By KNTV-2

A study says the number of people killed in Nevada by guns outpaced those who died in traffic accidents in 2009.

The study released Tuesday by the Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center says Nevada is one of 10 states where guns deaths were greater than traffic deaths. The other states are Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

In Nevada, 406 gun deaths were reported in 2009, compared with 255 people who died in motor vehicle accidents.

Nationally, there were 31,236 firearm deaths and 36,361 motor vehicle deaths in 2009.

The report cites data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A Violence Policy Center state-by-state analysis of government data comparing firearm deaths and motor vehicle deaths shows that gun deaths outpaced motor vehicle deaths in 10 states in 2009, the most recent year for which state level data is available. The 10 states which experienced more firearm deaths than motor vehicle deaths in 2009 are: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington (see alphabetical listing of states with mortality figures below). Nationally, there were 31,236 firearm deaths in 2009 and 36,361 motor vehicle deaths according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Read the whole story

The California Department of Boating and Waterway’s urges boaters to be properly prepared for safe boating this Memorial Day weekend.

California’s waterways will be crowded with motorized and non-motorized vessels. People will boat in groups creating numerous distractions, which can have deadly consequences.

A Lake Tahoe boater gets assistance. Photo/LTN file

Below are some ways in which boat operators can decrease the chances of being involved in a boating accident:

Wear a life jacket.

Avoid alcohol. Everyone who drinks alcohol on board is at risk. Passengers can easily fall overboard, swim near the propeller, or cause vessels to capsize.

Designate a person aboard the vessel to help you act as a lookout.

Carry the required safety equipment such as fire extinguishers, sound signals, navigation lights, and life jackets for every person on board.

Inform everyone on board where the required safety equipment is located.

Turn off the engine when the boat is not moving to avoid propeller injuries.

Detailed information about this information and additional life saving tips can be found in boating safety courses online.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is accepting applications for individuals to serve on the 2013-15 Lake Tahoe Basin Federal Advisory Committee.

Applications will be accepted until July 20.

Individuals interested in taking an active role in Lake Tahoe issues are encouraged to apply.

The committee provides a critical role in advising the secretary of Agriculture and Lake Tahoe’s Federal Interagency Partnership on programs and funds to achieve the goals of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program.

Twenty LTFAC members will be selected to represent the Lake Tahoe Basin. Two representatives will be selected as members-at-large, and one representative will be selected from each of the following sectors: 1) gaming, 2) environmental, 3) national environmental, 4) ski resorts, 5) North Shore economic/recreation, 6) South Shore economic/recreation, 7) resorts associations, 8) education, 9) property rights advocates, 10) science and research, 11) California local government, 12) Washoe Tribe, 13) California, 14) Nevada, 15) Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 16) labor, 17) transportation, and 18) Nevada local government.

Appointments will be made by the U.S. secretary of Agriculture.

Committee application forms and LTFAC Committee background information can be downloaded.

Cycle the Sierra is an annual cycling event that takes place between the Gold Country and Lake Tahoe. ­

This fully supported, five-day tour starts June 23 and takes riders 300 miles beneath granite peaks, through evergreen forests, into alpine hot springs, to Lake Tahoe, over the fourth highest bridge in the United States, to the site where gold was discovered starting the California Gold Rush, and through numerous unique and historical communities along the way.

Each day is 50-70 miles.

At night cyclists camp under the stars. Camps feature a beer garden, stage with live music, food, massage therapists, yoga sessions, bike mechanics and 300 other cyclists.

For more information, email info@cyclethesierra.com or call (530) 320.1625.

The 13th annual Near Death Experience will take place at Kirkwood Mountain Resort from June 7-10.

This camp prepares riders for the Death Ride, the 129-mile bike tour of the California Alps on July 14.

Led by coach Rob Panzera from Cycling Camp San Diego, campers will be provided the knowledge and hands-on training necessary to conquer the Death Ride. Each day consists of on-the-road coaching, including cycling safety, bike positioning, descending skills, climbing skills, nutrition tips, Death Ride insight and additional tools to master the event.

Riders will also have a chance to experience all three mountain passes of the Death Ride tour, depending on ability and inclination. Broken out among the three days of camp, riders can get a feel for the route by riding over Monitor Pass (8,314 feet), Ebbetts Pass (8,730 feet) and Carson Pass (8,573 feet).

Participants in the camp are also guaranteed entry into the 2012 Death Ride, for which open registration is now closed. For a detailed camp itinerary or to register, click here.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 25:

Without readers, everything we do would be pointless.

That is why we would like to take this time to thank all of you for being part of Lake Tahoe News. You may never write a comment, or send in a press release, or suggest a story, or even know anyone at LTN personally, but you are the most important part of LTN.

In the last month, we have had more than 64,000 visits to the site. A person can only be recorded once per IP address, so we can’t log in and off and in again to inflate those numbers. And about one-third are unique visitors. This means it’s their first time reading LTN. That one-third has been consistent, which means we keep turning people into regular readers of Lake Tahoe News.

Readers come from more than 100 countries and more than 3,000 cities.

Thank you for being part of the Lake Tahoe News family.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

• Lake Tahoe News is wondering what the answer is to the question on the sign in Kyburz.

• Tahoe Pipe Club points out in this video how the TRPA Regional Plan update and the TMDL aren’t dealing with runoff from storm pipes reaching Lake Tahoe.

• Viva Worthington, who at one time worked in the Tahoe National Forest, will be managing the dense woods of the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon starting in June.

