South Lake Tahoe figure skater Deirdre Faegre is in Italy to compete in the Junior Grand Prix of figure skating.

The Oct. 5-8 competition at the Trofeo Walter Lombardi is an International Skating Union event.

Deirdre Faegre is in Italy competing. Photo/Provided

In July, Faegre, 17, represented the Ice Skating Association of Ireland at the Liberty Summer Competition in Aston, Pa. Liberty is one of the largest competitions on the East Coast of the United States. That is where competitors often showcase their new programs early in the figure skating season.

El Dorado County Animal Services is extending a temporary reduction on adoption fees for kittens and cats through the end of October.

The fee to adopt a cat or kitten through the El Dorado County Animal Shelters, which is normally $80, will be $40 through Oct. 31.

The $40 feline adoption fee includes vaccinations, health exam, spay/neuter, microchip and de-worming (if needed).

“The kittens and cats are also litter box trained and socialized, so they are ready to go,” Henry Brzezinski, chief of Animal Services, said in a press release.

According to Brzezinski, the discounted fee on feline adoptions which began this summer was extended because of the late kitten season and a continued impact on the shelters with large numbers of cats and kittens.

The animal shelters are open Monday through Saturday from 9:30am-noon and 1-4pm and are located at 1120 Shakori Drive in Meyers and 511 Placerville Drive in Placerville.

Pictures of adoptable pets can be found online via Animal Services’ website.

To reach the shelters with questions about adoption, call (530) 573.7925 in the South Shore or (530) 621.5795 in Placerville.

U.S. Revolution Tour at Northstar-at-Tahoe is Jan. 9-13.

Halfpipe snowboarding, slopestyle snowboarding, halfpipe skiing, slopestyle skiing, skicross, snowboardcross are the events at the Truckee resort.

Jenny Anderson, like many others in South Lake Tahoe, woke up this morning to snow on her deck.

For sending in this photo she will be receiving a Lake Tahoe News T-shirt.

"Guess we need to find our shovel!" Jenny Anderson says.

Read this story to find out how you can get a shirt, too.

Snow is likely to keep falling on-and-off today in the greater Lake Tahoe area.

Chain controls are in affect this morning on Interstate 80, the Mount Rose Highway and Highway 88 near Kirkwood. (Click on the state icons on Lake Tahoe News’ home page for up-to-date info on road conditions.)

At the Heavenly tram terminal on Oct. 5. Photo/Provided

There must be something about Oct. 5 because in 2010 Heavenly Mountain Resort received about 5 inches of snow and this year it tallied about the same amount by 11am Wednesday.

All Lake Tahoe ski resorts are covered in the white stuff, with Kirkwood early on boasting of about close to a foot of snow. Farther south, Mammoth had more than a foot from this quick storm. Both resorts last had people schussing down their slopes in July.

With it dumping hard Wednesday night, most Tahoe resorts today are reporting about a foot and a half of snow on the ground.

While storm totals will increase as the day goes on, forecasters do not anticipate there being enough accumulation for resorts to open this month. A few years ago people were skiing before Halloween. Still, many Tahoe resorts are continuing with their pre- or near Thanksgiving opening dates.

With record snowfall a year ago, forecasters are saying it could be another doozy of a year. The National Weather Service says La Nina conditions are returning to the area.

— Kathryn Reed

Homewood Mountain Resort’s final EIR/EIS was released this week, with meetings on the proposed project set to begin next week.

JMA Ventures, the San Francisco company that owns the West Shore ski area, wants to remake the resort into a destination. The project calls for a mixed-use base on the north area of the resort, a residential base on the south end, a mid-mountain lodge, and support facilities in the upper ski area.

Comments on the environmental document should be made by Oct. 12 so they can be part of the Oct. 13 6pm Placer County North Tahoe Regional Advisory Council meeting at the north base lodge at Homewood.

On Oct. 18 at 10:05am at Granlibakken in Tahoe City the Placer County Planning Commission will discuss Homewood.

TRPA’s Advisory Planning Commission will take up the topic Nov. 9 at 9:30am in Stateline.

Dates for the TRPA Governing Board and Placer County Board of Supervisors to hear the Homewood proposal have not been set.

For more information about the meetings, information about commenting or to receive a copy of the EIR/EIS, call (775) 589.5214, (775) 589.5278, or (530) 581.6284.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

‘Close But No Cigar: Bob Zany’

4 bagels out of 5

By Howie Nave

There have been many documentaries about comedians on the road, comedians who’ve performed overseas entertaining the troops, and comedians doing their act with some kind of back-story, but never have I seen a documentary about a comedian who confesses that he’s never quite “made it.”

By that I mean a household name like a Robin Williams, a Sarah Silverman or even a Seth Meyers.

Bob Zany is well known within the comedic circle and never seems to have a shortage of work when it comes to getting booked either as a stand up or getting parts in movies. But as I’ve commented on numerous times there’s no rhyme or reason getting famous in the comedy world because as much as talent plays a large part of it, there’s also a lot of luck too.

