By Sandra Chereb, Las Vegas Review-Journal

CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers and election officials got a sneak peek at a new generation of voting machines last week as the state eyes replacing its aging ballot-counting fleet.

“We’re looking at doing it for 2018,” Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske said of a possible timeline to have new machines in place.

The secretary of state’s office invited two vendors certified in Nevada — Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting — to show off their wares Wednesday in a daylong open house at the Capitol.

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Erin

Erin is a sweet cat, about 8 years old, who is good with polite dogs. She is a little shy to begin with, but she enjoys being petted and getting attention. Erin has incredibly soft fur.

Erin is spayed, microchipped, tested for FIV, 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, may go online. 

— Karen Kuentz

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – In the decade since Lake Tahoe started aggressively combating aquatic invasive species, the landscape has changed dramatically.

This region has become a leader in what to do to stop invasives. Water bodies far and near have scrambled to catch up as they contend with the detrimental impact of AIS. The boating industry has made advances to make it easier to hook up decontamination apparatuses. The public is more compliant and understanding.

Boating season officially opens today in the Lake Tahoe Basin, at least when it comes to the boat inspections and decontamination stations being operational.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board last week received an update on the AIS program, which includes the boating inspection program.

It’s anticipated more boat ramps will be open this year because the lake level is so high. Public and private ramps are required to make sure boats have been inspected.

“Our focus is early detection and rapid response,” Dennis Zabaglo, TRPA’s aquatic resources manager, told the board.

The Tahoe Resource Conservation District manages the program for the TRPA. Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake and Echo Lake are part of its oversight.

In 2016, there were 7,689 boat inspections, 2,689 decontaminations, with 39 boats intercepted. The last figure means a boat that had an AIS. Zabaglo said most boat owners are unaware of the AIS. Eight of 39 were mussel species.

Boat inspection info:
• Open now 8:30am-5:30pm., 7 days a week
Meyers: at the junction of highways 50 and 89
Spooner Summit: at the junction of highways 50 and 28
Alpine Meadows: Highway 89, off Alpine Meadows Road north of Tahoe City
• Opening May 17:
Truckee-Tahoe: Highway 267, off Truckee Airport Road, 8:3am-5:30pm, 7 days a week
• All motorized watercraft require inspection for aquatic invasive species prior to launching into Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake and Echo Lake.
• Knowingly transporting AIS into Lake Tahoe is against the law, and violators may be subject to monetary penalties.
• There is no change in boating inspection fees this year. The “Tahoe In & Out” inspection ranges from $35 for personal watercraft and vessels up to 17 feet and $121 for vessels more than 39 feet. The “Tahoe Only” inspection sticker is $30. An additional fee of $35 is charged for any boat requiring decontamination and an additional $10 fee for the decontamination of ballast tanks or bags.

Between one-third and one-half of the inspections are boaters new to Tahoe.

Clean, drain, dry is the mantra boaters — motorized and paddlers — are asked to embrace. Boats are the largest transporters of AIS.

The goal of the TRPA program is to prevent any new AIS from entering local water bodies. AIS such as quagga mussels and New Zealand mudsnails (neither of which are in Tahoe) multiply quickly by colonizing on underwater surfaces, and can destroy infiltration systems. They obliterate fish habitat, ruin boat engines, and can negatively impact water quality and the local economy by impacting recreation and the ecosystem. 

The AIS program also deals with trying to remove, or at least reduce, the species that already exit – animal and plant.

Several board members applauded when TRPA staff made it known the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association voted to pay for the use of herbicides in the South Lake Tahoe canals to attack invasive weeds. A member of the public challenged that reaction, wondering how they could think this was a good thing. Board Chairman Jim Lawrence said what he was really applauding was the Keys being willing to pay for the treatment, not necessarily the type of treatment. No other board member explained his or her applause.

The Governing Board will be asked to approve a permit for TKPOA to use the herbicide. A request for proposal has been released to find a firm to do the environmental impact statement for the Keys’ project.

TRPA/TRCD are also working with Fleur de Lac on a plan to work on AIS this summer. Both entities are working on the ultraviolet project at Lakeside. Getting rid of clams at Sand Harbor is another goal for this season.

Julie Regan, external affairs chief for TRPA, said congressional leaders are aware of the danger of AIS spreading. AIS are a threat to hydroelectric systems. Regan is hopeful with the new secretary of the Interior being from Montana that he will be a friend to the West and continue the funding for AIS projects here and elsewhere.

To the community,

Our local Humane Society needs our help. Day in and day out our local Humane Society answers the needs of people who have lost their cat or dog or those who have been forced to move to a place where their pets are not allowed. They host spay and neutering clinics to help with over population and other pet inoculation issues.

This past Christmas I saw them giving out pet food to those who were too poor to feed their pets.

Recently the Humane Society themselves became the ones needing the help. A loss of money due to an [alleged] embezzlement situation has left them in a bad financial situation. The South Tahoe Chamber already had a golf tournament scheduled for this August with the Humane Society selected as our designated charity. While we hope that people will sign up to golf or become sponsors, the need is much more immediate. They need us all to help them now.

Members of our board, including our Executive Director Tamera Wallace and our treasurer Julie Wright and myself, have met with members of the the Humane Society board. We are convinced that they have corrected any issues that may have allowed indiscretions. Our chamber stands solidly in support of the Humane Society. We urge our chamber members and any members of the community to donate what you are able to help them become restored. Please help them out with donations of cash, pet food or even with change for the puppy banks you see at local stores.

