. His daughter advertised a car for sale and a man responded to the ad, asking if he could make a $3,500 deposit on the car while he got financing and had the car smog-checked. After the woman deposited the check, the man came back and said he couldn’t get financing and wanted his deposit back. He offered to pay $100 for the smog check and another $100 for the seller’s time and trouble. The woman wrote him a check for $3,300, which he immediately cashed – in the meantime, the seller’s bank called her to report that his deposit check bounced. The seller is now out her cash and police investigators are looking for the buyer, who used a fictitious name and ID for the transactions. It’s definitely a case of “seller beware” – sellers should insist on cash, money order or certified bank checks when selling vehicles to people who are strangers to you – even if they seem especially nice and trustworthy.

Jackson Rancheria Casino has indefinitely suspended Bingo games in response to the structural problems discovered at the casino earlier this month. The casino has also halted all concert entertainment until further notice. Gamblers were moved out of a 28,000-square-foot portion of its gaming floor after engineers found a "potential structural defect" in the building in the course of investigating water leaks. Until the building can be repaired, casino officials are relocating the gaming activities to nearby DaltonTown Hall – as “a precautionary measure.” Inspectors have evaluated the rest of the facility and deemed it fundamentally sound. Terry Cox, Vice President of Marketing & Player Development said, “The decision to indefinitely suspend Bingo was a difficult one as our Bingo guests are a valued segment of the history of the Jackson Rancheria Casino.” Cox said they expect to have the gaming area completely relocated to Dalton Town Hall by January 31. If you’ve already purchased tickets for an upcoming show at the casino, refunds are available at the place of purchase.

The time as come to finally revise the outdated Hazardous and Infectious Waste Ordinance in Amador County. The current ordinance was adopted in 1980. Significant changes to regulations for Hazardous Materials, Hazardous Waste and Infectious Waste have occurred in the past 28 years, and the county ordinance has never been updated. A Public hearing is scheduled for the Board of Supervisors’ meeting being held February 12.  Because of the expected interest by the community on this issue, two workshops on the proposed revisions are scheduled prior to the public hearing. The workshops will be held Tuesday, January 29th – you can attend an afternoon session from 2:30 – 4:30, or an evening session from 7-9 pm. Both workshops will be held in the Board of Supervisors’  For additional information on the workshops or the Hazardous Materials program, please contact the Amador County Environmental Health Department at  223-6439. Chambers in the County Administrative Center.