Calaveras Enterprise

2014: The Year in Review, Part IV




Nov. 28: The parking lot in front of Calaveras High School is broken apart to lay the foundation for the school’s newtheater.Enterprise photo

Nov. 28: The parking lot in front of Calaveras High School is broken apart to lay the foundation for the school’s newtheater.Enterprise photo

October 3:

Boy texted plans to bring gun to school

A 15-year-old boy who brought an illegal assault weapon onto a Calaveras Unified School District bus texted a peer the night before to say that he would bring the gun to school and even texted photos of himself with the weapon, according to investigator statements contained in search warrants issued in the weeks after the incident.

CAO resigns from county’s top spot

Calaveras County will say goodbye to another of its top officials after County Administrative Officer Lori Norton tendered her resignation to the Board of Supervisors this week. The board met in closed session at its Tuesday meeting to discuss a performance evaluation of Norton, and it was during that session when she tendered her resignation, which will be effective Dec. 31.

October 7:

Three arrested trying to rob medical marijuana garden

Three armed men were arrested near Angel Camp the evening of Sept. 27 on suspicion of robbing a medical marijuana garden.

Nov. 7: Tim Healy and wife Rachel look over election results at the Calaveras County Elections Office.Enterprise photo

Nov. 7: Tim Healy and wife Rachel look over election results at the Calaveras County Elections Office.Enterprise photo

Donald Keith Bailey, 30, of Burbank; Robert Merrell Cottrell, 57, of Copperopolis; and Daniel Jeffrey Parsons, 35, of San Lorenzo, were arrested at about 9 p.m. at the garden site on MJB Ranch Road off of Pool Station Road.

October 10: Fowler trial delayed yet again

The trial for Isiah Fowler was pushed back once more when a judge agreed to a defense request to delay setting a trial date until Nov. 25.

Defense attorney Mark Reichel said the delay is happening because experts on the defense team who have been doing DNA tests on evidence asked for some additional items.

Isiah was 12 in May of 2013 when he was arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing his sister Leila, 8. This holiday season will be the second he has spent incarcerated.

Judge candidates raise big campaign war chests

Calaveras County local office candidates on the November ballot had raised more than $250,000, collectively, by the end of September, according to campaign finance reports.

 

 

The bulk of that money – $195,999 – was concentrated in the races for two Calaveras Superior Court judgeships.

October 14: Edson wants county to cash in on snowpack

Caring for the annual snowpack would become a core industry in Calaveras County under an economic development vision being championed by county Supervisor Cliff Edson of San Andreas.

The logic goes like this: Snow melts into water. Water is a precious resource in thirsty California. If water users pay to increase the yield from the snowpack, then crews in Calaveras County can do the required thinning of forests. Secondary benefits include electricity plants fueled by wood waste and payments to property owners who manage land to maximize water yield.

October 17: Man says he was shot in Burson

A 21-year-old Tracy man reported that he was shot early Wednesday afternoon while he was walking along Highway 12 in Burson, but later changed his story to say the shooting actually happened on a gravel road off of South Burson Road.

Officials said that the man did not dial 911, but instead reported that he called friends who then drove him to a medical office in the Valley Oaks Center in Valley Springs. It was only then, about 12:45 p.m., that one of the friends who provided the ride called law enforcement.

October 21: Conservation Corps hiring for new Camanche work camp

A California Conservation Corps work camp will operate this winter at Lake Camanche South Shore, and state officials hope to hire Calaveras County residents to complete the crews.

The Camanche Camp is set to operate for six months starting Nov. 1 under an agreement between the CCC and East Bay Municipal Utility District, which operates the reservoir. The 35 members of the Camanche crews will be doing a variety of fire-prevention work within the Mokelumne River watershed that feeds Camanche and Pardee reservoirs, said Abby Figueroa, a spokeswoman for EBMUD.

October 24: CUSD board continues talks on school closures

A somber Calaveras Unified School District Board of Trustees voted Tuesday night to eliminate eight teaching positions, two maintenance jobs and 10 preschool positions next year as part of an effort to close a more than $2 million deficit.

October 31: Bodies retrieved from two area lakes

Tuolumne County authorities are investigating two deaths following the discovery of bodies in separate incidents at area lakes this week.

Authorities said a person walking a dog near the Tuttletown boat ramp at New Melones Lake discovered partially submerged human remains about 9:30 a.m. Monday.

On Tuesday afternoon, Tuolumne forensic and coroner staff were called out again to investigate a report of a body floating in Lake Tulloch not far from the O’Byrne’s Ferry Bridge.

November 4: Election will determine county’s new leaders, judges

Thousands of Calaveras County voters are expected at polling places today for an election that will select two judges, two members of the County Board of Supervisors, four Calaveras County Water District directors, two Calaveras Unified School District trustees and members for many other governing boards and special districts.

November 7: Healy, Barrett win historic judge election

Calaveras County voters this week selected both of the county’s trial court judges in a historic vote that could shape the judiciary here for decades to come.

Tim Healy, a deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County who lives in Calaveras County, defeated incumbent Judge Hugh Swift 53.08 percent to 46.55 percent in the unofficial tally of votes cast Tuesday. Healy was elected to the Dept. 2 judgeship.

In Dept. 1, Court Commissioner Grant Barrett defeated Calaveras County Deputy District Attorney Dana Pfeil 52.75 percent to 46.88 percent.

Oliveira, Kearney win seats on Board of Supervisors

Voters this week finished a remake of the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, booting out District 3 Supervisor Merita Callaway after 22 years in office and replacing her with retired law enforcement officer Michael Oliveira.

In the Valley Springs area, retired drug store manager Steve Kearney was defeating Volunteer Center Executive Director Marti Crane by 55.46 percent to 42.92 percent in unofficial results.

CCWD board has new majority of fresh faces

The Calaveras County Water District will see a major shift in December after three of the four seats up for election resulted in new directors.

Only incumbent Director Scott Ratterman, out of Division 1, held onto his seat.

November 12: CCWD set to tap new general manager today

The Calaveras County Water District will meet today and its first agenda item in “new business” is to approve the appointment of a new general manager, who will be David Eggerton – the current general manager for the El Dorado County Water Agency.

November 14: Water Board order threatens growth in San Andreas, Moke Hill

The drought may have just killed hopes for housing and commercial growth in San Andreas.

A State Water Resources Control Board compliance order issued in October bars Calaveras Public Utility District from connecting any new customers to its water service until the utility can find a water source that the state deems “adequate and reliable.”

CCWD has new General Manager

Despite numerous pleas from residents to postpone the vote, David Eggerton is the new general manager at the Calaveras County Water District. Directors approved the move on a 3-0-2 vote at Wednesday’s board meeting, which saw Directors Jeff Davidson and Don Stump away on vacation.

November 18: CUSD board votes to keep all schools open

All Calaveras Unified School District campuses are safe from the chopping block for the 2015-16 school year.

During Saturday’s study session, talk of the CUSD cut list – which was compiled to eliminate the district’s $2.5 million spending deficit – the CUSD Board of Trustees voted to remove all school closures from the list.

November 21: CHS student triggers Amber Alert

A 14-year-old boy who apparently wanted to skip some of his classes Monday ended up arrested after a lie he told about his absence triggered a statewide Amber Alert and a massive search.

November 25: Accident on rainy highway kills Copper man

An 18-year-old Copperop-olis man died and the owners of a downtown Angels Camp business suffered major injuries when their cars collided Thursday afternoon on Highway 4 east of Stallion Way, the California Highway Patrol reported.

November 28: Fowler trial scheduled for February

Isiah Fowler’s trial on charges of murdering his sister will begin on Feb. 9.

Calaveras Superior Court Judge John E. Martin set the trial date, although it will be the assigned judge, Thomas A. Smith, who will preside over the trial.

Prosecution and defense attorneys estimate it will take 17 days to hear all the evidence in the court trial.

Construction begins on Calaveras High theater

Ground broke this week on the long-awaited Calaveras High School Performing Arts Center. Construction is anticipated to take a year, said Calaveras Unified School District Superintendent Mark Campbell.

December 2: Calaveras no longer a Senate orphan

Calaveras County is no longer a state Senate orphan.

Yesterday, when Tom Berryhill and other legislators were sworn in for new terms in Sacramento, Calaveras County became part of the new 8th Senate District that was drawn during redistricting in 2011, but not yet activated.

Storms offer welcome break from the drought

At least for now, the storm door is open and Calaveras County residents can expect to get regular rain at the lower elevations and snow in the high country.

“We are getting a more normal season by far than we saw last year,” said Eric Kurth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Sacramento.

December 9: Storm to bring high winds and rain

The most potent storm in several years is forecast to hit Calaveras County Wednesday night and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. High winds that could gust up to 70 mph will kick things off overnight on Wednesday followed by three or four inches of rain in the next day or so.

December 12: Law could force public school ban on Redskins

Joaquin Coronado, 16, a junior at Calaveras High School, was dismayed Wednesday to learn that a bill introduced this month in the state Assembly would ban public schools in California from using the name Redskins.

The bill introduced on Dec. 1 by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, if approved, would take effect on Jan. 1, 2017, just over two years from now. It would ban the use of the name Redskins for school teams, mascots or nicknames.

December 19: FEMA officials relent, agree to correct maps

At least some officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have relented and agreed to replace inaccurate flood zone maps that have forced some Calaveras County property owners to buy flood insurance they don’t need.

The agreement by regional FEMA representatives that the maps need to change aren’t enough, however, to guarantee a solution.

“They have to get permission from headquarters,” Planning Director Peter Maurer said. Headquarters, as in Washington, D.C.

Bear Valley Co-op is now official

This has been quite a year for the Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative. The co-op began as an idea to buy the struggling Alpine County ski resort with grassroots investments. The movement gained traction and amassed hundreds of interested shareholders within months.

When Skyline International Development Inc. entered into a purchase agreement for the ski resort in August, the co-op stepped back – but it didn’t bow out.

The co-op’s revised bylaws and a collaborative agreement with the newly named Skyline Bear Valley Mountain were approved by 97 percent of the voting co-op members. And as of Dec. 11, Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative is finally official.

December 26: CCWD, contractor fight over ‘illegal’ meter

Glen Andrew wants his meter back.

By now, however, the meter that was in the utility box when he bought the lot at 7927 Kirby St. in Rancho Calaveras outside Valley Springs has probably been melted down as scrap metal. And it wasn’t a desperate methamphetamine addict that sent the meter to be recycled, but employees of the Calaveras County Water District that Andrew had hoped would provide him service.

December 30: Medical marijuana ordinance draft delayed

Medical marijuana growers waiting to make plans for spring planting will have to wait a little longer. County officials who had initially hoped to have a draft of proposed zoning regulations for marijuana cultivation ready in December now say it will be at least January before the draft is released for public review.

County man witnesses historic day in Havana

Brent Harrington and his wife Sue happened to be in Havana on Dec. 17, the day that President Obama announced normalization of relations between the U.S. and the communist island nation.

Harrington said it still felt “unnerving” to come through customs the day after the president’s announcement.

“We figured we were on the first plane coming out of Cuba after the embargo,” he said.

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