By Daniel Behringer, Las Vegas Review-Journal
A visitor to the MontBleu casino in Stateline recently won an IGT jackpot valued at about $1.3 million.
The winner made a $2 wager on the three-reel, one-line Wheel of Fortune 5X Pay machine on March 10 to win the prize, an IGT spokeswoman said in an email.
· Click here to read the opposition letter signed by the North Tahoe Public Utility District, Tahoe City Public Utility District and South Tahoe Public Utility District regarding the bill that would add sales tax on water bills and require the districts to collect and remit this funding to the state.
· The annual Made in Tahoe Festival at the Village at Squaw Valley will be May 26-27, from 11am-7pm that Saturday, ending at 5pm on Sunday.
· Lucky Beaver Bar & Burger presented the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows with a $5,000 donation to support before and after-school programming at the organization’s 22 sites throughout the Truckee Meadows.
· America’s Run for the Fallen is a nationwide relay run in tribute to every military member who has died while serving or as a result of serving during the War on Terror, since Oct. 12, 2000. It will be from April 7-Aug. 5. Tim Smith from South Lake Tahoe died in the war. For more info, go online.
· On May 5 at noon author Sue Owens Wright will give a free talk at the South Lake Tahoe Library. She will present the fifth book in her Beanie and Cruiser mystery series, “Ears for Murder.”
By Kathryn Reed
South Lake Tahoe Standup Paddle will continue to be the concessionaire at Lakeview Commons unless legal action is taken to prevent that from happening.
The South Lake Tahoe City Council this week on a 3-2 vote rejected the bid protests. Councilmembers Wendy David and Brooke Laine were in the minority.
Before the council were two protests that followed the council’s Feb. 20 decision. One was from Anthony Spatucci of Day Go Adventures and the other by Andrew Laughlin of Tahoe City Kayak and Paddleboard.
The choices before the council on March 20 were:
· Award the contract to the selected bidder, South Tahoe SUP.
· Award the contract to the next responsible bidder, Tahoe City Kayak.
· Reject all bids, and begin the process over.
The first option is what was selected.
Resident Rich Hodge questioned the whole process going back to when the concession was first awarded. While he has worked for Kayak Tahoe, one of the bidders, he said he was there representing himself. He questioned how a company with perfect credit didn’t score well, while one with questionable financials gets to keep operating. His questions as to who did the scoring and the reasoning went unanswered.
Spatucci told the council a one-year extension should be given to South Tahoe SUP, which has had the concession for five years, or start over.
Laughlin said had he known he should have filled the council chambers with friends like South Tahoe SUP owner Chris Brackett did in February, he would have. He was shocked the “court of public” opinion swayed the electeds to go with South Tahoe SUP instead of his company. After all, it was Tahoe City Kayak that scored the most points by the judges, even though it was by less than one point.
“You asked the city attorney (last month) whether you could select a bidder who is not recommended today. Without citing legal authority, she said yes,” Jacqueline Mittelstadt told the council. She is the attorney representing Tahoe City Kayak, and the former city attorney for South Lake Tahoe so she has a familiarity with how the city works. “At the end of the hearing [your attorney] stated doing so was ‘within your allowable discretion.’ I see no legal authority for this assertion.”
One of the issues brought up by Tahoe City Kayak is the lawsuit pending against South Tahoe SUP in relation to a drowning in 2015.
Brackett said the allegations in that lawsuit have no merit and he is confident he will prevail.
After the decision was made, Mittelstadt told Lake Tahoe News, “It’s unfortunate that the council does not follow its own regulations and RFP. Council member [Brooke] Laine had the most fair suggestion to redo the RFP process allowing the one-year extension to their favored contractor. Tahoe City Kayak will evaluate whether to seek court intervention for the council’s misplaced approach and to restore fairness to the city’s process.”
To the community,
We live in a remarkable community where there are several active service organizations, all working to better the lives of those in need and to celebrate those doing exceptional work. For such a small community it’s remarkable how many service organizations we have. In fact, it’s sometimes quite confusing.
Just here in Tahoe we have two Kiwanis Clubs, Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Sierra; a Moose Club; an Optimist Club; two Rotary clubs, Tahoe Douglas and South Lake Tahoe, just to name a few. There are also two Soroptimists clubs, Tahoe Sierra and South Lake Tahoe.
