Historic Downtown Jackson holds its old-fashioned Open House November 23rd and 24th  -- that’s Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Main Street shops will be open both nights until 9 pm -- and all decked out for Christmas -- so everyone can enjoy the holiday shopping and entertainment – including free horse and wagon rides and a living Nativity scene. You can have photos taken with Great Pyrenees Rescue Dogs at the Jackson Fire Station Friday from 5 pm – 8 pm. We understand that Santa and Mrs. Claus will be downtown on Saturday – Mrs. Claus says she’ll be reading stories at Hein & Co. Bookstore -- and Santa will light the Christmas Memory Tree at the Jackson Fire Station at 6 pm. After that Santa will be at the Wells Fargo bank for photos with kids of all ages. 

Plans to add to the height of the sign at the Jackson Creek Plaza shopping center on Hwy 49 will be presented at tonight’s Jackson Planning Commission meeting. According to a Jackson City Planning staff report, the new company managing the shopping center where Long’s Drugs and CostLess are located has been working with the city to “freshen up” the shopping center. To date they have re-striped the driveways and plan to pave and restripe the parking areas, add to the landscaping and paint the buildings.

Jackson City Council also took up the Jackson Hills Golf Community Project issue. In October, 2 referenda aimed at stopping the Jackson Hills project were submitted to the city and validated by the county elections office. The City had two options at this point: either repeal the resolutions against which the petitions were filed or submit the resolutions to the voting public. The soonest the referenda could meet election deadline requirements is the June 3, 2008 Statewide Primary Election. Public comment on the issue revealed confusion regarding the development agreement between the City and Jackson Hills’ developers.

In other Recycling news, the Amador County Waste Management Department and local students are teaming up in a fun and innovative project. In observation of America Recycles Day, November 15th, the Waste Management Department has invited county students to participate in an art exhibit using only recycled materials.  The project, called “The Art of Recycling” presents a fun, completely free, creative way for students to help educate the community on the benefits of recycling in Amador County. Students must have their artwork completed by the end of the school day on Friday November 9th. All the creative artwork will be displayed at "The Art of Recycling" exhibit available for public viewing at the County Administration Center at 810 Court Street in Jackson on November 15th.  If you have any questions or would like to become involved, please contact the Waste Management Department at 223-6429.

According to Amador County Public Works Dept., inspectors will be out checking job sites this week to make sure that the October 15 deadline has been met for erosion control. Erosion control measures must be in place if you have disturbed soil on your property from any type of grading or construction, including construction of septic systems and wells. County ordinance defines October 15 through May 1 as the rainy season -- and earth grading or disturbed soils are particularly vulnerable to erosion when it rains. You may conduct grading during the official rainy season, but during that time, you are required to install special protective measures to minimize damage. Ways to prevent construction site erosion include covering piles of soil, seeding, straw mulching, hay bales, and straw wattles – those rolls of chopped straw you often see on construction sites. Officials are most concerned about muddy water going into any drainage, creek (seasonal or not), roads, or adjacent properties. If you have any questions about erosion on your property, call the Public Works Department at 223-6429. According to Public Works Administrative Assistant Sharon Murphy, inspectors are happy to visit your site and offer guidance on best practices.

Good news for water customers in the La Mel Heights area.  The Amador Water Agency is making great strides by offering a more reliable water source as well as improved safety.  The Agency has completed the installation of a new well and the replacement of most of the distribution system, including five new fire hydrants.

IF YOU LIVE IN THE UPCOUNTRY AND YOU’D LIKE TO DO SOMETHING TO KEEP SCENIC HWY 88 “SCENIC,” YOU CAN JOIN A GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS WHO DO AN ANNUAL HIGHWAY CLEAN UP EVERY YEAR ABOUT THIS TIME. THIS YEAR’S ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY CLEANUP FOR PINE GROVE IS SCHEDULED FOR THIS SATURDAY, SEPT 29. VOLUNTEERS MEET AT PINE GROVE PARK AT 8 AM AND TRY TO GET THE JOB DONE IN 2 HOURS!  CLEANUP ORGANIZER MEL WELSH SAYS IT’S A VERY INFORMAL GROUP AND EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO HELP – WITH ONE REQUIREMENT -- VOLUNTEERS HAVE TO BE 18 YEARS OR OLDER. MEL SAYS YOU SHOULD WEAR LONG PANTS AND LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS AND YOU CAN CALL MEL WELSH AT 296-4848 FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Ambassadors for Amador needed at Visitor Center in Plymouth. Do you love meeting new people? Do you find yourself getting excited talking about places to go and things to do in Amador? Do you have 2 or 3 hours you can spare each month? Are you a high school student who needs community hours? Amador Council of Tourism is looking for ambassadors at their new visitor Center at 9310 Pacific Street in Plymouth. The Visitor Center is open 7 days a week: Monday through Friday, 9 to 5; weekends, 10 to 4. If you are interested in helping our visitors with their questions, please contact Maureen Funk, ACT Tourism Director, by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 969-5065.

The Amador County Board of Supervisors this week approved a request from the Jackson Valley Irrigation District for a loan from the Water Development Fund in the amount of $150,000 for a Proposition 50 domestic water project. Jackson Valley currently gets its water from Lake Amador, which is sufficient for irrigation and fire suppression, but is an unreliable source of potable water for home use. In 2001, JVID entered into a compliance order with the State Department of Health Services which requires that potable water be provided to Jackson Valley residences. JVID submitted an application to the California Proposition 50 program to develop such a system, and were subsequently awarded $2 million dollars state grant money in November of 2007.

The money will be used to develop infrastructure that will bring water from the Mokelumne River at Pardee Reservoir to a treatment plant at Lake Amador. From Lake Amador, the potable water will be disbursed throughout Jackson Valley. JVID will use the Water Development Loan money to fund costs associated with Engineering, Design, surveying, Right of Ways, and Environmental Review in the early phase of development. The Prop 50 money will reimburse these activities when the work is completed, and the agreement is signed. JVID expects to be able to pay back the loan within 4-6 months. Tim Hoover, who presented the project to the Board on behalf of JVID, also noted that “This project is not designed for growth. A lot of people would like to join the district, but JVID does not feel it has enough water to expand its service area.” With the acquisition of the funding, JVID will go ahead with Phase One of the project. They will have to reapply for Prop 50 funding before they begin Phase Two, which involves installing pipelines for the domestic hook-ups.

Attention Amador commuters: after weeks of announcing and retracting statements that the I-5 freeway will reopen, the completion of construction has now been made official. A stretch of Interstate 5 that runs through downtown Sacramento has reopened after nearly two months of road construction. The project was just a few days late, despite delays prompted by high temperatures that slowed resurfacing work and pavement that was thicker than expected in some stretches. Sections of the freeway that are used by more than 200,000 vehicles each day were closed for 10-day intervals since early June. The $40 million project was needed to fix a section of the freeway known as "the boat," which sits below the level of the Sacramento River and suffered drainage problems.