By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee

As the state budget’s deficit widens, Gov. Jerry Brown is being thrust into a three-front political battle.

He must not only persuade voters to pass his sales and income tax package, but, implicitly, persuade them to reject a rival tax measure just for schools.

Meanwhile, Brown is pressing liberal Democratic legislators to ignore their political DNA by making deeper cuts in health and welfare programs, not only to close the deficit but to bolster appeals to voters for new taxes.

“It’s not easy,” Brown told hundreds of business and civic figures gathered Tuesday in Sacramento for the annual Host Breakfast.

“We’re getting there,” Brown continued. “We’re making the cuts. But we also need the revenues.”

Read the whole story

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin the sale of fuelwood permits at the South Shore office on June 4 and at the North Shore office on June 6.

Permits cost $20 per cord with a two-cord minimum purchase and a limit of 10-cords per household.

Permits have specific conditions and complete information is provided when the permit is issued. Maps to designated cutting areas are provided and must be in your possession along with the valid permit. The permit is for collection of “down-dead” wood up to a 30-inch maximum diameter in designated fuelwood areas within the Lake Tahoe Basin. “Down-dead” means the tree is down on the ground and dead, rather than dead and standing. Cutting any standing tree, whether dead or green, is not allowed.

Permit holders should keep vehicles on National Forest roads. No off-road travel is allowed and permit holders must comply with all permit conditions.

Permits are available through Oct. 31 at the LTBMU Supervisor’s Office at 35 College Drive in South Lake Tahoe, Monday through Friday, 8am-4:30pm and at 855 Alder Ave. in Incline Village, Wednesday through Friday, 8am to 4:30pm.

Although your neighbor appears on the outside to be living a “normal” life, and your child is breaking sports records left and right, the people around you might be suffering inside from depression.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 9.5 percent or 20.9 million American adults suffer from a depressive illness in any given year.

Depression manifests itself through the presence of symptoms typically lasting everyday for about two weeks in adults, and one week in children or adolescents. Because children are not as articulate as adults in expressing their emotions, parents, guardians, teachers older friends and relatives must be able to look for early signs of trouble.

The most common symptoms of depression in adults, adolescents and children include:

Fatigue or loss of energy

Difficulty concentrating, remembering details and making decisions

Feelings of worthlessness, helplessness or guilt

Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping

Loss of interest in activities and hobbies

Thoughts of suicide; attempts at suicide

A sense of restlessness, or being slowed down

Significant weight loss or gain

Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems

Excessive alcohol consumption and drug abuse.

Depression is a highly treatable condition, and steps may be taken in an effort to prevent it. However, some forms of depression may not be preventable; those forms most often manifest because of a chemical malfunction in the brain and may have been caused, for example, by experiencing repeated trauma as child (i.e. living with an alcoholic and/or abusive parent, being bullied by peers). The good news is that studies show that depression may be alleviated, or even at times prevented, by adopting healthy lifestyle changes and seeking professional treatment.

Steps to potentially prevent depression include making time to relax and enjoy special times with friends and family; adhering to a well-balanced diet; staying focused on a fun and results-oriented exercise program and creating a healthy and happy living environment.

Although treatment of depression is effective 60 to 80 percent of the time, according to the World Health Organization, less than 25 percent of individuals with depression receive adequate treatment.For immediate help, the following is a list of local resources to assist people who are struggling with depression:

Family Resource Center: 11695 Donner Pass Road, Truckee (530) 587.2513

Sierra Agape Center (Offers free peer counseling), 10153 West River St., Truckee (530)414.1885

Sierra Family Services, 2690 Lake Forest Road, Tahoe City (530) 581.4054.

The Tahoe City Parks and Recreation is in the beginning stages of launching a program for active and mature adults.

The department received a grant donation from the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation to purchase computers, games, exercise weights and more. In addition, special day outings and bingo events are being planned.

On June 13, the Tahoe City Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a dinner social for seniors to see what is being offered, meet other seniors in the community, and enjoy a meal. Dinner is $5 per person and will include main course, sides and beverages. The event will kick off at 4:30pm at Rideout Community Center.

For more information, contact Tahoe City Parks and Recreation Department at (530) 583.3440 or email shaunc@tcpud.org.

Longtime Truckee architect Nicholas Sonder captured the attention of Google last month, so much so that the billion-dollar corporation featured him in a marketing piece at this month’s American Institute of Architects’ national convention in Washington, D.C.

Sonder has been a fervent user of SketchUp, a three-dimensional application for design professionals, since it was introduced by @Last Software in 2000. Google acquired @Last in 2006.