The national Humane Society does not give funds to the local chapters. It is up to us to support our own. The pets and strays in our community need our help.

Duane Wallace, South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce president

By Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times

The toll that aging takes on a body extends all the way down to the cellular level. But the damage accrued by cells in older muscles is especially severe, because they do not regenerate easily and they become weaker as their mitochondria, which produce energy, diminish in vigor and number.

A study published this month in Cell Metabolism, however, suggests that certain sorts of workouts may undo some of what the years can do to our mitochondria.

Exercise is good for people, as everyone knows. But scientists have surprisingly little understanding of its cellular impacts and how those might vary by activity and the age of the exerciser.

So researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., recently conducted an experiment on the cells of 72 healthy but sedentary men and women who were 30 or younger or older than 64.

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North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts, California State Parks, and the U.S. Forest Service plan to continue prescribed fire operations this week.

If conditions are favorable, operations may take place near Sugar Pine Point, Brockway Summit, Incline Village, Glenbrook, Lower Kingsbury Grade, Ski Run Boulevard, Fallen Leaf Lake and Meyers. Operations may continue over the next several weeks, weather permitting.  To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size and environmental conditions. Agencies coordinate with state and local county air pollution control districts and monitor weather conditions closely prior to prescribed fire ignition.

Caltrans this week will begin reconstructing a two-mile stretch of Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe.

The $56 million project goes from the Y to the Trout Creek Bridge. It will include drainage systems to treat storm water runoff, widening the roadway to provide 6-foot shoulders for bike lanes in both directions, replacing traffic signals, rebuilding curb, gutter and sidewalks, and improving the pavement cross slope.

Caltrans also is working with South Lake Tahoe to incorporate signal and operational improvements at Sierra Boulevard.

Construction will start at the Y and head east. The project is expected to be completed in 2019. The first phase this year will be from the Y to Winnemucca Avenue. 

The contractor will be allowed to work around the clock Monday through Thursday and until 11am Friday before Memorial Day and after Labor Day, and until 8am Friday between Memorial Day and Labor Day. At least one lane will be open to traffic in each direction at all times. No lane closures will be permitted on weekends or around major holidays.

Motorists may experience delays of up to 30 minutes traveling through the construction zone.

By Melissa Siig, Moonshine Ink

It seemed like the snow would never stop falling this winter, and Tahoe/Truckee is just now, at the end of April, beginning to see the massive snowpack begin to melt, at least at lower elevations. Up high, that’s another story, and in January, February and March, if it wasn’t snowing, it was raining. So all this rain and snow in early 2017 begs the question — was this a record setting year?

The answer is yes and no, depending on whether you are looking at precipitation or snowpack.

In terms of precipitation, 2016-17 is shaping up to be the wettest year on record since the Federal Water Master’s Office in Reno started keeping track 118 years ago. According to U.S. District Court Water Master Chad Blanchard, while we are behind 1982-83 with regards to total precipitation, there are still five months to go in the water year (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30), and we are currently ahead of where we were in April 1983.

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·      This map lists South Lake Tahoe’s priority potholes.

·      Kimball Chatfield, a medical botanist and doctor of Oriental medicine, will lead a medicinal plant walk on July 16 from 9:30am-1pm in Hope Valley. The group will search for wild blueberries, currants, yarrow, roses, onions, as well as mint, St. John’s Wort and other plants with medicinal uses. Cost is $35 for Sorensen’s guests, $50 for others. For more info or to reserve a spot, call 800.423.9949.

·      South Lake Tahoe Senior Center has dances on the last Friday of every month from 7:30-10pm. Cost is $10, which includes appetizers, desserts, and door prizes.

·      To participate in the South Lake Tahoe 4th of July parade, complete this application and return it to parade@cityofslt.us.

·      The Minden Library is showing movies every Saturday at 10:30am in the meeting room.  These movies are geared toward adults and teens. Free coffee and treats will be available.  Movies: May 6: “Guardians of the Galaxy” (Rated PG-13); May 13: “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (Rated PG-13); May 20: “Doctor Strange” (Rated PG-13); May 27: “Rogue One” (Rated PG-13). The Minden Library is located at 1625 Library Lane. 

The Nevada Division of Tourism recognized outstanding members of the state’s rural tourism industry at the VolunTourism Awards this month.

Tourism is a $2.3 billion industry in Nevada. Visitation to rural Nevada — all counties except Clark and Washoe — was 5.23 million in 2016, up about 7.9 percent from 2015.

Sue Barton, deputy director of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, earned the Larry J. Friedman Industry Partner of the Year award.

VolunTourism award recipients:

Reno-Tahoe Territory

Bill Henderson, director of sales for the Carson Valley Inn in Minden, has been a passionate participant with the Reno-Tahoe Territory for more than 30 years.

Cowboy Country

Yvonne Stuart, president of the Wells Chamber of Commerce, has been involved with Nevada’s Cowboy Country Territory for several years.

Indian Territory

Billie Jean Guerrero is the director of the Pyramid Lake Museum and Visitors Center for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

Las Vegas Territory

Julie Banbury became membership director in midsummer 2016 and immediately upgraded the membership program, providing a more streamlined application process for candidates.

Pony Express Territory

Cindy Beutel works behind the scenes in Eureka to foster community involvement and increase participation in special events.

Nevada Silver Trails Territory

Ray Fox of Certified Folder Display Service, Inc., has provided Nevada Silver Trails with travel brochure distribution services for a number of years.