By Reno Gazette-Journal
A snowshoer missing since Tuesday in the Castle Peak area of Donner Summit, was found about 12:45pm, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department reports.
Initially information is not clear but Kevin Bradstreet Davis, 28, of Tahoe City is alive and being taken to a hospital for treatment, the sheriff’s department reported. His condition was not immediately available.
The Douglas County Public Library has again joined with In-N-Out Burger for its “Cover to Cover Club†reading program from March 6 to April 17. Children ages 4-12 are eligible to receive a certificate for a free In-N-Out hamburger or cheeseburger by reading books. Both branches of the library are participating in the program.
Children must fill out a file card at the library to enroll in the program. Readers will earn an Achievement Award redeemable for an In-N-Out hamburger for every five books read at their reading level.
Each participating child may earn up to three award certificates. Children too young to read on their own may have a parent read to them.
The Douglas County Public Library is located at 1625 Library Lane in Minden and 233 Warrior Way in Zephyr Cove.
For more information call the library at (775) 782.9841 or visit douglas.lib.nv.us.
By Geralda Miller, Reno Gazette-Journal
It didn’t take long for a Reno nurse to decide to pack her stethoscope and scrubs and volunteer in Haiti after the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12.
When Burners Without Borders sent a request on Jan. 25, saying they needed doctors and nurses, Chelsea Chen, a labor and delivery nurse at Renown Health and 10-year participant in Burning Man, said she had to go.
“I felt this pull,” Chen said. “These people need help, and I can help them. There is no reason not to.”
Publisher’s note: The letter writer is wrong about the rate increase. On Wednesday, all board members except Mary Lou Mosbacher were in favor of increasing sewer and water rates by 4 percent starting July 1 and to have it brought back for a formal vote. This would equate to an average increase of $2.70/month for residential customers. The increase is not a done deal. Ratepayers will have 45 days to comment on the proposal starting April 1 after a letter is sent to them.
Letter to the publisher,
On March 3 at 1pm, I attended the South Tahoe Public Utility District Budget Workshop. For the pubic, this was the first time to see the 2010-2011 budget. The STPUD staff used a slide show to show every detail of the proposed budget. Two hours later I had to leave before getting a chance to speak, so I want to speak now.
The slide show started with a slide showing the proposed rate increases for some neighboring districts: Tahoe City 85 percent, El Dorado Irrigation District 18 percent, Placerville 72 percent. This is not good when the unemployment rate in our area is 17 percent. These districts are not as good as our district when it comes to “prudent financial planning. STPUD has excelled in this area and as a result, our community is now the recipient of many benefits.
For example: our infrastructure is in good shape, our drinking water tastes good and it is reliable, the district has a prudent reserve for emergencies, the district will probably never need to levy a special assessment like Lukins might have to do, the district has very low employee turnover, they have a great health plan and a great retirement plan that has attracted many high-quality employees. The district is able to deal with large disasters and long droughts, the district continues to obtain large state and federal grants, the district has won several national award for excellence, and most important of all the district has many happy customers.
Because our district has excelled at “prudent financial planning” for so many years they are now in a position to give us customers another zero percent rate increase for the second year in a row. I thank God I do not live in Tahoe City or Placerville and I thank God for the staff at our district. They have developed our district into an outstanding organization able to withstand two years of zero rate increases while continuing to maintain the highest quality of services. We owe them our deepest, most sincere expression of gratitude.
Hats off to STPUD.
Ernie Claudio, South Lake Tahoe resident and former STPUD board member
There’s a whole heck of a lot of fresh powder everywhere in Lake Tahoe. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.
The 34th annual Great Ski Race is a groomed 30-kilometer course beginning at 9am March 7 at the Tahoe Cross Country Center in Tahoe City.
The finish line is in Truckee at the Cottonwood Restaurant.
Money goes to the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team. It costs $45 in advance, $65 day of race.
For more information, click here.
By ABC News
Jaycee Dugard, her mother Terry Probyn and her half sister, Shayna, are seen and heard for the first time on-camera, since Dugard was abducted 18 years ago near her home in South Lake Tahoe.
See exclusive home video of Dugard on “GMA” and “20/20.”
Dugard introduces herself to the world for the first time and her mother breaks her silence to plead for privacy and time to heal.
By Kathryn Reed
Water officials know that just because Congress has been forthcoming with money in the past for fire suppression projects, doesn’t mean it will happen again.
But with more than 80 percent of the Lake Tahoe Basin belonging to the federal government and bipartisan support from the California and Nevada delegations, the odds are increased the next $5 million installment will be approved.
