Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation’s annual Celebration of Education is May 16 from 4:30-6:30pm at Lakeland Village Lakefront Room.
Besides honoring the retirees, there will be a presentations of the 2011-12 enrichment programs sponsored through grants given by the foundation. All schools are represented.
Music is performed by students, and appetizers prepared and served by the South Tahoe High School Culinary Arts students.
By Allen Pierleoni, Sacramento Bee
A man drowned along a remote stretch of the north fork of the American River about noon Saturday, according to the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The man, who was not identified, was reportedly attempting to help two other rafters who were having difficulty maneuvering the rapids near a run called Chamberlain Falls in Placer County, said Julie Hutchinson, Cal Fire battalion chief. The cold water gushes fast there this time of year, forming rapids that range from Class 3 to Class 5.
During the victim’s attempt to help the two rafters, they hit another set of rapids that apparently caused the man to fall into the water, where he disappeared, Hutchinson said. The two surviving rafters found him later, brought him to shore, started CPR and called authorities.
The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is looking for volunteers who love working outdoors, educating and helping people, and would like to help preserve Desolation Wilderness.
The public is invited to attend one of two informational meetings in South Lake Tahoe this month to learn about volunteer opportunities, training, minimum requirements and how volunteer help is important to the preservation of Desolation Wilderness.
Desolation Wilderness is approximately 64,000 acres of pristine sub-alpine and alpine forest, granite peaks and glacially-formed valleys and lakes located on the southwest end of Lake Tahoe.
Volunteers work closely with Forest Service wilderness staff and can choose from a variety of project based activities including newly developed trailhead and backcountry naturalist programs as well as visitor education, wilderness staff support for office and field projects and backcountry trail maintenance and campsite restoration. Field projects involve hiking in moderate to difficult terrain and require an appropriate level of physical ability. Volunteers should commit to a minimum of six days for the summer season. Additional information is available online.
Prospective volunteers should attend a 90-minute informational meeting on May 9 at 7pm or May 12 at 9:30am at the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Supervisor’s Office at 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe.
For more information, contact Chris Engelhardt at (530) 543.2766.
May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.
LTN tidbit No. 6:
Mandy Kendall writes a weekly column for Lake Tahoe News each Friday about various health topics.
These are more than the average health column. Her tips are pragmatic, easy to follow and take a common-sense approach to life. It’s not about drastic changes or lecturing or doing the impossible.
Kendall operates Health Connective in South Lake Tahoe. She may be reached at healthconnective@gmail.com.
Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.
• Deputy Terrie Cissna has been selected as the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office 2011 Officer of the Year.
• The final $16.7 million in Measure G school facilities bond are set to be sold May 8 that will allow Lake Tahoe Unified School District to complete the remaining work.
• This is the weekly Caltrans roadwork schedule for El Dorado-Tahoe and Sierra.
• Mount Tallac High’s graduation is June 8 at 11am at the football field of South Tahoe High.
• Starting June 4 Alaska Airlines will have two flights per day between Reno-Tahoe International Airport and the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.
The American Association of University Women South Lake Tahoe Branch is hostings its home tour — At Home in Al Tahoe: Historic Retreats at The Lake — on June 23 from noon-4pm.
The historic South Lake Tahoe neighborhood was the site of the first pioneer settlement on the Lake Tahoe shoreline.
Attendees will drive, walk or bike along a self-guided route to visit eight restored cabins, cottages and homes.
Volunteers will be on hand at each home to answer questions and highlight points of interest. Refreshments will be available at the nearby Pichetti Winery on Highway 50.
Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 the day of the event. Proceeds will provide educational scholarships to local women and girls. For more information and to purchase tickets, go online, call (775) 309.3911 or email to sparrow208@gmail.com.
By Paul Gaffney, Via
While I do work for an auto club, I still ride a bike. I’m happy to report that I’m not alone. Cycling is on the rise in most parts of the country. People ride for fun, for exercise, and, increasingly, just to get from here to there. According to a Rutgers University study, the number of bike commuters in the United States grew 64 percent over the past two decades.
The two-wheeled, self-propelled commute is especially strong in major cities such as New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Portland, pushed on by improvements in cycling infrastructure and bike-friendly public policies and programs. In San Francisco, where an annual city bike count shows a 71 percent jump over the last five years, riders benefit from such initiatives as Sunday Streets, which closes certain streets to cars and opens them to bicycles and other people-powered modes of transportation.
Paul Gaffney
“There’s also no discounting the importance of word of mouth,” says Kit Hodge, deputy director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group. “People are seeing their friends, family, and coworkers ride, and it’s just becoming part of their lives.”
May is National Bike Month, but don’t let the calendar limit when you ride. With the current price of gas, cycling is good for your wallet. It’s also good for your health and good for the environment. It might even put you in a better mood. There’s something liberating about hopping on a bike that brings back a freewheeling sensation of childhood and learning to fly without training wheels.
By Kathryn Reed
South Lake Tahoe’s recreation facilities are old and need to be overhauled.
