By Andy Wirth

There are rare circumstances whereby we as a society are OK with people misstating the truth. One of those circumstances, for instance, includes fishing stories that may go something like this: “We landed a big one over by Horseshoe Bar, but he got away.”

It is not, however, acceptable when one deviates from the truth on topics as important as the proposed development plans at Squaw Valley.

Andy Wirth

Sierra Watch has once again chosen to deviate from the truth and is purposefully misleading the public with its op-ed. I submit that we should hold Sierra Watch accountable to the truth.

Moreover, as Sierra Watch directly supports the faltering Incorporate Olympic Valley effort (who confusingly has recently flip-flopped and are suggesting that they are now pro-development), they once again find themselves out on a limb of mistruths — all of which are meant to mislead the residents of Placer County.

To clarify the facts related to the Sierra Watch op-ed:

1. The company seeking the development permit is not KSL Capital Partners and Sierra Watch was advised of this fact multiple times. The applicant has always been Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, the parent company and operators of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows.

We are seeking to secure permission to develop a number of condominiums over the next 25 years that is consistent with the past 25 years’ worth of development.

Importantly, these plans complement our efforts to compete in a hyper-competitive Western United States tourism and mountain recreation market.

While we are exceedingly proud of what Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows provide from a skiing and riding perspective, we have a lack of quality and variety of lodging offerings — something proven by way of extensive guest research along with our daily experience in operating these great, world-class mountains.

2. Sierra Watch goes on to state: “Their current proposal, known as the Squaw Valley Village Specific Plan, includes a series of high-rise hotels and condo projects with more than 1,500 new bedrooms and a massive indoor amusement park as wide as a Wal-Mart and 10 stories tall.”

This statement is simply not true. There is not one — not one — 10-story-tall building in the proposal, nor is there anything proposed that would appear to anyone in the world to look anything like a Wal-Mart, or an “indoor amusement park.”

3. Sierra Watch further states: “All told, the project would be so big it would take 25 years of day and night construction to complete.”

My company is seeking Placer County’s approval of permission to develop residential units, all of which — and this is critical to understand — are subject to market forces and demand. Hence, the project is being proposed in multiple phases over an extended period of time (approximately 25 years). There is not a single scenario that contains “25 years of day and night construction.”

In every way, Sierra Watch’s statement is patently false and purposefully stated in a manner so as to mislead and elicit fear.

Sierra Watch goes on in their op-ed to elicit input from the public on this matter. This is the only item upon which we agree.

The material difference is that my team and I have spent the past three years meeting with every homeowners association, neighbor and customer in what has been (objectively) characterized as an unprecedented amount of community outreach.

We’ve hosted and attended well in excess of 340 meetings and, in tuning in carefully to those who provide constructive feedback, have implemented vast, almost countless changes to the plan since its original inception over three and a half years ago.

We continue to listen, as my company will never turn a deaf ear to a good idea.

It is simply wrong to suggest that our plan, in its current form, represents anything but the inclusion of extensive and exhaustive input from the community. We feel strongly, and believe that our community’s input has in fact made it a better plan.

So, Placer County — elected officials and citizens — as long as it’s not a fishing tale, please, let’s all hold Tom Mooers and Sierra Watch to the truth.

Andy Wirth is president and CEO of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings.

By Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post

For anyone wondering about whether to take a fish oil pill to improve your health, the Web site of the National Institutes of Health has some advice.

Yes. And no.

One page on the Web site endorses taking fish oil supplements, saying they are likely effective for heart disease, because they contain the “beneficial” fatty acids known as omega-3s.

But another page suggests that, in fact, the fish oil pills seem useless: “Omega-3s in supplement form have not been shown to protect against heart disease.”

“I can see how you might think that there is some inconsistency,” Paul R. Thomas, a scientific consultant in NIH’s Office of Dietary Supplements wrote in response to questions about the NIH pages.

Few issues better reflect the American confusion over diet.

Read the whole story

The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center’s 16th annual Children’s Environmental Science Day is Aug. 2 at Commons Beach in Tahoe City.

The event is from 12:30-3:30pm, with a Mumbo Gumbo concert at 4pm.

The carnival-style science festival will include 10 hands-on science activities and games. These activities will cover lake clarity and physics, lake level, water quality, water conservation, fish, invasive species, fire and forests, climate change, litter and recycling, stewardship, and more, and will be facilitated by some of the Tahoe basin’s leading environmental organizations.

Children’s Environmental Science Day is a free community event for children ages 4 and up and their families. This year’s activities are designed to create an awareness of the unique ecology of Lake Tahoe and provide an opportunity for young and old alike to learn about science and the environment and have fun.

For more information, contact Diana Hitchen at 775.881.7560, ext. 7483 or dkhitchen@ucdavis.edu.

Caltrans will begin one-way traffic controls of up to one mile in length on Highway 89 starting July 13 a 5am.

This is a $6 million resurfacing project.

The overlay project will begin at the Prosser Dam Road/Alder Drive roundabout just north of Interstate 80 in Truckee and continue for approximately 8 miles to the Sierra County line at Sage Hen Road. The project will cold plane existing pavement and overlay with hot-mix asphalt, remove and replace existing metal beam guardrailing, replace existing dikes and perform re-striping operations from 5am-7pm Monday through Thursday and from 5am-2pm on Fridays. Occasional nightime work is possible.

It is anticipated that the work will be completed by late-September.

Quinn De Veaux and the Blue Beat Revue will be at the Boathouse Theatre on the South Shore on July 29. Photo/Provided

By Evangeline Elston

One of the many special attributes of the Valhalla Boathouse Theatre is its size. At 164 seats it is intimate with a unique, rustic elegance. You feel, when you walk in that magic is about to happen … and it inevitably does.

