Amador County – A new program that is for and about seniors and their families debuted Wednesday morning on TSPN TV.

Sue Slivick, TSPN TV co-owner and vice president said “Today’s Seniors Living Well” will showcase the resources and activities that keep seniors and their families healthy and engaged in their community.

After the first show aired Wednesday, co-producer and co-host Virginia Manner said the show is about “knowing what resources are there and keeping seniors in the community Living Well and thriving.”

Laurie Webb, co-producer and host said the show plans different topics each week for the 13-week morning show series, which airs at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Each show will air fresh mid-week, and run a total of eight times during the week.

Webb said Amador County has a large population of seniors – about 33-36 percent of the population – and she expects it to grow as Baby Boomers age. She said Amador County has the seventh highest percentage of seniors among all California counties.

Webb, executive director of the Amador Senior Center, said what really makes Amador County special is the way its agencies, organizations and service providers are very collaborative, and do not worry about “turf” so much as offering great services. She said there is also a “culture of neighbors watching over neighbors.”

Manner agreed, saying once, one of her Amador Lifeline ATCAA customers actually came out of the hospital and was invited to come live with her neighbors for a few months, until she was able to stay alone. They set up the Lifeline, a personal response service, at the neighbor’s house.

Manner said Amador County is a safe community and seniors stay here because they feel safe, and know that law enforcement and other agencies are looking out for them. She said they may not have felt that safe in their past communities, and that encourages them to stay in Amador.

Webb said that is the type of thing Today’s Seniors Living Well plans to touch on. She and Manner have planned the 13 weeks to have a different weekly topic, with next week being “recreation and leisure.”

Other topics include Area 12 Agency on the Aging programs; home safety and comfort; health and resources; volunteer opportunities; travel; support groups; insurance, Medicare and beyond; scams, sweepstakes and hiring contractors; housing options; dementia; exercise; and gardening.

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Amador County – The Ione City Council voted 5-0 to make no contest of a draft Cease & Desist Order that is scheduled to be considered by the Regional Water Quality Control Board in a hearing Friday in Rancho Cordova.

City Manager Kim Kerr said she and City Attorney Kristen Castanos worked with the Regional Board to iron out language in the Board’s Order that is satisfactory to both sides, and also allow no connection bans to the city wastewater system, if approved by the Regional Board. Kerr said she would be out of town and unable to attend the Regional Board meeting, but Castanos will be in attendance to answer questions.

Kerr attributed the work to Castanos, as she comes from a background of wastewater project work. Castanos recommended the Council “confirm that it wants no contest” of the Cease & Desist Order. She also recommended they appoint a council member to attend the Regional Board’s meeting and officially state that the Ione City Council does not contest the Order.

Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said she would attend. Castanos said the hearing was set for 9 a.m. but may not be held until 1 p.m., so Bonham would have to stay until the item was addressed. Councilman Daniel Epperson said he would also be able to attend.

Kerr said if approved, the Draft Cease & Desist Order would have a strict timeline for a series of accomplishments the city must make with its wastewater system in order to get a new permit and remove the Cease & Desist Order. That begins with developing a “Seepage Discharge Compliance Plan,” which is due Jan. 30, 2012. Kerr said “if we miss that deadline of January 2012, we will be looking at an administrative fine of millions of dollars.”

Kerr said staff recommended the city hire a consultant to answer the seepage plan, and help recommend the most feasible approach and cheapest way to produce an anti-degradation report. The plan will address the stopping of the city’s sewer storage ponds from degrading groundwater that goes into Sutter Creek, and onto non-city land.

Kerr said the Report of Waste Discharge is due in March of 2012, and the city needs to complete its wastewater plant project by October of 2013.

During public comment, Sharon Long complimented staff, who “walked into” and were able handle the “horrendous problem” that began in 2003. Kerr said “Kristen (Castanos) was the lead on this.” Kerr said: “I think this is probably the best deal that we will ever get.”

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Amador County – Joseph Chirco, owner of Rollingwood Estates said he believes he still has the right to subdivide his property, though the Jackson Planning Commission denied his application Monday.

Chirco said Wednesday by phone from Victorville that he was unsure of whether he would appeal the decision to the Jackson City Council, mainly because of how he said he was made to feel by the testimony at the public hearing, after he felt he went out of his way to help people.

He said he helped residents with rent credit and making minimal rent increases, based on the Consumer Price Index. Rollingwood’s property taxes have gone up $20,000 a year in the 15 years he has owned it, and he said he could have passed the cost on in a rent hike but he did not.

The opposition at the public hearing Monday “made it sound like they were going to lose their homes and none of it was true,” Chirco said, adding that it is “too bad for them,” because he tried to “give them the opportunity to buy the land they are on and give their home more value.”