That was the message delivered at this month’s City Council meeting by Stan Sherer, community services director.
When asked if the ball fields or rec center should be the priority, he told the council the 37-year-old recreation center needs attention first.
South Lake Tahoe is recruiting partners to keep its recreation programs viable. Photo/LTN file
In his staff report, Sherer wrote, “The major items that need to be addressed include: The locker rooms need to be remodeled, the weight room needs to be expanded and new equipment needs to be purchased. It could be an asset to the efforts to attract high altitude training camps. The gym floor needs to be replaced.”
However, there is no capital improvement program for these facilities. And these facilities, while tourists use them, are a huge draw for locals.
Those in the tourism sector beating the recreation drum as a reason to visit the South Shore don’t seem to have looked at all the facilities to know that what tourists are likely to find are in many ways substandard entities from what they are used to.
In his report to the council, Sherer said he would like to see, “A multiuse athletic complex that could host large athletic events at one location (to) enhance our ability to secure future events. When coupled with the attraction of our natural environment and the other recreation opportunities in the area, the complex would become a regional-national draw for athletic tournaments and special events. Obviously, the complex would also enhance the recreational opportunities for our local community.”
Community field
Sherer predicts the community ball field by Lake Tahoe Community College will need to be replaced in two years. That field was dedicated June 23, 2005.
Steve Weiss, former director of the city’s parks department and current member of the Measure R ball fields committee, said at the committee meeting last week that the seams coming up at that field are a result of how much action the artificial turf is subjected to.
Sherer said part of the problem with the seams is they were never properly glued. The manufacturer was out of business two years after it was put in.
That field has endured an unusual amount of scrutiny in the last few months because it is where the three-day SnowGlobe music festival was staged and people believe that contributed to the degradation of the field.
Recreation officials say otherwise – that the lifespan of the field is nearing its natural end.
While Weiss said he was at the field April 19 when a truckload of debris was sucked out of the carpet, Sherer told the council this is the first time the field has had such a cleaning since it was laid down.
Weiss also said, “I would deem it a playable field.”
To replace the field, Sherer estimates it will cost between $700,000 and $900,000.
From Measure S/R the city receives $50,000 to maintain that field and will continue to until the bond expires in 2030.
Each year the three jurisdictions that are part of the recreation bond report their Measure S/R expenditures to the oversight board. In July 2011, when the last report was made, it was noted the city had received $300,000 for the field, of which $162,059.11 had been spent.
It’s possible those remaining funds would go toward replacement costs.
According to John Upton, staff member for the recreation JPA, “The original bond had not been sufficient to construct the restroom/concession building at the site. In addition, the JPA has disbursed $202,500 to the city for that purpose, of which $187,484.99 had been spent.”
Any revenues generated from that field go into the city’s coffers.
Lake Tahoe News in an email dated April 29 asked:
Who makes money off this field? What is the revenue to public entities — and what are those amounts — and the entities? And what is the revenue to private and/or nonprofit entities — and what are those amounts — and what are the entities?
Sherer and Upton were on that email. Upton deferred to Sherer because the JPA has nothing to do with revenue from the field. Sherer never responded.
Other recreation items
The city will see some new revenue this summer from various contracts it will have with vendors that didn’t exist before. StandUp Paddle will rent equipment and store non-motorized watercraft at Lakeview Commons.
A food vendor is being sought for Regan Beach and Lakeview Commons, the latter being a new revenue stream.
In the last year with budget cuts, the rec department has lost five of its six staff members. To keep services going partnerships have been formed.
Lake Tahoe Boys & Girls Club is helping with youth programs. The senior center is sharing facilities with El Dorado County. A master’s swim class through Lake Tahoe Community College has been added. The Red Cross is handling lifeguard training and certification.
“Our goal is to create partnerships in an effort to avoid duplication of services provide by local agencies and identify new programming opportunities to increase the diversity in what is offered,” Sherer wrote in the staff report.
Local historian Dave Borges will be talking about Al Tahoe at the next Lake Tahoe Historical Society lecture.
The May 9 7pm event in the Lodge of Camp Richardson on the South Shore will focus on the history of this South Lake Tahoe neighborhood, stories of place and the people.
Borges will also talk about the walking tour of Al Tahoe.
The event is free.
Publisher’s note: It is possible Brent Kuemmerle of Meyers would be the first Paralympic snowboarding coach for the United States.
Two medal events in para-snowboard will be included in the Alpine Skiing program at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
This brings to 72 the number of medal events at the Sochi 2014 Games and is the first time para-snowboard events have been included.
Gunnar Tveit, World Snowboard Federation president, in a press release said, “Knowing that the riders will have the chance to compete in the sport they love in 2014 is rewarding not only because the athletes will be recognized for their hard work but also because the inclusion of para-snowboard in the Sochi 2014 Winter Games will provide an unprecedented level of exposure to the sport.”
The qualification criteria for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games will be released online May 28.