The North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce and the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Sierra Human Resources Association are offering The Generations and Sexual Harassment: Awareness and Prevention for Business Owners and Managers on Aug. 24 from 8:30-11am at Cedar House Sport Hotel, 10918 Brockway Road in Truckee.

This workshop, required per California’s AB1825, will bring your business into compliance regarding sexual harassment awareness in the workplace. The topic is presented in an engaging and provocative way, from the perspective of generations working side by side. The speaker is Laura Moriarty, SPHR President and head of Tahoe Training Partners.

Registration is $59 for SHRA members, $69 for North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce members and $79 for non-members. Seating is limited.

To register and for more information about the workshop, call Laura Moriarty at (530) 573.0224 or Kym Fabel at (530) 581.8764.

Each year, the National Pony Express Association re-creates the Pony Express of 1860-1861 by riding from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento. Mormon Station State Historic Park is hosting this event in Genoa on Aug. 26 at 8am.

The national, 10-day, 24 hour-a-day event includes more than 600 riders stationed at intervals to relay a mochila (mailbag) filled with Pony Express Mail for the 1,966 mile ride.

The Pony Express rider will ride into Mormon Station’s stockade, exchange the mochila and see the next rider ride out to the next stop. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., is scheduled to be the rider leaving Mormon Station.

Although the rider is scheduled to arrive at Mormon Station around 8:30am, because of the distance traveled, it’s difficult to predict exactly when they arrive.

The inaugural Rose to Toads Mountain Bike Ride is Sept. 4 starting at 7:30am.

TAMBA is calling this self-supported event an epic ride from the North Shore to the South Shore.

There are spots to shorten the 60-plus mile ride.

Meet at the Mt. Rose Tahoe Rim Trail trailhead.

This ride encompasses the Tahoe Rim Trail, Flume, Freel Peak, Star Lake and Toads.

RSVP to info@mountainbiketahoe.org.

• Keb Mo, who was in town last weekend, told Harrah’s Lake Tahoe officials he would consider recording a live album in the South Shore Room.

• Burger King is inviting all Lake Tahoe families to celebrate the last days of summer with an ice cream party on Aug. 21 from 11am-7pm. The restaurant in Heavenly Village will be giving away free caramel, strawberry and fudge sundaes with all orders that day.

• The El Dorado Community Foundation is participating with Bill and Melinda Gates on a national project called Ready by 21. El Dorado County is one of four U.S. counties selected. The goal is to assist youth to pursue higher levels of education or training.

• Dragonfly in Truckee is having a Beer & Food Festival on Aug. 24 from 6 to 9pm. Tickets are $32 per person.

• Chip Seamans is leaving Kirkwood Mountain Resort to become COO and general manager of Windham Mountain in New York effective Sept. 1.

• The 4th annual golf tournament for the Emily Clothier Memorial Scholarship Fund is Aug. 25 at Lake Tahoe Golf Course. For more information, click on the flyer.

By Laurie Brazil

If you haven’t visited our jewel of Emerald Bay – Vikingsholm – this year or perhaps not at all, now is the time to take the one-mile hike down to the south end of Emerald Bay.

Earlier this summer, new and stately crossed dragon beams were installed along the roof ridges of the courtyard buildings at Vikingsholm in Emerald Bay State Park at Lake Tahoe. Originally carved when the building was constructed in the summer of 1929, the boards had considerably weathered and deteriorated over time.

“Decorations of this type were common among many ancient wood churches in Scandinavia and stem from an early superstition,” Helen Henry Smith writes in “Vikingsholm, Tahoe’s Hidden Castle”. “When Christianity was introduced in the 11th century, there appeared to be some doubt that it would be entirely effective. Therefore, dragon heads, similar to those found in heathen temples, were carved on the Christian churches to provide added protection against all evils.”

Vikingsholm

The original dragon beams were the product of a Scandinavian craftsman who was brought in from New York and was responsible for all of the exterior carvings that were done from wood that was hand hewn in Lake Tahoe.

California State Parks Foundation worked with restoration specialists Architectural Resources Group to have the fascia boards replicated by a wood craftsman from the Bay Area and provided the financial support for this important project at the castle.

Make sure your summer agenda includes a visit to one of the most unique and spectacular blends of architecture, natural beauty and craftsmanship that Lake Tahoe offers. The cascading falls that backdrop Vikingsholm are at their zenith and the roar can be heard along the trail and throughout the bay.

Fannette Island, in the middle of Emerald Bay, also boasts a tea house that was a feature added by Lora Josephine Knight when the property was acquired.

The parking for Emerald Bay State Park can be quite limited on weekends, so a weekday is preferable. The Nifty Fifty Trolley is a unique way to travel and stops at the parking lot to let guests off to make the walk down to the Bay.

