Sometimes sisters bring good luck. William De Mello met his sister at Jackson Rancheria Casino on June 6 and ended up winning $106,839.43. De Mello hit the MegaJackpot on a quarter Wheel of Fortune machine he selected because it was next to the one his sister was playing.

This past school year, local students found out that not all learning takes place in the classroom.  Amador and Calaveras County teens in the Regional Occupational Program (ROP) received health care work experience firsthand at Sutter Amador Hospital (SAH). Twelve of these young adults were honored at SAH’s Student Appreciation Day Breakfast on Thursday, May 31st in the community conference center in the Sutter Amador Outpatient Services Center.

A Sutter Creek Police Officer was uninjured yesterday morning in a vehicle collision after his patrol vehicle was hit by the vehicle of the driver he was pulling over. According to the California Highway Patrol report written by Officer Brain Hagemann, Sutter Creek Officer Jeff Phillips was conducting a routine traffic stop on a 99 Honda for a lighting violation. The driver, 20 year old Shawn Compton of Volcano, pulled into a parking lot and then into a stall in that lot.

The Ione City Council discussed management of their pool located at Ione Jr High School. The City has an agreement with the Amador County Recreation Agency for the management and maintenance of the pool. ACRA Executive Director Tracey Towner-Yep said she is looking forward to working with the city of Ione and then discussed how ACRA will be compensated. She said the idea is that the City will be billed for the actual time spent and not estimates.

Officials say the Bush administration may suspend a major post-9/11 security initiative to cope with complaints from Americans whose summer vacations are threatened by new passport rules.

A man killed in a shootout with El Dorado County sheriff's deputies in Shingle Springs on Tuesday was engaged in a "homicidal rage" and tried to lure officers into a confrontation in a thicket that contained foxholes and a cache of ammunition, Sheriff Jeff Neves said Wednesday. The man, identified as 35 years old Eddy Mies, is believed to have killed his father during a domestic dispute before taking on deputies who were called to rural property located just off South Shingle Springs Road.

June is starting off busy for the Jackson Police Department. Yesterday afternoon reports of a verbal confrontation in a Westview Drive neighborhood quickly escalated when one of the subjects involved pulled a gun on another subject. The victim subject immediately called law enforcement through the 911 system and units from the Jackson Police Department arrived on scene.

Late Sunday night, at approximately 10:58 PM, Jackson Officer Troy Ortega was on routine patrol while traveling south on Highway 49 near Jackson Glass, when he noticed a vehicle traveling too close behind his patrol car. Officer Ortega changed lanes, at which point the other vehicle also changed lanes and continued to follow Officer Ortega's patrol car too close. Officer Ortega then waited until he could pull to the roadway shoulder and allow the vehicle to pass. Once the vehicle passed Officer Ortega's vehicle, Officer Ortega initiated a traffic stop. At this point the vehicle was proximate to the Jackson Creek Plaza, where Officer Ortega activated his overhead lights. The violator vehicle, however did not pull over.

Routine business at the Jackson office of the DMV got interesting yesterday afternoon when a silent alarm in one of the state department of motor vehicles’ offices was tripped. Three units from the California Highway Patrol, including Lt. Commander Ed Witbey, Officer Craig Harmon and Officer Drake Wilburn all arrived on scene accompanied by two Jackson PD Units. As Patrons watched the arrival of all five officers, staff was surprised to see the visitors in tan and blue. Apparently, the alarm was not tripped by any of the employees and the alarm company is researching the issue.

With all the events in Amador County this past weekend, its surprising that our roadways were not more accident prone, with the CHP reporting 3 accidents between Friday and Sunday. The first accident reported occurred on Friday at 5:20pm on Hwy. 26 west of Hwy. 88. CHP Officer Steve Ladd reports that Jeanette Cast of Pioneer was traveling towards Hwy. 88 on 26 when Cast saw 2 deer walking across the road in front of her. She swerved to the right and applied her breaks causing her 1986 slid off the onto the right shoulder of the roadway and rolled down and embankment. Neither Cast nor her passenger was injured in the accident.