The 127th Annual Italian Picnic Celebration was another huge success last weekend, culminating with a parade through Sutter Creek. Close to 100 floats of all shapes and sizes, cheerleaders, bands, antique vehicles and costumed historic players made their way through Sutter Creek’s historic downtown Sunday morning. Local residents and curious visitors from miles around lined the packed street. TSPN was on hand to record the festivities, including our very own TSPN float. The TSPN float was actually an old mining truck used to perform maintenance underground equipment. TSPN transformed the truck with streamers, banners, and our complete on air cast sitting in the back bed. Others in the parade included cheerleaders and bands from local high schools, antique car associations, the Sutter Gold Mine and local political candidates. After the parade, many attendees made their way over to the Italian Picnic ground for the final day of the picnic. Picnic activities included food and craft booths, bingo, a beer and wine pavilion, live music and bocce ball. The organization behind this 3-day event is the Italian Benevolent Society, formed in 1881 with 33 charter members, all of Italian ancestry, and originally stationed in Amador City. The original purpose of the society was to provide aid to sick Italian-Americans who could not work, and to provide proper burials for deceased members when their families could not. That year, a private picnic was held by the society, and the annual Italian Picnic was born. The Society is believed to be the oldest continually operational Italian fraternal club in the United States.

The warm and welcoming weekend weather attracted many outdoor enthusiasts, but was also rife with accidents- including one fatality. The Amador County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a death through drowning that occurred off the North Shore of Lake Camanche on Saturday at approximately 1:30pm. The Sheriff’s office received a 911 emergency call from a witness who reported to have observed a male subject swimming nearby, approximately twenty feet from shore. He reported that the subject yelled, turned over onto his back and subsequently went under water. The caller notified a maintenance worker in the area and then drove to the Main Gate wherein he reported the incident. Amador County Sheriff’s Deputies, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Marine Unit, East Bay Municipal Utilities District Rangers and Fire officials responded to the call. East Bay MUD Rangers located the subject at approximately 2:15 pm, in shallow water approximately ten feet from shore without a personal floatation device. The subject was identified as 34-year-old James Ray Enos of Pine Grove. Two canines that were reported with Enos were secured by Amador County Animal Control. The Amador County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office is conducting an investigation to determine the cause and manner of death.

TSPN’s contributing photographer Bill Lavallie was on scene to capture dynamic images of two vehicle accidents over the weekend. The first occurred on Highway 88, where a motorcycle rider was thrown from his bike on Saturday when his saddlebag became entangled in his rear wheel. This locked up the wheel, causing the rider to lose control. The bike skidded off the road and the rider was ejected over the handlebars. The driver was taken by helicopter to a local hospital.

Another accident occured when an ATV driver was injured while riding his off road vehicle on private property. He was flown from the Mace Meadows Golf Course to a local hospital on Sunday. To add to his troubles, CHP officials cited him for suspicion of drunk driving. The CHP Officers on scene explained that the driver of any motor vehicle being operated, even on private property, is subject to the same rules regarding drinking and driving. Although this fact is not widely known by the general public, it is still the law. Medical Aids from Calstar emergency services were on scene to fly the man down to a Stockton area hospital.

The Amador County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services, in partnership with Cal Fire, is planning a major disaster preparedness exercise to be conducted at the Amador County Fairgrounds. This year’s exercise will consist of an actual neighborhood evacuation drill due to a catastrophic wildfire situation. Law enforcement representatives will go door to door in a pre-designated neighborhood simulating an evacuation in the Plymouth area. Residents will not be asked to evacuate but will be provided fire safety information. The purpose of the exercise is to give participants an opportunity to evaluate current response concepts, plans and capabilities for conducting a large scale neighborhood evacuation due to a catastrophic wildfire. The exercise will focus on key local emergency responder coordination, critical decisions and the integration of supporting agencies and mutual aid assets necessary to save lives in an effective and safe manner. Amador County, like many Sierra Nevada counties, is at a very high risk of experiencing catastrophic wildfires. Long, dry summers punctuated with periods of severe drought combine with erratic weather and heavy fuel concentrations to create an explosive fire environment. Amador County’s growing population creates conditions for catastrophic loss of homes and businesses as well as human life. “We recognize the potential for a catastrophic wildfire event and will continue to enhance our response capabilities to protect the lives of our citizens”, says Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan. Ryan emphasized the importance that many agencies play in responding to a disaster and views this exercise as an excellent opportunity to bolster interagency cooperation and to provide for a more efficient use of limited resources. The exercise takes place on Thursday, June 5th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, at the Amador County Fairgrounds in Plymouth. For more information, contact Lynne Olson, Emergency Services Coordinator at (209) 223-6384.

