Guest view: Keep educational choices alive in Calaveras County
Scott Nanik
Calaveras County has a strong history of offering educational options to students and families. With the onset of COVID-19, schools had to adjust quickly to new models for learning. The goal of educational leaders in Calaveras is to ensure various educational opportunities that fit students and their families’ individual needs.
Two new bills currently in the California Legislature threaten educational options for families. Assembly Bill 1316 and SB593 propose to change how Calaveras County families can access education. AB1316 is an 80-plus-page bill addressing audit and accounting standards, funding, independent study, contracts, attendance, teacher assignments, school calendars and oversight. SB593 is a lighter bill addressing some of the same issues. Their intent is to eliminate legislative loopholes that some questionable charter schools have exploited for financial gain.
Suspect used handicapped hostage as human shield, sheriff s office says Alanea Cremen
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More details have been released regarding a domestic dispute, hostage situation and deadly shooting that happened in Calaveras County last week.
Sergeant Greg Stark with the Calaveras County Sheriff s Office said in a press release on Monday, May 10 that the incident began just after 10:30 p.m. on May 6. Multiple people called for help, telling dispatch that a man had pointed a gun at a woman at the Sierra Inn Motel in San Andreas.
When deputies arrived, they found out the couple had already left. Deputies were eventually able to track down the man and woman after checking several places around the area for nearly an hour.
Covid-19 Regional Report Monday
Tuolumne County Tuolumne County Public Health reports sadly their investigations have confirmed two additional deaths due to COVID. One was a previously unreported case from January of a female in her 90’s and the other was a previously reported case from April of a woman in her 60’s.
There were four new community cases on Saturday, none on Sunday and two today. The six new cases are a man age 18 to 29, a woman and a man age 40 to 49, a man age 50 to 59, and two women 90 and older. No COVID-positive residents are hospitalized. A total of 17 cases are considered active.
Calaveras County Sheriff s Office logo
San Andreas, CA–Earlier this month a domestic violence incident in Calaveras County escalated in a story that can be found here.
More information has been released about the standoff with police, the hostage, the name, and the lengthy rap sheet of the suspect.
The suspect has been identified as Mark Aitulagi Lavea who after ambushing and injuring a Deputy, took a hostage at a nearby apartment complex, forcing the victim to act as a human shield, The Deputies were in an elevated parking lot that combined with a large concrete retaining wall and a large, long, metal railing helped conceal the hostage-taker and victim. As the suspect attempted to force the victim up a concrete stairway, the suspect was shot by a deputy sheriff which