If you are in support of Maria and Kindertown there will be Kindertown March on Oct. 3. Meet at 11am in the old Miller’s Outpost parking lot. There will be a BBQ at Kindertown Preschool following the March.

Oct. 24 is the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at the Forni Building of the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville.

Details are here.

These dinners are the common name given to the annual fundraising celebrations held by Democratic Party organizations in the United States, named for Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. This year the El Dorado Democratic Central Committee is holding its first JJ Dinner. Here are some of the details:

5:30-7pm

Taste of El Dorado Reception-The evening begins with a wine tasting reception along with hors d’oeuvres. These have been donated by wineries and eateries in El Dorado County. Also during the Taste of El Dorado, there will be a Silent Auction.

7pm

Dinner — Diane Wilkinson is catering. It will be served family style for each table including: Grilled Tri-Tip, Baked Pasta with Organic Chard, Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes with White Cheddar Cheese and Fresh Sage, Roasted Root Vegetables (butternut squash, turnips, carrots and beets), assorted breads. Each table will have 2 bottles of wine included. There will also be a no-host wine and beer bar open starting at 7pm.

Dessert Dash — This is a fun way to choose your dessert and raise a little bit extra for the Party. Desserts are being donated by bakeries and individuals; they will all be on display during the Taste of El Dorado reception. Each person can donate any amount at their table. The table who bids/donates the most will get to be the first to choose a dessert, 20 seconds later the 2nd table will choose, and so on. Every table gets a dessert, so even if the table doesn’t donate anything, they will still get dessert. If there is anyone in the Club who makes a special dessert and would like to bake something, please let us know. The dessert will need to serve 10.

Program — Perry King is our emcee for the evening. You may know him from TV or Film. Speakers confirmed as of today are Assemblyman Ted Lieu, who is a candidate for Attorney General, Assemblymember Alberto Torrico also a candidate for Attorney General and John Burton, Chair of the CDP

Awards –  There will be three awards presented — The Democratic Spirit Award, The Community Steward Award, and the first Jerry Waldie Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented by the Waldie family.

Live Auction

Music and Dancing will follow.

What can you do to help?

1. Buy your tickets–Tickets are sold via Act Blue.

2. Bring 5 to 10 Friends–In addition to raising money, this event is all about party building in El Dorado County. These are two attributes that were near and dear to Jerry. It will be good to see some new faces.

3. Help Wanted–We have various jobs to do before the event: silent auction requests, ticket sales, phone calling and more. Email me (Bob Dobrich, Vice Chairperson, bobedh@me.com) if you are interested.

4. Recruit Servers–We are building a corp of servers for dinner. The servers are high school and college students and will work during the dinner and program time. If you know anyone who might be interested, email me.

FOR TAHOE RESIDENTS:

Contact Judy Williams about carpooling — judy@laketahoedems.org.

Lake Tahoe Democratic Club on Oct. 1 at 6pm has invited El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago to speak. The event is at the El Dorado County South Lake Tahoe Branch Library at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

Sean Meissner of Sisters, Ore., is familiar with the Lake Tahoe Marathon race course, having won the event’s Tahoe Triple (three marathons in three days) four times in the last few years. Meissner proved he could also win gold in the marathon division, taking first this year with a time of 2:58:02.

It was hometown favorite Gretchen Brugman of Truckee winning the women’s marathon division with a time of 3:34:24, setting a personal record on the Lake Tahoe route. Like Meissner, Brugman isn’t new to the race course and finished first in the Tahoe Triple’s women division in 2003.

Lynyrd Skynrod of Reno also proved that past Tahoe Triple experience is a plus having one that race in 2007, celebrating at the finish with a cigarette. This year, he again was first in the Tahoe Triple with a three-day time of 2:43, 2:54 and 3:02.

Coming in first for the Tahoe Triple women’s division was a new face, Leslie Stallings, of Tampa Bay, Fla., with a three-day time of 3:53, 3:47 and 3:54.

The Lake Tahoe Marathon 72-Mile Bike Race record was shattered Saturday for the second year in a row, when Curtis Doman of South Jordan, Utah, won the race by a mere half-a-bike length with an official time of 2:55:21.77. First place female went to Katrin Tobin of Santa Cruz with a time of 2:57:57.58. In the master’s division (over 40 years), Tahoe City’s Todd Weitzenberg won with a time of 2:55:22.04, along with Nancy Harrison of South Lake Tahoe with 3:14:10.19.

According to Race Director Les Wright, Sunday’s events along with the entire Lake Tahoe Marathon Race Week, Sept. 23-27, ran like clockwork, with more than 9,000 participants and spectators enjoying Lake Tahoe’s balmy fall weather.

For a complete list of results for races conducted throughout Marathon Race Week, go to www.laketahoemarathon.com.

Bikers stake out their territory in Virginia City. Photo/Brenda Knox

By Brenda Knox

RENO — There is nothing like the rumble of loud pipes and the smell of leather to let you know you’re in motorcycle heaven.

Ever since getting my Harley in May, I’ve been looking forward to Street Vibrations Reno 2009. Since it’s in my backyard, it was an event I did not want to miss. Street Vibrations ran Wednesday through Sunday, but I couldn’t get away that long so settled for Saturday and Sunday with an overnight in Reno.

We headed over to the Carson City Harley Davidson dealership about 9:30am Saturday. It was a bit chilly leaving from Lake Tahoe so we donned full gloves and jackets. By the time we reached Carson City it was in the high 70s and off came the jackets.

The dealership was filled with bikes; traffic monitors effectively got us into a great parking area. Vendors, food, and music were all going strong, even at 10:30 in the morning. We stayed long enough to walk the parking lot, check out all the bikes, shop for and buy a communications system, and share a Hawaiian shaved ice.

Onward to Virginia City. It seemed to be where all of us were headed. Virginia City on the Saturday of Street Vibrations is the Motorcycle Mardi Gras. The streets are lined with hundreds upon hundreds of motorcycles. Harleys were the brand of choice, but there was a fair share of Hondas and other brands, too.

We snagged the first parking slot we saw; near the top of town. Before venturing down into town we stopped at the Cafe del Rio for lunch.

I have been to Virginia City many times and have always eaten in town at one of those diner type places — never again. Cafe del Rio has the best food in town. Roni had steak tacos; I had the Mahi Mahi tacos. Both were served with rice and black beans and very yummy. We’ll be going back.

The windows of the Cafe del Rio open up onto the street so we could watch all the motorcycles and the characters ride by. One woman was dressed all in pink, several of the guys had adorned their bikes with scantily clad women, and the Mardi Gras beads started to fly.

Virginia City really welcomes all of us bikers, and by all of us I mean all ages, all sizes, all origins, all kinds of bikes. The only criteria seemed to be you must have fun.

The hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, beer and Bloody Marys were all following freely. This is a party and if you are a biker, a party not to be missed.

Not only are the streets lined with the most beautiful bikes you have seen, but there is a continuous parade of motorcycles riding up and down the main street. The streets are lined with partygoers trying to get women to expose themselves for those infamous beads — and many oblige.

Roni and I decide to walk back up to our bikes and ride through town on our way in to Reno. It’s a slow, clutch hand is getting stiff, kind of ride through the center of town; but so much fun and so loud you can’t help but get swept up in the party atmosphere.

We finally make it through town, said goodbye to the good times of Virginia City, vowing to be back next year and rode into Reno. In Reno, we pulled in to the Siena, where they appropriately had preferred parking for us motorcyclists right up front. We grabbed our stuff, checked in and headed up for showers. It was about 95 degrees and we were sweating in our chaps and leather vests.

The Street Vibrations party continues in the streets of Reno. The Siena is just outside of the main downtown area, so we were able to walk over to Virginia Street and check things out.

Wow, vendors and more vendors. Leather merchandise, any kind of accessory you could imagine for your bike. My favorite was the Hanes & Vine pipes; those pipes are awesome; but might be a bit much for my Sporty.

Street Vibrations closes South Virginia Street for blocks in downtown Reno and puts on a great party. Lots of food, music, and plenty of motorcycle accessories. We walked around and shopped for several hours. Finally decided on long sleeve souvenir T-shirts and then walked back to the Siena.

Can’t wait for next year.

Brenda Knox is a biker chick who lives in South Lake Tahoe.

