According to the 23rd annual survey by PNC Financial Services, the cost of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" will be $19,507 in 2007, a 3.1 percent increase over last year. The rise in gift prices mirrored the U.S. government's Consumer Price Index -- a widely used measure of inflation calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. True Loves will have to pay a bit more for the five Gold Rings this year, as jewelers report having no choice but to pass increased prices along to consumers as the price of gold continues to rise. The price of five gold rings now totals $395, a 21.5 percent increase over 2006 prices, but still nowhere close to 1989 prices, when the five Gold Rings hit an all-time high of $750. As the only unskilled laborers in the Christmas Price Index, the eight Maids-a-Milking make minimum wage, and have not had a raise since 1997.

The Jackson Rancheria Casino has scheduled a mixed martial arts competition: The Global Knock-Out – Rancheria Judgment Day -- for Thursday, November 29. Since the Global Knock-out series was launched last year, these events have become among the most popular events at the Casino. Mixed martial arts tournaments are a phenomenon that emerged in 1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

California Highway Patrol has been kept busy with single car accidents on local highways. Last week, a 25-year old Camino man driving in fog on Latrobe Road, failed to see the stop sign at Old Sacramento Rd, ran through the stop sign and ran his 2000 Toyota Tacoma into a fence. Then, the notorious Nob Hill turn on Hwy 88 was the site of an accident involving an 18-year old Pioneer woman. She was following a vehicle when that car’s driver braked abruptly. The Pioneer woman braked and lost control of her 1999 Oldsmobile, spun out and collided with a dirt embankment. She complained of pain to her neck and shoulder and was taken by ambulance to Sutter Amador Hospital. And on Ridge Road just west of Hamricks Grade, a deer ran into a 2004 Acura driven by an Ione man. The deer struck the hood and broke the windshield of the Acura, which was traveling about 50 miles per hour. The Ione driver was not injured and the deer apparently fled the scene of the accident.

Tonight, Jackson City Council will decide whether or not to adopt a water and sewer rate increase that the city says is needed to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars of rising operating costs for the city’s utility systems. An effort to persuade citizens to send protest letters that would have prevented the rate increases apparently failed. Jackson City Manager Mike Daly said after last week’s protest deadline that letters protesting the increases had been counted and verified, and both fell short of the votes needed to stop the rate increase. Protest letters from over 50% of Jackson water and sewer customers were needed to prevent the rate increase.

Amador County Supervisors sent Drytown property owners and county planning staff back to the table to wrestle with a contentious zoning issue. The county planning department had proposed C1-X zoning for 7 parcels on the east side of Hwy 49 in Drytown. The C1-X designation would require the owners to apply for a use permit for any use of the property and the restricted designation was needed because of a potential lack of access, sewer and water supply to the parcels.

Amador Water Agency Board of Directors has chosen an interim replacement for the District 4 seat left vacant when Dan Brown resigned. At their meeting last week, the water agency board interviewed five applicants and selected former AWA board member Paul Scott. Scott served as the District 4 representative for sixteen years until he retired in 2002. Board members cited his experience and the fact that District 4 voters elected Scott 4 times to the Water agency board.  He will serve as an appointed director until the next general election in November 2008. The water agency board members encouraged all 5 applicants to run in 2008, saying that all were very qualified candidates and each would be a good choice to represent District 4. The 2008 election will be for a 2-year term, with the full 4-year term election scheduled for Nov. 2010.

The Amador County Transportation Commission will hold a special meeting Tuesday afternoon to consider how the county should use future state Transportation Improvement Program funds. Discussions or decisions made at this meeting could guide the use of Amador County’s primary source of state highway funding for the 5 to 20 years. Options to be discussed include the Pine Grove Highway 88 corridor, using the state money to address 5 additional highway corridors in Ione, Jackson, Martell, Pioneer and Plymouth, and the use of these funds for local road and street improvements. All interested citizens are invited to attend and participate in this important meeting. The ACTC special meeting will be held in the Board of Supervisors chambers at the County Administration Center at 2 pm on Tuesday November 27.

Jackson Rancheria Casino CEO Rich Hoffman said it would be complete before Thanksgiving – and he was right. The 50 foot-tall monument sign on Hwy 88 announcing the entrance to the casino and 14-foot tall video display screen that advertises casino acts and entertainment, events, restaurants and more is definitely up and running. Hoffman described the design of the sign and a portal arch over Dalton Way as having a “Frank Lloyd Wright” architectural feel, consistent with the Hotel and other Rancheria facilities. The Jackson Rancheria Casino and Hotel constructed the Dalton Way entrance to the casino complex to encourage guests to use the route over Highways 49 & 88 to the casino rather than the Ridge Road – New York Ranch Road routes. The new sign and portal arch definitely let those headed to the casino know they’ve reached their destination.

Today, the Monday after Thanksgiving, is now one of the busiest days—if not THE busiest day—of the year for online shopping. That's why some retailers call it "Cyber Monday"  -- and that’s why the FBI would like to help start your online shopping off right with some words to the wise. Make sure you're buying items from a reputable and legitimate company. Make sure a company’s website site lists a physical address and a working phone number. Check consumer websites for information about the company. When using your credit card for purchases, make sure the website is secure. Look for the tiny padlock icon that symbolizes (but doesn’t necessarily guarantee) a higher level of security. Be very cautious when responding to special offers (especially those that come via unsolicited e-mail) and when dealing with companies or persons outside the country. Don’t give out your social security number or driver’s license number to the seller. And we can’t repeat this enough: don’t open unknown e-mail attachments. What should you do if you think you've been scammed? Go online and file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center run by the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center. You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and contact your local police.