One more step forward for three Historical projects, located within Amador County, on their quest for state historical funding grants. The Fiddletown Preservation Society, the Kennedy Mine Foundation, and the Knight Foundry in Sutter Creek have made it through round four of the California Cultural and Historical Endowment and now have some dollars reserved by the state for their projects.

Last Thursday Amador County’s legal team filed a request for permission to amend, or change, their law suit against the United States Department of the Interior regarding the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians proposed casino for the Jackson Valley Area. According to the filing, the county may have new information that would be considered pertinent to the case.This is a procedural filing that is required before the US District Court overseeing the litigation. That court will make a determination regarding whether or not the county is allowed to amend their law suit, as the court must grant permission for any changes. The Department of the Interior is also afforded the ability to respond to the request for a change to the lawsuit. The County has not disclosed the nature or content of any potential changes.

Off road enthusiasts are taking their concerns over new rules proposed for the ElDorado National Forest to the protest level. Yesterday they staged a protest on Hwy 50 on over crossings to send a message to Forest Supervisor Ramiro Villavazo that they want to save access to off-road vehicle trails and roads.

District Attorney Todd Riebe has announced the sentencing of a bank robber that robbed the Jackson Branch of the Bank of Amador last November. William Whitaker, of Valley Springs, was arrested shortly after the robbery on Hwy 49 near Detert Park after being spotted by Amador County Sheriff’s Sgt. Charles Ray. Bank of Amador Teller Lorene Hickman reported to law enforcement, on the day of the robbery, that Whittaker had approached her window and passed her note which read “I have a gun- no alarms- give me all the cash, quick and quiet, and no one gets hurt”.

Under Sheriff James Wegner appeared before the Board of Supervisors today to ask for Board support for a joint proposal between Amador, Calaveras and San Joaquin counties. The proposal, spear headed by San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore, involves the makeover of a current state women’s facility.

Changes to the Amador County Fair Board were announced this week that will bring two new faces onto the local Board. Both Laurie Forster of Ione and Jeanne Deaver of Plymouth were appointed to the Board by Governor Schwarzenegger. The women will replace former Directors Tim King and Connie Mason.

The Amador County Sheriff says there was a shooting around seven-in the evening on Friday night. . Officer’s say it was the result of a domestic incident at Van Dei Hei Ranch Road in Pioneer. Officer’s say a man was injured during the shooting and was transported via air ambulance to Mercy San Juan Hospital. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are under investigation and the Amador County Sheriff’s Department will be releasing a press release on the incident momentarily.

Friday afternoon kicked off the weekend traffic pattern with what is becoming common place, the report of a motorcycle down. The reports of the motorcycle down on Hwy 88 near Knob Hill hit the airwaves around noon. The solo motorcycle collision involved one rider with reportedly serious head and ankle injuries and closed on lane of Hwy 88 for about 30 minutes. The rider, a 67 year old male from Fiddletown, was airlifted from mace Meadows to Mercy San Juan Hospital. The collision is under investigation by the California Highway patrol. Later around 6 pm another collision was reported in the upcountry area, again resulting in the airlift of a 60 year old man.

Thursday night General Plan Advisory Committee held Meeting #19 on Non-Roadway Circulation Issues. This includes Trails, Transit, Railways and Airports. The meeting began with a presentation by Bob Devlin on Future Transit Alternatives, specifically taking into account N-E-V’s (neighborhood electric vehicles). These vehicles are fully electric, can travel on roads with posted speed limits under 35 mph, can cross major highways if the road they are intending to cross onto has a speed limit of 35 mph or lower, and can travel on special NEV only lanes. Mr. Devlin used the term QATL or Quiet Alternative Transit Lanes in his presentation, to specify these special NEV lanes, which could be added to already existing roadways, or built on their own specifically.

In the Board of Trustee’s meeting last week, an Ione parent says they are concerned about Amador County Unified School district’s mold problem they had last year. The problem was discovered at Ione Elementary after a teacher reported mold to administrators. After inspections and testing, one classroom came back with one mold spore found.  The remediation (clean up) was completed and the room retested.