Living Voices uses a unique combination of theater, video and live interaction to create a high impact experience allowing audiences to discover history’s relevance to their lives.

The Oct. 14 5:30pm performance at Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline is sponsored by Robert and Annetta Chester.

Donations support Tahoe Arts Project.

This program is presented by Tahoe Arts Project in conjunction with Arts Expo Lake Tahoe.

(530) 542.3632

http://www.livingvoices.org/natvis/natvis.html

Vikingsholm

By Kathryn Reed

Keeping California’s state parks open doesn’t mean they will be fully operational. The governor is still cutting $14.2 from the parks budget. It’s just that the decision how to do that is being made at the local level.

Pam Armas, superintendent of the Sierra District, expects to decide by November how to trim nearly $1 million, or 10 percent, from her budget. The Sierra District encompasses the entire Lake Tahoe Basin, goes down to Mono Lake and includes Bodie.

In addition to crunching the numbers, Armas must work with fewer people. Politicians in Sacramento axed the seasonal budget.

“I don’t have any money to hire park aides to clean the park bathrooms,” Armas said. “It’s a huge stress on the permanent staff. Typically it’s not their job.”

The stress will be even greater next year when employees prepare the seven state campgrounds in the basin to be ready for Memorial Day. Anyone who lives in snow country knows what spring is like for cleaning up a yard – multiply that by the acreage in a state park and the workload is pretty hefty.

Staff vacancies are not being filled. The Tahoe Basin usually has seven rangers – it’s down to five.

“It costs a lot to maintain parks. We provide recreation, we protect resources,” Armas said. “We don’t just provide camping. There is a lot that goes into protecting the land that we have. That is our mission and what we are mandated to do by law.”

Even though Lake Tahoe Golf Course in Meyers that is on Washoe State Park property is a huge money generator, the cash doesn’t stay in local coffers. What’s collected at state parks is put into one big pot and then doled out accordingly.

“I don’t make enough money through day-use fees, camping and concessionaires to fully fund my district. Very few do,” Armas said.

One idea to trim the Sierra budget is to not allow winter camping at Sugar Pine Point on the West Shore. Those wanting to set up a tent in the white stuff can go to Grover Hot Springs near Markleeville.

Other ideas being talked about to cut the $1 million are closing museums like Vikingsholm and Ehrman Mansion a couple days week, and curtailing camping operations.

“I’m still looking at numbers and doing a cost-benefit analysis,” Armas said.

She said the best thing is that even though a decision on what will be cut will be made in the next couple of weeks, she has several months to figure out how to implement the decisions because much of her district is closed during the winter.

“We will get through this. We are resilient,” Armas said of the budget fiasco.

By Ali Mansour, Petersen’s 4-wheel & Offroad

As the feature editor for the worlds largest off road magazine, people often assume that I’ve seen it all and been to every trail on the planet. As much as I wish that was the case, it’s far from the truth.

Since moving to the West Coast nearly three years ago from my hometown of Wilmington, N.C., I have tried my best to find new trails and learn more about the off road areas around my new digs in SoCal. Ever since I moved here there has been one trail that I have tried and tried to make time for, but never seemed to be able to pull it off.

That was until last weekend when I finally loaded up and headed north to Lake Tahoe to finally wheel the Rubicon Trail.

Read the whole story

El Dorado County Health Services Department will offer a drive-through flu shot clinic Oct. 14 from 1-3:30pm at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds at 100 Placerville Drive in Placerville.

The Health Services Department will bill Medicare Part B for persons aged 65 and older. There is a donation requested of $15 per shot for people 19-64 years of age. The vaccine is free for children who are 6 months through 18 years of age.

Parents are advised to bring their child’s immunization record so the flu vaccine can be recorded. Seniors should bring their Medicare card.

Additional information is available at Public Health’s Flu Hot Line, (530) 621.6188, orat www.edcgov.us/publichealth.

From the office of El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago

Surrounded by oversized Post-It Notes depicting her many accomplishments and projects, Supervisor Norma Santiago hosted a casual and informative community chat at the county library Oct. 1 to bring concerned citizens up to speed on county goings on, and to hear what issues are on the minds of her constituents.

“I will be holding several of these kind of casual events to check-in, face-to-face, with my constituents”, says Santiago. “Most of the ideas and accomplishments you see posted here, on these walls, were brought to me by you, the community; that’s where my greatest resource lies, in the people of this community.”

Participants in that Thursday’s Chat Night with Norma brought input and queries that covered a spectrum of issues; from Geo-Tourism to bike trails, and from the proposed state Constitutional Convention to staffing shortages in the county.

The El Dorado County Supervisor began the evening with her top priority, Economic Development, and its diversification at the lake. Outlining several programs that she successfully funded are three exciting projects: GeoTourism, Prosperity Plan and Filming.

GeoTourism is a new philosophy. It is defined as tourism “that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. GeoTourism adds to sustainability principles by building on a destination’s geographical character, its “sense of place,” to emphasize the distinctiveness of its locale and benefit visitor and resident alike.”

(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable/about_geotourism.html)

El Dorado County funded a GeoTourism asset inventory process throughout the east and west slopes, a project that is the first of its kind in the region. More information on that and more is available by contacting Supervisor Santiago’s office at: bosfive@edcgov.us, or (530) 621.6577.

The Prosperity Plan is a concept to establish a basin-wide economic development plan by identifying business clusters that generate jobs, outline opportunities for economic growth, move the Tahoe Basin towards greater economic sustainability and to identify potential diversified economic engines. With the successful award of federal funding, a Prosperity Plan Steering Committee will now choose a consultant to piece the entire plan together and present it back to the community.

Exciting progress has been made to assist film and media companies in processing permits rapidly by partnering with the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and combining all US Forest Service improved recreational sites under one environmental document. Supervisor Santiago has been recognized statewide by the California On Location Awards as a finalist for achievements in the expansion of filming in California under the public employee category.

“I am a huge advocate for on location filming, the jobs it creates, the promotion of beautiful Lake Tahoe and diversifying our local economy. The film and media industry is a clean industry that benefits everyone”, commented Santiago in a recent interview.

Oct. 11, Supervisor Santiago will be flying to Hollywood to accept her award.

If you would like to talk further about these and other subjects, please contact the office of Supervisor Norma Santiago or her assistant, Judi Harkins, at 800.491.6642, or (530) 621.6577 or (530) 573.3411.

Rebekah, 10, and Ben, 5, Miller of Meyers take in the views Saturday from the mid-station of Heavenly's gondola. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Today is the last day to ride Heavenly Mountain Resort’s gondola before the ski season begins next month. The resort takes the eight-passenger transport offline each fall for routine maintenance.

The gondola line is dotted with snow. At the top on Saturday several inches remained from last weekend’s storm. The slick terrain was closed to hikers.

More wet weather is expected to arrive this week, with sleet and freezing rain coming Saturday.

El Dorado County sheriff’s candidates’ forum presented by El Dorado Hills Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 19.

7am – Check in/registration/breakfast buffet/networking

7:30-9am – Program

Holiday Inn Express in Town Center, El Dorado Hills

$12/(916) 933.1335 to RSVP

Super Bowl in Miami.

Air Supply at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, Stateline on Jan. 23 at 7:30pm.

Snowbomb Slopestyle Competition at Kirkwood

More Info: Visit the Website

Email: info@kirkwood.com

Phone: (209) 258.6000

Snowbomb comes in and holds registration the morning of the event and runs the event with the help of Kirkwood staff. It is a one day event with awards at the end of the day, around 4pm.