All of these organizations work hard to raise funds to enhance lives, and build community and All of these organizations would love to have you join them to make Lake Tahoe all it can be.
Most of these clubs each hold large fundraisers to complete the many tasks they identify as needs in or community and their work throughout the world. The club I am directly connected with is Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra (SITS) and our annual event is Elegant Evening. In fact, it’s coming up shortly and it is with much hope that the citizenry of Lake Tahoe join us by purchasing tickets (only 500 available) and/or bidding on our online auction site.
Our club is so grateful to the amazing donors here, and throughout several states, who believe that much can be accomplished at the grassroots level; that’s what your service clubs do. We fill gaps and provide where no state agency does. We work to help people rebuild their lives, become productive citizens, and contribute to society. Every time you purchase a ticket to an event, donate to a club, or win a bid, you are an active contributor.
SITS, like many other clubs, works hard to raise funds one year to then fully expend those raised funds the next. Last year’s event, donors and guests alike, provided these remarkable opportunities this year in our community:
· 43 cash grants and scholarships.
· 50 middle school students participating in Junior S Club at STMS.
· 500 middle school students and adults participate in the Drug Store Project.
· 50 Mother’s Day baskets created for shelter and women in need.
· Funding for training of 600 Kenyan youth in self-defense and AIDS awareness.
· 17 micro-loans for Kenyan women to establish their economic self-sufficiency.
· 2 Batwa Pygmy youth, full scholarship to school.
· 3,000 books to Lake Tahoe students for summer reading.
· 50 backpacks for children in need.
· 35 students weekend nutritional assistance.
· 50 Bread and Broth clients.
· BATS, Bringing Art to the Schools, to our elementary sites
· Water Quality Day: survey of water quality in Lake Tahoe.
· 100 dresses made for Dress a Girl Around the World; sewn by 12 SITS members and have hand delivered by members, at their expense, some to Cuba and Mexico
· Ongoing funding and assistance to CASA El Dorado, 80 senior project students, Coalition for the Homeless, Tahoe Education Foundation, Choices for Children, 40 member Club Literario, 80 students kindergarten welcome, Barton baby book bags, family of our transitioned from homeless through St. Joseph’s Land Trust, two student scholarships to Camp Buck (living with diabetes), a grant to Awaken Reno anti sex-trafficking program, two scholarships for TECH TREC (Girls and Science), Lake Tahoe Wildlife Center, and the Sugar Pine Foundation.
Please join us by attending our event on April 21 at Harrah’s. It’s a complete night of food, fun, and entertainment. Tickets are $75 each (they do go up after April 1) and your attendance is helping to enhance the lives of women and youth in our community and the world. You can read more about our club, Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra online to see if your heart matches ours.
Respectfully,
Lisa Huard, SITS member
By Kathryn Reed
Nearly one year after the Lake Tahoe Humane Society fired its executive director the doors have been closed on the South Lake Tahoe facility.
A sign on the door says it will be closed until further notice.
The sign on the door at Lake Tahoe Humane Society.
Charges have still never been filed against Niki Congero, the executive director who was accused of embezzling more than $100,000. The police department late last year wrapped up its investigation and sent it to the DA. A call earlier this month to the deputy district attorney handling the case went unreturned.
The nonprofit has been limping along this past year. The Humane Society last March secured a hard loan for $180,000 for bills related to the building it owns on Emerald Bay Road. Their payments are current.
The answering machine at the office still lets people leave a message.
A post on the Facebook page “Knuckle Draggers of Tahoe Rejects KDTR” from March 21 says, “These cats need our help! They’re the resident cats at the humane society and the lone worker came to find out today that they were shutting down (secret board meeting) and today is their last day open.”
Judy Brown, the lone employee, could not be reached for comment.
By Amy Smith
“I’m so stressed out!”
Likely, someone has said this to you —or you’ve said it yourself.
These days the word “stress” has a negative connotation. But what if it isn’t the actual stress that’s harmful, but how it’s perceived?
Amy Smith
Your reaction to stress matters
Research published in “Health Psychology: has shown that there’s a higher risk for premature death in those who perceive stress as negative, including those with only a minimal amount of stress. However, study participants who experienced a high level of stress, but didn’t perceive it as harmful, had a lower risk for premature death. These findings suggest that having a positive mindset about stress may help develop resilience.
