ACRA Amador County Recreation Agency had their first meeting of the New Year. discussing some good news and some bad news. For the good news, ACRA’s executive director, Tracy Towner-Yep was happy to announce a transfer of 80 acres in Pioneer by Fred Joyce to ACRA by the end of the month. The acquisition will be named the Joyce Environmental Center. The property is exempt from taxes, so maintenance should be the only costs of the acquisition.

Tuesday night’s Economic Development Workshop with the Jackson City Council and the Historic Jackson Business Association resulted in a new strategic planning committee that will actively pursue improving Jackson economic outlook. Over 60 citizens showed up for the 2-hour meeting to document economic issues facing Jackson and come up with a vision and strategic plan for moving forward. Shannon Lowery, Executive Director of the Amador Community Foundation, acted as facilitator and walked attendees through a 3 step process. First step was validating the economic issues that face downtown Jackson and the City at large.

The Amador County Recreation Agency is looking at whether to convert the former county courthouse in Jackson to a community center. Although it needs considerable upgrading, Tracy Towner-Yep, Executive Director of ACRA says the historic building appears to be seismically sound and the cost would be much less than constructing a new building. Towner-Yep believes funds could easily be garnered for the project. It was decided at the November 14 ACRA board meeting that the possibility of a community center would be further considered as part of a larger ACRA strategic planning process.

Effective today, November 15th at 8:00 am, the CAL FIRE Amador-El Dorado Unit is declaring the end of fire season. Although fire season is ending in the Amador-El Dorado Unit, CAL FIRE will continue to maintain and staff equipment to respond to local emergencies as well as meet statewide needs. Burning Permits from CAL FIRE will no longer be required within State Responsibility Areas in Amador and El Dorado Counties. Burning can only be done on permissive burn days as determined by the California Air Resources Board and the Local Air Quality Management District. In addition, Burn Permits from the local Air District may be required based on the type of open burning being conducted. To determine the daily burn day status in your area call Amador Air District at 223-6246. This information is updated daily.

And we have an updated total for the monies raised at the 4th Annual the Camp Out For Cancer held last weekend by Amador STARS to raise money for local cancer needs. As of Wednesday morning, funds raised now total over $99,000 and still counting! Event chair Ginger Rolf says that Amador Stars is expecting a matching donation to come in which will put total over the $100,000 mark very soon! Amador STARS extends a big thank you to the community for the success of this year’s event.

A Plymouth couple and their pint-sized cows were featured in a recent Sacramento Bee story about a trend in miniature cattle breeds, sized just right for smaller ranches. Bev Boriolo, 72, and her husband, Don, have built a herd of 12 miniature Hereford cattle, all well under 4 feet tall. The couple live on 30 acres near Plymouth.

Cloudy skies and a few doses of rain didn’t lower the spirits of hundreds of campers at the 4th annual Camp Out for Cancer, a major fundraising event for Amador Stars. Cancer survivors, teams of campers, and community volunteers, including 180 high school students, participated in the two-day event that included spending the night in tents on the Argonaut High School football field.

The weather was the talk of the town yesterday with thunder, lightning, rain and snow and the season’s first chain controls on Hwy 88. It’s rare that we see a winter storm pattern like this in September, according to the National Weather Service, and more is on the way – They forecast more rain overnight and possible hailstorms in the Valley tomorrow with rain and snow over higher mountain passes. Southern California is also feeling the effects of this very cold storm, with snowfall predicted as low as 5500 feet in the southern Sierras.

“Continued restraint” is how staff described the Amador County 2007 – 2008 final budget approved by the county Supervisors at Tuesday’s Board meeting. County coffers ended last year about $837,000 higher than anticipated and the final budget includes some increases from the draft version including $20,000 for grant writing contracts and almost $33,000 more for Amador County Recreation Agency. The revised budget also restored the Supervisors’ $18,000 travel reimbursement fund and reinstated their discretionary fund for recreation projects to $10,000 for each district.

Do you change your own oil?  Do you have used oil filters?  Oil filters should never be thrown in the trash because they can contain one pint to one quart of used oil.  Even if properly drained, a filter can still contain two to eight ounces of used oil. Hurry up and bring your used oil filter to ATI Parts in Pine Grove on Saturday, September 22 between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and receive a FREE oil & filter recycling container and $6 off your purchase of a new oil filter!  It’s that easy!  Recyclers will also receive a FREE shop rag, oil funnel, pen, and information on how to properly recycle used oil and filters.