Amador County – The Amador County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that a suspect may be linked to the Dec. 27 robbery of Bank of Stockton in Pine Grove, and further investigation and processing of evidence is under way.

Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan in a release Thursday said the suspect was in custody in San Joaquin County after being arrested for the robbery of another bank, which occurred last week in Lockeford.

Ryan in the release said: At this time, the suspect “has not been arrested or charged in connection with the Bank of Stockton robbery, and he remains in custody at the San Joaquin County Jail with bail set at $250,000.”

Last Thursday, Jan. 13, at about 9:30 a.m., the Bank of the West in Lockeford was robbed. Ryan in the release this week said, the “method used by the suspect in the robbery of the Bank of the West in Lockeford was strikingly similar to the method used by the suspect in the robbery of the Bank of Stockton in Pine Grove, including actions and/or facts withheld by the Amador County Sheriff’s Office to protect the integrity of the investigation.”

“San Joaquin County Sheriff’s detectives investigating the robbery in Lockeford recognized the suspect from video surveillance footage, as a local area resident and ultimately arrested Robert Daniel Mehrten, 52,” the release said. “Amador County Sheriff’s detectives assisted the San Joaquin Sheriff’s detectives in the subsequent execution of a search warrant at Mehrten’s residence,” and Amador detectives also interviewed Mehrten in the San Joaquin Jail.

The release said: “Based upon the totality of the circumstances additional investigation is being conducted which includes but is not limited to, the display of photographic line ups, a cellular telephone records analysis, a financial records analysis, another review of video surveillance, as well as DNA evidence analysis.”

The release said the Pine Grove Bank of Stockton was robbed Dec. 27 “by a white male suspect, carrying a bag, which he said contained explosives,” and the public’s assistance was requested to help identify the “images of the suspect captured on the video surveillance system.”

The release said the Amador County Sheriff’s department received information identifying nine people of interest related to the Pine Grove Bank of Stockton robbery. Detectives interviewed all nine people, “and collected voluntary DNA samples from five of those interviewed.”

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Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission on Wednesday discussed 13 alternate routes for a future Pine Grove bypass, then narrowed the list to 3 to recommend to Caltrans for more detailed analysis.

ACTC Planner Neil Peacock said the commission was to decide the project to recommend to Caltrans, who is the “owner of the highway system.” He said “ACTC is the implementing agency, and I, of course am your project manager.”

Peacock said “we’ve spent the last 8 months going from 13 down to 3” alternatives, with the help of dozens of members of a “stakeholder working group.” The study included having “no project,” which showed 18,000 car trips in 2024, and “23,000 car trips in the design year,” which is 2030.

The tri-county area found economic constraints for the project of $41 million, and the process to narrow down the alternatives was done because “we are not going to spend a bunch of money on environmental studies on a project that we will not pursue.”

The tri-county funding agreement will take some gambles, Peacock said. One is the “gamble that we can leverage $20 million for a 50-50 match” through the State Transportation Improvement Program. ACTC Executive Director Charles Field said Alpine County could also choose to pull out of the arrangement.

Among alternate routes that were shelved for good was one proposed by Commissioners Dave Richards and Pat Crosby, which Peacock said was “my personal favorite.” But it also had $90 million cost, and it had to go. Another would have cut a 100-foot right-of-way through Pine Grove, taking many building landmarks, while widening Highway 88.

Commissioner David Plank asked if the swath could be moved southward, and Peacock said: “We looked at basically any way we could squeeze 100 feet through there and it was just not going to happen.”

Plank asked about the “practicality of businesses” with the preferred routes, and Peacock said staff did not want to misrepresent other possible concerns in the community. He said “additional analysis may warrant further elimination,” possibly due to cost increases, or Caltrans prerequisites that may be found after “embarking on more detailed analysis.”

He said the next stage will also try to get more individuals and business owners involved.

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Amador County – California District 3 Congressman Dan Lungren has re-introduced legislation to repeal health care legislation passed last year, looking to restore the “doctor-patient relationship.”

Brian Kaveney of the Congressman’s office in a release Wednesday said Lungren “voted to begin the implementation of commonsense alternatives to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” which was passed last year.

Kaveney said “voting for the repeal of a government-run health care system sets the stage for Lungren’s bill to repeal the onerous 1099 reporting requirement to be brought to the floor for consideration.”

In the release following the vote, Lungren said: “Last year the American people and small business spoke and I listened. The bill that was pushed through Congress last year includes a number of provisions that are of concern to the American people.”

He said: “Not only does it require every American to purchase health insurance, but it dictates the type of policy they must buy and where they must buy it.” Lungren said the “health care law hinders the creation of jobs, when constituents in my district still face unemployment rates that exceed 12 percent.”

