Amador County – The Amador County Unified School District settlement with the Zysman family last September over alleged civil rights violations included an attachment in which the district pointed out that it was silenced by privacy law, and could not correct erroneous statements related to the case.

In Attachment B, the settlement said ACUSD and Justin Zysman “have resolved the lawsuit that arose after” Justin “complained that he was subjected to anti-Semitic harassment by other students at Amador High School.” Justin’s name was redacted from the settlement, but he appeared on TSPN TV news last year to discuss the issue, and his parents’ names appeared in documents. Both also signed the settlement.

The agreement said “in reaching a settlement, the parties do not wish to claim that either side” has “won” or “lost.” “The district continues to maintain that it was unaware of the claimed harassment” and “no district employee or administrator intentionally discriminated against” Justin “or ignored his concerns.”

The statement said the district believed it “responded appropriately when concerns were brought to its attention,” and noted that the Zysmans “feel differently.” It said: “Both sides share the goal, however, to promptly address discrimination or harassment against any member of the district community.”

“Rather than continue a fight where there can be no real winner, the parties have chosen to recognize the need to move forward constructively,” the agreement said. “The parties regret that, in the heat of litigation, there may have been misstatements made for inferred that painted either party in an unnecessarily bad light. For example, it was erroneously reported in the press that Amador High School presented a play with anti-Semitic overtones entitled ‘Hitler Youth’ that was offensive, particularly to Jewish members of the community.”

It said: “In fact, there was no such production.” A play entitled “And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank” was presented, but had “just the opposite theme – the horrors of the Nazi treatment of Jews during World War II.” It was conceived to be shown to “grades 5 through 12 to teach the horrors of the Nazi era and promote the values of tolerance.”

The agreement said because of privacy law, “the district was not able to respond to public statements,” and “this silence may have created the false impression that the district had no response or that there was truth to the statements. The ending of destructive negative public statements is one of the reasons the parties have chosen” to settle.

The agreement said both “parties recognize the importance of cultural diversity in an educational environment,” and “to further promote that goal, the district has strengthened and added to the programs available before this dispute arose.” Those include a new community building program called “Breaking Down Walls.”

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Amador County – The Amador County Teen Driver Council is sponsoring its annual Teen Driver Night for current and future drivers, next week at Amador High School.

Teen Driver Night is for parents and teens, and will feature guest speakers and presentations. Speakers include Amador County Health Officer Dr. Robert Hartmann, and fourth year medical student Dan Stein.

California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Craig Harmon will also speak, as will parent, Tina Wurzburger. Jackson Police Officer Chris Rice will talk about narcotics, and Anne Lintz of State Farm Insurance will talk about insurance.

Organizers said: “Our goal is to help parents and teens understand the many issues surrounding the pressures on the teen driver” and to offer safety ideas and tips. “It is clear that the more parents involve themselves in the activities of their teen drivers the fewer accidents occur.”

The Teen Driver Night is 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8 in the Amador High School cafeteria in Sutter Creek.

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Amador County – Michael Ryan and the Ryan Families announced this week that the “number one tourist attraction in Amador County,” Daffodil Hill, will open its gates for its 71st season on Friday, March 18, 2011, weather permitting.

“From then on, we will be open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., again weather permitting,” Ryan said. “For safety reasons, the Hill is closed when it rains and our paths are slippery.”

He encouraged visitors to call Daffodil Hill’s recorded phone message at for daily updates. The Hill will stay open until fewer than 25 percent of the daffodil blooms remain. There is no admission fee and no charge for parking. Donations are accepted.

Ryan said: “We only ask that visitors respect our property and follow our few rules. These include asking that visitors stay on our paths (and out of the flowers, buildings, and posted areas). We also ask that visitors please leave their dogs at home, as dogs don’t mix well with the flowers and our resident peacocks.”

Daffodil Hill is at 18310 Rams Horn Grade, Volcano, and the information line is (209) 296-7048.

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Amador County – The El Dorado National Forest announced that it will be applying for some of the $27.1 million available in the current funding cycle from the California Parks Service for off-highway vehicle programs.

