Obamacare takes from Medicare
To the Editor,
In response to Lloyd Kramer’s Aug. 17 letter:
Do you not realize that Obama is taking from $716-$750 billion dollars from our Medicare funds to support his Obamacare? Just what do you think that will do to Medicare?
I worked insurance most of my life. This is the worst thing that can happen to our Medicare. We will have 15 non-medical people telling our doctors what they can do and not do for us. It will take months to get an MRI or CAT scan. The ERs will have 8 to 10 hour waiting to be seen.
I worked with Canadians who had socialized medicine and they came to the U.S. to get their medical care because it took forever to get tests done, etc., in Canada.
If we put Obama back in office, you will lose a lot more than your Medicare.
With Paul Ryan, he will see that nothing changes for those who have it now or are just getting on it.
Obama is not telling the truth about any of this. He hasn’t told the truth about much of anything.
I pray the seniors wake up before election day and study what is really the truth. I know because I worked with Medicare and Medicaid for years.
Obama’s plan will destroy Medicare/Medical.
Patricia DuFur
Sonora
Obama sign is offensive
To the Editor,
What is it that Dorothy Stevens (July 27 Letter to the Editor) finds “uplifting” about the Phoenix Lake Road display?
It it connecting her president to the man responsible for the murder of 6 million Jews and the deaths of millions of allied soldiers in World War II? Is it the black portrayal of her president? One can disagree with the current administration, as many did with the last, but some level of decency should be exercised.
This display is shameful and I think Mike Macon’s letter expressed it best, “Sir, have you no decency?”
Sharon Petersen
Twain Harte
It’s time to
shake up TUD
To the Editor,
Californians know earthquakes; the earth’s plates are held in check by friction for decades. Then one day the forces of change because movements that release a force causing the whole thing to erupt. Social change can look a bit like tectonic events.
Years of resentments and frustrations can suddenly erupt, fracturing long-held relationships or understandings. In 1773, English tea was dumped in Boston Harbor by frustrated colonists.
In 2010, Tea Party freshman took ideological control of Congress successfully changing the conversation around federal spending limits.
Today in Tuolumne we face a fault line that runs through the residents and Tuolumne Utilities District. Tensions are mounting.
Humans cannot survive five days without water. Every community depends on successful water management.
The board overseeing TUD swore a promise to be good stewards of public funds. No other authority has access to the water district organizational assets: minutes, files, policies, records, emails, invoices, contracts, request for bids, accounting ledgers, memorandums of understanding, etc. That data describes exactly how the district operates.
However, unlike the bankrupt counties in our state, our county will suffer no surprises going forward, right?
Tectonic tension builds over-time as multiple small infractions occur. Disasters are often a combination of small infractions that reinforce one another.
We need a water Board that we can trust. Trust isn’t simply about truthfulness — its a matter of amity and goodwill.
Laws don’t have to be broken for trust to be squandered. When management is willing to sacrifice long-term economic security for short-term political advantage — trust is eroded. It’s time to shake up the board at TUD.
Ruanne Mikkelsen
Sonora
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Letters to the editor for August 22, 2012
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Obituaries for August 23, 2012
Clyde Ernest Anderson Jr.
Aug. 30, 1920 — April 1, 2012
Mountain Ranch resident Clyde Ernest Anderson Jr. died April 1 at Mark Twain Convalescent Hospital. He was 91.
Mr. Anderson was born in Oakland and grew up in Fremont.
He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later worked as a manufacturing engineer for Westinghouse in Sunnyvale for 30 years until retirement.
In 1981 he moved his family to Mountain Ranch.
He was a founding member of the Kennel Club of the Sierra and the Free and Accepted Masonic Lodge in Sunnyvale. He was a life member of the Manufacturing Engineers Union.
He enjoyed raising and showing bulldogs for many years.
Mr. Anderson was preceded in death by his children, William Anderson and Clyde Anderson III; and granddaughter, Crystal Chase.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Betty Anderson, of Mountain Ranch; his sisters, Sandra Frates, of Scappoose, Ore., and Claudine Chase, of Mountain Ranch; six grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Masonic Lodge No. 78, 5 W. St. Charles St., San Andreas.
