Turn the clocks back an hour because Nov. 6 at 2am those in California and Nevada — and other places — return to standard time.

North Tahoe Public Utility District is changing operating hours for the North Tahoe Regional Park, Tahoe Vista Recreation Area Boat Launch and Coon Street Boat Launch.

The North Tahoe Regional Park will remain open until 8pm through September. From Oct. 1-Nov. 30 the park will close at 7pm. Winter hours begin Dec. 1, with the park closing at 5pm.

The boat launch at Tahoe Vista Recreation Area will be open seven days a week from 7am-7pm through Sept. 25, 2011. From Sept. 29-Oct. 30 the boat launch will be open Thursday–Sunday from 7am-5pm.

Coon Street Boat Launch has closed for the season, effective immediately, due to lack of available trained staff.

Tahoe Vista Recreation Area will continue to be staffed in compliance with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Blue Boating and aquatic invasive species inspections. When no staff is present, the launches will be closed and locked.

By Kathryn Reed

No tuition, manual typewriters, and classes in a motel – that was then. Computers in nearly every classroom, multiple buildings on a real campus, and a fee for all of that – this is now.

A video showcasing Lake Tahoe Community College from 1974-2011 was part of the Sept. 15 inauguration of the two-year institution’s fourth president, Kindred Murillo.

LTCC President Kindred Murillo is ready to make the college a leader. Photo/Kathryn Reed

“With Dr. Kindred Murillo, we are filled with hope,” LTCC board President Fritz Wenck told those gathered in Duke Theatre.

Jim Duke, who the theater is named after and the college’s first president, spoke, as did his successor, Guy Lease. Paul Killpatrick, the school’s third leader, was not in attendance.

Murillo acknowledged the large shoes she has to fill, but said she is up to the commitment. She has been at the helm since July. Fall quarter begins Monday.

“We need to honor our past to move forward,” Murillo said. “The community is ready to move forward and they want us to be a leader.”

She said each decision she makes is done so with first asking how it will impact students. She also assured the group of mostly college employees that she did not take the job as a steppingstone to be president of a larger college.

Murillo’s intent is to make LTCC the college of choice in California.

By Robert Schimmel

What a phenomenal week(s) our nation experienced leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. From celebrating our innumerable heroes and soothing our still tender hearts and seared memories to encouraging vigilance along with forgiveness, this was a period of mixed joy, catharsis and hand holding.

Though I didn’t lose any immediate family members due to 9/11, I contributed heavily to Kleenex stock one afternoon as my heartfelt empathy for those less fortunate grabbed me by the tear ducts when I considered life without my beloved daughters or siblings. And now that the high-energy decompression process and emotional jet lag are constructively abating for everyone, I would like to share a few art-specific thoughts and encouraging suggestions with you.

Robert Schimmel

In my column last weekend I expressed feelings regarding the importance of art and artists to the overall healing and health (financial, spiritual and mental) of an individual and a community. My intention was not to elevate the artist because we all play a part in the success of our community in myriad ways, but rather to bring the artist’s role to center stage for consideration. My point now is to suggest that the artist is inadvertently, and possibly even reluctantly, the beneficiary of a self-medicating gift that allows for his creativity to not only participate in others ultimate emotional healing from times of crisis but also his own direct venting of deleterious, emotional steam or draining of a potentially poisoned pond of anger or guilt.

Yes, that was a mouthful, and I hope you get my point: the artist is very fortunate that creativity expunges negativity when reasonable care is taken in its expression. So, how do you engage?

Become creative, learn to express yourself, indulge in the sandbox of non-judgmental play and become excited about any manner of odd behaviors you once thought childish (or at the very least immature for an adult). Who knows, you might even establish a new medium or personal therapy that will benefit others and possibly reap financial as well as internal rewards.

Now you’re going to rebut with the “I have no talent” routine, right? Look at the benefits of changing your habits and taking on some artistic behavior, like attending a watercolor or oil painting workshop for beginners, a dance class (yes, line dancing, hip hop, waltz, you name it), music (instrument or voice) lessons, a writing class, etc.

