Sutter Creek – The Sutter Creek Woman’s Club marks “100 years of service to the community” with “old fashioned refreshments and ambiance of days gone by” Saturday in Sutter Creek. Guest speakers and state, county and city politicians will be represented to recognize the 100-year-old “improvement club.” The club was established in 1909 with the original purpose to improve the cemetery, schoolyard, streets and general beauty of the town. Over the years, the club expanded its purpose to include social, educational, civic and philanthropic endeavors in Amador County. The club marks its official 100th year in existence on Friday, September 18, 2009. Georgia Fox, former Amador Museum curator, is club historian and program chairwoman. Fox said Bob Richards, born and raised in Sutter Creek, “will be speaking and telling a few fun stories of Sutter Creek.” His mother, Helen Richards was a member of the Sutter Creek Woman’s Club for 28 years before she passed away. Fox said former Amador County Archivist Larry Cenotto will tell the history of Sutter Creek. There is a fashion show, and models wearing fashions from eras of 1910 to 2009. For Saturday, Fox made programs with photos of the 18 past club presidents, including current SCWC President Sue Henner. Also Saturday, the club will give achievement awards for the longest memberships. Fox said West Point resident Dorothy Burnett is in her 90s and has been in the club 35 years. Burnett, will get an achievement award, as will Eunice Haslam, a 31-year member. Other long time members are Helen Potter, a 29-year member, and Fox, who has been in the club 28 years. She said: “Other than that, they are almost all new people” – as in having joined in the last 10 years or so. Fox said the group now has 40 to 45 members and can have up to about 50, and is seeking new member. The Sutter Creek Woman’s Club “100 Years of Service to the Community” social is 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, September 19th at the Sutter Creek Community Building, 33 Church Street. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jackson – At the stoop of the Amador County Courthouse, eight bystanders witnessed the apparent final chapter of the Wicklow Way Subdivision when a noon Tuesday public auction drew no qualified bidders and ended with a $1.48 million sale to the beneficiary. Umpqua Bank settled a debt of $4.8 million on the property by reverting to a purchase of the property at a price of $1,484,942 and 62 cents, the listed opening bid of the sale. The 201.37-acre property was in arrears, under owner John Lemke, who had taken the property through Environmental hearings with the Amador County Planning Department and fought legal battles in county courts. The latest was a defeat – a finding by the Amador County Planning Commission to reject the housing and commercial development’s Environmental Impact Report. Lemke had vowed to appeal, but the property instead fell to a public sale. Independent auctioneer Velma Slaven commenced the proceeding on the front sidewalk of the Argonaut Lane county courthouse, as the air horn blast from downtown Jackson marked the coming of the noon hour. Slaven asked if there were any “qualified bidders,” present with a check made out in the amount of the opening bid of $1.484 million. She found no bidders were present, and Slaven opened the auction at the opening amount, asking for a higher bid, closing the auction shortly thereafter and announcing that the property was “sold to the beneficiary.” Among the 8 attendees was Jon Hopkins, director of the county General Services Administration, who said the beneficiary in the sale was Umpqua Bank. Attendees included Jill North; self-proclaimed development fighter Susan Bragstad; Sally Trestrail; and Rebecca Brown; who said they had never attended a public auction before. County Tax Collector Mike Ryan also attended. Slaven said “the indebtedness of the property was $4,833,000, and it went for significantly less, due to economic reasons, I’m assuming.” She said they don’t tell her why they put a bid in at whatever rate. She said she works independently, with no contact from the owner or the beneficiary. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sutter Creek – Vandals struck twice in 3 days at the Sutter Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant last week, damaging 4 city-owned trucks and an old police car. Public workers arrived Friday morning at the plant, at the end of Mahoney Mill Road and found windows broken an out-of-service police car, which previously had been wrecked. They also slashed all 4 of its tires. They found a building’s window opened and a screen removed, and called the Sutter Creek Police Department. City Manager Sean Rabe said the perpetrators took keys to 2 city public works trucks, Dodge and Chevy half-ton trucks. They drove one through a locked gate, and then drove both down a dirt road. They left the trucks, about ¼ mile down a dirt road, a service road to the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority system. Rabe said the vandals broke a windshield on a GMC dump truck, using a rock, a tree branch and a car battery. Rabe said vandals went to the wastewater treatment plant sometime Saturday night and drove a different truck, through the locked gate. They left the 2-ton sludge truck by the gate. Damage estimates were not yet made. Rabe said “the police car was already wrecked, but it had not been declared ‘totaled’ by the insurance company.” The gate was damaged, repaired, then broken again Saturday night, so it had to be repaired again. He said vandals stole the keys to the trucks, and city workers could only locate one truck’s keys, so it will have to be rekeyed. Rabe said police are still investigating. He said the “good thing is, they did not do any damage to the actual sewer treatment plant.” He said the vandals “gained access to the whole plant by going through that gate.” So far, the city found no damage to the plant. The first day’s damage was found early Friday, September 11th, and the second day’s damage was discovered and reported by the public works crew Sunday morning, September 13th. Rabe assumed the vandals could face charges of breaking and entering and vandalism. They caused mild to moderate damage on 4 trucks and the police car. They caused pretty good sized dents on the front of one truck and the door of another, but both are still drive-able. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jackson – The Board of Supervisors addressed the question of how to divvy up funding Tuesday between the Amador Council of Tourism (ACT) and the Amador Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau (ACVB). The heated discussion highlighted what some present perceived as longstanding tensions between the agencies. County Administrative Officer Terri Daly said there is a total budget of $28,109 allotted for funding and county promotion in the current fiscal year budget, $20,000 of which is strictly relative to ACT and ACVB. In past years, the two organizations had split a funding budget of up to $47,000, but the economic depression combined with the closure of major business sponsors like Prospect Motors has strained funding limits. The Supervisors were presented with the options of giving the entire $20,000 to one entity or another, adding additional money to the expenditure line, or choosing to fund neither organization. Each of the competing organizations was given the opportunity to present their case for funding. ACVB Executive Director Jacqueline Lucido said hers is “recognized as the leading agency in the county, the mothership.” She said “over 86 percent of business in this county is affected one way or another by tourism.” She said ACVB only “requires recognition” and the “necessary financial support”, but instead they have to “negotiate a handout.” In reference to methods of advertising, she has chosen not to run ads in the newspaper because “print media is the low man on the totem pole.” Maureen Funk of the Amador Council of Tourism said over 60 percent of her organization’s budget is used to promote tourism. “For every advertising dollar, we get a six time return on our investment,” she said. The two presenters were followed by a parade of audience members involved with various aspects of local tourism who voiced their support for one or both agencies. Jack Mitchell, Publisher of the local newspaper, followed Lucido’s earlier comment about print media by saying, “I’ve put funding towards (ACVB) and ACT as well…we need to fund both organizations.” Supervisor Plasse said these were “two agencies that have had a rather contentious relationship over the years.” Supervisor Richard Forster agreed with Plasse’s assessment and said “both organizations play a valuable role.” He said that while he thinks the Chamber is valuable, ACT is doing a great job of keeping up relationships with everyone in the community. He proposed funding ACT with $20,000 and taking $10,000 out of the contingency fund to give ACVB. This spurred Lucido to stand up and ask Forster to what contention he referred, to which Forster replied: “If you want me to air dirty laundry, I can.” After being further pushed by Lucido, Forster gave a specific example of his complaint by stating he does “not believe chamber employees should be talking to people at events and using swear words.” Supervisor Plasse recommended an additional $5000 be drawn from the contingency fund for each organization. “I am about the most fiscally conservative of anyone in the room…but I see the value from an economic standpoint and I see the value in trying to encourage tourism,” he said. Forster agreed to the amendment of additional funding. The board passed the motion unanimously. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Plymouth – The Plymouth City Council last week shelved a discussion of a city “right to farm” ordinance, and heard of a staff plan to put together a volunteer board to assess applicants for a new city planner contract. The council had a brief discussion on the “right to farm” issue, before reaching a consensus to shelve it, with Councilman Mike O’Meara suggesting 6 months. Councilwoman Pat Fordyce said the issue “doesn’t need to be dealt with,” because of state and county law that the city can use. City Attorney Steven Rudolph said that county ordinances generally don’t apply to cities, but the “city can pass an ordinance saying that the county law applies.” But Rudolph said “it is not automatic.” Vice Mayor Greg Baldwin said: “I don’t want Big Brother in the city, and I don’t want Big Sister, either.” He said if it can be resolved a better way, while protecting the city, he would support it. City Manager Dixon Flynn said before the issue comes back to the council, he would like to take it to the planning commission. He said city administration is now interviewing planning firms for the City Planner position. He said he will form a panel with 2 city council members, 2 planning commissioners, 3 developers, and public invitees. Flynn plans a September 26th meeting of the 3-panel assessment board, with each panel separately interviewing 3 finalist firms in the City Planner search. Flynn said he would have the panels rank the firms first, second and third, and then he would “probably come back with that recommendation.” Flynn said Mayor Jon Colburn volunteered to be on the assessment board. Councilwoman Pat Shackleton agreed to be the second member, with Baldwin as alternate. Flynn said he wanted to invite Stephanie McNair, of Plymouth Rock Partners LLC, to be a developer member of the panel. The city has sent out a Request For Proposals (RFP) from planning firms, and the city’s latest contractor, Development Impact Incorporated of Elk Grove sent a letter August 24th to the city saying that the company would not be answering the request. Paula Daneluk of Development Impact said the company “decided that responding to this RFP is not the direction that our firm should go at this time.” The firm had been working for Plymouth for 3 years, including work on the city General Plan update from start to finish. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sutter Creek – The Sutter Creek City Council began looking at the Gold Rush Ranch & Gold Resort plans in a special meeting Friday night, hearing from many people that they did not support back-to-back meetings. The council looks at Gold Rush at 6 p.m. today and has a tentative continuance meeting Wednesday, if work is not finished. The same plan was made for a meeting next Tuesday, with a Wednesday continuance possible. Councilman Pat Crosby said he expected the meeting Friday to be between the council and Gold Rush Ranch developers. Instead, contract consultant Anders Hauge gave a brief presentation on the aspects of the Gold Rush Environmental Impact Report, which covers city General Plan amendments, the Gold Rush specific plan, a phased “tentative subdivision map”, zoning ordinance amendments, and a development agreement. Mayor Gary Wooten said “workshop to get the council up to speed on all the multiple issues that need to be addressed.” City Attorney Dennis Crabb and EIR specialist Bob Delp were slated to give presentations, but both missed the meeting. Hauge said Crabb will answer questions about the development agreement in the meeting set for 6 p.m. today, at the Sutter Creek Auditorium. The development agreement is still being worked on by the city council and the applicants. Crosby said he was “not seeing” what he expected, which was a discussion between the council and the applicants, to “find out what they want to do and how they want to pay for it.” Crosby said they should “cut to the chase and get the council and the applicant in open session and discuss what we want.” Hauge said “the hard negotiations should come up right after the public hearing” today, in a meeting that could be continued to tomorrow night. Crosby said he did not “like the idea of arbitrarily setting these dates” and that tomorrow he has an Amador County Transportation Agency board meeting that he really wanted to attend. Wooten said he wanted to stick with the schedule, but schedule changes could be made if there was “enough conflict.” Crosby said Mondays, regular city council and planning commission meeting days, were the days for him. He said “there’s plenty of time” and he saw “no rushes whatsoever” because “there will be no development happening in California anytime soon.” The meeting is set for 6 p.m. today at the Sutter Creek Auditorium. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sutter Creek – Members of the Sutter Creek Planning Commission last week the City Council to take time on the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort EIR and plans, which they begin to look at in a series of meetings that starts today. All 5 planning commissioners attended a special meeting last Friday. 4 during public comment urged the council not to rush. The meetings will include Planning Commission Chairman Robin Peters discussing land usage. Peters was the only commissioner not to speak Friday. The commission concluded the 27th official city meeting on Gold Rush August 25th, recommending approval of the EIR and related documents. The council hosts a public hearing on Gold Rush today, and the meeting could be carried over to tomorrow. Last Friday, Commissioner Cort Strandberg urged them not to have back-to-back meetings, due to the quantity of time it takes to digest the amount of information. Commissioner Mike Kirkley said there’s “no need to meet 2 days in a row.” Commissioner Robert Olson said the commission “got a lot of good input from the audience,” from people “for”, “against” or “neutral” on Gold Rush. The reason was that the “meeting was scheduled a week in advance, and people were able to read” related documents. Olson said: “This (project) is doubling the size of our city – this is not a 2-plex or a 4-plex,’ and “with at least a week in between, people can read and respond.” Olson said: “We want to encourage the public to come, and” people “are discouraged by short notice meetings.” Commissioner Frank Cunha said “even if we were have meetings a week apart, staff was having trouble keeping up.” Mayor Gary Wooten said: “We are not trying to discourage public attendance.” He said “it looks like I’m the only one to stand up for” successive night meetings. Sutter Creek olive farmer Susan Bragstad asked if Mello Roos was included in the documents. Consultant Anders Hauge said Mello Roos was a very important element of the project application, and was in the conditions of approval, the development agreement and the specific plan. Councilman Pat Crosby said he will “have to stay awake and listen for that because a Mello Roos will go through over my dead body.” Crosby said the city has discussed the Mello Roos, the law that guides formation of a “Community Facilities District,” which funds infrastructure through issuance of public bonds. He said “Mello Roos is a bad deal for the city,” because the developer “does not pay its fair share of property tax.” Urged to not “throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Crosby said “the Mellow Roos I’ve seen, I’m ready to throw out with anything.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Citrus Heights - Former Plymouth police chief Buddy Trumbo was convicted of two felonies after brandishing a firearm in what was an apparent case of road rage in Citrus Heights. According to probation reports, Trumbo followed victim James Torrez, 46, an Antelope-based construction worker, then blocked him off with his vehicle and flashed his badge, ordering Torrez out of his car. Trumbo was apparently upset after Torrez cut him off. The incident took place at the intersection of Auburn Boulevard and Van Maren Lane in Citrus Heights. Trumbo then pulled out his weapon which witnesses said was pointed “in all sorts of directions.” Trumbo had a concealed weapon permit issued to him by the Placer County Sheriff’s Department. According to a statement from Torrez, Trumbo “got out of his truck waiving his badge and telling me to get out of my vehicle,” and “later pulled his weapon on me and literally pointed it directly at me on several occasions.” Torrez said later in a statement that Trumbo was “really acting like a lunatic, yelling, screaming and waiving his gun around.” The Citrus Heights District Attorney’s office filed a misdemeanor case on March 26 accusing Trumbo of brandishing a firearm and impersonating an officer. He was convicted on both counts. As a result of Trumbo’s no-contest plea, he was sentenced last week to 90 days in jail and three years probation. Judge Gary Ransom recommended Trumbo serve his sentence in the sheriff’s work furlough program. He is also banned for life from ever again owning a weapon. Torrez and his attorney were both dissatisfied with the verdict. Torrez said Trumbo’s “abuse of power and his life-threatening actions should not be tolerated in our society.” The verdict was arguably influenced by letters received from seven retired police officers who spoke glowingly on Trumbo’s behalf and cited his unblemished history as a law enforcement officer. Trumbo, now 79, served as Plymouth police chief for 3 years and has since worked in a variety of capacities, including two years as a California Highway Patrol Officer, 10 as a Placer County Deputy and 15 as a Department of Defense Police Officer at McClellan Air Force Base. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jackson – Jennifer Norton of Cal State University in Sacramento has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student scholarship to Poland in teaching English as a foreign language. This is quite an honor for the 14-year English, European history and art history teacher at Argonaut High School in Jackson. Back in 2005, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Regional Education Corps added her name to the list of “a nationwide corps of museum-trained educators who will help bring Holocaust education into their communities.” Norton’s award will enable her to live in the culturally-rich country of Poland while teaching English. With this honor, she becomes one of approximately 1,500 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2009-2010 academic year through the Fulbright program. “The school and I think it’s quite an honor and we are incredibly happy for Ms. Norton,” said Argonaut Principal Dave Vicari. “She will also continue to promote Argonaut High School while living abroad,” he said. The Fulbright exchange program, long known as America’s flagship international educational program, is managed by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program has provided approximately 294,000 exchange students with the opportunity to observe each others’ political economic educational and cultural institutions. This includes 11,000 Americans and 183,000 students, scholars and teachers from other countries. The program operates in over 155 countries worldwide. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sutter Creek – The Amador Water Agency hosts an open house barbecue and tour of its facilities Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the agency’s incorporation. The AWA board of directors has scheduled a special meeting during the open house, which runs 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the AWA offices and surrounding facilities, at 12800 Ridge Road in Sutter Creek. Board President Terence Moore called the special meeting, announced by board secretary Cris Thompson. The agenda includes the “Amador Water Agency 50th Anniversary Celebration,” a meet and greet with AWA directors and managers, a brief ceremony and recognition of employee. Directors will also lead visitors on a tours of AWA 's Tanner Reservoir and Water Treatment Plant. The Amador County Water Agency was incorporated in 1959 by Amador County residents. The agency in a release Monday said “In 2009, the agency celebrates the achievements of those who built the foundations of Amador County’s water utility system and the public servants who have guided the Amador Water Agency into the 21st Century.” The meeting will tell about the history of AWA and what’s in store for the future. The board includes President Terence Moore, District 5, in his 11th year on the board, whose term ends next year. There are also 4 first-year board members, including 2 whose terms expire next year. They are Vice President Bill Condrashoff, District 1, and Director Debbie Dunn, District 4. Director Gary Thomas, District 2, and Director Don Cooper, District 3, both are serving terms that expire in 2012. Moore said last month that he will not seek a 4th term on the agency board. The board earlier this month appointed Gene Mancebo as the agency’s interim general manager. The open house will include a tour of AWA’s Water Wise Garden, refreshments, birthday cake, and hotdogs. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.