By Kathryn Reed

This is going to be the most expensive Thanksgiving dinner you’ve ever had.

At least that’s what the American Farm Bureau Federation is saying. Each year the organization prices out what a turkey dinner for 10 people will cost. It’s gone up 13 percent since 2010 – the largest one-year spike since 1990 — with the total cost being the most since 1986 when the federation first started doing its calculations.

I pooh-poohed the study when I first heard about it because I didn’t think anyone could serve a Thanksgiving meal to 10 people for $49.20.

Part of the problem is my menu would be different than the Farm Bureau’s. If they invited you for dinner, you would have turkey, frozen green peas, pumpkin pie from a can with real whipped cream, whole milk, stuffing from a bag, store bought rolls, fresh cranberries, and sweet potatoes.

I decided to price a similar meal at Grocery Outlet in South Lake Tahoe this past weekend on the assumption it’s the least expensive place to buy groceries on the South Shore.

I found a 12-14 pound turkey selling for $14.99, 2-pound bag of frozen green beans for $2.99, butternut squash $1.99 each, Truckee sourdough baguette $2.39, a bag of granny smith apples $3.99, a 5-pound bag of russet potatoes for $1.99, and a bag of stuffing mix for $1.89.

So, in Tahoe, I would say people are going to be able to make a basic Thanksgiving meal for 10 people for less than $50. And if there are leftovers, one could say you are eating for free.

I’ll admit it’s been a while since I’ve hosted a Thanksgiving dinner. For some reason people veer away from a vegetarian’s house on this holiday.

But I have had a bird on my table before. I just didn’t cook it. That’s what mom is for. And my sister brought the meat thermometer. I know we didn’t have 10 people and that it cost more than $50. And this was a few years ago. I decided if I were going to serve meat, it was going to be good meat. The turkey came from Overland Meat Co.

I only make homemade apple pie. A friend bought me some pippins from Apple Hill earlier this month for $1.29 pound. I don’t know how many pounds there were, but the bag could have made 1½ 9-inch pies. I didn’t know until I saw it at the store on Saturday that apple pie mix is available in a can. It makes me nauseous thinking about it. (I’m a huge apple pie snob.) I read the list of ingredients and couldn’t pronounce all of them.

I have no problem, though, with making a pumpkin pie from a can.

My family doesn’t do stuffing out of a bag or a box. In fact, mom’s is so good that when I visit her we love to have it as a meal or snack – in months other than November.

We don’t do frozen veggies as a general rule either – at least not as a side dish. Ironically, though, frozen and canned veggies can be better than the fresh stuff at grocery stores because they are picked at their peak instead of too early – as is often the case for what’s in the produce aisle. The other good thing about frozen-canned veggies is you can use them when that particular item is not in season. This can be better than using something imported from another country where who knows what pesticide may have been applied to the field or orchard.

Just watch the salt content, especially on canned products.

Other things that drive up my grocery bill are premium vanilla ice cream for the apple pie, wine (Champagne is good idea to pair with turkey), spices for the various dishes, appetizers, snacks, even napkins and candles.

To lower the price of your holiday grocery bill, coupons are one way. Red Plum is just one of many online coupon sites. Some of the major turkey producers like Butterball and Hormel have discounts on their sites. The Grocery Game has been helping shoppers save money for 10 years.

By Brian Nordli, Reno Gazette-Journal

When skier Daron Rahlves is asked about the legacy he will leave for future skiers, the answer is different almost every time.

Minutes before he presents to the country’s top ski boot fitters at Circus Circus in Reno last week, it’s to be known as someone who loved the sport and inspired others to ski.

Daron Rahlves

Rahlves, 38, recently entered the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. He will be inducted into the inaugural class of the Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition International Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, for his accomplishments as an alpine downhill and skicross athlete. The honors invoke reflection on a completed career, from his 12 World Cup race victories, seven U.S. National titles and four Olympic selections. Yet, the answer keeps changing, because Rahlves considers his career to be anything but over.

“It’s almost like, ‘Oh, you’re retiring from this?’ No it’s not retiring, it’s transitioning,” Rahlves said. “I’m still trying to have success in a different way in the sport. Now, it’s getting more interested in the adventure side.”

Jon Killoran, CEO of the Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition, said Rahlves was a near-unanimous choice of the hall’s selection committee. Rahlves grew up on the mountains in Tahoe, and carved a career out of his passion for going fast. Killoran, who is working to bring the 2022 Winter Olympics to the region, said when his name is mentioned to Tahoe residents, their eyes light up.

“They’re enthralled with his championship-caliber racing and Olympic endeavors,” Killoran said. “He’s the kind of guy with his (Banzai Tour) and work with Sugar Bowl that gives back to the sport.”

Read the whole story

By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times

As Americans — including even young children — continue to get fatter, their risk for heart disease is climbing too. So a panel of experts now is recommending that all kids have their cholesterol checked at least once between ages 9 and 11 and again between 17 and 21.

Although children typically don’t have heart attacks and strokes, evidence has been mounting for years that the roots of those diseases begin early in life, and the rising rates of obesity have only fueled the risk.

That means doctors should start looking for signs of future heart disease in all kids, said the authors of a report sponsored by the federal government that is the first comprehensive guide on heart risk management in children.

Such guidelines already exist to address heart disease risk in adults, but until now there has been none outlining what works best for children.

Developed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the guidelines were welcomed by heart specialists and pediatricians, who said they were long overdue.

“It’s a major step forward,” said Dr. Alan Lewis, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles who was not involved in crafting the report.

The guidelines were several years in the making, said panel chairman Dr. Stephen R. Daniels, pediatrician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Its recommendations, published Friday in the journal Pediatrics, are based on studies on all aspects of childhood risk factors for heart disease, carefully graded on the strength of the evidence, he said. Earlier guidelines for child heart health focused on solitary risk factors, such as high blood pressure or weight.

“Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in our society,” Daniels added. “We know the process that leads to those deaths begins in childhood. We also know that people who are able to maintain a low risk through childhood and early adulthood have a lower risk.

“If they can reach age 50 with low-risk status, they are very unlikely to have heart disease. That is the payoff here,” he said.

The report was developed to address the predicted upswing in heart disease rates caused by the obesity epidemic, said Dr. Elaine M. Urbina, director of preventive cardiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, who was a member of the panel.

About one-third of American children are overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963, according to the American Heart Assn. Approximately 17 percent of kids ages 2 to 19 — 12.5 million — are obese.

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The Lake Tahoe Historical Society will host the third annual Holiday in History on Dec. 2-4 at the Lake Tahoe Museum (3058 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe).

On that Friday the museum will be open from noon-8pm with activities all afternoon, holiday music, take pictures in front of the Victorian tree, tour the 1930s cabin, shop the bookstore for gifts – DVDs, posters, photo reprints, cards and find treasures on our bargain table.

On the Saturday and Sunday the same activities take place form 11am-3pm.

Admission is free.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews are scheduled to continue prescribed fire operations on Kingsbury Grade near North Benjamin today.

In addition, operations will begin near Logan Creek in Douglas County and Granlibakken on the West Shore, weather permitting.

Operations may continue through the week.

Residents and visitors can expect to see smoke from these prescribed fire project areas. Smoke may be visible on Kingsbury Grade, Highway 50 near Logan Creek, and on Highway 89 on the West shore.

The Forest Service strives to minimize the impacts of smoke on local communities. Smoke-sensitive residents should consider staying indoors and keeping doors, windows and outside vents closed.

To directly receive prescribed fire updates, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority winter tree is Dec. 2 from 5-7pm at the South Lake Tahoe Senior Center (3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd.).