Avoiding stress may seem like a rational strategy, but this often leads to feelings of discontent. When you seek a stress-free life, you may develop feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, and depression because being stress-free is an unrealistic goal.
Turn to your life values
Generally, daily stressors are conflicts with our life values. Life values give us a foundation and sense of purpose. So in order to rethink your stress mindset, it helps to understand which values matter most to you. Take a look at the box at right.
Now take a few moments to reflect and write down why each of these values is important to you. How do you express this value in your everyday life? How do these values support you in being true to yourself?
Recall a past experience in which you overcame a stressful event or task. What value or part of you made that possible? Research illustrates that reflecting on your values in moments of stress can help reframe a negative, reactive mindset to a positive, reflective response.
Becoming mindful of your values
To develop daily mindfulness around your values, write them down on sticky notes and place them in visible areas, such as your home, car, and workstation. When you notice stressors in your life, looking at your sticky note will help you mindfully reframe your reaction. This can help you “rise to the challenge” and face stressful situations with reason, logic, compassion, and self-control.
Amy Smith is a family nurse practitioner and integrative medicine practitioner. Her practice will be offered through the Barton Center for Orthopedics & Wellness when it opens this spring.
By Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun
Don’t be fooled by photos of money line tickets and high-priced parlays still circulating on social media a few days after the initial weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Sports books aren’t hurting through the first 52 games of March Madness.
Sure, they may have taken a hit on a few highly-shared bets like UMBC at 25-to-1 to beat Virginia last Friday night but they more than made up for all the minor bumps before the weekend concluded. It remains to be seen if casinos can top last March’s record $41.2 million win on basketball, but they’re probably at least on pace.
By Chris Kudialis, Las Vegas Weekly
The state collected $5.54 million in taxes in January from legal marijuana, continuing to outpace projections, according to the Nevada Department of Taxation.
That’s near a record $5.8 million in October, $5.5 million in November and $5.7 million in December.
Highway 89 around Emerald Bay will be closed for next few days. Photo/Caltrans
A snowslide on Wednesday and a storm that should bring additional snowfall to the area over the next few days prompted Caltrans to close Highway 89 around Emerald Bay.
The March 21 slide dumped snow as high as 15 feet that stretched 160 feet.
Rain in the Lake Tahoe area is expected to turn to snow on Thursday. Lght snow is expected at pass levels through Thursday morning, with heavy snow possible beginning Thursday afternoon.
A colder system will drop in Friday night with heavier snow at lower elevations.
The biggest travel impacts for mountain travelers will likely be Friday night, according to the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office.
The storm is expected to continue into Saturday and bring up to 18 inches of snow to Echo Summit. Donner and Echo summits are expected to be severely impacted by this storm. Gusty winds are also are expected with this storm, possibly creating white-out conditions.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
By Kathryn Reed
South Lake Tahoe is looking for at least one recruiting firm to search for city attorney and city manager candidates.
While the issue of the city attorney was on the March 20 agenda, both positions were discussed at the meeting. This is just another violation of the Brown Act – talking about a non-agendized item.
The council realizes it needs a bit of a refresher or education in the state’s open meeting law. Councilmember Tom Davis requested someone be brought in to explain the rules, which others were in support of.
Acting City Manager Jeff Meston told the council he had already sent out requests to search firms, with the hope something could be brought to the council in the next month or so.
“I think it is my job to anticipate what you want,” Meston said Tuesday.
However, the council at no time in open session discussed wanting him to do this. Nor was it announced after a closed session that this was the route the council wanted to go down.
The selection process could take months. What the council hasn’t discussed is if they want to leave an acting manager in place during this process or bring in someone else in on an interim basis who doesn’t already have a full-time job.
Meston envisions three groups – professional, City Council, and community panels – interviewing city manager candidates.
As for the top legal position, interim City Attorney Nira Doherty has given her notice, wanting to be out in the summer. Her firm will continue to work for the city at a rate not to exceed $33,000 a month.
If the need for legal services exceeds that amount, Doherty said her firm “would eat those costs.”
Doherty told the council that financially she believes a firm like hers is more efficient, but that this city “would be well served by an in-house city attorney.”
There was no real discussion by the electeds as to the route to take – in house, or an outside firm to be hired.
It was just assumed that a recruiting firm needs to be hired, and then the unanimous vote was taken.