San Andreas Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
Ava Nicole Hickman
July 21, 2012 — Aug. 16, 2012
Ava Nicole Hickman died Aug. 16 at Sonora Regional Medical Center. She was 1 month old.
She was born in Sonora to Jared and Breanna Hickman.
She is survived by her parents; her grandparents, Jeremi and Heather Barrios, of Lathrop, and James Hickman, of Turlock; and aunt and uncle, Jeremi and Sydnee Barrios, of Lathrop.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Sierra Bible Church on Tuolumne Road.
Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Cherie Kathleen ‘Katy’ Rice
Jan. 20, 1956 — Aug. 8, 2012
Sonora resident Cherie Kathleen “Katy” Rice died Aug. 8 at home after battling multiple system atrophy for eight years. She was 56.
Mrs. Rice was born in born in St. Louis, Mo., and raised in Colorado.
She lived in Sonora for 22 years.
She was an artist for more than 20 years and enjoyed working with stained glass.
She was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy, related to Parkinson’s type diseases, in January 2010.
Mrs. Rice is survived by her husband, Terry Rice, of Sonora; her mother, Geraldine McKinley, of Colorado, many other family members in Sonora and Colorado.
Donations can be made to MSA research through www.caringforkaty.com or by calling 743-3740.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 23, at the the River’s Edge Restaurant in Knights Ferry.
Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Mae (Watts) Varner
Jan. 9, 1929 — Aug. 9, 2012
Sonora resident Mae (Watts) Varner died of cancer Aug. 9 at Sonora Regional Medical Center. She was 83.
Mrs. Varner was born in Dukedom, Ky.
She and husband, Lewis, moved the family to Sonora in 1968.
She worked as a seamstress for 23 years until retirement. They owned Varner’s Upholstery, which they ran out of their garage. Mr. Varner did the upholstery while Mrs. Varner did the cutting and sewing.
She enjoyed cooking, traveling, bowling, watching Oakland A’s baseball and going to church.
Mrs. Varner was preceded in death by her husband, Lewis Varner, in 2005.
She is survived by her children, Dana Varner, of Sonora, Richard Varner, of Tracy, Nathan Varner, of Salinas, and Robert Caldwell, of Valley Center, Kan; her siblings, John Watts, of Milburn, Ky., and Ethel Dillon, of Clinton, Ky.; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Graveside services were held at Sunset View Cemetery in Jackson.
Heuton Memorial Chapel handled the arrangements.
Notices
BAUER — Dean Bauer, 42, of Sonora, died Sunday at home. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
DAVIS — Robert Davis, 70, of Jamestown, died Monday at Sonora Regional Medical Center. Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
EVANS — Michael Evans, 62, of Sonora, died Friday at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
HARRIS — Walter Harris, 91, of Tuolumne, died Thursday at Avalon Care Center of Sonora. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
HURD — Beverly Hurd, 82, of Sonora, died Monday at home. Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
HORNIBROOK — Jerry Hornibrook, 72, of Sonora, died Saturday at home. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
JORDAN — Benjamin Jordan, 51, of Sonora, died Monday at home. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
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News of record for August 22, 2012
TUOLUMNE COUNTY
The Sheriff’s Office reported the following:
MONDAY
8:03 a.m., Sonora area — The clubhouse was vandalized at Sonora Hills on the 19700 block of Greenley Road.
11:54 a.m., Tuolumne — A man said his shoulder bag containing his pilot’s license, Chicken Ranch Bingo pass and other miscellaneous items was stolen at Mother Lode Christian School on the 18300 block of Gardner Avenue.
11:57 a.m., Columbia — A man on the 13100 block of Dondero Road said someone used his Social Security number to open a cellular telephone account and he received the bill.
12:26 p.m., East Sonora — A compressor, vacuum and other items were stolen from a business on the 13800 block of Mono Way.
12:55 p.m., Pinecrest — Someone said a man was taking photos of little girls at Pinecrest Lake and left “quickly” after being confronted.
