By Susan Voyles, Reno Gazette-Journal

Tsunami warning signs at Lake Tahoe?

If new Nevada Seismology Laboratory Director Graham Kent has his way, signs would be posted to warn people of potential giant waves at Tahoe beaches.

“I would advocate over time, we put those signs up there,” he said. “It’s something that needs extra special attention. We have to work through getting those signs on the beaches.”

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By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe is on course to create a massive education campaign about why saying no to plastic bags is the right thing to do and why using a reusable canvas bag is the best option.

This comes at the direction of the city’s Sustainability Commission, which met Wednesday afternoon. The commission called for a special meeting for March 17 at 4pm at Lake Tahoe Airport to hammer out the specifics of the campaign.

Containers like this may one day be banned in South Tahoe.

At the commission’s February meeting, a full house weighed-in on the good and bad of banning plastic bags. At this time the commission is not seeking a ban.

Reasons the commission is against a ban are because the state will not allow a fee to be imposed on businesses using plastic bans and several jurisdictions have been sued because of their respective bans.

“More than public education, it should be a public campaign,” Commissioner Claire Fortier said. “We need to have goals.”

All of the commissioners concurred.

South Tahoe High School teacher Jamie Greenough was with a handful of her students at the meeting. Though no students chose to speak, Greenough offered to help however her classes can when it comes to education about using reusable bags.

The commission welcomed the support and will be working with the students and teacher.

Also at the March 3 meeting, the seven-member panel agreed to recommend to the City Council to ban the use of polystyrene throughout the city within a year. The council will likely take this up in May. It has ultimate authority over saying yea or nay to ordinances.

The American Chemistry website says, “Polystyrene is found in your home, office, local grocery and in the cafeteria. It comes in many shapes and forms, from foam egg cartons and meat trays, to soup bowls and salad boxes, from coffee cups and utensils to CD ‘jewel boxes,’ and from produce trays to ‘peanuts’ used in packing and the lightweight foam pieces that cushion new appliances and electronics.”

The commission is more interested in eliminating to-go containers made from polystyrene than all of the items mentioned above. However, the commission did not address specifics in the motion.

The city attorney’s office is tasked with bringing back to the commission language for the proposed ordinance before it goes to the council.

“I think polystyrene is easy. There are so many distribution routes in place,” Chairwoman Kirstin Cattell said in regards to how businesses could replace the product they are now using.

Commissioner Do Lee suggested the ban be phased in so the impact to small businesses would be less.

Another item the commission voted on was to further investigate joining a statewide coalition that is looking into having an environmental impact report done in regards to banning plastic bags.

By Chelsea Phua, Sacramento Bee

Authorities are looking for a 28-year-old Tahoe City man who went missing Tuesday afternoon in the Boreal Ridge ski area after he went snowshoeing and cross-country skiing with a group of friends.

Kevin Bradstreet Davis

Nevada County Sheriff’s officials said in a statement released Wednesday night that Kevin Bradstreet Davis was reported to be lost near Peter Grub hut in the area of Castle Peak on Donner Summit.

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The Spanish Flay will debut on the Squeeze In’s menu Thursday in honor of Bobby Flay.

The Food Network star showed up at the Reno restaurant last month for one of his famous throw downs.

On Wednesday night the half-hour segment showed that Flay knows a thing or two about whipping eggs into a tasty omelet. His secret ingredient of smoky paprika helped wow the audience.

Squeeze In owners Misty and Gary Young showcased their 300,000 Racy Tracy omelet. A little white wine is the secret to theirs.

The Youngs took over the original Truckee restaurant six years ago, which has been open since 1974. They opened the Reno location two years ago.

Publisher’s note: This was written by SLT Councilman Hal Cole prior to the March 2 decision by the bankruptcy court to give Randy Lane until June 2 to come up with an plan, but was received by LTN on March 3.

By Hal Cole

Much has been made lately about a possible investor for the stalled Convention Center project. I offer the following observations on the likelihood of any progress in the bankruptcy courts and on the action the City Council took on Feb. 15.

Currently the project site consists of 29 separate parcels owned by 17 different entities — the creditors. All of them are owed money by the developer Randy Lane dba Lake Tahoe Development) and are secured by deeds of trust. When the developer stopped paying on the notes, the creditors filed notices of default, which is the first step in foreclosing.

Hal Cole

On Oct. 5, 2009, Mr. Lane filed for protection in bankruptcy court. During the first 120 days of bankruptcy, the developer has the exclusive right to propose a plan to settle with the creditors and emerge from bankruptcy. This period expired on Feb. 2. Mr. Lane has asked the court for an additional 150 days to prepare his plan. On Feb. 9, the City Council met to discuss our position on his request and decided to write an opinion letter to the court opposing any extension. The council was also informed that Mr. Lane had a potential investor, Michael Rosenfeld, who wanted to meet with the mayor and me. By consensus, the council directed staff, the mayor and myself to meet with Mr. Rosenfeld and, if there were sufficient evidence of his ability to finance the project, the council was to meet again to reassess our position, hence the meeting on Feb. 15.

