A Mother Lode Community blood drive will be held on Thursday, October 4 from 11 a.m. –  6 p.m. at the Jackson Civic Center, 33 Broadway, Jackson. Blood Source, a not-for-profit community blood bank is holding the blood drive to meet the community’s need for blood and blood products. Thanks to the generosity of local donors when you receive care at a hospital in our region, the blood you receive comes from BloodSource blood donors. Sutter Amador Hospital receives its blood from BloodSource. Giving blood is easy, safe and takes less than one hour, but only about 5 percent of the estimated 60 percent of eligible Americans donate blood. To give blood, you must be in generally good health, free from cold symptoms for at least 48 hours; be at least 17 years old (16 years old with parental consent); and weigh at least 110 pounds.  There is no upper age limit for donating blood. Prospective donors must bring a photo ID. All walk-ins are welcome.  Sutter Amador Hospital is sponsoring the blood drive. 

A fire on Hwy 124 near Buena Vista Road kept firefighters busy for a few hours on Saturday. 10 volunteers from the Ione Fire Department worked with Jackson Valley Fire Protection District and  CalFire crews on the 2-acre fire in grass and heavy brush. 2 air tankers and 2 helicopters worked the fire that began about 3:20 in the afternoon. According to Ione Fire Department, no firefighters were injured during the fire fight and juveniles playing in the area were reported to be the cause of the fire.

Sutter Creek now has a visitors center right on Main Street. Nearly 200 people came to celebrate and share in the Grand Opening of the new Sutter Creek Visitors Center on Friday evening. Hors d’oeuvres and libations were served to local town folks, dignitaries, Main Street shopkeepers  and other Amador County guests and popular local musician Herb Boxhorn entertained the gathering. The visitors center, at 71 Main Street, is part of the venerable Brignole Building that also houses The Fine Eye Gallery. Hours of hard work by volunteers has transformed the former location of The Amador Peddler store into an up-to-date gallery-style setting. The walls showcase works by local artists and give visitors a first glance at what Sutter Creek has to offer.

The first of an innovative workshop series on Amador County government was held last week and TSPN was there to tape the full session of Amador Government 101. The workshops are being offered, right here in the county, by decision and policy makers to help the general public better understand how our local government works directly from the mouths of the folks who run it. The workshop locations are at the County Government Center with the public welcome to attend just one or all five of the workshops for absolutely FREE.

Amador County put its best paws forward Saturday at the annual A-Pal Humane Society fundraiser to benefit homeless animals in the county – at the pooch-packed Paws in the Park. Margaret Blair of Twin Cedar K-9 was on hand to describe some of the action: Contests, games, the classic Strut Your Mutt Dog Walk, snacks for humans and canines, Vincent Van Dogh dog painting booth, even a live band – to quote Dr. Suess, it was a BIG dog party! The Italian Picnic Grounds was filled with mutts and blue bloods, competing for best costume, loudest bark, shortest tail, most senior and more. Dogs demonstrated their agility, their good citizenship, their best trick, and their knack for getting their owners to look just like them. Human participants paid a registration fee for the action-packed morning and all proceeds benefit A-Pal and its animal-related charities. Woof!

Amador County Treasurer-Tax Collector Michael E. Ryan has announced that the annual secured property tax bills for the 2007-08 fiscal year have been mailed.  If you own property in Amador County and do not receive your tax bill by October 15, 2007, please contact the Amador County Tax Collector’s Office at 810 Court Street, Jackson or call 223-6364, to request a copy of your bill.  Please note that State Law provides that the failure to receive a property tax bill does not relieve the taxpayer of the responsibility to make timely payments to the Tax Collector’s Office. Ryan indicated that there are over 23,000 secured tax bills for ad valorem taxes and voter approved special assessments, with tax charges totaling in excess of $48.3 million. Your Amador County property tax information is available on-line.  To view your tax information, visit www.co.amador.ca.us, Treasurer/Tax Collector link, and click on “Public Tax Information”. For additional information, please contact the Tax Collector’s Office.

Thursday, the Plymouth city council held a public hearing to receive input on a proposed capital improvement plan for fiscal years 2008-2012. City Engineer Roark Webber informed the council that this plan, if adopted, does not authorize the city to construct any of the improvements but it is a commitment from the council to complete the projects after obtaining proper funding. Webber told the council that a large number of the projects in the capital improvement plan are paid for by developer fees. City streets and intersections which are planned for improvement include: several parts of Main Street, including its intersection with state highway 49.

A strange tale of military-style weapons, drugs, and a cyanide powder bomb is under investigation across the river in San Andreas. Ronald LeRoy Applegate, 60, of San Andreas and two younger San Andreas residents face federal firearms charges after a burglary investigation turned up much more than investigators had bargained for. According to the Sonora Union Democrat, the most lethal weapons — including an improvised bomb designed to disperse a form of cyanide powder — were recovered from a residence in Valley Springs. A Colt M-16 assault rifle, an Uzi with silencer, and illegal tracer ammunition rounds were found along with the bomb.

David Faulkner, 54, of Mt. Aukum was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Wednesday when his vehicle ran off the road and overturned down an embankment. Faulkner was traveling northbound on Tyler Rd, north of Lubenko Ridge Rd in Fiddletown when the accident occurred. And on Thursday,  a 16-year old Sutter Creek girl and her brother were uninjured when the car she was driving spun out on Shake Ridge Road, ran over the opposite bank and down into some small trees. The driver was reportedly talking to her brother and was distracted when she drifted onto the shoulder of the roadway, over corrected and lost control of the vehicle.

Amador County’s School Transportation Department is short staffed, again. Transportation Director Andy Peters is driving everyday, along with other Administrative staff, which is encroaching on Peters’ ability to fulfill all facets of the Directors job. The district is however looking at some alternatives such as cutting and reducing some bus routes, looking at white van services, utilizing the youth bus operated by the Rancheria, providing gratis child care such as the after school program at the elementary school, and other ways to alleviate the growing problem.