• Lake Tahoe Historical Society is having a wine tasting fundraiser at Cork & More in South Lake Tahoe on Sept. 18 from 7-9pm. Call 530.544.5253 for a reservation. Cost is $15.

• Ken Spielvogel with Barton Women’s Health on Oct. 1 will give a lecture titled Your Prenatal Roadmap – Facts Revealed, Myths Dispelled. The free talk is from 6-7pm at Lake Tahoe Community College.

• Amarik Singh, 42, of Placerville has been reappointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to the Board of Parole Hearings, where she has served since 2012.

• The Pacific Fine Arts & Crafts Festival is Sept. 6-7 from 10am-5pm in downtown Truckee at the corner of Bridge Street and Donner Pass Road.

• Comments from the Aug. 12 Regan Beach meeting in South Lake Tahoe are available online.

By CNBC

Tesla has finally decided that it will build its battery “gigafactory” in Nevada, sources say.

“That’s a go, but they are still negotiating the specifics of the contract,” a source within the Nevada’s governor’s office told CNBC Wednesday afternoon. The source noted that it could be a week before the deal is official.

Nevada is planning a press conference Thursday in Carson City, according to a Dow Jones report.

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By Sean Whaley, Las Vegas Review-Journal

CARSON CITY — A ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals finding Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional could almost immediately open the floodgates to gay unions across the state, a legal analyst involved in the challenge said Tuesday.

Lambda Legal Legal Director Jon Davidson said that is what happened in cases in Pennsylvania and Oregon when a federal appeals court found those same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional.

When state officials in those two states decided, as they have in Nevada, not to challenge the effort to overturn the bans, the rulings were allowed to go immediately into effect, he said. Efforts to stay the rulings were denied all they way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Davidson said.

“So we might see a similar scenario in Nevada,” he said.

But while the marriages might happen quickly in Nevada, Clark County Clerk Diana Alba said she has been told by the county district attorney’s civil division that officials should have a 21-day period to prepare for same-sex unions.

The 9th Circuit is scheduled to hear arguments in the challenge to Nevada’s same-sex marriage ban on Monday in San Francisco. A ruling is not expected for several weeks.

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By Meeri Kim, Washington Post

The pervasive glow of electronic devices may be an impediment to a good night’s sleep. That’s particularly noticeable now, when families are adjusting to early wake-up times for school. Teenagers can find it especially hard to get started in the morning. For nocturnal animals, it spurs activity. For daytime species such as humans, melatonin signals that it’s time to sleep.

As lamps switch off in teens’ bedrooms across America, the lights from their computer screens, smartphones and tablets often stay on throughout the night. These devices emit light of all colors, but it’s the blues in particular that pose a danger to sleep. Blue light is especially good at preventing the release of melatonin, a hormone associated with nighttime.

Ordinarily, the pineal gland, a pea-size organ in the brain, begins to release melatonin a couple of hours before your regular bedtime. The hormone is no sleeping pill, but it does reduce alertness and make sleep more inviting.

However, light — particularly of the blue variety — can keep the pineal gland from releasing melatonin, thus warding off sleepiness. You don’t have to be staring directly at a television or computer screen: If enough blue light hits the eye, the gland can stop releasing melatonin. So easing into bed with a tablet or a laptop makes it harder to take a long snooze, especially for sleep-deprived teenagers who are more vulnerable to the effects of light than adults.

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By Robert D. Dávila, Sacramento Bee

Dean Adraktas, a broadcast journalist who was a news reporter at KFBK until his voice on the air was silenced by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, died Aug. 28, his wife said. He was 49.

Dean Adraktas

With a booming voice, outgoing personality and enthusiasm for covering breaking stories, Mr. Adraktas advanced steadily in radio news. He began working at KVNA in Flagstaff, Ariz., and KFYI in Phoenix after earning a broadcast communications degree from Arizona State University in 1987. He moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1992 and was a reporter, talk show host and news director for KOWL/KRLT.

His thorough reporting, meticulous writing and fun sense of humor impressed colleagues at KQMS radio in Redding, where he was a news director and morning news anchor from 1995 to 1998. He moved to Sacramento to work at KFBK and covered a variety of stories as a morning reporter, including social issues and politics.

“He was very professional but very gregarious,” KFBK news anchor Kitty O’Neal said. “He took his work very seriously, but he interacted with people very easily. He had a great sense of humor and was very vital.”

