Dirk Yuricich will show his new photo series Aspen Lupine at the Ski Run Marina gallery.

The opening reception is June 8 from 5-8pm.

Refreshments will be served and all attendees can take part in a free raffle to win a matted photograph of one of the Aspen Lupine images.

The Aspen Lupine opening reception is be part of Midweek at the Marina in which the art galleries at the Ski Run Marina have various events and activities each Wednesday evening from 5-8.

Parking is free for the first hour at the Ski Run Marina parking lot. There is unlimited free parking at Ski Run Boulevard and Paradise Avenue.

For further information, call Dirk Yuricich Photography Gallery at (530) 542. 2000 or go online.

Dirk Yuricich Photography Gallery is at Ski Run Marina, 900 Ski Run Blvd., Ste. 105, South Lake Tahoe.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews will continue prescribed fire operations on Kingsbury Grade near North Benjamin through the weekend and next week, weather and staff permitting.

Residents and visitors can expect to see smoke from prescribed fire project areas. Smoke management is part of every prescribed fire burn plan, and efforts will be taken to reduce actual or potential smoke impacts on community areas.

This and other prescribed fire projects are designed to reduce wildfire risks to communities and critical resources.

State and local fire management agencies may also be conducting prescribed fire work during this period.

Heather Segale of UC Davis Research and Education Programs at Lake Tahoe will be presenting information concerning the current clarity of the lake, invasive species, and climate change at Lake Tahoe.

The talk is June 9 at 5:30pm at the Tahoe Maritime Museum in Homewood.

Admission is $5 for members, $8 for non-members and

includes wine and light snacks.

June 23 from 11am-4pm TAMBA, Big Blue Adventure and the U.S. Forest Service are hosting a trail workday to begin construction on a singletrack connector trail above Tahoe City. More info is online.

By Liz Benston, Las Vegas Sun

The small, unassuming Alamo and Topaz casinos in Northern Nevada have a leg up on the best of Las Vegas’ glittering resorts – at least by the standards of blackjack.

Whatever the Alamo in Sparks and the Topaz in Gardnerville lack in pizzazz they make up for in favorable blackjack games, according to this month’s issue of Casino Player magazine. The two were the only Nevada casinos to make the magazine’s list of properties offering the nation’s best blackjack games.

Both casinos offer blackjack that’s played with a single deck of cards, increasing the player’s ability to gauge when certain cards will appear. The casinos also allow players to surrender their initial two-card hand provided the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, among other player-friendly rules.

Las Vegas once offered the best blackjack anywhere but has since muddied the water with games that pay 6-5 odds on blackjacks rather than the traditional and more favorable 3-2 odds, said gambling writer Henry Tamburin, who compiled the magazine’s list. Many Las Vegas casinos also have unfavorable rules and blackjack variations with a higher house edge, he said.

Read the whole story

An El Dorado County man who was arrested in connection with an alleged cockfighting operation in Garden Valley in February was convicted last week, ordered to serve 45 days in county jail, and pay $700 in fines and fees and more than $4,200 in restitution to El Dorado County. Once he serves his jail time, he will be on searchable probation for three years.

Saul Cuevas Ayala, a resident of Garden Valley, pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor crime for possession of game cocks for fighting purposes. As part of the plea, Ayala cannot possess fowl in the future or implements that could be used for cockfighting, and he must reimburse El Dorado County Animal Services for the costs incurred.

Rogelio Reyes-Higareda, who was arrested at the same time, was not charged. He was deported.

According to Henry Brzezinski, chief of El Dorado County Animal Services, cockfighting operations in El Dorado County and throughout California are a growing problem. “We do want the message to get out into the community that these operations are going on,” Brzezinski said in a statement. “Cockfighting is not just a concern because it involves cruelty to animals. Typically, large amounts of money, drugs and weapons are involved in cockfighting matches. There are also often other crimes and violence involved.”

Ayala and Reyes-Higareda were arrested Feb. 13 when, after a routine traffic stop by law enforcement, injured game birds and cockfighting instruments were found in their vehicle. A search warrant was issued and more than 250 game fowl were found on Ayala’s Garden Valley property, along with fighting implements and other evidence of cockfighting. All of the birds were either in bad shape physically or too aggressive to be rehabilitated, and had to be humanely euthanized, according to Brezinski.

By U.S. Ski Team

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN – Audi FIS Alpine World Cup winners Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley) and Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) are not interested in holding back during spring training. But according to newly named speed Head Coach Forest Carey, it was the young athletes holding down the throttle at Mammoth Mountain.

“The young guys were completely willing to throw down in May – they’re definitely eager,” said Carey, the 2011 USSA International Alpine Coach of the Year. “We free skied a few days with over three feet of fresh powder and trained full-on downhill and super G training in some pretty bumpy snow with flat light towards the end. It was a good mix.”

Thanks to incredible late season snow conditions, the Team was able to run near full-length downhill and super G from the top of the cornice. The opportunity was a huge bonus for a group that missed a good portion of speed training last summer due to rough weather in New Zealand.