Instead of standing outside the cold like years past, people will be able to take refuge inside the senior center and Tahoe Art League Gallery.

Free sleigh rides will be offered by Borges Sleigh Rides.

Disc jockey Derek Tarpey will spin holiday tunes, while the South Lake Tahoe Children’s Choral Society provides live music.

Tours of the Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum and 1930s Log Cabin will be available.

The community menorah will also be lighted.

Bring a camera to take photos with Santa inside the South Lake Tahoe Senior Citizens Center or in front of the Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum’s Victorian Tree.

Food and toy donations will be collected for Christmas Cheer and Caps For Kids.

For more information, call (530) 541.5255 or email info@LTVA.org.

North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District will be pile burning throughout the district, weather permitting, through the winter months and into the new year.

Smoke resulting from the pile burns will intermittently affect the surrounding area. People who are smoke sensitive are advised to stay inside and close their windows and doors as much as possible until the smoke dissipates.

For further information, call (775) 831.0351, ext. 0.

By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun

A prominent gaming attorney said he doesn’t expect an online poker bill to be passed anytime soon, even though the demand is present, states are clamoring for tax revenue and sufficient technological safeguards would be in place to prevent underage players from gambling.

I. Nelson Rose, a distinguished senior professor at the Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif., said he’s pessimistic about the passage of legislation because federal lawmakers this session have demonstrated they can’t come to an agreement on any significant legislation.

Rose was a speaker Thursday at a two-day conference on online gaming law at Aria. Many of Southern Nevada’s leading gaming attorneys are attending the conference, which features scholars, regulators and legal experts on topics ranging from the prospects of passage of online gaming legislation to the obstacles European online gaming companies will have partnering in ventures in the United States if and when Internet gambling is approved.

Rose said there are many potential pathways for the legalization of online gaming, and he listed six states that have the lead in exploiting online poker once approved.

In addition to Nevada, which is expected to approve online gaming regulations and standards next month, Rose named New Jersey, Iowa, California, Florida and Massachusetts as having the inside track. New Jersey and Iowa already have regulatory regimes in place, and the other three states have large populations or strong gaming cultures.

Other states that could exploit online poker, if approved, include Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Most of those states have either strong tribal gaming centers or active commercial gaming.

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By Justin Keppler, Ski Channel

It is with great remorse and sadness we report Jamie Pierre was killed by an avalanche in Utah on Sunday.

The legendary skier, cliff hucker and notoriously wild spirited Pierre was taken over a cliff in an avalanche triggered while riding with a friend at Snowbird Mountain Resort in Utah.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Pierre triggered the avalanche while snowboarding with a friend near the South Chute area around 3:15 pm Sunday afternoon. The area they were riding would have technically been considered within the bounds of the resort had it been open. While his friend was unharmed, Pierre’s injuries from his fall proved fatal and was dead by the time officials arrived on the scene.

The mountains around Snowbird, Utah have been getting pounded with snow this season and have accumulated 14 inches of fresh snowfall in the past 48 hours alone. The mountain is not officially open yet, which means there hasn’t been any avalanche control done on the resort slopes. Between early season conditions and the recent accumulation, the resulting snowpack became extremely dangerous.

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• The U.S. Forest Service on Nov. 11 signed off on the Squaw-Alpine deal, with the expectation of KSL Capital Partners becoming majority owner and JMA Ventures minority of the two resorts on Nov. 15. The new company is called Squaw Valley Ski Holdings Inc.

• This is Caltrans’ El Dorado-Tahoe road work schedule for this week.

• Caesars Foundation donated a meal delivery van to Sierra Senior Services, a nonprofit that assists seniors in the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee area.

• The Mallory Foundation is giving $200,000 to Carson-Tahoe Regional Medical Center to renovate the emergency department.

• Murder suspect Brad Macewan will be tried in El Dorado County Superior Court in South Lake Tahoe.  A trial setting conference is scheduled for Nov. 21.