By Jenny Kane, Reno Gazette-Journal 

Renee Aldrich and several of her friends heard about the shallow lake that has been sitting out on the Black Rock Desert playa for the past month.  

So, naturally they grabbed their kayaks and headed north.

The playa is a giant mud puddle right now thanks to heavy rains that fell in Northern Nevada during January and February. At its deepest, the temporary lake is more than a foot deep, and someone has posted a hand-painted “Nude Beach” wooden sign at the shoreline.

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To the community,

Hosting their bi-monthly Bread & Broth Adopt A Day of Nourishment, Kirkwood Mountain Resort sent a great crew from their mountain operations team to help B&B volunteers at the Monday meal on March 13.   

The Kirkwood team led by Tom Fortune included Kelly Keith, Reid and Mattie Devine, and Mike Niccoli and his daughter, Iris. Thanks to Vail EpicPromise grant funding, Kirkwood hosts six Adopt A Days a year providing nutritious and filling meals to many hungry members of our community.

B&B provides two meals every week. Second Serving on Fridays at the LT Community Presbyterian Church which serves soup and a simple entrée and a full course dinner at B&B’s Monday Meal held at St. Theresa Church Grace Hall. The Monday meals are funded by the Adopt A Day program which requires a $250 donation and encourages the AAD sponsor to send a crew of up to five folks to help the B&B volunteers and gain an insight to the service to the community that their sponsorship provides.

After spending her time packing food giveaway bags and serving 96 meals, first time Kirkwood volunteer Mattie Devine shared her thoughts on her time volunteering at a B&B dinner. “As a member of the community, serving at the B&B dinner was not only humbling, but a great learning experience. Bread & Broth, and the great people who volunteer and work here, are more important than ever with such a long and tough winter her in Tahoe.” 

B&B would like acknowledge that our “work” of helping feed the needy is made possible by the generosity of both time and funds provided by Kirkwood and their compassionate team members.

To partner with B&B as a donor or sponsor, contact me at 530.542.2876 or carolsgerard@aol.com.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

The South Lake Tahoe Recreation Department is offering two American Red Cross certified lifeguard training courses.

The courses are being taught by Liz Terzian. Participants will receive knowledge and skills to prevent, recognize, and respond to aquatic emergencies. Participants will be trained and certified to provide care for breathing and cardiac emergencies, injuries, and sudden illness until emergency services take over.

Participants must be at least 16, able to swim 300 yards continuously while demonstrating breathing control and rhythmic breathing, tread water for two minutes using the legs only, and complete a timed event.

Pre-course and swim test must be completed before first class; call 252.917-1867.

By Sandra Chereb, Las Vegas Review-Journal

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Senate on Wednesday put an exclamation point on the state’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, 45 years to the day after it was passed by Congress and sent to states.

The Senate on a voice vote concurred with minor adjustments made by the Assembly, making Nevada the 36th state to ratify the amendment that seeks equal rights for women under the U.S. Constitution.

Senate Joint Resolution 2 passed the Senate and Assembly on largely party-line votes, with Sen. Heidi Gansert and Assemblywoman Jill Tolles, both Reno Republicans, joining Democrats to approve it. It now goes to Congress.

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Artists are being sought for the 2017-18 California Duck Stamp Art Contest.

Submissions will be accepted from May 12-June 12.

The contest is open to U.S. residents who are 18 or older as of March 7, 2017. Entrants need not reside in California.

The winning artwork will be reproduced on the 2017-18 California Duck Stamp. The top submissions will also be showcased at the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association’s art show in July.

The artwork must depict a ruddy duck.

All entries must be accompanied by a completed participation agreement and entry form. These forms and the official rules are available online.

By Yvonne Gonzalez, Las Vegas Sun

Lawmakers are considering legislation to make Nevada the 12th state to become part of an interstate compact to elect the president and vice president based on the popular vote.

The compact says that once states with 270 electoral college votes sign on, those electors would be required to vote based on the popular vote for president and vice president.

Assemblyman Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, sponsored Assembly Bill 274 and said during a legislative operations and elections committee hearing Tuesday that, if passed, the state would retain the ability to leave the compact.

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·      South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County elected officials are hosting a meeting April 13 at 2pm to identify the future needs of the senior center. It will be at the senior center.

·      Neddenriep Financial a long time Douglas County accounting firm has again pledged a gift of $4,000 to the senior center in the valley.

·      Nevada’s population is expected to top 3 million people next year.

·      Kenny Loggins will be at TJ’s Corral at the Carson Valley Inn on June 9.

·      Truckee’s Linchpin Structural Engineering, led by senior principal Douglas Gadow, has been awarded a three-year contract by the California’s State Parks to be the on-call historic structural engineer for the Northern Service Center –the expert when it comes to addressing structural issues in famous buildings from Lake Tahoe’s Vikingsholm to Hearst Castle on the coast.

Two roofs collapsed on houses in the Tahoe basin this week.

The first was on Old Mountain Road in Carnelian Bay on March 20.

No one was home at the time. However, about half of the structure had collapsed from the weight of the snow.

The propane tank had to be dug out and secured.

The other was on March 22 in Meyers on Nahane Street. The flat roof and deck over the two car garage fell.

This was a second residence and no one was home or injured at the time.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

MEYERS – Health care, immigration, human rights, climate change – these are some of the topics that have united a group of politically active South Shore residents.

It was a year ago this month that Susan Chandler hosted a meeting for Bob Derlet who was challenging Tom McClintock for the 4th Congressional seat. From there it was decided the area needed a Democratic Club. That is how the resurrection of the Lake Tahoe Democrats came about.

After the November election even more people wanted to be involved.

“I don’t consider us to be an anti-Trump group. We are pro human rights, working for the community and pushing our agendas forward,” Chandler told Lake Tahoe News. “We are definitely working to get progressive people in office and those people tend to be Democrats.”

Susan Chandler and Jody Dayberry talk to the Lake Tahoe Democrats. Photo/LTN

South Lake Tahoe’s Democratic Club petered out several years ago. This rebirth has required writing new bylaws, electing officers (Chandler is the president), creating committees, opening a bank account and being active. It encompasses the entire South Shore.

More than 400 people are on the email list and more than 60 are paid members.

“We are energized,” Chandler said.

This was obvious at last week’s meeting, which was attended by more than 50 people. Updates on Trumpcare, California health care initiatives, social plans, voter registration, what local governments are doing regarding immigration, and other issues were discussed.

Getting Democrats elected in 2018 is a main goal.

The group wants to be involved at all levels.

More immediate concerns are the responsibility of the rapid response committee. Members are tasked with getting information out to the group or acting on issues outside of the regular meetings. The problem could be legislation this group would oppose and getting people to contact their representatives, or it could be ICE being in the area threatening undocumented residents.

They meet once a month – the third Thursday of the month – at 6pm at Lake Tahoe Golf Course in Meyers. Meetings are open to non-members. A Facebook page has been established. A website will be forthcoming. A logo also needs to be created.

The group is also working with other clubs in the area as well as Central Committees.

Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the March 12, 2017, Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Sometimes it takes a worst-case example to show that pension reforms in California remain elusive.

For years, critics have railed about spiraling public employee pensions, which dwarf retirement benefits for most private sector workers — those few who are fortunate to have any.

In 2016, state employee pensions cost taxpayers $5.4 billion, according to the state Department of Finance.

That’s more than 30 times what the state paid for retirement benefits in 2000, before the effects of a new pension law kicked in. The law made 200,000 civil servants eligible to retire at 55 — and in many cases collect more than half their highest salary for life. CHP officers were allowed to retire at 50 and receive as much as 90 percent of their peak pay for as long as they lived.

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