All active duty personnel, recruiters, veterans and their families, friends and public are invited to celebrate “Flag Day” on June 14 at the Veterans Memorial Building, 130 Placerville Drive in Placerville.

Veterans organizations of El Dorado County have purchased and installed new flag poles for the national flag, POW-MIA, California flag and the individual military branches at the Veterans Building.

The flags will be hoisted with the proper honors commencing at 8am.

Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the June 7, 2011, Los Angeles Times.

No matter which food group was at the top and which at the bottom, the venerable food pyramid never did make much sense. How big were the servings supposed to be? And what were all those rainbow-colored stripes? The pyramid also lost a lot of respect over the years when the public realized that its recommendations — whether to fill up on meat, dairy or mountains of grains — were based in part on which segments of the agricultural industry wielded the most clout.

The new icon and recommendations released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are a lot healthier and are a more helpful contribution to public well-being. MyPlate is a large circle representing a dinner dish, divided to show that fruits and vegetables should make up half the food consumed, with protein and grains sharing the other half. A small blue circle representing low-fat or nonfat dairy rests to the side. There is no place on this plate for junk food.

The simple “plate” makes it easy for people to see what a meal should look like in terms of nutrition — and there are few plates of food served up in the country right now that resemble it. More common: a hunk of meat as the centerpiece, accompanied by a heaping helping of pasta or bread — usually from refined grains. Vegetables are an afterthought, more a colorful decoration in the corner than a significant part of the meal.

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All active duty personnel, recruiters, veterans and their families, friends and public are invited to celebrate “Flag Day” on June 14 at the Veterans Memorial Building, 130 Placerville Drive in Placerville.

Veterans organizations of El Dorado County have purchased and installed new flag poles for the national flag, POW-MIA, California flag and the individual military branches at the Veterans Building.

The flags will be hoisted with the proper honors commencing at 8am.

Randi Noonan, 27, tried to mess with the wrong gas station clerk Wednesday.

The South Lake Tahoe resident entered the American Gas station on Highway 50 June 8 at 4:45pm with a gun and demanded money, according to South Lake Tahoe police officers.

The clerk essentially said, “Not on my watch.”

The employee, whose name is not being released, confronted Noonan, disarmed her and chased her from the business, according to police.

Authorities are not releasing more specifics about how all that happened. But officers normally recommend not acting like a vigilante.

The clerk saw the license plate of the vehicle the suspect was driving which allowed police to track her down.

Noonan was still in the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe the night of June 9. She is charged with attempted robbery.

— Kathryn Reed

Sierra Nevada College’s Visiting Artist Workshops offers a variety of summer workshops by nationally known ceramists, glass artists, painters, sculptors, printmakers, digital artists, musicians, photographers, paper makers, jewelers, and more on the lake campus.

Students may take workshops for personal enrichment or college credit. Tuition includes some materials, possible firings, equipment rental, and daily lunches.

Every Tuesday night at 7 during the workshops SNC hosts a Meet the Artist lecture in the Prim Library, which will be immediately followed by an informal reception in the Tahoe Gallery. It’s free and open to the public.

The workshops teach new techniques and expand knowledge in a variety of mediums.

Class detail, housing, tuition and schedules are online.

ADA 101 for Businesses is a panel board consisting of a lawyer experienced in ADA lawsuits, certified access specialists, insurance broker knowledgeable in what insurance companies will cover and a disabled member of the public.

The June 15 10am-noon event put on by South Lake Tahoe will include:

· Discussing the priorities of accessibility and what the state and feds require.

· Explaining what a unreasonable hardship is and when it can be applied.

· Clearing up myths on who needs to comply with accessibility requirements.

· Having the attorney discuss how to handle a lawsuit, proper procedure on how to respond, costs associated with a suit, lease agreements.

· The insurance agent will discuss on what most companies will cover in a lawsuit and the improvements.

· How to interpret a CASp Report and how to use it.

· Clarifying TRPA coverage issues in dealing with ADA upgrades.

The meeting is at Lake Tahoe Airport.

