Spring will be around the Lake Tahoe Basin for the weekend, with highs in the mid- to high 60s.

But cover anything up you don’t want to get wet because rain is in the forecast for the early part of next week.

So much water exists that a kayaker has a lagoon to paddle through before reaching Trout Creek on May 14. Photo/Kathryn Reed

And the temperature is expected to drop at least 10 degrees on Monday and Tuesday from the weekend highs.

The National Weather Service is calling for a chance of showers for most of next week.

By Kathryn Reed

The sign says no parking for 48 hours. But it doesn’t say when the time period starts or ends.

The photo was taken Friday afternoon and no one was near the equipment. Friday was not a furlough day for city staff. Road crews don’t usually work weekends.

The equipment is parked on Harrison Avenue between San Francisco and Modesto avenues. This stretch of dirt is used for parking for the Tahoe Daily Tribune and Rojo’s. In the winter it is a muddy mess with lots of holes. It almost necessitates 4-wheel drive to park there.

Dates and times would be helpful. Photo/Kathryn Reed

The often-water filled indentation at the corner of Harrison and Modesto on the parcel the California Tahoe Conservancy owns has been filled in with rocks.

Calls to South Lake Tahoe officials to find out what is going on were not returned.

It’s not known if this stretch of Harrison will be paved. The area is in the recently approved redevelopment area. Coverage and erosion issues are major issues in this corridor.

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association still has spots left in its 165-Mile Segment Hiking Program for the summer.

In the 165-Mile Segment Hiking Program participants will hike one section of the Tahoe Rim Trail every week for a total of nine day hikes or seven day hikes and a backpacking trip.

All hikes are guided by our fully trained and competent volunteer guides, and the hiking group will be composed of the same people every week, so you’ll get a chance forge new friendships and meet hiking partners.

Upon finishing the program you will be inducted into the 165-Mile club, receive a hat, T-shirt and pin, and a lifelong membership number.

The TRTA shuttle will transport you from the ending trailhead to the start of your hike so at the end of the day there’s no need to worry about that extra drive to get back to your car. The $500 membership level for the 165-Mile Segment Hiking Program helps the TRTA in providing educational programs and in letting us maintain and enhance the trail as our mission requires.

Sign up now for your Segment Hike experience in 2010. The hikes start on either June 18 or June 19 and finish with the backpack on Aug. 13-15th or the last day hike on Aug. 21.

Space is limited.

For more information or questions, call Mila at (775) 298.0238 or e-mail programs@tahoerimtrail.org.

By Carlos Alcalá, Sacramento Bee

There’s plenty of bustle on Placerville’s Main Street, but it’s a small-town kind of bustle, not the sort that suggests an economic giant.

Despite the quaintness of the old town, this city has the Sacramento region’s highest per capita sales tax revenue – accomplished without the big new malls and auto centers of nearby economic behemoths Folsom and Roseville.

Based on a Bee analysis of sales tax revenue, Placerville’s revenue for 2009-10 comes to $280 for each man, woman and child in town.

Read the whole story

By Monica Showalter, Investors Business Daily

COALINGA — Would France rip out its storied vineyards? Would Juan Valdez scorch Colombia’s coffee crop? Sri Lanka its black pepper harvest? China its tea?

With global markets won by nations specializing in doing what they do best, and with regional reputations important enough to drive some nations to protectionism, it’s almost unthinkable.

But then there’s California.

Read the whole story

Regional artist Jeff Myers will give a class in lariat basket making and leather tooling on May 24, sponsored by the Carson Valley Arts Council (CVAC) at the Copeland Cultural Arts Center in Minden.

The six-hour class begins at 9:30am and costs $55 plus $10 for materials, which will be provided by the instructor.

Myers uses coiled nylon lariat rope, of various colors and textures, and incorporated pieces of intricately tooled leather, to build uniquely designed, rustic baskets. Myers, who spent many years as a Montana cattle rancher, said that his baskets turn the old lariats he accumulated over years of “working cattle and tying gates” into legitimate art pieces.

