Serving the communities of Valley Springs, Burson and Wallace

March 31

Dave Evans, far right, commander of American Legion Post 102 in Valley Springs and chairman of the “Barn Building Committee,” offers some last-minute instructions to, from left, District 1 Supervisor Gary Tofanelli, Veterans of Foreign Wars District 13 Senior Vice Commander Russell Friday, Jenny Lind Memorial District Board President Andy Ballantyne and District 5 Supervisor Russ Thomas at Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new Valley Springs vets hall and community center.

Vets hall moves forward with groundbreaking

By Nick Baptista

   Efforts to construct a new veterans hall and community center in Valley Springs took a ceremonial step forward Friday as backers of the proposed project held a groundbreaking ceremony.

   Nearly 100 people attended the event organized by Dave Evans, commander of American Legion Post 102 in Valley Springs and chairman of the “Barn Building Committee,” which has raised $55,000 toward construction of the facility.

   The hour-long ceremony was held behind the existing hall at 189 Pine St. in the gravel parking lot adjacent to Valley Springs Elementary School. The Jenny Lind Veterans Memorial District, which oversees the current hall and the recreation area located behind the elementary school, has plans to build an 11,000-square-foot hall at the site.

   “Together, we can get this building built and make it a showcase for the community,” Andy Ballantyne, president of the memorial district, told the audience.

   Fundraising needs to continue and the district will continue to set aside funds for the project until it is completed, Ballantyne said.

   “Fundraising cannot stop,” he said. “It needs to reach its goal of $500,000.

   The district placed three measures on the ballot the past decade to fund a new hall through property assessments. The last measure on the ballot was in 2007 and although a majority of voters backed the idea, the question failed to gain two-thirds voter approval for passage.

   “It was disappointing,” Ballantyne said of the setbacks, “but there are others ways and sometimes you have to take another road to accomplish what you want to do.”

   The proposed structure will be more than three times as large as the current hall, which is more than 47 years old, and include a commercial-grade kitchen, multiple meeting rooms, larger stage area for theatrical events and a better, large design for community and private events.

   The new building will also solve handicap-access, heating and air-conditioning issues associated with the old hall.

   Local Navy veteran Ed Anderson said the existing hall has served its purpose, and using Navy parlance, added, “Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead” with the new hall.

   Supervisors Gary Tofanelli and Russ Thomas spoke about the hall’s benefits to the community. Thomas described the amenities as “fantastic” and Tofanelli said he and Thomas “will do everything possible to make this become a reality as soon as possible. It’s very much needed.”

   Along with community donations, the district has $423,000 set aside for construction. The total cost is expected to be more than $1 million.

   The district earlier this year received bids to construct the building, but the board did not select a contractor. Ballantyne said some things need to be changed in the bidding and county counsel has suggested the project go out to bid again, but the board still has to make that determination.

   Evans also acknowledged the dozen or so people on his Barn Building Committee who have spent the past two years raising funds for the new hall.  

March 17

Many media are represented in the 13th annual high school art show organized by the Calaveras Art Council.

High school art exhibit opens in San Andreas

   ArtSpirit, the 13th annual High School Juried Exhibition, opened Saturday in Gallery Calaveras with 143 students from three high schools entering 197 works in 12 categories.

   A public reception for the participating artists was held and the results were announced. The students received a $10 cash award for a first-place entry, $5 for second and ribbons for third.

   The results:

   Black and white photography – Manual Crosby, Calaveras High School, Kitchen Floor, first; Shane Cartwright, CHS, Self Portrait, second; Cameron Hill, CHS, Old Bug, Kyle Dillon, CHS, Splash, Dillion Dix, CHS, Sarah, tied for third.

   Color photography – Joshua Hurtado, Mountain Oaks Home Schools, The Hole, first; Sarah Hecocks, Bret Harte, Brightened Complexion, Viviana Burrera, BH, Beach, tied for second; Claire Hollet, BH, Mirror Reflection, Steph Hawks, BH, Bear Valley, tied for third.

    Digital computer art – Steph Hawks, BH, Avila Sunset, Shayla Layman, CHS, Through Melted Glass, tied for first; Jasime Thomas, CHS, A Mad Spotlight, Ashley Pinnell, BH, Church, tied for second; Chris Letterman, CHS, Devon Wadkins, third.

   Painting – acrylic, oil – Taryn Sirus, BH, Studio, first; Mallory Wards, BH, White Dress, second; Cloe Kinsella and Korinne Allan, CHS, Three Views of Venice, third.

   Painting – watercolor – Taryn Sirus, BH, Ashley, first; Shigno Brann, BH, Angie, second; Alex Kunesh, BH, Rainy Day, third.

   Pastels – Kayla Fitzsimmons, CHS, As By Reflections, first; Haley Pitzer, CHS, The Sound, second; Christina Guidici, CHS, Lady in Blue, third.

   Drawing –illustration – Kayla Fitzsimmons, CHS, Little Girl, first; Kyle Chalk, BH, Strange Water, second; Rachel Pitser, CHS, Talk on Indolence, Kaitlyn Smith, BH, Boredom at Work, tied for third.

   Ceramics – functional – Noah Shartle, BH, Tile Cup, first; Tatiana Beilstein, CHS, Plate with Mixed Clay, Tessa Gonzalez, CHS, Tea Pot, tied for second; Ryan Lopez, CHS, Ancient Tree, third.

   Ceramics – sculptural – Devon Wadkins, CHS, Echo Gecko, first; Catherine Wood, CHS, The Doll, second; Robert Harter, CHS, Rooster, third.

   Other – mixed media – Sharlee Hoffman, CHS, Chaos, Cheating and Organizaed Separation,  Shiingo Brann, CHS, Paguiao, tied for first; Sean Calavan, CHS, The Elements, second; Marissa Couch, CHS, Rainbow Veins, third.

   Crafts – Leia Pastizzo, CHS, Yarn Mask, first; Hilary Kendhammer, CHS, Colors of Childhood, second; Tiffany Freitas, CHS, Jungle Fever, third.

   Printmaking – Taylor Harris, CHS, Zebra, first; Molly Brower, CHS, Love in the Amazon, second; Breanna Dickerson, CHS, Strips on the Tiger, third.

   Judges included Brenda Nasser, Ed Cline, Maren Sampson, Sumiko Mancinelli, Mary Jane Genochio, Anne Dasch, Sharon Daniels, Kevin Brady, Connie Strawbridge, and Ken Winebrenner. Teachers who helped facilitate the gathering of art were Mark Waelty from Bret Harte; Donna Guadagni, Suzanne Smith and Roger Salter from Calaveras High.

   The $20 Popular Choice Awards will be presented after the April 24 closing of the exhibit. Gallery Calaveras is located at 22 Main St. in San Andreas. It is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, call the Calaveras County Arts Council at 754-1774, or visit www.calaverasarts.org.  

Matt Boyer from Dokken Engineering listens to a public comment during Monday’s meeting on the State Route 12/26 Intersection Improvement Project.

Discussion beings on 12/26 intersection improvements

By Nick Baptista

   Two alternatives to improve traffic flow at the State Route 12/26 intersection in downtown Valley Springs were unveiled Monday evening, but both had their drawbacks.

   Matt Boyer of Dokken Engineering, the firm hired by the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors to do the preliminary work for the intersection improvement project, made the presentation outlining the conceptual alternatives of either a traffic signal or roundabout at the intersection. The option of no project at all is a possibility.

   The no project at all alternative means the public would live with the congestion until an ultimate solution – such as a bypass – is completed.

    A traffic signal or roundabout would have a profound impact on the downtown intersection, with at least one building – the Century 21 office - removed and the possibility of numerous parking spaces along Highway 12 and Laurel Street eliminated.

   Billie Briski of Busy Bee Realty, located on the northwest corner of the intersection, said she was upset that she and the other property owners near the intersection had not been contacted prior to the meeting and informed of the proposed changes.

   “That’s not good public relations or goodwill,” she said. “This involves our livelihood.”

   She was concerned with the possible removal of parking in the downtown district and said steps should be taken to mitigate the problem, such as buying property nearby for off-site parking, including the recently closed Valley Inn.

   Kevin Squires of the Valley Springs Home Center wanted to know how much property along State Route 26 would be needed to accommodate the additional lanes for a roundabout or a traffic signal. Boyer said his firm would come back with an approximation of those figures.

   Jeff Davidson presented an alternative that would alleviate some of the existing problem. Davidson has submitted plans to the county for Mission Ranch Subdivision, a 103-acre residential and commercial development on property bordered by Highways 12 and 26. Proposed plans include a road or “parkway” connecting the two highways.

   If approved by the county and market conditions improve, the parkway would be in well before the 25 to 30 years before a bypass is constructed, Davidson said.

   Putting the bypass on the fast track was also discussed.

   From his experience, Boyer said it would be almost impossible to have such a project ready in five to eight years.

   Tom Garcia, the county’s public works director, said no funding for a bypass project has been identified and it would be reasonable to expect such a project is 20 to 25 years away.

   Others suggested extending Hogan Dam Road to either State Route 12 or Lime Creek Road east of Valley Springs to alleviate congestion in the downtown intersection.

   There was also concern the intersection improvement proposals would hamper traffic trying to get in and out of the Valley Oaks Center. 

   The workshop at Jenny Lind Elementary School attracted nearly 70 people and many spent the first hour looking at the maps for the traffic signal and roundabout. Dokken Engineering staff members receive public comments on the alternatives and comment cards were distributed to the audience.

    The comments generated around the maps seemed to favor the traffic signal over the roundabout.

   A similar public workshop is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, in the Toyon Middle School multipurpose room, 3412 Double Springs Road.  

March 12

The morning flag-raising ceremony at the CHP Academy in West Sacramento.

Day at the CHP Academy an eye-opener

By Nick Baptista

   The opportunity to take an entire weekday off from the office and attend an upcoming California Highway Patrol Media Boot Camp was irresistibly inviting when I received word about the event earlier this year from Rebecca Myers, the public information officer at our local CHP officer in San Andreas.

   This year’s boot camp was open on a first-come, first-served basis to the first 24 media types to respond to an open invitation from the CHP Academy and it was my good fortune to see the email soon after the call went out.

   My Plimptonesque experience came Wednesday. For those unfamiliar with my reference, George Plimpton was a noted American author who penned a non-fiction book, Paper Lion, in 1966 describing his experience as a non-athlete working out at quarterback in the Detroit Lions training camp.

   My dose with reality at the West Sacramento campus came very early as we spent an eternity, more like 15 minutes, in physical training workout. It’s been nearly 40 years since I had high school P.E. and I must admit I’m about 50 pounds heavier since those days. Even if I had my high school physique, I doubt I could have kept up with the repetition of jumping jacks, push-ups and sit-ups. Needless to say, I took the last half of the exercises off to spare the state of California the expense of calling for an ambulance to take me to the nearest emergency room.

   After a brief jog around the track, I stayed toward the rear of the pack to catch my breath before trying my hands and feet on the obstacle course. From this vantage point I could hear the finishing times of my fellow media colleagues. Some were completing the course in 30 seconds and others were taking over a minute. Although I had to take two stabs at getting over the obstacle wall, I managed to clear most of the jumps and made a mad dash to the finish line to come in at what I thought was a respectable 52 seconds, but I was pretty light-headed for the next few minutes.

   One of our PT instructors cautioned us that we experienced only a small dose of the training the CHP cadets go through on a daily basis and one of the key elements in the physical training is to instill the drive never to give up, always fight, no matter what adversity you face.

   Now the fun part began. The next few stations we experienced dealt with the shooting simulator, a DUI demonstration and the skid pan.

   I emptied my clip before I hit my first pumpkin at the beginning of the shooting simulator. The first scenario had a driver attempting to escape apprehension and running his car straight at me. I managed to hit the vehicle twice, but that was not enough to stop it as it rushed past me. The second and final scenario had me chasing a stolen pickup truck that ended up going into a brushy area and three guys jumped out running into the woods. As I approached the vehicle, another fellow leaned out of the driver’s side of the cab and began shooting. He surrendered and one of the men who initially ran into the woods comes out with guns blazing. I was about 50 yards away and none of my shots found the mark. Hopefully none of theirs found me.

   At the DUI demonstration we donned “Fatal Vision” goggles and attempted to do the “walk and turn heel-to-toe” field sobriety test. The goggles represent someone at a .10 blood-alcohol level. I couldn’t get my left foot on the line to begin the test - the line was constantly moving. I can safely say I’ve never had that feeling before getting behind the wheel. My reaction was to turn my back to the officer with my hands behind me and say, “Cuff me.”

   At the skid pan, we got to drive out-of-service CHP cars around a wet, curvy track on purposely-manufactured bald tires. We’re told it only takes 1/16^th of an inch of water to hydroplane and we had plenty of that in this exercise. Although the purpose of this course is to teach cadets how to safely maneuver their vehicles around curves in inclement weather, many of us relished the opportunity to fishtail and spin the cars around in circles.

   We also took part in a mock accident investigation and received a greater understanding about all of the factors that go into a collision report before we see it come through our fax machine. For some of our readers who call 30 minutes after an accident and want all of the details, it takes more than several hours for the CHP to dot all of the “i’s” and cross all of the “t’s” before that information is available to the public.

   The most poignant part of our day came after lunch when the cadets held their weekly Fountain Ceremony. Once a week, the cadets pay tribute to the 215 CHP officers who have died in the line of duty. Each name is inscribed in small plaque surrounding a fountain inside the academy and the cadets polish the plaques.

   About a third of those officers died at crash scenes, according to CHP officer Dave Fawson, who was our instructor at the crash scene investigation.

   Cadet training is 27 weeks long. The dropout rate ranges from 20 to 40 percent and the CHP hopes to have enough new officers from this class to cover the 25 to 28 a month it loses to retirement, disability, etc.

   My brief time at the academy gave me a greater understanding and appreciation of the skills these men and women must learn to become CHP officers.  

March 10

Highway signage is one of the methods being used to inform the public about next week’s meetings on the State Route 12/26 Intersection Improvement Project.

  Public input sought on intersection work

By Nick Baptista

   Two public workshops on the State Route 12/26 Intersection Improvement Project have been scheduled for next week.

   The project aims to alleviate peak-period congestion at the intersection in downtown Valley Springs and work could begin in the 2011 construction season.

   The first workshop is set for Monday, March 15, in the Jenny Lind Elementary School multipurpose room, while the second one is on Wednesday, March 17, in the Toyon Middle School multipurpose room. Both begin with an open house at 6 p.m. and a presentation from 7 to 8.

   Alternative design solutions are expected to be presented at the workshops and public feedback will be sought.

   The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors last November authorized a professional services agreement with Dokken Engineering out of Folsom on the project. Dokken will provide improvement alternatives including signalization and non-signalization options to solve the traffic conditions at the intersection, along with the environmental studies and right-of-way acquisition paperwork needed to move forward toward construction.

   The agreement is not expected to exceed $422,784 and $350,000 of the money comes from the state through so-called Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds. Countywide Road Impact Mitigation fees are being used as the local match to fund the difference between the contract price and state funding.

   The funding so far does not cover actual construction costs. Additional state funding and the use of County RIM fees could cover those costs.

   Jenny Lind Elementary is located off State Route 26 at 5100 Driver Road, while Toyon is off State Route 12 at 3412 Double Springs Road.