Amador County – Ione Police Department reported arrests last week of a domestic violence case, and also a non-related methamphetamine case.

At about 2 p.m. March 6, Ione Police responded to a domestic violence incident in the 600 block of Upton Lane, where a “male assailant was allegedly in possession of a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol,” said Ione Police Chief Michael L. Johnson.

“Violence erupted” at the scene “after a child custody exchange arrangement went bad,” Johnson said. “The confidential victim suffered physical injury during the assault and eventually was able to phone 911 for assistance.”

“The suspect fled the scene and made threatening references about using a 9 mm gun he claimed to have in his possession,” Johnson said. IPD “broadcast an immediate arrest authority for the suspect and disseminated his vehicle information. Upon learning of his possible destination,” IPD “contacted the West Sacramento Police Department and coordinated an arrest team to respond to the destination address.”

At about 5 p.m., the suspect, Neal Grosz, 23, of West Sacramento was arrested and booked into the Amador County Jail. Johnson said “Grosz will face a felony domestic violence charge,” as well as charges for “intimidating a witness” and “removing a wireless device to prevent assistance to be summoned. The alleged firearm was never located.”

Also March 6, in an unrelated case, Ione police made a “back roads” methamphetamine arrest, Johnson said. He said: “In the cover of darkness, a vehicle occupied by three subjects slowly made its way on 5 Mile Drive in Ione.” An Ione police officer, while in the city corporation yard, was alerted to the vehicle. An enforcement stop of the vehicle led to discovery of the driver’s suspended license status, Johnson said. While conducting further investigation, the officer’s “suspicions were raised by actions of the occupants.”

A search of the vehicle produced a package of methamphetamine, marijuana, hypodermic syringes, and other drug paraphernalia. At about 10 p.m. on March 6, Donald Walker, 36, of Jackson was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, syringes, and drug paraphernalia. Walker was booked into the Amador County Jail.

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Sacramento – For the fourth year in a row, the Sacramento regional Girl Scouts is operating a program whereby donations can send their Girl Scout cookies, and a little bit of home, to the troops overseas.

Jennifer Lemos of Girl Scouts Heart of Central California based in Sacramento said the public can “help local Girl Scouts send a piece of home to military troops by purchasing a box of Girl Scout Cookies for the soldiers.”

Lemos said “Troop to Troop” is a Girl Scout program that “allows the public to buy Girl Scout Cookies as a donation for military troops.” She said: “This year, 30,000 boxes of cookies have been donated so far, and thousands more are expected.”

Girl Scouts Heart of Central California is working with the California National Guard for the fourth year in a row to make sure the donated cookies make it to the military troops overseas. Last year, Girl Scouts assisted the guardsmen in loading the last pallet of donated Girl Scout Cookies into a CH-47 Chinook helicopter and watched the helicopter take off on the first leg of its trip to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Girls will be selling Girl Scout Cookies through March 20. To find cookies near you, the Girl Scout website “cookie locator” can be searched by zip code.

Lemos said the Girl Scouts, founded in 1912, Girl Scouts “is still the leading authority on girls’ healthy development, and builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place.” The local council, Girl Scouts Heart of Central California is headquartered in Sacramento and serves nearly 29,000 girls in 18 counties in Central California.

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Amador County – The California Department of Transportation has an upcoming mandatory pre-bid meeting for an estimated $77 million project on Interstate 5.

Chantel Miller of Caltrans said the mandatory pre-bid meeting will be based on the “Interstate 5-North Stockton widening project,” and prime contractors and subcontractors interested in bidding on the project should attend.

The meeting is scheduled for 9-11 a.m. Wednesday, March 23 at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton.

Miller said the “project proposes the widening of I-5 in Stockton from six to eight lanes from Country Club Boulevard to Eight Mile Road, within existing right-of-way.” The “Underutilized Disadvantaged Business Enterprise” goal is 4 percent.

