The historic West Shore “Bow Bay” estate designed by legendary Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan is on the market for $20 million.

This is also the former home to a Schilling spice and coffee heiress.

The house has nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms and more than 4,000-square-feet on 7 acres. It comes with about 400 feet of beach on Rubicon Bay.

The property was designed by Morgan in 1939 and built in 1944 as the summer home for Else Schilling, spice and coffee company heiress and a friend of Morgan’s from San Francisco.

By Northern Nevada Business Weekly

The Nevada State Board of Contractors has revoked the licenses of two Northern Nevada contractors and disciplined a third.

The board revoked the license of G L & R Quality Services, a carpentry and remodeling contractor in Reno. State officials said the company abandoned a job, acted beyond the scope of its license, misrepresented material facts and committed several other violations.

The company also was fined $23,450. The license of Eric Hosmer, who worked as Blue Water Remodeling in Incline Village, was revoked after he was convicted of embezzlement from a Lake Tahoe-area homeowner. He also was fined $10,750.

R & A Drain Service & Plumbing Repair of Reno, meanwhile, was fined $500 for willful disregard of building laws and failure to establish financial responsibility.

By Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee

Beth Gaines and Ken Cooley knew Wednesday that they’d won a spot on the November ballot for a Sacramento-area Assembly seat – but they couldn’t be sure who they’ll run against.

The 6th and 8th Assembly districts were left hanging, with second-place finishers to be decided by the counting of an undetermined number of dropped-off, mailed-in or provisional ballots received on election day.

Under California’s new top-two primary system, the two highest vote-getters in legislative and congressional primary elections will square off in November, even if they’re from the same party.

Gaines, an incumbent Republican assemblywoman from Rocklin, doesn’t yet know whether she’ll be challenged by a Democrat or a Republican in the 6th District.

Democrat Regy Bronner, a retired business executive, has no hope of overcoming Gaines for first, but he held a lead of less than one percentage point Wednesday over Republican Andy Pugno for the second spot.

The three candidates seek the seat of a newly drawn Assembly district based in Placer County but extending into Folsom, Fair Oaks, Orangevale and El Dorado Hills.

Placer County had an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 ballots left uncounted Wednesday, but the number affecting the 6th Assembly District was not known.

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By Jim Christie, Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO – California voters narrowly rejected a ballot measure that would have added a $1 tax to a pack of cigarettes in the state’s primary election Tuesday, an outcome observers attributed to a $47 million ad blitz by the tobacco industry.

The measure, known as Proposition 29, was defeated 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent on a day of light voter turnout, according to election results posted on Wednesday by California’s secretary of state. Some absentee and other ballots remained to be counted.

The result reflected a long-standing political divide in California, with San Francisco Bay area counties heavily supporting the measure, while conservative suburban counties in more populous Southern California overwhelmingly opposed it.

Revenue from the proposed tax, estimated at $735 million in its first year, would have supported medical research on tobacco-related diseases and programs to prevent and control tobacco use.

The measure, championed, among others, by the American Cancer Society and cycling great and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, had enjoyed a commanding lead in polls earlier in the year.

But opponents, led by Altria’s Philip Morris and Reynolds American Inc, vastly outspent their rivals, blanketing the airwaves in much of the state in recent weeks with a message that cast doubt on how the new tax revenues would be spent.

The result mimicked a 2006 effort at increasing tobacco taxes, which voters also rejected after a fierce industry-sponsored ad campaign.

California voters last approved a measure to increase the state’s tobacco tax in 1998. It narrowly passed.

A Paris publisher has just come out with the French translation of Lake Tahoe author Todd Borg’s “Tahoe Hijack” in hardcover. The French title is “Tahoe, L’enlèvement”.

The paperback rights have also been sold to another French publisher, which due out in a year.

“Tahoe Hijack” is also a finalist for Best Mystery of the Year in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

The 10th book in the Owen McKenna series — “Tahoe Trap” — is set to be released in August.

• A sign that summer in Tahoe is here – the outdoor stage at Harveys is up.

• Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is favored 5-2 to win the American Century Celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe July 20-22.

• The Truckee mayor will lead a tour of downtown as part of a joint planning commission and town council workshop on June 12 from 8:30-10:30am.

• United Blood Services is having a blood drive June 8 from 11am–5pm at the D.W. Reynolds Non-Profit Community Center, 980 Incline Way, Incline Village.

• Alpen Sierra coffee is profiled in the latest issue of Coffee Talk magazine.

By Rick Armon, Akron Beacon Journal

Many craft beer drinkers hold their nose when it comes to canned beer.

Rick Vernon doesn’t understand that attitude.

As the owner of the West Point Market in Akron, Ohio, he has watched as more brewers put their well-respected craft beers in cans.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale — considered the definitive American pale ale — now comes in a can. So does Brooklyn Lager, New Belgium Fat Tire, Breckenridge Avalanche Ale and a host of others.

Even Ohio brewers Fat Head’s and Jackie O’s have announced plans to can when they open new production breweries this year.

“They’ve really kicked it up a notch as far as what they are putting in cans,” Vernon said.

The Brewers Association, a Boulder, Colo., trade group representing craft brewers, estimates 179 craft breweries are offering beer in cans today.

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To the community,

Bread & Broth would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to Hard Rock Cafe, Heavenly Mountain Resort,and Hope Lutheran volunteers for recently, and yet again, adopting a Day of Nourishment.

Volunteers from these three teams spent their time helping Bread & Broth volunteers serve a hot meal to those in need of one. They served a well balanced, hea;thy meal to all who came in hungry.

All of our co-coordinators that Monday were delighted the Heavenly continues to support our Adopt-A-Day of Nourishment through the Bread & Broth program.

Bread & Broth is able to continue its mission of feeding the hungry of South Lake Tahoe in large part because of the generosity of the local community. A $250 sponsorship covers the cost of food and beverages for the approximately 100 people who visit each Monday evening. To find out how your family or business can Adopt A Day of Nourishment, contact Connie Yale at midwest2tahoe@yahoo.com or (530) 208.8707.

Bread & Broth

By Kathryn Reed

Experience with financial forecasting is one of the driving reasons why Michael Nakama has been hired to be South Lake Tahoe’s finance director.

Nakama begins the job that comes with a $130,000 paycheck on June 11.

The vacancy was created when Christine Vuletich left in February to work for Douglas County. She was making $140,000 when she departed.

Michael Nakama

Nakama was most recently working for Southern California Edison before being downsized earlier this year. When South Tahoe picked him up, Nakama was still unemployed.

City Manager Tony O’Rourke said on paper Nakama was one of the top three candidates. There was a large applicant pool, with a few candidates from the South Shore. However, no locals made it to the final round.

“Staff liked him the most. He is very analytical,” O’Rourke said of Nakama.

Assistant City Manager Nancy Kerry was also involved in the hiring because she will be his boss when O’Rourke leaves at the end of the month for a job in Washington. The City Council had also been kept in the loop during the hiring process because of the unique situation of a key department head being brought on by someone who will not be around for long.

“His forte is financial analysis and budgeting. He will be a huge asset for the city,” O’Rourke said.

While Nakama does not have experience in the public sector, O’Rourke sees this as a good thing. His experience with larger companies like UNIFI Companies and American Golf and Airport Corporation are seen as assets.

Like Vuletich, Nakama will also be in charge of overseeing the IT department and the airport. He has experience in both.

Another plus is Nakama has been involved with financial system conversions, according to O’Rourke.

The city is looking to overhaul its financial software because what is used now is like having an abacus. Nakama will be a key player is reviewing the request for proposals and picking what system the city goes with.

Between a software system that allows standard financial reports to be run and a finance guy who knows how to crunch numbers both in terms of understanding the meaning of the numbers and being able to produce answers based on what’s in the budget and what could be coming down the pike, O’Rourke is confident Nakama is the piece to the management team the city had been missing.

Even though Nakama is used to the flat land and warmth – being from Hawaii, getting an MBA from Stanford and living in the Los Angeles area — he likes the outdoors.

When he interviewed he spent an extra day in the area, on his own dime. He swam at the rec center, drove around the lake and went for a run.

“He is a triathlon type,” O’Rourke said in describing Nakama.

Nakama did not return phone calls.

By David McGrath Schwartz, Las Vegas Sun

A federal grand jury indicted former Nevada powerbroker Harvey Whittemore on Wednesday on charges of funneling $138,000 to an elected official’s campaign through family members and employees and then lying to the FBI about it, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Whittemore, a prominent lobbyist and attorney, promised to raise $150,000 for an unnamed federal official, only identified as “Federal Elected Official 1,” in February 2007.

“Mr. Whittemore allegedly used his family members and employees as conduits to make illegal contributions to the campaign committee of an elected member of Congress,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, in a news release. “Our campaign finance laws establish maximum limits on individual contributions, and failure to adhere to those rules jeopardizes the integrity of our elections. We will continue to pursue those who engage in such conduct.”

Whittemore, 55, of Reno, was charged with one count of making excessive campaign contributions, one count of making contributions in the name of others and two counts of making a false statement to a federal agency.

If convicted, Whittemore faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

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