• Mammoth ski resort closes Memorial Day. It is open 7:30am to 2:30pm every day through Monday. The lower mountain bike trails open Saturday.

By Kathryn Reed

Representatives from the company that installed the GPS units on the snowplows in South Lake Tahoe were in town this month to make sure all of the equipment is in place for when the snow really flies again.

The devices had to be remounted from where they were originally located for better reception.

South Lake Tahoe residents should be able track plow drivers next winter via GPS. Photo/LTN file

Some areas in town just don’t get good reception – much like cell phones. However, there were times when the plows transmitted information saying they were in Kansas. That glitch has been resolved, according to city officials.

The GPS is designed to be good for the public and good for street crews.

“The public will be able to see what has been plowed and what hasn’t been,” Stan Sherer, community development director, told Lake Tahoe News. “All the streets are color coded so we can determine which is the best route to work.”

This data will be available on the city’s website. And Sherer promises it will be easy to use.

Another issue still not completely resolved is who is supposed to shovel which sidewalk or when there isn’t a sidewalk along Highway 50. More sidewalks will be put in this summer as Caltrans continues with its water quality project along the highway.

South Lake Tahoe and Caltrans rules conflict with one another. The city ordinance says the owner of property or the agency with the right-of-way where the sidewalk sits must keep it clear.

Caltrans rules say, “The degree and type of maintenance for each highway, or portion thereof, shall be determined in the discretion of the authorities charged with maintenance thereof, taking into consideration traffic requirements and monies available thereof.”

Caltrans’ legal department told Lake Tahoe News, “The local ordinance conflicts with statutory law, noted above, granting the state the exclusive right to maintain and control its rights of way. Principles of sovereign immunity, which are grounded in the California state Constitution, prohibit enforcement of the ordinance against the State because it directly conflicts with state’s authority to control and maintain its own property.”

By Mandy Kendall

I spent last weekend with 70 wildlife enthusiasts training to be a volunteer at the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Center. This wonderful organization strives, year in and year out, to provide the necessary care to countless injured or orphaned wild animals.

By the end of the weekend I began to realize what a roller coaster of emotions these dedicated people must experience every day during their tireless work at this wonderful facility. I have no doubt that the concern, the long hours and the hard work is soon replaced with an overriding sense of joy when an animal is finally released back into the wild.

Mandy Kendall

So this brought me to wonder: Are we slaves to circumstances that determine if and when we feel joy? Or is happiness a matter of perspective, i.e. can we choose to feel happy?

Research has shown that the brain cannot distinguish very well between an actual emotion and an imagined one. The same areas of the brain get activated when we are actually feeling happy and when we are imagining, or remembering a time when we were feeling happy.

Even though we are programmed to pay more attention to the negative things that happen to us (there goes that survival instinct thing again) we can even-up the balance by strengthening the happy pathways in the brain. If every time we experience something that makes us feel happy and if we savor the moment and memorize it, the circuits in the brain that retain that feeling will be intensified and can be more easily accessed in the future.

A shift in perspective can also help change the emotion attached to something, and linking this with an attitude of gratitude can be a powerful tool to help shift a negative emotion into a positive one. James Baraz and Shoshana Alexander talk about how a change in focus from “I have to” to “I get to” can “incline the mind to gratitude even during unpleasant moments”.

Finding the time to feel happy is often a challenge in itself. Our hectic schedules have us rushing from one thing to another, that risk us leading reactive, rather than proactive lives. Taking even brief moments throughout the day, to pause and re-set our minds, can help keep us in control of our emotions.

Seeing the good in others can affect your emotional status too. Overlooking what you don’t like in someone else and focusing on their goodness can benefit both parties. Interactions with that person can improve and, like a mirror, your behavior towards them is likely to be reflected back to you.

So, here are some Qwik-e tips to help increase those joyful moments:

Memorize a happy time in every detail — Take time to feel every aspect of a happy moment in your life, while it’s actually happening or when remembering it. How did it make you feel physically? What were you hearing, seeing and thinking? How were others reacting to you?

Change “I have to” to “I get to” — Try looking at a situation or task you don’t like in a more positive light. For example, taking out the garbage can go from the annoyance of I have to to a feeling of I get to. Creating an opportunity to be grateful for the health and strength to do it and thankful for the trash pick up service.

Taking the time — Whenever possible just take a moment, pause, breath, relax, come back to the center of yourself and regain control.

Look for the good in others — Try to ignore the things that really annoy you about someone and search for at least one positive thing about them and focus on that. Then notice what effect it has on your interaction with them and your state of mind too.

Imagine feeling happy — Only you know how it feels when you’re happy and your brain doesn’t know the difference between the actual thing and your imagination. So reprogram your brain by imagining what it’s like when you’re feeling happy in as much detail as possible. What would you be doing? What would you look like? Who would you be with? How would it make them feel to see you being so happy?

Here’s to being happy and healthy.

Until next time.

Mandy Kendall operates Health Connective in South Lake Tahoe. If you have any questions, would like some advice, or would like to request some Qwik-e tips on any health and wellbeing topic, please feel free to drop me an email at healthconnective@gmail.com, visit us on Facebook, or keep an eye out on Lake Tahoe News for regular Qwik-e tips on how to make healthy changes one Quick and Easy step at a time.

Truckee Police Department is sponsoring a free document shredding day on June 16.

The 9-11am event will be at the town hall, 10183 Truckee Airport Road.

Even stapled documents will be accepted.