Caregiving is a difficult and often challenging role that one can undertake, and taking the opportunity to share information and feel connected to others who are providing care is a vital step to perform this task to the best of your ability. Take the opportunity on Nov. 11 from 5:30-7:30pm, South Lake Tahoe Senior Center 3050 Highway 50, South Lake Tahoe to become connected and rejuvenated at your local support group.

Refreshments will be served. Free respite care is available to qualified caregivers. Pre-authorization is required for respite services. Questions? Contact the Family Caregiver Support Program at (530) 621.6151.

Updated Nov. 2, 2010, 12:36pm.

By Kathryn Reed

The first police chief hired from outside the department was sworn in this morning at the South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting.

Brian Uhler becomes the eighth chief, taking over a department that has had a rocky time of it in recent years, especially under the leadership of former Chief Terry Daniels. Capt. Martin Hewlett has been the leader of the department since the start of the year after Daniels left.

Several members of the police department were on hand as Uhler was sworn-in and given his badge at the end of the Nov. 2 council meeting. He said a few perfunctory words before the meeting was adjourned.

Uhler, 49, most recently was a captain in the UC San Francisco police force. He was laid off in August after two years on the job. Before that he spent 25 years with the Corpus Christi, Texas, police department. He retired as a commander.

Uhler has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in public administration, and is a graduate of the FBI Academy.

City Manager Tony O'Rourke, right, Nov. 2 gives South Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler his shield. Photo/Kathryn Reed

“He really understands the whole police operations,” City Manager Tony O’Rourke told Lake Tahoe News. “He is very smart and strategic. He doesn’t come across as a typical cop.”

This is O’Rourke’s first hire since coming on board in August. His next appointment, which could be before the end of the year, will be director of Parks and Recreation.

In the series of panel interviews, Uhler was the top candidate for the chiefs of police. O’Rourke sent most of the several dozen resumes to a police chief he knows in Florida who ranked Uhler as the top candidate on paper.

Uhler was one of three finalists. No local candidates made the final list.

Uhler called the five panels in one day an “endurance event.”

Uhler has experience in all aspects of a police department, which appealed to O’Rourke.

“A lot of chiefs come from administration or the political side. This guy has proven himself on the street,” O’Rourke said.

Another key for O’Rourke was to hire someone who could mentor the younger officers. Liking the outdoors was another selling point. Uhler is a hiker, skier and cyclist.

“You have to share the values of why people are here. He shares those values and embraces them,” O’Rourke said.

On top of that, even though Uhler spent so many years in Texas, he is a Giants fan. He drove into town last night after the Giants were crowned World Champions after beating the Texas Rangers in Game 5 of the World Series.

Uhler has a little experience with snow. He spent some time in Mammoth – though it was as a youth. With his father in the aerospace industry, he moved around a bit as a kid. After high school he joined the Army, where he entered the military police. He went to the Corpus Christi department after being discharged.

Uhler is divorced with two children. His son is in college in North Carolina. His daughter will move to Tahoe this winter to attend Lake Tahoe Community College.

He will be making a base salary of $142,000, with a 1.5 percent longevity incentive boosting his pay to about $145,000 year.

Uhler’s first day on the job will be Nov. 8.

• Tahoe Derby Dames is in search of an indoor space of approximately 5,000 square feet for the team’s evening practices during the months of November, December and January. The Dames first bout of the 2011 season is in March. Contact tahoederbydames@sbcglobal.net.

• Mountain bike riders from around the Lake Tahoe Basin will convene Nov. 5 from 6-8pm at South Lake Tahoe Parks & Recreation Department, 1180 Rufus Allen Blvd., Cedar Room, to discuss how to proceed in forming a single regional club or a couple clubs representing each area in the basin.

• For $50 find out Nov. 18 who won the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s Blue Ribbon awards. Lunch included. Call (775) 588.1728 by Nov. 10 to reserve a seat.

• Harveys Lake Tahoe will host the World Series of Poker Nov. 11-23.

• Bilingual Story Time at the South Lake Tahoe branch library on Nov. 6 at 11am. Hear stories, do crafts, play alphabet bingo, and learn a few words in Spanish.

By Kathryn Reed

With Barnes & Noble seeking a buyer, the future of Lake Tahoe Community College’s bookstore is a bit precarious.

The national book chain runs the bookstore and coffee cart at the South Lake Tahoe institution. The contract is for Barnes & Noble to pay a percentage of profits to LTCC. They are – it’s just always been the minimum.

The money is being kept in a reserve account in case the college needs to take the bookstore over again.

Hours of the coffee cart have been cut back and talk is it might stop operating completely.

As with most printed material, even textbooks are becoming obsolete. Bryan Swartout, student trustee on the college board, said he didn’t buy a textbook this quarter.

E-readers and discounted textbooks are two ways to avoid purchasing new books. Barnes & Noble has the Nook, an e-reader that textbooks can be downloaded on.

The future of the mega-book chain could be known after the Nov. 17 shareholder meeting.

By Kathryn Reed

WOODSTOCK, Vt. — A kaleidoscope of color more varied than the largest box of Crayolas dance in the breeze.

I just want to stare. So I do.

How does Mother Nature create such beauty?

A lone maple leaf dangles in the breeze ready to let go. Photos/Kathryn Reed

New England in the fall. It was better than I had remembered. I had spent part of my childhood on the East Coast and a semester as an exchange student at the University of New Hampshire. Nineteen – that was the age I was when I last experienced this magical collage of foliage. It had been way too long.

Returning last month was mesmerizing. Even though the locals said it was not a great year for color, I said phooey to them. I was enthralled.

It reminded me a bit of being in Tahoe on days where I think the ski conditions are lousy and the tourists are giddy about their day on the slopes. Not being a local has you seeing things from a completely different perspective.

Just driving from Boston to Vermont along the interstate is spectacular. It was like I was a bobble head as I kept looking in one direction, then the other and back again.

Yellows, oranges, reds and even some pink intertwined with the green and the already decaying brown create striking bouquets of maple leaves.

A smell fills the air. Yes, it’s the change of seasons. It’s the leaves on the ground, soaked by a fall shower. No longer alive, but still pretty as they decompose.

Why is it the changing of seasons in nature can bring such beauty, such calm, such an easy transition, whereas we humans fight our natural progression from the fall of life to our winter’s demise?

A carpet of leaves softens the walk. A sense of being one with nature fills me. I smile. Part of me feels like I’ve returned home. Part of me longs for New England.

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder (Click on photos to enlarge.)

By Bloomberg Businessweek

Dick Seibert has lost money every year since he opened Knob Hall Winery in rural Maryland in 2006. Now he’s looking for the financing needed to double his vines to 60 acres by year end.

“We’re not making money yet, although we’re not that far away,” says Seibert, 58.

Seibert’s optimism is buoyed by the silent partner he shares with many young wineries: his state government.

He has received about $8,000 in aid from the state, including $1.50 of the $3.50 cost of each of the 4,000 vines he planted in his first two years. Five other vineyard owners in Maryland – where the number of wineries has doubled to almost 50 since 2005 – are getting a total of $75,000 in state grants this year to expand.

Read the whole story

A Brush with Kindness is seeking applicants for 2011.

A Brush with Kindness is a program of El Dorado County Habitat for Humanity that helps low income homeowners by offering exterior home improvements. Volunteer teams partner with the homeowner and work to improve the condition of homes by painting, landscaping and performing minor exterior repairs at minimal costs to the homeowners.

Habitat is accepting applications for projects to be completed in 2011. To qualify, you must be a homeowner in the South Lake Tahoe area, meet the income guidelines, and submit a completed application.

Contact Carolyn at (530) 541.4654 or email sltahoehabitat@gmail.com for an application.

Harpist Anne Roos is having CD release party on Nov. 20 from 6:30-8:30pm at Harrah’s Tahoe in Stateline.

Entertainment will be provided by Screenbooth Lake Tahoe and JJ Entertainment, who will be playing tracks from Roos’ new recordings.

Roos is teaming up with Bread & Broth, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to feed the hungry in South Lake Tahoe. Gift baskets will be raffled off, with the proceeds going to help Bread & Broth provide Thanksgiving meals to those in need.

The event is free, but RSVP necessary by emailing anne@celticharpmusic.com.

What would an election season be like if the political party of the candidate were never stated? If a picture of the candidate were never seen? If the voice of the candidate never heard? If the gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation – were never known?

What if there were no mudslinging? What if only the truth could be said? What if sound bites taken out of context could not be used?

It’s doubtful our biases will ever be overcome. We all have built-in prejudices no matter how open-minded and evolved we claim to be.

Yes, it’s a utopian idea to think there could be an election where votes are cast only for a candidate’s ideas, beliefs and record. But we all have the power, if we choose to exercise it, to eliminate all the clutter that boils down to propaganda and bias.

Many of you have already voted. Others will go to the polls throughout today to cast their vote.

This voting thing is something that makes the United States of America so unique. It’s a freedom, a right that is bestowed upon us without threat from others no matter whom we vote for.

It’s also a tremendous responsibility.

Unfortunately, in this ever polarized society we live in, we seem to have stopped listening, we’ve stopped communicating without trying to talk over the other, we call each other names instead of arguing the issue. We have become the lowest common denominator of all of our parts instead of the best of all of the parts.

How do we reverse course?

Start by casting your ballot today for the best person for each position. Look beyond the party affiliation. Look at the individual. Look at what they stand for.

Lake Tahoe is struggling, the two states surrounding her are hurting, the nation is wounded. It’s time to heal.

When we wake up tomorrow (assuming the votes are counted) there will be three new South Lake Tahoe City Council members, a new sheriff in El Dorado County, new governors in California and Nevada, and a lot of other familiar or new faces in office. It’s doubtful any one person’s ballot will have all the winners.

It’s our individual choice how we react to the results. Does the name-calling begin again? Does the mud get hurled? Does the divisiveness remain and the uncooperativeness stay intact?

We hope not.

It’s time to cooperate. It’s time to do what’s correct for the greater good and not just the person in the mirror. It’s time to play nice in the sandbox of life. If we expect change from our elected officials, then we need to change as well. One person can make a difference, one vote can make a difference, but it will take all of us to bring about change for the greater good.

By Kathryn Reed

It wasn’t another earthquake Monday night. It was San Francisco fans jumping up and down, celebrating the Giants becoming World Series champions.

The Giants won 3-1 against the Rangers in Texas, clinching it all in five games.

It started as the same pitching matchup as Game 1 when Tim Lincecum dominated Cliff Lee. The duel was closer, but Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young winner, dominated with 10 strikeouts.

Tim Lincecum pitches in Game 1. Photos/Kathryn Reed

Brian Wilson and his shoe polish black beard closed it out.

The last time the Giants won a World Series was when they called New York home – 1954. They moved to San Francisco in 1958. At that time there was no Major League team west of the Mississippi. And Giants manager Bruce Bochy was 6 month old.

With so many Giants up for free agency, it could be a different team when spring training opens in spring in Scottsdale. But tonight none of that matters.

Buster Posey -- the incredible rookie -- in Game 1.

Tonight the San Francisco Giants are the World Champions.

And for those who have not seen this video, it captures the season.

There will be a parade in San Francisco on Wednesday beginning at 11am.