By Kathryn Reed

Laughter and silliness are often cures for sadness.

Author Jennifer Kelman proves this with her book “Mrs. Pinkelmeyer and Moopus McGlinden Burn the Rrrrump Rrrroast”.

It’s billed as a book for children for them to feel safe and loved, especially when separated from their parents. After reading it, I think it would be ideal for any child no matter their state of mind. If anything, I think labeling it something other than a straight children’s book may hurt the sales of it.

Self-help books for little ones doesn’t seem like it would be a big category.

Although Kelman got the idea for the book while babysitting her nephew, I think she could sell this without an angle other than fun.

Yes, it may help children laugh – but so many books do this. Maybe it’s a sales ploy. Whatever the reason to market the book this way, it’s worth picking up for the little ones in your life.

They are bound to laugh – if only because you’ll want to use your best British accent as you read it to them.

The illustrations by Michael Swaim are every bit as entertaining as the words on the pages. They certainly capture what is going and are silly in their own right.

To the community,

Give your pets the protection they need. Every dog or cat can “host” parasites and you may not even know about it. Even indoor pets can be exposed.

Regular examinations and preventive medications can help protect your pets from fleas, ticks, heartworms, and intestinal parasites like roundworms and hookworms. Don’t leave your pet unprotected from these predators:

Ticks and Fleas:

Ticks and fleas are blood-drinking parasites that can also cause serious illness in pets. Ticks can transmit infections like Lyme disease, and fleas can transmit tapeworms and cause allergies. You can sometimes see ticks or fleas on your pet, but for the most part, they are very difficult to find. A veterinary examination can detect ticks or fleas on your pet, and monthly medication can control them.

Heartworms:

Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitoes, and they can infect dogs and cats. Even indoor pets aren’t completely safe from heartworms, since 25 percent of heartworm infected cats live completely indoors. Heartworms can damage the lungs and heart, and can even cause death. Fortunately, heartworm preventive medications can protect your pets from these dangerous parasites.

Intestinal Parasites:

Hookworms, roundworms, and other intestinal parasites can harm pets. Some of these parasites are even transmissible to humans, so preventing parasites in your pets also helps protect children and other family members. A veterinary examination and routine fecal testing can identify intestinal parasites, and many monthly heartworm preventive medications safely and effectively control them.

Sincerely,

The doctors and staff at Sierra Veterinary Hospital, Carson City

By Reno Gazette-Journal

The National Geothermal Academy hads inaugural summer session at UNR this year. It is the first of its kind in the United States.

Forty students from around the country will have an intensive eight-week geothermal energy education program. The goal of the academy is to educate and train the next generation of scientists, engineers, plant operators and policy makers.

It is a consortium of top geothermal schools from around the country including Cornell University, Stanford University, Southern Methodist University, West Virginia University, the Oregon Institute of Technology, the University of Utah and Dartmouth.

The Department of Energy awarded UNR a $995,000 grant to develop and operate the academy. The university has 20 years of geothermal research, development and exploration success.

Read the whole story

By Pip Taylor, Competitor Network

Many athletes choose to live and train at high altitude with the particular goal of increasing endurance performance. While the merits of altitude training and the best methods and timing of implementation can be debated, let’s focus on changes in nutritional demands at higher elevations.

It is clear that any competition at altitude will benefit from acclimatization, or adaption to changes in physiological and metabolic demands. Systems that react to altitude and changes in oxygen pressure include cardiovascular, pulmonary and endocrine and the central nervous system, meaning changes in resting and maximal heart rate, rates of ventilation, blood pressure, VO2 max and oxygen transport. Nutritional support of these adaptations and systems during altitude acclimatization is crucial.

As with any conditions, there is a range of nutritional demands. A mildly warm day will require different nutritional strategies as compared with one of searing heat and humidity; similarly, with rising altitude there will be greater effects. For the most part, when endurance athletes talk of moderate altitude, they are talking somewhere in the range of 5000 to 8000 feet (1,500-2,500 meters).

Here are some nutritional challenges athletes might face at moderate altitude.

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Earth Day Tahoe is scheduled for April 16 at Bijou Community Park on Al Tahoe Boulevard. Hours are set from 10am to 5pm.