Because of its size the boathouse requires a special approach to programming for the Valhalla Art, Music & Theatre Festival. Artists and productions must be chosen specifically for their ability to bring the space to life and to fill it with something unique. Our artists don’t always have the big names, but our venue and the quality of the performers are what set us apart from the big casinos and higher profile shows.

As the festival director I spend a great deal of time in the fall and winter selecting artists and performers and working with the Valhalla theater community to choose our line-up of summer entertainment. I look for an eclectic mix of music that I feel will appeal to a wide range of folks. And of course theater productions are selected with the Boathouse and our audience specifically in mind. Our patrons are locals and visitors. Campers and summer homeowners. They are families, young adults and mature people. I want to honor them all with the lineup I select.

For example, this summer we are presenting, with the Dakota Organization, the American classic adapted from the screen “On Golden Pond” featuring an all-star cast of local actors. This production is perfectly suited for our theater, the setting and our audience. It has been very well received and will continue July 11-12 and July 16-18.

For live music I strive to attract artists who I feel will embody the spirit of our unique festival and fill the Boathouse Theatre with sound and audience. I book world music, jazz, rock, singer-songwriters, bluegrass, R&B, classical and country. Pretty much every genre is represented in our summer season.

Coming up we have some of the finest songwriters, players and performers in the musical world where I dwell coming to Valhalla. On July 15 the stylings of songs from the American songbook by local jazz vocalist June Joplin and Me & Bobby McGee. Then, on July 22 it’s two of the finest singer-songwriters that I know of together on the Valhalla stage, Tasmanian born Audrey Auld and Sopchoppy, Florida native Grant Peeples. They are true song crafters and masterful, funny, engaging performers. From the urban grit of Oakland via the great state of Louisiana, Quinn Deveaux and the Blue Beat Revue will bring their full R&B sound, complete with back-up singers, to Valhalla on July 29. And it continues like this through August with bluegrass, roots rock, classical and country concerts.

The Tahoe Improv players continue their decade-long run at Valhalla all four Mondays in July and we have free outdoor concerts featuring the best local talent available on July 12, July 19 and Aug. 2 from noon to 2 pm on the Grand Lawn. And our artists in residence are showing in the Viking Gallery through mid-July daily from 11am to 4pm. Gina Stowell offers her kids painting camp July 13-17 and again in August.

I’m proud of what we are building at Valhalla. I work very hard to bring the finest entertainment available to our little corner of the globe, nestled in the tall pines and on the shore of beautiful Lake Tahoe. It may be the best kept secret in arts festivals west of the Rocky Mountains now, but little by little we’re going to let the world know what an amazing thing is happening here at Valhalla Tahoe.

Information and tickets are online.

Evangeline Elston is director of the Valhalla Art, Music & Theatre Festival.

By Aljazeera America

The Senate introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday that would prevent criminal prosecution as well as liability and asset forfeiture for banks that do business with a state-sanctioned marijuana business.

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, and Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican, both of Colorado, announced the bill in a joint statement.

Last year, the Treasury Department said banks could serve the marijuana industry under certain conditions. Many banks call the guidelines too onerous, resulting in a marijuana industry that still relies heavily on cash. That reliance on cash rather than traditional banking methods has made marijuana dispensary operators robbery targets.

Read the whole story

By Kyle Roerink, Las Vegas Sun

Less than two months after solar companies and NV Energy reached a compromise on a controversial energy policy, the two groups are rehashing their battle.

The Alliance for Solar Choice filed a petition with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada on Wednesday, saying that it will soon hit a controversial cap that limits participation in a program called net metering. The alliance says it will hit the cap in six weeks because NV Energy, the state’s largest power provider that monitors the use of rooftop solar, gave lawmakers and solar officials inaccurate information during the legislative session.

The alliance, which is a group of solar companies that includes SolarCity and Sunrun, filed the petition to question the veracity of the utility and ask the PUC to rule on the matter.

Read the whole story

The Truckee River in Reno is dropping as the drought continues. Photo/LTN

By Benjamin Spillman, Reno Gazette-Journal

The plight of Truckee River trout struggling to survive drought has anglers upset and some calling to suspend fishing in the stream until conditions improve.

But the Nevada Department of Wildlife says they don’t have any plans to “close the river,” as some have suggested because officials there don’t believe it would help matters.

Although the department is urging catch-and-release anglers to avoid fishing in the afternoon and evening when the water is warm and fish are particularly stressed, they aren’t calling for a total ban on angling.

Read the whole story

By Yashaswini Swamynathan, Reuters

CVS Health Corp said it was withdrawing its membership from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce after media reports that the trade group was lobbying globally against anti-smoking laws.

The No. 2 U.S. drugstore chain said it was “surprised” to read recent reports on the chamber’s position on tobacco products outside the United States.

The New York Times reported last week that the chamber and its foreign affiliates were lobbying against anti-smoking laws such as restrictions on smoking in public places and bans on menthol and slim cigarettes, mainly in developing countries.

Read the whole story

·      For more info about what to do when it floods, go online.

·      Water has been shut off at the outdoor showers and rinse stations at California State Parks in a quest to save 18 million gallons of water a year.

·       The IVGID board of trustees will discuss Diamond Peak’s future on July 15 at 6pm at the Chateau in Incline Village.

·       The EPA is adding Topaz Lake along the California-Nevada board to a list of impaired waters based on high mercury levels in fish.

·       Richard Steadman, former orthopedist at Barton Health, has been inducted into the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Hall of Fame.