By Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times

What is the financial toll of having a kid with a food allergy? The answer may depend on how much money you have.

A study published last month in Pediatrics found that food-allergic children from households that earn less than $50,000 a year incur 2.5 times the cost of emergency room visits and hospital stays compared with their peers from families that are in a higher-income bracket.

At the same time, families that make more than $100,000 a year report spending more of their own money on visits to allergy specialists for their kids, as well as medicines paid for out of pocket, compared with families from lower-income groups.

Read the whole story

·       Cat Fuller is now the community health nurse-advanced practice registered nurse at the Douglas County Community Health Clinic.

·      Californians may register to vote when renewing or applying for a driver’s license or identification card either in person or online.

·      Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team is hosting a free workshop for local defensible space and tree removal contractors on May 27 from 8:30am-noon at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency offices, 128 Market St., Stateline. RSVP online by May 20.

·       High Five Foundation’s Silver Tie Gala raised more than $100,000 for mountain athletes with major injuries.

·       The 13th annual Rocks and Rhones Celebration is May 21-22, 11am-4pm each day at five El Dorado County Wineries. Tickets are $35 in advance online, $40 at the door, $20 for designated drivers.

Howard Bittner

Longtime South Lake Tahoe chiropractor Howard Bittner died April 17, 2016. He was 66.

Mr. Bittner had been struggling with Pemphigus Vulgaris, an autoimmune disease, for the last 18 months.

Howard Henry Bittner was born March 7, 1950, in Akron, Ohio. He spent his childhood in Arizona and California. He attended Santa Barbara Community College before enlisting in the Navy. Mr. Bittner graduated cum laude from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa in 1980.

A resident of South Lake Tahoe for 33 years, he was passionate about his career. He was known for his compassion and generosity to the patients he served.

After he retired, Mr. Bittner focused on residential property remodeling, landscaping and gardening. He had moved from Tahoe, first to Yerington and then to Wellington.

He had been an active member of the Tahoe-Douglas and Yerington rotary clubs, as well as the Kiwanis Sunrisers.

Mr. Bittner enjoyed fishing, boating, motorcycle riding, biking, bowling, skiing and snowmobiling.

He is survived by his wife Mary; daughter Elizabeth of Reno; mother Ester, brother Tim (Leslie), and sister Priscilla, all of Pismo Beach; several nieces; and his devoted golden retriever and healing companion, Rosie.

There will be a memorial service May 28 at 10am at St. Theresa Catholic Church, 1041 Lyons Ave., South Lake Tahoe, with a reception to follow

In lieu of flowers, donation may be made to one of the rotary clubs.

The exit ramp from eastbound Interstate 80 at Emigrant Gap will be closed Monday through Thursday from 6am to dusk, May 16-26 for emergency repairs to a failed culvert and down drain adjacent to the freeway.

The exit ramp’s fill slope is eroded so rock slope protection will be installed to prevent further damage.

Eastbound motorists will be detoured to the freeway’s next exit – Laing Road – which will allow access to Emigrant Gap Road.

The Business Case for Succession Planning and Talent Development is the subject of a workshop on May 11 from 8:30-11am at Truckee Tahoe Airport Community Room, 10356 Truckee Airport Road in Truckee.

Leaving talent and leadership development to chance and hoping that qualified successors can be found inside or outside the organization on short notice is short term thinking at best, according to business leaders.

This interactive workshop will help people to immediately kick-start bench strength

and succession planning efforts by providing tools to formally identify successors including a succession planning audit, statement of purpose example, individual development plan template, team talent review tool and leadership competency model.

Workshop speaker Laura Moriarty, president of Tahoe Training Partners, is a nationally known speaker and the architect of innovative learning environments at high profile organizations.

The workshop is put in partnership with the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee Donner Chambers of Commerce and Sierra Human Resources Association.

Register online by May 10. The cost is $59 for SHRA/SHRM members, $69 for chamber members, and $79 for non-members.

By Lindzi Wessel, San Jose Mercury News

The ferocious wildfires incinerating parts of Western Canada this week feel eerily familiar for Californians whose wildfire season has become a yearlong affair in many parts of the parched state.

But after the rainiest winter in five years, the Golden State is greener than gold this May, and the number of early season fires is dramatically down from this time last year.

“The rain has been great,” Dan Berlant, a spokesman from CalFire, said Friday.

It’s been so great that CalFire crews have responded to hundreds of fewer wildfires in the first four months of this year — 609 — compared to last year — 917 — and most of this year’s blazes have been minor. What really shows how El Niño rains have dampened early-season fire danger in California is the number of acres burned: Last year, through the end of April, wildfires had already scorched more than 9,200 acres — 15 times the number of acres burned so far this year. Fires are also down by more than half in California’s national forests so far this year.

Read the whole story

Lake Tahoe Community College’s annual Student Art Exhibition opening reception is May 22 from 2-5pm in the Commons.

An awards ceremony honoring the winners starts at 3:30pm.

There will be approximately 400 works of student art on display, ranging from digital art to printmaking and sculpture. All of the artwork displayed represents student production over the past year. Much of the work reflects the Art Department’s curriculum, but also includes work created independently by LTCC students.

The work submitted for this exhibition will be juried for special honors in 17 categories. Selecting this year’s special honors will be guest juror Ahren Hertel.

Golden cayenne peppers are hot with a Scoville heat level of 30,000 to 50,000.
Photo/Bonnie Plants

By Melinda Myers

Don’t be afraid to add a little spicy heat to your meals this season by growing a few hot peppers in the garden or containers.  It’s easier than you think and many of the hot pepper myths floating around the garden are simply not true.