Lungren said the “law does not address rising health care costs, and it places the massive federal bureaucracy between patients and their doctors. Personal health care decisions should be made by patients, families and doctors, not by bureaucrats or politicians in Washington.”

“We all agree that health care can and should be improved,” Lungren said, “but last year’s bill was not well thought out. In spite of two years of debate on health care, the bill that was ultimately passed reads like an afterthought, with many provisions that simply don’t make sense.”

He said: “We need to focus on increasing patient choice for all Americans without losing the quality to which people are accustomed.”

The bill was initially introduced after last year’s approval of the Affordable Care Act, but it fell short of the 218 signatures needed to force a vote.

Lungren’s bill would repeal a 1099 tax reporting requirement from the law, that would require businesses to report to the IRS any purchases of goods or services from one company that total more than $600 in one year.

The Republican Party last September issued a “Pledge to America” to “repeal this job-killing small business mandate.” The pledge said: “This 1099 reporting mandate is so overbearing that the IRS ombudsman has determined that the agency is ill-equipped to handle all the resulting paperwork.”

Last week, Lungren announced that 245 signatures supported the bill, including 12 Democrats. The bill is called “The Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act.”

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Amador County – About 30 people attended a ribbon cutting ceremony Sunday at Mollie Joyce Park to mark the opening of a new flying disc golf course in Pioneer.

Amador County Recreation Agency executive board president and Sutter Creek Vice Mayor Linda Rianda cut the ribbon as a line of sponsors and volunteers lined the ridge above hole number one’s fairway.

ACRA Executive Director Tracy Towner-Yepp introduced Rianda and opened the ceremony by asking for a moment of silence for Fred Joyce, whom she said passed away last week. Fred Joyce was the donor who made the park possible, deeding the use of the park to the Recreation Agency. The park is named after his late wife, Mollie Joyce.

ACRA received the deed of the 76-acre park from Fred Joyce on Feb. 5, 2008, on condition the park be maintained for public recreation use. The park was long used by a Sacramento school district for a science camp, but for several years had been in disrepair.

Immediately after taking over Mollie Joyce Park, ACRA began to refurbish the two overgrown Little League Baseball fields. The fields have been revitalized, with installation of donated underground irrigation pipes, and regular ballgames have returned.

Sunday the disc golf course, which has 9 permanent holes, and a goal to get 9 more, held its first tournament, with about 25 players. Towner-Yep, program director Matt Nestor and others at ACRA have worked with local disc golfers, who volunteered to help design the course around Mollie Joyce Park’s hilly and wooded terrain.

Jackson Rancheria Casino made a big donation to purchase 8 of the baskets used for holes, and Brandon Wedge, co-owner of Play It Again Sports in Jackson, sponsored the purchase of another basket. Four other baskets have been sponsored, but not yet purchased and installed.

Local and regional golfers, including Paul Dalmau of Pioneer, Ray Birch of Ione and Wedge of Sutter Creek have volunteered on the project.

Sunday also marked the first official tournament at the course, the Martin Luther King Tournament, organized by Nestor for ACRA. Ray Birch won the professional division with a two-round score of one-over par. Brandon Wedge was second.

Kyhber Easton took first place in the amateur men’s division, while Peter Hertzog II took second place, Taj Easton was third, and Justin Agustin was fourth. Tara Easton took first place in the women’s amateur division.

Former ACRA program manager, Adam Lindsey, who also worked on the course, took first place in the recreational division. Second was Robert Moncada, and third was Jaysin Cabrol.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors recognized its former past President Terence Moore, who last year, left office after three terms and 12 years.

General Manager Gene Mancebo said District 5 Director Terry Moore was “instrumental in the development and completion of the Plymouth Pipeline and the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant, the Amador Transmission Pipeline, Regional Wastewater and Recycling Master Plan, guiding the development of the Gravity Supply Line, and serving several years as Board president.”

Moore thanked AWA staff for their efforts in assisting agency governance and he gave the new board advice, telling them to “move away from the day to day workings of the Agency, and look at the big picture issues.”

He said such big items included “consolidation of the four water systems, getting a storage tank in the Upcountry, and getting the Lake Camanche system off of well water and onto a surface water supply.”

The AWA Board approved supporting Assembly Bill Number 8, sponsored by Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, which would halt the closure of Preston Youth Correction Facility for six months to allow additional analysis of the impacts of the closure.

Mancebo said the “agency expects to lose approximately $80,000 in annual revenues from water sales to the Preston facility, and an additional estimated $40,000 from indirect impacts of the closure.”

In a staff report, AWA Operations Manager Chris McKeage said he is working with the state “on permissible temporary options for disposing of the excess water” in the Buckhorn backwash system. He said “one option could be running the water to a nearby leach field.”