1:40 p.m., Jamestown — An antique wristwatch worth $625 was stolen from the front display case inside of a business on the 18200 block of Main Street.
2:39 p.m., Sonora area — Someone on the 11100 block of Currey Drive reported credit card fraud.
4:54 p.m., Columbia — A woman said she was “beat up” by an unknown woman and two men while walking to her vehicle in a parking lot on the 11600 block of Columbia College Drive. She said the suspects didn’t taken anything from her and she doesn’t know why she was targeted.
The Sonora Police Department reported the following:
MONDAY
2:15 p.m., theft — Someone on Highway 49 sent a check but it was intercepted and altered. It was cashed in the amount of $161.
2:46 p.m., fight — A man and woman were fighting on the baseball field at Sonora High School on North Washington Street, but stopped and left the area before officers arrived.
4:53 p.m., theft — A woman said her backpack was stolen in Courthouse Square on South Washington Street.
10:15 p.m., lost property — A woman was jogging around the track at Sonora High School on North Washington Street and someone took her car keys and water bottle. She had her vehicle towed.
CALAVERAS COUNTY
The Sheriff’s Office reported the following:
MONDAY
11:59 a.m., Copperopolis — A business was vandalized on O’Byrnes Ferry Road.
4:56 p.m., Copperopolis — A vehicle was vandalized on Bridle Point Circle.
8:38 p.m., Angels Camp — Citations were issued for a fight on Pool Station Road.
TUESDAY
2:35 p.m., Valley Springs — An arrest was made for public intoxication on Demin Court.
Felony bookings
MONDAY
12:30 p.m., Mountain Ranch — Robert Allan London, 49, of the 17100 block of Baker Riley Road, Mokelumne Hill, was booked on suspicion of possessing ammunition while being prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, after an arrest at Mountain Ranch and Whiskey Slide roads.
6 p.m., Angels Camp — Roger Allan Winans Jr., 57, of the 1200 block of Bush Street, was booked on suspicion of assault, assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, resisting arrest and a misdemeanor charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, after an arrest on the 300 block of North Baker Street.
Arrests
Cited on suspicion of driving while under the influence:
MONDAY
4:10 p.m., San Andreas — Terry Rae Scott, 46, of the 1500 block of South Main Street, Angels Camp, was arrested on Highway 49 north of Highway 12.
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San Francisco finds photos powerful
Things are picture perfect these days for Groveland photographer Robb Hirsch.
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Datebook for Aug. 23 to 29
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Nothing imaginery about laughs in MCT’s ‘Invalid’
There are at least a dozen ways in which “The Imaginary Invalid” will momentarily cure what ails you. Be you bothered by the heat, the economy, the presidential campaign, partisan politics, or health care, Murphy’s Creek Theater clearly understands that laughter is the best medicine.
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News of record for August 23, 2012
CALAVERAS COUNTY
The Sheriff’s Office reported the following:
TUESDAY
12:18 p.m., Murphys — A bike was stolen from a closed shed on Big Trees Road.
1:47 p.m., Burson — Someone using a stolen key was trespassing at a building on Cheyenne Drive.
WEDNESDAY
1:40 a.m., Valley Springs — Someone was arrested for public intoxication at Paloma Road and Sequoia Avenue.
Felony bookings
TUESDAY
2 p.m., San Andreas — James Anthony Giuffra, 29, of an unknown address, was booked on suspicion of burglary, forging a prescription, criminal conspiracy and a misdemeanor charge of public intoxication, after an arrest on Highway 49 south of Toyanza Drive.
TUOLUMNE COUNTY
The Sheriff’s Office reported the following:
TUESDAY
12:55 p.m., Columbia — A man said someone was stealing his water on the 12700 block of Yankee Hill Road.
1:29 p.m., Jamestown — Someone stole gas from vehicles parked outside of a residence on the 10600 block of Golf Links Road. The suspect jumped on a motor scooter and drove away when the homeowner went outside.
