By Martha Bellisle, Reno Gazette-Journal

Drivers traveling this holiday weekend be warned: Nevada is tied for second in the nation most likely to issue a speeding ticket.

That’s according to the National Motorists Association, a “drivers’ rights” group that helps people fight traffic charges.

Florida tops the list for speeding tickets, with Nevada and Georgia are tied for second, Texas fourth and Alabama fifth.

Drivers in Montana are least likely to get stopped for speeding, the study found. People in Wyoming, North and South Dakota and Alaska are next in line for avoiding traffic citations.

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By Sharon L. Peters, USA Today

Summer camp is veering in a new direction — toward grown-ups and their dogs.

Nature walks, swimming and memory-making campfires (all dog-focused) are being augmented with agility training, cooking-for-canines instruction, bury-the-bone competitions and dozens of other activities for pooch-loving participants.

“It’s a great way to have 100% together time with your dog, enjoying nature and activities, instead of just feeding them and walking them,” says Margaret Rapp of Arlington Heights, Ill. She attended Camp Dogwood in Ingleside, Ill., last year with Danny, her spaniel mix, and Ollie, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel who was a recent puppy mill rescue.

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By Reuters

Lock your feet onto a snowboard, and you can expect to fall. But whether or not a fall results in a broken wrist or separated shoulder depends on a lot of factors — including just how you go down.

Based on information from nearly 2,000 upper extremity fractures and dislocations, researchers in Japan found that snowboarders lacking licensed instruction accounted for 9 out of every 10 injuries — the largest portion of which were to the wrist from a backward fall.

“Many snowboarders think that because the surface is made of snow, it will always be soft,” Gregg Davis, a snowboarding instructor at Breckenridge Ski and Ride School in Colorado, noted in an email to Reuters Health. “Most of the time the surface is quite hard and can lead to a strong impact on the extremities,” added Davis, who was not involved in the study.

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From Aug. 6-20, five teachers will bring The Missing Teachings of Yoga to the Echo Creek Ranch in South Lake Tahoe.

The intensive two-week training is led by renowned American Buddhist Monk Venerable Sumati Marut, whose popular Dharma teachings and Thanksgiving retreats have invigorated the South Lake Tahoe spiritual community for more than five years. The Missing Teachings of Yoga is a teacher training program as well as an opportunity for those simply interested in yoga to learn about the true methods and goals of the practice.

The program is designed to equally serve serious spiritual practitioners, teachers of all yoga lineages, and the general public, including students of Buddhism who wish to receive complementary teachings from the yoga philosophical perspective. The Missing Teachings of Yoga offers an exciting opportunity for in-depth study, practice, and celebration of all aspects of yoga.

Throughout the two weeks, Ven. Marut will provide a comprehensive overview of the Yoga Studies Institute’s (YSI) Classics of Yoga curriculum which centers around three seminal texts of the yogic tradition: the Yoga Sutra, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and the Bhagavad Gita. In addition to these texts, Ven. Marut will teach a full course on the Ashtavakra Gita. Rarely taught in the West, this extraordinary text focuses on the figure of the jivanmukta, one who through yogic practice has been “liberated in this very lifetime.” Lama Marut will offer a new translation and fresh interpretation of this Sanskrit classic. To complement these teachings Ven. Marut will also offer a valuable series of workshops on the art of teaching. In these workshops, Lama Marut will share a lifetime of teaching experience, imparting helpful tips and sage advice about how to organize, structure, and teach Classics of Yoga classes.

In addition to Ven. Marut’s classes, students will receive daily yoga asana and meditation led by master local teachers Brandy Davis and David Fishman. Brandy and David run Mountain Yoga in the Tahoe Keys Village and have dedicated themselves to bringing authentic teachings on Yoga and Buddhism to the South Lake Tahoe area.

Upon successful completion of the full training, one will be eligible to become YSI Classics Essential staff, and will have completed the Sanskrit requirement for full Classics Staff with YSI. For those who are not able to attend the full training, the program has been conveniently divided up into three separate shorter modules (Au. 6-10, Aug. 11-14, Aug. 15-20). Pricing for the retreat varies based upon lodging choice and length of participation. Complete schedule, pricing and registration information can be found at www.classicsofyogaretreat.com.

By Kathryn Reed

INCLINE VILLAGE — Sometimes a hike becomes all about the journey and not the destination.

This happens when the trail is no longer visible and bushwhacking seems like a better option than going up over the rocky terrain to avoid the thicket.

Hiking Mount Rose seemed like a good idea when we started on a recent Monday. What a way to welcome summer – summit a 10,776-foot peak. We never made it.

Lake Tahoe from the Mount Rose trail on June 21. Photos/Kathryn Reed

Sue, who has done the hike before without snow, says the views from the top are spectacular. On clear days Mount Shasta can be seen. I can only imagine.

I can attest for some wonderful vistas of Lake Tahoe and the Carson City area from various vantage points. One day maybe I’ll know what Sue is talking about.

One day we might actually finish a hike. That might occur if we would stay at a lower elevation.

