By Jane E. Brody, New York Times

Many parents undoubtedly think they are doing the best for their children by having them bring lunch from home instead of eating the lunches served in school. But recent studies clearly prove them wrong.

Home-packed lunches, the research showed, are likely to be considerably less nourishing than the meals offered in schools that abide by current nutrition guidelines for the National School Lunch Program.

That program is, distressingly, increasingly under attack. The requirements for less salt and only whole grains were already reversed in the final federal spending bill approved by the Senate on Dec. 13.

But the program must not continue to be undermined, and more schools should be encouraged to participate. Nearly 32 million of the more than 50 million children in public elementary and secondary schools currently eat school lunches, most of them provided through the program. For about 60 percent of those children, half or more of their daily calories are consumed at lunch.

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Mansfield F.W. Smith

Mansfield F.W. Smith was a pioneer and innovator in the field of otology and widely known for the use of new and innovative procedures to correct the architecture of the inner ear.

He died Dec. 18. He was 85.

Mansfield instilled in his children a love of nature, the mountains and Fallen Leaf Lake. He spent every summer at the lake. He founded the local fire department and served as a volunteer firefighter and physician with the department well into his 70s.

Mansfield was born in San Marino on July 28, 1929, to Margaret Williams Smith and Robert L.I. Smith.

He attended Governor Academy, UC Berkley and George Washington University School of Medicine. He did his surgical internship at Madigan Army Hospital and otolaryngology residency at University of Michigan.

He practiced otology in San Jose, taught at University of Stanford Medical School and UC Davis Medical School.

Mansfield was published in numerous medical journals and texts and cofounded the Northern California Transplant Bank. His interest in medicine extended to politics and policy making and he put energy into both. He served on the board of the California Medical Association and as president of nearly every medical association related to his specialty.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Gilbert L.I. Smith and Robert L.T. Smith, and his second wife Linda Ramsey.

He is survived by his first wife Charlotte Rosson, his children Jennifer S. May, Wendy Smith Novick (Tom) and Mansfield F.W. Smith (Donna), seven grandchildren who called him Manpa, and many friends and colleagues.

A gathering in his memory will be Jan. 10th in the UC Davis Alumni and Visitor Center from 2-4pm. A celebration of his life will this summer at Fallen Leaf Lake.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to the Fallen Leaf Lake Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 9415, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158 or the California Transplant Donor Network, 1000 Broadway, Suite 600, Oakland, CA 94607.

By KPIX-TV

California communities suffering from extreme drought could soon get help from an unlikely source — unmanned aerial vehicles, a.k.a. drones.

For years, ground-based machines have injected tiny silver iodide particles into passing storm clouds — a process called cloud seeding. The process can squeeze about 10% more precipitation during a storm.

Meteorologist Jeff Tilley and his team at Nevada’s Desert Research Institute in Reno are developing a first-of-its-kind drone to take the seeding process high in the sky.

Read the whole story

An armed robber made off with an undisclosed sum of money from a KFC in South Lake Tahoe on Monday night, while Mellow Fellow restaurant in Truckee was robbed Dec. 20.

The man entered through the back door of KFC about 11:30pm Dec. 22 after the restaurant in the Ski Run Center had closed. Employees were cleaning up for the night.

The suspect displayed a handgun, began yelling orders at the employees and threatening to shoot them if they did not immediately comply, according to officers. He left through the same door he had entered.

The man had covered all of his skin so little is known about his identity other than he is about 5-feet-8-inches and 130 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the South Lake Tahoe Police Department at 530.542.6100 or Lake Tahoe Secret Witness at 530.541.6800.

In Truckee, the suspect walked in just after midnight to the Donner Pass Road establishment as bartenders were closing up. He brandished a handgun and left with cash.

That suspect is described as a black male adult, between 30- and 40-years-old, about 5-foot-8, wearing all dark clothing.

Anyone with info is asked to call Detective Lisa Madden at 530.550.2330 or lmadden@townoftruckee.com.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Ben van der Meer, Sacramento Business Journal

Residents of an enclave north of Lake Tahoe are getting their street back, and cutting off a cut-through to a neighboring community in the process.

Early next year, Placer County staff will have a presentation on making two streets: Mill Site Road and Cross Cut Road, private and for resident use only.

In turn, that will allow those property owners in the Retreat at Northstar to close a gate on Mill Site being used by people headed into the neighboring Martis Valley project.

Read the whole story

Phone scammers are targeting El Dorado County residents — again.

The latest scam reported by the sheriff’s department is the caller claimed the resident and a family member had warrants out for their arrests. These warrants were said to be for missing jury duty. The caller demanded that the bail on the warrants be paid immediately. The caller threatened to send deputies to arrest the resident if payment was not made within 10 minutes.

A law enforcement scanner was heard in the background and the caller became angry when questioned by the resident.

No money was wired to the caller.

Several sheriff’s offices in the region including Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties have reported similar jury duty telephone scams.

