WordWave’s one-act play competition is the culmination of a three-month playwriting competition where the top three plays are selected to be showcased as a performance reading on stage in the Boathouse Theatre.

The winning writers are invited to attend the performance and provide a short question and answer period at the end of the evening to allow audience members a glimpse into the creative process.

The plays will be performed Oct. 21 at 7:30pm.

Tickets are $20, and $15 for those 12 and younger. They are available online.

By Kathryn Reed

Quinoa is one those wonderful foods, especially for vegetarians because it’s another source of protein.

This is one of those recipes that can be made year-round. The vegetables involved can change based on what you like. I had fresh corn, so I used that. Frozen veggies in the off-season would work, or zucchini would be tasty any time.

While it’s not necessary to put the cakes on a bed of spinach, this does make for a more complete meal. Another green could satisfy. Or serve these as a side dish or even as an appetizer. If they aren’t an entrée, you might want to make the patties smaller.

The spinach, cake and topping together all complement each other. To me this was a meal unto itself.

Quinoa Cakes with Spinach

2 C cooked quinoa

1 C corn

1/3 C Panko

1/3 C yellow onion, grated

3 T flat leaf parsley, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp lemon rind

2 tsp lemon juice

¾ C feta cheese crumbles

3 large eggs

½ tsp kosher salt

½ tsp pepper

1½ T olive oil

6 C spinach

2 T mayonnaise

2 T sour cream

¼ tsp smoked paprika

Cook quinoa according to directions.

In large bowl combine quinoa with the next 11 ingredients.

Shape mixture into patties; should make eight.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add patties to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. It may be necessary to add more oil.

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and paprika in a bowl. Add salt and pepper if so desired.

Divide spinach on four plates. Place two patties on each plate, then top with mayo-sour cream mixture.

By Jeremy Vandehurst

During the past decade, it’s become clear that many young athletes take much longer than 10 days to clinically recover after a concussion. The majority of athletes recover within the first month of injury.

Jeremy Vandehurst

A concussion can occur when there is a significant blow to the head. Some signs of a more severe concussion are the presence and increased severity of nausea, dizziness, balance problems, sensitivity to light and noise, feeling “slowed down,” pressure in the head, confusion, concentration problems, and difficulty falling asleep.

Many factors can affect recovery time, such as the development of headaches, dizziness, or depression. The strongest and most consistent predictor of slower recovery from a sports- related concussion is the severity of symptoms in the first day, or initial few days, after injury. Conversely, having fewer symptoms the first day after injury usually means recovery will be faster.

To date, there isn’t enough evidence that prescribing complete rest helps achieve recovery. After a brief rest period for 24–48 hours after injury, patients can become gradually and progressively more active, as long as their activity level doesn’t bring on or worsen their symptoms. It is reasonable for athletes to avoid vigorous exertion while they are recovering.

Once concussion-related symptoms have resolved, most athletes can continue to proceed to the next stage if it doesn’t cause symptoms to return. Each step general takes 24 hours. That means many athletes will take a minimum of one week to proceed through the full rehabilitation program. However, the time frame for returning to sports varies with player age, history, and level of sport, so the program must be individualized.

Jeremy Vandehurst works at Barton Health’s Tahoe Center for Orthopedics.

Publisher’s note: This is one in a series of stories about affordable housing in the Lake Tahoe-Truckee region. All articles may be accessed via the home page under Special Projects, 2017 Affordable Housing.

By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe intends to acquire three vacant parcels on Riverside Avenue with the intent to turn them into housing.

The city’s Successor Agency owns them. This came about when the state dissolved redevelopment agencies. Per the state, the agency must get rid of what it owns.

The parcels have been on the market at different times in the last few years. Part of the difficulty in selling them is that there are no development rights associated with the lots. One escrow fell through and other offers have not been accepted.

The City Council last month gave direction to staff to come up with a contract to make the deal work between the city and Successor Agency. (The council acts as the directors for the Successor Agency.) The deal is expected to be consummated in October. The city will have to pay fair market value. Collectively, the parcels were appraised at $250,000.

The city could use one-time funds, possibly from excess reserves, for this purchase knowing that it will likely recover those dollars when it sells the property to a developer.

