On Feb. 4, Bona Fide Books will host a reception for Kit Night and her collection “New Work, Old Friends, Live Jazz” at Bona Fide HQ in Meyers from 5:30-7:30pm.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided.

Night is an oil painter living in South Lake Tahoe.

Night’s work will be on display at Bona Fide Books Feb. 2-29.

Bona Fide HQ is located at 1069 Magua St., No. 4, behind the Getaway Café in Meyers.

For more information, contact Kim Wyatt at editor@bonafidebooks.com or go online.

By Rima Suqi, New York Times

Shaun White, the professional snowboarder and skateboarder, and his brother, Jesse, have designed boards and performance clothing and gear for Burton, and what they call “off-mountain” clothing for Target, for more than three years.

Last month, Target introduced his latest creative endeavor: the Shaun White home collection, a line of bedding, lighting and home accessories inspired by skating, snowboarding, travel, music and art.

Although he is only 25, the two-time Olympic gold medalist who is affiliated with Northstar in Truckee has already owned three homes. But while his tastes may have matured since he bought the first one, the youthful energy of skate and snow culture is still evident in his home furnishings.

Tell me about the house you owned that was featured on “MTV Teen Cribs.”

I bought that home when I was 16. I was in high school in a different area, we went in and were like, “I’m making a good living and I want to pursue my schooling, but I can’t under these conditions” — in the sense that I wasn’t around and I needed extra help to get my work done. So I bought that home, which was in a different school district with a charter school that was more understanding of my situation. It was right on the beach, so I could go surf every day, and closer to the skate park, which I thought was awesome.

That’s awfully young to own your own house.

It was with my family. I mean, I’m 16, I don’t want to live alone. Everybody moved in and settled down, and nobody wanted to leave because it was so great. I still have that house. It’s one of those places I’ll never get rid of, and my family is still in that area.

Read the whole story

JoAnn Conner will speak about identity theft, and offer tips on the latest scams on Jan. 13 at 5:30pm at the South Lake Tahoe Senior Center, 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

Conner is a certified identity theft risk management specialist.

The community is invited to a potluck at 5:30pm, with a program at 6:30pm.

For more information, call Francine at (530) 541.8380 or Arline at (530) 545.1277.

The Father Daughter Sweetheart Dance is Feb. 10 from 7-9:30pm at Harveys in Stateline.

This is an evening for fathers and daughters to dance and visit with friends.

Refreshments will be served and a photo keepsake is available for an additional fee.

Tickets are $20 a couple and $8 for each additional daughter.

Tickets are on sale now and this event sells out every year.

Stop by Kahle Community Center to get your tickets or call (775) 586.7271 for more information.

By Julie Cart, Los Angeles Times

Millions of dollars in renewable energy projects intended to provide power to facilities in California’s national parks and forests are sitting idle because of a years-long squabble with Southern California Edison.

A new $800,000 solar project at Death Valley National Park, photovoltaic panels at the state-of-the art visitors center at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and a solar power system at the U.S. Forest Service’s new facility at Mono Lake are among dozens of taxpayer-funded projects in Southern California on hold as the federal agencies try to hash out an agreement with SCE to tie the projects to the state’s electrical grid.

The apparent stumbling block involves contract restrictions imposed by federal law, but utilities elsewhere in California have signed similar agreements with the agencies with few problems or delays.

“There’s 24-plus systems in the Southern California Edison area that have been installed in the last three years that we have not been able to negotiate an interconnection agreement on,” said Jack Williams, who retired this month as the National Park Service’s Oakland-based regional facilities manager. “We think we are close at times, but then nothing. We were successful with PG&E, but with Southern California Edison…. They have been a bit more difficult. We’ve raised the flag many times. It’s an issue for all federal agencies.”

An Edison spokesman declined to discuss the projects, citing ongoing negotiations.

Read the whole story

By Felicity Barringer, New York Times

WILLOWS — These are good days to be a snow goose on the Pacific flyway. The water in the rice fields is at an ideal depth for snacking on marsh plants. A bit of grain is left over from the harvest around the Northern California city of Chico, which is gearing up for its annual Snow Goose Festival.

Just past sunset, thousands of the geese rise as one from the marshes here, a primal force riding a soft thunder of black-tipped wings.

There is just one problem with this picture, which results from nearly a century of efforts to sustain the plump white birds along their migratory paths. From the Arctic tundra to the marshes of Chesapeake Bay, snow geese have become far too much of a good thing over the past two decades, crowding out smaller species and destroying their own summer nesting grounds with their nibbling.

In places where the birds sojourn in the winter, Missouri and Mississippi River farmers consider them pests that not only eat grains but also peck and claw at plant roots. In Chincoteague Bay in Maryland, they turned stretches of marsh into open water.

