Two major Amador County fires resulted in a long weekend for local fire crews. Already working with thin budgets and staffed mostly by volunteers, fire departments across the county view the circumstances of this last weekend as signs of a difficult summer ahead. Residents throughout the county have praised CalFire and municipal fire departments for their swift and coordinated response. Their combined efforts successfully stopped the 400 acre Electra Fire and the 50 acre Sutter Creek Fire from spreading and burning nearby structures. “We applaud the combined efforts of the crews on the front line,” said Calfire Representative Tobie Edmonds Friday evening as he stood in the midst of the Electra Fire. The Electra Fire’s origin beneath 65,000 volt high tension lines effectively severed power to an estimated 13,000 Amador County residents scattered upcountry. A voluntary evacuation was implemented and fire crews worked through the night to extinguish the blaze by 11am on Saturday. Within hours, another blaze was started at a residence on Sutter Volcano Road by a riding lawnmower tractor. Although no structures were involved, the fire did burn to within 50 yards of several homes. Elsewhere in Northern California, Firefighters managed to contain a series of wildfires on Sunday. In a streak of good luck, mild winds across the state helped in keeping the fires under control. But next time they may not be so lucky. California firefighters from statewide and local agencies are prepared to ask for assistance or declarations of emergency should another catastrophic blaze occur on the level of the Tahoe Angora fire or last year’s burns in Southern California. Here in Amador County, proponents from the Amador Fire Protection Authority are expected to continue discussions with the Board of Supervisors today over the establishment of a half cent tax on retail transactions that would benefit fire infrastructure. Also, TSPN has just received a news release that all burn permits have been suspended in Amador and El Dorado Counties. Anyone with questions should contact their nearest fire facility.

Thursday’s Plymouth City Council agenda included a presentation by John O’Sullivan, Senior Vice President and Manager of Public Finance for Oakland-based KNN Public Finance, who discussed the need for a public capital overhaul in the city. Vice Mayor Pat Fordyce and Councilwoman Pat Shackleton were excused from the meeting. O’Sullivan believes that “bringing in a Financial Advisor this early is a good vote of preparedness” for future development. O’Sullivan began his presentation with an introduction to KNN, formed in 1982. The company is often ranked in the top 10 nationally based on par value, and it serves all levels of State and Local Government including cities, counties, K-14 School Districts, Special Districts, the California State University System, and the State of California Public Works Board and Infrastructure Bank. He also explained the role of a financial advisor as the main determiner of the most effective and efficient methods of financing capital improvements, including conducting the sale of bonds and securing ratings. City Manager Dixon Flynn stated that issues specifically identified for Plymouth included the need for published audited financial statements. At the conclusion of the presentation, Flynn reminded the council that this is currently just an informational presentation, but it will come back as an action item in the future.

A subsidiary of a South African investment bank has agreed to buy the controlling interest in Sutter Gold Mining Company, owner of Amador County’s only modern underground hard rock gold mine between Sutter Creek and Amador City. The mine was in operation from 1989 to 1991, when the price of gold dropped and operation costs began to exceed profit. In the last year, however, the price of gold has skyrocketed, and the mine has entertained several interested investors. RMB Resources, as trustee for the Telluride Investment Trust investment fund, has now agreed to buy shares of the gold company for about 5.25 million dollars from U.S. Energy Corporation. The deal, expected to close in July, would give RMB 49.9 percent of Sutter Gold's common shares, according to a news release. U.S. Energy has delivered a power of attorney to RMB, giving RMB the right to vote on the common shares of Sutter Gold now owned by U.S. Energy. The mine controls a 3.2-mile segment of the historic Mother Lode gold belt. Sutter Gold Mining Company has drilled extensively for exploration and plans to build a mill on the site. In addition, the company has a subsidiary in El Alamo, Mexico. "The transaction, if concluded, will allow (Sutter Gold) to aggressively move forward with our gold project in California," Sutter Gold president and chief executive officer Hal Herron said in the news release. "RMB is internationally recognized for identifying and financing natural resource projects and companies.”

Salaries of California legislators and top elected officials will be frozen for the next year, the state's independent salary commission decided last week. The commission approved the freeze on a 4-1 vote, rejecting a proposal by Chairman Charles Murray to cut elected officials' salaries by 10 percent. "As far as I'm concerned, we didn't send a strong enough message," Murray said after the vote. The commission's action Tuesday came amid a state budget deficit projected at $15.2 billion and an order by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that state agencies cut their spending by 10 percent. Decisions by the pay commission are final and take effect December 1st. The independent panel of seven gubernatorial appointees was created by voters through passage of Proposition 112 in 1990. Schwarzenegger is eligible for a salary of 212,179 dollars but accepts no state pay. California's attorney general and superintendent of public instruction currently receive 184,301; the controller, treasurer and insurance commissioner receives 169,743; and the lieutenant governor, secretary of state and Board of Equalization members each receive 159,134. The four leaders of the Assembly and Senate currently are paid 133,639 dollars. All lawmakers also receive nearly 35 thousand in per diem pay for living expenses.

