Students participating in the Intermediate Food Preparation Class in the culinary program of Lake Tahoe Community College will be planning and creating a three course sit-down luncheon for the public.

The four groups — Team Sierra, Team Kokanee, Team El Dorado, and Team Washoe — will be preparing the meals May 24, May 31, June 7 and June 14; with seating times at noon and 12:20pm.

The price is $10 per person.

Reservations are being taken now (530) 541.4660, ext. 334 or email fernald@ltcc.edu. Space is limited.

There is a set menu, but a vegetarian meal will be offered if ordered when making the reservation.

Menus for each lunch will be available one week in advance.

Soroptimist International Tahoe Sierra bestowed a slew of awards and checks on youth in the South Shore community on May 17.

“Our club takes great pride in recognizing the growing achievements of our community’s young as they improve academically as well as in their personal and life skills,” Lisa Huard, SITS member said.

Youth scholarship recipients:

Heidy Carillo – YPP Senior Scholarship

Hayly Conley – Mt. Tallac Senior Scholarship

Colin Cooney – Mt. Tallac Senior Scholarship

Brenda Diaz – STMS Most Improved

James Miller – STMS Most Improved

Michael Valney – St. Theresa Most Improved

Jaceb Williams – WHS Most Improved Senior

Diane Clavel – WHS Most Improved

Andy Delgado – WHS Most Improved

Diana Brown – STHS Most Improved Senior

Roberto Ortiz – STHS Most Improved Senior

Megan Miller – WHS Senior Scholarship

Rachel Altman – STHS Senior Scholarship

Ulises Caro – STHS Senior Scholarship

Tyler Nesbitt – STHS Senior Scholarship

Karen Ramos – STHS Senior Scholarship.

To the community,

It’s as if the good Lord hit a switch, but spring has arrived in our corner of the Sierra. The trails below 7,000 feet are mostly snow free and, after a short-lived winter, spring is here.

While we are stunned that the bank that holds the note for Royal Gorge rejected our very fair offer, we remain confident we will protect this remarkable property. Ours, as the bank admitted, was the best – if not only offer – they received. Fingers crossed, but I am certain we will prevail. We absolutely must seize this opportunity. Meanwhile, our fundraising is gaining steam. I will keep you posted.

I am also pleased to report that we closed on a small but critical property sandwiched between Waddle Ranch Preserve and another property we acquired in the Martis Valley. Slowly but surely we are achieving a long time objective of protecting the landscape east of Highway 267 and onto the Mt. Rose Wilderness and Toyiabe National Forest – more than 70,000 acres of natural lands, wildlife corridors, and habitat.

Warm regards,

Perry Norris, Truckee Donner Land Trust executive director

Two men are behind bars after allegedly breaking into a house in Tahoe Donner.

The homeowner reported to police officers that when he arrived at his residence Thursday morning he found two unknown individuals inside his garage removing property.

As the homeowner parked his vehicle, the two men fled in blue Dodge truck at a high rate of speed. The homeowner called 911 and attempted to follow the suspect vehicle, but lost sight of the truck.

Truckee police officers located the truck later May 17, which had been reported stole two weeks earlier, parked in the Ski Bowl Condominiums in the Tahoe Donner subdivision.

The two suspects were inside a residence, where officers took them into custody.

Arrested were David Johnathan Gish, 22, of Reno and Christina McCurtain, 19, of Truckee.

Officers said stolen property from the garage was recovered and returned to the owner. The stolen vehicle was returned to the registered owner.

Gish was booked on charges of residential burglary, possession of stolen property, stolen vehicle and felon in possession of a deadly weapon.

McCurtain was booked on charges of residential burglary, possession of stolen property and a stolen vehicle.

 — Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe is headed for the Guinness Book of World Records because 1,188 bicyclists rode in a single file on Thursday afternoon.

This broke the record of 916 cyclists who did the same thing in Davis.

More than 1,000 cyclists wait to be counted May 17 as they set a world record for the most number of riders in a single file. Photos/Kathryn Reed

Paperwork needs to be reviewed by the Guinness folks, along with the video of the riders, so it’s not official until organizers hear back from London.

“It was way more thank I expected,” Mark Cutright told Lake Tahoe News as he watched the cyclists roll through the official counting station near the senior center.

He said about 1,200 tags were printed out that were attached to handlebars. To be counted, a cyclist had to ride through the counting station. Kids in carriers were not counted – just the adult doing the work. Nor were the dogs in carriers and baskets counted.

The Slow Rollers bicycle group put on the event. Cutright credits Steve Barker for coming up with the idea. The city participated by giving a police, fire and ambulance escort. Cutright did the legwork of getting the permits to allow for a lane of traffic to be dedicated to the cyclists from the Y to the senior center parking lot.

Joanne King of South Lake Tahoe was riding through when the record was broken, while it was Jeremy Jensen who was the last rider.

When the fire truck sounded its horn at 4:20pm May 17, the cyclists gathered in the soon to be T.J. Maxx parking lot whooped it up.

Bob Harms with his 18 horns – one even from Brazil – and four dingers had already been adding to the festivities before any pedaling began.

Besides being an event to set a record, it was a costume parade. It was a bit remarkable the footwear people could pedal in – from sandals to cowboy boots to heels.

Goofy hats and helmets that were decorated filled the mass. Full costume suits from bears to Tigger to a bumblebee were on two wheels.

However, some bikes came with three wheels, and at least one was a unicycle. With all the shapes and sizes of bikes, it was a bit like a museum. Bill Yale was on a Coker from the early 1970s.

