The Amador Fire Safe Council is reminding citizens to take advantage of funding still available for defensible space grants. The grants are available for qualified full time county residents who are low to moderate income seniors age 65 and older, or disabled full time residents. Defensible space is considered to be the area around a structure that has been landscaped to reduce fire danger.

Congressman Dan Lundgren will be holding the second of two town hall meetings in his home district, which includes Amador County. His website says he will be happy to field any questions constituents have and is encouraging citizens to attend.  The upcoming meeting will be held at the Galt City Council Chambers on February 4 between 7 and 8:30pm. Maps to these locations are located at the Congressman’s website, www.lungren.house.gov.

Today on TSPN news we’re continuing a series looking at what’s on the February 5th Presidential Primary Ballot – today we take a look at Propositions 94 though 97 – these propositions are actually referenda Indian Gaming Compacts placed on the ballot by opponents of the compacts.

Amador County’s teens are using drugs and alcohol at much higher rates than other teens in the Capitol region – that’s according to a study that looked at health issues in a nine-county area. Nearly 75 percent of 11th graders said they had used drugs or alcohol in their “lifetime” – that’s 8 percent higher than the state average. Even more alarming are the statistics for 7th grade students. 13 percent of Amador County’s 7th graders reported being high on drugs at least once and 7 percent said they’d been high at least 7 times. One-fifth said they’d been offered drugs on their junior high school campus at least once in the last year.

Jackson’s Downtown Merchants have mixed reviews on the “new and improved” program to revitalize downtown Jackson. Some merchants didn’t want to be interviewed yet, preferring to wait and see if the enthusiasm behind the current push for change on Main Street will continue, or if it will fizzle out as in past attempts. Some believe there’s not a problem with Main Street and that there are some really good businesses downtown. One merchant said constant negative attention by the media towards downtown just sends out the message that downtown is in trouble. This same merchant suggested we take a look at vacancies in other shopping centers.

On Tuesday, the Amador County Board of Supervisors held two informational public workshops regarding updates to the county’s Hazardous Materials and Infectious Waste ordinances. Mike Israel, from the Environmental Health Department, explained that the ordinances are due for an update, as they have not been revised since 1980. The ordinances specifically affect facilities that utilize hazardous materials, produce hazardous waste, have above ground petroleum storage, or have underground storage tanks.

Mobile Casino Patrons will be happy to learn that Jackson Rancheria today opened a new location on Dalton Road, the access road to the casino. The Casino has been hard at work putting the final touches on a luxurious new RV Park featuring 100 sites including 32 pull-through sites.

Governor Schwarzenegger has said he would not make an endorsement in the Republican primary, but on Thursday the Governor endorsed John McCain, giving a boost to the Republican presidential front-runner six days before California's primary. Schwarzenegger says McCain's ability to work with both Democrats and Republicans was key in his decision to endorse the Arizona senator. Schwarzenegger's endorsement of McCain over Mitt Romney comes after the former Massachusetts governor lost the Florida primary vote to McCain on Tuesday. California is a large prize among the 24 states that will hold their primary elections next week on "Super Tuesday." Candidates secure three delegates for each of the state's 53 congressional districts they win in the primary, in which only Republicans can vote.