Just what are the bennies? Without becoming gooey or highly medical, they are a distracted and consumed mind seeking to either produce something for the pure joy of it and/or participate in an activity that opens up the heart and soul to possibilities beyond dwelling on deep and painful emotions to which we often become slaves. You know and have heard this one before: get a hobby. Well, why not? Hobbies are often in the creativity camp and, even more altruistically, in the healing one.

More important, if you are already creatively active and want to share the joy of art’s magical qualities, allow me this final plea from Nancy Libby of South Lake Tahoe who says in response to last week’s column: “… (your point) about making people spiritually and emotionally healthy is a truth that goes far beyond understanding. … our son, who is now 20 (and finds great pleasure in art)… is developmentally disabled. I have been trying to find outlets for (his) unknown gifts and talents in the art arena, but there are no teachers, no one at the college teaching to this population. … There is little beauty in their lives because the opportunity for art and creative expression is absent. What would OUR lives be without art?”

Indeed, and though I know efforts have been made in the past to give classes locally for the developmentally disabled, they have needed help in funding, staging, and teaching.

So here we are in the “doctor, heal thyself” conundrum with “patients” in the wings. We need art as a source of enjoyment, life style, healing and giving (not to mention the ubiquitous economic sustainability), yet the very medication of which we abound is the very prescription we are struggling as individuals, community and governance to fill. We don’t need more Kleenex.

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.

With the cooler nights soon to be upon us, it’s time to make sure your chimney is in safe working order.

We at the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department annually respond to numerous chimney fires, mainly due to creosote buildup in the chimney flue. This type of fire has the potential to extend into your house and do major damage.

To pre-vent this from happening, the fire department recommends periodic cleaning of your chimney.

— Sallie Ross-Filgo, SLTFD

By Armando Avina

With hunting season upon us, and increased citizen concern regarding target shooting in congested areas, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind residents of county ordinances governing discharge of firearms in congested areas.

Washoe County Code 50.094 to 50.154 states that it is unlawful to discharge:

* any gun, pistol, or rifle, with the exception of shotguns, air rifles, or BB guns, within 5,000 feet of an occupied dwelling.

* Shotguns, air rifles, or BB guns within 1,000 feet of an occupied dwelling.

* a firearm from, upon, over or across any federal or state highway or any county road or highway.

* a firearm within a Nevada State Park, unless otherwise designated by the administrator.

* Within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service, it is prohibited to discharge a firearm in or within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area, or across or on a National Forest System road or a body of water adjacent thereto, or in a manner or place whereby any person or property is exposed to injury or damage as a result in such discharge, or into or within any cave.

If shooters follow those parameters; they are generally allowed to shoot in any area not designated as a “no shooting” or “congested area.” It is important to reiterate three key points:

A “congested area” is a geographic location where discharge of any firearm is prohibited. Because congested areas are generally densely populated, it has a high risk of personal injury.

A “restricted congested area” is a location where residents must be a minimum of 1,000 feet from any occupied dwelling. In restricted congested areas, residents are allowed to discharge shotguns, air rifles and BB guns. A person is not allowed to discharge any gun, pistol, rifle or any other firearm in this area.

A “non congested area” is a location where residents must be 5,000 feet away from an occupied dwelling. In these areas they may shoot guns, pistols, rifles, shotguns, air rifles, BB guns, or any other firearms.

With that in mind, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office takes residents safety very seriously. Last year, the sheriff’s office received numerous complaints by homeowners, hikers, bicyclists, and off road vehicle enthusiasts in the Caughlin Ranch area concerning recreational shooters who discharged firearms close to residential areas. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Washoe County and Reno Roads Departments, posted congested area signs and maps warning that shooting in a congested area could result in heavy fines.

Residents are encouraged to practice safe shooting in established and lawfully authorized and licensed rifle ranges, gun clubs or shooting gallery’s.

