This year’s Kid’s Parade on Opening Day, July 24, will likely have a lot of red sparkly shoes marching down the street, to match the Fair’s slogan of “There's No Place Like Home”. So get your creative juices flowing, drag out the wagon, the stroller and the wheelbarrow. The annual Amador County Fair Kids Parade brings to mind the Pied Piper as they all merrily head from downtown Plymouth to the magic that awaits them at the Amador County Fair. 

Sign-ups are at Plymouth City Hall from 8:15 – 9:00 a.m. Judging for the best theme costumes is at 9:15 and the parade marches off at 9:30. 

Admission to the Fair for kids 12 and under is free until 6:00 p.m, only on Kids Day, July 24. There’s no better time for a family with children to enjoy the Fair – everything will be fresh and waiting before the big crowds arrive in the evenings and on the weekends.  Every day is “Dress Like a Pirate Day” at the Amador County Fair and anyone doing so will be admitted free until 6:00 p.m., and Captain Jack Sparrow, just in from the Hawaiian Islands will be on deck recruiting his crew 

Every child who participates in the parade will be given free carnival tickets courtesy of Ken Johnston, Carnival of Fun. There are plenty of gentler rides for smaller children as well as the thrilling loop-de-loop extravaganzas the older kids anticipate.

Once again there will be no smoking or tobacco use allowed on the fairgrounds for Kids Day.  Kids are also encouraged to bring their Grandparents on Friday, Seniors Day. For more information visit www.amadorcountyfair.com or call 209 245-6921.

According to a new study by the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI), More Than S’mores: Successes and Surprises in Girl Scouts’ Outdoor Experiences (2014), girls benefit immensely from time spent outdoors. Girls who regularly spend time outdoors eclipse their peers who spend less time outdoors in environmental stewardship, more readily seek challenges, and are better problem solvers—all important traits in twenty-first century leadership.

Additionally, through an outdoor experience in Girl Scouts, nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of girls improved a skill, and 48 percent helped other girls do an outdoor activity. And as noted previously, girls learn environmental stewardship through outdoor experiences. Girl Scouts are twice as likely as non–Girl Scouts to say they take action to protect the environment (51 percent versus 23 percent) and that they’ve had a personal experience in nature that has made them appreciate it more (49 percent versus 29 percent).

Last year, more than 1,160 girls experienced resident camp at Girl Scouts Heart of Central California’s property, Camp Menzies. And more than 1,330 girls experienced horseback riding—one of the most popular activities! This year, we expect to see similar participation throughout summer.

“Giving girls experiences such as camp is why we do what we do, and research shows there’s a strong connection between outdoor experience and leadership potential,” said Dr. Linda E. Farley, Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts Heart of Central California. “Girl Scouts provides girls the opportunities to build confidence and develop leadership skills, while also meeting new friends and having fun.”

Girl Scout camp is a tradition central to Girl Scouts since 1912. Today’s camps are highly evolved, matching the interests of twenty-first-century girls. Locally, Girl Scouts Heart of Central California offers camp programs such as Under Construction (a STEM program focused on building structures at camp), Horse Lovers camp, Farm to Fork camp, and Eco-Fashionistas. Girl Scouts is committed to pursuing its mission through the camp experience, offering an astounding array of innovative, fun, and memorable camp activities that allow girls to build courage, confidence, and character, and make the world a better place.

It was a busy weekend for us; Most of our fire fighters were on a strike team in Northern California throughout the weekend.  The crew left in camp and the cover crews responded to numerous local fires.  However, while they were in camp they found some time to enjoy Independence Day.  Watermelon eating contest, 3 legged races, egg toss, The Pine Grove Cup soccer tourney and some good BBQ.

Senator Tom Berryhill and Assembly Member Frank Bigelow will visit the Amador Centers for Higher Learning on July 18, 2014 beginning at 1:30 PM at the HHS Building 10877 Conductor Blvd., Suite 700, Sutter Creek and concluding at the ACTC Center 117 Valley View Way, Sutter Creek. The Amador Community College Foundation Board will conduct a tour of both facilities and showcase business, community, and college partnerships that support the centers offering over 100 choices in certificate and degree programs for Amador County residents.

Opportunities for Organizations and Businesses. Sept. 27 - 28, 2014 on Main Street Jackson. 

With the notification of next of kin, the Amador County Sheriff’s Office can release the identity of the victim of the murder which occurred on July 7, 2014 on Pioneer Creek Road in Pioneer.  

The decedent is identified as 26 year old Jacob Corey Stover, a resident of Pioneer, California.  

The forensic pathologist’s examination of Stover is scheduled for July 10, 2014 at the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office.

Nearly two hours south of Sacramento in the heart of Merced County sits Memorial Hospital Los Banos, a rural community hospital caring for the region’s most critically ill patients. Like many community hospitals across the country, Memorial Hospital Los Banos struggled to recruit critical care intensivists to this small community. Thanks to a $25 million investment made by Sutter Health a decade ago, patients at Memorial Hospital Los Banos receive 24-hour ICU monitoring and critical care support from a small room of experts nearly 150 miles away.

Sutter Health’s electronic Intensive Care Unit (eICU) marks its 10th anniversary in 2014. Thefirst of its kind on the West Coast (and only the second eICU in the nation), Sutter’s eICU has supported nearly 150,000 patients across 18 Sutter Health hospitals. This innovative technology ensures the sickest patients in both rural and large metropolitan areas have access to a team of physicians and nurses specially trained in the care of the critically ill, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Sutter’s eICU helps save lives.

