Tuolumne County’s chances to get a state grant to help fund a new jail don’t look good, the county’s chief administrative officer said earlier this week.

The county is at the bottom of the state’s priorities list for small counties that applied for funds under the second phase of AB900, a state program to finance jail construction, County Administrator Craig Pedro said. The program is giving out up to $602.9 million statewide, with $102.9 million going to counties with fewer than 200,000 people.

Donald Segerstrom holds his right hand up as Judge Eric DuTemple swears him in on Friday as Tuolumne County Superior Court’s newest judge. Maggie Beck/Union Democrat, copyright 2011

Segerstrom, the county’s district attorney for the past 10 years, was appointed to the vacant judgeship in December by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Cal Fire’s Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit lifted its suspension of burning on private lands at 8 a.m. Friday.   

The recent rainfall improved conditions for burning vegetation to create a 100-foot defensible space, according to Cal Fire.

Dry weather is expected to return to the Central Sierra this week, after a series of storms over the weekend dumped much-needed rain and snow, knocked down trees and cut power to thousands.

Storms Thursday through this morning dropped about 4 inches of rain in Sonora and also brought several inches of snow to the mountains. Dodge Ridge Ski Area, off Highway 108, reported receiving 8 inches of snow overnight. An opening date had not been announced as of this morning.

Mary Leamy, left, board housing director for National Alliance on Mental Illness in Tuolumne County, and Elizabeth Soper, right, housing program director, talk with Edward Bailey, 74, of Sonora, who was diagnosed with Schizophrenia after the Vietnam War. Maggie Beck/Union Democrat, copyright 2012

Her family brought her to the ER because she was suffering from delusions and had made suicidal statements. Doctors determined the 65-year-old Jamestown woman  was a danger to herself and temporarily placed responsibility for her care in the hands of the county Department of Behavioral Health.

Ian Britton, 17, a senior at Summerville High School, wears tape over his mouth in protest of abortion. Ian is a member of the Walk the Talk Club at Summerville High School. Maggie Beck/Union Democrat, copyright 2012

The demonstration, mostly held at lunch in the club’s designated meeting space, coincided with the 39th anniversary of the landmark abortion case, Roe vs. Wade, which effectively legalized abortion.

The trial of a Vallecito man accused of assault with a deadly weapon against three California Highway Patrol officers more than a year ago has been delayed again.

Jon Ryan Young, 31, who also is charged with felony reckless evasion, has pleaded not guilty to all charges stemming from the Jan. 2, 2011, incident.

A serial killer on death row may soon return to Calaveras and San Joaquin counties to lead a search for the remains of murdered victims.

Wesley Shermantine, 45, a former part-time San Andreas resident, has offered clues to the whereabouts of as many as a dozen bodies in exchange for payment of restitution owed to the families of his victims.

The U.S. Forest Service took a step closer toward owning and managing a stretch of land near Lyons Reservoir that currently belongs to utility giant PG&E.

The Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council voted Thursday to transfer 628 acres of PG&E land to the Stanislaus National Forest. 

A few drops of rain began to fall Thursday afternoon in the Mother Lode, but the predicted heavy storm has yet to develop.

The weather system is working its way down from Alaska and is expected to move over much of California, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Johnnie Powell in Sacramento.