Tom
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:10
Ione Looks To Be First Drug Free City in County
Amador County – Last week, Ione unanimously took steps toward banning the sale of marijuana in the city. The Ione City Council passed a 45-day ordinance placing a moratorium on the creation of medical marijuana dispensaries in its city limits, but also directed staff to work on an ordinance that will permanently ban the dispensaries in Ione. Councilman Lee Ard said Friday that Ione, like the rest of the municipalities in the county, is awaiting a California Supreme Court ruling on a challenge to an Anaheim municipal law that bans medical pot dispensaries. “If we can’t legally ban it, then we would have to go back and revisit” the ordinance, Ard said. “There’s been no discussion in Jackson, Sutter Creek or Plymouth, beyond the 45-day moratorium,” Ard said, but “we’re working very hard to become the first drug-free city in Amador County.” The council voted 5-0 to direct staff work on the ordinance. If the Anaheim case is overturned then they will have to go back and revisit it. City Attorney Kristen Castanos said the decision is expected in a couple of months. Ard said: “In Ione, we support our police department, and we know what they are trying to do.” He said the city has several churches, and “all of our citizens go to those churches and we’ve always known that it was not a very popular subject.” He said “it was an easy decision for the council and there was no controversy.” The council knows the people in Ione will not support a medicinal marijuana dispensary. Ard said the council and the people see the Ione Police Chief and officials go to Mule Creek with the IPD drug dog, Hawk. They visit “randomly over the course of the month,” as the warden calls them, and “they make drug arrests of people trying to smuggle drugs into the prison” just about every time they go. A couple of months ago, they arrested a prison guard who lived in Ione. The IPD has also arrested dozens of people in recent months attempting to smuggle various kinds of drugs into the prison, in an ongoing sting operation run by a joint group of law enforcement departments, including the Ione Police Department, Mule Creek’s security, and other police forces. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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News Archive
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:14
Board of Supervisors Pre-Agenda Report with Richard Forster 5-24-10
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News Interview Videos
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:21
Amador County News TSPN TV with Alex Lane 5-24-10
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News Broadcast Videos
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:14
Board of Supervisors Pre-Agenda Report with Richard Forster 5-24-10
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Amador County Board of Supervisors Reports
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:10
Ione Looks To Be First Drug Free City in County
Amador County – Last week, Ione unanimously took steps toward banning the sale of marijuana in the city. The Ione City Council passed a 45-day ordinance placing a moratorium on the creation of medical marijuana dispensaries in its city limits, but also directed staff to work on an ordinance that will permanently ban the dispensaries in Ione. Councilman Lee Ard said Friday that Ione, like the rest of the municipalities in the county, is awaiting a California Supreme Court ruling on a challenge to an Anaheim municipal law that bans medical pot dispensaries. “If we can’t legally ban it, then we would have to go back and revisit” the ordinance, Ard said. “There’s been no discussion in Jackson, Sutter Creek or Plymouth, beyond the 45-day moratorium,” Ard said, but “we’re working very hard to become the first drug-free city in Amador County.” The council voted 5-0 to direct staff work on the ordinance. If the Anaheim case is overturned then they will have to go back and revisit it. City Attorney Kristen Castanos said the decision is expected in a couple of months. Ard said: “In Ione, we support our police department, and we know what they are trying to do.” He said the city has several churches, and “all of our citizens go to those churches and we’ve always known that it was not a very popular subject.” He said “it was an easy decision for the council and there was no controversy.” The council knows the people in Ione will not support a medicinal marijuana dispensary. Ard said the council and the people see the Ione Police Chief and officials go to Mule Creek with the IPD drug dog, Hawk. They visit “randomly over the course of the month,” as the warden calls them, and “they make drug arrests of people trying to smuggle drugs into the prison” just about every time they go. A couple of months ago, they arrested a prison guard who lived in Ione. The IPD has also arrested dozens of people in recent months attempting to smuggle various kinds of drugs into the prison, in an ongoing sting operation run by a joint group of law enforcement departments, including the Ione Police Department, Mule Creek’s security, and other police forces. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Local
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:08
Wooten Says Sutter Creek Sky iIs Not Falling
Amador County – Sutter Creek last week took an audit report in stride, with Mayor Gary Wooten saying “the sky is not falling,” and Councilwoman Linda Rianda deflecting accusations of inaction. Rianda said the Finance Committee of herself and Vice Mayor Tim Murphy had an “entrance” meeting in January with City Auditor Ralph Murcello, who had already begun the 2008-2009 annual audit. Rianda said she “went over those financial concerns that he raised,” and told him to “look into these” and “let us know what you find, or if you find anything to confirm the concerns, or what we need to do to eliminate the issues.” He brought up one particular personnel issue in January, which was handled at the time, Rianda said. She couldn’t reveal more information, but said most issues Murcello brought up were issues the finance committee was already aware of, already discussing and trying to rectify. Rianda said: “Contrary to accusations, we did not ignore the issues that came forward.” She said Finance Director Jeff Gardner and Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe “were supposed to be working on tightening up financial control issues.” Rianda said “there wasn’t good oversight by the council to ensure that those policies were followed.” She said remedies would include “doing more public reports so that people know what we are doing on our projects.” She wants to use