A statewide drought was declared Wednesday as farmers and communities continue to face water shortages after two consecutive years of below-average rainfall. Court-imposed restrictions on water usage in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have also caused havoc on water supplies. While farmers across California are preparing for the worst, local agriculture representatives say Amador County is above the fray. Sean Kriletich (KRIL-LA-TICH), owner and operator of Poloma Pollinators in Jackson, says that Amador County is riding on the back of last year’s rainfall. “We still have an abundant ground & surface water supply here in Amador County,” he said. JJ Gonsalves of Blue Sky Blueberries in Valley Springs said he’s not really dependent on rain and uses irrigated water for his crops. “What I am really worried about is that the water table will continue to drop and dry up some irrigation wells,” said Gonsalvez. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign an executive order that aims to accelerate water transfers to shortage areas, improve coordination between government agencies and pursue federal assistance. The order does not impose statewide water rationing but attempts to reduce water use by bolstering state and local conservation programs. The state Department of Water Resources last month determined snowpack water content was only 67 percent of normal and forecast runoff at only 55 percent of normal. Some California communities have begun to impose water rationing programs, and some farmers have stopped planting certain crops based on unpredictable water supplies.

Mule Creek State prison in Ione will be the first of 30 or so state penal facilities readying to carry out a federal court mediation agreement ending the use of race as the sole determining factor in making cell assignments. The ruling traces back to a 1995 lawsuit in which a black Californian prison inmate, Garrison Johnson, sued the California Department of Corrections, saying that the segregation of prisoners was a violation of their rights. The ruling was finalized in a 2005 Supreme Court decision that led to federal court mediation and an agreement that California’s double cells would be desegregated. The Sierra Conservation Center in Tuolumne County, or SCC, and Mule Creek will be the first to comply with the court order said SCC Correctional Lieutenant Kevin Wise. Both prisons are part of a pilot project planned for July 1st. While most inmates and correctional officials agree that it is a noble idea, many fear the worst. Traditionally, prison life dictates that people of different races avoid mixing with other populations. Gangs have traditionally formed along racial divisions. But according to Wise and other Correctional Officers, any tensions brought about by the integration will only be temporary. Additionally, the transition will happen through attrition. Incoming inmates will be placed in empty beds based on a "first available and appropriate" basis. "We don't anticipate any large-scale problems," he said. According to one officer at San Quentin State Prison, “The benefit is for inmates to live how they are supposed to live. It is rehabilitative. This is how we live in the world. It should be the same way in prison too.” The Texas prison system integrated its cells in the early 1990s and eventually saw a decline in racial tensions, said Professor Jim Marquart, chair of the criminology department at the University of Texas at Dallas, who studied the transition and is advising California during its process.

The official results are in statewide- California voters on Tuesday rejected Proposition 98 but passed Proposition 99, two eminent domain initiatives that restricted ways the government can take private property. Proposition 98, the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act, would also have banned cities and counties from enacting new rent-control ordinances and would have phased out existing ordinances when current tenants depart. The less-restrictive Proposition 99, the Homeowners and Private Property Protection Act, prohibits government agencies from using eminent domain to take an owner-occupied home and transfer it to a private owner or developer. The proposition also allows homes to be seized to protect public health and safety, deal with criminal activity or in an emergency.

In national news, Democrat Barack Obama plunged Wednesday into a five-month election battle with Republican John McCain after making history by becoming the first black presidential nominee of a major US party. The Illinois senator's giant-killing win over Hillary Clinton came at the climax late Tuesday of the longest, most expensive and spellbinding nominating epic ever. Clinton has not yet conceded the race, but on Wednesday she held out an olive branch to Obama after he clinched the number of delegates needed to be the Democratic party's presidential nominee in the November elections. "Let me be very clear, I know that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel," she told a powerful pro-Israel lobby group. But the former first lady stopped short of formally abandoning her quest to be the first woman elected to the Oval Office, and although they both addressed the gathering within minutes of each other they had no plans to meet. Instead as President George W. Bush joined worldwide plaudits of Obama's stunning success, Clinton's supporters strove to coax the new Democratic standard-bearer into choosing her as his running mate. Together, they would be "unstoppable," the New York senator's campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, told MSNBC television. "I think we would have the White House for 16 years." On November 4, voters must pick between Obama, 46, a freshman senator and charismatic mixed-race standard-bearer of a new political generation, and McCain, 71, a Vietnam war hero asking for one final call to service. Clinton has said she will now consult with supporters and party leaders on the way forward.

The Ione Police Department had a few items to present to the Ione City Council during their meeting Tuesday evening, starting with the swearing in of new police officer Pollie Pent, and the announcement that the department still currently has one vacancy to fill. In regards to the vacancy, a new hiring process has been instated which incorporates 4 levels through which applicants are processed. According to Police Chief Johnson, “There were initially 26 applicants, and from that, 4 strong candidates are currently standing”.

San Andreas CHP Area Commander J. R. Pelfanio made a special announcement yesterday reminding motorists to be wary of the large number of bicyclists expected to hit the roadway in the upcoming Sierra Century Bicycle Tour. “There is a 100 mile and a 50 mile course, each beginning and ending at Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys. The routes were planned using less vehicular traveled roads but there is still the possibility of encountering bicyclists upon the highway,” said Pelfanio. On Saturday June 7, the Sacramento Wheelman Bicycling Club will be hosting the 2008 Sierra Century Bicycle Tour in Calaveras County. The course is open from 6:00 AM to 5:30 PM. It is anticipated there will be 700 to 1200 riders. The course will meander along the southern edge of Amador County and pass through Mokelumne Hill. Extra CHP personnel have been assigned specifically to the Tour. Pelfanio is asking for all motorists and bicyclists to share the road safely.