• Dori Borjesson, a veterinarian and professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, will give a presentation on how stem cells function to heal tissues in animals and people, and clinical trials using stem cells to treat diseases in small and large companion animals on Jan. 15 at 5:30pm at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village. Cost is $5.

• The draft master plan for Martis Creek Lake and Dam in Truckee requires dogs to be leashed.

• J.T. Thompson is now tourism director for the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association.

• Ball field No. 2 at North Tahoe Regional Park will be named for fallen Placer County Detective Mike Davis.

• A report by the Partnership for a New American Economy says better tourist visa laws would boost the country’s revenue by at least $7.6 billion and create 50,000 jobs within five years.

By Anahad O’Connor, New York Times

The idea that all carbohydrates are not created equal has become the foundation of many popular diets. Some argue that foods like white bread and potatoes, which have a high so-called glycemic index because they spike blood sugar and insulin, should be avoided in favor of more healthful carbs like whole grains and non-starchy vegetables.

But rigorous new research from the National Institutes of Health suggests that for people who already follow a healthful diet, the glycemic index may not be very important.

The study, published in JAMA, found that diets containing low glycemic foods did not lower cholesterol and other heart disease risk factors compared to diets containing mostly high glycemic foods. Nutrition experts argue that low glycemic diets improve blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity. But the new study found that low glycemic diets actually made insulin sensitivity worse.

Read the whole story

By Benjamin Spillman, Reno Gazette-Journal

You don’t need a passport to go to a Nevada State Park. But it might make the experience more fun.

That’s what state officials, including Gov. Brian Sandoval, are hoping for with the launch of Nevada State Parks Passport program.

They gathered Wednesday at Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, Spooner Lake, to celebrate the launch with Sandoval being the first visitor to have his passport stamped.

Read the whole story

By Kyle Roerink, Las Vegas Sun

Public employee unions are gearing up for a battle against Republicans in the 2015 legislative session.

Conservative lawmakers and activists are rallying to upend some of the state’s collective bargaining laws, the rules that guarantee unions the right to negotiate pay and benefits for their membership.

For union workers employed by schools, cities or counties, changes to the laws could mean a shift in how labor leaders negotiate pay raises, benefits and working conditions with local governments. The state’s unionized employees do not have the right to collective bargaining in Nevada.

Three Republican lawmakers have submitted bills aiming to change the laws, and the right-leaning Nevada Policy Research Institute has issued a Top-10 list of union reforms that has collective bargaining as a high priority. With the GOP in control of the Legislature and NPRI executive director Geoffrey Lawrence an Assembly policy adviser, unions are not taking any threats lightly.

The Republican push is the latest chapter in a decades-long debate that’s carved a divide in American politics. Organized labor says the proposed legislation and NPRI agenda is an attempt to diminish the power of unionized public employees who work in Nevada’s schools, cities and counties. Danny Thompson, executive secretary treasurer for the AFL-CIO, said the focus on collective bargaining is a “right-wing, tea party agenda” based on bill models that are shipped across the country from think tanks like NPRI and the American Legislative Exchange Council.

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The back of the Stateline Post Office is in the process of being renovated. Photos/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Boxes are scattered about, the floor is torn up, one person is putting mail into individual boxes, construction crews are out front.

A tree blocks the direct route to the loading dock, the roofline is crumbling from being hit by trucks, concrete is in need of repair.

This is the Stateline Post Office.

It is finely receiving some attention after years of neglect.

“It’s 36-years-old and it seems like it is older than that,” Suzanne Phillips said as she walked through the facility.

Phillips’ normal job is postmaster in Boulder City in Southern Nevada. Right now she is interim manager of postal operations, which encompasses 90 offices in California and Nevada. She is spending several weeks just at the Stateline office so it will function better – personnel-wise and aesthetically.

“Once we get someone in here and get consistency, people will notice a change,” Phillips told Lake Tahoe News.

This office has not had a regular postmaster for a number of years. That postmaster is also responsible for the Zephyr Cove and Glenbrook post offices.

Construction crews are a common sight at the post office.

While there was a time when the Stateline office was slated to close, that is no longer the case. Higher ups figured out it would be hard to displace the 2,000 boxholders. Plus, this office makes money.

The next closest office is 1½ miles away in Zephyr Cove. It is a leased facility, whereas the Postal Service owns the Stateline building. To accommodate the Stateline boxholders it would require significant renovating.

(No one on the Nevada side of the South Shore has home delivery.)

Most of the improvements are cosmetic in nature – paint, cleaning, new floors. The floor in the back – where the public is not allowed – will be replaced after the holiday rush.

