Amador County – Adam Dalton on Tuesday spoke about his dream to give back to Amador County by fixing the ball fields for the children.

The Jackson Rancheria Park & Field Restoration Project began with the Mollie Joyce Park baseball fields, where they had 90 people come out and volunteer to work. The outpouring of community support and volunteers inspired the family. Dalton said the county has given a lot to the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians and the Restoration Project has set out to fix the parks.

Dalton said people can come and volunteer, and get fed by the people of Volcano, or his brother, Dennis Dalton. Dennis brings his barbecue and cooks and feeds workers in Volcano Community Hall.

Volunteers have painted the public restrooms, Volcano Amphitheater, and the Volcano Post Office exterior. They will install new bathroom amenities, and have put in new park benches and will re-stripe the Post Office parking lot. Adam Dalton said Volcano is a park, and needed work. They put in wine barrel planters, and plan to have a chainsaw artist come and carve a bear from the burl of the tree on Main Street that was to be removed.

Dalton will also work on properties owned by Sharon Lungren, who was a partner in donating heavy equipment at Mollie Joyce. Dalton said they will work on renovating the interior of her Saint George Hotel and also build a rock garden patio behind the cafe at Main and Consolation streets.

Dennis Dalton talked about the project and invited volunteers and donors to Volcano to help. Adam Dalton said Tuesday that after completion of work at Volcano, and depending on volunteers and donations, the Jackson Rancheria Parks Restoration Project will next go to work with volunteers at Lions Park on Volcano-Sutter Creek Road. He hopes to put in some professional horseshoe pits, and refurbish it to be a place to hold weddings.

After that, also depending on volunteers and donations, the project will work in Plymouth. And after that, baseball season should be over, Adam Dalton said, and they plan to go to Jackson and Detert Park, his hometown, to refurbish the field. It all depends on volunteers and donations from those areas, he said, and as long as people support it, it will continue.

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Amador County – Amador County and city officials have been working with ACES Waste Service to prepare for a mandated recycling law that takes affect July 1 and will affect 170 businesses in the county.

AB341 by Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro of Santa Rosa will require recycling to be done by any commercial business that generates more than four cubic yards of waste per week or any apartment complex or multi-family housing business that has five units or more. Amador Waste Management Director Jim McHargue said it requires recycling from five or more unit-businesses, but a “four-plex would not require it.”

Amador County Integrated Waste Management Regional Agency, made up of one elected official from each city, and two Supervisors, formed an ad hoc committee and has been working with ACES to come up with a solution. McHargue said the work has found a solution, and any business that falls within the requirements will be provided with a 96-gallon cart for their recycling and if they need other carts, they will be provided at a reduced cost. The 96-gallon cart is the largest of rolling carts.

McHargue said they seek to comply with regulations and at same time not require undue financial burdens. Some businesses are already complying. The state is mandating that these businesses are to recycle. They want to not put a whole lot of unnecessary financial burden on businesses, and a lot of businesses are having financial trouble.

The program will be evaluated in six months to see that it is meeting requirements. Businesses will be evaluated. McHargue said: “We think that with the program that we develop, we will be able to assist all of the businesses that must comply.” The good thing is that it has a good degree of flexibility, and this mandate does not specify what particular items need to be recycled or what amounts need to be recycled.

McHargue said so far, we’re looking at about somewhere around 170 businesses that will be triggered by the recycling mandate, but at least 50 already have recycling taking place. There are a significant number of smaller businesses that would not meet the threshold and would not have the requirements apply.

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Amador County – Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency announced that applications are now available for the 2012 Back-Pack 2 School program.

Ruthella Turner coordinator of A-TCAA’s Resource Center and Independent Living Program said that the 2012 Back-Pack 2 School Applications are available. She said the Back-Pack 2 School Project provides backpacks filled with grade-appropriate school supplies for students in Amador County going into Kindergarten through 12th grades.

Turner said: “With the direct support of the community, these students receive the basic school supplies that they need to start the school year out well.” Applications are available at A-TCAA, Interfaith Food Bank, Camanche Lake Community Center, Upcountry Community Center and Generation Life Church until June 15. 

Turner said “together, we can make a difference.” The project is in its sixth year, and it is being sponsored by A-TCAA’s Camanche Lake and Upcountry Community Centers and the Generation Life Church.

Turner said the county-wide project which provides backpacks filled with grade-appropriate school supplies for children whose families are financially stressed. She said: “Without the generosity of local individuals, businesses, and community organizations, many families would struggle to provide these much needed supplies.”

People can help by purchasing items and bringing them to one of three sponsoring organizations. The project cannot guarantee that all applicants will receive backpacks and supplies. If people would like to sponsor a student, Turner asked them to call Camanche Community Center at 763-2794; Generation Life Church at 267-9198; or Upcountry Community Center at 296-2785.