Laurie Brazil lived and worked at Vikingsholm for several seasons alongside Helen Smith and the two are now life-long friends. Brazil later was a member of the California State Parks Foundation-Vlikingsholm Council and helped to raise the funds that have been instrumental in the restoration.

By Sean Whaley, Nevada News Bureau

CARSON CITY – The state Board of Examiners this week approved a 10-year, $27.6 million contract to install kiosks in grocery stores statewide where Nevadans will be able to renew car registrations, extend driver’s licenses and perform other tasks that might otherwise require a trip to a Department of Motor Vehicles office.

The contract with Intellectual Technology Inc. will be paid for by charging fees to those using the kiosks, $1 for all transactions but car registration renewal, which will run $3, said Bruce Breslow, director of the DMV. The state is currently paying the company $5 for each car registration renewal, but the amount users will pay was reduced in the new contract.

The purpose of the kiosks is to simplify DMV transactions for the public while at the same time reducing the need for staff to operate the state’s multiple DMV offices, he said. DMV offices may close at 5pm, but a kiosk in a grocery store will be accessible 24 hours a day, Breslow said.

“Let’s say you live out in Summerlin,” he said. “By the time you get in your car, take the freeway, find the DMV office, wait in line at the DMV, get back in your car and negotiate the traffic to get back there, that’s two hours of your life plus a couple of gallons of gas. So certainly a dollar is a better alternative than that.”

The state expects to add 40 kiosks at stores around the state in the first two years of the contract, most in Southern Nevada where the DMV wait times are usually longer than in other locations. More kiosks may be added if there is demand.

The new kiosks are expected to be available beginning next spring. The state has 27 kiosks now, most located in DMV offices, but some services, such as renewing a driver’s license, are not yet available using the existing machines, he said.

The board, made up of Gov. Brian Sandoval, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller, approved the contract.

Publisher’s note: The following editorial is from the Aug. 13, 2011, Reno Gazette-Journal.

The threat posed to Lake Tahoe by an invasion by quagga mussels no longer is theoretical.

With the discovery of the invasive mussels on a boat bound for Tahoe last week at the Spooner Summit inspection station turned the worrisome theory to dangerous reality.

An infestation in Lake Tahoe would be disastrous. The mussels multiply rapidly once they get a foothold. They attach themselves to water intakes, docks and boats. They force out other species by monopolizing the food supply. They litter beaches with sharp, smelly shells. Once a colony has been established, it is nearly impossible to remove.

Already the mussels have moved from the Great Lakes, where they have played havoc with water supplies, to Lake Mead in Southern Nevada.

Read the whole story

A well known Yosemite climber and speaker, three movies and a Native American storyteller will be featured this fall supporting the popular One Book, One Campus program at Sierra Nevada College.

The program that began in 2009 continues this year with the reading selection “Flight” by Native American author Sherman Alexie. The film series begins Aug. 30.

All programs are free.

Sierra Nevada College’s One Book, One Campus program was inspired by the popularity of book clubs and a growing number of college campuses adopting common reading programs. The idea of a common reading selection rests on a simple idea that reading the same book brings people together as a community by creating a common ground for discussion. For more information on the film screenings or on the Common Reading Program, contact Library Director Betts Markle at (775) 881.7511 or emarkle@sierranevada.edu.

The films are shown at Sierra Nevada College,TCES Room 139, 999 Tahoe Boulevard, Incline Village.

Sierra Nevada College Native American Film Series

Aug. 30: Ron Kauk presents “Return to Balance – A Climber’s Journey” from 7–9pm.

Sept. 13: “Naturally Native” from 7–9pm.

Sept. 20: “Miss Navajo” from 7-9pm.

Sept. 27: :Snowball Effect” from 7-9pm.

The Sierra Summer Festival presents families in the Tahoe-Reno region with a new entertainment option Aug. 26-28 at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Event’s Center. The event, which is indoors and out, features live entertainment, freestyle motocross, a carnival midway, demolition derby and more.

Tickets are $5 for children and $10 for adults, in advance.

Tickets may be purchased online, which is also the place for more information.

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 Thinking of Selling Your Business Workshop on Aug. 31 from noon to 1:30pm at the Mark Twain Cultural Center, 760 Mays Blvd., Ste. 10 in Incline Village.

Deadline to register is Aug. 26.

This workshop is designed for those thinking of taking the leap and selling their business or perhaps have received an offer they can’t refuse. Attendees will learn about the planning, preparation, communications and execution when selling their business that will lead to a positive, profitable life transition.

The presenter is David Frazier, a partner at B2B CFO, the largest financial consulting firm in the country with 184 partners in 39 states. Prior to B2B CFO, Frazier spent more than 25 years in various executive positions in finance and operations at large publicly traded companies.

The cost is $55/person (payable in advance by mail or credit card), 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.

This class will also be repeated Sept. 14 in Tahoe City at the Tahoe City Public Utility District and Oct. 12 in Tahoe Vista at Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort.