Amador County - In Ione news, the new fire station is on course and within budget, according to City Treasurer Sharon Long. The 8,250 square foot facility located on Preston Avenue was approved on the basis that it will better and more readily serve residents who were previously harder to access because of geography and other factors. In addition to the existing firehouse, this facility will increase response time for the areas west of Sutter Creek, eliminating the bottleneck at Preston Avenue and Main Street. The new facility will house eight fire trucks and equipment for the dedicated staff of volunteer firefighters. In October of 2008, the community raised $20,000 in support of the volunteer firefighters. The funds were used to purchase new structural fire protective gear for the department. In 2007, the community donated enough funds to purchase 50 sets of wildland firefighting gear. A grand opening ceremony is planned for April. The department has 45 members, mostly volunteers. Story by Alex Lane

Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe announced the arrests of ten people in connection with an undercover investigation of alleged unlicensed contracting. Last Thursday, investigators posed as homeowners and invited bids on home improvement projects at a sting house in Jackson. The multi-agency operation included investigators from the Contractors State License Board, Jackson Police Department, Amador County Sheriff’s Office, and the Amador County District Attorney’s Office. Among those arrested was Bruce “Buddy” White of B&G Heat and Air, whose contractor’s license is currently suspended and who has a pending criminal jury trial in Amador County Superior Court involving alleged diversion of construction funds and embezzlement by a contractor. Each count of contracting without a license and unlawful advertising is a misdemeanor and is punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a 1,000 dollar fine for the first offense. All contractors who perform work that is valued at 500 dollars or more including labor and materials must be licensed by the Contractors State License Board. To report unlicensed contracting activity or someone committing fraud, call the Contractors State License Board SWIFT Unit in Sacramento at (916) 255-2924 or the Amador County District Attorney’s Office at (209) 223-6444. Staff Report

Staff Report -

The Amador County Sheriff’s Office and the Jackson Police Department are collaboratively investigating several vehicle burglaries which have occurred in the Jackson and Pine Grove area. During one of the burglaries, the suspects stole credit cards, which were subsequently utilized in a business in Martell. Amador County Sheriff’s Deputies recovered surveillance video of the subjects utilizing the stolen credit cards. The male and female subjects depicted in the photographs are wanted for questioning. Anyone with information regarding the identity of the male subject or his female companion are asked to contact Detective Tom Rayzor or Detective Luke McElfish of the Amador County Sheriff’s Office at (209) 223-6500, Detective Chris Mynderup of the Jackson Police Department at (209) 223-1771 or the Secret Witness Program at (209) 223-4900.

By Jim Reece -

Amador County Supervisors last week voted to send a letter to the state supporting logging as a means of clearing the air and curbing catastrophic forest fires in Amador and across California. The board voted 5-0 to approve a letter for Chairman Richard Forster to sign. The letter, to California Air Resources Board Chair Mary D. Nichols, was in regard to the 2008 Climate Change Scoping Plan. Forster said the draft letter was in response to the issue of the Climate Change Scoping Plan and requested Nichols to strongly support allowing the logging of high-density forest areas containing trees that were dead and dying, so to create defensible space and reduce the fuels in forests and prevent catastrophic fires, which have disastrous effects on air quality and contribute to global warming. The letter noted that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a March executive order directed the California Environmental Protection Agency and the California Resources Agency to oversee the Climate Action Team’s development of measures for wildfire fuels reduction and biomass utilization. The letter said that Amador County Supervisors are “troubled that no such measures have been outlined in the scoping plan.” The letter said that “wildfires statewide have had major impacts on air quality, contributing significantly to California’s carbon and particulate emissions.” Supervisors urged the Governor to take an active role at the federal level to demand that the United States Forest Service take action to mitigate the risk of catastrophic wildfires. The letter urged the Air Resources Board to include in its Final Draft Scoping Plan a “firm commitment by the state to join with local governments to advocate at the federal level for enhanced management on U.S. Forest Service lands, as well as an extensive program to quantify wildfire emissions that could be avoided though better forest management practices.” The letter called the efforts vital to “improving the quality of the air and public health.” Supervisors passed an accompanying resolution that noted Amador County land totaled 363,500 acres, of which 34 percent – or 87,270 acres – is federal land. The resolution, Number 08-186, calls for “immediate measures to be taken to prevent imminent catastrophic wildfires.”

