By Claudia Buck, Sacramento Bee

Complaints against physicians for misconduct have dogged the Medical Board of California for years. Some say the system is broken, with patients unable to easily figure out if their doctor has been disciplined.

With complaints rising – more than 8,000 lodged annually over the past three years – the issue was revived last week as lawmakers, patients and a consumer group demanded answers on why the number of medical complaints keeps growing and how the medical board is informing patients.

Carmen Balber, executive director of the watchdog group Consumers Union, said little has changed since the board was last up for review four years ago, when it was reprimanded for not doing enough to inform patients of doctors’ disciplinary history.

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By Doyle Rice, USA Today

The planet sizzled to its second-warmest winter on record, failing to oust the 2015-2016 season from the top spot, federal scientists announced Friday.

The global temperature for the months of December, January and February soared to 1.6 degrees above average this winter, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. That’s a huge amount in climate science, where records are often broken by hundredths or tenths of degrees.

Still, this winter was nowhere close to the past season’s record, when the planet sweltered to a tremendous 2 degrees above average.

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Dogs of all breeds and sizes competed in the 13th annual I-Did-A-Run on March 12 at Tahoe Donner Downhill Ski Area.

This on-snow dog pull race raised $1,836 for the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe via raffle tickets, and $2,000 from a private contribution.

Forty-five dogs raced against the clock pulling weighted covered wagon sleds over a snow-covered course.

Division 1 winner (0-25 pounds): Maci V., a miniature pincer mix, owned by Tullin Valdez of Truckee 

Division 2 winner (26-50 pounds): Raina, a cocker spaniel owned by Dean Eppley of Folsom and a Tahoe Donner member.

Division 3 winner (51-75 pounds): Rowdy, a mixed Rhodesian Ridgeback owned by Bryce Rhodes of Reno. Rowdy scored a time of 2.99 seconds and was also crowned overall champion.

Division 4 winner (76+ pounds): Obi, a chocolate Lab owned by Lloyd Golden of Truckee.

By Scott Sonner, AP

Sierra Club lawyers who’ve preached against the environmental evils of coal-burning power plants for decades are trying to force the closure of the last significant one in renewable energy-rich Nevada with arguments based on a different sort of green: money.

“It used to be that we had to come in and say closing these plants might cost us a bit more, but it’s the right thing to do because of the social and environmental impacts — kids with asthma, dirty air and dirty water,” said Travis Ritchie, a lawyer for the club’s environmental law program in Oakland.

Critics of the Valmy coal plant scored a key victory last month when state regulators formally ordered Nevada’s largest utility to reassess its economic efficiency after experts projected it will cost ratepayers $30 million or more under current plans to keep it open until 2025.

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Mikaela Shiffrin won the overall Alpine skiing World Cup title. Photo Copyright 2017 Carolyn E. Wright

By Bill Pennington, New York Times

ASPEN, Colo. — “Is my career ahead of schedule?” Mikaela Shiffrin, the precocious Olympic and world ski racing champion, asked here on Monday, her 22nd birthday. “No, I don’t think I’ll ever believe I’m ahead of schedule.”

That is truly bad news for the other women’s ski racers of the world.

Shiffrin, before even racing in the finals this weekend, won the women’s World Cup overall title, the sport’s top prize, which is a monumental achievement at any age. Shiffrin had built a nearly insurmountable lead in the season-long World Cup standings, and on Friday, her only remaining competitor, Ilka Stuhec, withdrew from Saturday’s slalom, handing the overall title to Shiffrin, who becomes only the third American woman to win it, and the first since 1983 not named Lindsey Vonn.

On Saturday she was second behind Petra Vlhova in the season’s final slalom race. In some ways it was anticlimactic because Shiffrin had won the slalom globe at Squaw Valley last weekend. On Sunday Shiffrin she will try for the overall giant slalom title, though she is 81 points behind Tessa Worley.

If this isn’t overachieving, what would it look like if she were?

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By Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee

The 2017 South Tahoe Wooden Boat Classic, an event spotlighting classic boats, has been canceled after the sponsoring organization was unable to reach an agreement to use the Tahoe Keys Marina for the event.

The show, sponsored by the Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society, has hosted more than 750 classic boats on the docks of the Tahoe Keys Marina since it began in 2008, according to a society news release.

The event had grown over the years to become the largest boat show on Lake Tahoe and one of the largest in the country, according to the news release.

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By Gary Martin, Las Vegas Review-Journal

A $1.1 trillion budget blueprint by President Trump that includes a revival of Yucca Mountain as a repository for nuclear waste was declared “dead on arrival” Thursday by Nevada’s two U.S. senators.

And Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, said opposition in the state to the proposal would be fierce.

The president’s budget proposal for the 2018 fiscal year includes spending hikes that could benefit Nevada veterans and military, but it also includes sharp spending cuts that could impact research at UNLV.

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·      El Dorado County is one of 15 counties that will see federal aid from this winter’s storms. President Trump granted the relief this week.

·      The 11th annual Music on the Beach free concert series will be on consecutive Fridays from 6-8:30pm at Kings Beach State Recreation Area. The series will feature nine concerts from June 30-Sept. 1, excluding Aug. 11.

·      Alpine Watershed Group is putting on an Earth Day workday at Grover Hot Springs State Park on April 22. For more details, contact Aly at awg.snap.rm@gmail.com or call 530.694.2327.

·      Douglas County Democrats’ Keep Nevada Blue Dinner will be at the Carson Valley Inn on April 1 starting at 5:30pm. For more information, email jkw@gbis.com or call 775.267.0539.

·      NV Energy this week pulled the plug on the final unit of the Reid Gardner Generating Station near Moapa. It was a coal plant.

By Chris Kudialis, Las Vegas Sun

CARSON CITY — If recent assertions against recreational marijuana made by leaders in President Donald Trump’s administration come to fruition, Nevada would have few options for stopping federal intervention, Gov. Brian Sandoval said this week.

“That was always an issue — it’s illegal under federal law,” Sandoval told the Sun. “That hasn’t changed.”

Sandoval, who opposed the initiative last November allowing adults 21 and older to possess and recreationally use up to one ounce of marijuana flower or one-eighth of an ounce of marijuana concentrates, said his office will continue to push forward framework for the voter-approved initiative, which passed 54 percent to 45 percent last fall.

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In order to properly maintain improvements and budget for the future costs of aging infrastructure in the Tahoe City downtown core, Placer County, Tahoe City Public Utility District and Tahoe City Downtown Association are exploring the idea of forming a benefit assessment district.

Future road and sidewalk improvements in Tahoe City are on their way, including roundabouts on Highway 89 and the Y and the replacement of Fanny Bridge.

The agencies will host two public meetings, March 21 and March 22, to discuss the potential formation of a benefit assessment district — aka additional tax.

Both meetings will be in the Tahoe City Public Utility District board room, 221 Fairway Drive, Tahoe City. The March 21 meeting is from 6-8pm and the March 22 one is form 8-10am.