On May 7 at 6:30 Bona Fide Books will host a book launch for Andrew Homan, author of “Life in the Slipstream: The Legend of Bobby Walthour,” published by Potomac Books. Walthour was one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, a professional cyclist who became world motor-pacing champion. Join us for snacks, a slide show and talk about Walthour and his wild ride.
Bona Fide Books is at 1069 Magua Street, #4, in Meyers behind the Getaway Cafe.
Bona Fide Books is offering a three-week class, An Organized Mess: Making Graphic Novels at its office in Meyers. The three-hour sessions will be held on April 16, 23, and 30 from 1-4 pm. The cost is $119 for all three sessions. Class instructor Jared Manninen is a graphic novelist and co-founder of Makoto Press. For more information, call Bona Fide Books at 530-573-1513.
Bona Fide Books is at 1069 Magua Street, #4, in Meyers behind the Getaway Cafe.
A book launch for “Gruesome Tales to Tickle Your Terror Bone” will be held April 15, 7 pm, at Bona Fide Books in Meyers. Join us to celebrate the release of Jared Manninen’s first graphic novel and find out about his small press. (There will be zombies!)
Bona Fide Books is at 1069 Magua Street, #4, in Meyers behind the Getaway Cafe.
On May 4, Bona Fide Books of Meyers will launch its first publication, “Permanent Vacation: Twenty Writers on Work and Life in Our National Parks”. A reading will be at Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe at 7pm featuring local essayists Joseph Flannery and Janet Smith on Yellowstone and Yosemite.
By Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee
More than 200 school buildings in the Sacramento region appear on a state list of facilities with potentially dangerous seismic hazards, according to California Watch, a nonprofit news agency.
Local districts have spent tens of millions of dollars to repair buildings on the decade-old list, produced by the Division of the State Architect, though large earthquakes happen less frequently in Yolo, Placer, El Dorado and Sacramento counties than elsewhere in California.
Sacramento City Unified and San Juan Unified school districts had a combined 150 school buildings on the list, which logged buildings constructed before 1978 using certain materials prone to earthquake damage.
The city of Sacramento itself has no major known faults running beneath it. However, several faults within 30 miles are capable of producing large earthquakes, said Bill Bryant, a senior engineering geologist for the California Department of Conservation.
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake near Winters in 1892 was felt with high intensity in Sacramento.
Sacramento City Unified and San Juan Unified passed several construction bond measures about 15 years ago and devoted some of the proceeds to earthquake retrofitting. Officials at both districts say work has been completed at dozens of buildings.
“All buildings older than 25 years have been retrofitted,” said Sacramento City Unified spokesman Gabe Ross.
About 15 buildings at Elk Grove Unified, the region’s largest district, made the at-risk list.
“At the schools on that list, we’ve done about $40 million worth of work,” said Robert Pierce, the district’s associate superintendent for facilities and planning, adding that all district buildings now could likely withstand a quake.
Elsewhere in the region, fewer schools appear to have structural problems, but the threat of a large earthquake directly underfoot is higher.
The Lake Tahoe area sees the most earthquakes in the region, particularly Alpine County, south of the lake. Several hundred earthquakes have struck there in the past 40 years, most of them minor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Bijou Community Elementary in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District was cited on the state’s list of schools potentially at most risk from an earthquake. South Tahoe Middle School appeared on a list of high-priority seismic projects.
Workers retrofitted Bijou in 2000 and performed three separate retrofits at Tahoe Middle in subsequent years, said Steve Morales, director of facilities at Lake Tahoe Unified. Other schools have also been extensively renovated with bond money.
Work is still ongoing, Morales said, adding that past projects “were designed to offset catastrophic failures in the buildings. The upgrades do not bring the facilities up to the current building code.”
By Carlos Alcala, Sacramento Bee
Kevin Cairns, owner of Dante’s on the River, east of Pollock Pines, was released on bail Friday after three weeks in jail.
Cairns had been jailed unexpectedly on $250,000 bail at his first court appearance March 15 related to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and felony vandalism for incidents in November and February.
He was denied a bail reduction April 1 but had his bond reduced to $87,000 Friday, which he was able to post with the assistance of friends, Cairns’ wife Nancy said.
Cairns’ jailing took place after a third incident the weekend before the March 15 court date.
The El Dorado County District Attorney’s office filed amended charges that morning, although Cairns had not been arrested in that latest, nonviolent confrontation.
Cairns has argued he is only defending his property in the face of an onslaught of motorists who abuse his parking lot by vomiting or going to the bathroom there.
The restaurant is on a windy and isolated stretch of road.
Dante’s restaurant has closed to avoid further incidents, Nancy Cairns said, and her husband is pursuing a business opportunity opening 10 restaurants with an old friend.
The Lake Tahoe Historical Society will kick into spring with featured speaker Margie Daum on April 26 at Camp Richardson Resort at its annual meeting starting at 7pm.
“We’ve had an enormous amount of snow,” Kirkwood spokesman Michael Dalzell told Lake Tahoe News, referring to a recorded 729 inches in snowfall. Kirkwood’s record was set in 1982, an El Nino year, with 775 inches. “These are mid February conditions now.”
On Saturday, Kirkwood hosts its annual Spring Jammin’, with a pond skim, ice bar and live music. Other upcoming events include a ho-downhill and barbecue on Saturday, a ladies’ clinic on April 16 and a sunset ski and wine tasting event on April 30 with Northwest Magnum running through 7:30 p.m. and wine and appetizers in the Timbers Bar.
Upcoming events include a ho-downhill and barbecue on Saturday, a ladies’ clinic on April 16 and a sunset ski and wine tasting event on April 30 with Northwest Magnum running through 7:30 p.m. and wine and appetizers in the Timbers Bar.
