23 people have pulled their papers in lieu for the upcoming June 2-14 election:
SUPERIOR CT, DEPT. ONE Web Title:
THOMAS P. MEYER (not qualified)
GRANT V BARRETT (not qualified)
DANA L PFEIL (not qualified)
KENNETH M FOLEY (not qualified)
SUPERIOR CT, DEPT. TWO Web Title:
TIM HEALY (not qualified)
JOHN J. TRIFILO (not qualified)
HUGH K. SWIFT (not qualified)
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT, OF SCHOOLS Web Title:
KATHY A NORTHINGTON (not qualified)
SUPERVISOR, 3RD DISTRICT Web Title:
MERITA CALLAWAY (not qualified)
MICHAEL C. OLIVEIRA (not qualified)
MIKE BOREAN (not qualified)
SUPERVISOR, 5TH DISTRICT Web Title:
MARTHA (MARTI) CRANE (not qualified)
STEVEN KEARNEY (not qualified)
DARREN E SPELLMAN (not qualified)
ASSESSOR Web Title:
LESLIE DAVIS (not qualified)
AUDITOR-CONTROLLER Web Title:
REBECCA CALLEN (not qualified)
CORONER-PUBLIC, ADMINISTRATOR Web Title:
KEVIN J RAGGIO (not qualified)
COUNTY CLERK-RECORDER Web Title:
REBECCA TURNER (not qualified)
CATHRYNE DARMER (not qualified)
DISTRICT ATTORNEY Web Title:
BARBARA M. YOOK (not qualified)
SHERIFF Web Title:
PATRICK GARRAHAN (not qualified)
GARY G. KUNTZ (not qualified)
TREASURER-TAX COLLECTOR Web Title:
BARBARA SULLIVAN (not qualified)
Total Number of Candidates: 23
Not Qualified means, they are not qualified candidates. The Petition In Lieu does NOT qualify candidacy.
Friday, January 24, 2014
CalFire - drought conditions lead to early defensible space around homes
CalFire is urging homeowners to apply their defensible space strategy early this year....now.
To read full press release CLICK HERE
To read full press release CLICK HERE
Possible Vehicle accident hwy 4 county line
A possible vehicle accident was toned out at approximately 2:20 pm 1-24-14 on Hwy 4 near the county line. Emergency crews responding. Use caution if in the area.
Lawsuit challenging teacher tenure, seniority protections goes to court next week
The trinity of teachers’ rights in California – tenure, seniority and
due process in dismissals – will be under attack next week in a trial
in Los Angeles with statewide impact and national interest.
In Vergara v. California, a nonprofit organization, Students Matter, is suing the state to overturn five statutes in the Education Code on behalf of Beatriz Vergara, a Los Angeles Unified student who was 13 when the lawsuit was filed in 2012, and eight more students in five districts. The laws grant probationary teachers the right to obtain tenure, or permanent status, after essentially 18 months on the job, establish layoffs based primarily on seniority and lay out a dismissal process with complex due process procedures that the Legislature has tried, but failed, to amend for two years.
Read more on Ed Source
In Vergara v. California, a nonprofit organization, Students Matter, is suing the state to overturn five statutes in the Education Code on behalf of Beatriz Vergara, a Los Angeles Unified student who was 13 when the lawsuit was filed in 2012, and eight more students in five districts. The laws grant probationary teachers the right to obtain tenure, or permanent status, after essentially 18 months on the job, establish layoffs based primarily on seniority and lay out a dismissal process with complex due process procedures that the Legislature has tried, but failed, to amend for two years.
Read more on Ed Source
Copper Library move to Lake Tulloch Plaza on Board Agenda
Approve the execution of a one (1) year lease, with two one year extensions, between the
County of Calaveras and Ed and Dorene M Cardoza doing business as Cardoza Enterprises
for library space for the Copperopolis Branch Library, located at Suite 106 in the Lake
Tulloch Plaza, 3505 Spangler Lane, Copperopolis at $1,359/month, Including $0.75 base
rent and $0.1938 common area maintenance for and approve with a four fifths vote a budget
adjustment of $5,200 from contingencies to fund the increased cost of rent for the FY2013/14; Administration–Board action:
Kindergarten registration
KINDERGARTEN Registration
Copperopolis
Elementary is holding registration on Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Parents of children
who will be 5 years old
on or before September
1, 2014 can pick up a registration packet beginning January 27th.
In order to schedule
an evaluation time please return your completed packet (including immunization
records and health forms).
For questions please
call 209-785-2236.
Calaveras Planning commission 1-23-14 meeting video
To view the Calaveras Planning Commission 1-23-14 meeting video CLICK HERE
Video of Calaveras Planning Commission meetings and Calaveras Board of Supervisor’s meetings graciously supplied by Calaveras Public Access TV and accessed through the Community Action Project.
Video of Calaveras Planning Commission meetings and Calaveras Board of Supervisor’s meetings graciously supplied by Calaveras Public Access TV and accessed through the Community Action Project.
Weekend weather - more sun
- 1-24-14
- Today Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. East wind around 6 mph becoming calm.
- Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 33. East northeast wind around 6 mph.
- Saturday Sunny, with a high near 70. Light and variable wind becoming west northwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
- Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 33. North northwest wind around 6 mph becoming east northeast in the evening.
- Sunday Sunny, with a high near 69. East northeast wind around 7 mph becoming west in the morning.
- Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 33.