Amador County - California is now in the middle of its third year of a drought and recent warm temperatures increase fire danger even more. In preparation for the holiday weekend, local law enforcement, CALFIRE and firefighting agencies are working together to seize illegal fireworks and prosecute those found in possession of them. Under California law, illegal fireworks include sky rockets, bottle rockets, roman candles, aerial shells, firecrackers and other miscellaneous types that explode, go up in the air, or move about the ground in an uncontrollable fashion. In 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 839, which took effect Jan. 1, 2008 establishing harsher penalties for those who buy and sell illegal fireworks. Those convicted could be fined up to $50,000 and/or sent to prison or jail for up to one year. “Illegal fireworks pose a major danger to Californian’s safety,” said Acting State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover. “We will not tolerate the use or sale of illegal fireworks here in California.” In over 270 communities in the state, safe and sane fireworks are permitted. State fire officials want to remind those who choose to purchase legal fireworks this year, to make sure they purchase only those with the “Safe and Sane” State Fire Marshal seal. Staff Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Amador County Combined Narcotics Enforcement Team arrested a Calaveras County man Tuesday for attempting to sell large quantities of marijuana to an undercover agent. The arrest was the result of a four month sting operation and cooperative effort between Amador and Calaveras County Sheriff’s Deputies. Evan Py, 32, hailing from the Rail Road Flat area in Calaveras County, was arrested after he delivered 33 cloned marijuana plants to an ACCNET agent in the parking lot of Lowe’s Hardware in Martell. According to information released by ACCNET, “This investigation began in December of 2008 when Py delivered 10 marijuana clones to an ACCNET undercover agent in Jackson. During this investigation PY discussed with the ACCNET undercover agent the processes to cultivate indoor marijuana and offered to set up an indoor grow for the undercover agent. A total of 69 marijuana clones were sold to the undercover agent during the operation.” A “clone” in marijuana terms indicates female marijuana plant that has been made to develop a separate root system and creates a genetic duplicate from a mother plant. This process is preferred to starting a marijuana plant from seed, which does not ensure the sex of the plant. A subsequent search of the Py residence was conducted. Agents seized approximately 30 marijuana plants ready to harvest, along with 11 marijuana plants that were being dried for possessing and 418 cloned marijuana plants that were in various stages of growth. Py was booked at the Amador County Jail. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – California Shock Trauma Air Rescue, or the CALSTAR helicopter ambulance service, opened its doors in Amador County at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Amador County Airport. The 3-person crew includes a pilot and two flight nurses who can get in the air in 5 minutes and fly up to 180 miles to assist with medical trauma suffered in Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras counties. The crew moved the CALSTAR 10 unit into a house on Airport Road in Martell, off the site of the airport, but close enough to get in the company Subaru, drive to the launch pad, and fly away to service. The crew late Wednesday afternoon was still awaiting its first call, though a trauma victim had been air-lifted from Amador County sometime after 2 a.m. by another unit Wednesday, from China Graveyard Road. The CALSTAR 10 crew on Wednesday included pilot Rod Jamieson, a former ABC pilot and reporter and also a past air firefighter. The flight nurses were Mike Clifford and Doug Probst. Jamieson said the helicopter is a BO-105, with Rolls Royce C30 engines. The craft carries the crew of 3, plus 2 patients and equipment, totaling 1,200 kilos of payload. CALSTAR is built for the speed to act in the “Golden Hour,” the crucial time frame in which severe trauma is in need of medical attention. Clifford said the craft carries ventilators, cardio monitors and defribulators. It cruises at 130 knots, and the primary nurse sits in the front, caring for the patient. The secondary nurse sits in the back and works the radio. CALSTAR 10 will primarily serve Amador County but can respond in a 150 to 180 mile radius. It will deliver to the nearest trauma hospital, Probst said, as its service is mainly called for trauma because of the “Golden Hour.” Jamieson said CALSTAR also provides one hour of free searching in incidents of search & rescue. CALSTAR sells membership to its organization because of the “financial ramifications of an air ambulance transport, which can cost $25,000 or more,” according to its website, and “Few families are prepared for large medical bills.” To see the organization’s Membership Program, see www.calstar.org. CALSTAR memberships are available to anyone, even people who are uninsured. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Another hay tractor trailer truck failed to make it down Highway 88 Tuesday in Pioneer, toppled off the roadside, and spilled its double trailer load of hay. What observers say “has become an all too often occurrence, another hay truck lost control on a curve, tipped over and lost its entire load” on the steep roadside along Highway 88 near Cooks Station. Eye witnesses said that the truck was moving at a fast pace along the tight curves leading up to Cooks station. Apparently something went wrong and the rear trailer began to tip over to the right and soon the rest of the rig followed. The tractor and front trailer soon ricocheted off of several trees and the load from both trailers tumbled into the road and down the embankment. An observer at the scene said “lucky for the driver, the cab came to a stop upside down between the embankment and some trees, leaving it severely damaged but not crushed.” The driver was able to crawl out and he later sought medical attention when the ambulance arrived. It took a couple of hours for road crews to clean up the mess and a tow truck crew to right the truck and tractor. Amador Fire Protection District, Calfire, CalTrans and CHP personnel were all on scene working on various parts of clearing up the road. A tractor-trailer-sized wrecker and a smaller wrecker from ATR were used to remove the vehicle from the side of the hill and right it. The cause of the crash was still under investigation. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - Officer John Stewart, a two year veteran of the Ione Police Department, passed away during the afternoon hours of March 25th due to complications from illness. Prior to serving the community of Ione, Stewart worked for the Cities of Jackson, Isleton, Rio Vista, and Guadalupe. Stewart has been in law enforcement since the early 80’s. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, March 31 at the Ione Community United Methodist Church, 150 West Marlette Street, beginning at 10 am. Following the service, Officer Stewart will be laid to rest at the Ione Public Cemetery. Donations are accepted at the Bank of Amador under the “John Stewart Family Trust.” He is survived by his wife and children. Staff Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – An Amador County Sheriff’s deputy rescued a bedridden woman from a burning home Wednesday afternoon in Pine Grove. One of the first deputies on the scene along with a member of the US Forest Service went to the aid of the elderly woman, who was trapped inside the burning home. A witness said the home, at 25495 Meadow Drive was fully involved when responders arrived but firefighters were able to save part of the 2-story, single-family home. Authorities soon learned that a bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound elderly woman reportedly was inside the home as it was burning. A sheriff’s deputy entered the house and took the woman to safety. The woman was reportedly being cared for by her daughter. Responders included the Amador Fire Protection District, Battalion 10, under Incident Commander, Chief Ray Blankenheim. Battalion 10 led the fight to douse the fire, after the initial call around noon Wednesday. The AFPD around 1 p.m. reported that there were no injuries resulting from the fire and everyone got out of the house OK. The Red Cross was expected to be dispatched to the home to assist the residents with their losses. Containment responders included a crew from the Pine Grove California Youth Authority Conservation Camp, which did mop-up work after the fire. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.