Soleta family fundraiser Oct. 14 from 5-9pm at Grand Central Pizza, South Tahoe. Ben Soleta died unexpectedly Sept. 17 and left behind a wife and two kids.

Sierra-at-Tahoe’s Pray for Snow Party at Murphy’s Irish Pub, South Tahoe starting at 7pm.

Hiring fair at Sierra-at-Tahoe in the main lodge.

www.sierraattahoe.com

LTCC’s Diversity Committee presents Hispanic Heritage Celebration:

Community Youth Folkloric Ballet and La Banda Pegaso will present traditional folkloric dances from different regions of Mexico at LTCC’s Duke Theatre from 6-8:30pm Oct. 16.

Admission is free; donations accepted for ESL Department scholarships.

Critters are leaving holes in Tahoe yards.

By Susan Wood

Could the rodents of Tahoe be telling us something about an abnormal winter coming up?

That’s the question some Lake Tahoe residents have posed in dealing with digging, chomping and rampaging squirrels, chipmunks and mice foraging pine cones and digging into homes and yards. The answer may depend on who you talk to.

“It’s just the time of year when they do this,” said Nevada Division of Wildlife staff biologist Larry Neel, who coincidentally had answered a call earlier that day about an ambitious wood rat. “They’re just feeling the time of year like we are.”

He listed the barometric pressure, temperature variances and length of sunlight in the day as symbols of changes in the season the animals pay attention to.

“They’re reacting to age-old signals that they need to be caching food,” Neel said. “We would expect them to react this way.”

But tell that to at least one Round Hill gardener who has resorted to wearing a bicycle helmet for her hobby because the squirrels are dropping so many heavy pine cones it could be downright dangerous without the head protection.

Scott Conner, a nuisance wildlife trapping specialist working for Cat’s Eye pest control, knows the rodent behavior this time of year is routine. However, he’s noticed a certain aggressiveness and tenacity from the animals that appear to be out of the ordinary.

“What we’re finding out around Tahoe is the squirrels are really determined,” he said. “If we kick them out, they dig up the entry point we’ve sealed if there’s substandard construction. They’ll even rip off screens put up to keep them out.”

Conner, who has taken a rash of mice infiltration calls lately, shared that normal behavior prompts the animals to move to another location when shown they’re unwanted. Not this year.

“It’s as if they’re saying: ‘This is my house’,” he said.

Bats have sounded alarm bells among wildlife specialists because they should have long migrated. Conner is still seeing the mammals stick around in homes, despite the absence of food like mosquitoes that disappeared months ago.

And raccoons have kept their reputations for creating mischief. Conner recalled a friend’s encounter with a destructive one-eyed raccoon that was trapped and released miles away. The bandit ended up returning to the same house with his pirate eye.

Humans may not understand what animal activity, but the weather forecasters say the temps will be in the 60s and windy this weekend, with a 40 percent chance of showers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Susan Wood is a freelance writer based in South Lake Tahoe. She may be reached at copysue1@yahoo.com.

By Sallie Ross-Filgo

The month of October is fire prevention and awareness month.

This month, city fire crews will be visiting all the elementary schools to provide kids with hands-on practice of what to do if your clothes catch on fire, how to escape a burning building, dialing 911 for emergencies, and an introduction to some of the department’s apparatus and equipment.

So now is a good time to review fire safety plans with your family, check for working smoke detectors in your home, and establish a meeting area for your family in case of a fire.

Sallie Ross-Filgo works for the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department.

Bona Fide Books based in Meyers is seeking literary essays for a collection about life and work in U.S. national parks. Diverse park experiences desired. What happened there, and how did it influence your life?

See www.bonafidebooks.com for guidelines.

By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun

Gaming regulators showed that they’re keeping vigilant on policing behavior at nightclubs and pool parties in Las Vegas.

The state Gaming Control Board questioned Mark Gore, vice president and casino general manager at the Hard Rock, about the resort’s pool party security.

Gore appeared before the board Oct. 1 in Carson City for a key employee license.

Read the whole story

South Lake Tahoe has been awarded a $1.5 million grant to develop a program to test, mitigate and eliminate lead in local housing.

The funding is from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. It’s to provide funding to protect children from residential health and safety hazards.

Eighty-five percent of South Lake Tahoe’s housing was built before 1980 when lead was still in some paints that could have been applied to and remain on houses.

Project N-ABLE will provide free testing to all homes in the community. If lead is found in the paint, funds will be available to mitigate or eliminate the hazard and provide for testing of any children residing their to ensure no lead was ingested.

Flu shot clinics in South Lake Tahoe are on Oct. 14, Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Nov. 4, Nov. 18 and Dec. 2. All are from 9am-noon at the South Lake Tahoe Senior Center, 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

Carl Ribaudo of Strategic Marketing Group is contemplating forming a symposium on poverty at the lake.

Mike Riley, First Allied Securities investment executive, is among the first 1,000 people to earn the Certified Wealth Strategist designation from Cannon Financial Institute.

Adventures by Disney’s 2010 destinations include 19 global itineraries. One of the seven in North America is — NorCal: Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, SF.