South Lake Tahoe AAUW welcomes members, guests and the public on Nov. 13 at 10a, at the Aspen Room at Lake Tahoe Community College library to learn about the women who contributed to the passage of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote.

Storyteller and AAUW member Sherna Kopple Svensson will share a brief history of the suffragettes and the almost forgotten women who filled in for men fighting World War I.

Following her presentation, a multi-generational panel of women will discuss the changes brought about in their lifetime as women took a greater role in determining the course of their own lives.

The event is free and the public is welcome.

At this meeting, a $4 brunch will be available as well as complimentary beverages.

Call (530) 542.8748 or emailaspens11@att.net by Nov. 11.

To the community,

I would like to endorse Claire Fortier for City Council. It has been a pleasure to know Claire and I wholeheartedly endorse her candidacy. Her communication and leadership skills will serve the needs of this community well. She is an integral part of this community and her integrity is top notch. This is your community and voting does make a difference

Mary Maul

By Matt Kawahara, Sacramento Bee

Heavy cuts in funding are forcing an insurance program for local low-income children to disenroll 680 youths ages 6 to 18 from coverage by Sunday.

The Healthy Kids Healthy Future program, which insures children to age 18 in Sacramento, Colusa, El Dorado, Placer and Yuba counties, is losing funding from the California Endowment and Blue Shield Foundation, said executive director Jennifer Kwan.

That funding paid the premiums on the health insurance plans for children in the program, Kwan said. None of the rest of the program’s funding goes toward premiums for that age group, she said.

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By Reno Gazette-Journal

Registration now is open for the Social Media at Reno-Tahoe 2010 conference, or the Sm@rt conference, which is Dec. 8-10 at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks.

The conference will offer innovative, strategic marketing sessions for small businesses, nonprofits and those involved in tourism, gaming and more.

Successful companies and organizations use social media as key marketing tools to generate sales, brand products and services, tighten messages in a tight economy and stand out in a crowd.

More than two dozen regional and national speakers, including top authors, expert practitioners and strategists will present.

Mike Slone will present a best practices case on how Vail Resorts’ new product, EpicMix, provides a unique user experience. The product, which will be used at Lake Tahoe’s Heavenly, automatically captures and uploads customers’ days skied and vertical feet. It allows users to earn EpicMix pins for achievements and connect with their social networks like Facebook and Twitter and share stats, pins and points.

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The National Weather Service says the low pressure system moving toward Northern California and Western Nevada will bring cooler temperatures, increasing ridge winds and a chance for rain and snow showers starting Friday night and continuing into Saturday above 7,000 feet.

Snow levels will start about 8,000 feet and drop to between 5,500 and 6,500 feet by early Saturday. Light snow showers are expected Saturday morning in areas south of Lake Tahoe and into Mono County with mainly rain showers elsewhere.

The storm is not expected to have a significant impact on travel.

The South Lake Tahoe branch library has book club the third Wednesday of the month at 3pm in the library conference room off Rufus Allen Boulevard.

The group reads and discuss a wide variety of critically acclaimed books.

Nov. 17: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. Group leader is Ellen Davis.

Dec. 15: “The Whistling Season” by Ivan Doig. Group leader is Marie Filip.

Jan. 19: “Alice I Have Been” by Melanie Benjamin. Group leader is Kate Maney.

To the community,

Because Douglas County is facing unprecedented challenges I am seeking election to the county commission District 4 seat. My experience, skills, and abilities best match the needs of our county.

During the past 20 years, I have had the pleasure of being a member of many local community boards and committees. The fact that I live in Stateline and operate a business in the Carson Valley has given me a unique perspective on our county. My action-oriented leadership has been proven as I have guided a private Douglas County company through some of the worst economic times and have maintained employment for over 800 staff. The company has grown, despite this unfortunate economy, due to the implementation of prudent business practices and accountability measures.

Like so many of you, I believe in an open, transparent, and accountable government. I believe government should not tax or assess the citizens to pay for unjustified growth. Furthermore government should operate like a business and be held accountable by the people. Past mistakes do not justify the current citizens being charged increased taxes and fees to pay off past debt.