2:02 p.m., Tuolumne — A woman said someone tried to break into her sister’s apartment on the 18400 block of Tuolumne Road.
3:08 p.m., Sonora area — A woman said there was stolen property in front of her house on the 23800 block of Oxbow Lane South. The items included a blower, generator, small air compressor, small tool box and two remote control boats.
7:09 p.m., Tuolumne — Someone called to report the rider of an orange dirt bike who did a “wheelie” across the intersection of Yosemite Road and Maple Avenue, and then fled the area driving recklessly.
Felony bookings
TUESDAY
2:40 p.m., Jamestown — Hannah Aline Prosser, 21, of an unknown address in Pints, was booked on suspicion of possessing drugs and a misdemeanor charge of possessing drug paraphernalia, after an arrest on Highway 108 west of Jamestown.
11:45 p.m., Tuolumne — Darryl Tinkle, 49, of an unknown address in Tuolumne, was booked on suspicion of assault, after an arrest on the 18600 block of Cedar Street.
Arrests
Cited on suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs:
TUESDAY
9:30 p.m., Tuolumne — Michael Thomas Barber Jr., 22, of Mount Eaton Road, was arrested at Carter and Bay streets.
The Sonora Police Department reported the following:
TUESDAY
7:58 a.m., assault — A fight broke out at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on West Bradford Avenue. Two men attending a free breakfast began to fight after some name calling. One man was taken by private vehicle to Sonora Regional Medical Center and the other ran off toward the downtown area. Officers checked the area but were unable to locate the suspect. The man in the hospital signed a citizen’s arrest form.
WEDNESDAY
1:15 a.m., burglary — A vehicle that belongs to an employee of Sonora Regional Medical Center was burglarized in the parking lot on Greenley Road sometime between 5 p.m. and midnight.
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Letters to the editor for August 23, 2012
No force or effect resolutions
To the Editor,
Why would the Board of Supervisors vote on a resolution that essentially has no force and effect? In the same vein one might ask: Why would a couple get engaged if they had no intention of getting married?
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved a resolution that board Chairman, Dick Pland said is not binding on the county.
The three board members approving the resolution assured the sparse audience that the resolution is “only advisory” and has no force and effect of law.
So why bother to vote on something that means nothing?
The dirty little secret is that it does have meaning. An engagement ring is a visible commitment to the future marriage of two people.
The board resolution is a visible commitment to a future marriage of the Blueprint Plan and the county General Plan.
The Blueprint Plan is what the Board adopted by resolution and it provides guidance to county staff on all future planning issues.
Even though it supposedly has no force and effect the resolution will be the gorilla in the room whenever the county General Plan is updated.
The gorilla may not have a vote, but it won’t need one because he has all the bananas. Don’t go along with the gorilla and you don’t get your state and federal grant funds.
What is the Blueprint Plan? Hint: Government control of how you live.
If you are a concerned citizen and value your liberty you will take the time to find out about the Blueprint Plan. Thanks to Supervisors Evan Royce and Randy Hanvelt for standing up against this invasion of Big Brother. Visit http://portal.co.tuolumne.ca.us Search ‘Tuolumne Tomorrow.’
David Wynne
Columbia
Water conservation
To the Editor,
Again we are being told to conserve water. We should be doing this all year for good reasons. We should also conserve propane, electricity and gasoline as much as practical. The questions are:
1. Besides telling us what to do, what is the water company(s) doing to help now and for the future?
2. Are they selling what we conserve to others?
3. Are they taking on new customers?
If the shortage is real, more water consumers should not be added to the problem.
Roy Jueal
Twain Harte
Playing God with world markets
To the Editor,
I think it is time, long overdue, to speak out against popular myths about the nature of the economy when in a recession, and our real possibilities for recovery.
Uncritical support of the “Full Employment Act of 1946” without modification is no longer a realistic approach to the application of fiscal and monetary policy in Washington.
Clearly our dependency on shifts in aggregate demand — largely the realm of business expectations that govern final results in ‘Employment, Interest and money’ — are a severe miscalculation we can no longer entertain in the halls of government or amongst our political leadership.
