As part of its Chamber EDucation program, the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Sierra Economic Development Corporation is hosting a Business Identity Theft Compliance Workshop on Oct. 26, noon to 1:30pm, at Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort, 6834 North Lake Blvd., Tahoe Vista.

Deadline to register is Oct. 24.

Attendees will learn about identity theft laws and how they affect businesses, business liability when there is a breach, the types of identity theft and behavior awareness, as well as tools for creating a policy to protect their business.

The cost is $55/person, and participants need to bring their lunch. To register, call the Sierra Economic Development Corporation at (530) 823.4703 or email info@sedcorp.biz.

The Tahoe Mountain Sports 5th Annual Pro/Am Disc Golf Tournament was a huge success; selling out to the full 90- player capacity for the first time in five years.

The Oct. 8-9 tournament, a PDGA Sanctioned “B” Pro/Am event, brought high-caliber disc golfers from nine states across the country to the Tahoe Vista course.

Top results:

Pro Open Men’s: Jere Eshelman (1st), David Madruga (2nd), Nathan Genthner (3rd)

Pro Open Women’s: Nancy Shillinger (1st), Leah Feltenstein (2nd), Nicole Bradley (3rd)

Masters: Steve Loyd (1st), Scott Miller (2nd), Nick Stellern (3rd)

Grandmasters: Jeff Fiedler (1st), Ken Swafford (2nd), Doug Werner (3rd)

Advanced: Neal Bownds (1st), Chris Bristow (2nd), Tony Lockard (3rd)

Advanced Masters: Terry Woods (1st), Don Hansler (2nd), Blake Tresan (3rd)

Advanced Grandmasters: Scott Murray (1st), Kevin McDermott (2nd), Doug Greenwood (3rd)

Intermediate: Jeremy Tjensvold (1st), Edward Poynor (2nd), Rory McLaughlin (3rd)

Intermediate Women: Cyndi Baker (1st), Mindy Carbajal (2nd), Kristen Kirkland (3rd).

Challenged by today’s industrial food system, many small farms are looking for new and creative ways to sell their products directly to consumers.

Western Nevada College Specialty Crop Institute offers a workshop on “Direct Marketing for Small Farms” on Nov. 5, 9am-5pm, at WNC Carson City campus, 2201 West College Pkwy.

Cost is $35 when registering by Oct. 27 and $45 after Oct. 27. Lunch is included.

Participants will learn how to develop and execute a simple, effective marketing plan to fit their small farm enterprise. Industry experts will present sessions that include branding and authentic messaging, media relations, effective signs and displays, Facebook and social media, and more. They will discuss sales options including farmers markets and farm stands, restaurants, subscription farms, u-pick, and other direct-marketing opportunities.

Featured speaker Vance Corum of Farmers’ Markets America is a direct marketing specialist who has assisted small farm entrepreneurs and farmers markets for more than 30 years. He is coauthor of the book “The New Farmers Market”.

Jonathan Wright, food and drink editor for the Reno Gazette-Journal and RENO magazine, will present ideas on how to make friends with the media, learn interview skills and get pertinent messages to the public.

The WNC Specialty Crop Institute is an innovative program that teaches alternative farming methods. Funding for this project is provided by the Washington State University Western Center for Risk Management Education and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

For information/registration, contact Ann Louhela at (775) 351.2551 or louhelaa@wnc.edu.

By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times

The California golden trout — the official state fish — will not receive protection under the Endangered Species Act after a 10-year review of scientific information and conservation programs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday.

“Conservation measures throughout the trout’s historic range have done much to protect the species,” service spokeswoman Sarah Swenty said in a statement. “In large part because of those measures, the service determined that the intensity of threats does not indicate the species is endangered, or likely to become so in the foreseeable future.”

Trout Unlimited filed a petition in 2001 asking the government to list the golden trout, which grows to less than a foot long and is often reddish gold with brilliant orange highlights and blue-gray spots on its belly and fins. Genetically pure strains of California golden trout can be found in just 15 miles of Sierra Nevada high-country streams.

Read the whole story

Some people are still jumping – which is a good thing if the effort is going to set a world record.

At Tahoe Valley Elementary School on Tuesday, 431 students and teachers did jumping jacks for one minute without stopping.

“Our state PE organization, CAHPERD, was promoting the record attempt and I signed up our school with the support of Mark Romagnolo, our principal at Tahoe Valley,” TVES PE teacher Seth Martin told Lake Tahoe News. “NationalGeographic for Kids will be collecting paperwork from all locations and then will send them on to the Guinness Book of World records for certification. Tahoe Valley will receive a special certificate for having over 100 jumpers (Tuesday) if the record is broken.”

Hundreds of South Tahoe students may be part of a world record. Photo/Seth Martin

First lady Michelle Obama got the contest going Oct. 11 at the White House with Al Roker and figure skater Michelle Kwan.

The event ends at noon today.

People are jumping all over the place – including the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

• On Oct. 15 participating businesses at the Village Shopping Center in South Lake Tahoe will donate a portion of that day’s revenue to South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center to support efforts to stop domestic violence. Free Starbucks coffee to the first 50 shoppers who stop by the Shop to Stop booth.

• Sierra Resort’s annual Keep Sierra Clean Day was moved to Oct. 16 because of the snow on the slopes last weekend. Go online for more info.

• The Shane McConkey Foundation in Squaw has donated $20,000 to Tahoe Truckee Unified School District and $10,000 to Protect Our Winters.