The El Dorado County Health Services Department, Mental Health Division is inviting the public to review and provide comment on the Prevention and Early Intervention Component of its Mental Health Services (MHSA) Act Plan. The goal of the three-year prevention plan is to help identify and help youth, older adults and others who are at risk for mental health problems and to prevent suicide. The prevention plan, which is available for review at Mental Health’s website – www.edcgov.us/mentalhealth – will be posted for public review and comment through Oct. 21.

A public hearing to receive input on the plan is scheduled for Oct. 21 at 5pm. The hearing will be conducted simultaneously at two locations:

El Dorado County Mental Health Clinic

670 Placerville Dr., 2nd Floor

Placerville, CA 95667

and

El Dorado County Mental Health Clinic

1900 Lake Tahoe Boulevard

South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

In addition to the public hearing, members of the public with comments and questions about the plan can also send these to:

El Dorado County Mental Health

MHSA Project Management

670 Placerville Drive, Suite 1B

Placerville, CA 95667

E-mail: MHSA@edcgov.us

South Lake Tahoe received word late Friday that the California Department of Housing and Community Development has awarded the city a $35,000 grant to conduct a comprehensive parking study in the city limits to evaluate needs and solutions. The City Council authorized city staff to submit an application for this competitive grant opportunity on June 2.

This idea to submit this grant application to HCD for an economic development study arose following discussion and input from City Council members when issues of adequate parking in the city limits came up at a City Council meeting.

“The City Council is working to see the development of alternate forms of transportation to the motor vehicle, but we must also be certain that adequate parking is provided to accommodate the needs of locals and visitors who will continue to use their autos,” City Manager Dave Jinkens said in a press release. “City government officials will continue to work to enhance opportunities for public transit, walking and biking trails, needed pedestrian facilities, and air service. We must not forget that many people still use and will continue to use their vehicle to travel, and we must be certain that we have intelligently planned for this use in our community whether in and around the proposed convention center/hotel, in the vicinity of the Ski Run Marina, or in the emerging Tahoe Valley Community Plan.”

Proposals for conducting the work will be sought by city staff and brought back to the City Council for approval.

Congestion along the main artery to South Lake Tahoe — Highway 50 — will be the subject of a special El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting Oct. 5 at 6pm.

Supervisor John Knight is spearheading the discussion about traffic through El Dorado Hills.

At the meeting the Board of Supervisors will receive updates from a variety of transportation and traffic sectors including a report from the county Department of Transportation on the Capital Improvement Plan for the El Dorado Hills area. Key projects and issues such as the Highway 50/Silva Valley interchange, the Capital Southeast Connector, and the Folsom sphere of influence will also be discussed.

The meeting will be in the El Dorado Hills Community Services District Pavilion at 1021 Harvard Way in El Dorado Hills. For questions or additional information, contact Knight or Loretta Featherston at (530) 621.5650 or bosone@co.el-dorado.ca.us.

By Alan McPhee, Daily News

And now for something entirely different. The “Trail Rated” badge on the side of every Jeep Wrangler 4×4 is a guarantee that it already meets the challenge of the Rubicon Trail, the legendary stagecoach route that climbs up over the Sierras from Georgetown, California to Lake Tahoe. It’s the Holy Grail for off-roaders and every year hundreds of them gather to take part in one of several Jeep Jamborees over the grueling 60 kilometre climb that takes two days to complete. It’s a test every Wrangler 4×4 must pass.

But, human nature being what it is, off-roaders are never entirely satisfied. For the past 60 years, ever since World War II veterans started using surplus army Jeeps for work and play, they have been tinkering with lift kits, power boosts, suspensions and locking axles. Despite the sophistication of today’s Jeeps, the “itch” to go a step further is never completely satisfied.

For the whole story

Tahoe Tom’s gas station in South Lake Tahoe will be before the Lahontan Region Water Control Board on Oct. 14.

The water board will consider an administrative civil liability order of $248,400 for Mohammad Ahmad and the Thomas E. Erickson Trust for violations of two California Water Code sections at Tahoe Tom’s Gas.

The meeting begins at 2:30pm in the Aspen Room at Lake Tahoe Community College, One College Drive, South Lake Tahoe.

For more information on the Oct. 14-15 meeting, go to http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/lahontan.