By Alex Lane - The Department of Transportation Pine Grove Maintenance Crew was recently recognized at the CALTRANS District 10 office in Stockton. CALTRANS Director Will Kempton presented the Governor’s Employee Safety Award, or GESA, to Mike Blake, Kyle Gaspard, John Kearns, Leonard Marsh, Dave McDaniel, Scott McKinney and Bruce Sage on behalf of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The prestigious GESA award was established in 1980 to highlight and encourage safety on the job by recognizing individuals and groups who have provided outstanding safety and health service to the State. Awards are presented to individuals or groups who have responded to hazardous or life threatening events, as well as those who have developed safety programs that are not part of their normal duties. Each Sate Agency only has the opportunity to provide two nominations per year. The Pine Grove crew was chosen for their brave and immediate response in preventing what could have been a catastrophic wildfire in the Pine Grove area. On August 9th, 2007, the crew was working on Highway 88 near Buckhorn Ridge Road when a bus transporting inmates and towing a portable restroom trailer passed the operation. A wheel from the trailer came off, igniting a grass fire near the road. The crew quickly coordinated efforts to contain the fire using several breaks until CAL FIRE could arrive. The crew also set up traffic control and cleared out civilians.

Staff Report - The US Department of Agriculture Forest Service fire personnel intend to continue this year’s “prescribed burning” activities in the Eldorado National Forest during the fall and winter months. Approximately 9,000 acres of national forest lands are scheduled to be prescribed burned, in both pile and understory fire application. Pile burning begins after the rains have thoroughly dampened the forest floor and will continue throughout the winter months. Additional information on burn locations may be obtained by calling the local District offices. Three understory burn projects are of particular interest. The Cat–Anderson burn in the Amador district in the Leek Springs area will continue to reintroduce fire into the forest, reducing the heavy fuels in the area. The Van Vleck Meadow Restoration project has progressed with the removal of encroaching conifers that are filling in the meadows and will follow up with prescribed fire to clean up and rejuvenate the meadow systems. The Henrys burn near the Placerville District will link numerous hazardous fuels projects already completed and in progress that have occurred in and around the community of Grizzly Flats. According to the Department of Agriculture, prescribed fire helps reduce heavy fuel loads while simultaneously opening the forest structure and maintaining the health of the forest. It improves and regenerates wildlife habitat, enhances native plant communities, and is a critical part of the ecological process of western forests. Each burn is intended to remove brush, slash and small trees that can carry wildfire into the tops of taller trees. “The timing of the actual ignition of a prescribed burn project depends on weather conditions, moisture in the fuels we intend to burn, our ability to control the fires, and permission from the local air pollution control district”, said Jennifer Boyd, Eldorado National Forest Fuels Specialist. Every prescribed burn is designed to minimize smoke drifting into residential areas. Any one with respiratory illness or who thinks the smoke might adversely affect them should contact the nearest Eldorado National Forest Ranger Station to be placed on a “sensitive persons” pre-burn notification list. For additional information call Jennifer Boyd at (530) 621-5223. Detailed maps of the burn locations will be available on the Eldorado National Forest website.

Amador County – Amador Fire Safe Council and other agencies and non-profits may lose funds after last week’s suspension of Proposition 84-funded projects. Cathy Koos Breazeal, director of Amador Fire Safe Council received notice from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy on suspension of $100,000 in grants for wildfire protection plans for Pioneer, Pine Grove and Volcano. Jim Branham of SNC said suspensions were based on the “serious fiscal situation” in California. Branham said the suspension stops all Conservancy projects funded by Prop. 84 public bonds, which have become difficult to sell and “caused the Pooled Money Investment Board to freeze all bond funding. Based on PMIB actions, Branham said Sierra Nevada Conservancy “has been instructed to” … “suspend all grant-funded projects, and stop authorizing any new grants, including those awarded at the Dec. 4 SNC board meeting.” The letter said SNC asks grantees to “stop work on your project, unless you believe that you can continue using other funding sources.” The Amador Water Agency won a Dec. 4 SNC grant of $270,000 to develop a regional wastewater recycling plan. ln late November, AWA won a $247,547 “Local Groundwater Assistance Grant” for a sustainable safe yield analysis and a groundwater management plan for Lake Camanche Village. Both grants were Prop 84, which also finances the Amador Community Foundation and others in Amador. Koos Breazeal said Fire Safe Amador gets the bulk of its $54,000 budget from the Secure Rural Schools Funding Act, which was reauthorized this fall. She said funds normally paid through the board of supervisors will now come through the U.S. Forest Service. District Ranger Doug Barber of the Amador Unit said the Secure Rural Schools Act originally gave about 25 percent of logging proceeds from federal land to the counties for roads and school funding. That money now will be passed through a “Resource Advisory Council” and given to counties, with a high priority for fire prevention agencies, such as Cal Fire and Amador Fire Safe Council. Barber said he will head the Amador Resource Committee and it will be a “very public program,” once under way. He said Amador County will be getting about $250,000 from the program, “which is less than it received when the timber industry was really humming.” Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Drivers in Ione, be forewarned- police are on the lookout for seatbelt law violators. The Ione Police Department has just announced it will be aggressively enforcing the state’s occupant protection laws as part of California’s 2008 Click It or Ticket mobilization, May 12 through June 1. California’s primary seat belt law requires that every passenger in the car, including the driver, must wear a seat belt at all times. Motor vehicle injuries are the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, killing 40,000 Americans and disabling 1,800,000 each year. A wide range of study evidence has concluded that wearing a seat belt decreases the fatality rate. According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, Click It or Ticket is the most successful seat belt enforcement campaign ever, helping create the highest national seat belt usage rate of 82 percent. The fine for a seat belt violation costs between 80 and 91 dollars, and over 350 dollars for failing to properly restrain a child under 16. If the parent is not in the car, the driver gets the ticket. According to Ione Police Chief Michael Johnson, officers will be on the lookout for those who are not buckled up and for teens and children not wearing proper belts and restraints. This will be a zero tolerance policy and may mean extra hours for officers. “Click It or Ticket” is a cooperative effort among the State’s traffic safety-related departments. Funding for officer overtime to support California's Click It or Ticket campaign was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Amador County – Two suspects have been arrested for the armed robbery of Quiznos Restaurant in Martell the night of Tuesday December 2. Jackson Police Department and the Amador County Sheriff’s Office, in a combined investigation, developed leads in the Quiznos armed robbery and several burglaries in the county area which led to the issuance of a search warrant. On Friday at 8 am, the Jackson Police Department executed the warrant at 21466 National in the city of Volcano with assistance from the Amador County Sheriff’s Office Swat Team and the Combined Narcotics Enforcement Team. 19 year old Nicholas Thomas and eighteen year old Caitlin McElwee were taken into custody in the Amador County Jail. Thomas was charged with armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of stolen property. McElwee was charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of stolen property. McElwee is an employee of the Martell Quiznos and was working at the Jackson Quiznos the evening of the robbery. Police think Thomas is the man who committed the robbery and pistol-whipped one of the employees in the head. Staff Report (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