·         Since 2004, Sutter’s eICU has supported approximately 150,000 Northern California patients.

·         Average of 30,000 interventions a year from eICU to bedside clinicians.

·         The eICU, in conjunction, with Sutter Health’s systemwide sepsis initiative programs, helped reduce sepsis mortality rates by 32 percent since 2008, with more than 4,000 lives saved. Length of hospital stay for sepsis patients was lowered from 14.5 to 10 days, with an estimated cost savings of $88.6 million.

How the eICU works.  

·         eICU intensivists and nurses monitor up to 431 ICU beds around the clock from two central “hub” locations in Sacramento and San Francisco.

·         Using secure, high-speed data transmission, in-room cameras and remote diagnostic tools, the eICU acts as a second set of eyes to provide timely crisis interventions to some of the sickest patients in Northern California. Sophisticated alarm monitors allow intensivists real time alerts to abnormal vital signs and lab results, leading to improved clinical quality.

·         Sutter Health’s eICU team, consisting of 49 critical care intensivists and 57 critical care nurses, average about 80 calls for service and up to 150 calls a day from ICU clinicians around the system.

Sacramento’s eICU hub announces expansion.

Sutter Health will expand how it uses this innovative technology so it can continue to provide patients with exceptional, personal and consistent care. In the near future, Sutter Health will test eICU mobile carts in the Emergency Departments of Sutter Amador Hospital, Sutter Coast Hospital, Sutter Solano Medical Center and Memorial Hospital, Los Banos. These carts will enable caregivers to identify patients at risk for sepsis, a deadly blood stream infection, at an earlier stage—for earlier treatment.

“We’ve seen over the past 10 years how this extra set of eyes on our sickest patients helps clinicians at the bedside save lives and reduce the time  patients spend in a hospital,” said John Winchell, eICU director for the Sacramento region. “We want to extend this advanced technology into other areas of our hospitals—like the emergency room—to further improve medical care quality.” 

“Patients with early signs of sepsis often visit the emergency room,” said Adam Seiver, M.D.,eICU medical director for the Sacramento region. “With these new eICU carts, our critical care intensivists and nurses can quickly identify patients at risk for sepsis and begin treatment at an earlier stage. If we can treat sepsis and reduce septic shock, we can decrease a patient’s stay in the hospital.”

San Francisco’s eICU hub grows to support hospitals outside the network.

In addition to monitoring 10 Sutter Health hospitals, the San Franicsco eICU hub has grown to support hospitals outside the network including San Leandro Hospital in San Leandro, El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae and Petaluma Valley Hospital.

“Expanding the eICU program outside of our Sutter Health network helps hospitals across Northern California provide round the clock care for our communities’ sickest patients,” said Jason Szabo, eICU director for the Bay Area Program. “By tracking vital signs, lab results and orders over a period of time, we can help our colleagues at any bedside spot concerning trends in a patient’s health.”

About Sutter Health

Serving patients and their families in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns, Sutter Health doctors, not-for-profit hospitals, home health care and other health care service providers share resources and expertise to advance health care quality and access. The Sutter Medical Network includes many of California’s top-performing, highest quality physician organizations as measured annually by the Integrated Healthcare Association. Sutter-affiliated hospitals are regional leaders in cardiac care, women’s and children’s services, cancer care, orthopedics and advanced patient safety technology.

For more information about the not-for-profit Sutter Health network, please visit

www.SutterHealth.org| www.Facebook.com/SutterHealth| www.YouTube.com/SutterHealth| http://twitter.com/sutterhealth

The Amador County Fair is holding a photography contest to highlight and promote Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park and Chaw’se Regional Indian Museum as part of the State Parks of California Sesquicentennial. Scenes of Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park and Chaw’se Regional Indian Museum taken in Amador County will be accepted.

Since 1864, grassroots activism and legislation have made it possible for all Californians to take pride and ownership of their unique and diverse landscapes with the State Park system.

Indian Grinding Rock and State Historic Park is located eight miles east of Jackson. Nestled in a small valley, 2,400 above sea level with open meadows and large valley oaks that once provided Native Americans with an ample supply of acorns.  The 135-acre park preserves a great outcropping of marbleized limestone with 1,185 mortar holes – the largest collection of bedrock mortars anywhere in North America.

Chaw’se Regional Indian Museum.  The two-story Chaw’se Regional Indian Museum has been designed to reflect the architecture of the traditional roundhouse.  Outstanding examples of the technology and crafts of the Miwok and other Sierra Nevada Native American groups are exhibited at the museum.

The contest is open to Professionals, Advanced Amateurs and Amateur photographers, residents of California or Nevada.  Matted and framed photos must have the location identified on the entry blank & on the back of the picture. Image and mat not to exceed 16” x 20” inches, plus frame.  Black & White or Color

There is no entry fee for the contest and Amador County Fair ribbons will be awarded for first through third place plus premiums of $15 for first, $10 for second and $5 for third places. Entries and forms are due July 19 at the Amador County Fair office from 10 am – 4 pm. Specifications for framing and an entry form can be found at AmadorCountyFair.com or call the Fair office for assistance.  More information on the Sesquicentennial can be found at www.parks.ca.gov