Amador County - The Ione City Council is holding a special meeting on Saturday, November 22nd to tour a sewer plant in Tracy. City Manager Kim Kerr announced the meeting, which comes after the city hosted a presentation on innovative sewer system practices presented by the company PERC. The Special Meeting will tour the Mountain House Facility in Tracy. This is a follow up on the presentation by PERC to the City Council on October 29th. Kerr said “The reason we are going on Saturday is so that we can have an Amador Regional Transit System bus drive us to Tracy and back.” The special meeting and trip is open to the public. The council will meet at City Hall, 1 East Main Street in Ione, at 8:30 a.m. and travel to Tracy. Kerr said the tour will be probably no longer than an hour and a half, then the bus will return to Ione. Kerr invited staff and representatives from all cities and the county to attend the bus trip. All agencies should RSVP to City Clerk Janice Traverso at (209) 274-2412 with the number of individuals who would like to ride down on the bus, so that a large enough bus can be arranged with ARTS. This is a public meeting and the media and the public are invited. Kerr said an agenda will be sent out when all the details are finalized. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - The Amador Regional Planning Committee will meet today to talk about economic development of the individual cities and the county and to try to coordinate efforts in that area. The meeting will be dedicated to presentations by each of the member cities, Amador County, the Central Sierra Economic Development District and the Amador Economic Development Corporation. Each is scheduled to give updates on the status of their respective economic development efforts. The purpose of the agenda item is to provide opportunities for the exchange of ideas and the identification of possible opportunities for enhanced coordination of economic development efforts within Amador County. Committee members are Tim Murphy of the Sutter Creek City Council, Connie Gonsalves of the Jackson City Council, Louis Boitano of the Amador County Board of Supervisors, Mayor Andrea Bonham of Ione, and public member Elida Malick of Fiddletown. The meeting is 7 p.m. Today (Thursday Nov. 6) in the Amador County Supervisors’ chamber, 510 Court Street in Jackson. Story by Jim Reece

Amador County - Due to the onset of cool, rainy weather, the Bureau of Land Management’s Folsom Field Office has lifted emergency fire restrictions on all BLM-managed public lands within its boundary effective Tuesday. This includes BLM-managed public lands in Amador, Nevada, Yuba, Placer, El Dorado, Sacramento, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Sutter and Mariposa counties, a total of about 230,000 acres. According to Brian Mulhollen, BLM Folsom fuels management specialist, there is no longer a need for emergency restrictions because of cooler, wet weather. However, some requirements such as campfire permits remain in place. Campfire permits and additional information is available at the BLM Folsom Office, 63 Natoma St., Folsom. For additional information, contact BLM's Folsom Field Office at (916) 985-4474. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - Amador Registrar of Voters Sheldon Johnson reported over 80 percent voter turnout in Amador County, breaking previous records. The results of controversial and much publicized local races were made official late last night. The following are the final unofficial results, not including vote-by-mail ballots. In the race between candidates for the Amador Water Agency, District 1, Bill Condrashoff beat out Madonna Wiebold 58 to 40 percent. In Water Agency District 2, Gary Thomas beat out incumbent John Swift 51 to 49 percent. For Water Agency District 3, Don Cooper beat Joseph Bonini 69 percent to 29 percent. And for Water Agency District 4, Debbie Dunn earned 40 percent of the vote over 35 percent for Paul Scott and 23 percent for Brent Parsons. In the Amador Unified School District race, Janelle Redkey earned 26.38 percent of the vote, Mary Walser 27.21, Paul Karnaze 19.15, and Wally Upper 26.75. Other notable victories include Jon Colburn over his brother Gary in Plymouth, with 22.24 and 11.40 percents, respectively. Wayne Garibaldi earned the majority of the vote for Jackson City Council, with 25.35 percent. A hot item on the local ticket was Measure M, or a half-cent sales tax to support firefighters. That passed by an overwhelming majority, 69.12 percent over 30.88 percent. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

State - Proposition 8, a proposed amendment to the California Constitution that would ban gay-marriage was approved by voters, 52.9 percent to 47.1 percent. The controversial amendment was the most heated and heavily funded proposition in California, setting records for campaign funding both for and against. Propositions supporting standards for confining farm animals, redistricting, veteran’s bonds, and victim’s rights were also approved. Amador County voters approved by majority Propositions 2,8,9, 11 and 12. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Nation - A historic election culminated in record national voter turnouts Tuesday, when Americans voted Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. The landmark presidential victory will be the first for an African American. After over a year of tireless campaigning, Obama stood on a stage in front of half a million people in Chicago’s Grant Park Tuesday and reiterated his goals, saying, “change has come to America.” “I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face,” Republican John McCain said before his supporters in Phoenix, Arizona. Major exit polls indicated that the majority of Americans were most concerned with the economy, an issue for which the Democrat scored highly when compared to his Republican opponent and the unpopular Bush Administration. Exit polls also indicated that voters were more concerned with age than race. Obama's former rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton, said in a statement that “we are celebrating an historic victory for the American people.” Obama will be working with a heavily Democratic Congress. Democrats picked up Senate seats in New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia, among others. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - A speeding pickup crashed into a tree in front of the Pioneer Post Office Monday afternoon, injuring three. The grey-blue Toyota Tacoma was carrying three young individuals – a male driver, his sister and a 12 year old boy. Based on California Highway Patrol radio reports, the pickup crashed around 3:30 in the afternoon after the driver apparently lost control. According to bystanders at the scene, the truck appeared to be going extremely fast and lost control, skidding off the right side of the road and head on into a tree. One witness who claimed to know the occupants said the driver had been turning to the left up the hill on Carson Drive. The 12-year-old boy and the male driver were airlifted to a nearby hospital. CHP Officers sectioned off part of the road and worked the scene for hours. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - Pine Grove Elementary was almost completely evacuated Monday morning as part of a Disaster Preparedness Drill. Through a joint effort of the Amador County Office of Emergency Services, Sheriff’s Department, CHP and Pine Grove School, kids in grades 1 through 6 boarded about 5 buses at around 9 AM, and were transported to Jackson Elementary in Jackson. A short time later, a message about the drill went out to all emergency contact numbers and emails stating that “If this had been a real emergency you would have received information about the procedure for picking up your child.” The school tested those pickup procedures by simulating parents picking up their children and not following the correct procedure. “We asked one parent to try to pick up a child that wasn’t theirs,” reported Pine Grove Principal Tom Reed. School personnel “caught” the culprit, who would have been arrested if it had been a real emergency situation. Another test scenario was carried out by a parent attempting to take their child from the school without properly checking them out. Again, school staff responded accordingly, and barred the parent from removing the child from school grounds. Lynne Olson, Director of the Office of Emergency Services says the drill went very well. “It’s the first one that’s been done in the history of the school district, as far as I know.” Reed confirmed that it was the first drill of its type conducted for Pine Grove Elementary. Local mom Tracy Winton, whose son attends Pine Grove school, thought the drill was a great idea. “Now the kids know what to expect in a real emergency. I think it will help them not feel so freaked out (when and if a real disaster happens).” After about a half hour at Jackson Elementary, the kids returned to Pine Grove school at 10:30 AM, and, in short order, were back to their normal schedule. Story by Jen Wilson (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – The Kennedy Mine Foundation’s 2008 tourist season ended with a success, as shown by the numbers reported from its volunteer docents. Merv Hoffman, lead docent and tour guide at the Kennedy Gold Mine, said in an e-mail to foundation board members and volunteers that “the figures have been totaled, and the results show that the 2008 tourist season exceeded total paid attendance for each prior year since records have been kept in 2002.” The tourist season, which runs from March through October each year, ended on October 26th. Hoffman said the total paid attendance for the 2008 tourist season was 1,981. This number is the total for the following categories. Weekend adults totaled 854 visitors for the 2008 season. There were 138 children who took the tour on weekends, with children in 6th through 12th grades. Adult groups with reservations that toured the Kennedy Mine totaled 128 visitors. And there were 861 visitors who took school group field trips to the mine this season. The school field trip groups included 755 4th graders, 42 college students, 46 high school students and 18 home-schooled students. The Kennedy Mine Foundation was formed after the hard-rock gold mine’s owner, Sybil Arata, bequeathed the 152-acre property and buildings in 1994. Her gift of the property stipulated two wishes, that the Kennedy Mine property was to remain as open space for wildlife habitat, and that the mine was to be maintained for its historical value. The Kennedy Mine Foundation was formed in 1996 to fulfill those wishes. To volunteer at the non-profit Kennedy Mine Foundation, call (209) 223-9542 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Also, online see www.kennedygoldmine.com. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - Hospice of Amador and Calaveras will have two locations for its Hospice Annual Tree of Lights for Christmas remembrances, the charity announced last week. Ann Metherd, Hospice Volunteer Coordinator, asked area residents to “Come celebrate the joy of remembrance” by sponsoring a light. Metherd said “this year there will be trees in both Amador County and Calaveras County to honor our loved ones.” People can celebrate the life of someone they love with a light. For each 10 dollar donation, Hospice will place a light on the Tree and list the name of the person on a Memorial Board at the site. Hospice will have two Tree Lightings. Metherd said “This year our festivities will include music, a candle lighting celebration, lighting of the tree and refreshments.” Their Tree of Lights in Calaveras County will be lit 5 p.m. Saturday, December 6 at the Calaveras Senior Center, 956 Mountain Ranch Road, in San Andreas. Their Tree of Lights in Amador County will take place on 5 p.m. Sunday, December 7th, at the Hospice Thrift Store at 10776 Argonaut Lane in Jackson. For information, go to Hospice of Amador & Calaveras Thrift Store at 10776 Argonaut Lane in Jackson, at 1500 South HIghway 49, Suite 105, or call (209) 223-5500. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).