Amador County – An Ione woman in custody and wearing handcuffs squeezed through a vent window and stole a Jackson Police car early Saturday morning, then led authorities on a 15-minute pursuit before the vehicle was stopped with spike strips, and forced into a ditch by another JPD vehicle in Calaveras County.

Jackson Police Captain Christy Stidger on Tuesday announced the arrest of Mary Bristow, 20, and her brother, David Bristow, 21, of Ione on various charges.

Mary Bristow was arrested for evading, stealing a vehicle, escape from custody and obstructing or resisting a peace officer. David Bristow was arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance.

The Bristows were initially detained about 12:30 a.m. Saturday when JPD officers investigated a suspicious vehicle parked at the south end of the Jackson Gate Plaza and discovered them in a 1991 white Chevy pickup truck.

Stidger said the “officers became aware of a handgun in the cab of the vehicle” and “extracted both of the occupants from the vehicle.” The gun was “later determined to be a plastic replica.”

Stidger said “Mary Bristow was handcuffed and placed in the back seat of a Jackson patrol vehicle. While officers continued their investigation, David Bristow began to choke on what officers believed to be illegal drugs.”

She said “while officers were tending to David Bristow, Mary Bristow was able to maneuver her handcuffed hands from behind her back to her front. Mary Bristow then crawled through an approximately 9-inch by 9-inch ventilation opening, in the partition that closes off the backseat from the driver’s area of the patrol vehicle.”

Driving away in the patrol vehicle, Mary Bristow led authorities on a 15-minute pursuit, involving JPD, Amador County Sheriff’s Department, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department, and California Highway Patrol officers from Amador and Calaveras counties. Stidger said: “During the course of the pursuit, Mary Bristow utilized the police radio, taunting pursuing law enforcement.”

“The pursuit ended in Calaveras County at the intersection of highways 49 and 12, when spike strips set up by the Calaveras CHP were deployed.” The “spike strips damaged the tires to the stolen police vehicle,” but Mary Bristow continued driving, although at “considerably lower speeds. This allowed Jackson Police Officer Jeff Courtney to perform a Pursuit Intervention Technique maneuver on the stolen vehicle, causing it to spin out of control and into a ditch.”

After the stolen vehicle was in the ditch, Jackson K9 officer Al Lewis and his canine partner, Condor, were deployed on the vehicle. Stidger said that Mary Bristow, knowing the canine was being deployed, surrendered, requesting that he not “let the dog get her.”

Both Mary and David Bristow were treated at Sutter Amador Hospital and booked into the Amador County Jail.

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

Amador County – The Amador County Office of Education board of trustees will hold a special meeting Thursday to consider an application for a grant for a school bus replacement program.

The board canceled its regular meeting Wednesday, but set the special meeting, and must meet a Friday deadline for the grant application. The district seeks to replace a 1990 Ford bus used for transporting special education students, with 12 seats and two spaces for wheelchairs. The bus has 414,000 miles and was purchased in 1990, according to documents, and it was driven 1,516 miles last school year.

Barbara Murray, assistant superintendent of business services said in a report to trustees for Thursday’s meeting that the district qualifies for a maximum possible award of $155,000, and “there is no match for this grant.”

She said the district qualifies for the “Small School District and County Office of Education Bus Replacement Program” for the current fiscal year by its average daily attendance, given to any school with fewer than 2,501 students, based on the previous school year’s attendance.

Murray said the award “may include the cost of the bus plus taxes, excluding registration. Recipients will be responsible for paying for specifications that are not standard.” She said where “unique needs occur,” the California Department of Education “may cover some additional options, but awarded agencies should, ‘build’ their buses with the expectation that non-stock options, will be out-of-pocket costs.”

The California Department of Education runs the grant and “after receiving the required quotes, the CDE will notify agencies of their total award.” Murray said the district office has all information required by the grant. The application is due Friday, Jan. 14, and awards will be listed March 1.

The transportation department will build the bus to the district’s required specifications, Murray said, and “if there are additional costs that the grant does not cover, we will bring the item to the board for approval before we proceed with the purchase.”

