Our Melting Poles: Where Life on Earth is Changing is a presentation by Professor Warwick F. Vincent from the Center for Northern Studies, Laval University, Quebec City.

The event is Sept. 15 at 6pm at Sierra Nevada College, Room 106, Incline Village. There is a no-host bar at 5:30pm.

Cost is $5.

Vincent is known internationally for his research on polar lakes, rivers and coastal seas, and the responses at the base of their food webs to environmental change.

Ray Lacey, deputy director of California Tahoe Conservancy, and Hilary Hodges, director of Development Services for South Lake Tahoe, will be at the South Lake Tahoe Branch Library on Sept. 28 at 6:30pm to discuss Lakeview Commons, the community and civic development currently under construction at El Dorado Beach.

They will talk about the origins of the project, its current progress, and how the final result is expected to look.

For additional information about the free program, call (530) 573.3185.

The library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

Friends of the Library is having a royal Princess Party on Oct. 22 at 2 pm.

Wear royal attire, including crowns, tiaras and diamonds. Games, crafts and refreshments will be available.

Call (530) 573.3185 for additional information.

South Lake Tahoe Branch Library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

By Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee

CalFire announced that it is increasing staffing in anticipation of dry lightning and strong winds throughout the northeastern part of the state.

Beginning this evening, an upper-level low will approach the California Coast, drawing in monsoonal moisture, which is predicted to trigger dry lightning throughout northeastern California, including Lassen, Modoc, Siskiyou and Shasta counties, according to a CalFire news release. The agency is moving fire engines and resources into areas that are expected to see increased fire danger.

As the low moves into Nevada on Thursday, winds will shift to the northeast, creating breezy and dry conditions Thursday night and into Friday in many parts of Northern California, including areas where dry lightning is predicted to hit, officials said.

Read the whole story

By Kevin Yamamura and Dan Smith, Sacramento Bee

In a deal with state lawmakers and brick-and-mortar stores, Amazon tentatively agreed Wednesday to stop fighting a requirement that Internet retailers collect sales tax on California purchases.

Under the handshake deal, Amazon won a delay until at least September 2012 but will eventually collect state sales taxes.

The arrangement could lay the groundwork for a national online sales tax law. Amazon and major brick-and-mortar retailers like Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble agreed to lobby Washington over the next 11 months for an Internet sales tax law that applies across 50 states.

“Basically, Amazon will get a safe harbor to lobby Congress and the retailers will go hand in hand with them to adopt a law that will apply to all of the states,” said Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier.

If no federal deal emerges by July 31, 2012, Amazon would have to begin collecting California sales taxes starting on Sept. 15, 2012.

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As Nevada’s capital city tries to come to grips with a deadly shooting attack, investigators Thursday turned their attention to the gunman described as quiet and friendly but who had a troubled past with mental health issues that required medication.

“We are concentrating on the details of his life, which will include his medical records,” Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong told The Associated Press.

Eduardo Sencion

Eduardo Sencion, 32, took his own life Tuesday after gunning down 11 people inside an IHOP restaurant, killing four including three uniformed Nevada National Guard members.

“Right now we are building a profile around him. Who is he?” Furlong said.

“Yes, he was on medications. He’s been on medication for a long period of his life. And he was considered to be doing fine.”

“We know that he did not dislike the military and at some point had considered joining,” Furlong said.

Furlong didn’t know if Sencion ever tried to enlist but said his mental health history likely would have precluded his acceptance into the military of his adopted country.

Joe Laub, an attorney who has helped the family with legal concerns in the past, said the Sencions were devastated over the rampage.

“It’s almost as if he was a normal person who had a major psychological defect that was triggered by something,” Laub said.

Sencion, the youngest of four brothers, was born in Mexico but was a legal U.S. resident and had a passport, authorities said.

He had at least one previous encounter with the law. He was taken into protective custody by South Lake Tahoe police during a mental health commitment in April 2000. He fought with officers during the incident but was not charged.

Records show Sencion attended South Tahoe High School, graduating in 1997.

Read the whole story

By Emerson Marcus, Reno Gazette-Journal

Its views are serene.