Whether the cause of this population explosion is a warming trend in Northern breeding grounds, an increase in the food supply in their winter homes or a combination, few would dispute that there are too many birds in all five groups of snow geese that migrate along North America’s flyways. “Nationally, snow geese numbers are increasing exponentially,” said Dan Frisk, the manager of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge here. “They are destroying their own habitat.”

Read the whole story

Despite a drop in Stateline casino gaming revenue in November, the state posted gains.

Throughout Nevada revenues jumped 7 percent from November 2010 to November 2011. Casinos brought in $880 million.

On the South Shore, the Gaming Control Board on Wednesday, said the win dropped 7 percent to $14 million.

 — Lake Tahoe News staff report

• Five time Winter X Games medalist Jaime Anderson is providing sponsorships for South Tahoe Middle School students Rosa Rosas and Jesus Vazquez-Macias to ski at her hometown resort Sierra-at-Tahoe.

• Read what Rusty Gregory, CEO of Mammoth Mountain, wrote to employees about this ski season.

• Après Wine Co. in South Lake Tahoe is having a Pray for Snow Party on Friday the 13th from 4-10pm.

• Winter farmers’ markets are on the rise, increasing 38 percent in 2010 to 1,225 markets, according the federal government. New York has the most at 180, with California No. 2 with 153 winter markets.

• It should cost less to get gas at the corner of Ski Run Boulevard and Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe because the Chevron is becoming a Valero.

By Alissa Nourse

Happy New Year to all of you! It seems fitting that my first article for Lake Tahoe News readers is to celebrate January 2012 and National Mentoring Month. First, I want to thank all of the current and past mentors at Tahoe Youth & Family Services and mentors throughout our community. You are heroes unleashing the innate greatness and unlimited potential of children.

I have been a mentor for three years to an 8-year-old girl who was in foster care when I met her. We’ll call her Jasmine to protect her anonymity. When Jasmine was 4 her mother died in car crash, and her father is in and out of prison. Jasmine and I like to ride bikes, go sledding, bake, read, go to the library, watch movies and walk my dog.

During the past two years I have helped her learn how to crack an egg for baking, how to ride her bike without training wheels and practice reading.

Jasmine is sad sometimes. Life has not been easy for her. She now lives with her grandmother and four other children.

We get together about once a week and the time that we spend together gives her the opportunity to learn and grow and build resiliency and skills that will protect her from substance use, teen pregnancy and school failure. She is learning those skills through the successes and encouragement she gets when we are together. We don’t do anything special or spend a lot of money. We spend time, the most precious gift of all.

She gives me the gift of her time and I give her the gift of my time. It’s a simple relationship – but a relationship that is important to both of us.

We just celebrated her 8th birthday with a party at the Carson Valley Swim Center, one of TYFS’ Safe Place sites. My husband and I are also now mentoring Jasmine’s brother Emilio. Emilio is 6 and a total firecracker. He has brought a lot of laughter to our life.

I encourage each of you to consider mentoring a child during National Mentoring Month. Mentor a child involved in one of TYFS’ mentoring programs, volunteer with our Girls’ Project or mentor a child you know already.

For more information about mentoring through TYFS, contact Eli Stevenson at eli@tahoeyouth.org or call (530) 541.2445 and ask for Eli.

10 things to do in January to Celebrate Mentoring Month

1. Learn more about mentoring online.

2. Tell five friends about National Mentoring Month.

3. Visit a mentoring organization like CASA, TYFS or Boys & Girls Club.

4. Remember the mentors in your life; post a tribute online at TYFS’ Facebook page.

5. Meet a local mentor for coffee and talk to them about their experiences.

6. Read the latest research and find resources on mentoring.

7. Serve your community on Martin Luther King Day of Service, Jan. 16, with a child or teen you are mentoring.

8. Make a financial contribution to a mentoring organization in your community.

9. Go to YouTube on Thank Your Mentor Day (Jan. 26) and make the National Mentoring Month videos the most popular of the day.

10. Become a mentor in your community.

Alissa Nourse is executive director of Tahoe Youth & Family Services.

Help with stacking wood is always welcome. That’s just what Dee Phillips got.

Being appreciative of her friend’s Random Act of Kindness has her being today’s winner of Lake Tahoe News’ monthlong RAOK promotion. She will be getting a gift certificate from Cork and More for one of their deli sandwiches.

Random Acts of Kindness is Lake Tahoe News’ way to fire up that spirit of kindness that so often seems to be missing. Acts of kindness are just that — an act of kindness. It doesn’t have to be something grandiose — though some of the comments prove they can be.

Each day a Random Acts of Kindness story is posted with that day’s winner. Past stories may be found under the Random Acts of Kindness category at the top of the page.

For more details about Random Acts of Kindness and the few rules associated with it, check out this story.