The fund-raising event for the Curtzwiler family is Wednesday from 5-10pm at Aloha Ice Cream in South Lake Tahoe.

Here are some of the silent auction items people can bid on:

Round of gold for four at Genoa Lakes

Huge backpack of school supplies

2 parasail rides

Half day boat rental

Mad About Music gift certificate

1 hour massage at A Massage at Tahoe

Nepheles gift certificate

Freshies gift certificate

Steamers gift certificate

One 6-yard debris container, including dump fees

One 20-year debris container, including dump fees

Tranquility Spa $80 massage credit

Tranquility Spa one month tanning

Heavenly Mountain Resort lift tickets

Sierra-at-Tahoe Sunday-Friday season pass

Goggles

Hats

Gloves

Lake Tahoe book

Custom beaded jewelry

Ski poles

Gift basket

More items are expected to come in on Wednesday.

A ceremony celebrating the completion of the harbor project with the installation of the bronze sculpture “Where Eagles Dare” by Vic Payne will be Aug. 25 at 5:30pm at Ski Run Marina in South Tahoe.

Meet and greet the artist at 5pm.

Light refreshments will be provided by the shops at the center.

To raise money for artists in the community, raffle tickets for $5 each or five for $20 will be sold.

North Lake Tahoe’s first LEED-registered home is well under way in Incline Village and eco-curious individuals and home aficionados can get a sneak-peek of the project Aug. 28.

The Energy Star-rated house, located at 1085 Mill Creek Road, broke ground in late 2009. The project is spearheaded by Jeff Miller, president of Advance Design and Construction, and K.J. Miller of Chase International, who is listing the home. The event is free from 2-6pm.

Professional contractors and suppliers will be on hand to answer questions and give demonstrations of the latest green technologies. Displays will include home-energy monitoring and home automation; LED lighting; high-efficiency furnaces and steam humidifiers; energy-complete insulation systems; Energy Star-rated doors, windows and flooring; low/no VOC paints and stains; Solaris roofing; and on-demand hot water systems.

By James Burns, Merced Sun-Star

Clark Bird became the first person in open water history to swim the length of Lake Tahoe at night without a wetsuit.

Delayed by 24 hours because of adverse weather conditions, Bird completed the 22.1-mile swim from Incline Village to Camp Richardson on the south shore on Monday morning.

He finished in 13 hours, 23 minutes unofficially, said close friend Bob Nutcher. Bird’s time of record was not available by press time.

He is just the fifth person in history to complete the trans-Tahoe swim without a wetsuit, according to multiple Lake Tahoe-area publications, joining Ken Harmon, Patti Bauernfeind, Karen Rogers and Tom Linthicum.

Read the whole story

By Green Lodging News

Approximately 80 people, including exhibitors and speakers, attended the first day of the West Coast Green Lodging Conference at the Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe Hotel & Ski Resort. Conference activities included a keynote presentation by Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor of Green Lodging News, as well as presentations by the following: Randy Gaines, vice president of engineering for Hilton Worldwide; David Hansen, chief engineer, Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe—Hotel & Ski Resort; and Gary Golla, LEED AP, Sera Architects, Inc.

In his presentation, “The ‘Green’ State of the Lodging Industry,” Hasek elaborated on the 10 trends he sees driving the growth of green lodging. These trends include: concern about climate change, rising operational costs, government regulation, chain mandates and policies, consumer demand, increasing interest in certification, corporate and government travel demand (green meetings), industry peer pressure and the drive for marketing advantage, innovations (new products, materials, technologies, and design and building techniques), and leaders inspired to reduce waste, conserve resources and push the envelope when it comes to green building design and operations—all while remaining focused on the bottom line.

“Proof of the lodging industry’s commitment to do its part to address climate change is the many systems rolled out to measure environmental impact,” Hasek said, citing Hilton Worldwide’s LightStay program and the InterContinental Hotels Group’s Green Engage.

Read the whole story

• Tiffany Carter came close to swimming the length of Lake Tahoe on Aug. 20. Read more on her blog.

• The Sierra Expeditionary Learning School opens Aug. 25. It is a charter school in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District.

• Now you can get deals from Lakeside Inn by text message. To sign-up, text “LTLakeside” to 79338 (sweet).

• AT&T will be before a South Lake Tahoe zoning administrator Sept. 1 at 2pm in City Council chambers asking to install more wireless communications equipment on a roof at 2633 Sussex Ave., South Lake Tahoe. This is a public hearing.

• Karen Rogers of Tahoe City has postponed her Farallon Island to San Francisco swim to next year. Bad weather and returning sharks forced the change.

• The final map for the 13 condos Steve Leman plans to build in the industrial park area that fronts D Street in South Lake Tahoe was approved by the City Council without any discussion on Aug. 19.

• The August issue of Backpacker magazine has an article about the Tahoe Rim Trail.

By Stephen Ward

FALLEN LEAF LAKE — A throng of fervent Fallen Leaf Lake residents gathered Saturday at the old local store for the Aquatic Invasive Species Symposium to discuss a growing concern in the area; keeping Fallen Leaf Lake free from invasive species.

The event, hosted by the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, focused primarily on quagga and zebra mussels, including more than 30 slides depicting the nonnative species and describing the various threats they beget. There are currently no known invasive species in Fallen Leaf Lake.

According to the TRCD, many invasive species are nonnative species intentionally introduced to the region to increase sport fishing or enhance ecosystem resources. Over time, these species harm the body of water they occupy by altering nutrient cycles and adding phosphorus to the water, which increases algal growth. But they are also unknowingly transported on watercraft.

Fallen Leaf Lake residents don't want invasive species to enter the water. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Some measures the TRCD has taken at Lake Tahoe are the creation of the Asian Clam Pilot Removal and Aquatic Weed Removal Projects. Under these projects, studies and tests have been conducted, as well as vacuum-assisted hand removal along newly established bottom barriers in potentially threatened areas.

In addition to invasive species, a lively discussion at the symposium was bowel tanks, and the hopeful dismissal from the region.

“We are trying to slowly stop allowing them at Lake Tahoe,” said Nicole Cartwright, watercraft inspection program coordinator at TRCD. “They cause a lot of erosion and pollute the water.”

The event was well received by the community, with many residents commending the presentation for its counsel and recommendations.

“Overall, I feel the slideshow had good, effective ideas,” said Mary McCullough, a Fallen Leaf resident. “What really caught my attention was the exchange. It’s also worth noting that this information doesn’t just apply to Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf, but to Central California as well.”

Another Fallen Leaf resident, Karl Stauffer, discussed his contribution to maintaining the cleanliness of the area.

“I have an old Chris-Craft I bought in the 1950s that has never been anywhere outside Fallen Leaf Lake. I was the first person on this lake to have a boat washing system, too. People don’t realize how much it pollutes the lake if the boats aren’t cleaned regularly,” Stauffer said.

More information about aquatic invasive species and preventing their infestation can be found on the TRCD’s website.

By Mike Kraft

The small community of Fallen Leaf Lake near South Lake Tahoe is in crisis. After over a year of tension within the community regarding the replacement of the 14-year concessionaire that ran the store/cafe and marina, a recall was filed on April 10, 2010. The recall was aimed at Directors Mike Kraft and Eric Thaden from a group of citizens upset that Fallen Leaf Landing had been replaced with a new concessionaire. The new concessionaire was contracted with a higher base payment to the Community Services District and an open book policy to allow the Fallen Leaf Lake CSD to review the complete financial records of the store/cafe and marina. Fallen Leaf Landing was not willing to enter into a contract with the CSD that required an open book policy with respect to the operation of the store/cafe and marina.

At the time the recall was filed there were approximately 135 registered voters within the district. Shortly after the recall was filed a large push to register additional voters came from a group of community members who supported the recall. When community members who did not support the recall found out about this, they too started recruiting additional voters. The voter registration quickly grew to nearly 470 people within the small summer cabin community. There are actually 22 people registered to vote at one summer cabin.

After discussions with the secretary of State and El Dorado County offices regarding the requirements to legally participate in the voting process, I sent a letter to the community to inform everyone of the requirements to legally participate in the voting process within the community. Per the legal requirements stated in the California Elections Code 349, 2000-2035 it became apparent that only a few members of the community are legally able to participate in the voting process. One of these members is Director Eric Thaden who lives at Fallen Leaf Lake.

Over the past year or so six people related to the Fallen Leaf Lake CSD have resigned stating harassment among other things from those supporting the recall. On Aug. 6, 2010, a citizen of the community sent a letter to the El Dorado County Elections Department/William Schultz, El Dorado County Counsel Louis Green, El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson, Secretary of State-Elections Department/Debra Bowen, and copied El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago challenging the eligibility of the candidates currently running to fill the one empty board seat left by the resignation of then board President Dana Clark in January 2010 and the two seats to challenge myself and Thaden in the recall election. A response was received from the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office referring the matter to the county Elections Department. No other responses have been received.

On Aug. 20, 2010, I resigned. I am unable to legally participate in the voting process in the community; therefore I could not meet the requirements of the CSD bylaws to be registered to vote within the district in order to be on the board. On that same day the treasurer/secretary submitted her resignation to the board effective Sept. 30, 2010.

The El Dorado County Elections Department was asked to postpone the election until the eligibility of who can and cannot be a candidate as well as who can and cannot vote is resolved. To date they have taken no action. How can the community of Fallen Leaf Lake get a fair election in the middle of this chaos? Only two directors remain, Eric Thaden and Jennifer Hall Thorton. The ability of Thorton to legally vote within the district is in question as her stated legal address is Los Gatos. If prosecuted, this case would be similar to the recent case involving Ed Jew, San Francisco supervisor. Jew was found guilty of several felonies that included perjury and filing of false documents. Another similar case is the case of Cameron Bros. Construction Co. Quo Warranto Opinion No. 05-1012 identified in which Clayton Isemann was found to be unlawfully holding the position of director on the Borrego Springs Park Community Services District because he does not reside in the district.

What will El Dorado County do, will they prosecute or let it slide? To date no action has been taken by El Dorado County. The election is scheduled for Aug. 31, 2010.

Fallen Leaf Lake Community Services District website.

Mike Kraft was president of Fallen Lake Community Services District

Shannon or “Trucha Califia,” (Spanish for California Trout) will be riding through CalTrout’s Lake Tahoe office in South Lake Tahoe this week.

While she is in town there will be a “Spokin for Trout” film series at the Taylor Creek Amphitheatre (on Highway 89 near Taylor Creek Visitor Center) featuring films by local angling advocate Mikey Weir. Films start at 8pm  Aug. 25.

In addition, riders can join La Trucha for a ride along. Riders should meet at CalTrout’s office parking lot (870

Emerald Bay Road) at 7:30am Aug. 26 for a ride toward Emerald Bay or all the way to Tahoe City. Riders will depart at 8am.

What can you do to help? Support Trout on Tour by visiting California Trout’s website and posting comments on our blog.

The Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe spent part of this past weekend working on the Evans Family Garden.

“It was awesome. They got a lot of work done and had some fun to boot,” said Leona Allen. Her family donated the parcel in the Angora burn area to be used as a demonstration garden.

Rotarians spent the day planting, weeding and creating a xeric rock garden.

Terry Daniels plants a shrub at the demonstration garden. Photos/Leona Allen

South Tahoe Rotarians take a break from digging in the dirt.