Alpine Meadows, like most Lake Tahoe resorts, will extend its ski season thanks to the history-making, late-season windfall the region received in 2011. More than 61 feet of snow has fallen in the Sierra high country so far, second to the 1950-51 season, when a total of 65 feet fell. A set of stairs that guides Alpine Meadows visitors up to the resort’s second-story sun deck had vanished last weekend, buried under record amounts of snowfall.
Alpine, which received more than 48 feet of total snowfall at mid-mountain, will continue full operations until April 24. Select lifts will be running Fridays through Sundays until May 15.
“With this much snow, Squaw Valley will have great coverage through May 30 and possibly even longer,” said Andy Wirth, Squaw Valley’s chief executive officer. “We will certainly be examining the possibility of opening for July 4, conditions permitting.”
And Squaw touted a record Friday of their own in hitting a 700-inch cumulative snowfall mark — the first time in the resort’s history. The resort has floated being open over the Fourth of July. If it reaches the holiday, it would be the fifth time in history that it has hosted skiing on that date.
After May 8, Squaw moves to Friday-Sunday operations, offering skiing and riding May 13-16, May 20-22 and May 27-30. Additional days of operation include May 16, the Stage 2 start of the Amgen Tour of California; and May 30, the Memorial Day holiday. Through the end of May, Squaw’s High Camp Swimming Lagoon and Hot Tub will host pool parties at the top of the mountain.
On Saturday, join Olympic gold medalist Julia Mancuso at the Julia Mancuso Kiss My Tiara Pool Party followed by a free outdoor concert by Donavan Frankenreiter on the KT Sundeck. On Easter Sunday, ski with the Easter Bunny and participate in the on-mountain egg hunt.
With a April 24 closing scheduled, Heavenly is celebrating a 100-inch base, marking one of its best snowfall seasons in a quarter of a century. The ideal conditions will help with the annual Gunbarrel 25 slated Saturday morning at the South Shore ski resort. The homespun event is just what the name implies. Participants try to barrel down the ominous face dotted with Volkswagen-sized moguls as many times as they can in the allotted time.
Adding to the event lineup, Heavenly is hosting “Springloaded 2011,” a giant marathon party scheduled for April 8 through 23 with music and entertainment such as the wild and wacky “pond-skimming” event.
“This year’s winter storms gave us an outstanding base for spring skiing, and I am thrilled with the incredible snow conditions at Heavenly,” Vice President of Sales and Marketing John Wagnon said.
Sierra-at-Tahoe has lined up a slew of events of its own to commemorate some of its best conditions ever for its later closing — April 24. It boasts 712 inches of snowfall as of April 1, with 40 powder days. Only 11 winters have surpassed 500 inches of snowfall there.
-Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe: Season extended through May 6 for the general public.
-Mammoth Mountain: The ski area south of Lake Tahoe but situated at high elevation, also has hinted on its website that it’s shooting for a Fourth of July finale. The resort’s Red Bull Schlittentag is today, and its annual Season Pass Party is April 16. The Ice Bar Spring Bash is April 17, and the the Beacon and Eggs beacon search contest is April 24.
-Boreal Mountain Resort: The resort extended its season until April 24. Boreal also reports on its website that it will be open on weekends during May, conditions and business levels permitting.
-Diamond Peak Ski Resort: The Incline Village-owned and operated resort closes April 24, a week after its originally scheduled closing date.
– Donner Ski Ranch: The family owned resort will be open daily through the end this month. Starting May 1, it will go to Saturdays and Sundays through the end of May.
– Homewood Mountain Resort: The resort will remain open through Monday, then transition to a spring schedule that include skiing April 15-18 from 9am to 2pm and April 22-24 from 9am to 2pm. The South Lodge base area will be closed during the two additional weekends. Homewood will offer live music on its North Lodge patio April 16, 23 and 24. April 16 also is Super Hero Day — wear your Batman suit on the hill.
– Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort: Northstar reports it will close April 24. The resort is offering discounted daily lift tickets (for $61) available at participating outlets in Reno, Sacramento and San Francisco. Visit www.northstarattahoe.com for more information and a full calendar of events.
– Sugar Bowl: The Donner Summit resort this week extended its season through May 1. Easter weekend festivities include a Golden Egg Hunt and live music on the Mt. Judah Lodge deck.
-Tahoe Donner: The Truckee resort extended its season through April 17. The End-of-Season Party still is planned for Sunday. The event includes a downhill dummy, food and beverage specials, a bounce house, local ski and board shop exhibit, and the second Boxing Match Rail Jam. All-day lift tickets will be discounted to the half-day rates.
A number of resorts are offering discounted spring season passes. Prices can be found on each resort’s website.
By Bill O’Driscoll, Reno Gazette-Journal
Gaming revenues tumbled yet again across Washoe County in February as the tourism industry recession showed no signs of easing its winter-long grip, the state reported today.
Casinos across the Reno-Sparks-north Tahoe region saw an 8.5 percent decline in gross revenues from the same month a year earlier, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s report.
It marked the fourth straight month of year-over-year declines for Washoe County.
Within the county, properties in Reno reported a 7.5 percent drop and in Sparks, revenues fell 10.2 percent. On the north shore of Lake Tahoe, casinos reported a 15.5 percent decline.
Statewide, gaming revenues fell 6.8 percent, pulled down largely on a 9.5 percent decline on the Las Vegas Strip, which alone generates more than half the entire state total.
Elsewhere in Northern Nevada, revenues in the Carson City-Carson Valley corridor fell 2.9 percent from February 2010, and at Stateline on Tahoe’s south shore, casinos reported a 2.5 percent drop.
Layer up! It looks like another day of shifting skies with sun, cloud cover, and scattered snow showers in the mix. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.