National, state and local policies that have emerged since Ronald Reagan restructured economic expectations when he moved to mobilized the nation to put an end to the Cold War, have perhaps permanently crippled our ability to respond to such global crises.
Yes, we wanted to put an end to the terror that accompanied the contest between superpowers.
Yes, adding the ‘second sex’ to the work force enriched and benefited the entire nation.
But implementing the Welfare Reform Act did not reduce the roles of the working poor at subsistence level living.
Signing the international NAFTA Treaty did not enhance our competitive edge with the European Union, China (or Japan and South East Asia).
And realization of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the final ingredient of global capitalism, and a living monument to John Maynard Keynes at Bretton Woods, may prove our undying nightmare as such globalization moves to the next phase of corporate monopoly capital.
Surely we can no longer play God with world markets as if we were the only players that mattered...
Tim K. Fitzgerald
Sonora
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Walmart court fight grinds ahead
A state appellate court was ready to make a ruling in a lawsuit aimed at curbing Walmart’s plans for expanding its Sonora store, but the big-box retailer asked for a hearing to present its arguments early next month.
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S'ville High Coach Watson debate sidelined
The Summerville Union High School District Board of Education decided Wednesday that more public input is needed on athletic programs before it can make changes to coaching policies, allowing coach Ben Watson to head three varsity sports for another school year.
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Check it out! Hotel on way
With construction on a new hotel at the Black Oak Casino well under way, Tuolumne Me-Wuk tribal leadership expect to announce today that they have hired management for the new addition.
The hotel is expected to open for business by early spring 2013, and Marketing Manager Al O’Brien said on Wednesday that they are finalizing the hiring of a hotel general manager, director of sales and director of operations.
Construction has been under way at the hotel for about a year, and details of the new building’s amenities were announced earlier this summer.
“Basically, we have one more floor to put up before we’ll top it out with the roof trusses,” he said.
The hotel, next to the Black Oak Casino, will boast 148 rooms over four floors, including 30 suites, making it the largest hotel in the county. It will also have a fitness room and outdoor pool. The facility will also offer about 6,000 square feet of space in multiple rooms for meetings, conferences and other public events.
The hotel is the latest project for the growing Black Oak Casino, which was built 11 years ago by the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuks. Construction was completed about a year ago on a gas station and mini-mart next to the 1,000-space parking garage with the intention of serving tourists, local motorists and hotel guests. Future plans also include a golf course and a housing development.
Black Oak Casino was built in 2001, in a 28,000 square-foot metal warehouse with 600 slot machines and six table games. Today, the 164,000 square-foot casino has 1,200 slot machines, 24 table games, a poker room, four restaurants, a stage for live entertainment, a bowling center and an arcade.
Contact Chris Caskey at ccaskey@uniondemocrat.com or 588-4527.
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Pinecrest kids head to Mountain Oaks
A new branch of Mountain Oaks School opened Wednesday for the former students of Pinecrest School, which was closed by Twain Harte-Long Barn Union School District because of budget cuts.
The new school site is on Old Strawberry Road in the Pinecrest area, next to the now shuttered Pinecrest School. So far, 29 of the 38 students who were at Pinecrest School last year have enrolled in the new Mountain Oaks Pinecrest program.
A few of the rest have graduated or moved to schools such as Curtis Creek Elementary, said Twain Harte-Long Barn Union School District Superintendent John Keiter.
The others are attending Black Oak Elementary or Twain Harte Middle School, also part of the Twain Harte-Long Barn district.
Pinecrest parent Alicia Hartle said community volunteers have spent weeks preparing the new Mountain Oaks building, the former Strawberry Ridge Retreat, for the arrival of students.
“We’re so excited,” Hartle said. “The community has really pitched in. It’s quite amazing.”
Preparations have included washing the walls, painting, carpet cleaning, yard work and more. The building belongs to Pinecrest resident Shelly Stewart, a retired educator, and is being leased by the Calaveras County-based Mountain Oaks charter school.
The new Mountain Oaks School at Pinecrest has two wings, providing a classroom and an all-purpose “great room.” It also has restroom facilities and a large kitchen, Hartle said.
Jennifer Lloyd, another Pinecrest parent who now works as a Mountain Oaks teacher, said students will come to the school Monday through Thursday and be homeschooled on Fridays.
One of the former Pinecrest School teachers, Sylvia Terry, retired in June. The others switched to the Twain Harte campus.
In addition to Lloyd, the other new teacher for the Mountain Oaks School at Pinecrest is Kim Hartwig, another Pinecrest parent. Both are credentialed teachers.
Twain Harte-Long Barn’s Board of Education voted unanimously this spring to close the Pinecrest School, which served kindergarten through eighth graders, after receiving a series of dire budget reports.
The district faced bankruptcy during the 2015-16 school year if no cuts were made, according to a March 14 report by district Chief Business Official Tonya Midget. The factors she identified behind the forecast included state funding declines and lower enrollment.
Keiter said that closing Pinecrest School will lead to “all-around” savings through facility upkeep and staffing costs.
The district must now pay the Calaveras County Office of Education, which runs Mountain Oaks School, about $100,000 a year. But it also has one less teacher to pay, making the net savings for the district closer to between $40,000 and $50,000 annually.
Several Pinecrest School parents and community members attended Twain Harte-Long Barn Board of Education meetings during the past school year and begged trustees to preserve the program.
They later questioned policies about the use of vacant district buildings in an attempt to use the Pinecrest School facility for a charter school.
The Pinecrest School opened in fall 1950, with the existing building constructed in 1986, and served students “up the hill” who would face a long drive to other schools.
Since the Pinecrest School closed at the end of last school year, Pinecrest parents prioritized starting a new program for students by the fall, according to Lloyd and other parents.
Mountain Oaks administrator Jacqueline Dennis said a group of parents approached the charter school.
“They were just trying to figure out how they could continue to have a school up in Pinecrest,” she said. “After a number of meetings, one thing led to another and a proposal was put forth to the (Mountain Oaks) governing board.”
The board approved the proposal after ensuring there were enough students to keep the Pinecrest program “in the black,” Dennis said.
“We’re a home(school)-based charter school, but the way our charter’s written, we can embrace the kind of school project that Pinecrest is involved in,” said Mountain Oaks “Mentor Teacher” Tia Andersen.
The first day of school for the Mountain Oaks School at Pinecrest started with a pledge of allegiance to the U.S. flag attended by students, community members and extended family. Some community members have donated items for the school, such as whiteboards and tables.
“I am absolutely amazed at the amount of support there is behind the whole endeavor,” Dennis said.
A facilities advisory committee composed of community members is deciding on the use of the former Pinecrest School building, according to Keiter.
The committee declared the Pinecrest School and the Black Oak School, which closed in 2007, as surplus property. It is drafting a list of acceptable uses for them.
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Pedro says grand jury report old hat
This year’s recommendations for Tuolumne County by the 2012 Civil Grand Jury report are not news to county leadership, according to the county’s chief administrative officer.
CAO Craig Pedro reviewed the grand jury report and the county’s official responses on Tuesday during a meeting of the Board of Supervisors. With the civil panel making strong recommendations on the jail and employee compensation, Pedro said the county’s elected officials and staff members have already been working on the issues.
The Civil Grand Jury consisted of 19 local citizens who volunteered for the task. The panel every year is required to review the county jail and Sierra Conservation Center, the state prison near Jamestown, and is then free to investigate any other local public entity.
Within the report released in July are recommendations the county scale back pay and benefits for employees and the suggestion that the county jail is inadequate and needs replacing. The county’s responses agree with many of the findings, though Pedro said this week that he takes exception with a number of assertions made by the panel.
In one finding, the report recognizes that county employees agreed to between 7 and 14.5 percent in labor concessions over recent years, including five to 15 furlough days a year and cuts to health, pensions and other benefits.
But it also states that the average county employee makes about $94,530 a year with pay and benefits and earn benefit packages that are as much as 100 to 150 percent higher than employees in the private sector.
