By John Branch, New York Times

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — Hannah Teter, the defending gold medalist in the women’s halfpipe competition, dropped out of the United State Olympics team qualifying event here because of a shoulder injury she sustained during warmups.

Hannah Teter

It does not mean that Teter will miss the Olympics, but it will put more pressure on her in the coming weeks. The United States Snowboarding Grand Prix event here this week is the first of five qualifying events for the American team. The United States is expected to send four men and four women to the Olympics halfpipe competition, and they will be determined by which athletes have the two best results in the five qualifying events.

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By Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal

American Indian casinos suffered a similar fate as their counterparts in Las Vegas during 2008 — the recession played havoc with gaming revenues.

But unlike the Strip, Indian casinos enjoyed a slight boost in gaming revenues compared with prior years, although, the increase was not the double-digit jump that tribal casinos experienced between 1993 and 2006.

According to the Indian Gaming Industry Report, authored by economist Alan Meister of Nathan Associates, tribal casinos in 28 states collected $26.8 billion in gaming revenue in 2008, a 1.5 percent increase compared with $26.4 billion.

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Publisher’s note: Get in the spirit and share your idea for a gift valued at $20 or less. Click here for details.

There be no such thing as a free lunch, but the folks at South Lake Tahoe’s Driftwood Cafe come pretty darn close to proving that to be false.

The Driftwood Cafe is currently offering $25 gift certificates for $20. They do not expire and can be used anytime.

Call (530) 544.6545.

By Kathryn Reed

For 25 years Jack’s Food Pantry based in Tahoe Community Church has been providing people in need with a bag of food each week.

In this economy, more people are in need and fewer people are able to give.

The Kiwanis Club of Lake Tahoe gave $1,000 to the organization this month. Bob and Kathy Pavich, who run the pantry, were at the Dec. 8 meeting to share their appreciation for the money and tell a little bit about what they do.

Although the church is on Kingsbury Grade in Stateline, the bulk of the people walking through the pantry are from California — 75 percent. And nearly a third are children.

Feeding 50 families a week means the shelves are bare fast. Last year, 6,598 people were helped by Jack’s.

The bag of food people receive is considered a three-day emergency supply. Bags are distributed each Friday at 3pm.

At Thanksgiving, organizers provide 147 turkey dinners.

Jack’s Food Pantry receives its help from the Northern Nevada Food Bank, bread and dairy from Raley’s and Safeway, and donations such as what Kiwanis gave.

For more information, call (775) 588.5860.

South Lake Tahoe is looking for a city treasurer to finish out Steve Wysong’s term that expires in a year. Wysong died earlier this week after a long illness.

Anyone interested in the job should contact Suzie Alessi — salessi@cityofslt.us or (530) 542.6004.

The appointment will be made at a special City Council meeting on Dec. 22 at 10am. Resume, cover letter and other pertinent information is due to the city by Dec. 21 at 5pm.

By Kathryn Reed

On a 7-0 vote the Douglas County School District board voted this week to bring John Soderman back as superintendent.

He will fill in while the board looks for a permanent hire. Soderman, who lives in Gardnerville, had been superintendent from 2000-06.

Soderman

“It was a very good choice. We are all looking forward to moving forward,” said Rich Alexander, assistant superintendent.

Soderman has been consulting for school districts in Nevada since his retirement.

At a previous meeting the board had agreed not to hire the interim superintendent at the permanent supe.

Alexander would not say if he is considering tossing his resume onto the stack. He was superintendent of Lake Tahoe Unified School District before joining DCSD.

The details of Soderman’s contract and exact start day were to be finalized this week. Soderman is expected to begin work this month and make about $10,000/month.

Jim Huge, the consultant the district is using in the hiring process, expects to post the job in January, have interviews shortly after that, with the anticipation of the next person starting July 1.

Carol Lark’s last day as leader of the district was Nov. 30. Her tenure at the helm was full of strife — not all her own doing.

Part was money issues, part personnel and part having to contend with the dynamics of one district with two distinct personalities. This is because the district seat is in Minden in the Carson Valley, while a small part of the district is in Lake Tahoe.

Lake parents have often felt they get the short-end of things because at the high school level fewer extra-curricular classes can be offered because of the size of the school, while at the elementary level classes are large because there aren’t quite enough students to create a second class. Plus, only one of the seven board members lives at the lake so parents believe the representation is skewed.

The staff and physicians at Barton Memorial Hospital invite local merchants and friends to welcome “the first baby born in the New Year” by presenting this family with gifts welcoming the first baby of 2010. We invite you to be a part of this occasion and join the family in celebrating by donating a gift and sending a message with your good wishes.

Baby items, gift certificates or a gift for the parents are greatly appreciated. The gifts are given to the family in a beautiful arrangement with an acknowledgment of each generous donation.

If you would like to participate in welcoming the first baby born at Barton Memorial Hospital in 2010, call the (530)543.5615 by Dec. 18.

Hello Everyone,

It is with great excitement that I announce that our annual audit report was delivered to our Board of Trustees last night by Tom Perry Smith of our financial auditors, Perry-Smith LLP. Our district received a “clean” unqualified opinion with no disclaimers or adverse language in the report (which is the type of opinion an organization strives for). All five reportable conditions and adverse comments included in last year’s audit report were fixed as of this year and did not appear in this year’s report.

I would like to thank my staff in Fiscal Services for working so hard during the fiscal year to obtain such a great opinion. I am quite proud of all of them and the progress they made this past year in gaining an understanding of all the aspects of what goes into a financial audit and then demonstrating that understanding during the audit process. I would also like to thank the personnel in all of the other departments that helped during the audit process too.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Marc Sabella, CPA, director of Fiscal Services Lake Tahoe Community College

By Kathryn Reed

South Tahoe Public Utility District board member Dale Rise faces up to three years in state prison if he is found guilty of resisting an officer.

The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office has filed the felony charge against the elected official. Rise was arrested at his home in late September. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 22 in El Dorado County Superior Court.

Dale Rise

“It’s a felony because of the extent of the resistance to the officer,” said Hans Uthe, assistant district attorney. “He tried to use the Taser on one of the officers.”

Rise, on Thursday, said, “I am not going to make a statement.” He deferred comment to his attorney, Lori London. London did not return a phone call.

Officers were called to Rise’s home the morning of Sept. 28 on a domestic call. Rise was allegedly arguing with his adult daughter.

“He wasn’t very cooperative,” South Lake Tahoe police Lt. Marty Hale said just after the arrest. “He tried to shut the door in the officers’ face. He was pretty belligerent and uncooperative.”

Officers said they tried to use the Taser on Rise, but it wasn’t working correctly. Rise then allegedly grabbed the Taser and tried to use it on officers.

According to Uthe, Rise does not have any priors.

South Tahoe PUD spokesman Dennis Cocking said district policy is if Rise is convicted, he would have to resign from the board. For now, he continues to carry out his duties as a board member.

Rise is not the first STPUD board member to have a run-in with the law. One-time board Chairman Pembroke Gochnauer was part of the 2001 FBI sting dubbed Operation Clean Sheets. He resigned shortly after his arrest.

By Steve Timko, Reno Gazette-Journal

NV Energy customers set a record for natural gas use in the 24 hours that ended Thursday at 7 a.m.

The region consumed 156,332 decatherms, almost 156 million cubic feet of natural gas, NV Energy spokesman Karl Walquist said. The record was 155,194 decatherms Jan. 12, 2007.

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