The event designed to raise environmental awareness for our planet will feature music by the Bison Bluegrass Band and Bandit, a circus, children’s parade, along with booths, refreshments, a raffle and a zero-waste demonstration.

For more information, visit www.southtahoeearthday.org.

By Susan Wood

Rabe Meadow between Stateline and Round Hill may be a future site for the first phase of a proposed bike link. Photo/Susan Wood

INCLINE VILLAGE — A critical step in the Nevada Stateline-to-Stateline bikeway project was accepted Friday by the Tahoe Transportation District, an arm of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency tasked with such issues.

The public comment period ended for the environmental assessment. Now, the U.S. Forest Service and TRPA need to approve it.

Groundbreaking of the first phase of the $9 million project is scheduled for May 15. Officials have about half that amount with funding sources being lined up, TTD Executive Director Carl Hasty told Lake Tahoe News.

The first of three phases covers two miles from Stateline to Elks Point Drive. The 30-mile trail advances on paper to Crystal Bay. Each phase is estimated to cost about $2.5 million.

Project managers and officials are reviewing different options. One choice crosses Rabe Meadow and merges with the Watah Trail that starts at Kahle Drive in Stateline and meanders through Round Hill. The other parallels Highway 50.

Project Manager Alfred Knotts told the transportation board the “superior” alternative staff is leaning toward is the latter because of fewer environmental concerns.

The proposal calls for bike racks, signs, picnic tables and restrooms.

“I’ve very excited with the progress. It’s an important link,” said TRPA Senior Transportation Planner Karen Fink, a longtime cycling advocate.

Cycling venues are believed to contribute $23 million in tourism revenue and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,400 metric tons.

In other items, the transportation district:

-Approved the request for proposal to be used to secure a long-term operator for BlueGo Transit Services, which has been mired in legal wrangling and complaints. The district, which will oversee the service, wants a reliable operator on a long-term contract.

• The Lake Valley Fire Department recently hosted the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Officiers de Sapeurs-Pompiers, as in the National Academy of French Fire Officers, for a presentation on the Angora Fire by Chief Jeff Michael.

• Lake Valley would like to remind residents to remove snow from gas meters and ensure they’re working properly — especially with the heavy snow of this year’s winter. If there’s a hissing sound or smell of rotten eggs, leave the area immediately and call 911.

• E. Clement Shute Jr., 71, of Alameda has been appointed to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. He is a founding partner of Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP, where he has represented numerous environmental organizations, including the TRPA since 1980.

• A PetStay program will be introduced this spring at Harveys Lake Tahoe and Harrah’s Reno hotels, with rooms featuring pet treats, a mat, as well as food and water dishes. Dog walking maps will be on hand.

By David Lightman, William Douglas, McClatchy Newspapers

Congress and the White House late Friday barely beat the clock and averted a partial government shutdown, agreeing to a last-minute deal to cut at least $38.5 billion from federal spending.

Congress will not vote on the deal, which would fund the government for the last six months of the fiscal year, until next week. In the meantime, negotiators agreed to a shorter-term stopgap spending plan to keep the government running through Thursday.

Approval was expected late Friday to keep the government open past midnight.

Read the whole story

El Dorado County will host a public meeting to receive input on a proposed bike trail alongside Lake Tahoe Boulevard southwest of the “Y.”

The forum starts at 6pm on April 29 at the South Lake Tahoe City Council Chambers, 1901 Airport Road. For more information, visit www.edcgov.us/DOT/.

A Stateline man was transported Thursday night to Renown Medical Center in Reno via CalStar helicopter at about 11 after he was shot in the upper part of his right leg, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department reported Friday. He ended up having surgery on the injured right femur.

Deputies responded to a call of a gunshot incident at a residence in the 300 block of Quaking Aspen Drive in Stateline.

An investigation and statements from both parties revealed the subjects to be roommates. The subjects had allegedly been cleaning firearms together in a bedroom at the residence. During this procedure, one of the subjects accidentally discharged a firearm, a .41-caliber revolver, which had been reloaded with ammunition after cleaning. The discharged bullet struck the other roommate, causing the injury.

The incident has been deemed accidental, and no criminal charges are pending.

The sheriff’s department declined to release the name of the injured party.