Argonaut High School student art is on display at the Amador County Library. For the month of February, the library is exhibiting the Argonaut High School Winter Art Show. Student art includes a variety of media and Librarian Lynda D. Laolagi says, “There are some very talented young artists in our community.  Come and see their amazing work!”

Monday night, Wayne Garibaldi was sworn in and served as councilman at his first meeting of the Jackson City Council. Garibaldi was chosen by the Council to fill the seat left vacant when Drew Stidger resigned from the council at the end of the year. Garibaldi is a Jackson native and was serving on the Jackson Planning Commission at the time of his appointment. During an interview at a Council meeting earlier this month, Garibaldi stressed that his economic background as a credit officer at Bank of Amador prepared him for addressing the economic issues facing the city. Garibaldi’s appointment was unanimously approved by the Council 2 weeks ago.

We’ve been asking for rain and snow… and our wish has come true. Rain and wind in the foothills have made driving treacherous, but the rain is giving our thirsty hills the soaking they need. Snow has fallen as low as 3,900 feet with up to 3 feet of snow expected at high elevations. Another round of rain and snow are expected to pass over central California tonight and early tomorrow. High Sierra passes may see very gusty winds, resulting in whiteouts and dangerous driving conditions. While CHP officials are recommending people stay off mountain highways, skiers and boarders are celebrating the fresh powder accumulations, according to a Kirkwood Resort spokesperson. If you are headed into the upcountry, don’t go without carrying chains, extra food and water, and warm blankets.

The State Department of Water Resources will allocate only one-quarter of the water requested for next year by State Water Project contractors – these water suppliers serve more than 25 million Californians and about 750,000 acres of irrigated farmland. This is significantly less than the initial 2007 water allocation of 60 percent of requested supply. 2007 has been a "dry" water year in the Sacramento region and a "critically dry" water year in the San Joaquin region and reservoirs are going into the 2008 water year with less than average water supply.

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.”

 

Backups and delays due to a couple of major bridge construction projects in Northern California could affect your Thanksgiving Holiday driving. If your holiday plans take you north of Redding or on into Oregon, be advised that you can expect moderate to major delays on Interstate 5 due to the Pit River Bridge emergency deck replacement project, 10 miles north of Redding.   The Rio Vista Bridge on Hwy 12 is also undergoing major repairs – if you’re headed through the Delta on Hwy 12 this Thanksgiving weekend, you should not be affected by closures on the Rio Vista Bridge. However, you will need to detour around the Rio Vista Bridge if you are traveling on Hwy 12 before November 21 or after November 25, Sunday through Thursday night between 9:00 pm and 5:00 am,. Caltrans asks motorists to be patient, plan extra time to reach their destinations and choose off-peak times to travel. You will want to travel with extra water and snacks. Make sure your vehicle is in good working condition and the gas tank is full. You may also want things to occupy children.

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.

According to the California Highway Patrol, a driver on Hwy 16 was towing a horse trailer loaded with 2 horses at about 50 mph when the weight of the horses shifted. The trailer began to swerve from side to side and when the driver of the SUV towing the trailer began to brake, the trailer spun, hit the dirt shoulder and overturned, rolling the SUV along with it. Fortunately, the driver was uninjured and the horses escaped with only minor injuries.

According to a survey released Sunday the national average price for gasoline rose about 5 cents over the last two weeks, and Amador County citizens are feeling the pain at the pump as well.  Nationally, the average price of regular gasoline on Friday was $2.80 a gallon. On Friday in Amador County that same gallon could be bought for $3.05 or more.  The week before in Martell gas was about $2.95 a gallon. And the pain at the pump only gets worse as you head farther up country with gas last week at $3.20 and just yesterday at $3.25. The survey found that the highest was in San Francisco at $3.17, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 stations nationwide, but analyst obviously didn’t visit Amador County.

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.