The Union Democrat

A motion put forward during the Oct. 27 meeting of the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors to establish continuing education requirements for the county's Treasurer-Tax Collector failed for a lack of a second. Incorrect information was published in an Oct. 28 story and Nov. 3 editorial in the Union Democrat. Full Story »

Calaveras County Public Works Director Tom Garcia will give a review Tuesday of the department’s accomplishments during his first five months as head, as well as its goals for the future. Garcia, who came to the county in May from a job as transportation engineer in Folsom, has been forced to institute unpopular new fees to close shortfalls as the department watched state tax grabs and shrinking ... Full Story »

The head of Calaveras County’s Probation Department, Mike Kriletich, will retire Dec. 18 after a four-year term during which he refocused the department on rehabilitation. Under the tall, bespectacled and personable former director, the department emphasized counseling, education and work programs for adults and youth. Full Story »

The enforcement of rules governing how long people can live in recreational vehicles should be loosened to reflect today’s harsh economic reality, according to Tuolumne County Supervisor Paolo Maffei. In other words, Maffei said, there are a lot of unemployed people on the verge of homelessness in the county. And if living in a friend’s or relative’s recreational vehicle or travel trailer keeps ... Full Story »

The suspect in a hit-and-run accident that killed a Sonora woman on Oct. 19 had no idea that the accident occurred because of his level of intoxication, according to the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office. “This is a guy who drinks to the point that he hits someone and doesn’t even know it,” Deputy District Attorney Eric Hovatter said in court Friday. Full Story »

To the editor: Everyone should be entitled to health care coverage. A government health care program sounds right on the surface, but it will be disastrous cost wise. It could break this country. No one will truly benefit by it because of the abuse in the health care system in general. Full Story »

WEDNESDAY 6:35 p.m., reckless driving — A group of teenage girls passed a woman at a high speed on Mono Way near Sonora Plaza. The teenagers exited and then got behind the woman, honking. Full Story »

Donald Peters, of Columbia, died Nov. 4 at Sonora Regional Medical Center. He was 79. A native of Berkeley, Mr. Peters lived in Columbia less than a year. He was U.S. Civil Service silver plater for 24 years at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento. Full Story »

Sierra Conservation Center’s new acting warden, Frank Chavez, is a week into his new job. The Southern Californian served as chief deputy warden for several years. Full Story »

Hostels offer cheap accommodation to independent travelers around the globe, and now Tuolumne County has one to call its own. Housed in a former dental office along Main Street in Groveland, the hostel has 17 beds that cost $25 each per night. Full Story »

Emergency crews this morning are pulling a vehicle from the embankment off Old Priest Grade. Traffic was blocked from using the steep route to Groveland. The car was described by witnesses at a black pickup with furniture in the back. No details were available this morning. Look for further details in tomorrow's Union Democrat. Full Story »

Rick Downey is the official winner of the Angels Camp City Council election, with 47 percent of the vote, the Calaveras County Elections Department confirmed Thursday. Downey will be sworn in at noon on Dec. 4, which, as required by California election code, is the first Friday in December. Full Story »

In the late fifties, when the Mountain Ranch Hotel was last up for sale, it would have been charitably called a fixer-upper. Wallpaper hung from the stately home’s high ceilings, there were rats in the water tank and, said current owner Tim Lane. The home’s nearly wrap-around porch was so rotten one of his friends fell right through it. Full Story »

Fire destroyed a small rental home in downtown Sonora Friday. The fire, at 113 North Shepherd Street, was reported at 5:57 p.m. and was visible from many downtown locations. Full Story »

To the editor: What is wrong with this county? We have a very serious outbreak of H1N1 both in Sonora and the foothills, and everyone is keeping their mouths shut. Full Story »

TUESDAY 2:06 a.m., Groveland — A woman on the 19000 block of Ferretti Road said someone rang her doorbell and then threw a rock at her house. 8:39 a.m., Mi-Wuk Village — A woman reported a chain saw stolen on 20700 block of Lama Tamalin Road. Full Story »

Pennie Austin-Wilson, of Sonora, died Oct. 28 in Sonora. She was 55. She was born in Salinas to LaVerne and Charles Austin and lived there until 1970, when she moved to Sonora with her family. She graduated from Sonora High School in 1972, where she met Rob Wilson. They were married in 1975. Full Story »

The Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office charged a Sonora man with one felony count of carjacking with use of a deadly weapon in a complaint filed Thursday. Jesse Daniel Burkett, 19, was arrested in Modesto early Tuesday along with Duston Paul Jacobson, 20, of Columbia, and an unidentified female juvenile after allegedly forcing a 55-year-old woman and her passenger from a white Toyota ... Full Story »

The Emmy-nominated reality show “MythBusters” paid a mystery-shrouded visit to Carson Hill on Thursday. Producers would not allow reporters on site of the shoot, Carson Hill Rock Products quarry, and requests for comment to the show’s publicist were not returned. Full Story »

WHEN IT COMES to saving his older brother’s life, 17-year-old Jesse Hinman is an old hand. He saved Ethan for the first time in 1995, with a do-or-die bone-marrow transplant at UC San Francisco Medical Center. And if Jesse doesn’t remember the clinical details, that’s understandable: He was only two-and-a-half. Full Story »

The Utica Power Authority and the Calaveras County Water district inked an agreement Tuesday resolving their long-running dispute over water rights. The document confirms UPA’s ownership of the rights to the water that runs in the Utica Ditch from Hunter Reservoir, near Hathaway Pines, to the Angels Powerhouse — a claim CCWD once contested. Full Story »

The owners of The Ridge at Trinitas golf course project near Wallace filed a claim Tuesday for “unlimited” damages against Calaveras County, a preliminary step in what could become their third lawsuit against the county. Michael and Michelle Nemee charge that the county “encouraged” them to continue construction of their 18-hole golf course and sent an employee to help them secure a $2.4 million ... Full Story »

Tough questions arose Wednesday during a forum at the Tuolumne County Senior Center meant to ease senior citizens’ fears about health care reform. County Public Health Officer Dr. Todd Stolp, for instance, got a sharp retort from Gale Waggoner, of Sonora, when Stolp said some of the cost of health care could be paid for with taxes on unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and drinking alcohol and ... Full Story »

SATURDAY 5:21 p.m., Columbia — A man on the 11600 block of Columbia College Drive said someone stole his laptop computer. 6:32 p.m., Tuolumne — A woman on the 18700 block of Carter Street said two teens walking by the post office were dressed like Ku Klux Klan members in sheets. Full Story »

JoAnn Elizabeth “Jo” (Martz) Azinheira, of Twain Harte, died Oct. 24 at a Sonora care center. She was 77. A native of Erie, Pa., Mrs. Azinheira was a longtime resident of San Francisco. She was retired from a 30-year career in management at Pacific Telephone and moved to Twain Harte nine years ago. Full Story »