The council at its February strategic planning session talked about how businesses in the area would like the land to be converted into a parking lot. However, current zoning would not allow that use. The plan area statement would have to be amended for parking to come to fruition.

Affordable housing is an allowable use.

Kevin Fabino, who heads the city’s planning department, in August told the council it would be reasonable to merge the three parcels into one to allow for more density. Five or six units might be able to be built on that site.

While it was acknowledged this was not going to make a huge dent in the ongoing affordable housing issue plaguing the area, it would do more for the community than parking.

Councilmember Brooke Laine threw out the possibility of using some of the sewer unit allocations from the former Knights Inn motel for Riverside Avenue. Right now South Tahoe Public Utility District doesn’t allow the transfer of sewer allocations, but that board could change that rule if it so desired.

One thing the council will have to define is affordable housing. To the lay person it is often interchanged with work force or even fair market housing. However, legally, affordable housing has specific requirements based on income and can come with deed restrictions.

The exact type of housing will be decided at future council meetings.

The city has some commodities it could tie to the parcels as well to entice developers. Or it could leave it up to the next buyer to secure those rights.

By Kathryn Reed

PARK CITY, Utah – I’m never going to be an Olympic athlete. I’m guessing that comes as no surprise to anyone.

I wanted to be. This probably isn’t that unusual of a dream for kids who play sports. To me the Olympics are the pinnacle athletic competition– not the World Series or Super Bowl.

Swimming would have been my dream sport. I was a fish as a kid. I was in first or second grade when I started competing. Back stroke was my favorite. The farthest I aspired to was being on a leg of a relay in the Far Western Championships. This was the culmination of years of competing on an AAU team.

At some point, though, I had to realize I was pretty slow – at least in terms of Olympic speeds – or collegiate for that matter, probably even high school. (By high school I had traded a swim suit for a tennis skirt.) Nor did I have the discipline to put in the time it takes to be an athlete of that caliber.

When I was growing up the Olympics were purer, at least for much of the world. It really was amateurs competing; except for the Eastern Bloc countries. Back then it didn’t cost as much to participate as it does today, nor was it so lucrative. Things really have changed.

The Olympics are big business now – for the competitor, the host city-country, sponsors, media and countless auxiliary entities.

Now professionals are competing. To me, this has tarnished the Games. But not enough to keep me from tuning in next February.

What might be extremely fun to see in 2018 is the U.S. men’s hockey team because the NHL has said players under contract are not allowed to compete because it would impact the pro season. This means the U.S. team will be full of college athletes.

Could this be another miracle on ice like 1980 when it was a group of amateur young men who took home the gold in Lake Placid, N.Y., upsetting a slew of competitors – most notably the Russians in the gold medal round?

While the Games are a little more than four months away, for the athletes the pinnacle of their careers is within sight. For most, they won’t return home with a medal. It is wearing that red, white and blue, competing for their country, to say they are an Olympian that no one will ever be able to take from them. Once an Olympian, always an Olympian.

Plenty of more training will take place between now and then, but their enthusiasm this past week was palpable.

I returned to Tahoe on Thursday from a four-day Team USA media summit in Park City, Utah, for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. More than 100 athletes were in attendance, with six from the Tahoe area – Jamie Anderson, Maddie Bowman, Julia Mancuso, Nate Holland, David Wise and Travis Ganong. (We will tell their individual stories in the coming weeks.) Some are eager to repeat their successes and others ready to improve upon their 2014 performances in Sochi, Russia.

For some, it will likely be their last hurrah on this world stage. Age, aching bodies, and a younger generation are contributing factors. The R word – retirement – isn’t being iterated by any of them because they have a job to do. That job is to start the World Cup ski and Grand Prix snowboard seasons this fall with gusto, all in the quest to podium in South Korea.

Let’s hope world leaders don’t escalate tensions to the point of jeopardizing these Games – in terms of safety and countries pulling out. Athletics should be a unifier. And now it appears we need these Olympics – for our country and the world – more than ever.

These athletes deserve the opportunity to compete and we spectators deserve the chance admire their resolve and to perhaps live vicariously through them if just for a moment in time.

By Bryan Armen Graham, Guardian

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association will put forth a formal proposal to the International Ski Federation next week for Lindsey Vonn to participate in a men’s World Cup downhill race next year.

The bid would pitch Vonn, the most decorated skier in American history with 77 wins and 130 podiums, opposite men over the last weekend of November 2018 at Lake Louise, the lone Canadian stop on the circuit where she’s notched 14 of her record 39 World Cup downhill wins.

The USSA will make the proposal at the worldwide governing body’s pre-season meetings next week in Zurich.

Read the whole story

Lake Tahoe area ski resorts contributed to Vail Resorts’ fiscal year being one of extreme positive cash flow.

Net income was $210.6 million for fiscal 2017, an increase of 40.6 percent compared to 2016.

The Broomfield, Colo.-based company operates Heavenly Mountain Resort, Kirkwood Mountain Resort and Northstar in California. On Sept. 28 it released results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year that ended July 31.

“Tahoe also experienced significant growth, achieving record revenues in all lines of business as the region benefited from another year of good conditions,” CEO Rob Katz said in a statement.

Things are looking good going into this winter. Season pass sales through Sept. 24 increased approximately 17 percent in units and 23 percent in dollars compared to a year ago.

There was a drop in skier visits at the Vail-owned Colorado resorts last season. However, numbers were up at the rest of the company’s properties. Company-wide, skier visits topped 12 million, an increase of 20.1 percent over the previous season.

The addition of Whistler in British Colombia, Canada, and the continued interest in Park City are adding to the increase in all numbers. Stowe in Vermont will be part of this coming season’s numbers.

Summer was a mixed bag.

“Our U.S. summer business continued to grow with the launch of Epic Discovery at Breckenridge this summer although results in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 were below expectations, primarily as a result of a delayed opening for Breckenridge’s new activities due to late snowfall and the Heavenly Coaster being closed this summer due to damage from the significant snowfall in Tahoe this past winter,” Katz said. “As our summer business continues to mature, we expect to continue improving and developing our operational consistency and our pricing and promotion to make the most of the already existing summer visitation at our resorts.”

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

·      Tahoe Transportation District is having a meeting about the loop road on Oct. 5 from 5-7pm at Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel in South Lake Tahoe. The public is being asked to weigh in on the project’s design elements.

·      Expect to see more kids in Nevada walking on Oct. 4 in honor of recognition of International Walk to School Day.

·      Rittz plus Sam Lachow, Eric Biddiness, and Sewer Crew will be part of the Strange Music Halloween Party at Whiskey Dicks in South Lake Tahoe on Oct. 31. Doors open at 9pm. Must be 21. Advance tickets are $25 at The Spot and Whiskey Dicks in South Lake Tahoe.

·      Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Citizen Corps is offering an emergency preparedness and response training academy beginning Oct. 12. For more info, go online.

·      Douglas County Sheriff’s Office swore in three deputies this week — Conner Michitarian, Jeremy Cunningham and Joshua Hodges.

By Sarah Litz, Reno Gazette-Journal

Nevada was ranked as the state with the second-highest rate of women murdered by men, a report from the Violence Policy Center said. 

Alaska was ranked the highest. Other states in the top 10 include Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico and Missouri.

The annual report, “When Men Murder Women,” is a state-by-state analysis of homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender. The latest report looks at the most recent data set from 2015.

Read the whole story

Sierra State Parks Foundation is having a fundraiser aboard the Tahoe Gal on Oct. 7.

The annual fall fundraiser leaves the dock behind the Safeway in Tahoe City promptly at 4pm for 2½ hours.

Money raised will help restore the South Boathouse at Sugar Pine Point State Park. The cruise will turn around at the boathouse to view the restoration currently in progress.

Aboard, storytellers will include retired State Park Chief Ranger Brian Barton, Olympic and Twain historian Dave Antonucci, State Park Superintendent of Emergency Services Scott Elliott, Donner Party historian Greg Palmer and comedian Darleen Pierson. Emcee will be humorist Ed Miller.

Prizes will be given to those who figure which stories are true. There will also be a live auction.

Tickets are $75, $70 for members. They are available online.