Pedro said the county Board of Supervisors have recognized public pay, benefit and retirement issues.
“Your board has been talking about this,” he said.
“Are those costs substantial? Are they growing? Yes,” Pedro later said.
But Pedro also criticized the report for “discounting” the county employees’ concession. He pointed to a statement in the report that referenced the county’s 13.5 percent unemployment as of March, and the growing number of local residents losing homes to foreclosure.
Pedro said those numbers affect current and former county employees too, who have “given at the office substantially” and are “suffering” as well in this economy.
The report “made it sound, the way this thing was written, that (the concessions were) inconsequential,” Pedro said. “It’s substantial. It’s in the millions of dollars… and I don’t want anyone who reads this to think that’s not the case, because it is.”
As for the jail, Pedro said the need is no secret. The current, 140-bed facility is “sorely outdated” and conditions there “make housing and working conditions inadequate” for staff and inmates, according to the report, something county officials point out publicly on a regular basis.
A new building is estimated to cost more than $48 million, even after plans for the jail were scaled back, and the county missed out on the latest round of state funding for the jail.
Pedro said a jail project will likely rely on state funds, through the county has a plan and location ready at the future law and justice center site when those funds become available. But a substantial grant will likely require some sort of local match which the county’s response states will require a major decision.
“To the extent the required match amounts exceeds the county’s ability to fund out of existing resources, the board will consider approaching the public with a bond measure for the balance needed,” the response reads.
“If we’ve tried everything else that we can, and there’s a match … what do we do?” Pedro said.
Though the Civil Grand Jury’s recommendations and findings do not carry with them any legal authority, agencies and organizations detailed in the report must make a written response to the recommendations within 90 days.
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Body of boy missing in Yosemite found
The body of an Orange County boy was recovered from the Merced River today after he and his older half-brother drowned while vacationing in Yosemite National Park last week.
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Renowned speaker will be in Tuolumne
Editor’s note—Rob Miller, 49, of Liberty, MO., is a nationally renown motivational speaker who specializes in helping kids reach their maximum potential through sports.
Miller was team captain on his Spring Arbor (Michigan) College basketball team and then later its coach. He has also coached high school girls’ and boys’ basketball. He served as commissioner of the Sun Conference (NAIA) and later spent eight years with the NAIA as Director for its Champions of Character program.
Miller now runs his own motivational program entitled “Character Based Athletics.”
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Man dies after fall near Clavey River
A Sonora man died early Thursday morning after falling down an embankment near a bridge that crosses the Clavey River in Tuolumne County.
The Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office identified the man as 19-year-old Daniel Cox.
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Ramsey Fire mostly out; no word on culprit
The U.S. Forest Service estimated the total cost of battling the Ramsey Fire in Calaveras County at about $4 million, but won’t release details surrounding the investigation of the escaped campfire believed to have caused the blaze.
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Former fire chief charged in theft
A former fire chief with the Columbia Fire Protection District has been accused of misusing public funds during his time with the department.
Randall Nickley was arrested Thursday afternoon on a warrant and charged with one felony count each of misappropriation of public funds and embezzlement. Local authorities are accusing him of multiple crimes involving alleged use of department funds over a stretch of time between January 2007 and June 2011, according to the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office.
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Body of missing boy found
The body of an Orange County boy was recovered from the Merced River Thursday after he and his older half-brother drowned while vacationing in Yosemite National Park last week.
The body of Jacob Adams, 6, was found just 50 yards from the Vernal Fall footbridge today, according to a news release from park spokeswoman Kari Cobb. She said the search had been hindered by high water levels along the river, making it difficult for crews to access parts of the river.
The body of Andres “Andy” Adams, 10, was found shortly after both boys were swept away in the strong river current on Aug. 15. A park visitor pulled his body from the river about 150 yards from the footbridge.
Both boys had been wading in the river while family members watched on.
Char Adams, Jacob’s mother and Andres’ stepmother, along with Jacob’s older brother, Josh Reish, were hospitalized for injuries they suffered while attempting to rescue the boys from the turbulent waters.