spread sheets to report major ongoing projects, showing completion dates, “when it was approved by the city council, and any monies involved.” She wanted to prevent decisions from being made incorrectly, saying: “As projects come to the city for approval, I want to make sure they get on our project spread sheet,” which will “keep it public what projects our council is working on.” Murcello spoke of $200,000 that appeared to be loaned to Gold Rush Ranch developers (“on a handshake”) to purchase Nobel Ranch. The council last week defended that as money spent to extend escrow on the purchase of the land for a golf course and spray field. Murphy said all council members were aware of the spending. Rianda said the city has recouped all but about $50,000 of those funds. Rianda said it was “one of our biggest problems,” where the small town atmosphere allowed the council “to do things with a handshake.” She said now they must “make sure it goes through the approval process and that everyone in the city is aware about it.” She said the small county, small city, small agency practices of the past, and “just the way Sutter Creek used to do business” doesn’t work. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Local
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:07
Sutter Creek Council Likes Tough Audit Report
Amador County – Sutter Creek may not bring back City Auditor Ralph Murcello next year, but it won’t necessarily be because of a tough report he made last week on his annual audit for the fiscal year ending in 2009. Finance Committee member and Councilwoman Linda Rianda said Friday she liked Murcello’s report, as did the other city council members last Tuesday. She said no one on the council “wants to do things improperly.” Much of what the auditor brought up were old issues, but Rianda said she wanted to “make sure those concerns will not be concerns in the future.” She said “financial concerns that came up a number of months ago were acknowledged by the council, were addressed and are being addressed.” She said she made a spread sheet, identified each issue, and looked for what to do to make sure it was not an issue again for the city. Rianda said the city likely would not use Murcello next year, but it was at the auditor’s own suggestion. He told the council that typically, an “entity does not like to use the same auditor for more than 2 or 3 years,” while he has been auditing Sutter Creek for 5 years. Rianda said: “He’s been really helpful on giving us recommendations on some things we can do to improve,” and he has “offered to help the city” and sent the city “copies of what other cities have done.” Murcello in a report with his annual audit last week told the council some practices in other cities to fight financial hard times. He said some cities are making all employees “at will,” (as is also done in other states) and also creating “a new tier for employees hired after July 1st.” Other options are contracting employees and no longer giving paid vacations, as done by the city of Vallejo, which has been in bankruptcy for 2 years. Murcello said cities establish a reserve for economic hard times, such as Carmel, which socks away a portion of its Transient Occupancy Tax. He said cities also have been doing away with the “luxury” of the office manager position. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Local
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:05
CALFIRE to Conduct Prescribed Burns Near West Point
Amador County - The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) will be conducting a prescribed burn in the Lily Valley area east of West Point. The proposed 290 total acres included in the Winton-Schaads Prescribed Burn project slated for Spring 2010 will be divided up into smaller, approximately 20-40 acre, areas which will be treated starting as early as May 20, 2010 with burns possible through mid June. One to two CAL FIRE engines along with personnel from Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) will conduct the burns. This under story burn will treat bear clover, small conifers, brush and grass and will help protect the communities of West Point, Wilseyville, and Lily Valley as well as protect timber resources and the Mokelumne watershed. A prescribed burn is a managed procedure of fire ignition in an area that has control lines in place, as well as, crews and equipment in strategic locations. A prescribed burning project is the result of extensive pre-planning involving studies of the vegetation types, fuel loading, weather patterns, topography, values at risk, and fire history. An environmental analysis is made for each project, along with mitigation measures to address any foreseeable impacts that may be caused by the fire. The prescribed burn project will start with a small “test burn”, as a final check to ensure that conditions are within “prescription”. If conditions are favorable, then the firefighters will begin ignition around the perimeter of the project allowing a low intensity slow burn to consume fuels within the project. Local Unit Chief, Mike Noonan, states that if the fuel moisture, temperatures, humidity and winds are favorable, the burn will proceed as scheduled. If not, the project will be rescheduled. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Fire
Monday, 24 May 2010 06:04
Snow Closes Emigrant Trail to Memorial Day
Amador County - The Mormon Emigrant Trail, located in the Eldorado National Forest between Jenkinson Lake and Highway 88, will not be open to through traffic Memorial Day Weekend due to snow, the Forest Service announced today. Snowdrifts, as deep as five feet near Highway 88, continue to block the popular forest road. The Forest Service does not plow the road and it may remain closed into the middle of June. “The blessing of a good snow year will cause some inconvenience for travel through the high country. It’s important for people to help spread the word that this route is still closed,” said Acting Eldorado National Forest Supervisor Duane Nelson. “In the past, people have missed the road closed signs or believed the GPS devices in their vehicle when it told them to take Mormon Emigrant Trail, only to be stopped by snow. At best, they lost some valuable time, but in some cases they spent a very uncomfortable night in the cold.” Travelers are invited to check the Eldorado National Forest website for recreation related information: www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado. Visitors may also receive important road information on Twitter by joining the Eldorado National Forest twitter: Eldorado NF. And, visitors can check with the nearest ranger station for road and campground information. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Transportation