Miller said: “This is a great opportunity for Small Businesses, Disadvantage Business Enterprises, and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises to become certified and to network with prime contractors.”

Those interested in attending should RSVP by Friday, March 18 by phone at (209) 948-7855.

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Amador County – CAL-FIRE and the State Fire Marshal this week reminded people to change the batteries in their smoke alarms when they change their clocks this Saturday night for Daylight Saving Time. CDF fire prevention specialist Teri Mizuhara said: “When smoke alarms fail to operate, it is usually because batteries are missing, disconnected or dead.”

Acting State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover said: “Working smoke alarms greatly reduce the likelihood of residential fire-related deaths.” Alarms are “critical because 85 percent of all fire deaths occur in the home, and the majority occurs at night when most people are sleeping.”

“Smoke alarms unquestionably help save lives, but a smoke alarm is nothing without a working battery,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, acting director of CAL FIRE. “Just a few minutes twice a year to change that battery can truly mean the difference between life and death.”

Helpful tips include testing smoke alarms once a month and replacing batteries in all smoke alarms twice a year. Mizuhara said never “borrow” or remove batteries from smoke alarms even temporarily; regularly vacuum or dust smoke alarms to keep them working properly; replace smoke alarms every 10 years; and don’t paint over smoke alarms. Practice family fire drills so everyone knows what to do if the smoke alarm goes off.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors weathered a storm of criticism aimed mostly at District 3 Director and Board President Don Cooper.

Former past president of the board, Bill Condrashoff, during “matters not on the agenda” told the board he suffered a delay of information after making requests from the agency. He said these were related to a staff meeting with Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

Condrashoff, who lost reelection District 1 in November, said he felt like he was not being treated well, as former board president. He said he made two requests for information in one day. Requests sought an agenda for the meeting, and a participants list.

Condrashoff also provided a copy of the San Joaquin County tax assessment on a property owned by Cooper. Condrashoff asked Cooper if he was a resident of Lodi, because he claimed a homeowners exemption there, stating that it was his primary residence.

Cooper said Condrashoff’s “comments are harassment.” He said he built his home in Mace Meadow in 1991, and when he registered to vote in Amador County, he told them of his home here and the one in Lodi. Cooper said due to medical concerns, he often traveled from one home to the other and stayed there for long periods. He said the elections department was OK with his residency. Cooper said he transferred his residency to Amador County to vote in the county, and felt he met the requirements to be registered to vote.

Jack Georgette of Jackson asked Cooper if he lived in Lodi. Georgette also asked the AWA attorney’s opinion on Cooper’s residency.

AWA attorney Stephen Kronick said the “residence of a director is much more complicated than you might think,” with factors to consider, including voting and residency. Kronick said to give an opinion of the issue, he would have to speak with Cooper about it.

Cooper said the county elections department was accepting of his having two residences, and said it would not be a problem with his voting in Amador County.

General Manager Gene Mancebo said he thought the water agency has a “decent track record in turning around information requested” by the public.

David Evitt said he thought Cooper had “webbed feet and a lot of yellow feathers.” Evitt later said “you are constantly being lied to by this general manager. He’s lying to you and he’s lying to the public.”

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Amador County – Columbia College of Sonora this week announced its fall 2010 “President’s List,” which included three Amador County residents.

Coni M. Chavez, executive assistant to the president of Columbia College said Monday that Columbia College has named 154 students in its fall 2010 semester President’s List.

Chavez said: “We are pleased to officially recognize their exceptional scholastic achievement. This acknowledgment is reserved for students completing 12 or more units of semester coursework at Columbia College and earning a cumulative grade point average between 3.5 and 4.0, with no grade lower than a C.”

The fall 2010 President’s List included Daniel Fishback of Jackson; and two Pine Grove residents: Karianne Ginnelly and Grant Wells.

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Amador County – Amador County Supervisors discussed and made no change to Animal Control adoption policies Tuesday.

