El Dorado County Community Emergency Response Team program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.

Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

The CERT Academy is offered to prospective CERT volunteers through the El Dorado County Office of Emergency Services in cooperation with Georgetown Fire District.

The academy consists of 24 hours in six day:

May 8, 6:30-8:30pm

May 9, 6:30-8:30pm

May 10, 8:30am-4:30pm

May 15, 6:30-8:30pm

May 16, 6:30-8:30pm

May 17, 8:30am-4:30pm.

Although the training is being held in Georgetown it is open to all county residents.

For more information or to sign up, call Laura Webster 530.333.0214 or Bob Maherly 530.823.6680.

By Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times

Far older than most of the regulars at his weekly South Bay swing-dancing class, the World War II veteran invariably shuffles in, sidles up to his instructor and unwittingly gives voice to a scientific truth: “I’m here for my anti-aging therapy and happiness treatment.”

Dancing has long been lauded as a great physical workout, yet research has increasingly shown that social dancing, such as swing, a lively, improvisational style that requires rapid-fire decision-making in concert with a partner, is also beneficial to both mind and spirit.

Doctors have prescribed her dance classes for patients dealing with depression, and many students have recovered from “horrible divorces” while learning the free-spirited Lindy Hop or the jive on her dance floor, says Rusty Frank, who has taught swing dancing since 1988 at her Lindy by the Sea school in El Segundo.

Engineering students at Northwestern University in Illinois are encouraged to swing dance in Whole Body Thinking, a class aimed at helping science majors, who are known for relying on the analytical left side of the brain, to flex their creative right side. At Cal State Long Beach, students who are thinking about dropping out have been advised to take social dance classes before making the decision.

Dancing also strengthens the immune system and increases the ability to deal with stress, says Phil Martin, a dance instructor at Long Beach since 1983, who conducts research on the exercise benefits of dance.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe voters are open to spending money on infrastructure, but they don’t want to foot the entire bill.

The city submitted a few questions for a recent survey that Lake Tahoe Community College contracted for in regards to its proposed general obligation bond.  The city paid for 25 percent of the survey at a cost of less than $5,000.

“Since the college was conducting a survey, which is typically expensive, it was a good opportunity to see if for very little cost the city could tag onto the college’s survey,” City Manager Nancy Kerry explained.

Harrison Avenue upgrades are being funded by a variety of sources. Photo/LTN file

The results show that 65 percent of voters would support increasing the hotel tax. On previous city surveys the voters have said the same thing – it would be fine to up the transient occupancy tax.

When it came to be willing to support a sales tax for infrastructure, slightly more than half the voters, or 54 percent, said do it.

“The City Council does not have on its work plan to go to the voters anytime soon on a tax increase,” Kerry told Lake Tahoe News.

Still, money is needed if the city is going to make any kind of dent in upgrading, maintaining and bringing some of its infrastructure to code.

“We also need money for recreation upgrades and facilities and services. The question is whether there is an appetite of the community to invest in these key strategies – infrastructure and recreation – or if funding will need to come from another source,” Kerry said.

The massive Harrison Avenue project, which has started, in part is being funded by the city taking out a loan.

Here are the actual survey results.

By Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun

For most people, Kentucky Derby betting season lasts about three days.

It’s much longer in Las Vegas, as the anticipation for the annual Run for the Roses builds over the course of several months from the moment sports books first release future odds on the race.

William Hill sports books posted their initial lines for Saturday’s race in November — to an enormous response.

“It’s amazing, to be honest, how much business we’ve written this year,” William Hill Director of Trading Nick Bogdanovich said. “It’s scary. It’s more than I’ve ever seen. It’s at least double over last year already.”

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

Winter weather, no matter the month, calls for comfort food. Lasagnas and casseroles fall into that category.

And because I have a thing for mushrooms, the recipe below had my taste buds and stomach calling for more – and a little too often. I kept finding myself heating up more in the microwave. We are rifling through this so fast I don’t know if it would freeze well.

There are several moving parts at once, so it’s not a recipe to make if you are going to be distracted by the phone or kids or the television.

Fusilli or bow tie pasta would work great. You want a type that is chunky. And take note the measurement is for cooked pasta, not raw.

Wild Mushroom Pasta

1 T olive oil

1 C onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 (8-ounce) packages exotic mushroom blend, chopped

2 T fresh oregano, chopped

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

5 T fresh parsley, chopped

1 T unsalted butter

1½ T all-purpose flour

2 C nonfat milk

2 C shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

4 C hot cooked pasta

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 3 minutes or until tender. Add mushrooms. Cook for 8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in oregano, salt, black pepper, nutmeg and tomato sauce. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Combine eggs and parsley in a large bowl. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle flour evenly into pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk to flour mixture, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; let stand a few minutes. Stir in 1 cup cheese. Gradually add hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add pasta to milk mixture; toss to combine.

Spread half of pasta mixture in an 11 x 7 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with mushroom mixture. Top with remaining pasta mixture. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Broil 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Let stand 15 minutes.

Improvements are coming to Fallen Leaf Lake dam and surrounding trails. Photo/LTN file

Upgrading the trails around Fallen Leaf Lake and creating new ones could take five years, with the first phase beginning next week.

This summer a new bike path from Fallen Leaf Campground to the Pope Baldwin Bike Path will be built. (The latter trail is better known as the Camp Rich paved path.) Several trails on the north end of Fallen Leaf Lake will receive upgrades, and others will be rerouted and reconstructed. A number of user-created trails will be decommissioned.

The trail along the west side of Taylor Creek that runs north and south will remain, but be improved. This includes slope stabilization. The Clark and Church trails will also stay.