If citizens have concerns about activity that may be illegal, or dangerous, they should immediately call the Sheriff’s Office at (775) 832.9276.

Armando Avina is a deputy with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

By Kathryn Reed

CAMP RICHARDSON – If there were any doubt about the written (and spoken) word not thriving in Lake Tahoe, those concerns were laid to rest Friday night.

Seven authors read from their work during the third annual Celebration of Writers Around the Lake at Valhalla. The event each year features authors from the basin or people who have written about Tahoe.

Readers and writers mix Sept. 16 at Celebration of Writers Around the Lake. Photo/LTN

Besides being an opportunity to mingle with the writers while sipping wine from Après Wine Company, it was a time to hear their words. Each read a passage from the books they were also selling and signing.

The writers and their work:

• Suzanne Roberts, “Three Hours to Burn a Body”

• Andrew Homan, “Life in the Slipstream: The Legend of Bobby Walthour Sr.”

• Janet Smith, “All of a Sudden, Nothing Happened”; and “Pretty Enough” from “Permanent Vacation”

• Terry Easley, “The Kismet Blade”

• Janet Kaidantzis, “Fallen Leaf Lake: A Lake and its People, 1850-1950”

• Gailmarie Pahmeier, “Shake It and it Snows”

• Ben Arnold, “Synaptic Traffic: Intersections of Prose & Poetry”.

While the poets seemed to better capture the attention of the nearly 40-people attending the event, to the credit of the others – it’s hard to adequately capture history or other genres in a short time span.

To all of their credit, it made the listener want more – either to have the night continue or add a book to the nightstand.

Arnold and Pahmeier displayed the most emotion. As Bona Fide Books Publisher Kim Wyatt said, “They throw themselves into the performances of their work.”

Roberts, who is also an instructor at Lake Tahoe Community College, relayed to the audience that after her mother read “Shameless” she said, “Please tell me you didn’t do this.”

While no mother would want their daughter to be the subject of that poem, many women might like the opportunity.

The celebration started as a way to showcase the talent around the basin – and increase their readership, Wyatt said. The celebration is put on by Tahoe Writers Works, a group dedicated to the written word. The South Shore-based organization puts out a collection of stories and images each year called “EDGE” – with the next volume due this fall.

“We have been told we need to charge more, but we keep the price low so people can afford to buy books,” Wyatt, a member of Tahoe Writers Works, said after the event. (The $10 fee also included wine.)

Having fewer writers (there were 12 in 2010) is a trend organizers want to continue. Now the criteria to be invited is an author has to have a book published in the last year.

Wyatt said the only downside Friday was another literary event that night in Incline kept those from the North Shore from attending. Creating a master calendar of all things literary in the region is being talked about.

Mark Ardagna and Tara McCarthy from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics will present an Awareness Workshop in which participants will learn how to enjoy outdoor pursuits while ensuring a sustainable future.

The Oct. 15 1pm event is at South Lake Tahoe Branch Library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

A USDA food distribution for Nevada residents will be Sept. 22 at the Tahoe Douglas Senior Center, 885 Highway 50, Zephyr Cove.

There are only four nonperishable items to be given away this month. The next distribution will be Nov. 17. More commodities will be available then.

Items will be distributed from 9-10am.

Preference will be given to residents who have participated in past months. Nevada identification to prove residency is needed to receive food.

For more information, call (775) 586.8330.

To the community,

The South Lake Tahoe branch of Habitat for Humanity of El Dorado County had three projects this summer season. “A Brush with Kindness” is a program designed to help folks who cannot care for the exterior of their property. Minor repairs, paint and basic landscaping is provided, with the owners participation.

We have 20-plus volunteers available to help, and the local response to financial, services, and physical assistance is what makes the program work. Any donated funds are spent exclusively in South Lake Tahoe.

Thanks to all who helped.

Work will resume next spring, and we will be accepting applications until then.

For more information, call (530)541.4654 or (530) 577.7762.

Carolyn Meiers, South Lake Tahoe