The trail is accessible from a few spots off the Mount Rose Highway. The easiest to find is at the summit where there is a large parking lot. We opted to start down a little farther, closer to the lake, and across from the meadow on the other side of the highway.

Here a woman who works for the U.S. Forest Service and UC Davis told us what markers to look for to get to the summit. She was on her way to a research area where she and others are studying the impact beetles are having on trees in the region.

Sauntering along the vehicle-width dirt trail it wasn’t long before patches of snow covered much of the path. Out came the poles – a must-have this time of year to balance along the slick, uneven surface.

This early section is part of the Tahoe Rim Trial. We chose not to attempt the 38-mile jaunt to Tahoe City through the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Near a pond, which is partially frozen now, is where the right turn to Mount Rose is. Going straight continues on the TRT, with Relay Peak not far away.

We descend into a meadow – slowly and carefully. Divots in the snow are making the walk tricky. Running water is melting the snow in places, creating streams in what seem to be random locations.

Eyes are carefully scanning and ears listening for rushing water to ensure I’m not walking over a covered stream. Another good use of the poles – to test the sturdiness of the snow covered water.

Mount Rose is in the distance. But even on the longest day of the year it doesn’t seem like we’ll make it there and back since we got a late start. Still, we continue on.

The ski resort by the same name is to the right and actually on the other side of the highway.

Uneven rocks are less stable under our boots than the uneven snow. We’re not having fun and nerves are getting frayed.

It’s time to turn around without reaching our destination.

Meandering up the rocks to avoid the wall of bushes seems more daunting than plowing through the thicket. My bruised, scratched, bloody legs are hoping not to do that again any time soon.

Sue survives to say, “I could be in an ad for REI” as she looks at her filthy pants, with not even a slight rip in them.

I want to be an ad for Hot Springs Spas in my backyard soothing my aches.

We carry on in silence. Up the snowy hill we go. Coming to the point where we make a left back along the main trail is a welcome sight. At this point I’m having dreams of hot chocolate (remember it’s the first day of summer) because my feet are so cold. My boots and socks are soaked. Thank goodness we turned around.

Then Lake Tahoe comes into view. A sight I never get tired of. Seeing it from a new perch suddenly makes the cold dissipate just a bit and a smile crosses my face.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad way to spend a day away from the office.

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder (Click on photos to enlarge them.)

Publisher’s note: This is the July 4, 2010, editorial from the Reno Gazette-Journal.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness “‘ That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the Consent of the Governed…

There you have it. In this fragment of a sentence from the Declaration of Independence, written 230 years ago, is everything we, as a nation, believe in. It is the chain that binds tonight’s flashy festivities to our history. It is the reason we celebrate “‘ the reason that we can celebrate and the reason that we must celebrate.

It was a remarkable passage to be committed to paper by a group of men who unquestionably knew they were signing their own death warrants on July 4, 1776, as surely as they were planting the seeds of a new nation.

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Explore Tahoe An Urban Trailhead presents “Forests with a Future” on July 7 at 2pm.

This is a U.S. Forest Service film featuring protecting old-growth trees, wildlife and communities in the Sierra Nevada.

It is free.

Explore Tahoe is located at 4114 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

For more information, call (530) 542.4637.

By Cynthia Hubert, Sacramento Bee

The emergency room of a Placerville hospital from which a mentally ill woman escaped in March had problems so severe that they represented “an immediate and serious threat” to the safety of all psychiatric patients treated there, a state investigation found.

The California Department of Public Health investigated Marshall Medical Center after Linda Carol Clark, who was being involuntarily held at the facility as a danger to herself, fled the emergency room and commandeered an ambulance. Clark, 39, of Folsom, later was shot to death by police.

The probe found the hospital in violation of various federal and state regulations, according to a letter mailed to the facility this week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The state determined that the most serious deficiencies, all of which pertained to the handling of patients in the emergency room, were corrected during the inspection, the letter said.

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Tahoe Arts Project is hosting its 9th annual Art Festival July 10-11 at South Tahoe Middle School.

Admission is free.

The festival will feature more than 40 local and visiting artists, food booths, children’s art projects, entertainment, raffle prizes and fun for the entire family.

This is not your typical “craft fair” and features a wide variety of artwork, including painting, glasswork, jewelry, photography, woodwork, ceramics, sculpture, and more.

Local entertainers will be performing and we have numerous raffle prizes, including items donated by the festival artists.

The festival is a fundraiser for Tahoe Arts Project, a nonprofit organization that brings performing arts to more than 5,000 K-12 students and the community of South Lake Tahoe.

For more information, call (530) 542.3632 or visit www.tahoeartsproject.org.

Today is the last day to eat at Chevys Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe where a part of your bill   benefits Taste of Tahoe.

Taste of Tahoe is a fundraiser for the South Shore’s Relay for Life event. Relay begins Aug. 7 at Kahle Community Park in Stateline. The event raises money for the American Cancer Society.

Chevys South Lake Tahoe is a Taste of Tahoe supporter. Photo/Kathryn Reed