Dennis Libby, who confessed to holding up a clerk at knife point at the Sierra Trading Post in Pioneer last August 25, was sentenced to two years in state prison Tuesday, according to District Attorney Todd Riebe. Libby was charged with second degree robbery with a deadly weapon. Libby entered the store wearing a mask and holding a large kitchen knife. He gave the clerk a note demanding money from the cash register and instructions to place the money into a bag.  Libby then fled on foot with $282. Amador County Sheriff’s office began an investigation which ultimately led detectives to Libby at his residence less than ½ mile from the Trading Post.  Libby admitted committing the robbery to Sheriff’s detectives Tom Rayzor and Lieutenant Drew Stidger. At the time, Libby said his motive for robbery was financial hardship.

Also sentenced Tuesday was Tracy resident Andy Blea, 45, who was sentenced to seven years in prison following his guilty plea to several drug- and identity theft-related charges. According to Riebe, visiting judge Don Howard was not sympathetic to Blea’s appeal for leniency  and handed down the maximum sentence allowed.

The charges stem from the arrest of Blea and a companion at the Jackson Rancheria Casino where Blea was detained for possession of methamphetamine. Blea falsely gave the name of James Ramsey when he was booked, and after failing to make a court appearance, a warrant was issued for James Ramsey, causing the real James Ramsey to be arrested. It was quickly determined that Ramsey was the victim of false personation – Ramsey identified Blea as a person he had worked with in the past. That information led to Blea’s arrest. Blea has a long criminal record and was on felony probation for driving under the influence causing injury at the time he committed the offenses in Amador County.

Just as crews are working to finish a signal at the intersection of Hwy 49 and 16, a spike in vehicle accidents there has kept CHP officers busy cleaning up the messes. TSPN reported yesterday on a motorcycle versus car collision that occurred Sunday in the Hwy 49/Hwy 16 intersection. On Monday, the California Highway Patrol reported that Curtis Wade, 48 of Sutter Creek and Geoffrey Bremer, 25 of Ione crashed in this intersection when Wade failed to yield to Bremer who was eastbound on Hwy 16. And last Friday, Esther Magby, 62 of Sutter Creek and Daniel Balos, 41 of Modesto were involved in essentially the same accident when Magby failed to yield to Balos as he was driving eastbound on Hwy 16. Magby suffered minor injuries in the collision. And elsewhere in the county, Eric Holt, 29 of River Pines hit a tree and a fence on Old Sacramento Road when he took his eyes off the road to pour a cup of coffee. When he looked up, he had traveled off the road, into a ditch where his ’97 Neon ultimately struck the tree and fence. Be careful out there!!

The Amador Water Agency received approval from the Amador County Board of Supervisors to rezone 80 acres of agency property in the Lake Camanche area. The property, about ¼ mile east of Curran Rd, is the former site for wastewater disposal, which the agency has ceased using for this purpose. The 80-acres, which are surrounded by residential properties, will be split into 2 40-acre parcels, rezoned R1A – single family residential and agricultural.

Neighbors of the property had protested the changes when the county notified them of several easements that the Planning Department had put in place to accommodate access to the new lots. Amador Water Agency General Manager Jim Abercrombie told the supervisors that the water agency did not need or want these easements, and agreed with neighbors that the easements should be abandoned. Abercrombie says that the new lots will go on the market very soon, and that the proceeds from the property sale of former wastewater system property will be used to augment the current wastewater system in the Camanche area.

Monday night’s Sutter Creek City Council meeting saw discussion of several issues.  In Public Matters not on the Agenda, a youth pastor from Sutter Creek proposed starting a youth intern program that would sponsor clean-up of Highway 49 from the Day’s Inn to Ridge Road. The program would be comprised of 14-18 year olds who would pick up trash and otherwise beautify the highway. The City Council agreed to allow the youth pastor to pursue the program, with several council members proclaiming that it was a “good idea.” The council went on to discuss possible road development on Mill Street, close to downtown.

A bomb threat evacuated Main St Jackson and closed Hwys 49 and 88 Monday afternoon. At about noon on Monday, Jackson Police were called to a Jackson Main Street store to investigate a suspicious item that turned out to be a bomb. The object was described as a manufactured device about the size of a soup can with foreign language text imprinted on it.

A Sutter Creek man lost his life in a single car accident Saturday in the Jackson Valley area. According to the California Highway Patrol, Craig Robinson, 43, was driving on Camanche Road south of Jackson Valley Rd when he lost control of his car on a curve in the road and struck a tree, resulting in fatal injuries. No one else was in the car with Robinson. And an Amador City man received only minor injuries Sunday when he was thrown from his motorcycle after being struck by a car at the intersection of Hwy 49 and Hwy 16. A CHP report says Verne Schartz, 55, was westbound on Hwy 16 on his Harley Davidson motorcycle when Martin Reynosa, 46, of Sacramento, failed to yield to oncoming traffic at the Hwy 49 stop sign. He proceeded through the intersection where he ran into Schartz who was ejected from his motorcycle. Schartz suffered minor injuries and was taken to Sutter Amador Hospital for treatment.

Last week, Amador Fire Protection Authority took some initial steps towards the formation of a consolidated Amador Fire Protection Department. At the last September 13th AFPA meeting, it was decided that the individual fire chiefs would meet to discuss the conditions and terms for a future consolidated fire department. However, at the October 23rd Amador Fire Protection District meeting, only 4 out of 6 department representatives showed.

Two families hoping to buy their first homes got a leg up through the Amador County First Time Home Buyer Loan Program. At the supervisors’ Administrative Committee meeting Monday, two prospective home buyers whose applications for county funded applications had been turned down presented supervisors Richard Forster and Louis Boitano with appeals. Initially the supervisors felt the two homes were too expensive for their buyers, making the debt ratio too high for the First Time Home Buyer Loan program – a special county program where first time buyers can apply for low-interest home loans.