Neither sheriff’s departments no district attorney’s offices solicit payments for bail on arrest warrants over the telephone.

Call EDSO to report scams — 530.621.6600.

By Amber Phillips, Las Vegas Sun

To understand the pinnacle of Sen. Harry Reid’s career, let’s go back nine years, to Election Day 2006.

Senate Democrats were on the verge of taking control of the Senate for the first time since 2001. Reid, their leader, watched election results anxiously with close aides and fellow senators from a suite in the Capitol Hill Hyatt. When one of their most endangered candidates, Claire McCaskill, won a hard-fought race in Missouri, Reid jumped off his chair and kissed the TV screen.

“I never thought we could do it,” he told the New York Times when the party cinched the majority.

Nevada’s senior senator would go on to serve for eight years as Senate majority leader. In that role, he decided which bills went to the floor and when, controlled a sometimes fractious party and played a key part in high-level negotiations with two presidents, guiding our nation’s policy on everything from national debt to immigration. All while keeping a watchful eye on his home state.

But now Reid must step aside. After a disastrous midterm election for Democrats, Reid will hand over control of the Senate to Republicans when Congress comes back in January.

Read the whole story

By Robert J. Cerfolio

As we end the year, it’s time to think about self-improvement for the New Year.

Habitual procrastination can really hurt you in the long run because waiting to take care of something that’s obviously important to you – health, money, family matters – weighs on your subconscious.

Understanding one’s personal “line of gratification” is the foundation for sticking to self-improvement goals.

There are many kinds of lines of gratification. For some, they’re the number of zeroes in their bank statement; for others, the curves of their muscles after they leave the gym. It’s good and healthy to look back on your hard work and admire what you have accomplished before moving on to the next task.

Here are tips on how to make those lines of gratification more impressive:

• Be an early riser. The main reason operating rooms hum into action at 7am is tied to human physiology; the bodies of patients are better able to handle the stress of surgery at that time.

People are generally better off getting work done early in the day when we’re better prepared for stress and performance. And getting a job done early frees you up later in the day.

• Love what you do. Why wouldn’t you want to take ownership, responsibility and pride in what you do for a living? When you treat a job as only a means to a paycheck, you are missing the point. If your job isn’t the one you’d really love to have, don’t make it worse with a negative attitude. Instead, make it your own. Make it a point of personal integrity and principle to challenge yourself to achieve something every day. After all, 40 hours a week is a long time to stay anywhere.

• Ask yourself: Did I really try my best? “I tried my best” is a common refrain from those who haven’t reached their goals. An honest response you can ask yourself is, “Am I sure?” This question is not about being overly critical. It’s simply about realizing that if you had practiced or studied an extra 10 minutes each day, you would’ve been that much closer to your goals.

• Set specific, measurable goals. Results define goals. Every individual should have clear goals that are objective and measurable. Goals such as “to be happy,” “to do well at work” or “to get along” are too nebulous. To be successful, you have to be able to define your goals by measurable results.

• Find the high ground. In anything you do, aspire to live up to the noblest, highest aspect of your job. Certain jobs – such as police work, firefighting, teaching or working in health care – are service oriented, so it’s easier to feel good about your contributions. Look for the contributions you’re making in your job and take pride in what you’re doing to make the world a little better.

• Be the go-to guy or girl. This takes time, practice and the confidence necessary to want the ball in a critical situation. Being the go-to guy or girl means being willing to take responsibility and risk failing. A go-to person is also willing to speak up about problems or changes necessary in a business or organization, and suggest solutions.

Robert J. Cerfoli0 is the James H. Estes Family endowed chair of lung cancer research and full professor chief of thoracic surgery at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. 

Cold, wet weather is headed for the Lake Tahoe Basin on Dec. 24.

Rain, including thunderstorms, is in the forecast. The temps will start off warm, keeping the snow level above 7,500 to start with.

Mix in the wind — gusts of 70 mph on ridges — and the drive over mountain passes could be gnarly.

On Dec. 25 there is a slight chance of snow showers in the basin, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

As the system moves east, the temperatures are going to drop. The low Thursday and Friday nights is expected to be in single digits. The high Wednesday is forecast to be in the 50s, then dropping to about freezing for the next two days.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

• El Dorado County elected officials will be sworn into office Jan. 5 at 10am in Placerville.

• Recycle Christmas trees for free in Truckee from Dec. 29-Jan. 12 at the Tahoe Donner Clubhouse, high school soccer fields and Glenshire Clubhouse. Curbside pick up is from Jan. 12-16. All trees must be free of decorations. The curbside ones need to be cut into 3-foot sections.

• Squaw’s torchlight parade will take place New Year’s Eve at 6:30pm, followed by a fireworks show at 7pm.

• Sierra-at-Tahoe is having an ugly sweater contest all day Dec. 23.

• Homewood’s classic ski lodge on the south side is getting a makeover as the dining room embraces a southwestern flair. It is now called Southwest Grill + Fireplace Tavern.