Its neighborhoods are gorgeous.

But local cyclists are saying Truckee’s bike lanes on state roads are “lousy” and a “dilapidated mess.” California state officials are beginning to listen.

“It’s a joke,” said Paco Lindsay, who has lived and biked on roads in Truckee since 1978. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”

Highway 89, along the western shore of Lake Tahoe, is the root of the problem, Truckee’s Gregg Betonte said.

“We started getting pretty vocal about the issue this spring,” Betonte said. “(The California Department of Transportation) has told us for years that they were going to replace the paths, but they haven’t. They pave the road, but not the shoulder.”

Betonte said the road is filled with potholes and cracks after years of neglect and is unridable.

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Access El Dorado, or ACCEL, a countywide community collaborative, received the Model eHealth Communities’ award from UC Davis Health System and the California Telehealth Network. The $350,000 award is part of more than $5 million in funds supporting 15 community groups across California and is designed to assist communities in becoming best-practice examples in the use and integration of technology to improve healthcare for local residents.

The award will provide funding for eHealth technologies, telehealth equipment, specialized community-based training and management to help El Dorado County healthcare facilities connect to and use a new, off Internet, broadband system now being implemented by CTN.

Barton Health, which has supported the efforts of ACCEL for several years, will be a lead agency partner for El Dorado County in the CTN program. Barton has invested in the information technology infrastructure and started providing telehealth services early through its community clinic.

El Dorado’s ACCEL will be implementing diverse eHealth applications such as remote specialty and critical care consultations between local health providers and specialists affiliated with academic medical centers; health education for consumers and continuing education for health care professionals, as well as healthcare workforce development programs. These initiatives will provide benefits beyond the 15 community groups who were awarded.

ACCEL is a partnership between El Dorado County Health Services Department, Barton Health (with affiliated medical providers and rural clinic), Marshall Medical Center (with affiliated medical providers and rural clinic), El Dorado County Community Health Center, Shingle Springs Tribal Health Program and Western Sierra Medical Center.

A single power pole was the only property loss from a fire on Spooner Summit last Thursday morning. It did not cause the power to go out.

A house in the area was threatened and Highway 50 temporarily closed.

“The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, however it is suspected a small blaze may have started and smoldered throughout the night and early morning hours as a result of the numerous lightning strikes that occurred throughout Douglas County the previous night,” Douglas County sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Halsey said in a statement.

At approximately 11:10am, firefighters from East Fork, Tahoe-Douglas, Carson City, and the U.S. Forest Service responded to a possible wildland fire in the vicinity of Highway 50 and Old Clear Creek Road, at the north end of Douglas County. The fire burned approximately 1.5 acres.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Kathryn Reed

A South Lake Tahoe man twice deported to Mexico faces a third deportation after being arrested on felony narcotics charges.

Florentino Vargas Barragan, 43, was arrested on charges of possession and sales of cocaine, transportation of narcotics and conspiracy.

Jeff Catchings, who heads the South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team, said, “It’s very significant because of the amount (of cocaine) and amount of activity. He was very popular around the area of the Y. He would go to some of the restaurants and bars and hangout. We have received complaints from restaurants. For the most part they would kick him out.”

Barragan, according to Catchings, was arrested Aug. 30 after selling cocaine to an undercover agent. He was arrested in the parking lot of Rite-Aid. Also arrested that Tuesday was Juan Pablo Garcia Mora, 27, of South Lake Tahoe. He faces charges of transportation of a narcotic and conspiracy.

The street value of the nearly 1 pound of uncut cocaine that was seized is $17,000.

Barragan faces a minimum of seven years in jail if convicted and could serve additional federal time for illegal entry. The two times he was deported to Mexico was because of drug charges originating in South Lake Tahoe, according to Catchings.

Also taken by officers from the suspect’s apartment after a search warrant was issued were three cell phones. The warrant allows officers to answer the phone. Catchings said they were ringing nonstop until people figured out it wasn’t Barragan on the other end.

Barragan’s clientele was an extensive network of locals, according to Catchings. Officials, though, are focusing their efforts on dealers at this time and not users.