Steve Achard and Conrad Buedel, authors of Lost Legacy of Carson Valley, “The Rise and Fall of the H.F. Dangberg Ranching Empire”, have two book signings scheduled this week.

They will be set up next to the Wine Walk registration table at the Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center on Aug. 18 from 4:30 to 7:30pm. The museum is located at 1477 Highway 395 in the old high school. They will donate $3 for each book sold that night to the Douglas County Historical Society.

Achard and Buedel will also be signing books at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Aug. 20 from 11am to 2pm. The park is located at 1450 Highway 88, midway between the Carson Valley Swim Center and the Carson Valley Veterinary Hospital. They will donate $3 for each book sold that day to Friends of the Dangberg Home Ranch.

Lost Legacy of Carson Valley is the first comprehensive book about the history of Henry Fred Dangberg and his family. It chronicles the exhilarating rise and the devastating fall of one of Nevada’s most prominent pioneer families. The large 306-page book contains hundreds of personal family photographs along with rare documents and letters never seen before. It reveals the private lives of the legendary Dangberg family and the secrets that were kept quiet for generations. Steve “Dink” Achard is the only child of Ruth Dangberg Achard. He is the last male surviving from the family tree of H.F. Dangberg Jr. Buedel is a professional writer and photographer who conducted more than six years of diligent research on the Dangberg family.

By David McGrath Schwartz, Las Vegas Sun

It looks like Nevada’s going on a bear hunt Saturday.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has ignored please for him to block Nevada’s first-ever bear hunt, scheduled for Saturday, ending opponents’ hopes for a last-minute intervention.

The issue has captured the attention of Northern Nevadans, with opponents to the bear hunt submitting 15,000 signatures to the governor’s office calling for it to be cancelled.

“He supports the (Nevada Wildlife) Commission on this regulation and expects that the information this hunt will yield can ultimately aid in the conservation of wildlife populations, including bears,” according to a statement from Sandoval’s spokeswoman Mary-Sarah Kinner. She said the commission adopted the regulation based on “scientific standards.”

Earlier Monday, a handful of protesters gathered outside the Capitol Building. “We want a stay of execution,” said Kat Simmons, of Gardnerville. “We want him to intervene and stop the hunt.”

The state Wildlife Commission in February gave final approval for the hunt after its biologists said the state’s bear population could support a hunt.

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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.

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 on Aug. 25 from noon to 1:30pm at the Mark Twain Cultural Center, 760 Mays Blvd., Ste. 10 in Incline Village. Deadline to register is Aug. 19.

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 (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. 23 in Tahoe City at the Tahoe City Public Utility District and Oct. 13 in Tahoe Vista at Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort.

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.

The nonprofit Tahoe Fund is dividing $50,000 between three entities – Van Sickle Bi-state Park, Lakeside Bicycle Traill, and publication of the State of the Lake Report.

This initial round of funding by the nonprofit that was created to infuse cash into the Lake Tahoe Basin for environmental improvement projects was announced Monday night at a dinner at the West Shore Cafe in Homewood.

Funding will go to:

• $25,000 to support operations of the new Van Sickle Bi-State Park at the South Shore

• $20,000 for a portion of the Class 1 Lakeside Bicycle Trail at Tahoe City

• $5,000 to fund publication of the annual UC Davis State of the Lake Report.

The dinner also highlighted two major Founders Circle donations.

• Heavenly Mountain Resorts and Northstar-At Tahoe through Vail Resorts Echo, the Vail Resorts stewardship program, will provide approximately $75,000 a year through a guest donation program.

• The Robert S. & Dorothy J. Keyser Foundation of Nevada will donate $25,000 a year for four years to support Tahoe Fund operations.

The Tahoe Fund also announced that the Blum Family Foundation donated $50,000 to jumpstart the fund. Dick Blum and his wife, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., expressed early support for the Tahoe Fund concept of a public-private partnership to implement projects.

By Rob Sabo, Northern Nevada Business Weekly

Bus tours to regional casinos remain an important revenue stream for gaming properties, casino executives say, even though the number of visitors to Northern Nevada who arrive via tour bus declined drastically over the past decade.

And some are working hard to boost their bus business.

