By Mark Robison, Reno Gazette-Journal

A coyote-hunting tournament has been scheduled this weekend near Fallon to help protect ranch livestock, but critics say such hunts don’t control coyote populations.

“I understand that there are some people that are upset about it,” said Misty McFarlane of Fallon, who registers hunters for the event. “But they haven’t ever faced a bill that must be paid because of these predators.

“We are ranchers, and many a time we have come upon a mother giving birth to their calf and coyotes have torn out their rectums and eyes and left them to die. The ranchers in Northern Nevada are completely overwhelmed with the coyotes.”

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Unsettled weather is expected to be in the Lake Tahoe Basin today. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

Reno Gazette-Journal

Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation reported the highest growth of assets of all community foundations in the state of California during the 2008 fiscal year.

The foundation’s assets grew 25 percent, from $12 million in 2007 to $15 million in 2008.

“As the TTCF passes its 10th anniversary, it has become known for effective stewardship, a commitment to important issues in the region,” said Lisa Dobey, TTCF’s chief executive officer. “Importantly, it’s a vehicle for helping individuals and families give back to important causes.”

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Jerry Klosterboer, certified financial planner, was recognized by his brokerage firm First Allied Securities Inc. with the Flame of Excellence award.

The honor is given to financial advisers who have demonstrated excellence in the financial services field throughout their careers of 25 years or more. The only financial advisor recognized in a field of

Jerry Klosterboer

nearly 1,000 advisers, Klosterboer was selected based on his business success, community involvement, and adherence to professional practice management.

Klosterboer works in the Zephyr Cove office of First Allied.

By Lenita Powers, Reno Gazette-Journal

Nevada had the largest increase among 30 states in the number of residents who depend on food stamps as their sole income, according to a New York Times analysis of recent welfare data released this week.

From June 2007 to June 2009, the number of Nevadans relying only on food stamps rose by 173 percent. Florida was second with a 113 percent increase.

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By Kathryn Reed

Forty-five of the 58 counties in California are sharing millions of dollars in state grants to combat fraud in In-Home Supportive Services programs. El Dorado County is not one of them.

This is because the county did not apply for grant, not because the county doesn’t have fraud.

“(Fraud) is definitely out there. But we have to look at the cost and benefits of combating it. On the face of it you want to say fraud is completely unacceptable. But if it costs more to root out the fraud than the fraud itself, it is a better scenario to not spend that money and to spend it on other priorities,” explained Mike Applegarth, senior administrative analyst for El Dorado County.

The other part of the equation is that each county had to come up with matching dollars if they were to be awarded money from the state.

The anti-fraud effort is expected save the state’s general fund $130 million in the 2009-10 budget. The $26.5 million grant program is divvied up by $10 million coming from the state’s general fund, $12.2 million in federal matching funds and $4.3 million in county matching funds.

Most county Human Services Departments do not have much discretionary money because most of the dollars they receive from the state and feds are allocated to specific areas.

Senior nutrition and elder protection programs are a couple of the areas where El Dorado County said it has leeway with spending.

“We looked at the amount we would likely receive as a result of the application and compared it to the amount we would have to contribute as a match and it didn’t seem to pencil out for us,” Applegarth said.

The amount of fraud in the county was not going to generate a large grant payout from the state, Applegarth added.

The District Attorney’s Office does have someone who investigates these types of fraud cases. Applegarth didn’t have a figure for how much fraud may be going on in El Dorado County.

Nearby counties receiving grants include: Amador $20,046; Placer $230,229; and Nevada $67,226.

Los Angeles County receive the largest sum — $9,460,104.

The Tahoe Maritime Museum in Homewood has a 1960 Winter Olympic photography exhibit, courtesy of 0fficial Olympic photographer and museum member Bill Briner.

For information about hours and cost, click here.