Dennis Cocking with South Tahoe Public Utility District and Jim Jones, a STPUD board member, spent the better part of last week in Washington trying to secure money for the Lake Tahoe Basin.
A few years ago public water agencies in the basin formed a partnership to better leverage money from Congress. It was determined $100 million was needed to upgrade the various systems to provide adequate fire suppression, have the inter-agency ties keep water moving around the lake and have the ability to improve storage capacity.
Knowing that dollar amount would be shot down quickly, the agencies put together a four-year plan of action that started in 2008 totaling $40 million. Because Congress asks for matching dollars, it means $20 million from the feds and $20 million locally.
The feds have come through with $5 million in each of the last fiscal years. What the Tahoe folks were asking for last month was the next $5 million for fiscal year 2011.
“Fire is a nonpartisan issue,” Cocking said. Still, he doesn’t expect a decision until next year because of the midterm elections in November.
The problem is for nearly 100 years the Forest Service suppressed fire in the Lake Tahoe Basin. This led to overgrowth and no thinning. That coupled with the water districts being formed decades as municipal agencies without firefighting capabilities has led to the insufficient infrastructure.
The money that has come to Tahoe is divvied up among the agencies based on connections.
Because not all the money gets spent in one year, projects involving federal appropriations are ongoing. The limited building season in Tahoe also necessitates infrastructure improvements take a couple years because not all can be finished between May and October.
While in Washington, Cocking and Jones also attended the Association of California Water Agencies conference.
Bigger-picture water issues are discussed there.
Some in South Lake Tahoe have criticized the district, especially Jones, for spending money on travel.
Cocking defended the district’s annual travel expenditures of between $8,000 and $10,000 for conferences and trips to Washington and elsewhere.
“When you come back every year with a couple million dollars, it pays for the plane tickets and nights in a hotel,” Cocking said.
He said an analysis done last year on the cost of such travel in relation to state and federal funding that was then secured shows a return on investment in excess of 2,000 percent.
On another note, Douglas County is working to consolidate its many water districts to provide consumers with a more efficient and cost-effective program.
John Collins
• John Collins was honored this week for 30 years of work in the South Lake Tahoe Parks and Recreation Department.
• Whittell High School Black and White Choir will perform at Disneyland in May. Students Sierra Forvilly, Lauren Andrew and Zach Welch were accepted into the NZNMEA regional elite Honor Choir. The students from the Zephyr Cove school have the option of auditioning for the Nevada All-State Choir in Las Vegas.
• South Tahoe’s Hannah Teter is giving the $15,000 she won as a silver medalist in the 2010 Olympic halfpipe competition to Doctors Without Borders.
• MontBleu casino at Stateline has been making staff changes: Mike Donovan, director of marketing; Sean Fulton, director of slot operations; Dane Hansen, director of table games; and Randy Reid, director of surveillance; and Greg Vorreyer, director of finance.
By Amelia Richmond
On March 6, Squaw Valley celebrates the life of Jimmie Heuga.
His life, his accomplishments and the strength he showed in demonstrating to others how to live with MS are an inspiration to all who knew him. The celebration will begin at 4pm on the KT Sundeck.
Billy Kidd, left, and Jimmie Heuga on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1968.
The son of Pascal “Pete†Heuga, one of Squaw Valley’s first employees, Jimmie has always been a beloved member of Squaw Valley. His natural talent first captured the attention of Squaw Valley’s ski school director at age 8, and that was just the beginning. Jimmie went on to an amazing skiing career, winning the bronze medal in the Men’s slalom in the 1964 Olympics.
When Jimmie was diagnosed with MS in 1970, his doctors told him to live a sedentary lifestyle. Many years later, he rejected his doctors’ advice and found that swimming, biking and skiing made him feel better and helped him to regain his health. Jimmie founded The Heuga Center in 1984 to share what he had discovered with others struggling with the disease.
The Center’s CAN DO programs are based around this philosophy that people with MS are helped by exercise. This wellness approach to MS, which focuses on what people with MS can do rather than what they can’t do, is now widely embraced by the medical community. Jimmie will be sorely missed but his spirit lives on in the Center’s work and in all of us who have been inspired by him.
Squaw Valley will be celebrating Jimmie Heuga’s life this during the Vertical Express for MS.
Speakers at the event will include Nancy Cushing (Squaw Valley CEO), Tamara KcKinney, Robert Frohlich and Lily Kunczynski (childhood friend) and Art Domingue (pastor of the Squaw Valley Chapel). A reception will follow in the VTL for family and friends. In the event of weather, the entire event will be moved into VTL.
Amelia Richmond is an employee of Squaw Valley.