Oh sure, good management, publicists and agents help, but it’s still a crapshoot.

Consider this: Zany got his first break as a kid on “The Gong Show” back in 1977 only to get pulled off by a man dressed as a nun. As Zany described it,

“It was horrible. I was a funny kid in high school but after ‘The Gong Show’, it took me 10 years of work to get an act and pull it off.”

Zany’s documentary chronicles not just his ups and downs throughout his career, but also others who have done quite well and have branched out as writers, actors, performers and those who have earned a good living in comedy. Interviews with more recognizable names lend their talents to Zany’s documentary. Some of those include interviews with George Wallace, Carrot Top, Ralphie May, Frank Caliendo, Fred Willard, Kathleen Madigan, Judd Apatow, Bob & Tom, Rick Messina and scores of others.

A good example of the Zany dichotomy would be the time he beat out Carrot Top on “Star Search,” and now Carrot Top is making a mint from his shows in Vegas, then cut away to Zany doing a one-nighter somewhere in the Midwest.

Zany has done more movies though than Carrot Top, if that’s any conciliation. He appeared with Matt Damon in “The Informant!” and opposite Linda Blair in the lesser known,“Up Your Alley.” His latest “23 Minutes To Sunrise” is slated for release next year and stars Eric Roberts and Nia Peeples.

Zany is also a semi-regular on the nationally syndicated “Bob and Tom Show” with “The Zany Report” (heard locally on my KRLT radio show every Tuesday morning). “Close But No Cigar: Bob Zany” is directed by Jay Kanzler who also directed Zany in “23 Minutes To Sunrise.” Zany’s also done a lot of work on the small screen having appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” the American Comedy Awards, “The Drew Carey Show”, “Roseanne”, “George Burns’ Comedy Week”, “Life in the Fat Lane”, “Rodney Dangerfield’s Really Big Show”, Showtime’s “Full Frontal Comedy”, “Evening at the Improv”, “Caroline’s Comedy Hour”, “Stand-Up Spotlight”, “Star Search”, and 17years with The Jerry Lewis Telethon for The Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“Close But No Cigar: Bob Zany” screens Oct. 9 at 6pm with Zany and director Kanzler in attendance. This is a one-time only screening.

I gave it 4 out of 5 bagels in part because I laughed and cried in several of the same scenes.

Tickets are $25, which also includes a beverage and popcorn. Proceeds benefit The Pet Network for all those dogs and cats that need a home. The movie is 21 and over as there will be a Champagne reception following the screening at the Heavenly Village Cinema in South Lake Tahoe.

Howie Nave is host/emcee/manager of The Improv at Harveys. You can hear him Monday-Friday 6 to 10am on KRLT FM-93.9.

By Kathryn Reed

El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Warren Stracener has ruled there is no harm to the public to keep Kindertown day care center open until next month’s final hearing.

The South Lake Tahoe facility has been embroiled in legal issues for more than two years. The state Department of Social Services keeps trying to close the facility.

The Kindertown bus was sold to pay bills. Photo/LTN file

The latest set of seven citations owner Maria Barrows-Crist is fighting includes a youngster being able to get out of the center who was later found a few blocks away walking along Highway 50.

The 41-page decision by Stracener grants the stay until the Nov. 18 hearing.

“He says there is an issue regarding the severity of the penalty imposed by the (state) department,” attorney Mike McLaughlin said of Stracener’s most recent decision.

Next month Stracener can agree with the state that revocation of Barrows-Crist’s license is appropriate, a lesser penalty or no action.

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 “How to Start a Business” workshop Oct. 13 from noon to 1:30pm at Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort, 6834 North Lake Tahoe Blvd., Tahoe Vista.

Deadline to register is Oct. 11.

This workshop taught by Brent Smith of the Sierra Economic Development Corporation will assist attendees in minimizing their risks and walk them through the steps in the business start-up process. They’ll also learn about free resources.

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

By John L. Smith, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Las Vegas, we need to talk.

We’ve known each other a long time. I’m a proud native Nevadan. My family has been kicking around the Sagebrush State since 1881.

But there comes a time when you have to set personal history aside and do what’s best for the community. That moment has arrived.

It’s time for Clark County to secede from Nevada and attach itself to Arizona. Call it a native son’s modest proposal.

I know it sounds irrational, but hear me out. It’s the only reasonable way for Southern Nevadans to ensure their future economic prosperity. And the relationship is not without historical precedent.

Much of what we call Clark County was once known as Pah-Ute County in the Arizona Territory.

Pah-Ute County was created in 1865 by the 2nd Arizona Territorial Legislature and existed until 1871, when it was clipped like a toenail and made part of the Nevada Territory.

So, you see, we wouldn’t actually be joining Arizona, but rejoining it after 140 years.

An Arizona hookup has other benefits, too.

Unlike our Northern Nevada neighbors, Arizonans actually seem to like us. Las Vegas is the second most popular destination for airline travelers from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

Just think: No more getting an earful from Renoites about how Las Vegans are ruining their Silver State.

Read the whole story