Amador County – A Sutter Creek citizens’ group announced Monday it had “officially launched a referendum campaign” aimed at stopping the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort. The group wants to overturn related Sutter Creek City Council actions passed last week in conjunction with approval of the project. Sutter Creek resident and Gold Rush opponent Bart Weatherly in a release Monday said his group, Preserve Historic Sutter Creek “launched a referendum campaign to reverse legislative actions taken by” the city council. He said “reversing these actions will make null and void the approval of Gold Rush Ranch housing development.” The 1,334-unit project, including a golf course, resort, hotel and housing, was approved January 4th. Weatherly said opponents need 160 signatures to get a referendum on the ballot, and the simple majority vote would target not approval of Gold Rush, but rather amendments to a zoning ordinance and the General Plan. Weatherly said door-to-door signature gathering would start Saturday, January 16th, after the city provides updated amendments. Weatherly said: “We cannot do a referendum on the approval of Gold Rush because that is not a legislative act. We are doing referenda on the ordinances.” He said Preserve Historic Sutter Creek is made up of 20-30 members that meet regularly. Weatherly said: “Our goal is to stop Gold Rush as it is now presented.” He said repealing the ordinances would effectively stop Gold Rush and “force a 1-year time out,” meaning developers “have to go away for a year” and come back to the city with “a whole different project.” The group opposes the size and impacts of Gold Rush, but likes the project, Weatherly said, adding that it was originally proposed at 1/5th the size it is now, with a golf course, clubhouse, restaurant, 60-room hotel, 300 timeshares, and more than 600 acres of open space. Weatherly said he was “very optimistic about our chance.” He said 300 people signed the Vote “No on gold rush petitions, of which 200 were actual Sutter Creek residents.” Only registered Sutter Creek voters can sign the referendum petitions. Weatherly said his core group is not “no-growth” and “ultra-left”, but conservative supporters of “slow growth” and “controlled growth.” Weatherly said: “If we don’t prevail, our only thing we can do is make sure the developer is held to his promises.” Amador County Elections said the referendum needs 10 percent of the last registration total to make a ballot. Sutter Creek had 1,584 registered voters January 5th, meaning petitioners need 159 valid signatures to place a referendum on the ballot. 2010 regular elections include a June 8th primary and a November 2nd general election. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - Statistics released by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network show the supply of child care services falls far short of demand, as detailed in the 2009 California Child Care Portfolio. Based on data collected from all 58 counties over the course of 2008, the report reveals that licensed child care is available for only 27 percent of children with parents in the work force; 88 percent of child care requests to child care resource and referral programs (R&Rs) for children birth to five years are for full time care; 75 percent of parents are requesting care because they are working; and parents lack care options during non-traditional hours. It says that statewide, the number of children living in poverty has increased 5 percent between 2006 and 2008. In Amador County, only 31 percent of children ages 0-13 had parents in the labor force for whom a licensed child care slot was available. There are a total of 709 licensed child care slots in the county. The major reasons Amador parents seek child care are because of employment (77 percent), the parent is seeking employment (23 percent), or the parent is in school or training (6 percent). The network cites the “continuing downward spiral of California’s economy” as a major factor in the divide between supply and demand. “At a time when working families are struggling harder than ever to find and keep their jobs, everyone concerned about economic recovery should be paying close attention to what is happening to our licensed child care supply in California,” said Patty Siegel, Executive Director of the Network. The report says over half of R&Rs reported significant changes triggered primarily by foreclosure and unemployment. Donna Sneeringer, Public Affairs Manager at Sacramento-based Child Action Inc., says Sacramento County has seen “over a 20 percent drop in the supply of licensed child care since 2006.” She said this is most apparent in communities hard hit by home foreclosures. “However, as people return to employment, families will have fewer child care options which will complicate their return to the workforce. It is clear in our community that restoring the supply of child care must be included in steps to our economic recovery,” she said. The 2009 Portfolio is the 7th in a biennial series based on “tens of thousands of calls made to R&Rs throughout the state, as families attempt to locate specific child care.” Information about the supply of child care is based on R&R databases of active, licensed providers. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Plymouth City Council at its meeting today is scheduled to get a report from council members and staff on an early December trip to the city of Yountville in Napa, where the small town thrives with tourism. City Manager Dixon Flynn planned the trip to show the council how the town, with a population of 3,600, has embraced and thrived what he calls agricultural tourism. Flynn said Yountville has “Transient Occupancy Tax” receipts of $3.6 million annually, compared to Plymouth, which Finance Director Jeff Gardner said earns a TOT tax income of $150,000 annually. The Plymouth contingent went to hear about Yountville’s programs and their successes. Making the trip with Flynn were Mayor Patricia Fordyce, Councilman Jon Colburn, City Clerk Gloria Stoddard and Community Development Director Barry Siebe. Flynn talked about the trip after their return in December. He said the trip was “really enlightening.” Yountville has “generated quite a few jobs throughout their community with good salaries,” and have “actually built their reputation for being a culinary destination,” with “5 world-class restaurants.” Flynn said the city has a 65-room hotel, built at a cost of $65 million, or a million dollars a room. He said: “Where are we going to find those kinds of investors?” He said Yountville is “built for rich tourists,” and local residents have to go to Napa to get to a drug store. Yountville officials lived by the credo that “urban growth occurs in urban areas,” and its planning does “not allow restaurants at wineries,” and retail in rural areas. He said Plymouth and the Shenandoah Valley wine country could benefit from that practice, and invite people to come spend money, then go home to Sacramento. He said ag tourism would help create jobs and keep young people from deserting Plymouth and Amador County. Stoddard said it was a worthwhile trip, and the council likely will get a full report, as scheduled on today’s agenda. Stoddard said in a way, Plymouth was better off than Yountville because they are in the middle of wine country, while Plymouth is “the gateway to the wine country.” Yountville is about 9 miles from Napa itself. Flynn is scheduled to give a verbal report of the trip today. The council will also hear a report form consultant Richard Prima on the status of the city water pipeline, attaching Plymouth to the Amador Water Agency plant on Ridge Road in Sutter Creek. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – A panel of current and past land managers and a national sportsman's organization will make a presentation at the next Amador-El Dorado Forest Forum. The meeting is Wednesday, January 20th at The Twisted Fork Restaurant, located at 53 Main Street in Sutter Creek. A panel of current and past US Forest Service land managers and a representative from Trout Unlimited will discuss future land management designations. Under discussion is the Caples Creek Roadless Area, home to robust populations of wild trout and big game species and the primary source of drinking water for most of the Highway 50 corridor. The Amador-El Dorado Forest Forum is a group of forestry professionals, forest educators, and others interested in forestry practices and issues in the two-county area. The Forum meets once a month in fall, winter, and spring months at various locations in the two-county area. The Forum awards scholarships to local college students majoring in forestry and sponsors the California Forestry Challenge. Social Hour begins at 6:00 p.m., and dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. An RSVP is required for dinner. To reserve a space for dinner contact Diane Dealey Neill at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (530) 417-1960 by Monday, January 18th. Raffle tickets to support the Forest Forum may be purchased at the door. Donations help support scholarships and forestry education efforts. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Volunteers and staff of the Amador County Recreation Agency were working this week to prepare the grounds of the Kennedy Mine for a Saturday flying disc golf tournament, at the temporary course located on the hills around the former hard rock gold mine in Jackson. Adam Lindsey and Pete Staple of ACRA were joined by Brandon Wedge of Play It Again Sports on Monday as they carted around baskets used in the game, to find concrete post anchors buried in 18 holes around the golf course. ACRA program specialists Lindsey, and Matt Nestor, will host the tournament, which will be a fund-raiser to help build a flying disc golf course at Mollie Joyce Park in Pine Grove. ACRA acquired the Mollie Joyce Park from Fred Joyce in 2008, with the aim to keep the park open for public recreation. ACRA will create interpretive trails and other recreation opportunities at the park, and already, a work crew reclaimed the 2 Little League Baseball fields, under park director Pete Staple, cutting overgrown weeds, building infields and trimming outfields. ACRA started work on the Mollie Joyce Park disc golf course in April, with the help of volunteers, including local and regional players. The course has been designed and laid out on the 76-acre park, with volunteer designers include long-time disc golf professional Charlie Callahan of El Dorado County, and local players Wedge of Sutter Creek, Paul Dalmau of Pine Grove, and first-season professional Ray Birch of Ione. Paul Watkins also helped map out Mollie Joyce Park with a GPS unit, and Staple and a Pine Grove CYA work crew cut fire breaks in the scrub brush early last year. The course has received an in-kind donation of concrete and metal flashing from Lowe’s, and the Jackson Rancheria has sponsored one of the baskets for the course. Callahan told ACRA Executive Director Tracey Towner-Yep that the property identified at Mollie Joyce Park for disc golf could potentially house a 27-hole course. Towner-Yep said sponsors are being sought, and the course would cost about $10,000 to install. The tournament Saturday will be held at the temporary ACRA disc golf course, built by the agency and volunteers in 2007 at the Kennedy Mine, and used for 2 tournaments. The tournament starts at 10 a.m. Saturday and includes a singles round and a doubles round. The Kennedy Mine will give good opportunities for spectators to attend and watch the field of players, expected to include professional, amateur and beginning division players. For information and details about the tournament, call ACRA at 223-6349. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel has donated $50,000 to five local organizations. The funds are from the 9th annual Giving Season promotion during which Jackson Rancheria pledged to donate $1 to local charities for every 3,000 points earned by all Dreamcatcher’s Club members in November and December. This year’s recipients are the Amador County Recreation Agency, Amador County Senior Center, Calaveras Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity Calaveras, and Interfaith Food Bank. Each organization received $10,000 in early January, a time when most charities’ funds are seriously low. “In this declining economy,” notes Kathleen Harmon, Director of the Interfaith Food Bank, adding: “Jackson Rancheria continues to make it a priority to give back to the community. This donation matters to us. It’s the biggest donation we ever get and it truly makes a big difference in the services we can provide.” Jeannie Hayward, Director of the Calaveras Food Bank, adds “The partnership with the Resource Connection Food Bank and Jackson Rancheria is significant in the feeding of underserved families in Calaveras County. We appreciate so much that the Rancheria has a giving spirit and understand the needs of the community. Your donation is meaningful to us and does make a difference in what we can do for our community.” Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel is located at 12222 New York Ranch Road, Jackson, CA 95642. For more information, call 800-822-WINN or visit JacksonCasino.com. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Jackson City Council on Monday unanimously approved to refinance city water bonds in order to achieve additional savings in overall debt service. A memorandum from the City’s Bond Counsel stated that “with respect to market conditions…such a refinancing would produce an aggregate savings to the City of approximately $320,000.” City Manager Mike Daly said savings could be as much as $350,000. “That is the range we’re trying to achieve, but that is all dependent on interest rates,” he said. In 1992, the City entered into two sales agreements with the City of Jackson Public Financing Authority totaling $4,840,000 in order to finance various improvements on facilities and property it owns and operates, including a municipal water system. The city refunded those agreements through the issuance of bonds in 1998. The resolution before the council said “the City has determined it is in the interests of the City to provide for the issuance of its 2010 Water Revenue Refunding Bonds…to refund its obligations” from 1998. According to state law, the City is authorized to issue its bonds for the purpose of refunding any outstanding indebtedness payable from the revenues of these properties. The Council authorized the issuance of the bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $3,000,000, provided that the payments of principal and interest will “produce a net present value savings, as compared to the 1998 bonds.” Authorization was granted to Stinson Securities, LLC of San Francisco, to carry out the process. Daly said most of this will happen in the next three weeks. He said this could equal up to $40,000 a year in savings for the first four years after it is implemented and “could lessen the need to increase water rates.” An update on the result of these savings will take place at an upcoming council meeting, to be announced. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – In the wake of a student’s lawsuit alleging religious persecution at Amador High School, the Amador County Unified School District board of trustees late last month received a letter from the Foothill Jewish Community urging a more broad approach to combat intolerance. The December 24th letter, included in today’s school board agenda packet, was signed by members of Bnai Israel Foothill Jewish Community congregation, including Bob Baird, Sharyin Cunningham, Lynnette Lipp, Lenora Phillips and Arnie Zeiderman. Addressed to Superintendent Dick Glock and school board, the letter said a congregation committee voted unanimously December 19th to contact the district “regarding our ongoing concern that the district continue with substantive efforts to address the perception that intolerant and sometimes anti-Jewish comments and behaviors are expressed in class and on campus in our schools.” The committee noted said it “appreciates your generic efforts at recognizing ‘intolerance’ as a problem,” and urged “in the context of the alleged historic pattern” that a “more comprehensive program be adopted and broadly implemented” for students, faculty, and administrative and support staff. In the letter, the Bnai committee agreed with a national Jewish group “that all parties will benefit from recognized experts in addressing intolerance.” The letter supported a program presented by Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Chapin-Pinnoti. The committee offered to work with trustees in community monitoring, and specifically requested “establishing a timeline for implementing the full program,” and “informing the general community through routine news channels.” The committee sought a response and commitment from school board. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.