The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is offering basic wildland firefighter training this spring.

Those who successfully complete the course are eligible to become a member of the LTBMU emergency on-call, or AD (administratively determined), firefighter program. There is no fee or tuition to attend.

Two class sessions will be a day session and a night session. The day session will be April 12-15 from 8am-4:30pm. The night session will be April 19-23 from 4-10pm.

Class sessions will be at the U.S. Forest Service Meyers Fire Training room located at 2215 Keetak Ave. in Meyers. Call (530) 543.2881 for directions.

In order to pass the class, all students must participate in the field day on May 8. The field day is a physically demanding experience. Wildland fire fighters must pass a work capacity test to fully qualify. Participants will be required to have approved firefighting boots, and proper footwear will be discussed during the course.

Advanced registration is required. To register for the class, contact Josh Thalacker at (530) 543.2881. Students who have not registered may show up the day of the class and will be enrolled if seats are available on a case-by-case basis.

Did you realize that memory loss is not a normal part of aging? That there are many possible reasons for memory loss and that some are reversible? Debra Frederick, Integrated Behavior Healthcare, will address these issues and more in Long Journey: Healthy Cognitive Aging vs. Alzheimer’s Aging as part of the Caregiver Educational training series on April 26 from 1-3pm, Embassy Suites, 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

Questions? Contact Family Caregiver Support Program at (530) 621.6151.

Exploring: The Move to Residential Care and Home Safety is a training designed to educate people about alternative housing options as people age.

Vicki Lebsack, with the Alzheimer’s Association, will share practical ideas for keeping the home safe, and realistic approaches to finding an alternative if care needs cannot be met in the home setting. This training on getting effective care is a part of our Caregiver Educational training series on April 19 from 1-3pm, Embassy Suites, 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. Questions? Contact Family Caregiver Support Program at (530) 621.6151.

As people age, some legal documents become more important and prevalent. Diana Steele, attorney with El Dorado County Senior Legal Services, will share Planning: Senior Legal Issues. Learn about power of attorney documents, advanced health care directives, as well as an overview of the maze known as long term care MediCal.

This discussion as part of the Caregiver Educational training series on April 12 from 1-3pm, Embassy Suites, 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

Questions? Contact Family Caregiver Support Program at (530) 621.6151.

In Home Physical Therapy is an informative education taught by Jason Collins, physical therapist, of Barton Home Health.

Learn how to keep yourself and loved ones safe at home, how to prevent falls and maintain proper body mechanics for optimum care. This training is the beginning of a six-week educational series for older adults and their caregivers beginning April 5 from 1-3pm, Embassy Suites, 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.

Questions? Contact Family Caregiver Support Program at (530) 621.6151.

By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe experienced its second bank robbery in nine days when Bank of the West was held up at gunpoint Thursday afternoon.

Police do not believe the suspect in this caper is the same person who robbed the Wells Fargo inside Raley’s at the Y on Feb. 10.

Like that incident, an undisclosed amount of cash was taken.

Bank of the West robbery suspect. Photo/Provided

Police are not releasing much information other than to say a white male is the suspect – no height, weight or age were provided. The suspect’s facial hair appears to be fake.

No one in the bank was harmed. The robbery occurred at 4:22pm.

Bank manager Chandler Monroe refused to comment when contacted be Lake Tahoe News on Thursday night.

Sugarland at the 2010 Lake Tahoe Summer Concert Series at Harveys Outdoor Arena on July 10.

Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush won two Grammy Awards in 2009 for Best Country Song and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group. Two months later, the Academy of Country Music proclaimed the emergent superstars thetop Vocal Duo of the Year, ending Brooks & Dunn’s nine-year run.

Nettles also received the Milestone Award from the ACM, presented to her by Reba McEntire. At the time, they had been performing together as a duo for five years.

In 2009, they also won the CMT Music Award for Duo Video of the Year (“All I Wanna Do”) and the Country Music Association Award for Vocal Duo of the Year. Sugarland has sold over 8 million records.

Sugarland released the single, “Wide Open,” on iTunes for the Team USA Soundtrack for the 2010 Winter Olympics. They also appeared with many other artists on the remake of “We Are The World: 25 for Haiti,” which premiered during the Opening Ceremony  of the Vancouver Olympics.

Tickets are through www.ticketmaster.com and www.apeconcerts.com, ranging from $59.50-$125.

By USA Today

South Lake Tahoe’s Hannah Teter surrendered first place, but the U.S. still managed two Olympic medals in the women’s halfpipe on Thursday.

Teter, who led after the first run in the finals, scored a high of 42.4, good for second place behind Australia’s Torah Bright, with a 45.0

Hannah Teter

American Kelly Clark took the bronze with a score of 42.2.

U.S. hopes of sweeping the medals were dashed with poor performance by Elena Height of South Lake Tahoe and Gretchen Bleiler, who both fell on their two runs.

Read the whole story

By Matthew Piper, USSA

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) charted a courageous line through Thursday afternoon’s slalom run to earn her second silver in two events and tie Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) for the most Olympic medals ever by a U.S. skier at three.