Letter to California Parks supporters,

(Jan. 8), the Governor released his proposed FY 2010-11 State Budget. For state parks, he has included a proposal that attempts to pit popular environmental causes against each other. The budget zeroes out all General Fund funding for state parks but “restores” the funding by assuming that an offshore oil lease in the Santa Barbara area will be approved and will provide $140M to state parks. The drilling proposal was defeated twice last year – once at the State Lands Commission then again in the legislative budget process.

Please take a moment to send a message to your legislators, urging them to reject the Governor’s proposal and to focus on supporting long-term solutions to state parks’ budget crisis.

Even if the oil drilling proposal passes the high bar that is necessary to approve it, this budget can’t commit future Governors and Legislatures to ongoing funding for state parks. At best, this is a shaky one-year proposal and the “promise” of ongoing funding isn’t one that can be counted on at all. Which is why we’re dedicated to a real solution – passing the State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010!)

CSPF’s statement on this budget proposal can be read here.

As always, thank you for your support and advocacy for state parks.

Sincerely, Elizabeth Goldstein president State Parks Foundation

By Lindsey Sine, USSA

MAMMOTH  — Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) and Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, VT) aren’t totally perfect, but they’re pushing the boundary as each continued to dominate the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix. The two finished first in qualifications at Mammoth Mountain on Friday, while Wednesday’s winner Danny Davis (Detroit, MI) also won his qualifying heat.

In sunny California winter weather, athlete after athlete continued to ride the wave of progression from Wednesday’s halfpipe finals with all going bigger and trying harder to stake their claim on the chance at an Olympic spot as time ticks down.

Already nailing her athlete credential for the Games, Clark used the competition time to put miles on some tricks she’s been keeping on the side.

“There’s no better practice to do runs than in a contest setting. I have the luxury and the opportunity to do that now,” Clark said. “The best practice is to do difficult and new runs in events so they feel more normal. Basically the hard runs become easier so when I get to the Olympics, my hardest runs now will be my easiest.”

Fellow Olympic gold medalist Hannah Teter (South Lake Tahoe, CA) followed Clark in second, and Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO) completed the trifecta of talent in third.

In her run Clark threw out some moves rarely, if ever seen before in her repertoire, all of which she said were fun.

“I’ve been doing this for so long that I have my plan and routine. Everything is mapped out with how to qualify. To have the luxury to switch it up and focus on the progression is huge,” Clark said.

In the men’s halfpipe Davis and White competed in different heats with White taking the top. All eyes are going to be on the men’s halfpipe on Saturday as the crowd looks for what is poised to be “showdown part two” in the battle between the two greats after Davis ousted White from the throne on Wednesday.

And then there was young gun Dylan Bidez (Minturn, CO) took his riding to the next level, finishing third.

“I went into there just hoping to make finals and ending up third is a bonus,” Bidez said. “It was probably my amplitude because I don’t have a double in my bag of tricks. Just going big is what got me the third.”

As for what lies ahead for the rookie, Bidez wants to up the ante.

“This makes me feel more confident going in to tomorrow. I’m going to change my run up a little bit and add some more difficulty to it, so that hopefully I can keep that top three position,” Bidez said.

The Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix finals are Saturday at 11am. It will be the third of five Olympic qualification events for halfpipe.

