Jeff Miner will speak about radon to the Tahoe Area Sierra Club on Jan. 21 at 6:30pm at the Round Hill Fire Station.

For information, call Grace Anderson at (530) 577.2000 or Patricia Hickson at (530) 401.1397.

By Laurie Brazil

Bijou students are not only academically talented, but are selfless in their good works for our community.

On a recent Thursday morning at the Senior Center, fifth-grade teacher Bob Hickman brought along four of his dedicated female students to share and explain their hard work and vision to “pay it forward”.

Bijou has many fund-raising efforts in place, but the young ladies were there to introduce themselves and illuminate the members of the Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra about their yummy “Cookies for College” project. The girls — Rosa the student body president, Jennifer originally from El Salvador who has aspirations to be a doctor, Kimberly only a two-year resident of the United States intending to become a lawyer, and Melissa Lee born in Lake Tahoe and attending local schools since kindergarten — graciously spoke to the group at the organization’s early morning meeting. The intent of their cookie baking and selling project is to raise funds to present scholarships to graduating seniors heading off to college who are previous students at Bijou Community School.

Last year their bake sale program, in addition to recycling, walk-a-thons, and food drives, enabled the elementary students to present $650 scholarships to three local seniors.

Hickman, their enthusiastic mentor, thanked the assembled club for their encouragement in the past and their continued financial support of their enterprise. His devotion to these wonderful children was evident and to show the Soroptimist’s appreciation to the Bijou Community School’s student body the ingredients for several batches of chocolate chip cookies was gifted for future batches.

For more information or to purchase cookies, call(530) 543.2337 or visit www.ltusd.org. For Soroptimist information, visit www.sitahoesierra.org.

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

A winter storm warning remains in effect until 4am Tuesday for Lake Tahoe. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

A 3.4 magnitude earthquake hits the Great Basin today at 1am.

The temblor was about 4 miles east of Topaz Lake, which is about 70 miles southeast of Reno.

The shaker was felt in California and Nevada. No reports of damage.

By Kathryn Reed

Some police officers get the worst assignments – having to crawl under houses, being the first one in a building where a potential bad guy is hiding – and then having to always ride in the back seat.

And then when you’re the one who schools always request as the special guest, it can get tiring.

Officer Tony Broadfoot and Duke. Photo/SLTPD

Such are the hazards when you have four legs.

The burden is about to be shared. South Lake Tahoe Police Department expects to have another police dog on the streets in less than six months. This will double the agency’s K-9 unit. Several years ago the department had three dogs working the streets.

The City Council approved the expenditure at its meeting last week. The $12,500 cost – which includes the animal and training for its human officer – is coming from fundraising by the local K-9 association and from asset forfeitures. No general fund money is being spent.

“In regards to criminal activity, (K-9s) are the best sources we have. If you roll up and think a burglar or someone is in a building where it’s supposed to be vacant, it’s very easy to have an animal do the search with an officer because its smell is so acute,” explained Capt. Martin Hewlett, who is also acting police chief. “They are really indispensable in finding people. People are always hiding and running from us and don’t want to be caught.”

Some agencies have dogs just work the streets or just sniff out drugs. In South Lake, the dogs do both, with the majority of the work on the streets.

“SLEDNET (South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team) uses our K-9 because he can search a building or a room for drugs and maybe areas where we wouldn’t think to look or can’t look like in walls,” Hewlett said.

Sgt. Josh Adler will be responsible for training the new dog to search for dope. He said it takes about two months to train the officer and dog to search for drugs.

Officer Tony Broadfoot and Duke, his Belgian malinois, are also called out to schools and youth organizations. K-9 demonstrations are more popular than a uniformed officer talking about the job.

The department hasn’t decided who the other K-9 handler will be. Volunteers within the department will be sought.

The commitment is huge – with the animal being part of the officer’s family.

The animals come trained to work the streets. It’s the officer who needs to be trained to work with the dog.

A special El Dorado County Board of Supervisors workshop has been scheduled for Jan. 25.

The Department of Transportation will present two workshops for discussion:

* 10am-noon – Alternatives for the Cameron Park Drive Interchange

* 1-5pm – The proposed DOT 2010 Capital Improvement Program.

Both meetings will be at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 330 Fair Lane, Placerville.

Great Lakes of the World Symposium is June 13-17 in Incline Village.

Click on conference to get more information.

NBC is already predicting it will lose money on the Vancouver Olympics, which it will televise Feb. 12-28.

Although ads for the Winter Games are already airing, sales were slow, according to published reports. Apparently they are picking up.

Part of the broadcasting firm’s financial problems stem from it costing $820 million to secure the rights to air the Games.

The overall loss is expected to be a couple hundred million dollars.

Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe is changing its music lineup. Ben Fuller will split the year with Luke Stevenson, a 15-year veteran of the Incline Village establishment.

Fuller begins Jan. 21 with his original tunes and cover songs. He will be at the bar every Thursday through Saturday evening until May 27. To celebrate Fuller’s arrival, Lone Eagle Grille will host a welcome event on Jan. 28 with drink and menu specials and a chance for locals to meet the new talent.

Ben Fuller

Fuller was selected following an extensive search after Stevenson announced an annual six-month hiatus in the Galapagos Islands.

A graduate of Incline High School, Fuller’s focus on music sharpened in college at University of Montana. He moved from Missoula to Oregon, finding his footing in Portland’s burgeoning music scene. Performing with numerous bands ranging stylistically from bluegrass to alternative country to pop to rock has influenced his style, and Fuller credits his experiences traveling the world and his openness to new experiences as major inspirations for his music.

Fuller returned to the Lake Tahoe area two and a half years ago. His solo “EP, Aquarian Son” will be released in March.

Jamie Anderson of South Lake Tahoe placed fourth in Sunday’s Dew Tour slopestyle finals at Snowbasin Resort.

Spencer O’Brien of Whistler won the women’s event in Ogden, Utah.

The two women are tied for the overall lead as they head to the Toyota Championship in West Dover, Vt.