By Joanne Marchetta

We face some big, daunting environmental restoration challenges here at Lake Tahoe. But helping our environment every day can be as simple as riding a bike, walking, or taking transit. And the hundreds of people who participated in the Tahoe Bike Challenge this June, including many of our employees at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, are showing how big of an impact our individual actions can have.

The Tahoe Bike Challenge’s concept is simple: For the first two weeks of June, leave your car parked as often as possible and bike, walk, or take transit to get around, for your own health and the health of our environment. Vehicles are a major emissions source for carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is linked to climate change, and nitrogen, a harmful pollutant that gets deposited from the atmosphere into our Lake and fuels algae growth.

Joanne Marchetta

In this year’s bike challenge, 315 people made 2,706 trips totaling 17,299 miles. By biking instead of driving, participants prevented an estimated 18,663 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and saved an estimated $3,845 in fuel purchases – all in just two weeks.

The Tahoe Bike Challenge is in its 10th year. It’s amazing to see how the event has grown from a small challenge among a few TRPA employees to a basinwide competition with agencies, businesses, and nonprofit groups forming more than 40 teams to see who can make the most bike trips to help the environment and earn a little bit in the way of bragging rights. The friendly competition also bolsters the ever-growing spirit of partnership and teamwork at Tahoe and TRPA is proud to play a role in this positive evolution.

The goal is to get people riding bikes and keep them riding bikes. To help, the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition has made the Tahoe Bike Map available on its website. It’s the Tahoe Region’s most comprehensive bike trail map, and will help anyone find just the kind of bike ride they are looking for, whether that’s a leisurely trip for the family, a better route to pedal to work or school, or a tough mountain bike trail.

Many of our employees at TRPA will be riding bikes, walking, or taking transit instead of driving for the rest of this month, and hopefully for the rest of the summer. We encourage you to do the same. Biking is not just good for our environment, it’s good for our health.

Every year TRPA uses the Tahoe Bike Challenge as a way to raise donations for our Environmental Scholarship Fund, which means biking is also good for our high school students. The fund has awarded 26 scholarships totaling $10,850 to local students to help them study environmental fields in college. After graduating, those students go on to help the environment around the world, and right here in our own communities.

Our Tahoe Talks Brown Bag Lunch Series this June is focusing on two bike-related topics. A June 17 lunch focused on legal rights and issues for pedestrians and bicyclists, and how laws could be improved so all citizens have rights to safe mobility. A June 24 lunch will focus on law enforcement programs that can raise awareness about traffic safety and improve safety for all road users.

TRPA recognizes that our communities need improved transportation infrastructure and transit services to offer easy-to-use options to the personal automobile at Tahoe. Partners in the collaborative Environmental Improvement Program have built 137 miles of bike and pedestrian routes since 1997, with more than 30 miles completed in the last five years. More projects are under way. That includes Caltrans water quality improvement projects that incorporate bike lane and sidewalk upgrades for our highways; the Sawmill Bike Path that El Dorado County is building between South Lake Tahoe and Meyers; a new bike park in South Lake Tahoe; a new mountain bike park and new mountain bike trails at Heavenly Mountain Resort; and a new three-mile bike trail from Incline Village to Sand Harbor.

Our goal at TRPA is to have a fully-developed bike trail system at Tahoe within five years. It’s an ambitious goal, but one we think is possible. More and more you’ll be hearing the mantra that transportation is transformation – of our lake, communities, and economy. In fact, making communities at Tahoe more walkable and bikeable is a central goal in our Regional Plan and progress continues to be made. There are many ways people can help. Sometimes it’s as simple as riding your bike instead of driving your car, taking a public survey to inform transportation policies, or watching out for bikers when you’re driving. Please help us turn our vision for Tahoe as a safe walking and biking mecca into reality.

