El Dorado’s family-owned wineries will raise a special toast to their Silver State neighbors Oct. 29-31, celebrating Nevada Day with complimentary tastings and special promotions in their tasting rooms.

Silver State residents can take advantage of special promotions in El Dorado’s tasting rooms. And everyone, regardless of residency, is invited to enjoy complimentary wine tasting, food, fun and wine specials.

It’s harvest time in El Dorado — a perfect opportunity to get up close and personal with the winemaking experience and the vintners who craft wine from more than 50 grape varietals grown in the region.

For more information and a map of the wine country, visit www.eldoradowines.org.

South Lake Tahoe’s grant application to the California Housing and Community Development Department, Community Development Block Program for $800,000 was approved this week.

This means the city’s First-Time Homebuyer Program and Housing Rehabilitation Program for low-income residents will continue. In addition, the grant includes funds to improve access to city facilities for the disabled.

“Once again, the city’s application was focused on going after funds that will create jobs for the local community. This grant will add onto the city’s $1.5 million Lead Based Paint grant to fund construction jobs for local contractors,” said Nancy Kerry with the city’s housing-economic departments. “With the release of this news, we encourage all contractors to contact us and get on our list of approved contractors.”

Buyers will be encouraged to look for foreclosed properties to help stabilize the local housing market, Kerry said.

In addition, about $123,000 of the grant will fund accessibility improvements for the disabled in city facilities.

The North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce and the Sierra Human Resources Association are offering Tricks for Trainers: How To Give It So They Get It presentation Nov. 5 from 8am to 12:30pm at the Resort at Squaw Creek, 400 Squaw Creek Road in Olympic Valley.

Attendees will learn how to design and deliver training sessions in a low-pressure and encouraging environment. They’ll also take way accelerated learning techniques that are easy to incorporate, which will improve the structure of their next workshop. Give It So They Get It also offers dozens of tips used by professional trainers.

The speakers are Laura Moriarty and Melinda Stearns, founders of the Tahoe Training Partners, seasoned human resources executives, nationally known corporate trainers and frequent presenters of SHRA workshops.

Early bird registration (before Oct. 29) is $59 for North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce and SHRA members and $69 for non-members. Last-minute registration (after Oct. 29) is $69 for North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce and SHRA members and $79 for non-members. Seating is limited.

To register and for more information about the workshop, call Moriarty at (530) 573.0224 or North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce Manager Kym Fabel at (530) 581.8764. Attendees may also register online.

By Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee

The Bee and five other media companies have filed court papers asking a judge to unseal grand jury transcripts and other documents in the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapping case, saying “there is no justification for sealing any records” in the case against Phillip and Nancy Garrido.

Karl Olson, a San Francisco attorney who successfully forced state corrections officials to release Phillip Garrido’s parole records in a Bee lawsuit earlier this year, has asked the trial judge in the Garrido case to unseal the grand jury transcripts and motions that have been filed under seal over the past year, and also to allow argument in court over the judge’s order to seal certain hearings in the case.

Olson argued in a motion that “no overriding interest overcomes the right of public access to records,” and that claiming a defendant’s right to a fair trial may be affected is not enough to seal records.

“Nor is it enough for the defendants to argue that this case has received a lot of publicity, for if that were enough to seal records, all records would be sealed in every case that the public cared about,” Olson wrote.

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By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal

Officials said they are hopeful that a wet fall will keep Lake Tahoe above its natural rim to provide a continuing flow of water into the Truckee River, but to the south, drought conditions have lowered Lake Mead to its lowest point in nearly 75 years.

Slightly buoyed by October rains, Tahoe’s water levels Tuesday were about a half foot above the lake’s natural rim. When full, the top 6 feet of Tahoe’s waters above the rim are stored by the dam at Tahoe City for use by Reno-Sparks and other downstream users.

Sand bars at the South Shore's Cove East in September. Photo/Kathryn Reed

If conditions are dry this fall, Tahoe should drop below its rim and the dam’s gates by the end of the year, said Chad Blanchard, chief deputy water master. Continued rains could prevent that from occurring.

“It hopefully won’t happen at all,” Blanchard said.

The situation is far different at Lake Mead, which serves the Las Vegas area.

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By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe City Council’s unanimous decision to extend the moratorium on medical marijuana collectives for a year may be met with a lawsuit from a fourth collective that has been trying to operate in the city.

During the public hearing the morning of Oct. 19, Chris Ziegler pleaded his case to the council to allow Mountain Collective be given the same rights the three authorized dispensaries have.

“I feel like I keep getting punted down the road. I have been trying to be an asset to the community,” Ziegler told the council.

Jacqueline Mittelstadt and Chris Ziegler listen Oct. 19 to council deliberations. Photo/Kathryn Reed

This time he was shutdown by the council in person.

Ziegler’s attorney, Jacqueline Mittelstadt, also spoke Tuesday. She referenced an Oct. 17 letter she had sent to the council and City Attorney Patrick Enright. (Mittelstadt is the former city attorney for South Lake Tahoe.)

After the meeting, Mittelstadt told Lake Tahoe News grounds for a lawsuit are based on the emergency ordinance that was first adopted Nov. 17, 2009, and extended for another year at Tuesday’s meeting not being legal, and the decision on Ziegler’s appeal by Enright and then City Manager Dave Jinkens on July 16, 2010, not being legal or invalid.

Ten other people spoke during the public hearing – some for the moratorium, some against it.

Council members didn’t have much to say before the 5-0 vote. Councilman Hal Cole did say, “I think medical marijuana is here and is here to stay.”

He also believes the needs to the community are being met with the three collectives, pointing to Oakland, a city many times larger than South Lake Tahoe, having four collectives.

