Event: Wines of Summer

Date: June 1, 6pm

Cost: $15 in advance, $20 at the door, not including tips to your servers. Includes 5 wines and appetizer pairings.

RSVP: (530) 544.9463

Location: Apres Wine Company, South Lake Tahoe on the corner of Highway 50 and Ski Run Boulevard

Discounts: 10 percent off on 1-5, 15 percent on 6 or more bottles

Featured Wines:

* Dry Creek Vineyard Chenin Blanc Clarksburg, California, 2007

* Gerard Metz Riesling Vin d’Alsace, France, 2006

* Scott Harvey Zinfandel Amador County, California, 2007

* Hazard Hill Shiraz, Australia, 2007

* Pelton House Cabernet Knights Valley, Napa, California, 2005

Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce Customer Loyalty & Retention Workshop is June 3 from 8-9am at the Econo Lodge meeting room, 2659 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

Looking for new ways to keep your business booming this summer? Understanding the differences between customer loyalty and customer satisfaction is critical to an organization’s ability to grow their customer base. Attendees will be provided with tools to assess their customer loyalty program and its effectiveness, as well as tips for improving the bottom line.

Janet Nelson, president of J Nelson Enterprise LLC and OQL Solutions, specializes in operations, quality and customer loyalty improvements.

RSVP requested — (775) 588.1728.

Free for chamber members and $15 for non-members.

By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal

To camp or not to camp?

It’s a question a lot of folks are likely weighing, balancing iffy spring weather with months of cabin fever.

But if they come, and many no doubt will, campground operators across the Reno-Tahoe area say they are ready for a Memorial Day holiday that is typically one of their busiest weekends.

“I think people are kind of tired of being cooped up,” said Eric Johnson, regional manager for Nevada State Parks.

The weekend weather — looking generally good after a marginal start — could make a significant difference, but Johnson said there should be plenty of campers anxious to pitch tents, roll out their RVs and otherwise usher in the summer season.

Read the whole story

By Jeffery Behar

It’s time for your annual mammogram, and you’ve just learned that you’re going to have a digital one.

If you’ve never had a digital mammogram, you might be wondering, “What’s the difference between it and a more traditional film mammogram?”

Jeffery Behar

Both use X-rays to capture images of the breasts. And yes, your breasts still have to be compressed for a digital mammogram — there’s no escaping that part of the procedure. But Barton has the MammoPad which makes compression much more comfortable.

The difference between film and digital is how those images are recorded and stored. A traditional mammogram displays images on a large piece of film.

A radiologist studies the film for any suspicious looking areas in the breasts.

A digital mammogram, on the other hand, converts X-rays into electrical signals that are sent to a computer. The images that are produced can be enhanced, magnified or manipulated on a computer screen, which can help the radiologist see specific areas of the breasts more clearly.

The images also can be stored electronically and transmitted from one location to another, allowing breast specialists in different locations to study them.

A digital mammogram also takes less time to perform, which in turn shortens the amount of discomfort time.

Is digital better?

The earlier breast cancer can be found, the better the chances that treatment will work. Both digital and film mammograms can often detect breast cancer at an early stage.

However digital mammography is better than film mammography at finding cancers in:

• Women with dense breasts. About 40 percent of women who undergo screening mammography have dense breasts.

• Women younger than 50, regardless of breast density.

• Women who had their final menstrual periods within 12 months of their mammograms.

When should I be screened?

Most experts agree: Regular screening with either digital or film mammography saves lives.

The American Cancer Society recommends that you get a mammogram once a year beginning at age 40 and every year after that as long as you’re in good health.

If you’re at high risk of breast cancer because of a family history of the disease or other factors, your doctor may recommend that you be tested more often and at an earlier age.

Stateline Mammography has merged with the Mammography Department at Barton Memorial Hospital. Digital mammograms with the warmer, softer MammoPad are available at Barton Memorial Hospital. Call (530) 543.5851 for your appointment.

Jeffery Behar is a radiologist at Barton Memorial Hospital.

The Douglas County Public Library will move its storytime to Lampe Park on June 2.

It will continue every Wednesday at 10:30am through Aug. 25.

Shop at the farmers market while your children listen to stories in the park. Children age 3 and up are invited to attend. The program includes stories, music, and crafts.

For more information call the Minden Library at (775) 782.9841.

By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe hotels owe the city more than a half million dollars in taxes and penalties. The properties are deliberately not paying the city the transient occupancy tax they collect.

City Attorney Patrick Enright was back in court this week fighting to get the $43,000 Inn at Heavenly owes.

Blue Lake Inn just paid its back taxes with penalty to South Lake Tahoe.

The TOT collected by lodging establishments must be handed over to the city within 15 business days after the last of the month.

“Delinquent TOT is an unlawful use of the city’s revenues,” Finance Director Christine Vuletich said.

In May, South Tahoe received $129,000 in back TOT, penalties and interest on the Blue Lake Inn, and $75,000 from the Fantasy Inn.

“Both of these, and all of the delinquent TOT, paid significant penalties and interest so it would be beneficial to hotel operators if they paid in a timely manner. For instance, in the Blue Lake Inn case, the actual back TOT and [Tahoe Tourism Improvement District] was about $75,000, with the remainder in penalties and interest,” Enright said.

Blue Lake Inn was in foreclosure. Wells Fargo paid the city after the bank sold the property.

With Wells Fargo having the loan on the Fantasy Inn, the bank interceded to pay the TOT when the city threatened to close the property.

The Paradise Motel was supposed to send a check on May 25 for $6,060.96. This breaks down to $4,092.26 in TOT, $723 delinquent TTID, and $1,245.70 in penalties and interest.

Properties involving two members of the South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association — Jerry Bindel and Danny Freemon — have been affiliated with properties that are part of the problem. Premier Resorts used to own Lakeland Village. They owe the city $164,344.17, which include penalties and fees. A lien is on the property. Bindel is not allowed to speak for this company because they no longer own the property he manages.

Freemon is part of the Lake Tahoe Group that has several hotels on Emerald Bay Road, including the Pine Cone Acre Motel that owes more than $23,000. Freemon did not return a phone call.

“Poor business practices and dishonesty are the primary reasons that hotels and motels become delinquent in paying the city the TOT they have collected, and this behavior has increased with the economic recession,” Vuletich said.

TOT is one of the city’s main revenue sources for the general fund. Some of the things the general fund budge pays for are police, fire, snow removal, streets, and parks and recreation.

“The money is city money that they collect for us as condition of doing business,” City Manager Dave Jinkens said. “… they need to know that city government will pursue them in civil and criminal courts if the facts warrant both civil and criminal prosecution.”

Click on TOT to see the delinquency report as of April 30. With penalties included, the city is owed $569,476.06.

Placer County’s cleanup efforts of an abandoned concrete batch plant on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe have been bolstered by the awarding of three grants, totaling $600,000, toward restoration efforts in the Snow Creek wetlands.

The restoration project, managed by the Placer County Department of Public Works Tahoe Engineering Division, will address water quality concerns in the Tahoe Vista watershed.

The property, known as the TNT Materials plant is located on Gun Club Road in Tahoe Vista and was a materials-based, concrete batch plant facility since 1948. Placer County owns the property, having acquired it in August 2008 with a $2 million grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.

The property consists of eight parcels totaling a little more than an acre. The total restoration will be about 2 acres. Additional public easements between the parcels are owned by the Department of Public Works and create a project area of almost 3 acres.

The plant initially provided paving material for the construction of a road over Brockway Summit (Highway 267) into the Lake Tahoe Basin from Truckee. The property was developed on top of and adjacent to Snow Creek wetlands. The natural course of a tributary to Snow Creek was altered by fill material when the property was built. Cement and aggregate base rock was used to fill the wetlands on the property.

The amount of fill increased annually and the operations encroached further onto the wetlands, likely causing water quality impacts downstream to Snow Creek and Lake Tahoe.

After the removal of structures and storage tanks, the wetlands will be restored.

The three grants are from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Brownfields Grants and Land Revitalization program. Additional agencies that have given financial backing to the restoration project include the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. Total project costs are expected to be about $5.5 million.

The Lake Tahoe Historical Society’s 7th annual Garden Tour is likely to prove to be a bit different, according to organizers.

The event is July 31 from 10am-4pm. All gardens are in El Dorado County. Five of the eight gardens are on land once owned by the Celio family.

“We will tell the story of this pioneer family and refreshments will be served at the Celio ranch. The Celios are very protective of their property, and it is a real privilege to experience the ranch,” organizer Lynne Bajuk said. “Two of the gardens have amazing vegetable plots. All are owner created. Our theme is cowboy/ranching.”

The reception will be outdoors and does not include visits inside any of the Celio buildings.

Tickets are $20 and may be purchased after July 1 at the museum at 3058 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe and at Aspen Hollow, Tahoe Outdoor Living, Nel’s and SunBasin. Tickets are limited and last year it sold-out.

For more information, call (530) 541.5458.

The Truckee Police Department in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol and the Grass Valley Police Department will have a DUI checkpoint on May 28.

Additionally, Truckee PD is participating in the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign, which runs through June 6. The focus of this program is to make sure all drivers and passengers in vehicle are safely and securely seat belted.

The police department’s goal for 2010 is to significantly reduce the rates of DUI-involved injury collisions within the Truckee.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Free Fishing Day in Nevada. The statewide event allows anglers to fish in any public fishing water in the state without a fishing license or trout stamp, while all limits and other regulations apply. Visit www.ndow.org to find out about local events.