The recreation JPA will meet June 30 at 9am at the El Dorado County Library to make a final decision on whether to place a measure on the ballot that would alter how Measure S funds are allocated.

The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition and Norma Santiago, El Dorado County supervisor, are hosting a public information session about the possible November ballot measure to redirect existing recreation funds from Measure S.

The meeting is June 16 from 5-7pm in the Cedar Room of the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Center on Rufus Allen Boulevard.

The proposed measure would allow accumulating Measure S funds to be used for rehabilitation of older bike paths and build youth ball fields. It would also create a bicycle advisory committee to advise the Community Facilities District Recreation Joint Powers Authority, the body which administers the Measure S funds, on bicycle needs in the community.

The meeting will be an informal, drop-in event. Attendees will have the opportunity to get copies of the proposed ballot measure language and resolution for consideration, ask questions of the JPA board members (which there are three) and JPA staff (which is just John Upton), and learn how to provide additional input on the proposed ballot measure.

The JPA will meet June 30 at 9am at the El Dorado County Library to make a final decision on whether to place the measure on the ballot.

Douglas County sheriff’s deputies will be out in full force this weekend for the annual Carson Valley Days.

The two major events are the Friday night celebration in old town Gardnerville and the Saturday morning parade along Highway 395 in town.

On June 10 from approximately 7pm to 2am, in the business area along Highway 395 between Gilman Avenue and Eddy Street in downtown Gardnerville, citizens typically commemorate Carson Valley Days by socializing with each other at many of the restaurants and bars located in the area.

The Friday night event was started by the citizens of the Carson Valley years ago as an event to come together one night a year to commemorate the unity of the community and celebrate the accomplishments of the past year.

Sheriff Ron Pierini says excessive drunkenness, disorderly conduct, yelling, cursing, quarreling, fighting, or challenging others to a fight will not be tolerated.

Members of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting extensive foot patrol throughout the area during the entire celebration. Violators of the previous mentioned acts will be promptly arrested and removed from the crowd, authorities warn.

Due to the adult nature of the event, minors are discouraged from attending unless in the custody of a parent.

On June 11 from approximately 8am to noon, Highway 395 between Buckeye Road and Waterloo Lane will be closed to vehicle traffic to accommodate the Carson Valley Days Parade and a walk/run/jog event hosted by the Douglas County Partnership of Community Resources.

The parade route will be from Minden Park, along Esmerelda Avenue, to Highway 395, to Waterloo Lane, ending at Lampe Park.

Northbound and southbound vehicle traffic on Highway 395 will be diverted around the parade route, from Buckeye Road in the north to Waterloo Lane in the south.

Douglas Avenue and County Road will be temporarily closed to through traffic during the staging hours of the parade from 7-9am.

A slower than normal start to the wildfire season in California has allowed about 1,200 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service to assist with blazes in the Southwest, including the historic Wallow Fire, which has now burned more than 389,000 acres in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.

Among the resources that have been deployed are 27 hotshot crews, eight Type 2 Initial Attack Crews, 60 fire engines, 17 smokejumpers, 12 bulldozers, 11 water tenders and more than 150 personnel in various fire support positions. Nine contract crews and 4 additional contract engines bring the total number of personnel from California to an estimated 1,400. Fire crews from California are assigned to more than a dozen blazes in the Southwest.

California has experienced a modest amount of fire activity thus far, mostly at lower elevations where seasonal grasses are almost fully cured. As vegetation continues to dry out and temperatures increase throughout the summer, fire activity is expected to increase. Runoff from heavy snowpack in the Sierra and other mountain ranges also continues to influence fire conditions.

U.S. Forest Service firefighters that have taken assignments in the Southwest in 2011 are from such California communities as South Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Placerville, Yreka, Alturas, Hayfork, Redding, Susanville, Lakeport, Willows, Camptonville, Foresthill, Nevada City, Sonora, King City, Fresno, Porterville, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Mammoth Lakes, Bishop, Lake Isabella, Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita, Sylmar, Glendora, Lytle Creek, Lake Arrowhead, Idyllwild, Corona, Lake Elsinore, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo and El Cajon.