• Lake Tahoe Community College is calling its community education program Connect – as in, get connected.

• On Oct. 20 at 10:20am, millions of Californians will “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in the Great California ShakeOut, a statewide earthquake drill.

By Kathryn Reed

ZEPHYR COVE – Students in Douglas County who want to participate in extra-curricular activities have apparently gotten the message – do drugs and you are on the bench.

The school board on Tuesday heard a report about the program. This is the third academic year the policy has been in place.

Of the 231 drug tests given to Whittell High students in 2010-11, not one came back positive. At Douglas High, eight of the 395 tests were positive, with one student refusing to take the test. Douglas is the only school in DCSD to have positive results.

The random drug tests look for alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines (valium), cocaine, marijuana, methadone, expanded opiates (codeine, hydrocodone, oxycodone), phencyclidine and propoxyphene (darvon).

“It’s great drug counseling is part of it so perhaps it will change their behavior,” board member Teri Jamin said.

Students were surveyed; with 64 percent saying the drug program did not deter them from initiating drug or alcohol use. Almost half (43 percent) said the program promotes a safer, healthier school learning environment.

At the end of this academic year parents will also be surveyed to gather their opinions about the program.

Here is information about the first year the policy was in place.

I like all the creative decorations — like this house on the corner of Jeffery Street and Tahoe Keys Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe.

— Kathryn Reed

To the community,

Let me preface this opinion with this statement: I believe that teaching history to our future presidents is a waste of time. “History repeats itself” because it is taught to do so. Let’s break that cycle. What is about to happen tomorrow is infinitely more important than what happened (under totally different circumstances) in the past.

In the 16th, 17th, 18th centuries, England ruled the world because she had a navy that said so. Then Napoleon said that god was on the side of the biggest cannon. He was right until he got to Russia.

During the First World War, numbers counted until the tank was invented. Hitler believed that and got to within 80 miles of Moscow before several other factors shot him down.

During the Second World War, cracking the Japanese radio codes and superior air power and production capabilities made the difference.

So ask yourself this: Who controls the world today? China does – and without a shot being fired. Can you imagine what would happen if China suddenly decided to stop all exports?

Wars of tomorrow will not be fought with ships, guns, tanks, material wealth, or even air power. Communication is the new name of the game and in my opinion should have been employed in Iraq some eight year ago.

Tuesday’s incident with Iran trying to terrorize Washington, D.C., demands immediate counter offensive action. I suggest a total isolation of the country of Iran from the rest of the world until they come to the realization that they cannot control us. They must submit to being a partner in the world around them.

That means a total isolation of the nation – all roads leading in and out are closed by conventional tactics – all communication between individuals, politicians, government agencies, and commerce will be blocked by electronic means. I’m convinced that we can do that.

When they get hungry, or when their commercial interests wield enough power, they can send an emissary by horseback to inform the world that they are finally willing to cooperate.

Then let the U.S. celebrate for a significant victory without a shot being fired. And forget Connecticut – that’s history!

Jim Hildinger, South Lake Tahoe

By Robert Schimmel

You’ve got talent? Absolutely. But it’s still a great question in this day of unrealistic “reality” and overdone “wannabe” shows dialed in on huge, detail saturated LCD screens. The hard to digest truth is we’ve all got it.

It’s not the end of the story, but really just the beginning because so few believe it or understand that talent is the end product of passion, creativity and perseverance. Without debating what actually makes up talent as this end product, my dad (a nationally recognized watercolor artist and teacher) was one with an abundance of it and would definitely be wondering why I’m writing an arts column when I’ve been whining about my own budget – forget the impossible national one – and not painting or doing my own art. My answer? Creativity, dad, creativity (as well as a desire to be proactive in forging a better understanding of it and acceptance for the art it engenders).

Robert Schimmel

So much of what keeps us ticking is just that, creativity in all its nuances, and yet most of us fall into the trap of saying, “I’ve got no talent” or “I can’t even draw a stick figure!” Really? Just what is it you call organizational skills, people pleasing and problem solving, PR, sales, widget making, construction, blue or white collar, etc? I’ll tell you — it’s creativity wrapped in camouflage.

Your talent is not mine and vice-versa, but we need all of it to survive literally, figuratively, and spiritually. For some reason, though, the artist’s end product is normally considered non-functional or impractical (all the while being extremely pleasing to experience or live with and quietly coveted) and we too often discount the impact or reality of the “business of art.”

The creative efforts of the artist, no matter who you lump into this category, are just more obvious and marketed as such. Yet because of the timeless mystery surrounding the terms “artist” and “creative” most of the public can’t connect with or understand how creativity, when packaged as an artist, actually has the potential for helping Tahoe thrive not just survive.

I am definitely of the opinion that “more is better” when it comes to art and creativity. I also know the cumulative effect of encouraging our artists and all who support them is to grow an atmosphere and business climate of excitement conducive to tourism and ultimately to the health of our economy. Plenty of examples of communities exist out there, which sustain themselves primarily through the arts and all its peripheral commerce and activities.

We all know Tahoe can compete with any locale when it comes to natural beauty, so let’s pay attention, be proactive for the arts and their proponents, and make “more is better” an overused phrase. The importance of art to our daily enjoyment of life, to the relationships around us and to our future is staggering.

Robert Schimmel is a professional artist and teacher in South Lake Tahoe as well as host of “Lake Tahoe Art Scene” on KTHO radio on Thursdays at 5:15pm.