The Amador County Public Health Department reports an increasing number of chickenpox cases at Pine Grove Elementary School over the past eight weeks. Twenty cases have been identified since April, seven of which have occurred in one second grade class. “We have been strongly advising parents to check their child’s shot records. If only one dose of chickenpox vaccine is recorded, parents are encouraged to obtain a second dose as soon as possible,” states Lori Jagoda, the Health Department’s Immunization Coordinator. “Several notices have gone out to Pine Grove parents notifying them of this recommendation. Summer vacations will be here soon and it would be unfortunate to have activities cancelled because of this preventable disease.” “People often ask why we need to prevent a disease as mild as chickenpox,” says Bob Hartmann, Amador County Health Officer. The fact is, chickenpox is a highly contagious disease that can develop into serious illness in some children.” One of the more common complications of chickenpox is a blister becoming infected. A chickenpox infection typically lasts about ten days and once infected, your body self-protects against another infection for life. The good news is chickenpox can be prevented. Some parents purposely seek to get their children infected with the virus, believing that it is better to be infected “naturally” rather than “artificially” or that immunity will be more permanent with a vaccine. However, when a safe vaccine is available, parents need to weigh the supposed benefits of infection against its potential risks, including severe disease with complications such as infection with flesh eating bacteria. Contact your health care provider to schedule a visit for your child to receive the vaccine. The Amador County Public Health Department is offering low cost immunization clinics. Call 223-6697 to hear the clinic schedule.

In a press release distributed late Wednesday afternoon, County Administrative Officer Terri Daly outlined a response from the Fair Political Practices Commission, or FPPC, regarding Supervisor Brian Oneto and potential conflicts-of-interest in decision making processes involving the Plymouth casino. Near the end of the Board of Supervisor’s ISA negotiations with the Buena Vista tribe, there was much public commotion over Oneto’s property interests in the vicinity of that proposed project, which eventually lead to his abstention from the final vote on the ISA. Oneto also has an interest in a mining claim abutting the site of the proposed Plymouth casino project. Conflicts of interest outlined in the FPPC’s Political Reform Act dictate that if a public official has a potential “financial interest” in a governmental decision, if it is reasonably foreseeable that the decision will have a material financial effect on the public official’s economic interests. Accordingly, Oneto may not participate in the governmental decision related to the efforts by the Ione Band of Miwoks to take the Plymouth land into trust for the construction of a proposed casino. While the FPPC did determine that a conflict of interest exists in the Plymouth case, it did not address the applicability of limited exceptions that could possibly allow Supervisor Oneto’s participation, notwithstanding the conflict. Supervisor Oneto could not be reached for comment at the time this story was written.

The Jackson City Council met Tuesday night to discuss a recent emergency ordinance concerning the Demolition of Historic Structures. At the April 28th meeting, Planning Commissioner Dave Butow made a request to council to consider adopting an emergency ordinance placing a moratorium on the demolition of structures deemed historic until the City adopts a historic preservation ordinance. The adoption of the new Development Code is pending until the completion of the General Plan Update. At the Planning Commission’s May 19th meeting, Commissioners reviewed the proposed moratorium ordinance, and determined that the ordinance should apply solely to structures built prior to January 1st, 1940. The Planning Commission then recommended the document to City Council for approval. However, after review and discussion at the meeting Tuesday night, the Council opted to send the document back to the Planning Commission, citing generalities and requesting that the moratorium be “tightened up”. Further discussions over the emergency ordinance will be continued at the Planning Commission’s next meeting.

The Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new energy efficient Public Safety Building on Dalton Road near Jackson Rancheria Casino on Friday, May 30, 2008 at 2 p.m. The ceremony will include the raising of the flag that flew above the U.S. Capitol on February 9, 2007, in honor of Tribal Chairperson Margaret Dalton’s birthday. The 33,500 square foot two-story building will house the Tribal Police, the Jackson Rancheria Fire Department, and a back-up Network Operations Center. Accommodations have also been made for the Tribe to display Native American artifacts and other heritage items in the new building. “We’ve been anticipating that opening of our public safety building for a long time now,” said Jackson Rancheria Tribal Council Member Adam Dalton. “We’re especially proud of all of the environmentally sensitive features we’ve included in the design as a tribute to our land and the community.” Due to methods used during construction plus considerable energy reducing features and sustainable materials, the building is expected to be designated by the U.S. Green Building Council as LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified, the first in Amador County. LEED is a voluntary, nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. It promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health - sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

Two local educators are attempting to introduce a new program to Amador County which involves preparing homeowners to stay and defend their homes during the event of a wildfire, instead of evacuating. The program, known as “Prepare-Stay-Defend” or PSD, is part of the fire protection system in Australia, and its proponents hope it will one day become integrated into America’s mainstream fire services. Last week, the Amador Fire Protection Council heard a presentation from Roy Pike and Steve Bowman, the founders and directors of PSD in America. The two have over 70 years of combined fire fighting experience, and both serve or have served as community college educators on fire technology and suppression. Pike and Bowman noted in their presentation instances where communities were ordered to evacuate too late from their homes and perished when their vehicles were overtaken by wildfire. Such was the case in San Diego a few years ago, when most casualties occurred on the freeway when evacuees became stuck in traffic and subsequently were overcome by fire and smoke. Pike and Bowman believe that if the communities in San Diego had been properly educated and prepared, they could have stayed and saved their homes and their lives. The PSD program includes courses that people can take in order to better understand the nature of fire and how to prepare for it, as well as how to establish neighborhood fire watch groups. In addition, Pike and Bowman are involved in the design plan for the first residential development in the nation constructed upon PSD principles, which will be located off of Aqueduct Road in Pine Grove. “It is important to make clear that we are not trying to displace fire authorities. Rather, we are aiming to work within the fire system and establish a mutual aid with the expectation that homeowners can be properly educated to make the choice of when to stay and defend and when to evacuate,” said Bowman. For more information on the Prepare-Stay-Defend program, you can visit the website at www.prepare-stay-defend.org.