By Tony Bizjak, Sacramento Bee

On a wooded and wildlife-rich stretch of Highway 50 in the foothills, Caltrans is about to launch an unusual road safety experiment – for critters and drivers alike.

The agency is building the Sacramento region’s first deer and large-animal road crossing, a $1.6 million tunnel and fence project, in hopes of reducing the amount of roadkill in the Highway 50 corridor.

Even as they put finishing touches on the tunnel east of Shingle Springs near the El Dorado Road exit, state Department of Transportation biologists acknowledge they can’t be sure how well it will work.

Will deer, coyotes, foxes, bobcats and mountain lions find their way to the 12-foot-by-12-foot concrete culvert? And will they choose to use it, or continue along the fence looking for an opening to make a dangerous dash across the four lanes above?

“No one location is going to solve the problem,” said Suzanne Melim, Caltrans biologist on the project. “I think it’ll work well.

“I look at this as a starting point in what will be a continual effort.”

The Highway 50 undercrossing is funded by a federal grant. But state officials acknowledge that spending money on an animal crossing when California faces a massive deficit could raise questions.

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• Runner’s World magazine is doing a feature on half marathons and Lake Tahoe’s annual September event is going to be part of it, according to promoter Les Wright. Photos, too, may be part of the package.

• Jack Fisher, a 35-year veteran of the gaming industry, is leaving Boomtown Casino in Reno to be general manager of MontBleu in Stateline.

• Made in Tahoe is working on a project that will benefit the Tahoe Tallac Association. Details are on the flyer.

• Soroptimist International Tahoe Sierra raised more than $40,000 at Elegant Evening last month. It will be returned to the community in various forms.

• Here are the weekly roadwork schedules from Caltrans for El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra.

Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the May 9, 2012, Sacramento Bee.

The newly created 1st Assembly District sprawls across the northeast corner of the state, stretching from north Lake Tahoe to Yreka and including the cities of Susanville and Redding.

Nominally, this is GOP territory – with nearly 44 percent of voters registered Republican and 30 percent registered Democratic. Yet nearly 20 percent of voters are “decline to state,” meaning this open seat is somewhat in play.

Of the five candidates in the race, three have filed ballot statements and are actively campaigning.

Voters seeking a conservative have their choice of two affable elected officials – Lassen County Supervisor Brian Dahle and Redding City Councilman Rick Bosetti.

Dahle, a farmer who co-owns a seed company and nursery with his wife, is supported by agriculture interests, including the California Farm Bureau.

Bosetti, a retired major league baseball player, is supported by timber and real estate interests, the latter of which has recently helped finance a $115,000 independent expenditure campaign on his behalf.

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Brian Shinault and Dave Walker, certified access specialists, will talk May 23 about what businesses need to do to be ADA compliant.

The 9-10:30am event will be in the South Room at Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline.

Advance reservations are strongly suggested. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $5 for members of Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce and $10 for non-members. Prices are $5 more at the door.

The forum will cover immediate steps business owners, tenants and landlords must take to lower their risk of a lawsuit and to increase their compliance with these laws.

For more information, contact Shannon McIsaac at (775) 588.1728, ext. 305 or  Shannon@tahoechamber.org.

By David Wharton, Los Angeles Times

When the 2012 London Olympics begin less than three months from now, it will mark an anniversary that Americans might not want to celebrate.

Ten years have passed since the Games last took place on U.S. soil. And with the bidding process extended years in advance, this country’s next opportunity will not come around until 2022.

“That’s a problem,” said Anita DeFrantz, an International Olympic Committee member from Los Angeles. “We like hosting this event. It’s important to the psyche of our people.”

Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City proved to be successful host cities over the past three decades. DeFrantz is quick to point out that American broadcast deals and corporate sponsorships account for 60 cents of every dollar that pours into the Olympic movement.

Yet the IOC flatly rejected bids by New York and Chicago in recent years.

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Lake Tahoe residents and visitors are invited to help with the removal one of Tahoe’s most prolific aquatic invasive weeds, Eurasian watermilfoil, during the inaugural Community Aquatic Weeds Removal Project at Baldwin Beach on June 3.

The project is a partnership of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and U.S. Forest Service and will occur in conjunction with the Tahoe Native Species Festival.

Volunteers will be placing bottom barriers in a large swale that parallels Lake Tahoe, which is infected with Eurasian watermilfoil. Volunteers will be needed for numerous tasks that will not require entering the swale. Volunteers of all ages and abilities are welcome to participate.

Registration is required. For more information or to sign-up, contact Flavia Sordelet at (530) 541.5388 or events@keeptahoeblue.org.

By Ted Burnham, NPR

American homes are filled with unused prescription drugs. Each year we squirrel away 200 million pounds of pharmaceuticals we don’t need anymore, according to some estimates.

Left in medicine cabinets, those drugs can end up in the hands of children or others who really shouldn’t be taking them. Proper and timely disposal can avert those problems. Flushing or trashing drugs has been the norm for decades, but take-back programs have been springing up at pharmacies and police departments lately.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has organized four nationwide take-back events since 2010. The most recent, in late April, collected more than 500,000 pounds of unwanted medications.

Of course, any disposal method has environmental consequences. Flushing, for instance, has fallen out of favor for all but a handful of drugs because of concerns about water contamination. And researchers at the University of Michigan, writing this week in Environmental Science and Technology, say they’ve determined that trashing drugs, paradoxically, may be the most environmentally-friendly option.

“It’s surprising to find out that even though there’s this push toward take-back, trash seems to be the best option for several different reasons,” lead author Sherri Cook, of the University of Michigan department of engineering, tells Shots.

The researchers looked at the overall environmental impact of three disposal methods — flushing, trashing and incineration. They included how much of the drugs would enter the environment, but also looked at emissions impacts from transportation, water treatment, and burning of waste materials.

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Starship starring Mickey Thomas will be at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe on June 23 at 7:30pm.

Tickets are $31.

For Ticketmaster phone orders, call 800.745.3000.

Edgar Winter Band will be in Harrah’s Lake Tahoe South Shore Room on June 16 at 7:30pm.

Tickets are $25.

For Ticketmaster phone orders, call 800.745.3000.