Hospice of Amador is looking for volunteers from the community for their Griefbusters program. Griefbusters give their hearts, time and support to children or teens who have experienced the loss of a loved one. It is a meaningful and rewarding experience to help these young people through their grief. Hospice of Amador will hold a Griefbuster training on April 23 & 24 & May 11. For more information about the 20 hour course and to…

Amador County Unified School District is not only the district currently embroiled in labor negotiations with their teachers union over salaries and benefits. Many of the districts’ so called “comparable districts” are facing the same issues; negotiating in tough financial times. Amador County teachers were offered salary increases of 3.5 percent. The local teachers unions, Amador County Teacher’s Association (ACTA) and the Special Educator’s Association (SEAC) both rejected the offer. In Calaveras County the picture…

Last week’s victory in funding from the California Transportation Commission was hard fought behind the scenes by our elected officials Senator Dave Cox and Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi. One of the major issues with this Corridor Mobility Improvement Funding under Prop 1B is a funding issue seen through out all state funding, transportation to education, the battle between rural and  urban areas in the state. Senator Dave Cox comments on the vital funding allocation made last…

Although it’s more of a nuisance than a catastrophe in the making, but older computers, PDAs and DVRs may not automatically update their times when daylight-saving comes three weeks early this year — on March 11. The date change was established by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was passed to get Americans to cut energy consumption. The thinking is that less energy will be used toward the end of the day if…

State Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, has proposed legislation that would reimburse college tuition for students who attend a California community college before they enter the University of California or California State University systems. The bill is designed as a pilot program, that would  first apply to students enrolling from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2013. In order to receive the erimbursments, the students must graduate from a California university and do so within five years of starting junior college. After they receive their diplomas, students would get a reimbursement from their university. Cogdill stated to the Union Democrat that the bill, SB 347, has several benefits. First, the state would save money overall by encouraging students to attend junior colleges, Cogdill said.

Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park isn't the largest state park in the state but it is one of the better known parks as far as Native American tradition and education goes. The 135-acre park is located here in Pine Grove and it holds the largest collection of bedrock mortars in North America - an outcropping of marbleized limestone with 1,185 mortar holes used by the Native American population as grinding rocks for processing acorns…

Chemicals leaching from some brands of baby bottles has parents all over the nation evaluating their feeding strategies tonight. Several popular baby bottle brands have been found to leach potentially harmful levels of a toxic chemical linked to developmental, neural and reproductive problems, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental policy group. Even before the study was released, independent experts from the National Institutes of Health had already planned to meet next week…

Drivers got the green light for the Sutter Creek bypass yesterday morning around 10:30.  The road closed sign was removed and Caltrans activated the lights.  It did not take long for drivers to take the new 3.5 mile stretch of road that bypasses Sutter Creek and Amador City which will cut several minutes off of their trip between Highway 16 and Sutter Hill, as well as save the side mirrors of many vehicles that are parked along…

In December of 2004 the Jackson City Council adopted a Resource Constraints and Priority Allocation Policy per the Planning Commission’s recommendation, therefore making Jackson the first of it’s kind in the County to do so. The policy is the City’s growth management program designed to control growth at a rate that can be supported by the infrastructure and service demand created by new housing units. In January of 2005 the city allocated 116 Housing Equivalent…

Jackson City Police are looking for a stolen car, stolen from the Water Street apartments early yesterday morning around 3 am. The car is described as a blue Oldsmobile Sedan with the license plate 2VNG375. If you have any information contact Jackson Police Officer Mark Harmon at 223-1771.