“I guess you can just say everything you want in those meetings,” Chirco said, noting that one man said the rent will go up to $1,100 or $1,200 a month after a subdivision is made. Chirco said: “Where’d they get that?” He said he never said that, and he could not legally charge that amount.

Chirco said a subdivision would eliminate rent control at Rollingwood, and “it would go away after 4 years,” but “if they are on low income, they would stay on that for life,” and they cannot be taken off of that. He said “for all of those people who are low income,” it “would have been a good thing for them.”

He said he knew it would take a few years, and he thought he would sell the park little by little. As far as value, he said he “might be able to get a little bit more over time doing it this way.”

Chirco said whoever did his opposition’s strategy “did a good job, but it really hurt the people a lot.”

He said he was upset at so many “outright lies.” He said two recent prospective home buyers were scared away by people who told them the rent would go up to $1,100 and they would have to build foundations on the house. Chirco said it was not true, but the purchases did not happen.

Chirco said he “thought the commission would understand” how the conversion to individual lots would benefit the mobile home owners. But he said they “never asked how it benefits the residents.”

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Amador County – TSPN TV launched a new TV show Wednesday morning entitled “Today’s Seniors Living Well,” which included a presentation of a check for $5,000 from one of the show’s first guests, Amador County Supervisor Brian Oneto of District 5.

Oneto presented a check for $5,000 as a personal donation towards the production costs of Today’s Seniors Living Well program. Oneto presented the check during the live broadcast Wednesday and said it was part of his election pledge to put his first year’s net salary, as a county supervisor, toward the community and support for seniors.

Sue Slivick, TSPN TV co-owner and vice-president, said “Supervisor Oneto’s generous donation goes a long way toward helping make this valuable program possible.” Sue said she is “pleased to see the number of entities stepping up and getting involved with this worthwhile program.” 17 different businesses and organizations have joined in to support the Today’s Seniors Living Well series, at various levels of advertising and participation.

The one-hour show aired live for the first time at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 6, and will run for 13 weeks, each Wednesday morning. Today’s Seniors Living Well is co-produced and hosted by Laurie Webb, executive director of the Amador Senior Center, and Virginia Manner, Lifeline Supervisor of Amador Lifeline, a program of the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency, known as ATCAA.

Manner, also a commissioner of Amador Commission on Aging, and Webb welcomed the first show’s guests including Elizabeth Thompson, executive director of Common Ground Senior Services; and Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan, who literally walked on to a segment with Webb and Marj Stuart, of the Commission on the Aging. Ryan talked about the rich resources for seniors in the county and about working with the Commission on the Aging to develop Amador County’s “Hidden Key” program.

The Today’s Seniors Living Well programs air live from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, and will also be rebroadcast throughout the week, including at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday; at 8:30 a.m., 4;30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Thursday; and at 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

See the show and other TSPN TV programming on Comcast Channel 7 and Volcano Vision Channel 5, and streaming live online at tspntv.com.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – TSPN TV launched a new TV show Wednesday morning entitled “Today’s Seniors Living Well,” which included a presentation of a check for $5,000 from one of the show’s first guests, Amador County Supervisor Brian Oneto of District 5.

Oneto presented a check for $5,000 as a personal donation towards the production costs of Today’s Seniors Living Well program. Oneto presented the check during the live broadcast Wednesday and said it was part of his election pledge to put his first year’s net salary, as a county supervisor, toward the community and support for seniors.

Sue Slivick, TSPN TV co-owner and vice-president, said “Supervisor Oneto’s generous donation goes a long way toward helping make this valuable program possible.” Sue said she is “pleased to see the number of entities stepping up and getting involved with this worthwhile program.” 17 different businesses and organizations have joined in to support the Today’s Seniors Living Well series, at various levels of advertising and participation.

The one-hour show aired live for the first time at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 6, and will run for 13 weeks, each Wednesday morning. Today’s Seniors Living Well is co-produced and hosted by Laurie Webb, executive director of the Amador Senior Center, and Virginia Manner, Lifeline Supervisor of Amador Lifeline, a program of the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency, known as ATCAA.

Manner, also a commissioner of Amador Commission on Aging, and Webb welcomed the first show’s guests including Elizabeth Thompson, executive director of Common Ground Senior Services; and Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan, who literally walked on to a segment with Webb and Marj Stuart, of the Commission on the Aging. Ryan talked about the rich resources for seniors in the county and about working with the Commission on the Aging to develop Amador County’s “Hidden Key” program.

The Today’s Seniors Living Well programs air live from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, and will also be rebroadcast throughout the week, including at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday; at 8:30 a.m., 4;30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Thursday; and at 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

See the show and other TSPN TV programming on Comcast Channel 7 and Volcano Vision Channel 5, and streaming live online at tspntv.com.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.