The American Frozen Food Institute and the Global Cold Chain Alliance will co-host the first Food Logistics Forum, June 6-8, at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe in Incline Village.

The joint forum will replace the 26-year-old AFFI Distribution and Logistics Conference.

The conference is aimed at logistics professionals serving every link in the food chain — from transportation managers at frozen food manufacturing facilities to public refrigerated warehouse operators — and will include educational resources, regulatory information and business development topics.

Ski today because snow is likely to return to the Lake Tahoe area later this week. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

Publisher’s note: Errol Kerr trains at Alpine Meadows.

By Tom Lowrey, Sydney Morning Herald

The sight of a Jamaican skier on the podium at the Vancouver Winter Olympics might seem like a dubious sequel to an old Disney movie, but Jamaican ski cross racer Errol Kerr plans on making it a reality.

It has been 22 years since Jamaica first sent its infamous bobsleigh team to the Calgary Winter Olympics, but that was far from the last word from the world’s most unlikely winter sport contenders.

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Caregiving is a difficult and often challenging role that one can undertake, and taking the opportunity to share information and feel connected to others who are providing care is a vital step to perform this task to the best of your ability.

Take the opportunity on Feb. 11 from 5:30-7:30pm at the South Lake Tahoe Senior Center, 3050 Highway 50, South Lake Tahoe to become connected and rejuvenated in this support group.

Refreshments will be served.

Free respite care is available to qualified caregivers. Pre-authorization is required for respite services.

For more information, contact Penny with the Alzheimer’s Association at (530) 541.2304 or the Family Caregiver Support Program at (530) 621.6251 or (530) 621.6151.

By Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Expansion plans by an Indian casino near Sacramento signal another bad omen for Northern Nevada’s beleaguered gaming market.

Casino revenues in Reno and the Lake Tahoe area have been decimated for almost three years. The recession has zapped tourism, while bad weather routinely impedes travel by casino patrons from the important San Francisco Bay Area feeder market.

But Northern California’s large Indian casino community is the primary reason Washoe County hasn’t seen positive gaming revenues in 29 months and South Lake Tahoe’s casinos are reporting figures mirroring the 1980s.

Bay Area residents have a choice. The Red Hawk in Placerville opened a year ago with 2,100 slot machines and 75 table games. The 7-year-old Thunder Valley near Sacramento is answering with an $800 million expansion opening in July.

Now, Cache Creek is adding to the pain.

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By Kathryn Reed

A nonprofit group has secured a contract for up to 10 years to be the concessionaire at Patton Landing in Carnelian Bay.

The year-round operation means free access to Lake Tahoe for non-motorized watercraft, a small sledding hill, plowed access to parking, and food vendors who will all have a connection to Tahoe.

“We’re keeping it as much Tahoe as we can,” Phil Caterino, executive director of Alpengroup, told Lake Tahoe News. “It will also be opened as a place for community groups to do fund raisers.”

Patton Beach, Carnelian Bay

Alpen Sierra Coffee, Tahoe House Bakery and Tahoe Candles are some of the businesses involved in Blue Warrior Café, which is slated to open in March at the site. The year-round facility will have hot drinks, food and environmental information.

The agreement with Alpengroup was approved by the California Tahoe Conservancy board on Jan. 29.

The state agency acquired 7.1 acres in Carnelian Bay between 1986-92 to give the public access to the lake. In 1999, $1.8 million in improvements to the 2.2-acre Patton Landing site were completed – including 21 parking spaces, picnic facilities, rest rooms, patio, 723-square-foot structure and interpretive panels.

The problem has been finding a concessionaire who lives up to the full agreement. Alpengroup has been the interim concessionaire.

The agreement that was approved last month is estimated to save the CTC $40,000 a year in utilities and maintenance.

“If we break even and cover our overhead, we have met our mission,” Caterino told the board.

The beach, located between Kings Beach and Tahoe City, is rocky. Caterino said he’s been surprised by how many people have been using the area this winter. But he said with the lot being paved, it draws people in.

“A lot of people are excited,” Caterino said of the fact the area will be open year-round with free access to the lake. Lack of parking for kayakers is a huge issue at Lake Tahoe, as is public access to the water.

His group sees this as an environmental and a business opportunity.

Part of Alpengroup’s mission statement is, “To build private and public partnerships to solve immediate problems with inventive and decisive intervention while recognizing that only long term constructive planning and restoration will provide sustainable solutions for the future.”

Caterino said an underwater Webcam will be set up. Relationships with local lodging establishments are being worked on for kayakers-canoeists who want to paddle for more than a day or who want to use Patton Landing as a multi-day staging area.

The Lake Tahoe Water Trail Committee, which the CTC is part of, wants to create a lodge-to-lodge network for people who want to circumnavigate the 72 miles of Lake Tahoe.

For more information about Alpengroup, click here.

Sierra-at-Tahoe’s Jamie Anderson brings home bronze in slopestyle at the Winter X Games in Aspen on Jan. 31.

For the results, clicke here.

By ESPN

ASPEN, Colo. — U.S. Olympic freestyle skier Daron Rahlves dislocated his right hip after a nasty wreck in his opening skicross race Sunday at the Winter X Games, an injury that could hurt his chances of going to Vancouver.

But a doctor who checked him out at the scene was optimistic about Rahlves’ prognosis after the crash that resulted in the 36-year-old’s fourth hip dislocation.

Daron Rahlves

Rahlves, slated for his fourth Olympics, was putting pressure on the hip only hours after the accident. U.S. Ski and Snowboard officials said he was treated for a hip injury at the hospital and released late Sunday afternoon. The doctor who treated him after the wreck said the fact this is Rahlves’ fourth dislocation should make the injury more manageable.

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By USSA

MONT GABRIEL, Quebec City — Scotty Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) took a season-best ninth place to lead the U.S. Team in FIS World Cup Cup aerials action Saturday in Quebec.

Newly-named Olympian Matt DePeters (Hamburg, NY) was 11th while Jaime Myers (Boise, ID) was 15th among women to demonstrate America’s depth of aerial talent.

World Cup overall points leaders Anton Kushnir (Belarus) and Li Nina (China) both expanded their leads in the men’s and women’s standings, respectively, with victories.

DePeters will head back to Park City to join the remainder of the Olympic Team for final training sessions before heading to Vancouver.

Mont Gabriel, QC, Jan. 30, Aerials

Men

1. Anton Kushnir, Belarus, 263.55

2. Guangpu Qi, China, 236.97

3. Renato Ulrich, Switzerland, 215.42

4. Christian Haechler, Switzerland, 213.58

5. Thomas Lambert, Switzerland, 211.27

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9. Scotty Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA, 176.33

11. Matt DePeters, Hamburg, NY, 106.92

23. Nevin Brown, Streetsboro, OH, 62.21

Women

1. Li Nina, China, 200.57

2. Shuang Cheng, China, 184.88

3. Assoli Slivets, Belarus, 181.08

4. Elizabeth Gardner, Australia, 160.78

5. Shuangfei Dai, China, 157.44

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15. Jaime Myers, Boise, ID, 70.40

22. Allison Treleaven, Fort Wayne, IN, 51.47

By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun

Like most tourism marketers, the Nevada Tourism Commission is doing what it can to get a maximum bang for its advertising bucks.

When Tourism Director Dann Lewis told the commission’s marketing committee last week that room tax revenue is coming in well below projections, he also offered a strategy to draw attention to the media channels that traditionally have driven increased visitation to the state.

That basic strategy is to dazzle a viewer or reader with something visually amazing to reel them in and get one of the state’s visitor guides in their hands.

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