To the community,

Our “yarn folk” have outdone themselves again this year. Nearly 700 warm and wonderful handmade items were donated to the Caps for Kids program.

Thanks to Christmas Cheer, as every year they get your gifts to the people who have need of all these goodies: yarn animals, hats, scarves, socks, booties, slippers, headbands, blankets and mittens – your generosity is just incredible.

Audrey has a blast diving into the caps. Photo/Provided

Thank you – Mary Ann, Virginia, Toni, Yoko, Mary, Bea, Nancy, Janice, Raelene, Mary Lou, Bobbi, Hotsue, Harriette, Diana, Valerie, Sandra, Patricia, Kathe, Wanda, Jan, Page, Pat, Hope Lutheran Church Hands of Hope and the anonymous elves who dash in and out without leaving their names.

Your gifts are truly from the heart.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all,

Cindy Beberg, aquatics coordinator South Lake Tahoe Parks and Recreation Department

For the third consecutive year Artown has earned recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts with a $30,000 Access to Artistic Excellence grant. Artown’s monthlong festival was recognized by the NEA’s grant based on three key areas: preserving diverse cultural heritage; making the arts more widely available in communities; and supporting artistic creativity. The grant award, made under the NEA’s new philosophy that “art works,” also recognizes Artown for strengthening the Reno community’s economy and artistic identity.

The $30,000 grant is an increase of $10,000 over the past two years’ awards and is one of four NEA grants awarded to organizations in Nevada and the only one for an arts presenter. The one-year grant allows Artown to continue to fulfill its mission presenting a culturally and artistically diverse array of exhibits and performances in Reno throughout July. The more than 400 events, 60 percent free, that Artown presents annually draw more than 300,000 attendees from all walks of life allowing access to a multitude of arts experiences.

Throughout its 15 years, Artown has proved itself as an economic driver for Reno and the surrounding communities with nearly $100 million in estimated total wealth. It has not only brought money into the community through tourism and federal grant funding, but also encouraged spending within the community by attracting attendees downtown to enjoy dining, shopping and the arts.

Plans for the 16th annual Artown, July 1-31, are under way with festival favorites such as the Monday Night Music Series, Family Series, World Music Series, Movies in the Park, Dancing in the Park and the Discover the Arts children’s series making its return.

For more information Artown, visit www.RenoIsArtown.com or call (775) 322.1538.

By Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee

Fall in Northern California brings a rustle of leaves and a welcome chill to the air. Nothing’s changed about that. What’s been missing the past three years is the pulse of salmon returning from the ocean to their spawning streams.

The Central Valley fall chinook run was once the most abundant salmon population on the West Coast. But three years ago, its numbers plunged, hitting a record low in 2009, due to what scientists think is a mix of environmental problems.

Fishing was banned, salmon festivals canceled.

Now chinook are surging back to the American, Feather, Mokelumne and Sacramento rivers.

Read the whole story

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO — Jerry Brown ran for governor promising to revive the economy through an aggressive expansion of California’s green-energy industry — but that agenda could prove costly to consumers.

Brown wants the state to make major new investments in solar and wind power: building large-scale power plants that run on renewable resources and placing solar panels on parking-lot roofs, school buildings and along the banks of state highways. Although advocates of renewable energy tout the long-term savings of going green, billions of dollars would be required to reach the governor-elect’s green-energy goals.

Nobody knows if the program would produce the “more than half a million green jobs” Brown promised during the campaign, but many experts agree that it could lead to sharply higher utility rates.

Read the whole story

By Jessie Marchesseau

STATELINE — The South Shore’s marketing plan for the upcoming 2011 Amgen Tour of California is off and rolling.

At the Dec. 9 Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority board of directors meeting, Executive Director Carol Chaplin provided an update on event promotion in the coming months.

The tour is the largest cycling event in the United States and will kick off seven days and 800 miles of road bike riding at the South Shore’s California-Nevada border on May 15. The first stage will consist of 1 1/2 laps around the lake, ending at Northstar-at-Tahoe. The second stage will start at Squaw Valley and take the riders to Sacramento then farther into California during the next five days.

Chaplin announced the new website is up and running, as is the organization’s Tahoe Tour of California Facebook page. The LTVA, along with the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, has also revealed the new event logo featuring iconic Emerald Bay and the tagline “Start at the top.”

She also said the agencies are now working on the development of Tahoe’s 10-day Countdown to the event, which will start on May 5. The countdown will offer a variety of bike demos, expos, participation rides and other community events. While the LTVA and NLTRA will be hosting the tour-specific events, they are looking for partners to organize auxiliary events.

A new team member with experience working on the Amgen tour may also give their efforts a little boost. Joanne Shepherd, a business tourism management student from Southern Cross University in Australia, will be working on the Amgen event at LTVA for the next six months as an intern.

Shepherd worked on the tour four years ago in Long Beach and approached LTVA about doing her college internship with them so she could work on the event once again.

Though Shepherd has only been in Tahoe for less than a week, she says she is looking forward to the next six months. Chaplin says she likes the idea of having someone here who has worked on the tour before.

Chaplin, along with Sue Barton, deputy director, and Mike Frye, sales and events manager, attended an Amgen meeting in Los Angeles in November with representatives from the other 15 host cities. They discussed the rules, regulations and benefits that go along with hosting the event.

