Amador County – Kirkwood Mountain Resort, the popular ski and snowboard resort located on the eastern edge of Amador County, reopened last Friday thanks to recent snowfall and ideal snowmaking conditions. Julie Koster, Kirkwood’s Director of Sales and Marketing, said the resort will reopen with intermediate terrain along with a handful of terrain park features including boxes and trails. “Forecasters are calling for a dramatic change in the weather pattern next week,” said Tim Cohee, Kirkwood’s Senior Vice President. “The amount of snowfall predicted will likely allow us to open much more terrain by next weekend, December 12 and 13,” he added. Kirkwood is well known for having one of the highest average snowfalls and a broad selection of advanced terrain. Kirkwood received an approximate 804 inches of snow during the 2005/2006 ski season. Other upcoming events include the Tahoe Adventure Film Festival on December 12, a series of sports films at the Montbleu Hotel & Casino in South Lake Tahoe. The event is co-sponsored by Kirkwood and festival organizers. Kirkwood Mountain Resort is located 177 miles from the Bay Area along scenic Highway 88. For more information about Kirkwood Mountain Resort, call (209) 258-6000. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Jackson police have in custody the suspect in a string of auto burglaries that occurred last August in Jackson. Aaron Vance, a 21-year-old resident of San Andreas in Calaveras County, confessed and subsequently self-surrendered on November 23 after an investigation by Jackson Police Detective Douglas Grey. On the morning of August 7, Jackson Police Officer Mark Harmon responded to ten different auto burglaries in which “each of the victim vehicles had been ramsacked and numerous unsecured items stolen,” according to a press release. Harmon eventually obtained a “surveillance photo from a local business camera where the suspect had attempted to use a credit card that was stolen during the crime spree.” Grey then distributed the photo to “surrounding allied law enforcement agencies as well as local probation and parole offices.” A Calaveras County Probation Officer identified the suspect as Vance. After agreeing to an interview at the Jackson Police station, Vance was confronted with evidence and confessed to committing the burglaries. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Amador County Supervisors held a public hearing last week on a draft agriculture ordinance, then directed staff to look at threshold limits for exemptions to its draft new “Hazardous Materials Business Plan.” Dozens attended and some asked about raising the amount of propane or other fuel that could be stored and still qualify for exemption. Jeff Gibson, chairman of the advisory committee recommending the draft ordinance, said he can do research to find out if the limits are going to work, and possibly “reevaluate the limits at remote facilities,” logging operations and also above-ground fuel storage. Supervisor Chairman Ted Novelli said “when you do these limits, keep the fire people in mind. We want it user-friendly, but we need to keep firefighters safe.” Gibson said he has “too many relatives who are firefighters” to make that mistake. Deaver Vineyards owner Ken Deaver asked supervisors if an agricultural operation had 5 propane-fueled wind machines at 5 different locations, would he have to write 5 separate Business Plans for fuel storage tanks. Novelli said Friday that the board will await input from fire and first responders, especially regarding fuel storage exemptions and the amounts of fuels allowed. Novelli said supervisors “want first responders to give input before the board signs off on anything.” That includes paramedics, fire departments and battalions, among others. The exemption thresholds in the draft ordinance included requiring business plan reports for above-ground tanks that exceeded 1,100 gallons of gasoline, propane, or diesel fuel. Small agricultural handlers in the draft ordinance had specific determination, said Mike Israel, Amador County Environmental Health Director. He said it is any ag operation with 1-3 different chemicals that require reporting. He said the “business plan is predicated on the number of different materials that the business has that are over the threshold to require reporting.” Israel said the advisory committee will look at the issues brought up at the meeting, and bring back recommendations. Israel said: “One of the key items was increasing the threshold for propane.” Other requests mentioned specific numbers. He said the committee will review the questions and see if anything that they might “recommend to the board would be OK with those most at risk in the event of fire.” The advisory committee next meets January 21st, 2010. He said they would likely take possible recommendations to the fire chiefs’ association and maybe other groups, to see if they had concerns. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – TSPN Sports made two advances this football season, to supplement its usual Game of the Week coverage, including the creation of the weekly TSPN Sports Talk with Frank Halvorson in October, and the affiliation with the national sports website, MaxPreps.com in November. The show began with an October 7th broadcast, with Halvorson introducing the show as nameless, but it soon became the AM Live Sports show. A month later, it became TSPN Sports Talk, with Frank Halvorson. On the show, Halvorson talks about the TSPN TV “Game of the Week,” which typically broadcasts the week after that game. Halvorson interviews local coaches from Amador and Argonaut High Schools, and talks about what’s happening with the local teams. Games of the Week included football games with the local Mustangs from Argonaut in Jackson and the Thundering Herd from Amador in Sutter Creek, playing in non-league and league games. Local volleyball was featured in one game of the week earlier in the season, and the season ended with the “Big Game” matchup between Amador and Argonaut, to end the Mother Lode League 2009-2010 football season. On November 11th, TSPN began participating as an affiliate of MaxPreps.com, a national sports website that covers a variety of sports. The partnership includes a posting on MaxPreps.com with a link to TSPN Sports Talk with Frank Halvorson. The 8-minute Sports Talk show is uploaded to the MaxPreps website and posted in the video area. Sports Talk airs live every Wednesday at 7:30 a.m., on Comcast Channel 7, and on Volcano Channel 5, and it also airs live in streaming video at www.TSPNTV.com. Sports Talk can also be seen in archives on the TSPN website, listed under “Local Sports.” TSPN production assistant for Sports Talk, Alan Sprenkel, said “with the football season over, Frank is going to be moving into the basketball season.” The basketball season started November 29th, he said, so starting on Wednesday (December 9th), Halvorson’s shows will cover the new season’s sports. TSPN Sports can be found on MaxPreps by clicking the “video” link on the right, searching California, and then either Amador or Argonaut as the preferred school. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Ione Recreation Commission will hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss an environmental review of Howard Park. The commission will also discuss an agreement to fund bathroom repairs at Ed Hughes Arena and hear a report on improving the infield of a Howard Park baseball diamond. The commission meets 6 p.m. Wednesday at Ione City Hall, with the meeting open to the public. The commission is Chairman Russ Baldwin, and Commissioners Rosemary Johnson, Laurie Lord and Fraser West, with one vacancy. City Manager Kim Kerr in a report recommended accepting an environmental review with a Mitigated Negative Impact Declaration, holding a public hearing, with an opportunity for the public to comment. Kerr said after the hearing, the commission should have “staff formally respond to any formal comments on the Master Plan and Initial Study” and the “Mitigated Negative Declaration.” She also recommended approving the declaration. The environmental review on the Howard Park Master Plan has been on-going for the past year. The commission will also review a draft Howard Park Master Plan with the Negative Declaration. Both are available for public review through December 14th. Kerr said on “completion of the Public Hearing, staff will review the comments and prepare a formal response to the comments for the City Council to incorporate into the reports and finalize them for adoption.” The declaration’s cost is close to $13,520. The Ione Recreation Commission will also consider an agreement with Amador County Recreation Agency on funding to construct bathroom facilities at Ed Hughes Memorial Arena. Kerr said to receive the grant funding, the “city must have an approved lease agreement.” Staff reviewed the agreement and recommended the commission in turn recommend the agreement to Ione City Council for approval. The commission will also discuss replacing infield materials at the Howard Park baseball field Number 2. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced Friday the temporary closure of Ebbetts Pass in Alpine County and Sonora Pass in Tuolumne County due to current road conditions. This closure will occur periodically throughout the winter season. Caltrans said in a release that weather conditions on the passes have made for unsafe road conditions for both motorists and Caltrans crews. Caltrans issued a number of safety reminders. These include preparing for the worst conditions, remembering that winter weather and road conditions can change rapidly, carrying chains during snowy weather, and installing chains when highway signs indicate they are required. For the latest road condition information, you can tune your radio to the Caltrans Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) or call our Road Condition Hotline at 1-800-427-ROAD (7623). Changeable Message Signs with flashing beacons will have information regarding the pass closure. Story by Alex Lane. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.