The U.S. Forest Service will host a public meeting Oct. 6 to describe upcoming prescribed fire operations in the Round Hill area. The meeting will be at Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District Station 3, 193 Elks Point Drive, Zephyr Cove from 6-7pm.

The Forest Service plans to conduct prescribed fire operations on 79 acres bounded by Highway 50 to the east, Round Hill Pines resort to the north and Elks Point Road to the west and south, including Round Mound. The areas has recently been treated to remove excess fuels and restore forest health. The prescribed fire operation will include pile burning to remove excess woody materials, as well as understory burning — low intensity fire on the forest floor.

The Round Hill prescribed fire operation is expected to last a few days. Because Forest Service crews will not begin prescribed fire operations until conditions are right, it is difficult to provide much advance notice. The Forest Service does maintain a notification list. To be added to this list or hear updates on prescribed fire plans, call (530) 543.2600.

Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival hosted by the Nevada Wilderness Project on Nov. 4 at 7pm.

These independent films are inspiring, positive stories about people around the world making a difference for conservation, green energy and their local communities. Movies include “Division Street,” which follows filmmaker Eric Bendick as he tours North America, dodging Yellowstone’s grizzlies and Miami’s taxicabs, in search of new sustainable road projects and wildlife corridors for the 21st Century. “Fridays at the Farm” features lush time-lapse and macro photography to explore life–in all its forms–on an organic farm. Cannes Film Festival’s online competition winner “Historia de un Letrero” explores an unusual and life-altering encounter between two strangers.

There are seven films in all. Nationally sponsored by Patagonia, Tom’s of Maine, Clif Bar, the evening will also include music, raffles, product giveaways and membership drives.

* Location: Joe Crowley Student Union Theater, UNR Campus

* Contact: Call REI Customer Service at (775) 828.9090 or come to the store at 2225 Harvard Way (across from Costco)

* Cost: Tickets (available at REI) are $10 in advance, $12 at the door ($8 for UNR Students)

* Registration Required?: Yes. Purchase tickets in advance or at the door

* http://www.wildnevada.org

Northstar-at-Tahoe & Luna Chix Presents: Snowshoe and Cross-Country Ski your Way to Winter Fitness on Oct. 28 at 6:30pm.

Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing offer an active alternative to snowed in cabin fever. And a bonus side benefit is the aerobic activity keeps the body toasty warm.

* Location:REI, Reno, 2225 Harvard Way (across from Costco)

* Contact:REI Customer Service at 775-828-9090

* Cost: Free

South Lake Tahoe Public Utility District candidates’ forum at the district office — 1275 Meadow Crest Drive, South Lake Tahoe; Oct. 6 from 6-9pm.

By Kathryn Reed

South Tahoe Public Utility District board member Dale Rise was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of obstructing a police officer.

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

Three officers responded to the Rise home about 7:25am Tuesday because of a verbal altercation between the couple, Hale said.

“They were called by a third party who was hysterical,” Rise said the next day. “It’s a personal matter. I was defending someone’s rights and I got in trouble. I am sure the police report will not be accurate because of what did occur.”

The police report did not say who the reporting party was.

Rise said he believes officers “overstepped their bounds” and that he will fight the misdemeanor charge in court.

Hale said officers had to use a Taser on Rise.

Rise posted bail later that day.

Tahoe-Douglas Battalion Chief Dennis McLaughlin plots where crews are fighting Tuesday's fire. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Less than an acre of brush around the water towers that are about one-quarter of a mile up the hill from Loop Road burned in a late morning fire Tuesday.

The number of emergency vehicles in and around the area was mostly precautionary because of the “red flag” warning issued by the National Weather Service. With sustained winds of 25mph at lake level and gusts nearly double that, the wildland fire could have quickly gotten out of control.

Crews from Tahoe-Douglas, CalFire, South Lake Tahoe and Lake Valley helped with the fire on Bureau of Land Management land.

At one point the radio crackled with, “You have a broken hose, that’s why there is no pressure.”

Despite the glitch, the fire was contained shortly after reports of smoke were called in at 10:30am.

A helicopter from the U.S. Forest Service hovered above while ground crews extinguished the blaze.

The cause is unknown. The Nevada fire marshal is conducting the investigation.

