By Lenita Powers, Reno Gazette-Journal

Chris Etcheverry and Jeannie Janning went to Reno’s Dish Cafe for a bite to eat today and wound up in front of a camera wielded by a crew filming a segment for Guy Fieri’s television series, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

“You take a bite of the food and they ask you to describe it,” Etcheverry said of her brief turn as an amateur food critic. “It’s a little scary. I told them the scone was really good and the granola had just the right

Guy Fieri also brought his crew to the 2009 Celebrity Golf Tournament in Stateline. Photo/Kathryn Reed

amount of nuts and cinnamon.”

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The business community is invited to attend “Trash Talk with Attorneys” on Jan. 15 at Resort at Squaw Creek from 9am to noon.

Co-sponsored by the Truckee Donner and North Lake Tahoe chambers of commerce, in partnership with the Sierra Human Resources Association, this seminar includes updated information managers and business professionals need to know for 2010.

The popular “Trash Talk” format includes a presentation followed by plenty of time to ask the panel of attorneys from California and Nevada anything that’s on your mind.

Richard Rybicki of Employment Law Advocates, PC in Napa, David Cohen of Cohen Durrett, LLP in Sacramento and Nicole Harvey of Harvey Law Firm in Reno will cover best practices in general employment such as the increasingly complex ADAAA/LOA/FMLA/Workers Comp Web.

Updates regarding Wage and Hour, Fair Pay and Immigration best practices, new Department of Labor guidance on the reversal of temporary reduction of exempt worker hours and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission FAQ’s on furloughs, reductions in pay, severance agreements and GINA compliance will be discussed.

Seating is limited and advance registration is required so please register today online at www.sierrahra.com. Click on the online store.

Questions can be submitted in advance so they can be asked anonymously by the moderator. Call Laura Moriarty, SHRA president-elect, at (530) 573.0224 or Linda Pendleton at (530) 587.8808 for more information.

The business community is invited to attend “Trash Talk with Attorneys” on Jan. 15 at Resort at Squaw Creek from 9am to noon.

Co-sponsored by the Truckee Donner and North Lake Tahoe chambers of commerce, in partnership with the Sierra Human Resources Association, this seminar includes updated information managers and business professionals need to know for 2010.

The popular “Trash Talk” format includes a presentation followed by plenty of time to ask the panel of attorneys from California and Nevada anything that’s on your mind.

Richard Rybicki of Employment Law Advocates, PC in Napa, David Cohen of Cohen Durrett, LLP in Sacramento and Nicole Harvey of Harvey Law Firm in Reno will cover best practices in general employment such as the increasingly complex ADAAA/LOA/FMLA/Workers Comp Web.

Updates regarding Wage and Hour, Fair Pay and Immigration best practices, new Department of Labor guidance on the reversal of temporary reduction of exempt worker hours and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission FAQ’s on furloughs, reductions in pay, severance agreements and GINA compliance will be discussed.

Seating is limited and advance registration is required so please register today online at www.sierrahra.com. Click on the online store.

Questions can be submitted in advance so they can be asked anonymously by the moderator. Call Laura Moriarty, SHRA president-elect, at (530) 573.0224 or Linda Pendleton at (530) 587.8808 for more information.

Relay for Life — which benefits the American Cancer Society — will be at Kahle Community Park in Stateline.

Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School in Meyers has been selected by California Business for Education Excellence as one of 1,304 public schools in California to receive the title of 2009 Honor Roll school.

Schools receiving this distinction from California’s business community have demonstrated consistently high student academic achievement and have made significant progress toward closing achievement gaps among all their students.

The honor roll list has grown from 304 schools in 2006 to the current 1,304.

Updated 1:15pm Jan. 12

By Kathryn Reed

Highway 28 was closed for about three hours this morning between Highway 50 and Sand Harbor while the Nevada Highway Patrol worked a fatal accident.

NHP officials have not returned calls so further details of the accident are unknown.

A 27-hour winter storm warning is set to end Wednesday morning at 10am.

In that time it’s possible 1-4 inches of snow will fall at lake level, with 3-8 inches above 7,000 feet.

Winds woke people up around the region early this morning. The National Weather Service in Reno said they were getting calls from people in the Reno area this morning.

At Lake Tahoe Airport in South Lake Tahoe a gust of 53mph was clocked at 2:29am and 47mph was registered about 30 minutes later.

A tree knocked down a power pole on Mountain Trout Drive in the Tahoe Mountain area of South Lake Tahoe about 2 this morning, which cut power to 3,200 Sierra Pacific Power customers.

By switching to an alternate circuit power has been restored to all customers except those living on that street. Power is supposed to be up by noon, according to the power company.

Crews are also busy on the North Shore trying to get power to 25 customers near the Truckee airport. A tree through a line made it go dark for about 60 customers in south Reno this morning.

The Weather Service says today’s storm and the one forecast for the weekend are mild blips in the world of weather.

“This little system going by is like an introduction to the pattern that we will see most of next week,” Rudy Cruz, Weather Service specialist, told Lake Tahoe News this morning.

When asked about this being a dry January, he said not to worry based on what the weather models are showing for the second half of the month.

This is good news for ski resorts that have gotten some rain in the last week. With it snowing and raining lightly this morning at lake level, it should mean the resorts will all be getting some freshies.

Temperatures will be mild for the next couple of days, which could bring some rain to lake level. Expects winds to stick with us for a couple days.

Some Sierra highways have chain controls. Check road conditions by clicking on the state icons on the Home page of Lake Tahoe News. Highway 50 between South Lake Tahoe and Carson City is slushy this morning.

While the statewide numbers are showing improvement, Stateline casinos continue to spiral downward when it comes to revenue.

Nevada stopped its 22-month skid to post a 4.35 percent gain from November 2008 to November 2009. This amounts to $873.2 million dollars that Nevada casinos won from gamblers in November, the state Gaming Control Board said today.

Stateline casinos, though, had the largest decline – 26.67 percent. North Las Vegas casinos posted the biggest increase at 20.72 percent.

Call before you ski because lifts could be on wind hold today. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews will begin prescribed fire operations on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe in the Meeks Bay Canyon area beginning Jan. 12 and continuing throughout the next two weeks as weather and staffing allow.

Residents and travelers can expect to see smoke from prescribed fire project areas.

Other fire protection agencies, state and local, may also be conducting prescribed fire operations during this period.

The South Tahoe Public Utility District is offering a $200 rebate on water efficient clothes washers effective immediately.

To be eligible, clothes washers must have a water factor of 8.5 or lower, must have been purchased between Jan. 1, 2008, through Jan. 15, 2010, and installed within the district’s service area.

Applications must be turned in by Feb. 28, 2010, with a copy of your purchase receipt, manufacturer’s information, including model number and water factor, and an IRS W-9 form.

You may pick up an application form at the District’s Customer Service Office located at 1275 Meadow Crest Drive, South Lake Tahoe or you may download a form at www.stpud.us.

If you have additional questions, contact Shelly Barnes, water conservation specialist, at (530) 543.6268.