The North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce and the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Sierra Human Resources Association are offering “Get In the Zone: A Workshop for Working Women” on Aug. 18 from 8am to 12:30pm at Granlibakken Conference Center & Lodge, 725 Granlibakken Road in Tahoe City.

The workshop is geared to strengthen participants’ sense of purpose in their work and align them with the needs of their organization or chosen career and life. It will also provide attendees with take-away tactics for career advancement and life enrichment, including a self-assessment connecting to what gets them in the zone, powerful decision-making tools, help in getting unstuck with a better sense of focus and ability to concentrate, along with networking skills and best self introductions.

The speakers are President Laura Moriarty of Tahoe Training Partners, a seasoned human resources executive, nationally known corporate trainer and frequent present of SHRA workshops, as well as Cathy Norris of Live Your Passionate Life.

Registration 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 Manger Kym Fabel at (530) 581.8764. Attendees can also register online at www.sierrahra.com.

Award-winning jazz guitarist Terrence Brewer will bring his creative improvisation to the Moody’s Bistro & Lounge in Truckee on Aug. 20 and 21 at 8:30pm.

Brewer, a jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, and musical director, will infuse a taste of San Francisco jazz into the Truckee nightlife scene. His show will incorporate his passion for creation and innovation through improvisation, ensuring no two shows are exactly alike.

One of the Bay Area’s most in demand musicians, Brewer has led his own instrumental and vocal groups in more than 1,400 shows throughout California in the last six years, many to sold-out audiences.

Brewer also possesses the rich experience of performing with legendary artists such as Pete Escovedo, Michael McDonald, Herb Gibson, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, Kim Nalley, Duwaan Muhammad, Calvin Keyes, Bruce Forman, Scott Amendola, Khalil Shaheed, Ed Kelly, Michael Zilber, Tuck and Patti, Chuck Bennet, and many others. In addition to performing with legendary jazz artists, Brewer’s fate led him to study with musical greats such as Charlie Hunter, Duck Baker, and Mark Levine.

The Tahoe Resource Conservation District is hosting the 3rd Annual Conservation Landscape Tour on Aug. 15th from 1-5pm.

Explore seven gardens in the Angora Burn area that highlight Lake Tahoe Basin conservation techniques. The tour highlights native and adapted plant selection, water conservation techniques, defensible space methods, Best Management Practice demonstrations and wildlife enhancement features.

Last year’s event brought together more than 150 Tahoe residents to enjoy a delightful summer afternoon learning about water efficient irrigation techniques and examples of defensible space through proper plant selection, arrangement and management. As you explore the gardens, feel free to ask garden stewards and homeowners questions related to the conservation landscapes.

Pick up your tour map between 1-3pm from 1383 Mount Olympia Circle. The other six locations are nearby. Please leave your pets at home. For more information, contact Courtney at (530) 543-1501, ext. 118 or visit www.tahoercd.org.

By Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee

SUSANVILLE — With a last-minute court challenge shot down, federal officials were preparing this morning to begin a roundup of thousands of wild horses and burros from wild lands in northeastern California and neighboring Nevada.

The effort, which will use helicopters to stampede the animals through the rugged area into specially designed trap sites, is part of a controversial Bureau of Land Management plan to severely reduce the number of wild horses and burros living in the area. Federal officials say the goal is to keep the animals from overgrazing and depleting the sprawling Twin Peaks Herd Management area near here to protect both the land and the animals.

Horses trapped during the process will be held in corrals and later adopted out or shipped to federally funded holding areas in the Midwest.

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• Bona Fide Book’s Center for Wayward Writers has move to a larger location at 1069 Magua St., No. 4, Meyers – behind Getaway Café. Publisher Kim Wyatt says this is all, “So that we can host readings and offer workshops and be a place where writers and creative types can drop by for inspiration or commiseration. We even have an electric cupcake maker for those especially in need. Also, tell your summer houseguests about our small yet tasty book exchange.” (530) 573.1513

• Ski Run Farmer’s Market debuts Aug. 13 from 8am-1pm offering fresh produce, handmade goods and tasty treats. This weekly market is being put on by Sacred Path Farms on the block between Birch and Larch avenues off Ski Run Boulevard in South Lake.

• Keep Tahoe Fit brings a new style of personal training to the South Shore, according to owner Christopher Minnes. For information, click here, email Chris@KeepTahoeFit.com or call (775) 267.7564.

• IZ Xtreme is a free immunization program for sixth-grade students in participating El Dorado County schools. The vaccines, designed for pre-teens, are given at the school during school hours. Kung FLU-Fighters provides flu vaccine for students in grades K-5 and 7-8 in participating El Dorado County schools. The vaccine is free and is given to the students at the school during school hours. Parent permission is required for both. For more information, call (530) 573.3165.

• Click on response to see how Happy Homestead Cemetery responded to the El Dorado County Grand Jury report.

• The 25th Annual Bowers Mansion Bluegrass Festival in Washoe Valley is Aug. 13–15. Tickets are $15 for adults and $3 for children ages 2–12.

By Tim Sheehan, Fresno Bee

SACRAMENTO — “Paper or plastic” no longer would be a choice at grocery checkout lines under a proposed law to ban disposable plastic bags in California’s markets and convenience stores.

Assembly Bill 1998 — written by Assembly Member Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica — would make California the first state to outlaw the lightweight bags for grocers.

AB 1998 faces a Friday deadline for approval by a state Senate committee or it will die.

