By Jennifer Chambers, Women’s Adventure

Feminism, as defined by Webster dictionary, is “the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes”. For two centuries, women and men have interpreted and debated this definition and many others within the social constructs of various cultures, whether it be women’s sameness to men or an interpretation of differences between the sexes with equal freedoms, choices and opportunities (Offen, 1988).

These definitions and the constructs with which they existed (and continue to) have given the word “feminist” and owning that word gave women a negative rap.

Many women of the baby boomer generation owned that word and wore it like a lapel pin. Gen Xer’s and millennial, however, have been more reserved about the feminist label because the fight has been fought and won and feminism has been construed as radical. Even though it is rare to hear a woman today call herself a feminist, women and men have publicly and privately continued the dialogue about equalizing the playing field between the sexes in the context of a wide range of issues.

While the outdoor recreation industry and its participants don’t use the word feminism to discuss equality in the outdoors, this issue is present in the minds of and discussed between people working and recreating in the outdoors. I posit though that feminism is not a radical word but an ideology that provides women and girls the freedom of choice and opportunity without social constructs.

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By Sruthi Ramakrishnan, Reuters

Staples Inc reported its eighth straight decline in quarterly sales, highlighting the company’s need to seal its deal to buy Office Depot Inc. as competition in the office supplies market intensifies.

Staples struck a deal in February to buy Office Depot for $6.3 billion to better compete against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc, which have been taking business from traditional sellers of paper, pens and toner.

The deal is working its way through the antitrust process but is widely expected to win approval.

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Straw mulch will be dropped this week on land that burned in last year’s King Fire.

Approximately 320 acres along Eleven Pines Road were treated in November before heavy rain storms caused the work to be shut down.

Another 695 acres in the Eldorado National Forest will be treated with aerial mulching along Eleven Pines Road, with funding from the U.S. Forest Service, followed by approximately 250 acres northwest of the Brush Creek Reservoir, which is being paid for by Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

A contract was awarded to Salmon River Helicopters, based in Riggins, Idaho, who will use two helicopters to complete the project in seven days. The timeframe will be extended if weather conditions are not favorable.

The purpose of the project is to protect critical infrastructure from potentially severe post-fire erosion that may occur with winter storms, due to the loss of vegetative cover associated with the fire. The infrastructure at risk includes Eleven Pines Road, which serves as the primary route from Highway 50 to the northern end of the Eldorado National Forest, and the Brush Creek and Slab Creek reservoirs, which are integral to SMUD’s hydroelectric facilities in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

By Zahira Torres, Los Angeles Times

Clifornia school districts once viewed lifetime healthcare coverage for employees as a cheap alternative to pay raises. That decision is coming back to haunt school leaders, and districts are scrambling to limit the lucrative benefit promised decades ago.

The price tag for retiree healthcare obligations has reached about $20 billion statewide — an amount systems are not prepared to absorb.

Many districts failed to set aside money to pay for those increasingly expensive benefits for thousands of employees. Now, the financial burden threatens to drag down credit ratings and crowd out other budget priorities.

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By Yemeli Ortega, MSN

The growing legalization of cannabis in the United States is forcing Mexico’s drug cartels to rethink their illicit business model, turning to opium poppy plantations and domestic pot consumption, experts say.

Americans have been legally allowed to light up joints in the US capital since late last month, joining Washington state and Alaska, while Oregon will follow suit in July.

A total of 23 US states have legalized the drug for medical use, and opinion polls show that a slim majority of Americans favor legalization.

The changes in the world’s biggest drug market appear to have prompted the criminal organizations producing narcotics in Mexico to switch strategies.

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To the community,

I was so moved by our public utility company’s recent 8½ inch x 11 inch glossy mailer expounding about what a terrific job they are doing that I thought I would share my opinion of their performance.

Regretfully, I do not share their vision or theory. They proudly pat themselves on the back stating that their cost for service as being lower than the cost for similar communities, which may be true, however, I expect that the other communities do not have a 30 percent vacancy rate as ours does. Many of our neighborhoods are filled with second homes that are empty most of the year and yet STPUD still collects real fees for those services, imaginary or not.

It is my opinion that our public utility company appears to be in a race to catch-up to those other communities. Below is a graph of my bill over the past six quarters illustrating a 36 month projected path should the trend continue.

Comments welcome.

Mark Allione, South Lake Tahoe business owner

By John L. Smith, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Black History Month came and went with the usual fitting tributes to iconic African-American leaders.

From Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman to Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr., the black experience in America has no shortage of historical figures. Their stories and struggles are well known, and rightly so.

But what is rarely discussed, and to my mind far less appreciated, are the contributions African- Americans made to early Nevada as the territory and young state struggled — often against the march of progress — to become a civilized place to live for all races.

Thomas Detter’s name should be better known.

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Eldorado National Forest is beginning to prepare an environmental impact statement for over-snow vehicle use on national forest roads, trails, and areas. The proposed action also designates trails for grooming.

The comment period ends April 6.

The Forest Service’s goal in designating OSV use on the Eldorado National Forest is to ensure that the use of OSVs is well managed to minimize impacts to natural resources, to provide access for OSV use, to promote the safety of all users, and to minimize conflicts among the various uses. The Eldorado is not proposing any change to the number of miles of snow trails and acres of OSV areas where OSV use would be allowed, subject to snow depth restrictions. Current restrictions to OSV use will be made permanent in the EIS.

For additional information, go online or call 209.295.5960.

• Mountain Travel Symposium, the largest gathering of mountain travel professionals in North America, is returning to Lake Tahoe April 8-14, 2018. Lake Tahoe Visitor’s Authority, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, MontBleu and the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel are the hosts.

• Here are the Caltrans roadwork schedules for the week for El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra.

• Meyers resident and Olympian Jamie Anderson is selling reusable glass straws with Mason jars to benefit the Sugar Pine Foundation. Go online for details.

• St. Joseph’s Community Land Trust is seeking funding to assist families with first and last month’s rent so they may transition from a motel to a long-term rental. They are partnering with Lake Tahoe Unified School District, which has identified 37 families with school-aged children who potentially qualify for this program. Contact Francie Alling for more information, alling603@gmail.com.

• Harrah’s Lake Tahoe is continuing its free Tuesday blues shows through March. Shows are at 8pm.

By Marsha Maxwell, Deseret News 

One dollar and fifty cents per day could make a difference for your health. That’s the difference in cost between a healthy diet of whole foods and an unhealthy diet of processed foods, according to a meta-study by Harvard University.

“For 60 percent to 70 percent of Americans, $1.50 a day is not a big deal,” the study’s author, Dariush Mozaffarian, told Harvard magazine. However, the figure adds up to $2,200 per year for a family of four, which could be out of reach for low-income families.

Meal planning and grocery-shopping strategies can shrink a family’s overall grocery bill regardless of income, according to money-saving experts. And putting together inexpensive meals with healthy ingredients might be easier than consumers think. Three important steps to cutting a family’s grocery bill are paying attention to sale prices, planning menus in advance and buying whole rather than processed foods.

It’s important to define what a healthy diet means, if a family is trying to keep down costs. It doesn’t necessarily mean buying specialty foods, like organic grass-fed beef for $10-$20 a pound or organic quinoa for $5-$8 per pound.

Mozaffarian defines a healthy diet as one that reduces “things we know are unhealthy like processed meats, highly refined starches, sugars … trans fat, and sodium,” and that emphasizes “things we know are good like fruits, vegetables, nuts, vegetable oils, and fish.” Other foods, like chicken, eggs, whole grains and legumes are also part of a healthy diet.

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