Murray said staff does “not anticipate a major cost to the county office,” and recommended approval of the application for the bus replacement grant.

The special meeting is 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 13 at the district office conference room, at 217 Rex Avenue in Jackson.

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

Amador County – Amador County Recreation Agency this week announced plans for a ceremonial ribbon cutting for its new flying disc golf course at Mollie Joyce Park in Pioneer.

The ribbon cutting is set for 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, and precedes the planned first tournament on the new course, which has nine holes.

ACRA Director Tracey Towner-Yep announced the ribbon cutting, and said “a lot of good work is happening up there.” The ceremony includes coffee, hot chocolate and donuts, “along with enthusiastic disc golfers.”

She said “making the dream a reality,” and the course a reality, merited thanks to the Jackson Rancheria Hotel & Casino, Keith Lynch, Merzlak Signs, Play It Again Sports, Ferguson Plumbing, Augustin Custom Cabinetry, Disc Golf Association, numerous unnamed volunteers and ACRA Program Director Matt Nestor.

Nestor planned the Martin Luther King Disc Golf Tournament as part of the grand opening of the course. Registration begins at 9 a.m., the ribbon cutting is at 9:30 a.m., a players’ meeting is at 9:45 a.m. and tee off is at 10 a.m.

The 76-acre park was deeded to ACRA by Fred Joyce on February 5th, 2008, on condition the park be maintained for public recreation use. Towner-Yep, 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. In addition to golfers, two Little League Baseball fields have been revitalized, and ballgames have become a regular fixture at the park again, after years of non-use.

The park is on Woodfern Drive, off Carson Drive, in Pioneer, about 15 minutes from Jackson, and 40 minutes from Kirkwood.

For information, call Matt Nestor at (209) 223-6349, or go online to goACRA.org.

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

Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council selected its new leadership last week, selecting Mayor Pro Tem Tim Murphy to be the Mayor for 2011. The council also selected newly elected Councilwoman Linda Rianda as this year’s Mayor Pro Tempore.

Council members also made appointments to the Planning Commission. Councilwoman Sandy Anderson announced at the end of December that she would appoint Robin Peters, who was appointed by retiring Councilman Pat Crosby. Peters replaced Anderson’s former appointee to the commission, Corte Strandberg.

Rianda appointed Frank Cunha to again represent her on the commission, which she had done after being appointed to replace former Mayor Pro Tempore Bill Hepworth.

Newly elected Councilman Jim Swift appointed Ed Arata to the Planning Commission, joining Councilman Gary Wooten’s appointee, Robert Olson; and Murphy’s appointee, Mike Kirkley. On Monday, Kirkley was selected by the Planning Commission to be chairman for 2011, and Cunha was picked as vice chairman.

City Manager Sean Rabe said the city council in closed session last week agreed to appoint Interim Chief Brian Klier to be the full-time chief of the Sutter Creek Police Department. Rabe said he was instructed by the council to bring back a contract for the next meeting, and he is negotiating with Chief Klier. Rabe said he was confident that they would produce a “mutually agreeable contract.”

Also last week, the council moved toward consolidating three committees on budget, finance and personnel, into one committee. That consolidation and all committee assignments may be considered at the next council meeting.

The council also approved the draft policy city council minutes, in answer to some fallout from issues raised by the recent Grand Jury report. Rabe said the format of “action minutes” would be used, which includes minimal details of discussion, and chiefly makes note of actions taken.

The policy sets a 30-day time limit by which the minutes, must be completed after a meeting is held. Rabe said the draft policy will be brought back with an accompanying resolution of approval.

Rabe said he made an “inventory of the minutes that are missing,” and found that there were increments of as long as 6 months when no minutes were made. It also goes back about 3-4 years, and there is “no way we will be 100 percent caught up.”

He wasn’t sure how minutes would be updated, but didn’t support using recordings. He said former City Clerk Judy Allen’s notes from meetings would probably be used to make action minutes.

The council agreed to have a citywide vote to change the clerk position from elected to appointed, so a non-city resident could take the post. That election might come sooner than 2012, if a statewide budget election is held.

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