Sonder recently replied to a question in an online user group by posting an example of construction document images. Development teams at Google noticed the post and contacted Sonder, hoping to use his examples to help promote and feature SketchUp at the May convention.

“They ended up sending a development team member to interview me,” Sonder said in a press release. “He spent two days in Truckee . I showed him around town, introduced him to local contractors and took him to some job sites. He went back with about nine hours of footage.”

Here is the interview, which includes footage of Truckee contractors and designers, primarily features Sonder discussing the usability and advantages of SketchUp.

By Anjeanette Damon, Las Vegas Sun

Crossroads GPS, a conservative group co-founded by Republican strategist Karl Rove, has launched an expensive ad campaign in Nevada targeting President Barack Obama.

But there’s a noticeable gap in the ad buy.

Crossroads GPS is dark in Washoe County, Nevada’s pivotal swing county that could be the national turning point for the presidential election.

Why not go after Obama in the county that could determine his future in the White House?

Crossroads GPS refuses to shed light on the matter. Spokesman Nate Hodson said the group declines to talk about its specific strategy in placing ad buys.

But the answer could very well rest on the organization’s strong desire to keep its donors in the shadows.

Read the whole story

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 26:

Giving back to the community is important to Lake Tahoe News.

Sometimes it comes in the form of helping out while we are on assignment – like raking pine needles at Valhalla, or picking up trash on Coastal Cleanup Day. It’s a form of multitasking.

We also partner with nonprofits to tease their event a bit while giving away tickets so the public can go without paying – to things like Barton’s Festival of Trees and Lights and Soroptimist’s wine tasting.

Substantial discounts have been offered to most local nonprofits when it comes to advertising. This allows them to get their message and keep more of the revenue for their cause.

In January 2012, Lake Tahoe News had a monthlong promotion called Random Acts of Kindness where people were encouraged to do nice things for others. Local businesses generously donated prizes for this.

Later this year Lake Tahoe News plans to sponsor one of the meals for Bread & Broth.

We don’t do these things for praise. Giving is reward enough. We just hope to be able to do more in the future.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

To the community,

Bueno and Marty Kettleson of Bert’s Café recently hosted a spaghetti night fundraiser for Tahoe Arts Project. It was a wonderful evening enjoyed by many.

All of us at Tahoe Arts Project would like to thank Bakemark Foods, Crystal Dairy, Bonanza Produce, US Foods, Sausage Factory and of course the staff at Bert’s for helping to make this fundraiser a success.

A big thank you to all of you who had dinner with us that evening and to the TAP board members and volunteers who helped serve our guests.

Thank you to Bueno and Marty for your continued support. Tahoe Arts Project is a nonprofit organization that brings professional performing arts into the schools and community of South Lake Tahoe. Event proceeds will benefit more than 5,000 K-12 students who see our programs.

If you would like to know how you can support Tahoe Arts Project, call (530) 542.3632.

Thank you,

Peggy Thompson, executive director Tahoe Arts Project

By Cheryl Millham

I received a call asking if I had ever heard about a product called Bird Repellent by Tanglefoot. The person told me they were going to do some work on their house and wanted to stop any birds from nesting.

Tom and I were in town a few days later and stopped to buy this Bird Repellent. It made me sick when I read the warnings on the label.

First, there are hazards to humans and domestic animals. It can cause eye injury and is harmful if absorbed through the skin. In addition, it says to avoid contact with the skin. When you apply, wear goggles or a face shield, wear disposable gloves and consider using a respirator approved by the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

“Under environmental hazards, small birds may become fatally entrapped by the tack repellent.”

Think about what you just read. If this product is so toxic to humans, what in the world do you think it will do to birds, which do not wear rubber gloves or goggles and are not able to wash their feet or feathers?

This product is fatal to small birds. Please, do not use this bird repellent product — ever.

Another bad product for the life of many species of wildlife is the glue strip. I can tell you so many sad stories about some of the birds and chipmunks we have been able to save, and, some we could not. Please, do not use glue strips.

I got a call from a young man who is a student at South Tahoe Middle School. He asked for information about Cliff Swallows. Upon questioning him, it turned out that some of the students were making a documentary about how good Cliff Swallows are for our environment.

He told me some students were throwing rocks at the nest, knocking the nest down. The nest had babies in it and they were killed when it hit the ground. Cliff Swallows are federally protected. It is illegal to disturb a Cliff Swallow nest when there are eggs and/or babies in the nest. It is accompanied with a hefty fine and/or jail time.

If you need some help with these birds, give us a call and we can offer some suggestions.

Some of the species of birds – in Tahoe during the summer months – come all the way from South America, just to raise their family. Unfortunately, they are met with hostility and death.

I wish we could welcome all of our birds as they arrive each spring.

Years ago, I got a call from a maintenance worker as he found dead birds on top of a time share roof. It turned out that the management was putting poisoned seed to kill the pigeons. But every bird that eats seed came for a free meal. There were about 30 dead song birds, along with a few pigeons.

Because of his concerns and his phone call we were able to put a stop to this one.

Again, please consider calling Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (530.577.2273) if you have a situation where wildlife is a bother to you. We probably have come across a similar situation and have some suggestions for you.

Cheryl Millham is executive director of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care on the outskirts of South Lake Tahoe.

By Kathryn Reed

“Right now we just hope he does not stop breathing.”

If he does, it means Derek Penaranda will likely have died.

Penaranda’s parents are hoping and praying their son will survive the beating he sustained in a South Lake Tahoe bar last weekend. Today he is clinging to life in a coma at Renown Medical Center in Reno.

Penaranda, who is called Zippy by everyone who knows him, was in town to celebrate his 30th birthday with family and friends. They had rented a place in the Tahoe Keys.

Derek "Zippy" Penaranda and Katie Musselwhite planned to get married one day. Photo/Provided

Before two taxis took the group of friends to Mo’s Place, the gang had spent part of last Saturday kayaking in the canals of the Keys, with some going out to the lake.

Because Penaranda was born on his parents’ anniversary, they have seldom celebrated it – instead deferring to their son. This year was different. Both occasions were being celebrated in Lake Tahoe.

That celebration took a tragic turn when a phone call came in the early hours of May 20 telling Debbie and Wayne Penaranda to get to Barton Memorial Hospital.

What sticks with Wayne Penaranda is overhearing someone in the emergency room say how when his son was turned over on the floor of the bar he was blue.

“At that time I expected the worst possible outcome primarily on what I know about those types of injuries … when you are deprived of oxygen,” Penaranda told Lake Tahoe News.

He said he doesn’t know the particulars that resulted in his son being punched unconscious as well as the owner of the bar, Mo Patel.

No one at Mo’s would talk to Lake Tahoe News on May 25, but said Patel was expected in this weekend.

South Tahoe police are also not releasing details of the fight or the investigation.

What Penaranda said he was told is no one was allowed to approach his son as he laid on the floor of the bar not breathing. It was first responders who got him breathing again.

At Renown a cat scan showed Zippy’s vertebrae and spinal cord were intact, and that his skull was not fractured. But there was swelling and bleeding in the brain.

“He had numerous contusions on his chest and back where he was kicked and stomped,” Penaranda said of his son. “His heart had stopped.”

An EEG showed brain activity.

On Tuesday it was time for an MRI.

“The MRI showed extensive cerebral cortex damage,” Penaranda said.

The Penarandas returned home to Ripon, in the San Joaquin Valley, with only two of their three sons. They are back in Reno this weekend to be with Zippy. Penaranda said it’s been a constant flow of people to the hospital. The people in the small agriculture town have been showing their support for the family, including setting up a Facebook page and arranging for a barbecue to honor Zippy on Sunday. (That will be at noon at Mistlin Sports Park, Ripon.)

Zippy has been living with his longtime girlfriend Katie Musselwhite. The Penarandas expected they’d be married one day and provide them with grandchildren. Zippy works for California Living and Energy in Ceres.

For now, though, his job is to fight for his life.

“Medically, the next phase is for them to stabilize him. Our hope is now he can breath with minimal help from the resuscitation machine and apparatus,” Penaranda said with hope. “As soon as he is healthy enough, then a long-term care facility, then hopefully he regains consciousness and then some form of rehabilitation.”

If Zippy survives this ordeal, it will be a long road to recovery, and perhaps never to the life he knew.

Bryan Stowe, who was 41 when he was attacked in March 2011 at Dodger game, took months to open his eyes. A website providing updates on Stowe, says, “Bottom line and without sugarcoating anything, Bryan is far from the old Bryan and each day is a struggle.”

That beating had 14 detectives on the case in Los Angeles.

South Lake Tahoe Police Department can count its detectives on one hand.

Significant differences, though, are South Tahoe police have the advantage of video (which is not being released to the media) and witnesses.

“We are interviewing everyone who was there, reviewing reports, and doing follow-up interviews as needed,” Lt. David Stevenson told Lake Tahoe News on May 25.

A taser was used that night, but not by officers, Stevenson said. “It went off, but it did not hit anybody,” he said.

As of Friday, no one had been arrested. It’s likely attempted murder charges will be filed against at least one person. If Zippy dies, then manslaughter is the presumptive charge.