Upcountry Community Center is at 19386 Highway 88 in Pine Grove. Camanche Community Center is at 4419 Camanche Parkway North. Generation Life Church is at 125 Academy Drive in Sutter Creek.

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Amador County – The Amador County Integrated Waste Management joint power authority is hoping that a new state commercial and multifamily recycling mandate will help meet a mandate requiring the diversion of 75 percent of waste headed to landfills by 2020.

Amador County Waste Management Director Jim McHargue said the second component of AB341, which takes effect July 1, is a requirement that the state meet a mandatory 75 percent diversion or recycling rate of all waste by Jan. 1, 2020. 

McHargue said current state law requires 50 percent diversion of material from the waste flow and AB 341 does change things significantly. It requires a statewide goal of 75 percent diversion. The current 50 percent diversion must be met individually by every city and state, McHargue said, but the 75 percent mandate is not required of the individual entities, but rather it will be required state wide.

He said the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery will be in charge of monitoring the 75 percent diversion. McHargue said now, a pounds per, person per day analysis looks at the amount of weight in pounds each person disposes of per day and compares that baseline number to see that cities and counties meet the 50 percent requirement.

McHArgue said ACES Waste Service, Amador County and the five cities in the county have been involved in AB939, which requires 50 percent statewide diversion of waste. His focus has been monitoring that data. McHargue said in 2011, Amador County was approximately at a 70 percent rate of diverting waste from landfills and into recycling.

He said “really the hope is that maybe this additional commercial recycling may in fact put us up and over that 75 percent number.”

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Amador County – Amador High School’s Drama Club member Cecily Swanson won the Rotary Club District speech contest in Nevada May 19, and a prize of $1,000.

Amador High drama advisor Giles Turner announced the award Tuesday, saying that Amador High senior Cecily Swanson won the Rotary Club International District 5190 Speech Contest May 19 at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nevada.

Speaking with 11 other area winners, Swanson, the Secretary of the Amador Drama Club took the $1,000 first place prize, speaking on this year’s topic, “Reach within to transform the world, one life, one family, one community at a time.”

Swanson qualified for the District Finals by winning the Amador County speech competition held March 21 at the Amador Senior Center in Jackson. The daughter of Elizabeth and Steve Swanson of Shenadoah Valley, Cecily Swanson is also the president of Interact at Amador High and is bound for University of California at San Diego in the fall.

Two years ago, Caitlin Schaap of Amador High Drama also won the District Speech Contest and $1,000.

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Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-30-12 - Heather Murdock discusses worrying about the future and being able to live with grace.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-30-12 - Heather Murdock discusses the role that God plays in her family.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-30-12 - Heather Murdock discusses the simple ways that you can help others every day.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-30-12 - Heather Murdock discusses the peace of God as well as the Celebrate Recovery program. 

Amador County – Amador County Supervisor Vice Chairman Richard Forster appeared in Sacramento in support of legislation that would help the county, including a bill that would eliminate the State Responsibility Area “Fire Fee.”

Forster was scheduled to appear Friday, May 25 to represent the Regional Council of Rural Counties Board of Directors in support of Assembly bills regarding State Responsibility Area funds.

Forster and RCRC staff Cyndi Hillery, Paul Smith, and Staci Heaton, were to address the Assembly Appropriations Committee which was to hear two bills regarding State Responsibility Area Fees.

RCRC’s Jehan Flagg said Assembly Bill 2474 by Arcata Democrat Wes Chesbro “attempts to resolve some of the inequities in which fire prevention fees are imposed on structure owners” in the SRAs. And Assembly Bill 1506 by Riverside Republican Kevin Jeffries “repeals recently instituted fees on structure owners located within the SRA, commonly referred to as the ‘fire fee’.”

Flagg said: “People living in rural counties already pay for fire service. Rural counties believe these additional SRA fees are inequitable, result in double and triple taxation and don’t provide any additional benefit. Also, Cal FIRE’s most expensive activities are for fire suppression in highly urbanized areas, not rural areas.”

The “SRA fees jeopardize fire and/or disaster management responses between the State, emergency responders and local governments,” Flagg said.

Forster, chairman of the RCRC board’s regulatory committee, also testified on behalf of RCRC and member counties May 16 in San Diego during the San Diego implementation hearing of the California Board of Forestry. He told them “RCRC has opposed SRA fees throughout this process, and we remain opposed,” and he encouraged repeal of the Assembly Bill 29X, which created the Fire Fee. AB 29X was a legislative budget trailer bill, which was passed in 2011 and is being implemented by regulations at the California Board of Forestry, due to the directive from the Legislature in AB 29X.

Flagg said “the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the California Board of Equalization said they need to hire more staff to administer SRA fees.” AB 1506 would completely repeal SRA fees.

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