A number of homeless people are known to live in the hills above the Stateline casinos. With overnight lows in the 20s this week, it is possible people had set a fire to get warm.

While firefighters did their job, Heavenly’s gondola whisked people to the top of the mountain and construction crews kept working on the Van Sickle bi-state park.

The Loop Road was closed to traffic for more than an hour.

A number of small fires have occurred this season in the area. Some have been blamed on people tossing cigarettes out of the gondola – but none has been destructive like the 2002 Gondola Fire that burned 652 acres and threatened a number of businesses and residences in the Kingsbury Grade area.

Barton Health received more than $20,000 from the Susan G. Komen for The Cure Foundation to pay for screening and diagnostic mammograms for uninsured or underinsured women and men in South Lake Tahoe, and Douglas and Alpine counties.

Apply for the free mammograms at the Barton Community Clinic on South Avenue across from the hospital’s main entrance in South Lake Tahoe

During the past 10 years, the Komen Foundation’s Northern Nevada affiliate has granted more than $2 million to local programs, including more than $87,000 to Barton’s Community Clinic in the last three years.

For more information, call Pam Stoddart at (530) 543-5632.

Publisher’s Note: One of Roger Kibbe’s victim’s was found dumped off Echo Summit near Old Meyers Grade. Kibbe’s brother, Steve, was a sergeant with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department while the crimes were being committed. He retired years ago.

By Bill Lindelof, Sacramento Bee

Roger Reece Kibbe, dubbed by authorities as the “I-5 Strangler,” has pleaded guilty in San Joaquin County to six new counts of murder, including the killings of two Sacramento women.

Kibbe, 70, will be sentenced to consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, thus avoiding the death penalty.

A news release from the San Joaquin District Attorney’s Office said that Kibbe’s age and the slow pace of executions in the state were integral factors in prosecutors eschewing the death penalty.

Read the whole story

Publisher’s Note: This first appeared in the January 2009 issue of the Tahoe Mountain News and is reprinted with permission.

By Kathryn Reed

Ambiance, service, food — those are the three main ingredients for a memorable dining experience. The Beach House in Koloa, Kauai, nails it on all three.

December was my first trip to this Hawaiian island, therefore my initial visit to the Beach House. My sister, Pam, first told me about the restaurant — it’s where she and her husband, Bob, had their wedding dinner three years ago.

It is the only non-resort beachfront restaurant on the Garden Island. Owners Roy Dunn and Mike Hooks used to own the Big Water Grille in Incline. The building has been built three times. The last time was after Hurricane Iniki leveled it in 1992.

We had reservations for 5:30pm in order to witness the sun sinking into the Pacific. With the temperate climate, window seating takes on a new meaning. The view is unobstructed by glass. Diners leave their seats to take pictures of themselves, the setting sun framed by the palm trees and enhanced by tiki torches.

General Manager Jordan James admits this can create havoc for the kitchen because food may be ready but no one is at the table. Still, with seating for 240, the staff seems to have figured out how to make it all work.

Sue’s seafood corn chowder was piping hot. My watermelon salad was exquisite. I was more than satisfied with the one vegetarian entree — a portobello mushroom ensemble. Sue still talks about the roasted garlic black truffle ono entree she devoured.

The restaurant is one of those where you don’t know the waiter is there, but the water glass is never empty, the wine is poured without interruption in conversation, napkins are folded when you’re off taking pictures.

It’s a good idea to make dinner reservations right after booking your flight.

Pam and Bob dined at the Beach House a couple nights after us. Pam tried the recipe that is below. She raved about the dish and said the $30 she spent was well worth it. Bob had the macadamia nut crusted mahimahi, which is the restaurant’s best seller.

Save room for dessert — the molten chocolate desire is outrageously phenomenal.

Fresh fish is guaranteed because the restaurant hires people to fish for them locally. Other fish comes from the surrounding islands.

Chef Todd Barrett said he doesn’t have one fish that he likes to work with more than another. Much of his time is spent on perfecting sauces for them. He hails from the Bay Area. Barrett will be on the South Shore this month to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday, to ski a little and show his 8-year-old daughter snow for the first time.

Wasabi Crusted Snapper

Serves 4-6 people, leftovers of butter compound can hold a couple weeks. This is good on any white fish.