The Amador County Unified School District board of directors on Wednesday voted to renew a school truancy police officer position for the upcoming year and discussed cost sharing with the cities of Ione, Sutter Creek and Jackson. The board voted 6-0 with one absence to give Superintendent Dick Glock the authority to sign a contract renewal for the resource officer position that is based in Sutter Creek. Glock said that Jackson officials had decided to not share in the cost of the truant officer, due to a 16 percent cut in the Jackson Police Department. Glock said Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison had informed the district that the JPD “will continue to follow good policing procedures, increase patrols around the schools and in general continue a high level of responsiveness.” Finance director Barbara Murray said the resource officer would cost 24,500 Dollars. Murray said the officer’s salary was paid in part with a 10,000 dollar Karl Washington grant, a gift born from the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings. Glock said the officer, based in Sutter Creek, could police school campuses in Ione and Jackson if those cities’ police chiefs give the OK. The current resource officer’s position was to expire Monday, September 1st, five days after the board’s meeting, prompting board members to seek renewal of the contract rather than letting it expire. Board member Terry A. Porray asked that “next year, please let’s do this a lot earlier.”

Students across Amador County are savoring their last hours of freedom today. A new school year begins tomorrow, August 13th, and schools across Amador County are frantically readying for the big day. For the majority of schools, enrollment numbers are remaining the same as last year, although last minute signups and part time students will cause those numbers to fluctuate. Amador High School Secretary Julie Riffle said their preliminary enrollment number is 837 students, compared to roughly 854 students at this time last year. “It’s hard to say if these numbers will stay the same,” said Riffle. 23 of the students who have enrolled so far are splitting classes between the two high schools, depending on what is being offered. Preliminary reports from Argonaut High School show that enrollment this year will also remain at roughly the same number as last year. Elsewhere in the county, schools have made changes based on new budget restraints and as a way to improve and update schedules. Pine Grove School has changed its hours to begin 15 minutes later at 8am. Many teachers will oversee a large number of students due to staff cutbacks. All in all, this school year will prove to be challenging for everyone involved in local education.

In other school board news, the board heard student reports. Argonaut High School’s Daniel Stevens and Jerry Brady reported that the school would be installing a new bronze sculpture of a Mustang, donated by the Class of 2008. From Amador High School, Jeriel Fountain and Tanner Scholtes reported that the senior class was brainstorming to find funding to install a new sound system at the stadium and told the board members that they could “pitch in” on the effort.

The start of the Amador County 08/09 school year went off without a hitch yesterday, with most schools reporting none of the usual problems such as parking lot traffic jams and long waits at drop off points. Most children found their way to assigned classrooms or first class, and of course, most were decked out in their new school outfits and backpacks. Tom Reed, Pine Grove Elementary Principal, noted the kids “looking scrubbed and clean” while quietly listening to their teachers as they took roll call and went over classroom rules. “Everything went really well (this morning),” says Reed, “the kids are excited to be here.” At Pioneer Elementary, things went “awesome” except for a slight slowdown after school due to road construction in the area. And down at Ione Elementary, the morning went “quite well.” At Amador High School, Principal Al VanVelzen reported that the first day of school was “really smooth. The kids seemed to be happy coming back. Classes are a little larger, but it all worked out.” Also, VanVelzen thought “the kids liked starting a little later.” All Amador school start times changed this year. Check with your school for specific start and end times.

Driven by a statewide deficit and cuts in school funding, local schools look to benefit from some creative recycling efforts. Over 261,000 dollars were distributed to Ione Schools and the Amador Unified School District for reusing and recycling old rubber tires in new ways. A total of 51,766 tires were used for school materials, from mulch to playground chips. “Rubber bark” is being used at Sutter Creek primary schools, Pine Grove Elementary and Pioneer Elementary. Funding for the project was provided through the Tire-derived product grant, a program through the California Integrated Waste Management Board. Neither the good news nor the conservative thinking matched the enthusiasm of the children in the We Are For Kids program when asked to install the rubber tires in their play areas. There is some discussion that the new funds will be used for playground equipment. How the funds will be used specifically has yet to be announced.