Don’t worry about your hot peppers heating up your sweet peppers. Peppers are normally self-pollinated. If an insect happens to move the pollen from a hot to sweet pepper, it will not affect the flavor or heat of this year’s harvest. If you save the seeds from a cross-pollinated pepper and plant them in next year’s garden, the plants they produce may have hot or sweet fruit (or a little of both), but only time will tell.

And don’t assume all green peppers are sweet or you will be in for a surprise. Jalapenos are typically harvested when green and others, like habanero, Anaheim and Poblano are hot, whether harvested when green or red.  You’ll also find that hot peppers can be yellow, orange, brown and of course red.

You can turn down the heat when preparing your favorite recipes, too. Contrary to popular belief, all the heat in hot peppers does not come from the seeds. While partially true, the majority of the capsaicin that gives hot peppers their heat is in the white membrane that houses the seeds. When the seeds are growing they may also be coated with extra capsaicin from the membrane. So remove the white membrane and the seeds, just to be safe, if you want to turn down the heat.

The spicy heat of hot peppers is measured in Scoville Heat Units. The ratings are based on the amount of sugar water needed to neutralize the spicy heat in the extracted capsaicin that has been diluted in an alcohol-based extract. A panel of five taste testers decides when the spicy heat has been neutralized and then assigns the rating. Today many companies use a chemical process (liquid chromatography) but translate their results into the popular Scoville heat units.

The Scoville heat unit ratings vary from one type of hot pepper to another, with Poblano rating between 1000 to 2000, jalapenos 2500 to 6000, habaneros at 100,000 to 300,000 and one of the hottest, the ghost pepper, at 1,000,000 to 2,200,000 Scoville heat units.  Check online or the Homegrown with Bonnie Plants mobile app (for iOs and Android) for the Scoville ratings, growing tips and a Pepper Chooser to help you pick the best varieties to grow.  Ratings may also vary from individual plants within a specific type based on individual plant differences and the growing conditions.

Whatever kind you grow, be sure to label hot peppers when planting, harvesting and storing to avoid any mix-ups.  The sweet banana pepper, for example, can easily be confused with hot banana.  This could make for an unwelcome surprise when preparing, serving and eating.

Also, consider wearing rubber gloves and avoid touching your face and eyes when working with hot peppers, as they can burn. Wash your hands, utensils and cutting boards when finished to avoid any future issues.

And don’t worry if you are having a bad day when planting your hot peppers. Contrary to some old adages, planting hot peppers when you’re angry won’t make the peppers hotter, but unknowingly taking a bite of a hot pepper may very well change your mood.

Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of gardening experience has written over 20 gardening books, including “Small Space Gardening” and the “Midwest Gardener’s Handbook”.

By Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun

Sports bettors galloped over sports books in last year’s Kentucky Derby with longtime favorite American Pharoah prevailing to pay out a multitude of tickets.

Gamblers are positioned to kick dirt in the faces of bookmakers again this year in the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby, with post time at 3:34 this afternoon from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Favorite Nyquist, much like American Pharoah, topped Wynn Las Vegas’ initial list in odds to win the Derby last September and attracted significant action for months.

Nyquist opened at 35-to-1 and trimmed to 7-to-2 before Avello closed his future book at the commencement of pari-mutuel wagering on the race after Wednesday’s post draw. Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia made Nyquist, who came out with the No. 13 post, the favorite at 3-to-1 on the morning line.

Read the whole story

The Pine Nut range is a dominate feature along the Pinyon trail. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

GARDNERVILLE – The sun danced in between the clouds, casting shadows across the land. At times it was like being in a bowl, with snowcapped mountains in nearly every direction.

While the weather was gloomy, the scenery was spectacular on this last Saturday of April. Wildflowers are already out in the Pine Nuts, just east of Gardnerville. Red, yellow, purple and white dot the landscape at the start of the trail. Even though there is not an abundance of flora, compared to the trails of Tahoe right now it was incredibly colorful.

The Pinyon trail is part of the network maintained by the Carson Valley Trails Association on Bureau of Land Management property. This particular trek was 5 miles.

Flowers are in bloom along the trail. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Starting at 5,700 feet, the highest point is only 6,060 feet. The single track is well maintained. Signage is outstanding. This is important because there are trails that cross the main route that the newcomer might opt to inadvertently take. Most of those trails are for dirt bikes and the like, while the main trail is for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.

Much of the trail is a loop. Even this is marked so you know when it starts.

As the sun came out it was like a spotlight illuminating the snow covered Pine Nut and Carson ranges in the distance. Between the trail and mountains it was either flat or rolling hills – most of it green and lush.

The Carson Range with fresh snow. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Pinyon pines – Nevada’s state tree – and Utah juniper dominate the immediate landscape. These short trees, that look like their growth has been prematurely stopped, would not provide much shade. My guess is this area would be hot and not ideal for hiking in the middle of summer. Plus, there is no water, even this time of year.

What was a nice change compared to most places in the Tahoe basin is that dogs are allowed off leash.

A sign at the trailhead says people should pick up after dogs and horses. Too bad the wording is facing people as they are coming back to their vehicles. The equestrians AJ and I passed had left their messes for us to walk around.

An abundance of trails exist in this area. Most looked like they would be great for mountain bikers or all terrain vehicles.

—–

Getting there:

The trailhead is about 30 miles from South Lake Tahoe. Easy access from Kingsbury Grade or Luther Pass depending on starting point.

Once in Gardnerville, turn on Muller Parkway going east. (There is a 7-Eleven on the other side of the street.)

At the roundabout go right onto Pinenut Road. Turn left on Pinenut Road 2. At the Y go right onto the gravel road. (The average passenger car would be fine on this road.)

The trailhead is clearly marked a couple miles farther on the left. There are on signs on each of the roads as well.