During the most recent special state legislative session, $265 million was taken from county budgets to make up the $800 million state deficit. This created a shortfall in local revenues that ultimately led to reduced local services. Now the state is facing a $3 billion deficit. What are they going to do? The truth of the matter is, the Legislature has already started reviewing what fees can be raised and what state services can be cut and “pushed down” to the local level as unfunded mandates. The voters of Douglas County must ensure the Douglas County Commission is prepared to defend the needs of the county and to make sure our local government is as efficient and cost effective as possible.

Douglas County must improve communication with its constituents while adopting prudent business practices and accountability measures. Our local government must be seen by the citizens as approachable, easy to work with, and one that listens. To that end, a good leader doesn’t use personal influence, they use collaboration. As a certified mediator, I have the communication skills needed for Douglas County to accomplish this.

In addition to completing the regular duties as your commissioner, I will accomplish the following during the first six months after the election:

November – I will meet with county management to share my expectations for department accountability. I will share goal setting and measurement techniques such as the Harvard Balanced Scorecard, SWOT Analysis, and benchmarking.

December – I will prepare for the upcoming legislative session. There are already bill drafts that propose pushing unfunded mandates down to the county level. We must meet with elected legislative officials and keep a pulse on the direction of the upcoming session. We need to prepare to defend Douglas County from the state, which if left unchecked, will take local revenues to make up for the state’s deficit.

January – After officially being sworn in as commissioner, I will help find a long-term resolution to the county water problems. I will assist county management with the submission of USDA grant applications to fund the necessary community water system improvements that are currently driving up user rates. Also, alternative plans will be developed, which do not include rate increases or unfair subsidies.

February – I will host a Town Hall meeting for Douglas County businesses. This meeting will be focused on listening to local business owners to find out what roadblocks currently exist and hear suggestions on how to overcome them. A public prioritized plan of action will be developed and put in place.

March – In an effort to bring new business to Douglas County, I will establish a private/public self-directed work group that will be tasked with creating a local “Business Incubator.” Success rates of businesses that begin in a business incubator is 87 percent, while the success rate of businesses started on their own is less than 50 percent.

April – To improve communication, I will work with staff to ensure April’s board meeting be scheduled outside of the business day (so more of the public can attend). This meeting’s agenda will focus on local government performance and accountability. This will be especially important since the 2011 legislative session should be nearing its end and we at the local level need to know how any new legislation will affect us.

In my opinion, a county commissioner has a greater influence on the direction of our local community than any other elected official in the state. I am grateful for this opportunity to be elected to such an important board. I respectfully ask that you vote for me, Lawrence Howell, when choosing who will represent you as the next District 4 County Commissioner.

Sincerely,

Lawrence W. Howell, Stateline

To the community,

I have been a resident of the city of South Lake Tahoe for 35 years. During that time I have raised my family here, worked for the city, owned and operated a small business, and currently I assist my husband who is a self-employed painting contractor with his recordkeeping.

I am running for City Council with the conviction, passion, and goal of making our community the best it can be. I worked for the city for 18 years and retired six months ago. Of those 18 years, I had 16 years experience in working with the city’s budget, grants, bonds, contracts, etc. I recognize the issues that face this community from the inside out. I know the budget and where to look for savings. I am aware of what grants the city currently has and possible sources of future grant funding. Being that said, I am also conscious of the difficulties that the minimum wage earners, small business owners and self-employed business owners face while they try to survive during these difficult economic times.

This campaign should not be run on the “if the city had 3 billion dollars, this is what I would do” statement, nor should it be a bash TRPA game. It should focus on the “real” issues that are important to our community (the budget deficit, the disappearing community, the transparency and lack of trust in the leadership of our community, growing the economy, – just to name a few) and what we can realistically do to address these issues. My endorsers/supporters are the small business owners, the clerks at the grocery store, the waiters and waitresses, the unemployed persons, my neighbors and friends. These people know who I am and what I represent – and that is integrity, honesty, intelligence, common sense, and what should be greatly beneficial, is the direct experience and knowledge of how this city should/could operate.

