Lake Tahoe Community College is having three free art exhibit opening receptions on Jan. 15 from 5-7pm.

Printmaking artist Emmy Lingscheit show Departure, housed in the Haldan Art Gallery, debuts. In the Foyer Gallery in the Fine Arts Building, people may explore recent paintings by artist Kelley Hackleman in her show Slightly Disheveled. In the Student Gallery in LTCC’s main building, artworks created by regional high school students will be featured. Cash awards will be given to the winners during the reception.

Light refreshments will be served at all three receptions, and the artists will be on hand to discuss their techniques and inspirations. All three exhibits will continue to be open to the public through mid-March.

For those particularly interested in printmaking, the LTCC Art Club is also hosting a free printmaking demonstration with Lingscheit on Jan. 16 from 3-5pm in Room F101, followed by a slideshow and lecture at 6pm. Lingscheit was born and raised in South Dakota. She earned a BFA in painting from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, and also studied art at Palacky University in the Czech Republic. She later worked at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis. Her work has been included in several national and international juried exhibitions and invitational exchange portfolios.

South Lake Tahoe native Hackleman studied under LTCC art instructor Phyllis Shafer. This will be her first solo show, featuring oils on canvas that are darkly humorous, portraying the natural world in slightly odd, quirky ways.

By Martin Griffith, AP

A wolverine appears to be thriving in the northern Sierra Nevada seven years after being confirmed as the first one in California since 1922, researchers said.

More than two dozen documented sightings of the solitary predator have occurred since it was first observed in March 2008 about 15 miles northwest of Truckee, said Chris Stermer, a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The same wolverine is believed to have been last detected in November by a motion-sensing camera in the Tahoe National Forest near Fordyce Lake, which is 15 miles southwest of where it was originally seen.

The male appears healthy with dense fur and ample weight, Stermer said, and has staked out a 300-square-mile swath of the Sierra between Interstate 80 and Highway 49 as its territory.

“I think it’s exciting,” he said. “It gives us some hope of bringing back some apex predators like that. It would be exciting to have wolverines back in the Sierra.”

Though its DNA has been linked to wolverines in Idaho’s Sawtooth Range, biologists are still unsure whether it wandered down to California or was released into the Sierra by someone. Positive identification of the wolverine spotted Nov. 3 near Fordyce Lake is pending genetic testing by the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colorado. Some of its fur was obtained for the test.

“Based on our history it’s most likely going to be the same individual, but our hope is it’s not,” Stermer said. “Our hope is we have a pair here so they can mate … We’re hoping that one animal turns into a population.”

The odds are good over time that some wolverines will venture south to California from Idaho and the Cascades, he added. Once found throughout the Sierra and Rocky Mountains, wolverines were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s due to unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns, said Bob Inman, a wolverine researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In the decades since, they largely have recovered in parts of the West, where 250 to 300 of the animals live, but not in other parts of their historical range. In the Lower 48, they live primarily in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington. Larger populations persist in Alaska and Canada.

California has the habitat to support higher wolverine numbers, Stermer said, and his agency has discussed the possibility of reintroducing them to the state.

“They avoid residential areas and livestock. There’s not a lot of controversy with having wolverines around,” he said. “How many pairs can the habitat support? That’s the question.”

The rarely seen members of the weasel family have a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to their size. Adults are about as big as medium-size dogs.

By Dionne Searcey, New York Times

The nation’s economy is entering 2015 in its best shape since the recession, but the improving job market has so far failed to help most Americans earn significantly more at work.

On Friday, the Labor Department reported that employers added another 252,000 workers to their payrolls in December, capping a year in which total employment rose by 2.95 million, the largest advance since 1999.

The unemployment rate also improved, edging down last month to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in November. The rate plunged just over a full percentage point between 2013 and 2014, the largest decline since 1984.

But a drop in average hourly earnings last month, after a healthy gain in November, sidetracked hopes that a tighter labor market was beginning to lead to broader wage gains.

Read the whole story

By Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News

Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest spending plan appears to further treat the California judiciary’s wounded budgets, adding about $180 million to court systems trying to recover from years of financial cuts.

The governor’s 2015-16 budget bumps the state court system’s budget from last year’s $3.29 billion to $3.47 billion, with most of that increase headed to the 58 trial courts around California hit hardest by past cutbacks.

Under the governor’s budget, the judiciary’s budget would inch closer to the $3.7 billion allocated in 2007-08. In fact, with the use of trial court reserve money required under previous budgets, the governor’s staff pegs spending on the judicial branch at about $3.7 billion in the 2015-16 fiscal year.