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By Martin Griffith, AP

RENO — Two men suing Nevada wildlife commissioners say trapping regulations are causing needless suffering for thousands of animals not targeted for their fur, including dogs, golden eagles and mountain lions.

The lawsuit by Donald Molde of Reno and Mark Smith of Incline Village, filed Thursday in Washoe County District Court, seeks an injunction to halt the upcoming trapping season and force change.

Their complaint comes after commissioners in August voted against increasing the number of times trappers must check their traps or snares in most of Nevada. Now, fur trappers must do so every four days except near the urban areas of Reno, Carson City and Las Vegas.

Days between checks means animals not targeted by trappers will suffer injury or death that earlier release might have been prevented, Molde and Smith said. Even targeted animals such as bobcats, foxes and coyotes should not have to suffer because of regulations that allow for trapper “convenience,” they added.

Typical injuries include broken bones, dislocated joints and tissue damage, Molde said. Some animals such as mountain lions and dogs break teeth when they bite at traps and can lose toes and claws if they manage to get free. Captured animals also are vulnerable to attack by other wildlife.

“This action has been long in the making and is a direct result of the recalcitrance by the commission to consider public concerns about trapping,” Molde said. “Wildlife is not the private property of sportsmen and trappers. It is an invaluable public asset and deserves protection.”

Commission vice chairman Jeremy Drew declined to comment on the suit, saying, “I am confident in our public process and consideration of our mission.”

Last month, wildlife commissioners approved changes that would require visits once every two days to traps set around Reno, Carson City and Las Vegas. But they kept the four-day interval for the rest of the state.

Joel Blakeslee, president of the Nevada Trappers Association, said the suit lacks merit and trapping would end in Nevada if Molde and Smith have their way.

“They would love to have us on a 24-hour trap check because it would make it impossible to trap in the state,” he told the Associated Press. “This lawsuit has to do with just regulating us out of business.”

Long mileages, adverse weather and other factors already make it difficult for trappers to check traps in remote areas once every four days, Blakeslee said.

But Molde and Smith say Nevada has one of the longest trap-visitation intervals in the country.

The vacant lot on Ski Run and Highway 50 will likely be developed in 2015. Photo/Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe officials expect to be in escrow this fall on the property at the corner of Ski Run Boulevard and Highway 50.

The City Council in closed session on Sept. 2 appointed Mayor Hal Cole and Councilwoman Brooke Laine to discuss particulars with the interested parties.

Four entities have come forward with letters of intent for the 1½-acre parcel that has an $800,000 price tag.

“We are confident we’ll find a project that will work for us,” Cole told Lake Tahoe News. “There was no mention of who might rent the space. That is what Brooke and I are going to look at.”

On the table will be discussions about commodities such as commercial floor area and coverage.

The city earlier this year bought the land from the now defunct Redevelopment Agency. The agency had acquired it in deals with the prior owner of the timeshare complex that is kitty-corner to this lot. Originally that land was to be developed as another phase of what is now a Diamond Resorts owned property.

City Attorney Tom Watson told Lake Tahoe News the city wants the deal to be solidified in time so the property owner could begin construction next building season.

The city is limited in telling property owners what they can do with the land, but it won’t be a drug store. City officials have said they’d prefer to see a mixed-use commercial venture or something the public would benefit from.

— Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe’s City Council on Tuesday approved a tentative agreement that calls for nearly one-third of the employees not to receive city-provided health benefits when they retire.

The public works bargaining unit, which is the largest of the six groups in the city, is expected to vote this week on the proposal. Still to be worked out are raises and changes to the health care plan.

Also agreeing to eliminate retiree health benefits are the at-will management workers. Altogether this represents about 60 employees.

South Lake Tahoe faces about a $40 million unfunded liability because of promised health care benefits for employees and their dependents after they retire.

“This is an important thing for the public,” City Manager Nancy Kerry told Lake Tahoe News. “How often do you see public employees say I will personally make a sacrifice? This particular group has some of the lowest paid employees in the city. That’s why I really admire them. They don’t have the resources others might have.”

Already employees hired after 2008 don’t have the same retiree health benefits. Changes do not affect current retirees. What would affect their benefits is if and when the current health plan is altered.

The city is negotiating with the other bargaining units. Kerry would not comment on how discussions are going, other than to say the city has no problem negotiating long after the budget is voted on at a special meeting Oct. 1.