1 lb unsalted butter

6 T wasabi powder or premade wasabi paste

Salt and pepper

Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

If using wasabi powder, make it into a paste. Then whip butter and wasabi in blender to make smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper. Whip in Panko so it is evenly distributed. Mixture should be pliable, but thick.

Butter Sauce:

½-3/4 C dry white wine

½ shallot, diced

Fresh thyme sprigs

Several white or black peppercorns

½ C fresh lemon juice

½ C fresh passion fruit juice (lilikoi)

½ C heavy whipping cream

1 lb butter

In sauce pan, add the first six ingredients. Bring to a boil so the liquid is reduced in half. Then add up to ½ C cream to double the volume. Taste. If more lilikoi is needed, add 1 tsp at a time. Then over medium heat reduce the cream mixture by half so it is bubbly and thick. Then add about 1 T of butter at a time to double the amount of liquid so it comes ½ to ¾ C of liquid in pan. Stir constantly while adding butter. Once butter is melted and desired amount of liquid is created, strain out shallots, peppercorns and any pulp. It’s imperative to keep liquid warm, but not over heat so the butter doesn’t burn.

Fish

4-6 white fish fillets

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Use sautee pan that can go under a broiler. Put in a liberal amount of olive oil. Get it hot. Season fillets with salt and pepper. Throw them in pan. Sear first side so it gets color — 1.5-2 minutes. Flip the fillet. Spoon the wasabi mixture on top in an even layer. When the fish is still medium raw, finish cooking it under a broiler so the butter is cooked out and the wasabi is melted into the top of the fish. This should be 3-4 minutes. Fish should be 6-8 inches below the fire. Keep an eye on the fish.

The Beach House serves this dish with a vegetable medley and steamed rice.

South Tahoe is banking on more tourists in its proposed budget.

By Kathryn Reed

Interim City Attorney Patrick Enright is investigating whether South Lake Tahoe could force its employees to take furlough days even if the unions say no to the proposal that is being negotiated.

To come up with a balanced budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, the city needs to close a nearly $3.5 million gap in a $72 million budget. Having city employees take 24 furlough days in the next fiscal year would save about $1.4 million. This equates to a salary reduction of 9.23 percent.

Positions are being frozen and departments reduced as well.

“The biggest line item we have is personnel costs,” said Councilman Hal Cole, who with Mayor Jerry Birdwell make up the city’s finance committee. Cole described the deficit situation as the city “hemorrhaging.”

Police and fire personnel are not expected to endure traditional furlough days. Crews clearing snow are also exempt in the proposal.

Councilman Bill Crawford brought up the fact that the budget calls for two city attorneys. Resolution on the Jacqueline Mittelstadt issue was not reached Tuesday even though it was an item on closed session.

City Finance Directory Christine Vuletich on Tuesday explained the numbers to the council during a special budget hearing. The council could approve the budget as soon as Oct. 6.

To compensate for projected expenses being greater than revenues, the 2009-10 proposed budget calls for using $1.5 million in reserves. It’s anticipated another $1.6 million from reserves would be used across the next three years.

Property taxes, hotel tax and sales tax account for the largest sources of income for South Lake Tahoe, at 23, 16 and 12 percent, respectively.

Just like in the 2008-09 budget, the city is projecting an increase in the transient occupancy tax. That backfired the first time, with TOT being down by 26 percent in 2008-09 or about $1 million from projections.

Still, Vuletich said after the meeting that budgeting for a $400,000 increase for total of $4.5 million in TOT is reasonable.

“We looked at data from the hotel industry forecasts nationwide,” Vuletich said. She said unemployment figures for the drive-up market (Bay Area-Sacramento) are lower than the state average, which is a good indicator people have money to spend on trips to Tahoe.

Her department also looked at the average TOT take for the city in the last seven years — $5.4 million — when coming up with projected revenue.

Sales and property taxes are projected to be flat in the next fiscal year.

“Tourism is our No. 1 industry,” Vuletich said during meeting. “TOT and sales tax are extremely volatile.”

The bright spot is city campgrounds generated $90,000 more income than anticipated.

“They aren’t staying in lodging facilities, that’s for sure,” said Birdwell, who owns the Black Bear Inn.