The community has asked for change. I offer that change. I am not a “polished” politician; I am just me — a resident of the community that I love. If you are truly ready for a change, please vote for me on Nov. 2. I can and will be the voice of all the people of our community and the voice of reason.

Adrian Gooch, South Lake Tahoe

Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Oct. 29, 2010, Sacramento Bee.

Most people would like to get election results on election night, not days or weeks after the polls close. The millions of California voters who vote by mail can help avoid delays and speed the count by mailing their ballots no later than today.

That’s right, fill it out and drop it in the mail or take it to your local registrar’s office today, right now, if that is possible.

A Friday mailing before the Tuesday election will ensure that your ballot gets to the registrar’s office in time to be counted at all. It will also guarantee the ballot arrives in enough time to allow county elections officials to process it in time to include your vote in the election night tally.

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‘Hereafter’

Rated PG-13

3.5 bagels out of 5

By Howie Nave

If Clint Eastwood never acted in a movie again I would be bummed for sure. But so long as he continues his incredible winning streak as a director, I think I’ll overlook the lack of acting.

Here is a filmmaker like a fine vintage out of Napa Valley that truly gets better with age. Eastwood is at that stage in his career/life where he can make movies that he is clearly passionate about. He also gets an incredible amount of freedom to not rush, so his movies are like reading novels with each scene on the screen a different page eagerly waiting to be read.

And all this from Dirty Harry, too?

Eastwood has crafted a piece of work that will leave you asking more questions than it delivers answers. I think in part because Eastwood is clearly in the twilight of his life, he’s probably wondering what lies beyond this existence. At 80 years of age, though, he shows no signs of resting on his laurels.

Matt Damon stars in "Hereafter."

“Hereafter” opens dramatically, mirroring some of the tragic climatic news we’ve been witnessing lately so you find yourself immediately captivated. With Eastwood’s magic touch and Peter Morgan’s (“The Queen,” “Frost/Nixon”) script, Matt Damon stars as George, a former psychic who communicated with dead people but has retired from the field. He seeks out something that can relieve his mind from such pressure and decides to put his body to work employed as a factory worker in San Francisco. Apparently, though, he still has the touch when he grasps another person’s hand and can “see” what that loved one who has passed on has to say. It’s actually more of a curse than a gift and reminded me a lot of 1983’s “The Dead Zone” (directed by David Cronenberg and based on Stephen King’s novel) starring Christopher Walken where when he grabbed someone’s hand he could see what was going to happen in their immediate future.

Anyway, back to George. He would rather leave his own future behind him, but his brother, Billy (played by Jay Mohr) has other ideas with wanting to market him utilizing his gift for profit.

Eastwood sectionalizes the movie, which is smart as to keep up the interest focusing on several stories centered on George’s talent. It’s creepy in one way, sad in another and you feel for the characters; longing to be in touch with a loved one so that they can find a small degree of (and I loathe this word) closure on moments left unfinished. One of the more moving stories is about a London boy, Marcus (George McLaren) who wants to reach out to his dead twin brother. The other story is the opener with Cecila De France as Marie LeLay, a journalist who survives the incredible opening scene (don’t want to reveal too much because the effects are amazing) and becomes so traumatized that she no longer sees her job as important but buries herself in an investigation able to perform her job. She plunges into an investigation on whether or not there is an afterlife. Man, I had this weird feeling after seeing this wondering (God forbid) if this was in fact Eastwood’s last movie would he have wanted this to conclude this way? He has a few other projects in the works, but I don’t know, this one just seemed to capsulate one’s journey here and you find yourself thinking what in fact does lie waiting in the “Hereafter?”

“Hereafter” is rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements including disturbing disaster and accident images, and for brief strong language with a running time of 130 minutes.

Howie Nave is host/emcee/manager of The Improv at Harveys. You can hear him Monday-Friday 6 to 10am on KRLT FM-93.9.