“Mammoth Mountain, as they always do, really did a great job accommodating us,” said Carey. “They spent a lot of time on the cats pushing things around, which turned into 75-80 seconds of downhill and super G training. We’re pretty lucky to be able to run from the top because that really takes up a lot of the mountain.”

Young athletes Wiley Maple (Aspen), Will Gregorak (Longmont, Colo.) and Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.) had their foot on the gas the entire camp. But Sullivan, Olympic bronze medalist Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid) and Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley) showed they were ready to play after returning from injuries and Erik Fisher (Middleton, Idaho) is ready to carry his late winter charge into the 2012 prep period.

Weibrecht missed the last three months of the season after shoulder surgery as did Sullivan, who was out following a December head injury and Ganong broke his hand while competing at the February World Championships.

“Ganong looks like he’s darn near 100 percent and Marco is right there too. It’s safe to say that injury-wise – nothing is holding them back,” added Carey. “Weibrecht was only with us for a week since he was still wrapping things up at Dartmouth, but he looked solid.”

Most impressive for Carey was the team dynamic with Sullivan and Nyman taking leadership roles within the group.

“Marco and those guys were helping the young guys with their glide turns and subtle things for downhill, which was cool to see,” he said.

“There were a few days where Marco would stand on the side and just watch those young guys like Biesemeyer just slay down the pitch. He has such a good eye for making subtle changes to find speed.”

While the men’s speed program has a brief break from formal camps, their conditioning programs are now locked full-time. Carey, however, will return to snow in a few days to help technical Head Coach Mike Day with a training camp for his group back in Mammoth.

“I’m psyched for the new challenge as head coach,” said Carey. “It’s quite the group with a lot of different types of skiers who have a lot of different needs. But we have an awesome support structure in place and most importantly athletes who want to win.”

• The annual Ren Faire at Camp Richardson is June 4-5 and June 11-12 from 10am-6pm.

• Squaw Valley may not have fresh powder like it did Memorial Day weekend, but it will be open July 2-4, 8am-2pm for skiers/snowboarders.

• Thunderbird Lodge is open for public tours Tuesdays through Saturdays until mid-October.

• The American Pyrotechnics Association rates South Shore’s Fourth of July fireworks celebration one of the Top 5 displays in the nation.

• Tahoe Donner Association paid Truckee Donner Public Utility District $775,000 for the 160-acre McGlashan Springs parcel to keep it open space. The property is adjacent to the 240-acre Bucknam Tract the association bought a year ago.

Don’t be alarmed when you don’t see cars in the parking lot at TRPA today.

The agency is open.

As part of the Tahoe Bike Challenge and to promote multi-modal transportation at Lake Tahoe, more than 60 staff members of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and adjoining offices will be biking, walking or using alternative transportation to get to work today. All staff have committed to a car-free commute to work..

To the community,

Wow, what a May – still sliding and riding during this Tahoe-style spring.

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and express appreciation for the tireless effort by so many that helped bring and prepare for America’s most important pro cycling event – the Tour of California. It was the first time since the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympic Games that the region and its agencies, businesses, organizations and residents came together with a unified purpose – to welcome a global audience and showcase Tahoe’s natural beauty, hospitality, and important role cycling plans in our community.

While the blizzard conditions made it unsafe for racing and the event had to be canceled, and moved off the hill, what still remains is the experience of excitement and regional collaboration with the anticipation for a more promising future for our community.

For me, and for others, those positive experiences of excitement and anticipation continue to live in us and through our daily actions as we pedal forward by participating in the Tahoe Bike Challenge, Bucks 4 Bikes, daily rides and events, and by the unglamorous tasks of planning, asking for dollars, navigating through small town politics, taking a stand for the right action and challenging actions that don’t serve the highest and best use of community resources, and continually building new and maintaining existing strategic alliances with the regions’ stakeholders, and you – our Tahoe Bike Buddies.

Are we disappointed the big race didn’t happen? Yes, of course. However, our community did produce a race that day with the passionate effort by people and organizations that are accustomed to racing everyday with no crowds, no media, no big budgets, no promises of rewards or congratulatory pats on the back. For them, and us, the reward is in knowing that their, and our, efforts are driven by a vision of Tahoe being a healthy place where residents and visitors can enter a new context of: livability, beauty and wonder, rejuvenation and reconnection with their innate affinity to nature; learning and accomplishing new activities they may never have experienced before; and to more intimately bond with family and friends.

This is the Tahoe we know and the fuel for transformative actions that has inspired generations – it is Tahoe’s legacy and brand. We shall continue our selfless mission to fostering and remembering our role to help humans and nature be balanced, regenerative, resilient and adaptive, and able to anticipate and manage variability and risk in order to sustain this unique bio-region — where angels breath, nature thrives, and humans must be reminded of their stewardship responsibility to this sacred place.

Keepin it real and rollin,

Ty Polastri, president Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition