Amador County – Amador County Supervisor Vice Chairman Richard Forster and Supervisor John Plasse testified in Sacramento last week in support of a portion of the governor’s budget bill to restore county “triple flip” funding, as the rider passed through appropriations subcommittees in the Senate and Assembly.

Plasse said Forster testified before the Assembly Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday in support of a portion of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget that would restore $1.4 million to Amador County and its incorporated cities, in the form of “triple flip” funds that were used beginning in 2004 to replace Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund. Those funds were lost when Amador County Unified School District last year declared itself a “Basic Aid” district.

The Governor’s budget included language to restore that funding to Amador County, now the only county affected by being Basic Aid, because it is the only county with only one school district and no community college. Mono County was also affected, but will not be affected in the coming year. Plasse said Amador County hired Mono County’s lobbyist to continue lobbying for the budget fix for Amador.

Supervisors paid a settlement to the School District this year over a suit seeking further ERAF funds. The county paid $500,000 to settle the suit.

Plasse said he and County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley attended the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Thursday and testified, before that panel also passed the Brown budget item for the ERAF funds. Iley last week said he expected the Legislature to go the same way as the subcommittee decided the issue.

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Amador County – The Jackson City Council directed staff to work on a draft ordinance for possible exemptions to the city sign code for sign manufacturers Monday.

Kam Merzlak, of Merzlak Signs sought clarification from Mayor Pat Crew on whether signs he was working on at his shop violated new city code, approved in March. City Manager Mike Daly in a letter to Merzlak said political signs that were larger than 16 square feet would violate the new code. Merzlak was worried he could be affected when working on 32 square foot signs as allowed in unincorporated areas of the county.

Bret Lewis said: “I flew in from Alabama just to attend today.” He learned to be an entrepreneur from Ralph Merzlak, and is a professional hand-letterer of signs, which he said is a “forgotten art.” He said it takes three days for primer to dry. Multiple layers of oil paint need three days to dry and you cannot paint over wet paint.

He said 20-year-old signs painted by Ralph Merzlak are still up in Jackson: “You guys are passionate about council seats. I’m passionate about hand-painted signs.” He encouraged the council to allow sign shops not to be required to comply with the sign ordinance if they are working on a sign.

Councilman Keith Sweet thought there was a compromise, and he asked why Kam Merzlak had not met with the city attorney in the 18 months since the complaint first occurred. Sweet said they weren’t talking about whether a sign maker makes a sign, “we’re talking about temporary signs identified as political signs.” He asked: “When is it not his work product and when does it become the property of the customer?”

Jeff Aaron, counsel for the California Sign Makers’ Association said in his opinion, it belonged to the manufacturer until it was paid for. Sweet said Merzlak Signs allowed him to display his political sign at the corner, after his purchase. He did it, and his opponent did it. 

Sweet said: “I took advantage of it” but “it is not right in offering it.” He said it was a business practice they had been doing since 1992. Aaron said “it’s a sticky thicket” all around California.

Kam Merzlak said “there is a rule at our shop. The sign is not paid for until it is picked up,” unless the customer has taken a “managerial” position and changed that. Merzlak said drying is part of working.

Sharon Merzlak said she has been in the business 30 years. They also leave signs outside for people to pick up. And she said since John Begovich was in office, he clued in everyone on the shop’s policy.

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Amador County – The 131st Annual Italian Picnic and Parade is set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 1,2 and 3 at the Italian Picnic Grounds on Sutter Hill, Sutter Creek. 

Lisa Klosowski, director of the Sutter Creek Visitor Center gave a notice of the coming events. She said “this event will send you back 100 years in time, to a simpler, less stressful life where old fashioned fun is what it is about.”

Klosowski said since 1882, the Italian Benevolent Society has hosted its Italian Picnic and Parade on the first Sunday in June down Old State Highway 49. The picnic includes an All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti and Chicken Feed Saturday night.

A carnival, live band, dancing, and Bocce Ball for a buck. Friday night is kids’ night and Saturday is a 6 p.m. Italian dinner. The Italian Picnic Parade begins 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 3 in Sutter Creek, an old fashioned, huge parade. A Bocce Tournament is Sunday afternoon.

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Amador County – The exciting summer of new restaurants at Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort continues with the scheduled opening of the Pacific Grill, and specialty grills that celebrates cuisine on two sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Pacific Grill is a combination of two venues. More than a food court, it features the culmination of cultures from both sides of the Pacific Ocean in a quick serve setting with a shared seating area.

The Asian Grill portion, scheduled to open Wednesday, May 30, will offer Southeast Asian wok specialties, Vietnamese style grilled meat and rice bowls, dim sum, pho noodle bowls, and family style dishes like a half chicken fried or poached and whole fish steamed or fried.

The California Grill portion, set to open June 6, will be the new home of Uncle Bud’s burgers, garlic fries, Indian tacos and fry bread, sandwiches, salads, and great pizzas. The Pacific Grill will open daily at 11 a.m.

Pacific Grill is the fourth of five new restaurants opening at Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort this year. Casino guests are already enjoying JoBo’s Junction, a coffee and pastry bar, the new Rancheria Buffet and the return of Lone Wolf Restaurant & Lounge. Next to open will be the 24 hour Margaret’s Café & Bakery later this year.

Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort is located at 12222 New York Ranch Road in Jackson. For more information visit JacksonCasino.com or call 800-822-WINN (9466).

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Amador County – The Board members of Sutter Gold Mining helped mark the dedication of a cornerstone on their Lincoln Mine project near Sutter Creek on Friday, May 11 marking a 20-year effort to get the project open, and resuming hard rock gold mining in the Mother Lode for the first time in half a century.

Board members and officials of Sutter Gold Mining said they waited patiently for the opening and became major shareholders of the company a few years ago, when their predecessor sold shares in the company. President and CEO Doctor Leanne Baker said the passion of the team on this project and future projects shows in their integrity, respect, teamwork, accountability and excellence. She said the project is expected to be self-sustaining and work in Sutter Creek for a long time. 

Geologist Stephen Zahony said the Lincoln Mine will be the first underground, hard rock gold mining operation in the Mother Lode in 50 years. He said local families and land trusts kept the project alive by preserving the land and mineral rights.

David Cochrane, vice president of environmental health and safety said he has worked on 40 permits with over 20 agencies for the project, and he acknowledged help from many at the county level, including Planning Department Director Susan Grijalva, who has worked 20 years on the project. Grijalva attended the ceremony.

Sutter Gold Mining’s board of directors member Mark T. Brown from Vancouver, chairman of the company, was responsible for taking the project public. It now sells over-the-counter stocks. He said the project is made up of geologists, engineers, miners and investment bankers.

Rick Winters, president of RMB Resources, and member of Sutter Gold Mining’s board of directors, said RMB Resources Incorporated is a wholly owned unit of Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank. Winters said RMB is a small group of miners-come-bankers, with offices in Sydney Australia, South Africa and Colorado. He said: “We sit here in California,” while their major shareholder is South African with a Colorado address. Winters said “there is indeed gold in them thar hills.”

The ceremony included a narrated physical display of “triple jack mining” from the 1800s by a group of the miners, using hammers, chisels, and fake dynamite. A “jack” or miner would hold a chisel, while the other miners would strike it with a hammer to put holes in the rock for blasting.

The man holding the chisel, and taking a few hits on his hand from the hammers, was mine manager Jim Smith, a fourth generation hard rock underground miner from Colorado.

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Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-29-12 - TSPN's Tom Slivick talks with Jackson City Manager Mike Daly for an update on the Kennedy Mine Wheelhouse project and Vista Point Park projects. 

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-29-12

• U.S. Department of the Interior approves Ione Band of Miwok Indians’ fee-to-trust application, casino and hotel for Plymouth.

• Supervisors Forster, Plasse testified before the Legislature in support of the governor’s budget restoration of Amador County ‘triple flip’ funds.

• Sutter Gold Mining set its cornerstone earlier this month, marking a milestone toward opening the first hard rock underground gold mine in the Mother Lode in half a century.

• Richard Forster spoke to the California Assembly appropriations committee in opposition to Responsibility Area “Fire Fees”.

• Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort plans Asian Grill, California Grill openings at new restaurant, Pacific Grill.

• Italian Benevolent Society plans parade and picnic June 1-3  

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-29-12

• U.S. Department of the Interior approves Ione Band of Miwok Indians’ fee-to-trust application, casino and hotel for Plymouth.

• Supervisors Forster, Plasse testified before the Legislature in support of the governor’s budget restoration of Amador County ‘triple flip’ funds.

• Sutter Gold Mining set its cornerstone earlier this month, marking a milestone toward opening the first hard rock underground gold mine in the Mother Lode in half a century.

• Richard Forster spoke to the California Assembly appropriations committee in opposition to Responsibility Area “Fire Fees”.

• Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort plans Asian Grill, California Grill openings at new restaurant, Pacific Grill.

• Italian Benevolent Society plans parade and picnic June 1-3  

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-29-12 - TSPN's Tom Slivick talks with Jackson City Manager Mike Daly for an update on the Kennedy Mine Wheelhouse project and Vista Point Park projects. 

Amador County – The U.S. Department of the Interior approved the casino and land fee-to-trust application of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians on Friday, May 25, clearing the way for the tribe’s casino and hotel project in and around Plymouth.

Tribal Chairwoman Yvonne Miller said Friday that the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the Ione Miwok Band’s application to place land into trust and that included the tribe’s projects to build a world class casino, hotel, restaurant and other facilities on land in and around Plymouth.

Miller said the decision was made by the office of the solicitor general and approved by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. She said the notification of the decision came at 1 p.m. eastern time on Friday, or 10 o’clock a.m. local time.

She said: “We are very excited,” and it has been a long time in coming. A 30-day posting period started on Friday, May 25 and people have that time to file a protest on the Interior Department’s decision.

Next steps would be to get the deed to the U.S. Government to put the land into trust, Miller said. Then have the projects that they prepared and start the projects that they have planned, including the casino and hotel, on the future trust land.

Miller said the tribe does not have a name for the casino and hotel project yet.

Yvonne Miller became Chairwoman of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians in 2011 when she was appointed to replace former Chairman Matthew Franklin. Miller said she was reelected in April as Chairwoman. Gil Jamerson is the current tribal vice chairman, and the rest of the Tribal Council is Yolanda Kohn as Secretary, Sandra Waters is treasurer and Jessica Santana is member at large.

The approved trust property is in Amador County, just outside city limits, she said, and some of it may be inside the city limits.

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