If the Senate approves the bill and the governor signs it, supermarkets and other large retailers that sell groceries would be barred from using the bags starting in 2012. The prohibition would extend to convenience stores and smaller grocers in 2013.

The bill aims to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in waterways and in the oceans, where it can harm marine life, and promote the use of reusable plastic or cloth bags or grocery bags made from recycled paper.

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Hear the “Tales of Picket Pin of the High Sierra” on Aug. 14-15 from 10-11am or 12:30-1:30pm.

Author, illustrator, and master storyteller Carol Timmerman will share her book about a Belding squirrel’s journey through the Sierra Nevada mountains. Along the way he learns about the history and geography of the area, meets animals named after historical figures and learns why gold miners called these little squirrels picket pins.

Meet the author at the Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum, 3058 Lake Tahoe Blvd, South Lake Tahoe.

For reservations and questions, call (530) 541.5458 or email laketahoemuseum@att.net.

The author will sign your purchased book on the days of the event. She has given the museum a special price on the sale of her book with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the museum.

This free event is sponsored by The Lake Tahoe Historical Society.

By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal

A new trail system designed to link Reno’s foothills to wilderness terrain in the city’s backyard was unveiled last week by the U.S. Forest Service, Washoe County and recreation groups.

The full Rim-to-Reno trail, once envisioned as a straight-shot 17-mile hike, stretching through the Mount Rose Wilderness from the Tahoe Rim Trail to Reno’s Hunter Creek, has gone away.

But the new trail strategy still will improve access from Reno into the backcountry, including to the famous trail that circles the rim of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

“We’re trying to make a connection between the community and the mountains,” said Doug Doolittle, Washoe County’s parks and open space director.

Read the whole story

By Joanne Marchetta

As has been the tradition each summer since 1997, all eyes will be on Lake Tahoe this month when the 14th annual Lake Tahoe Summit unfolds on the beautiful shores of Nevada’s Sand Harbor State Park.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, host of this year’s summit on Aug. 17, has designated “Clarity for the Future: Protecting and Promoting the Wonder of Lake Tahoe” as a theme. This theme is fitting and appropriate, considering discussions taking place in Tahoe.

Joanne Marchetta

It is no accident that the day before the summit, local and state policymakers, agency heads, business leaders and elected officials will set the tone with the first Lake Tahoe Prosperity Forum, a look at how the Lake Tahoe Basin is positioning itself to become a national leader in both economic and environmental sustainability.

This is a critical discussion. Lake Tahoe will not continue to enjoy environmental success without remaking itself economically.

Read the whole story

Joanne Marchetta is executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

By Kathryn Reed

Even though the National Weather Service says nothing much out of the ordinary is happening with the weather in the greater Lake Tahoe area, it is providing plenty fodder for locals and tourists.

Today might require a jacket with highs in the basin barely touching 70. Sunday produced hail that looked like golf balls. Less than a month ago South Tahoe was recording a record high and back in May posted a record low. Reno just came off tying a record for number of days of 90-degree temps or higher.

It was a soggy drive over Echo Summit into South Tahoe on Aug. 8. Photos/Kathryn Reed

“It’s not different (this summer),” according to Jessica Kielhorn, meteorologist technician with the National Weather Service in Reno.

Today should be the coldest day of the week in the basin and stretching to the Carson Valley and up to Reno. It will be cooler and drier, with no thunderstorms in sight.

Lake Tahoe isn’t the only place with cooler than normal temps. The Bay Area has been chilly compared to most summers. In the Central Valley cool weather is affecting the tomato harvest.

While Tahoe has been mild when it comes to mercury readings, on Aug. 8 Reno tied a record at 35 days of temperatures at 90 degrees or higher. It had the exact same 35-day run in 2008 (July 5-Aug. 8), and did the 35 days in 2005, too.

“We’re looking to warm back up over the weekend,” Kielhorn said of the Tahoe-Reno area. “We have a ridge of high pressure moving in after this trough.”

Dark clouds sit over the basin on Aug. 8.

South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City should hit the mid-70s by the end of the week. Both ends of the lake should be in the mid-80s Sunday and Monday. Reno will be close to triple digits at that time.

While afternoon thunderstorms are not uncommon in the basin in July and August, the hail has surprised some locals. For those from the Midwest, summer hailstorms are no big deal.

Hail is tiny pieces of ice that bounce through freezing thunderclouds.

Hail piles up near the Y in South Tahoe on Aug. 8.

And bounce they did near the Y on Aug. 8. A weather spotter for the NWS reported the ice formation as 1-inch in diameter in some cases. Driving by Lake Tahoe Airport it looked like snow on the ground.

Puddles from the storm still sat on some city streets two days later.

With the relatively fast moving storms, and definitely isolated showers, it is not affecting the lake level much. On Aug. 10 it was 1.3 feet above its natural rim.

The declining water level has caused some boat launches to close for the season. Coon Street Boat Launch in Kings Beach closed earlier this month and Tahoe Vista Recreation Area launch closed Aug. 9.

Even though a nip is in the air and some people are using that four-letter word – fall – to describe what it feels like outside, the forecast is for normal temps for at least the next week or so.

This is welcome news considering it seems like winter just ended.

It was back on July 17 that South Lake Tahoe hit a record high of 90 degrees, beating the old record by 1 degree. It was May 23 that the low of 19 degrees set a record, beating the old one by 6 degrees.