Mammoth Mountain, Jan. 8, Halfpipe Qualifiers

Men

1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, CA, 45.80

2. Danny Davis, Detroit, MI, 45.20

3. Dylan Bidez, Minturn, CO, 43.10

4. JJ Thomas, Golden, CO, 41.40

5. Elijah Teter, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 41.30

6. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 40.80

7. Nathan Johnstone, Australia, 40.70

8. Zack Black, Breckenridge, CO, 39.60

9. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, CO, 39.50

10. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, CO, 39.40

11. Mathieu Crepel, France, 38.30

12. Luke Mitrani, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 38.20

13. Andy Finch, Truckee, CA, 38.00

14. Jack Mitrani, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 37.90

15. Brad Martin, Canada, 37.20

16. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, NH, 36.90

Women

1. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 45.60

2. Hannah Teter, Belmont, VT, 44.00

3. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, CO, 41.30

4. Clair Bidez, Minturn, CO, 39.90

5. Holly Crawford, Australia, 38.90

6. Ellery Hollingsworth, Stratton, VT, 38.30

7. Elena Hight, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 37.90

8. Maddy Schaffrick, Steamboat Springs, CO, 37.20

By Matthew Piper, USSA

CALGARY — The U.S. Freestyle Ski Team’s women’s moguls squad continued its scorching start to the 2010 season with four top 10 results in Calgary on Friday night, showing little signs of cooling off in a month-long break from the FIS World Cup circuit.

Heather McPhie (Park City, UT) was fourth, Emiko Torito (Denver) followed in fifth, 2002 Olympic silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) was seventh, and Shelly Robertson (Reno, NV) finished eighth in an event won by Canada’s own Jennifer Heil.

“McPhie skied great,” said U.S. Ski Team Freestyle Head Coach Jeff Wintersteen. “She’s had a couple fourths before, but in the Olympic year it’s really good for her to get that result.”

For Torito, it was the second top-five finish this year, putting her on top of the hunt for an Olympic spot now behind Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT). McPhie has a fourth and a sixth-place to her credit this season.

“Emiko also got another top five, which we’re really excited about,” said Wintersteen. “She skied fantastic coming from 16th. It was a rough set, but she was great in the finals. Had she been a little closer in the semi finals we probably could have gotten a podium.”

Outdone only slightly, the U.S. men were able to sneak three into the top 10 with Michael Morse (Duxbury, MA) taking sixth, Sho Kashima (South Lake Tahoe, CA) seventh with the same score (22.78), and David Babic (Washington, VT) in 10th. Canadian native and defending Olympic champion Dale Begg-Smith, now skiing for Australia, took the win.

It was a tough day on a tough course for some of the top U.S. men. Patrick Deneen (Cle Elum, WA), Bryon Wilson (Park City, UT) and Nate Roberts (Park City, UT) all missed finals.

“We’re a little disappointed in the semis, obviously,” said Wintersteen. “Nate, Patrick and Wilson had some problems, so that was hard. The course was just tricky. It was flat up top then drops 30 degrees into the bottom air.”

Kearney qualified fifth among women but was unable to summon the same form she had in her win in Finland almost a month ago. The defending World Cup champion took 11th when she bobbled her bottom air in the finals.

The U.S. Olympic Trials winner trails only Canada’s Heil and Kristi Richards (sixth Friday) in the World Cup standings after three events.

Four events remain for the skiers before the Olympic Team is named Jan. 26 including one more in Calgary on Saturday night, two at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT next week and a final event in Lake Placid just prior to 7eam selection.

Calgary, Jan. 8, Moguls

Men

1. Dale Begg-Smith, Austria, 23.73

2. Vincent Marquis, Canada, 23.38

3. Alexandr Smyshlyaev, Russia, 23.27

4. Guilbaut Colas, France, 23.22

5. Jesper Bjoernlund, Sweden

–

6. Michael Morse, Duxbury, MA, 22.78

7. Sho Kashima, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 22.78

10. David Babic, Washington, VT, 21.92

33. Bryon Wilson, Butte, MT, 16.58

46. Nate Roberts, Park City, UT, 8.18

50. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, WA, 6.30

Women

1. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 23.95

2. Nikola Sudova, Czech Republic, 23.39

3. Margarita Marbler, Austria, 23.16

4. Heather McPhie, Park City, UT, 23.03

5. Emiko Torito, Denver, 22.83

–

7. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA, 22.49

8. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV, 22.28

11. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT, 21.82

18. Eliza Outtrim, Steamboat Springs, CO, 19.45

RNS – Michelle Roark, Denver