It was a slow ride – living up to the organizer’s name – as it took about an hour for the first cyclist to reach MontBleu.

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Former Tahoe Daily Tribune Managing Editor Mike Taugher has been picked by Gov. Jerry Brown to be assistant deputy of director communications, education and outreach for the California Department of Fish and Game.

The 49-year-old most recently has been a reporter at the Contra Costa Times.

The job pays $90,000 year. Taugher is registered decline-to-state. This position does not require state Senate confirmation.

From California to Pennsylvania, 35 Caesars Entertainment Corporation properties in more than 19 communities across the country have pledged their support for a simple concept: helping families engage with parks to create a healthy environment for themselves and their children.

This is part of the National Kids to Parks Day on May 19. This is the National Park Trust’s signature initiative – a grassroots movement that encourages children and families to get outside and explore local, state and national parks in their community

Known as HEROs in the Caesars world, the company volunteers at Harveys and Harrah’s Lake Tahoe will be taking kids to Nevada Beach State Park on May 18-19.

By Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee

Assemblywoman Beth Gaines has sparked a campaign controversy by spending state funds to send fliers almost exclusively to residents of her redrawn district who can vote for her in June.

Because California recently set new legislative district boundaries, Gaines is running in the 6th Assembly District, which encompasses some but not all of her current 4th Assembly District.

Beth Gaines

The Rocklin Republican recently spent more than $18,000 in Assembly funds on a flier soliciting constituents’ opinions on state budget priorities, school improvement and dealing with the looming public pension crisis.

“This is your opportunity to be heard in the state Capitol,” the flier read. “Elected officials need to hear directly from their constituents on the issues facing California.”

But the opinions of more than half of the district were not solicited.

Assembly records show that 67,051 fliers were mailed by Gaines on March 13, almost exclusively to ZIP codes from her current district that were drawn into her new one as well.

Tens of thousands of constituents she represents in her existing district did not receive the flier, including those in Alpine County, South Lake Tahoe and portions of Sacramento County near Elverta, Antelope and Rio Linda, records show.

Read the whole story

By Emerson Marcus, Reno Gazette-Journal

Explorer John C. Fremont originally named the Truckee River the Salmon Trout River in 1844 because of its exceptionally tasty resident.

The trout, and the vegetation that blossomed from the river, have seen their share of detrimental effects from urbanization, but local groups are looking to change that and build it as a place for people to enjoy its serenity.

The Nature Conservancy completed a decadelong $6.5 million beautification effort May 6 on the river east of Sparks traveling through McCarran Ranch and Mustang Ranch.

“The lower river has not had public access for people to enjoy for many decades,” Nature Conservancy spokesman Michael Cameron said. “The land, up until recently, has all been privately owned.”

The nine-mile stretch, with its new public affiliation, has given Janet Phillips a leg up in her vision of a 116-mile bike path that follows the river.

That leg up comes seven years to the month after the project completed its first achievement with the completion of the Mogul-Verdi bike path.

The Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway will celebrate the seventh anniversary of that path Sunday. Nearly two-thirds of the path along the river has been completed since the project started in 2003, Phillips said.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

Claire Fortier will reportedly not be finishing her term on the South Lake Tahoe City Council. Her partner, Maria Pielaet, has been offered a job in Washington to run the medical clinic for Microsoft.

Fortier did not want to talk much with Lake Tahoe News about what this means.

“I’m not comfortable addressing the issue until Maria has a contract signed,” Fortier said.

Claire Fortier

While Fortier would not say what her plans are, the buzz at city hall is she wants to stay until her term as mayor is up. She has told people she will be resigning in the middle of her four-year term.

Fortier was elected to the council in November 2010. Her term expires in December 2014. Her term as mayor is over in the fall. The council votes among themselves as to who will be mayor and mayor pro tem, with each being a one-year stint, though people can be voted in consecutive or multiple years.

Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis said Fortier had not spoken to him about her plans.

As the city ordinance is now, a council member’s position is not considered vacated until they actually leave. So, if Fortier were to stay until her term as mayor is up, the council in December would either appoint someone to fill the two remaining years or a special election would be called. The first scenario means the public has no say in 20 percent of the representation on the council, the latter scenario means the taxpayers pay for Fortier’s desire to hang onto the title of mayor.

Because the city ordinance mirrors state law the process for appointment or election cannot be changed at the local level.

The process is that the remaining council members must decide within 60 days of a council position being vacated whether to appoint someone or to call for an election. There are three specified dates in 2013 when an election could occur — March 5, June 4, Nov. 5. The election cannot occur less than 114 days from the date it is called. So, if Fortier stays until December, the soonest there could be an election to fill that vacated seat is June 4, 2013.

On the Nov. 6 ballot will be the council positions now held by Hal Cole and Bruce Grego. Cole has not decided if he will be running for another term, while Grego is ready to hit the campaign trail.

Besides the council position, Fortier is the city’s rep on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board. That agency is in the midst of approving a Regional Plan update, which is expected to be voted on in December. How having a lame duck member would affect that process is not known.

“There is no impact to the current makeup of the TRPA Governing Board until the city makes a change,” Julie Regan, spokeswoman with TRPA, told Lake Tahoe News. “Mayor Fortier is very engaged in the Regional Plan update and other matters, and we would not expect any departure from that.”

The city is also in the throes of dealing with the need to hire a city manager, so Fortier may be in town making important decisions about issues and people she will not have to be held accountable to or for.