At the Sept. 2 council meeting Kerry and all the department heads went over the proposed 2014-15 budget that takes effect Oct. 1. It was in closed session that the retiree health care was voted on.

The $73 million budget is about $20 million less than the current year’s budget. This is because there is less outside money coming into the city for capital projects. For instance, the $18 million on the books this year for the Bijou erosion control project will be gone next year because the work will be done this fall.

What is remaining consistent is the $32 million general fund. That is the pot of money the council has leeway with when it comes to spending. However, with that said, 89 percent of that pot of money is allocated for salaries and benefits.

The city spends about $4 million on health care and another $4 million on pensions each year.

Kerry said the state Legislature has the power to change CalPERS, but refuses to do so. Public entities may negotiate with employees for increases to CalPERS, but are not allowed to go in the other direction.

She called out South Tahoe Public Utility District, saying how that agency during the recession never had pay cuts, furlough days or staffing cuts, and now is rewarding its employees with a three-year pay hike just two months after imposing a rate increase on users.

“Maybe they could take a 9 percent pay cut and improve infrastructure,” Kerry said.

She said, that while city employees are also due a raise, it’s imperative cuts are made, too, so there is more prudent spending of taxpayer money. For the city, this is coming in the form of changes to health care for current employees and retirees.

On the negotiating table are five health plans with three tiers.

Mark Carlson, the city’s finance director, told the council if changes are not made, the city will find itself back in 2003 economic conditions. That means no reserves and no money in the bank.

If changes to health care are not made across the board, Carlson said, “expect to be upside down” starting in fiscal year 2017.

Publisher’s note: Even though the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce claims to not have a preconceived political agenda and says it wants to be transparent, board member Jason Drew last year at a public meeting said, “Our goal is to find, recruit, and elect people to the South Lake Tahoe City Council and then hold that council accountable.”

To the community,

There have been many questions related to our new activities associated with candidate endorsements so in an effort to clarify here is an overview of the history and process. I apologize for the length — this is a complicated topic and not one well suited to brevity.

Tahoe Chamber has a long history of representing business to government via advocating for policies that provide a fair and predictable process for businesses of any size. This process is guided by our Government Affairs Committee (GAC), the board, the chamber CEO and our government affairs liaison. In 2012, the Tahoe Chamber board of directors decided it was time to take an active role in political advocacy by engaging in the electoral process. This decision was based upon the premise that the future sustainability and economic vibrancy of our community was dependent upon well informed and capable elected leaders. Board and staff members participated in several workshops and trainings with experts. While this is a new activity for Tahoe Chamber, hundreds, if not thousands of other proactive chambers across the country have long been engaged in the electoral process.

B Gorman

It is perfectly legal for a chamber of commerce to endorse candidates and to share the reasons for so doing. Given a chamber’s mission of supporting and growing business it only makes sense that candidates who are endorsed by a chamber are those who exhibit the greatest understanding of business and economic development.

If a chamber directly contributes funds to candidates or ballot measures it risks triggering a reclassification of its corporate status resulting in complex reporting. Thus chambers who wish to support candidates or ballot measures with direct expenditures form committees that vary depending upon the type of activities to be undertaken. These committees typically fall into one of three categories: Independent expenditure committees, 529s or political action committees. These entities have separate bank accounts, reporting requirements and boards which typically include the chamber CEO and several board members. Tahoe Chamber has initiated 2014 candidate endorsements through our newly formed Candidate Endorsement Committee (CEC)and also formed a California Independent Expenditure Committee (IEC).

The CEC is comprised of eight individuals who have volunteered an inordinate amount of time to develop a process they believe is fair to all concerned. The IEC is comprised of five community leaders who are raising funds separately from the Candidate Endorsement Committee. A listing of these committees can be found online and the work of the IEC online, too. If you are interested in serving on either of these committees, please contact me.

Prior to forming the CEC or IEC our pre-existing Government Affairs Committee (GAC) developed the Tahoe Future A South Shore Community Vision 2020, which can be found here.This document guides the GAC’s support or opposition of ballot measures, legislation and initiatives and it now provides the foundation upon which candidates are being questioned and measured by the Candidate Endorsement Committee (CEC).