“One of the things we really want to do is promote that cycling is a part of our community, and it is,” Chaplin said.

amgen route

Stage 1, Sunday, May 15: South Lake Tahoe → North Lake Tahoe-Northstar (Tahoe Resort)
Stage 2, Monday, May 16: North Lake Tahoe (Squaw Valley) → Sacramento
Stage 3, Tuesday, May 17: Auburn → Modesto
Stage 4, Wednesday, May 18: Livermore → San Jose
Stage 5, Thursday, May 19: Seaside → Paso Robles
Stage 6, Friday, May 20: Solvang (Individual Time Trial)
Stage 7, Saturday, May 21: Claremont → Mt. Baldy (Mountaintop Finish)
Stage 8, Sunday, May 22: Santa Clarita → Thousand Oaks

Mount Shasta keyboardist, harmonica and tabla player Anton Mizerak, singer Laura Berryhill and Nepali maestro flautist Manose will present an afternoon of transformational healing music, Nepali folk tunes and chants from around the world on Dec. 12 at noon at Unity at the Lake in South Lake Tahoe.

Mizerak lives in Mount Shasta and writes his music in nature, believing that the organic experience of sun, wind, water, snow and earth, transmitted through music, can be a valuable nurturing and healing experience.

Mizerak plays keyboards and harmonica. His music has been featured on the nationally syndicated radio show “Echoes” and on the digital New Age Music format “Soundscapes”.

Unity at the Lake meets at the Senior Center, 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. For more information, call (530) 544.2266. A $10 donation is suggested.

Law enforcement personnel from the Reno and Sparks police departments, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, and the Nevada Highway Patrol are teaming up to conduct a DUI checkpoint this weekend.

With grant funding provided by the Northern Nevada DUI Task Force, the administrative roadblock will be taking place Dec. 11 from 5-11pm on Kietzke Lane in Reno.

This is the time of year where businesses, families and friends make plans by getting together to celebrate the holiday season; and often alcohol is part of these festivities. Whenever alcohol is part of recreational activities, motorists should always plan their events safely and responsibly by completely refraining from driving, designating a safe and sober driver, or utilizing public transportation.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a preventable crime; yet everyday at least one motorist in Washoe County is placed under arrest for this offense and is taken to jail.As for the checkpoint, officers, deputies and troopers will be screening traffic on southbound Kietzke Lane between South McCarran Boulevard and Neil Road.

North Lake Tahoe Troop 266 Boy Scouts and Venture Crew is selling Christmas trees this holiday season at Lighthouse Shopping Center in Tahoe City. The naturally grown and hand-harvested Christmas trees are environmentally sound.

Purchasing your Christmas tree from Troop 266 is a “green” way to celebrate the holiday season while helping support local youth.

There will be a wide selection of trees harvested by scouts in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service as part of the forest fuel reduction and forest health thinning project in the Bowman Lake area. No trees from commercial Christmas tree farms are offered for sale. All trees are free of pesticides and other chemical additives.

When fully recycled after use, these naturally grown Christmas trees have the smallest carbon footprint compared to farmed Christmas trees and artificial trees.

Scouts hand select each tree for size, fullness, shape and color. Scouts then transport trees to Tahoe City for temporary storage at the Williamson Yard on River Road. Each tree is inspected for freshness and trimmed if necessary before display at the Troop 266 Christmas Tree Lot at Lighthouse Center.

Following the holiday season, trees can be recycled by local waste management companies for mulch ground cover used in landscaping and environmental restoration projects.

Trees are priced at a very economical $5 per foot. Trees can be cut to order and range in height from five to 14 feet. Complimentary tree stands manufactured by Boy Scouts are included with each tree.

The tree lot will be at the Lighthouse Shopping Center, 840 N Lake Blvd., Tahoe City, near Tootsie’s and Chinese Cuisine Restaurant.

The lot is open 3-5pm weekdays and 10am-5pm weekends.

All profits from the sales of the trees fund Scout programs, including summer camps, educational outings and merit badge workshops.

For information about the lot and availability of trees, call (530) 314.9480.

The Nevada Highway Patrol is looking for information regarding a hit and run accident on Dec. 7 in Douglas County.

The collision was at 5:35pm at Highway 395 and Buckeye Road.

Two vehicles were stopped in the left northbound travel lane for a red traffic signal light when a silver Chevrolet or Dodge pickup failed to slow and stop safely for the stopped vehicles.

The driver of the pickup, reported by those involved in the collision as a lone female, struck the rear of a green 1996 Chevrolet Geo driven by 53-year-old Cynthia G. Silva of Carson City. The force of that collision forced the Geo into the vehicle ahead of her, a 1991 white BMW sedan driven by 59-year-old Robert K. Peaslee of Gardnerville. Silva received minor injuries from the collision and was treated and released at the scene, while. Peaslee was not injured.

The female hit-and-run driver backed her truck up and immediately fled the scene, officers said. The partial Nevada license plate is: 711 W_ _.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision, or who can provide additional information, is asked to contact Trooper Brad Smith at (775) 687.7380.

The Tahoe Figure Skating Club and the South Lake Tahoe Ice Arena are hosting a “Holiday on Ice” Dec. 18 from 5:30-6:30pm at the South Tahoe Ice Arena located at 1170 Rufus Allen Blvd.

Admission is free.

See local and regional skaters perform to their favorite Christmas songs. There will also be performances by the Hockey League, Skate School and a special appearance by Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Dress warm.

For more information, call (530) 542.6262.