• South Lake Tahoe City Manager Tony O’Rourke will be the speaker at noon Aug. 11 at the Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe meeting at Harveys on the 12th floor. Reservations are necessary — (530) 573.2433. Cost is $15.

• El Dorado Beach in South Lake Tahoe will be closed starting Aug. 11 as the Lakeview Commons project begins. Regan Beach, a short ways down Lakeview Avenue, is open. In October officials will decide if the area will be closed all winter. Completion of this first phase is expected next summer.

• Paul Reder and Tony Clark on Aug. 4 received producer of the year awards by the International Magician Society, the world’s largest organization for this genre, before the Masters of Magic show at MontBleu.

• The August issue of Outside magazine calls Reno the best city for whitewater.

• Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle outdoors writer, calls the Tahoe Bike Trail the worst bike trail in Northern California. He did not respond to an email from LTN asking for his definition of the trail, but based on his July 29 column it sounds like it is the ride around Lake Tahoe. Hard to argue with his conclusion.

• Trading Places International will oversee all operations of David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort in Genoa. The resort’s restaurant that has been closed since last year may reopen in the fall.

By Carl Young

Tahoe’s best asset is its natural beauty.

The region holds great potential as an ecotourism destination for low-impact recreation. Paddle-boarding is the latest craze, but high-quality recreation opportunities, such as kayaking, hiking, cycling, back-country skiing and beach-going continue to draw visitors to the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Now, as part of the 20-year planning process, there is an effort under way to build nine urban cores at Tahoe, introducing more congestion, traffic and a degradation of the natural environment that would detract from any visitor’s experience.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe’s vision for the region’s future is simple: a lake that is beautiful and clear, a region that offers abundant low-impact recreation opportunities, a community that is engaged and residents and visitors who are stewards of the lake so that future generations can enjoy Tahoe’s beauty.

Read the whole story

Carl Young is program director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

Tahoe Hemp Company Pro-Am Disc Golf Tournament, a PDGA sanctioned C-Tier event, is Sept. 11-12 at Zephyr Cove Disc Golf Course.

Player check-in and preregistration is Sept. 10 from 4-6 pm at Tahoe Hemp Company at 3564 Lake Tahoe Blvd., unit B in South Lake Tahoe.

Contact Dan Thrift at (530) 559. 4519 or danthrift@etahoe.com for information.

Registration forms are available at Tahoe Hemp Company, Bijou and Zephyr Cove Disc Golf Courses or online.

South Shore’s best bartenders have been charged with creating a unique, wintry concoction using Ketel One Vodka as the main ingredient. These chilly drinks will be served up during the inaugural Signature Cocktail Contest on Sept. 8 from 6-8pm at the Riva Grill in South lake Tahoe.

Bartenders will present their creations to a panel of judges and attendee, who can cast a vote for “most congenial” bartender, decided by tips from the evening’s event. A panel of judges will decide which cocktail will be served at the Barton Foundation’s 19th annual Gala on Dec. 4.

Tickets are $20, if purchased by Sept. 5, or $25 at the door. Admission includes one sample serving of every drink and appetizer. For more information or tickets, call (530) 543.5909.

The Cocktail Contest is the kickoff event to the Festival of Trees and Lights. The festival is a three-day event, Dec. 3-5, at MontBleu. Proceeds from this year’s Festival of Trees and Lights will help fund an $800,000 expansion of the Barton Community Clinic. The expansion will allow for a larger waiting room, more patient exam rooms, and allow us to meet the growing needs of our community.

By Bobby Caina Calvan, Sacramento Bee

Cigarette sales in California plunged to their lowest level in a decade last year as smokers were squeezed by new taxes and restrictions on where they could light up.

While tobacco use has been steadily declining, the 8.1 percent sales drop was the largest year-over-year decline since 2000, according to the state Board of Equalization.

The number of cigarette packs sold in the state fell to 972 million – down from from 2.8 billion in 1980.

Read the whole story

By Liz Benston, Las Vegas Sun

Several months ago, the Internal Revenue Service agents who investigate financial crimes in Las Vegas began calling big casinos to set up meetings with their employees.

The calls were friendly.

Stateline casinos work with the feds when asked. Photo/Kathryn Reed

In fact, the IRS — battling a bumper crop of white-collar crime — needed the casinos’ help.

The feds were asking floor workers to drop a dime and report suspicious people gambling with lots of money.

Since the 1980s, Nevada casinos have filed thousands of reports containing the names, Social Security numbers and other identifying characteristics of customers suspected of laundering money or simply gambling with ill-gotten funds. Those figures are rising in the recession and appear to coincide with increased financial crimes across the country.

Read the whole story

Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra meets every Thursday at 7:30am at the South Lake Tahoe Senior Center (3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd.)

Come join the fun, fellowship, lively chat, speakers and hear about our projects in this community. All are invited; breakfast and coffee served.

On Aug. 12, learn about the recycling program at South Tahoe Refuse.

Call (530) 409.2791 for more information.

By Guy Clifton, Reno Gazette-Journal

More than a third of 100 registered Hot August Nights participants responding to a Reno Gazette-Journal survey think the addition of an event in Long Beach, Calif., next year will hurt the Reno festivities next year, while 25 percent think it will help Reno.

And only two of the registered participants polled this week said that they would attend the trio of Hot August Nights events planned in Reno, Long Beach and South Lake Tahoe next year.

“I’ll probably go to Long Beach when I’m on my way here,” said Dick Block, 63, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., who has entered his 1937 Ford in Hot August Nights each of the past six years. “But I’m retired. I don’t know if a lot of people will do that. I think stretching it over two weeks like that, you run the risk of burning someone out.”

The Reno Gazette-Journal surveyed 100 registered entrants in Hot August Nights, all from outside Nevada. United States and Canadian provinces that were represented included California, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia. The unscientific survey was conducted Wednesday and Thursday at several venues, including downtown Reno, the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino, Victorian Square in Sparks, and the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino.

Read the whole story

Pat Ronan, owner of Tahoe Lakeshore Lodge and Spa in South Lake Tahoe, is hosting a benefit for Tahoe Arts Project that will feature the music of Niall McGuiness, Trey Stone and Rocky Sleight.

Bring food, beverages, blankets and low back chairs, but no pets.

A suggested donation of $10 per person will support Tahoe Arts Project’s mission of bringing professional performing arts into the schools and community of South Lake Tahoe.

The event is Aug. 12 from 7-9pm.

Lakeshore Lodge and Spa is Behind Heidi’s Restaurant on Highway 50.

Call (530) 542-3632 for more information.

With thunderstorms in the forecast for today, it’s possible Truckee could duplicate what it did on Aug. 8, 1989, when 1.21 inches of rain fell.

The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a second day of weather warnings for the greater Lake Tahoe area, including Reno and the Eastern Sierra. Expect storm clouds to start forming about 1pm and for them to linger into the evening. The flash flood watch starts at 1pm.

The NWS says rain could descend at more than an inch an hour.

— Compiled by Kathryn Reed