Lake Tahoe News Publisher Kathryn Reed will be discussing the role of online media and community journalism at a March 5 forum sponsored by the Lake Tahoe Pen Women group.

The event begins at 7pm at Bona Fide HQ, 1069 Magua St., No. 4, Meyers off Highway 50 behind the Getaway Café. It is free.

Reed, who is in her third decade as a journalist, has been in the news business since before she graduated from college in 1988.

Lake Tahoe News is the only source for news about Lake Tahoe seven days week and is strictly online. It has been delivering news to people in more than 100 countries and more than 2,000 cities since Labor Day 2009.

The National League of American Pen Women is an organization comprised of women writers, artists and musicians, whose purpose is to foster, provide support to women engaged in letters, arts and music, and to serve as a community resource in the arts.

Pen Women was founded in 1897 as an alternative to the all-male Press Club with headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In celebration of moving into its own spiritual home, Unity at the Lake is offering a “Basics of Unity” class to introduce its principles to the greater community.

The class will be taught by Stew Bittman, Unity’s co-spiritual leader. Classes are Feb. 19 from noon-1:30pm and Feb. 21 from 6-7:30pm. They will be in the Annex at Unity’s spiritual center, 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd., directly across from the Recreation Complex, in South Lake Tahoe.

Unity at the Lake is a safe and open spiritual community in which all paths to God are honored.

For more info, call (530) 544.2266 or go online.

A film about Fort Ross and the Russian-American Company will show Feb. 19 at 1:15pm at Explore Tahoe near the Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe. Fort Ross is on the Sonoma coast.

A presentation outlining issues at Lake Tahoe and Lake Baikal and how the Tahoe Baikal Institute, through international exchanges, is working to preserve both watersheds will begin at 1:45pm.

The event is free.

For more information, call (530) 542.4637.

By Melonie Turner, Sacramento Business Journal

California’s 2011 wine grape crush totaled 3.3 million tons, down 7 percent from 2010, according to a preliminary report by the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

Red wine varieties accounted for the biggest share of all grapes crushed, at 1.9 million tons, down 7 percent from 2010. White wine varieties totaled 1.4 million tons, also down 7 percent, according to the preliminary wine grape crush report.

“The crush report confirms what growers already know, prices have turned the corner and demand for California wine grapes looks strong,” John Aguirre, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, said in a news release. “Our focus is to make sure California growers are positioned to meet the higher demand and that we don’t lose market share to foreign growers.”

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By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee

Redevelopment is dead after more than six decades as a multibillion-dollar government economic development tool.

Or is it?

As the decree to kill redevelopment takes effect, the Capitol is buzzing with efforts to bring it – or something like it, or some substitute – back.

Gov. Jerry Brown nixed redevelopment advocates’ efforts to delay its execution by 10 weeks, supposedly to give the 400-plus local agencies more time to make an orderly shutdown, but in reality to keep it alive in hopes of a reprieve.

“I don’t think we can delay this funeral,” Brown said, making it clear that he’d veto any extension bill.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who had voted for redevelopment’s death sentence last year, popped up with Senate Bill 654 to let cities retain the low-income housing funds that redevelopment agencies had amassed, rather than having them distributed to schools and other local governments.

If enacted, it would hold back $1.4 billion, eating into money that Brown wants from redevelopment’s demise by shifting their funds to school districts.

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By Asher Feldman, Daily Trojan

In the midst of the athletic department’s yearlong celebration of USC’s Olympic successes, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge spoke Wednesday at Town & Gown as part of Annenberg’s Sports and Social Change Speaker Series.

The discussion, hosted by Alan Abrahamson, a professor of journalism, covered a variety of topics, including the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and focused on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“The 1984 Olympics left a tremendous legacy for this city,” Rogge said.

Because Italian Premier Mario Monti had ended Rome’s bid for the 2020 Summer Games because of financial concerns on Tuesday, the conversation turned quickly to the sustainability of the Olympic ideal and the impact of real-world incidents on the Games.

“Sport is not in a vacuum,” Rogge said. “Sport is part of society.”

Scott Blackmun, CEO of the United States Olympic Committee, also spoke at the event and highlighted the financial and logistical difficulty of hosting the Olympic Games on U.S. soil, stating the USOC was hesitant to submit a bid for the 2022 Winter Games.

Tahoe-Reno wants to host those Games, as does Denver and Park City. But with the U.S. Olympic Committee and the IOC still unable to reach a financial deal, the chance of the U.S. as a host city in 2022 is dimming.

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Forgotten how to take a deep breath? Need a little down time?

Rosemary Manning is teaching a beginning meditation class Feb. 27 from 6-7pm.

The free class is at Tahoe Wellness Cooperative (in the Bijou Center, next to Hot Gossip)in South Lake Tahoe.

Bring a pillow to sit on.

For more information, email tahoehealthtouch@gmail.com.

The man suspected of robbing the Wells Fargo Bank inside Raley’s near Stateline on Jan. 30 has been arrested in Sacramento.

Michael Johnson, 52, was arrested by Sacramento police Feb. 15 after he alleged robbed the River City Bank in the capital city.

Michael Johnson

He is accused of robbing that bank twice, the South Lake Tahoe bank and two banks in San Francisco.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

• The January-February issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine ranks the best North American snow adventures. Snowshoeing at Lake Tahoe came in at No. 9.

• The Beach Boys will be in Tahoe on July 15 at the Harveys Outdoor Concert Series.

• Here is Tahoe Pipe Club’s latest video of gunk going right into Lake Tahoe.

• After passing the State Bar exam in November, Sierra D. Shipley is practicing law with State Farm Insurance in the Bay Area. Shipley is a South Tahoe High grad and daughter of Deborah A. Palmer, a longtime Tahoe attorney.

• MaryAnn Brand will be interim director of finance for South Lake Tahoe beginning Feb. 20 because Christine Vuletich is leaving Feb. 17. The city will be looking outside the department to fill the spot on a permanent basis, though current employees may apply for the job.

By Noreen Evans

California’s state park system was established in 1926. Ranging from San Onofre State Beach in Southern California to Del Norte Redwoods in the north, California’s 270 state parks include historic treasures such as California’s missions, Fort Ross and our first state Capitol, as well as natural wonders like Lake Tahoe, the redwood forests and Castle Crags. Our parks provide summer vacation sites for families, as well as destinations for tourists from all over the world.

Our parks belong to the people, and the people have loved them and invested time and money in them. While I applaud the Press Democrat’s support for keeping our state parks open (“State parks need allies mot rivalries,” Sunday), I am dismayed that the Press Democrat fails to recognize the real problem: the state is actively undermining ongoing negotiations with local nonprofits.

Nonprofit supporters were in the process of developing operating agreements for several beloved North Coast parks — Hendy Woods, Russian Gulch, Standish-Hickey, Westport Union Landing, Austin Creek and Sugarloaf Ridge. Local citizens were actively engaged in developing these operating agreements to save their local parks. However, the state has delayed its negotiations with these nonprofits, while at the same time developing requests for proposals aimed at private, for-profit companies.

Fortunately, the state backed off its proposal to privatize 11 parks in their entirety after being faced with stiff opposition from myself and others and with increased media scrutiny. However, the state is proceeding to seek bids for concessions from for-profit companies to take over some operations in these parks.

State Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, represents the 2nd Senatorial District, which includes all or portions of Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties. She chairs the Legislative Women’s Caucus and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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