“When I realized that I got another medal, it’s that moment that you wait for as an athlete,” Mancuso said. “It’s the moment that you realize that I’ve been working so hard for this moment, and to know that really, anything’s possible. I didn’t expect that from myself, I just believed and went for it.”

Germany’s Maria Riesch won super combined’s top honor after downhill gold medalist and first-run leader Lindsey Vonn (Vail CO) hooked her tip around a gate and crashed late in her slalom run.

Julia Mancuso

Mancuso, who also won downhill silver Wednesday and giant slalom gold in Torino, now ranks tied for sixth all time among U.S. women in Winter Olympic medals – still just 25 years old. Yet her age and recent performances belie two years of struggles on the World Cup circuit because of a back injury and changes in equipment regulations that mandated bigger, heavier skis for the petite Mancuso.

“She’s a big event girl, she always has been,” said U.S. Women’s Head Coach Jim Tracy. “Yeah, she struggled last year, but I think in some respects it was not the worst thing in the world, because it certainly refocused her on what she wanted to do and when she wanted to accomplish those things.”

Third after downhill, Mancuso went hard for the slalom leg, barely maintaining control around the gates and thrilling the Whistler crowd as she snuck into first past Austria’s Kathrin Zettel.

“I don’t know where this slalom was hiding, but she certainly brought it out on the day that she needed to,” Tracy said.

“I was nervous in the start, but I was also really excited,” Mancuso said. “I knew that it was all-or-nothing, so I went out there and I gave it my all. I crossed the finish line after having a mistake and saw that I was in first. It really was just joy and amazement.”

Riesch reversed her eighth-place downhill fortunes with a stylish, smooth slalom that unseated Mancuso, and Vonn fell behind her close friend at the last interval by .18 seconds before hitting a gate and losing her ski. A course worker handed it back, and she made her way down to the finish to deliver a congratulatory hug to Riesch.

“She has her gold medal from yesterday,” Reisch said after winning Germany’s first alpine gold since 1988. “Today, it was a bad day for her, yesterday it was a bad day for me, and that’s how sports is. I think she has another good chance in the super G.”

Case in point, Sweden’s Anja Paerson recovered from a brutal impact off the final jump in Wednesday’s downhill to take super combined bronze.

“I was just fighting hard,” Vonn said. “It happens in slalom. I was hoping that it wasn’t going to happen today, but I gave it my best.”

Vonn said she will continue treatment for a bruised shin, although Tracy said she has the mental strength to push through it and perform well in the remaining three Olympic races.

“I think the pain, for these events, she can put it out of her mind,” Tracy said. “It’ll bother her after the event’s over, but I think she’s so focused that the pain probably isn’t there too much.”

Kaylin Richardson (Edina, MN) was the next highest U.S. finisher in 17th, while Leanne Smith (Conway, NH) finished 21st after tearing her ACL in Cortina just over a year ago.

“We only got one training run, which was sort of a half training run, and I managed to miss three gates,” Richardson said after the downhill. “It was my first time ever on that course, so it ran differently than I thought so going into this race. I knew that I needed to take some risks, but at the same time, I really wanted to make all the gates.”

Next up for the U.S. women: a day of rest, then the super G on Saturday.

“Confidence breeds confidence,” Tracy said. “We’ve got two of them right now that have a lot of confidence going.”

2010 Olympics Women’s Super Combined

Gold — Maria Riesch, Germany, 2:09.14

Silver — Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 2:10.08

Bronze — Anja Paerson, Sweden, 2:10.19

4. Kathrin Zettel, Austria, 2:10.50

5. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 2:10.53

–

17. Kaylin Richardson, Edina, MN, 2:13.40

21. Leanne Smith, Conway, NH, 2:13.97

DNF —  Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO

By Laurie Brazil

Although many of us locals think we know our “lake”, there’s a lot of events and information that we could benefit from at the Explore Tahoe venue at Heavenly Village.

The Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra was enlightened at one of their early morning meetings by Lauren Thomaselli about the displays and objectives of this relatively new program.

Explore Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe has information for locals and tourists. Photo/Provided

This urban trailhead was designed to not only welcome visitors, but also educate and inspire all of us to take advantage of our beautiful environment but do so with respect and appreciation. The interactive displays and environmentally inspired artwork will impress guests and Tahoe-ites alike.

Their objective is to encourage guests to plan their visit, take advantage of our mass transit to protect our natural resources and to ensure that their visit is memorable. The staff wants to inspire patrons to take advantage of all that our South Shore has to offer and enjoy our recreation with a conscience.

The visitor and interpretive center is open year round and you are encouraged to visit www.recreationintahoe.com or call (530) 542.2908 for hours, current tours, events, and displays.

Make sure you take advantage of their newest addition of a 12 foot square topo-relief map with 27 points of interest that light up.

This dynamic facility is co-sponsored by the city of South Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort, U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Heritage Foundation, California Tahoe Conservancy, BlueGo, and Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

Laurie Brazil is a member of Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra.