January 05, 2011 05:42 am
A special dinner featuring 19th century writer and humorist Mark Twain — as channeled by impersonator Pat Kaunert — will mark the Jan. 15 grand opening celebration for Columbia’s City Hotel restaurant.
The grand opening three-course dinner and program is offered at $35 per person.
The first course will be spicy candied walnuts, stilton cheese and organic greens with quince vinaigrette, and the second course will be cream of carrot and ginger soup. The entree will be a choice of poached pacific salmon and roasted root vegetables with an arugula pistou, roasted duck with butternut squash, crepes and green beans, or grilled flat iron steak bordelaise with chanterelles, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic and fresh thyme. Dessert will be maple pots de creme with almond praline.
In Kaunert’s portrayal, Twain returns to 1880 Columbia to deliver a lecture on his adventures out West, including mining on the Nevada Comstock, big trouble in San Francisco, pocket mining near Tuttletown and spinning yarns at Jackass Hill in Tuolumne County.
Call 532-1479 for reservations.
|
|
Read more...
|
December 29, 2010 11:35 am
It didn’t take long for the crowds to come to Lowe’s Monday.
The big-box home improvement store opened its doors in Sonora at 6 a.m. By 9:30 a.m., the parking lot was packed with eager shoppers.
John Guzzetta was one of them.
Guzzetta lives in San Jose and owns a second home in the county.
He was happy to see the 94,000-square-foot store has the same layout as the Lowe’s store he’s accustomed to in San Jose.
|
|
Read more...
|
December 29, 2010 11:34 am
Local beekeepers are having mixed results as their hives weather the winter.
The petite pollinators’ providence has been a concern worldwide in recent years since the winter 2006-2007 mass disappearance of bees termed “colony collapse disorder.” Because the bees pollinate a third of America’s crops, their health is important to growers of almonds, apples, various berries, cherries and more.
Sierra Foothill Beekeepers Association President Lorinda Forrest, of Tuolumne, said reports from club members have not been alarming.
|
|
Read more...
|
December 28, 2010 11:46 am
By MOLLY TOWNSEND
The Union Democrat
Let’Er Buck Western Wear and Uniforms, Sonora’s Favorite Kitchen Store and Mountain Storm Jujitsu have won top honors in the Historic Sonora Chamber of Commerce’s first annual Christmas window decorating contest.
The winners were honored last week at a ceremony held at the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau.
The majority of downtown merchants entered the contest, which offered more than $1,000 in prize money.
“It was fun,” said Mary Henson of the Historic Sonora Chamber. “It generated some friendly competition.”
Sonora Mayor Bill Canning, who also donated the $500 first-place prize, came up with the idea of a window decorating contest.
Let ‘Er Buck captured top honors.
|
|
Read more...
|
December 28, 2010 11:45 am
Business owners and bank operators were schooled on the ins and outs of special government loans that target small businesses in an effort to boost entrepreneurialism last Wednesday.
John Manalli, the Small Business Administration Fresno district deputy director, led a one and a half hour discussion examining different kinds of loans available to business owners, which worked for specific business situations and how the rules of the programs changed in 2010.
The SBA is a part of the federal government that guarantees loans made by certain commercial banks to small businesses.
|
|
Read more...
|
December 28, 2010 11:44 am
Things are looking better for the Williamson Land Conservation Act this year, with the state providing some funding to keep the tax-break program afloat.
But the money is just a fraction of what it was in years past. Nonetheless, for county officials throughout the state, this year’s outlook beats last year, when the state nixed the funds completely.
That action — just one meant to deal with a big state budget deficit — forced counties to subsidize the program themselves or halt participation in the program.
Calaveras and Tuolumne counties were among those who put up some of their own funds to keep the program running seamlessly.
In the past, Williamson Act subvention funds amounted to roughly $130,000 annually for Calaveras County and nearly $100,000 annually for Tuolumne County.
This year, the two counties are getting about a quarter of the Williamson Act funding they’ve traditionally received.
About 130,000 acres are protected under the Williamson Act in Calaveras County; 100,000 in Tuolumne County.
Statewide, the state, in recent years, has paid about $35 million to counties for roughly 17 million acres protected under the Williamson Act. This year, only $10 million is available.
The money is for tax revenue counties would have otherwise earned if it weren’t for their participation in the act.
Participating landowners are required to enter into 10-year contracts in which they agree not to develop their land, with the contracts renewed each year.
|
|
Read more...
|
December 15, 2010 05:37 am
The holiday season is here, and with it temporary jobs that provide a much-needed economic boost.
But don’t look for an economic turnaround overnight.
Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO George Segarini said though the holiday jobs are a welcome sight, they don’t compare to the job boon of the summer months, when tourism picks up.
“Obviously, the seasonal hiring makes a difference in our hiring rates, but it’s not significant,” he said. “It just makes incremental changes in the unemployment rate.”
The unemployment rate in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties sits at 12.9 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively.
Most of the local seasonal jobs are in retail, Segarini noted, largely at big-box stores.
“There’s also some hiring with smaller businesses, but to a lesser extent,” he said.
Job numbers don’t reveal the entire seasonal job-boon picture, according to Segarini. There is also a shadow-stimulus brought on by increased hours for existing employees, who find themselves working more due to the holiday traffic.
That is, if they’re lucky.
Wal-Mart is one example of this, where seasonal workers aren’t typically hired in favor of giving existing employees more hours.
|
|
Read more...
|
December 15, 2010 05:36 am
Temporary and permanent employees are working to get the finishing touches put on the long-awaited Lowe’s Home Improvement Store before its Dec. 27 opening, store officials said.
Installers can now apply for temporary work to ready the 94,000 square foot store for its public debut, said Operations Manager Dale Schenstrom.
The date was adjusted from a tentative soft opening on Christmas Eve, Schenstrom said.
“There was a tentative opening date put out by the corporate office and given to us, and it was going to be the 24th,” Schenstrom said. “Since, it’s been moved and firmed up to the 27th.”
Although Lowe’s is opening after the Christmas season, the store hopes to be a destination for major holidays and occasions said store spokeswoman Stacey Lentz.
|
|
Read more...
|
December 15, 2010 05:36 am
Media company AT&T awarded a $10,000 grant to help spur business development in Tuolumne County.
The money was given to the Economic Prosperity Council of Tuolumne County, a nonprofit organization that works with the Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority to promote business in the area.
The EPC shares both a board and executive director with the TCEDA. Its mission focuses on research and education that assists with economic development.
According to a press release, the EPC will use the funds to purchase 10 laptop computers and business software. Those laptops will be used by the EPC and Business Alliance of Tuolumne County to provide training to small businesses.
The goal is to foster local small business by providing owners and staff with the tools to run their enterprises efficiently by using the latest technologies.
George Segarini, of the Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce, assisted with the grant.
“Working hand-in-hand with our partner organizations can really make things happen,” said EPC Executive Director Larry Cope in the press release.
|
December 15, 2010 05:35 am
The Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group received the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Regional Forester’s Award Nov. 30 for “All Land Ecological Restoration.”
The group is a community-based organization that works to create fire-safe communities, healthy forests and watersheds and sustainable local economies. Their efforts have focused on reducing hazardous fuels in the Mokelumne River watershed, a common boundary shared between the Stanislaus and El Dorado national forests.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
News 