Tour buses loaded primarily with seniors from California eager to pull the handles of slot machines and collect buckets of nickels once were a common sight at Reno-Sparks casino properties. However, the widespread inception of tribal gaming throughout Northern California has curtailed the once-popular day trips to gamble in The Biggest Little City.

Revenues from bus tours at Grand Sierra Resort declined by 66 percent after the property dropped the Hilton flag, says new General Manager Bill Wright.

“It was a very viable business, but when the property went from the Hilton to the Grand Sierra it appears to have changed its philosophy,” says Wright, who also worked as general manager of the Flamingo Hilton before leaving the area for Las Vegas in 2001.

Michelle Williams, sales manager for the Eldorado for the past six years, formerly worked with a motor coach company specializing in bus tours to Reno. Williams says that market used to make up a substantial revenue stream, and although it has diminished, all customers are vital to the health of Reno casinos.

“The last few years primarily the economy has affected it more that anything,” Williams says. “Indian gaming certainly has affected our business, but people still do want to get out of California and come to Nevada.”

Wright, who joined Grand Sierra Resort in May, says boosting revenues from bus tours is part of several new strategies to be put in place at the 2,000-room hotel property.

“When leisure demand is not enough to fill your rooms, we are looking at each and every avenue we can to drive room nights,” he says. “We have got such big square footage on the casino floor and with the number of rooms, and the challenge is finding customers to fill the capacity we have. That is one segment that has worked in the past, and we feel it is viable again.”

In the past few years revenue generated from bus tours has become minuscule for properties in Carson City and the Carson Valley, says Bill Henderson, longtime director of sales for Carson Valley Inn in Minden. Properties such as the CVI and Ormsby House in Carson City used to benefit from overnight bus tours to Reno that often took patrons on side trips to Carson Valley properties and South Lake Tahoe.

Henderson, who also worked at South Lake Tahoe properties prior to his 27-year stint at Carson Valley Inn, says it wasn’t uncommon to see 60 or 70 buses per day arriving at large South Lake Tahoe casinos.

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Squaw Valley is hosting the resort’s first PDGA-sanctioned professional and amateur disc golf tournament Aug. 20-21.

The tournament will consist of two rounds of 18 holes, one round per day.

The only lift-accessed disc golf course in the Lake Tahoe region, Squaw Valley’s course is of championship caliber. Holes 1, 2 and 18, located directly behind the High Camp complex, account for the easier holes on the course, while holes 3 through 17 offer a more extreme challenge as the course winds down and up Squaw Valley’s Rainbow Bowl under the Solitude chair lift.

Registration for the Squaw Valley’s Pro/Am disc golf tournament ranges from $40 to $80, depending on bracket level, with $10 off for PDGA members. Discounted Cable Car tickets are included in the entry fee. Participants can go online for further details and registration forms.

Two people were arrested this weekend on kidnapping charges. The incident started in South Lake Tahoe and ended in Douglas County.

On Aug. 13 at about 3:30pm the Douglas County sheriff’s deputies were contacted by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department and advised that a kidnapping had just occurred in South Lake Tahoe,

A 1-year-old baby was allegedly taken from his mother’s residence by Salvador Miguel Aquino-Villavicencio and his mother, Josefina Villavicencio, both of whom reside in Douglas County at the Holbrook Trailer Park.

The child was located inside the residence unharmed.

Both Salvador and Josefina Villavicencio were taken into custody without incident and booked into the Douglas County Jail on fugitive no-bail arrest warrants for kidnapping and criminal conspiracy, and are now awaiting extradition.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

Voters will have choices in each of the Nov. 8 races on the South Shore.

Business owner Kelly Sheehan is challenging Dale Rise for his seat on the South Tahoe Public Utility District board.

Marylou Mosbacher is stepping down from that board. Going after that seat are retired district employee Claude Gunsch, homemaker Mary Kortge, business owner John Runnels, and engineer Randy Vogelgesang.

Lake Tahoe Unified School Distict incumbents Sue Novasel, Larry Green and Mike Doyle are being challenged by student Michael Bischoff.

Bischoff is also running for the Lake Tahoe Community College board, as are incumbents Fritz Wenck and Karen Borges.

The only race people may still file for is the seat being vacated by Mosbacher. The deadline to file is Aug. 17 at 5pm.

— Kathryn Reed