The polo field parking lot near the entrance to Valhalla has been incorporated into the Tallac Site plans. Improvements to the Camp Richardson paved trail will be part of the Camp Rich plans. While the projects are separate, the Forest Service has an eye on the big picture so everything is designed to flow together and complement the other.

Expect temporary closures or restrictions in the areas being worked on. The U.S. Forest Service, which owns the land, is warning that noise and visual impacts may affect the Fallen Leaf campground and surrounding areas.

Two of the goals of the project are to reduce congestion and user conflicts. These trails are heavily accessed by locals and visitors. The hope is that with more trails it will better disperse users.

The entire project area encompasses 14,960 acres on the South Shore.

Future work will include reconstruction and rerouting portions of the Mount Tallac Trail, new trailheads and parking areas developed in several locations along the Highway 89 between Camp Richardson and Spring Creek Road, and the last one-quarter mile of the Camp Rich trail will to be moved to a more appropriate crossing and access point on Highway 89.

The 80-year-old dam at Fallen Leaf Lake-Taylor Creek will also be revamped to allow for cyclists to ride over it without having to lift a bike up steps.

Plans call for a new trail connecting the Pope Baldwin Bike Path from the Spring Creek Road area to Fallen Leaf Lake, a trail connecting the Fallen Leaf Campground area to Angora Ridge, and a trail connecting Angora Ridge to the North Upper Truckee neighborhoods. All of that is dependent on money.

The work scheduled for this season comes from the Forest Service Legacy Trails Capital Maintenance and Improvement Fund.

More info about the project is online.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By John Breech, CBS Sports

If you watched the NFC Championship Game on television back in January, you may have noticed that there weren’t a lot of 49ers fans at the game. One of the reasons for that is that the game was in Seattle. So that makes sense.

Another reason 49ers fans weren’t there though is because the Seahawks didn’t want them there: The team restricted ticket sales to only the fans who had a credit card billing address in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Alaska or Hawaii — and Canada. Let’s not forget Canada. Canadians could buy tickets too.

Thanks to the restrictions, there were 44 states where fans couldn’t purchase tickets. One of those states? Nevada. And now one fan in that state is suing.

John E. Williams III has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the NFL because he says the Seahawks and the league used a selective ticket process that violates the law.

Read the whole story

All fall sports athletes in the Tahoe area are eligible to receive a free preparticipation physical on May 6 from 5-7pm at Douglas High School and June 2 at 5:30pm in the Blue Gym at South Tahoe High School.

The physical includes: vital signs, orthopedic evaluations, and medical screenings.

All students must bring completed and signed history and parental consent forms to their physical, or a parent or guardian must be present. Forms may be picked up in the school office or through the athletic coach.

For details, call 530.543.5537.

Credit Stateline’s casinos for pushing Nevada’s gaming revenues into the win column for March.

The South Shore casino take was up nearly 32 percent in March compared to 2013, with profits of $14.93 million.

Statewide gaming revenues were up 7.6 percent compared to the prior year at $982 million. A lot of this had to do with a surge in baccarat.

Reno casinos didn’t fare as well, with a decline of 10.6 percent.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

Changing the world one bar of soap at a time.

That is the goal of four Chapman University students, including 2013 South Tahoe High School graduate John Cefalu. The four (Max Wysong, Ajay Dhameja and Daniel Cruz) have formed the nonprofit Health 2 Humanity to help orphans in Africa.

They have created their own line of soap. Through trial and error working out of their dorm rooms and a garage they came up with a 5-ounce bar made of natural ingredients. They now have a manufacturer producing the soap.

John Cefalu with children he met in Kenya in 2013. Photos/Provided

To start with, an orphanage in Kenya with more than 300 kids is the beneficiary. Each child is getting a bar of soap every month. Eventually the four friends want to reach as many orphanages as possible.

“We could just give soap and call it a day, but when the bar is gone where are they left?” Cefalu told Lake Tahoe News. “Our thought process is we teach them how to make it themselves. It helps them have economic opportunities.”

For every 250 bars of soap that are sold, Health 2 Humanity is able to sponsor another orphanage. Bars cost $7.99. (They are available at Gaia-Licious in South Lake Tahoe.)

Cefalu came up with the idea last summer when he went on an excursion to Kenya and saw people were living without the basic needs that he took for granted.

“It really changed my life and shaped what I wanted to do in the future,” the business major said.

Health 2 Humanity is partnering with Think Kindness so it can operate as a nonprofit as well as benefit from that group’s experience.

Money raised from soap purchases are divided in half.

“Fifty percent is put into a fund to bring resources and training to a developing country, while at the same time we teach someone how to make soap and also how to run a business,” Cefalu said. “Then, after the person we train makes the soap, a bar is given to each child in the orphanage that is being sponsored. Whatever soap is left over is then sold by the person that we train and hire and 100 percent of the profits from their soap goes back to the sponsored orphanage.”

Soap is available at Gaia-Licious in South Tahoe for $7.99.

The other half goes back into Health 2 Humanity to make more soap, for marketing and other overhead expenses, including what will likely be at least two trips to Africa a year.

Besides the hygiene benefits, the goal is people will be taught how to make the soap and be able to sell it for a profit – thus there is ideally a huge economic benefit to the area by providing jobs. The end goal is each orphanage becomes self-sufficient and the men of Health 2 Humanity move on to the next location that is in need of their help.

—

Notes:

• More info is available at Health 2 Humanity’s website or contact John Cefalu at 530.307.2314 or cefalu@health2humanity.org.

• The group takes donations in addition to selling bars of soap.