The candidate endorsement process:

The CEC is focused on local California races. Candidates are being evaluated for LTCC, STPUD, City Council and El Dorado County District 5 Supervisor. Endorsement recommendations will be provided to the board by the CEC. The board will vote at their regularly scheduled open meetings on whether to accept the slate suggested by the CEC. Endorsements will be provided to the media and highlighted in chamber publications.

All candidates have an opportunity to be evaluated – TRUE

Every candidate, even those running unopposed, were sent a letter by the CEC Chair inviting them to seek an endorsement. All candidates will be evaluated irrespective of whether they seek an endorsement. Candidates can choose to what extent they engage in the process. Research will include:

o Questionnaire answers

o Websites and collateral materials

o Interviews

o Public forums (City Council forum is Sept. 10)

o Past voting records

o Ability to collaborate and affect positive change

o Alignment with Tahoe Future Vision 2020

o Background checks

Tahoe Chamber has solicited specific candidates to endorse – FALSE

TahoeChamber encourages civic engagement through its Leadership Lake Tahoe program. Leadership participants are encouraged to join service organizations, serve on commissions, volunteer for a nonprofit, coach youth sports and consider running for office. This year we are pleased that five graduates from the 2003 [Nancy McDermid], 2006 [Austin Sass], 2012 [Jeff Cowen] and 2014 [Matt Palacio and Shane Romsos] classes are running for four different offices. The fact that they are graduates from this program in no way guarantees them an endorsement from the CEC. It does however provide the community assurances that the graduates have been exposed to many facets of the South Shore contributing to their knowledge base.

The review of candidates is not fair or transparent – FALSE

The CEC continues to evolve and is committed to making this process fair and consistent. Every candidate is being scored using the same grade sheet and process related to Tahoe Future 2020. All questionnaire answers (with the exception of personal information) and their scores will be posted on the Tahoe Chamber website whether or not the graduates sought an endorsement.

Tahoe Chamber will publish Social Security numbers or background information – FALSE

We would never publish sensitive information and will ensure that all personal information is protected. Only the chamber CEO will handle personal information. Candidates may provide their Social Security number as it ensures the background check doesn’t retrieve negative information associated with another individual. (For example, one candidate background check picked up several other individuals of the same name with arrest records). Chamber CEO will provide the CEC with a pass or fail on background checks and provide no details.

The campaign process:

The Independent Expenditure Committee (IEC) is raising funds independently from the CEC and the candidates. It cannot by law coordinate efforts with any of the candidate’s campaign committees. Any individual or business can contribute funds to the IEC. The donor cannot dictate to which candidate(s) their funds support. The IEC will conduct its own research including taking into account which candidates the CEC recommends, but it is under no obligation to support those candidates.

The IEC will purchase ads or publish direct mail – TRUE

The purpose of the IEC is to engage in the political process to educate voters on why it believes a particular candidate(s) is a good choice for our community.

Some candidates will be given money – FALSE

The IEC cannot contribute funds directly to a candidate or their campaign committee. Any funds expended must be done independently.

I hope this overview is helpful in highlighting our process that in reality is no different than that being undertaken by myriad organizations across this great nation given our constitutionally protected rights. Materials and information will be updated on the aforementioned websites regularly and additional information provided in the upcoming issue of our Business Review.

We trust that you will value the labor of many volunteers in their effort to provide you with credible information on which to base your voting decisions.

Sincerely,

B Gorman, president/CEO Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce

By Paul Newbold, Jet Press

Every year Jets fans have to say goodbye to one or more of their favorite players, as cuts are made and aging players are deemed expendable or “washed up”. As I age I guess I’m getting a bit sentimental towards these guys, they are young in real life but their “football age” makes them obsolete. The guy I felt for this year was Garrett Mclntyre.

Garrett Mclntyre had a long journey to get to our team, and it’s an interesting one at that. Garrett was born Nov. 26, 1984, in South Lake Tahoe, and went to high school in the same town, before moving on to play football at Fresno State University. He went undrafted in the 2006 NFL draft before being signed by the Seattle Seahawks. He was signed and cut three times that season, spending brief stints with the Arizona Cardinals, and Tennessee Titans. Failing to make it on the rosters of NFL teams, he sat out the 2007 campaign.

For many players that might have been enough for them to hang up their cleats and move on from the game they love. Not so for Garrett, as he made his professional debut in 2008 with the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena league. Garrett moved on once again, signing with the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League in 2010.

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