Preliminary grant applications are due Monday, March 7, for the 2010-2011 Off-Highway Vehicle Grants program though the California Parks Service. The El Dorado Forest OHV grant application will be available for review online starting Tuesday, March 8, for a 30-day comment period.

The program has $27.1 million available for nonprofit agencies and organizations, which have until March 7 to submit preliminary applications, which may be applied for online at the California State Parks website, ohv.parks.ca.gov.

Grant funds are available in four categories for the upcoming cycle, including a total of $1.3 million for education and safety; $5.2 million for law enforcement; $13 million for operation and maintenance; and $7.6 million for restoration.

Forest Recreation Officer Lester Lubetkin said the El Dorado National Forest is developing an application for Off Highway Vehicle Cooperative Funds for the upcoming 2010-2011 grant cycle.

Lobetkin said: “We are developing a preliminary application … which includes a strong emphasis on trail maintenance and repair, restoration of trails and impacted areas, law enforcement across the four Ranger Districts, printing and distribution of the Motor Vehicle Use Maps, construction of a bridge on the Barrett 4WD Trail, and planning for necessary rerouting of trails in other areas.”

He said the grant applications will be posted on the Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation website on March 7, when preliminary applications are due.

The 30-day public review and comment period for the 2010-2011 Grants and Cooperative Agreement Program begins March 8 and ends April 4. This period provides an opportunity for the public to review preliminary applications submitted to the OHMVR Division for consideration during the current grant cycle.

The public may provide comments, suggestions, or letters to both the applicant and the OHMVR Division. The El Dorado National Forest will also host an Open House 6-8 p.m. Thursday, March 10 to discuss its grant applications and to hear the public’s thoughts. The Open House will be held in the large conference room at the Forest Supervisor’s Office, 100 Forni Road, Placerville.

For information, call (530) 622-5061.

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Amador County – The Amador County Teen Driver Council is sponsoring its annual Teen Driver Night for current and future drivers, next week at Amador High School.

Teen Driver Night is for parents and teens, and will feature guest speakers and presentations. Speakers include Amador County Health Officer Dr. Robert Hartmann, and fourth year medical student Dan Stein.

California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Craig Harmon will also speak, as will parent, Tina Wurzburger. Jackson Police Officer Chris Rice will talk about narcotics, and Anne Lintz of State Farm Insurance will talk about insurance.

Organizers said: “Our goal is to help parents and teens understand the many issues surrounding the pressures on the teen driver” and to offer safety ideas and tips. “It is clear that the more parents involve themselves in the activities of their teen drivers the fewer accidents occur.”

The Teen Driver Night is 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8 in the Amador High School cafeteria in Sutter Creek.

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Amador County – Last year, the California Department of Public Health announced that California hospitals have reached the goal of vaccinating 60 percent of their health care employees against influenza. Last week, Sutter Amador Hospital in Jackson exceeded that goal itself by vaccinating 80 percent of its healthcare employees.

Jody Boetzer, public relations coordinator at Sutter Amador Hospital, announced the developments last Wednesday.

SAH Employee Health and Disaster Coordinator Joyce Friday said: “We’ve been working hard to increase employee vaccination rates through education and ensuring that vaccination clinics are easily accessible for all employees.”

She said: “We even increased our vaccination rate by 4 percent from the previous year. This means Sutter Amador Hospital is a safer place for patients, visitors, volunteers and hospital staff during flu season.”

Boetzer said “California law requires hospitals to offer onsite influenza vaccination free of charge to employees. Employees can opt not to get vaccinated, but must do so with a written declination.”

Friday said the hospital encourages “all hospital employees, volunteers and physicians to receive the influenza vaccination.”

To ensure the safety of patients and workers, SAH also requires staff to complete an annual TB test. In addition to TB testing and influenza vaccinations, the hospital also screens all employees for measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox immunity. If no immunity exists, they offer free vaccinations to the employee.

Due to the increase in cases of Pertussis (Whooping Cough) in the United States over the last four years, SAH now also offers Tdap vaccinations to all staff and physicians.

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Amador County – Amador County Behavioral Health announced this week that it will be hosting a public review of the annual Mental Health Service Act update.