Joanne Marchetta is executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

By Luke Whelan, Mother Jones

Figuring out whom to trust for nutritional advice can be a daunting task; new findings on everything from the dangers of sugar to the health benefits of leftover pasta seem to come out every day, and the “experts” behind them often have ulterior motives.

According to a report released this week, even venerable nutritional science organizations and the journals they publish can’t be trusted.

Public health lawyer Michele Simon explores how corporate interests influence the findings of one of these research organizations: the American Society for Nutrition. The nearly 90-year-old nonprofit, comprising 5,000 scientists and experts, publishes theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition and claims to “bring together the world’s top researchers, clinical nutritionists and industry to advance our knowledge and application of nutrition for the sake of humans and animals.”

But according Simon, the group’s coziness with corporate sponsors calls its research into question.

Read the whole story

Tahoe Swim Club’s three-month developmental program starts June 22 at 6pm at the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Center Pool.

This developmental program is dedicated to teaching swimmers valuable life skills, exercise and competition. Swimmers should be able to swim one lap of the pool.

Cost is $295, which includes USA Swimming Registration and insurance.

The program is Monday through Thursday. For more information, contact Coach Jerry at 530.541.1046 or come to the pool Monday through Thursday 4:30-6:30pm.

Douglas County Public Library is expanding its media collection to meet growing demand and current technology.

The library has added a variety of movies, TV series, and music to its audio-visual collection.

Hundreds of new DVD titles have already been added and many more are on the way.

Television program series “Downton Abbey,” “Breaking Bad,” “Dr. Who,” and “Game of Thrones” are now in the DVD collection.

The Douglas County Public Library is located at 1625 Library Lane in Minden and 233 Warrior Way in Zephyr Cove.

By David Siders and Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee

Some drought-related groundwater and water recycling projects would gain exemptions from the California Environmental Quality Act under late-emerging legislation at the Capitol.

The exemption, contained in a budget-related trailer bill, offers a narrower exemption than a broader one Gov. Jerry Brown originally proposed. Lawmakers appeared to be nearing a deal Thursday, after pushing back on Brown’s initial proposal.

The language would exempt certain groundwater replenishment projects and the development of building standards by state agencies for recycled water systems. It would also exempt from CEQA the adoption of stricter conditions in the issuance of permits for wells.

Read the whole story

By Riley Snyder and Michelle Rindels, AP

CARSON CITY — Hoping to attract millennials and eco-conscious tourists to rural parts of Nevada, Gov. Brian Sandoval is announcing a plan to install electric car charging stations at regular intervals on the lonely stretch of road between Las Vegas and Reno.

Sandoval and officials from NV Energy held a media conference Tuesday at an electric car charging station in Carson City to discuss the so-called “Electric Highway.”

Officials plan to partner with five different businesses along U.S. Route 95 and install three chargers at each of them by the end of the year. Sandoval said the project will give drivers the confidence to complete the 450-mile journey in their short-range electric cars, and help rural economies when drivers stop in small towns for an hour or more while they wait for their batteries to power up.

“This is a big deal for us to be able to invite visitors who are going to be using this type of transportation,” he said, “and the moment they cross that state line, to have that complete confidence that no matter where they are in our great state, they’ll be able to charge their vehicles.”

Officials also said that electric car manufacturer Tesla is planning to install more chargers in the state.

NV Energy head Paul Caudill acknowledged that electric cars make up a minuscule percentage of cars on Nevada roads — they account for 0.39 percent of new car registrations here — but said investing in clean energy would pay off down the line.

“Electric vehicle usage and penetration in Nevada today is relatively small, but with the governor’s leadership, adoption of this form of transportation is assured a bright spot in our energy future,” he said.

Las Vegas and Reno currently have about 150 charging stations shared between the state’s 1,400 registered electric cars. Drivers will be able to use the new stations for free.

Money for the project will come from NV Energy and Nevada’s renewable energy tax abatements program, but not from the state general fund.