Trucking the water to a wastewater treatment plant was discussed, but McKeage said the “agency has yet to locate a plant that can take what is essentially raw Mokelumne River water, due to permit or capacity issues.”

McKeage said AWA has purchased a second-hand filtration plant to recycle backwash at Buckhorn. Recycling the water “will greatly reduce the amount of water sent to the Mace Meadow pond, partially alleviating the winter overflow problem in the future.”

The used filtration plant cost $5,000 and will require an estimated $65,000 of AWA staff time and materials to get the equipment on-line, which McKeage hopes will be in mid-February. McKeage estimate a new plant would have cost as much as $250,000 before installation.

A voluntary water conservation notice remained in effect for AWA customers along Highway 88 from Mace Meadow to Pine Grove, due to recent heavy rains have filled water treatment plant backwash ponds at Mace Meadow Golf Course.

AWA is required to ask for voluntary water conservation by all of its public water customers in systems at Mace Meadow, Rabb Park, Pine Grove and the Central Amador Water Project Retail.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors last week received a brief overview of what staff considers its high priority items among its systems.

General Manager Gene Mancebo in a report Jan. 13 said the Strategic Plan underwent a complete revision in February 2009, when the board “directed staff to begin the plan anew.”

In October 2009, staff “began the process to revise the strategic plan,” including revising its Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Core values, and Goals. A draft plan resulted, and that received minor changes by the board.

Macebo said staff will begin the “budget process next month, and the Strategic Plan provides direction for developing business plans for each department to achieve objectives in the plan.” He said the board may consider the plan, revise it, create a new one, “or decide to forgo the plan.”

Board President Don Cooper recommended the board members review the plan on their own, and return to it in a later meeting. The board agreed.

After a short discussion, Mancebo went through his list of “high priority system items” among eight systems operated by the agency.

He said top Amador Water System priorities included the need for capacity increases and backwash improvements at the Ione and Tanner water treatment plants. AWS also needs a small diameter pipe to be placed in the Amador Canal, with either treated or raw water.

In the Central Amador Water Project Wholesale system, top priorities include either pursuing the Gravity Supply Line or improving pumps to increase the flow of raw water to Buckhorn. The system also needs backwash improvements at Mace Meadow, or a recycling system. A pending water rights application is another issue, as is the transmission of treated water.

CAWP retail priorities include boosting distribution pressure and fire flow capacity, and also replacement of a storage tank.

Mancebo said the Camanche area has been “designated a disadvantaged community,” and that may help with grants. The water system at Camanche needs rehabilitation of its Well Number 14. Grants may cover replacement of its Tank Number 9, and service connections.

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Amador County – The City Selection Committee met Wednesday afternoon and selected Ione and Jackson to represent the cities on the Local Agency Formation Commission, and also appointed Jackson and Amador City to hold seats on the Amador County Transportation Commission.

Mayor Connie Gonsalves presided over the meeting of Mayors, which selected Jackson City Councilman Keith Sweet to sit on the ACTC board. Amador City Mayor Aaron Brusatori said he was not sure who would be appointed to the position to represent his council.

Plymouth Mayor Greg Baldwin said he planned to stay in his position for Wednesday night’s ACTC meeting on the Pine Grove Highway 88 improvement project. Baldwin said his position expired Jan. 29, and he was adamant about keeping the seat until then. His position would be taken by an Amador City appointee.

Sweet took over for the position of retiring Councilman Pat Crosby of Sutter Creek. ACTC Chair Charles Field said as Sweet was Crosby’s alternate, an new alternate should be assigned. Ione Mayor David Plank said his council has selected Councilman Lloyd Oneto, “who will be starting his first year as an alternate.”

Field said alternates are appointed by the City Select Committee to be second in line for specific seats, and “only the alternate can take that seat.”

The committee also appointed Sutter Creek Councilman Jim Swift as an alternate behind the Jackson seat, and Plymouth Councilwoman Sandy Kyles as the Number 2 alternate, behind Amador City’s seat. The appointees join Commissioner Plank, whose alternate will be Lloyd Oneto.

The City Selection Committee also appointed members to the Amador County LAFCO. Plymouth past Mayor Jon Colburn rotated out, Ione Mayor David Plank was appointed to the number 1 city position, and Jackson City Councilman Pat Crew was appointed to the number 2 city seat.

The committee chose Amador City to be the alternate, and Mayor Aaron Brusatori nominated Amador City Councilman Tim Knox, who was appointed by the committee.

LAFCO Executive Director Roseanne Chamberlain said the “alternate has a full and valid vote in the absence of the representative.”

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