Giants win the pennant!

The San Francisco Giants won game six of the NLCS 3-2 tonight to send them to the World Series for the first time since 2002.

The first game against the Texas Rangers is Oct. 27 in San Francisco.




Federal judge keeps alive lawsuit against Red Hawk Casino

By Dale Kasler, Sacramento Bee

The owners of Red Hawk Casino just can’t shake a lawsuit by their former gambling partner.

A federal judge in Sacramento has denied a petition by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians to block a lawsuit by Sharp Image Gaming. It was the second time in six months that courts have turned back the tribe’s efforts to rid itself of Sharp Image’s litigation.

Sharp Image, a Chatsworth supplier of gambling devices, is suing the tribe for more than $100 million. The company says the Miwoks broke a contract that established Sharp Image as the tribe’s exclusive casino partner.

With last week’s decision keeping the lawsuit alive, Sharp Image expects the case to go to trial in February, said the company’s lawyer, Matthew Jacobs of Sacramento. The tribe’s lead attorney, Paula Yost of San Francisco, couldn’t be reached for comment.

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Davis touts his experience for SLT council

To the community,

By now you have your voter information laying on the table trying to figure out who to vote for. It’s difficult to make a clear decision with the clutter of information. It feels familiar to me because when I was a councilman years ago, votes, especially controversial ones, weren’t always clear with the dozens of calls, emails and speakers trying to convince me their position was right.

In baseball if a player hits the ball four times out of 10, he’s a hero and gets his picture on cereal boxes. As a councilmember, there is an expectation that you should get it right 10 out of 10 times.

I was proud that we balanced the budget, and designed and built the voter directed Redevelopment project No. 1 that now provides many jobs that were not there before and over $2 million to the general fund. When the mud slide closed Highway 50 in 1997, I drove to Sacramento with the chamber exec to get help from Caltrans and the governor before other cities even thought to reach out. It saved our town $1 million per day for each day we opened sooner.

I felt good going to Washington, D.C., to represent our city in order to get grants for public works projects. However, like you, I’ve read the grand jury reports about the bickering and infighting on the council. I’ve watched the dysfunctional atmosphere eat up valuable time and energy. I’ve seen the “hole in the ground” become an embarrassment. But that project can be a great opportunity with a well-balanced council in place. That’s why when I was asked by good people to get the city going again, I said yes. After six years away, I’m asking for your vote and asking you to pick two other honest, clear thinking people to balance out the council and get our city back on track. My contribution will be my experience because I can hit the ground running and I’ll use my understanding of the very complicated budget to turn things around. I think you’ll find that I’m the “right leader at the right time”.

Tom Davis, South Lake Tahoe City Council candidate




Incline woman pleads not guilty in N.J. court; out on bail

By Michael Deak, Courier News

SOMERVILLE, N.J. — Nancy Dunsavage Fiedler, who was missing for 26 years after she left New Jersey with her daughter in the middle of a custody dispute, is free on $2,500 bail after she pleaded not guilty to a charges of interfering with custody and contempt of court.

In a brief appearance Friday before Superior Court Judge John Pursel, Fiedler, 57, who was extradited from Nevada, made the plea before a packed courtroom that included her 31-year-old daughter and new son-in-law.

Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Van Hise asked Pursel to set Fiedler’s bail at $25,000, saying Fiedler had shown “utter and complete disregard for the law” by leaving New Jersey.

But Somerville attorney James Wronko, who is representing Fiedler, said that she had not been aware of the charge against her.

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Fundraiser for girls soccer team

The Tahoe Hawks, a South Shore girls soccer team, is having a fundraiser at Chevy’s restaurant in South Lake Tahoe on Oct. 24 from 4:30-7pm.

Twenty-five percent of the bill (not including alcohol) will go to the team.

Bring the flyer to the restaurant to help the team.




Fundraiser for soccer team

The Tahoe Hawks, a South Shore girls soccer team, is having a fundraiser at Chevy’s restaurant in South Lake Tahoe on Oct. 24 from 4:30-7pm.

Twenty-five percent of the bill (not including alcohol) will go to the team.

Bring the flyer to the restaurant to help the team.




Mancuso begins ski season in Austria with 12th-place finish

Julia Mancuso of Squaw Valley Tweets that she finished 12th today in Soelden, Austria, is more than satisfied with her race, and that it’s a great gondola ride.

Check out the video of her run.