By Ari Melber, MSNBC

While the public debate over American policing has been roiling for months, a quieter debate has been playing out at the Supreme Court, which is now refining some of the rules that govern police conduct across the country.

During the court’s current term, which concludes at the end of June, the justices have already ruled on three cases regarding controversial police conduct. The court often sides with police, and frequently at the behest of the Obama Justice Department.

One of the recurring criticisms of aggressive or “zero tolerance” policing is that some officers stop people for little to no reason. The court recently weighed in on part of that controversy, taking a case about a traffic stop in North Carolina. An officer said he had a good reason for the stop – a broken brake light – and then he searched the car and found cocaine. But it is perfectly legal to drive with one brake light under state law, so a lower court threw out the cocaine evidence, reasoning it was discovered through an unjustified stop.

The Supreme Court reversed, however, ruling that officers can be mistaken about the law and still perform a valid search.

Read the whole story

Law Enforcement Strategies to Improve Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety will be the subject of a June 24 talk in South Lake Tahoe.

The free event is from noon-1:30 in the board room at Lake Tahoe Community College.

It will be a webinar with discussion afterward. The webinar os produced by the Association of Pedestrians and Bicyclists. A representative from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department will part of the discussion.

The Midway at the El Dorado County Fair has a new operator. Photos/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

PLACERVILLE – With at least 2,000 carnival wristbands sold before the El Dorado County Fair even opens, it’s obvious the Midway is a huge draw.

New this year at the Placerville fair is the company operating the rides and games – Carnival California.

With the number of joyful screams and big smiles during Wednesday’s preview, it looks like there will plenty of fun to be had at the four-day fair that opens today.

Father and son — both Michael Burks — on the bumper cars.

Seven-year-old Michael Burks has been coming to the fair since he was a baby, but June 17 was the first time he had been in a bumper car. His dad, also Michael Burks, had to do the driving because he has longer legs.

A couple head-on collisions bounced them around, but the younger Burks eagerly asked if they could go again.

“We are very excited to have six ‘spectacular’ rides, including the Pharaohs Fury, the Typhoon and of course the ever popular Zipper and classic Century Ferris Wheel,” Jody Gray, fair director, told Lake Tahoe News. “These rides have LED lights, (bringing a) very impressive look to the carnival.”

This is the third carnival provider in the last 14 years. The previous firm stopped doing shows in Northern California.

Gray believes one reason the Midway is so popular at the Placerville fair is that rides like this are rare in the area.

The fair receives a flat fee from the carnival and the games.

A mini roller coaster delights fair-goers.

The Mega Slide is great for all ages. The smallest of children seemed to fly the fastest down this slick rolly slide.

Be prepared to be squished if sitting on the right side of the Sizzler car. Three arms, each with four cars holding two people zoom in and out made the world seem like it is still spinning even after the ride had come to a stop.

The Typhoon is a good starter ride for those unaccustomed to the world of such spinning devices. The person on the left gets the brunt of the crushing.

The main carnival is in its usual spot near the entrance, however other rides are now staged on the far side of the fairgrounds.

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The baby pigs live up to the the fair’s theme — Hog Days of Summer.

Notes:

·      The fair runs June 18-21.

·      Carnival tickets may be purchased in advance online, which includes discount prices.

·      Hog Days of Summer is this year’s theme. More info about the fair and all events are online.

There is still time to sign up for the Tahoe Rim Trail Challenge. Outdoor and trail enthusiasts of all levels may participate.

Now in its third year, the challenge is for novice and seasoned hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. Each participant has until Dec. 31 to complete the six challenge sites. Progress may be tracked via the TRTA’s website.

By joining people receive the tools needed to successfully complete the challenge including: Special web access to download six maps and trail descriptions, driving directions to each trailhead, a TRT challenge tech T-shirt, a one-year membership to the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, invitation to special hikes and giveaways, as well as, an online tracking system to log the challenge and share pictures.

The cost is $55 for individuals and $85 for families.

For more info or to enroll, go online.