At our meeting, our city attorney presented us with four options:

1. Support Mr. Lane’s request to extend for an additional 150 days his exclusive right to present a plan to satisfy the creditors and build the project;

2. Remain neutral and make no recommendation to the court on his request;

3. Oppose his request altogether;

4. Support an extension for a shorter period of time.

It was my feeling that this was the first time any viable investor had come forward to build the project and that allowing a shortened period of time for his plan to be presented to all of the creditors and the court was the appropriate action for our council to take. Other council members felt that Mr. Lane had been given enough time already and wanted us to recommend no extension of time at all.

On a 3-2 vote, with council members Bill Crawford and Jerry Birdwell in opposition, the City Council agreed to write a letter supporting an additional 30 days for Mr. Lane and Mr. Rosenfeld to meet with the creditors and present their plan. After the project had languished for years with no apparent outside interest, I felt an additional 30 days would not significantly delay the ultimate outcome, but could reap the result our whole town is hoping for: a completed hotel/retail/convention center complex.

No matter what the court ultimately decides, one thing is certain, time is running out for Mr. Lane and some movement will occur soon. Whether it results in the foreclosure by 17 property owners or an emergence from bankruptcy with a new developer remains to be seen. I look forward to working towards the latter outcome and hope the economy is on the rebound and we can rebuild our city.

Hal Cole is mayor pro tem of South Lake Tahoe.

In summer 2007, Chad Wiles and Allison Ansley, both Sierra Nevada College graduates, began to plot a bicycle route across Eurasia. Armed with ambition, a couple of visas, and two stout bicycles they set off from the coast of China and started riding west.

Six months and two days later they rode onto the beaches of the Netherlands with more than 7,000 miles of Eurasian trans-cultural experiences.

From the images gathered on their small cameras they have compiled the delicious and disgusting, the ordinary and amazing, the lovely and repugnant, and plenty of stops in between as they lived out on the world road.

They are excited to share preparatory and logistical information as well as other practical tips so others might feel more prepared to explore a big planet at this nice bicycling pace. They will also discuss their upcoming tour to the Black Sea region and the former Yugoslav republics.

Date and time: March 4 from 5:30-7:30pm; lecture begins promptly at 6pm.

Cost: Free. No-Host Bar.

Location: Assembly Rooms 139 & 141, Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, on the campus of Sierra Nevada College.

As skiers were enjoying fresh powder today at Sierra-at-Tahoe, state snow surveyors were at the entrance to the resort on Highway 50 measuring the water content.

The readings are much better than last year when the water content was at 80 percent of normal. On Wednesday they came in at 107 percent of normal. At the January reading the water content was at 115 percent and in December it was 75 percent.

John Deam and Frank Gehrke measure the water content. Photo/LTN file

“Today’s readings boost our hope that we will be able to increase the State Water Project allocation by this spring to deliver more water to our cities and farms,” Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin said in a press release. “But we must remember that even a wet winter will not fully offset three consecutive dry years or pumping restrictions to protect Delta fish so we must continue to conserve and protect our water resources.”

Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir, is recovering slowly after three dry years. Despite recent storms, its storage level today is only 55 percent average for this time of year. It is also expected that dry soil conditions will absorb much of the snowpack’s water content that otherwise would help to replenish streams and reservoirs during the spring and early summer melt.

On Feb. 26, the State Water Project allocation was increased from 5 to 15 percent of requested amounts. If wet weather continues, the final allocation this spring likely will be in the range of 35-45 percent of requested amounts. The figure will partially be determined by how the fishery agency restrictions on pumping are applied, which will determine how much flexibility DWR has to export water from the Delta.

In 2009, the State Water Project delivered 40 percent of customer requests. The federal Central Valley Project in 2009 was able to deliver 10 percent of contracted amounts to some agricultural areas in the San Joaquin Valley. The reduced deliveries were due to dry weather and fishery agency pumping restrictions to protect fish species; principally Delta smelt, salmon, and longfin smelt.

Results of today’s manual snow survey by the Department of Water resources off Highway 50 near Echo Summit are as follows:

Click video to see what snow surveys are all about.

Unity at the Lake OneHeart Drum Ministry – Tahoe Senior Center – 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe on April 25 at 11:30am (after Sunday Celebration Service.

Join us for a special Earth Day drum gathering as we express the heartbeat of God within. Come and share the healing energy of creating rhythms together. Bring your drums and shakers – or just come and dance. No experience necessary; some instruments provided. Love offering.

For more info, call (530) 544-2266 or visit www.unityatthelake.org

Unity at the Lake Healing Circle – Star Tahoe Building, 2489 Lake Tahoe Blvd., Ste. 27, South Lake Tahoe on April 12 at noon.

Join us as we affirm and align in consciousness with the Truth that we are already whole. Simply one of the best ways to align our minds with Divine Mind and claim our Divine Inheritance! Bring a healing request to share in this powerful and prayerful ceremony. Love offering.

For more info, call (530) 544.2266 or visit www.unityatthelake.org

Unity at the Lake Special Easter White Stone Ceremony – Tahoe Senior Center – 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe on April 4 at 10am.

Join us for a meaningful White Stone Ceremony as we rise up into our greatness. For more info, call (530) 544.2266 or visit www.unityatthelake.org.