Snippets about Lake Tahoe

edc• El Dorado County Board of Supervisors this month agreed to reinvest some of the hotel taxes it collects on tourism related entities. The Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce is getting $92,770; El Dorado Arts Council $99,450; and El Dorado Lake Tahoe Film and Media Office $89,140.

• Barton Memorial Hospital Auxiliary’s annual Holiday Faire at St. Theresa Catholic Church is Nov. 7 from 9am-3pm. The church is at the corner of Lyons Avenue and Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe. The auxiliary’s famous cheese balls will be for sale.

• Maybe the Canyons Resort in Utah will start a trend this winter by being the first ski area in the U.S. to have an enclosed heated chairlift.

• Sierra-at-Tahoe’s annual Pray for Snow Party is Nov. 11 at Mo’s Place in South Lake Tahoe on Lake Tahoe Boulevard. Season pass holders get in at 6pm, everyone else is welcome at 7pm.

• The two-day youth summit that was planned for November on the South Shore has been canceled and will be rescheduled for spring 2011.

• The Legislature has amended health and safety code 103625(b) to include a $2 fee to be transmitted to the state treasurer for the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection and Storage Program. This change will add $2 to each birth certificate in El Dorado County beginning Nov. 1.




Heavenly introduces GM; ready to make snow Tuesday

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Pete Sonntag made himself more real Friday night than most executives ever do.

At his “coming out” party of sorts at Edgewood Tahoe, he talked about how great it is to be general manager of Heavenly Mountain Resort, joked a bit with his predecessor and boss Blaise Carrig (who introduced him), and delved into the importance of living every day to the fullest. An athletic friend dying at age 40 of a heart attack and his first born nearly dying the first week of his life helped instill into Sonntag the appreciation for life.

He intends to — and according those at the Oct. 22 event already is — bringing that zest for life to work. The packed room (most of whom don’t work for Sonntag) welcomed him. He has been on the job since late summer.

Pete Sonntag

Pete Sonntag

The only boos to his speech came when he admitted to being at AT&T ballpark the previous night to watch his Phillies beat the Giants.

Casey Blann, vice president of mountain operations, is exuberant about the two Pirnoth snowcats that will arrive next week.

“They are more efficient, cover more acres, have less emissions and are a better quality groomer,” Blann said. The nickname for these snowcats is “The Beast.”

Sonntag said two more would join the fleet for the 2011-12 season.

At the Tamarack Lodge, which is scheduled to open in early February, construction is still ahead of schedule. That may change with snow in the forecast for the next few days.

Steve Turner, director of food and beverage at the California-Nevada resort, is eager to get his crew into that kitchen. It’s bigger and has more components, like a fryer that might be able to dish up some garlic fries (no promises) that Sonntag devoured in San Francisco.

With only 2 percent of the skiers being vegetarian, don’t expect an abundance of choices. But Turner said a salad bar and other veggie options would be on the menu at the new lodge.

For the carnivores, expect the smoker to be well used this season.

John Wagnon, director of marketing, said the threat of snow in the forecast is helping sell season passes.

If weather experts are right, Sonntag may have an epic first year.

With the snowmaking guns ready to start making white stuff Tuesday in anticipation of the Nov. 19 opening day, he is eager to get the South Shore resort open for the season.




Opinion: Improving Tahoe-Reno’s business image is key

By Chuck Alvey

Reno-Tahoe Can Do Business Starts Here, a local grass-roots campaign, is a way you can personally make a difference in diversifying our economy.

As the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada and partners work to recruit and expand top companies and create jobs, there are obstacles. The one that Can Do addresses is our region’s lack of image as a business location. Research shows some people in the U.S. have a negative impression of our communities, while others have positive images. Most have no impression of us.

Most importantly, decision makers do not think of Reno-Tahoe as a business location.

If we are to continue to diversify and rebuild our economy, changing that external impression begins with you. If we don’t believe we live in a business place, no one else will either. In case you need some convincing, Bill Fruth, president of Policom Corp., an economics research firm, recently reported to EDAWN members that the single largest economic impact in our region comes from the manufacturing sector — at 30 percent. State government, namely the University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute was next, with leisure and hospitality third. In 1990, 28 percent of the work force was in leisure and hospitality. By 2009, it was 18 percent. Manufacturing increased slightly from 5 percent to 6 percent versus declines elsewhere. Business and professional services went from 7 percent to 12 percent. Education and health services saw modest gains from 8 percent to 11 percent. We have diversified our economy, but not nearly enough.

Chuck Alvey is president and CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada.

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