An injury accident on Climax Road in Jackson Wednesday afternoon resulted in moderate injuries. According to witnesses at the scene, Rich Ayanian, a 60-year-old man from Pine Grove, was driving a white Ford F-250 truck when he veered off a corner on Climax road. His vehicle climbed the embankment, rolled over once and then came to rest on its wheels. No cause for the crash has been released, but the accident is being attributed to a simple loss of control. Ayanian received injuries to his face and upper torso during the accident and was taken by ambulance to Sutter Amador Hospital.

The Ione City Council did not hold a scheduled public hearing on the City’s proposed budget for 2008 to 2009 at their meeting Tuesday evening because it was not properly noted on the agenda. The matter was extended to a special meeting July 8th at 4 pm. Finance Director Mark Smith spoke before the council, stating that “comments were taken at the workshop held last week, and adjustments to the budget have been subsequently made. There are a few technical revisions that still need to be made.” A secondary budget item was also discussed during the meeting relating to the compensation for the City’s planning commissioners. According to City Manager Kim Kerr, the city has not paid the commissioners since April of 2004. The issue was brought to staff’s attention by planning commission Chairman David Plank. Ongoing investigations reveal that the planning commission and the fire department, with the exception of the fire chief, all agreed to waive compensation for 6 months to save the budget during 2004 the City Council. When the budget for the 2004 and 5 Fiscal Year was prepared, the planning commissioners were not calculated. Since compensation for planning commissioners is a requirement under city law, Ione must decide how to handle back payments for commissioners who served from April of 2004 through June of 2008. The council directed staff to begin compensation for the planning commissioners beginning on July 1st as recommended by staff.

Anyone who is present to donate blood at the Jackson Elks Community blood drive on Monday, July 21 will receive a coupon for a free pint of Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream. Thanks to the generosity of local donors, when you receive care at a Sacramento-area hospital, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Sutter or Mercy hospitals, the blood you receive comes from BloodSource blood donors. BloodSource provides blood to Sutter Amador Hospital in Jackson. Blood donations are used to treat burn victims, transplant patients, people who must undergo surgery, those injured in accidents, patients with leukemia and more. To give blood, you must be in generally good health, free from cold symptoms for at least 48 hours and at least 17 years old. The drive is sponsored by the Jackson Elks Lodge 2426. Anyone who visits a BloodSource center or mobile drive during the month of July will be automatically entered to win one of five gas cards worth $500. For more information about the Jackson Elks Community blood drive please call Kathy at 209-223-1905.

A new Ione fire station is scheduled for groundbreaking this morning and will be completed in February or March of 2009. This additional facility will enable quick emergency response to both sides of the city that is divided by the Sutter Creek Bridge. The Ione City Council spent many months working out the details of the new station, which fire officials say will be a welcome tool in helping to improve and expand Ione’s fire department. According to city manger Kim Kerr, the design of the new fire house includes fire suppression sprinklers, a facility for waste oil, a trash collection site, and vinyl floor coverings. The total cost for construction is close to 2 million dollars. The new station will be located at 600 Preston Avenue in Ione. City council members will be in attendance to view the beginning of construction. The community is encouraged to attend the ceremony. The ground breaking will be held at 9 a.m.

The Plymouth City Council approved a resolution Thursday evening prohibiting Government-to-Government Relations with the Ione Band of Miwok Indians. City Administrator Dixon Flynn presented the rational for his decision to draft the resolution, stating that “there are strong feelings about the casino on both sides” and that a formal contract is needed to set straight rumors about ongoing talks with the tribe. Rumor indicates there are current negotiations between the tribe and the Governor to form a compact. Flynn stated that there rumors are “completely untrue”, based on his conversation with the Governor’s office. The staff report also states that “the resolution makes it clear the City of Plymouth City Council has no desire to establish government-to-government relations with the tribe at this time. Any meetings between individual council members or staff members and members or representatives of the Tribe regarding proposed trust property are not officially sanctioned by the City Council.” The resolution would become null if the proposed trust property is taken into Trust by the Tribe. During public comment, Plymouth resident Gary Colburn commented on the resolution. “I am not bashful about saying that Plymouth needs a casino. When they first came to the city they were treated like any other developer, and for some reason they are now tremendously discriminated against,” Colburn said. Colburn’s comments surpassed the allotted 3 minute time period and he was asked by City Clerk Gloria Stoddard to wrap up his speech. He responded that he had more to say and referenced an earlier speaker who had also gone over her time limit. Councilman Greg Baldwin interjected that if Colburn was not going to cooperate and sit down that he would “call the Sheriff” to resolve the issue. As Colburn proceeded to speak, Baldwin left his chair and called the local Sheriff. By the time he returned from the call, Colburn had finished speaking and sat down. Butch Cranford stated that he “agreed with this long overdue resolution.” He also voiced his opinion of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, stating that he felt they “are not the legitimate Ione band, and he believes them to be fraudulent.” Vice Mayor Pat Fordyce called the proposal “condescending” and stating that “it has absolutely no meat.” The resolution was approved 3-2 with both Vice Mayor Fordyce and Councilman O’Meara dissenting.