The lobby has been revamped. All the writing tables were removed and new cabinets installed.

Juniper out front is gone and more landscaping improvements will come in the spring. The plan is to take out the pine out front so trucks have a direct shot to the loading dock. Some concrete is also slated to be removed.

Phillips is hoping sprucing things up will make the building better appealing from the curb and bring a little pride to the Lower Kingsbury Grade area.

“You drive by and you don’t know it’s a post office,” she said.

Part of this has to do with signage, the loading dock being in the front and the parking lot being in the rear.

A solution for the parking lot is still being sought.

The big unknown is what to do about the parking lot, which is in the back. It slopes down toward a ditch. There are no erosion control measures in place.

A three-year Tahoe Regional Planning Agency permit expired in 2010. Now the price to replace the drive and put in the best management practices is about $900,000.

But it’s not just the post office’s runoff that is a problem. The building is attached to offices on the east, plus there are commercial entities all around it. Those properties also have runoff that is not being filtered.

Phillips said postal workers are investigating a more comprehensive approach to come into compliance with TRPA regs instead of going about it solo.

To the community,

On behalf of Heavenly and its employees, I would like to say a big thank you to our local utility companies and contractors who provided immediate and professional support in the aftermath of last week’s storm.

Pete Sonntag

With trees down on Dipper Express and multiple power lines across the mountain knocked to the ground, their teams responded quickly to get us back in business. Prioritizing the community’s needs first, they quickly jumped into action to help Heavenly as resources became available.

I also want to thank the Heavenly staff who provided key support to these teams and responded efficiently to other emergencies around the Resort.

I have never been so proud of the team I work with and the community in which we live.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season,

Pete Sonntag, Heavenly vice president and COO Heavenly

By Tim Day, News10

STOCKTON — On the very day Stockton business owners were invited to a workshop on how to avoid ADA-related lawsuits, the attorney responsible for filing so many of those lawsuits was across town shopping, and reluctantly, interviewed.

Scott Johnson doesn’t deny filing thousands of lawsuits against businesses with disability access issues. Even if those businesses make changes to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act, Johnson also alleges personal damages into the many thousands of dollars.

Johnson was insistent on getting into his van and avoiding News10 questions when spotted Wednesday, but he offered a few comments.

Johnson has targeted South Lake Tahoe and North Shore businesses in the past.

Read the whole story

The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department is launching a program called STAT – South Tahoe Action Teams.

This program is designed to incorporate trained citizens in the field with the department and other first responders during times of crisis.

Classes will be taught in the fire stations and run approximately two hours per class. Four STAT training sessions will be conducted throughout the year.

The inaugural class will be begin Jan. 15 and run through Feb. 5. Classes will be every Thursday night from 6-8 in the Fire Department Training Center at 1100 Al Tahoe Blvd.

Curriculum will include eight hours of instruction taught by members of the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department. Applicants will be expected to commit their time and will be called upon in times of natural disaster, large scale emergencies and times of need in the South Lake Tahoe area. Due to staffing and equipment limitations the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department will be reliant on local citizens’ abilities to assist in their neighborhoods with basic first aid and triage.

If interested, contact Capt. Jim Drennan at 530.542.6161 or via email at jdrennan@cityofslt.us

More information is available online.

STAT Program Information and Application

El Dorado County Senior Day Care Services is offering Dementia 101, a mini workshop for families and friends who care for or supervise people with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.

The workshop will be Jan. 24 from 8:30am-noon at the Senior Day Care Center, 935A Spring St. in Placerville. The workshop features two sessions from presenters who have extensive experience and knowledge in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Session 1 is Dementia: What is it? Session 2 is Dementia: Understanding and Managing Behaviors.

Seating for the workshop is limited; registration is required. The workshop is free, although there is a suggested donation of $10. Check-in begins at 8:30am and includes a continental breakfast. The workshop begins promptly at 9am. For reservations, call the 530.621.6180.

By Mark Berman, Washington Post

The historic, horrendous drought in California continues to be historic and horrendous. Even as rain continues to fall over parts of California, the drought is still ravaging much of the state.

To give you an idea of just how brutal this three-year drought has been, NASA decided to use its satellites (it is NASA, after all) to take measurements and figure out the amount of water needed to recover. The answer is 11 trillion gallons, which is a lot of water.

NASA came up with this number by using its Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites to eyeball the water storage in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins. This data showed that the water storage in these basins was 11 trillion gallons below normal seasonal levels at the peak of the drought earlier this year, according to the NASA announcement.

The volume of water in these basins has dropped by 4 trillion gallons each year since 2011, with most of this loss due to the lack of groundwater under the state’s Central Valley.

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