Food Fest — Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation’s fund raiser — is Oct. 8 at 6pm at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe in Stateline.

By Ed Fletcher, Sacramento Bee

The five Placer County supervisors agree on this: At $30,000 annually, they’re underpaid. They also agree that nobody is going to do anything about it anytime soon.

The board earlier this month heard a staff report comparing an array of county salaries to those of similar-sized counties, other local entities and private-sector equivalents.

The report revealed that the county has a smaller per capita workforce than most of its peers, that Placer County employees earn about what their public-sector counterparts do and that comparing private- and public-sector jobs is easier said than done.

The numbers also showed there is a clear disparity between Placer County supervisors’ compensation and that of county supervisors from similar-sized counties.

Set at $30,000 in 1992 by voters, Placer supervisors’ pay is $69,821 less than the $99,821 average paid to supervisors in El Dorado, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Sacramento counties.

Including benefits, the average annual supervisors’ salary of the seven “matching” counties (as selected by county staff) comes to $121,683 – almost four times the Placer supervisors’ total take of $31,154.

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The second annual Firefighter’s Poker Pedal, organized by members of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local No. 2139 Incline Village and Crystal Bay firefighters of the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, proved to be another success, as they pedaled their way to raise $1,500 ($500 more than last year’s event) that will go toward the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation.

This summer more than 36 riders rode a 9-mile loop starting at the Great Basin Brewery on South Virginia Street and ending at Silver Peak Restaurant.

The donated funds will go toward research, family assistance, advocacy, clinic assistance and other awareness programs.

Volunteers are needed to help with a MTB designed and built trail on Sept. 2 in Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.

The Marlette Hobart link trail will be three miles of flowy singletrack from the Tahoe Rim Trail to the bottom of Sunflower Hill. It’s more than halfway done.

The completed upper section will be used by the Great Tahoe Flume Race on Sept. 10.

Meet at the Lakeview gate at 8am to carpool up to the work site. The Lakeview gate is at the end of Hobart Road off of Old 395 in Washoe Valley/Carson City.

Wear long pants, long sleeves, gloves, and bring water and a lunch.

Work will end about 3:30pm.

RSVP to patroldirector@tahoebikepatrol.org.

UC Davis volunteer David Long has a variety of activities planned for kids ages 6 and up at the fish hatchery in Tahoe City on Aug. 27 from 10am-2pm.

Activities include:

• Learn fly-tying and casting

• Discuss Lake Tahoe Fisheries

• Discover native fauna and macroinvertebrates

UC Davis Tahoe City Field Station is at 2400 Lake Forest Road, Tahoe City, on the corner of Highway 28 and Lake Forest Road.

For more information, call (775) 881.7566.

• Lake Tahoe residents receive a 15 percent discount on any of the Lake Tahoe Marathon events in September. Just put Tahoe Local in the promo box when registering on the website.

• Volunteers are needed for the 22nd annual Lake in the Sky Air Show on Aug. 27. Contact Tracy Franklin at (530) 542.6093 for more information.

• Kiwanis donated a small climbing wall that went up this summer inside the South Lake Tahoe recreation center.

• Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort welcomes the return of the 2011 Pro Gravity Tour, a pro mountain bike “gravity” event sanctioned by USA Cycling, on Aug. 26-28.

• Douglas Count Sheriff’s Office is having an open house Aug. 24 from 5-7:30pm at 1038 Buckeye Road, Minden.

With the wheels on the bus going round and round, Lake Tahoe Unified School District needs more of those yellow contraptions.

At the Aug. 23 meeting the board agreed to buy two buses to help transport the nearly 1,800 students who twice a day ride the buses.

Two buses used to transport students to athletic events will be put into the home-to-school fleet. They have about 150,000 miles on them. The new ones will be used for the longer trips.

The cost for the two is $327,000. With an interest rate of about 2 percent, it will take the district seven years to pay the debt.

During the school year there are 16 full routes and one part-time route, in addition to buses used for field trips and going off the hill.

Steve Morales, LTUSD facilities director, told the board Tuesday the home school fleet on average is 14 years old. With a more robust replacement program, the average age would be closer to 10.5 years, he said. Funding, though, is drying up. In years past there has been funding available to help defray the costs.

The buses being used to transport athletes to games are not all doing well, with one bus last year with track students on in breaking down en route to an event. This necessitated parents coming to the rescue to get the runners to their meet on time.

–Kathryn Reed

By Brian Nordli, Reno Gazette-Journal

Incline will need to learn how to win on the road if it wants to make the playoffs this season.

The Highlanders lost every road game last season and finished 4-4, just short of the playoffs. They are more experienced this year behind four-year starting quarterback Patrick Murray and more accustomed to third-year coach Mike Evans’ spread offense. Incline’s schedule also allows the team to play what Evans called the “Big Four” perennial playoff teams (Yerington, Rite of Passage, Battle Mountain and Pershing County) at home where they went undefeated last season.

“Road games killed us last year; we couldn’t win one,” said Bobby Thoms, a senior middle linebacker and center. “To make the playoffs, we need to make sure we play well on the road and take some at home.”

On the road the defense allowed big plays and failed to make stops. In a game against Yerington they allowed three touchdowns in the first five possessions. Thoms said playing the “Big Four” at home will give them a chance to make the playoffs.

The Highlanders also will have to overcome a small and inexperienced offensive line. Evans said he will keep his plays simple for the offensive line and quick passes.

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Despite the challenge of fundraising during the economic downturn of the past three years, the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe is only $1 million away from raising the $5 million needed to build a new animal shelter.

To date, the animal rescue group has raised $4.2 million, which includes $2.5 million from the Town of Truckee, and HSTT has launched the “Heroes Now & Forever” campaign for the final stage of fundraising.

The goal of the “Heroes Now & Forever” campaign is to get 1,000 people to donate $1,000. The donation can be made in one full payment, two $500 payments, or four $250 payments. To honor the 1,000 Heroes donors, a recognition piece will be installed in the main lobby of the new shelter, and donors will be invited to a private VIP facility tour and party prior to the grand opening.

The current kennel in Truckee. Photo/Provided

HSTT is in desperate need of a new shelter. The current 1,000-square-foot facility was built in 1998 as a temporary holding kennel for abandoned, seized, and rescued dogs and cats. Through a partnership with the Town of Truckee, HSTT houses a limited number of animals at the shelter, and many more dogs and cats are in volunteer foster homes.

The current kennel accommodates eight dogs and 30 cats, although at times, there are upwards of 30 dogs and 80 cats in need of shelter. Such limited space can terrify animals, often causing aggression and fights among dogs and stress-induced illness in cats, Jensen said. The kennel also lacks adequate space to quarantine sick or injured animals, and because of its location in the Town Corporation Yard, it is only open to the public two hours per week for adoptions.

The new shelter was designed to accommodate current and future needs by an architect who specializes in shelters and veterinary hospitals. The facility will include real-life rooms for dogs and large, colony-style cat rooms, with perches, windows to the outside, and natural sunlight.

The building will include an education and training center, allowing HSTT to expand its humane education, dog training and pet assisted therapy programs. Open daily to the public, the new shelter will provide a convenient location for people to meet and adopt their future pets.

HSTT has partnered with Truckee to share the cost of construction and operation of a new shelter. Approximately 1.5 acres of land have been secured at no cost to HSTT. However, in order to maintain the agreement with the town, HSTT must raise its portion of the funds before starting construction.

The HSTT directors believe the Heroes campaign will reach their $1 million goal by the November 2012 deadline.

Anyone interested in joining the Heroes campaign is encouraged to call (530) 587.5948.