The Amador County Mental Health Board and the public are both invited to attend a March 30 review of the Annual MHSA Update. A 30-day public comment period opened March 1 on the county’s Mental Health Services Act update and closes April 1, and a related public hearing is planned for April 30.

County consultant Rima Spight of Resource Development Associates announced the meeting, saying that “Mental Health Services Act legislation requires that counties submit an Annual Update documenting progress towards community goals over the past year (fiscal year 2009-2010) and outlining the implementation plan for each component of MHSA for the upcoming year,” fiscal year 2011-2012.

Spight said: “This year’s Annual Update presents an overview of services provided through the Community Services and Supports component of MHSA, which funds programs that provide direct, integrated services to individuals with serious and persistent mental health issues.”

The Annual Update also includes information on services that will be implemented during the next year through Amador health department’s plans for Workforce Education and Training, Prevention and Early Intervention, and Innovation.

The update reported that 3,807 individuals had been served in fiscal year 2009-2010, at a total cost of $703,000. It also listed 11 advocates or coordinators who participated in the stakeholder steering committee, in the local review process.

The update estimated that Behavioral Health would serve and support 3,767 people, at a total cost of $242,000 in fisal year 2011-2012. Total budget was estimated for $1.3 million, down 23 percent from this year’s budget.

Spight said a copy of the plan has been provided for review by the Amador County Mental Health Board, and the Annual Update has been posted on the county website. Paper copies of the plan are available by contacting Behavioral Health.

Following a 30-day public review period, a Mental Health Board meeting will be held to gather community feedback. Spight asked anyone with comments or questions to submit them prior to the meeting. During this meeting we will be presenting the Update to the Mental Health Board, and providing a forum for further community discussion.

The meeting will be held 3:30-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 30 at the Health and Human Services Building, 10877 Conductor Boulevard in Sutter Creek.

For questions, or special accommodations contact Lynn Thomas at (209) 223-6814.

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Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission in a special workshop Wednesday discussed land use policy, and directed staff to prepare a draft list of policies for its meeting later this month.

Executive Director Charles Field gave a background of various development and traffic impact mapping tools now in use, and the board talked about some of their flaws. Field said the commonly used Regional Traffic Mitigation Fee Program had its problems, and “there’s no way it can cover all impacts of all developments in the county, especially major developments.” He said cities have increasingly relied on it.

Field said it grew as Caltrans traffic impact study guidelines were not working, so ACTC developed its own guidelines. He said the ACTC Technical Advisory Committee reviewed traffic modeling practices of ACTC, and recommended the commission should provide assistance and analysis, but should not advocate for enactment of mitigation measures.

Field gave a list of questions, which he tried to word as “bluntly” as he could. Among them, the board agreed they should submit input concerning traffic impacts and mitigations but not advocate for conditions of approval, or development project approval, or denial, unless they were requested to do so by the lead agency.

Field said one planning mechanism, the Circulation Mapping Exercise, known as the CMX, was adopted last week by the Plymouth City Council, as part of its traffic impact financial mitigation plan.

ACTC Program manager Neil Peacock assisted Plymouth in implementing it, and said it was a supplemental funding strategy, supported by Reeder Sutherland during last week’s meeting, and it was based on Plymouth’s general plan. Field said the Plymouth general plan was written to include Reeder’s two developments, even though they are not yet annexed into city limits.

Supervisor Richard Forster said the CMX was not always successful, as shown in the Martell business, where it calculated impacts too costly to implement. He also saw a problem with using it before all other county jurisdictions approved the CMX. He said “huge costs are involved with CMX,” such as one business, whose $600,000 impact fee would have gone to about $8 million.

Field said Plymouth adopted one universal fee plan, but “fair share” fees for impacts have been discussed, and have led to a “set of conditions” on some developments. Others, like the Jackson Valley Quarry are being discussed.

Field said Caltrans thinks the Quarry should be responsible for more of the intersection upgrade because its new development is sending more trucks, and triggering the need for a bigger intersection. The company disagrees. Field said “it will be up to the county to decide.”

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