Supervisor Louis Boitano dissented in the 4-1 vote, saying he supported an auction for the sales, primarily due to the value of herding dogs, as people would be willing to pay more for good work dogs.

General Services Director Jon Hopkins said the practice of a random draw to determine animal adoptions has been in place for several years, and is the fairest way to avoid allegations of bias or favoritism when more than one person wants an animal. It became an issue recently when a person offered to make a $1,000 donation in an effort to get a pet.

The donation was made, but none of the other people showed up to go through the random drawing, and the donor got the dog. Hopkins said they “do not take bids for animals, period.”

Supervisor Richard Forster said “just because one person has a few bucks more than the next guy doesn’t make him a better owner.” He supported a first-come, first-served basis.

They also discussed taking names to hold the animal. Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said the first person is not always the best either, nor would a random draw always determine the best owner.

Animal Control Officer John Vail said a website has been set up with a camera to show pets before they are actually available for adoption. Behavioral screening of each animal must be done for several days to determine if the animal is suitable for adoption, but people are told the time and date of availability.

Vail said: “My preference is to leave it the way it is,” and have the least impact on staff, reduced by 20 percent through loss and furloughs. He said people can come from some distance when a pet becomes available. One litter of polka-dot poodles included six puppies, and eight families came to the adoption hour. He said two families didn’t get a poodle.

Vail said: “I hate to see a grown man cry because he didn’t get a puppy, but I have seen it.” He said they have been using a random draw for adoption decisions since 2005, and do not have a non-refundable deposit, as suggested during discussion.

Supervisor Brian Oneto asked if first preference could be given to Amador County residents, in adoption questions. Deputy County Counsel Greg Gillott said that would be a violation of the Constitution.

Susan Manning, a pet merchant and principal of APAL, said she studied the issue but “I can’t see why taking bids for an animal companion is OK.”

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Amador County – The Amador County Unified School District board of trustees on Wednesday voted 3-2 against issuing notifications to seven teachers of potential layoffs for next school year, but will be asked in a special meeting today to consider approving notifications for 11 potential teacher layoffs.

Trustees Pat Miller, Rose Oneto and Lynett Lipp voted in the majority to reject the issuance notifications for the potential layoffs of the equivalent of seven certificated teachers, including full time equivalents of one agriculture teaching position, two “opportunity teachers,” two “intervention teachers,” and two elementary teachers.

In public comment, a parent, Noelle Richmond, urged trustees to keep the agriculture program intact. She said the two high schools have more Future Farmers of America involvement than she has seen in 15 years, and the schools have two full-time ag teachers between them. She invited the board to attend an FFA fundraising dinner to support the ag department March 26 at Evalyn Bishop Hall.

School Superintendent Dick Glock said the notices are a “precautionary measure” that must be approved by March 15, in order to be able to make layoffs if needed. Layoffs must be finalized by May 15.

Nina Neville, executive director of personnel, recommended the seven layoffs, saying “unfortunately, this is the route most of California has to go by.”

Glock said the district has 505 employees, of which 260 are classified, and 245 are certificated.

Oneto said: “I’m all for the ag department,” because that is what the high schools are all about. Miller said: “I think it’s a program we need to keep intact for students,” and he was personally opposed to laying off one full-time equivalent ag teacher.

Trustee Mary Walser and Chairman Wally Upper voted for the notifications.

Glock said it was pointed out that the number of notifications was “not nearly as many as last year.” He said “by noticing someone this evening, it does not lay someone off.”

He said last year, they brought back most of the employees who received notices, when there was “one out of 66 that was not brought back.” He said “they could all be here and more” next year, depending on funding and enrolment.

After rejecting the resolution, they approved notifications for potential layoffs for four temporary certificated employees who work 2.83 full time equivalent positions.

The School Board on Thursday announced a special meeting at 2 p.m. today (Friday, March 11) to consider notifications for layoffs for 11 certificated employees. A closed session is at 1 p.m.

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