Read the whole storyC

To the community,

“The Elks are here to help the community,” said Roger Barragan, chairman of trustees for the Tahoe/Douglas Elks Lodge No. 2670.

Following through with his comment, Barragan and his fellow Elks member, Gail Bryan, joined the Bread & Broth volunteers on Jan. 5 to provide a hearty meal for the guests who attended the Monday evening dinner served at St. Theresa Church’s Grace Hall. Having hosted three Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsorships in the past six months, the Elks volunteers jumped right in to help the B&B volunteers.

Barragan and Bryan bagged the fruits, canned goods and bread/pastries for the give-away bags and then manned the serving line, dishing out large helpings of baked salmon, pesto pasta with veggies and salads.

Bryan observed that it was a “wonderful experience for all concerned.” The dinner guests agreed as they came back for second servings and to-go containers to take home with them.

From taking young children on shopping trips at Christmas to sponsoring and volunteering at a Bread & Broth dinner, the Tahoe/Douglas Elks Lodge members are involved in improving the lives of many members of the Lake Tahoe South Shore community. B&B would like to salute the Elks Lodge for their generous hosting of the evening’s dinner and history of service to those in need.

For more information, go online.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

By Kristen DeSilva, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Sure, Las Vegas is the marriage capital of the world, but Nevada is also number one when it comes to divorce.

In fact, 13.9 percent of Nevadans over 15 have been divorced, or about 30,000 people. The average in the United States is 10.8 percent.

With Nevada at No. 1, we fall ahead of Maine, with 13.5 percent of their population divorced. Neighbors California and Utah are at 9.6 and 9.2 percent, respectively.

Read the whole story

By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal

The state’s largest casinos lost $743.7 million in the 2014 fiscal year, nearly cutting their losses in half from the previous year.

The state Gaming Control Board’s 2014 Nevada Gaming Abstract, published Friday, said the 270 Nevada casinos that generated $1 million or more in gaming revenue reported total revenue of $23.9 billion. In the 2013 fiscal year, 263 casinos that generated $1 million or more lost $1.3 billion on revenue of $23.1 billion.

“Total revenue” is the money spent by patrons on gaming, rooms, food, beverage and other attractions. “Net income” or “loss” is the money retained by casinos after expenses have been paid but prior to deducting federal income taxes and prior to accounting for extraordinary expenses.

It was the sixth straight year that casinos collectively showed a loss, but it was the smallest loss since 2009 when the recession began crushing casino finances.

Read the whole story

California State Parks interpreters will be leading people on snowshoe treks on the West Shore this winter.

The events are Jan. 17, Feb. 14, March 21 and April 18 (if there is snow) — all starting at 11am.

They begin in front of the Ehrman Mansion. Rangers will talk about the natural environment that attracted Tahoe’s earliest settlers and the history of the area.

Th snowshoe is free, though parking is $10. Participants must provide their own snowshoes.

Call 530.583.9911 to reserve a spot.

Rehearsals are about to begin for the third annual Dancing with the Tahoe Stars.

The fundraiser for Tahoe Arts Project pairs 10 South Shore residents with professional dancers. It is based on the TV show “Dancing with the Stars.”

This year’s local contestants are: Paul Bruso, Jason Collin, Joe Laub, Howie Nave, Martin Goldberg, Corrina Osborne, Ginger Nicolay-Davis, Jenn Boyd, Rita Wang and Lisa McDaniel.

Judges for the evening will be Marcia Sarosik, Don Bosson, Joan Elias and Paul Middlebrook.

The event is March 7 at 6:30pm at MontBleu in Stateline.

Reserved tickets are $15-$45.

Monkey

Monkey is a very sweet 6-year old Spaniel mix who has lived with kids. She is petite, about 15 pounds, and loves to go for walks. She is an active girl with loads of personality who came to the shelter with her sister, who has already been adopted. Monkey will fit into just about any home.

Monkey is spayed, microchipped, tested for heartworm, and vaccinated. She is at the El Dorado County Animal Services shelter in Meyers, along with many other dogs and cats who are waiting for their new homes.

Go to the Tahoe animal shelter’s Facebook page to see photos and descriptions of all pets at the shelter.

Call 530.573.7925 for directions, hours, and other information on adopting a pet.

For spay-neuter assistance for South Tahoe residents, go online.

— Karen Kuentz