Myers’ baskets have been wildly successful, and he frequently partners with the Nevada Arts Council in arts outreach efforts. He guarantees his students leave class with completed baskets of their own.

For registration or additional information,visit www.cvartscouncil.com or call (775) 782.8207. Limited space available.

By Kathryn Reed

All of the information about being an international student at Lake Tahoe Community College or studying abroad is still on the website, but the program no longer exists.

It will continue to be there, just changing a bit.

The college board of trustees this week eliminated the program as well as Jen Spina’s job. The department ceases to exist after June 30.

However, LTCC students can study abroad through other colleges and earn credits. Instructors can also teach via other institutions.

Spina, who was not at Tuesday’s meeting when decision was made, had given a presentation to the board earlier this year about her efforts to recruit international students. Although she went to where the would-be students are, they chose not to come to South Lake Tahoe.

Two students are signed up for fall quarter. Thirty are needed to make the program work.

The elimination of the program doesn’t mean people from other countries can’t come to LTCC. It means no one is promoting the college.

It wasn’t about Spina; it was about economics.

“Jen Spina has done a phenomenal job,” said Diane Rosner, dean of instruction.

“It’s a matter of priorities,” Rosner explained.

With the state not paying community colleges for all of their full time students, LTCC chose to cut a program that essentially drains other resources. The students who go on the trips are counted in the full-time equation.

Cutting the program means being able to serve more students on campus with more academic-oriented instruction.

And although the study abroad program has been poplar, like the trip to Chile this school year, it requires someone to oversee the program. With Spina’s job being axed, so too are those study opportunities.

“I look back and I’m proud of what we’ve done. It’s a sad time for me because I was one of the creators of the program,” Rosner said. “I think it will come back.”

The formal study abroad program started in 2001. Former Art Department Chairman David Foster had been taking students on international art related to art study programs before that.

If enough people sign up by the May 24 deadline, the Paris trip set for September will be honored. An ecological trip to Costa Rica in October is on the books, but Rosner said it looks likely it will be canceled.

By Kevin Yamamura and Susan Ferriss, Sacramento Bee

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers Friday to eliminate the state’s welfare program starting in October and dramatically scale back in-home care for the elderly and disabled as part of his May budget revision to close a $19.1 billion deficit.

The Republican governor also proposed cuts to state worker compensation. Besides asking for a 5 percent pay cut, 5 percent payroll cap and 5 percent increased pension contribution,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting one day per month of pay in exchange for leave credit.

Read the whole story

To the community,

On May 1, 2010, our small Leadership Lake Tahoe group organized a Community Graffiti Clean Up Day we hoped would foster a sense of community by bringing citizens and businesses together to collectively make a difference in the appearance of our town, as well as discourage criminal behavior in our community. Our clean-up day resulted in the coverage of graffiti in 65 locations around South Lake Tahoe. We could not have done it without the help of our volunteers and business partners.

We would like to thank our 63 volunteers who showed up to paint the town. We’d also like to thank our sponsors for supplies, paint, professional advice and media coverage. Our sponsors included: South Tahoe Refuse, Sherwin Williams, Dick’s Fuller O’Brien Paints, Kelly Moore Paints, Scotty’s Hardware, Meeks Lumber & Hardware, Relia Pro Painters, Pinetree Printing, Harrah’s and Harveys, Zephyr Cove Resort, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Boys & Girls Club of South Lake Tahoe, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, local finish craftsman Anthony Piscitelli, KTHO, KRLT, RSN, Tahoe Daily Tribune and Lake Tahoe News.

We would also like to thank the Tahoe Chamber for offering the enriching Leadership Lake Tahoe program. We thank our employers for allowing us to participate in the 10 month program.

Sincerely,

Heather Henry, Heavenly Mountain Resort

Kelly Lancellotti, Harrah’s and Harveys

Shannon Norrgard, South Lake Tahoe Police Department

Steve Sweet, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

Lindsay Townsend, Zephyr Cove Resort

Spring “Clean Up On the Run” Day on May 22 is from 9am-noon. This is the first cleanup day of its kind on Ski Run Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe.

Click Ski Run for more information.