The extension of the emergency moratorium cannot be extended beyond the year the council approved on Oct. 19.

It was brought up by some of the speakers that now is the time to convene a committee to work on an ordinance the city, collectives and residents can live with. While people made that suggestion, City Manager Tony O’Rourke was nodding his head in agreement. O’Rourke has been at the head of the table during meetings to write the medical marijuana cultivation ordinance which on Tuesday, was postponed for a vote until after the Nov. 2 election.

• Eli Ilano, deputy forest supervisor of Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, is leaving for the same job at the Tahoe National Forest in Tahoe City. When Forest Supervisor Terri Marceron leaves for Alaska on Oct. 22 he will be the interim supervisor. His departure date has not been set.

• Mount Tallac High School in South Lake Tahoe is having its open house Oct. 20 from 8am-noon.

• South Lake Tahoe is having a meeting about parking in the city limits on Oct. 21 at 6:30pm.

• South Tahoe High School’s AVID program is looking for gently used ski or snowboard equipment as well as clothing for eight students who qualified for the free season pass at Sierra-at-Tahoe for having a 4.0gpa. Contact Sabrina Zalles at (530) 541.4111, ext. 309 or szalles@ltusd.org.

• Efforts are under way to bring El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meetings to South Lake Tahoe via the Internet.

• Dave Benge is Squaw Valley’s new director of Culinary Services.

• Boreal Mountain Resort is having a job fair Oct. 23 at 10am.

By Kathryn Reed

BOSTON — I would have never guessed visiting Fenway Park would be a bit disappointing. As part owner of San Francisco Giants season tickets, I had tickets to the last game of the season – the one where the orange and black clinched the division.

I was in Boston that Sunday.

Instead of watching the Giants send the Padres scurrying back to San Diego to watch the remainder of the season on TV, I saw the Red Sox triumph over the dreaded, hated, vile Yankees to give Tampa Bay the division title.

Fenway Park -- a must see for any baseball fan. Photos/Kathryn Reed

So, Oct. 3 was bittersweet for me in not being able to root for my men in person. Still, when they clinch the championship series, I’ll be at one of the World Series games – so, it’s all good.

Fenway – wow. Anyone who has seen the Green Monster (that 37-foot, 2-inch left field wall) knows what I’m talking about. It’s impressive both in stature, historical significance, and visual prominence and dominance of the ballpark.

It’s one of the last parks where the scoreboard is changed manually. It’s such a sought after job that parents are told to put their newborn’s name on the wait list.

On our tour before the first pitch we sat in the seats above the monster that have only been there since 2003.

My niece Veronica, who graduated from Boston College in May and works in Beijing, was in town for the weekend and joined us on the tour. What a great bonus to the entire 11-day venture in New England.

We were lectured not to take any dirt as we walked onto the field. Watching the groundskeepers ready the damp field it took some self-restraint not to take a pinch of the red dirt. Of course, I didn’t really know what I would do with it.

Just to walk where some of baseball’s legends have stood – and even where some of today’s greats were about to play – made me pause.

Ghosts of America’s pastime seem to lurk everywhere. Think Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Jimmy Collins, Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx and Carlton Fisk. They were all Red Sox.

Williams, the leftie who pulled the ball, was known for launching balls out of the park. To make it a bit easier for him to clear the bases, in 1940 the bullpen was built in right field – lessening the home run distance for the team’s premier hitter by 23 feet.

Our tour guide gave us a trip through baseball and Red Sox history. With the first professional game played here April 20, 1912, it’s the oldest active Major League ballpark. It wasn’t front-page news at the time because the Titanic sank.

The feel of Fenway is a bit like a minor league or spring training park in the size and proximity of seats to the field. Concession stands are also old school – in design and food choices.

Tucked into an old neighborhood, the park was easily accessible by foot from our Back Bay hotel. Much like San Francisco’s AT&T Park, bars and restaurants do a brisk business before and after games.

It can be hard to get tickets, though some go on sale prior to each game. I opted to ensure we’d have seats and paid well more than face value. Some things are worth it – like a once in a lifetime chance to watch the Red Sox beat the Yankees on the last day of the regular season at Fenway.

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder (Click on photos to enlarge.)

By Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal

To come home, one must leave first.

And for self-professed local boy Ryan Sheltra, leaving the comforts of home made his return that much sweeter.

As the son of one of the long-time owners of the Bonanza Casino in Reno, one would think Sheltra was a shoe-in for the family business. But Sheltra wasn’t recruited by dad Russ until he finished stints at Hilton properties in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.

Sheltra was wrapping up a six-and-a-half-year career at the former Caesars Tahoe when he got an offer from the very man who encouraged him to learn the business outside of the Bonanza. To sweeten the pot, the older Sheltra even offered to retire.

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The South Lake Tahoe Cancer League, serving cancer patients from Glenbrook to the El Dorado-Placer county line, has expanded its services.

For almost 30 years this volunteer organization has been providing permanent residents facing the challenge of cancer with free transportation to physician offices for cancer treatment and making limited financial grants to cancer patients.

It recently developed the Gift of Cleaning program, in cooperation with three local home cleaning businesses, to provide a free monthly cleaning visit during a patient’s course of chemotherapy. The league is grateful to California Housekeeping, Corbin’s Cleaning Service and the G Team. Without the generosity of these cleaning businesses, the Gift of Cleaning would not be possible.

Now the league has expanded this cleaning program by offering it also to radiation patients who are permanent residents within our geographical service area. With the support of our partnering cleaning businesses, more local cancer patients will benefit from this service.

The South Lake Tahoe Cancer League will be having its annual holiday Candy Sale beginning in late November. The funds from the sale of See’s Candy help the league provide its services. Location for sales to be announced.

For more information about the league and its services, call (530) 573.1703.