On Tuesday (3-27-07) afternoon Sheriff’s Investigators were in Wilseyville following up leads on a burglary that had been reported on March 9th in West Point. An estimated $78,000 worth of property had been taken during the break in. Investigators located the Stolen Willy's Jeep at a residence on Mitchell Mil Lane. The stolen Jeep had been spray painted in an attempt to disguise it. While Investigators were inspecting the Jeep they heard an all terrain…

A little-known, under publicized, Medicare open-enrollment period that begins this Sunday, April 1st, could an unpleasant April Fool’s Day for seniors considering switching health plans, experts warn. The period which opens on Sunday is Called the "limited open enrollment period," and it allows people currently enrolled in the traditional Medicare program to sign up for Medicare Advantage plans that don't include drug coverage. Open enrollment runs from Sunday through December. Many Medicare beneficiaries are not…

The Amador County Board of Supervisors has considered the El Dorado irrigation District’s request to impose a new speed limit on Silver Lake. Bill George, president of the EID Board began his presentation by presenting a resolution from his board formally requesting the speed limit change to 5 miles per hour. George explained that his board held public hearings on the matter before approving the resolution requesting the change. Legal counsel for EID stated that…

Fire is the enemy of all historic buildings and that proved to be true yesterday morning in downtown Jackson. This morning just after 8 am a fire was reported at Pitt Street and Center Street at what is considered the oldest home in Jackson. Jackson City Fire, Sutter Creek City Fire, Amador Fire Protection District Battalion 10, and CalFire Crews all responded to fight the fire with additional responses by Jackson Police Department, the California…

The STAR based test scores that make up the Academic Performance Index were released this week by the California State Department of Education- and it was good news for the Amador County Unified School District. Local Elementary schools all showed improved scores, with the exception of Sutter Creek Elementary and Pine Grove Elementary. However, there is no alarm necessary as Sutter Creek scores were at the magic number of 800 this year down just slightly from 807 last year. A score of 800 is considered the goal for all schools in the state. Sutter Creek Elementary was the first school in the district to reach that mark several years ago. The school has maintained that standard and now Pine Grove Elementary and Pioneer Elementary, which reached the 800 benchmark last year, continued at that level as well.

Are you interested in serving your county in a capacity that looks toward the future growth of our area? The Amador Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) will be appointing a new Alternate Public Member to a 4-year term, running from January 2007 to February 2011. Applicants must be a resident and registered voter in Amador County and cannot be a city, district or County official of any public agency within Amador County. Those seated on…

The Sutter Creek Police Dept. has announced that the search for a parolee at large has come to an end with the man safely taken into custody and booked at the Amador Co. Jail. At approximately 10pm on Monday March 26th, Jerry Wayne Locklear was arrested in the backyard of a residence in the City of Sutter Creek. Locklear was being sought for violating the terms of his parole out of San Joaquin County, and…

Recently, the Amador County Unified School District was made aware of a potential mold problem in two classrooms at Ione Elementary.  Upon inspection and testing, one classroom came back with one mold spore found.  The remediation (clean up) was completed and the room retested.  Test results indicate the room is clean. In the second classroom it was determined there was a higher than usual level of an allergen/mold.

The weekends continue to be a busy time for the California Highway patrol on our local roadways, with 6 accidents being reported on Saturday alone. Things started off badly on Friday morning when Officer Patrick Ong responded to two accidents within one hour of each other. The first occurred around 7:30 am on Shakeridge Rd just east of Hillside Rd when Casey Hallinan, 18 of Sutter Creek was forced to lay down his 2007 Suzuki…

The East Bay Municipal Utility District, East Bay MUD, has responded to the draft tribal Environmental Impact report from the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians for their proposed Flying Cloud Casino stating that many of the same considerations that Amador County residents share must also be considered for Calaveras County. The response, written by William Kirkpatrick manager of Water Distribution Planning, states that road impacts will not just affect Amador and San Joaquin County,…