A former Mule Creek State Prison guard is now facing multiple charges of sex with a minor. According to Mule Creek Spokesman Chris Weathersbee, the continuing investigation is a cooperative effort between the prison, the Amador County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney Todd Reibe. Former guard Danny James Akemon, a 28 year old Volcano resident is accused of multiple counts of sex with a 14 year old male. The purported crime has sparked further  investigation into Akemon’s conduct while working as an Ione prison guard for less than nine months. “What I can tell you is limited…(but) I will say we are in full cooperation with the District Attorney’s office,” said Weathersbee. The prison is also conducting its own internal investigation. Akemon’s preliminary hearing is scheduled at Amador Superior Court on June 6th. He is pleading not guilty to two counts of both oral copulation of a person under 16 and lewd acts with a child. Akemon was booked at the Amador County Sheriff's office on February 4th. His tenure as a prison guard lasted from June 11, 2007 to March 31, 2008. He was purportedly let go due to inappropriate conduct.

A Sacramento Little League coach was sentenced to six years in prison Friday, after pleading guilty to molesting an 8-year old boy while camping at Chaw Se Indian Grinding Rock State Park in Pine Grove. According to Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe, Richard Tinoco, 29, has a history of sex-related convictions. The charges stem from a Memorial Day camping trip at Chaw Se state park when Tinoco was camping with his son and an 8-year old member of the Little League team Tinoco coached in Sacramento. The boy told his mother that Tinoco had molested him twice in the night, and the boy’s mother called the Sacramento Police Department. Tinoco reportedly tried to convince the boy’s mother to lie to law enforcement about the incident. D.A. Riebe says, “Tinoco is the worst sort of sexual predator, one who preys upon both male and female minors and then attempts to thwart law enforcement efforts to keep track of him by failing to register as a sex offender. It took the love of a mother and the courage of a very brave young boy to bring this sexual predator to justice.”

 

Serious wildfires often leapfrog through neighborhoods, leaving some homes untouched alongside others that have been reduced to rubble. University of California scientists have found that this familiar sight is not entirely random. "You can do a lot to protect your house from a wildfire," said Stephen Quarles, the UC Cooperative Extension advisor. Beginning in 2008, new construction will be required to have increased fire safety measures built in, but Quarles said owners of existing homes may also wish to consider making changes to improve their homes’ resistance to wildfire. He says the roof is the most vulnerable part of the house in a fire. Ignition-resistant “Class A” and non-combustible roofs – such as concrete tile and asphalt composition shingles – have become the norm in California.

Even children know to call 9-1-1 in an emergency. The expected result is immediate help in dealing with whatever the emergency is. According to Marj Stuart, chair of the Amador County Commission on Aging, that didn’t happen when Thelma Clancy dialed 9-1-1 last January. Her friend Terry Casebeer had failed to meet her as planned, and Thelma got no response from repeated phone calls and banging on Terry’s door, so she called 9-1-1.  It took four hours for emergency personnel to decide to break into the house and discover that Terry had died during the night. According to Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan, there are constitutional rights and other legal issues that prevent law enforcement from intervening immediately in situations like Casebeer’s.

Road conditions got the better of two drivers on Tuesday. According to the California Highway Patrol, Ryan Thornberry of Ceres was driving west on Hwy 88 east of Mormon Emigrant Trail at a reported speed of 35 miles per hour when his vehicle hit a patch of ice. Thornberry attempted to brake, causing his 2006 Chevy Avalanche to slide off the road, into a rock embankment and roll over, blocking a lane of the highway. Fortunately, 23-year old Thornberry was uninjured. Also on Tuesday, Jacqueline Alley of Ione was driving on Shakeridge Road at a reported speed of 45 miles per hour, an unsafe speed for conditions, according to a CHP report. Alley was unable to keep her car on the roadway, hit the dirt shoulder and veered across the road into a hillside, rolling her 1992 Oldsmobile onto its roof. Alley was taken to Sutter Amador Hospital with minor injuries.

A single vehicle accident on Highway 88 Wednesday afternoon resulted in the car rolling about 30 feet down an embankment and trapping the 86 year old female driver. Witnesses said the car was traveling east near Tabeau Road when for an unknown reason it served off the road, through trees and over the bank. Another driver traveling the same part of the roadway told TSPN that she honked her horn when she saw the car begin to swerve, but it continued over the shoulder and down the hill. Traffic was closed to one lane for a period of time at Frontier Mini-Mart during the lengthy rescue operation by Amador County’s volunteer first responders from the Amador Fire Protection District and CALFIRE crews. As an AirMed 2 helicopter stood waiting at the Pine Grove camp, Battalion 10 and CalFire crews fire worked in difficult conditions to extricate the victim. She was airlifted from Pine Grove Camp Helispot to Mercy San Juan Hospital in Sacramento. The CHP is investigating if a possible medical situation prior to the accident was the actual cause of the accident.

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THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION IS NOW SAYING THAT IT OVER-ESTIMATED THE NUMBER OF PAROLED SEX OFFENDERS THAT ARE BEING REQUIRED TO MOVE UNDER THE TERMS OF JESSICA’S LAW. PAROLEES THAT FAIL TO RELOCATE, BECAUSE THE NEW LAW REQUIRES A GREATER BUFFER BETWEEN SEX OFFENDERS AND SCHOOL, PARKS AND CHURCHES, RISK VIOLATING THE TERMS OF THEIR PAROLE AND BEING SENT BACK TO PRISON.

Fire season can turn on a dime in California -- but despite dry conditions this year the state's fire agency, Cal Fire, has some promising news, according to Capital Public Radio’s Jenny O'Mara. The state's fire agency, known as Cal Fire, has more than 30 million acres it's responsible for protecting. So far this year, despite dry conditions, spokesman Mike Jarvis says, they've managed to keep the number of acres burned to around 82-thousand.

There were a number of vehicle accidents on our roadways this past weekend. According to the California Highway Patrol, Randy Jarrett, 48 of Dublin was riding his motorcycle Sunday while under the influence of alcohol at 55 – 60 miles per hour eastbound on Hwy 88 near Omo Ranch Rd. Jarrett allowed his motorcycle to travel onto the dirt shoulder, where he lost control and was ejected from his bike. He was arrested for driving under the influence. Just 13 minutes before, also on Hwy 88 near Omo Ranch Rd, another motorcyclist failed to negotiate a turn, slid off the road and was ejected from his motorcycle. Bryant Love, 44, of Lodi, suffered only minor injuries. Two accidents at the intersection of New York Ranch Rd and Ridge Rd resulted in minor injuries and damage to cars.

Yesterday morning around 7:15, a Solo vehicle into a tree on Silver Drive just off Hwy 88 was reported. The female driver was reportedly unconscious for a short period of time according to witnesses on scene. As a result she was airlifted to Sutter Roseville Hospital. According to CHP Officer Patrick Ong the collision is under investigation.