Runner Calls on Governor to Eliminate Fire Fee
Runner Calls on Governor to Eliminate Fire Fee
SACRAMENTO
– George Runner today urged Governor Jerry Brown to restore full
funding to CAL-FIRE and eliminate the confusing and controversial Fire
Prevention Fee in the revised version of his
2014-15 budget proposal.
“The
Fire Prevention Fee was established during a time of crisis, when the
state faced multi-billion budget deficits,” said Runner. “Those budget
deficits are gone, but the fire fee remains,
much to the chagrin of hundreds of thousands of rural property owners
throughout California.”
The
Board of Equalization is required by law to mail “Fire Prevention Fee”
bills on behalf of CAL-FIRE to nearly 800,000 Californians each year. In
the 2012-13 fiscal year, the Board of Equalization
and CAL-FIRE spent a combined total of more than $17 million to collect
only $75 million from Fire Fee payers.
CalFire press release re: Common activities can spark a wildfire
Common Activities Can Spark a
Wildfire
San
Andreas – The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE),
Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit (TCU), is reminding all residents that fire danger
remains high across the Central Sierra and the chance of large and damaging
fires still exists even though we are in the winter months. From November
1, 2013 to January 10, 2014, TCU responded to 37 vegetation fires, three times
as many as the same period a year ago. Fuel moistures
within TCU are at levels typically see in late May to early June.
TCU Unit Chief Josh White says, “With the current dry conditions there
are many common everyday activities which may start a wildfire. We must remain vigilant to what we are doing
and how it could affect our surroundings.”
Outdoor equipment use, disposal of ashes, campfires, extinguishing a
cigarette, tow chains dragging are just a few examples of activities which may
seem common enough, but with the current dry conditions could start a wildfire.
Recipes by Nate - Chicken Tamale Casserole
Chicken Tamale Casserole
- 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
- 1/3 cup fat-free milk
- 1/4 cup egg substitute
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
- 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
- 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green Chiles, drained
- Cooking spray
- 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
- 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
Flourish has a new home and an even larger selection of clothing and accesories
Flourish, our local fine clothing and accessory store, has moved to a larger location in Town Square with more square footage to showcase their latest apparel arrivals and their wonderful selection of accessories from purses to scarves, footwear to fine jewelry. Flourish has you covered from head to toe.
785-8788
CFPD intern Johnathan Villanueva heads to boot camp
Johnathan Villanueva, a volunteer firefighter and an intern with Copperopolis Fire District has joined the Army National Guard and will be heading off to boot camp the end of January.
During his career as a firefighter Johnathan volunteered with Columbia FD, Murphys FD and CFPD. This past fire season, one of the worst on record, Johnathan began working with CalFire yet continues to volunteer with Copper when times allows.
He is a bit nervous but looking forward to an experience that can "only make me stronger."
" I wish him well during his National Guard Training. I know he will be an
asset to the Unit he will be assigned to upon graduation." CFPD Chief Kovac.
God speed Johnathan.
cm
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Daughters of the American Revolution Christopher Columbus Essay Contest Winner Announced
Christopher Columbus Essay Contest Winner Announced
The National Society, Daughters of
the American Revolution in conjunction with the National Italian American
Foundation sponsor an annual essay contest on Christopher Columbus. The Sierra Amador Chapter, NSDAR is pleased
to announce this year’s chapter winner is Monique Salinger who is a 12th
grade student at Argonaut High School.
The essay contest was open to all
students in grades 9 through 12 in public, private, parochial or home schools
throughout Calaveras and Amador counties.
Information regarding the essay contest was distributed to ten eligible
schools in Calaveras County and five eligible schools in Amador County.
Sheriff Dept Press release re:Umpqua Bank in Valley Springs Burglarized
Umpqua Bank in Valley Springs Burglarized
(Valley Springs, CA) On 01/22/14 at approx. 10:25 pm, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to Umpqua Bank on Highway 26 in Valley Springs for an alarm. Deputies arrived on scene within minutes of the alarm notification. While searching the bank deputies found ceiling tiles that had fallen to the floor. During the investigation it was discovered that the suspect climbed onto the roof and entered the bank through a vent. Once inside the bank the suspect activated the alarm system. Several drawers were ransacked, but nothing appeared to have been stolen. The suspect was able to flee the scene just prior to the arrival of the deputies.
Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators responded to the bank and were able to collect a significant amount of evidence, including DNA, finger and shoes prints, and security video footage. This case is under active investigation. Additional information will be released when available.
(Valley Springs, CA) On 01/22/14 at approx. 10:25 pm, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to Umpqua Bank on Highway 26 in Valley Springs for an alarm. Deputies arrived on scene within minutes of the alarm notification. While searching the bank deputies found ceiling tiles that had fallen to the floor. During the investigation it was discovered that the suspect climbed onto the roof and entered the bank through a vent. Once inside the bank the suspect activated the alarm system. Several drawers were ransacked, but nothing appeared to have been stolen. The suspect was able to flee the scene just prior to the arrival of the deputies.
Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators responded to the bank and were able to collect a significant amount of evidence, including DNA, finger and shoes prints, and security video footage. This case is under active investigation. Additional information will be released when available.
Gov's State of the State Address
SACRAMENTO – Committing to "pay down our debts and remember the lessons
of history," Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today delivered his annual
State of the State address, highlighting California's comeback while
vowing to establish a solid rainy day fund to help maintain the state's
fiscal stability.
The Governor also renewed his call for all Californians to conserve water, laid out the key elements of the state's long-term water plan and noted the work ahead to fight climate change and build on historic reforms to the state's school funding and criminal justice systems.
