By Ellen Knickmeyer and Olga R. Rodriguez, AP

A heavy dousing of autumn rain in Northern California has lifted a quarter of the state out of drought, the highest percentage in more than three years, according to a federal report Thursday.

Water officials who oversaw mandatory water conservation by cities and towns emphasized three-fourths of the state remains in the five-year drought.

“Droughts are like recessions. Recovery from a recession doesn’t happen overnight; recovery from a drought doesn’t happen overnight,” said Max Gomberg of the state Water Resources Control Board.

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Motorists can expect delays on Interstate 80 east of Truckee from Nov. 7-23.

Groove pavement work will require alternating lane closures from 6am-6pm those days. Additional work days may be required after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. No work is scheduled on Veterans’ Day.

Alternating lanes of Interstate 80 from Hinton Road to the Acid Flat Bridge east of Floriston will be closed as the contractor increases surface friction by grooving the concrete pavement on eastbound and westbound freeway lanes.

To the community,

There is a rumor that I am running as a “slate” with another candidate. I respect each and every candidate for their willingness to take on this difficult task. However, I am not aligned with any particular candidate. I am running independently based upon my own experience, record, and skills.

Brooke Laine

Some have suggested I am in the pocket of the “Nevada-based chamber.”  I am not. Yes, I have been endorsed by the “Nevada-based chamber” as has another candidate. I did seek their endorsement because our community doesn’t end at the state line. We need to work cooperatively to bring our different interests to the conversation in search of common ground that helps us all.

There has been a heavily financed campaign linking me to another candidate and opposing a specific candidate. In no way have I been involved with either activity. I am running independent of any other candidate or entity.

An independent political action committee (PAC) is running the ads in question. I am not involved with this PAC. In fact, it would be a violation to even have any contact or coordination with this committee. I do not know who the participants or donors are. This local PAC is required to operate independent of any candidate’s campaign.

Brooke Laine, South Lake Tahoe

Climate expert Kelly Redmond died Nov. 3. Photo/DRI

By Henry Brean, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Kelly Redmond was a leading expert on the climate of the West and how humans are changing it, but it was his ability to talk about science in an engaging and understandable way that might be his greatest legacy.

Redmond died Thursday at his home in Reno after a long illness. He was 64.

Since 1989, he served as the regional climatologist for the Western Regional Climate Center at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, where he also worked as a research professor. His work spanned every facet of climate and climate behavior, its physical causes and variability and how climate interacts with other human and natural processes.

“He knew the ins and outs of climate, but he was also very keen on what climate meant to society,” said Tim Brown, director of the climate center.

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By Nicole Raz, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Local drone industry insiders say they are working to make Nevada the industry’s “global destination of choice” and consistently tout Nevada as an industry leader.

But is it?

The Review-Journal caught up with several out-of-state industry experts at the Commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Expo held Monday through Wednesday at the MGM Grand to find out. In short, the answer is mostly yes, Nevada is an industry leader nationally, but the jury is still out on its place in the global industry.

Baptiste Tripard, director of business development and strategy for strategy for Intel’s New Technology Group, which works on commercial drones, said Nevada is “a little bit ahead” because of its Federal Aviation Administration designation as an unmanned aerial systems test site. Nevada is the only state authorized as a test site; the other six test sites are state agencies, airports or universities.

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The Carson Valley Inn is serving a free spaghetti lunch to all veterans and active military – plus one guest – on Veterans Day.

The event will be in the valley ballroom from 11am-2pm.

Present military ID for entrance. Don’t have your ID? Tell the inn about your service to our country and they’ll welcome you anyway.

This is the sixth year for the Carson Valley Inn’s free Veterans Day spaghetti lunch, which includes fresh tossed salad; spaghetti with choice of marinara sauce or Bolognese; garlic bread and assorted cookies.

The Carson Valley Inn is on Highway 395 in Minden.

Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour tonight before you go to bed.

At 2am Nov. 6 it’s time to return to standard time.

The whole reason for this, according to the federal government, is energy and fuel savings.

To the community,

Jason [Drew], this is one chamber president to another. My qualifications are 30 years as a board member, past president, accredited chamber exec ACE, past president of the 100 member Superior California Chamber Execs, graduate of the U.S. Chamber five-year institute for organization management, twice nominated for top chamber exec in the Western U.S. by the Western Association of Chamber Execs.

Duane Wallace

I point this out not for bragging, but to show that I know what I’m talking about. In 2000 the idea of chambers taking positions on ballot measures was discussed by the state leadership. The idea of endorsing candidates was strongly cautioned against.

After the merger-takeover in 2006 your chamber became very aggressive toward the California chamber and city politics. We actually received a letter promising to sue us if we didn’t keep having opinions different than your chamber — see First Amendment — yet we didn’t attack you. The actual number of the paid up members was 1,600. That was the number we based the merger upon. Now the number being touted is 600. Why? It could be the arrogant aggressive style adopted.

Who is attacking who? Did California raise tens of thousands of dollars to influence Nevada elections? Did Californians sue Nevadans over ballot measures? Did Facebook take down our Facebook site because it violated the bullying and hate speech policy?

My hope is that you hire a new exec that understands how to work in a small town.

As for California numbers, yes you are 70 percent California, but your PAC shows 70 percent Nevada resident money.

Jason, we locals, built this town while you were in college. We supported and agreed to pay for all the redevelopment. We agreed to half a million dollars transferred in property taxes from LTUSD and STPUD customers to pay the longterm debts. We, too, blindly followed the proponents who had bankruptcies and left us with black holes. We are cautious now. Not idiots or against progress, just experienced. The reason is that we see the same Nevada names on the 44-page 460 form that made us experienced.

I hope to meet with you this year to work on sharing our thoughts. In the mean time raising Nevada funds for slates to attack California candidates will be opposed.

Duane Wallace, South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce president

Lake Tahoe’s Boca Brewing in the 19th century shipped its lager worldwide. Photo/Truckee Donner Historical Society

By Jay R. Brooks, San Jose Mercury News

We think of Lake Tahoe as a major tourist destination, famous for its ski slopes and deep, blue water. But in the 19th century, this region was prime mining territory, mined for gold and silver — and the lumber needed by growing settlements throughout the West. The area’s first breweries sprang up to satisfy those early fortune seekers.

The earliest of those breweries was probably Truckee’s St. Louis Brewery, which was also known as Grazer & Stoll. It began its 14-year brewing stint in 1874, the same year that saw the opening of the Paul Menk Brewery & Saloon. Think of it as an early brewpub, or at least a bar that served its own beer.

The short-lived Truckee Brewing Co. — which began as Kielhofer & Woods — opened in 1896, followed by the Eureka Brewery, which ran from 1899 to 1911.

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·      In 2016, Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows and the Village at Squaw Valley gave $800,000 in cash and in-kind donations to support 118 area nonprofit organizations and events, with the resort team contributing more than 6,500 hours of paid time annually to help local and regional charities achieve their goals.

·      State Farm gave $17,000 in support of the Nevada Network of Fire Adapted Communities Program.

·      The Leapfrog Group, a national patient safety watchdog, has once again rated Barton Memorial Hospital with an A grade for patient safety, ranking among the safest hospitals in the United States

·       Washoe County’s library in Incline Village is having a food-for-fines drive. Fines for overdue books are waived if people bring one can or box of food to the library for each overdue book or other library item. Donations will go to Project MANA.

·      The recreational Dungeness crab season is scheduled to open statewide today – with a health warning in place for crabs caught north of Point Reyes.