The father of both boys, Angelo Adams, was present but not near the river at the time of the accident.
The Adams family decided to visit Yosemite while on a church retreat to the Sugar Pine Christian Camp in Oakhurst.
Andres lived in Fallbrook, San Diego County, with his mother, Blanca Rios, while Jacob lived with their father in Yorba Linda, according to a report by The Village News, a weekly newspaper covering Fallbrook and Bonsall.
An obituary for Andres Adams posted on the newspaper’s website said memorial services for the boy were to be held Thursday morning.
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The three mountaineers
While many area kids spent their summer vacations at the pool or bathed in the glow of an iPhone, a trio of Tuolumne County girls were on the adventure of a lifetime.
Sisters Whitney Stowe, 14, Lundy Stowe, 12, and their friend Maya Roe, 14, spent 34 days trudging across picturesque mountain terrain on a rugged high country trail made famous by the patron saint of the Sierra — John Muir.
With their hair braided into matching pigtails bound by rubber bands, the girls spent most of the summer on the 221-mile John Muir Trail. They set out on their month-long jaunt on the Fourth of July after Whitney and Lundy received trail permits. They sported brand new hiking boots received for Christmas.
Lundy, the youngest of the three, gently coaxed her parents into allowing the three to go on the outdoor endeavour.
“I’ve always wanted to do it since I was a little kid because my mom did it,” Lundy said. “When I got older, I just started begging.”
The Muir Trail runs from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley all the way to the snow-capped peak of Mount Whitney, which stands at 14,505 feet above sea level. It’s a challenging trek for experienced hikers, let alone three girls who had never undertaken such a lengthy hiking trip before.
But Lundy’s persistence paid off, according to her mom, Laurie Stowe, who lives in Groveland and works at a permit station in Yosemite.
“I kept telling her about the mosquitos and the dirt and going to the bathroom in the woods, but she just kept saying, ‘I can do it, mom. I can do it,’” Stowe said.
Whitney and Maya met and became friends while they were both students at the Sierra Waldorf School in Jamestown, according to Maya’s mom Amy Roe, who lives in Sonora. Now both are starting their freshman year at Connections Academy and Lundy is attending their old alma mater.
The girls weren’t alone on their wilderness adventure. Their parents and a series of friends took turns accompanying them through various portions of the hike, but only the three girls completed the entire thing.
“They are a delightful trio,” said Amy Roe. “They were so much fun to be with.”
Along the way, the girls crested Glenn Pass and strolled through portions of the Ansel Adams Wilderness and Devil’s Postpile National Monument.
All three said some of the most rewarding experiences they had were with other hikers they met along the trail. Maya traded poems with Pacific Crest Trail hikers, while Whitney kept a journal of the trip. Lundy, an aspiring botanist, was busy spotting mountain wildflowers.
They shared the same tent and rotated campsite chores like cooking, cleaning and collecting drinking water.
“I think that if I had hung out with anybody else for that long they would have driven me nuts, but Whitney and Lundy are so easy-going,” Maya said. “It was really special.”
Along the way she saw several pikas, a pint-sized creature that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a hamster, which have become her favorite animal.
The final leg of the hike was especially poignant for Whitney, because it involved a climb to the summit of the highest peak in the contiguous United States and her namesake — Mount Whitney.
“I really enjoyed having my feet hurt, putting on sunblock and being dirty — it just felt good,” Whitney said.
The three adventurers were met at the bottom of the mountain by a party attended by family and friends. They returned to civilization on Aug. 5, which coincidentally fell on Maya’s birthday.
“We did a little crying that day,” Laurie Stowe said.
All three are back in school now and participating in activities like rock climbing, horseback riding and cross-country.
Maya said she wants her next hike to be a 100-mile portion of the Appalachian Trail in Maine.
Lundy and Whitney had ambitions to hike a long trail that’s a little closer to home.
“I really, really want to do the Pacific Crest Trail because it just sounds so fun,” Lundy said. “We really miss the John Muir Trail and being outdoors every day.”
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