Photo captions and the text as prepared for delivery are below:
1.) Governor Brown delivers 2014 State of the State Address. Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (left) Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (right). Photo Credit: Justin Short, Office of the Governor.
2.) Governor Brown delivers 2014 State of the State Address. Photo Credit: Justin Short, Office of the Governor.
For high resolution copies of these photos, please contact Danella Debel, Office of the Governor at Danella.Debel@gov.ca.gov.
I am here today to report on the state of our state, choosing to ignore those who say that Article 5 of our Constitution, which requires the governor to report to the Legislature, is outdated; that you can’t report on the condition of our state from Sacramento because California is too spread out and too diverse. It occurred to me that these critics – who have long recited our state’s decline – perhaps have nothing to say in the face of California’s comeback – except, “please, don’t report it.” Well, I’m going to report it, and what a comeback it is: A million new jobs since 2010, a budgetary surplus in the billions and a minimum wage rising to $10 an hour!
This year, Californians have a lot to be proud of. For a decade, budget instability was the order of the day. A lethal combination of national recessions, improvident tax cuts and too much spending created a financial sink hole that defied every effort to climb out. But three years later, here we are – with state spending and revenues solidly balanced, and more to come.
For that, I thank all of you – for your courageous and dedicated legislative work. It is truly impressive. I also want to thank the members of my administration who have worked so hard to help make all this happen. But above all else, I think we should thank the voters of California. In 2010, through Proposition 25, they established a majority vote for passage of the state budget. That ended the gridlock. Then, in 2012, they approved the temporary tax increases of Proposition 30. These two initiatives, together with the recovering economy and the tough decisions you took, made all the difference.
But we are not out of the woods and we certainly are not out of the drought. Life is uncertainty, the climate is changing – not for the better – and the business cycle and the stock market are historically volatile, with good years followed by bad, with painful regularity.
And while we know our revenues will fluctuate up and down, our long-term liabilities are enormous and ever growing. Let me list some of them: Over $100 billion for pensions owed to state workers, teachers and judges; tens of billions needed to cover retiree health care; and $65 billion needed to maintain and keep our roads, buildings and other infrastructure in sound repair. We also must account for future risks that could negatively affect our budgets like congressional decisions, natural disasters and the uncertain costs of the Affordable Care Act.
So we can’t go back to “business as usual.” Boom and bust is our lot and we must follow the ancient advice, recounted in the Book of Genesis, that Joseph gave to the Pharaoh: Put away your surplus during the years of great plenty so you will be ready for the lean years which are sure to follow.
Most governors and legislatures – in modern times – have forgotten this advice. This time we won’t do that. We will pay down our debts and remember the lessons of history. The American philosopher, George Santayana, famously said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” To help us keep our fiscal realities in mind, I have some playing cards with a chart from this year’s budget summary that shows our last 15 budgets. It’s not pretty. So I decided to put a picture of Sutter on the other side to keep our spirits up. It will make you smile but also help us not forget.
Fiscal discipline is not the enemy of our democracy but its fundamental predicate. To avoid the mistakes of the past we must spend with great prudence and we must establish a solid rainy day fund, locked into the Constitution.
In 2004, the people voted for a rainy day fund which was found to be unworkable. In 2010, you created another rainy day fund, now scheduled for the November Election. But this latest effort doesn’t give the state the option to pay off debt, doesn’t deal with the ups and downs of Proposition 98 and doesn’t account for spikes in capital gains. So let’s fix these flaws before going to the voters. This is work that must be accomplished in the next few months.
Last year, I spoke of the principle of subsidiarity, a rather clunky word that nevertheless points to a profoundly important principle, namely that in our federal system there are separate layers of government, each with its own distinct responsibilities. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a “central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level.”
No better example of this can be found than in your enactment last year of the Local Control Funding Formula. This was a major breakthrough in the way funds are allocated to California’s schools so that our laws explicitly recognize the difficult problems faced by low-income families and those whose first language is other than English. As a result, those with less are going to receive more and that is good for all of us.
But something else is at work in this Local Control Funding Formula. Instead of prescriptive commands issued from headquarters here in Sacramento, more general goals have been established for each local school to attain, each in its own way. This puts the responsibility where it has to be: In the classroom and at the local district. With six million students, there is no way the state can micromanage teaching and learning in all the schools from El Centro to Eureka – and we should not even try!
Last week, 324 people from across the state traveled to Sacramento to speak to the State Board of Education about the merits of this new law and the regulations which should be adopted under it. Principals, teachers, students, parents, religious groups and lawyers, all came forward to express their views. Now that shows interest and real commitment! But their work is just beginning. Each local district now has to put into practice what the Local Control Funding Formula has made possible. That, together with new Common Core standards for math and English, will be a major challenge for teachers and local administrators. But they are the ones who can make it work and I have every confidence they will.
In a similar vein, in the field of public safety, we have changed historic practices in our prison system and transferred significant responsibilities to local authorities. The Federal courts, backed up by the United States Supreme Court, have ordered major reductions in our prison population and dramatic improvements in the medical and mental health programs that the state makes available. In response, we have transferred the supervision of tens of thousands of lower level offenders from the state to our 58 counties. This realignment is bold and far reaching, but necessary under the circumstances. And local law enforcement has risen to the occasion.
Our prisons are pioneering new programs and treatments – and so are the counties. Last week, I visited the Lerdo Jail just north of Bakersfield and sat in on some classes. It was moving to hear the men’s stories and the struggles they encounter. It was also inspiring to see the enthusiasm of Sheriff Donny Youngblood and his efforts under realignment to work with probation, the district attorney, local judges and the police to try new ways to deter crime and help offenders straighten out their lives.
Of course there are issues with realignment, but together – with our local partners – we are facing them. We have plenty of work ahead of us, including building more capacity at the state and county level and becoming more effective with those who suffer mental illness or who are drug addicted. But we are on the right track.
In all this, your legislative work – particularly funding – is crucial but we should never lose sight of the reality that life is local and that so many things we try to do here in the State Capitol can only be handled by local representatives and leaders. They deal not with the abstractions of law but with the flesh and blood reality of everyday life. That’s a lesson I learned firsthand as mayor of Oakland.
Among all our uncertainties, weather is one of the most basic. We can’t control it. We can only live with it, and now we have to live with a very serious drought of uncertain duration.
Right now, it is imperative that we do everything possible to mitigate the effects of the drought. I have convened an Interagency Drought Task Force and declared a State of Emergency. We need everyone in every part of the state to conserve water. We need regulators to rebalance water rules and enable voluntary transfers of water and we must prepare for forest fires. As the State Water Action Plan lays out, water recycling, expanded storage and serious groundwater management must all be part of the mix. So too must be investments in safe drinking water, particularly in disadvantaged communities. We also need wetlands and watershed restoration and further progress on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
It is a tall order.
But it is what we must do to get through this drought and prepare for the next.
We do not know how much our current problem derives from the build-up of heat-trapping gasses, but we can take this drought as a stark warning of things to come. The United Nations Panel on Climate Change says – with 95 percent confidence – that human beings are changing our climate. This means more droughts and more extreme weather events, and, in California, more forest fires and less snow pack.
As you know, of all the states, and even of most of the countries of the world, California is the leader in dealing with climate change. From AB 32, to our building and appliance efficiency standards, our renewable portfolio standard and our support of electric vehicles, California is leading the way. Nevertheless, in terms of greenhouse gases, our biggest challenge remains the amount of gasoline Californians use. Each year, our motor vehicles use more than 14 billion gallons of gasoline to travel over 330 billion miles. To put those numbers in perspective, the sun is 93 million miles away. Reducing our oil consumption, two thirds of which is imported by ships and tank cars, will take time, breakthrough technologies and steadfast commitment. It will also require that the countries which burn the most fossil fuel join with us. We’ve started building those partnerships with other states and countries like China. We will go to Mexico next. California can’t do this alone.
In so many other ways, California is a pioneer. We have 25 percent of the nation’s foreign born and we are the first state in modern times to have a plurality of families of Latino origin. So it’s not surprising that California is the state where immigrants can not only dream – they can drive.
We are also the state of innovation, of Silicon Valley and more venture capital investment than any other state – by far.
We’re on our way to a million electric vehicles and we’re building the nation’s only high-speed rail.
We’re expanding health care coverage to millions more. And, California is the nation’s leader in developing medical and scientific advances that will cure diseases and lower costs. We have six of America’s twelve top-performing metropolitan areas in biotechnology: San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and Orange County. Last year, we created a tax credit to help innovators, in these regions and beyond, hire and expand in California. Four out of the world’s twenty leading academic bioscience institutions are located here in California: UCSF and Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford and UC San Diego. Just as California has led the way with stem cell research, so too can we pioneer the new field of precision medicine which uses genomics, medical devices, computer sciences and other fields to treat individual patients, instead of broad populations.
The Governor also renewed his call for all Californians to conserve water, laid out the key elements of the state's long-term water plan and noted the work ahead to fight climate change and build on historic reforms to the state's school funding and criminal justice systems.
Photo captions and the text as prepared for delivery are below:
1.) Governor Brown delivers 2014 State of the State Address. Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (left) Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (right). Photo Credit: Justin Short, Office of the Governor.
2.) Governor Brown delivers 2014 State of the State Address. Photo Credit: Justin Short, Office of the Governor.
For high resolution copies of these photos, please contact Danella Debel, Office of the Governor at Danella.Debel@gov.ca.gov.
Edmund G. Brown Jr.
State of the State Address
Remarks as Prepared
January 22, 2014
State of the State Address
Remarks as Prepared
January 22, 2014
I am here today to report on the state of our state, choosing to ignore those who say that Article 5 of our Constitution, which requires the governor to report to the Legislature, is outdated; that you can’t report on the condition of our state from Sacramento because California is too spread out and too diverse. It occurred to me that these critics – who have long recited our state’s decline – perhaps have nothing to say in the face of California’s comeback – except, “please, don’t report it.” Well, I’m going to report it, and what a comeback it is: A million new jobs since 2010, a budgetary surplus in the billions and a minimum wage rising to $10 an hour!
This year, Californians have a lot to be proud of. For a decade, budget instability was the order of the day. A lethal combination of national recessions, improvident tax cuts and too much spending created a financial sink hole that defied every effort to climb out. But three years later, here we are – with state spending and revenues solidly balanced, and more to come.
For that, I thank all of you – for your courageous and dedicated legislative work. It is truly impressive. I also want to thank the members of my administration who have worked so hard to help make all this happen. But above all else, I think we should thank the voters of California. In 2010, through Proposition 25, they established a majority vote for passage of the state budget. That ended the gridlock. Then, in 2012, they approved the temporary tax increases of Proposition 30. These two initiatives, together with the recovering economy and the tough decisions you took, made all the difference.
But we are not out of the woods and we certainly are not out of the drought. Life is uncertainty, the climate is changing – not for the better – and the business cycle and the stock market are historically volatile, with good years followed by bad, with painful regularity.
And while we know our revenues will fluctuate up and down, our long-term liabilities are enormous and ever growing. Let me list some of them: Over $100 billion for pensions owed to state workers, teachers and judges; tens of billions needed to cover retiree health care; and $65 billion needed to maintain and keep our roads, buildings and other infrastructure in sound repair. We also must account for future risks that could negatively affect our budgets like congressional decisions, natural disasters and the uncertain costs of the Affordable Care Act.
So we can’t go back to “business as usual.” Boom and bust is our lot and we must follow the ancient advice, recounted in the Book of Genesis, that Joseph gave to the Pharaoh: Put away your surplus during the years of great plenty so you will be ready for the lean years which are sure to follow.
Most governors and legislatures – in modern times – have forgotten this advice. This time we won’t do that. We will pay down our debts and remember the lessons of history. The American philosopher, George Santayana, famously said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” To help us keep our fiscal realities in mind, I have some playing cards with a chart from this year’s budget summary that shows our last 15 budgets. It’s not pretty. So I decided to put a picture of Sutter on the other side to keep our spirits up. It will make you smile but also help us not forget.
Fiscal discipline is not the enemy of our democracy but its fundamental predicate. To avoid the mistakes of the past we must spend with great prudence and we must establish a solid rainy day fund, locked into the Constitution.
In 2004, the people voted for a rainy day fund which was found to be unworkable. In 2010, you created another rainy day fund, now scheduled for the November Election. But this latest effort doesn’t give the state the option to pay off debt, doesn’t deal with the ups and downs of Proposition 98 and doesn’t account for spikes in capital gains. So let’s fix these flaws before going to the voters. This is work that must be accomplished in the next few months.
Last year, I spoke of the principle of subsidiarity, a rather clunky word that nevertheless points to a profoundly important principle, namely that in our federal system there are separate layers of government, each with its own distinct responsibilities. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a “central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level.”
No better example of this can be found than in your enactment last year of the Local Control Funding Formula. This was a major breakthrough in the way funds are allocated to California’s schools so that our laws explicitly recognize the difficult problems faced by low-income families and those whose first language is other than English. As a result, those with less are going to receive more and that is good for all of us.
But something else is at work in this Local Control Funding Formula. Instead of prescriptive commands issued from headquarters here in Sacramento, more general goals have been established for each local school to attain, each in its own way. This puts the responsibility where it has to be: In the classroom and at the local district. With six million students, there is no way the state can micromanage teaching and learning in all the schools from El Centro to Eureka – and we should not even try!
Last week, 324 people from across the state traveled to Sacramento to speak to the State Board of Education about the merits of this new law and the regulations which should be adopted under it. Principals, teachers, students, parents, religious groups and lawyers, all came forward to express their views. Now that shows interest and real commitment! But their work is just beginning. Each local district now has to put into practice what the Local Control Funding Formula has made possible. That, together with new Common Core standards for math and English, will be a major challenge for teachers and local administrators. But they are the ones who can make it work and I have every confidence they will.
In a similar vein, in the field of public safety, we have changed historic practices in our prison system and transferred significant responsibilities to local authorities. The Federal courts, backed up by the United States Supreme Court, have ordered major reductions in our prison population and dramatic improvements in the medical and mental health programs that the state makes available. In response, we have transferred the supervision of tens of thousands of lower level offenders from the state to our 58 counties. This realignment is bold and far reaching, but necessary under the circumstances. And local law enforcement has risen to the occasion.
Our prisons are pioneering new programs and treatments – and so are the counties. Last week, I visited the Lerdo Jail just north of Bakersfield and sat in on some classes. It was moving to hear the men’s stories and the struggles they encounter. It was also inspiring to see the enthusiasm of Sheriff Donny Youngblood and his efforts under realignment to work with probation, the district attorney, local judges and the police to try new ways to deter crime and help offenders straighten out their lives.
Of course there are issues with realignment, but together – with our local partners – we are facing them. We have plenty of work ahead of us, including building more capacity at the state and county level and becoming more effective with those who suffer mental illness or who are drug addicted. But we are on the right track.
In all this, your legislative work – particularly funding – is crucial but we should never lose sight of the reality that life is local and that so many things we try to do here in the State Capitol can only be handled by local representatives and leaders. They deal not with the abstractions of law but with the flesh and blood reality of everyday life. That’s a lesson I learned firsthand as mayor of Oakland.
Among all our uncertainties, weather is one of the most basic. We can’t control it. We can only live with it, and now we have to live with a very serious drought of uncertain duration.
Right now, it is imperative that we do everything possible to mitigate the effects of the drought. I have convened an Interagency Drought Task Force and declared a State of Emergency. We need everyone in every part of the state to conserve water. We need regulators to rebalance water rules and enable voluntary transfers of water and we must prepare for forest fires. As the State Water Action Plan lays out, water recycling, expanded storage and serious groundwater management must all be part of the mix. So too must be investments in safe drinking water, particularly in disadvantaged communities. We also need wetlands and watershed restoration and further progress on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
It is a tall order.
But it is what we must do to get through this drought and prepare for the next.
We do not know how much our current problem derives from the build-up of heat-trapping gasses, but we can take this drought as a stark warning of things to come. The United Nations Panel on Climate Change says – with 95 percent confidence – that human beings are changing our climate. This means more droughts and more extreme weather events, and, in California, more forest fires and less snow pack.
As you know, of all the states, and even of most of the countries of the world, California is the leader in dealing with climate change. From AB 32, to our building and appliance efficiency standards, our renewable portfolio standard and our support of electric vehicles, California is leading the way. Nevertheless, in terms of greenhouse gases, our biggest challenge remains the amount of gasoline Californians use. Each year, our motor vehicles use more than 14 billion gallons of gasoline to travel over 330 billion miles. To put those numbers in perspective, the sun is 93 million miles away. Reducing our oil consumption, two thirds of which is imported by ships and tank cars, will take time, breakthrough technologies and steadfast commitment. It will also require that the countries which burn the most fossil fuel join with us. We’ve started building those partnerships with other states and countries like China. We will go to Mexico next. California can’t do this alone.
In so many other ways, California is a pioneer. We have 25 percent of the nation’s foreign born and we are the first state in modern times to have a plurality of families of Latino origin. So it’s not surprising that California is the state where immigrants can not only dream – they can drive.
We are also the state of innovation, of Silicon Valley and more venture capital investment than any other state – by far.
We’re on our way to a million electric vehicles and we’re building the nation’s only high-speed rail.
We’re expanding health care coverage to millions more. And, California is the nation’s leader in developing medical and scientific advances that will cure diseases and lower costs. We have six of America’s twelve top-performing metropolitan areas in biotechnology: San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and Orange County. Last year, we created a tax credit to help innovators, in these regions and beyond, hire and expand in California. Four out of the world’s twenty leading academic bioscience institutions are located here in California: UCSF and Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford and UC San Diego. Just as California has led the way with stem cell research, so too can we pioneer the new field of precision medicine which uses genomics, medical devices, computer sciences and other fields to treat individual patients, instead of broad populations.
Controller Orders Enforcement Actions Against Delinquent Local Governments
SACRAMENTO
- State Controller John Chiang today announced that he will dispatch
his audit and accounting staff to 20 special districts across the State
to collect missing financial
data that, by law, was required to be reported more than a year ago. Of
those 20 public agencies, the Controller will audit at least three
districts which have failed to comply with reporting requirements for
two or more consecutive years.
"There can be no meaningful government accountability if the public is deprived of basic financial data detailing how taxpayer dollars are being managed," said Chiang. "Out of California’s more than 5,200 local public agencies, these 20 have ignored their legal reporting duties, thereby compelling my office’s intervention to extract the missing data and audit the worst offenders."
"There can be no meaningful government accountability if the public is deprived of basic financial data detailing how taxpayer dollars are being managed," said Chiang. "Out of California’s more than 5,200 local public agencies, these 20 have ignored their legal reporting duties, thereby compelling my office’s intervention to extract the missing data and audit the worst offenders."
Seeds of Kindness, Calaveras 2014 project "3. 4 miles of light blue ribbon and 10,000 pass it on ribbons"
What once started as “Good Neighbor Day” in Angels Camp
in 1994, 20 years later has burgeoned into a county-wide
Kindness Week to take place Feb. 9-15, 2014.
This good-will event is the brainchild of
Jim and Judy Bergantz of Angels Camp. In those early years as
owners of Bergantz Nursery, Jim and his family, with the help
of their suppliers, gave out thousands of roses - a dozen to
each person. Each recipient was instructed to keep one rose
and give the other 11 out to those who did a good deed.
In 1995 the Angels Camp City Council
officially claimed Feb. 17 as “Kindness Day.” On Jan.28, 2014
the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors is expected to
unanimously proclaim the second week of February as “Kindness
Week,” as well as re confirming Calaveras County to be a
“Kindness Zone.”
Communty Garden work day Saturday
Hello Gardeners,
One more time! We would like to plant the remaining onion sets this Saturday. I will start around 10:30 and George will come over for the afternoon starting around 12:30.
Let there be rain!
Richard D
One more time! We would like to plant the remaining onion sets this Saturday. I will start around 10:30 and George will come over for the afternoon starting around 12:30.
Let there be rain!
Richard D
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Busy skies in Copper today
The skies were busy today in Copper as helicopters were the aviation travel of choice.
To the untrained eye, mine, this looks to be a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its primary roles are troop movement, artillery placement and battlefield resupply.
To the untrained eye, mine, this looks to be a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its primary roles are troop movement, artillery placement and battlefield resupply.
George Runner Responds to State of the State Address
SACRAMENTO
– George Runner today issued the following statement in response to
Governor Jerry Brown’s State of the State address:
“Governor
Brown provided a good executive summary of where California is now but
with little direction for our future. He outlined many of California’s
problems, but did not
propose tangible solutions.
“I
am pleased to hear Governor Brown’s continued calls for fiscal
discipline. But just as saving money in a rainy day fund is an important
way to prepare for future economic
downturns, additional water storage is vital to ensuring California is
equipped for future droughts. I am disappointed Governor Brown did not
provide a plan to deal with our current water shortage.
Found dog
On 1-21-14 the firefighters of Station #2 found this dog wandering Quiver Street. After asking all the residents in the area if they were the owners they found that some of the neighbors had seen it running with another dog that looked similar. He has a collar but no tags. If you are missing this little guy please call CFPD Station #2 at 785-0800.
Low Chopper over Copper
Low chopper over Copper this morning 1-22-14 9:21 am.
The tail number is not listed with Flight Aware, a live flight tracking service.
Unknown if this is private, medical, PG&E or....we are still looking into it.
Listed as a 1967 BELL UH-1H Airlift out of Fairbanks Alaska.
Copper Fire confirms it was not a medivac from town.
Sheriff Dept confirms no operation in the area today. (updated 2:56 pm 1-22-14)
The tail number is not listed with Flight Aware, a live flight tracking service.
Unknown if this is private, medical, PG&E or....we are still looking into it.
Listed as a 1967 BELL UH-1H Airlift out of Fairbanks Alaska.
Copper Fire confirms it was not a medivac from town.
Sheriff Dept confirms no operation in the area today. (updated 2:56 pm 1-22-14)
Governor Brown Issues Statement on Death of BART Detective Sergeant
SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following
statement regarding the death of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Detective
Sgt. Tom Smith:
“Anne and I were saddened to learn of the death of veteran BART Sergeant Tom Smith, who bravely served his community for two decades. Sergeant Smith’s family, friends and colleagues are in our thoughts as we honor his service during this painful time.”
Sgt. Smith, 42, of San Ramon, was accidentally shot by another officer in the city of Dublin on Tuesday during a probation search and warrant service on a suspect wanted for several robberies on BART property. Sgt. Smith was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
Sgt. Smith was a 20-year veteran of the BART Police Department.
He is survived by his wife and 6-year-old daughter.
In honor of Sgt. Smith, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.
“Anne and I were saddened to learn of the death of veteran BART Sergeant Tom Smith, who bravely served his community for two decades. Sergeant Smith’s family, friends and colleagues are in our thoughts as we honor his service during this painful time.”
Sgt. Smith, 42, of San Ramon, was accidentally shot by another officer in the city of Dublin on Tuesday during a probation search and warrant service on a suspect wanted for several robberies on BART property. Sgt. Smith was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
Sgt. Smith was a 20-year veteran of the BART Police Department.
He is survived by his wife and 6-year-old daughter.
In honor of Sgt. Smith, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.
Local Veterans honor the fallen
The James D Piper VFW
Post 12118 of Copperopolis begins each monthly meeting held at the Copperopolis
Fire Department with a flag ceremony honoring the military personnel that have
given the ultimate sacrifice.
The veterans, though previously happily chatting together as
they walked to the flag pole, immediately fell into line and gave their utmost
solemn respect as the ceremony began. A salute was called by Commander Al Gilbert
the response was quick and precise. Chaplain Rick Westberg then gave a prayer for
those fallen and read a list of names of all that had given their lives for our
freedom in the month of December fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation New Dawn.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Windfall Could Tempt Legislature to Repeat Past Spending Mistakes
By George Runner
We’ve
all heard dramatic stories of lottery winners acquiring hundreds of
millions of dollars only to declare bankruptcy a few years later. In
fact, studies show 70% of all individuals who suddenly receive large
amounts of money will lose it in a short period of time.
The
cause of this problem is impulse spending by people who incorrectly
assume they will never have to worry about money again. They spend as
much as they want on whatever they want, making permanent financial
decisions with their one time earnings.
This
year, California essentially won the lottery when it comes to the
budget. The Governor’s budget proposal shows nearly $20 billion more in
revenues will be generated during the next fiscal year than was
collected three years ago.
Years
ago, during the Davis administration, California found itself in a
similar situation. As Vice Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee at the
time, I remember sitting in Governor Davis’s office as he personally
promised to show fiscal restraint with the state’s large revenue
windfall. Unfortunately, Governor Davis ultimately caved to pressure
from legislative Democrats and authorized ongoing spending with those
temporary revenue dollars.
Governor Davis said all the right things, but his actions spoke louder than his words.
Indie Rock Opera comes to Calaveras Arts Council Ovations 2014 Performing Arts Series with The Family Crest
New
to perform for Calaveras Arts Council’s Ovation series is San Francisco
based The Family Crest. They will perform at Dr. Elliott Smart
Performing Arts Center located at Bret Harte High School, 323 Highway
49, in Angels Camp on Sunday, February 9, at 3:00pm. Adult tickets are $25 and Youth 18 years and younger at $10.00. Go on-line to www.calaverasarts.org (home page), scroll down to order tickets on line or call 754-1774.
The
Family Crest is an American orchestral indie rock band based in San
Francisco. Lots of things are exciting about The Family Crest, but for
starters, front- man, Liam McCormick was born and raised in Calaveras
County’s community of Paloma and is a graduate of Calaveras High School;
others facts are that these six musicians are classically trained, play
multiple instruments, sing, write, and are part of a musical genus
blending orchestration, jazz, folk, pop, rock, and classical music to
create their own independent style. Kimberly Chun of the San Francisco Chronicle
states that "The Family Crest harbors an affection for Burt
Bacharach-style swingin' romanticism that is sure to impress lovers of
classic pop.
Additional staffing for CalFire?
Since the Governors Drought State of Emergency was released the CALFIRE Tuolumne Calaveras Unit Executive Staff has been meeting regarding the drought declaration. According to Lisa Williams of Tuo/Cal Unit, specific details are not available yet.
The Governor has allowed for additional firefighter staffing this coming fire season yet the numbers are not yer known.
The application process for CalFire closes January 31st 2014 at 5 pm.
The Governor has allowed for additional firefighter staffing this coming fire season yet the numbers are not yer known.
The application process for CalFire closes January 31st 2014 at 5 pm.
Cyber bullying and how you can stop being cyber bullied
Cyber bullying often takes the form of one person harassing another
through emails, instant messages, text messages or other modes of
electronic communication. Harassment is taking place if the bully is
directly contacting someone with one or more of the following types of
messaging:
Stop responding to the bully's messages. If talking it out won't work, don't directly respond to the text messages, instant messages, emails or other communications you may have received from the bully. Bullies want to elicit a reaction from their targets
Save the evidence. File away every email, text, instant message, web address, and other evidence you collect from the bully. Record the time and date that each message was sent. Having as much information as possible about the bully's behavior will help you determine how to stop his or her behavior
Block the bully. Immediately put an end to the bully's most invasive threats by blocking that person from direct communication with you. Once you've made sure all prior messages have been saved, take the following steps to protect yourself:
- Hateful or threatening verbal messages. This includes name-calling, attempts to control someone's behavior by threatening to expose embarrassing information and/or threats of violence.
- Embarrassing or threatening images.
- An unending barrage of emails, instant messages, or texts, whether or not they are threatening in nature.
Stop responding to the bully's messages. If talking it out won't work, don't directly respond to the text messages, instant messages, emails or other communications you may have received from the bully. Bullies want to elicit a reaction from their targets
Save the evidence. File away every email, text, instant message, web address, and other evidence you collect from the bully. Record the time and date that each message was sent. Having as much information as possible about the bully's behavior will help you determine how to stop his or her behavior
Block the bully. Immediately put an end to the bully's most invasive threats by blocking that person from direct communication with you. Once you've made sure all prior messages have been saved, take the following steps to protect yourself:
- Delete the person from your email contacts and block instant messaging communication.
- Delete the person from your social networks and prevent them from getting in contact with you again.
- Block the person from your phone.
CCWD on Governor’s Request for All Californians to reduce Water Consumption by 20%
Calaveras County Water District continues to urge customers
to use water wisely. Water conservation
is always a good idea.
As the Drought picture becomes clear, CCWD will implement
appropriate programs and policies to address water conservation. At this time, the district is advising that
all measures are voluntary. While water
supplies may be challenged during the upcoming year; good stewardship of the
districts’ resources may be adequate to avoid mandatory restrictions.
No rain in sight this week
- 1-21-14
- Today Patchy frost before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 71. East northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning.
- Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 31. Northeast wind 3 to 5 mph.
- Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 69. Light and variable wind becoming west northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.
- Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 31. West wind around 5 mph becoming east northeast in the evening.
- Thursday Sunny, with a high near 68. East wind around 6 mph becoming southwest in the morning.
- Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 34.
- Friday Sunny, with a high near 69.
- Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 32
Gov Drought State of Emergency allows for more firefighter and reduction in water usage
terrible consequences that California’s drought now threatens,
including dramatically less water for our farms and communities and
increased fires in both urban and rural areas,” said Governor Brown.
“I’ve declared this emergency and I’m calling all Californians to
conserve water in every way possible.”
In the State of Emergency declaration, Governor Brown directed state officials to assist farmers and communities that are economically impacted by dry conditions and to ensure the state can respond if Californians face drinking water shortages. The Governor also directed state agencies to use less water and hire more firefighters and initiated a greatly expanded water conservation public awareness campaign (details at saveourh2o.org).
In the State of Emergency declaration, Governor Brown directed state officials to assist farmers and communities that are economically impacted by dry conditions and to ensure the state can respond if Californians face drinking water shortages. The Governor also directed state agencies to use less water and hire more firefighters and initiated a greatly expanded water conservation public awareness campaign (details at saveourh2o.org).
New Melones Fishing report from Glory Hole Sports
1-20-14
Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding
1,049,506
acre-feet of water. The lake level dropped very little this week and is
currently at 949 ft. above sea level and 137 ft. from full. The water
is very clear in some areas and slightly stained in others, with a
little bit of debris on the surface. The water temperature is 52-55
degrees. The lake has turned over. The docks have been moved to the
middle ramp on Glory Hole Point. 
Kyle and Tony Giono had a fun day fishing near the Tuttletown boat launch. They caught a handful of trout on nightcrawlers.
Calvin
Livingston took 4-year old Logann Livingston fishing. They caught a
beautiful 2.55-pound rainbow trout on a chrome Kastmaster.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Chili Cook Off - a beautiful tasty day!
No one could seem to believe their good fortune attending the Copperopolis Town Square chili cook off in the middle of January at 71 degrees. The turn out was probably the largest ever with many booths running out of chili by 12:30 or 1:00 pm. Each booth supplied 5 gallons of chili, thats a lot of chili!
For more photos CLICK HERE
Lake Tulloch Cooking Crew aka He-man women haters club
Volunteer firefighter Guy Andress
Trystan Logoteta 17 and Peyton Whaley 17 walk their 4H lambs
2 year old Virgil Rosario
2 year old Addi
Odie Has a couple of tv's that need a little attention and a new home
I have two TV’s on my front porch. If you know anyone that fixes TV’s, they are welcome to take them.
One of them is a 50 inch that I bought years ago, best TV I ever had. It just quit working recently.
The other one is 32 inch flat screen. It was working until a couple of weeks ago. It will come up at times
And work for a little while and then quit.Odie
Old Corner Saloon 785-3311
Library craft/story time for preschoolers
Copperopolis library holds a
special story and craft time for preschoolers the 2nd and 4th
Wednesdays of each month from 11-12. Please call to hold a spot for
your child. 209-785-0920
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)