Also at Thursday’s Plymouth City Council meeting, Troy Bowers, CEO of the Amador County Fair, and representatives of the Plymouth Flea Market presented the city with a 1,000 dollar check. The money was given to the council free of any designation, so the council “can do what they want with it.” Next on the agenda was a public hearing regarding the City’s possible adoption of a Long Range Planning Fee. The fee’s would be utilized to offset the costs incurred updating the General Plan, updating Zoning Codes, and other long range plans covering the next 20 to 30 years. The proposed fee per new resident was approximately 317 dollars, and roughly 2,100 dollars per commercial acre and industrial acre. These fees would be applied to the construction building permits. Gary Colburn, a Plymouth resident, stated that although “I am not an expert at planning fees…I am an expert at paying them.” And that “this council has continued to raise fees over and over again on its residents.” City Administrator Dixon Flynn replied to the concerns regarding the rising fee by stating that “Plymouth is not a wealthy city, and that the state mandates updating the General Plan. Somehow these costs must be covered.” He also reminded the audience that the fee is not assessed “until a building permit is acquired” and will not affect those who own undeveloped lands. The resolution adopting the long-range planning fee was approved by the council unanimously.

The Plymouth City Council adopted a resolution to support a County wide ½ cent sales tax for fire services which will be placed on the November ballot. Plymouth was the last of the agencies involved to approve a resolution of support, but did so unanimously. Also discussed at the meeting were three resolutions that proposed freezing the monthly water rates paid by those in Plymouth at the current levels for a term of one year, rolling back the sewer rates for a period of 6 months, and halting the approval of a contract for the pipeline project until a source of revenue is firmly established.

Looking forward to a cooling trend from the record heat wave and having survived a challenging week of hundreds of wildfires sparked by lightning, state and local officials sent a strident message, loud and clear to those smuggling illegal fireworks into California and those would be celebrants who might plan to use these dangerous devices in the coming days. “We are here to tell the individuals who traffic illegal fireworks,” said Kate Dargan, California State Fire Marshal, “Consider this your first and only warning. We don’t care if you do it for fun or profit… We are determined to put a stop to it.” Reflecting back on what appears to be a growing trend in many communities throughout California, state and local fire and law enforcement agencies said the state continues to see a growing influx of illegal fireworks into California, by both organized, commercial operations as well as small, individual, criminal entrepreneurs. According to Dargan, Senate Bill 839, which became effective January 1, removed a number of legal, procedural and practical hurdles to enforcing illegal fireworks statutes in California. This legislation is only the latest in a series of coordinated efforts, between local and state fire agencies, CAL FIRE, the state-approved fireworks industry, and the 3,500 non-profit organizations who sell state approved fireworks every year, to battle the growing problem with illegal fireworks throughout the state. But the sale of legal fireworks is another issue all together. Governor Schwarzenegger last Friday urged all citizens not to buy or use fireworks for the upcoming July 4th weekend. "Don't go out and use fireworks this year…It's just too dry and too dangerous to do those things,” he said. This has caused an internal conflict amongst purveyors of fireworks, many of whom are non-profit organizations funded solely on money raised through those sales. Schwarzenegger said the fires statewide have now involved resources including 7,000 firefighters and 536 engines. He hopes Independence Day celebrations won’t exacerbate that problem.

United Way California Capital Region announced this week that it’s Coverage for Kids Project has attained a major milestone in health coverage for more than 20,000 Capital Region children. The Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency partnered with United Way's Coverage for Kids program to find families without health coverage for children. The Action Agency actively sought out the families, as well as helped them enroll into low- or no-cost health coverage. These agencies help the families throughout the paperwork process as well as other hurdles that come up while attaining health coverage for children. The stated intent of the Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency is to help individuals in Amador and Tuolumne Counties toward self-sufficiency. This includes support for local residents in becoming involved and contributing members of our community and forming partnerships and coalitions within the community to meet these needs. Serving five counties - Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo - Coverage for Kids began in 2004.