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.

“Take-It-Back Amador!” is a partnership that promotes the proper recycling and disposal of used household batteries and fluorescent tubes & bulbs.  In response to New Universal Waste Regulations, Meeks Lumber & Hardware, and ACE Hardware and Lumber stores located in Pine Grove and Ione are accepting these items, free of charge, from county residents. California regulations prohibit universal wastes from landfill disposal.  Amador County residents can continue to bring these items to the County’s Household Hazardous Waste (H-H-W) Collection Facility every other Saturday at the Buena Vista Landfill Transfer Station.  This program is for residential use only.  Business and commercial materials will not be accepted.  For more information on HHW collection dates or materials, please contact Amador County Waste Management Department at 209-223-6429.  For more information, please contact Amador County Waste Management Department at 209) 223-6429 or visit:  www.co.amador.ca.us/depts/waste/

This morning around 3:30 am a vehicle accident was heard by Amador County Sheriff’s Deputies before it was seen on Hwy 88 near Pitt Street. The deputies heard the accident from their offices above and rushed to respond. The solo vehicle accident blocked the east bound lanes of Hwy 88 as the first deputies on scene around 3:32am. The Jackson Police Department arrived on scene moments later to find a 99 Saturn blocking a lane. The driver, a San Jose woman appeared to uninjured but her car had leaked a large amount of fluid causing a clean up effort by the Jackson Fire and CalFire crews. The roadway was cleared just after 4am

Recently, a presentation was given to the Mokelumne River Water Council Forum on the regulation and control of aquatic species of birds, specifically geese, impacting Lake Camanche. The conditions of some of the beaches around the popular lake, at times have been declared unhealthy, and the beaches have been closed. Last summer, the summer of 2006, some beaches were closed for as long as 10 weeks after e-coli was found present in water samples. Although camp grounds remained open, beach access from those campgrounds was closed to visitors. According to Mark Bolton, East Bay Municipal Utilities District Camanche Recreation Unit Supervisor, the problem is taking some time to work out.

Saturday morning about 10 am a report of a bicyclist down was received by local emergency services. Lockwood Fire Protection District, Cal Fire , American Legion Ambulance, and the Amador County Sheriff’s Department initially responded to the 22 year old male that had been involved in a solo bicyclist  accident. The victim had been unconscious for several minutes and had an apparent head injury. The bicyclist was transported to Westover Field from which he was airlifted to a valley hospital. The accident is under investigation by the CHP.

A three member Council took on a suggested conflict of interest regarding Planning Commissioner Wayne Garibaldi at this week’s Jackson City Council meeting, as two council members were out of town. It was the hottest topic to appear on the agenda as the City’s legal representation Tom Gibson of Best, Best and Kreiger LLP, presented his written report on the matter declaring if the situation did indeed present a conflict of interest. The matter arose on May 7th when the Planning Commission met to discuss Jackson Hills and make a recommendation to the City Council on the project. Citizen Jack Georgette approached the Commission before they began and asked if Commissioner Garibaldi had a conflict of interest being as his boss, Larry Standing, had signed a petition in favor of the project.

It was officially announced yesterday that the skeletal remains found last Wednesday in Fiddletown are indeed the bones of Mary Starkey the missing woman from Ripon.  Local CYA crews working in Fiddletown discovered the body, wrapped in a blanket, 10 yards off of the roadway, coincidentally the same day that the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office had reported that they would be entering the County on a possible lead. The Manteca man, Roy Gerald Smith, a 45-year-old convicted sex offender who has been the focus of the case plead guilty in court on Monday. The San Joaquin DA’s office reported that Smith entered a plea to avoid the death penalty as his defense said Smith is genuinely sorry for his actions.

A California Youth Authority (CYA) fire crew made a gruesome discovery yesterday while working in Fiddletown when they stumbled upon skeletal remains. According to a press release from the Amador County Sheriff’s Office, yesterday at approximately 9:30am the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office advised the Amador County Sheriff’s Office that they were responding into Amador County regarding a lead on the possible location of a murder victim.  The Amador County Sheriff’s Office assigned an investigator to assist.  At approximately 11:10am, Cal Fire contacted the Amador County Sheriff’s Office and reported that a CYA fire crew working in the area had located some human remains in a wooded area south east of Fiddletown. 

Bald eagles are losing their protected status as their populations take off. The U.S. Department of Interior last Thursday formally announced the National Bird will be taken off of the federal endangered species list. The removal from the list is the result of a 40 year battle to repopulate and reestablish bald eagle populations. The effort began in 1963 when only 47 breeding pairs could be counted in the contiguous 48 states. In announcing the move, government officials said biologists have counted nearly 10,000 mating pairs of bald eagles, including at least one pair in each of 48 states.

The local community is pulling together to help our neighbors in Tahoe recover from the destruction of the Angora Fire. The 3,100 acre fire was contained on Sunday, but not before destroying 254 homes, damaging 25 others and displacing about 3500 people. Amador County residents are holding Angora Fire Donation Drives in three different locations to help the displaced families recover. The Donation Drive will be held Saturday July 7th from 10am to 4pm in three different locations; at the Volcano Communications Tech Center, behind the Pine Grove Park, Calvary Chapel located at 18400 Ridge Road in Pine Grove, and at Detert Park Baseball Field in Jackson.